Enough about Nolan! Fans can praise him after his first game wearing a Fairfield university jersey in an actual college game. There are a lot of good high school players out there who get dominated in D1 basketball games. We should be focused on what we have instead of what we MIGHT have in the future. Future players can't fix the mess of a team that we have now.
I hate to say it, and call me pessimistic if you like, but if this kid Nolan is so good, why does he have to redshirt for a year? Wouldn't he be able to hit the ground running, especially for a program that is doing so poorly?
This redshirt idea was floated very early: before the season turned into such a rescue job. I'm sure Nolan is bright, so possible "redshirt" reasoning is something Sydney is keeping close to his vest. It is unlikely to truly be "to get stronger" in that Nolan is already playing against college-bound talent in the top 10 CT Class LL HS's. Maybe it is to open a scholarship for a big, or maybe SJ felt Rose and Rome were cemented in for next year, so why waste a year of Nolan being played sporadically as back-up? Could be that this was also accepted by Nolan in that he could pursue a master's with the additional year.
Until we see more of what Smith and Chappell can do, I think Syd needs to rethink who he might be pressuring out with his lack of attention. I think Rose is one lucky guy right now. We know Sydney can be extremely stubborn in changing his approach and Rose seems to be enjoying anointed status.
Enough about Nolan! Fans can praise him after his first game wearing a Fairfield university jersey in an actual college game. There are a lot of good high school players out there who get dominated in D1 basketball games. We should be focused on what we have instead of what we MIGHT have in the future. Future players can't fix the mess of a team that we have now.
I hate to say it, and call me pessimistic if you like, but if this kid Nolan is so good, why does he have to redshirt for a year? Wouldn't he be able to hit the ground running, especially for a program that is doing so poorly?
"Good" is a relative term as each person has their definition of what a "Good" player is. I find it more helpful to compare him to past players and if he is All-MAAC level. So the questions are, Is Tommy Nolan:
An All-MAAC Player? How does he compare to these players? - English (POY) - Needham - Han - John Tice - Nelson - Segura - MVS - TOT - Rose - Fields - StevieJ
But the most important question, is he better than our current starters at the PG, 2G and SF...... Rome, Tyler, Marcus?
Last Edit: Jan 28, 2015 12:25:35 GMT -5 by JoeStag
Post by fairfieldfan on Jan 28, 2015 12:27:23 GMT -5
Not to be repetitive but, in the words of Janestag..."Enough about Nolan"....this kids been sainted on this message board before even putting on a Fairfield uniform....there's a whole lotta time between now and if (and when) he can play.....let's hope there's a quick fix NOW not 2 years down the road......
I see Nolan as an indispensable all around player, one you'd want on the court in any situation. It may be before your time, but Billy Jones back in the 3B's 60's teams was similar in that respect. Coach Bisacca had some great teams back then!
He has the hard nosed winning fire that could be attributed to TOT or Tice, the passing ability, court sense, and unselfishness of Joey D or Johnny Ryan. I do not see him in the same vein as Tyler, who is probably a better outside shooter, however when Tommy sees the slightest crack in the defense he will drive to the hoop and either get fouled, make the basket, or dish it off. In that sense, he can be very much like a point guard.
Unfortunately going up against bigger players he's not a great rebounder being only 6'3'', but he'll be in there fighting for it or perhaps try to knock it out of the opponent's hands. On defense he's very quick, steals the ball frequently and is great on the fast break. His teammate, Ryan Foley, compliments him well in that respect, much like the Needham/Nickerson tandem.
My fear is that whenever he does get to play in a Stag uniform, that unless Sydney (if he is still here) completely changes his system to accommodate the likes of Nolan and others that we may not get to witness the full potential of some very fine players like TNT or TNT2. Together they could be DYNAMITE!! lol.
I'd like to see how Nash and bridgeport would characterize Nolan as they've both seen him play for a few years like me.
IMO, redshirting is a luxury that programs with winning records use to secure a player they think will help them succeed, but not immediately. Does ANYONE think Fairfield is in that position? IMO, if a kid's not ready to play, and I'm not saying that Nolan isn't, go get someone that can. I think its a ruse and as soon as SJ runs officially runs someone off, Nolan plays next year.
Post by reindeerfan on Jan 28, 2015 12:59:48 GMT -5
I take the idea of him "redshirting' with a grain of salt. Perhaps Sydney wants to recruit two guards for next year and by saying Nolan is going to redshirt it makes it clear he has a scholarship to give. I would not be surprised if we lost a scholarship player next year. Bernice Cieplicki was playing well but transferred because he wanted to get closer to home. Players leave for many reasons, and I imagine some players are disillusioned with their playing time. I would wait to see how this thing pans out. No questions we need more help at guard.
Malcom will be graduating in June. For what he is doing for us, Fairfield would be crazy to bring him back for a 5th year. He is getting his degree, so I do not consider that running him out of the program. If that happens and Nolan is a walk on next year, we can give 2 scholarships for 2015; Grennan and Malcom. What about Threatt? What is the word on him from Sydney's Bunker? I do know this. Major changes need to be made to Sydney's staff if he does return. These changes should have been made last year but weren't. This is another reason why Sydney is a bad administrator and coach. Can't make the tough decisions.
Of our current crop of guards, only Tyler and Rome are better, in my opinion. However, Nolan can do some things better than Tyler such as penetrate, rebound, and defend. He is a much better shooter than Rome. The other guards aren't even comparable. The question becomes; Is he good enough to move us where we want to go? He is certainly a D1 player where as many on this roster are not.
Post by nashvillestag on Jan 28, 2015 14:26:42 GMT -5
Well I'm certainly not ready to put Nolan in the "sainted" category of some. I do think that he does have an all around game in that he is very good (but not necessarily great) in a lot of the functions that you would ask a guard to do. However this is against decent but not great high school talent. Never have seen him perform in AAU ball against possibly some of the best scholastic talent in the country. As far as his value in the future and what it could mean for the Stags, I do have to say that a couple of things mentioned about him are true concerning the "intangibles" that he might bring. As Stagal said, he does indeed play with a fire that does remind me of O'Toole and Tice. And his shot is definitely better than TOT (not necessarily John), plus he is unselfish if it helps the team to win. (BTW, Stagal-Billy Jones was one of the greatest ever, please don't compare). Aside from that however, one of the negatives in his play has been that he has not always been consistent from game to game even in this his senior year. Fact is that Prep is loaded relative to most of the teams they play. Therefore an off night from Nolan almost never means a loss from the team. On the other hand in the biggest games last year (league and state tourneys) he came up big, even in the final where he was much less at fault than others for the loss to Central. But he does have to use his fire to his benefit, something he has to work on for sure. I guess in summary I am cautiously optimistic about his prospects when he plays for Fairfield, but (especially if he sits out next season) that is a long way off right now.
I believe that is the case and is the reason that I would vote to bring neither back, time to make way for some new players who could potentially help the team more in the future.