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Post by drunkandstoopidbeav on May 4, 2023 20:46:12 GMT -8
I was not implying we have a Steve Johnson type. I said Ibekwe could be pretty good for us in 2 years. We probably don’t have a Steve Johnson type center (assuming Ibekwe doesn't make an abnormally fast gain in skill level, I think by 2024/2025 he could be a consustent force) Probably Assuming Could be Honestly Even if Ibekwe does May be When I say "probably" and "could be" it's my way of politely avoiding saying "don't". I hate speaking in absolutes when it comes to future performances. One thing about both Johnson and Ibekwe, they both started competitive basketball relatively late. Eubanks was another. Everybody develops at different rates, and I don't know what type of competition these kids faced before they came to OSU. The two who played here for 3-4 years ended up in the NBA. Eubanks improved a lot over the years, and I can't discount the possibility Ibekwe might get there as well. He improved over the course of the season, and he didn't even get here until mid-September. Ibekwe played soccer as a huge kid and has one of the fastest first steps of any 18 year old 270 pound basketball players I've seen.. he burned Warren Washington from 10-12 feet out and showed several other times where he had an amazingly fast first step but his dribbling skills aren't there yet and he was called for traveling. Dribbling skills can improve, Eubanks showed that in his 3rd year here. It'll be interesting to see how he develops. |
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Post by wilkyisdashiznit on May 4, 2023 21:13:05 GMT -8
We probably don’t have a Steve Johnson type center (assuming Ibekwe doesn't make an abnormally fast gain in skill level, I think by 2024/2025 he could be a consustent force) Probably Assuming Could be Honestly Even if Ibekwe does May be When I say "probably" and "could be" it's my way of politely avoiding saying "don't". I hate speaking in absolutes when it comes to future performances.
One thing about both Johnson and Ibekwe, they both started competitive basketball relatively late. Eubanks was another. Everybody develops at different rates, and I don't know what type of competition these kids faced before they came to OSU. The two who played here for 3-4 years ended up in the NBA. Eubanks improved a lot over the years, and I can't discount the possibility Ibekwe might get there as well. He improved over the course of the season, and he didn't even get here until mid-September. Ibekwe played soccer as a huge kid and has one of the fastest first steps of any 18 year old 270 pound basketball players I've seen.. he burned Warren Washington from 10-12 feet out and showed several other times where he had an amazingly fast first step but his dribbling skills aren't there yet and he was called for traveling. Dribbling skills can improve, Eubanks showed that in his 3rd year here. It'll be interesting to see how he develops.  |
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Post by beavheart on May 5, 2023 8:29:35 GMT -8
I was not implying we have a Steve Johnson type. I said Ibekwe could be pretty good for us in 2 years. We probably don’t have a Steve Johnson type center (assuming Ibekwe doesn't make an abnormally fast gain in skill level, I think by 2024/2025 he could be a consustent force) Probably Assuming Could be Honestly Even if Ibekwe does May be Ibekwe Haiku? I like it. |
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Post by spudbeaver on May 5, 2023 12:49:30 GMT -8
We probably don’t have a Steve Johnson type center (assuming Ibekwe doesn't make an abnormally fast gain in skill level, I think by 2024/2025 he could be a consustent force) Probably Assuming Could be Honestly Even if Ibekwe does May be Ibekwe Haiku? I like it. Ibekwe the man? Steve Johnson was and is King Best keep working hard |
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Post by alwaysorange on May 5, 2023 13:06:42 GMT -8
OK... I know you try to be positive about this program... But, really? The 2023 roster has young kids that could potentially match... Blume? Radford? Stout? Martin? Allen? No matter what jump Ibekwe makes he'll never be in the same stratosphere as Steve. And, only Pope can hold a candle to any of the aforementioned, but only on one end of the court. One of the greatest young rosters in OSU history and you compare the current roster to it? Be positive, not ridiculous. I watched nearly every home game between 76 and 80 except for those during the first two Christmas breaks. That was the time of my life my "fanship" of OSU sports blossomed. Those kids are who I generally use as my baseline when comparing players at OSU. Rataj and Bilodeau both can be more consequetial to the program, in a good way, than Stout, Allen and Martin were. They were both ahead of any of the early output of those three. Allen is one of my favorite players here of all time... I like kids who play good D position and are willing to take a charge (part of the reason I liked Riechle a couple years back). They will score more than him, will they defend to his level? Hard to say. Are they the next Sitton? Likely not, but Rataj has shown flashes of moving better than Sitton and Bilodeau is every bit the gritty player that Sitton was. I already said Ibekwe wasn't a Steve Johnson. We haven't had a center of Johnson's level since. We've had a few very good ones, and I think Ibekwe has a lot of potential, maybe not top 5 in the last 50 years, but I can't say yet he won't be one of the top 5. I think he will become more consequential than Martin, who was one of the best (if not the best) backup centers we've had here in that time. OSU was blessed with post play those years, it made the team click and made it easier for the other players to "shine". Not having that type of post man now makes things harder for everyone. We were getting roughly 30 pointsa game out of the post position in the late 70's. I think it's unrealistic to get that now unless we land an all-American, I'd be good with 14-18 and solid D out of the position, I'm hopeful that can happen. Pope already was ahead of the freshmen versions of Blume and Radford. I wouldn't put him in Gary Payton senior's league, but few in college history can match Payton, but assuming Pope continues to improve, he could be a very significant guard in OSU's history. Will he be better than those two were their junior and senior years? Hard to say, but one can hope. Blume and Radford became defensive stalwarts here, that's a lot to live up to. Right now I'm comparing freshman year to freshman year, not freshman year against soph/junior/senior years. In my ideal world one if our two bigs comes in this fall and is balls out the best post man we've had since Johnson. If that happens this team could be quite good this year. The team needs a couple of pieces to match the best teams of the late 70's and early 80's, but it's not without potential. I have to give you credit for being ever so optimistic but really "the team needs a couple of pieces to match the best teams of the late 70s and early 80s,". This team needs a hell of a lot more than a couple of pieces. You'd have to start with the coaching staff and then other than a couple of players the rest would have to go. There must be alot in your couple of pieces. |
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Post by drunkandstoopidbeav on May 5, 2023 14:07:12 GMT -8
I guess I'll have to qualify my answer in that when I said "match" I was thinking Tournament visits and not a 3 year string of 25/26 wins and a 6 year stretch of 20+ wins.
