Malcolm Bernard *sad trombone*
- Thread starter SFspidur
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Does a of things well, but not a 3 point shooter or strong at the free throw line. I don't believe transfers actually 'commit' as such, and I don't think CM can comment on his addition till he actually enrolls at UR in summer school. But, overall, this is good news for us. He will be a welcome addition to a team that is going to be playing a lot of young players this year.
He wants to play for a team that will go to the NCAA tourney this year. We all hope that is the case.
He wants to play for a team that will go to the NCAA tourney this year. We all hope that is the case.
I see him as a TD or DT type in our system. I expect a 'defensive specialist' playing 15 to 25 minutes a game with limited offensive contributions. Like TD and DT he should not shoot anything other than layups and dunks, he makes only 27% of his 2pt jumpers and 21% of his 3s. Hope he proves me wrong and excels on both ends of the court.
Welcome! I am trying to figure out what else to read into this, given the timing of it. Does it mean that Ford told us no? Does it mean that we are out on all other grad transfers? Or maybe we're still in on Steeves since he has two years remaining? I guess time will tell.
Still two spots to fill, and I'm sure we're continuing to work on them, whether it be with frosh or grad transfers. Wouldn't read too much into it.
Yeah, very possible. I guess I have just assumed that we would not take more than one grad transfer, considering that we have never had one until now. But I hope the pressure has been turned up enough that if we can get another grad transfer who would help, we will.
I wouldn't read much into it except that we've got spots to fill and not a lot of time to fill them. I noted earlier that he's not an efficient offensive player, but I like that he's going to be somewhat aggressive and he clearly brings some good things in terms of assists/steals/rebounds. He is a proven D1 talent at least, so that should make 97 and others somewhat happy over signing a D2 developmental prospect. Welcome to the Spiders.
very nice!
I know he's not the lights out shooter we all prefer, but he's one of the most productive of all the available transfers out there. 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists, and 2.3 steals are serious numbers. nobody on our team was doing all that dirty work last year. I think he'll play a lot and I think we'll enjoy him.
he certainly can play either the 2 or 3, but I wonder. based on all of CM's targets lately, this could be the tweener type that CM plays at 4 if we don't land a Ford/Hazen type who's ready to play right away. a wing that fights for 7 boards can hold his own.
I know he's not the lights out shooter we all prefer, but he's one of the most productive of all the available transfers out there. 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists, and 2.3 steals are serious numbers. nobody on our team was doing all that dirty work last year. I think he'll play a lot and I think we'll enjoy him.
he certainly can play either the 2 or 3, but I wonder. based on all of CM's targets lately, this could be the tweener type that CM plays at 4 if we don't land a Ford/Hazen type who's ready to play right away. a wing that fights for 7 boards can hold his own.
If he can get to the basket and finish, who cares about the 3???
I hope he contributes and I think he will to an extent. I also like this decision more than bringing in someone who did not receive any other offers D1 as a freshman, but the fact that only schools like Rider, Nevada, and Youngstown State were in on him tells me he may not be as good as we think. Who knows though. Maybe he contributes in other ways like rebounds, aggressiveness, etc.
Right. He wasn't my first choice, and I don't think he's going to dominate or anything, but he is a strong D-1 player and should help in a few different ways. And maybe more importantly, it's nice that we are finally taking advantage of the grad transfer thing for once.
Malcolm cannot score? He averaged 14.4 points last season and had games in which he scored 27, 27, 23 and 29 points. These could not have been all dunks. The Ulla cannot recall such games by Deion or Trey. The Spiders have plenty of 3-point shooters; think Malcolm will get it done in the mid range and in the paint. He also averages 7.1 boards and 4.3 assists. Great addition by our staff. OSC
Some quotes from Malcolm:
"I just thought they showed me everything that I really wanted to see," Bernard said. "The coaches were really good to me. I enjoyed the school, the campus is beautiful, the gym was nice. The people I spoke to, they made an impression on me. I just knew, I felt I would fit right in."
