Roundup From BN Walk: Wear Twins, Luc’s Summer & Other Notes
by Nestor on May 6, 2010 4:59 AM PDT
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So few days ago we discussed the possibility of the Wear twins transferring out of North Carolina and joining Coach Ben Howland's program in Westwood. At the time the news hadn't surfaced in any of the traditional news outlets (in either coast). We heard about the real possibility of it from few friends around the program and given the chatter that was going on in the Bruin message boards at the time, we decided to go ahead and talk about it on our main page.
Well that post apparently stirred up a little storm in message boards belonging to UNC and some of its rivals (there were lot more than just the links provided in the preceding sentence). Most of it were dismissive as some rumor mongering from some blog. There were some even here foolishly questioning our credibility. Well it looks like the news is now official. The Wear twins are indeed looking to transfer out of UNC (HT Luca10):
Freshman basketball forwards David and Travis Wear - McDonald's All-Americas and Best in the West selections as seniors at Mater Dei High - will not be returning to the University of North Carolina, their father told the Press-Telegram tonight.
Dave Wear said he discussed the decision with Tar Heels' coach Roy Williams earlier in the evening by telephone and that he hoped that his sons would be released from their scholarship agreements with the school ``as early as Thursday".
Wear wouldn't offer any details as to why the players (who took their last spring semester finals today) were making the move other than to say ``they decided they didn't want to return to North Carolina.
``When they return home (in Huntington Beach) we will sit down as a family and review their basketball and academic options,'' he said.
Well the Wear twins to UCLA is not a done deal (although ESPN has followed BN's lead (without any kind of HT of course) mentioning this possibility). As mentioned over the weekend it is a real possibility. Anything can happen in the last minute. Still I think that possibility is a little stronger now. Some more perspective (in addition to the analysis from this past weekend) and other notes after the jump.
I think both of those kids are well coached, fundamentally sound and more importantly good guys (from what I have heard). I like the idea of Coach Howland filling our program with good kids. At the same time though what we need at UCLA are not just good kids but good kids who are ballers. I can also understand Howland being interested in them because in the immediate class of 2011 there is a lack of big time talent in terms of big guys out in West Coast. So it is not a bad idea to have two kids who have already been coached up by someone like Roy Williams in the fold and have them get acclimated in Howland's system for one season before getting on the court. In that scenario I could see the argument about these kids bringing more to the program than some raw prospect in next year's class.
Still while both of them have the potential to be decent players in our program just like Matt Carlino we have to keep our expectations in check. At this point of time I don't see them being high impact players (if they end up at UCLA). I think they can develop into meaningful contributors but folks around them (fans, family members) will have to be patient. I hope Coach Howland is strategically thinking ahead in terms of ensuring he will bring in at least 2 or 3 more athletic point guards/wing forwards in next year's class.
Staying somewhat on the topic of hoops, LRMAM is planning for a pretty exciting off-season:
As the Milwaukee Bucks' defensive stopper, Luc Richard Mbah a Mboute can't afford to get star-struck. Not when he spends so many of his nights trying to contain the other team's best player.
That's about to change. Despite his disappointment after Milwaukee was ousted in the playoffs by Atlanta, the prospect of attending the World Cup in South Africa next month has Mbah a Moute smiling like a little boy and bragging about the Cameroon national team's chance to advance.
"I've never been, so this will be my first time," he said. "You can see how excited I am."
While many NBA players want to get as far away from the sports world as they can in the offseason - Bucks veteran Jerry Stackhouse said he planned to "find some salt water" as soon as possible - Mbah a Moute can't wait to root like a fan for his home country's team on African soil.
"Oh, man. Soccer is like religion in Africa," he said. "So for them to have the World Cup on their own continent is something big, huge. People just are thrilled. Everybody's excited about it. And you have a lot of good African teams now, so everybody's excited about African teams to go far into the tournament. It'll be fun to be there in that atmosphere."
LRMAM of course will be going crazy following Cameroon's Indomitable Lions. This is a good opportunity to let everyone know that given our soccer tradition at UCLA, we are going to be playing up the world cup here on BN. If I can do it, I will be putting up open threads for team USA so that all Bruins who love soccer have a gathering place to root not just for the red, white and blue, but the Bruins like Captain Carlos Bocanegra, representing the Yanks.
Lastly, looks like giving "awards" to incompetent bureaucrats is an NCAA past time. Last week Pete Dalis of all people was inducted into some kind of Hall of Fame. This week it's apparently Tom Hansen's turn be honored. Hansen is not doing too bad for a guy who is primarily responsible for Pac-10's horrible TV Ks, joke bowl alliances, and mostly absent national profile dominated by other five BCS conferences. It is amazing how this guy keeps getting recognition as a competent official, given his unimaginative, visionless, boilerplate leadership cost the teams of this conference repeatedly over the years.
