Morman

[Bulldog01]

Mormon busted his ass on court. Reports last summer was he was best defender at practice. His effort didn't get him suspended. Not going to class is where I'll put my money why he's not here.

 

[Bulldog01]

If they are, cut them from the team. Walk-ons bust their rear end, day in, day out with no guarantee of EVER seeing the court. If anyone should have the respect of their teammates, it's the walk-ons. If that offends a player, as you suggest, then I don't want them here anyway.

Coaches aren't getting paid to be babysitters. Man up and put the work in. If you can't do that, get out.

Point is there isn't a guarantee walk ons play they accept that. Mormon was top 120 player in his class and he sat out a year. 2yrs at practice he probably dominated tc and kj.

 

[Bearcat22]

Morman is a talented player that I do not want to see leave. The fact that we already lost Strickland, and now maybe Morman concerns me a bit. Strickland was recruited based off potential and size. He might not be a DI player. Morman is and will make a difference where ever he ends up.

If you look at the number transfers and players leaving in all of college basketball, it isn't that bad. The coaching staff might be thinking that Morman's talent might not be worth the hassle and possible detrimental impact on the other players, if this is in fact about his attitude. Maybe they think they can upgrade the roster if he leaves.

 

[JasonS]

Show where he wouldn't came here. He went to a team with basically same exact style we play and he was always higher with us. Beasley really liked us and didnt want to play local

That doesn't mean he would be here if we had an opening. You lose more than you win in recruiting and nothing is guaranteed until the ink is on the paper.

 

[JasonS]

Point is there isn't a guarantee walk ons play they accept that. Mormon was top 120 player in his class and he sat out a year. 2yrs at practice he probably dominated tc and kj.

So you are basing your entire argument on a hypothetical that you could never prove to be true?

 

[bearcat jeff]

Every successful coach makes players earn it on their terms. Jason is exactly right. No one player is bigger than the program. Funny after Morman and Moore were suspended the team started playing its best ball.

 

[TNBearcat3]

Point is there isn't a guarantee walk ons play they accept that. Mormon was top 120 player in his class and he sat out a year. 2yrs at practice he probably dominated tc and kj.

Do you honestly think that if he were dominating everyone in practice that he would sit?? This is how our coaches make a living, if that were the case he would have played and played a lot. Don't be make up some crap that doesn't make sense.

 

[ccmbearcat]

When a player gets suspended they usually react in one of two different ways. The first is to get the message and work your butt off to redeem yourself and prove that you belong and that you want to be part of the team. The second is usually something like "screw them what do they know" or "not fair, I don't deserve this." It appears that Quadri chose the first option. Since there has been no official announcement on Mormon I guess he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

 

[KJ's#1Supporter]

Every successful coach makes players earn it on their terms. Jason is exactly right. No one player is bigger than the program. Funny after Morman and Moore were suspended the team started playing its best ball.

I'll side with Coach K on this and say that our coaches need to be more willing to be flexible with our roster make up. Or else stop pretending that you're willing to recruit offensive players to help our scoring. No one ever said anything close to "one player is above the program". I said Morman wasn't the only one several times. My point is that if you have DeBerry, Moore, Morman, and Shaq who all struggle in zone defense...then why force them into a zone defense at Mick's standard OR they basically don't play??? These are all players our coaches recruited. Chad has mentioned seeing these guys himself upwards of 20 times in high school. Why are these the players we're recruiting if we are going to force them to play outside of themselves to even get on the floor? Surely we watched Quadri Moore and DeBerry before they got here and realized they are too slow footed to cover an entire area in a zone. So why can't our coaches group players together with similar strengths and weaknesses? You aren't putting guys above the team by putting them in a situation to have individual success. I don't know why that is getting twisted into "no one is bigger than the team". That's a straw man argument. I'm saying we need to do a better job of making it work with some of these guys without automatically benching them. KJ made PLENTY of mistakes and boneheaded plays last year, but he got the minutes bc he was better at assignment zone defense (whoopie!). Our offense will NEVER come around like that, and we'll continue to scare off the offensive-minded recruits.

 

[ccmbearcat]

I'll side with Coach K on this and say that our coaches need to be more willing to be flexible with our roster make up. Or else stop pretending that you're willing to recruit offensive players to help our scoring. No one ever said anything close to "one player is above the program". I said Morman wasn't the only one several times. My point is that if you have DeBerry, Moore, Morman, and Shaq who all struggle in zone defense...then why force them into a zone defense at Mick's standard OR they basically don't play??? These are all players our coaches recruited. Chad has mentioned seeing these guys himself upwards of 20 times in high school. Why are these the players we're recruiting if we are going to force them to play outside of themselves to even get on the floor? Surely we watched Quadri Moore and DeBerry before they got here and realized they are too slow footed to cover an entire area in a zone. So why can't our coaches group players together with similar strengths and weaknesses? You aren't putting guys above the team by putting them in a situation to have individual success. I don't know why that is getting twisted into "no one is bigger than the team". That's a straw man argument. I'm saying we need to do a better job of making it work with some of these guys without automatically benching them. KJ made PLENTY of mistakes and boneheaded plays last year, but he got the minutes bc he was better at assignment zone defense (whoopie!). Our offense will NEVER come around like that, and we'll continue to scare off the offensive-minded recruits.

Horse manure. We play strong D here and that is nothing new. Mick does not throw out tons of offers just to do so. If he doesn't think a kid can excel he won't recruit him. He went for more zone this year precisely because we were younger and lacked the foot speed of some previous teams. Deberry got better as the year went on at both ends of the court, the whole team did. Quadri was a recruit with a strong offensive game but he killed us on the other end, he struggled as a freshman but he will get better and be a quality starter at some point.

