Incoming freshmen

[Uncle Rico]

One of the fun things about retaining players is that we get to see the yearly progress. I would never dismiss a players ability to improve from season to season. I fully expect to see noticeable improvement from all the guys to varied degrees. That said, I think Ben Gold has a breakout year and will silence a lot critics.

Sadly, we have zero evidence of guys playing here for Shaka getting better. 

[BCHoopster]

I am very interested as well to see how Benny does. Our perimeter defense will be borderline elite this year with Chase and Stevie. I can see teams scheming to try and beat us in the post - Benny will have to step up his defense massively for MU to reach it's potential .

I hope Hamilton after a year and a half in the program gives them some muscle!

[jficke13]

U lookin just for 5 & 10 lbs plates right fam

I'm not greedy, I'd take 'em.

The hardest part would be having to convert on the fly to KG.

[Shooter McGavin]

One of the fun things about retaining players is that we get to see the yearly progress. I would never dismiss a players ability to improve from season to season. I fully expect to see noticeable improvement from all the guys to varied degrees. That said, I think Ben Gold has a breakout year and will silence a lot critics.

Agreed on Gold and it will mostly be on the mental side where he is ready to take his leap. If he is ready to lead and take control and look to drive to the hoop as much as shooting the three, he will be a huge breakout candidate.  Has to have the right mindset to be a star player rather than a role player.  I hope he does because MU will be really good if that's the case.

[Stretchdeltsig]

One of the fun things about retaining players is that we get to see the yearly progress. I would never dismiss a players ability to improve from season to season. I fully expect to see noticeable improvement from all the guys to varied degrees. That said, I think Ben Gold has a breakout year and will silence a lot critics.

What haven't you liked about Ben? I think hrs been ahead of Oslo in development. He'll be a key contributor this year and next year.

[The Sultan]

What haven't you liked about Ben? I think hrs been ahead of Oslo in development. He'll be a key contributor this year and next year.

Yeah but Copenhagen is ahead of both of them.

[The Thing]

Helsinki is pretty strong too.

[lawdog77]

Yeah but Copenhagen is ahead of both of them.

Norway Tower didn't feed you that joke

[tower912]

That is about Oslo as you can go.



Goose hasn't been down on Ben.  BCHoopster and NYG have been down on Ben.


Can't a-fjord to make mistakes like that.

[MU82]

Agreed on Gold and it will mostly be on the mental side where he is ready to take his leap. If he is ready to lead and take control and look to drive to the hoop as much as shooting the three, he will be a huge breakout candidate.  Has to have the right mindset to be a star player rather than a role player.  I hope he does because MU will be really good if that's the case.

We don't need Gold to be a "star." We need him to be a good college basketball player, and I'm among those who thinks he will be one.

Not sure how one even defines "star" now. All-American? All-BEast? On NBA Draft boards? I'd take any or all of those from Ben!

If he does become a star - which I'd define as at least being All-BEast - we'll again be legit contenders for a deep March run.

[nyg]

That is about Oslo as you can go.



Goose hasn't been down on Ben.  BCHoopster and NYG have been down on Ben.


Can't a-fjord to make mistakes like that.

Come on Tower, I am not down on Gold, but have brought up some things about his game.  Never said Gold sucks, stinks, should transfer, etc. As usual here, if you bring up anything negative aspect about an MU player, you are like branded for life.

- a 6ft 11 guy that can shoot threes, I am all in.  But Gold gets hot for three games, then cold for three games. Build on being consistent for each game.  35% was not bad for year.

- I have said he is not a center, but now one has to define the center position.  On offense, he can bring the defender away from the rim, but now he is not a rebounder.  Gold consistently runs around the three line waiting for the ball to shoot the three and has done so for two years.  That all may change with whatever Shaka decides he plays, but playing low will take some offensive adjustments.  Defense is the main concern, because he is very slow and tends to foul.  His role will be point of discussion early on and see how it works.

Hope it works out position wise for him and produces benefits for team

[tower912]

Ok.  I misinterpreted your statements.

[nyg]

Only statement I have ever stated is that he is not a center, but a three point shooting forward and that if put in the center position, he will be placed in a spot where his defense will result in foul issues. 

