7 Freshmen

[Kaboom]

We have seen what extended minutes mean to teams as they go down the stretch towards the end of the season. It will keep this team fresh. And fresh big men are hard to keep as the season goes down. Fatigued big men= jumpers going short, rimming out leaners, more injury prone, and mental lapses. What Koch and Eglseder provide are awesome....

Agreed, and perhaps that's the most valuable thing a Eglseder and Koch bring...keeping our big guns fresh. Last season, we pretty much played 6 guys, occasionally Travo got meaningfull minutes, but for the most part Mac only played 6 and it killed us late in the season. Nice point.

[UNI Prof]

One also shouldn't discount the value of game experience in terms of development.

[BCPanther]

One also shouldn't discount the value of game experience in terms of development.

You are right. Any experience that any of the freshmen can get the better off they will be next year when they have to step up and contribute...

[pantherfan4ever]

I pointed those three examples out because they were neat stories of finding a "diamond in the rough". Gee, lets see... do I really believe that this is the SOLE reason for having walk-ons? Because every once in awhile one might turn out to be a stud? No. But thanks for playing.

That's far from the main reason walk-ons are so valuable. The reasons are what I clearly stated prior to that. Teams are only going to be as good as their walk-ons and practice players. These people are the get down and dirty guys that get no credit but who week in and week out are preparing the main guys for their next battle. If these guys dont give 150% (and expect little in return) then our boys won't be ready.

I just think its ridiculous for anyone to ever say anything against a walk-on.

They are the lifeblood of any good athletic program.

Please don't put words in my mouth.. Did I ever say that you believed "that this is the SOLE reason for having walk-ons?" because I dont recall ever saying that at all and i sure never said that in my post.

The first half of my post was agreeing with you about walk ons and if you would have said they were just inspirational stories then i wouldnt have disagreed with them at all. However, your post read as though you were using these couple stories as PART of your argument (notice I never said the "SOLE" part of your argument). So, i simply said I didnt think they helped our argument against those who were bashing walk ons. I never once said you thought it was the "sole" reason for having walk-ons, i just said i didnt think it was relevant to the debate...
If you meant them as inspirational stories and not as part of the debate, AWESOME! I love to hear the stories too and wasnt bashing how great they were.. just make sure you point that out so they dont appear to be part of your argument

[Catnep]

I've noticed that the great thing about Eglseder is the touch he has on the free throw line. This will be big. It will be nice to know when he gets fouled and goes to the line, he's not throwing up a brick. Maybe he can be a "jason reece" at the line-that guy could convert...overall, the freshman group will be exciting. A lot of untapped potential.

[Big Cats]

I've noticed that the great thing about Eglseder is the touch he has on the free throw line. This will be big. It will be nice to know when he gets fouled and goes to the line, he's not throwing up a brick. Maybe he can be a "jason reece" at the line-that guy could convert...overall, the freshman group will be exciting. A lot of untapped potential.

I've made the same obsevation about Jordon. For a big man, he's got really good form at the free throw line. That's a good thing for a guy who's going to be doing some banging around under the basket. If he can't get the hoop, at least get to the line for 2.

[pantherfan4ever]

I've made the same obsevation about Jordon. For a big man, he's got really good form at the free throw line. That's a good thing for a guy who's going to be doing some banging around under the basket. If he can't get the hoop, at least get to the line for 2.

He seems to be fairly good about drawing fouls too... so when he finally gets those easy buckets to fall (which will start to fall for him as he continues to get more comfortable) and he gets to the FT line, he will be pretty dangerous for sure!