Missing the point!

[REB]

from what I was told by someone Lovett is going to be basically able to penetrate at will and maybe ponds too so someone like Mussini is going to thrive with players like that who can collapse the defense and kick out and I think he is going to get a ton of open looks and since he wont be as tired I think his shooting % is going to go higher.

I also could see Ellison getting time in kind of a point forward type of role

While I agree with the idea however if Lovett is playing 35 minutes and Ponds 25 that leaves 20 minutes for Mussini / Ellison

I'm hoping that Lovett is as great as he looks on his tapes next year. That would be awesome but even if he is I don't expect him to average more than 25-30 minutes a game. Chris will have a deep team and will want to keep everyone fresh and make sure key guys get enough run to keep contributing.

 

[redmannorth]

People have to stop with the Lovett playing 35 minutes a game. He will play 25 minutes most nights and get spelled by either or both of Ponds and Mussini. No reason for him to play 35 minutes a game. I anticipate Ponds and Mussini each playing 20-25 minutes with the balance going to Ellison. All 4 young players will be happy with that allocation.

 

[Eric]

Man I've seen some awfully lofty expectations placed on kids that most have never seen play a minute of high school ball and no one has seen play a second of college ball. Just wondering what will happen around here if Lovett and/or Ponds turn out to be more Elijah Ingram then Kenny Anderson and don't dominate from the minute they suit up?

I don't think they are that lofty. Just natural maturation of 3-4 solid guys from this year that we can expect to produce next year. Added to a top 30 player shooting up the recruiting ranks and playing more like a top 20 guy, a top juco guy, a potentially good 6 ft 9 top euro, Lovett and Owens who we don't have that much to go on. Anyone with a good handle this year would have helped us out so much. Lovett if anything has a good handle. Plus Mullin is a year wiser. I really don't think I'm expecting g all that much more than the guys who might be tempering expectations (think I saw some ppl saying 15 wins).
Not that much a difference looking for 5-6 more. A point guard this year would have helped with close to that is my thoughts. But in the end. I root for these guys like you all do. I am actually enjoying this season watching these guys develop here and there. And I hope Malik sima Mussini and yakwe all continue to develop and contribute for us over the next few years when the higher ranked players come as I appreciate they came here to start it off

Eric I was speaking about the expectations and hype surrounding Lovett and Ponds, not the existing players, staff and team as a whole. We have a tendency to way overhype kids and then bitch and moan when they don't live up to the unrealistic expectations placed on them by fans who mostly rely on YouTube clips to evaluate their talent. Think about how many times the recruiting "experts" are wrong. And these are guys who do this for a living, and they watch these kids live countless times in high school. Then we've got our recruiting "experts" who, in spite of never having seen these kids play live, have determined that Lovett is already one of the best PGs in the country and that Ponds was robbed of an MCAA nomination. Oh and that Ponds, all 5'11" of him, is a sure fire big time scoring 2G.

I hear ya monte. And completely understand your points. I may be expecting too much from ponds Lovett and Ahmed myself. But then again maybe they will be even better than I think they be will too. I'm not expecting them to be stars But I do expect them to contribute and play at the very least decent sized roles on thus upcoming season.

 

[redfan259999888]

from what I was told by someone Lovett is going to be basically able to penetrate at will and maybe ponds too so someone like Mussini is going to thrive with players like that who can collapse the defense and kick out and I think he is going to get a ton of open looks and since he wont be as tired I think his shooting % is going to go higher.

I also could see Ellison getting time in kind of a point forward type of role

If Lovett can be like Kenny Anderson was at Georgia Tech, damn he'll be real special.
Can't expect that in his year though.

 

[ras]

Man I've seen some awfully lofty expectations placed on kids that most have never seen play a minute of high school ball and no one has seen play a second of college ball. Just wondering what will happen around here if Lovett and/or Ponds turn out to be more Elijah Ingram then Kenny Anderson and don't dominate from the minute they suit up?

We re a starved fan base. All we have is hope. Let us dream.

 

[mjmaherjr]

from what I was told by someone Lovett is going to be basically able to penetrate at will and maybe ponds too so someone like Mussini is going to thrive with players like that who can collapse the defense and kick out and I think he is going to get a ton of open looks and since he wont be as tired I think his shooting % is going to go higher.

I also could see Ellison getting time in kind of a point forward type of role

If Lovett can be like Kenny Anderson was at Georgia Tech, damn he'll be real special.
Can't expect that in his year though.