I hope one of the youngsters can play inside so he can continue in the role he has played in the past two years.  Will need his scoring to increase from the 5ppg. 

[Shooter McGavin]

We don't need Gold to be a "star." We need him to be a good college basketball player, and I'm among those who thinks he will be one.

Not sure how one even defines "star" now. All-American? All-BEast? On NBA Draft boards? I'd take any or all of those from Ben!

If he does become a star - which I'd define as at least being All-BEast - we'll again be legit contenders for a deep March run.

I'll agree with your all Big East designation as a star.  Good won't cut it.  All Big East would.  The key is to maintain the level of play from last year if possible.  It may not be possible but an all Big East first or second team Ben will get the job done.  He has the talent.  There can be no mental hesitation.  He will be counted on greatly.  I keep using Mamu as a comparison. He was ready to take a lead role at Seton Hall his Junior year.

[tower912]

So, you are pessimistic about his defense and his offense.    Mea culpa.

[Stretchdeltsig]

I'm sorry about my kindle typo errors. I meant to say that Ben is ahead of Oso based on his play as a second year player. I think he'll be a difference maker this year.

[MU82]

I did not view Gold as a fouling machine last season, and I thought his defense improved markedly both in m-t-m post matchups and as a help defender in the low post.

Oso is an athletic freak. Very few centers can defend quick players on the perimeter, and I don't think it's fair to expect Gold to match what Oso did there. I hope he's not asked to do it too often, but the way we switch it is possible (even probable) that he will be exploited sometimes. As most centers are in those situations.

And we haven't had a center who killed it on the offensive boards in many years. Oso sure didn't. Will Gold? Probably not.

It doesn't matter what position you call Gold. Wasn't Oso called a forward when the starting lineup was introduced each game? He will be our primary post defender during most of his time in games, and he will take a lot of 3s on offense with some occasional drives and post play.

And that's just based on what we've seen from him so far. Maybe he will develop entirely new parts of his game. There isn't a single Scooper who, on June 5 following his sophomore season, said of Oso: "I bet he's gonna be a point center and pick-and-roll savant in a few months."

[Scoop Snoop]

I'm sorry about my kindle typo errors. I meant to say that Ben is ahead of Oso based on his play as a second year player. I think he'll be a difference maker this year.

Don't apologize for that! The replies were a lot of fun. I'm hoping you come up with a couple more like that one.   

[Tyler COLEk]

I'm about as bullish as you can be on Damarius Owens and Royce Parham. I think Owens joins Kam Jones and Chase Ross in the first tier of freshmen seasons under Shaka so far.

Not bad to get two starters from the prep school national champions.

[MUbiz]

I did not view Gold as a fouling machine last season

Ben Gold had the highest foul rate on the team last season per minutes played. He averaged 1.9 fouls per 17 minutes. Oso averaged 2.1 fouls per 32.5 minutes for comparison.

[jfp61]

Ben Gold had the highest foul rate on the team last season per minutes played. He averaged 1.9 fouls per 17 minutes. Oso averaged 2.1 fouls per 32.5 minutes for comparison.

Zero foul outs. Those 2, 4 foul games against Clingan and Edey.

It largely isn't a problem.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Ben Gold had the highest foul rate on the team last season per minutes played. He averaged 1.9 fouls per 17 minutes. Oso averaged 2.1 fouls per 32.5 minutes for comparison.

Actually Amadou had the highest foul rate on the team with a whopping 9.4 fouls per 40.

Norman was highest of the rotation players at 4.7 per 40.

Ben was third with 4.5 per 40, just ahead of Seans 4.3.

For a big guy,  anything under 5 is okay.  And as jfp pointed out,  2/4 of his games with 4 fouls were against Edey and Clingan. I don't we see anyone resembling those two monsters this season.

Plenty of room on the kiwimobile. Gonna ride it all the way to the Association

[bilsu]

Hamilton might be the most important unknown. We need someone who can back up Gold.

[tower912]

In two seasons, we will be discussing  which player will meet the Gold standard.

[MU90620]

Zero foul outs. Those 2, 4 foul games against Clingan and Edey.

It largely isn't a problem.

He also didn't foul out playing 37 minutes against Kalkbrenner