Yes you are right and I think also the first 3 regular season games. I forgot about that.
Anthony Booker
- Thread starter CYCLONECORY
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CyBer
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I'm excited for Basketball for more than one reason this year. I just have this feeling that we are going to be really good. I can't believe some of the talent that Fred picked up in his second year. I don't really care about the lineups, I know they mayor will get it done and put the best players on the court. I miss Godfrey and I think that he would have been a beast this year (as he was last year sometimes).
As what i saw in the CCL, Booker can shoot the three. Will he be doing this alot in the season? Probably not, but hes very athletic and can rebound. He will contribute just fine. He wasn't brought in to be a game changer, but a big body.
Based just on the CCL which could be misleading, I see Percy to be much more gritty and hungry of a player than Booker. Booker has the body and athleticism to be much better than Percy but I think it is a mental thing that has held him back to this point in his career. I stopped following him on Twitter because he is so negative and has such a "the world owes me something" attitude. Babb is always calling him on it on Twitter and telling him to be grateful for what he has. If Booker can put it together his talent would help us greatly. I still think that Booker plays 3 times the minutes as Percy this year, though.
Umm Ejim set the Big 12 freshman record for offensive rebounds if I'm not mistaken. On top of that during the CCL he led the entire league in points and rebounds per game for almost the entire time until the end (still 3rd in points 1st in rebounds). What could you possibly be thinking saying that Booker would start over Ejim?
Might be because he has Booker at Center. Ejim will be playing mostly the three or four this year.. And Booker actually has better size and is very talented..
Just because Ejim doesn't start doesn't mean he is a scrub. Ejim is very versatile so he might in fact end up playing the most minutes on the team. I've said before in a related thread that it isn't who starts that is important with this team because CFH wants to press and run there is going to be a lot of opportunity to play.
http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/mens-basketball/123982-updated-starting-lineups.html#post2309315
For one, if we start 2 posts, Book will be one of them. Melvin isn't a 4. He'll guard opposing 4's because we need depth and he's a great athlete and strong. I think there's a good chance he's the first guy off the bench.
This roster will be a almost completely new with a bunch of new players vying for playing time. Last years 'stats' and the CCL don't mean much at this point. The starting 5 that gives us the best chance to start a game well and presents the best matchup will start, the players that give us the best chance to win will play the most. I really think Anthony Booker has a great chance to start as one of our posts and Melvin will come off the bench. That is not a knock of Melvin or what he accomplished as a freshman. He'll play a lot of minutes.
I would agree. I don't view the comparison as complimentary though, like some people might.
We don't have to stick with traditional 1-2-3-4-5 lineup, ya know?
I think we could totally play with 1-2-3-3-4 or 2-2-3-3-4. FH will adjust the lineup as the time goes and who we play against.
Back in the day when Jamaal and Fizer played, it was 1(Tinsley)-2(Nurse)-2/3(Horton)-4(Johnson)-4(Fizer). We can win without having the traditional 1-2-3-4-5 lineup.
Actually Godfrey was a pretty decent FT shooter and last I checked that was 15ft from the basket.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Are you referring to my post as "bashing Booker"? Not heaping praise isn't the same thing as bashing. I don't think Booker will surprise me all because I don't expect much. If he averages 7 pts and 3.5 rebounds which is kind of what I expect, I don't see any reason to fall all over his potential future play. I'm sure he will do fine and contribute, but I can't say "wow I can't wait to see Booker play!"
You are correct that his production at SIU didn't jump off the page, but you could have said the same thing about DG's numbers under McDermott. Different coaches and playing styles allow for different players to thrive. I would like to think our fast style of play and having CFH at the helm will increase his productivity. I'm not saying he will make a DG like jump in numbers, but I'm hoping for a fairly significant one.
Having said that, I am not familiar with the SIU's style of play or coach at all, so I could just be blowing smoke. Does anyone else know if they played a game similar to ours?
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CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
What you're saying is the same description that Hoiberg gives. He has said publicly that the slowdown SIU system didn't fit Booker at all, and it ended up becoming a confidence problem. He said that last year, their focus with Anthony was restoring his confidence, and that would go a long way for him in the uptempo system.
The DG comparison is perfect. Once unleashed, we all know that DG wasn't the same player at all. I'm not putting any stock in the SIU stats because they aren't really relevant to what we're looking to do here.
