Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: New Guys Making an Impact
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Bobcat1998
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Posted: 8/15/2016 7:45 AM
How exciting is this to see?! I know Saul will feel like he owes Laster, Wadley and Harley but I really hope that if Culver and Carter have earned it he puts them in right away. I felt like he should have had Darty and Block getting more minutes last year right away but he started with Wad and Harley. Go for it coach, let the young guys eat!

http://www.athensmessenger.com/sports/ohiouniversity/newc...
allen
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Posted: 8/15/2016 7:49 AM
Bobcat1998 wrote:expand_more
How exciting is this to see?! I know Saul will feel like he owes Laster, Wadley and Harley but I really hope that if Culver and Carter have earned it he puts them in right away. I felt like he should have had Darty and Block getting more minutes last year right away but he started with Wad and Harley. Go for it coach, let the young guys eat!

http://www.athensmessenger.com/sports/ohiouniversity/newc...
+1
The Optimist
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Posted: 8/15/2016 8:16 AM
Quote:expand_more
The potential opening for any player on the roster looking for more minutes next season is how they play on the defensive end of the floor. It’s no secret Ohio is hoping a step up in defensive metrics will result in another jump in the team’s win total.
No secret... Anyone who can become a "defensive specialist" is going to find minutes on this squad.

I'm excited about this season.
GoCats105
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Posted: 8/15/2016 8:19 AM
Nice to read about Tony's praise of Jason. If Ohio has two guys with Tony's skill set this season...man that's gonna be tough to stop.
Bobcat1998
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Posted: 8/15/2016 10:23 AM
And for Tone to say that Carter will be a MAC Player of the Year someday is huge praise. We really haven't had a stretch 4 since Ivo and even Ivo wasn't a 3-point threat. Adding Gareri next year as a stretch 4 will only make us more dangerous. I just hope Culver can "D" up on Buffalo because that's the team I am most fearful of in terms of their athleticism and strength.
OU_Country
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Posted: 8/15/2016 11:33 AM
Bobcat1998 wrote:expand_more
How exciting is this to see?! I know Saul will feel like he owes Laster, Wadley and Harley but I really hope that if Culver and Carter have earned it he puts them in right away. I felt like he should have had Darty and Block getting more minutes last year right away but he started with Wad and Harley. Go for it coach, let the young guys eat!

http://www.athensmessenger.com/sports/ohiouniversity/newc...

Agreed on getting the young guys on the floor if they're worthy. Laster and Harley are going to have a tougher time getting minutes unless they've improved. To me, that's a great sign with this program.
OU_Country
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Posted: 8/15/2016 11:39 AM
There's one other guy I'd really like to hear more about: Ellis Dozier.
brucecuth
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Posted: 8/15/2016 3:01 PM
Bobcat1998 wrote:expand_more
How exciting is this to see?! I know Saul will feel like he owes Laster, Wadley and Harley but I really hope that if Culver and Carter have earned it he puts them in right away. I felt like he should have had Darty and Block getting more minutes last year right away but he started with Wad and Harley. Go for it coach, let the young guys eat!

http://www.athensmessenger.com/sports/ohiouniversity/newc...
B-Cat, if you had heard Saul at the Columbus caravan stop, you might think differently. He was very lukewarm toward Wadley.
Andrew Ruck
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Posted: 8/15/2016 3:19 PM
Very cool. Love the praise Kenny is giving, but if his shooting doesn't come back, he could be the one to give up minutes for Carter. I give him credit for being an excellent teammate in his time here.

Harley/Mompremier/Laster will get minutes but won't be starters. Dozier & Gollon may have an uphill battle to ever crack thru. I, like most, do not know much about them, but I'm certainly not counting them out.
OU_Country
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Posted: 8/15/2016 3:49 PM
Andrew Ruck wrote:expand_more
Very cool. Love the praise Kenny is giving, but if his shooting doesn't come back, he could be the one to give up minutes for Carter. I give him credit for being an excellent teammate in his time here.

Harley/Mompremier/Laster will get minutes but won't be starters. Dozier & Gollon may have an uphill battle to ever crack thru. I, like most, do not know much about them, but I'm certainly not counting them out.

If Culver is 75% as good as Dartis was last year, one of Harley or Laster isn't going to play much at all if everyone stays healthy. I also think I remember reading Gollon may sit this year with an injury?

I also don't see Wadley getting much PT unless Saul opts to play 10-11 deep. What everyone says about Taylor suggests he's ready to get serious PT this year. He, along with Block, are two sophomores that I'd expect to make serious contributions and get serious PT.

