Minimally. We just need to recruit better shooters, and I think we are.
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It is hard to watch our team. Yes, we are well coached (we switch on defense well and have good hands), but there is no elite player on our team - and we cannot shoot. This is not about this coach versus the old coach - it is about having fun watching a basketball game. For instance - Dee Bost could take over a game and was fun to watch. Arnette Moultrie could take over a game and was fun to watch sky - rebounding or dunking. Ravern could get hot and make 3 pointer after 3 pointer (ones that Fred misses 90% of the time). I watched 2 of our recent wins in person, and actually left the game almost bored. Turned the channel tonight - just no fun to watch (even when we were close).
Hard to lose a game to a highly ranked team when you lost because we missed almost every FT we shot and countless lay ups.
IJ Ready could be a player that could take over. It's almost like he would try but he would end up just passing the ball. He is the best shooter we have. He just doesn't shoot it enough most times. We also have too many slashers and not enough jump shooters. If any of the kids we have coming in next year are slashers, we are in trouble. He needs to find a guy who has good percentages from 3 or at least 15 feet out. Sword has desperately got to develop that part of his game. He will never become an elite player without developing a consistant midrange game.
I'm sure he does hate the 3 to an extent, but i think he was alluding to the fact that nowadays everybody that wears a uni thinks they are a 3 point shooter. Sounded like he was saying that in his offense he used the other guys to get his SHOOTER good looks and made it sound like everybody else jacking up 3s was what frustrated him. Which I can't say I don't agree with. Even bad 3 point shooting teams (like us) have no problem jacking up 20+ a game.
I'd say it's Newman or bust.
Because Newman would be the piece that could get us over the top to make the NCAA tourney. If we don't get him, will we be an NCAA tourney team by Ray's 4th year? Not sure. That is why I think Newman is the total key for Ray. He is a must have recruit.
He's not a must-have. He's a longshot at best that is only considering us because his Dad played there. He is not going to State
I think we will be much improved next season with Ready in his 2nd year, Sword, FTF, and Ware in their 3rd seasons...Roq Johnson is a good 6th man...Daniels will need to play well and Houston will need to be as advertised. We get in the NIT Season 3 and then look forward to having everybody but Roq back for the following season.
I think we absolutely have a chance at the NCAA Tournament in year 4 without Newman. Keep in mind, at that point the only current players who won't be here are Borchert, Roquez Johnson, Bloodman, and Cunningham. The rest of the roster will still be around and with 2 extra years of development. We'll also add quite a few pieces between now and then as well.
Ware - Sr
Daniels - Sr
Thomas - Sr
Sword - Sr
Ready - Jr
Ndoye - So
Davis - Jr
Houston - So
Dunlap - So
Black - So
Scott - Fr
Brown - Fr
Strugg - Fr
That is definitely a potentially strong team if these guys can continue developing. Sword could be an SEC POY candidate by that point, and Ware will be a bear as well.
Just a general question to see some peoples opinion. Me and a buddy were discussing how high Readys ceiling is. He has a good shot, probably best form on the team, good vision, but ultimately the question is his height. My fear is that his height will limit his ceiling and he will struggle to get enough shots off to make a big enough difference on the offensive end. Solid pg but not gonna be a game changer.
I don't see it. I think we're going to struggle mightily to score next year. We lose arguably our best shooter in Borchert. FTF will never be the shooter/scorer that people are expecting him to be. He is a mid-range pull up guy. Sword can only score when driving to the basket. Ready will be asked to do so much next year, which will be difficult given his size.
I like Ray. I think he's a breath of fresh air. But I just don't see it in his recruiting. Our best player committed, Staley, won't even be giving his full attention to basketball. We add 2 big men, 1 who couldn't crack the starting lineup for his high school team and the other averaged 7 pts/game as a junior at Wingfield. We also add a 5'11" SG that can't dribble. Houston is a great athlete but his basketball skills are extremely raw. He'll be about like DeRunnya is this year.
He could be a 10 point and 4 assist guy- and that would be great. He's just a true Freshman. I'm not worried about his contribution offensively moving forward- it's his defense. He is going to get overpowered and shot over too much is my worry.
I love his game and think he has the potential to be as good as he wants to be. He's not really a natural scorer, but he can do it. Ideally, he'd be a few inches taller, but I don't think it's a huge deal. There are plenty of short guards in college who can fill it up.
It's a disadvantage to some degree, but Damon Stoudamire, Avery Johnson, Calvin Murray, Nate Robinson...if you're good enough, it doesn't matter that much.
Shoot, Earl Boykins is 5 inches shorter than Ready and put up 26/game as a senior in college and scored 15/game one year in the NBA. If you can score, you can score.
Ready is always smooth and under control and is able to create his own shot when he wants to. He won't ever be a guy who just starts jacking 3s, and I'm fine with that. He could have scored 15+ tonight had he wanted to, and his height was never an issue. He was still able to get his shot and score in traffic as well.
Have you forgotten about Daniels next year? He'll be starting at the 4. He's Borchert with more quickness but less shooting range
NDoye was playing on a HS All-Star team
Houston should be better than DeRunnya- especially since he will be practicing the whole season.
Ware will be improved- he's made a big jump from last year
Sword certainly needs to work on his jumper- but he can attack the basket
Ready will be improved after a year to adjust
We are so young out there right now its crazy
I agree with you on Ready. I wish he would have taken more 3 pointers tonight instead of passing it off to players who bricked it. We need him to be a leader unfortunately as a freshman but he will learn that role and be a great point guard for us.
This is what I think is being overblown. There are plenty of 5'10" PGs out there in college; it isn't a huge deal, especially not when you aren't asked to carry a huge scoring load. If he can give us 8-10 a game, he's fine. And he won't necessarily be asked to do any more next year than this year. Bloodman and Davis will both be back. If you're talking 2015, then sure, but he'll be a junior then. His height won't be an issue.
And your view isn't necessarily a crazy one, but it's definitely viewing everything through a negative lens. I think Daniels is a better shooter than Borchert. And sure, Sword's game is driving, but there have been plenty of college basketball players who scored a ton without being able to hit a lot of long-range jump shots. He has the potential to be a force, just depends on how he continues to develop.
If you're talking about Ndoye as a guy who couldn't crack his HS starting lineup, then a) he played at Findlay Prep; he would have started on essentially every other HS team in the country. and b) he did eventually start for them. And all the current players say he will be a huge surprise next year. I expect good things from him going forward.