Saying Ivankovic’s talent is limited is an overstatement as per reports coming from those who have played with and against him recently.
If this kid plays more than 5 min a game we are in BIG TROUBLE.
im fine with this signing if it is just because we think uchedo is a partial qualifier. we need uchedo but its sounding like its gonna be tough.
Well, now Frank Zappa is “playing” in my head!!![/quote]
And for me it is Funkadelic. Interesting.[/quote]
Lyrics from Zappa’s “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”:
[i]Dreamed I was an eskimo
Frozen wind began to blow
Under my boots and around my toes
The frost that bit the ground below
It was a hundred degrees below zero…
And my mama cried
And my mama cried
Nanook, a-no-no
Nanook, a-no-no
Don’t be a naughty eskimo
Save your money, don’t go to the show
Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh
Well I turned around and I said oh, oh oh
Well I turned around and I said ho, ho
And the northern lights commenced to glow
And she said, with a tear in her eye
Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow
Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow[/i][/quote]
Okay. Lyrics from Funkadelic’s “Alice In My Fantasies”
[i]Hey baby, be my dog!
Owwww!
Alice in my fantasies, uh
Promised to do all kind of freaky things to me
Said she would, uh, suck my soul, if I’d lick her emotion
The freak said I would even owe her my devotion
She said she’d, uh, cover me with, uh, strawberries
And pretend that I’m a shortcake
I said, “Uh, not by the hair of my chinny chin chin”
OWWW!!!
Yeah!!!
Hey!!!
Alice in my fantasies
Promised to do all kind of things to me
Said she would, uhh, suck my soul if I’d lick her emotion
And that I would even owe her my devotion
I said “Uh, lady, be my dog and I’ll be your tree
And you can pee on me.”
Mama said never eat yellow snow
So away we go!
Huh, huh, huhh, huhh, huhh, huuuuuuhhh, huuuuhhhh!!! Heyyy!!!
Be my dog!
Hey!
Baby
They call it mental masturbation[/i]
Remember - Ghokan’s scholarship did open up.
So we had to get back to our Eastern European quota of two?
Honestly, I see this guy as a bridge to his high school of United Faith, whom we’ve had issues with getting in’s with. He’ll be the fourth big off the bench and honestly with the wing size we have, I don’t forsee him getting off the bench much. One good thing, is it will give us another 6’10" guy with some experience for KJ and Braz to go up against in practice (I’m pulling hairs, I know).
Honestly, what did Gokhan REALLY give us last year? If anything this guy seems for adept to being down low for rebounds which is what our knock on Gokhan was. So we give Gokhan’s limited mins to a guy that is going to actually use his height to our advantage? I guess it’s better then giving it to a guy who is 6’10" out at the three point line, and isn’t out there long enough to find a groove.
Never believed in this argument. I could go out there and hack someone hard enough 5 times and keep them from scoring, doesn’t mean I should get a scholorship to play basketball.
It would be one thing if he was averaging 4 points a game at a top level JUCO with good players ahead of him, but this guys team was 13-13 last season. Hard to see him being better than what I’ve read about Thorne.[/quote]
Jeff Lebo would atleast make this guy 2nd team all CUSA.
I don’t think you are. Fact is you can look at the guy’s stats and know we aren’t bringing him in to be an impact guy. He’s simply another big body we could get late in the game. If we are still in the hunt for Uchebo then he’s probably going to be a partial, so we brought in this guy simply to fill a hole. If we’re out of the running for Uchebo, we still just brought him to plug a hole. But don’t under estimate the value of getting in with United Faith.
Bottom line is this guy is simply a body, who maybe has some upside if he can develop and give us 5 to 10 minutes a game.
I don’t think you are. Fact is you can look at the guy’s stats and know we aren’t bringing him in to be an impact guy. He’s simply another big body we could get late in the game. If we are still in the hunt for Uchebo then he’s probably going to be a partial, so we brought in this guy simply to fill a hole. If we’re out of the running for Uchebo, we still just brought him to plug a hole. But don’t under estimate the value of getting in with United Faith.
Bottom line is this guy is simply a body, who maybe has some upside if he can develop and give us 5 to 10 minutes a game.[/quote]
Agreed - he reminds me of some of the big guys that have come off the bench for us in the past. Not impact players - but could adjust some shots, grab a few rebounds and maybe a bucket while allowing our starters to catch their breath. Not everyone we sign is going to be a high caliber player. In fact what I like is he is already a role player, which means he should settle in well with a role here and as we have seen over the last 5 or so years having players that accept their roles might be just as important as the talent that is on the floor.
These are always fun threads on a good day but we have the added bonus of StillJonesing in here? Awesome.
With fans like these, who needs enemies!? Just kidding, I know most of you are just being realistic. But allow me to say what should have been said first and foremost…
WELCOME TO NINER NATION ILIJA!! I’M HAPPY YOU CHOSE CHARLOTTE, AND CAN’T WAIT TO CHEER YOU ON AS YOU PLAY FOR THE GREEN AND WHITE!
