(03-30-2017 09:12 AM)ODU_NYG Wrote:  Didn't Darius James start as a freshman? Maybe not right away, but I believe he was the starting PG after about a month into the season and started every game after that until he graduated. He wasn't a world beater by any means, but a very underrated player IMO.

(03-30-2017 01:00 PM)Nukesquad Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 09:12 AM)ODU_NYG Wrote:  Didn't Darius James start as a freshman? Maybe not right away, but I believe he was the starting PG after about a month into the season and started every game after that until he graduated. He wasn't a world beater by any means, but a very underrated player IMO.

That is correct. Brandon Johnson was the starter at the beginning, but he proved better coming off the bench (same as when he came in for Drew the previous 3 seasons). DJ's stats were never staggering individually, but I don't believe anyone could argue that he didn't make the team better when he was on the floor (even though his entire career he was being blasted for not being the same as DW).

(03-30-2017 01:34 PM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 01:00 PM)Nukesquad Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 09:12 AM)ODU_NYG Wrote:  Didn't Darius James start as a freshman? Maybe not right away, but I believe he was the starting PG after about a month into the season and started every game after that until he graduated. He wasn't a world beater by any means, but a very underrated player IMO.

That is correct. Brandon Johnson was the starter at the beginning, but he proved better coming off the bench (same as when he came in for Drew the previous 3 seasons). DJ's stats were never staggering individually, but I don't believe anyone could argue that he didn't make the team better when he was on the floor (even though his entire career he was being blasted for not being the same as DW).

Darius's floater resulted in a lot of points...


...for our big men getting offensive rebounds.

(03-30-2017 10:06 AM)Bwebb009 Wrote:  Don't know which thread to put this in but Middle just got a grad transfer from Alabama

Nick King

(03-30-2017 12:34 PM)757ODU Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 10:23 AM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 07:42 AM)757ODU Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 06:31 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 02:15 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Miller has mentioned over and over that McClinton is a small forward replacing Taylor. Without any other info, its probably safe to assume that is the case.

From reading the comments made by the Wake fans along with reading McClinton's recruiting press clippings from his high school days I have to view him as a small forward. I also seem to remember reading that he was around 200 lbs which would be pretty light for a power forward. That would make him the same height and weight as Talley is. Denzel is the same height, but is listed as being 220 lbs. There were times when even he looked small next to some of the bigger power forwards he had to guard. If all of that is true then I am hopeful that McClinton is being brought in to provide minutes at small forward instead of replacing Denzel at the power forward. Even Aaron Carver is listed at 210 lbs.

Currently I believe ODU's best options at power forward are Brandon (playing with Porter), Kah, Carver, and depending on the match-up Vassor. If the opponent is small on the front line like Rice was this past season then some of the smaller frame guys like Talley and McClinton could suffice. If ODU was willing to play more zone, or if any of them were to develop a consistent 3 point shot then that too could change the dynamics.

McClinton is going to play the 4. He will be fine defending 4's. I am sure he did it at the ACC level and I am sure he can do it here. To play defense against a bigger player, you need a high motor and that seems to be what he has. You can bet on McClinton playing the 4 this year.

Got a couple more responses just this morning to the question I posted on the Wake Forrest fan forum as to whether McClinton was better suited to play the 3 or the 4 for ODU -

"McClinton is a 3. His outside shot was nonexistent for Wake and he doesn't really take the ball to the basket from any further than 10 - 15 ft out.

"He's a quick jumper and a good offensive rebounder. Most of his points were on O rebounds, or plays at the rim. (For lack of a better term "Garbage points")

He's probably good for 4 or 5 ppg and 3 or 4 rebounds. A good role player with a good attitude. "


"Well said." The second poster commented in response to the above post.

Frankly, from the comments above this guy sounds like he is a combination of half Denzel and half Talley.

Then blewbyu is correct. If he doesn't play the 4 for this team, there is no need for this player. Do you truly believe that they would bring him on if he couldn't fill a need?

