<a href='http://www.onlinechester.com/articles/2005/02/14/sports/sports3.txt' target='_blank'>Downey article in local newspaper</a>

Man it would be fun to watch this kid tear it up in high school

Great article. Hope that translates into the college game for him and for the Bearcats. With all the whipping Huggins has been taking the last few days maybe he is the guy to put all those to rest!

i just hope we're not hyping this kid up too much. After all, he will be a freshman next year and he WILL make dumb freshman mistakes.

Good players make mistakes. Great players learn from them and committ them no more.

Yeah but we all know how people on this board act when players make mistakes. We want to rip on them right away and tell them they suck, i.e. Jihad. I really believe that Jihad is learning from his, after all, he is a freshman at the D1 level, and i firmly believe he will pull a tony bobbitt on us next year.

I just think it's time UC got another kid that has serious talent and basketball smarts that slipped by the top schools, i.e. Logan and Kenyon, and he turns out to be the real deal, along with coming in as a frosh and having 4 years to develop and build something here at UC. IF he is the real deal, this could be a Chris Paul type of deal that escalates this program higher. Same goes for any of these kids coming in.

I know we heard all this about other kids coming into this program like Field Williams, Tony Bobbitt, Eric Hicks................

but what I like about Downey, Evans, Banks, and Herrera is.......

Downey is a true proven PG. He is on every recruiting list as a top 10 or even top 5 PG. Generally that pans out to be good news. His size is a concern, but he has serious heart. I thought I read somewhere that he was considered the fastest PG from baseline to baseline in high school in all of the country. I'm sure that's just speculation. No hype here...........but he seems to do it all. He's not just a three point shooter, or just good at delivering the ball, or just penetrating............he can do all those things, plus has speed, plus has hops, plus has good court vision apparently............this could be a real steal. But we must be patient.

Evans............a true SG that can nail the 3 along with dribble penetration. Was a highly recruited DB in high school and considered very strong and athletic. Third on the Virginia career points scored list for high school players behind Moses Malone and Allen Iverson..................PRETTY DAMN GOOD COMPANY. Considers his defense to be his strong point.

Herrera.................we always lament that you don't have to be 6'10" to rebound..........and that many who are this tall don't rebound as well as the 6'5" or 6'7" guys. Well, Herrera seems to rebound well in high school and likes to mix it up down low which hasn't been true of alot of taller guys we've had. I picture him more as an Eric Williams type player that powers it around the basket and rebounds. The perfect UC player..........and it's only a plus that he's that tall. If he were ranked in the top 100........he'd probably be going pro by now, so maybe it's better that he's flying under the radar, hopefully.


I will be patient and wait to see to believe it. But on paper, they have the makings of a group that possibly is flying under the radar and UC........FOR ONCE! Might have gotten lucky. And they need some lucky recruiting to get this program over the hump.

People like us do have the reputation for being intolerant of mistakes. (I'm glad I don't have thousands of people assessing what I do now, let alone when I was in college!)

I'd be more concerned about whether these young players for next year will be allowed to play like we hope they will ... or will we see them ride the pine because they can't bench enough, or get yanked repeatedly when some other team's good player beats them off the dribble or forces a bad pass, or will they hear that "They have no idea what it's all about, Chuck"?

[Remember, our best players are typically the ones who either have exhausted their eligibility, are currently sitting out awaiting their eligibility, or have signed but haven't gotten here yet. The ones on the team presently either don't listen, can't guard, make poor decisions, throw it to the other team, etc.]

What I mean is, from what we hear (and that's a slippery slope), these guys are as ready to play as any freshmen we normally see around here ... And everywhere I look elsewhere in Div 1, including throughout the Top 25, I see freshmen doing things to help their team win (including in the first games of any given year). Will we get to experience that, or will this crop also be on the Bearcat learning curve? Without ever having seen Downey and Banks and Evans and Herrera, part of me says let 'em play (within reason). Why must it be more difficult here than at other places?

Quote:I'd be more concerned about whether these young players for next year will be allowed to play like we hope they will ... or will we see them ride the pine because they can't bench enough, or get yanked repeatedly when some other team's good player beats them off the dribble or forces a bad pass, or will they hear that "They have no idea what it's all about, Chuck"?

[Remember, our best players are typically the ones who either have exhausted their eligibility, are currently sitting out awaiting their eligibility, or have signed but haven't gotten here yet. The ones on the team presently either don't listen, can't guard, make poor decisions, throw it to the other team, etc.]

What I mean is, from what we hear (and that's a slippery slope), these guys are as ready to play as any freshmen we normally see around here ... And everywhere I look elsewhere in Div 1, including throughout the Top 25, I see freshmen doing things to help their team win (including in the first games of any given year). Will we get to experience that, or will this crop also be on the Bearcat learning curve? Without ever having seen Downey and Banks and Evans and Herrera, part of me says let 'em play (within reason). Why must it be more difficult here than at other places?

What freshmen do you want Huggins to play?
Last time I checked Maxiel, Logan, Demar, Satterfield, Little, Hicks, Kirkland, .......
all played as freshmen.

