Anyonevremember Nick Vanderlain?

5,205 Views | 24 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by puget sound cal fan
oskidunker
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_VanderLaan
Go Bears!
Chapman_is_Gone
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Well, at least the board isn't dead anymore!
Econ141
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Was hoping for another Chauca update
Big C
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Dude started his Cal career like a house on fire, then faded into oblivion. Arrived in the famous "Rockfish class", IIRC.

What prompted you to come up with info on him?
calumnus
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Starting as a sophomore he averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds per game before transferring.
oskidunker
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was doing a search for something else similar and the name popped in my head. Barely remember him.
Go Bears!
BeachedBear
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Chapman_is_Gone said:

Well, at least the board isn't dead anymore!
But a Vanderlaan reference probably counts as deep coma!
SFCityBear
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Interesting. I remember him. Tall, slow, but had his moments. Decent rebounder. I'd like to have him, or someone like him on this year's roster. Maybe we do have someone like him, hopefully better.

I didn't know he played high school football. Tight end and defensive end. An end who is 6'-10" tall? I'd love to see it. I think Holmoe was in his final years when Van der Laan was at Cal. Maybe the football team then could have used him. Maybe the Cal team could use him this season. I had the impression that Cal was going to feature the tight end this year, but against UNC, I think I remember the tight ends had one reception.
KoreAmBear
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Big C said:

Dude started his Cal career like a house on fire, then faded into oblivion. Arrived in the famous "Rockfish class", IIRC.

What prompted you to come up with info on him?
He peaked in his first game at that tournament in Alaska.
Civil Bear
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KoreAmBear said:

Big C said:

Dude started his Cal career like a house on fire, then faded into oblivion. Arrived in the famous "Rockfish class", IIRC.

What prompted you to come up with info on him?
He peaked in his first game at that tournament in Alaska.
Yup, after that tourney cyberbears.org'rs (not to be confused with cyberbear.com'rs) were worried he would jump to the NBA after his frosh season.

I don't recall anyone at Cal since him that could establish such great position inside...only to fumble the pass with such hands of stone.
philbert
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I vaguely recall he got mono and was out for a long time. Could've been another injury though. Whenever he returned, I thought he was never the same.
mcdbear
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I seem to remember he was going to try to play pro football as a TE. Obviously didn't happen but I think he trained for it in an attempt to get a tryout.
Big C
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calumnus said:

Starting as a sophomore he averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds per game before transferring.
His freshman year, his numbers were higher and, I think if you look at his first 10 games, they were near-gaudy. He was at his zenith right then.
calumnus
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Big C said:

calumnus said:

Starting as a sophomore he averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds per game before transferring.
His freshman year, his numbers were higher and, I think if you look at his first 10 games, they were near-gaudy. He was at his zenith right then.


Yes, and he was not a starter and played fewer minutes. If he had mono his sophomore year, that makes sense. I do remember being disappointed he was transferring.
ncbears
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Didn't he get ejected for punching an opponent below the belt?
UrsaMajor
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Civil Bear said:

KoreAmBear said:

Big C said:

Dude started his Cal career like a house on fire, then faded into oblivion. Arrived in the famous "Rockfish class", IIRC.

What prompted you to come up with info on him?
He peaked in his first game at that tournament in Alaska.
Yup, after that tourney cyberbears.org'rs (not to be confused with cyberbear.com'rs) were worried he would jump to the NBA after his frosh season.

I don't recall anyone at Cal since him that could establish such great position inside...only to fumble the pass with such hands of stone.
Ryan Jameson?
concordtom
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His aunt is a neighbor!
Civil Bear
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UrsaMajor said:

Civil Bear said:



I don't recall anyone at Cal since him that could establish such great position inside...only to fumble the pass with such hands of stone.
Ryan Jameson?
RJ preceded NVL. RJ had perhaps even worse hands, but I still don't recall anyone able to get better position inside without the rock better than NVL.
SFCityBear
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Don't we all love how so many of us relish in bashing our former players, except those who made it to paradise and Nirvana - the NBA. Those gifted Cal athletes are sacrosanct - untouchable on the BI. The rest are chopped liver and their memory needs to be ground into dust. It is no wonder that Cal has won next to nothing in the major sports in the last 50 years or more, with fans like us. Maybe we don't deserve good teams with good players.

I say "we," because I am probably sometimes guilty of this as well, but I try and focus my displeasure on the coaches and not the kids. They are the ones who are paid millions of dollars to mold these immature kids, most of whom have skulls filled with mush, along with having average to great physical talent, into a team which can win championships. A daunting task, but they are paid well for it, and since some of that is our money, through taxes and the purchase of tickets, the coaches I will more likely criticize, rather than a young kid who is trying to grow up and be a man and still have fun playing basketball, in front of fans who can't handle losing very well.





Big C
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SFCityBear said:

Don't we all love how so many of us relish in bashing our former players, except those who made it to paradise and Nirvana - the NBA. Those gifted Cal athletes are sacrosanct - untouchable on the BI. The rest are chopped liver and their memory needs to be ground into dust. It is no wonder that Cal has won next to nothing in the major sports in the last 50 years or more, with fans like us. Maybe we don't deserve good teams with good players.

