Chris Obekpa

[LJSA]

 No doubt, guys. We are the Chris Jericho of college basketball---the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time!

He's good, but he's no Pedro Morales.

 

[simplyred]

Excellent post, Moose. One need not look further than Hardy and Brownlee to see the impact the staff had on the 2010 squad. 

 

I think the point being made was that DJ was the primary focus of Norm's offense. Under Lavin, he was probably the 3rd option. While the team got better under Lavin, DJ's numbers went down.

That being said, I'm sure DJ learned a lot and became a better player from the coaching he received at practice. Norm deserves credit for bringing DJ in, as well as for the improvements DJ made in his first three years. Lavin and staff deserve credit for DJ's continued growth as a player. Most importantly, DJ deserves credit for all of the hard work he put in for four years,mas well as for the hard work to come back from a severe injury. Character guy. I will always love that team for the effort they gave us for four years.

 

[fun]

Cincy won in 61 and 62. You are talking half a century ago...my mother wasn't even born yet and it was 25 years before I was even a cell. So enough...

Bad argument. SJ has won never anything and has been awful for 20 years. Pretty soon you'll be bringing up the NIT and the wonder five.

Moose- great post I actually totally forgot the NIT used to be THE only show in town and was considered the legit championship just as the NCAA's are today. So technically we have the same amount of titles.

 

[boo haarvey]

 DJ Kennedy is in the NBA a year after coming of knee surgery. And Moe Harkless, who after one year under Lavin/Dunlap went from a top 40 recruit to a late 1st round draft pick.

 

I'm all for crediting the staff, but do you really believe that the staff is responsible for Kennedy being in the NBA. If anything, the staff's use of Kennedy, while clearly helping the team, hurt Kennedy's individual prospects.

 

Who is responsible then?

 

Not sure -- Roberts likely deserves some credit -- DJ himself deserves the most.

I didn't see Kennedy's game develop under Lavin -- if aynthing quite the contrary. I don't falut Lavin for this, as I mentioned, I think DJ's decreased role was for the bettermnent of the team.

But, to to suggest that Lavin and his staff deserve the credit for DJ making the league seems pretty silly.

 

If you aren't sure who to credit.. How can you be so quick to discredit Lavin and his staff?

 

Your logic does not follow. I'll give you the old Perry Mason analogy. When trying to figure out who committed the crime, a good lawyer typically weeds out those suspects who have solid alibis. In so doing, the lawyer may be able to determine with certainty that a particular suspect could not possibly have committed the crime. However, just because the lawyer was able to rule out a particular suspect does not mean he knows the identity of the criminal. Conversely, just because the lawyer does not know the identity of the criminal does not mean he is incapable of determining that certain suspects could not have committed the crime.

Put simply, I don't need to know who deserves the credit for DJ's success in order to know that it isn't Lavin.

 

You see I never had a opinion on who deserves credit for a kid making the league. I am just not getting your logic as to why Lavin DOESN'T get the credit. It just seems that you are saying it just to say it. You are rolling out Perry Mason situations and I think the argument either way is just silly.

 

Out of respect for Moose, this will be my last post on this topic. I am in no way suggesting that the 2010/2011 squad would have been better off with Roberts instead of Lavin. As I have said on two separate occasions now, Lavin's decision to give DJ a diminished role and elevate Hardy and Brownlee was instrumental in allowing the team to enjoy success. I very much doubt Roberts would have made that decision had he still been around.

Happy, you are now raising a different question than the one you raised previously. On what basis do I believe that Lavin should not be credited with DJ making the league? I think I have supported my opinion in prior posts, but I'll spell it out for you: (1) I did not see any improvement in Kennedy's game between his junior and senior year -- quite the contrary, he appeared to regress at times; (2) DJ clearly had a diminished role on the team as the third option -- not a recipe for showcasing your skills to impress the NBA; (3) Lavin coached the kid for a few short months during Kennedy's least productive season (outside of his freshman year); and (4) During the three previous seasons, under a different coach, DJ's game vastly improved and he demonstrated the skill and versatility that, while certainly not guaranteeing his entry into the league, at least put him on the radar.

