Burke, Hazel, and Acker simply are not big east players. period. end of story. I am so upset that Crean could not get a single big east caliber center in here in the last three years. I really hope that rosoboro, liam, and otule can provide the presence we need in the future.
Those guys would struggle in the Horizon League.
Burke and Hazel could be decent contributors on defense and on the boards if they were backing up a good center. Unfortunately we don't have one of those, so they are forced to play big minutes, which they are not really good enough for.
Acker's problem is that he is just too short. He actually has quite a bit of skill, he just can't get his shot off against even the shorter guards in the BE.
agreed, they aren't the caliber bigs we need, but they didn't have to play that much- DePaul played their 5 starters and did no substituting under Ray Meyer because their talent fell off too much..., and went to the elite eight (as I recall) with the "5 men of steel".
Acker on the other hand might be a good shooter if we set up his shots, but I don't think I saw anyone set a screen tonight.
as much as i love our seniors, i am very excited to finally have height and length next year.
6'1 pg over 5'10
6'3 buycks over 6'1 rel
6'6 lazar at his normal position
6'7 maymon
7'0 liam over 6'7 burke
overall, an increase in 12 inches just over the starting 5. not to mention 6'7 fulce and williams, 6'9 rosoboro, and 6'10 chris coming off the bench! And we will finally have some ultra-athletic 6'7ish wings. I am very excited for the future of this program. If only Buzz can pull in another pg and a great shooter. By no means is this team better in the short run, but that size difference will be so nice to see.
I don't mean to get ahead of this season, and the seniors will be greatly missed by everyone. I just had to point this out due to the frustration of tonights loss.
Btw i think that Fulce returning will provide a HUGE boost if he is as good as advertised. Take some pressure off of Lazar and add a legitimate scoring threat off the bench, not to mention much need height and length. Overall, i am still very optimistic about this year.
OBTW, we did not lose tonight because of Burke, Hazel and Acker. We lost because the other team came to play and we didn't. It was obvious from the beginning of the game Dayton was out hustling us. They were more energetic and much more into the game. Also, I'm not sure if it was because he was in Chicago trying to impress friends, but McNeal was way out of control turning the ball over and taking too many bad shots.
are you serious denvermu, mcneal was way outta control and turned the ball over, if im not mistaken i believe he only had like 3 turnovers on the night, which is as much as everybody else
Since you brought up HEIGHT, MUMan...
Here was the comparison of tonight's lineups (don't know who started for Dayton):
MU - Dayton
DJ - London
5'11" - 6'0"
Jerel - Lowery
6'3" - 6'2"
Wes - Wright
6'5" - 6'8"
Lazar - Fabrizius
6'6" - 6'9"
Burke - Huelsman
6'8" - 6'10"
It wasn't just the height tonight, it was a lot of factors esp. they have a deeper roster (16 total players!!!).