Per Bonner, Oliver Black is gone.

[121Josey]

By all means, sign a better player. But that has nothing to do with running down a freshman.

 

[Southern Law Dawg]

Am I the only one who thought that Fallou had some potential? He was D-ing it up pretty well at the end of the year, and I think with a defensive minded coach like Howland he could be a pretty decent role player.

 

[esplanade91]

as a frosh or a senior? Maybe Black should have shot more. He was hitting nearly 50%.

A 6'9" F should be hitting a lot better than 50%. 50% is a good shooting percentage for a guard shooting 3's 1/2 the time.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Black's potential was ..

I thought both Black and Houston had potential. I guess Ben thought otherwise. In Ben we trust.

hard to see at times. Made 22 FGs total (4 less that Ndoye with more court time) and shoot 44% from the FT line.

I do wish him well going forward.

 

[msstate7]

hard to see at times. Made 22 FGs total (4 less that Ndoye with more court time) and shoot 44% from the FT line.

I do wish him well going forward.

I'm fine with whatever howland decides, but players do get better. We say our players had no coaching last year, so you have to figure they would improve with better coaching. I've read on other boards that black was an attitude problem, so that could've played a huge part too. Like I said though, I trust howland...

 

[olblue.sixpack]

I'm fine with whatever howland decides, but players do get better. QUOTE]

Players also have ceilings. Some coaches can see that easier than others.

 

[maroonmania]

If Ready wants to play, it won't be at MSU.

Well, I for one hope he doesn't leave. He is still likely to be our 3rd best overall guard behind Malik and Chicken. I could certainly see times we might go to a 3 guard lineup where all 3 would be on the floor at the same time.

 

[121Josey]

All-SEC F/C hit over 50% - But yes, every 6'9" F should hit over 50% FG%**

A 6'9" F should be hitting a lot better than 50%. 50% is a good shooting percentage for a guard shooting 3's 1/2 the time.

Seriously, do you even watch basketball? Why does someone have to be 1st team all-SEC before they don't suck - in your opinion?

Note: minimum 5 Field Goals Made Per Game AND 75% of team games played to qualify.
LEADER - FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Rank	Player	Team	CONF	P	GP	FGM	FGA	FG%
1	Damian Jones	Vanderbilt	SEC	F/C	35	186	331	56.2
2	Bobby Portis	Arkansas	SEC	F	36	250	466	53.6
3	Jarell Martin	LSU	SEC	F	33	202	397	50.9
4	Jordan Mickey	LSU	SEC	F	31	191	379	50.4
5	Josh Richardson	Tennessee	SEC	G	32	184	399	46.1
6	KT Harrell	Auburn	SEC	G	35	194	428	45.3
7	Michael Qualls	Arkansas	SEC	G	36	180	413	43.6

<tbody>
</tbody>

Carl Anthony-Towns hit well over 50% off the top of my head.

 

[maroonmania]

He was one of the first players cut from a pretty bad team. I like him and I hope he finds a school to transfer to where he is a good fit. But it's pretty clear Howland didn't think too much of his basketball ability. I'm a little surprised he was one of the first cut, but like our baseball team, few players should be safe from cuts right now.

I'm hearing Black's dismissal was more than just about his basketball ability. Apparently there were some attitude issues, missing workouts, skipping class type things that weren't going to put up with for a guy with marginal talent.

 

[esplanade91]

I have a problem with a team having absolutely no post play underneath the basket and the tallest guy on the team getting minutes not absolutely owning layups and put backs. He didn't.

Do you watch basketball? Because we're arguing the shooting percentage of a guy who averaged 1.8 PPG in significant minutes.

I'm fine with the argument that Ray was a bad coach especially when it came to post presence, but I saw absolutely nothing from Black that said he'd be better after a summer to warrant keeping him around. In limited shots with his height and weight, he should have done better than 50%.

There were 3 games that he had more than 2 shots all season, and I specifically remember that Missouri game the Tigers giving him an open shot each time he got the ball. I'm not comparing him to anyone on our roster or anyone from the conference. If you've got a limited skill set and you're 6'9", 50% doesn't pop off the charts to me like it does for you. I'm sorry. We can agree to disagree.

 

[thf24]

Depends on the play style. A garbage man who has no business taking any shot not less than 10 feet and wide open (Black last year) should average better than 50%. That type of player isn't going to average more than the necessary 5 made field goals per game to make the FG% ranking; I'm sure there would be 15-20 or more F or C at the top of that list if not for the 5 made requirement. For a guy with Black's skill set not to average more than 50%, he's either taking shots he should know not to take, or he's simply not very good.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Maybe Black should have shot more. He was hitting nearly 50%.[/QUOTE]

My point is Black shot 48.9% from the field and averaged 1.8 pts over 15.8 min/game. Meanwhile, Ndoye shot 48.1%, averaged 2.1 pts over 12.4 min/game.

While BOTH are reasonable percentage wise .. 2 points a game doesn't need to be the 'norm' for frontcourt players on the '15 team.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Point taken. He's not skilled enough to ever be a rotation player in a major conference, but he's not terrible.

 

[mstateglfr]

Let's be honest. Black was terrible. He was a better option than Fallou but his peak was probably about 8 ppg and a handful of rebounds, if he got 25+ minutes. For all this potential people talk about, Ndoye outscored him on the season. Black outrebounded Ndoye, but still....neither of them should be rotation players in a major conference.

Lets be honest. You typically manage to not be over the top, but you failed this time.

Black wasn't terrible. Unpolished? Sure. Raw? Yup. Terrible though? Hardly.

He would have benefitted greatly from a year to adjust to the speed of college basketball and to continue to improve his fundamentals. He was far from terrible though.

 

[codeDawg]

Maybe Black should have shot more. He was hitting nearly 50%.[/QUOTE]

My point is Black shot 48.9% from the field and averaged 1.8 pts over 15.8 min/game. Meanwhile, Ndoye shot 48.1%, averaged 2.1 pts over 12.4 min/game.

While BOTH are reasonable percentage wise .. 2 points a game doesn't need to be the 'norm' for frontcourt players on the '15 team.

Thank you. Let's stop arguing over which of our midgets is the tallest when we're starting to pull in giants.