I am never good at comparisons but while I'd be ecstatic with your's I'd be happy with our own Showtime as well

 

[L J S A]

I am never good at comparisons but while I'd be ecstatic with your's I'd be happy with our own Showtime as well

Probably a more realistic comparison than Kenny Anderson.

 

[OLV72]

It's unrealustic to expect an 8 to ten win team improve to 20 to 22 wins in one season.

13 to 15 wins in season two of the rebuild is substantial progress.

As for Lovett...I'm sure he's an exciting player who will improve the team, but I wonder how much of our interest is due to the fact that he's yet to see the court. He's going to be a first year player with flaws.

It takes the best coaches in this game three plus years to produce tournament teams with the one exception - the Cal / UK marriage.

 

[SJU14]

It's unrealustic to expect an 8 to ten win team improve to 20 to 22 wins in one season.

13 to 15 wins in season two of the rebuild is substantial progress.

As for Lovett...I'm sure he's an exciting player who will improve the team, but I wonder how much of our interest is due to the fact that he's yet to see the court. He's going to be a first year player with flaws.

It takes the best coaches in this game three plus years to produce tournament teams with the one exception - the Cal / UK marriage.

I think most people here feel that year 3 will be the year to be a bubble team and hopefully make the tournament. Next year will hopefully be a 14-16 win year with year three being a 20 win season. That should be the goal and a reasonable expectation.

 

[OLV72]

It's unrealustic to expect an 8 to ten win team improve to 20 to 22 wins in one season.

13 to 15 wins in season two of the rebuild is substantial progress.

As for Lovett...I'm sure he's an exciting player who will improve the team, but I wonder how much of our interest is due to the fact that he's yet to see the court. He's going to be a first year player with flaws.

It takes the best coaches in this game three plus years to produce tournament teams with the one exception - the Cal / UK marriage.

I think most people here feel that year 3 will be the year to be a bubble team and hopefully make the tournament. Next year will hopefully be a 14-16 win year with year three being a 20 win season. That should be the goal and a reasonable expectation.

Agreed. And this is if all goes well...no injuries, eligibility, player and coach development

 

[we are sju]

Man I've seen some awfully lofty expectations placed on kids that most have never seen play a minute of high school ball and no one has seen play a second of college ball. Just wondering what will happen around here if Lovett and/or Ponds turn out to be more Elijah Ingram then Kenny Anderson and don't dominate from the minute they suit up?

If you take away hope that those guys will be good what is the program left with? What are you going to do next tell a bunch of 6 year olds Santa Claus isn't real?

 

[we are sju]

People have to stop with the Lovett playing 35 minutes a game. He will play 25 minutes most nights and get spelled by either or both of Ponds and Mussini. No reason for him to play 35 minutes a game. I anticipate Ponds and Mussini each playing 20-25 minutes with the balance going to Ellison. All 4 young players will be happy with that allocation.

Call me crazy but I am a firm believer that your best players should play the most minutes. You know like how good teams do it.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Man I've seen some awfully lofty expectations placed on kids that most have never seen play a minute of high school ball and no one has seen play a second of college ball. Just wondering what will happen around here if Lovett and/or Ponds turn out to be more Elijah Ingram then Kenny Anderson and don't dominate from the minute they suit up?

If you take away hope that those guys will be good what is the program left with? What are you going to do next tell a bunch of 6 year olds Santa Claus isn't real?

why did you just have to ruin my christmas ?

 

[we are sju]

Man I've seen some awfully lofty expectations placed on kids that most have never seen play a minute of high school ball and no one has seen play a second of college ball. Just wondering what will happen around here if Lovett and/or Ponds turn out to be more Elijah Ingram then Kenny Anderson and don't dominate from the minute they suit up?

If you take away hope that those guys will be good what is the program left with? What are you going to do next tell a bunch of 6 year olds Santa Claus isn't real?

why did you just have to ruin my christmas ?

Festivus for the rest of us?

 

[Eric]

It's unrealustic to expect an 8 to ten win team improve to 20 to 22 wins in one season.

13 to 15 wins in season two of the rebuild is substantial progress.

As for Lovett...I'm sure he's an exciting player who will improve the team, but I wonder how much of our interest is due to the fact that he's yet to see the court. He's going to be a first year player with flaws.

