Post by GBPhoenix1 on Feb 15, 2013 17:34:13 GMT -6
I have a lot of thoughts running through my head about this situation.
As mentioned the timing of him leaving is odd. He just played one of his better games. He practiced all week. The season is almost over and he is finishing his junior year. Plus he indicated that he loved GB and his teammates. So he must have really not liked playing for Coach Wardle to leave right now.
Given his two game stretch of no game action and his comment after the Detroit game of making adjustments among the players, I did get the sense that he was possibly on his way out next year due to a Wardle fallout but I had a hard time convincing myself that it was really this bad for him.
Kam was a momentum and confidence player. When he had those things going he was a fun offensive player to watch. However, I talked to someone that knows him well and they mentioned that he always felt a lot of pressure to come in and hit shots. If he was off he feared getting benched. After one loss this year I saw him after the game and you could see in his face that he was taking the loss hard. Maybe that pressure of feeling too consumed by each shot along with feeling like the coach didn't give him a chance to play through it got to him. Who knows, just my guess.
As for the rest of this year with Cole starting to play well I am not that worried about missing Kam's shooting. I am worried that they are down to 8 viable players, sorry Arenz you don't count yet. It does clear up the scholarship situation for next year in that Cole should get his again and they would have been one over. Plus if Humphrey can come back I picture him as a defensive perimeter player off the bench and Botz doesn't seem like a guard defensively but he should be able to get his offense going at the forward spot off the bench so I am not worried about the balance of the roster. Again not that I want him to leave but Kam certainly doesn't fit the mold of long or athletic defenders and rebounders that this program is going after, so long term it fits the direction the roster is going.
Bigger picture, is that GB is starting to have roster turnover again under Coach Wardle. If you include the 7 players that stayed after Coach K left, Coach Wardle has given scholarships to 25 different guys. Kam is the 8th guy along with Clayton Heuer, Jarvis Williams, Troy Snyder, Derek Semenas, Seth Evans, Terry Johnson and Aaron Armstead to leave before their eligibility has expired. Forget about the national average, that just seems too high for this program. Plus who knows who else might leave after this year. Is anyone concerned about this trend?
As mentioned the timing of him leaving is odd. He just played one of his better games. He practiced all week. The season is almost over and he is finishing his junior year. Plus he indicated that he loved GB and his teammates. So he must have really not liked playing for Coach Wardle to leave right now.
Given his two game stretch of no game action and his comment after the Detroit game of making adjustments among the players, I did get the sense that he was possibly on his way out next year due to a Wardle fallout but I had a hard time convincing myself that it was really this bad for him.
Kam was a momentum and confidence player. When he had those things going he was a fun offensive player to watch. However, I talked to someone that knows him well and they mentioned that he always felt a lot of pressure to come in and hit shots. If he was off he feared getting benched. After one loss this year I saw him after the game and you could see in his face that he was taking the loss hard. Maybe that pressure of feeling too consumed by each shot along with feeling like the coach didn't give him a chance to play through it got to him. Who knows, just my guess.
As for the rest of this year with Cole starting to play well I am not that worried about missing Kam's shooting. I am worried that they are down to 8 viable players, sorry Arenz you don't count yet. It does clear up the scholarship situation for next year in that Cole should get his again and they would have been one over. Plus if Humphrey can come back I picture him as a defensive perimeter player off the bench and Botz doesn't seem like a guard defensively but he should be able to get his offense going at the forward spot off the bench so I am not worried about the balance of the roster. Again not that I want him to leave but Kam certainly doesn't fit the mold of long or athletic defenders and rebounders that this program is going after, so long term it fits the direction the roster is going.
Bigger picture, is that GB is starting to have roster turnover again under Coach Wardle. If you include the 7 players that stayed after Coach K left, Coach Wardle has given scholarships to 25 different guys. Kam is the 8th guy along with Clayton Heuer, Jarvis Williams, Troy Snyder, Derek Semenas, Seth Evans, Terry Johnson and Aaron Armstead to leave before their eligibility has expired. Forget about the national average, that just seems too high for this program. Plus who knows who else might leave after this year. Is anyone concerned about this trend?