Post Player Development or Lack thereof?

Coach Rose is in my opinion an excellent coach. We generally play smart and hard. It seems like our guards improve year to year but what about our bigs?



Miles seems to have regressed statistically this year and his footwork has never improved in the post. Plaisted never seemed to progress.



Hartsock looks better but I wonder he is just finally getting into shape. Davies appears to be a very good talent.



Has Coach just not had any talented bigs play for him? Plaisted, Miles and Davies seem to have necessary size and athletic ability. Or is the offense just geared for perimeter players?

How many white American big guys are there starting in the NBA? That's the biggest problem. White American big guys do not have a great track record. Not to say that there aren't any, but generally speaking most of them hit a wall. Not sure why exactly.

On the staff Coach Wardenburg handles the big men. Of the three assistants he is the weakest in coaching acumen. But he is an excellent recruiter.

timmyboy wrote:
How many white American big guys are there starting in the NBA? That's the biggest problem. White American big guys do not have a great track record. Not to say that there aren't any, but generally speaking most of them hit a wall. Not sure why exactly.

I would buy this if the player's were polished but athletically limited. At BYU specifically I haven't seen the improvements from any of the bigs I would have expected.

timmyboy wrote:
How many white American big guys are there starting in the NBA? That's the biggest problem. White American big guys do not have a great track record. Not to say that there aren't any, but generally speaking most of them hit a wall. Not sure why exactly.

Spencer Hawes, Troy Murphy, Chris Kaman, Brook Lopez (may be half hispanic), Joel Przybilla, Kevin Love, Nick Collison started for a while. In the past Ostertag did, Mark Eaton, Bill Lambier, as well as many others. That's not even considering all the Europeans. Big white guys don't do too bad in the NBA.

I think you forgot the Gasol brothers and Illgauskus(aka Big Z), There are a ton of capable tall white guys playing basketball.



Your argument is like saying that only black dudes make good running backs. That may be the trend, but it's not true.

declocoug wrote:
I think you forgot the Gasol brothers and Illgauskus(aka Big Z), There are a ton of capable tall white guys playing basketball.



Your argument is like saying that only black dudes make good running backs. That may be the trend, but it's not true.

He was just talking about American white guys.

Short_Change wrote:

I think you forgot the Gasol brothers and Illgauskus(aka Big Z), There are a ton of capable tall white guys playing basketball.



Your argument is like saying that only black dudes make good running backs. That may be the trend, but it's not true.

He was just talking about American white guys.

Oh yeah, of course. Those guys do suck. ;)

kitic77 wrote:
On the staff Coach Wardenburg handles the big men. Of the three assistants he is the weakest in coaching acumen. But he is an excellent recruiter.

Interesting, I suspected the assistant coaching of the big was the problem, especially because we've had some really talented guys come in and go nowhere.

Our post players in the past have not been that good. Plaisted was unbelievably athletic but he wasn't coordinated at all, and there is a big difference between the two. Just because you are 6'10" and can jump out of the gym doesnt mean you will be able to hit a jump hook, or even a free throw for that matter. Miles is also fairly athletic but not that coordinated. Davies on the other hand seems like someone that the coaches will be able to work with that actually has potential, skill, and coordination. If we cannot develop him into something then I will be worried.

and the LDA (Lack of Development Award) goes tooooooo....



*Drumroll*



Oh my, folks, it looks like for the first time ever in the history of the LDA's, WE HAVE A TIE!!!



Will Miles and Tavernari please come to center stage for your award?

Sammich wrote:

Interesting, I suspected the assistant coaching of the big was the problem, especially because we've had some really talented guys come in and go nowhere.

I guess it's all in how you measure talent. I haven't seen any real talent at the post at the Y for a long time. These guys we've had lately were not "gets" when we got them and were not high on any basketball powers dream sheet. I say Rose and company have done about as much as they could with the bigs they've gotten. Davis has potential, it will be fun to watch his development. We need a stable of them to do anything though. It's tough to develop them one at a time.



Go Cougs!

L Hatton

Louisville KY

I agree with everyone, but there is one exception...Keena Young. The kid didn't have much game in the beginning but once he started working on his back to the basket game, he dominated his senior season. I don't know why every big guy can't learn some moves, but for whatever reason our big dudes are sub-par.

mizzoucoug wrote:
I agree with everyone, but there is one exception...Keena Young. The kid didn't have much game in the beginning but once he started working on his back to the basket game, he dominated his senior season. I don't know why every big guy can't learn some moves, but for whatever reason our big dudes are sub-par.

Keena Young was amazing his senior season. If they could get the ball to him inside, you knew he would score. It was as simple as that.

mizzoucoug wrote:
I agree with everyone, but there is one exception...Keena Young. The kid didn't have much game in the beginning but once he started working on his back to the basket game, he dominated his senior season. I don't know why every big guy can't learn some moves, but for whatever reason our big dudes are sub-par.

Did we have different assistant coaches then?

People tend to forget that Rose was the main reason that Araujo improved so much between his first and second year (and the fact that Araujo was the ultimate gym rat).



BYU hasn't had a big man with the same skill set and work ethic since Araujo. And before that, since Bradley.



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