So OUr minutes played are probably gonna look like this:

Tony, Simmons, Dartis, Kaminski, Block - all will probably average close to, or around 30 mins/game or more. That leaves about fifty total minutes to be had. I can see Taylor, Carter, Culver getting 12-15 mins each. I'd have to assume either Laster or Harley (Gollon if healthy), as guards are going to get whatever minutes are left. That leaves Wadley and Dozier on the outside. Of course I know nearly nothing about Dozier, so maybe he ends up in the rotation.

Regardless of what the rotation ends up being, this is one of the more talented Bobcat teams top to bottom that I can remember since my first year in 1995. The 2011-2013 years are obviously up there as well, but this bunch is deep.
GoCats105
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Posted: 8/15/2016 4:05 PM
OU_Country wrote:expand_more
Very cool. Love the praise Kenny is giving, but if his shooting doesn't come back, he could be the one to give up minutes for Carter. I give him credit for being an excellent teammate in his time here.

Harley/Mompremier/Laster will get minutes but won't be starters. Dozier & Gollon may have an uphill battle to ever crack thru. I, like most, do not know much about them, but I'm certainly not counting them out.

If Culver is 75% as good as Dartis was last year, one of Harley or Laster isn't going to play much at all if everyone stays healthy. I also think I remember reading Gollon may sit this year with an injury?

I also don't see Wadley getting much PT unless Saul opts to play 10-11 deep. What everyone says about Taylor suggests he's ready to get serious PT this year. He, along with Block, are two sophomores that I'd expect to make serious contributions and get serious PT.

So OUr minutes played are probably gonna look like this:

Tony, Simmons, Dartis, Kaminski, Block - all will probably average close to, or around 30 mins/game or more. That leaves about fifty total minutes to be had. I can see Taylor, Carter, Culver getting 12-15 mins each. I'd have to assume either Laster or Harley (Gollon if healthy), as guards are going to get whatever minutes are left. That leaves Wadley and Dozier on the outside. Of course I know nearly nothing about Dozier, so maybe he ends up in the rotation.

Regardless of what the rotation ends up being, this is one of the more talented Bobcat teams top to bottom that I can remember since my first year in 1995. The 2011-2013 years are obviously up there as well, but this bunch is deep.
I really don't know if Ohio can afford to sit Laster that much, unless Culver and Carter are going to be that much better defensively than he is. If Laster just improved his shooting a little bit, he'd be a go-to guy off the bench. His quickness is something a lot of the guys other than Dartis and Simmons don't have.

I remember Saul saying something about his driving ability in a post game after he got a lot of minutes. Paraphrasing, but something to the tune of "we just couldn't guard him in practice, so I had to give him some minutes." And his quickness on the defensive end is also needed.

Whatever happens, I like the possibility of depth that Ohio is going to have. And like you, I'm still curious as to what we might see out of Dozier. He could be a guy who competes for more minutes than anyone and we don't even know it.
OU_Country
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Posted: 8/15/2016 4:51 PM
I totally agree with you regarding Laster if he improves the shot, and/or finishing around the rim or in the lane. But if Culver becomes the defender Saul wants him to be, he might take those minutes, and there are only so many minutes to go around.
Monroe Slavin
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Posted: 8/15/2016 7:45 PM
Guys are gonna have to play to get minutes.

Real ball. Saulball.

Should leave us in good standing in tough games by the time we get to the end part of the season.
perimeterpost
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Posted: 8/15/2016 7:45 PM
OU_Country wrote:expand_more
There's one other guy I'd really like to hear more about: Ellis Dozier.
+1000
OU_Country
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Posted: 8/16/2016 9:58 AM
Monroe Slavin wrote:expand_more
Guys are gonna have to play to get minutes.

Real ball. Saulball.

Should leave us in good standing in tough games by the time we get to the end part of the season.

Agreed Monroe. I really like the competition for PT that's going on here. Still have concerns about what happens if Simmons gets dinged up, or in foul trouble, but that's really my only concern.
giacomo
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Posted: 8/16/2016 2:35 PM
Maybe I'm in the dark, but how does anyone know if these newcomers will make an impact? Practice hasn't started, so are these guys having structured workouts on campus in the summer? Is everyone on campus taking summer school classes and working out together? Please illuminate me.
brucecuth
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Posted: 8/16/2016 3:07 PM
giacomo wrote:expand_more
Maybe I'm in the dark, but how does anyone know if these newcomers will make an impact? Practice hasn't started, so are these guys having structured workouts on campus in the summer? Is everyone on campus taking summer school classes and working out together? Please illuminate me.
Players on most D-I teams attend summer school these days, with freshmen enrolling early to do so. One reason is because several years ago, NCAA rules were changed to allow coaches to have "hands-on" interaction with the kids for several hours each week for "skill development". They also participate in supervised weight training and conditioning.

Of course, they also organize games among themselves. I believe, but am not certain, that coaches may observe these games.
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