Post Defense and Rebounding

[blueandgray]

Hypothetically speaking, assuming we lose both Marcus and Jessie, what the heck are we going to do on post defense, shot blocking and rebounding?

My guess is that our top guys in terms of minutes played would be Pickett, Blair, Johnson, Akinjo, Mosley and McClung. Of course if Govan is back we would be fine, but if not, we’ve got some serious issues next year.

[hoyainla]

Mentioned it in the are we done thread. If Jessie goes and the transfer rule isnt changed Pat has to bring in a grad transfer post player. It's the only option.

[dense]

Govan provides 0 shot blocking as is. Rebounding is where I am somewhat worried. Leblanc is a big time rebounder so some of the loss is mitigated. But someone else has to step up.

[blueandgray]

Only other guy is Antoine Walker. I think the kid will be a player...may take him another year though.

[HometownHoya]

Gonna need big strides from Jessie on the defensive end. Although I think our hopes to being an improved defensive team will be the guards. As long as they can keep their man in front of them, it'll allow the front court to stay on their men and not have to help. Also we should be able to switch most of the time except against the shiftiest of PGs.

[SFHoya99]

If both Jessie and Marcus both jump, Leblanc is getting big minutes. Might get them either way.

[hoyainla]

Apr 16, 2018 17:43:30 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

If both Jessie and Marcus both jump, Leblanc is getting big minutes. Might get them either way.

Josh is closer to a 2 than a 4. Anyone expecting him to be a post player is in for a rude awakeneing. He is a good defender and rebounder though.

[saxagael]

Been thinking this even if Govan stays. Rebounding options are Lebanc, Walker, and Mourning. Defense is an whole different matter as the player needs to help as a big defender, likely as Derrickson did with help defense helping deter drives to the basket on Govan and jump out to the wing (helping Govan heavily hurt Derrickson to get back out to cover wing shooters, Derrickson usually picked-up the best outside shooter, if not a point guard, which meant they had solid quick release so you should give then any room at all).

Defending needs boxing out, which wasn't a Walker strength, but Mourning has shown he can do that as an athletic wing. Mourning is much more of a wing and not much of a big at all, but just a good rebounder (getting to the right spot and boxing out other wings). Walker is a good athletic rebounder, but not quite a big, but his defense needs improving (he really looked lost on defense other than the last two games). So, Leblanc may be the guy to who seems like a good rebounder, but also has shown good understanding and capability on defense even though not exactly a big.

Yurtseven changes this a bit, if he could be eligible. Looks like a much better defender than Govan in the middle and covering in and out. If Y7 playing middle defense that means Govan covers out, which is more of a problem than Govan playing in. Y7 is a good rebounder so that isn't a worry.

[kbones17]

Apr 16, 2018 21:47:41 GMT -5 hoyainla said:

Apr 16, 2018 17:43:30 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

If both Jessie and Marcus both jump, Leblanc is getting big minutes. Might get them either way.

Josh is closer to a 2 than a 4. Anyone expecting him to be a post player is in for a rude awakeneing. He is a good defender and rebounder though.

Disagree, I think Leblanc will be a great fit at 4. He’s a good defender and rebounder. Offensively he’s raw; he’ll rely on dunks, and offensive rebound put backs initially, but I’m sure he’ll work on developing some post moves.

[skunk]

Curious what Carter and Leblanc will contribute

[dense]

Apr 16, 2018 21:47:41 GMT -5 hoyainla said:

Apr 16, 2018 17:43:30 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

If both Jessie and Marcus both jump, Leblanc is getting big minutes. Might get them either way.

Josh is closer to a 2 than a 4. Anyone expecting him to be a post player is in for a rude awakeneing. He is a good defender and rebounder though.

I dont see him as a 2 he really isnt a perimeter threat like that. he is more swiss army knife but he bulked up a bit with his foot injury. Much stronger.

[HometownHoya]

Apr 16, 2018 22:18:59 GMT -5 kbones17 said:

Apr 16, 2018 21:47:41 GMT -5 hoyainla said:

Josh is closer to a 2 than a 4. Anyone expecting him to be a post player is in for a rude awakeneing. He is a good defender and rebounder though.

Disagree, I think Leblanc will be a great fit at 4. He’s a good defender and rebounder. Offensively he’s raw; he’ll rely on dunks, and offensive rebound put backs initially, but I’m sure he’ll work on developing some post moves.

Sounds like Walker last year. They'd be a great duo at the 4 if Leblanc can give him some tips.

[hoyainla]

Apr 16, 2018 23:23:40 GMT -5 dense said:

Apr 16, 2018 21:47:41 GMT -5 hoyainla said:

Josh is closer to a 2 than a 4. Anyone expecting him to be a post player is in for a rude awakeneing. He is a good defender and rebounder though.

