TicketsI want to use today to look at UC basketball's interior. The loss of Yancy Gates leaves a 6-foot-9, 260-pound hole in the middle of the Bearcats offense.
Who will fill it? What are the realistic expectations? How outsized will they be in the Big East?
First off, here are the in-house candidates to play the middle:
Cheikh Mbodj: 6-10, 245, 9.7 min., 1.7 pts, 2.1 rebs
Justin Jackson: 6-8, 210, 21.1 min., 5.1 pts, 4.2 rebs
Kelvin Gaines: 6-10, 225, 17 GP, 0.8 pts, 2.2 rebs
Titus Rubles: 6-7, 220, JC transfer
Of these four, only Jackson owns the experience Mick Cronin is looking for out of the middle. Unfortunately, at 6-8, 210, he's much more built in the mold of a forward than stacking up against the centers of the league.
The closest to fit the needed size would be Mbodj. While he showed flashes last year, he for the most part served as the temporary breather for Gates. In the final 13 games of the season he never played more than 10 minutes nor scored more than two points. He showed flashes of the player he could be against St. John's where he contributed four points, five blocks and five rebounds in just 16 minutes.
Can he develop into enough of a force to hold down the center? Cronin said Mbodj never truly recovered from his early season injury. He never showed the same explosive lift Mick recruited. A healthy offseason could recoup that.
Kelvin Gaines remains the developmental question mark in all this. The athletic freak can block shots and guard the rim with the best of them but his knowledge of the game is still raw. When playing during the early portions of the schedule he showed both. His dynamic play made for moments that left your jaw on the floor (7 blocks, 7 rebounds vs. Chicago State) but breakdowns left Cronin's jaw on the court (he never touched the floor in the final 12 games).
He will never be an offensive dynamo, but with a perimeter packed with them he doesn't need to be. If Gaines can bring enough offensively to occasionally take advantage of mismatches and be the incredible athlete guarding the rim he showed last year, he could be a contributor in a rotation with others. More than anyone, he's capable of physically matching up with the biggest of Big East bigs.
Rubles is thrown in here only because he can rebound (9.8 per game at Blinn), but there's almost no chance he would play the middle. He's more of a Ruben Patterson type that would more than likely play the four alongside one of the other three.
Through the early portions of the schedule a steady rotation of the three will see someone emerge and earn Cronin's trust. Of course, if he follows through on installing the 10-man rotation running up and down the floor, all will see minutes. Also, in that high-octane style, the need for a halfcourt interior presence lessens. Necessary, but lessened.
--- This league isn't chock full of the overpowering centers like once was the case. Patrick Ewing and Emeka Okafor aren't walking through the entrance to Fifth Third Arena.
While size is necessary, teams like Marquette and UC showed last year winning without it can absolutely be done.
How many teams even return more than one F/C that averaged 10 minutes per game, five points and five rebounds?
UConn
N/A
Georgetown
N/A
Syracuse
N/A (CJ Fair did, but he's not an interior player)
Marquette
Davante Gardner: 6-8, 290, 19.1 min, 9.5 pts, 5.5 rebs
Notre Dame
Jack Cooley: 6-9, 248, 28.7 min., 12.5 pts, 8.9 rebs
USF
Toarlyn Fitzpatrick: 6-8, 243, 25.5 min, 8.0 pts, 6.6 rebs.
Louisville
Gogui Dieng: 6-11, 235, 32.8 min., 9.1 pts, 9.1 rebs
Chane Behanan: 6-6, 250, 26 min, 9.5 pts, 7.5 rebs
Seton Hall
Fuquan Edwin did, but is a G/F
Rutgers
Gilvydas Biruta: 6-8, 240, 25.5 min., 9.7 pts, 5.3 rebs
(Dane Miller, but another G/F)
St. John's
God's Gift Achiuwa: 6-8, 236, 29.9 min., 9.0 pts, 5.6 rebs
Moe Harkless (G/F)
Pitt
Talib Zanna: 6-9, 230, 19.3 min., 5.3 pts, 5.2 rebs
Nasier Robinson and Lamar Patterson (G/F)
Villanova
Mouphtaou Yarou: 6-10, 250, 27.5 min., 11.3 pts, 8.2 rebs.
JayVaughn Pinkston: 6-7, 260, 25.9 min., 9.6 pts., 5.2 rebs.
Providence
LaDontae Henton: 6-6, 220, 37.2 min., 14.3 pts., 8.6 rebs.
DePaul
Cleveland Melvin: 6-8, 208, 32.1 min., 17.5 pts, 7.4 rebs
Temple
Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson: 6-6, 210, 33.9 min, 9.2 pts, 6.5 rebs
Anthony Lee: 6-9, 210, 17.0 min, 5.2 pts, 5.3 rebs.
--- Of the 15 teams listed, I'd place five of them on the list that would concern me UC would struggle to match up with. That's Yarou, Dieng, Cooley, Gardner and maybe Achiuwa.
That's right, five of the 15 teams UC will face in conference even have a player UC's lack of size would be significantly punished by. After that, you count on the scrap and heart of JaQuon Parker along with Justin Jackson and the combination of the three above players to offset any size concerns.
Many of the other top points/rebounders come of the Chane Behanan/LaDontae Henton variety. Smaller guys that play big. That's a mold UC already owns plenty of.
--- Sure, an influx of freshmen and transfers will add height to many opponents and UC would love to own more depth inside, but other team's unknown quantities own the same chance to succeed as UC's unknown quantities in the middle.
And few other teams possess the perimeter talent of the Bearcats, which represents this team's calling card.
--- Moral of the story: The luxury of Yancy Gates filling space inside may be gone, but that doesn't mean UC will be consistently outsized. Do they need development of interior players? Yes. But they are far from alone in the Big East.
