Observation on AJ Lawson & K Bryant

[lawcalcock]

This duo is better than Thornwell and Notice as freshmen. Lawson as a freshman is as good as PJ Dozier was as a sophomore. Bryant is as good as Thornwell was as a freshman and better than PJ. When one considers Cousinard is the best of the freshmen in practice, many including myself owe Frank an apology on his recruiting.

If Coach Frank can find a transfer big post player, next year's team could be really good. I say this understanding we have to see how many of the promising players return. Hopefully we will be pleasantly surprised for a change.

 

[Joelmoo2]

I can see what your saying about Lawson. However Sid was and still is a much better shooter than Bryant will hope to be. Sids physical drives to the basket required double teams. Bryant to me looks more like a slasher. Love the hops on the guy though. Brant is exciting to watch and I hope to see him get that 12 to 18 foot jumper down with more consistency. I think the skills sets are different. Not going to step on one to better the other as I like all of them.

 

[92Pony]

Frank has indeed managed to bring some good talent onboard. That just makes it all the more puzzling and frustrating to A> look at some of the recruits he brought in over the past several years who were just plain terrible, and 2> see all of the talent right in our front yard (not even back yard) who went elsewhere.

Here's hoping his recruiting has turned a corner, and he can bring in this level of talent steadily instead of in 3-4yr-interval spurts.

While it would be validation of the talent, I hope none of these guys (Bryant, Lawson, Cousinard) end up leaving early. Can you imagine where his team can be with them all as juniors? Seniors?!?

 

[lawcalcock]

I can see what your saying about Lawson. However Sid was and still is a much better shooter than Bryant will hope to be. Sids physical drives to the basket required double teams. Bryant to me looks more like a slasher. Love the hops on the guy though. Brant is exciting to watch and I hope to see him get that 12 to 18 foot jumper down with more consistency. I think the skills sets are different. Not going to step on one to better the other as I like all of them.

Not as a freshman Sinn was not. I can remember fans on this very forum wanting to revoke Thornwells scholarship because he could not shoot. Thornwell was a junior before he played well enough for our fans to respect him.

 

[lawcalcock]

Frank has indeed managed to bring some good talent onboard. That just makes it all the more puzzling and frustrating to A> look at some of the recruits he brought in over the past several years who were just plain terrible, and 2> see all of the talent right in our front yard (not even back yard) who went elsewhere.

Here's hoping his recruiting has turned a corner, and he can bring in this level of talent steadily instead of in 3-4yr-interval spurts.

While it would be validation of the talent, I hope none of these guys (Bryant, Lawson, Cousinard) end up leaving early. Can you imagine where his team can be with them all as juniors? Seniors?!?

My hope is we have a high retention rate for a change. Aj Lawson has had his name show up in a mock draft! That's never good. My fingers are crossed. He can be great if he comes back.

 

[coolcock2001]

Aj Lawson has had his name show up in a mock draft! That's never good. My fingers are crossed. He can be great if he comes back.

Maybe that's what's behind Frank's comment from last night about "he has a chance to be the best defender I've ever coached"

 

[gamecockengineer2011]

Im really glad to see the team turn it around this year. I do wonder if the BB gun incident hadnt occurred a few years ago and we still had Cobb and Gregory who got dismissed as upper class men right now if we would have had as big of a drop off after the final four run.

 

[_NOVA_]

Thornwell had a 50% true shooting percentage as a freshman overall, 50% in conference games as well. Bryant is at 48.5% for the season (we’ll round up to 49%), and 46% in conference games. Not great for either guy. And Thornwell took a step back the following year. He didn’t really become an effecient scorer until year 4.

AJ is way ahead of both guys. 52% overal and 53% in conference.

PJ really shouldn’t even be in this conversation. He was a god awful shooter. Guy had a 38% true percentage as a freshman in conference and 40% the following year, which is just awful.

 

[viennacocks]

Not as a freshman Sinn was not. I can remember fans on this very forum wanting to revoke Thornwells scholarship because he could not shoot. Thornwell was a junior before he played well enough for our fans to respect him.

Thorny shot much better than Bryant as a Frosh. On the other hand, I think Bryant is a much better scorer than Thorny was as a freshman

 

[viennacocks]

My hope is we have a high retention rate for a change. Aj Lawson has had his name show up in a mock draft! That's never good. My fingers are crossed. He can be great if he comes back.

Lawson won't leave this year. 85% chance he leaves after next season if he has a good season.

 

[winloseortie]

Random thoughts

Sin and AJ are such different players that it is a disservice to compare them to each other.

AJ will be here three years tops and maybe only two.
Bryant will be here at least through his junior year. He needs strength and polish.
We add Moss and Hannibal at point both are quicker, bigger, better ball handlers and scorers than Campbell
Minaya, Cousinard, and Bolden should be able to fill the hole left by Hassani
Frink I believe will be the biggest surprise of next year. We forget he missed ALL of preason practice and the first 8 games of the season. A year in the weight room and actually knowing what he is supposed to do on the court will pay big dividends.
Combine Wildens with Frink and they may equal Silva’s rebounds, D, but not points and leadership

 

[Athenscock1]

Sounds good. What a positive thread.

