Realistic Outlook for Next Season

[MakingPlays]

This off-season hasn't looked like anyone expected, it would have been nice to return a good portion of the roster that finished 4th place in the Big East, with the new transfer rule it just wasn't in the cards, and I can understand the frustration, I've been there myself, this new rule IMO is hurting college basketball, but that's another topic.

When the off-season started if someone asked what would be the worst thing that could happen.  Most would have said Julian declaring for the draft and staying or Posh transferring.  Next season was always riding on those 2 guys returning and improving everything else was just icing on the cake, and all signs at this moment point to both of those guys returning.  Julian isn't on a single draft board and very likely won't be invited to combine, so at this moment it's likely he returns to school, he has everything to gain by returning for another season and improving, he's one of those guys that can actually improve his stock dramatically with another year.

And assuming Julian is back, you then have Posh and Wusu who are both still on the roster.  There's been debate on just how important Wusu is, and the answer to that is very important, he was always among the last 5 on the court to close games, very often he would actually be the guy they would run isolation plays for to get easy buckets attacking the rim.  Him, Posh, and Julian were probably the only 3 that were always in the closing lineup, the other two guys varied depending on who was having a good game at the time.  

So, looking at next season, Julian could very well be Big East POY.  John Fanta actually said he thinks both Julian and Posh will compete for big east POY next year.  Unless both Gillipse and Earl-Robinson return there's not going to be a team in the Big East that has a better duo, those two guys alone will have the Johnnies projected in pre-season top 5 of the Big East.  Then you look at the rest of the current roster, Wusu will assume a bigger role, my guess is he'll be the 6th man and still be a closer, his minutes will probably go up to around 25 MPG.  Stef Smith, IMO, will be a solid starter at the two guard spot. Then you have Pinzon who I think will probably be the 7th man in the rotation and have a "Wusu like" freshman season, I think CMA will use him at several different spots playing him at the 1, 2, and 3.  All the staff needs to do this off-season is find 2 more quality players.  They need a starting center and a wing, that can either start or be a solid back-up and they can move Wusu in the starting lineup.  If they can do that, the other 2 remaining spots they can really go in any direction.

 

[ras]

Have to see how the final line up looks  before speculating on next season. Hopefully we can pick up some quality pieces, esp. at the 5.

 

[Amaseinyourface]

I think a fair and realistic question without placing any blame or responsibility on coach or players is, are you more confident we will have a tournament team now than you were after the BE tournament loss? 

 

[mjmaherjr]

I’ll be able to have realistic outlook for next season when we get about 4 more players and even then I’ll be basing it on only have seen Max 3 players play so that’s about as realistic as I’m gonna get

 

[guinness77]

Way too soon. 

Let the cards play out, see who the staff brings in, see what happens with Champaigne and see what happens with the other teams in the BE. We haven’t won a Tournament game in 2 decades so to answer one question, yes, I think it’s just as likely we make the Tourney than I thought a few weeks ago. 

 

[MCNPA]

Can’t say anything until we see who we fill out roster with.  If nobody else leaves and Champs is back and we add a few good pieces, it’s possible we could be quite good.  Still a ways to go before filling out the roster.  At this point we have kept our best pieces which is encouraging.  The first 2 replacements have been quite good.

 

[SLYFOXX1968]

Now , if CMA brings in 1/2 the Arkansas team and Abmas from Oral Robert’s , speculation on next years team would be easy .  On a unrelated note , is anyone as surprised that Scottie Lewis has hired a Agent and declared for NBA ?  

 

[NCJohnnie]

Not going to speculate other than to say I don't feel better about our chances of dancing now than I did when the season ended. That could well change when the chairs are all filled and we know Champ's decision. 

 

[monte]

I think a fair and realistic question without placing any blame or responsibility on coach or players is, are you more confident we will have a tournament team now than you were after the BE tournament loss? 

Less, the way things stand at the moment. I probably put more emphasis on continuity then most people. We are going to have 3 new starters next season, and a completely new bench except for Wusu. We already know that there will be a big learning curve and I expect that we'll deal with some tough early season losses while the newcomers learn the system.  Best case scenario we fill the remaining roster spots with solid additions, and by the time we get to league play next year we're operating on all cylinders and come selection Sunday we are dancing. 
 

 

[redmannorth]

I think a fair and realistic question without placing any blame or responsibility on coach or players is, are you more confident we will have a tournament team now than you were after the BE tournament loss? 

Less, the way things stand at the moment. I probably put more emphasis on continuity then most people. We are going to have 3 new starters next season, and a completely new bench except for Wusu. We already know that there will be a big learning curve and I expect that we'll deal with some tough early season losses while the newcomers learn the system.  Best case scenario we fill the remaining roster spots with solid additions, and by the time we get to league play next year we're operating on all cylinders and come selection Sunday we are dancing. 

 

Without knowing if the BE scoring leader is returning and if we will get at least two high level players to fill the open slots it is absolutely impossible to know where we will place next season. If Champ comes back and we can get a solid post player we can be good. I like Smith and Wheeler so far and would like to see a post with a track record closer to Smith than Wheeler. So far 6 new faces for next season and I like all of them. The next 2 additions are really key for future success. The one thing I do know is that CMA and staff will work their buts off to complete the roster with the best possible players that fit their system. 

 

[lawmanfan]

No more than 2 losses in the OOC schedule, .500 plus in the league, team gets better as the season goes on, top half of the league finish, NCAA tourney.

