a serious concern

[LA_Mustang]

Who’s going to score in the middle for us next season? Pearson is developing into a fine player, but he’s a true 3. Unless Stallion’s favorite big man project, Bamba Fall, is holding back some serious offensive skill, we’re in trouble.

[mustangbill67]

I have the same concern. Rack is an unknown quanity, Ritter and Reay have not shown they can step into Castro's shoes and so far, Ofoegbu has been a bust. I wonder if Tubbs has a JUCO or some unsigned HS senior in mind?

[Pony_Fan]

That's what I was saying in my earlier post. We got nothin'.
If those guys could only stick around for a 5th year.

We ARE in trouble unless Tubbs has a secret rabbit in his bag of tricks. He has to realize he needs a Juco player immediately.

[Hoop Fan]

like everybody said, first order of business is to recruit the best player you can. Then Rack and Reay have to work their butts off on their offensive skills over the summer. Rack has a soft shot, but poor footwork. Reay needs alot of shooting work and just as much footwork. But you don't have to have great offensive players in the post if the ones you do have play defense and rebound like madmen. Reay showed some pretty good defensive toughness against Milsap in the La Tech game. More than anybody else. He has the mentality and the body. Its a start. Bamba can't handle quality, tough college big men one on one, but he can handle the average mid major big it appears to me. And he should be good for weakside help the way he moves his feet. My expectation would be defense and rebounding with next years bigs, we can improve alot there. Turn the scoring duties over to Willingham, Pearson, Roberts and hopefully Hopkins. Thats alot of potential scoring.

[ponyboy]

Should we expect significant minutes for Bamba next year?

[Hoop Fan]

Should we expect significant minutes for Bamba next year?

conventional wisdom says no. Its never ideal to play a skinny freshman. But something tells me its going to be hard to keep a 7'1 guy who moves his feet well on the bench very long at SMU. Thats the key, the way the guy moves and covers ground on the defensive baseline is pretty impressive. I think he'll get minutes early in his career. If I'm wrong, I'm sure Stallion and others will remind me. What would be ideal is if we got a tough Juco signed and Bamba Fall could redshirt next year.

[rich_alum]

I don't see how we can't play this guy right away (although I have never seen him play).....if anything he can provide an intimidating presence in the lane and alter some shots. He doesn't have to score, just rebound and swat some shots on occassion. This is the type of guy whose contributions may not show up in the stat box his first year or two.

[jtstang]

RA's right--the guy's gonna be 7-1 all season long and that's hard to keep in the bench from a defensive standpoint. I don't care if he can't hit from the field if he can hold his arms up on D and maybe hit a free throw.

[SWC2010]

Should we expect significant minutes for Bamba next year?

conventional wisdom says no. Its never ideal to play a skinny freshman. But something tells me its going to be hard to keep a 7'1 guy who moves his feet well on the bench very long at SMU. Thats the key, the way the guy moves and covers ground on the defensive baseline is pretty impressive. I think he'll get minutes early in his career. If I'm wrong, I'm sure Stallion and others will remind me. What would be ideal is if we got a tough Juco signed and Bamba Fall could redshirt next year.

I'm with you HF, if he can play at all, he will get some minutes. Get a 1-2 blocks, couple of rebounds, some fouls & sit back down to watch & learn. IMO, 7' BB players, if they can pay, don't stay 5 yrs in college ( or even 4 yr now days).

With the exception of a Tim Duncan (Wake), most 'big' guys opt of school early.

[EastStang]

Hope he can make free throws. Those big guys tend to be fouled a lot because they can't make free throws. Even Wilt Chamberlin was pretty helpless when he had to go to the line. He was just so big and strong that he could jam over a foul and still get the bucket.

[jtstang]

Hope he can make free throws. Those big guys tend to be fouled a lot because they can't make free throws. Even Wilt Chamberlin was pretty helpless when he had to go to the line. He was just so big and strong that he could jam over a foul and still get the bucket.

Any truth to the rumor that they had to change the rules because Wilt used to run from half court and launch himself for a dunk from behind the line on free throws?

[mrydel]

Hope he can make free throws. Those big guys tend to be fouled a lot because they can't make free throws. Even Wilt Chamberlin was pretty helpless when he had to go to the line. He was just so big and strong that he could jam over a foul and still get the bucket.

Any truth to the rumor that they had to change the rules because Wilt used to run from half court and launch himself for a dunk from behind the line on free throws?

That is the truth.

[Charleston Pony]

Unless Tubbs works some recruiting magic, it's obvious next year's team will be perimeter oriented, but I still think with BHop back and Roberts healthy, we could have a group of guards that could make SMU very competitive next year...despite the absence of an inside scoring threat. I think Devon Pearson also gives us a legitimate inside/outside scoring threat from the 3 spot.

My expectation is that our low post guys next year will be counted on to play a role...block the lane defensively, rebound and pick up some garbage points on the offensive boards. Prediction...we won't win many of those 58-56 half court games...but hopefully that won't be our style of game.