Rim protection regardless if its a block or causes a miss is always key. Especially since rebounding is one of the calling cards of the program.
@RWcoog that video almost seemed like it was meant to be a documentary lol
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Hope we can find a dynamic defender like Bo Outlaw, post players like Micheaux or Anderson or a tweener with the abilities of Tim Moore.
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Exactly. Bo Outlaw wasn’t the biggest but was a beast. Even made some noise in the NBA.
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Right. And the thing is most of the time (but not always) blocked shots usually are a pretty good overall proxy for how effective someone’s help side rim protection is.
Steals is a much more deceptive stat. Iverson was always among the league leaders in steals but was a pretty lousy defender who got steals because he would gamble and overplay passing lanes, etc. Harden led the league in steals this year. Harden’s overall defense is okay and vastly improved from 5 years or so ago because he makes up for his laziness on rotations and getting cooked one on one with the quickest hands in the league and with his elite post defense on switches. However, Harden is obviously at best overall an average defender.
There are occasionally guys with good blocked shots numbers who get those by gambling who may not be as good at that as the numbers suggest, but it’s much less common than steals having little correlation to someone’s ability to defend wings/guards.
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Several of you mentioned Bo Outlaw, who is 6-8. What a player, especially on defense. Steals, rebounds and on-the-ball defense. Just great skills.
He was playing high school ball in San Antonio same time as Shaquille O’Neal.
If Francis stays committed to UH, which I see no reason he wouldn’t, and has Outlaw’s penchant for defense, I will be pleased. And hopefully his offensive game will be better than Outlaw’s.
Outlaw is on my list of alltime top 10 favorite Coogs.
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He reclassified from 22
Do people grow into their arms like puppies grow into their paws?
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Outlaw and Goldwire together were fun to see and both should be pretty high on our all time list.
Was the most awkward tremendous athlete I have seen.
Man what Sampson could do having him at center. Could defend 1-5
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Thanks CMCoog17 for the link. I was not aware of that website. Francis is quite the boom. Glad Sampson has the program to where UH recruits with the big boys like Guy V. did.
Amazing how a good coach can sustain a winning program.
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Rashard Lewis…he was almost a Coog. Very close to Alvin.
Didn’t know he had an Academy.
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Man, am I impressed by Ja’Vier Francis! The way he moves, jumps, and blocks shot are elite! Reminds me of Hakeem with his athleticism and just like Hakeem he has tremendous jumping ability and timing in blocking shots! Just imagine if he were 2-3" taller! See it for yourself, here are some of his highlights:
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With Akeem, it wasn’t so much how high he could jump, but rather how quickly he could jump. Reaction time.
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He’s only 16 too so he’s not done growing height wise lol. Look at his arms they’re freaking longgg.
Went to my high school alma mater. Great player at the time. Still pissed that the rockets didn’t draft him with 3 1st rd draft pick that year.
That was crazy. Michael Dickerson with the first pick over Rashard made sense but Bryce Drew and Turkan over Lewis were incomprehensible.
Michael Dickerson made sense but they should of drafted him with the last of 3 first rounders.
Dickerson was the guy they wanted the whole time. He was going to be the replacement for Clyde. I think every single mock draft I saw had him going to the Rockets at that spot. If they hadn’t picked him at 14 there’s a decent chance he’s gone even at 15.
Dickerson started every game as a rookie, made the all rookie second team, and was the centerpiece of the trade for Francis the next year. Obviously, Rashard had a much better career (though Dickerson’s was cut short due to injuries), but had the Rockets only had the #14 pick that year picking Dickerson over Rashard would have been totally reasonable (every other team also passed on Rashard). Taking a flyer on Drew and especially Turkcan over Lewis was really dumb though.