Re: Jaron Rush In Shaw's Summer League

[Thndrblt31@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/12/00 2:49:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
OzerskyJA@cmog.org writes:

<< What's the big deal with this guy?  Roedecker wrote of him,
 "Defensively, he's a liability who cannot or will not defend out on the
 perimeter.
 Occasionally, players appear on the scene who aren't strong defensively.
 This is not the
  case. Rush does not hustle, defend the break or recover very well. He
 himself can be taken 
 off the dribble."  Give me a CBA hustler like Vanterpool or Adrian. >>

Roedecker is always extremely critical when it comes to analyzing players.  
He tears apart every and any player.  

Some of those things may be true, but it doesn't mention any of the positive 
aspects about Rush.  He is another superb athlete with amazing leaping 
ability.  He is also very good without the ball and taking people off the 
dribble.  He has a lot of unfulfilled potential that he couldn't utilize at 
UCLA for numerous reasons.  

One is that Steve Lavin isn't a very good coach.  He had quite a bit of 
talent with Jason Kapono, Dan Gadzuric, and Moiso, but the team always looked 
lost of the floor.  Until Rush came back, the season looked like a lost 
cause.  He somehow brought the team together and they went on a strong 
winning streak that ended in the tourney against Marcus Fizer's Iowa State 
team.  They even upset top-seeded Stanford with key shots from Rush.  They 
looked like world beaters for a while, it was amazing to see the change that 
came over the team.  I don't know if it was all Rush, but he had to have 
something to do with it.

Defense can be taught and after being undrafted, I am sure he is somewhat 
humbled.  All I'm saying is that he does have a chance with this team if he 
can work on his game enough.  If not, oh well, no loss.  

I also hope Vanterpool can win a place with the team.  With Bobby Hurley 
declining his invite to play, it clears up for time for Vanterpool.  He is a 
very intriguing player with his size and play-making ability.  I am very 
curious to see what kind of a leader he is since he led his team to the CBA 
championship.

Thndrblt31