"I feel like I’m prepared mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally," Bernard said. "I learned a lot of things (at FAMU) that’ll help me moving forward. I’ll never forget FAMU. I’ve got so much love for FAMU and I appreciate the the staff there. I wish them all the best."
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sp...ernard-confirms-hes-leaving-program/81796284/
"I just thought they showed me everything that I really wanted to see," Bernard said. "The coaches were really good to me. I enjoyed the school, the campus is beautiful, the gym was nice. The people I spoke to, they made an impression on me. I just knew, I felt I would fit right in."
"I feel like I’m prepared mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally," Bernard said. "I learned a lot of things (at FAMU) that’ll help me moving forward. I’ll never forget FAMU. I’ve got so much love for FAMU and I appreciate the the staff there. I wish them all the best."
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sp...ernard-confirms-hes-leaving-program/81796284/
17, FWIW, players improve over time. Malcolm improved greatly from his time at Charleston Southern, then Florida A&M. At the moment, he was being targeted as a transfer by Wake Forest (see link), Maryland and others. The Spiders are fortunate to have beaten out these schools for Malcolm's services and should benefit greatly from them the upcoming year. OSC
http://www.bloggersodear.com/2016/3...st-basketball-transfer-target-malcolm-bernard
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Those schools were never involved with him. The mentions of him with Wake and Maryland were from fans who thought he might be worth looking at, that's it.
He visited Rider, and Bernard mentioned UNLV, Nevada, and Southern Illinois as other possible options early on.
I'm glad he's aboard and expect he will contribute, but let's not oversell it. We didn't steal him from P5 programs.
Ulla, I would like to point out that Sparrow averaged 14 points a game at UMBC after transferring there, he was not a good offensive player. You don't need to be good on offense to put up points, you just need to take a ton of shots (which is what Bernard did at Florida A+M).
Bernard can contribute on defense, and if he makes some changes to his game he can likely contribute on offense as well. Bernard made 61% of his layups and dunks last year, essentially the national average. However, the only starter with a lower FG% on layups and dunks on our team last year was SDJ, both TD (65%) and DT (72%) were more efficient at the rim. I suspect the reason for this disparity is not because Bernard is worse at finishing at the rim than TD or DT, but comes down to shot selection. Last year our players were incredible at shot selection, hopefully Bernard will improve in this aspect when he gets here and his FG% at the rim goes up.
Speaking of shot selection, Bernard only made 24% of his shots that were not layups or dunks, one of the worst in the country. Despite being horrible in this regard he took more than half of his shots away from the basket. I really hope he does not continue to take a bunch of 3pt shots and 2pt jumpers here, he is awful at them. If he does it will have a very negative impact on our offense.
One thing Bernard seemed to do better on offense than anyone on our team last year was draw fouls. He was very good at getting to the free throw line, though not great at actually making free throws. If he limits himself to slashing/driving to the basket and drawing contact / finishing at the rim / dishing to the open man he might be a good tool in our offense. If he continues to take a bunch of jumpers, which he is truly horrible at, then he will hurt our offense much more than TD or DT ever did.
I expect either Bernard or Wood to start at the 4 next year, Bernard plays bigger than 6'6. I think his defense is enough to earn a starting spot in Mooney's eyes.
Bernard can contribute on defense, and if he makes some changes to his game he can likely contribute on offense as well. Bernard made 61% of his layups and dunks last year, essentially the national average. However, the only starter with a lower FG% on layups and dunks on our team last year was SDJ, both TD (65%) and DT (72%) were more efficient at the rim. I suspect the reason for this disparity is not because Bernard is worse at finishing at the rim than TD or DT, but comes down to shot selection. Last year our players were incredible at shot selection, hopefully Bernard will improve in this aspect when he gets here and his FG% at the rim goes up.
Speaking of shot selection, Bernard only made 24% of his shots that were not layups or dunks, one of the worst in the country. Despite being horrible in this regard he took more than half of his shots away from the basket. I really hope he does not continue to take a bunch of 3pt shots and 2pt jumpers here, he is awful at them. If he does it will have a very negative impact on our offense.
