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Date Posted: 08:18:27 03/13/03 Thu
Author: quackman
Subject: One man's perspective ...
I would hate to see Gai leave Fairfield, as I think he is a player that can bring some national attention to a league that hasnt gotten as much as it should over the last couple of years.
If Gai was to transfer to Michigan, he would get a year to practice with the team, practice against Big 10 athletes, get to know the system, participate in "individual instruction" and take advantage of their weight training programs and facilities. Then, Gai would get 2 years of playing a Big 10 schedule, against the likes of Duke, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan St, Wisconsen etc ... be on National TV multiple times as well as regional TV every night while competing against some of the best, strongest, most athletic players in the country day in and day out.
I've seen the argument made that mid majors have produced a bunch of NBA players over the last couple of years, but for every Speedy Claxton there is an Alvin Young and for ever Wally Szerbiac there is a Trevor Huffman. Guys that dominated their leagues (which Gai has yet to do) but still werent good enough for the next level.
IMO, if Gai has a shot at an NBA career (and I am not yet convinced that he has a shot at it) then he would be better served by the experience and exposure of playing for a Big 10 team.
For those of you who still play some ball: you go to the Y and there are two games being played, in one game you could dominate and play 10 games in a row, but you wont really be pushed and there is not one who matches up against you; ... in the other game, the competition is much better and you know you'll have to play your best to compete ... which game would you try and get into?
I'm not saying Gai would dominate the MAAC, perhaps he would, but he certainly would face stiffer competition in the Big 10. Plus, for those of you that say he either wouldnt be able to compete in the Big 10, or that he would get lost in the shuffle ... if he cant compete or stand out in the Big 10, he certainly isnt going to be able to compete or stand out in the NBA.
Again, I hope he stays at Fairfield, and do think the opportunity exists that he could be successfully reach his potential and the NBA out of the MAAC, but would certainly understand a transfer if he thought it was in his best long term interests.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- Stagman, 08:55:46 03/13/03 Thu
If he is going to make the NBA, it would be as a small forward. He is not big enough to play power forward or center. We can talk all we want about him being a big man, but that is not his game. He is a wonderful shot-blocker and can jump through the roof, but he is not a big man.
We have seen that when he tries to mix it up in the paint, even against MAAC competition, he gets pushed around. Unless he can add 25 pounds of muscle to his frame (unlikely), he is going to be a small forward. He has two years of training at that position and is guaranteed 30+ minutes a game for the next two years at that position. If he moves to a big time conference, he will be competing against much larger, stronger players and small forwards at the next level are considerably quicker than he is. If he transfers, I would not be surprised, given his lack of understanding of the game, to see him sitting more than he plays.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- Stagger Lee, 09:13:47 03/13/03 Thu
One fact: He was no better this year than last season.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- Old-timer, 10:16:10 03/13/03 Thu
Gai is a talented player but is he really NBA material? Two years ago Iona had a 6'9" center, Miller who blocked nearly 4 shots a game, led his NCAA bound team in scoring and rebounding had a great game on national TV and has since been cut by at least one NBA team. In my opinion Gai is much more explosive player and has the potential to go much futher than Miller but this will only come with more playing time and better coaching.
If Gai transfers will he really be given the coaching, the playing time and be better positioned for NBA scouts to follow? That depends upon where he goes and the commitment of the coach. Is it worth the risk for Gai to leave a growing program to travel the path his cousin unsuccessfully followed at Uconn? Gai better think long and hard about this decision because the list of transfers who never found success and happiness is much, much longer and painful to look at than those who ultimately found success.
Unfortunately I think there is much more to Gai's transfer than was written in the CT Post, and Gai's discontent is much broader than any one of the possible reasons he points to. But just focusing on the developement of Gai as a player I'm sure Gai, being a future star, expected to be one of the two main options in the Stag offense this year, and if you followed Stag basketball, you have to agree this simply was not the case. Gai's developement from last year to this year, on the offensive side, was minimal. Other than a few set plays for dunks, did anyone see set post plays designed to get him the ball in the low post like the team ran for Oscar all year? Do you think the lack of offensive sets frustrated Gai? What about the affect of losing his big man coach? What were the real reasons behind the resignation of the former NBA assistant coach? What about the remarks Gai made after the MAAC championship game and his opinion of the remaining coaching staff. For that matter look at what Oscar said after the defeat. If you read the CT Post he said how the Stags had the better team but the Jasper coach always seems to find a way to win. What does that say about the same coaching staff that Gai is now thinking of leaving?
