No shame in losing in the MAAC Final to Iona - but in hindsight, that 2017-2018 team... with 2 future G Leaguers and another guy that will end up on a mediocre Big 12 team... really should've won a few more regular season games.
If I were a player transferring after my Junior year and if I were transferring to a school that was not academically near the same level as Fairfield, I would have the credits earned from my new school sent to Fairfield so that the record shows I graduated as a Stag. It is not unusual for a college to accept transfer credits, within reason, from other institutions. Players who transfer should be making judicious choices. When Flavors left after his first year for a school out West , a school that is very average, I thought that his decision was a bad one.
It appears that Methnani will be a graduate transfer, so he will be getting his degree from Fairfield. Good for him.
No shame in losing in the MAAC Final to Iona - but in hindsight, that 2017-2018 team... with 2 future G Leaguers and another guy that will end up on a mediocre Big 12 team... really should've won a few more regular season games.
No surprise that a Syd team underachieved. With the exception of the two 7 win guard short teams that were as bad as their record, I thought that most of his teams sould have been better.
No shame in losing in the MAAC Final to Iona - but in hindsight, that 2017-2018 team... with 2 future G Leaguers and another guy that will end up on a mediocre Big 12 team... really should've won a few more regular season games.
Agree. Not upset we lost to Iona that year but we really shouldve been a 20+ win team. I was pretty pissed when they didnt fire him after that season, that team had alot of talent and he did relatively nothing with them.
Jeff Otchere, 6-11 240 Center who was the Defensive Player of the year in 2018-2019 for Stony Brook. Grad transfer with one year left. Could help us on the inside. Not our scoring big but would undoubtedly be a force defensively. www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4396585/jeff-otchere
Travis Evee, 6-0 165 Point Guard who can score. Would have to sit pending NCAA review of the one time transfer rule but has 3 years left. Great 3 point shooter and distributor. New England roots could maybe get him to Fairfield but some impressive stats. www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4593712/travis-evee
Here is how I would like to fill our last 4 spots: - Transfer Big man who can play next year - Freshman Big man who has size and we can groom to play in the post - Point Guard or Shooting Guard who can score immediately through transfer or HS - Athletic Wing who can complement a point guard who give him the ball on cutting/slashing
Otchere, just what we need another big man Methani and Eze who cannot hit a foul shot. He is a 46% foul shooter. No thanks!
Maybe we should just bring back unathletic "academic" big men who can shoot FTs? This guy is exactly what we need size wise. FTs aren't everything. And honestly I want better FT shooting Guards and slashing forwards. Big men who hit FTs over 60% are not so common IMO.
Otchere, just what we need another big man Methani and Eze who cannot hit a foul shot. He is a 46% foul shooter. No thanks!
Maybe we should just bring back unathletic "academic" big men who can shoot FTs? This guy is exactly what we need size wise. FTs aren't everything. And honestly I want better FT shooting Guards and slashing forwards. Big men who hit FTs over 60% are not so common IMO.
13, What are u talking about. Did I say we should bring in unatheletic / academic big men? I disagree about the importance of big men not being good FT. I think it is extremely important that they shoot at least 60% from the foul line at a minimum. You did not get to see 6-10 Mark Young a very good FT shooter who played with joe DeSantis or another big man 6-10 Anthony Johnson who’s play improved measurably after his FT ability improved.
Maybe we should just bring back unathletic "academic" big men who can shoot FTs? This guy is exactly what we need size wise. FTs aren't everything. And honestly I want better FT shooting Guards and slashing forwards. Big men who hit FTs over 60% are not so common IMO.
13, What are u talking about. Did I say we should bring in unatheletic / academic big men? I disagree about the importance of big men not being good FT. I think it is extremely important that they shoot at least 60% from the foul line at a minimum. You did not get to see 6-10 Mark Young a very good FT shooter who played with joe DeSantis or another big man 6-10 Anthony Johnson who’s play improved measurably after his FT ability improved.
Anthony Johnson was a 59% FT shooter. I'd love to have a player like him, but he did not shoot 60%. Loved him though because he improved every year.
I would love to see someone who is a bit more offensively inclined, but Otchere did block about 2 shots per game during his two years at Stony Brook, playing only about 20 mpg. That's impressive. For a coach like JY who values defense above all else, can't help but think he might get a look.
