What's your All-Lansing team?

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treeman

treeman

The Menser Level
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So it's the middle of the dead period for college sports, so I figured get a good discussion going about stuff that doesn't really matter. So here is the deal, you get to select 10 players that you would pick for your All-Lansing team. The players had to of played for Lansing for at least 1 season and when you select a player you get their best season (example: Devonte was a TON more productive as a senior than as a freshman). You can pick the 10 best players or you could select the 2 best PG's, 2 best SG's, etc.

Players: Jake Kitchell, Koang Doluony, Jake Kelly, Jake Odum, Lucas Eitel, Logan Eitel, Carl Richard, Dwayne Lathan, Isiah Martin, Jordan Printy, Steve McWhorter, RJ Mahurin, Aaron Carter, Myles Walker, Manny Arop, Justin Gant, Devonte Brown, Brandon Burnett, Dawon Cummings, Rhett Smith, Mike Samuels, Khristian Smith, TJ Bell, Alex Etherington, Brenton Scott, Demetrius Moore, Tre Bennett, Grant Prusator, Matt VanSyoc, Laquirious Paige, Brandon Murphy, Kalen Alexander, Nick Amor, Everette Clemons, Trey Knight, Bronson Kessinger, Niels Bunschoten, Emondre Rickman, Demonte Ojinnaka, Jordan Barnes, Ethan Claycomb, Donovan Franklin, Matt Deady, Qiydar Davis*, Daniel Huenermann* Clayton Hughes*, Tyreke Key*, and Devin Thomas*
 

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Here is my 10 man roster

Starters:
PG: Jake Odum - No brainer pick. Easily the best player to ever play for Lansing.
SG: Brenton Scott - The best pure scorer we've had here at ISU in a long long time.
SF: Carl Richard - Great all-around athlete. Could play multiple positions while putting the ball in the hole.
PF: Justin Gant - Would be playing a little out of position as a true 4, but was a match-up nightmare when he was hitting his shots.
C: TJ Bell - TJ barely beats out Myles Walker for my starting Center. Too bad TJ never got in a good rhythm here because his skill set was far and away the best we've had for any big around here in a long time.

Reserves:
Everette Clemons - If i'm ever going to war, i'm picking this dude. Never had eye-popping stats, but he just got it done, day in and day out.
Jake Kelly - One of the best basketball talents to ever play for Lansing, very undervalued on that 2011 team.
Manny Arop - Very similar player to Richard. He is the kind of athlete that turns a good team into a great team.
Emondre Rickman - Probably my surprise pick for the team. Hasn't proved much on the court but is one of the most athletic bigs we've ever had. It will be fun to see Rickman with a more athletic supporting cast around him this season.
Myles Walker - A bruiser that got it done. Probably the most valued big-man in Lansings era.
 
Pg-Odum (pick a season)
Sg- Brown (junior yr)
Sf-Lathan (senior yr)
Pf-Arop (senior yr)
C-Gant (junior yr)

Bench in order- Scott (soph yr)
Richard (junior)
K.smith (soph-sr)
Clemons (senior)
Carter (senior)

Almost in order-cummings sr
Kelly sr
Walker sr
Kitchell sr
Mahurin jr


Gant was not a true C, but that tells you what our C production has been like through the years. He was also at his best offensively picking and poping against 5's. Most controversial pick will prob be brown over scott. Just imo he was better during that season when thinking back. Kelly only misses 2nd team because the best ability is availability and even during the season he played he missed a handful of games
 
PG: Jake Odum
SG: Brenton Scott
SF: Arop (A weak position for us. I almost put Brown here. I didn't like that Arop didn't get many "easy" points. All jumpers and 3's.)
PF: Richard (4-year starter )
C: Walker (Peaked when we needed him )

Two more of "favorite" players:
Clemons and Carter.
 
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Southgrad07 said:
Gant was not a true C, but that tells you what our C production has been like through the years.
Click to expand...

Exactly, doing this made me realize how weak we have been in the 4-5 positions. We have had a handful of very good 1-3 but our bigs have something to be desired.
 

