Taurean Thompson schedules visit to Seton Hall

[EBonz30]

New Jersey is pretty stinky.

You just can't deny that.

Everyone can't be wrong.

Totally agree, stinky is a good word for NJ.

Not the worst place ever, but not a place you really want to be ever.

 

[Chuck]

I mean, if "dat place smells LOL" appeals to your sense of humor over and over, knock yourself out.

Just having lived in both places, grew up in NJ to be fair, it's just always irked me.

ConnHusk, you're fighting a losing battle. I assume most people know that they are stereotyping, but don't care. As a NJ resident for my whole life except for 4 years in Connecticut, and 2 childhood years each in the Chicago suburbs and Brooklyn, I've given up defending NJ. I also make fun of other states, but inside I realize that every state has great and horrible places. Interesting choice to show Branch Brook. I spent plenty of time in Branch Brook Park, and while the Cherry Blossoms are lovely, it wouldn't sway me to live in Newark.

That being said, South Orange is a very nice town (that's why they wanted to change their name to South Mountain Village), regardless of being so close to East Orange/Irvington/Newark, which are pretty tough places. But forgetting about whether NJ or South Orange in particular are nice, I don't know why a kid would ever choose Seton Hall over a myriad of other choices. It's typically where NJ Catholic school kids go when their parents won't let them go away and/or they didn't get into ND, G'Town, BC, Holy Cross, Villanova, Providence, maybe even Fordham, etc. And the public school kids go there if they want to stay in state but didn't get into any of the decent state school options. I'm obviously stereotyping (and their law school is now solid, which pains me to say), but it's just not the kind of college experience that I'd want as a big time college athlete. Even in the AAC we shouldn't lose out to Seton Hall unless a kid is from NJ and wants his friends and family at every game.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I mean, if "dat place smells LOL" appeals to your sense of humor over and over, knock yourself out.

Just having lived in both places, grew up in NJ to be fair, it's just always irked me.

Come one, we're not all that simple. For example:

Why are New Yorkers so depressed? Because the light at the end of the tunnel is NJ.

Comic gold right there.... feel free to use that one around the water cooler.

 

[intlzncster]

It's nicer that you might think. This picture is from Branch Brook Park in neighboring Newark.

goshdarn flowers.

 

[CL82]

Classic Connecticut comment, derrr da New Jerseys is stinky.

South Orange and West Orange are pretty nice.

Well, West Orange...

 

[intlzncster]

KO has been pretty emphatic that the plan is for Durham not to redshirt. I don't know why forum posters are being given more credence then him when it comes to this.

I think that's his hope, rather than 'the plan'. He's gotta put it like that. Helps motivate the kid too. But if he's not 90% or whatever, I could easily see a scenario where it happens. Especially if he doesn't play before January.

 

[huskyharry]

Thompson has strength and rebounding ability, factors that are lacking among most of our other bigs (Brimah, Facey (good on getting in position to get the O rebound but inconsistent at boxing out/not a great defensive rebounder), Durham (talented but thin and recovering from injury...more likely to be a factor in February than November), Jackson (thin and more of a perimeter player for now)). Diarra and Enoch have bigger frames and are more muscular but it is not clear that Diarra will be ready to play substantial minutes right off the bat and Enoch will play mostly at center. Hope is not lost, but Taurean would be a great addition and I think he would get 20-25 minutes of PT (his play of late has been better than his numerical rating).

 

[CL82]

Interesting choice to show Branch Brook. I spent plenty of time in Branch Brook Park, and while the Cherry Blossoms are lovely, it wouldn't sway me to live in Newark.

I replied to a post that joked about spring time in South Orange. Branch Brook park is what like maybe a couple of miles from the Seton Hall campus and is stunning in the Spring. It seemed like the logical choice.

People have no idea how the nice the parts of Jersey are. Very analogous to Connecticut with rolling hills and fairly affluent communities.

When we first moved here, I got a kick out of the shocked look by friends and family from Connecticut when they first came to visit. It's a pretty nice area of the country to live.

I used to enjoy taking them out in the Ironbound section of Newark. The look of sheer terror on my mother-in-laws face when she asked me where was the restaurant we headed to and I said Newark, was absolutely priceless. It is now her favorite place to go.

 

[superjohn]

Well, West Orange...

South Orange is a very nice town as is Maplewood and Montclair. NJ has it's bad parts and the turnpike and guidos give it a bad impression. There are a whole bunch of beautiful places in the state, you could certainly pick far worse places to live.

 

[CL82]

South Orange is a very nice town as is Maplewood and Montclair. NJ has it's bad parts and the turnpike and guidos give it a bad impression. There are a whole bunch of beautiful places in the state, you could certainly pick far worse places to live.

Tongue in cheek... I used to work in West Orange and there is a health rivalry between the two towns.

 

[superjohn]

Tongue in cheek... I used to work in West Orange and there is a health rivalry between the two towns.

Star tavern pizza.

 

[gtcam]

what competition? I mean he's worried about competing with jackson + diarra, two guys hes ranked higher than?

IF he's worried about working hard for PT - let him go to someplace where the comp is at a lower level

 

[CL82]

Star tavern pizza.

Bill and Harry's, the Manor and ... Master Pizza, used to love the calzones.

 

[August_West]

Plenty of nice parts of NJ from the beaches to the pine barrens to the northwest ( grandparents lived on a lake in Sparta for a short while ) to the towns and mansions off palisades pkwy/ 9w .

Signed,born in englewood , grew up in tenafly

 

[huskiesnyc]

Sooo back to Big T...

 

[JMick]

Sooo back to Big T...

It's going to stick, isn't it?

 

[EBonz30]

Sooo back to Big T...

i agree, let's get back to what matters and that's Big T.

 

[huskiesnyc]

It's going to stick, isn't it?

I hate to admit it but I actually find it pretty funny

 

[DogMania]

At PF we have:

Facey
Diarra
Durham

Which doesn't include Jackson who may be a stretch 4. Plus Enoch. That's a logjam for min if I've ever seen one.

Yes, lots of bodies. Not so sure if it will be all that insurmountable to come out on top of that logjam. Brimah, if he returns struggles to stay on the floor and is strictly a 5. Facey was and will continue to be a fill in role player. He's a 4 in a 3-man's body who has next to no post-up game. Jackson and Durham are both 3/4 combos, neither are bangers. If T-Squared... Hey if we're making up nicknames but I digress...is a legit high-major talent, his competition is really with Enoch and Diarra, and neither of them have any stranglehold at either frontcourt position.

With all that said, less options elsewhere might be more attractive to him. If a recruit wants to play for one of the big boys, they're going to face strong competition, though I wouldn't consider what UConn currently has is anything close to a gauntlet to get through.

Let's hope that this SH visit is nothing more than him checking out all his options, and in the end he picks us. Though the odds of landing a recruit once they leave campus drops dramatically.

 

[DogMania]

It's going to stick, isn't it?

I'm lobbying got T2 (Squared). Big-T sounds like a sandwich.

 

[Leebo]

What's his middle name? I want to go the opposite direction and use all 3 names every time I refer to him.

 

[The Viking]

We're literally riddled with heroin and violence in 75% of the state.

LOL.

 

[BUConn10]

LOL.

Guess who he's voting for!

 

[djct1999]

Bill and Harry's, the Manor and ... Master Pizza, used to love the calzones.

I got married at the Manor to a jersey girl. Insane cocktail hour. Fwiw, she laughs at Rutgers too.

 

[huskyharry]

What's his middle name? I want to go the opposite direction and use all 3 names every time I refer to him.

If his middle name is Ignatious, you could just go with the initials, everyone loves....