Lavin may be the greatest coach in the world. Let's assume that he is for purposes of this discussion. If Roberts had been DJ's coach during his senior year instead of Lavin, do you really think that DJ would have been in a different position? That is to say, do you think that had Lavin not been DJ's coach during his senior year, DJ's prospects would be different than they are now? Based on what I've seen, the answer to these questions is a resounding no.

 

[redmanwest]

What in the world could this kid be possibly waitng for to make a commitment already (to someone, anyone?????) 

 

[MCNPA]

What in the world could this kid be possibly waitng for to make a commitment already (to someone, anyone?????) 

 

Well it's not money, because those type of things sort themselves out quickly and usually involve Baylor. He's don't with school and pretty sure his grades are in by now. If its grades, I don't really know. Maybe he's just having a hard time deciding, but for the life of me I can't see how it should take this long. If in the end we land him and he's qualified is all I really care about. Hopefully his confusion ends soon with an epiphany that SJU is the place to be and he can get into the gym with the rest of the team ASAP to begin working on his post positioning.

 

[Happy]

 DJ Kennedy is in the NBA a year after coming of knee surgery. And Moe Harkless, who after one year under Lavin/Dunlap went from a top 40 recruit to a late 1st round draft pick.

 

I'm all for crediting the staff, but do you really believe that the staff is responsible for Kennedy being in the NBA. If anything, the staff's use of Kennedy, while clearly helping the team, hurt Kennedy's individual prospects.

 

Who is responsible then?

 

Not sure -- Roberts likely deserves some credit -- DJ himself deserves the most.

I didn't see Kennedy's game develop under Lavin -- if aynthing quite the contrary. I don't falut Lavin for this, as I mentioned, I think DJ's decreased role was for the bettermnent of the team.

But, to to suggest that Lavin and his staff deserve the credit for DJ making the league seems pretty silly.

 

If you aren't sure who to credit.. How can you be so quick to discredit Lavin and his staff?

 

Your logic does not follow. I'll give you the old Perry Mason analogy. When trying to figure out who committed the crime, a good lawyer typically weeds out those suspects who have solid alibis. In so doing, the lawyer may be able to determine with certainty that a particular suspect could not possibly have committed the crime. However, just because the lawyer was able to rule out a particular suspect does not mean he knows the identity of the criminal. Conversely, just because the lawyer does not know the identity of the criminal does not mean he is incapable of determining that certain suspects could not have committed the crime.

Put simply, I don't need to know who deserves the credit for DJ's success in order to know that it isn't Lavin.

 

You see I never had a opinion on who deserves credit for a kid making the league. I am just not getting your logic as to why Lavin DOESN'T get the credit. It just seems that you are saying it just to say it. You are rolling out Perry Mason situations and I think the argument either way is just silly.

 

Out of respect for Moose, this will be my last post on this topic. I am in no way suggesting that the 2010/2011 squad would have been better off with Roberts instead of Lavin. As I have said on two separate occasions now, Lavin's decision to give DJ a diminished role and elevate Hardy and Brownlee was instrumental in allowing the team to enjoy success. I very much doubt Roberts would have made that decision had he still been around.

Happy, you are now raising a different question than the one you raised previously. On what basis do I believe that Lavin should not be credited with DJ making the league? I think I have supported my opinion in prior posts, but I'll spell it out for you: (1) I did not see any improvement in Kennedy's game between his junior and senior year -- quite the contrary, he appeared to regress at times; (2) DJ clearly had a diminished role on the team as the third option -- not a recipe for showcasing your skills to impress the NBA; (3) Lavin coached the kid for a few short months during Kennedy's least productive season (outside of his freshman year); and (4) During the three previous seasons, under a different coach, DJ's game vastly improved and he demonstrated the skill and versatility that, while certainly not guaranteeing his entry into the league, at least put him on the radar.

