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(02-20-2015 03:44 PM)Monarch Homselr Wrote:  Frank became skilled because his parents could afford to send him to that big man camp (Pete Newell? Correct me if I have the name wrong.).

If all that was required to develop skilled, talented bigs was a summer trip to "big man" camp, I think we should start a collection.

Frank was talented and worked his behind off. No camp of any kind turns a random tall dude into the monster Frank Hassell was his final year here at ODU. We would be extremely fortunate to see another like Frank anytime soon.

Am I being unrealistic? I expect ODU to attract Frank types on a fairly regular basis.

No you are not. This whole argument that it is so difficult to find a good big man that we just can't sign one at all is absurd. Most teams we play have at least 1 serviceable big that is 6'9 or better. I am fine with the JUCOs and 5th years as a stop gap, but you have to couple them with a freshman so that you have time to develop somebody, and don't tell me about Stith, even if he is pretty good, he is yet another 6'7 big man. We have got to sign a 6'9+ freshman at some point to end the cycle of one year players. It is uncanny that we have gone this long. It is also amazing that it hasn't been a priority for this staff.

Has anyone other than Razor considered the damage BT's drinking did to ODU and recruiting? We win the CAA two years in a row and that did not parlay that success into a single significant recruit of a big despite the success of Frank and others. Even though we changed coaches there is residue of BT's scandal. Bear in mind that there are still significant folks left in the athletic department that knew what was going on and did nothing. I don't think that was lost on past recruits parents or current recruits parents or those schools we recruit against.

The recruits will come as long as JJ continues to win and keeps his program clean. This is only his second year guys. 2012-13 (5-25), JJ 2013-14 (18-18), 2014-15 (19-6 and counting) to me that is evidence that the ship is turning and headed in the right direction. The recruits needed to win will come. We already have some pretty good kids coming and waiting in the wings.

JJ has signed 9 players if my count is right. Not one of them is taller than 6'7 with more than 1 year of eligibility. That is a problem.

But, JJ needed to fill a roster to play NOW. He has not had the luxury yet to get anyone other than "ready to play now" players. He got here in the late Spring less than two years ago. He basically has had one and a half years of recruiting. I don't know if JJ is the the savior or the ruin of ODU BB but it seems to me that he has done a lot to turn things around....not just play on the court but stuff like bringing past players back into the fold, being more flexible than BT and repairing some presumed cracks in relationships with local coaches and AAU folks.

I know this is the age of instant gratification but just remember how we felt during the abomination that was the 5-25 season, nationwide humiliation from that Coach's show etc. I will take this slightly disappointing season to this point ..(although we were having outrageous expectations from a team that was not as good as the faux top 25 rating but better than the road flopping team of the last few weeks) ....over the last two seasons of the BT regime,

There, I'm, finished venting!

(02-20-2015 09:59 AM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Bigs are tough to recruit, try to find one that can come in and play. Name 2 bigs in the 757 ready for college ball, now I can name a doz of guards and wings in the 2015 class who are ready. Bigs need development time. We are on one JuCo who has 3 yrs. Stith will have 3 yrs. Both these guys needed the time. Frank and Cooper were only worth a dime in their last two years. They could sit here or played JuCo, does it matter where they do that. Maybe the playing time is better than watching from the bench.

Not from the 757, but shevon Thompson went to gmu and he's a stud.

Vcu landed several solid young athletic big men. There are plenty of big guys with skills out there playing at mid majors (and we are a HIGH mid major).

You guys make it sound like a skilled 6"9 or taller big man is some sort of white whale. Blaine was a shaky recruiter and the writing was on the wall for our downfall for years.

Da big, while he is a great guy, was also trying to convince people pimentel and key were also going to be great players. The fact is, Blaine let the program down by completely failing to capitalize on our success much like gmu did.

Skilled bigs are available to high mid major schools, they are out there, I just don't know if we have the coach who can land them. Jones deserves more time......but he hasn't landed a single player over 6"7 in two years. Most coaches bring heat with them to a new program. Jones has done a great job coaching what is here but he has brought VERY little heat on the recruiting trail so far and while it isn't something to freak out about YET, it is most definitely something to keep an eye on, much like Blaine's mediocre recruiting was towards the end of his tenure, especially for those of us who were concerned about it from the day we hired him.

It's funny how it's easy to critique from the computer when must if not all,of us have never stepped foot into the roll of recruiting. It's as if folks think JJ doesn't realize it's necessary to get a big man. Some make it sound like it's going to the mall and JJ refuses to shop at the Big and Tall section that he keeps telling himself he will fit in the lean and short and there is no need to bump up the size.

So where is this list of 6'10" plus that ALL the other teams seem to be getting in the mid major market ? The don't give me 6'7"" wide body rebounding machine (Stith) doesn't count crap.

We have a 7 footer coming in.... But yeah he isn't a freshman and he is another project argument gets old. JJ again not doing his job.

Recruiting is a lot like sales. Need to develop a pipeline and work it.. The issue is there is a competitive market out there for the BIG sale. Timing is critical and a resume of continued upward success will assist in the timing department. You guys are pretty hardcore Sales Managers and I think it's because you haven't been in the trenches to understand the process.

(02-21-2015 07:13 AM)Obiwan Wrote:  It's funny how it's easy to critique from the computer when must if not all,of us have never stepped foot into the roll of recruiting. It's as if folks think JJ doesn't realize it's necessary to get a big man. Some make it sound like it's going to the mall and JJ refuses to shop at the Big and Tall section that he keeps telling himself he will fit in the lean and short and there is no need to bump up the size.

So where is this list of 6'10" plus that ALL the other teams seem to be getting in the mid major market ? The don't give me 6'7"" wide body rebounding machine (Stith) doesn't count crap.

