Baker and VanVleet Invited to Team USA Tryouts.

[Cdizzle]

IMO they simply chose size and versatility, which trumped best pure PG skills.

It's true that Fred is much less versatile than many other players. Losing is not really in his toolbox.

[TurFin]

Why are the comparisons only to Melo Trimble as to who should have been kept? Is Bobby Brown's resume such that he was beyond the roster hatchet and vastly superior to Melo, Fred or Monte? There is no debating that Fred's a stud at his position and he would have brought certain skills and intangibles to the team. With anyone of those three, somebody deserving was not going to make the team. I personally thought that both Ron and Fred would make the team.

Melo is not a "shoot first" point guard. He is versatile though and can be used as an off guard due to his strength on the drive and shooting ability (which may have been a factor in his selection). Due to all the turnover on the Terp roster, he was put in a situation where he immediately had to be the man and do some things not always asked of a freshman PG. That comes with some pretty steep learning curves and some efficiency degradation given he lead the team in minutes played per game (33.5 mpg). Best description of Melo is that he's a winner and that's his primary concern game to game, much like Fred.

MT was a bench coach for the first few days of tryouts, but was gone prior to any cuts being made. He left for the July recruiting gauntlet.

[ShockRef]

I was doing ok and was going to let the FVV deal go until I watched Andy spew out his verbiage and love affair with Trimble.

He deserves a Marconi just for keeping a straight face while giving Trimble a video blow job in that piece.

I had to use 2 bottle of Windex to clean the chunks off my monitor after reading that crap.

That is all.

[shockmonster]

I am sure that Melo is a versatile guard with strong shooting and driving skills that rank with or exceed Fred in those areas. I also don't want to go to the place where Mark's position was the reason that Melo got the place on the team although I would be surprised if Mark wasn't able to sell all of Melo's intangibles that can't be observed within a short period of a tryout.

I will still argue that there is no way that his leadership skills at this time in his career are anywhere close to Fred. Fred's leadership skill set was obvious during our games, probably was seen at the trials, and at times they are so good we take them for granted. But the things that they can't see is when he took Shaq on as a "project" during the off season to motivate him to lose weight and get into shape or when he got in his grill. Every day in practice/scrimmage (both in season and off season), the past two years, we have had a coach on the court, and off the court. The hasn't been a single player who didn't respect Fred or defer to Fred to be our leader and they said so publicly. There is no doubt that Fred is the best point guard largely because of these leadership skills. How does he show everything that he has to this coaching staff? It is impossible. It will be the teams loss but I hope they still win.

[ShockdaWorld]

It's pretty easy to see that the decision made was not made for the right reasons (winning), or it was made by someone who has severe conference bias (which wouldn't make sense considering where Few coaches). This team may do very well. I hope they do. I hope they go out there and win a gold medal. Having FVV on the team would have increased the odds of that happening. I'm not one of the Melo detractors though. I think the kid is solid. He may someday be close to as good as FVV is. Currently, he is not. I enjoyed the idea of having a three guard lineup that included FVV, RB, and Romelo. I think all three should have been on the team. The old pros have some experience advantages for sure, but if they were better than FVV, they wouldn't be playing where they are playing. If the team was chosen simply based on who gives you the best chance to win, it becomes extremely obvious that these guys haven't watched FVV play much.

[another shocker]

Why are the comparisons only to Melo Trimble as to who should have been kept? Is Bobby Brown's resume such that he was beyond the roster hatchet and vastly superior to Melo, Fred or Monte? There is no debating that Fred's a stud at his position and he would have brought certain skills and intangibles to the team. With anyone of those three, somebody deserving was not going to make the team. I personally thought that both Ron and Fred would make the team.

Melo is not a "shoot first" point guard. He is versatile though and can be used as an off guard due to his strength on the drive and shooting ability (which may have been a factor in his selection). Due to all the turnover on the Terp roster, he was put in a situation where he immediately had to be the man and do some things not always asked of a freshman PG. That comes with some pretty steep learning curves and some efficiency degradation given he lead the team in minutes played per game (33.5 mpg). Best description of Melo is that he's a winner and that's his primary concern game to game, much like Fred.

MT was a bench coach for the first few days of tryouts, but was gone prior to any cuts being made. He left for the July recruiting gauntlet.

please, for the love of god, don't do us any more favors, ku mark turgeon. okay? do it for keith langford instead.

i can't think of any more team that i'd like to see the shockers play than maryland. shocker hater #2, mark turgeon would be front and center. he must have really hated all of that fan support that he had at wichita state.

do you know what grady is going to do to freshman stone, turfin? lol nevermind. fvv will be enough.

