Around the Big East 19/20

[quote="Enright" post=384646]In recent years players like LJ could announce for the draft, work out for NBA teams and get feedback on where they would probably be drafted and what areas of their game needed improvement. If they returned to school they could spend the next year concentrating on those areas.
With the corona virus running rampant and a June 3 date when players have to make a decision will there be any opportunity for these workouts?[/quote]

Re NBA draft - no in person workouts or interviews, additional details -
[URL]https://www.cbssports.com/nba/...olving-workouts-or-interviews-with-prospects/[/URL]
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=384643][quote="Paultzman" post=384642]Sense LJ decision wait will be a long one.[/quote]

If that’s the case, we should go out and land a grad transfer ASAP. Can’t be waiting on our refining leading scorer forever.[/quote]

How does it look to others if we move on prematurely from non-troublemaking kids who aren't ready to be moved on from, though? I could see it if we were hammered by sanctions or decimated by injury and he was dilly-dallying with one of only nine or 10 spots, but we have 12 guys presumably ready to go.
 
[quote="L J S A" post=384649][quote="MCNPA" post=384643][quote="Paultzman" post=384642]Sense LJ decision wait will be a long one.[/quote]

If that’s the case, we should go out and land a grad transfer ASAP. Can’t be waiting on our refining leading scorer forever.[/quote]

How does it look to others if we move on prematurely from non-troublemaking kids who aren't ready to be moved on from, though? I could see it if we were hammered by sanctions or decimated by injury and he was dilly-dallying with one of only nine or 10 spots, but we have 12 guys presumably ready to go.[/quote]

This isn’t premature. We are in April and LJ our number 1 potential returning player. We have depth but we aren’t loaded with front end talent and LJ is likely our most experienced and best talent overall. It doesn’t seem to be effecting others because we aren’t at the stage where we are landing top talent. Losing LJ would be a big loss. Not replacing him with any talent a bigger loss. We’d be entering the season with one juco wing scorer only which we are hanging our hat on. Teams like uconn have 3-4 of them.
 
Something to remember here, while LJ will and should take his time with this decision, we aren't the only school with this issue. Many schools are playing the same waiting game and will be for much of the summer. Honestly, coaches have to make the decision whether they are going to push someone out and continue recruiting or hope that the player returns and if not then get a last minute guy. Pushing someone out happens often in college basketball but I don't see that being CMA's thing.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=384652]Losing LJ would be a big loss. Not replacing him with any talent a bigger loss.[/quote]

There is no replacing him with a guy we bring in, though. Unless we land Turner, which isn't happening, I think we shift guys around and hope for the best.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=384652][quote="L J S A" post=384649][quote="MCNPA" post=384643][quote="Paultzman" post=384642]Sense LJ decision wait will be a long one.[/quote]

If that’s the case, we should go out and land a grad transfer ASAP. Can’t be waiting on our refining leading scorer forever.[/quote]

How does it look to others if we move on prematurely from non-troublemaking kids who aren't ready to be moved on from, though? I could see it if we were hammered by sanctions or decimated by injury and he was dilly-dallying with one of only nine or 10 spots, but we have 12 guys presumably ready to go.[/quote]

This isn’t premature. We are in April and LJ our number 1 potential returning player. We have depth but we aren’t loaded with front end talent and LJ is likely our most experienced and best talent overall. It doesn’t seem to be effecting others because we aren’t at the stage where we are landing top talent. Losing LJ would be a big loss. Not replacing him with any talent a bigger loss. We’d be entering the season with one juco wing scorer only which we are hanging our hat on. Teams like uconn have 3-4 of them.[/quote]

Cole, Dunn, Williams, caraher, wusu, Champaigne can all play time at the wing.
 
Re LJ, it seems an example of “between a rock & hard place” analogy. Of course staff wants him to stay, but because the time span for declaration process is longer than usual, they are hamstrung attracting a grad transfer with scoring capability to fill that void. Grads worth pursuing want guarantees re playing time and until LJ decides his next move that seems impossible to accommodate. I still think LJ returns, but clearly this is a dilemma.

Frankly I thought McGriff would exit in face of more than an ample guard cadre on board limiting his minutes this season. Having never seen him play, perhaps he surprises.
 
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[quote="Paultzman" post=384658]Frankly I thought McGriff would exit in face of more than an ample guard cadre on board limiting his minutes this season. Having never seen him play, perhaps he surprises.[/quote]

Does he lose a year of eligibility by transferring, though? Maybe he figured it's better to wait until he's a grad transfer or the rule changes.
 
