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Corey Sanders plays in a league game last night.

Yeah, but still.A savior doesn't win games. And a freshman athlete isn't the most mentally prepared usually. Give that to Greg Lewis.

I don't think it's something that has anything to do with age or experience on the court/field. Either you have it or you don't. It's not something that can be taught or learned.
 
I don't buy that you were born with it mentality. I think it is great to be excited for Sanders. He seems like a great kid. Nonetheless, he will not win games by himself. A dunk will bring some noise to the RAC. For the plyers and coaches, I hope they gain wins so they can feel good about themselves.
 
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I don't buy that you were born with it mentality. I think it is great to be excited for Sanders. He seems like a great kid. Nonetheless, he will not win games by himself. A dunk will bring some noise to the RAC. For the plyers and coaches, I hope they gain wins so they can feel good about themselves.

That's where we differ, I think it's something your born with, I think it's in your DNA. But I do agree that he's not going to win games by himself, no one can- he's going to need some help, but it's not going to come from guys that were on the team last year, I'm sorry, but that's just the sad reality. Corey's class is the beginning of everything, Rutgers Basketball starting fresh and hopefully in a new and better direction.

Without Corey, Kwe most likely doesn't even give us a look. He's doing more for the program already than any other player I've seen in the past....well, a long time. Maybe Corey Chandler? Even that doesn't seem to be as good as this.
 
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I don't expect him to be an immediate savior in the win/loss columns.

But as a season ticket holder, I'm expecting him to be a savior of the RAC's excitement level. The games should be more fun, even as the young team suffers growing pains.
 
Good points. I think last years team has decent potential. Along with Sanders, Freeman is here. Laurent will contribute some.

Linza, I agree. I think he will bring some noise to the RAC for sure.
 
The greatest Guard Rutgers ever saw will coach a young kid who wants to be .... add in a little swagger to get us into the modern world...then a dash of Kwe next year for a dynamic duo ... the RAC will explode...
 
I don't think it's something that has anything to do with age or experience on the court/field. Either you have it or you don't. It's not something that can be taught or learned.

Absolutely wrong! Confidence, concentration and composure under pressure are best characterized as skills more so than traits and they can most certainly be learned and improved upon. Corey looks like a very confident athlete already but I would bet he needs some time to refine his mental skills along with his physical skills. I think he and his teammates will grow under the leadership of EJ and his staff (hopefully that includes the services of an excellent sport psychologist).
 
No one person will be a savior to a basketball team. I don't know why that program savior mentality even exist.
That's where we differ, I think it's something your born with, I think it's in your DNA. But I do agree that he's not going to win games by himself, no one can- he's going to need some help, but it's not going to come from guys that were on the team last year, I'm sorry, but that's just the sad reality. Corey's class is the beginning of everything, Rutgers Basketball starting fresh and hopefully in a new and better direction.

Without Corey, Kwe most likely doesn't even give us a look. He's doing more for the program already than any other player I've seen in the past....well, a long time. Maybe Corey Chandler? Even that doesn't seem to be as good as this.

I agree here. In baseball 99% of people going after flyballs are thinking about catching the ball and the outfield wall they are about to hit. 1% only thinks about catching baseball.
 
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. . . . Be happy he's here, and wish him well . . . .

I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding about this discussion. I, and I suspect many others, are reacting to the silliness of the waxing descriptions of him as the greatest of all great basketball players and showmen, all of which seems to grow with each passing off-season day . Its seems that there are people on this board who absolutely know that he's really, really good and [insert hyperbolic opinion] even though most of us know that those people, and in fact the rest of us, know nothing.

Yes, I'm happy he's here and eligible. And I'll do more than wish him well. I'll root him on from my seats as I do for the team every year. But declaring him great or something close to that before he's put on a practice uniform is silliness.

So, if you want to have a sane discussion on what we really know about this kid, you're looking at one in which certain posters bring sanity to the discusion. If you want to use the message board for simple rooting and Chuck Norris-like praising, well, you'll probably get the responses that you're misinterpreting..
 
Absolutely wrong! Confidence, concentration and composure under pressure are best characterized as skills more so than traits and they can most certainly be learned and improved upon. Corey looks like a very confident athlete already but I would bet he needs some time to refine his mental skills along with his physical skills. I think he and his teammates will grow under the leadership of EJ and his staff (hopefully that includes the services of an excellent sport psychologist).

I'm a specialized position coach for a top NJ HS (different sport) and for the past few years I've only coached one player that was mentally superior. Quite a few of the players have gone on to play in college, so it's not a matter of skill or confidence. I've seen a couple of these players improve over the years in terms of their abilities and making quick decisions on the field, but at the end of the day they're still who they are mentally.
 
I'm a specialized position coach for a top NJ HS (different sport) and for the past few years I've only coached one player that was mentally superior. Quite a few of the players have gone on to play in college, so it's not a matter of skill or confidence. I've seen a couple of these players improve over the years in terms of their abilities and making quick decisions on the field, but at the end of the day they're still who they are mentally.

I have a doctorate in clinical psychology and I am a certified sport psychology consultant. I work with NFL players, MLB players as well as elite college and high school athletes. Coached football for 10 years at Montclair HS. Worked with NY Giants Personnel staff at the Combines for 5 years. Even the vast majority of elite high level athletes have had very little training on improving their mental skills and many of them benefit from learning how to build confidence, maintain composure and improve focus. Most elite athletes get to high levels because of their physical talent, especially D1 college athletes, who usually are easy to pick out at the high school level, so they never had the incentive and/or opportunity to improve their mental skills. People can modify and improve their mental skills given enough motivation and guidance to do so. Check out the following link to the Center for Enhanced Performance at West Point.
I don't think the U.S. Military would invest resources and manpower into mental skills training if they didn't think it would help their cadets/athletes perform at significantly higher levels.
 
I have a doctorate in clinical psychology and I am a certified sport psychology consultant. I work with NFL players, MLB players as well as elite college and high school athletes. Coached football for 10 years at Montclair HS. Worked with NY Giants Personnel staff at the Combines for 5 years. Even the vast majority of elite high level athletes have had very little training on improving their mental skills and many of them benefit from learning how to build confidence, maintain composure and improve focus. Most elite athletes get to high levels because of their physical talent, especially D1 college athletes, who usually are easy to pick out at the high school level, so they never had the incentive and/or opportunity to improve their mental skills. People can modify and improve their mental skills given enough motivation and guidance to do so. Check out the following link to the Center for Enhanced Performance at West Point.
I don't think the U.S. Military would invest resources and manpower into mental skills training if they didn't think it would help their cadets/athletes perform at significantly higher levels.

I'll refer you back to FIG's point of the 99% to 1%. You can try to mentally prepare someone for whatever all you want, but at the end of the day, while they're in the moment, only 1% are going to ignore the brick wall at Wrigley Field to make the play.
 
I get the run through the brick wall mentality, and it would be nice, but I don't think it's absolutely crucial to our success. We do need kids that will hit shots, make their free throws, play defense 80% of the time, and buy into a team concept.
 
No doubt. We all know there is a ton of room for improvement. I think just getting EJ to have a pitch, get them to believe this team can do things is huge. Having guys like Mike Williams diving on the court will rub off on the other guys.
 
C is not the savior. He is one of the most talented players to ever land on the banks as far as potential. He is the point guard we have been wishing for. His confidence and swagger is what this program needs. I have shown his highlights to every classmate I have come across and they can't believe we got this dude. Just off highlights alone we got kids wanting to come to the game. Should be fun next year.
 
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