It seems Gai is upset and sees his basketball career being stuck as the possible 1st team all MAAC center that never developed. If what he's doing is crying out for help asking who's going to help get me to the next level, TOT better come up with some good solid answers and solid assistants who can teach the big men the post up game or GAI will be gone. Lets hope this doesn't happen because if it does next season could be a very, very disappointing.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- JoeStag, 13:14:31 03/13/03 Thu
Old-Timer,
I agree with a lot of what you say, but this was not the year for Gai to be the main low post presennce, Next Year (hopefully) would be that year. Oscar came in this year better prepared to score from the low post, so he was the main option. Not considering the last 2 weeks of the year, Oscar had a very good year. Gai has to improve his game from the low post and his back to the basket offense, and I thought he did improve a bit this year. He needs to improve more next year, and he would be the main option. I posted a few weeks ago that I thought he could be a 20+ per game scorer this year.
I seem to remember a quote from Mcloud that said Gai needs to focus on defense and rebounding this year, and not worry about offense. He did that, and really improved on both accounts. So, Why such a big deal Now on the development of his offense this year. If Gai works hard over the summer, he will have EVERY Opportunity to succeed next year, and would likely be around 20ppg..... but its up to him. If he goes to Michigan, who the hell knows what will happen.
Gai might be frustrated in his role in this years offense, but he has to look to the future to see the opportunity that lies ahead of him if he stays at Fairfield.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- FU Fan, 13:48:09 03/13/03 Thu
Oscar was our #1 low post option because he had some low post moves. Deng Gai does not have a low post game, yet.
Roshown McLeod was not the answer as an assistant coach, if he really wanted to coach and help the Stags and Deng Gai he wouldn't have quit with 4 weeks to go in the season. This board has contained numerous posts saying we missed him. I tend to think his quitting spoke volumes about his commitment.
Anybody have comments about Puma's timing of this article? He was better this year but he still would rather see the Stags lose than win.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- Running Man, 12:21:19 03/13/03 Thu
Stagger Lee, I must respectively disagree. Gai is better than he was last year. He blocks the same number of shots, but he did not foul out with the frequency he did last year.He is a better rebounder and I saw moves to the hoop this year which he did not use in the past.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- Old-timer, 14:00:34 03/13/03 Thu
In my post I suggested he may be frustrated because among other things that may be bothering this student, his offensive role this year was somewhat less than he expected.
This year as compared to his freshman year Gai played slightly more minutes per game nearly 29 minutes this year as compared to almost 26 minutes but had fewer attempts per game this year at 8.2 verus 8.5 last year, fewer blocks per game 3.8 verus 4.0 last year and although it's not a stat that kept I'm sure had fewer touches on offense this year than last. I agree Gai is becoming a better basketball player, as relected in his FG % of two point shots being nearly 60% this year despite the fact that every team he plays against knows who he is and the impact he can have on the game. My point, and I believe it's part of the problem that may lead to his leaving, is unless he plays more and plays a key role in the offense he feels he will not improve. When a team at this level has a 6'9" post player who can put up the type of numbers he can he should be playing 33 minutes per game and attempting 12-14 shots per game. If he leaves FF he may never play that many minutes, but if he stays that's what he should be seeing every single night. In my opinion if he had played more minutes and seen more attempts this year we would not be having this discussion. Lets hope he stays and the team gets better because of this little flap. If he goes, coupled with the other losses, the team will have a tough time of it next year.
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Re: One man's perspective ... -- Champ, 14:30:11 03/13/03 Thu
He's like a frustrated guard in a center's uniform. It all sounds very selfish to me. I thought part of the team's success this year was due to team chemistry.
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you are wrong about one thing -- JCM, 09:36:18 03/13/03 Thu
Gai would lose a year of eligibility traveling to michigan. He would sit out a year and have only one year of playing time left
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Transfers don't lose a year of eligibility, he would it one than play 2 -- Boston Brawler, 09:42:47 03/13/03 Thu
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nope, you are ... -- quackman, 09:50:05 03/13/03 Thu
as Boston Brawler states, he sits a year then has two remaining. Think of it as a redshirt year, from when he enters college he has 5 years to complete his eligibility totaling 4 years of intercollegiate play.
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Re: nope, you are ... -- upstate b.b., 10:25:48 03/13/03 Thu
does anyone on this forum have a clue ? if deng transfers he has to sit out one season, but has two left. listening to all this b.s over the last few months makes me wonder why f.f even has a basketball team in div 1.its a spoiled div 3 school, with clowns second guessing everything. no wonder deng wants out. if he reads this forum i dont blame him for looking to a real div 1 school. next your going to have next years recruits not showing up. they can read too. it would be nice to once in a while read about something positive. you guys are kidding yourselves,who has ever considered f.f a basketball school.
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