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(04-10-2020 09:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-10-2020 09:25 AM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 09:09 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 07:29 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 06:55 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  And in "small ball" the other team's 4 could therefore could not cover Ezikpe down low either then with his size advantage. Those match up things work both ways.

To say that Reece isn't a small forward in any way goes against your routine commentary of position-less basketball. Actually he plays a lot like a small forward in many ways, and doesn't play a physical defensive style or rebound like a typical 4. He's like a 3-1/2 player.

The advantage ezikpe would have would be less. Post ups, even against slightly smaller players is not an efficient shot. Why do you think almost every good offensive team has a 4 that can spread the floor?

Reece doesnt play like a 4 of 1995, he plays like a 4 of 2020. Position less basketball is geared more toward players that can do it all. If you put reece next to 2 big guys and asked him to defend a wing player, he would not do well. Hes the prototypical 4 of todays basketball.(physically, he needs fo shoot better)

You have to have af least 3 that can handle the ball

You can spread the floor, bang, and post up at the same time. Dahi and VV are perfect examples. Could take advantage of their size and shoot 3s better than our current guards. That is what Ezipke could develop into at the 4.

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I share your thoughts on that EverRespect. It certainly doesn't have to be an either/or thing. In fact the best teams frequently do both successfully.

Good luck finding mid major players that can do it all. FWIW, Valdas was one of the best big men we've had in our program. Dahi was a solid player. Neither one of them was a great rebounder...Reece may actually end up as a better rebounder than either as this season he rebounded at a rate that is similar to what they did over their careers. They were both good shooters for their position.


Valdas is the type of 4 man I would love for us to find. Maybe Reece gets there.

As a soph, Valdas averaged 18/8 per 40 minutes while shooting 34% from 3.

As a soph, Reece average 13/8 per 40 minut3s with 25% from 3.


Reece certainly is not as good as Valdas and probably will not end up being that caliber, but he had a very underrated soph season on a terrible team and there is some potential for growth in his game.

He's roughly the same size as Valdas was and there is no way you are putting Reece in a lineup with 2 other big guys.

Ezipke maybe can play with another big guy in spurts, but his defense against 99% of the 4s we play would be poor since he's not as quick or peremiter oriented as them and we would have zero spacing on offense. Imagine an offense with Curry, Green, Reece, Ezipke, Center........lol They would all just be packed in the paint.

More than 1/3 of the shots Reece took this past season were from beyond the arc. Judging by this past season, he's away from the basket as much as he isn't. Several of his 2 point attempts were transition baskets - i.e. not in the half court set up. Not indicative of someone "packed in the paint".

Jeff uses his big men either setting picks outside, being an outlet for the people to pass to outside, setting picks for baseline runners inside, or posting up. Carver for example, the teams top rebounder, was typically seen roaming 15-22 feet away from the basket for much of the shot clock doing those things. Due to Jeff's lack of having a dependable offensive post player he didn't do as much posting up as he had in some of his other seasons at ODU. It is also a reason why he has publicly stated that he had to get more post production.

Bottom line - Jeff is going to recruit the kinds of players that HE thinks he needs to play the style of play that HE wants to coach (assuming he can get those recruits to sign). If he has someone that doesn't mix with his starting lineup well because of size, speed, rebounding, ball handling, defense, shooting, etc. then he will have them coming off the bench with some other combination of players. Jeff picking out 5 of his players to best fit his scheme is the least of my worries about ODU basketball.