We have a 7 footer coming in.... But yeah he isn't a freshman and he is another project argument gets old. JJ again not doing his job.

Recruiting is a lot like sales. Need to develop a pipeline and work it.. The issue is there is a competitive market out there for the BIG sale. Timing is critical and a resume of continued upward success will assist in the timing department. You guys are pretty hardcore Sales Managers and I think it's because you haven't been in the trenches to understand the process.

Well said.

Also, just from reading around a bit, we are looking at or have offered a 6'10 guy,6'9" guy and a 6'8" guy. And that's just the ones I've seen, there are probably more. At least one said he wants to wait till after his season is over to decide. So I guess we will know what's coming soon enough.

Recruiting after a 5 win season is a tough sell and was told it was much harder than they thought it would be.

Next year we'll have 4 new players 6-7 and taller, some have skills that we can use. One as Talley said is "as big as they get". Another may be one of the best rebounders we've seen in a while, as JJ said "Ross and Denzel can't keep him off the glass" and has a little offense, One is looking like another very long wing and has skills ahead of where the Baze was as a freshman. The other is a true athlete.

Back to recruiting looks like we are on 3 bigs, one true freshman, one JuCo with 3 yrs, and one JuCo. I think we'll land one of these guys by the BigBlueBQ and also may have another surprise.

I remember speaking to nick wright and Ben at an Football game this year and I was surprised when Nick said the mens hoop squad would be good this year- surprised me a little . What shocked me was he said next year watch out we will really good. Doesn't mean much but from what DaBig mentioned above and from what we've been hearing - I trust we will again be competitive and at the very least that's what you hope for.

We are also going hard after Xavier Green (Class of 2016) of Williamsburg Christian. He's a 6'5" SG, who could possible even play point in college. The kid is really fun to watch. Jeff was at his game last night (as was a VCU assistant).

https://tv.yahoo.com/video/xavier-green-...0-cbs.html

I like Talley but lets be cautious with ahead of where Baze was as a freshman. Baze was as raw as it got and nobody outworks him, to this day.

We may never again see a player like Kent Bazemore at ODU. He was special and would be far and away the best player on this 19-6 team.

Love Bazemore but don't get carried away my friend! Not as a freshman he wouldn't. Guess you don't remember him bouncing the ball off his legs out of bounds about every third time bringing the ball up the court his first two years. He was an athlete for sure but had not learned to be a basketball player yet. Besides all the turnovers his first two years, he shot 43% from the foul line and 26% from three as a freshman.

Is Ramone Snowden considering joining a winning program?
What do you think?

(02-21-2015 10:43 AM)mac Wrote:  Love Bazemore but don't get carried away my friend! Not as a freshman he wouldn't. Guess you don't remember him bouncing the ball off his legs out of bounds about every third time bringing the ball up the court his first two years. He was an athlete for sure but had not learned to be a basketball player yet. Besides all the turnovers his first two years, he shot 43% from the foul line and 26% from three as a freshman.

In my estimation he was the MVP of the CAAT as a sophomore. He showed signs of being a NBA talent early in his ODU career. Too many people focus on what a player can't do and miss what they can do.

(02-21-2015 11:14 AM)ODUR8R Wrote:  

(02-21-2015 10:43 AM)mac Wrote:  Love Bazemore but don't get carried away my friend! Not as a freshman he wouldn't. Guess you don't remember him bouncing the ball off his legs out of bounds about every third time bringing the ball up the court his first two years. He was an athlete for sure but had not learned to be a basketball player yet. Besides all the turnovers his first two years, he shot 43% from the foul line and 26% from three as a freshman.

In my estimation he was the MVP of the CAAT as a sophomore. He showed signs of being a NBA talent early in his ODU career. Too many people focus on what a player can't do and miss what they can do.

Baze didn't have many skills as a freshman, but all you had to do was look at the way he carried himself on the court to know he had a special something. Hard to put into words what I was seeing, but his athleticism was unmistakable. That "something" may be a once in a lifetime thing, but I hope not.

(02-21-2015 10:49 AM)Oduhs Wrote:  Is Ramone Snowden considering joining a winning program?
What do you think?

Oh my, not again! Back to Baze/Talley....I had the "pleasure" of seeing Baze in his very first game as a Monarch at the summer pro-am prior to his redshirt freshmen year and he was god-awful in all aspects except for dunking and blocking shots. As has been said, through hard work and dedication he is where he is now and he'll always be one of my favorites. I've seen Talley in practice and he is ahead of Baze at the same point in their careers but that's not saying much. If he doesn't put in the time and effort like Baze did, he'll still be a solid contributor....just how much is up to him. The jury will be out on that for at least the next couple of years.

And yes...Baze would be the best player on the current team but c'mon man, he IS an NBA player...

(02-21-2015 11:23 AM)ODU DAD Wrote:  

(02-21-2015 10:49 AM)Oduhs Wrote:  Is Ramone Snowden considering joining a winning program?
What do you think?

Oh my, not again! Back to Baze/Talley....I had the "pleasure" of seeing Baze in his very first game as a Monarch at the summer pro-am prior to his redshirt freshmen year and he was god-awful in all aspects except for dunking and blocking shots. As has been said, through hard work and dedication he is where he is now and he'll always be one of my favorites. I've seen Talley in practice and he is ahead of Baze at the same point in their careers but that's not saying much. If he doesn't put in the time and effort like Baze did, he'll still be a solid contributor....just how much is up to him. The jury will be out on that for at least the next couple of years.

And yes...Baze would be the best player on the current team but c'mon man, he IS an NBA player...

Even as a junior at ODU, he was head and shoulders above everyone currently on the roster. Baze had that raw talent that some can recognize, even when they are dribbling the ball of off their feet.

Denzell Taylor is the one player on this team that may have it, but he does it differently.