It takes the best coaches in this game three plus years to produce tournament teams with the one exception - the Cal / UK marriage.

all depends on the situation for each team in that situation. Too general a statement to say unrealistic. If the incoming recruits are as good as potentially they can be added to talent and progress of our returning players then increasing win total to 13-15 is not substantial. So let's meet in the middle. I'll temper my win total from 20 ish to 18. Point I'm trying to make is that we will be considerably better next year and I can see potentially a spot to the ncaas. Could I be off a couple wins? Of course. But I love what we have and what is coming in. Would be nice to add one more real solid recruit though.

 

[OLV72]

It's unrealustic to expect an 8 to ten win team improve to 20 to 22 wins in one season.

13 to 15 wins in season two of the rebuild is substantial progress.

As for Lovett...I'm sure he's an exciting player who will improve the team, but I wonder how much of our interest is due to the fact that he's yet to see the court. He's going to be a first year player with flaws.

It takes the best coaches in this game three plus years to produce tournament teams with the one exception - the Cal / UK marriage.

all depends on the situation for each team in that situation. Too general a statement to say unrealistic. If the incoming recruits are as good as potentially they can be added to talent and progress of our returning players then increasing win total to 13-15 is not substantial. So let's meet in the middle. I'll temper my win total from 20 ish to 18. Point I'm trying to make is that we will be considerably better next year and I can see potentially a spot to the ncaas. Could I be off a couple wins? Of course. But I love what we have and what is coming in. Would be nice to add one more real solid recruit though.

Eric, I'm the guy in section 114 with the rose colored glasses thinking this team will win every game. I play the pick six with single tickets thinking I have a winner.

If next seasons team can win 15 games I'll be very satisfied. If they win 17 I'll be thrilled and tip my cap to you

I hope you're right

 

[REB]

People have to stop with the Lovett playing 35 minutes a game. He will play 25 minutes most nights and get spelled by either or both of Ponds and Mussini. No reason for him to play 35 minutes a game. I anticipate Ponds and Mussini each playing 20-25 minutes with the balance going to Ellison. All 4 young players will be happy with that allocation.

Call me crazy but I am a firm believer that your best players should play the most minutes. You know like how good teams do it.

I don't think good teams generally have freshmen that play 35 minutes. If they are a good team they already have too many other good players for that to be possible. Only exception might be a one and done lottery pick ... think Carmelo carrying the Cuse to the national title ... but I don't think anyone is anointing Marcus L as a future Hall of Famer yet. The minutes/game over/under should be 25, maybe 27 for Marcus next year.

 

[monte]

Man I've seen some awfully lofty expectations placed on kids that most have never seen play a minute of high school ball and no one has seen play a second of college ball. Just wondering what will happen around here if Lovett and/or Ponds turn out to be more Elijah Ingram then Kenny Anderson and don't dominate from the minute they suit up?

If you take away hope that those guys will be good what is the program left with? What are you going to do next tell a bunch of 6 year olds Santa Claus isn't real?

Did you hear me say those guys wouldn't be good? All I'm doing is preaching patience at a time when some on here are getting carried away with expectations for individual kids. No one is more optimistic about the future of the program than I am. Hell I'm hoping for 16-20 wins next year. Not trying to squash anyone's dreams, but as is oftentimes the case here expectations are based more on simple wishful thinking, and some Youtube videos, than anything else.

 

[we are sju]

People have to stop with the Lovett playing 35 minutes a game. He will play 25 minutes most nights and get spelled by either or both of Ponds and Mussini. No reason for him to play 35 minutes a game. I anticipate Ponds and Mussini each playing 20-25 minutes with the balance going to Ellison. All 4 young players will be happy with that allocation.

Call me crazy but I am a firm believer that your best players should play the most minutes. You know like how good teams do it.

I don't think good teams generally have freshmen that play 35 minutes. If they are a good team they already have too many other good players for that to be possible. Only exception might be a one and done lottery pick ... think Carmelo carrying the Cuse to the national title ... but I don't think anyone is anointing Marcus L as a future Hall of Famer yet. The minutes/game over/under should be 25, maybe 27 for Marcus next year.

Yes but Lovett will be coming to a sub 10 win team. If this team had just a solid BE guard like a Phil Greene or even Jamal Branch I would normally agree with you. On next years team if we are going to come close to making an NIT Lovett is going to log big minutes. If Lovett is not good enough to take most of Mussini or Ellison's minutes than you are looking at a sub 15 win team.

 

[logen]

For a frame of reference, there is not a player on what I consider the best 5 teams in the BE, Nova, X, PC, Butler, SHU averaging 35 minutes. Only Bentl, Dunn and Jones average more than 31. Lovett or anyone else won't come close to 35 IMO.