Part of the excitement is that CC has built a DEEP squad for seemingly the first time in modern history, so perhaps injuries won't be quite as damaging.
I suppose if you think of it that way, the lack of snake bite will result in a trip to the dance. At some point success will be the anti venom.I've been here before. When does the snake bite happen this time?
I think that depth is the key. You don't need 7 guys to be stars. You need one or two and then a bunch of solid role players around them. Sometimes we've had a star. Sometimes we've had 1.5 to 2 star players. But we never had the other guys to help them out. Now we have a chance to go 8 deep (or more) with quality players and a greater chance of having 2 bona fide stars. I think Vic and Mac are already on their way to being stars.Snake bite?!?! Never!! Not at NU!! And especially not with six players mentioned above that most of us have never seen play for one minute. I'm sure all will be rock-solid players.
By the way, did I ever tell you the tale of Kyle Rowley?
Seriously, the fellas above have a good point: there is some very unNU-like depth with this group. It's going to be interesting to see who plays to their hype.
NU now has 10 recruits over the past three recruiting years. 2 Cs - Pardon and Benson; 2 PFs - Skelly, Falzon; 2 SFs - Law and Rapolas; 4 Gs - McIntosh, Lindsey, Brown and Ash. That is the most balanced roster NU has had. Collins has done a great job reconstructing the roster. Some people had tried to downplay NU's recruiting success is that NU does not have the recruiting success of MSU, OSU, UM and Md. The difference is those schools will lose a number of their players early.
Snake bite?!?! Never!! Not at NU!! And especially not with six players mentioned above that most of us have never seen play for one minute. I'm sure all will be rock-solid players.
By the way, did I ever tell you the tale of Kyle Rowley?
Seriously, the fellas above have a good point: there is some very unNU-like depth with this group. It's going to be interesting to see who plays to their hype.
Beat me to the Rowley comparison. Cautionary tale of big men in particular. We've had so many peak their freshman year or never develop at all. It will be interesting to see if people will be patient if/when Benson struggles his first season.
Not all of these guys will reach their potential, but the key is we have a lot of raffle tickets.
I think its fair to hesitate on proclaiming any of these guys as saviors. I think the Rowley lesson is apt. However, the difference now is that we have multiple classes full of potential break-out stars instead of having to put our eggs in mainly one basket. One of these guys will be a star if not more. If none of them pan out, then that would truly be a major disappointment. But no reason to be pessimistic now.Why is there no comparison with Rowley? He had better offers than Benson.
Why is there no comparison with Rowley? He had better offers than Benson.
I think you guys are being overly picky. There aren't many guys in the 6'10" and above range that are quick, athletic and polished before their senior year of high school. The few guys that are like that end up being drafted in the lottery after their freshman year.^ Ha, you beat me to it.
Was going to post the same thing - that BB's game reminds me of Olah.
BB is not particularly athletic (a little better hops than Olah, but that isn't saying much, esp. since Olah is bigger), but supposedly has soft hands, good footwork (which does not = quick feet) and good passing ability for a 5.
The latest report is that BB has lost about 10 lbs (now around 230-235 lbs - hmmm, doesn't that sound familiar?) so that he can run the court and move around the paint (on D) better, but it seems that he may indeed be 6-10 and not 6-9.
Seems like his game will be reliant on fundamentals, getting stronger (to work in the paint) and his shooting touch (supposedly has a decent mid-range touch, but as we know, most bigs need to keep working on their shot).
BB probably is ahead of where Olah was at the same juncture - being able to run the court better (in part to being smaller/lighter) and having played against tougher competition, but seems to be in the same mold of needing polish and experience (which is the case for the majority of centers coming out of HS).
A different type of center from Pardon, who while no JVZ, is more prone to be the big throwing down an alley-oop.
But at the same time, if BB develops at a similar rate that Olah has thus far, could end up being a better Olah, which is not a bad thing at all.
Makes for a duo at center w/ diff. attributes which gives CC and Co. flexibility (here's hoping that Pardon is 80-85% the player that Sullinger was for dOSU).
I think you guys are being overly picky. There aren't many guys in the 6'10" and above range that are quick, athletic and polished before their senior year of high school. The few guys that are like that end up being drafted in the lottery after their freshman year.
My memory is the board was over the moon when Rowley committed so to that degree they do compare however that is neither player's fault. Rowley's recruitment was much more publicized as BB seems to be a more private person. So there was more build up when Rowley committed. We really built up Rowley into a Goliath who would crush all opposition. That is my memory of it.Please. There is NO comparison with Kyle. Barret may well struggle his first season, but his upside is far higher than was Rowley's.