You just dont score 67 points in the flow of the game.

Dont go making this guy out to be isiah thomas. do you want a scoring point, or a playmaker? I doubt seriously he is both. Tossing out names like chris paul will only set you up for a disapointment. Who was the kid that surpassed wilt in scoring in pennsylvania? Who does he play for? Demarcus nelson of duke has numerous malfunctions in his game and would not get off the bench if this was a typical duke team. Tigran Grigorian scored 100 in a game in 03. heard of him? Terrence davis left UC as an alltime bench warmer who went overseas and found a league he could score in. I dont wanna tear this kid down but if we cant properly blend a kids skills into a team concept, then it dont matter who we get.

I can already tell you that evans is not going to satisfy some of you. If a guy has a rep as a shooter, you expect him to never miss. We had many years where we had no one who can make a 3. Now we have several, they just shoot it too much.


I can bet money right now that by this time next year, barring we get a real post player with the last scholly, Many folks will have blasted abdul for not being a better player. The gurus rarely underate big men.

B, there is one thing that should help reduce the amount of criticism Downey and Evans receive next year, the fact that neither one of them will be starting for at least the first half of the year. Barring any injuries that is.

I agree Oleskl. And I made that exact comment along with the fact that we have Moore, Jihad, Hicks, Kirkland, White, and Bright all coming back with experience, and they can win some games just on their own, which allows the newcomers including Banks, time to adjust and blend in.

Intimidate, Dominate, Celebrate Wrote:i just hope we're not hyping this kid up too much. After all, he will be a freshman next year and he WILL make dumb freshman mistakes.

he probably has a 52 inch vertical jump, hits all his free throws and is unconscious from outside like Plavich...but he probably doesn't bench press 380 pounds yet so has to sit and work at the weights first before he plays. Then we see the big drop off in shooting skills. I don't like point guards that bulk up.......please Coach Huggins, let this kid be himselfffffffff.....we need him.

bearcatb Wrote:You just dont score 67 points in the flow of the game.

Dont go making this guy out to be isiah thomas. do you want a scoring point, or a playmaker? I doubt seriously he is both. Tossing out names like chris paul will only set you up for a disapointment. Who was the kid that surpassed wilt in scoring in pennsylvania? Who does he play for? Demarcus nelson of duke has numerous malfunctions in his game and would not get off the bench if this was a typical duke team. Tigran Grigorian scored 100 in a game in 03. heard of him? Terrence davis left UC as an alltime bench warmer who went overseas and found a league he could score in. I dont wanna tear this kid down but if we cant properly blend a kids skills into a team concept, then it dont matter who we get.

I can already tell you that evans is not going to satisfy some of you. If a guy has a rep as a shooter, you expect him to never miss. We had many years where we had no one who can make a 3. Now we have several, they just shoot it too much.


I can bet money right now that by this time next year, barring we get a real post player with the last scholly, Many folks will have blasted abdul for not being a better player. The gurus rarely underate big men.

bearcatb,
downey has had several games of 10 or more assists. I don't think he is really a ball hog. I look forward to watching him develop at UC unless the coaching staff ruins him with the weights.

I have never seen the UC coaches ruin any kid that worked hard and wanted to be the best. Eric Hicks is a good example of this. So is Max. So was Fortson, Kenyon, Brannen, Logan, and many others. If you do the program you'll get the results.

I think the real measuring stick will be how Downey does if he plays in any of these pre-McDonald's AA game tournaments. I'd love to see him play in that game though to see how he compares to the best.

Quote:he probably has a 52 inch vertical jump, hits all his free throws and is unconscious from outside like Plavich...but he probably doesn't bench press 380 pounds yet so has to sit and work at the weights first before he plays. Then we see the big drop off in shooting skills. I don't like point guards that bulk up.......please Coach Huggins, let this kid be himselfffffffff.....we need him.

:crying:

Quote:I look forward to watching him develop at UC unless the coaching staff ruins him with the weights

Who bulked up and ruined their shooting skills? James White sure plays alot for how skinny he is.

bearcat54 Wrote:please Coach Huggins, let this kid be himselfffffffff

Does your keyboard have sticky S and F keys? A can of compressed air or a keyboard/screen cleaning towelette might take care of that problem.

Bearcat54,
sorry but I agree with hoopsjunkyyyyyyyyy




Gosh darn y key got stuck again

bearcatb Wrote:Who was the kid that surpassed wilt in scoring in pennsylvania? Who does he play for?

As I said earlier, you are thinking of Maurice Rice, he now plays for East Carolina.

JFlight21 Wrote:

bearcatb Wrote:Who was the kid that surpassed wilt in scoring in pennsylvania? Who does he play for?

As I said earlier, you are thinking of Maurice Rice, he now plays for East Carolina.

Thought Mo played for G Dub.

Bearcattitude Wrote:I think the real measuring stick will be how Downey does if he plays in any of these pre-McDonald's AA game tournaments. I'd love to see him play in that game though to see how he compares to the best.

What games are you referring to Chatt? Please tell me you aren't talking about all star games. They mean nothing.