Synopsis of our team thus far this season (LONG)

[clonedude]

Melvin reminds me more of Jeff Grayer as a freshman. He could be that good!

Agree. Ejim reminds me a LOT of Jeff Grayer as a freshman. He does not remind me of Rahshon Clark at all. Totally different bodies, games, etc.

And Ejim is actually a better defender than Clark too, not worse like someone above said. Ejim is one of our best defenders... along with Jake Anderson.

Ejim will flat out be a stud before he's done here. He's already showing that now. And he will only get better. Gotta love it!

[isuno1fan]

Ejim is nothing like Clark.

The Grayer comparison is accurate.

[Rapplegt]

I appreciate your assessment and would welcome periodic follow-ups. While I can watch some games on TV or the internet, it's not the same as being there. Those who don't like it can simply not read it. Thanx

[dbronco7sc]

Bubu Palo- All the hype surrounding Bubu is actually merited. I kept my expectations quite low for him even though he was talked up quite a bit because of his performance in the Cap City League. He’s legit and will definitely get minutes throughout the rest of his ISU career. He’s not just a Cam Lee who is going to come in and work his butt off in garbage time, he will see significant minutes all season. He comes in with a full tank of gas and seems to have a separate gear than everyone else on the floor, while still playing within the flow of the game.

Watching him play thus far... he kinda reminds me of DG a little bit from his first two years. He's got some energy and gets to the rim... but he's struggled finishing lately. Also turns the ball over a bit more than our other guards. If he progresses like DG did to his senior year... he won't have to worry about not getting playing time.

[Cydkar]

Ejim and R. Clark are black. That's the end of the similarities to me.

[Doc]

Ejim reminds me a bit of Wesley Johnson when he was playing PF his freshman year. Kind of an undersized, athletic player with guard skills (Rashon didn't have any other than the 3) but not enough to play a lot of SF. Both had decent jump shots and were good on the boards and scoring garbage points, but neither was a guy you'd really want handling the ball on the perimeter and creating shots for others a lot.

[Wesley]

Our first six are very good, the last three need to improve for us to be a better team.

[ca4cy]

Ejim, at this point, can't defend half as well as Rahshon could though.

Pretty tough to say that when they're playing in completely different systems. Clark was the perfect fit for the point of a zone and Ejim is having to muscle up other teams' 4's primarily man to man.

Also agree with those that have said that Grayer was a more apt comparison. Ejim has a college ready body and skill set. If he can stay healthy he could be an all-timer at ISU.

[dualthreat]

Eric Heft also compared Ejim to Rashawn

[Rickybaby]

Hey, thanks for the synopsis; very good writeup. Just a couple of comments.

Bubu is indeed the real deal. I am amazed at how he is able to penetrate into the lane but yes he has had problems finishing in the last few games. His outside shot is decent too. If that improves and he learns to finish better he could be quite good before he is done. One thing people have not seen yet: Bubu is very smart with the ball; high bball IQ. In fact, I believe he could start along with Allen and SC as guards next year. Allen is not a PG as CFH has pointed out. Ooops another damn reference to next year. Stop. OK, back to this year.

I think Phillips problem is thus: Yes, the hand has set him back. But here is the thing. First, he knew he would be competing with DG. But Jake is clearly better than him. And SC is playing great and has a much better outside shot. Bubu is more of a natural PG. Where does he get minutes? Now here is the real killer: Allen and Babb on the scout team are better players than DP too. And McD left too, so got a different coach too. Man, he walked into a hornets nest. If I were him I'd be bummed too.

One final comment: Ejim is nothing like Wesley Johnson. He does remind me a lot of Jeff Grayer though and was surprised that others said the same thing. Now when I say "reminds me of Jeff Grayer" I will say that he doesn't look like Jeff but plays the same way. Well, not exactly the same but very similar. And in case anyone here doesn't know it; Jeff was more like 6-4 so Melvin is actually a couple of inches taller. So will he be as good as Grayer was? I really think he could be. Unfortunately, if he is I can't see him staying 4 years. But I am hopeful and really, really like what we've seen so far.

Its been a great start to the season and Fred's coaching career. Its nice to be exited about ISU hoops again.