B.J. Elder

[CuseJacket]

There were a number of players you could remove from the '03-'04 team and say that GT wouldn't have made the run that they did. In my mind B.J. Elder is #1 on that list. He could hit the three, post up, or make his way to the basket as long as he wasn't getting doubled - a rarity in the college game.

On Friday he earned an Italian professional basketball title with his Aquila Basket team from Trento. Glad to see he's still making hay.

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Italy/2014/0606_3422_6011.asp

 

[ATL1]

That team was so relentless when it came to 3's.

 

[dtm1997]

Aside from the fact that I'll declare Will Bynum #1 on that list of players important to the run, this is great news. That's 2 international titles for that Final Four team and 3 for Jackets currently, that I know of including Marbury's.

Mario West appears to be playing well in the Phillipines and that Bosh dude is doing well domestically.

Was Elder in the same league as Lawal, because I think I've seen he's also performing well in Italy.

 

[CuseJacket]

Aside from the fact that I'll declare Will Bynum #1 on that list of players important to the run, this is great news. That's 2 international titles for that Final Four team and 3 for Jackets currently, that I know of including Marbury's.

Mario West appears to be playing well in the Phillipines and that Bosh dude is doing well domestically.

Was Elder in the same league as Lawal, because I think I've seen he's also performing well in Italy.

Gani is in a different Italian pro league. I'm really not sure where the different Italian leagues slot in terms of competitiveness. I think there are more than two of them as well.

Re: Bynum, my take is that his tourney performance may have been #1, but I'm viewing it as a whole year i.e., I think GT's tourney seeding is more drastically altered without B.J. all year. I also felt like B.J. had the MJ/LeBron affect on the rest of the team... even when he didn't produce on the stat sheet the amount of focused attention he received created a ton of opportunities for others.

There's definitely still room for debating that. Regardless it's refreshing to have that type of discussion on a GT basketball board.

 

[mmbt0ne]

Elder's team was in the second division. By winning the championship they'll move up to the Lega Basket Serie A league that Gani currently plays in.

Gani's team finished the regular season in 1st place, and are currently up 3-2 in their semi-finals series.

 

[Techster]

My memory is a bit hazy, but didn't Elder miss a lot of time in the tournament due to his hamstring?

 

[dtm1997]

My memory is a bit hazy, but didn't Elder miss a lot of time in the tournament due to his hamstring?

Yeah. This is what probably drives the difference in opinion between Cuse's view on Elder compared to my view on Bynum.

Elder had a great season, but during the Tourney, Bynum was just making things happen. Pretty sure I recall he had at least 2 game-winning acrobatic layups (Nevada & OK State, I think). My memory is also hazy 10 years later.

 

[RussianOffense]

Elder was the best player on the team.

 

[dtm1997]

Elder was the best player on the team.

And he was supposed to be by that point.

My point about Bynum's importance during the Tourney is partially a function of Elder sustaining the injury to begin with. At the same time, if ever there was an overall team effort in terms of contribution, it was that Final Four team.

Changing the subject entirely... who was there when BJ almost had to beat the crap out of JJ Redick and they both got thrown out because Redick is a punk? Top 5 among POS dook players.

 

[MidtownJacket]

don't forget Ish

 

[jeffgt14]

don't forget Ish

I agree Ish was HUGE during that run. Everybody forgets how great of an on ball defender he was.

 

[Techster]

From what I remember, that was a pretty balanced TEAM. Elder, Ismail, Jack, McHenry, Schensher, Bynum off the bench, and Mario West was a GREAT on ball defender. I four of them averaged double figures.

IMHO, I thought Jack was the key player during the tournament run. His PG play during that run was some of the best I've seen at GT.

 

[dtm1997]

Jarrett Jack & Will Bynum are my personal favorite GT players.

I think (hope) Jarrett Jack could be our head coach some day. BOOM! I went there.

Contributions everywhere. Let's not forget Clarence Moore bringing senior leadership on the Final Four run.

Speaking of Mario West... also a champ this year. France maybe?



And for good measure...

 

[GTRX7]

BJ Elder may be my favorite all-time Tech player. Those battles he had with McCants were epic. That 03-04 team was so much fun.

 

[chrsw003]

I think it was year after final 4, but we got off to a great start and was beating Kansas' *** at Kansas and than BJ sprained his ankle and we were never the same from that point on

 

[GTRX7]

Elder actually hurt himself the game before, early in the Nevada game. Lewis had a huge game in his absence, and Bynum hit a big twisting late layup. He tried a couple of minutes against Kansas, but was ineffective. Jack stepped up huge in that game with a career high in points, and Bynum again hit a clutch shot at the end. I believe Elder sat out the entire Ok. State game, before playing hampered against UConn. He and Bynum did drain some threes late to almost make it a game in the final minute, but it was just too little too late. He was just such a dynamic player, and returned to Tech in 2012 to finish his degree! http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/071412aaa.html

Documentary on that team:

Though he wasn't a statistical star, lets not forget Clarence Moore's importance to that team as well. He was the glue. That team was the true embodiment of a team. Dang I really miss those days. Can we please get a competitive team again : (

 

[dtm1997]

Didn't know Elder graduated. That's good stuff.

Video is blocked at work, but is that the "Team that Bee-lieved" DVD rip? I bought it a number of years back and it was worth it for the Ish dunks alone. Ran in to him in San Juan when we played down there. Really nice guy and really humble when we came up to him to thank him for that run. Had a similar experience thanking Clarence Moore when I ran in to him near campus once.

 

[chrsw003]

Elder actually hurt himself the game before, early in the Nevada game. Lewis had a huge game in his absence, and Bynum hit a big twisting late layup. He tried a couple of minutes against Kansas, but was ineffective. Jack stepped up huge in that game with a career high in points, and Bynum again hit a clutch shot at the end. I believe Elder sat out the entire Ok. State game, before playing hampered against UConn. He and Bynum did drain some threes late to almost make it a game in the final minute, but it was just too little too late. He was just such a dynamic player, and returned to Tech in 2012 to finish his degree! http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/071412aaa.html

Documentary on that team:

Though he wasn't a statistical star, lets not forget Clarence Moore's importance to that team as well. He was the glue. That team was the true embodiment of a team. Dang I really miss those days. Can we please get a competitive team again : (

Im talking about when we played Kansas in the regular season at Kansas, early in the year. We had a big lead and they came back and beat us.

 

[Peacone36]

BJ Elder may be my favorite all-time Tech player. Those battles he had with McCants were epic. That 03-04 team was so much fun.

This is exactly how I feel. I believe when Elder came in he as ranked somewhere around #98 in the country. Always gives me hope when we land someone like Tadric.

My favorite ever may be Harpring but Elder is a close second.

When it comes to the FF team. I think McHenry is underrated. Stick him in the high post and he could shoot that mid range shot or find the open man anywhere on the court. Didn't score many points but didn't hurt the team really at all and was a good defender.

 

[Peacone36]

I just watched the above video.

Dang, I miss those days.