He was also a pretty highly rated player coming out of high school in Florida. That's another example of why I don't pay much attention to high school player rankings.
1989 "Flying" Illini team. Great team that should have won it all. Lost a two point game to Michigan in the semifinals after crushing them twice in the regular season. Glenn Rice went OFF. Kendall Gill: 6' 4" Nick Anderson: 6' 6" Marcus Liberty: 6' 8" and played guard Kenny Battle: 6' 5" Stephan Bardo: 6' 6" You don't need huge guys to have a good team. If you have five guys with some size and lot of speed and skills you can be awesome.
The 3 point line has changed the game along with the hack a shaq strategies. Basically de emphasized the big man, particularly if they can’t hit free throws.
not a bad gig for a guy in his 20's https://www.jsonline.com/story/spor...een-giannis-antetokounmpo-and-rim/2569228001/
Speaking of small ball - Billy D has had lineups this year with 6'7 Patrick Williams playing the 5. In his starting lineup for his 3-0 Bulls team, Williams is the 2nd tallest behind 6'10 Vucevic. Seems to be working out well for him so far
This would certainly be good for Florida hoops if it were to happen, but I'm not sure this is in the realm of remote possibility.
Well, in that regard, we know this regime can’t and they aren’t trying, so try something sometime, you just might find, “you get what you need! Ahh yea. C/O mick jagger. Fairly young, college graduate, staying in the basketball realm with great players, know how to get on a jet, Florida ties, ask him to help internationally, what could it hurt.
lol... I wasn’t really making the connection either. He’s tall and played basketball... that seemed to be the qualifications.
That's why I don't understand why more big men don't spend more time getting good at FT shooting. A decent big that can shoot free throws is rare, but valuable.
Unless they play for FSU which wins no championships but happens to have at least 2-3 near 7 footers on the team every year.
The Wizards just beat the Hawks while resting their center and playing a 6'7" reserve. Not sustainable but can work in spurts, I guess. And how about the Bulls, good start for Billy. Though against under .500 teams.
If anything, small ball is more popular now than in the past. Baylor last year wasn't tall. Their tallest guy wasn't on the court that much, either. They mostly ran an even smaller lineup than their starting lineup. Jared Butler Guard 6-3 MaCio Teague Guard 6-4 Davion Mitchell Guard 6-2 Mark Vital Forward Sr. 6-5 Flo Thamba Forward Jr. 6-10
The 86-87 and 87-88 Pitt teams had one 6'10" guy and the rest were 6'6" and under and they kicked A in the Big East. Charles Smith and Jerome Lane ended up in the NBA but it shows you do not need a tall team to win games. Paul Evans was the HBC. Some guy, John Calipari, was an assistant.
