Dave Reynolds' article about Nate Wells 10/21

[it's boogie time]

I was pleasantly surprised on Tuesday that Wells wasn't a project. I look forward to seeing him in the two exhibitions. Hopefully, Parkside or Wooster has a decent big man.

It's a rebuilding year. He'll get more than mop up duty if they decide to play him.

[basketball nut]

I haven't seen any of the new players.. but let's be honest. This team is not going to compete for the Valley Title this year. So what do you get by playing wells this year? 2 or 3 minutes of spot duty?

I'd love to red shirt all freshmen. Of course that's not realistic. But with skinny big men it's almost essential. Let Wells beef up.. let him learn a little more bball and polish his skills more(remember he has not played that long).

The benefits to the team will be better served.

No offense KB but since you haven't seen any of the new players of for that matter this team w/a new coach then how can you make statements like this? Are you going off the board or what some friend has to say? NW isn't a skinny kid anymore. As was pointed out in the paper this morning he has put on 30# which brings him up to approx. 250#. Yes a year of R/S would be good for him but one thing to keep in mind is he is committed to doing what the coaches want him to do and is a quick learner. If they decide to play him this year and he continues to work hard who knows how much he will help by the end of the year.
I would agree we probably won't contend for a title but by the tourn we may very well surprise some teams. (and some fans also)

[KillerB]

No offense KB but since you haven't seen any of the new players of for that matter this team w/a new coach then how can you make statements like this? Are you going off the board or what some friend has to say? NW isn't a skinny kid anymore. As was pointed out in the paper this morning he has put on 30# which brings him up to approx. 250#. Yes a year of R/S would be good for him but one thing to keep in mind is he is committed to doing what the coaches want him to do and is a quick learner. If they decide to play him this year and he continues to work hard who knows how much he will help by the end of the year.
I would agree we probably won't contend for a title but by the tourn we may very well surprise some teams. (and some fans also)

Hey, if you've seen enough to think this team is going to compete for the Valley title.. great. I look at the roster and don't see it happening. Again, like I said I hope I am proved wrong. Nate didn't start playing bball until a few years ago. Weight or not he is a project. Maybe he'll be fine. But nothing I've seen written anywhere projects him for more than mop up minutes. If that's the case it is my opinion both Nate and the program would be better served sitting a year. But I feel that way about most freshmen, not just Nate.

[shaunguth]

I was pleasantly surprised on Tuesday that Wells wasn't a project. I look forward to seeing him in the two exhibitions. Hopefully, Parkside or Wooster has a decent big man.

It's a rebuilding year. He'll get more than mop up duty if they decide to play him.

Looking at their respective rosters......

UW-Parkside doesn't have a player listed at C. Their tallest player is a 6'8'/215 freshman. They also have a couple 6'7" juniors at 215 and 220. One of the juniors only played 7 minutes/game and averaged 2.1 points and 2.4 rebounds. The other averaged 3.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19 minutes/game.

Wooster does not have an updated roster for this season and have just two possible returning players listed at C.....a 6'8"/210 junior averaged 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 9 minutes/game and a 6'8"/175 sophomore with very limited time last season.

[shaunguth]

I would agree we probably won't contend for a title but by the tourn we may very well surprise some teams. (and some fans also)

I agree.....and I'm not sure we contend for a title next season either. It's rather hard to look ahead in that regard as we don't know who will/won't be here and if/when someone gets injured.

[lake Camelot]

I was impressed by the fact that Nate didn't look skinny or uncoordinated. I felt if there was opportunity to play some this year with Will gone it may help him develop.

But honestly I have seen quite a few people who know more about basketball than I do say they think he should redshirt. I am fine with that. I just hope when Will comes back, and we hopefully have one more recruit with some size added to the mix, that there still is some playing time when he is done redshirting. Overall I would say I guess most people in the know say he should redshirt and I can live with that.

[shaunguth]

I was impressed by the fact that Nate didn't look skinny or uncoordinated. I felt if there was opportunity to play some this year with Will gone it may help him develop.

But honestly I have seen quite a few people who know more about basketball than I do say they think he should redshirt. I am fine with that. I just hope when Will comes back, and we hopefully have one more recruit with some size added to the mix, that there still is some playing time when he is done redshirting. Overall I would say I guess most people in the know say he should redshirt and I can live with that.