Think the over hype expressed by many board members was because NU at that time just wasn't able to recruit "bigs".My memory is the board was over the moon when Rowley committed so to that degree they do compare however that is neither player's fault. Rowley's recruitment was much more publicized as BB seems to be a more private person. So there was more build up when Rowley committed. We really built up Rowley into a Goliath who would crush all opposition. That is my memory of it.
Perfect. You nailed it. Now we are getting picky about the 4* players who commit. Geez, just can't please some people! Let's see the young man play in purple for a few years before declaring him the second coming of Kyle Rowley!
Think the over hype expressed by many board members was because NU at that time just wasn't able to recruit "bigs".
NU fans have a habit of looking at star ratings and projecting all kinds of future glory (or dead-panning a recruit) for that player and our program. They build these guys up to be superathletes before they ever set foot on campus, creating all kinds of high expectations and unnecessary pressure on kids to perform. When they don't pan out, they're labeled busts for no fault of the player. All I'm doing is countering the hype that is being tossed around right now ("He's a top 100 player!!!! We're going to the Sweet 16!!!") with a dose of reality so that folks don't call him a bust if he's not the second coming of Kareem Jabbar after a few years in the program.
Stars are for losers. These players pass the eyeball test from their videos. Whether or not that translates to W's remains to be seen.
Well, both BB and Olah didn't exactly pass my eyeball test for B1G readiness with flying colors after watching their videos. Benson is a decent player, but he, like Olah before him, will need some time and considerable coaching before he can play effectively in the Big Ten. Fans need to be patient as he develops.
I agree that it will take time to develop. Even Haas at Purdue looked raw last year and he was much higher rated than Barret.
Wasn't Luka in that class as well? Wasn't he 6'10" and doesn't that count as a big?Right on. Going back to 2002 in the Rivals database, NU signed exactly 3 "bigs": zero-star Vince Scott in 2003, 2* Davide Curletti in 2008, and 3* Kyle Rowley in the same class. Kyle was the final commit in the class, almost a year after one of the all-time NU greats, John Shurna, committed to the class.
Interesting that Olah is now rated as a 3 star. As I recall he was always rated as a zero or 2 star. In general, it seems that the 6'10 and above centers tend to take longer to develop than any other position. Sort of have to grow into the body. The guys that are ready to play as Frosh are pretty limited. WIS generally did a pretty good ob in developing them. Olah is in that old Wis type mold. Since the group we have now seems to be good at developing this type of player, makes you wonder if they could have done better with Rowley than was done.Well, both BB and Olah didn't exactly pass my eyeball test for B1G readiness with flying colors after watching their videos. Benson is a decent player, but he, like Olah before him, will need some time and considerable coaching before he can play effectively in the Big Ten. Fans need to be patient as he develops.
Since the group we have now seems to be good at developing this type of player, makes you wonder if they could have done better with Rowley than was done.
Wasn't Luka in that class as well? Wasn't he 6'10" and doesn't that count as a big?
I don't know how many folks here have watched any videos of Benson. He does seem to have good hands, but he lacks hops and quickness, and has a tendency to play smaller than his height. Consequently, he has had trouble lately with other big centers. He has trouble guarding quicker big men. Instead of extending his arms when shooting, he shoots from a lower hand position and is easy to block. He does try to keep the ball up high upon rebounding rather than bring it down to his waist, which is a fault of many centers.
He certainly is a legit center recruit, but from what I've seen, he's much like Alex Olah, i.e., someone who will need a lot of work to develop effective offensive moves and become an assertive, physical center. There is no guarantee he will develop the way Olah has, but we know we have the coaches who can bring about good development. Olah's improvement has been excellent. I hope Benson is at least 6'10" in height. Height has been Olah's greatest attribute and has enabled him to overcome other shortcomings.
Some centers develop and adjust to the college game, others, including many 4-star guys, never seem to get the hang of playing the college game. Guys like Woodbury, Egwu, Morgan (Mr. Basketball for Ohio), and other Big Ten centers come to mind. Olah has been a remarkable exception.
And did you ever hear of that group being able to develop bigs? The group we have here now has done a good job with Olah. THe group at WI has done a good job with a number. The guys we had here under BC never showed that they could develop a big. St. Mary's , I do not know. Rowley was a project and needed a staff that could handle that. We did not have one here. It seems we do now. So the question is, could the current staff have done a better job with him?The staff at St. Mary's didn't have any more success with Kyle than did the NU staff............
So the question is, could the current staff have done a better job with him?[/QUOTE]
No.
Instead of extending his arms when shooting, he shoots from a lower hand position and is easy to block.
Are you serious? How dare you!! You're Mr. Negative. Quit hating on him....