re: Charles Manning Jr. enters transfer portal

Well said Alt.
Smart makes this team better and is a very good college player. Yeah he can be cocky and do dumb things at times, but he has gotten better every year. And if this team makes a run Smart will be a huge reason why.

As for Manning, he hasn't been the same player since the injury and honestly Wilkinson has been better.
I like Manning off the bench and wish he would stay, but that's the world we live in now.

A senior who has done nothing ? Just take your education and enjoy the college life as an athlete. You aint gonna play anywhere else.

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You are aware that Smart is having a great season thus far, right?

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Florida was probably the first game he watched once he remembered football season was over and basketball started.

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you don’t know his situation

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Maybe he is injured again.
Two years in a row. If he is injured again, I could understand him giving it up.

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when things get difficult and don’t go your way, you can just check out. Life will hit these kids right in the face when the first difficult situation comes up and they can’t push through it.

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This. Quitting should be the absolute last resort, after it's been proven that everything is out of your control and there's no other options. Not being good enough does not fall into the category of "out of your control". Work your arse off and try to improve.

I know everybody hates Tom Brady and Howard Stern, but Stern did an interview with Brady recently and he talked a lot about that. He said if all you get is 3 snaps as a rookie and the next guy gets 10 to prove himself, make sure you give 3 damn good snaps instead of focusing on the fact that the other guy is given more snaps. And eventually what happens is you get 10 snaps and the other guy gets 3. And in Tom's case, he eventually made his way as a starter for the Super Bowl and the rest is history. Made me respect the hell out of him. I am attracted to that drive and attitude. It's a winner mentality. And for people who just quit and have a shitty attitude, I've got nothing for them. It's selfishness.

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As for Manning, he hasn't been the same player since the injury and honestly Wilkinson has been better.
I like Manning off the bench and wish he would stay, but that's the world we live in now.

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Agreed, I think minus the injury issues he's a bigger part of this, and my hope was that over time he would assimilate and become a more significant cog cause he is a versatile player.

Apparently he did not have the patience for this. A by-product of quality depth is that not everyone is going to get the minutes they think they should and become unhappy. Both he and Penn Johnson are a testament to this.

I would have liked to have him stay here, but I do like Wilkinson's upside and he'll be here multiple years - so if it comes down to who gets minutes right now between those two, Wilkinson IMHO is the choice.

This is a shocker because he was a senior and we were almost halfway through the season. But the truth is he had missed too much time because of injuries the last two years and wasn't going to get much playing time. Wilkinson, Gaines, Leblanc and maybe even Shareef were beating him out in that regard. Manning is a very good player but didn't help us much in our two weakest areas - defensive rebounding and interior defense. Unfortunately Wilkinson really doesn't either. The young guy hustles more than anyone and is a great athlete for his size but he has fewer rebounds per game than Smart. I really think that LeBlanc or O'Neal will have to take some of his minutes for us to do well in the big games.

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That is good

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what if he was busting his arse in practice but there are better players doing the same? you expect him to just ride the bench majority of the game

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of course - you don’t quit on your team in the middle of the szn. have you ever been on a team? lol

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what if his teammates understand
where he’s coming from and respect his decision?

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yes, I’m sure they will appreciate being a man down the rest of the year - especially come tourney time...

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you’re coming off really ignorant with your stance on quitting when you don’t know all the facts behind his decision.

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you think quitting mid-season is respectable and the team/coaches s/b totally cool with his decision, and I’m the ignorant one? holy shite.

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ive never heard of him being a problem in or off the court so let the kid find a place where he can get more playing time, he obviously wants to play more

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did you see WW’s comments about how well the team has been practicing since Manning quit, and how it’s not a coincidence?

jesus, dude - if you can’t understand why a kid who isn’t 100% happy with his role at the very least owes it to his team/coaches to tough it out until the end of the season before quitting/transferring, then I’m not sure what else to tell you.