I have come to the conclusion that many fans of college basketball programs can be very angry and even make up stories. It is sad because when folks create stories that are not true, they really hurt young men and their reputations. Let me provide some examples:
The Rutgers boards has some fans who are tearing JR Inman and Jeron Griffin apart for the wrong reasons. Somtimes I wonder if it is really inside people doing this and if you think this stuff is not done in the media and otherwise you are mistaken.
JR Inman and Jeron Griffin might not be the dominant players many hope for but to call them a cancer or kids with huge problems? One thing I have not seen is Seton Hall, St. Johns, or any other BE team do this as much as Rutgers Fans. In a few year Rosario and Enchique might just get the same treatment. After all Herve' got it and he was very good at Rutgers and many never appreciated him.
JR averaged 12-13 a game and around 7 rebounds. Can he play better? YES! Did he have a rough BE season? YES! But 13 and 7 is numbers any D1 coach would appreciate. And he got those numbers despite experiencing negitive behavior from his coach despite him never doing anything that warrented him coming off the bench. He was the leading scorer and playing well until FHJ decided to take him out of the starting line-up. Is it me or has no one else realized he started slipping at that point. Oops, I forgot no one can say anything negitive about FHJ and the RU Coaches. We know one of the coaches reads every blog and message board.
Cannot say much about Griffin because I do think he is a good player who needs to be more of a role guy. But Neither he nor JR has ever done anything to get the tag Cancer! Neither has done anything other than be friendly, and accomadating to fans and the entire RU community. When FHJ put JR on the bench last season it made it seem as if JR had an attitude or behavior problem. Some fans on the RU board even said they knew the real deal! What deal? He did nothing wrong!
Now here comes those special fans who claim JR and Griffin are bad influences on the RU Team. These kids have done nothing except believe in a dream and committ to a school they thought would support them. Both could have, and somtimes I wish JR would have, gone many other places.
I end this segment by saying it is great certain RU board folks think the new kids will take RU to the promissed land. maybe they will. But I am one of those that feel it will not be as they think it will be for a good while. Great thing FHJ is so loved because it will take alot of patience.
The NBA Draft
I guess now folks see how hard it is to get drafted. I do not think any of the players from that special camp done by the NBA were drafted in the first round. Gary Forbes had a great Portsmith and NBA camp and did not even get a nod in the 2nd round. I would not be surprised to see the NBA put 2 more rounds back in the draft in the future to justify all the pre draft activity that has had limited results. At least a kid can become a 4th round choice of a team afterall the activity.
Less international player drafted in the first round it seems. Maybe this is a result of the Laker Celtic championship games. Did anyone else see that matadore defense played by a few of the Lakers who were international players?
Well at least players who were not drafted can now go and try out for teams they stand at least an outside chance of making.
OJ goes at number 3? He is a special player but when the dust settles no one cares that he might have been paid to play in HS and College. Same thing as Danny Jennings from Staten Island who ran across the court with a chair in his hand ready to hit an oppossing player. His recruitment will not stop because the bottom line is wins and loses. Ditto Tyreke Evans. I told folks he would still be at a big-time school despite his troubles in the past. Coaches just want to win! Honestly I have no problem with kids like Tyreke or Danny playing and getting recruited. I would just like to see them better understand their actions. Especially Danny Jennings.
More Draft Stuff, I wanted the Knicks to get Kevin Love soooooo Bad. To me he is a winner who will get it done while making everyone around him better. I also wanted the Knicks to take Joe Alexander. Unlike many, I think they have great talent. They just need serious coaching and discipline.
Nets? Will Lawrence Frank, a person I watched as a kid when he was manager of Teaneck HS, survive? I sure hope so. Just needs to get players to buy into his program and system. Plus I want to see my man Pat Sullivan stay employed. Great guy from great family!
5 comments:
I believe your commentary on this situation to be a bit colored by bias. Understandable, and this is YOUR blog...but...
In many ways, this type of stuff is much the same as the conversation you reference, and perhaps equally as divisive. Just my two cents...
LFBall, you have to understand, RU fans, for whatever misguided reason, think they are entitled to the best of the best athletically and academically. They are not Princeton or Yale and they will never be North Carolina or Stanford either. Still they think they should be revered as such. When kids don't buy the line of bull they are selling or don't pan out to be the next Michael Jordan or Dan Marino then the RU faithful give them the Lance Thomas treatment and the temper tantrums and excuses start. RU and its fans are a pathetic bunch of wannabes who never will be.
Any kid who signs on at RU is just throwing their career away.
BKlyn I have alot of respect for you. I think you are loyal to your players 1-15. But some of you guys, which make up a small portion of the real RU fans, say hurtful things that kids read. If anyone actually knows JR they would not say things such as some of your posters say. Things that are made up and 99 percent wrong. Kid is too nice if anything. People making up stuff is wrong and your biard should have not allowed it. I wonder where folks get the stuff they write about. Divisive? Not really because what I said was at least the truth. He was not taken out of your starting line-up because he was a bad person or had a terrible attitude. Honestly, FHJ is a good guy but he too needs to grow as a person and a coach and if it does not happen he could have 10 5 star players and still be the 13th team in the big east. But thats hard when you have a person on your staff kissing your butt who is also a real divisive type guy whispering in his ear as oppossed to giving him good and fair advice. I was only giving my take on JR after waiting patiently for you and others to defend both him and Jeron. Somthing that did not happen. But thanks for the comment and I wish RU luck. But I stand by my stateement and I have been around long enough to know a bit about team potential and gettiong it done.
Old
Thanks for commenting. RU has some good guys but a few are so bad from being frustrated for many years. I have never seen this type of bashing behavior on any other board. And I read 50 or so different boards each week. Kids came to RU and their frinds laughed at them. JR went through alot with his peers when he chose RU. They got the 3,4,and 5th top players in NJ that year and folks were happy. Kids not doing as well in some of their eyes and automatically they are bad kids. Not good enough despite starting for 3 years. Not good enough despite averaging 13 points and 7 boards a game. Yes stats do not tell the whole story but as I always say: IN GOOD WE TRUST, ALL OTHERS BRING DATA!
Thanks for the comment.
I would not take the posts of the few as the feelings of the many. I would think that most of us who watch RU hoops (especially for those of us who have been watching for 25+ years) appreciate the effort that these kids give. Do we want better results? Heck yeah. But these negative posts are exceptions, not the rule. There's obviously some other agenda to these people who are trying to create some negative buzz.
Personally, I would love for this to be a season full of the student section chanting "J-R-In-Man" after a huge play or standing on their feet after Griff nails a three. FH's challenge will be to bring in top talent and find the right role for everyone to thrive.
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