'still pissed..

[proshox]

please, for the love of god, don't do us any more favors, ku mark turgeon. okay? do it for keith langford instead.

i can't think of any more team that i'd like to see the shockers play than maryland. shocker hater #2, mark turgeon would be front and center. he must have really hated all of that fan support that he had at wichita state.

do you know what grady is going to do to freshman stone, turfin? lol nevermind. fvv will be enough.

'still pissed..

Have you been drinking?

Bobby Brown was brought to teach the young guys the international game. He was never going to be cut.

Ron Baker's skill set always translated better to the non-college game and he can play the 1, 2, or 3.

A great player wasn't going to make the team. Unfortunately, for FVV it was him. He received excellent coaching and showed well.

At the end of the day - what an honor for both young men.

[Kung Wu]

FVV does not get cut. One can only conclude that he decided Team Earth was more "his level" and decided to leave.

[pogo]

[QUOTE=TurFin;583690]Why are the comparisons only to Melo Trimble as to who should have been kept? Is Bobby Brown's resume such that he was beyond the roster hatchet and vastly superior to Melo, Fred or Monte? There is no debating that Fred's a stud at his position and he would have brought certain skills and intangibles to the team. With anyone of those three, somebody deserving was not going to make the team. I personally thought that both Ron and Fred would make the team.

Melo is not a "shoot first" point guard. He is versatile though and can be used as an off guard due to his strength on the drive and shooting ability (which may have been a factor in his selection). Due to all the turnover on the Terp roster, he was put in a situation where he immediately had to be the man and do some things not always asked of a freshman PG. That comes with some pretty steep learning curves and some efficiency degradation given he lead the team in minutes played per game (33.5 mpg). Best description of Melo is that he's a winner and that's his primary concern game to game, much like Fred.

MT was a bench coach for the first few days of tryouts, but was gone prior to any cuts being made. He left for the July recruiting gauntlet.[/QUOTE)

Nice to see you are still checking in once in a while. Always enjoyed your inside analysis while MT was here. I hope you and your family/extended is all doing well.

[another shocker]

Have you been drinking?

Bobby Brown was brought to teach the young guys the international game. He was never going to be cut.

Ron Baker's skill set always translated better to the non-college game and he can play the 1, 2, or 3.

A great player wasn't going to make the team. Unfortunately, for FVV it was him. He received excellent coaching and showed well.

At the end of the day - what an honor for both young men.

eff off. van vleet should be on that team.

[Kel Varnsen]

I'd hate to see some of your reactions after getting dumped or cut from a team. Let it go. As Aaron Rodgers would say, "R-E-L-A-X". If Turgeon or Few actually held grudges or held pre-conceived notions like you all suggest, they wouldn't be coaches at Top 25 programs.

It's been reiterated multiple times here: Fred is a PG only. He's 5'11". They wanted taller, more versatile guards who could guard multiple positions and play multiple positions. They also probably didn't want two guys from the same school. Totally understandable on both accounts. Would love if he made the team, but he didn't. Move on.

[proshox]

I'd hate to see some of your reactions after getting dumped or cut from a team. Let it go. As Aaron Rodgers would say, "R-E-L-A-X". If Turgeon or Few actually held grudges or held pre-conceived notions like you all suggest, they wouldn't be coaches at Top 25 programs.

It's been reiterated multiple times here: Fred is a PG only. He's 5'11". They wanted taller, more versatile guards who could guard multiple positions and play multiple positions. They also probably didn't want two guys from the same school. Totally understandable on both accounts. Would love if he made the team, but he didn't. Move on.

Versatility becomes very important when there are only 12 roster spots.

[ShockerEngineer]

I'd hate to see some of your reactions after getting dumped or cut from a team.

My girlfriend dumped me a week and a half ago and I don't think I took it as badly ;)

[WSUwatcher]

My girlfriend dumped me a week and a half ago and I don't think I took it as badly ;)

Hey, engineer -- The reason he's so upset is because he's the guy for whom she dumped you, she quickly realized he had "anger issues," and so she dumped him too. So he's having to deal with the girlfriend situation AND the FVV situation all at the same time. No wonder he's spitting nails.

[Cdizzle]

Versatility becomes very important when there are only 12 roster spots.

"Versatility" is important if you can't lock down your position as the primary player.

If you are the best available at your position, you don't need to be "versatile." You can't play more than 1 position at once.