(03-30-2017 02:51 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 12:34 PM)757ODU Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 10:23 AM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 07:42 AM)757ODU Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 06:31 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  From reading the comments made by the Wake fans along with reading McClinton's recruiting press clippings from his high school days I have to view him as a small forward. I also seem to remember reading that he was around 200 lbs which would be pretty light for a power forward. That would make him the same height and weight as Talley is. Denzel is the same height, but is listed as being 220 lbs. There were times when even he looked small next to some of the bigger power forwards he had to guard. If all of that is true then I am hopeful that McClinton is being brought in to provide minutes at small forward instead of replacing Denzel at the power forward. Even Aaron Carver is listed at 210 lbs.

Currently I believe ODU's best options at power forward are Brandon (playing with Porter), Kah, Carver, and depending on the match-up Vassor. If the opponent is small on the front line like Rice was this past season then some of the smaller frame guys like Talley and McClinton could suffice. If ODU was willing to play more zone, or if any of them were to develop a consistent 3 point shot then that too could change the dynamics.

McClinton is going to play the 4. He will be fine defending 4's. I am sure he did it at the ACC level and I am sure he can do it here. To play defense against a bigger player, you need a high motor and that seems to be what he has. You can bet on McClinton playing the 4 this year.

Got a couple more responses just this morning to the question I posted on the Wake Forrest fan forum as to whether McClinton was better suited to play the 3 or the 4 for ODU -

"McClinton is a 3. His outside shot was nonexistent for Wake and he doesn't really take the ball to the basket from any further than 10 - 15 ft out.

"He's a quick jumper and a good offensive rebounder. Most of his points were on O rebounds, or plays at the rim. (For lack of a better term "Garbage points")

He's probably good for 4 or 5 ppg and 3 or 4 rebounds. A good role player with a good attitude. "


"Well said." The second poster commented in response to the above post.

Frankly, from the comments above this guy sounds like he is a combination of half Denzel and half Talley.

Then blewbyu is correct. If he doesn't play the 4 for this team, there is no need for this player. Do you truly believe that they would bring him on if he couldn't fill a need?

Yeah, I'm not really sure why Jones brought him in. It seems to me that he has the build of Talley and the game of Denzel from how the Wake fans are describing his play after watching him the past 3 seasons. It also appears to me that he must have some untapped potential there as a small forward since he was listed as being among the top 25 at that position nation wide coming out of high school. Without seeing him it seems that the best thing he could probably do is to work on his 3 point shot this off season and be an athletic wing that can hit the 3 and rebound. Jones may end up starting him at the 4 but unless he is bigger than I have seen him listed as being then it probably isn't the best option for either him or the team (as a starter at least).

(03-30-2017 03:04 PM)odu09 Wrote:  Maybe his purpose is to play in Talley's place once he gets suspended again

(03-30-2017 10:08 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 08:29 AM)blewbyu Wrote:  

(03-30-2017 07:42 AM)757ODU Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 06:31 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 02:15 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  Miller has mentioned over and over that McClinton is a small forward replacing Taylor. Without any other info, its probably safe to assume that is the case.

From reading the comments made by the Wake fans along with reading McClinton's recruiting press clippings from his high school days I have to view him as a small forward. I also seem to remember reading that he was around 200 lbs which would be pretty light for a power forward. That would make him the same height and weight as Talley is. Denzel is the same height, but is listed as being 220 lbs. There were times when even he looked small next to some of the bigger power forwards he had to guard. If all of that is true then I am hopeful that McClinton is being brought in to provide minutes at small forward instead of replacing Denzel at the power forward. Even Aaron Carver is listed at 210 lbs.

Currently I believe ODU's best options at power forward are Brandon (playing with Porter), Kah, Carver, and depending on the match-up Vassor. If the opponent is small on the front line like Rice was this past season then some of the smaller frame guys like Talley and McClinton could suffice. If ODU was willing to play more zone, or if any of them were to develop a consistent 3 point shot then that too could change the dynamics.

McClinton is going to play the 4. He will be fine defending 4's. I am sure he did it at the ACC level and I am sure he can do it here. To play defense against a bigger player, you need a high motor and that seems to be what he has. You can bet on McClinton playing the 4 this year.

