Gafford s baseline jumper with the game on the line was money

[Lanny]

He must start soon, unreal player

[FineAsSwine]

Biggest eye opener of his young season for me. If this kid has that kind of range, look out!

[Polecat]

onions!

[Beaverfever]

I love that all of our bigs from the last 4-5 years have been more than capable shooters.  Portis would make you pay if you left him open.  Kingsley's shot was smooth and Thompson's has come along nicely.  Gafford's shot might be the best of all of them.  Thompson is very solid but he's gotta be feeling the pressure at this point to be a difference maker when he's on the floor.  Gafford has raised the bar and Thomas brings nearly as much energy.  I wonder if we'll ever see Thompson/Gafford on the floor together. 

[hawgball40]

I love that all of our bigs from the last 4-5 years have been more than capable shooters.  Portis would make you pay if you left him open.  Kingsley's shot was smooth and Thompson's has come along nicely.  Gafford's shot might be the best of all of them.  Thompson is very solid but he's gotta be feeling the pressure at this point to be a difference maker when he's on the floor.  Gafford has raised the bar and Thomas brings nearly as much energy.  I wonder if we'll ever see Thompson/Gafford on the floor together.

Thompson lead the team in assists last night with 5. IMO, he is a difference maker in his own way. He gets burned on defense vs good players, but he's still a solid player. he doesn't make many mistakes, just gets beat by more talent players. Now Gafford is our X factor. he affects the game without scoring a point because of his length on defense. He really bothered OU. he whiffed on a lot of blocks because he got froze and caught flat footed. He'll get better and start putting some shots into the 3rd row and people will start noticing. Gafford really reminds me of Anthony Davis. anyone else?

[elksnort]

Lanny, does it really matter that he starts?

I like seeing him come off the bench.

Anyway, the shot he made along the baseline was big. This team is fun to watch.

[elksnort]

onions!

Bill Rafferty?

[GrizzlyRider07]

If I'm not mistaking that was Dustin Thomas who hit that shot not Gafford 

[lynbug]

Lanny, does it really matter that he starts?

I like seeing him come off the bench.

Anyway, the shot he made along the baseline was big. This team is fun to watch.

Yeah, especially when Walton clamors for him to be in the game....and doesn't even realize when he is in the game.  Of course, there were other things that Walton obviously didn't realize.....or didn't care.

[elksnort]

If I'm not mistaking that was Dustin Thomas who hit that shot not Gafford 

I am pretty sure it was Gafford, but I'm too lazy to confirm.

[razorback1829]

If I'm not mistaking that was Dustin Thomas who hit that shot not Gafford

Nope was definitely Gafford.

[Kevin McPherson]

Thompson lead the team in assists last night with 5. IMO, he is a difference maker in his own way. He gets burned on defense vs good players, but he's still a solid player. he doesn't make many mistakes, just gets beat by more talent players. Now Gafford is our X factor. he affects the game without scoring a point because of his length on defense. He really bothered OU. he whiffed on a lot of blocks because he got froze and caught flat footed. He'll get better and start putting some shots into the 3rd row and people will start noticing. Gafford really reminds me of Anthony Davis. anyone else?

Good post

[onebadrubi]

My only thought on him coming off the bench is he's coming in against another teams bench, may help him from not getting in foul trouble

[lynbug]

My only thought on him coming off the bench is he's coming in against another teams bench, may help him from not getting in foul trouble

Agree totally.  Until he can prove that he can stay out of foul trouble I think he will be primarily a second-halfer.  But there will be games in which we will need him early on.

[BRHogfan]

Gafford basically is the bench until Hall and CJ start scoring against better competition.  The Bench scored 22 points last night, and 19 of those were Dustin Thomas and Gafford.  If you move Tray to the bench and Gafford to the starting 5, I think you will see an overall drop in scoring, because Thompson won't put it in like Gafford does, and there's only so many scoring opportunities among the starting 5.

[b-ball coach]

As long as Coach A keeps Gafford in when it matters, we will win many games this year. Notice his minutes were 25 vs Thompson with 15 yesterday. In the Fresno game we were +11 pts when Gafford played and -4 with Thompson on the floor. Someone said yesterday we were +18 with Gafford in, I haven't seen that to confirm yet, but that is a huge +\- differential in coaching. I really like Thompson's game but Gafford's presence as a rebounder and defender of the rim changes our game. We can't risk playing without him in a close game.

[Polecat]

Bill Rafferty?

My name is actually spelled Raftery

[SPAL]

Biggest eye opener of his young season for me. If this kid has that kind of range, look out!

