When Sekou shows in practice he deserves more playing time, he will get the time. Pretty simple.
Yes.
I am going to trust Mullins on this one. He has been watching Dembele every day for a couple of hours for a few months now; we fans have seen Dembele play for about 15 minutes.
He clearly thinks D is not ready, and he is in a better position to make that call.
Mullins also has other players--and a system--he's trying to develop. Maybe it hinders that development when play is stopped every couple of minutes because of a foul.
(Inflammatory political snark)
When Sekou shows in practice he deserves more playing time, he will get the time. Pretty simple.
Yes.
I am going to trust Mullins on this one. He has been watching Dembele every day for a couple of hours for a few months now; we fans have seen Dembele play for about 15 minutes.
He clearly thinks D is not ready, and he is in a better position to make that call.
Mullins also has other players--and a system--he's trying to develop. Maybe it hinders that development when play is stopped every couple of minutes because of a foul.
I also trust Mullins and of course he has way more information and expertise upon which to draw upon here. But nonetheless, the fact that Dembele can’t get on the court is a bit disappointing and even odd considering that:
A) SIU is so thin up front
B) Mullins has been willing to roll with freshmen, even those who haven’t played very well at positions of lesser need (Brown)
C) Dembele had a redshirt year so theoretically he shouldn’t be completely overwhelmed by D-1 ball
We’ll see where it goes, but the early indications reinforce a glaring need for multiple bigs to be recruited in the spring period.
When Sekou shows in practice he deserves more playing time, he will get the time. Pretty simple.
Yes.
I am going to trust Mullins on this one. He has been watching Dembele every day for a couple of hours for a few months now; we fans have seen Dembele play for about 15 minutes.
He clearly thinks D is not ready, and he is in a better position to make that call.
Mullins also has other players--and a system--he's trying to develop. Maybe it hinders that development when play is stopped every couple of minutes because of a foul.
I also trust Mullins and of course he has way more information and expertise upon which to draw upon here. But nonetheless, the fact that Dembele can’t get on the court is a bit disappointing and even odd considering that:
A) SIU is so thin up front
B) Mullins has been willing to roll with freshmen, even those who haven’t played very well at positions of lesser need (Brown)
C) Dembele had a redshirt year so theoretically he shouldn’t be completely overwhelmed by D-1 ball
We’ll see where it goes, but the early indications reinforce a glaring need for multiple bigs to be recruited in the spring period.
Completely agree on recruiting bigs with the remaining scholarships for next season. SIU can ill afford to sign anymore guards or wings at this point. They have to get bigger for next season.
Taking the glass half full approach, we gave up a 17 point lead, but we also went up 17 over them!
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
I should've specified that I trust Mullins and staff on this too. We're all armchair quarterbacks, so it's easy for us to dissect from our perches. Just from what I see, it's a bit perplexing that a young big-body with some raw ability isn't getting any run while other frosh who're struggling are; as has been pointed out. I also don't think Gooch offers much.
Just a minor observation amid overall excitement for what's in store.
--Insert something witty here--
Dembele also hadn't really played much basketball. I don't think he had any other offers. Amadou Fall isn't getting PT at a JUCO, either.
They were most likely "oh well" signings by Hinson.
Oh yeah, I know we're all just doing a bit of armchair quarterbacking, which is especially fun when, as you say, there is so much reason for overall excitement.
It does seem perplexing, but I'm guessing Dembele is so unready, so unprepared, that BM--as desperate as he surely is for a big body underneath--is prepared to keep him seated until things improve, and for as long as that takes. (We might be in Deng Leek territory here, for all we know.)
siudawg mentions Dembele's redshirt year. My thinking on that (trying to be generous here) is that redshirt year occurred under a different coach and a different system, and now he has new stuff to learn.
(Inflammatory political snark)
@austinsaluki and others, As you have hinted, Bryan may just want to not embarrass him because he's not ready.
“The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.”
-- Al McGuire
Dembele looks very nervous when he's on the floor. He's had a redshirt year. The only way he's going to improve is to get him minutes so he starts settling into life as a D1 basketball player. Just my opinion.
I completely disagree with the idea that "the only way he's going to improve" is to throw him in a game situation. Even if that were true, would it help the development of the team as a whole? Most likely scenario: he is, at this point, a wrench in the works. Another (much less likely) scenario: BM is holding him out as some sort of "secret weapon" to unleash on the Valley! Haha.
Crikey, this is NUTS. Occam's razor, anyone? Maybe he's just not a good basketball player? Maybe his coach thinks he's not ready? Maybe his redshirt year was spent under a lazy-ass coach who didn't give a crap about redshirts?
Oddly enough, one of the few times I supported Hinson was when he steadfastly refused to give Deng Leek serious minutes, despite the clamor from idiots here for him to do so. The guy just really wasn't a baller. I have no clue (and neither do you), but maybe that's what's going on here?
Again, BM and staff are on this; it is NOT news to them that we are short-handed in the paint. There is a reason D is not playing.
(Inflammatory political snark)
(Inflammatory political snark)
Southern Miss is within 4 points of Texas Tech in Lubbock, 2:17 left in the game on ESPN2
Texas Tech just took down #1 Louisville last week.
Southern Miss gave #24 Texas Tech a game tonight in Lubbock. It was much closer than the final score.