Who will fill it? What are the realistic expectations? How outsized will they be in the Big East?
First off, here are the in-house candidates to play the middle:
Cheikh Mbodj: 6-10, 245, 9.7 min., 1.7 pts, 2.1 rebs
Justin Jackson: 6-8, 210, 21.1 min., 5.1 pts, 4.2 rebs
Kelvin Gaines: 6-10, 225, 17 GP, 0.8 pts, 2.2 rebs
Titus Rubles: 6-7, 220, JC transfer
Of these four, only Jackson owns the experience Mick Cronin is looking for out of the middle. Unfortunately, at 6-8, 210, he's much more built in the mold of a forward than stacking up against the centers of the league.
The closest to fit the needed size would be Mbodj. While he showed flashes last year, he for the most part served as the temporary breather for Gates. In the final 13 games of the season he never played more than 10 minutes nor scored more than two points. He showed flashes of the player he could be against St. John's where he contributed four points, five blocks and five rebounds in just 16 minutes.
Can he develop into enough of a force to hold down the center? Cronin said Mbodj never truly recovered from his early season injury. He never showed the same explosive lift Mick recruited. A healthy offseason could recoup that.
Kelvin Gaines remains the developmental question mark in all this. The athletic freak can block shots and guard the rim with the best of them but his knowledge of the game is still raw. When playing during the early portions of the schedule he showed both. His dynamic play made for moments that left your jaw on the floor (7 blocks, 7 rebounds vs. Chicago State) but breakdowns left Cronin's jaw on the court (he never touched the floor in the final 12 games).
He will never be an offensive dynamo, but with a perimeter packed with them he doesn't need to be. If Gaines can bring enough offensively to occasionally take advantage of mismatches and be the incredible athlete guarding the rim he showed last year, he could be a contributor in a rotation with others. More than anyone, he's capable of physically matching up with the biggest of Big East bigs.
Rubles is thrown in here only because he can rebound (9.8 per game at Blinn), but there's almost no chance he would play the middle. He's more of a Ruben Patterson type that would more than likely play the four alongside one of the other three.
Through the early portions of the schedule a steady rotation of the three will see someone emerge and earn Cronin's trust. Of course, if he follows through on installing the 10-man rotation running up and down the floor, all will see minutes. Also, in that high-octane style, the need for a halfcourt interior presence lessens. Necessary, but lessened.
--- This league isn't chock full of the overpowering centers like once was the case. Patrick Ewing and Emeka Okafor aren't walking through the entrance to Fifth Third Arena.
While size is necessary, teams like Marquette and UC showed last year winning without it can absolutely be done.
How many teams even return more than one F/C that averaged 10 minutes per game, five points and five rebounds?
UConn
N/A
Georgetown
N/A
Syracuse
N/A (CJ Fair did, but he's not an interior player)
Marquette
Davante Gardner: 6-8, 290, 19.1 min, 9.5 pts, 5.5 rebs
Notre Dame
Jack Cooley: 6-9, 248, 28.7 min., 12.5 pts, 8.9 rebs
USF
Toarlyn Fitzpatrick: 6-8, 243, 25.5 min, 8.0 pts, 6.6 rebs.
Louisville
Gogui Dieng: 6-11, 235, 32.8 min., 9.1 pts, 9.1 rebs
Chane Behanan: 6-6, 250, 26 min, 9.5 pts, 7.5 rebs
Seton Hall
Fuquan Edwin did, but is a G/F
Rutgers
Gilvydas Biruta: 6-8, 240, 25.5 min., 9.7 pts, 5.3 rebs
(Dane Miller, but another G/F)
St. John's
God's Gift Achiuwa: 6-8, 236, 29.9 min., 9.0 pts, 5.6 rebs
Moe Harkless (G/F)
Pitt
Talib Zanna: 6-9, 230, 19.3 min., 5.3 pts, 5.2 rebs
Nasier Robinson and Lamar Patterson (G/F)
Villanova
Mouphtaou Yarou: 6-10, 250, 27.5 min., 11.3 pts, 8.2 rebs.
JayVaughn Pinkston: 6-7, 260, 25.9 min., 9.6 pts., 5.2 rebs.
Providence
LaDontae Henton: 6-6, 220, 37.2 min., 14.3 pts., 8.6 rebs.
DePaul
Cleveland Melvin: 6-8, 208, 32.1 min., 17.5 pts, 7.4 rebs
Temple
Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson: 6-6, 210, 33.9 min, 9.2 pts, 6.5 rebs
Anthony Lee: 6-9, 210, 17.0 min, 5.2 pts, 5.3 rebs.
--- Of the 15 teams listed, I'd place five of them on the list that would concern me UC would struggle to match up with. That's Yarou, Dieng, Cooley, Gardner and maybe Achiuwa.
That's right, five of the 15 teams UC will face in conference even have a player UC's lack of size would be significantly punished by. After that, you count on the scrap and heart of JaQuon Parker along with Justin Jackson and the combination of the three above players to offset any size concerns.
Many of the other top points/rebounders come of the Chane Behanan/LaDontae Henton variety. Smaller guys that play big. That's a mold UC already owns plenty of.
--- Sure, an influx of freshmen and transfers will add height to many opponents and UC would love to own more depth inside, but other team's unknown quantities own the same chance to succeed as UC's unknown quantities in the middle.
And few other teams possess the perimeter talent of the Bearcats, which represents this team's calling card.
--- Moral of the story: The luxury of Yancy Gates filling space inside may be gone, but that doesn't mean UC will be consistently outsized. Do they need development of interior players? Yes. But they are far from alone in the Big East.