Future of Manley and Huffman
- Thread starter mjrocks23
- Start date
I agree that IMO Manley is either a starter for us next season or at very least starter level even if coming off the bench. Huffman, IMO by his Jr season his starting will depend on who we have but he will be a key guys as either a starter or off the bench. Much more so than Grant (who was limited by injury and illness issues) or Joel James or Desmond. IMO ALL 4 of our frosh big men will be very productive by their Jr seasons, yes that absolutely does include Walker!
Specifically Huffman, never gonna be a pretty offensive guy but he can be a real force in the paint and especially as an intimidating rebounding strong man and I still say the kid is Big Alec Steveson part 2!
Specifically Huffman, never gonna be a pretty offensive guy but he can be a real force in the paint and especially as an intimidating rebounding strong man and I still say the kid is Big Alec Steveson part 2!
Huffman is Joel James duplicate.
No way.....Huffman is way ahead of Joel James as a basketball player.....I do hope that Huffman is a duplicate of Joel James off the court as Joel made a significant impact in that area!!!
Joel James is better than Huff lol. James was also a top 100 recruit and had potential. Surprised he didn't pan out at all honestly. Huff was added to the class to fill a roster spot
Huffman has literally no skills and is highly uncoordinated. I can't see him ever being a real contributor as of right now.
Manley has shown some real talent. He's not a lock to be a high-level starter, though. He's currently a high-ceiling / low-floor type.
Manley has shown some real talent. He's not a lock to be a high-level starter, though. He's currently a high-ceiling / low-floor type.
How long exactly does it take a 18 year old to get in shape? Certainly not 3 months. None of our bigs are gonna cut it. Role players having to play in a league way over their head.
Send Huffman down here to Pensacola, let him play a season of D2 ball at The University of West Florida, ranked #10 before Sunday's loss!
We have never been in this situation before having to judge bigs without Major bigs in front of them class wise.. That being said its slightly unfair, Does Huffman a freshmen look out of place ? Of Course, Will a Sophomore Huff look bad, ? Maybe, Will a Junior Huff ? Now he is contributing giving you 12 minutes a game and taking up paint space... Huff Senior ? Now he is bigger than everyone he will play the whole year , big space eater helping out a lot...
You think he'll get bigger? His frame looks fairly maxed out to me. Obviously he has a great body already, strength is not the issue. Footwork, coordination, and offensive skills are.
Of course he will get bigger and stronger he is a Freshmen in his first year of college life weight training ... He has bad Footwork and skill set which will improve some but not a lot ...But at some point you are hoping for Alex Stephenson and not Damien Grant...
Any of y'all remember Warren Martin? Don't ever give up on any kid who chooses to pull on that Carolina jersey.
I love his attitude and want to.
I love his attitude and want to.
Better than JJ.
Like JJ his hands are questionable and he looks very inexperienced. But the kid can run the floor quite well. And his hands are better than JJ's.
The Alex Stepheson comparison may be closer. He isn't as stiff as Alex was, though.
If Huff has the work ethic, he has a chance to become very good. As good as Deon. Maybe better. Deon should have played inside more but liked to be outside and take mid-range shots. Huff seems to like playing inside, and that's where he belongs. Which is why I think he might become even better than Deon. Again, assuming he has the work ethic and is given enough PT.
As I've said before, I'd have Huff relentlessly practicing catching the ball. Easy situations, then hard situations, then running, then sprinting, then sprinting and converting at the rim. Catching passes. Catching rebounds. Catching whatever comes his way.
If he can develop that simple skill set, he'll be very good for us.
When he's too tired to practice, have him watch film of Hansbrough and Sheed. Better still, have Sheed and Sean work with him a lot.
I hope he doesn't get shuffled to the sideline. He seems to have a great attitude. Add that to size, strength and the ability to run and he's quite promising.
Last edited:
Manley has length and surprising quickness and reaction time. He just needs experience, strength and training. I'll be surprised if he isn't really good next year.
I personally think Huffman's hands and overall coordination are worse than James's. He is much more explosive, though.
Oh Ye, of little faith
The greatest thing for a freshman is they become sophomores.
It will click for Huffman as it will for Brooks, Miller.
With Manley dunking the ball with authority, he is working on his "click" Have faith. Serge Swikker developed. Huffman will too.
The greatest thing for a freshman is they become sophomores.
It will click for Huffman as it will for Brooks, Miller.
With Manley dunking the ball with authority, he is working on his "click" Have faith. Serge Swikker developed. Huffman will too.
IIRC, one of WM's problems was footwork. Which he improved by taking dance classes. Creative.
Maybe Huff could take juggling lessons. Or handball. Improve that hand-eye coordination and see if it transfers.
I think Huff is already close to JJ as a junior. I wished we could have redshirted JJ because he improved every year. We could use him now, to be honest. (Yes, I know redshirting wouldn't have kept him here this long. Just saying he could have used a redshirt year.)
I wonder what plans Roy and his crew have for Huff.
Not possible to assess where the 3 guys will be by their 4th years. Anyone who was around for the Warren Martin, Serge Zwiker, Kevin Salvadori years would agree with that.
