Cullen Russo pf 6-9 2015 to Fresno State

[shocka khan]

By the way, I think Zach Brown is a hustler and his athleticism is pretty high, probably much higher than Wessel's. I'd like to see him playing some at the 4 and some at the 3, too.

In case you forget, he beat Oubre to that loose ball when we broke away from KU.

[pie n eye]

So you're saying that Wessel is either the same player or not as good a player as he was when he was a freshman?

You don't think experience has anything to do with this?

What part of the first paragraph do you disagree with (note I think it's a little difficult for you to disagree with the second, since you're as big a fan of Wessel as I am).

I don't necessarily disagree with anything, I just don't think "they were freshmen" really gets to the heart of the question. If one player is better than another it shouldn't matter what grade they are. To not play someone simply because of age seems stubborn.

I'm just legitimately trying to understand why Wessell got minutes over guys who were statistically better than him. I'm a huge Wessell fan but I'm also a fan of winning. If there were guys better than him why were they not playing more minutes?

[capnkirk]

So what's more important? Getting the ball in the basked or who is the best at 'ending up (sic) on the floor fighting for the basketball'?

I agree it is important to be able to score. If Wessel cannot score and the opponents are no longer needing to guard him, then he is a liability. But we have had some kids that can score 20 points a night but give up 25 points on the same night(ie JT Durley his freshman, sophomore years) and that's no good either.

[shocka khan]

It's not age, but also experience, adjusting to the faster speed of the college game. Getting into the coach's head, understanding how he thinks and what decisions he would want you to make.

We don't recruit one and done's, so we **probably**aren't going to get 18 year olds who are plug and play ready for NCAA D1 basketball. Over the course of a season, we had players who came in, made some adjustments, and were able to put up some pretty impressive numbers.

Over the course of the season, at least last season, Wessel was the best option at PF. We've developed some players who can put up Wessel's stats, but does HCGM think they make better decisions? Does HCGM think they will hustle?

Note that obviously HCGM has set a priority on getting a 4/5 type player. If he didn't we wouldn't be in on these two. HCGM is also looking for an athlete who can play (Inghram/Mulder). I don't know what priority 1 or priority 2 is, I can only make an educated guess.

And my educated guess is that he wants a big. If we had a 6'4" guy playing PF last year and he's trying to recruit a 6'9" or 6'10" guy, that ought to tell you something. If he thought the 6'4" guy was a great PF, we would probably be recruiting differently.

I'm also guessing we will not get Mulder, but I'm not sure if HCGM even considers that priority #2 these days.

[WSUwatcher]

Calling Cullen Russo...

Your thread has gone missing...

[im4wsu]

So what's more important? Getting the ball in the basked or who is the best at 'ending up (sic) on the floor fighting for the basketball'?

From the standpoint that obtaining a loose ball simultaneously (1) gives possession to WSU and (2) eliminates a potential possession of the opponent, that may well be worth two points, since we score 1.09 points per possession and opponents score .90 points per possession against us.

[Jhook89]

I'm not trying to play gotcha, JHook, so please don't think I'm being flippant here. I am legitimately curious, in the face the stats you outlined that say there are guys on the team who could produce more if given additional minutes, why did Evan continue to get the majority of minutes?

The easy answer, because last year we didn't have a better option. All the options at 4 had no experience or turned out to be a busy (glass). My statement wasn't really aimed at last years team. Wessel was the best option at the 4. Im kinda on the same page as what Shaka Khan is saying. Our young guys should grow from last year to this year. They now have full year in the system. Hamilton comes in with experience in our system and a year of prep. Who knows what 3 G is going to do with Mcduffie, but its possible he could come in and play the 4. Who knows. I just think if Wessel is starting at the 4 come tourney time we won't be making a final four.

This is where Russo could possibly come into play. Landing a 4 with experience could take this squad to the next level. Chris Broucher currently has my heart, but Russo could be a nice get

[Art Bunch]

Poor Cullen. Really, we like you and we want you to be a Shocker. Don't be offended that this thread has very little to say about you.

[Jhook89]

Poor Cullen. Really, we like you and we want you to be a Shocker. Don't be offended that this thread has very little to say about you.

Essentially the discussion why we need a better PF. Russo plays PF. So I understand how the conversation isn't 100% on topic, but it's not totally out of place either

[pinstripers]

Did anybody watch that country music award show last night?

[SHOXAAC]

Did anybody watch that country music award show last night?

No, I was reading up on the Royals win and attached drama with the A's over the course of three games. I was also following up on the amazing run of Jordan Spieth...oh by the way rumor has it Jordan was a presenter at the ACM's. I wonder if Russo is a Royals, Spieth, or country music fan. I hope so...I will like him more.

[WheatShock]

No, I was reading up on the Royals win and attached drama with the A's over the course of three games. I was also following up on the amazing run of Jordan Spieth...oh by the way rumor has it Jordan was a presenter at the ACM's. I wonder if Russo is a Royals, Spieth, or country music fan. I hope so...I will like him more.

Especially if he's a Royals fan.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Cullen, Cullen, Cullen.

[Wuzee]

Found a bunch of full game videos of Cullen from this season on iHigh. Here are three from later in the year.

VS Howard College (13 pts) -- http://ihigh.volarvideo.com/school26...st/embed/96424

VS NMMI (10pts) -- http://ihigh.volarvideo.com/school26...st/embed/96425

VS Clarendon College (25 pts - season high) -- http://ihigh.volarvideo.com/school26...st/embed/96417

[choida]

Cullen vs Mohamed... Face off.... Go