FTFY
I’m glad to have him on the team as well. Major brought him in for purpose, and that’s good enough for me.
Hey man someone has to pull for the Niners out here. It’s a f’ing ACC/ECU love fest around here! Myself, anipalcraig, and Pork Chop are about the only Niner fans within a hundred miles.
Well you three need to start knocking up chicks out there and repopulate the east with 49er kids.
Just an idea…
right “first night” ala Braveheart.
Any video’s of this guy? Either from HS or JUCO?
Here’s my take:
Santa Fe recruits Michael Washington and Chad Renfro signed with West Virginia Weslyan and Barry University, respectively. But Ilija Ivankovic was holding out in hopes of signing with a low D-1 school.
In 60 games at 2 different jucos, Ivankovic scored 3.46ppg, 3.48rpg, & averaged 10 blocks/season. Like sokool mentioned, Sante Fe’s junior college record was 13-13.
Compare that to juco players we’ve targeted in the past. Courtney Williams, for example, was averaging 12.1 boards/game and 15.6ppg at that level (in addition to 2.6ast & 1.8blk)
Am I glad he’s on the team? Sure. But I’m also glad that Colby Lewis is on the team. Despite being overshadowed by his brother, Colby was a very good basketball player in high school and put up great numbers and probably could’ve signed with a low-D1 team. Where’s his schollie? I’m glad Lamar Bradbury is on the team. He signed with HPU out of high school. Where’s his schollie?
We have players on the team that saw their friend and teammate leave to go light up the CIAA … because Trevin Parks did not meet the kind of standards to be awarded a schollie here at Charlotte. Likewise, they saw Shamarr Bowden be rejected for that open schollie because he did not live up to standards, either. You’ve gotta wonder how well the team will react to a mediocre player from a mediocre juco getting a free ride that could’ve gone to someone else.
You also have to wonder about how Gokhan Sirin would react to this. We need Kovacevic. He was hardly recruited out of high school, but he’s 6’10". He can give us 5 fouls. He’s European. He can face the basket and has a range upwards of 15 feet. He scored 3ppg in juco. He has 2 years left of eligibility.
Sirin might say, “But you had no need for me? You practically chased me off the team and I never saw the light of day on a team with no depth?!? I was nearly signed by Georgetown! I’m 6’10”! Put me at center, and I’ll give you 5 fouls and not much else! I’m European and I’ve got a lot more shooting range than 15 feet! I scored 3ppg in Division I! I have 2 years left of eligibility! Excuse me - maybe instead of practicing with the team for the past couple years, I should have gone to a community college and padded my stats against scrubs. Then instead of chasing me off, maybe you’d target me as the missing piece of the puzzle!"
I know Coach Major has “a plan” but I’ll be damned if I have the mental capacity to figure out what his plan is, exactly.
That analysis completely ignores the facts that we have not 1, but 2 scholarships open, that this player is actually a big center, not a 3pt specialist wing player, and that this player may be perfectly happy in his projected role here, whereas Ghokan was not. Similarly, all the guards you mentioned are… guards, and therefore irrelevent to a discussion of big men. And didn’t Trevin leave before Major was hired, and after BOBBY LUTZ told him he wouldn’t get a scholarship?
At the very least, this gives us a practice player for Bras, KJ and thorne to bang against. If he’s okay with that, then everyone wins. The last scholly is probably being held for Uchebo or pocketed for a deep 2012 big man class.
Last, if this gets us an in with United Faith, then it will pay dividends down the road.
The guy is explicitly an “in” to UFA. Plain and simple. Whether you are cool with that or not is up to you.
[quote=“NinerAdvocate, post:57, topic:25400”]That analysis completely ignores the facts that we have not 1, but 2 scholarships open, that this player is actually a big center, not a 3pt specialist wing player, and that this player may be perfectly happy in his projected role here, whereas Ghokan was not. Similarly, all the guards you mentioned are… guards, and therefore irrelevent to a discussion of big men. And didn’t Trevin leave before Major was hired, and after BOBBY LUTZ told him he wouldn’t get a scholarship?
At the very least, this gives us a practice player for Bras, KJ and thorne to bang against. If he’s okay with that, then everyone wins. The last scholly is probably being held for Uchebo or pocketed for a deep 2012 big man class
Last, if this gets us an in with United Faith, then it will pay dividends down the road.[/quote]
Fair point about Parks. You got me there.
But who exactly were we battling to get this kid? UMass picked up a 7 footer name Andrew McCarthy who can be a nice practice player for them as a walk-on. That kid averaged 15 rebounds in high school. Why couldn’t we have given McCarthy our schollie instead?
So we give a local kid a scholarship as a means to butter up United Faith? If I’m gonna do that, I’d have given a schollie to Colby in an attempt to try to butter up his brother.
i dont believe that getting this kid is gonna give us an in to ufa. do we really think that landing this kid is gonna help us land the braxton obezues of the world? im not buying it.