GGA is really about 6'6.5", and not his listed 6'8". He also averaged 5.6 rebounds a game last year. He would not be the savior on the boards that a lot of posters are making him out to be. His best position is as a backup power forward, and he will be a decent one for us next season. His redshirt will not be pulled this season.
Jackson Looking Better All the Time
- Thread starter JackofVirginia
- Start date
Optimistic25
Member
Lavin's been here for two complete seasons. The first he brought us to the tourny, the 2nd he was out with Cancer. The 3rd has not been completed. He's brought in recruits that in the past would of gone to UCONN instead of queens. I see mostly positives so far during Lavin's tenure. He also proved some St Johns fans and others wrong, who said you "cannot recruit here."
Exactly right LJSA.
I think people on the msg boards are reaching for some help, and are putting too much weight into how much God's Gift would contribute.
He could help some with our rebounding problem, true. But we'd all be yelling and screaming if he was on the court for more than 10 or 12 minutes a game.
As he said, Gift's best position is as a backup power forward.
The truth is we don't have a real center on this roster (and no, Sanchez isn't a "5" either).
Can we still succeed without a traditional center? Yea, of course. There are plenty of examples of teams with recent success who had no real center.. Marquette, WVU, etc.
But most successful teams are well rounded. I don't like that we don't even have the option of going big on occasion.
JackofVirginia
Active member
As a backup? Maybe, if we still had Harkless and even Sanchez. Right now we need his big body boxing out and rebounding.
Gift would help immensely on this team and anyone who thinks otherwise has not be following us the last season and a half. He is super smart, plays under control and plays his position well. His presence is sorely missed.
I am too lazy to look up how much he played last season but there is no reason he should play a minute less than 22-25 minutes a game on this rebounding challenged team. He would play at least 15 a game at the 5 and another 7-10 minutes at the 4.
I am too lazy to look up how much he played last season but there is no reason he should play a minute less than 22-25 minutes a game on this rebounding challenged team. He would play at least 15 a game at the 5 and another 7-10 minutes at the 4.
Who's minutes do you want to cut then; Obekpa's ? Sampson's ?
I'm not saying God's Gift wouldn't help our rebounding problem; he would. But where is there room for him to play more than 10 or 15 mins at most?
Bottomline to me is there are too many guys on this team who grade out at a B- / C+.
You're splitting hairs when you compare Amir, Dom, Phil, Jones, Felix, even Marco or God's Gift.
None of them are impacting the game right now in a meaningful way. They're interchangeable to a fault.
Someone needs to step up.
I just don't think Gods Gift playing 12 mins a game, and grabbing two rebounds more than we would otherwise get will make a noticeable difference.
Rebounding is indeed a problem. But in my eyes better ball movement and staying in front of opposing guards are clearly bigger priorities. Gift doesn't really help in either of those areas.
Under control? He was a turnover waiting to happen last year.
He has two moves offensively:
1) hook his arm around the defender and try to spin baseline; which became an automatic offensive foul after about the 4th game, and
2) dribble the ball off his foot
I'm not kidding. He did those two things far too often last year.
If he were so valuable he would not be red shirting right now, and the staff wouldn't have started Harkless at the 5 and Garrett at the 4 last season.
Nobody chooses to redshirt a player who can help you win right now. He could help us marginally right now, no more.
Some of you have short memories. Last season wasn't all that long ago.
Class of 72
Active member
First, with all due respect, you should check your facts re. Gift before you call him a "turnover waiting to happen"!
That honor went to Maurice Harkless, who led the team in T\O's. In fact, in the critical Big East games, Gift was 5th in turnovers.
The only points he was able to get were of his own doing as almost every offensive play revolved around Moe or D'Lo. Yes, he is not a natural center but because of his physical strenght that is his position here at SJ where we have not been able to sign one decent kid above 6'9 that can even qualify as a backup.
If we get destroyed on the boards in BE play, you may want to have reconsidered your evaluation.
BTW, this is not me, Class of 72, that is saying the following about Gift, it is Lavin and staff. I guess we "done got fooled again" . LOL!
"
On Achiuwa: A dominating big man and an imposing physical specimen with an 87-inch wingspan ... an intimidating shot-blocker on defense and a powerful rebounder on both ends of the floor ... displays incredible speed in transition, particularly for an athlete his size ... a versatile scorer who can face up or play with his back to the basket on offense ... a member of St. John's prestigious President's Society ... last name pronounced "ah-CHOO-uh."
beast of the east
Active member
I don't. He lost me when they took out the broom in the playoff sweep. If I had an opponent doing helicopters on the court, I'd see to it that he crash landed the next time down the floor.
Still and all, those who know him from his CHSAA days say he is an outstanding guy.
