Video: Coach Stackhouse, Tyrin Lawrence, Ezra Manjon press conferences Wed. Aug. 9

[BrentVU]

Coach Jerry Stackhouse

Tyrin Lawrence, Ezra Manjon

[dore74]

Thanks for posting Brent. I like Stack's cautious optimism. A bit concerned about the Dort and Smith injuries.

[MrMemorial]

Great interview. Reminds me of how ridiculous SOME PEOPLE acted when Malcolm made the hire.

Then again some of those same people b!tched and moaned and whined and cried when James Franklin was hired.

[buffy]

SOME PEOPLE

Is there a constructive reason to point out SOME PEOPLE? Does SOME PEOPLE actually mean BAD PEOPLE, while you represent GOOD PEOPLE. Move on amigo. This is a destructive thought process. Let's cheer on our GOOD COACH and see what he can do with this team.

[VUaskew]

Thanks for posting Brent. I like Stack's cautious optimism. A bit concerned about the Dort and Smith injuries.

I don't get social media or anything good here at Gestapo headquarters. What is the nature of the injuries?

[Jason94]

Coach Jerry Stackhouse

Tyrin Lawrence, Ezra Manjon

The vandysports podcast pointed out how unusual it was that CJS had Jason Rivera-Torres take part of media availability - a true freshman who hasn't played in a single game! It is difficult to believe that CJS would do so for a player he doesn't think will see the court much this season (I don't think Noah Shelby said a thing to the media officially all season), so that might be an early hint as to which of the freshmen might be a part of the rotation.

I do like that based on his discussion on overall recruiting that CJS appears to understand the current landscape and what types of players to go after. He also seems to be pleased with the overall talent level on this team and understands that they haven't made it yet. His comments also allude to his understanding that while we did lose a number of players in the portal, overall we were able to improve our talent level. It also sounds like CJS is really high on Ven Lubin - look out for him.

[UltimateVUFan]

Thanks for posting Brent. I like Stack's cautious optimism. A bit concerned about the Dort and Smith injuries.

I don't get social media or anything good here at Gestapo headquarters. What is the nature of the injuries?

Apparently Dort required foot surgery and may be ready by the start of the season/just getting back up to speed. That’s concerning given how much time he missed with a related injury last season. Hopefully it’s just a fluke that doesn’t impact his ability to stay on the court, because he has tremendous upside.

Smith’s sounded less serious. Some sort of strain if I remember correctly, but didn’t sound like one that would impact starting the season.

[MemorialMagic]

In mentioning recruiting, I didn't hear anything about Karis Bilal, the guy that has been committed to us for forever. Anyone know anything on that situation?

[MemorialMagic]

By the way. How can you not love this guy! "

Stay 4 years then do what you want, but don't pass up the opportunity to get a Vanderbilt degree. Not saying anything bad about some of these other schools, but they aren't Vanderbilt."

The guy is best interview in the business... holds nothing back. Good or bad.

[HAILMURY]

Stackhouse's interviews are always interesting to me. I feel like he is more genuine than most of the other head coaches.

I also think Jason Rivera-Torres is getting the opportunity for media exposure because he is an "actor". He is already very experienced in front of a microphone. You can check him out on the Apple TV Original series "Swagger" He plays a basketball player named Nick Mendez .

[UltimateVUFan]

Stackhouse's interviews are always interesting to me. I feel like he is more genuine than most of the other head coaches.

I also think Jason Rivera-Torres is getting the opportunity for media exposure because he is an "actor". He is already very experienced in front of a microphone. You can check him out on the Apple TV Original series "Swagger" He plays a basketball player named Nick Mendez .

Stack joked about how some of the guys have “Nicknamed” (intentional pun) Rivera-Torres “Nick Mendez.”
I actually think he’s going to be a solid rotation player this year. He was a late bloomer who saw his stock jump from April to May. 247Sports has him as a borderline top 100 player (finished at 110).
Plus, if you watch his AppleTV series, he makes tons of big plays and only seems to miss a shot in moments that require dramatic tension.

But in all seriousness, he put up BIG numbers across all statistical categories playing for his team that finished the high school season ranked number 1 in the nation.

[VUaskew]

Remember, Jimmy Chitwood went 28-32 in Hoosiers. Then Coach Dale (should have called him Dale Brown) decided to use him as a decoy on the final play until Jimmy talked him out of it.

[Foreverhopeful]

These are such great videos and the players are so impressive. I love all our players, but Ezra is just SO well=spoken and seems like a great young man. The two new guys presented exceptionally well, too. I have high hopes.

[Jason94]

Stackhouse's interviews are always interesting to me. I feel like he is more genuine than most of the other head coaches.