I dont see him as a 2 he really isnt a perimeter threat like that. he is more swiss army knife but he bulked up a bit with his foot injury. Much stronger.

Not saying he's a 2 but he's more wing than post. He's at most 6'6 and plays on the perimeter and drives. Forcing him to play the 4 would be akin to forcing Jagan to play the point.

[SaxaCD]

Apr 16, 2018 22:18:59 GMT -5 kbones17 said:

Apr 16, 2018 21:47:41 GMT -5 hoyainla said:

Josh is closer to a 2 than a 4. Anyone expecting him to be a post player is in for a rude awakeneing. He is a good defender and rebounder though.

Disagree, I think Leblanc will be a great fit at 4. He’s a good defender and rebounder. Offensively he’s raw; he’ll rely on dunks, and offensive rebound put backs initially, but I’m sure he’ll work on developing some post moves.

Seriously, most teams don't play the 4 in the post anymore, anyway! From what I've seen, he's definitely as step above "raw" on offense, as he seemed to work on his range last year (when healthy), but I am sure there will be an adjustment period there. But with most teams not even playing typical centers anymore, I think we will see Josh at the "nominal" 4 spot plenty, although these days it would be more of just "forward", I guess, with no "small", "wing" or "power" qualifier.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Post play is one of the most inefficient spots on the floor. I get that some post play is good for balance, but I think whether we have anybody who can play well in the post (aside from Govan) isn’t that important.

Look at all the good modern teams. They aren’t winning because of their post play.

[blueandgray]

Agreed that the game has changed and that post play isn’t as important as it used to be, but you still need to get possession of the ball. If you look at a team like Nova they could play post defense and rebound. Spellman and Pasqual were tough down low, Bridges was a very good rebounder considering his lean frame, and even their guards could mix it up down low. Without Govan, getting boards is going to be a huge challenge for us.

[HoyaRejuveNation85]

There's no doubt that great size helps with rebounding, but give me an athlete who WANTS to do that dirty work any day. A big athlete with that mindset is best obviously, but you get my point.

[saxagael]

Post is a big question mark. While the game has shifted it is still needed. Most teams run one inside player and four stretch players. Having post capability opens the court, particularly if the other team doesn't have a solid inside defender (something Hoyas have dealt with having Govan, Derrickson in the middle when Govan say worked much better as players didn't drive on him and he could defend the post rather well, but not as good as stopping driving in the paint). If we have a big who can post then it become relatively easy to kick the ball out as well to open players (last year the outside players never adjusted to give open out lanes when Govan or Derrickson would get the ball in the paint and then trapped, that guard and wing play has to improve). I don't see much post play beyond Govan, but Walker showed some capability in the last couple games and Mourning has shown he can do this, but his lack of size makes it a bit tough. It will be interesting to see what Leblanc can do on this front.

Rebounding is less of a worry as Walker, Mourning, and hopefully Leblanc can fill these needs and have shown they are capable.

Defense is where there is concern. I mentioned above Govan's liability on defense (he improved quite a bit last year, but still not quite up to good interior defense, nor anywhere else). Having a good middle protector is needed to stop and discourage driving into the paint, limit the need for help defense, post defense, and rim protection. Of the players we have Walker has shown small glimpses of this capability, but it drops off. Mourning is a good rebounder and can body up smaller inside players, but that isn't his strength. Leblanc may be of some help, but clips seem to show him with similar capability to Walker.

[the_way]

Apr 17, 2018 9:30:14 GMT -5 saxagael said:

Rebounding is less of a worry as Walker, Mourning, and hopefully Leblanc can fill these needs and have shown they are capable.

When? LeBlanc will be a freshmen. Walker has played sparingly and so has Mourning.

[saxagael]

Apr 17, 2018 9:34:47 GMT -5 the_way said:

Apr 17, 2018 9:30:14 GMT -5 saxagael said:

Rebounding is less of a worry as Walker, Mourning, and hopefully Leblanc can fill these needs and have shown they are capable.

When? LeBlanc will be a freshmen. Walker has played sparingly and so has Mourning.

I was referring to the first two as seeing them play. We haven't seen Leblanc. We have seen glimpses of Walker and Mourning. We know Walker can rebound and so can Mourning, other parts of their game are less clear. The last couple games of the year Walker showed he was a solid rebounder. Mourning did too in his limited play.

We don't have anybody who has solid playing time, so only going on small sets of what we have seen, but rebounding seems to be both of their strength. I included Leblanc as films snippets on him show solid rebounding capability against what seem to be good players with size and athleticism. We really won't know about Leblanc until November.