Remember this rant: "if we only had stemler...."

[mviale]

Looks like stiffler has lost his starting job as he cant find that garage jump shot that de developed over the summer.

[Marquette84]

While we're at it. . .

"If we only had Mason . . ."

--zero points in a blowout loss today against Arkansas

[mviale]

His play has regressed and his minutes were higher at MU - so ironic.  To this date, the only one that really got away was Odartey Blankson.

[77ncaachamps]

And Odartey is the only one I truly miss...

[NYWarrior]

agreed on Dot.

Worse than the score for Mason --- he only played 7 total minutes tonight.

.......transferring from MU to LSU, what a foolish decision on his part.

[mviale]

I actually feel sorry for Mason (previously called 'ish by Homer). He would have had a nice career at MU with steady improvement.  These SEC schools are known to be sport factories and there usually isnt much development beyond natural talent.  The same could be said for O, he would have had a final four experience.   However, I also remember making lowsy decisions when I was their age.

[nathanziarek]

Yeah, I tend to feel that way in general for most of these kids. Either you've been so naturally gifted that you've never had a coach  come down hard on you (ok, i typed "couch" originally and laughed so hard I lost my train of thought), and moving to the college ranks really gets under your skin or maybe you are just too impulsive. Either way, you are young and prone to really stupid decisions.

I don't know if we ever really missed ODB. I think we might be missing Ammo's talent right now, but not his attitude. Mostly, though, I figure if people don't fit into the system, then they aren't going to work on the MU team, and we are probably better off without them.

[77ncaachamps]

I think ODB's depature was rather unexpected. Though he was one of the WAC's premier players, his shooting was HORRIBLE while at UNLV. He was taking threes when it wasn't even his business. What MU missed was an energetic and EXPERIENCED player who could defend and had an overall-game like Josh Howard (inside and outside).

[MarquetteDano]

I do think we missed ODB greatly.  It is scary to think that that Final Four team could have had:

Wade
Diener
Jackson
Novak
ODB
Merritt

That is some serious talent baby.

[herboturbo]

I actually feel sorry for Mason (previously called 'ish by Homer). He would have had a nice career at MU with steady improvement.  These SEC schools are known to be sport factories and there usually isnt much development beyond natural talent.  The same could be said for O, he would have had a final four experience.   However, I also remember making lowsy decisions when I was their age.

To be picky, I believe that George Thompson was the one that came up with one of the dumbest nicknames in recent memory. 

[mviale]

If the Warriors win the 2003 championship, ODB, Merritt & Jackson slip into the 2nd round of NBA draft.  Fortunes could be changed. ODB would have given us some athleticism to combat Nick Collison.

[Nukem2]

It really is sad in whats happened to Mason.  In 4 SEC games, he has played only 50 minutes with 9 points and 8 rebounds.  Transferring to LSU was a truly poor decision.  Hopefully, he is happy otherwise.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Hey guys,

Not to get "preachy" on anybody, but we should all keep in mind that these kids lives revolve around more than basketball and how many minutes they are getting.

I just cringe when I see people using points scored or minutes to determine if a player is happy that they transfered. Minutes played and points scored don't capture whether a player is "happy" or if he made a "mistake".

Mason might not be having great success on the court, but he may still be happy he transfered. We really don't know. Maybe he has made some great friends, or met a girlfriend or any number of things that make him glad that he transfered.

The same goes for the others as well. MU isn't for everybody, so if they transfer and don't have great success on the court, I still don't think that means they should regret it.

There are positives and negatives to every school and every program. Hopefully all of these guys are happy with the change of direction that they made in their lives.

Go MU... prediction of DJ going for 25 today

[bma725]

You guys do realize that if ODB stayed, either Chapman or Bradley isn't there.  Which means they aren't there to hit the big shots needed in the tournament to help MU advance.  Similarly, if ODB is there he's playing some minutes at the 3 taking away minutes that Novak needs to develop, without those minutes maybe Novak doesn't have the confidence to make the shots he did during the tournament run.

My point is, while it would be nice to have someone of ODB's talent, I think it ended up working out for the best.  Because I'm not entirely sure that Final Four run would have happened with him there, and I wouldn't trade that for the success ODB could possibly have brought the team in the year after the Final 4.

[herboturbo]

You guys do realize that if ODB stayed, either Chapman or Bradley isn't there.  Which means they aren't there to hit the big shots needed in the tournament to help MU advance.  Similarly, if ODB is there he's playing some minutes at the 3 taking away minutes that Novak needs to develop, without those minutes maybe Novak doesn't have the confidence to make the shots he did during the tournament run.

My point is, while it would be nice to have someone of ODB's talent, I think it ended up working out for the best.  Because I'm not entirely sure that Final Four run would have happened with him there, and I wouldn't trade that for the success ODB could possibly have brought the team in the year after the Final 4.

Actually Blankson leaving had no impact on either Chapman or Bradley coming to this team.  In fact we only had i believe 10 scholarship players in the 02-03 season.  I'm pretty sure Blankson leaving  opened up a scholarship for the Niv Berkowicz experiment. 

While I agree with you that ODB staying means we might not have made the final four in '03, what really hurt is what he would have brought to the team in the 03-04 season.  Him staying allows Sanders to continue coming off the bench as we could have started Blankson at the 4.  That would have drastically improved our team that year.  But then again, so would have signing Nick Fazekas. 

[CoachKJ]

Good one.  Did Niv B. ever play basketball in the US after his cup of coffee with MU?