|
Post by Chuck on Oct 17, 2014 14:36:45 GMT -5
Schmidt stated following about Ndoye "if someone told me four years ago that I would be getting calls from general managers and front office people in the NBA, I would have told them they were crazy. But that’s what’s happening." (link is below) Schmidt's comment made me realize that Ndoye has shown the most steady improvement of any Bonnie center that I've seen. Key word in this statement is steady improvement. Lanier, Nicholson, and even Cyrus would seem obvious choices but they all had a lot more talent than Ndoye as freshmen. They were stars of their team as sophomores, while Youssou was barely a starter. Lanier - averaged 26.2 ppg as a sophomore. He was such a dominating player that both Matt Gantt and Paul Hoffman told me they came to Bonas because with Lanier they felt Bona could become the best team in the nation. Lanier would average 29.1 ppg as a senior. Nicholson - averaged 12.5 ppg as a freshman. Anyone who saw Nicholson during his freshman season could tell he was going to be a special player. Andrew would average 18.5 ppg as a senior. Cyrus - averaged only 3.9 ppg as a freshman. Caswell was raw as a freshman, but you could see the talent. Even BCS schools could see the talent as a few offered him a scholarship if he would red-shirt his first year. Caswell average would jump to 10.3 ppg as a sophomore. Cyrus would average 12.0 ppg as a senior. Ndoye - He was a late signing and averaged just 7 points a game in prep school. Check out Ndyoe's video at Lee Academy (link at bottom) and you do not see a D-1 basketball player. Unlike Lanier, Nicholson and Cyrus; Youssou would show slow but steady progress. He averaged 2.6 ppg as a freshman 6.9 sophomore and 10.2 ppg as a junior. Here is an interesting fact for everyone. Over his last 7 games Youssou averaged 13.6 ppg. This is considerably more than the 2 centers who were selected ahead of him during A-10 Media Day. Last 7 games Kevin Larsen averaged 10.6 ppg and Cody Lalanne averaged 6.4 ppg. I can easily see Youssou become the premier big man in the Atlantic 10. NBA prospect, premier big man in the A-10 is amazing progress for a player that we see in the video's from Lee Academy. static.psbin.com/c/1/ov0b4n3qla0wea/MBBrecordbook.pdf (all time leading scorers begin on page 10) statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/st-bonaventure/youssou-ndoye/game_statsstatsheet.com/mcb/players/player/george-washington/kevin-larsen/game_statsstatsheet.com/mcb/players/player/massachusetts/cady-lalanne/game_statswww.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_162fdb98-560f-11e4-8219-9f2c1b716a33.htmlgobonnies.sbu.edu/sports/m-baskbl/2010-11/releases/201105243z3aqd
|
|
|
Post by nyc02 on Oct 17, 2014 18:46:48 GMT -5
I dont know if he is the best ever, but his constant improvement year after year has only assisted the Bonnies. This year his staying on the floor and staying out of foul trouble can only help us. I truly hope he has a big year as he seems like a great guy and hope he sees much success and reward coming out of Bonas!
|
|
|
Post by bonaballa1 on Oct 17, 2014 20:05:39 GMT -5
Toss up between Yankuba Camara and Dave Fox.
In all seriousness, I can realistically see Ndoye being a 2nd round pick.
|
|
|
Post by njbonnie08 on Oct 18, 2014 8:27:32 GMT -5
Chuck I think you bring up some great points. Ndoye has improved beyond leaps and bounds since his freshman year. We started to see the signs of a potential really good player during the tournament run in Atlantic City and he's kept improving since then. I don't think he winds up being an NBA draft pick but I suppose it's possible if he really has a monster year on both sides of the ball and improves his offensive game further. Chuck is right about Andrew though, for as raw as he was, when I saw him play vs. Marist his freshman year off the bench I told people he was an NBA player. You could tell with Andrew right away that he was a special, special talent.
|
|
|
Post by Hermit on Oct 18, 2014 9:10:09 GMT -5
Chuck I think you bring up some great points. Ndoye has improved beyond leaps and bounds since his freshman year. We started to see the signs of a potential really good player during the tournament run in Atlantic City and he's kept improving since then. I don't think he winds up being an NBA draft pick but I suppose it's possible if he really has a monster year on both sides of the ball and improves his offensive game further. Chuck is right about Andrew though, for as raw as he was, when I saw him play vs. Marist his freshman year off the bench I told people he was an NBA player. You could tell with Andrew right away that he was a special, special talent. The very first time I saw Youssou was the summer before his freshman year. He was scrimmaging at the RC with other Bonnie players. Youssou grabbed a rebound, turned around, dribbled the length of the court, and dunked the ball. I fell out of my seat. I understand he had limited experience playing hoops. But , even then, you could see the potential.
|
|
|
Post by njbonnie08 on Oct 18, 2014 10:07:03 GMT -5
I remember the first time I saw Dave Fox....I'll never forget it...
|
|
|
Post by mcspin on Oct 18, 2014 11:52:27 GMT -5
Youssou always had ability on offense and defense, and it was easy to see. I think what got most fans discouraged was his turnovers and constant fouls. I could see that it was the product of having little experience with the game - and that would change with time. If he has gotten past the turnover problem and abundant fouls, he will be the best big man in the A10 and he will get his chance at playing in the NBA. Maybe not a draft pick, but he will be invited to camps and will be given a shot.
|
|
|
Post by derhut on Oct 18, 2014 12:11:11 GMT -5
i would agree with all of chuck's choices and would add timmy waterman to that list--came in as a gangly, doughy 6'9" slow non contributor..left a very strong old school pivot man...dont forget glenn price..had great #s for his brown indian career..on the all barry atkinson stiff team..fox, camera, erb, st john and a couple of gems...wasnt there a kid named grey from very southern illinois..and then tree doyle??
|
|
|
Post by wgt on Oct 18, 2014 12:11:09 GMT -5
Chuck...As ALWAYS your posts are chock full of interesting insights & always validated with stats that tell the story.
