[FarmBoy]

Tom Fitzgerald has an article on sfgate.com about incoming Freshman Josh Sharma stating that he may be able to contribute right away. After watching the highlight film, I can see why people are impressed with his athleticism. He moves like a 6-6 player more than a 7-0 player. Still, I was surprised there wasn't a single sequence of him scoring other than by dunk. If that's the entirety of his game, I don't see how he can contribute too much as a frosh as every team will take away the dunking lane and neutralize him. Still, if he does have an outside shot (or even a solid back to the basket post game) to complement the jumping and dunking, he'll be a dangerous player.

http://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/arti...192170.php

[FarmBoy]

Tom Fitzgerald has an article on sfgate.com about incoming Freshman Josh Sharma stating that he may be able to contribute right away. After watching the highlight film, I can see why people are impressed with his athleticism. He moves like a 6-6 player more than a 7-0 player. Still, I was surprised there wasn't a single sequence of him scoring other than by dunk. If that's the entirety of his game, I don't see how he can contribute too much as a frosh as every team will take away the dunking lane and neutralize him. Still, if he does have an outside shot (or even a solid back to the basket post game) to complement the jumping and dunking, he'll be a dangerous player.

http://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/arti...192170.php

[needle]

LOL, I saw the same video. He was recruited pretty hard by Wisconsin, interestingly, which is a bit of a big man factory these days.

A good sign, but also sort of a chicken or egg thing. It's a safe bet Sharma's going to be pretty raw when he arrives.

From last summer:

Sharma’s offensive skills appear in the developmental stage, though he displayed the ability to step out and shoot from three-point range. He also runs the floor effortlessly, does a nice job hedging hard on screens and then recovering and can block shots with ease.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/266769071.html

[needle]

LOL, I saw the same video. He was recruited pretty hard by Wisconsin, interestingly, which is a bit of a big man factory these days.

A good sign, but also sort of a chicken or egg thing. It's a safe bet Sharma's going to be pretty raw when he arrives.

From last summer:

Sharma’s offensive skills appear in the developmental stage, though he displayed the ability to step out and shoot from three-point range. He also runs the floor effortlessly, does a nice job hedging hard on screens and then recovering and can block shots with ease.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/266769071.html

[socalstanfan1]

If he fills out his frame a bit he may be able to help out with rebounding and defense before he contributes offensively.  Or, his offensive contributions would come primarily on fast break opportunities in which he runs the floor and beats the other big men down the court.  Either way, he could still be a contributor, particularly if the center position is particularly thin with only Michael Humphrey and Grant Verhoeven on the roster.

[socalstanfan1]

If he fills out his frame a bit he may be able to help out with rebounding and defense before he contributes offensively.  Or, his offensive contributions would come primarily on fast break opportunities in which he runs the floor and beats the other big men down the court.  Either way, he could still be a contributor, particularly if the center position is particularly thin with only Michael Humphrey and Grant Verhoeven on the roster.

[scorecard]

Still, I was surprised there wasn't a single sequence of him scoring other than by dunk. If that's the entirety of his game, I don't see how he can contribute too much as a frosh as every team will take away the dunking lane and neutralize him. Still, if he does have an outside shot (or even a solid back to the basket post game) to complement the jumping and dunking, he'll be a dangerous player.

See Willie Cauley-Stein.  This is not to say that Sharma is at the level of Cauley-Stein, but at 7 foot tall, you can have a brobdingnagian impact on the game without being a scorer on offense.  Cauley-Stein is an unusually agile 7 footer and will likely be a top-10 NBA draft pick, and he has virtually no post-game.

Nastic developed a post-game but was often a defensive liability in man-to-man defense, particularly when being asked to switch on pick-and-rolls.  At some point during the season, the coaches tried a 3-2 zone which was ridiculous (although it did fuel a comeback in one of the ASU games), with Nastic being one of the 2 under the basket.  This meant that Nastic would have to rotate from under the basket all the way out to the 3 point line to get to a shooter, and then have to retreat to the basket.  It was horrible to watch. 

Another thing that Nastic didn't seem to do well is rebound out of his immediate area (this is not intended to be a critique of Nastic, as he developed and gave us far more than I ever expected).  Humphreys really showed some flashes at the end of the year before spraining his ankle with help-side blocks and pursuing rebounds.  Having two mobile big men 6'10 and 7'0 would be great for the defense.  I just hope they don't teach him to try to take charges by sliding under 6 foot point guards, and allow him to just challenge and alter shots.  Like most freshmen, I wouldn't expect big minutes, but I'd expect that he can certainly contribute, barring injury. 

[scorecard]

Still, I was surprised there wasn't a single sequence of him scoring other than by dunk. If that's the entirety of his game, I don't see how he can contribute too much as a frosh as every team will take away the dunking lane and neutralize him. Still, if he does have an outside shot (or even a solid back to the basket post game) to complement the jumping and dunking, he'll be a dangerous player.

See Willie Cauley-Stein.  This is not to say that Sharma is at the level of Cauley-Stein, but at 7 foot tall, you can have a brobdingnagian impact on the game without being a scorer on offense.  Cauley-Stein is an unusually agile 7 footer and will likely be a top-10 NBA draft pick, and he has virtually no post-game.

Nastic developed a post-game but was often a defensive liability in man-to-man defense, particularly when being asked to switch on pick-and-rolls.  At some point during the season, the coaches tried a 3-2 zone which was ridiculous (although it did fuel a comeback in one of the ASU games), with Nastic being one of the 2 under the basket.  This meant that Nastic would have to rotate from under the basket all the way out to the 3 point line to get to a shooter, and then have to retreat to the basket.  It was horrible to watch. 

Another thing that Nastic didn't seem to do well is rebound out of his immediate area (this is not intended to be a critique of Nastic, as he developed and gave us far more than I ever expected).  Humphreys really showed some flashes at the end of the year before spraining his ankle with help-side blocks and pursuing rebounds.  Having two mobile big men 6'10 and 7'0 would be great for the defense.  I just hope they don't teach him to try to take charges by sliding under 6 foot point guards, and allow him to just challenge and alter shots.  Like most freshmen, I wouldn't expect big minutes, but I'd expect that he can certainly contribute, barring injury.