Dwight Coleby Tranferring?

[wufan]

We graduate Shaq, Nurger and Willis. Who is the 4th post? Kelly? Barney? Willis is not a good player. So that leaves Shaq and Rauno. Kelly is a tweener that will work against some lineups. I think Coleby could be an answer for ten minutes a game. Not an answer to our no Hakeem Olajuwon problem. If you think we can compete for a NC standing pat with our current post players, then I guess we are good.

Willis is a good third option. His poor performance against U.K. soured some folks memory. Midtgaard is the fourth post.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

We graduate Shaq, Nurger and Willis. Who is the 4th post? Kelly? Barney? Willis is not a good player. So that leaves Shaq and Rauno. Kelly is a tweener that will work against some lineups. I think Coleby could be an answer for ten minutes a game. Not an answer to our no Hakeem Olajuwon problem. If you think we can compete for a NC standing pat with our current post players, then I guess we are good.

I just disagree that we are "paper thin" in the post (which, to @Aargh's point, to me means the 4 and 5) for this coming season.

We will have Shaq, who has dominated at times. Nurger is more than serviceable. I don't think Willis is as bad as you contend, though I will agree that his defense needs to show more than significant improvement next year. Yes, Kelly was that 4th post, and he showed massive offensive improvement last year to complement his defensive and rebounding prowess. McDuffie frequently plays the 4. And this year we'll have Mitgaard, who hopefully can contribute some as a freshman.

So in '17-'18 we'll have Shaq, Nurger, Willis, McDuffie, Kelly, and Mitgaard. That's hardly paper thin.

In '18-'19 we'll have McDuffie and Mitgaard plus some newbies who've never played for us. That's paper thin.

My conclusion: we need help in the post more in '18-'19 than we do this year. Our recruiting efforts need to be focused accordingly.

[pinstripers]

ya know, we had issues bringing in a guy from Africa, issues re-classifying a guy from Australia, maybe the Dane is not a done deal.

[Steeleshocker]

ya know, we had issues bringing in a guy from Africa, issues re-classifying a guy from Australia, maybe the Dane is not a done deal.

But we have something this time those years didn't, we are in the AAC.

[ShockCrazy]

We graduate Shaq, Nurger and Willis. Who is the 4th post? Kelly? Barney? Willis is not a good player. So that leaves Shaq and Rauno. Kelly is a tweener that will work against some lineups. I think Coleby could be an answer for ten minutes a game. Not an answer to our no Hakeem Olajuwon problem. If you think we can compete for a NC standing pat with our current post players, then I guess we are good.

Calling the teams 3rd leading scorer and 2nd leading rebounder not a good player is flat out laughable. If we have no other long term players to give our final scholarship to then sure might as well give it to a one year guy, but Coleby isn't high up on the list. He has shown nothing that indicates his best would surpass what we have in the post now.

[BOBB]

You missed last year's starter at PF. In discussing "post" players, you have to watch for context. Sometimes the term is used for only centers, but it generally includes players at both PF and C.

Among the 6 "bigs" next year, we have 4 who can play PF and 4 who can play C. (I count Nurger and Willis as 4/5 players.) That's half the roster for 2 positions. Adding another player at PF or C makes absolutely no sense. Midtgaard needs some minutes because in '18-'19, he's "The guy". He needs on-court experience. There are no minutes available in the front court.

Why do I feel like I am taking crazy pills? McDuffie is not a power forward in any traditional sense. He is a very tall and talented wing player, this is what makes him special. He is Tracy McGrady, not Karl Malone. Midtgaard will be a Freshman big. Freshman bigs are notorious for being slow starters. With Shaq, Conner, Brown and Kelly graduating next year I think we go all in on winning it all in '18, not saving our stack for '19. I understand that matchups, luck and coaching all come in to play, but I really think our ceiling is limited to Sweet 16 without another body. In '13 we had Carl Hall, Lufile, Jake Freaking White, Orukpe as post players and Early at the stretch 4. Hall was a 30 minute player, something Shaq is not likely to be. While listed at the same height and weight, I promise you a side by side comparison of Early and McDuffie would demonstrate Early being more capable of banging down low for stretches.

In my mind we have 3 "bigs" next year and one of those is suspect.

[BOBB]

Calling the teams 3rd leading scorer and 2nd leading rebounder not a good player is flat out laughable. If we have no other long term players to give our final scholarship to then sure might as well give it to a one year guy, but Coleby isn't high up on the list. He has shown nothing that indicates his best would surpass what we have in the post now.

