clt thinks iti takes a lot of shot b/c he is tall and declared for the draft. iti is a work in progress and can be a pretty good player if he figures out how to feed tina, the fat lard.
[i]Originally posted by KTown49er[/i]@Feb 26 2005, 05:50 PM [b] I'm just happy for the kid. He's been thru alot of crap simply because he has a money grubbing handler. We've had a lot of people giving up on him, booing him or whatever and it's not the kid's fault.He needs confidence and I hope he got that from today’s game. With a CONFIDENT Iti in the middle to block/alter shots, we are a very scary team. I hope he builds on this game. I hope he stays in Charlotte. He could be a real force with another 2 years of improvement.
I know he had to love the student section chanting “Iti, Iti, Iti…” after his 5th/6th block. That was pretty cool.
Keep your head and your heart in it big fella…you can still get to where you want to be if you keep working! [/b]
Great post, KTown - I agree completely. Don’t know how much you guys watched him on offense but he was positioning hard but never got the ball. I wish we had try to get to him at least a couple of times. We were up by 20!! I spoke with him after the game and he is really a down to earth kid. He tried hard and had a great game - I’m proud of him.
I was glad to see Iti have a good game. I think he’ll have quite a few if he sticks around and works on his game during the summer.
It’s a good thing our coaches don’t give up on guys like our fans do. Solid game for the big guy. The Iti chant was a nice touch on a great day for Niner basketball.
[i]Originally posted by LeftyNiner[/i]@Feb 27 2005, 05:54 PM [b] It's a good thing our coaches don't give up on guys like our fans do. Solid game for the big guy. [/b]Let's not get too carried away now Lefty. For the month of February, Iti has averaged only 15.4 minutes a game, 2.4 points a game and 2.5 rebounds a game. That's not exactly going to win most of the fans over and averaging only 1 minute more than Nance in those games doesn't really suggest Lutz had a ton of faith.
I like Iti and think he had a nice defensive game against USM. But I don’t think anyone can deny his first two seasons have been somewhat of a letdown, considering the hype/high hopes. I’m pulling for him and I hope he sticks around next season. I think he can develop into a very decent player in his final two seasons. And hopefully he can step it up and be a solid contributor during this postseason.
I agree wasn’t the tallest player for SM about 6’5?
[b]Let's not get too carried away now Lefty. For the month of February, Iti has averaged only 15.4 minutes a game, 2.4 points a game and 2.5 rebounds a game. That's not exactly going to win most of the fans over and averaging only 1 minute more than Nance in those games doesn't really suggest Lutz had a ton of faith.[/b]
Exactly. Take it slow Lefty, his blocks were the equivalent of me showing up at a 10 year olds church league game and having 6 blocks. Not to mention the 4 or 5 blocks that he went after and missed with no chance of blocking while giving up position for a S. Miss offensive rebound.
Forget him living up to the hype Lutz dropped on him, this guy has a long way to go to become a serviceable big man.
[i]Originally posted by 49erpi[/i]@Feb 27 2005, 09:36 PM [b] Not to mention the 4 or 5 blocks that he went after and missed with no chance of blocking while giving up position for a S. Miss offensive rebound. [/b]Or you could say Iti made them change their shots, and the lack of off ball rotation hurt us on the boards....
[i]Originally posted by moss2k+Feb 27 2005, 08:49 PM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (moss2k @ Feb 27 2005, 08:49 PM)
[b]Forget him living up to the hype Lutz dropped on him, this guy has a long way to go to become a serviceable big man.[/b]
I don’t think Lutz was the one who hyped up Iti - Espn.com did that.
I see what you are saying about Iti and going for the blocks - but I’m pretty sure he’s doing what the coaches want him to do. Having a guy that big closing in on you can alter shots. Besides that, with Eddie and Curt down low, they’re going to get most of the boards anyway. He might not block most of the shots he goes after, but I think he alters a lot of them.