Good analysis Simply, not excuses, just sorting out the facts as one sees them - those saying "I'm, not giving up" I believe it was Tom from CT and others I applaud you - that's what true fans do - stick with the team during unpleasant times (like sticking with your teenage kids)
- as a Yankee fan of course I've had many more good times than not - but the late 1960s when I was in college the Yankees were the worst American league team (and they visited West Point once a year to play an exhibition) - you ride it out; same with the late 1980s; during bad times I focused on a single player - like Mantle on one leg or Mattingly with a bad back;
perseverance and patience and perspective are time-proven keys
I turn my focus to the currrent St. J situation - are we kidding if we complain??? Analyze yes. After a lousy decade plus we have so much to be grateful for - the positives well known to all of us -
We don't imo have a catch every recruit or win every game even against so-called "inferior" opposition (didn't our #1 team circa 1986 lose to an inferior Niagara (or was that Viagra?) team despite Walter Berry and Mark Jackson) - we have begun to get our share of recruits and wins; there is no magic timetable to when we'll be back in the top 20 or when we'll take the proverbial quantum leap upwards -
enough with my rambling - I'm pleased with what we are and where we're going
we no longer have to beg a decent recruit to consider us - we are actually signing a few of them!http://redmen.com/1x/components/com_kunena/template/ja_social/images/emoticons/wink.png
all the best
Thank you class of 72, I prefer to deal in facts as opposed to opinions.
Redmannorth, and '72.
The turnover numbers are misleading because Gift played less minutes than anyone else once Big East play started, and had far fewer touches than anybody else.
But my argument is that when he did get the ball in the post; there was a high percentage of turnovers.
And his rebounding is good, not great. He averaged 5 rebounds on a team with no other post player, and Moe being the only other player above 6'6.
Could he help us in Big East play? Yes, I agree with you that he could. But I really question how much.
His 5 rebounds a game are equal or less than what we're currently getting from Obekpa, Sampson, and Garrett already. It would be nice to give Obekpa 10 minutes of rest and put Gift out there, but I just don't see it making the kind've difference you guys believe it will.
Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.
And on another note, I think you guys forget how poor Gift's rotations were in the zone last year. Him in the game basically prevents us from being able to play the zone. I'm not a huge fan of the zone necessarily, but it appears coach Lavin is going to stick with it... that would be another reason I think Gift's impact would be minimal.
Desco80 I agree GG does not have great hands but boxing out, rebounding, playing tough D and improved low - post scoring are all areas he would help, never mind his senior leadership.
As to playing him this season I have no clue whatsoever and will not speculate but I will reiterate that I believe GG should have played this season.
His low post offensive and defensive contributions against physical teams were limited, especially against the BE sked; why do you think he was not starting in favor of Amir/Dom? As Desco has already pointed out, his rotations in the zone were slow, another reason his time was cut. He's at practice and on the bench for games so he has an opportunity to provide leadership. At the games I've been to he has not been a very vocal presence during games and time outs, maybe that's just his nature.
Gift has many attributes, but Lavin's red shirting him means he's secure in letting him sit this season. Besides if he was here, who would he be taking time from? Jones is already riding the pines and Gift would be suited up sitting right next to him.
When Lavin was 1st hired, I questioned his game coaching abilities-based on his rep while at UCLA-as much as anyone on this board. Not to say that I wasn't happy with the hire(IMO he was head and shoulders above the other candidates), I just wasn't buying in to the fact that his rep was simply a result of unrealistic expectations by the UCLA faithful. But still I was cautiously optimistic that he was the right man for the job. Three years later and I am still questioning his game coaching abilities(as someone said "he's not Coach K or John Wooden") but I feel even more strongly now that he's the right man for the job.
Success on the court is obviously going to take longer than most of us would like, but he took our program that was basically dead in the water and made it relevant again. And he made it relevant on a national level in a way that this program was never relevant: in the eyes of High School kids(from Texas, California, etc) and coaches. Yes we've had some bumps in the road but I'm looking at them as growing pains. If Nuri turned out to be the point guard that we all expected and/or if Moe stayed another year then we'd all be singing a much different tune right now. I can't fault Lavin for those things. I'm not normally the most patient person in the world, but in this case I believe its warranted. Lets see what this team looks like when Branch gets going. Happy New Year all.
Success on the court is obviously going to take longer than most of us would like, but he took our program that was basically dead in the water and made it relevant again. And he made it relevant on a national level in a way that this program was never relevant: in the eyes of High School kids(from Texas, California, etc) and coaches. Yes we've had some bumps in the road but I'm looking at them as growing pains. If Nuri turned out to be the point guard that we all expected and/or if Moe stayed another year then we'd all be singing a much different tune right now. I can't fault Lavin for those things. I'm not normally the most patient person in the world, but in this case I believe its warranted. Lets see what this team looks like when Branch gets going. Happy New Year all.
Good post, that's pretty much how I feel at this point as well.
There have been decisions I question, but the hire was clearly a step in the right direction. And the program is headed in the right direction. Eventually things will start to click for the current players.