RedSoxFaithful
a vicar in a tutu
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 27,309
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Carson and Thomas are different players. There's no excuse for Carson's lack of development, his complete ineptitude on the boards, or his softness in the paint. He's been a disappointment, and anybody who's trying to say that any of those problems are likely to change when he's a junior is either stupid or disingenuous. He is what he is at this point-- a good face-up shooter who can occasionally look competent defensively. Unless he suddenly puts on 30 pounds, none of that is going to change.
Thomas, on the other hand, is giving us a bunch of reasons to get excited about him that Carson never really gave to us. He's playing against better competition, showing a penchant for scoring in the paint at will, and rebounding everything in sight. He's an entirely different beast than DeRosiers, and I disagree that it's unreasonable to expect him to contribute on Day 1. Even if he can't shoot outside of 5 feet, we'll have something that only Nikita really gave us this season (and he didn't do it all that consistently): an inside threat. That's a huge, huge upgrade.
Think about how useless Carson and Ty were in the offensive post this season. It's going from a negative presence to a positive one... I do think that their ineptitude in the paint this season had a ripple effect, and it made it easier to cover guys like CJ, Travis, and Chase on the perimeter when there was no inside threat. Look at the improvement we saw vs Duke and BC. A lot of that had to do with Nikita asserting himself inside-- I don't think it was a coincidence that Carson and Travis broke out of their perimeter slumps just as Nikita was improving. Having somebody that can score inside is going to make life easier for the rest of the team.
The other thing is that CMM isn't really replacing anybody (outside of walk-ons, I guess), so he can only add to the team. He makes life easier on TC, who I suspect will be a lot better in small doses (the positives in his game, and there are some, should translate well in spurts), and makes sure Fields only sees PT if absolutely necessary. Plus, his court vision, shooting, and playmaking ability will make life easier on Chase and CJ by getting them better looks. I don't think that improvement can be overstated enough.
And that's without even mentioning Moto (who seems ACC-ready, can rebound, and will immediately be our most athletic player) or Rountree (who will probably only be needed in small doses, but could be our team's best defender on Day 1). I mean, I know I'm probably a little too optimistic, but Thomas and CMM won't have to do much to make us a lot better, and the strength in getting a 6-man class is just getting depth to keep our starters fresh.
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