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My top 10 in no particular order--starters vary by opponent to give us the best match up:

Arop, Carter, Clemons, Gant, Kelly, Lathan, Odom, Richard, Richard, Walker
 
Odum
Kelly
Richard
Arop
Lathan

6th Man: KSmith (sophomore season, when he was actual 6th man of the year in MVC)

Rest of Bench:
Carter
Mahurin
Gant
Walker


(after reading after I posted, I see that I omitted B Scott...harsh, but I'm stickin' with what I got)

(B Scott obviously should be in the top 10 of Lansing era, but I'm still stickin' with what I got)

Last Edit (I'm not stickin with what I got)...

Odum
Scott
Arop
Kelly
Richard

(sorry Lathan)
 
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Great topic. Here are my 13 guys:

PG: Odum - GOAT of the Lansing ERA... nothing else needs to be said.
SG: Scott - Wouldn't need to be such a high volume guy so I think his offensive skills would shine. With the group behind him, his defense would be shielded, too.
SF: Arop - A 50/50 toss up with him and Carl Richard as the starter.
PF: Gant - Probably the most skilled 4 we've had under Lansing. Did a little bit of everything well.
C: Walker - You need an intense enforcer to set the tone. Myles embodied that.

Bench: CG Brown, SF/PF Richard, SG/SF Lathan, SG/SF Carter, PG/SG Kelly, CG Cummings, PF Mahurin, C Rickman

So many combo guard and wing types (comparitively speaking to other positions) that I had to leave some deserving guys out. For my 13th and final pick, I went on potential taking Rickman. I think he is the most skilled big we've had under Lansing on both ends of the floor.
 

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When you get to the 10-13th guys, it's more about utility for me. Clemons can only play one spot and there aren't any situational plays that I couldn't put Odum or Brown in and get the same or better results. That's the only reason he was left off in favor of Kelly. I could imagine a time when I needed length at the PG spot to guard a taller PG or SG, for a key inbounds pass, etc.
 
Bluethunder said:
I would agree with Jason's picks except I would put Clemons over Kelly.
Click to expand...

Not trying to take anything away from Clemons, but a HEALTHY Kelly is probably the 2nd best player from Lansings-era. Yeah i know he doesn't have the stats that Arop, Gant, Richard, Lathan, Carter, Brown, Smith, etc. have. But just speaking about pure talent, that dude had every tool in the cupboard. If he had 4 healthy years at ISU he would be in the same conversation as Odum.
 

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treeman said:
Not trying to take anything away from Clemons, but a HEALTHY Kelly is probably the 2nd best player from Lansings-era. Yeah i know he doesn't have the stats that Arop, Gant, Richard, Lathan, Carter, Brown, Smith, etc. have. But just speaking about pure talent, that dude had every tool in the cupboard. If he had 4 healthy years at ISU he would be in the same conversation as Odum.
Click to expand...

Actually, I prefer Clemons as a PG over Kelly and everyone not named Odum. I'd have killed to have him for 4 years. My pick was solely based on situational spots at the end of the bench.

Hell, I probably should have had Khristian in there, too, but it was either Arop or Richard to go and even though Khristian's career numbers were better, I don't think he ever developed how he should have.
 
Some interesting metrics for those building their teams.

Career PER - A player's efficiency rating. This isn't the Pace Adjusted version I run during the season but rather the general formula.

20.4 - Jake Odum
18.8 - Dwayne Lathan
17.9 - RJ Mahurin
17.1 - Isiah Martin
16.4 - Brenton Scott
16.2 - Aaron Carter
16.1 - Everett Clemons
15.3 - Dawon Cummings
14.9 - Manny Arop
14.7 - Tre Bennett
14.6 - Emondre Rickman
14.3 - Jake Kitchell
14.0 - Justin Gant
13.4 - Khristian Smith
13.0 - Kalen Alexander
12.9 - Carl Richard
12.7 - Jordan Printy, TJ Bell
12.6 - Devonte Brown
12.4 - Myles Walker
12.3 - Jordan Barnes
12.2 - Jake Kelly
11.4 - Koang Doluony, Demetrius Moore
10.9 - Brandon Murphy
10.8 - Lucas Eitel, Grant Prusator
10.3 - Matt Van Scyoc
09.0 - Niels Bunschoten
07.9 - Donovan Franklin
07.7 - Steve McWhorter
06.6 - Laquarous Paige
06.5 - Brandon Burnett
06.4 - Bronson Kessinger
06.0 - Alex Etherington
05.5 - Logan Eitel
04.3 - Trey Knight
02.8 - Demonte Ojinnaka
02.5 - Nick Amor
-03.8 - Rhett Smith

Career Win Shares - Basically the amount of games the player could be credited to winning based on his performance.

