Can you give examples of a third tier country or two? I'm wondering if I've ever been to one.
I like your take. But with so few guys on the roster returning next year, how much does what is being established this year with mature players carry over into next year? I think it's a fair to ask how much of what we are seeing has been instilled by coaching staff, and how much was already there when the players arrived from their previous stops. My guess is that it is a lot easier to instill culture in a group of 21-22 plus year old players who are previously disposed to it than 18 year olds who are brand new to the culture and adult life.
Freeman stats playing for Pacific (4-3): 7GP, 2 starts, 13 mpg, 7.1 ppg, 3.1 Reb, 73% FG, 67% FT and 4 blocks. No doubt he would have been an asset in the 5 spot. But............
Perhaps equal parts, but it does make one wonder whether there's an undiscovered formula out there: one where you do business to a greater degree by bringing in mature and experienced transfers.
This is a fair question. Teams with experienced guards are often a "tough out".
Welcome back! Seems like you were gone a long time.
Especially ones that aren't likely to play in the NBA. I think there is going to be an efficiency for the mid-tier programs looking to build depth/role players with this model.
This is the problem with the discussion board format. One often replies to a post in a thread more generally than to the poster. I did not mean to point the finger squarely at you.... just the general rehashing that people here tend to do.
They tried to land two post players who decided to turn pro during the summer and I don't believe either is on a pro team currently.
But the recruiters have a lot more data on older guys, thus reducing the risk of bringing in players who would not buy in. You would not bring in a player without a high level of confidence of his buying in.
Yes, I know that but it looks like we needed a Plan A, B, C, D, E, and F, etc. and also needed to "settle" if that's what it took to get at least one more serviceable big body. Most of these players were short timers anyway; not long-term commitments.
A lot of assumptions are being made here, Ben's not multiple years into his tenure like Pitino was when all of these issues came to the for front. We can debate the reasons why, and who he wated to stay who the staff took a pass on for a variety of reasons, but Ben had to piece together an entire roster. I don't think part of the plan was for both of his four's to get, he added Odele after Ihnen went down so he got what was left in the scrap pile then, but Parker should be back before the season ends. We went after Manley and Mitchell, they both wanted to try and get pro contracts and Mitchell wanted to be a stretch four not a five if he came on board. Went after Theo John, then Duke swooped in. Came down to us and Iowa for Rabraska (sp?) Disagree with you on Pohto, nice offensive touch, but he's too soft in the post, and this staff clearly values guys who will D up. Gaston's an example of four years of wasting a scholly, so if you don't want to commit to that, it's better to cut bait now. Anyways, we have a top 80 big man (Prep Hoops) in Payne coming in next year, if Thompson isn't ready next year we will most likely bring in another transfer post to play back up minutes. It is what it is this year, Ben isn't going to have to turn over the whole roster every off season and going forward he will have a track record and recruits will actually be able to see what this staff is about, good and bad. There's only 13 spots and in this era of transfers, most teams aren't going to use all 13 and I think a lot of fans are accepting a hard time accepting that. Point is if you sat down and thought about every dooms day scenario you would need about 35 guys on your roster, it's just not realistic. For this year I would say enjoy the wins when they come, coaching is clearly better than anything we've had since Dave Thorson's first stint as an Assistant, we won last night because we moved the ball better, played better team defense and made better adjustments than Pitt did. Pitt clearly had the superior athletes, but no cohesive plan on offense, we threw a Zone at them at the right times to stop scoring runs and to fluster their guards on the last possession. Capel is probably going to get fired over there, this team has warts, but at least our warts can be fixed with recruiting, unlike with the previous Staff.
Thompson's from here, If you get the job on the premise of being able to keep the best athletes home and one of your first moves is to run off a homegrown Freshman ranked in the composite top 175 (100th on Prep Hoops) I don't think that's going to go over well with the top high school coaches and local AAU programs. Different sport, but even Fleck played that game when he got here, he released all of Claeys out of state recruits, but kept all of the Minnesotans and then filled the rest of the class after he was hired.
That's THE Citadel...
They were on their couches and not at the game. Sadly, that is mostly here to stay.
Depends, all about the right mind set, in this case we have a lot of older guys from smaller schools who have a chip on their shoulder and want to prove that they belong on a Big Ten stage. I think there's a lot of guys like that so I'm not too worried about finding three guys who can give us what Willis, Stephens, Loewe and Sutherlin are bringing here. Clearly this staff is good venting guys and finding what they want, there just wasn't a base of incoming freshman and returning players for them to join, but I think if this team still had Johnson, Robbins, Mashburn and Gabe to pair with the four guys I mentioned a long with Battle and a healthy Fox, it would be a pretty good team, so we will see how it all meshes next year with five returning players and the three Freshman
Thank you! I've just been so busy with so many things, and it's hard to dip only one toe in the GopherHole without it becoming an investment in time. And I mean that as a compliment to you all: this is a smart, fun and engaging crowd.
Never said you did, but you made a comparison to Pohto and Thompson with the eye test comment and I am offering you reasons why he may of kept Treyton instead, or maybe Ben just thought he was a better prospect, just like all of the recruiting sites said he was. and he may of thought he had Manley in the bag, but unfortunately with scholarship limits you can't have insurance for everything, they don't let you put 40 guys on roster. Pick your 12 or 13 and two or three walkons and you deal with it shit as it comes. If Pohto isn't what you want in a player, it's better to cut bait right away and let him find the best situation for himself. Now, maybe Ben fucked up and let a good player go, will see how Pohto progresses, will see if he toughens up down low or if he stays a guy with the body of a five but the mind set a stretch four and will see if Thompson can put on the 20-25 good pound that he will need to be effective, if he can't than Ben will recruit over him and then probably give him the choice of helping him find a spot at a lower level or accepting his role as the 12th or 13th guy on the roster in the coming years, ball is in his court.
Kazakhstan is quite lovely this time of year.
Good info. Freeman is not a starter on most, if any Big Ten teams. What he is, is a wide body who can keep someone out of the paint for a few minutes at a time- something that would have been good last night and will be on a lot of nights in the Big Ten
Split with Penn State and Northwestern and wins at home against Rutgers and Maryland