Alex Condon Next Year

Again, I don’t know how it will play out. However, he did play out on top a lot in high school, and he looked good doing it. He looked good enough that I was posting that he was a good pickup while a lot of folks were crying about our shitty recruiting.

 

As a somewhat short basketball player at 5'10" I can appreciate people who don't overpriortize height. That said, all things being equal a taller team is usually favorable. We saw that in the loss to Colorado. I feel as though we win that game hands down with a healthy Micah, and Micah isn't really an offensive threat on most nights. We should not overemphasize height, but we also should not underrate it.

 

@gatorb how in the world did you rate this post as off-topic? This thread is about Condon next year and I am discussing where Condon should play next year.

 

agreed. We definitely missed Handy that game. And I guess that is my point. Condon and haugh are fine at the 4/5 because they will also have at least 2 other bigs to rotate with and I’m guessing at least one of those will be a 5 like handy. Again I am assuming handy gets a medical redshirt next season.

 

A 6'-11" center and a 6'-9" forward is not all that small, just smaller than our starting group this past season. And to call it undersized is not actually a fact, it's an opinion.
Most college teams are in that range, probably even smaller, and with less talent.

 

Until I hear otherwise, I'm going with the assumption that Handles will play this season. But I'm hoping we get a quality big in the portal as an insurance policy.

 

They both have very high ceilings, and they're both great kids. In fact, roommates this year (along with Denzel and Kajus). The great thing is that they both love Florida. Will be great to see them and Walter take on stronger leadership roles.

 

What do the successful teams look like? I’m not concerned with “most”. I’m talking about undersized in comparison to the good teams.

 

Is 6'11" really that much smaller than 7'1". What if the former jumps 4 inches higher than the latter?
People cling to measurables (like recruiting rankings) to give the illusion of precision.

 

It’s not the height as much as the frame and bulk. One of the reasons St. John’s was able to stay with UConn is that they had a 6’11” 250 pound center in Joel
Soriano who could give Klingon fits. In the Big East tournament semis, Soriano got Klingon in foul trouble and that allowed St. John’s players to start scoring at the rim. Plus, Soriano could defend big men down low. He did, however, have issues with guarding big men outside, and that will likely cost him an NBA career. There were big guys throughout this past season running roughshod over the Gators. We need a big guy who can defend the low post without being pushed around all over the place. Condon and Haugh are leaner framed players than many of the big men who we played against this past season.

 

That's why Tom Izzo has been consistently successful at Michigan State. He has heavy, muscular bangers in the paint every year. Even when they aren't super-talented, they get the dirty work done and let the perimeter guys score the points.

 

100%. That freshman we have coming in looks like he jumps 2” off the deck. The only difference between him and a 6’3” guy is one HAS to jump to get the same block or rebound.

 

Probably just a cellphone miss. It's tough for me to hit the right ones on my cellphone, I know.

 

Thanks. I wasn’t aware of that at Michigan State other than that big dude who was on their 2000 championship team.

 

Right, I agree. I meant someone claiming Condon vs. Micah, who I don't view as much bulkier, and just a couple of inches taller. And certainly less of a jumper.

Alex is listed at 230. Think he could get to 250?

 

I feel like Condo is far more solid/dense than Micah. Seems like players would bounce against AC a bit more and MH would get moved back.

I'd imagine AC spent much more of his life squatting and deadlifting and generally banging bodies violently than MH.

I do think AC can be substantially stronger by next season

 

The 1989 Illinois basketball team's tallest player was 6' 8" and they were pretty good.

 

Funny for the Klingon.

 

AC was surprisingly skilled with his low post footwork. We don't feature a low post offense but on occasion he would get an entry pass but more often grab an offensive rebound and go to work.

What he needs to figure out is what he can get away with. He has yet to get the star power to do whatever he wants.

 

Easily. He has a frame that could easily take on another 20, even 30 pounds if it's the right kind of weight
All this talk about height. Golden State won 4 championships playing small ball with Draymond at the 4 or sometimes 5 at 6'9. The Lakers won 4 years ago with 6'10 AD at 5 (not to mention UK won the natty).

Size is great, but you have to know how to play basketball and be mobile too. Otherwise we'd be talking about how dominant we're going to be with Rioux. There are a number of factors to consider when talking height. Curry and Chris Paul are grossly undersized PGs. Barkley is a HOF PF at 6'4.5.

Ideally for Condo I think he's more of a 4 than 5, especially if he can build out his offensive skillset a bit more. He's definitely athletic enough. Either way, I'm very happy to have him, Haugh and it looks like Handy back. Now with the addition of Alexis and likely 1-2 more, we're going to have a deeper, more experienced front-court than most teams. That's a luxury we didn't have for years before last season