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Very excited about the future of the WSU freshman, but we played a weak team at home, without VanVleet or Frankamp, and there was foul trouble for the starters and some of the reserves. Not sure that will continue all year.

Lautier Ogunluye from Bradley will be right at the top in the voting. He's gonna be a good one

mathewson10 wrote:
Obviously it is a generalization but many times when a freshman sees the floor for the first time they are more hesitant, play with uncertainty, & kind of set back & allow the older players to lead. Part of it may happen because they aren't used to playing at this higher level of competition yet. Our 6'11" player from the Senegal definitely played like a freshman last night!

I don't buy any of that stuff.

We put the narrative in our head of "playing like a freshman" then look for examples that fit our narrative or our preconceived notions. Of course guys get better over the years, generally speaking but I never like the "play like a freshman" or "rookie mistakes" stuff.

tribecalledquest wrote:

mathewson10 wrote:
Obviously it is a generalization but many times when a freshman sees the floor for the first time they are more hesitant, play with uncertainty, & kind of set back & allow the older players to lead. Part of it may happen because they aren't used to playing at this higher level of competition yet. Our 6'11" player from the Senegal definitely played like a freshman last night!

I don't buy any of that stuff.

We put the narrative in our head of "playing like a freshman" then look for examples that fit our narrative or our preconceived notions. Of course guys get better over the years, generally speaking but I never like the "play like a freshman" or "rookie mistakes" stuff.

What an odd semantic battle you have chosen. I would suggest you bring these phrases into your lexicon as that are well understood, truthful, and commonly used.

Wufan wrote:

tribecalledquest wrote:

mathewson10 wrote:
Obviously it is a generalization but many times when a freshman sees the floor for the first time they are more hesitant, play with uncertainty, & kind of set back & allow the older players to lead. Part of it may happen because they aren't used to playing at this higher level of competition yet. Our 6'11" player from the Senegal definitely played like a freshman last night!

I don't buy any of that stuff.

We put the narrative in our head of "playing like a freshman" then look for examples that fit our narrative or our preconceived notions. Of course guys get better over the years, generally speaking but I never like the "play like a freshman" or "rookie mistakes" stuff.

What an odd semantic battle you have chosen. I would suggest you bring these phrases into your lexicon as that are well understood, truthful, and commonly used.

Just because a phrase is used a lot doesn't make it truthful---it makes it lazy. I hear commentators on sports broadcasts time and time again mention "momentum" and that doesn't even exist.

It's human nature to look for what we want to see that fits our preconceived bias of "momentum", "freshman mistakes", "senior leadership", and all kinds of jargon.

Some good freshman out there in early play:

Bradley - DLO*, Barker*, Suggs, van Bree
MSU - Church*, Dixon
ISUr - Griffin
WSU - McDuffie*, Hamilton, Taylor
SIU - Fletcher

The 4 with * are looking like All-MVC freshman.

With the exception of a couple games where he went scoreless Roland Griffin has looked really good for ILS.
His two best performances have been at San Diego State and in Rupp Arena so maybe that bodes well for strong performances when the Valley season starts. He should start taking more of Wills and McCloud's minutes which would help make his case for FOY much stronger!

Wufan wrote:Some good freshman out there in early play:

Bradley - DLO*, Barker*, Suggs, van Bree
MSU - Church*, Dixon
ISUr - Griffin
WSU - McDuffie*, Hamilton, Taylor
SIU - Fletcher

The 4 with * are looking like All-MVC freshman.

Church has been one of our few positives this year. This kid can really play. Currently leading the Bears in minutes played, rebounds, and blocks. Really good athlete who is stronger and a better athlete than we thought he would be coming in this year. He's raw offensively but he has a nice touch around the basket. Last I looked he was averaging 8 ppg and shooting over 70%. He plays with a lot of intensity too.

Best post player we have had since Creekmore. Sky's the limit for this kid.

glm38 wrote:Church has been one of our few positives this year. This kid can really play. Currently leading the Bears in minutes played, rebounds, and blocks. Really good athlete who is stronger and a better athlete than we thought he would be coming in this year. He's raw offensively but he has a nice touch around the basket. Last I looked he was averaging 8 ppg and shooting over 70%. He plays with a lot of intensity too.

Best post player we have had since Creekmore. Sky's the limit for this kid.

I'm glad to hear Obi is playing well! I covered him a ton for the company I work for.

Fun fact: Obediah Church and Willie Wiley both played at the same high school. (and both were terribly underutilized!)

Redbird Recon wrote:

glm38 wrote:Church has been one of our few positives this year. This kid can really play. Currently leading the Bears in minutes played, rebounds, and blocks. Really good athlete who is stronger and a better athlete than we thought he would be coming in this year. He's raw offensively but he has a nice touch around the basket. Last I looked he was averaging 8 ppg and shooting over 70%. He plays with a lot of intensity too.

Best post player we have had since Creekmore. Sky's the limit for this kid.

I'm glad to hear Obi is playing well! I covered him a ton for the company I work for.

Fun fact: Obediah Church and Willie Wiley both played at the same high school. (and both were terribly underutilized!)

That must have been some high school team.