I say "we," because I am probably sometimes guilty of this as well, but I try and focus my displeasure on the coaches and not the kids. They are the ones who are paid millions of dollars to mold these immature kids, most of whom have skulls filled with mush, along with having average to great physical talent, into a team which can win championships. A daunting task, but they are paid well for it, and since some of that is our money, through taxes and the purchase of tickets, the coaches I will more likely criticize, rather than a young kid who is trying to grow up and be a man and still have fun playing basketball, in front of fans who can't handle losing very well.






I hear what you're saying, but I think there's a difference between being gently-but-candidly critical and being a jerk. I've seen fans really cross the line, like with our former QB, Ayoob, and it made me sick. But it's a sports message board: People are going to talk about the players. Question of degree, of tone and of word choice.

Litmus test: Would you say the same thing to a semi-buddy, if you were out having a beer?
Civil Bear
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SFCityBear said:

Don't we all love how so many of us relish in bashing our former players, except those who made it to paradise and Nirvana - the NBA. Those gifted Cal athletes are sacrosanct - untouchable on the BI. The rest are chopped liver and their memory needs to be ground into dust. It is no wonder that Cal has won next to nothing in the major sports in the last 50 years or more, with fans like us. Maybe we don't deserve good teams with good players.

I say "we," because I am probably sometimes guilty of this as well, but I try and focus my displeasure on the coaches and not the kids. They are the ones who are paid millions of dollars to mold these immature kids, most of whom have skulls filled with mush, along with having average to great physical talent, into a team which can win championships. A daunting task, but they are paid well for it, and since some of that is our money, through taxes and the purchase of tickets, the coaches I will more likely criticize, rather than a young kid who is trying to grow up and be a man and still have fun playing basketball, in front of fans who can't handle losing very well.
Please tell us what was said specifically about NVL that led to your sanctimonious and hyperbolic response.

Just so you know how it works, better players, like those that make it to the NBA, tend to elicit better memories. The not so good players, particularly ones that ditch Cal, tend to evoke lesser memories.
HoopDreams
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has this board become so dead that a post about Nick V is the biggest one on this board? (and a negative one at that)
SFCityBear
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Big C said:

SFCityBear said:

Don't we all love how so many of us relish in bashing our former players, except those who made it to paradise and Nirvana - the NBA. Those gifted Cal athletes are sacrosanct - untouchable on the BI. The rest are chopped liver and their memory needs to be ground into dust. It is no wonder that Cal has won next to nothing in the major sports in the last 50 years or more, with fans like us. Maybe we don't deserve good teams with good players.

I say "we," because I am probably sometimes guilty of this as well, but I try and focus my displeasure on the coaches and not the kids. They are the ones who are paid millions of dollars to mold these immature kids, most of whom have skulls filled with mush, along with having average to great physical talent, into a team which can win championships. A daunting task, but they are paid well for it, and since some of that is our money, through taxes and the purchase of tickets, the coaches I will more likely criticize, rather than a young kid who is trying to grow up and be a man and still have fun playing basketball, in front of fans who can't handle losing very well.






I hear what you're saying, but I think there's a difference between being gently-but-candidly critical and being a jerk. I've seen fans really cross the line, like with our former QB, Ayoob, and it made me sick. But it's a sports message board: People are going to talk about the players. Question of degree, of tone and of word choice.

Litmus test: Would you say the same thing to a semi-buddy, if you were out having a beer?
The Joe Ayoob bashing bordered on hate. Yes, he played poorly, but I put most of that on Tedford. At CCSF, Ayoob was a running quarterback in a spread offense. Running a team and runnng the ball himself were his skills, and Tedford tried to force him to be a pocket passer in a pro set offense, as I remember it. The best coaches recruit to fill needs in their system, but if they don't get all the players they want, and instead end up with players not suited to their system, then they have the flexibility to modify their system to suit the talent they have on the roster. Cuonzo Martin was another coach who tried to force players to do things they were not good at. Coaches like Newell, Monty, and in footballl, Pappy Waldorf made adjustments in their system to emphasize their players' best skills, and hide their weaknesses. Joe Ayoob never had a chance.

I can agree with most of what you say. But some stuff in this thread crosses a line for me. I'm with calumnus on VanderLaan. I liked him, and I was disappointed when he transferred. My observations over time are that the very tall players, 6-10 and above, are more likely not to play well in their first two years and we need to be more patient with them than with the shorter players whose bodies are already physically mature before the arrive at college. Anybody who saw Darrall Imhoff as a freshman and sophomore can attest, he was a stiff. Van derLaan would probably have run rings around him. As a junior, Imhoff starts at center, and Cal wins a NCAA title. As a senior, Cal is NCAA runner up, and Imhoff is a first team All-American. An Ivan Rabb is rare, (and he was shorter than 6-10.)
StrawberryCanyon
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mcdbear said:

I seem to remember he was going to try to play pro football as a TE. Obviously didn't happen but I think he trained for it in an attempt to get a tryout.
He went down to the Senior Bowl one year to work out for NFL people. He always had a very high opinion of his abilities.
Jackieridgle
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He went to four high schools and four colleges. His grasp of reality was lacking.
puget sound cal fan
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I recall the "hands of stone" as Nick's unfortunate trademark.
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