After watching sophomore forward Philip McCandies decide to leave the program last spring, transferring to The College of Charleston, followed shortly afterward by the dismissal of 6-8 junior college transfer Justin Holt, who was sitting out the season as a transfer, Head Coach Seth Greenberg knew he needed to find some replacements. And he needed them rapidly. His quest to add reinforcements to the 2004-05 team led him overseas at a time when many of the top caliber prospects had already decided on a direction for the upcoming season.

Greenberg and his staff settled on 6-11 Robert Krabbendam as the answer, albeit a late one, to the question of who might take up the interior slack. Krabbendam had attended Copernicus, located in Hoorn, The Netherlands, and he represented the first Virginia Tech basketball player from that country, at least that we know of.

The early results of Krabbendam’s contributions for this second edition of Greenberg's Hokies have been spotty, at best. Weighing just 210 pounds, Krabbendam has understandably found the going tough inside, getting pushed around and finding himself struggling to defend much stronger post players on the court. In addition, he has struggled to establish any kind of presence on the floor from an offensive standpoint, shooting at just a 25% clip from the floor through the first 10 games, averaging 1.3 points and 1.9 rebounds. For anyone that witnessed the North Carolina game in Cassell Coliseum, Krabbendam looked overwhelmed on the court. He was obviously nervous, fumbled passes, and generally looked like someone out of his element.

While Krabbendam looks to be a reasonably mobile front court player with solid agility, his shooting touch has been disappointing thus far. Sources close to the program say that Greenberg remains high on the future of Krabbendam, feeling that he just needs time and strength before becoming a productive force in his remaining three years at Tech. Greenberg has done a good job of pumping Krabbendam up thus far. When sophomore center Coleman Collins was unavailable while having recent surgery to remove a cyst from his foot, Krabbendam stepped into the starting lineup in his place, and while he has missed all four of his three point attempts, Greenberg has shown no inclination to put that shot under wraps. Greenberg understands that it is all about patience and keeping Krabbendam’s confidence as high as possible at this juncture.

With the recent return of Collins to the lineup – especially with the added lift, mobility and activity that he has demonstrated – some of the pressure on Krabbendam has been alleviated. Perhaps he can go back to his earlier role of coming off the bench. In any event, Krabbendam has shown little inclination early on that he can be an impact player this season.

As the North Carolina game aptly demonstrated, Krabbendam looked like a deer caught in the headlights, something that might be repeated on more than one occasion down the stretch, given that almost the entire remaining schedule consists of ACC opponents. Greenberg did not have the luxury of bringing Krabbendam along slowly, due to the extreme need for size inside. The question now becomes how to keep Krabbendam’s confidence from being wounded in a drastic manner.

Almost everyone agrees that it will take time for Krabbendam to become acclimated to this level of college basketball. It will probably take more than one off-season in the weight room under Mike Gentry before Krabbendam can substantially change his body so that he can adapt to the rigors of ACC basketball. Unlike a performer who might have a technical blemish in his game, or perhaps a fundamental flaw in his shooting that can be addressed in practice and with additional reps in a very short period of time, Krabbendam has no such option. He needs strength, and that will not come by staying after practice to work with a coach to correct a flaw in his game. He can’t find the “cure” by working diligently over several days to improve a part of his game that has gone into a slump. No, adding strength is not something you do in a week of extra reps and after-workout practices. That won’t happen that quickly for Krabbendam. He must be patient, as must the coaches, something that they are showing will be the case.

At this stage of the season, many might have expected more from Krabbendam. But rather than feel disappointment at the progress of Krabbendam at this stage of his career, perhaps it is better to ask if anything differently should have realistically been expected of him?

A closer look around the conference at the big men of other conference schools suggests that there are not that many who play at a high level in their freshman year, once you get past a select few who have generally been rated as the very elite players coming out of high school. There are 6-9 junior Sean May of North Carolina, 6-9 senior Jawad Williams of North Carolina, 6-10 sophomore Alexander Johnson of Florida State and 2001-02 ACC Freshman of the Year Ed Nelson (who transferred to Connecticut after his sophomore year). Beyond that, you are hard pressed to come up with any other current player who made a significant impact on his team during his freshman season.

Elton Brown averaged 7.6 points and 3.1 rebounds as a freshman at Virginia. 6-8 junior post player Eric Williams averaged 8.7 points and 4.1 rebounds at Wake Forest during his freshman year. But, arguably other than those players just mentioned, most everyone else had minimal to very little impact as a freshman. In fact, the trend seems to be that most players continually build on their freshman years, as they add strength, maturity and experience.