I'm not sure I would be fine with it. One reason is our apparent lack of depth (JP/AT) at that position. JP is a sophomore coming off an injury and AT is a 5th year player that has career averages of 1.2 points and 1.4 rebounds.

I do believe AT is more suited and comfortable with the style of play and coaching of Geno, but what if JP or AT get injured? I realize that's a hypothetical, but why hold out a player for possibly the majority of a season and then let him play. That, to me, is a wasted season for that player. I would rather have that player getting minutes from the start, unless he is going to stay on the bench and redshirt no matter what the circumstances.

[basketball nut]

[quote=KillerB;238260]Hey, if you've seen enough to think this team is going to compete for the Valley title.. great. I look at the roster and don't see it happening. Again, like I said I hope I am proved wrong. Nate didn't start playing bball until a few years ago. Weight or not he is a project. Maybe he'll be fine. But nothing I've seen written anywhere projects him for more than mop up minutes. If that's the case it is my opinion both Nate and the program would be better served sitting a year. But I feel that way about most freshmen, not just Nate.[/quo

I never said they would compete for a title in fact I said they probably won't (throw in probably because one never knows).
NW would be better served w/a R/S year but w/ WE out we may find we have to use him and if he can spell JP (hopefully along w/ AT-thats is the ???) then we may need to use him this year. (he could always red shirt next year if we wanted him to)
As for talent their is more there then what has been brought out and that is what makes me excited-I realize it is a big ? as to what GF can get out of them but I feel he has a true BB coaching staff-(Not ripping JL)

[AZ BU Fan]

R/S seems to have worked for JP...why not NW if HE is ok with it?

At one time, frosh weren't eligible to play varsity in order to adjust to living away from home, mature, get studies in order and to get better. With RS option, frosh can still do this AND have 4 yrs of eligibility left!

Unless BU can make a run for post season this year with NW, let him work on his body and game without losing eligibility...

Plus, a lot of times it can take 5 yrs to get a degree when participating as a scholarship athlete.

[shaunguth]

R/S seems to have worked for JP...why not NW if HE is ok with it?

You failed to mention AT.

[amckillip]

R/S seems to have worked for JP...why not NW if HE is ok with it?

At one time, frosh weren't eligible to play varsity in order to adjust to living away from home, mature, get studies in order and to get better. With RS option, frosh can still do this AND have 4 yrs of eligibility left!

Unless BU can make a run for post season this year with NW, let him work on his body and game without losing eligibility...

Plus, a lot of times it can take 5 yrs to get a degree when participating as a scholarship athlete.

Agreed, while I think NW would really help us this year, if we're thinking long term it's in our best interests to R/S him. But if you're of the win now mentality (which Geno may want to do), I guess I could understand the arguement to play him, though I disagree.

[SFP]

Does anyone out there hate that this is becoming a throw away year! I'm hoping that the team and coach are not thinking the same. I believe we should be fine at point because most of the players can handle the ball but I am concerned with our lack of depth at the 5.

[lake Camelot]

Does anyone out there hate that this is becoming a throw away year! I'm hoping that the team and coach are not thinking the same. I believe we should be fine at point because most of the players can handle the ball but I am concerned with our lack of depth at the 5.

I think we have the starting lineup to be a pretty good team. But depth seems really thin. If we again have injuries look out.

[amckillip]

Does anyone out there hate that this is becoming a throw away year! I'm hoping that the team and coach are not thinking the same. I believe we should be fine at point because most of the players can handle the ball but I am concerned with our lack of depth at the 5.

I don't like it, but it might be reality...

[real fan]

I think we have the starting lineup to be a pretty good team. But depth seems really thin. If we again have injuries look out.

Depth is thin which is why I believe we need Nate to play, A.T. is more of a forward which leaves us with 1 center in Prosser , Nate needs to be his backup and I think we can have a fairly good year if the main players stay healthy because there is a lot more talent then some believe, the next 2 exb. games should give us all a better idea on how good or bad this team will be this season.
I guarantee you that coach Ford and his staff are not going to throw this season away in order to be better by year 5.