I stand by my comments. Fair weather " fans" suck. Let's not be naive, the constant inconsistent opinions about a player has nothing to do with evaluating his skill set but about being pissed off after a loss. Constructive criticism by fans is an oxymoron.
OK is Cliff hurt?
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Myles Johnson seemed like he’d try to catch the ball with his elbows instead of his hands.
You’re contradicting yourself. it’s not base or legs. Rodman was scrawny, if not even skinny. It’s not strength. It’s heart. It’s toughness. Cliff has neither.
I believe a lot of this….especially offensive rebounding.
One thing i dont see brought up is how important being in great shape is in rrbounding, especially offensive.
I know Taco Bell Jr probably wasnt in great shape. They did a goid job keeping him fresh with a lot of rest.
Constructive criticism shouldn’t be expected from emotionally invested fanatic fans who’ve probably never played any sport at an elite level.
Outcomes, dependability and consistency shape the thoughts of fanatics.
They are the true barometer.
When the entire stadium has confidence Gavin can take us down the field in a two minute drill to win the game, we will have something
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Cliff is a better rebounder and shot blocker, not a better defender.
I agree regarding Myles.
This team could really use a Rashod Kent type at forward. He was probably only 6’6 and not the most skilled player, but he played with great effort and could rebound. I doubt you would see this type of rebounding disparity with a player like him on the court.
Yes, clearly. It’s easy to see when you’re in the arena and not far from him
If Cliff never worked on or attempted to develop his offensive game and did nothing but concentrate on rebounding like a possessed madman at both ends, we’d be a tournament team.
And he’d probably have a double, double every night
And he’d probably have a double, double every night
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If he is not asked to help on D, he would have a lot more boards. Can’t block shots and get rebounds at the same time.
Somehow he’d have to be able to play defense and rebound.
I don’t believe it’s one or the other.
Jtung is on to something here. Cliff hedges out way too far on every screen/pick and roll. It pulls him away from the basket and leaves him in a bad position to rebound. It also uses a lot of his stamina which has proven to be a problem over the years.
At the point you're getting killed like the team was on the boards. Stop helping and box out...
Agree. When the guy you’re defending is embarrassing you, you had better not be helping on someone else As someone said, he’s just soft.
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You have to hedge against pick n roll. We just don’t have great help rotation
If Cliff was asked to abandon every facet of his game at both ends in order to grab a minimum of 10 rebounds a game by any means necessary…. Would that be a positive or a negative in regard to winning the game.
I’m assuming offensive rebounds would result in put backs and dunks…. His strength
He doesn’t have a stamina problem. Look at his body type compared to Miss St. Bell’s who ate his lunch all game.
Cliff is like a high school kid playing against grade school kids on the playground. But he can’t handle players his own size and high major level. He’ll have a good game against Stonehill.
Cliff looks like a Ferrari but has the engine of a station wagon. It’s a cardio issue.
If he has a heart condition he absolutely shouldn’t play. If not, he’s just soft. He’s been here 4 years, ain’t got no stamina issue.
“Cardio” doesn’t mean heart condition. Haha. But all good. FWIW though you can look like Adonis and not be able to walk 5 flights of stairs OR you can be a fat OL and run a marathon. Your physical appearance has nothing to do with your cardio basis.
To me, the problem with Cliff appears to be a lack of focus.
He’s floating too much without purposefully positioning himself for rebounds.
Another example is when he had a pick n roll with Noah who gave him a nice bounce pass at the rim but Cliff wasn’t even looking for it. Hit off his leg for a turnover.
He’s floating too much without purposefully positioning himself for rebounds.
Another example is when he had a pick n roll with Noah who gave him a nice bounce pass at the rim but Cliff wasn’t even looking for it. Hit off his leg for a turnover.
No. You need to do a helluva lot of cardio to look like that, and practice is cardio too and no a fat OL can’t ‘run’ a marathon.
He probably practices or plays basketball 90% of the year…which is cardio.
You’ve got it mixed up.
I’ll assume you aren’t an endurance athlete. You’d be surprised what some people look like who run marathons, etc., and can do so at a pretty good pace. In fact, there are separate competitive categories called “Clydesdale” for precisely such people. So, I know exactly what I’m talking about it because I see it all the time. Haha.
And once again, you can look great and not have great cardio. But I get it — not everyone understands the need to train below, at and above lactic threshold. Enjoy your day.
And neither Cliff nor the RU S&C staff understand any of this, so he’s out of shape 4 years into his college career but no one else is, including other bigs he faces. Got it.
You’re embarrassing yourself. Stop. He’s not out of shape.
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He has no finesse. It's as simple as that. He cannot be relied upon to produce his own offense. His skill set is blocks and flushes. I agree with the earlier post that Rutgers should stop looking for him in the post to create offense. It isn't his game. And that's fine. Focus on blocks, putback flushes, and rebounding.
“Out of shape” is a like a term from 1950. Haha. I didn’t say he was “out of shape”. I said he unnecessarily extends himself too much on the defensive end, which saps his stamina, and he needs to improve his cardio. You assume because he looks great, which he does, he has amazing cardio. Not true. You also assume that because he’s a college athlete he must be working his cardio like crazy. Also not true. Finally, you assume that simply because the S&C would agree with me on how to properly develop and train cardio that Cliff is actually doing what they ask. See, that’s one we don’t know although hands on knees and heavy breathing after 2-3 minutes on the floor give everyone a very good idea what’s happening.
And if you think I’m embarrassing myself I’m totally good with that too. Haha.
Playing basketball everyday will get you in exceptional Cardio shape. That is not Cliff’s problem.
That depends on the training regimen, exertional levels and recovery of the athlete...among others.
You can easily run three miles during a game, and even more in a long practice, with lots of anaerobic bursts in between. You don’t need to do anything other than basketball to be in exceptional cardiovascular condition.
If you want "to be in exceptional cardiovascular condition", go practice with the indoor track team. Go run back-to-back 400-meter sprints and find out how unexceptional your conditioning is. The bball players might cover three miles in a game, but some of that is walking, shuffling, jogging with some sprinting. I had the opportunity to play frosh bball at a high school on its way to a consecutive appearance in the state finals. We ran and ran and ran some more on the court during practice, but I didn't learn what "hitting the wall" was till competing in the 440 yd race during the outdoor track season. Only when you can maintain a strenuous effort over 400, 600, 800 meters, etc. should you consider yourself to be cardio-exceptional running-wise.
Who's to say how much he runs and how hard he exerts himself during practice?. Maybe he's been hurt and very limited with his conditioning. Maybe he has a much more fast twitch vs slow twitch muscle makeup which limits endurance. Maybe he has a sub optimal cardiac output. Could he have a heart valve disorder which reduces blood flow to his muscles and organs? Who the hell knows? But playing basketball every day does not translate into exceptional cardiac condition for everyone. How well did Hank Gathers, Reggie Lewis, Fab Mello and Lebron Jr. fare playing basketball every day?
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