One thing Bernard seemed to do better on offense than anyone on our team last year was draw fouls. He was very good at getting to the free throw line, though not great at actually making free throws. If he limits himself to slashing/driving to the basket and drawing contact / finishing at the rim / dishing to the open man he might be a good tool in our offense. If he continues to take a bunch of jumpers, which he is truly horrible at, then he will hurt our offense much more than TD or DT ever did.
I expect either Bernard or Wood to start at the 4 next year, Bernard plays bigger than 6'6. I think his defense is enough to earn a starting spot in Mooney's eyes.
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Welcome aboard!
Now let's go find 2 more Division 1 basketball players!
Now let's go find 2 more Division 1 basketball players!
while Malcolm didn't set records for FT shooting at 66%, he shot better from the line than TJ, Marshall, Khwan, Trey, Deion and Jesse.
as for Sparrow, nothing against him but even playing 32 mpg at UMBC he was well short of 7.1 rpg or 4.3 apg.
Malcolm will have to earn time against some strong talent, but at 22 or however old he'll be ... I like his chances.
I think he'll be strong and tough if nothing else, and we really needed to get tougher. we got tougher today.
as for Sparrow, nothing against him but even playing 32 mpg at UMBC he was well short of 7.1 rpg or 4.3 apg.
Malcolm will have to earn time against some strong talent, but at 22 or however old he'll be ... I like his chances.
I think he'll be strong and tough if nothing else, and we really needed to get tougher. we got tougher today.
As Yogi says 'he's mature for his age'
http://www.famuathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25300&ATCLID=209832817
http://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/conferences/Big-12-Conference/3/Florida-AM/189/stats
Charleston Southern--->FAMU----->UR
http://www.famuathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25300&ATCLID=209832817
http://basketball.realgm.com/ncaa/conferences/Big-12-Conference/3/Florida-AM/189/stats
Charleston Southern--->FAMU----->UR
If he can be a slasher, crasher, and passer, I'll be thrilled...and hopefully he'll recognize we have other guys who can ably handle the parts of the offense he's not so great at.
ok, that made me laugh. the dude filming sure was excited, he may have pooped himself a little...
He has something that most of the Euro players have.......maturity. It's amazing what a extra year or so of game experience does for players. Plus he will be in a nothing to lose situation so why not play really aggressive basketball and get noticed.
Bernard was Florida a&in leading scorer which means other teams game planned against him. Contrast that with Deion and trey who were freely encourages to try to score by other teams and still couldn't. I'm not saying he is all A-10 material but certainly should be an upgrade. Plus, put a legitimate slasher in with TJ, SDJ, Khwan, and Sherod and are offense is much more dangerous.
Not my top choice but I like the pickup.
Not my top choice but I like the pickup.
If you are a fan of Sherod's minutes getting cut to about 5-7 per game, this should be great.
I don't really get it. The only way I get it is if he is really, really good on defense and Mooney viewed this as a way to improve a bad defense. Otherwise, it significantly cuts into the limited minutes available for DMB and Sherod, and does not address our height problems. I sincerely hope to be proven wrong.
I don't really get it. The only way I get it is if he is really, really good on defense and Mooney viewed this as a way to improve a bad defense. Otherwise, it significantly cuts into the limited minutes available for DMB and Sherod, and does not address our height problems. I sincerely hope to be proven wrong.
It's also possible that we are just planning to play smaller and more aggressively. Mooney vowed to look at the possibility of switching up everything, so maybe he actually will. In that case, we could play a lineup of SDJ, Fore, Sherod, Bernard and TJ and just to push tempo a little more. Seems to me we could afford to do that because we will also have Buck, Friendshuh, Golden, Wood, Jesse and Julius on the bench, plus potentially one more guy who might contribute right away. So we could afford to have guys pick up some fouls if we're going 10-deep.
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