Lavin may be the greatest coach in the world. Let's assume that he is for purposes of this discussion. If Roberts had been DJ's coach during his senior year instead of Lavin, do you really think that DJ would have been in a different position? That is to say, do you think that had Lavin not been DJ's coach during his senior year, DJ's prospects would be different than they are now? Based on what I've seen, the answer to these questions is a resounding no.

 

You win . It had nothing to do with Lavin. I don't know where you live.. But wherever it is it seems to be cloudy all the time.

 

[acrimony]

 But if Roberts was the coach, we would of lost more games and not made the NCAA.

Hardy and Brownlee made the team what it was and Norm had no CLUE how to use them.

 

[SJU85]

 DJ Kennedy is in the NBA a year after coming of knee surgery. And Moe Harkless, who after one year under Lavin/Dunlap went from a top 40 recruit to a late 1st round draft pick.

 

I'm all for crediting the staff, but do you really believe that the staff is responsible for Kennedy being in the NBA. If anything, the staff's use of Kennedy, while clearly helping the team, hurt Kennedy's individual prospects.

 

Who is responsible then?

 

Not sure -- Roberts likely deserves some credit -- DJ himself deserves the most.

I didn't see Kennedy's game develop under Lavin -- if aynthing quite the contrary. I don't falut Lavin for this, as I mentioned, I think DJ's decreased role was for the bettermnent of the team.

But, to to suggest that Lavin and his staff deserve the credit for DJ making the league seems pretty silly.

 

If you aren't sure who to credit.. How can you be so quick to discredit Lavin and his staff?

 

Your logic does not follow. I'll give you the old Perry Mason analogy. When trying to figure out who committed the crime, a good lawyer typically weeds out those suspects who have solid alibis. In so doing, the lawyer may be able to determine with certainty that a particular suspect could not possibly have committed the crime. However, just because the lawyer was able to rule out a particular suspect does not mean he knows the identity of the criminal. Conversely, just because the lawyer does not know the identity of the criminal does not mean he is incapable of determining that certain suspects could not have committed the crime.

Put simply, I don't need to know who deserves the credit for DJ's success in order to know that it isn't Lavin.

Did the team make the NCAA tournament under Lavin?
Did the team tie for 3rd in the BE conference?
Did the team knock off a bunch of ranked teams? on television?

It's pretty safe to say that wasn't happening under Norm. So while I can't say Norm wasn't partly responsible since he 'found' DJ, I can also say without a doubt Lavin helped just as much.

Why can't we give both credit 50/50 and move on already. It's getting old. Real old. Stop diminishing Norms role getting some high character kids who stabilized things. The 'normsies' then stop ignoring Norm couldn't coach a lick. Realize the impact Lavin did putting them over the top. And stop the bickering already. 

 

Amen

 

[UC_Bearcats]

Have been hearing there is a good chance the kid doesn't qualify, which may be the reason for the hold up in the decision. Have you guys been hearing anything like this?

 

[The Gumbinator]

quote="UC_Bearcats" post=31844]Have been hearing there is a good chance the kid doesn't qualify, which may be the reason for the hold up in the decision. Have you guys been hearing anything like this?[/quote] 

Its awesome that you're attempting to smear a kid's name just to get us SJU fans nervous. You're completely making this stuff up to start rumors. Class act bearcats.

 

[Marillac]

Have been hearing there is a good chance the kid doesn't qualify, which may be the reason for the hold up in the decision. Have you guys been hearing anything like this?

 

You haven't "heard" anything or you wouldn't be on here asking us.

 

[redstorm80]

Have been hearing there is a good chance the kid doesn't qualify, which may be the reason for the hold up in the decision. Have you guys been hearing anything like this?

 

Its been mentioned but I just think its speculation due to how long this process has been and not based on facts. I have no clue whats going on in his process and am just waiting to see where he picks and hoping its St Johns. If not best of luck to him and time to move on.

