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Next year's transfers

717s7e

Well-known member
At the tournament I was chatting with one of the men's basketball insiders. I commented that Michael Steadman and Naseem Gaskin would be the exciting additions next year. I was told that the real surprise will be the contributions of 6'9" sophomore Darius Henderson. If you haven't seen him, he is a true big without being overweight.
 
717s7e said:
At the tournament I was chatting with one of the men's basketball insiders. I commented that Michael Steadman and Naseem Gaskin would be the exciting additions next year. I was told that the real surprise will be the contributions of 6'9" sophomore Darius Henderson. If you haven't seen him, he is a true big without being overweight.
That's an exciting notion. In today's game, 6'9 qualifies as a legit big ... if he can get strong without hampering his mobility. Us old geezers remember Wes Unseld, who was two inches shorter than that, but made up for that with unbelievable strength and determination. His ability to grab rebounds was legendary and, I recall reading, he's considered one of the top BBall players of all time. My point: you don't have to be a 7-footer to succeed inside if you have the skill, strength, and determination. All the best to young Mr. Henderson.
 
IdaGriz01 said:
717s7e said:
At the tournament I was chatting with one of the men's basketball insiders. I commented that Michael Steadman and Naseem Gaskin would be the exciting additions next year. I was told that the real surprise will be the contributions of 6'9" sophomore Darius Henderson. If you haven't seen him, he is a true big without being overweight.
That's an exciting notion. In today's game, 6'9 qualifies as a legit big ... if he can get strong without hampering his mobility. Us old geezers remember Wes Unseld, who was two inches shorter than that, but made up for that with unbelievable strength and determination. His ability to grab rebounds was legendary and, I recall reading, he's considered one of the top BBall players of all time. My point: you don't have to be a 7-footer to succeed inside if you have the skill, strength, and determination. All the best to young Mr. Henderson.

Please don't leave off "the Round Mound of Rebound"....was pretty good.
 
717s7e said:
At the tournament I was chatting with one of the men's basketball insiders. I commented that Michael Steadman and Naseem Gaskin would be the exciting additions next year. I was told that the real surprise will be the contributions of 6'9" sophomore Darius Henderson. If you haven't seen him, he is a true big without being overweight.

Thanks for some positive news. It’s amazing how boring it is sitting in Boise waiting to leave.
 
PlayerRep said:
I was told Steadman may be in running for conference player of year.
May be? No, will be. He will be the best big in the conference by a large margin. 14 PPG and 8 rpg in the Mountain West says all you need to know. Also, he visited WSU and Arizona before committing here.
 
Steadman will definitely be the best big in the conference. Gaskin is a long combo guard (I think 6'4"). He can play and defend the 1,2, and 3, depending on what kind of lineup Travis needs to go with. He is a 3 level scorer. He will join Steadman as an All Conference level player. As for Henderson, he looks to be a legit post threat, with a lot of muscle and weight.
 
braves84 said:
To me if you put him with steadman,Vazquez, dj, and Owens as the starting five, watch out.

In my opinion he gives us a guard who can penetrate which was sorely missed this year. Sayeed was the best penetrator that we had this year.
 
Let's not forget our other three "transfers"--Kyle Owens, Josh Vazquez and D.J. Carter-Hollinger. All three will be "transferring" from being true freshmen to being sophomores.

That these three helped keep us atop the Big Sky as true freshmen is amazing, but remember that the two greatest ever at Montana, Micheal Ray and Krysko, both blossomed as sophomores. Look for vast improvement from these three next year.
 
citay said:
Let's not forget our other three "transfers"--Kyle Owens, Josh Vazquez and D.J. Carter-Hollinger. All three will be "transferring" from being true freshmen to being sophomores.

That these three helped keep us atop the Big Sky as true freshmen is amazing, but remember that the two greatest ever at Montana, Micheal Ray and Krysko, both blossomed as sophomores. Look for vast improvement from these three next year.

Vazquez and Owens have to put on weight and muscle. Teams were aggressively attacking each at the end of the season. It looks to me, Owens can comfortably on 20 lbs. Vazquez can get up to 190 comfortably. DCH is already strong. Physically, he's already where he needs to be. He just needs to focus on his overall game in the off season. Look out Big Sky, if DCH becomes a consistent ball handler. He will be a nightmare to match up against, on both ends of the court.

As for their games, Owens needs to become a reliable post scorer to go with his perimeter game. More strength would help him with positioning, posting up and rebounding. Vazquez, needs to gain confidence taking the ball to the hole, to draw fouls and create for the team. Also, more strength would help him keep guards out of the lane. Timmy Falls is of slight build too, but somehow, he manages to make things more difficult for guards getting position on him in the paint.

Owens just needs to look at Steadman, to get an idea of what he can be physically. Steadman is agile, yet strong too. Steadman will give the GRIZ a combination of Akoh and Breunig, in his skill set and physical tools.

Gaskin is long and rangy. He looks like he can be an elite perimeter/wing defender. I'd love to see what DeCuire can draw up defensively, with him and Egun on the floor at the same time. Both are 6'4" versatile and aggressive defenders. Falls will have a lot of help defensively next season.

Take a look at these potential line ups:
Small- Falls, Vazquez, Gaskin, Egun, DCH or Owens.
Big- Gaskin, Egun, Owens or DCH, Anderson, Steadman
3 point shooting- Brown, Falls(his % was solid this season, despite his release) or Gaskin, Vazquez (huge upside),DCH, and Owens. I'm not sure what kind of range Steadman has.
Add in the incoming Freshmen and possibly Henderson next season. This team looks damn deep and a huge upgrade in size. Surprisingly, Egun does fit in nicely. I really do hope,DeCuire finds minutes for him. Good things happen when he's on the court. Fortunately, Egun has the tenacity to play in the paint, even if he isn't as tall as you'd like. He seems to get a lot of rebounds, with his minutes. Brown is a terrific shooter and solid defender. Brown appears to have already put on 15 to 20 lbs, compared to his true Freshman season.

The future is bright. I hope the team gets in sync, during the off season. There is a lot of SR leadership and talent to replace from this season.
 
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