Trey Moses

Mostly he moans and complains about big man recruiting.    I believe he feels he qualified his claim.  And, he now seems to have a very high bar for what it takes up front to compete at the top of the MAC. 

Which might just be wrong, but at least it makes more clear what he thinks counts as "failure" even though that term does seem to be rhetorical excess.  But aren't we all guilty of excess on occasion?

I want a kick ass team.  Front line may be one way to do it.  I want to include 3 front line players, and even look at all positions, and style of play, but you choose not to.

The debate is not about what was the our best front line, or even in whether our championship teams had "good" front lines.  You have insisted a MAC contender must have something you call a "good" big man.  Now apparently maybe two big men, neither who might qualify.  But, now, they can be good since they won a championship, even though neither may like others on the list, one not really "good" and one may or may not really be big.   

But far worse than that exercise in semantics, you are taking on a tough job to deny there is another way to win.  You ignore all the other great teams in college basketball that got it done a different way. 

You compare apples and oranges even as you list these players and maintain they define an archetype.  You created the construct "lead big man" and damned Moses for not being such a player.  That is sterile semantics.

You really think Smith's statistics made him the same kind of player as Gillis, Payne, Kidd and McCurdy?  You think Lonnie was?  

While you preach about what Moses can't do and Teague will never do, go look at the film again.  Smith was a player this coach would have loved to have and would use inside and out, no doubt incurring your disdain for his not recruiting a "lead big man" in the image of those four players who were physical inside players without much skill outside the paint. 

This coach would very much like a rim protector like Lonnie(dime a dozen they are not) and an active forward with skills like Smith, or Palombizio.  Your fluid definition of what you want now includes the kind of players Whitford wants. Smith was a prize recruit. I don't call him a "lead big man" he was an all around basketball player. If Whit  recruited a "project" like Lonnie, or a forward who wasn't primarily a post player, like Smith.  You would probably then be saying he is a failure recruiting. 

Theron is a great rebounder but not the muscle man Gillis et al were and could not defend in the post against good centers. For example Kidd and McCurdy could. Gillis and Payne could.

My point is he is a great recruit, maybe second most talented player we have ever had at BSU. Of course he should be a good player and lead the team to some success. But he isn't the same "lead big man" you define by the rest of your list either.

You have to get the highest quality players you can and build a team on their abilities. You then find complimentary players who fulfill needs. Our needs are to have at least one strong post defender, preferably a rim protector and shot blocker. I think good function in these areas are more important than being a great scorer inside and being the focus on offense for our needs right now. And I am afraid your definition of "good" is not quite so crystal clear as you say, and don't think "good" requires as much scoring and strength as Gillis, Payne, Kidd and McCurdy had. Certainly not as much scoring and basketball skill as Smith had.

Lonnie would be highly desirable on this team, on most teams in the MAC, but he didn't have the stats the other guys did on your list for their time at BSU. Without a lot of good players and some help scoring inside he would not be. T Smith did everything we wanted him to, until injury. But he played a different game than any of the other 5 you mention. He could not defend the post like the other 5. Focus on the rebound stat all you want where he did get at the boards, but don't ignore the rest of my point about this.

You and I both want good play inside, but I don't think we need guys who will set records for BSU to get the job done.

last word...........it's important to some folks.