Ja'Vier Francis' Development

Cougar Basketball
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It is looking more and more that Javier is going to be our Starting 5 next year

so i made a thread on the development areas we need from him

The NEEDS

Foul Rate - his foul rate is absolutely insane, it doesnt matter how much better he gets if he cant stay out of foul trouble. with our depth experience at center, its almost vital he reduces his foul rate

some of his foul numbers are crazy
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like how are we supposed to play him 30mins for a game he might be the advantage when he has game with 3 fouls in 6minutes

Weight - as a vertically leaper w/ his wingspan javier actually gets higher than most centers. if rebounding and defense were simply about who could reach the highest we’d be fine. but it’s not. weight plays a significant part in defense and rebounding… he is 235 now, ideally 250+ would be nice, but atleast 245 to atleast be serviceable.

It would make a him a drastically better boxout threat. would also improve him as a defender (& reduce his foul rate). he can just push bigs from getting into position {prevent the shot all together}, without the need to try to block everything (That will get calls)

Basketball IQ - he is very one track minded on the court. he tends to make up his mind what he wants to do before he gets the ball and will stick with that no matter the situation (example; he’ll get a post feed for a post-up layup… even if the opposing team decides to rotate a triple at him, he will still try to force the postup layup instead of passing it out to the open player, because thats what he decided beforehand). he has to improve on reading game situations

also sometimes gets lost in the defensive rotation (but i think this will naturally improve(

FT% - 59% … would like to get it to atleast 70%+

The “Nice to Have” -

we probably only need defense and rebounding from him (and the ability to stay on the court), anything else would be a plus

Offensive Coordination - he is a bit clumsy at times, and threw up some wild shots against good defense (lucky to hit the rim). improved body controll will be a major plus

Offense versatility - 90% of his shots were just dunks/putback dunks. he he did occasionally show some post moves, even hit a short turn around mid range… the ability to take on a big in the post 1 on 1 with regularity would be nice (that isnt just a 6’7 mid major center)

the obvious issue of spacing is problem (especially with shorter bigs) but i think you have to bank on j’wan and not ja’vier for a solution to that

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Has coach said hes going to start Francis & Roberts together ?!

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from the HRR interview. “jwan is moving back to the 4, and Javier the 5”

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Video link ?

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I saw nothing from last year that made me believe he would be a starter this year. But obviously if coach thinks he will start I will trust him.
Yes Francis has talent but has absolutely no offensive game and his lack of timing and leaving his feet too early translates to foul problems.
He is athletic and has tools to go with that long wingspan.
I agree with Pollard that with development he could be very similar to former Coog Bo Outlaw.
If Francis ever gets close to Bo’s play we are going to be very good.

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I see two problems with this off the bat.

1. Francis is still a bit raw and has been foul prone.

2. I guess i need to see Roberts play the 4 instead of the 5 to believe it. Roberts has never hit a 3 pt shot or attempted one during the flow of a game unless is a buzzer beater, probably

I think coach will still bring someone in. JoPrior, Nate & Lil bro aka Kmoney have said.

I think starting both in the front court together is a recipe for dissappointment down the line.

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Hold up… Francis has a decent offensive game. Compared to bigs we’ve had. He has his little hook around shot and I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled out a baseline midrange jumper next year.

But I agree. Reading between the lines during the interview and it’s clear we got lost in the dust. Sampson says the portal is replacing not adding yet we lost Jarace and Reggie. Who is replacing them? I don’t think McFarland will get meaningful minutes as a freshman. We have Jojo, Francis, J’wan. Jojo is a freshman and sometimes that can go either way and we are banking our front court on his breakout season.

What has Francis shown to become the starting 5? Emmanuel Sharp showed more to become a starter and we brought in Cryer and Dunn. So I don’t believe Sampson when he says that we can’t add a big from the portal because Francis would transfer out.

The thing is I believe in Francis and think he has all the tools to be a star but I hate banking our season on that. I don’t want to waste what would be one of our best backcourts. I think Shead, Cryer, Dunn will be a better fit than last year. And will be one of, if not our best offensive backcourt in the Sampson era.

Our Backcourt is elite in my opinion. Shead, Cryer, Dunn with Sharp, Arceneaux, and Ramon Walker off the bench.we are one piece away in the front court from having a chance to be serious title contenders. Right now on paper we look like a sweet 16/ hopeful elite 8 team. But anything can happen. Much worse teams have gone far but I wouldn’t have as high of expectations like the previous few years. Maybe that’s a good thing. Just enjoy the season for what it is.

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Facts.

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Hold up when did you become a believer? Why in late May?

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So youre telling me the people i said were full of BS were actually full of BS… Lol

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I didn’t say that but you were always discrediting them that they were full of it. Now you think they’re telling the truth that we’ll get someone?

I don’t think they’re full of it but I don’t take what they say as facts.

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I agree - i am 100% surprised we are not adding a big from the portal … and I am not anything more than a fan and freely admit no other qualification … but it did seem like Francis had some offense against some lesser opponents when he had the opportunity. Again, I get those were lesser oppenents and maybe the game was out of hand, etc. - but he had a few moments last year. If he stays out of foul trouble and can play a consistent 25 minutes a game he might surprise us a bit on ability to score the ball in the post.

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I checked the box scores of the early season games:
he had –
11 pts in 16 mins v. TSU and
11 pts in 16 mins v. Norfolk and
14 pts in 20 mins v. N Fl,. and
17 pts in 28 mins v. NC ATT and
23 pts in 26 mins v. McNeese

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That’s a whole lot of reading. Thanks for the research.

I think it would be best if he develops another 4-5 inches.

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Top notch competition there lol.

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I acknowledged the competition was bad in my previous post … but thanks for pointing out what I pointed out…

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the issue is that all of those teams were tiny… he wont be facing 6’7 230, or 6’9 210 centers in the big 12 … javier actually looks decent against opponents he has a size advantage on but as of today we are the smallest big 12…

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No problem.