 

[UC_Bearcats]

Its awesome that you're attempting to smear a kid's name just to get us SJU fans nervous. You're completely making this stuff up to start rumors. Class act bearcats.

 

Sorry that you aren't too bright. Dave Telep mentioned it on Twitter, so I just was inquiring. My oh my are you guys defensive. 

 

[UC_Bearcats]

Have been hearing there is a good chance the kid doesn't qualify, which may be the reason for the hold up in the decision. Have you guys been hearing anything like this?

 

You haven't "heard" anything or you wouldn't be on here asking us.

 

Read it from Dave Telep on Twitter that he may have academic problems because none of the schools have seen his grade transcript.

 

[MCNPA]

Have been hearing there is a good chance the kid doesn't qualify, which may be the reason for the hold up in the decision. Have you guys been hearing anything like this?

 

You haven't "heard" anything or you wouldn't be on here asking us.

 

Read it from Dave Telep on Twitter that he may have academic problems because none of the schools have seen his grade transcript.

 

Doubt that is true. Schools review almost all prospects transcripts long before now. If that is the case, I'd be surprised. Telep didn't say that, did he?

 

[MCNPA]

 Fwiw, providence message board posted article from yesterdays redstormreport article. I didn't paste it here because I think it's premium content, but obekpa obviously down to 2 schools ie. SJU and Cincy. He reiterated more than once that he wants to stay close to home. He also mentioned he'd probably make a decision before the end of the month.

I think being close to home has become a big factor for him as well as recent off court troubles at Cincy. I remember him tweeting more than once during the season that he was homesick. The fact that SJU is close and Felix is here certainly bodes well. I still don't know about grades, but guess we have to wait and see.

 

[fordham96]

 The highly sought-after shot-blocker, who has received offers from Cincinnati, St. John's, Providence, DePaul, Connecticut, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Oregon and West Virginia, narrowed his choices down to two schools.

"I just like St. John's and Cincinnati," said Obekpa to RedStormReport.com.

Of Cincinnati and St. John's, Obekpa said that the rapid up-and-down style of play that characterizes both teams caught his attention.

"[Cincinnati] run and they play together. They went far last year," said Obekpa. "[St. John's] runs and they're [local], so I'm used to them."

"I like the place. I'm just seeing what is best for me," said Obekpa of St. John's. "It's close to home."

"I want to be close to home," Obekpa later added.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1373001

 

[MJDinkins]

 The highly sought-after shot-blocker, who has received offers from Cincinnati, St. John's, Providence, DePaul, Connecticut, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Oregon and West Virginia, narrowed his choices down to two schools.

"I just like St. John's and Cincinnati," said Obekpa to RedStormReport.com.

Of Cincinnati and St. John's, Obekpa said that the rapid up-and-down style of play that characterizes both teams caught his attention.

"[Cincinnati] run and they play together. They went far last year," said Obekpa. "[St. John's] runs and they're [local], so I'm used to them."

"I like the place. I'm just seeing what is best for me," said Obekpa of St. John's. "It's close to home."

"I want to be close to home," Obekpa later added.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1373001

 

I guess we'll have to wait a few more weeks, as he did state that he'll commit somewhere at the end of the month, per the link fordham posted.

 

[fordham96]

Have been hearing there is a good chance the kid doesn't qualify, which may be the reason for the hold up in the decision. Have you guys been hearing anything like this?

 

You haven't "heard" anything or you wouldn't be on here asking us.

 

Read it from Dave Telep on Twitter that he may have academic problems because none of the schools have seen his grade transcript.

 

Two things Bearcat:

1) Good chance and may have are two different things. Can you post Telep's tweet because I don't see it and

2) He took official visits. I am pretty sure you have to make available your transcripts before you can officially visit any school in addition you must have already taken your college boards. Plus as someone noted, it is standard procedure to release this info anyway if you want to get recruited. Why on Earth would a school recruit you if they have NO info on your academic situation?