Johnny Hamilton, the 7 footer who rarely saw the court as a Hokie, has signed a 1 year, partially guaranteed deal with the Detroit Pistons, after going undrafted. Looks like they will try to sign him to their G league team after training camp. I wish him luck, I was always rooting that he would do more at VT, glad he's getting a chance to now
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Good to see him get a chance. Would have been nice if they used one of their two way contracts on him so he at least was guaranteed a G-League spot if they weren't using him on the final Pistons roster. His lack of touch on offense is still haunting him.
Am I the only one who, at first glance, thought this post was referring to Justin Hamilton?
Needless to say, I got a little confused...
I don't want this to come across as a "hey, lets all shit on Buzz because he sucks" post but I fear it might so let me just say I LOVE Buzz as a coach, think he's great and he's the best bball coach VT has ever had and hope he stays for many years to come.
However, this is just an example of where I wish he would adjust his philosophies just a tad. A player that is talented enough to flirt with making an NBA roster is a player that should have gotten playing time in the ACC. I just cannot believe (and maybe that's on me) that you can't find a role for talent even if that talent doesn't fit your system perfectly. But it's not like Buzz is the only one guilty of that. There's plenty of coaches in college and pros where their quirks make it a rough fit for a player.
Did you watch Johnny Hamilton play? He had stone hands and reallllly bad touch around the rim. Sure, he was a good rim protector but he's an offensive liability. Not sure what you want Buzz to do with him besides spell KJ when he inevitably got in foul trouble.
To be fair, unless you are bringing in some McComas pick up experience, nobody at VT really saw this kid play.
He transferred in from JC, had garbage time minutes in y1, wound up in Buzz's doghouse after the first few games of Y2, had surgery and never saw another minute. He got plenty of playing time after moving to a lesser program, put up solid numbers at UTA. 11/8 + 2.3 blocks in 23min per contest.
KBJ is probably the only true big man in Buzz's tenure at VT that doesn't fit this mold.
I don't disagree with you. I guess my point (in regards to the comment I replied to) is I think it's hard to justify playing time for Johnny while he was here at Tech. Based on what I saw in his playing time, he simply wasn't an ACC-caliber basketball player. So I disagree with the opinion that Buzz should have adjusted his style to get him more minutes. Because the minutes he played didn't justify more PT, in my opinion.
I did watch him play. And I saw a raw but athletic big that had some potential to be useful for us. You seem pretty dismissive of the fact that he was a good rim protector and could spell KJ some minutes simply because he was an offensive liability as if those positive attributes wouldn't be a boon for us. Defense and rebounding are are a big deal. Setting screens are a big deal. There's so many other things a player can do beside putting the ball in the basket to help their team so its foolish to write off a player because of one deficiency. It's not like all the players we play are perfect two way players. We've had plenty of offensive guys that are total defensive minuses. There's a role for a player like him on our teams. But Buzz, for whatever reason, chose not to develop and mold that potential. Hamilton has talent enough that has the NBA interested. It's a shame we couldn't tap into that. It's just my opinion that its on the college coach to work with that and bring out that talent to serve the team's needs. Take advantage of what you have and adapt. I just don't think coaches, in any sport, should be so rigid.
Seems like Buzz does not view talent and height above work ethic. Seems fitting given the likes of NBA players that have played under him.
If your not buying in to his style and conditioning, your riding the pine/shown the door, no matter how much your skills or height may help the team.
I was googling around and looking at Hamilton's recent history and came upon this old Berman article mentioning his season ending surgery in 2016-2017 season. Check this line:
In a write up about a season ending injury we have this gem. To me, notes like that from the HC to the media, meant that kid was unlikely to ever get another shot at VT.
17% of American men 7 foot or taller between the ages of 20 and 40 are in the NBA RIGHT NOW. That doesn't count retired players or guys that fell out of the league (and yeah Hamilton is from Trinidad & Tobago but you get the point). Johnny Hamilton is a worse basketball player than Kerry Blackshear, but KJ will be less likely to make the NBA than Johnny. Just because someone gets to the NBA doesn't mean they were right for our team or made it better
Source of the 17% statistic? If that is true, your argument holds a lot of weight.
It's around the 8:30 minute mark of this (brilliant) TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COaMKbNrX0
I agree I always thought he was way better than Buzz gave him credit. Could've developed into a solid 8-10 pts a game rim protector if he got the time imo
Watching him warmup the dude was a freak who played way above the rim. Would have loved to see him play in game
Part of me wonders if Buzz has a rep around the AAU circuit when it comes to bigs. He's known for guys in the mold of Jimmy Butler 6'5-6'8 type forwards and putting them in the best position to excel and show their skills. But perhaps his lack of success with bigs leads to the thought that he can't develop bigs and his system isn't conducive to putting them in a position to move onto the league. Not saying the perception is truth but perhaps coaches and players have this idea and the bigs we want don't show real interest for that reason and chose places that atleast have some history of using their bigs even if they aren't the most talented or have major flaws on O or D. Since they feel they won't be developed. With elite bigs it may not matter as much since it may be hard for them to not get drafted high because of their size, but those 50-100 ranked bigs may seek a place/coach with a history of developing bigs.
I believe there is some truth to this which is why I have been hopeful that each time one of these coaching vacancies happens that Buzz would hire someone known for working with bigs since it isn't his strong suit. Even better would be someone with a clean but effective relationship with the AAU circuit and capable of improving the play of bigs. Both of those things have been a weakness under Buzz, the AAU piece more since Isaac Chew departed to Texas A&M