 

[Carolina4]

Don’t forget how good PJ was when Thornwell was suspended. PJ struggled shooting but let’s not pretend he wasn’t a player. There are good players that never get to play in the NBA. Dozier played his role and I’m thankful he accepted it so we could have a successful run like we’ve never seen before. But if he had to be the guy he could’ve done more. I think he showed that.

Lawson is on the spectrum. Bryant is good but not that lever to me personally. Not to mention, Thornwell went off the charts his senior season. We still need to get a few more key pieces. Hannibal could and should be one of those.

 

[PerchedOnRings]

Aj Lawson has had his name show up in a mock draft! That's never good.

This. Stinks, because he's my new fave.

 

[lawcalcock]

Thorny shot much better than Bryant as a Frosh. On the other hand, I think Bryant is a much better scorer than Thorny was as a freshman

Thorny couldn't make a layup some nights. He even had a 1-16 night. He was also turrable from the foul line.. Trying to pretend Sinn did not have a very disappointing freshman year is revisionist history. As a freshman Bryant is just as good and more explosive than Sinn was.

 

[roosterbell]

Random thoughts

Sin and AJ are such different players that it is a disservice to compare them to each other.

AJ will be here three years tops and maybe only two.
Bryant will be here at least through his junior year. He needs strength and polish.
We add Moss and Hannibal at point both are quicker, bigger, better ball handlers and scorers than Campbell
Minaya, Cousinard, and Bolden should be able to fill the hole left by Hassani
Frink I believe will be the biggest surprise of next year. We forget he missed ALL of preason practice and the first 8 games of the season. A year in the weight room and actually knowing what he is supposed to do on the court will pay big dividends.
Combine Wildens with Frink and they may equal Silva’s rebounds, D, but not points and leadership

Good post.

I agree about Frink. I think he will surprise a lot of people next year and will have a big impact on both ends of the court. He's got the ability. He just needs the time and coaching and he will surely get that.

We will have a lot of quality depth next year and should be improved at every position other than power forward. Hopefully, Frink and Leveque can step in and play well.

We will miss Silva, but we should be a better overall team in my opinion.

 

[winloseortie]

This. Stinks, because he's my new fave.

But not for this year but for after his Sophomore year

 

[viennacocks]

Thorny couldn't make a layup some nights. He even had a 1-16 night. He was also turrable from the foul line.. Trying to pretend Sinn did not have a very disappointing freshman year is revisionist history. As a freshman Bryant is just as good and more explosive than Sinn was.

You must have misread my reply. I would argue with anyone that Bryant is the better player at this point and he's certainly a better scorer. That doesn't mean Bryant is a better shooter. If Bryant and Thorny shot 100 3 pointers as freshman, I would think Bryant would be around 25% and Thorny closer to 30%.

 

[_NOVA_]

You must have misread my reply. I would argue with anyone that Bryant is the better player at this point and he's certainly a better scorer. That doesn't mean Bryant is a better shooter. If Bryant and Thorny shot 100 3 pointers as freshman, I would think Bryant would be around 25% and Thorny closer to 30%.

This is just wrong. As a freshman, Thornwell was a better, more efficient scorer. He was also a much better passer and ball handler. About the same rebounder and defender. In short, he was much more polished and capable offensive player.

Thornwell’s second year and Bryant’s first year share more similarities than Thornwell’s first and Bryant’s first. Thornwell took an unprecedented step backward for someone of his potential in year two.

 

[rogue cock]

Thorny couldn't make a layup some nights. He even had a 1-16 night. He was also turrable from the foul line.. Trying to pretend Sinn did not have a very disappointing freshman year is revisionist history. As a freshman Bryant is just as good and more explosive than Sinn was.

Thornwell average over 13 ppg and 3 assists/game as a freshman....that's a good bit more than Bryant's 9 ppg and a little over 1 assist per game. Thornwell also averaged more rebounds per game. Lawson I agree.

 

[cockhornleghorn]

I can see what your saying about Lawson. However Sid was and still is a much better shooter than Bryant will hope to be. Sids physical drives to the basket required double teams. Bryant to me looks more like a slasher. Love the hops on the guy though. Brant is exciting to watch and I hope to see him get that 12 to 18 foot jumper down with more consistency. I think the skills sets are different. Not going to step on one to better the other as I like all of them.

Sid Vicious? Sid Caesar? Sidney the Elephant?

 

[lawcalcock]

Thornwell average over 13 ppg and 3 assists/game as a freshman....that's a good bit more than Bryant's 9 ppg and a little over 1 assist per game. Thornwell also averaged more rebounds per game. Lawson I agree.

