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cincrulz11 said:
hopefully there is a grad transfer cause none of those guys are it.
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Nsoseme has a broken thumb for the first half of the year and a numb ankle for the second half so I’m gonna give him a pass on his sophomore season, diarra looks way more coordinated than a year ago he is improving but he’s still got a ways to go defensively
 
mdchick said:
Nsoseme has a broken thumb for the first half of the year and a numb ankle for the second half so I’m gonna give him a pass on his sophomore season, diarra looks way more coordinated than a year ago he is improving but he’s still got a ways to go defensively
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If Diarra still has "a ways to go" going into his third year with the team, I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope. He should be ready to contribute a lot, immediately when next season begins...& I think he will - at least I hope. A guy with his size and agility, who has been working with the team, coaches, trainers etc. should be able to contribute after 2+years even if he never played basketball in his life
 
mdchick said:
Nsoseme has a broken thumb for the first half of the year and a numb ankle for the second half so I’m gonna give him a pass on his sophomore season, diarra looks way more coordinated than a year ago he is improving but he’s still got a ways to go defensively
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I think Brooks was the only true center on the roster. Brooks gave us a nice presence inside, although at times he was really soft, he was still able to block and contest shots. If he leaves and no one comes in we may be playing pretty small next year. Nsoseme and Diarra are 6'9, Scott and Laquill are 6'8, and Prince is 6'7. Now I know they aren't short but it helps having a 7 footer like brooks protecting the rim and he improved tremendously last year.
 
juckerrules said:
If Diarra still has "a ways to go" going into his third year with the team, I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope. He should be ready to contribute a lot, immediately when next season begins...& I think he will - at least I hope. A guy with his size and agility, who has been working with the team, coaches, trainers etc. should be able to contribute after 2+years even if he never played basketball in his life
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Offensively I think he is good to go, I just think he gets pushed around on the block to much and isn’t great at timing blocked shots. I’d trade bad defense with a center that can shoot better than 35% from 3 though which I think he’s capable doing.
 
cincyalum2014 said:
So if Brooks does transfer.... who’s everyone’s favorite to replace him. Nsoseme? Diarra? Prince?
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Seems odd that he would leave. I get that he lost his coach but he is in a good situation and a Good team coming back. Wish him the best if he goes.

I find it hard to believe the coach hasn’t reached out to him.
 
mdchick said:
Offensively I think he is good to go, I just think he gets pushed around on the block to much and isn’t great at timing blocked shots. I’d trade bad defense with a center that can shoot better than 35% from 3 though which I think he’s capable doing.
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The obsession with 3 point shooting is a bit much. We'd all love to have a center who shots 35% from three, but even NBA teams regularly play centers who can't do that because the center position provides a lot of other value. Mostly defense and rebounding. Having a guy who is a threat around the rim is also valuable and can force teams to down low and leave shooters open.

I'd take Brooks and his ability to defend, block shots, rebound, score around the basket and hit jumpers from 10-15 feet over Diarra who is an excellent shooter, but still seems lost at times on the court (I do think Diarra can be great, but I think that might still be one more year away).

That said, if Brooks leaves we have good options on the roster and I doubt we go looking for a grad transfer Center. I always thought it was odd we had 3 centers each spaced a year apart, Cronin normally tried to space guys two years apart so they each get two years to learn, then two years to start. Having Brooks leave means Nsoseme and Diarra will get a lot more on court experience, which will be better for us in the long run, even though it would probably be worse for us next year.
 
cincyalum2014 said:
So if Brooks does transfer.... who’s everyone’s favorite to replace him. Nsoseme? Diarra? Prince?
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I think Brannen is going to favor the shooter. So I think Diara has a real shot to make a leap if Brooks is gone. I doubt Gillam or Hardnett are going to be knocking down a lot of shots but both of those guys could move Scott over to the 5. My money would be on Diara and keep Scott at the 4 so we can get shooters on the floor.