16.5 - Jake Odum
7.5 - Khristian Smith, Brenton Scott
7.1 - Dwayne Lathan
6.5 - Aaron Carter
6.3 - Devonte Brown
6.1 - Justin Gant
6.0 - Jordan Printy
5.7 - Everett Clemons
5.4 - RJ Mahurin
5.3 - Carl Richard
5.2 - Isiah Martin
4.9 - Jake Kitchell
4.3 - Dawon Cummings
4.2 - Manny Arop
3.2 - Lucas Eitel
2.8 - Matt Van Scyoc
2.5 - Myles Walker
2.1 - Brandon Murphy
1.9 - TJ Bell
1.8 - Steve McWhorter, Tre Bennett
1.7 - Emondre Rickman
1.6 - Jake Kelly, Niels Bunschoten
1.5 - Jordan Barnes
1.2 - Koang Doluony
0.8 - Demetrius Moore, Grant Prusator
0.6 - Brandon Burnett
0.5 - Laquarious Paige
0.4 - Alex Etherington
0.2 - Donovan Franklin
0.1 - Bronson Kessinger, Trey Knight
0.0 - Logan Eitel, Rhett Smith, Nick Amor, Kalen Alexander, Demonte Ojinnaka
 
Jason Svoboda said:
Khristian's career numbers were better, I don't think he ever developed how he should have.
Click to expand...

Khristian's career stats are very good, and I would take another one of him in a heart beat on any Sycamore team in the future. But his development or lack-there-of will always put a "taint" on his career here, which is a shame. But the guy was a great teammate, great ambassador to our university, still hangs around the program, and part of me thinks someday he is going to help ISU land a very very good recruit. The dude bleeds blue.

Surprised to see Lathan so high on these matrixes as well. He had a very good senior year for us but before that he was very careless with the ball at times.
 
PG. Odum - coulda told you this out of HS.

SG. Scott - elite scorer. Was able to put some early off the court issues behind him and has played through more scrutiny than I can recall a college player dealing with. In the face of all that, his career has been quite remarkable.

SF. Arop - Was so skilled. Probably the best mid range player we've had since maybe Kelyn Block or David Moss. Also was a pretty high energy player that brought a lot to his team.

PF. Richard - Carl like Manny could stretch the floor and play with his back to the basket. When he wanted to assert himself and take over a game he was more than capable. Lansing probably could have gotten him a few more touches at times as Richard had a tendency to sleepwalk his way through a half or two.

C. Gant - Like has been mentioned above probably not his actual position. But this fills our a pretty solid group and what I believe to be the best 5 players of Lansings tenure. Gant played through a lot of injuries in his career and he battled. Think his value was a bit undersold as we've struggle to find a replacement since his departure.

Bench: No real order to this next group. Think the 5 above are my top 5 in order - the bench group could go in any order with some good ones omitted. Clemons deserves to be on here he was just too one dimensional for me. Brown is a border line top 5 player not on my list because he turned the ballover more than I care to even think about.

PG/SG: Kelly - if were talking raw talent he was the most talented of the 10. Unfortunately his body just failed him. His departure from ISU is a bit of a head scratcher to me - seemed to leave on bitter terms.

SG/SF. Lathan - We all know why he's on any list. He was an electric athlete that we rarely get the pleasure of watching. Guy had one thing on his mind every game and that was to rip the rim off the goal.

C. Walker - He's on this list for a 3 game stretch of his career in St. Louis. He gave us a lot prior to that but if not for his play during that magical Arch Maddness run we wouldn't have run the table. Physical. Athletic (Backer he's athletic as hell). Hard Working. You could say a lot of good things about him.

SG/SF. Smith - He was never going to be "the man" we wanted him to be. But he played a lot of minutes in his career and represented us well. He played during a time in which true PG play was lacking and that hurt him. Smith was better without the ball in his hand - running the floor and moving without the ball. He lacked the passers around him to get him the ball in a position to score it.

SG. Cummings - Only gets the edge over Brown because I enjoyed watching Cummings a lot more. Brown was definitely the better player. I was always a fan of Cummings game. Kid didn't have much in the way of fear and thats one of my favorite parts of college athletics when kids embrace that part of it. He was a great athlete but probably not quite the athlete he thought he was because it got him in hot water a few times - he was fearless!
 
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