That's the thing.....he doesn't have that kind of range .that makes the shot even more special. He stepped up in a huge moment and knocked it down.

[poloprince]

It was definitely one of those no no no shots, until it went in. WPS

[hawgdavis]

Nope was definitely Gafford.

He also hit a jump hook late while being double teamed. I thought that was impressive for a true freshman.

Man if everyone stays healthy come tournament time the Hogs will be a down right threat to the entire field.

[rude1]

That's the thing.....he doesn't have that kind of range .that makes the shot even more special. He stepped up in a huge moment and knocked it down.

Beard was quoted as saying that DG game is expanding out to there, didn't seemed to be surprised he knocked that down, even said  those are shots he is going to be taking most of the year. His teammates are obviously seeing things in practice that as fans we have just now started to see in games, this kids growth is nothing short of amazing, I don't think even the most optimistic Hog fan would have thought DG was going to contribute  this much this early.

[HawgnCorona]

Gafford basically is the bench until Hall and CJ start scoring against better competition.  The Bench scored 22 points last night, and 19 of those were Dustin Thomas and Gafford.  If you move Tray to the bench and Gafford to the starting 5, I think you will see an overall drop in scoring, because Thompson won't put it in like Gafford does, and there's only so many scoring opportunities among the starting 5.

CJ needs a the ball in his sweet spot to catch and shoot. When he gets stronger with the handles he will score in buckets.

[HawgHeadCheese]

Thompson lead the team in assists last night with 5. IMO, he is a difference maker in his own way. He gets burned on defense vs good players, but he's still a solid player. he doesn't make many mistakes, just gets beat by more talent players. Now Gafford is our X factor. he affects the game without scoring a point because of his length on defense. He really bothered OU. he whiffed on a lot of blocks because he got froze and caught flat footed. He'll get better and start putting some shots into the 3rd row and people will start noticing. Gafford really reminds me of Anthony Davis. anyone else?

During the first game of the season I would've said no on that comparison but every single game he shows me a little more. There were three plays that made me see Anthony Davis. The one step dunk off the bounce assist from Bradford, the swat on the attempted alley pop, and the play when he drove the ball from the top of the key and got fouled on a lay up attempt (I was shocked at how comfortable he looked handling the ball). Gafford is definitely a blue blood one and done type recruit. I'm going to enjoy it while it last.

[Corkscrew Johnson]

That shot got a collective groan from the room....and then he made it!

[BRHogfan]

CJ needs a the ball in his sweet spot to catch and shoot. When he gets stronger with the handles he will score in buckets.

Yeah, I think Macon has really developed some of those moves curling off of screens or the way he rolled for his first 3 of the game yesterday. If we can develop CJ into having even half of those moves, he will be a really effective scorer.

[Grumpypenguin]

Luckiest shot of his life

[Biggus Piggus]

I like Gafford coming off the bench.  We have two post players, both foul prone.

[trippigs]

Matt Zimmerman said he had watched Gafford play since the 9th grade and that was the longest shot he has ever seen Gafford attempt in a game. I think Matt does an excellent job on the radio

[TomasPistola]

I like winning. If Gafford coming off the bench means we win, I hope he never starts.

[Tejano Jawg]

He'll get his chance to start later. Right now, I kinda like him off the bench too. I dig the lift he gives us.

[alohawg]

Luckiest shot of his life

Quite possibly, thank God it went! This kid is really good tho, definitely an NBA player whose name will be widely known before he's a sophomore.

[Hogsfan1981]

Volcano!

[Hogsfan1981]

Luckiest shot of his life

Luck is for losers.

[SPAL]

Beard was quoted as saying that DG game is expanding out to there, didn't seemed to be surprised he knocked that down, even said  those are shots he is going to be taking most of the year. His teammates are obviously seeing things in practice that as fans we have just now started to see in games, this kids growth is nothing short of amazing, I don't think even the most optimistic Hog fan would have thought DG was going to contribute  this much this early.

That's a good point. I'm sure it's something he has worked on. If he developed that, he would be deadly.

[rzrbackramsfan]

Luckiest shot of his life

I don't know why you say that.  In the post game, beard and Macon said that shot is, just simply, in Dan reportoir.

[rwspear]

Luckiest shot of his life

no it wasnt. that was a product of hundreds of thousands of jump shots over the course of his life. do you know anything about what thats like?

[rwspear]

I don't know why you say that.  In the post game, beard and Macon said that shot is, just simply, in Dan reportoir.

he said it because he has no idea whats hes talking about. such garbage.