6-9 senior Sharrod Ford of Clemson is one of the conference’s better big men this season. He is averaging 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds. Ford averaged 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds as a freshman. 6-10 junior Akin Akingbala, also of Clemson, is averaging 8.5 points and 5.0 rebounds this season, after averaging 1.1 points and 1.3 rebounds as a freshman, followed by 4.8 and 4.6 numbers as a sophomore.

6-8, 250-pound senior Adam Waleskowski of Florida State is having a solid senior season in Tallahasse. He is averaging 10.1 points and 5.3 boards. Waleskowski has steadily improved on his numbers throughout his career. He averaged 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds as a freshman, followed by 4.1 and 3.0 numbers as a sophomore, then grabbed 5.4 rebounds last year to go along with 6.8 points per game.

7-0 senior center Luke Schenscher of Georgia Tech is another vivid example of patience paying off. Schenscher averaged 9.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last year as a junior, numbers that he has kicked up to 10.1 and 7.5 this year as a senior. Schenscher averaged 4.8 points as a freshman and 3.7 as a sophomore. His rebound averages for those same seasons were 3.2 and 3.1.

At North Carolina State, 6-10 senior center Jordan Collins is having his best year, averaging 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds. Collins averaged 1.6 points as a freshman, 1.4 as a sophomore and 3.0 as a junior. 6-10 sophomore Adam Simons has recently announced his plans to transfer from Raleigh, after averaging 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game as a freshman last year.

The list just goes on and on, with these being some of the many examples of players throughout the conference who have shown more effectiveness and greater contributions as their careers developed. Many didn’t really start contributing until their junior seasons. And while North Carolina has two players in May and Williams who instantly impacted their team, they also have two other players in 6-11 junior Damion Grant and 6-9 junior Byron Sanders who have done little but collect splinters during their time in Chapel Hill. Grant averaged 1.5 points and 1.4 rebounds as a freshman and those numbers have gone down during his subsequent two seasons as a Tar Heel. Sanders averaged 1.9 points and 2.4 rebounds as a freshman, only to see his numbers plunge to 0.5 and 1.0 as a sophomore, followed by 0.9 and 1.4 this season.

Maryland has two front court players who were very highly rated prospects coming out of high school. 6-11 sophomore Will Bowers is averaging 1.7 points and 2.6 rebounds this season after posting 0.8 and 1.2 numbers last year as a freshman. 6-10 sophomore Hassan Fofana, who has announced recent plans to transfer, was averaging 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds, prior to his announcement. Fofana averaged 1.4 points and 1.7 rebounds as a freshman last season. Both Bowers and Fofana were very highly rated prospects and consensus Top-100 prospects.

On-the-job training in the ACC for big men is a very difficult proposition and one that most find problematic during the early part of their career. It is not the easiest conference to leave your stamp upon. 6-10 junior Shavlik Randolph of Duke can attest to that. Randolph was considered by some to be the very best player in his high school class when he entered Duke in the fall of 2002. While Randolph’s career has been far from a disaster, many expected more out of him. His numbers have stayed relatively static during his three years at Duke. Randolph is averaging 6.4 points and 5.1 rebounds this season, following the 7.0 and 4.5 numbers of his sophomore year. Randolph pulled down 3.9 rebounds to go along with his 7.4 points per game as a freshman.

Nope, it might be clearer to look at Krabbendam as symptomatic of the majority of big men who enter the ACC. His career is best judged over its duration. There probably shouldn’t be any early declarations about whether he can be considered a solid ACC big man or potential flop. As the numbers convey, few players come in and have immediate impact on their teams. Instead, it is about patience and development.

Greenberg is showing patience with Krabbendam, while allowing him the freedom to jack up three point attempts. Not everyone can come through your program and have the resiliency of a Bryant Matthews. Matthews was a frequent target of many Hokie fans’ frustration during his first two seasons in Blacksburg. Many lesser-tough individuals, from a mental and confidence standpoint, would have probably gone into a shell for their remaining two years had they endured the constant harping and criticism that Matthews had to put up with during the early part of his career.

Krabbendam has the biggest ally that he could have in his corner in Greenberg. His canvas is still being painted and it is probably wise for all concerned to let him apply the colors that he wants, at the pace he desires, before deciding whether it is something that you want hanging on your wall. Art Galleries throughout the ACC area suggest it is more prudent to wait for the finished product.

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