Laugh away. Willis is a scrub slayer. One whose minutes declined over the season and disappeared against better competition and once his offense was scouted. Willis had a solid December including an inspired offensive performance against OSU, in a game we gave up 93 at home, but otherwise a disappearing act.

I'm not saying that Coleby is all that, just that we need immediate help and a 4 year transfer makes sense.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/darral-willisjr-1/gamelog/2017

For the record, I think Willis is a serviceable 6-10 minute guy. Not a 20 minute guy.

[Aargh]

BOBB, you are absolutely refusing to recognize that McDuffie was the freaking STARTER at PF last year and is likely to be stronger and more physical this year. Just because you don't like him playing that position doesn't mean he isn't going to get a lot of quality minutes there.

We've got McDuffie and Kelly at PF. We've got Morris and Nurger at C. That's a pretty salty 2-deep at both positions. There are areas of Willis' game that need some work. He's got 7 months to work on those areas. Even with his weaknesses, in a lot of years, I'd be delighted having him as the backup at either PF or C.

I know you'd like to see a couple of 6'10", 260 pound guys who can run the court, protect the rim, make outlet passes from double teams, clean the glass, show some post moves, and defend. So would every D1 program, the Celtics, the Warriors, and every other basketball team in the world.

[shockmonster]

To those of you that think Willis is the sum of his first year need to look up Carl Hall's stats at the end of his first year. Carl averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds his junior year. He couldn't get on the court and wasn't a factor in the MVC Or NCAA Tournaments. Then he followed up with a very good Final 4 year. While he has to prove it on the court, Willis has a whole lot of talent. He has nice offensive moves, is a talented shot blocker, and can play both the 4 and 5. Bobb is right however, and he needs to improve a lot defensively.

[jcdshocker]

Willis has real athletic talent. However until he
1) learns to play defense
2) learns to pass out of the double team
3) learns to score over his left shoulder
4) quits talking back to the coaches and shut his mouth
He will only see 10 minutes per game.

We could really be solid up front if he would learn all of the above. Maybe he can. Time will tell.

My $.02

[wufan]

Carl averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds his junior year. He couldn't get on the court and wasn't a factor in the MVC Or NCAA Tournaments.

Carl actually averaged 8 and 5 as a junior in 22 minutes including 19 starts. Regardless, statistically, Willis was much better. 10 and 5 in 17 minutes.

[wufan]

Willis has real athletic talent. However until he
1) learns to play defense
2) learns to pass out of the double team
3) learns to score over his left shoulder
4) quits talking back to the coaches and shut his mouth
He will only see 10 minutes per game.

He averaged 16 last year. Are you expecting a 60% reduction in PT for doing the same things he did last year?

jcdShocker, this isn't directed at you, but this thread appears to be in bizarro world where everything is confused.

[Dan]

Willis has a lot of things to work on. Based on 3G's past work with JUCO guys, I expect big improvements next year. That said, he definitely has skills, such as a really quick spin move, a good mid range jumper, inside rebounding, and general athletism (he's no stiff).

With all this talk about the following year, keep in mind, we could also lose McDuffie and Shamet along with our 6 seniors. That would be a huge blow to the team and makes this next recruiting class that much more important.

[BOBB]

BOBB, you are absolutely refusing to recognize that McDuffie was the freaking STARTER at PF last year and is likely to be stronger and more physical this year. Just because you don't like him playing that position doesn't mean he isn't going to get a lot of quality minutes there.

We've got McDuffie and Kelly at PF. We've got Morris and Nurger at C. That's a pretty salty 2-deep at both positions. There are areas of Willis' game that need some work. He's got 7 months to work on those areas. Even with his weaknesses, in a lot of years, I'd be delighted having him as the backup at either PF or C.

I know you'd like to see a couple of 6'10", 260 pound guys who can run the court, protect the rim, make outlet passes from double teams, clean the glass, show some post moves, and defend. So would every D1 program, the Celtics, the Warriors, and every other basketball team in the world.

I acknowledge he started. If we run 5 Wendell Preadoms out there I suppose one is the power forward. I would settle for a 6'8"" 220 kid that rebounded, defended and gave 4 fouls.

[BOBB]

To those of you that think Willis is the sum of his first year need to look up Carl Hall's stats at the end of his first year. Carl averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds his junior year. He couldn't get on the court and wasn't a factor in the MVC Or NCAA Tournaments. Then he followed up with a very good Final 4 year. While he has to prove it on the court, Willis has a whole lot of talent. He has nice offensive moves, is a talented shot blocker, and can play both the 4 and 5. Bobb is right however, and he needs to improve a lot defensively.

Fair point on Hall as a Jr.