Tasheed Carr is certain he's going to make Erie's final 10-man roster.
Tasheed Carr says he’s focused on just getting better every day in training camp.
Making the Erie BayHawks’ final 10-man roster is a given for him.
“I think I’ve worked hard and I think I’ve earned a spot,” Carr said after Tuesdays’ morning practice. “So right now I’m focused on every day getting better and helping out my team anyway possible and get ready for Friday.”
Now Carr was considered a leader while at St. Joe’s, but the BayHawks are using him as a 2-guard instead of a point guard. Since he can do both and shoot the ball, that makes Carr more attractive to keep on the team.
Erie must get its roster down to 10 by 5 p.m. Thursday. The BayHawks open the season Friday against Springfield at Tullio Arena.
Hard to say who the BayHawks will cut, but their new coach, Jay Larranaga, plans to make the final cuts by the end of the night and inform the players Wednesday morning who’s staying and who’s leaving.
Erie currently has 13 players now. Larranaga hasn’t made a cut since early on in training camp so you know he likes the remaining players.
Mitchell can play 3 or 4 for Erie.
Just looking at who’s left, the guys that are sure locks to make it are Cedric Jackson, Ivan Johnson and Tasmin Mitchell. By the way, Mitchell has been dealing with a migraine headache, but Larranaga said he should be good for later in the week.
From there, you’ve got Carr and Kyle Spain so that makes five. There’s a good chance Kyle Goldcamp will make it since he played last season for the BayHawks, has improved from last year to this year and he’s a local draw. Playing at Gannon helps him in this instance.
So that leaves four spots with seven guys left. Larranaga could go a ton of different ways. Larranaga says he’ll take skill over size, but you need at least four big men on your team.
So if you had add one, you can go with Nate Linhart, who can play a three and a four, David Gomez, who is a smaller 4-man, or Jarvis Gunter, who has played the past seasons for Erie. The BayHawks say they want to run and Gunter is the most athletic big man they got in terms of speed.
That leaves guards Maureece Rice, Dawan Robinson, Charlie Parker and Derek Raivio. Rice and Robinson have been hurt so the BayHawks could release either one due to injury and still have their rights. Parker is a defender, but not a shooter like Raivio.
Then again, Robinson is the most experienced player in camp while Rice is a better scorer than anyone left and has already proven himself in the D-League.
Larranaga said it was going to be a tough decision to make the final cuts, but he plans to make cuts by the end of night tonight.
Wonder what he’ll come up with? Got any ideas?
