Pass on 23s.
TAHAAD or BUST!
Work your magic⚡️Fresh!
3 Likes
oh man love that challenge. Imagine Eli and Tahaad as Hoos.
6 Likes
They can co-exist. Gertrude more on the ball. Carr more off the ball. Both can move the ball well.
2 Likes
Could be a menacing pair defensively too. Could potentially have a lineup of Carr-Gertrude-Bond-Dunn-Buchanan that would have length and athleticism at every spot.
2 Likes
I still feel like we *need a big bruiser Jack Salt, Papi Caffarro type on our roster for the big uglies. Who are we eyeing for that role? Does Jack Salt have any family?
3 Likes
Carr is very Darius Thompson-y. That’s a good comparison. Has the length and athleticism to be that wing guy while also acting as a backup PG. Remember it’s not just about 2023…they need a guy like that in the equation long term to backup what will likely be a '24 PG.
14 Likes
Not sure those types fit the calculus anymore. 5 out. The big uglies become unplayable vs Hunter Hauser Huff types. Also 3>2.
1 Like
Do we need to guard Bacot’s and Hunter Dickinson’s in this future world?
2 Likes
Yep, still need to guard the Paolo Banchero’s, and Mark Williamses of the world…where are they going to go? Play volleyball? 
If they cant guard on the perimeter they wont be on the floor. Playing a traditional big plays into those team’s hands because they aren’t forced to adjust.
Kadin Mamadi’s can guard those types. Heck Jayden Gardner can guard Paolo.
I think we we still need atleast ONE of those players on the roster at any time. Maybe even two. That’s only 2 players out of 13.
What we actually need is a Darion Atkins clone for those kind of matchups. Strong enough to cover a Bacot in the post and also athletic enough to function in a 4-out or CBS style offense.
6 Likes
Yeah, we did fine against UNC bigs (big bigs) when we had Brax, Mamadi, and Huff, none of whom are in the Salt/Papi mode. I’m not averse to having that type of guy, but I don’t think we need to address it in the chief concerns. Maybe it’s a late portal add.
1 Like
Mamadi is the model. Dude was versatile as hell for a big by the end of his tenure.
9 Likes
Well the only *other chief concern we have now is Point guard. But once Papi, Kadin, BVP and Gardner graduate within the next year we will only have two post players in Traudt and Buchanan. I think we need atleast one more, developing and marinating in this next class. In our championship and dominant years we have always had a big bruiser or 7-footer (Salt, Huff, Caffaro- all on the National Championship team), before that, yes our biggest guys were Darion Atkins, Akil, and AG…
1 Like
You just listed 3 players who played less than what feels like 5 minutes combined in the final 4.
2 Likes
Lol okay fair!, but let’s not discount Jack Salt’s contribution over the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He was a defensive, pick setting, jaw loosening, rebounding, Kiwi-screaming, foul running-awaying, pretty boy, but was also a tough guy to score over for *much of his career. It just so happens that we had a very flexible team, so we didn’t use him that much in the final four, but in the elite 8 he played well against Haarms, in the previous year he played pretty well against Wendell Moore(?), and the Sacramento Kings center, down in Derm. etc. etc.
3 Likes
I will also say that Huffzingis *did make several appearances throughout the year, and the talent was evident, he just got hurt (tore a pec muscle?) in one of those years, plus *still needed to put on weight…
Huffzingis dunking on multiple players (against dook, and Louisville for example). 10 blocks against dook etc. etc.
Looking back on it, it’s unbelievable how much talent that team had. 6 guys (guy, hunter, Jerome, key, mamadi, huff) who have played in the league at one point or another. Even more impressive when you consider that none of them were 5 stars. Not to mention Kihei and Salt contributing as well.
5 Likes
Two things can probably true. One of the biggest reasons we were able to make the title run was probably because we finally started Mamadi during the tourney and used combos of him, Dre, and Braxton in the big spots, which gave us amazing defensive and offensive versatility that a Salt line-up just couldn’t. But also, there were one or two specific match-ups where Salt was an asset (e.g. against Haarms).
So I might say that the ideal model for our bigs is more in the Mamadi mold, but I certainly understand wanting to have one dude on the roaster who can just bang down low and smash heads with a traditional big for the rare occasions it may be needed.
4 Likes