This is an incredibly wrong statement.
Tech is going to be good this year as I’ve repeatedly said, so, for the record, what would being proven right look like?
This nails it on the head - you don't need a good center in college basketball because you don't have to face that many good centers from opposing teams. There simply aren't enough humans on the planet with the freakish size/freakish athlete combo. Those that are get drafted 7th overall in the NBA draft
You are really right on all counts, in my humble opinion. A true center is simply on my wish list, even if it’s situational and off the bench.
Exactly! There are not a lot of quality low post players. If you have one, then you have to build an offense scheme around that player as a traditional low post center is not going to mesh well with other offensive schemes. And good luck finding a decent backup willing to ride the bench in case the starter gets hurt or is in foul trouble. If your starting center does get hurt and your backup stinks, you are screwed. This past season was an anomaly with two teams with high quality centers who played well enough, were durable and avoided foul trouble. I doubt we see this again for some time.
I'll take a tough 4 that can rebound and muscle opposing 5s. Do we have that? If so, I'm happy.This nails it on the head - you don't need a good center in college basketball because you don't have to face that many good centers from opposing teams. There simply aren't enough humans on the planet with the freakish size/freakish athlete combo. Those that are get drafted 7th overall in the NBA draft
Definitely a nice to have though. I miss Ben Lammers - he was a cheat code on both sides of the ball. Forgot that he averaged 3.4 blocks per game in 2016-17. Just silly.
Maybe Soare or Powell?
Yea having options frankly at all positions are a real positive based on opponent matchups. Ndongo is a really difficult matchup for our opponents as you said his tight space quickness is exceptional. He is also a very good decision maker on the pick and roll. Having several good 3 point shooters will make the George/McCollum - Ndongo pick and roll game much better as the weak side defender risks giving up an easy three point shot to a competent shooter. With Terry, Reeves and O'Brien we should have several good proven options for the corner 3 point shot. If the weak side defender stays home either Ndongo or the PG can get to the rim or hit a floater/short jump shot.
A-2
The one missing piece is 7 foot guys who are good 3 point shooters. They cause real problems for the heavy guys and are tall/long enough to present issues on defense around the rim.
Looking at Boston as a predicate, you can see that Porzingis did well in Boston's offense as a pick and pop 5. However, Boston also has two 6'7"+ All NBA max contract guys who don't really need ball screens to initiate the offense or get their shot - and are high end 3 point shooters. And certainly don't need the roll action to be effective themselves. If you look at George and McCollum I believe they both do need an active roll to help them be effective. Neither are knock down 3 point shooters and George is not a strong one on one penetrator from the wing. Great at turning the corner from a high screen and working off an explosive roll though. Point being, a pick and pop 5 can be effective in this offense but I don't think the 2 key guards we have will flourish in a pick and pop set as much as they do/will on a pick and roll set.
That is an interesting take. I guess one could make an argument that the same has been true since James Banks left and Moses Wright had to slide over to Center and Usher had to man the 4.
Agree on the need for more from a 4. I think both George and McCollum will be better shooters off the Pick and Roll this season. If the defender goes under the Ndongo screen I expect both will be capable of hitting the now open 3 point shot. If the defender fights over the screen George showed a pretty good floater late last season. If he continues to improve there the defense is in a dilemma. If the big goes for George than Ndongo has an easy path to the rim. If the big stays with Ndongo the floater is there. If the corner defender comes in then an open 3 is available. I don’t know how good McCollum is at attacking the rim.
If Ndongo improves his shooting enough to keep the floor spread. When he played the 4 last year at the start of games, very few teams guarded him in the corner giving an extra defender in the paint on the pick/roll action (as much as Duwuono could do it). This is why we went through Gapare (high ceiling/low production) and eventually settled on giving Coleman the majority of the minutes at the 4 (along with Claude). But Coleman got the majority of the minutes as he could shoot or at least was a threat to shoot and kept the floor more open.
The book of what we don’t know about this team is bigger than the book of what we do know.
