Lathan Sommerville/Rashod Kent

[Shelby65]

Are you kidding me????

The kid is light on his feet and moves fluidly . Puts the ball on the floor nicely .

I’m not Anoiting him as the next Lew Alcindor, but lathan is extremely coordinated as a guard who grew into a center body ….and is still learning to play in his frame , which means defense and rebounding will take sone time , but will get better ….

Big upside starting from a very high floor …

Let me guess, you said all the same things about Myles Johnson ? Your point about putting the ball on the floor is very telling.

He should never dribble even just once around the basket. Basic. That is a clumsy crutch.

It’s his bulk, certainly not his coordination that’s enabled his early success.

 

[ScarletTony]

He's rough around the edges and needs a lot of polish to be effective against elite competition but that's also why he's not a 5 star. He also looks nothing like the 275 he was listed at so he definitely got lean and probably still adjusting to his new frame. Hopefully he'll pack on muscle over the summer and be a beast next year.

 

[Knight Owl]

He's rough around the edges and needs a lot of polish to be effective against elite competition but that's also why he's not a 5 star. He also looks nothing like the 275 he was listed at so he definitely got lean and probably still adjusting to his new frame. Hopefully he'll pack on muscle over the summer and be a beast next year.

It’s been well documented that Lathan has lost 25+ pounds…and he’s moving a lot better than he did in his high school vids and even during those practice videos from summer. I think every good team needs more than two very good players and maybe Lathan is stepping up to be a crucial piece, a point forward type player who facilities for others while being able to score in the paint himself.

 

[93RUDoc]

Bollocks

As a freshmen he has already showed more offensive ability and iq than both Myles and Cliff did as freshmen

You are judging him like he is a junior

Bollocks, hilarious!!
bac knows basketball
so double bollocks! Somerville has been the pleasant surprise of the team, as bac said, he is a freshman big man in his second game, his learning curve is going to get steeper when B10 play starts, but he is going in with momentum and more confidence, there was a reason why Pikiell was raving about him before the season.

 

[wheezer]

Somerville is way to slow being bogged down by his need to immediately put the ball on the floor when catching. At least 3 times last night where he did this. A little disappointed that the staff had now had him for 2 or so months and he hasn't been programmed correctly.

Maybe if/when better teams strip the ball, he will understand
what he has to do

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Maybe if/when better teams strip the ball, he will understand
what he has to do

The good news is he can catch the ball. May seem funny, but.....

 

[seansherm]

It's obviously early but what other freshman big in their 1st 2 college games gives you 2 double figure scoring games and a few rebounds per game. He's around 25 MPG so far, which in theory is kinda like starting minutes.

Just because some upperclassmen in the B1G are going to take advantage of his inexperience, he's still wildly skilled and is learning fast, with on the job training. 11 and 14 PTS far exceeds a lot of recent Centers at RU that were sophomores or juniors.

It's still just not about the points he scores. If the other team scores more than us in the time he's out there, the scoring isn't a plus.

That said, again the work he's put in to reshape himself so quickly is a great sign for his future.

 

[RU23]

People talk about the late growth spurt but I think even more important than that is having two parents who played very high level basketball and essentially all of his important development years taking place overseas. Lathan spent time in France, Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Turkey, and Argentina (with most of his time spent in France)…such an advantage

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Let me guess, you said all the same things about Myles Johnson ? Your point about putting the ball on the floor is very telling.

He should never dribble even just once around the basket. Basic. That is a clumsy crutch.

It’s his bulk, certainly not his coordination that’s enabled his early success.

what does Myles Johnson have to with thjs …stop the nonsense

If you look at the offensive sets we are running , a lot of what we run WILL require a center who be positioned much further away from the basket. This is a NECESSITY to keep driving lanes for the other guys freer and less clogged with help defense having to come from further away


This means the 5 man neees to be able to dribble and back down his guy from further out Than the low block.

So our centers will HAVE to dribble and have some handle in the offense . A MUST.

Lathan has the skills and showing he can. Will he get stripped sometimes . Yes. But that will be better as he gets more burn …and he is fluid enoogh that he will pass out to other eventually when they get to double down

I’ll take my chances with him .

 

[S.W.A.I.N]

Kent more coordinated, even as a frosh. Sommerville clumsy, only occasionally effective against low level bigs.

Hopefully he develops a lot, here.

So now both Dercack and Somerville are clumsy according to your astute analysis. You really don't know what you're looking at. Have you not the seen the footwork and body control on his post moves? Seen him handling the ball to break the press? Good lord.

 

[29PAS]

Let's hope Lathan doesn't foul out on Senior Night like Rashod did.

Wonder if they'll even have Senior Nights by then?

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

what does Myles Johnson have to with thjs …stop the nonsense

If you look at the offensive sets we are running , a lot of what we run WILL require a center who be positioned much further away from the basket. This is a NECESSITY to keep driving lanes for the other guys freer and less clogged with help defense having to come from further away


This means the 5 man neees to be able to dribble and back down his guy from further out Than the low block.

So our centers will HAVE to dribble and have some handle in the offense . A MUST.

Lathan has the skills and showing he can. Will he get stripped sometimes . Yes. But that will be better as he gets more burn …and he is fluid enoogh that he will pass out to other eventually when they get to double down

I’ll take my chances with him .

If we have any lineup without JaMike there most likely be a matchup where RU has a 4 inch advatage. Zeigler was a pain in the a$$ guarding Harper but he had a 4-6 inch disadvantage. Pike ran a certain play (I'll keep it unnamed) where the design was to get harper posted up. It worked the 1st time but not the 2nd.

Having Lathan to be able to vacate the paint and get to the perimeter will certainly be an advantage whether we post up Harper or Dercack or even jWill.

 

[Shelby65]

So now both Dercack and Somerville are clumsy according to your astute analysis. You really don't know what you're looking at. Have you not the seen the footwork and body control on his post moves? Seen him handling the ball to break the press? Good lord.

Relative to their positions, Somerville is more coordinated and fluid than Derkack is. I’ll give you that. Derkack is the ball in a pinball game and would fall down if not for the flippers and bumpers keeping him up. Derkack drive: cringe.

 

[PhillyRU]

Lathan also just isn’t going to have the defensive ceiling that Cliff or Myles had, less athletic, shorter at least in terms of wingspan. It’s a give and take there