I find it so hilarious when I hear people say that Avea and Zigmars now have the ability to be guards. It takes decades of work to become a legitimate guard, a legitimate college player at any position. Just because someone has been working on a 3 point shot, or ball handling for a summer or two, now they feel that they can play the position that it took actual players in that position years to perfect. That may work for mediocracy, but there is no way, that these guys have improved that much to play these positions properly at this level. Avea can explode past his defender sometimes with one dribble, but when he encounters help defense, doesn’t have the ability to recognize and react because that takes years, sometimes decades to perfect. He can’t go left and when he does, it’s either one dribble pass, or one dribble shot. No more. Anyone that has played this sport at a higher level knows that he is a forward, not a guard. The 3/4 guys will be challenged when Madut gets here. Last year it looked like Raimo stuck his hands in butter before every game. Most of his shots were very short stabs or layups. Now, all of a sudden, he’s a three point threat? Don’t we have enough guards that can shoot the three?

How about using that big body to concentrate on rebounding, setting picks, rolling hard, getting your free throw percentage up to 90%, staying in the game defensively by not committing crappy fouls, running the floor hard…..you know, what other nasty big 4 men do when they are dominant, instead of worrying about hitting the 3…..

I didn’t say that a lack of hyped JC players leads to mediocrity. You don’t necessarily need them, but it’s one of just a few recruiting avenues at a coach’s disposal, so it sure helps if you make the most of the ones you bring in. Gib’s teams were in the middle of the Big West (and WAC) for a variety of reasons. Who doubts they’d have been worse off without players like Joaquim and Nevels?

And you can’t just ignore the year they won the Big West under Coach Ganot. You’re not mired or stuck in something if you win the league. Since then — yes.

So it is rather funny that the news is trying to create this story that the lack of a hype JC player inevitably leads to mediocrity.