[quote="Class of 72" post=279642][quote="Paultzman" post=279628]One grad big and two & possibly three sit out players is latest staff plan for this year. Of course this is fluid. For those still holding out hope on Owens return, don’t is my educated read.
Multiple sit out transfers to me is disappointing & possibly reflective of a challenging 19 recruiting prognosis net of Kofi perhaps.[/quote]
We have become "Transfer U".
We have become the Nevada of the east.
When your lead recruiter is a transfer specialist and the three amigos are California dreaming you deserve what you get!
Waiting for OTIS to tell us how I am wrong and things are so much better than with the previous staff.[/quote]
While I was not going to put it the same way you did, I was going to mention how this strategy seems to mirror Nevada.
The talent level is different no argument there but let’s look at this years tourny. Having ten scholarship guys available is not necessarily a bad thing. FSU plays everybody but the kitchen sink but Nova usually only plays 8 going to 9 due to foul trouble. Cuse has been short a couple of times over the past couple of years. So has Duke last year or the year before I believe). Injuries though can derail you but Nova was able to overcome until their guys got back due to talent. And that’s where we fell in to trouble. Yes, players like LoVett are hard to replace but we were short bench and talent wise and had nothing to replace him. Wilson probably would have help, even Ellison or Muss if they had stayed but none were going to replace him. If you are going with a ten man team, 7 need to be strong, number 8 has to be at least seviceable and Number 9 has to be able to steal some minutes without hurting you. This team was not there.
I truly think if everyone that was supposed to come back did next year including the three players who sat out this year and we added one more guy at least 6’8” who could be a post presence both scoring and rebounding, we would be a good team with depth and talent. That evidently will not happen with Owens, probably Yakwe (still surprised we haven’t heard anything) leaving. Hopefully Ponds returns.
Frankly I think they need two guys 6’8” or better to come in next year able to play in the interior, rebounding and providing a post presence hopefully with Keita allowing the two incoming freshman a chance to develop.
Nova won with two guys listed at 6’9” (they’re not) both of whom (Spellman and Paschall) could play inside and out side, had good hands, can run, rebound, pass and shoot. They also played small at times with me of the two on the bench and the next tallest guy on the court being Bridges at 6’6” but who could mix it up inside. The key is getting players and developing them. But it starts with getting the players. A combination of kids from high school or prep, Juco and transfers is fine (mostly the first one) but you have to get them in and they have to fit.