I absolutely hate comparisons between Tar Heels, especially if we are trying to prove how bad one of them is! Manley is a contributor RIGHT NOW and he will be world's better by next season-put this in the bank! Brooks has tools and the body and is slowly developing the strength, confidence, and mindset to be a functional big. He will be a really good backup/change of pace big next year. Huff has the best attitude on the team and is one of the hardest workers we have. He is big, strong, well conditioned, and extremely coachable! He will be a 8 minute a game guy next season and a good backup/situational guy as a JR. A SR Huff could be absolutely scary to behold! Miller is the wildcard to me. He could be a problem as early as next season with his obvious skill and shooting OR he could take a while to develop the necessary strength and quicker foot work he will need to be good. If we don't get a big in '19 we are fine!
How could anyone watch the joy, motor, and aggressiveness Huff plays with on both ends and not root for his success and anticipate vast improvement?
How could anyone watch the joy, motor, and aggressiveness Huff plays with on both ends and not root for his success and anticipate vast improvement?
We are in unchartered waters. Our fr bigs usually have a season or 2 to get ready. Because Tony left we didnt have that luxry this season. Them boys will get there, be patient.
Damian Grant had 40 year old knees at 20 years old.
Exactly.
IMO, Huff will far exceed the contributions of James, Sanders, or Grant. He has much more potential and a great attitude.
The problem with the comparisons is, how do you measure the contribution? The makeup of the team often dictates PT more than skill or "readiness"; match-ups, fouls, injuries, attitude, effort in practice/games all impact PT and opportunity. "Better" is such a subjective word that it is almost meaningless without context. You could be saying more skilled, more PT, higher stats, pivotal plays at opportune moments, or....if you took player X from one team and replaced him with player Y, the team would be better.
The guys we have now in this moment are not producing like we are used to. Is this their fault or the circumstances?
It seems disingenuous at best to say: We have a great strength/conditioning staff and great coaches who have a proven track record of developing peeps out of one side of your mouth AND none of these guys will be UNC caliber starters out of the other! Brice, Meeks, Hicks, Zeller, May, Montross, Zwikker, Martin, Salvadori, Wenstrom, Sanders, JJames (the list is endless) ALL showed marked development physically and skillwise while at UNC soooo.....
The guys we have now in this moment are not producing like we are used to. Is this their fault or the circumstances?
It seems disingenuous at best to say: We have a great strength/conditioning staff and great coaches who have a proven track record of developing peeps out of one side of your mouth AND none of these guys will be UNC caliber starters out of the other! Brice, Meeks, Hicks, Zeller, May, Montross, Zwikker, Martin, Salvadori, Wenstrom, Sanders, JJames (the list is endless) ALL showed marked development physically and skillwise while at UNC soooo.....
I just heard on TOS that Brooks has won defensive player 4 times. Same number as Luke. I believe Joel and Kenny lead the team with 6 each.
If correct, that's 20 out of the 21 games accounted for. And Brooks is tied for 3rd on the team. Not too shabby.
He still gets pushed around some, is still learning, and isn't much of an offensive threat (not bad, though, at 56.4% - just doesn't shoot much). But that will change radically, I think, when he spends the summer in the weight room and learning from alumni.
IF he gets to play more as PF, he could have a huge improvement next year. If he still has to play most minutes in the post, he'll still be better, but maybe not such a huge improvement.
JMO
Excellent point.
This team is not as good as what we are used to. These kids would have an easier time fitting in if they were playing behind Tony or guys like Kennedy and Isaiah.
Just having those other guys to practice against would be a big help.
My main worry this season is that Manley and Brooks are not improving fast enough to keep up.
What I mean by that is that nearly everybody improves over the course of the season. But if the bigs at NC State and Duke and Wake and so on are improving 5% a week, but our bigs are only improving 3% a week, they (and the team) are getting relatively weaker as the season grinds on.
That's a very scary prospect when you look at our brutal upcoming schedule.
The "one step closer to the right spot" that Manley will have because of awareness and experience next year are going to make him look like a completely different player on both ends.
I think in a normal year we'd be blown away with how solid many phases of Brooks' game are already. He reminds me of dook's Jefferson a little bit as much as I hate it. His passing has been really good at times as well.
The difference for me between Huffman and those mentioned like Joel and Desmond is that he has the aggressiveness that those guys didn't. He needs more run to really judge where he's at but no reason he can't be a contributor as an upper classmen.
I think in a normal year we'd be blown away with how solid many phases of Brooks' game are already. He reminds me of dook's Jefferson a little bit as much as I hate it. His passing has been really good at times as well.
The difference for me between Huffman and those mentioned like Joel and Desmond is that he has the aggressiveness that those guys didn't. He needs more run to really judge where he's at but no reason he can't be a contributor as an upper classmen.
I hadn't thought of that. You may be onto something.
I liked Jefferson. Hard luck career at Duke between injuries and nearly always playing out of position. But turned into a very solid player. And (unfortunately for those of us who don't like Duke) really helped Duke a lot more than he got credit for.
Yup. The practice aspect is often overlooked! Trying to guard TB in practice would have vastly improved both Brooks and Manley by now. If LM and TB were taking the lion's share of the post minutes, we would be talking about Manley and Brooks' flashes of potential and not their overall body of work! This is the luck of the draw and we have been spoiled by our recent post greatness!
i would like to see manley get more pt because to me he looks a lot better than the other 2 bigs.