[quote="L J S A" post=384660][quote="Paultzman" post=384658]Frankly I thought McGriff would exit in face of more than an ample guard cadre on board limiting his minutes this season. Having never seen him play, perhaps he surprises.[/quote]

Does he lose a year of eligibility by transferring, though? Maybe he figured it's better to wait until he's a grad transfer or the rule changes.[/quote]
Good point
 
[quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384645]Put me in the camp that thinks we should absolutely wait for LJ to make his decision. And who are we kidding thinking it will be a quick one? Nba draft stuff has no timetable at this point. We’ve got 12 guys for next year as is, LJ is the cherry on top.[/quote]

The leading returning scorer is the cherry on top?
 
[quote="Moose" post=384665][quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384645]Put me in the camp that thinks we should absolutely wait for LJ to make his decision. And who are we kidding thinking it will be a quick one? Nba draft stuff has no timetable at this point. We’ve got 12 guys for next year as is, LJ is the cherry on top.[/quote]

The leading returning scorer is the cherry on top?[/quote]

I like the 12 we have without him. I love the 13 we have with LJ. Many here thought all year LJ wasn’t gonna be returning. So yea him coming back would be the cherry on top. We aren’t gonna get a guy who can come close to LJs production to spend his last year on a full team. LJ, being already clearly the best player of the bunch doesn’t have to worry about minutes or shots.
 
[quote="Moose" post=384665][quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384645]Put me in the camp that thinks we should absolutely wait for LJ to make his decision. And who are we kidding thinking it will be a quick one? Nba draft stuff has no timetable at this point. We’ve got 12 guys for next year as is, LJ is the cherry on top.[/quote]

The leading returning scorer is the cherry on top?[/quote]

Yeah I don’t get that either. He’s a big piece of the puzzle on whether we can be a tourney team or not. We aren’t loaded with top tier talent and LJ is at the top of that heap on our team. If he leaves we are relying on freshmen or juco transfers to fill that void. I’m not happy with the scenario. He isn’t being drafted by the NBA. He’s got no shot at that right now. I’d have preferred we were able to get a decision about “going pro” earlier so we could grab a grad transfer like we did with Durand, rather than be caught with our pants down. There’s no way we are a better team without our best player.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=384667][quote="Moose" post=384665][quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384645]Put me in the camp that thinks we should absolutely wait for LJ to make his decision. And who are we kidding thinking it will be a quick one? Nba draft stuff has no timetable at this point. We’ve got 12 guys for next year as is, LJ is the cherry on top.[/quote]

The leading returning scorer is the cherry on top?[/quote]

Yeah I don’t get that either. He’s a big piece of the puzzle on whether we can be a tourney team or not. We aren’t loaded with top tier talent and LJ is at the top of that heap on our team. If he leaves we are relying on freshmen or juco transfers to fill that void. I’m not happy with the scenario. He isn’t being drafted by the NBA. He’s got no shot at that right now. I’d have preferred we were able to get a decision about “going pro” earlier so we could grab a grad transfer like we did with Durand, rather than be caught with our pants down. There’s no way we are a better team without our best player.[/quote]

Yea read your last sentence and then you’ll get it.
 
[quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384666][quote="Moose" post=384665][quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384645]Put me in the camp that thinks we should absolutely wait for LJ to make his decision. And who are we kidding thinking it will be a quick one? Nba draft stuff has no timetable at this point. We’ve got 12 guys for next year as is, LJ is the cherry on top.[/quote]

The leading returning scorer is the cherry on top?[/quote]

I like the 12 we have without him. I love the 13 we have with LJ. Many here thought all year LJ wasn’t gonna be returning. So yea him coming back would be the cherry on top. We aren’t gonna get a guy who can come close to LJs production to spend his last year on a full team. LJ, being already clearly the best player of the bunch doesn’t have to worry about minutes or shots.[/quote]

I'd be seriously concerned about who our go to scoring option is if he isn't back or we don't have time to find someone else who can put in 13-15 ppg. Sure it may by Cole. I hope it is of course. But I'd feel a lot more comfortable with a 22 year old senior and everyone else falling into other tiers in the pecking order.
 