Jeff brought McClinton in to fill in for 8 or 10 minutes a game at the 3 and 4 spots....mediocre player who will not start and quite frankly not sure we need him at all. We are going to be a very average team.... and I don't see where bringing in a guy like McClinton helps any....the level of play by ODU is at an all time low right now and I don't see that this signing does much to change that....As far as the freshmen coming in they have to play...a lot....they may not start in the beginning but one of them will break into the starting line up,probably Heiwitt.( 2 spot) Expect to see Green ( 2 and 3 spots) playing a lot also...as far as JJ signing a power forward or center...not happening...

Have you been a fan for like 6 months?

(03-29-2017 12:35 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 10:14 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 10:03 AM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(03-29-2017 09:25 AM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  If Kah could get it together on the defensive end, that would be huge for next year.

Or if Jones could get it together then Kah likely could have played this past season. It is just crazy that they spent so much time over a period of several years recruiting this guy, then get him when both his size and offensive presence could have greatly benefited the team, only to glue him to the bench.

If Kah is that terrible of a man-to-man defender that Jones can't put him in the games, then put him in a zone which ODU should be mixing in a lot more than they do anyway. Either you recruit the kinds of players that can play your style or you adjust your style of play to fit your players. Otherwise you end up with square pegs and round holes. Another example of that is Brandon and Porter playing on the court together. Neither has shown themselves to be adequate (to Jones at least) at guarding out to the 3 point line so aside from just a few minor exceptions, only one can be on the court at a time.

Kah was completely clueless on defense last year. Im not sure who is at fault for that, but the guy didn't even know where to rotate...how would he be able to play zone?

It is really strange though. I don't understand how a guy can be in the system this long and not understand basic defensive fundamentals. I understand Haynes being lost at times, but those 2 seem to be the only ones that didn't get it.

I don't think that either of us has enough experience from watching practices or direct knowledge about Kah at this point to have developed such concrete opinions to say he is "clueless", "doesn't know where to rotate", and "doesn't understand basic defensive fundamentals". Even if it were true, it would say more about the coaching staff than it would about Kah since they knew what system they wanted to play and recruited someone that could not play it. An experienced coach should be able to adequately determine by close observations done while recruiting if a guy is defensively clueless, doesn't know where to rotate, or if he doesn't even understand basic defensive fundamentals. If the thought was to take on a project to teach them those things then I think it would be a lot more reasonable to take on a freshman than it would be to take on a junior.

To answer your question "how would he be able to play zone?" ... that's like saying that someone can't learn to speak Japanese very well so how could they possibly learn to speak English. The point is, while they are both languages, they aren't the same and like the differences between playing man-to-man and zone, it isn't far fetched to be much better suited for one over the other depending upon many factors. In man-to-man you are covering a person and in doing so you may well end up running all over the half court. In zone you are covering people only within the area of the court that you are assigned (basically speaking). Players both individually and collectively on the court together are frequently better to some extent at one over the other. We seldom get to witness those differences with our players since Jones is nearly always in man-to-man.

(03-30-2017 06:43 PM)odu09 Wrote:  Didn't know where to stick this but

Rice transfer Marcus Evans has heard from VCU, NC State, Kansas, St Johns, Cincinnati, A&M, VT, Creighton, Texas Tech, Baylor, FSU & Miami.

Good for him. Kind of hope he picks Kansas, no idea why.

(03-30-2017 05:23 PM)Justanodufan Wrote:  If you can't play man defense you sure the hell can't play zone. That's a well known fact.

(03-30-2017 06:43 PM)odu09 Wrote:  Didn't know where to stick this but

Rice transfer Marcus Evans has heard from VCU, NC State, Kansas, St Johns, Cincinnati, A&M, VT, Creighton, Texas Tech, Baylor, FSU & Miami.

Good for him. Kind of hope he picks Kansas, no idea why.

(03-31-2017 09:05 AM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  Interesting. I didn't think Evans was all that impressive this year in the games that I watched, kind of a sophomore slump. We'll see.