I also think Jason Rivera-Torres is getting the opportunity for media exposure because he is an "actor". He is already very experienced in front of a microphone. You can check him out on the Apple TV Original series "Swagger" He plays a basketball player named Nick Mendez .

That is probably some of it, but regardless of how polished he is, I don't think he sees media time unless he is going to be a major part of the rotation. I cannot think of an instance where a player was provided to the media who didn't get significant playing time, certainly not as a freshman.

I could be completely wrong, but I wouldn't bet against JRT seeing a lot of time on the floor this season.

[mathguy]

Stackhouse's interviews are always interesting to me. I feel like he is more genuine than most of the other head coaches.

I also think Jason Rivera-Torres is getting the opportunity for media exposure because he is an "actor". He is already very experienced in front of a microphone. You can check him out on the Apple TV Original series "Swagger" He plays a basketball player named Nick Mendez .

That is probably some of it, but regardless of how polished he is, I don't think he sees media time unless he is going to be a major part of the rotation. I cannot think of an instance where a player was provided to the media who didn't get significant playing time, certainly not as a freshman.

I could be completely wrong, but I wouldn't bet against JRT seeing a lot of time on the floor this season.

On the one hand, that makes sense and I hope you are right.

On the other hand, if this kid has been on a TV show, I can imagine the press requesting that he be part of the panel. In addition to basketball games, we do have PR games to play too...

[commadore]

In mentioning recruiting, I didn't hear anything about Karis Bilal, the guy that has been committed to us for forever. Anyone know anything on that situation?

https://vanderbilt.rivals.com/news/catc ... rris-bilal

He is a commit for the class of 2024.

[buffy]

I could be completely wrong, but I wouldn't bet against JRT seeing a lot of time on the floor this season.

If he's getting a lot of minutes at the 1 or 2, that means we're gonna be nasty, because we're already solid there.

[Jason94]

Stackhouse's interviews are always interesting to me. I feel like he is more genuine than most of the other head coaches.

I also think Jason Rivera-Torres is getting the opportunity for media exposure because he is an "actor". He is already very experienced in front of a microphone. You can check him out on the Apple TV Original series "Swagger" He plays a basketball player named Nick Mendez .

That is probably some of it, but regardless of how polished he is, I don't think he sees media time unless he is going to be a major part of the rotation. I cannot think of an instance where a player was provided to the media who didn't get significant playing time, certainly not as a freshman.

I could be completely wrong, but I wouldn't bet against JRT seeing a lot of time on the floor this season.

On the one hand, that makes sense and I hope you are right.

On the other hand, if this kid has been on a TV show, I can imagine the press requesting that he be part of the panel. In addition to basketball games, we do have PR games to play too...

That is the other side - the kid is a bit unique in terms of polish for sure. But it also sounded like there were basically only two people asking questions on Wednesday, so it isn't like it was a media frenzy. What we do know is that CJS has been very, very slow to trust freshmen in general as he has improved the overall talent level. And that trust level does seem to equate with playing time (Trey Thomas) - and from what I've seen on youtube JRT is not without talent. Add some confidence to that talent and trust from the coach and it does seem to point to playing time.

[MrMemorial]

At 6-7, JRT is plenty tall enough to man the three spot.

[Jason94]

I could be completely wrong, but I wouldn't bet against JRT seeing a lot of time on the floor this season.

If he's getting a lot of minutes at the 1 or 2, that means we're gonna be nasty, because we're already solid there.

I would guess his minutes would be at the 2/3 due to his height and length. But you are correct - last season a full 20+ mpg at those positions were going to Trey Thomas and this year will be largely going to Taylor and Lawrence, with someone like JRT backing them up. That is a massive defensive upgrade solely on height/length alone. And I would be shocked if Taylor/JRT shoot worse (or even as bad) than Thomas did last season.

I expect our combined contributions from the 3 will more than makeup any step back from the 5. We should easily be as good if not better at the 1 and 2, and I think we can be better than what Stute gave us last season at the 4. It sounded like CJS was going to be playing Lubin at the 4 if Dort is healthy, and I'm almost certain that Lubin will be a massive upgrade over Stute, as will Smith.

That is a pretty big upgrade at two positions, two positions probably static (two of our best players so that is good) and a downgrade at the 5 which is cushioned by the fact that as well as Robbins played, he just didn't play an overwhelming amount of minutes overall, finishing 8th in total minutes. On one hand it is a lot easier to replace the combination of Robbins and QMB's minutes than it would have been had Robbins played all the games and most of the minutes in those games. OTOH, had he done so we probably would have made the tournament. But this is why the media will sleep on this team. Only those really paying attention will see how much the overall roster has improved from last season.