It is not going to be that difficult to improve upon Hansen's leadership because he was so vanilla (you can look up some of the lowlights through our archive or thank him every time you wonder why the big Pac-10 baseball games are not on TV). Still laughable really see to various organizations connected NCAA go so far out of their way to reward mediocrity.
GO BRUINS.
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Eat crow JPM4444!!!
Seriously though welcome to the blog.
And by welcome I mean EAAAAAT CRRRROOOOOW!!!
Oh UCLA you sweet bitch, you've BRUINed me for anything else.
I think it's safe to say we won't be seeing jpm around here much anymore
Either that or he’s gonna lay low for a real long time until he hopes everyone’s forgotten what an ass he made of himself.
I just wonder
wht these two kids, OC bred and born, ever went East and picked NC to begin with. Much like Taylor King’s case, did it ever occur to them the cultural environment, among other things, might pose a problem for them ?
normally I would be opposed
they seem like they may be typical overhyped Orange County recruits with limited athleticism. Couple that with the fact that you have to take this gamble on two of them and it becomes more costly if you are wrong.
However, we only have 9 scholarship players signed for next year, and our 2011 recruiting doesn’t look to be good at all, so taking a gamble on them is probably our best bet.
You're right
We have 10 right now for this season with Carlino. If the Wears come (I like the idea because my thought process is the same), we’ll have 1 remaining for the upcoming season that looks to be possibly banked for Barry. 2011 class is said to be weak and we it doesn’t look so hot for us thus far so I like this. The Wears might not have the athleticism but they know how to play (as you noted) and they can hit the perimeter J.
Wow
I have to give immense credit to you Nestor for scooping the Wear Twins news. Once again, you and the rest of the regular contributors on this board are way ahead of the story, even before it is a story.
It is all the more brilliant in light of JPM’s prior chastisement of your irresponsible rumor mongering.
I will continue to enjoy being apprised of your “irresponsible”, “wishful rumors” on this “joke” of a website. Keep up the great work.
We don't deserve the credit
The credit goes to our friends who keep us plugged in. We can’t share everything we hear. We actually heard about it earlier than this past weekend and wanted to sit on it until something came out in the traditional media. However, the chatter about the Wears were getting so heavy on the Bruin message boards that I thought it was reasonable to discuss (give the real possibility of it) it this past weekend.
I think the Wears will be a great addition.
With go to guys like JS coming in and with TH. There will not be a lot of balls to go around. Defense creates offense. With the extra addition of size, we will be able to clog the middle kind of like the Lakers do. CBH wants defense to create offense. We don’t have any any guys on our team the can create their own shot. Maybe TH. I like the idea, after all we had to deal with DRAGO right.
Nelson, Lane, Wear, and Wear
If this goes down and the Wears end up at UCLA, thankfully there will be one year of eligibility separating the Wears from Lane and Nelson (hoping Lane heals up quickly here). What does everyone else think the odds are of avoiding drama and unwanted early departures here with such a potential logjam at PF in the future?
I think drama will be avoided
If Coach Howland communicates effectively to all of these kids on what their roles are and what they will need to do in practice to get PT. In other words hopefully there will be no playing favorites like we saw with you know who.
I think next year Nelson will have the inside track on getting starting spot at the 4. However, if Lane recovers well (and I hope he takes his time and not rush it or is rushed ala JK) then Lane will have a shot at getting that starting spot. I like Lane’s IQ, athleticism. I think he has lot more upside than Nelson.
Now one of the Wear kids can come in and give solid mins at 4 and perhaps the other kid can step in at 5. Perhaps we can switch them around at 4 or 5 as the team needs. Both of those kids are well grounded in fundamentals. They box out well, have nice shot and hustle. They don’t have the hops but again they play with effort and passion. If they can dedicate themselves to Howland’s program in the mold of LMR/PAA, I think they will have a shot doing cool things if they end up at UCLA.
This is the first time we'll have guaranteed 4-year players
At the very least, having two dedicated four-year players should stabilize things. The Wears won’t transfer again, and if they’re coming here from Roy’s flash and dash program, I’m assuming they know what they want to deal with.
By the time they can play, Nelson and Lane will be juniors who should be ready to lead. As I see it, only Lane is in the Wear mold. I’m still curious to see how the four position will play out between Nelson and Lane, because they’re so different. But I don’t think this is creating the logjam that everybody thinks.
