Oct. 22, 2010
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Joe Fisher’s Mailbag Submit Your Question Wondering about a player, a past game or another topic involving the Commodores? The Voice of the Commodores Joe Fisher will answer a variety of email questions from fans during the season on VUcommodores.com. |
Joe, of all the new incoming freshmen on the men’s basketball team, who do you feel is going to contribute the most this season?
— Dennis
- There is plenty of excitement surrounding this year’s freshman class. Rod Odom (6’9″, 215, Central Islip, N.Y.) and Kyle Fuller (6’1″, 200, Moreno Valley, Calif.) are likely garnering the most early attention. Rod will offer aid and depth immediately on the front line, and Kyle looks very comfortable handling the ball and could certainly provide a breather for Brad Tinsley at the point. Josh Henderson out of Roanoke, Va., is 6-11 and looks every bit of it on the court. James Siakam (6’6″, 200, Douala, Cameroon) rounds out a class that has certainly warranted the early attention.
Joe, why don’t you guys practice with full pads during the weeks? I think you should wear them every week because it seems as if in the Eastern Michigan week when you did wear full pads, the team came out playing extremely well.
— Austin (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- Actually, Austin, the guys do practice in full pads each week, just not every day. The usual protocol is to spend the first couple of practices in the week in full gear as that is when you’ll do the most full contact work. Then later in the week, it’s not uncommon to scale down to just helmets and shoulder pads. Coaches over the years have learned you just can’t go full gear/full contact for every practice all season long. You’d simply have too many players hurt and most everyone worn out midway through the season.
Hi Joe! When will the coaching staff consider a change at the quarterback position? The offense clearly isn’t moving, so why not give someone else a shot and see if they can give us a spark.
— Joey (Lewisburg, Tenn.)
- There were a number of questions in the mailbag about quarterbacks, which isn’t surprising when an offense is struggling. I don’t think anyone can lay all the blame on the shoulders of Larry Smith. The coaches say Larry is the best at the position and proves it each week in practice and game preparation. I also don’t think there’s any question that if the coaches come to the conclusion at some point that Jared Funk or Charlie Goro would give us a better chance to win, they’d make the change.
