Which player will be the defensive stopper?

[muskieman]

Will it be Dante? Can we expect someone that has been in the program for one year to understand everything Sean expected out of Stan...Stan took four years in Sean's program to get the bug. I think it would be tremendous if Dante could be that man because he has quick hands and big body. He could play the 1-2-3 players of many other teams.

Could it be BJ? Last year BJ had a couple games when he did a great job on D but again could we risk the possible downturn in his O game? He has the body and length but does he have the footwork and heart? He doesn't have the quickness to play a guy like Roberts or Barron's kid but with the help D of the pack line he might be a bigger D player than Stan and the true leader if he gets that nod.

Could it be one of the new guys. That would be cream on the coffee. I don't know which one would make a good defender but if one stands out that person will be the guy that gets good minutes. Kenny like Love below would not be feasible due to position.

How about Brown? man talk about a nightmare for other coaches if Brown says I going to make Stan's D an after thought. He showed this year he has the ability to steal out on the edge, he can block shots inside. He O could hurt much because he is a slam dunk expert although he might not have the energy to play at the level of Stan for big minutes.

If CJ improves his D that would be great but he would have to have that epiphany moment that Stan had and then Sean gets my vote for coach of the century.

Love can not be that guy because his man it the inside guy but it would be nice if he dominated the middle.

Graves....well I already said that Graves needs to decide if he wants to play D-1 ball at both ends so a transformation to a Stanley defensive player would rival the CJ epiphany. It would be great to see Graves come into the game and hear a bell toll knowing that someone's game from the other team will be buried.

Someone else?

[Mr. Neutral]

Short version-Jackson or Brown. Neither CJ nor Raymond has shown the quickness or foot speed to stay with true athletes, no matter how hard they may be trying. DB's got such athleticism and wingspan, it would be great if he'd take that challenge.

[vee4xu]

Or maybe it will be Jackson Browne. Kidding aside, BJ played some pretty bad defense this past year. During his sophomore year, I thought he made great progress as a defender. This past year, I thought he stunk on defense. He played a lot of ole defense and used the hip check as players drove around him to the baseline and to the basket for easy shots. He has to be much, much better on defense this coming year. The problem is, if BJ is not good on defense, he really brings nothing to the table on nights when his three-point bombs aren't falling. Stan was able to re-invent himself when his offense dropped off, we'll see if BJ can.

Brown got better on defense as the season wore on, but he is not in a position to play up on the other team's best offensive player given that he's a four. Also, X needs DB underneath grabbing rebounds at both ends.

Some feel that Dante really is the next big stopper. I am not buying that yet. He plays hard, but he's not real fast with his first step and there were times when the opposing player that he guarded blew by him.

I think that next year's stopper will evolve during fall practice and in the non-conference schedule. However, without the likes of a Sato, Cage or Burrell, it could be ugly for a while until someone steps up.

[Mr. Neutral]

Good point, vee. Our team defense could be a season-long work in progress, even more so than our offense.

[wkrq59]

If Walsh is the all-round complete player the rating people say he is, why not Walsh? Yeah, he's green, but he'll learn fast enough. Why does it have to be just one stopper? Why couldn't Walsh and Dante put the clamps on? They've got a total of 10 fouls to give. Plenty of film study would help keep both in the game.
With two guys in roughly the same size range, they could rotate on the team's best guard or small forward and both would stay fresh avoiding tired legs which leads to fouls and dq or a lot of bench time. Besides those two, Lyons seems in the clips I've seen of him to have an attitude and a swagger that would help him be a stopper. And CJ has to improve his defense, because I see BJ in more of an ofensive role, the go-to guy like Josh turned out to be late.