I think Degnan has to added to the list along with Malcolm, Coleman and Amadou himself. However, having 4 "relatively equal" choices right now is not necessarily the best thing. I would like to see one of those players step up and give us 10pts and 10 rebs a game the rest of the season. Coleman is at the stage of his career that he could make that jump. His issue is that he cannot stay on the court, cause he fouls too much. He has played at a high level at times, but those stretches last only about 10 min.
If the Stags are to make something out of these last 10 regular-season games (starting Friday night against Monmouth at the Webster Bank Arena), then other players -- namely, Malcolm Gilbert and Coleman Johnson -- have to step up and give their head coach more than just flashes of consistency.
Kudos to Chris Elsberry of the CT POST for continuing to write about the Stags but also for interesting and timely topics:
Johnson insists that this is not the end of Sidibe's season. That the new plan is to try to build back the strength and endurance in the knee and see how it responds. Because Fairfield needs Sidibe. They need him badly. "We just have a different energy when he's not out there," Johnson said......
"With Malcolm in particular, it's making sure that he's in synch with the other four guys," Johnson said. "Everyone makes mistakes but if there's certain play calls or certain defensive schemes, he's got to be in synch with his teammates in the game. He plays tough and physical in practice and he has to carry that over into games. He should be intimidating to other teams we're playing. We want to see more of that."So does all of Stag Nation. .....
For decades our coaching staff has not developed our centers and big men very effectively. There have been some exceptions going back to the days of Mark Young, such as Deng Gai and Anthony Johnson. Others have been late bloomers like Pete DeBisschop and Ryan Olander. Malcolm simply does not have the aggressive personality needed to be a dominant center at a college level.
Sidibe is a great rebounder but doesn't have good hands and not a good shooter except maybe close up Kirkland is a little better shooter but not great rebounder. Both are inconsistent
Post by reindeerfan on Jan 28, 2015 12:50:22 GMT -5
Well if Sidibe hadn't gotten hurt we'd probably have 7 wins already this season
Well I am sorry that Sidibe is down, I think we do need him, you need a lot of depth at the center position, I am hoping that Marcus uses these minutes to develop his game and that Coleman starts to play like I believe he can. This will be their opportunity.
Post by nashvillestag on Jan 28, 2015 13:13:29 GMT -5
Not even thinking of how this effects the team, this is really sad in how it effects a good guy who gives everything he has when he is out on the court. Always the danger of anyone playing athletics at a high level of course. But Amadou has certainly had some good moments for the Stags this year. I believe the article said he has had 5, maybe 6 double-doubles this season! I was not aware of that. And I'm sure it's been tough on him when he hears the whispers that he isn't performing up to expectations at certain times, something that happened a lot in the first half of last year, when in fact he was playing hurt under the radar. Not sure what I would advise him to do. Should he gut it out and play constantly with pain? Is it worth it to him in regards to what he is going to do with the rest of his life? That certainly should be a consideration IMO. But when all is said and done about Amadou's career as a Stag it's too bad that he possibly could have accomplished a lot more without this injury problem. Actually this sort of reminds me of two former (recent) Stags in Yorel Hawkins and Warren Edney, who while doing some nice things in their time here, certainly could have been thought of a lot higher in the pantheon of former players in this program without the injuries that periodically hampered them.
Post by nittanystag on Jan 28, 2015 14:02:30 GMT -5
I remember Warren dropping 28 on an excellent Memphis team. Then came the injury and he never seemed the same again. Another "what could have been!" Add Greg Nero to that category also.
Post by 01041949bob on Jan 28, 2015 14:24:13 GMT -5
give Smith a shot--he will give us a different look when Malcolm is not playing---I think Smith is better than Coleman or Degnan--what we lose defensively with Smith he will more than make it up offensively, I am sure of it
Post by reindeerfan on Jan 28, 2015 14:26:06 GMT -5
Shane Miller was not the same player after his injury. While Shannon Bowman finished his career on top, his productivity was really hampered much of his senior year.
Post by nashvillestag on Jan 28, 2015 14:44:42 GMT -5
Absolutely Nittany, forgot about Greg. And yes RF, Miller and Bowman. These are all examples of players that had good careers that could have been so much better without such bad fortune.
We know that Smith can shoot from playing last year. He was weak in defending and rebounding however. I watched him play in the Red/White scrimmage and saw that he went strongly to the boards and got some rebounds. No one has mentioned that here. I've watched him sitting on the bench this season, standing in the back of the huddles listening to instructions, and not being given a chance to play. Must be depressing....... He did finally get in the other night briefly and hit a basket. Let's give him a chance to see what he can do with some extended time, call upon him to help rebound, and not take him out with his first mistake or miss. We need his offensive capabilities to help take pressure off of Tyler and Marcus too.
Post by nittanystag on Jan 28, 2015 15:30:02 GMT -5
He is, after all, 6'9". I'll exchange a 2 for a 3 any day. Perhaps the coaching staff should pull out some game videos of how Mike Evanovich was used. Very similar MOs.