[quote="Moose" post=384670][quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384666][quote="Moose" post=384665][quote="Amaseinyourface" post=384645]Put me in the camp that thinks we should absolutely wait for LJ to make his decision. And who are we kidding thinking it will be a quick one? Nba draft stuff has no timetable at this point. We’ve got 12 guys for next year as is, LJ is the cherry on top.[/quote]

The leading returning scorer is the cherry on top?[/quote]

I like the 12 we have without him. I love the 13 we have with LJ. Many here thought all year LJ wasn’t gonna be returning. So yea him coming back would be the cherry on top. We aren’t gonna get a guy who can come close to LJs production to spend his last year on a full team. LJ, being already clearly the best player of the bunch doesn’t have to worry about minutes or shots.[/quote]

I'd be seriously concerned about who our go to scoring option is if he isn't back or we don't have time to find someone else who can put in 13-15 ppg. Sure it may by Cole. I hope it is of course. But I'd feel a lot more comfortable with a 22 year old senior and everyone else falling into other tiers in the pecking order.[/quote]

Then all we differ on is the ability to find a capable guy to do that. We don’t have much minutes available to attract an outsider even without LJ. IMO anyone we could get would probably fall in our 6-10 range and to me the risk waiting on LJ is worth in comparison to that. Obviously, in a perfect world we want 13 guys.
 
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Last year LJ averaged 15, Heron 14, Dunn 12, Champ 10 & Earlington 9. No doubt we are far better off if LJ comes back but it's not like we won't have any scorers if he doesn't. I expect Dunn, Champ & Earlington's scoring numbers may all go a little bit up plus Cole should be a scorer and Greg will get better offensively.
In any event, we have no choice but to wait for LJ to make his decision and hope it goes our way. Was clear from the interview that Coach is fully supportive of him going through the process. If he decides to leave in late May or June we are not going to find a replacement but I don't believe it would be fatal to us having a very solid season. Lots of depth and some new kids who may surprise if given the opportunity. I expect Torro to give us some productive minutes too.
 
Naji Marshall makes his jump to the NBA - and departure from Xavier official by signing with an agent.
 
LJ should return and we should sit tight until he makes his decision. He is presumptively our best player going into next year. He is also our best scoring option going into next year. The returning cast will be benefit immeasurably from having LJ as a threat that other teams need to focus on. The flip side, and where LJ can benefit, is that by having a deeper roster with more scoring options around him, it will hopefully free him up some. You saw that happen as the season progressed when Earlington, Champ, etc started scoring more on opposing defenses.

LJ can get a degree and work on his game with good coaches in a positive setting, instead of dealing with the chaos going on in the world right now and what that might mean for purposes of him playing basketball professionally on some level.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=384672]Last year LJ averaged 15, Heron 14, Dunn 12, Champ 10 & Earlington 9. No doubt we are far better off if LJ comes back but it's not like we won't have any scorers if he doesn't. I expect Dunn, Champ & Earlington's scoring numbers may all go a little bit up plus Cole should be a scorer and Greg will get better offensively.
In any event, we have no choice but to wait for LJ to make his decision and hope it goes our way. Was clear from the interview that Coach is fully supportive of him going through the process. If he decides to leave in late May or June we are not going to find a replacement but I don't believe it would be fatal to us having a very solid season. Lots of depth and some new kids who may surprise if given the opportunity. I expect Torro to give us some productive minutes too.[/quote]

Everyone is getting better eh? Talk about the perfect scenario ;)
 
[quote="Moose" post=384682][quote="NCJohnnie" post=384672]Last year LJ averaged 15, Heron 14, Dunn 12, Champ 10 & Earlington 9. No doubt we are far better off if LJ comes back but it's not like we won't have any scorers if he doesn't. I expect Dunn, Champ & Earlington's scoring numbers may all go a little bit up plus Cole should be a scorer and Greg will get better offensively.
In any event, we have no choice but to wait for LJ to make his decision and hope it goes our way. Was clear from the interview that Coach is fully supportive of him going through the process. If he decides to leave in late May or June we are not going to find a replacement but I don't believe it would be fatal to us having a very solid season. Lots of depth and some new kids who may surprise if given the opportunity. I expect Torro to give us some productive minutes too.[/quote]

Everyone is getting better eh? Talk about the perfect scenario ;)[/quote]

Believe it or not, I believe that they will all get better. I saw so much improvement from these kids under Mike Anderson last year that I think we will see a cohesive team that once again plays our best ball as the season rolls on. We will have much more talented depth this year though. I’d feel much better if I knew we had LJ coming back though because I’m tired of learning seasons and I’d like to have him here as a senior with a good supporting cast. He showed what he’s capable of with the Ponds/Clark/Simon team. He can get back to that with good players around him.
 
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