That's superficial and misses the point. The team Sinn played on as a freshman was awful. Thorny had to play a lot of point guard. He also had to shoot a lot. Bryant is the fourth option on this squad. Both as freshmen had games where they shoot poorly and look bad. Sinn was a much better defender and rebounder.

 

[viennacocks]

Thornwell average over 13 ppg and 3 assists/game as a freshman....that's a good bit more than Bryant's 9 ppg and a little over 1 assist per game. Thornwell also averaged more rebounds per game. Lawson I agree.

Thorny had to score. This team doesn't need big scoring nights out of Bryant.

 

[_NOVA_]

Thorny had to score. This team doesn't need big scoring nights out of Bryant.

Thornwell’s usage rate as a freshman was only about 4% higher than where Bryant is now, and he shot better percentages. Every metric we have tells us Thornwell was a better, more effecient scorer as a freshman. This is bizarro world stuff.

 

[thisisnextyr]

This is just wrong. As a freshman, Thornwell was a better, more efficient scorer. He was also a much better passer and ball handler. About the same rebounder and defender. In short, he was much more polished and capable offensive player.

Thornwell’s second year and Bryant’s first year share more similarities than Thornwell’s first and Bryant’s first. Thornwell took an unprecedented step backward for someone of his potential in year two.

Tendinitis in both knees and went thru a confidence issue while playing out of position and having to bring the ball up cuz we had no one else. Bryant will never be the shooter Thornwell was imo. When you can’t shoot free throws, you can’t develop into a consistent shooter, period. Bryant is a better version of Lakeem Jackson, and he will help our team. He knows his role.

 

[taiwancock]

Good post.

I agree about Frink. I think he will surprise a lot of people next year and will have a big impact on both ends of the court. He's got the ability. He just needs the time and coaching and he will surely get that.

We will have a lot of quality depth next year and should be improved at every position other than power forward. Hopefully, Frink and Leveque can step in and play well.

We will miss Silva, but we should be a better overall team in my opinion.

I hope all of you are right, but I am not as optimistic about our Inside game as everyone else is. I think we will be very good at every position except the Five. Look what a drop off there is in our play whenever Silva leaves the court. Open to being convinced, but I don't see it myself...

 

[Jon Snow]

You must have misread my reply. I would argue with anyone that Bryant is the better player at this point and he's certainly a better scorer. That doesn't mean Bryant is a better shooter. If Bryant and Thorny shot 100 3 pointers as freshman, I would think Bryant would be around 25% and Thorny closer to 30%.

Anyone who would take freshman Bryant over freshman Sin wasn't paying close attention. Sin's freshman year shooting percentage wasn't great, as noted. Still, he played well enough to be on the floor 30 minutes a night, put up 13 ppg and guard the opposing team's best player. His disappointing shooting year was his sophomore year. It was talked about then and after that Sin played on bad knees as a sophomore.
I like Bryant. He's explosive, has the physical tools, and if he has Sin's work ethic he will become a really good college player.
As for AJ: I'd compare AJ's freshman season favorably with Sin's. In fact, I'd say AJ is a better freshman than Sin was. I think Dozier and Bryant, while their games are completely different, compare quite well. I'd probably say Bryant is the more productive freshman when compared to Dozier.
The thing about these comparisons is: Sin and Dozier weren't freshmen together. Dozier was playing with a mostly experienced group (Sin, Notice, Silva). AJ and Bryant are both freshmen and can't lean on the other's veteran experience.

 

[lawcalcock]

I hope all of you are right, but I am not as optimistic about our Inside game as everyone else is. I think we will be very good at every position except the Five. Look what a drop off there is in our play whenever Silva leaves the court. Open to being convinced, but I don't see it myself...

I agree with you! I'm hoping for a grad transfer or a juco stud. Maybe one of Bamas' bigs will transfer in after Avery Johnson bolts for another job this spring.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

My hope is we have a high retention rate for a change. Aj Lawson has had his name show up in a mock draft! That's never good. My fingers are crossed. He can be great if he comes back.

We are going to have some transfers. We have zero spots and are still recruiting.

 

[carolinamyke]

Besides Cudd who the heck is a possibility ?

 

[lawcalcock]

We are going to have some transfers. We have zero spots and are still recruiting.

That's good ole Frank!

 

[Legendary Cock]

I agree with you! I'm hoping for a grad transfer or a juco stud. Maybe one of Bamas' bigs will transfer in after Avery Johnson bolts for another job this spring.

I just hope we can still get Josiah James to flip if Johnson leaves.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

I just hope we can still get Josiah James to flip if Johnson leaves.

Josiah went to UTjr. You mean Juwan Gary. Maybe I missed something. Is Avery thinking if leaving for the NBA?

 

[Legendary Cock]

Josiah went to UTjr. You mean Juwan Gary. Maybe I missed something. Is Avery thinking if leaving for the NBA?

Doh! You're right. Got my Js mixed up!