Maybe we should just bring back unathletic "academic" big men who can shoot FTs? This guy is exactly what we need size wise. FTs aren't everything. And honestly I want better FT shooting Guards and slashing forwards. Big men who hit FTs over 60% are not so common IMO.
13, What are u talking about. Did I say we should bring in unatheletic / academic big men? I disagree about the importance of big men not being good FT. I think it is extremely important that they shoot at least 60% from the foul line at a minimum. You did not get to see 6-10 Mark Young a very good FT shooter who played with joe DeSantis or another big man 6-10 Anthony Johnson who’s play improved measurably after his FT ability improved.
Point is, we are a small mid-major program with little success. The player everyone is asking for, higher FT % and better offensively is a dime a dozen and I am not even sure is still out there for next year. Do I think Otchere is our everything player, no. But I think based on our defensive mindset and our dying need for someone with some size to play in the post he fills the gap given he has 1 year left and can play next year. Worst case we have one year of him and move on.
By the way, I am all for the perfect player you are calling for but I think that takes recruiting a talented HS player early and getting his commitment for 4 years at Fairfield. Which in these times of the MAAC being a "farm system" for high major programs is hard. The other avanue to get this type is through transfers as we are talking about (I think our most talented played in the last 10ish years was Rakim Sanders who only came because of a relationship with Cooley). I think Jay will have to build his name and Fairfield's name up before he can get more guys like this IMO.
Last Edit: Mar 31, 2020 13:02:26 GMT -5 by gostags13
Did I call for a perfect player. No. All I am saying is that a good FT shooting from a big man is extremely important IMO. By the way Vastagman , Anthony Johnson May have been a career 59% shooter . However , he was a 63% shooter , taking 3x as many FTA his senior year (130/207)then previous and that was an important part of his last year success at FF.
I don’t have the stats, but my recollection is that Anthony Johnson was basically a 50% FT shooter for three and a half years. But something happened the last half of his senior where he must have shot 75-80% from the line. It was like a miracle. He went from a guy Cooley would have to hide late in games where we had a lead, to the guy we wanted at the line. Amazing turnaround. Does anyone remember this the same way?
I don’t have the stats, but my recollection is that Anthony Johnson was basically a 50% FT shooter for three and a half years. But something happened the last half of his senior where he must have shot 75-80% from the line. It was like a miracle. He went from a guy Cooley would have to hide late in games where we had a lead, to the guy we wanted at the line. Amazing turnaround. Does anyone remember this the same way?
Well that's kind of the way I remembered it. But interestingly after just now looking at his stats, his first year was actually his best from just purely a percentage standpoint. It was a bit over 64%, and that happened to beat his senior year by about a point. Big difference though is that he attempted well over 200 that final year as opposed to his freshman campaign where he was in the 80s, therefore his percent number as a senior was more legit. Big slump in his middle two years where he was just over 50%. But the point is he had indeed become more dependable in that part of the game, all parts of the game for that matter, and that is why Cooley had so much faith in him whenever he was on the floor.
Last Edit: Mar 31, 2020 15:09:26 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
I don’t have the stats, but my recollection is that Anthony Johnson was basically a 50% FT shooter for three and a half years. But something happened the last half of his senior where he must have shot 75-80% from the line. It was like a miracle. He went from a guy Cooley would have to hide late in games where we had a lead, to the guy we wanted at the line. Amazing turnaround. Does anyone remember this the same way?
I'm not sure about Johnson but you just described Darren Phillip - he was an absolutely horrendous free throw shoot early in career and turned into a pretty good one by his senior year.
Not too many good free throw shooting big men in Fairfield's recent history, a few that come to mind are Deng Gai, Robby Thompson, and Mike Evanovich
Post by nashvillestag on Mar 31, 2020 14:58:34 GMT -5
I don't know if Jay Young would be interested in this big guy from Stony Brook, although as a one-time DPOY in the AE plus Jay's connection to that school, I'm sure he could be. Point is we do need some talent at the forward positions (is Eze coming back BTW?), therefore the Stags have to be exploring all options I would imagine. Obviously all aspects of any particular player's game would have to be considered, and yes a non-dependable free throw shooter could be a liability. OTOH if this kid was REALLY good at patrolling the lane by intimidating and blocking shots, certainly that could be a reason to bring him on board. It's tough on the mid-majors to get a complete package with the bigs, so it will be interesting to see how this facet of the recruiting game plays out this spring.
Last Edit: Mar 31, 2020 15:01:01 GMT -5 by nashvillestag