That stretch was probably the best OSU will ever have unless it decides to match investment in the program to that of the level of the top schools in our league.
That said, I think the 4 freshman we've been talking about have the potential to be pretty solid players. We need a post guy, maybe Ibekwe is that guy in a couple years, if not he would be a terrific backup center at worst. We need a kid to play opposite of Pope, either a good true point or a 2 with about the same level of skill as Pope to share duties. I suspect Rataj and Bilodeau will be very solid players.
All you need is a good starting lineup and a good combo guy and a reasonably
solid backup center to remain healthy all season and hope the rest can throw in a few minutes a game without getting blown out and you'll probably have a fairly decent team. That '79/'80 team that won 26 games and was a top ranked team for a healthy chunk of the season only had 7 players that averaged playing over 8 minutes a game and 2 of those were less than 20 minutes a game.
A little improvement this year and the next would shut a lot of people up except for the hard core group that will never let past seasons go.
Marrs and Ndong doing well could really change the win column rapidly. I would like to see at least one 6'10" player on the floor (for our team) 40 minutes a game instead of the 9-13 minutes we had most of this season. Forwards like Rataj/Bilodeau (and Andela/Ryuny)should not have to be playing the post a big chunk of the game.
Assuming they're here this fall and future seasons, we've got 4 pretty good kids this program can build off of for a few years. If the incoming kids perform well this could be a pretty decent team in 2 seasons.
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Post by treasurevalleybeav on May 7, 2023 5:35:41 GMT -8
If Tinkle still knows what he’s doing, I’d assume we should be at least “pretty decent” this season coming up. He’s had his two 20+ loss mulligans right after going to an elite 8. I agree there’s some nice talent already here, so we should be at least an NIT level squad at this point.
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Post by beaverinohio on May 7, 2023 7:29:47 GMT -8
If Tinkle still knows what he’s doing, I’d assume we should be at least “pretty decent” this season coming up. He’s had his two 20+ loss mulligans right after going to an elite 8. I agree there’s some nice talent already here, so we should be at least an NIT level squad at this point. I like your optimism, but “at least an NIT level squad”? I’m just not seeing it. Losing 20+ ppg for a team that struggles to score is going to be very hard to overcome enough to actually see overall improvement. Sure improvement by the remaining players will help, but have no idea how much the newcomers will help next year. Colorado finished a game over .500 and with 8 conference wins I think, so we’d have to equal that at the minimum. I’d be ecstatic if we did. So while NIT might not be out of the question, I’d put that as the ceiling rather than the floor with what we know now about the team. But I’ll be very happy if they prove me wrong. |
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Post by drunkandstoopidbeav on May 7, 2023 9:13:18 GMT -8
I'd think 16 +/- 2 will be the likely win total this next season unless the roster changes either through transfer or injury significantly.
The NIT (postseason) would probably be a reach, if we get there I'd be quite excited.
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Post by beaverology on May 7, 2023 9:17:58 GMT -8
Of course the NIT is a reach, that's why he posted it.
Notice how every MBB post turns into "Why I hate WT...."
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Post by rgeorge on May 7, 2023 10:07:54 GMT -8
Of course the NIT is a reach, that's why he posted it. Notice how every MBB post turns into "Why I hate WT...." What is REALLY noticeable is you coming on to EVERY MBB thread and somewhere stating made up BS that fits your personal childlike fantasies about the program and the valid criticisms after (9) seasons!! Scanning the two pages here quickly I see no mention of "hating" WT. Zero. One might even go as far as saying I've never seen one post using "why I hate WT"!! I saw a lot of comparing the current roster to the past, a NC game(s), mentions of a former coach (That was never compared to WT by the way), and then some early opinions of goals to reach for next season. Hmmmmm... maybe try reading again... maybe a "Hooked on Phonics" or other, more current elementary reading programs might help? Tag... you're it  |
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Post by treasurevalleybeav on May 7, 2023 11:09:37 GMT -8
Of course the NIT is a reach, that's why he posted it. Notice how every MBB post turns into "Why I hate WT...." The funny thing is you thinking NIT is completely unreachable is more insulting to Tinkle’s ability than anything I said lol |
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Post by beaverology on May 7, 2023 11:18:44 GMT -8
Of course the NIT is a reach, that's why he posted it. Notice how every MBB post turns into "Why I hate WT...." The funny thing is you thinking NIT is completely unreachable is more insulting to Tinkle’s ability than anything I said lol Where did I say it was completely unreachable? Never said that, you did. The Beavers have made the NIT once since 1987, so that's asking a lot. But you already knew that. |
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Post by nabeav on May 8, 2023 7:08:39 GMT -8
I'm still trying to wrap my head around why playing a game at a 3,200 seat venue in South Dakota is significant. I'm glad it is, don't get me wrong. I'd rather play quirky games against other P5 teams than a game against Quinnipiac or something, but hey if we can promote it, let's go!
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