We should land a wing/guard shooter in the transfer market to round things out. Then we have to see who is staying so Brannen can round out the squad as he sees needs.
 
skyblade said:
The obsession with 3 point shooting is a bit much. We'd all love to have a center who shots 35% from three, but even NBA teams regularly play centers who can't do that because the center position provides a lot of other value. Mostly defense and rebounding. Having a guy who is a threat around the rim is also valuable and can force teams to down low and leave shooters open.

I'd take Brooks and his ability to defend, block shots, rebound, score around the basket and hit jumpers from 10-15 feet over Diarra who is an excellent shooter, but still seems lost at times on the court (I do think Diarra can be great, but I think that might still be one more year away).

That said, if Brooks leaves we have good options on the roster and I doubt we go looking for a grad transfer Center. I always thought it was odd we had 3 centers each spaced a year apart, Cronin normally tried to space guys two years apart so they each get two years to learn, then two years to start. Having Brooks leave means Nsoseme and Diarra will get a lot more on court experience, which will be better for us in the long run, even though it would probably be worse for us next year.
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The problem with Nsoseme is he is not a threat to shoot or to score around the rim very well. Brooks is still option 1 of course. If he doesn't stay then it will depend on how Diara can pick up the defense...which won't likely be as hard to do as it was with Cronin's D. Diara seems like a really nice fit.

If not Diara then I would think the best shooter between Gillam and Hardnett will move Scott over. But if that is the way Brannen sees it he might look for a shooting forward as well as a shooting guard in the transfer market...if neither of those two guys are capable.

Let's just hope we keep all of our guys so we can just look for that transfer shooter. That would make things really simple and give us our best chance for success IMO.
 
juckerrules said:
If Diarra still has "a ways to go" going into his third year with the team, I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope. He should be ready to contribute a lot, immediately when next season begins...& I think he will - at least I hope. A guy with his size and agility, who has been working with the team, coaches, trainers etc. should be able to contribute after 2+years even if he never played basketball in his life
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Brooks hadn't shown much more than Diarra before this season. Averaged 2.4 and half a rebound his first two season and that jumped up to 8.1/6.3 with consistent playing time. Diarra averaged 2.3/2 as a freshman. Gotta hope he could come in step up.

Like others have said, If Brooks was an 8/10 defensively he was a 5/10 on Offense. Diarra could offer you a 5/10 on the defensive end and an 8/10 on Offense.
 
Bcatfollower said:
Maybe he doesn’t want to run and play fast.
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He has the ability to run, but he could benefit from a slower paced team as well. For the latter half of the year he was one of the best of the country in offensive rebounding percentage and under Cronin next year probably would have made the top 10 in the NCAA in that category. He also greatly improved his game around the basket and off screen and rolls.

A more open game would not use the skills he has already developed as much. And there are plenty of teams that run the style he is familiar with and has excelled in. Houston and Texas Tech are two teams that immediately spring to mind where he would fit very well (he's also originally from Dallas, Texas). I know fans here love the more open style, but there is no evidence it actually wins more games and some players can prefer the slower grind it out style - especially when their skill-set makes them better in that environment.
 
Brooks definitely benefits from a slower game, imagine how fast he's gonna foul out in a game with 10-15 more possessions.
 
Bcatfollower said:
Maybe he doesn’t want to run and play fast.
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Yeah, maybe. Maybe anything. Who knows. I would bet it’s more to do with losing a man that he has a close relationship with and replacing him with someone he has never talked to. It’s a weird situation for all involved.
 
You would think brooks would have gave the guy a chance. Listen to what he had to say first. Unless there is some kind of deadline. The rumor he was transferring came out the same day of the hiring. Unless he is going to try and grad transfer and go out to UCLA. Only reason I can think of to rush it.
 
I hope Brooks stays. He really seemed to be a huge contributor towards the end of the season. The team would be much better balance with him there.
 

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