Carson

Still plays like a guy who benches 135. He plays incredibly weak. Time for him to man up.

Garbage, he was awful. We need to go 3 guards, Nikita, and Travis, no question whatsoever. He doesn't even move to get the ball on a lot of rebounds. He looks like he went to the Ty Walker school of rebounding where you try to box out and the ball comes off the rim and you keep trying to box out while your guy just disengages, steps around you and gets the ball.

just smh

Softer than Charmin. He looked like he was afraid to break a nail out there.

He had a bad game.

he will continue to get bullied down low all season long!

I'd like him to at least jump for rebounds, it's tough watching him stay glued to the floor so often.

He's about as nimble as Estelle Getty. It's kinda funny watching him move like an octogenarian.

timdunkandthefunk said:

I'd like him to at least jump for rebounds, it's tough watching him stay glued to the floor so often.

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This

THE DEUCE said:

he will continue to get bullied down low all season long!

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I'm not sure how fair that is.

Look at his game tonight. He picked up 3 quick fouls, all of which were questionable. (The second one was the clean block against the backboard.) That's going to affect your physicality, and while he obviously had a bad offensive night, his defense was still pretty solid. If you need proof, look at how well Dayton played inside with Nikita in the game vs. Carson. At the very least, Carson forced them to work for points in the paint.

Rebounding is still a huge issue, obviously, but I wasn't completely discouraged with his rebounding effort tonight. He at least looks like he's going up for more balls, and his 3 rebounds weren't really terrible for only being on the floor for 18 minutes. Again, it's still not anywhere near a strength of his game, and with his height, he should be rebounding the fuck out of Dayton. But he looks like he's trying to be a more physical post player.

Offensively, meh. He got off to a slow start, missed a couple easy buckets. That'll happen. He's still learning how to be an offensive threat in the post. Hopefully, he can learn a move or two as the season goes on. I never, ever want to see him try that baby hook again, though. I will say that it seems like he runs a lot of high screen/pick and rolls, and the guard never seems to look to Carson as he cuts to the basket. I don't think that's Carson's fault, but I can't say I blame our guards for overlooking him in the paint, either. As the season progresses, I hope we work more pick and rolls into the gameplan (and it looked like we utilized them more tonight). With all of our perimeter shooters, that's a strategy that could have some legs.

He needs to grow back that Amish beard that he had in the preseason and embrace the Amish warrior inside him!

I'd love for him to jump, but I have yet to see that he CAN jump. He gets off the floor, but can he get more than 7 inches?

Unfortunately, unless you are a stud big man or Tim Duncan, a big man seems to usually have their coming out in their junior year.

Unfortunately I'm not sure he is our biggest liability.I hate to bad-mouth any Deac but Nikita is absolutely not a Div. 1 talent. Hecan't defend,handle the ball,or shoot. He took three ill-advised shots and air balls a finger roll.He is out of position on rebounds. Love his effort,but we essentially play three on five on offense(neither he or Carson are real threats).Of course, in Carson's case he is just not a center and is forced to play there.

TexasDeac10 said:

I'd love for him to jump, but I have yet to see that he CAN jump. He gets off the floor, but can he get more than 7 inches?

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I think this is the issue; he is just severely limited athletically. You can also see it on the offensive end. There are times that he has what looks like a wide open shot, and he ends up struggling to finish on them. Right now he doesn't have any of the three things that help make a solid C or PF: strength, athleticism, or savviness.

Deac83 said:

Unfortunately, unless you are a stud big man or Tim Duncan, a big man seems to usually have their coming out in their junior year.

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I'm not giving up on Carson. Maybe you're right and he's just a year away.

Deac65 said:

Unfortunately I'm not sure he is our biggest liability.I hate to bad-mouth any Deac but Nikita is absolutely not a Div. 1 talent. Hecan't defend,handle the ball,or shoot. He took three ill-advised shots and air balls a finger roll.He is out of position on rebounds. Love his effort,but we essentially play three on five on offense(neither he or Carson are real threats).Of course, in Carson's case he is just not a center and is forced to play there.

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Won't disagree there. If he had any clue how to play within his abilities, he could be a functional player. He's got a decent stroke from the outside, yet his shot selection is very questionable. It would be nice if he would just stick to wide open shots. He also has a pretty good first step, and is pretty good with the ball for his size; however, all he ever does is that little fake the pass to an outside player and go out of control to the hoop move, which 95% of the time leads to a charge, a missed shot, or a turnover. If he would actually kick it to the open man, he could probably create a lot of open looks for his teammates. Not sure there is much hope for him on the defensive end or when it comes to rebounding.

Deac65 said:

Unfortunately I'm not sure he is our biggest liability.I hate to bad-mouth any Deac but Nikita is absolutely not a Div. 1 talent. Hecan't defend,handle the ball,or shoot. He took three ill-advised shots and air balls a finger roll.He is out of position on rebounds. Love his effort,but we essentially play three on five on offense(neither he or Carson are real threats).Of course, in Carson's case he is just not a center and is forced to play there.

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If you keep a +/- for points Nikita is directly responsible for on the offensive/defensive ends, I'm pretty sure you'd see an ugly stat.

RedSox, please take your medicine and admit that Carson has played super shitty this season. His height is the only thing keeping him on the floor. He has been less than terrible all season, with the exception of one half against Loyola-Marymount where he still only scored 8 points. If the guy can't play against cupcake teams, after a full ACC season under his belt, he doesn't deserve playing time.