Hermit...I think I watched Youusou for the first time the same night you did. Will never forget how hard Drew & he banged & thumped each other through out the open run. After all their physical play it ended with big hugs a smiles. Wonderful to see. No doubt his senior years will go a long way in determining our success. If his foot work, hands & bad fouls improve he will have a special season.
|
|
|
Post by faffy444 on Oct 18, 2014 12:35:01 GMT -5
robert gray was a 7-0 footer who was brought in under tom chapman. dont knock randy st john , at 6-9 he wasnt too bad at all. played a decent amount of minutes his frosh year, had good potential. didnt he flunk out ??
|
|
|
Post by Chuck on Oct 18, 2014 12:42:13 GMT -5
I don't think he winds up being an NBA draft pick but I suppose it's possible if he really has a monster year on both sides of the ball and improves his offensive game further. Considering Canisius 7 footer Mike Smrek can be the 25th pick of the 1985 NBA draft, I would say Youssou has a good chance of being drafted. The key is how much can he develop his game this year. A good bench mark for Youssou is matching Smrek's senior year of averaging 15.8 ppg. Last 7 games Youssou averaged almost 14 ppg, so he is very capable of matching Smrek's senior year. Even though Smrek lacked Youssou's athleticism, he had a 7 year NBA career. www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/mike-smrek-1.htmlen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Smrek
|
|
|
Post by Chuck on Oct 18, 2014 13:19:07 GMT -5
Chuck is right about Andrew though, for as raw as he was, when I saw him play vs. Marist his freshman year off the bench I told people he was an NBA player. You could tell with Andrew right away that he was a special, special talent. I thought we might have something special when I watched a video of Andrew in high school. Andrew steals the about 20 feet from the basket turns and drives to the basket and slams it over a defender. It was so impressive posters on the bandwagon were doubting Andrew was 6'9". I stated following "actually I think it is difficult to imagine the Bonnies signing a big center with this type of athleticism and ball skills. We've never seen a player like Andrew in a Bonnie uniform." Andrew's dunk occurs about 1 minute into video www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLalDaj2T4wLink to thread about welcoming Andrew with video provided by JAC bonabandwagon.proboards.com/thread/3616/welcome-andrew
|
|
|
Post by ceharv on Oct 18, 2014 15:15:17 GMT -5
I second derhut's nomination of Tim Waterman for consideration. When he was a fresh I had him pegged as a career back-up at best, maybe a career stiff and wasted 'ship. Obviously he proved otherwise, turning out to be one of those glue player every program needs more of.and I think he started with only a fraction of the natural ability and athleticism of YN. So he deserves his name being mentioned on this interesting thread, IMHO.
|
|
|
Post by fjs64 on Oct 18, 2014 15:30:27 GMT -5
I have a name that goes back a bit......and will need input from Jiim62 and AZ63 for their comments. From the class of '62 my choice is 6' 9" Bob McCully.....I saw him during his Junior and Senior years where he averaged 9 ppg and then 13 ppg.....nicknamed the Swan for his JR year to push him toward being more graceful and Tiger his senior year to make him more agressive. Playing center alongside Tom Stith and Fred Crawford he was a key player in earning the #2 ranking during his Junior year. During his senior year I remember a game when he scored 36 points. He was drafted in the NBA draft.
But Harken back to his freshman year (frosh did not play on the varsity) and a sophomore year where I heard he did not resemble a basketball player. But physical maturity led him from not a basketball player to a pretty darn good player.
Jim and AZ....what are your thoughts
|
|
|
Post by Chuck on Oct 18, 2014 16:46:35 GMT -5
I second derhut's nomination of Tim Waterman for consideration. When he was a fresh I had him pegged as a career back-up at best, maybe a career stiff and wasted 'ship. Obviously he proved otherwise, turning out to be one of those glue player every program needs more of.and I think he started with only a fraction of the natural ability and athleticism of YN. So he deserves his name being mentioned on this interesting thread, IMHO. As stated by Faffy I thought Randy St. John was a lot better than Tim Waterman during their freshmen season. I give Youssou the Bonnies all time most improved center and Waterman the all time center who got the most from his abilities. Waterman was a good defender, great rebounder and his offense remained a work in progress right up to his last game as a Bonnie. I'll never forget the ECAC playoff game against VCU with the winner going to the NCAA Tournament. Game is tied with a few seconds left and Waterman has the ball behind the foul line. He lets go an off balance, shot put of a jump shot (do not know if you call a 5" vertical a jump). I remember screaming at the tv "no Tim" and then the shot hit nothing, but net. It was the ugliest game winning shot I can think of. Tim Waterman is 7th on the Bonnies all time rebounding list. How is this for select company: Lanier, Hollis, Price, Nicholson, Carter, Crawford and then Waterman with 744 rebounds in his career. static.psbin.com/c/1/ov0b4n3qla0wea/MBBrecordbook.pdf
|
|