You also disregard the fact that recruiting restrictions under Zimpher have not been relaxed. Mick is unable to extend offers to certain kids, some of which even end up on Victory Parkway.

 

[Bulldog01]

Do you honestly think that if he were dominating everyone in practice that he would sit?? This is how our coaches make a living, if that were the case he would have played and played a lot. Don't be make up some crap that doesn't make sense.

Players and coaches words

 

[Bulldog01]

Horse manure. We play strong D here and that is nothing new. Mick does not throw out tons of offers just to do so. If he doesn't think a kid can excel he won't recruit him. He went for more zone this year precisely because we were younger and lacked the foot speed of some previous teams. Deberry got better as the year went on at both ends of the court, the whole team did. Quadri was a recruit with a strong offensive game but he killed us on the other end, he struggled as a freshman but he will get better and be a quality starter at some point.

You also disregard the fact that recruiting restrictions under Zimpher have not been relaxed. Mick is unable to extend offers to certain kids, some of which even end up on Victory Parkway.

Stay on topic. Mick himself said Mormon is one of the best defensive guards He ever coached. We all seen Mormon go all out on court NEVER giving up on plays. His lack of defense didn't keep him on bench. welcome to the world of politics. Sometimes no matter how good you are certain coaches always have favorites. If Mick was primary recruiter for kj and Jackson was lead man on Mormon, kj is going to play majority of time.

 

[KJ's#1Supporter]

Horse manure. We play strong D here and that is nothing new. Mick does not throw out tons of offers just to do so. If he doesn't think a kid can excel he won't recruit him. He went for more zone this year precisely because we were younger and lacked the foot speed of some previous teams. Deberry got better as the year went on at both ends of the court, the whole team did. Quadri was a recruit with a strong offensive game but he killed us on the other end, he struggled as a freshman but he will get better and be a quality starter at some point.

You also disregard the fact that recruiting restrictions under Zimpher have not been relaxed. Mick is unable to extend offers to certain kids, some of which even end up on Victory Parkway.

Horse manure what? None of this seems to be in response to what I said. I get that we are a strong defensive team. All I'm saying is Mick felt the pressure to start recruiting offensive players, so he did. But then he doesn't let them play until they meet his standard of defense. Kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

While it may look like he is gone, there is nothing official. The fact stands that he will have to go NAIA/JUCO/D2 to not sit out and if he does that would be two out of three years. I think it would be really tough to sit out another year. I find myself really rooting that he pulls through this and uses that anger on the court. He seemed like a classic bearcat when we recruited him.

Whatever happens I wasn't happy Mick didn't take Jered Terrell when he really wanted to come here and we had scholly available.

 

[HoosierCat]

Morman's Bearcat career will probably be summed up with that Temple dunk attempt

 

[david aka the TYZ]

I think some of us are over valuing Morman and what he was capable of this past year. Yes I love his potential and defensive intensity. Fact of the matter is he didn't play within the team and within the gameplan. No good coach is going to allow a player to be his own guy on the court seperate from the other four unless that player can simply light it up. Morman was not that type of player last year. Not even close. On top of it he had a bad attitude. I hope he gets his head on straight and stays and reaches his potential but if he wants to leave then I have no problem showing him the door. And as much as we criticize Mick for losing guys and yes it frustrates me too, not one has yet to do anything of significance somewhere else after he left here.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

While it may look like he is gone, there is nothing official. The fact stands that he will have to go NAIA/JUCO/D2 to not sit out and if he does that would be two out of three years. I think it would be really tough to sit out another year. I find myself really rooting that he pulls through this and uses that anger on the court. He seemed like a classic bearcat when we recruited him.

Whatever happens I wasn't happy Mick didn't take Jered Terrell when he really wanted to come here and we had scholly available.

Completely agree on the Terrell front. We leave scholarships on the table all the time. Mick should learn by now nothing is a guarantee with any player and chances are at least one guy will either get hurt or not buy into the system or pan out for one reason or another. Bring in as much talent as possible and let it work itself out on the court.

 

[ZCat]

I'll side with Coach K on this and say that our coaches need to be more Willinger to be flexible with our roster make up. Or else stop pretending that you're willing to recruit offensive players to help our scoring. No one ever said anything close to "one player is above the program". I said Morman wasn't the only one several times. My point is that if you have DeBerry, Moore, Morman, and Shaq who all struggle in zone defense...then why force them into a zone defense at Mick's standard OR they basically don't play??? These are all players our coaches recruited. Chad has mentioned seeing these guys himself upwards of 20 times in high school. Why are these the players we're recruiting if we are going to force them to play outside of themselves to even get on the floor? Surely we watched Quadri Moore and DeBerry before they got here and realized they are too slow footed to cover an entire area in a zone. So why can't our coaches group players together with similar strengths and weaknesses? You aren't putting guys above the team by putting them in a situation to have individual success. I don't know why that is getting twisted into "no one is bigger than the team". That's a straw man argument. I'm saying we need to do a better job of making it work with some of these guys without automatically benching them. KJ made PLENTY of mistakes and boneheaded plays last year, but he got the minutes bc he was better at assignment zone defense (whoopie!). Our offense will NEVER come around like that, and we'll continue to scare off the offensive-minded recruits.

Spot on. Fair assessment.

 

[ZCat]

I really hope he stays (with a good attitude).

 

[bearcat8290]

Not sure about his attitude. I went to all home games last season. I saw plenty of hustle out of him. In one game, he was the only player that had any sense on how to beat a zone. He scored in double figures and basically won the game for us. He knew how to beat the zone, passed well and got into open spots on the court. He's tried to dunk a couple of times during the season when he should have passed. He plays very good defense. I don't think he is suspended for his play on the court, it's off the court stuff most likely not going to class or grades or both.