When you are building a team you plan carefully, you scout and recruit a certain type of player and you find guys who can play at the ACC level. But as with the best plans, sometimes you need a little luck. It seems like Steve Donahue lucked out by finding Patrick Heckmann after he had put his first full class together.
Then
Heckmann isn't necessarily your prototypical European player. His outside shooting is inconsistent. He also likes to drive to the basket and uses his athleticism. Heckmann has played at a lower level club in Germany (ho hum) but also played well for the German national team (great news). It was on the national team where Heckmann started gaining U.S. attention. Heckmann was one of the lone brightspots of he recent U-20 season.
Heckmann came to the U.S. to prove himself and because he likes the American style of play. BC became a fit because of our offensive style of play and the chance to play right away.
Now
Like Clifford, there has been good "buzz" on Heckmann since he's been on campus. In addition to his surprising athleticism, he's supposedly got good handle and may be able to spend some minutes at the point.
The question is how quickly he can adapt to BC and the ACC style of play. Europeans are often tagged as "soft." Heckmann has the athleticism and body to drive through contact and defend. Also, BC will need him to sharpen his 3-point shooting. If he can't convert those 3s, teams will just play off of him and not let him drive.
The future
I think Heckmann will have a short but memorable career at BC. If he really is a star in the making, I think he'll be playing professionally in Europe or the NBA within two years.
I know he bypassed pro ball in Europe to test himself and get a degree, but I think the temptation will be too much. But if Donahue can get two years out of him and he is a star, BC will have been served well by this last second signee.
Posts
5 comments:
man i must be getting old. this baby-face looks like a NERD!
i hope he is a star and is able to thrive under SD's system. i like the german connection as well.
Let's hope that Steve has same effect on his shooting form that he had on Reggies (improved his 3Pt% by like 25%).
Ha, bold prediction of a frosh who nobody knows anything about leaving early for the pros! I'll take it if it means he is as productive as he'll need to be to justify the predicted early exit.
For those that missed it, BC got a commit from one of the 5 best PGs still unsigned for the 2012 class. Oliver Hanlan. ESPN Insider is pretty high on him, and he's supposedly a good match with Ronlan (sp?)
really excited about heckmann. think he'll start and contribute right away, from what i've read about him.
like that donahue is bulking up the point guard. daniels is the only true point, although i think lonnie jackson will moonlight there from time to time. daniels is only 5'8 though, so getting hanlan (6'3") and rahon (6'1") gives us some needed size in the backcourt.
does that leave us with any more scholarships for next year? 7 freshman this year, plus humphrey (the transfer), moton and rubin, plus the two commits = 12. how many do we get?
Post a Comment