Castro -- The Dictator...

[SMULLET]

Eric Castro - He's so hot right now!

Here are some stats from the past two games:

!!50 pts!!
18-26 shooting
14-20 FT
13 boards

He's becoming quite a presence in the middle. He pretty much owned that 310lb center from FSU last night. Keep it up Dictator!!!

[BUS]

Owned - Ntt really but he sure did SCORE all night.

I love the way he is getting points from the 5 position. That is something SMU has lacked for years.

Go Mustangs

[SMULLET]

Yeah, you're probably right. He didnt really own him, but I think he got a couple easy buckets against him.
And I was guessing when I said 310lbs. He's actually 6-10 330lbs and according to the DMN he's nicknamed "White Escalade".

Ha!

[abezontar]

I prefered the nickname "fattie"

[Pony_Fan]

He needs to stay away from McDonald's. I think he should be a offensive lineman perhaps rather than bball.

[DallasDiehard]

If he's 330, Castro is 130.
That dude is bigger than 330. By a lot.
What's scary is that I heard at the game last night that when he joined the FSU team, he was OVER 400. That was the slimmed-down White Escalade we saw last night....

[The XtC]

We all laugh about Marlow now, but would you believe that 5 years ago he was one of the most sought after recruits in the country? Most of the recruiting services had him in their top-20 overall and one of the top 5 centers in that class. When he signed with Oklahoma State out of high school he was hailed as the 2nd coming of Bryant "Big Country" Reeves.

All the accolades were well deserved. When he was in shape, Marlow was unstoppable. I saw his AAU team play the Chinese Jr. National team once, and Marlow tossed Yao Ming around like a toy. He went through the Chinese defense like a bulldozer. It was like trying to stop a cannonball with bamboo shoots.

Marlow weighed about 280 when he played that game. I dont know what happened, but over the next 6 months his weight started to really escalate. While he was at Oklahoma State he got up to around 380, and he couldnt get up and down the court anymore. He transferred to a junior college for one year, dropped some of the excess, and then transferred to Fresno. He's improved some, but never regained the form he had, or come close to his potential.

I like Marlow alot, I enjoyed watching him play in high school, where he had one of the best drop-step power games I've ever seen. I've kind of hoped he would get back in shape, because I'd really like to see the real him again, but so far he's just a shadow of what he could have been.

The funny thing is that Marlow and Castro are both from Oklahoma. They probably met a few times before college, and the result was probably drastically different from what we saw last night.

[GrapevineMustang]

Startling report, XTC. Because from what I saw, Marlow looked like he'd never held a basketball. I know it's easy to lose some quickness, etc., when the pounds pile up (believe me, I know), but looked extraordinarily uncomfortable with the ball in his hands the other night on the rare occasions that he touched it.

Interesting comparison: Marlow came out highly touted, slapped on a couple sides of beef and now is halfway down the Fresno bench. Castro, on the other hand, was a good HS player who got little pub, and arrived at SMU a little soft -- maybe still growing into his frame, if you will. Look at him Castro now: best shape of his life, best season of his life.

Go Ponies!
Beat Nevada