I agree wrt Nelson & Lane
Lane’s upside may be greater, Nelson to me though has some almost indescribable intangibles, like when he flung the ball up from his waist while facing away from the basket and getting jabbed in the eye…and it went in. The kid just makes plays happen. Hopefully his mid-range game develops and his defense improves because I think he could be really special. Oh, and FT shooting..
I hope you are right and that CBH does effectively communicate with all of them before, during, and after any of this potentially happens. They all seem to bring something unique to the table and are the kind of kids we want in the program.
Yeah I feel you wrt to Nelson
Love his intangibles. I just think he needs to focus a little bit more in terms of playing a complete game on both ends of the court. He was only a freshman last season. So he definitely has room and time to grow. Excited about how he turns out in few years.
RN and Lane have very different issues
RN Is already a very good offensive player. One on one he is the best 4/5 we have had besides KL in the CBH era. The one game he looked bad on offense (CAL), he had a concussion. However, he needs to pass and work a bit on being in the flow of the offense. He at times is a black hole. In the 3rd AZ game he showed he could pass and I think he can learn to be a good team offensive player.
His HUGE problem is his D. Quite frankly he didn’t play it at times. He needs to work hard on that end. He is not going to be beat out on offense by a better rebounder or scorer but he may lose minutes and even a starting role for not playing D. It is the second biggest question of our returning players.
BL is a fun kid to watch because he goes all out on both sides of the court. He does not have RN’s issue/questions regarding effort on D. However, right now a good 4/5 can throw him around. He is too skinny. The question with BL is not effort (like RN) but ability. He is quick for his size but not a good enough shooter to play 3. He hustles for rebounds but is too weak/skinny to play M2M against a good 4/5.
I think RN has the bigger upside but I am not betting against someone who tries as hard as BL.
I think the wears play center.
B.L still is getting injured to much. He has not put enough muscle on yet to deal with the amount of games, plus with other PF. Nelson has the PF spot to lose.
re Nelson starting at 4
There is no doubt in my mind he’ll get his share of minutes and probably start, but what about Smith and Lane playing the 5 and 4 together. Lane would seem to be the quicker, bouncier option to help Smith defend down low, and has the greater ability to play a bit futher away from the basket on offense, making some space for Smith.
So how does this get interpreted?
If CBH convinces the twins to come to UCLA, is it an improvement in his recruiting or is it purre luck? Is it a good move because he brings kids who will stay in the program or is it a waste because he didn’t bring elite players (even though there are none left this year)?
I for one think it’s a great move and that they’ll fit in perfectly, and God knows this team could use some more blue collar influence (assuming that’s what they bring).
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Nelson
He was a lot better last matching up against the five because he was quicker and shiftier matching up against the opposing five. I wonder how he will do this matching up with a four… He is still a true baller, but I expect his production to go down a bit.
Counterpoint
He was as successful as he was last year matching up against people usually bigger than he was. I wonder how he will do matching up against smaller competition.
Your concern is valid because he’ll be switching positions and will have a partner in the paint when he’s there, but I don’t buy that it will yield a sure-fire reduction in his effectiveness. He’s by no means a scrawny kid, I suspect he’ll bully some opposing PFs around and we’ll be throwing bottles at the televisions when he picks up some inevitable offensive fouls.
RN is a very good offense player and a tough matchup
as a 4 or 5. His limitation is his defense. Everyone blames others but RN was truly awful at times on defense and was one of the reasons we had to go zone. He needs to work on M2M and that is the big question for him. He can score can he play D?
Defense for sure
as I mentioned above. Improved defense followed by free-throw shooting will determine how great he is.
And remember
he practically scored at will against All-American Cole Aldrich. Don’t know if we would have won, but that game changed when he went down. By Pac-10 play he was no unknown quantity for us, if putting a smaller, quicker center/PF on him could shut him down odds are we would have seen it?
No doubt
nobody was going to stop Reeves against kansas except for an elbow to the eye. He was for sure on fire but, even if he were to finish the game at the same pace or even a little higher, Kansas was still going to be to strong for us. That team was in all senses of the word a team and it was a true joy to see basketball played at that level, sorry i am getting side tracked here, but they knew how to share the ball and find the open man, as opposed to us which was the reeves nelson show. Kansas no doubt in my mind was going to win that game regardless.
But with next year, he will be gaurded more often by the four than he was last year and we will also have more options inside with Lane and Smith hopefully making a presence. I still think he will contribute at a very high level, just not produce as much numbers wise. Think about Bynums numbers when Gasol doesnt play.
Fair enough
without the context of additional post production elsewhere, I guess I just took offense to predicting his production will decrease.
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