 

[monte]

No more than 2 losses in the OOC schedule, .500 plus in the league, team gets better as the season goes on, top half of the league finish, NCAA tourney.

Where do I sign up??? lol 
 

 

[monte]

I think a fair and realistic question without placing any blame or responsibility on coach or players is, are you more confident we will have a tournament team now than you were after the BE tournament loss? 

Less, the way things stand at the moment. I probably put more emphasis on continuity then most people. We are going to have 3 new starters next season, and a completely new bench except for Wusu. We already know that there will be a big learning curve and I expect that we'll deal with some tough early season losses while the newcomers learn the system.  Best case scenario we fill the remaining roster spots with solid additions, and by the time we get to league play next year we're operating on all cylinders and come selection Sunday we are dancing. 


 

Without knowing if the BE scoring leader is returning and if we will get at least two high level players to fill the open slots it is absolutely impossible to know where we will place next season. If Champ comes back and we can get a solid post player we can be good. I like Smith and Wheeler so far and would like to see a post with a track record closer to Smith than Wheeler. So far 6 new faces for next season and I like all of them. The next 2 additions are really key for future success. The one thing I do know is that CMA and staff will work their buts off to complete the roster with the best possible players that fit their system. 

Yes, way too many unknowns at this point. But I always enjoy speculating none the less. 

 

[TonyinFairfield]

No more than 2 losses in the OOC schedule, .500 plus in the league, team gets better as the season goes on, top half of the league finish, NCAA tourney.

From your keyboard to God's ears!

 

[mjmaherjr]

No more than 2 losses in the OOC schedule, .500 plus in the league, team gets better as the season goes on, top half of the league finish, NCAA tourney.

Where do I sign up??? lol 

 

Scores. 536 W 28th St 

 

[monte]

No more than 2 losses in the OOC schedule, .500 plus in the league, team gets better as the season goes on, top half of the league finish, NCAA tourney.

Where do I sign up??? lol 



 

Scores. 536 W 28th St 

Your mind always in the gutter Mike. And bet you didn't even need to google the address. Hahaha. 

 

 

[Wolfie]

No more than 2 losses in the OOC schedule, .500 plus in the league, team gets better as the season goes on, top half of the league finish, NCAA tourney.

Where do I sign up??? lol 


Realistic outlook? While I prefer LMF's take by far, Monte's cautionary view seems more 'realistic' to me.
I do not point to CMA as the primary cause for the roster's current 'turmoil'. To me, the chaos falls squarely on 2 factors: the new transfer freebie and a  role player's natural desire to have a lot more PT.
Is it legitimate to question CMA 's apparent 'choice' of Wusu over GW in 'prime time'? 
Yes--but imo we don't know the actual answer to the question at this time. All we have are strong views. Lol.
That said, I think we've lost too many pieces, some key, others marginal but still a part of the quilt, to gain a good sense of what next season may look like for the Johnnies.
So, like everyone on this Board, I'm very anxious to see how CMA and the Staff respond to this mess.
One thing i do know is that CMA & Staff are working their butts off to find solid replacements that fit the system.
We shall see.


 

 

[Knight]

It will be months before we will have an idea about the status of the team.  Too many unknowns, but we do have good staff in place to get us through this offseason and getting us ready for next season.

 

[IDRAFT]

With eight departures and tons of turnover within other team I have no idea. Maybe by the end of OOC I will have an idea? Just discussed this with a friend this morning regarding the annual coaches poll. They usually do pretty well (nice to have them off on SJU this year) and I expect they will have a lot more misses this year.

 

[dee]

This off-season hasn't looked like anyone expected, it would have been nice to return a good portion of the roster that finished 4th place in the Big East, with the new transfer rule it just wasn't in the cards, and I can understand the frustration, I've been there myself, this new rule IMO is hurting college basketball, but that's another topic.

When the off-season started if someone asked what would be the worst thing that could happen.  Most would have said Julian declaring for the draft and staying or Posh transferring.  Next season was always riding on those 2 guys returning and improving everything else was just icing on the cake, and all signs at this moment point to both of those guys returning.  Julian isn't on a single draft board and very likely won't be invited to combine, so at this moment it's likely he returns to school, he has everything to gain by returning for another season and improving, he's one of those guys that can actually improve his stock dramatically with another year.

And assuming Julian is back, you then have Posh and Wusu who are both still on the roster.  There's been debate on just how important Wusu is, and the answer to that is very important, he was always among the last 5 on the court to close games, very often he would actually be the guy they would run isolation plays for to get easy buckets attacking the rim.  Him, Posh, and Julian were probably the only 3 that were always in the closing lineup, the other two guys varied depending on who was having a good game at the time.  

So, looking at next season, Julian could very well be Big East POY.  John Fanta actually said he thinks both Julian and Posh will compete for big east POY next year.  Unless both Gillipse and Earl-Robinson return there's not going to be a team in the Big East that has a better duo, those two guys alone will have the Johnnies projected in pre-season top 5 of the Big East.  Then you look at the rest of the current roster, Wusu will assume a bigger role, my guess is he'll be the 6th man and still be a closer, his minutes will probably go up to around 25 MPG.  Stef Smith, IMO, will be a solid starter at the two guard spot. Then you have Pinzon who I think will probably be the 7th man in the rotation and have a "Wusu like" freshman season, I think CMA will use him at several different spots playing him at the 1, 2, and 3.  All the staff needs to do this off-season is find 2 more quality players.  They need a starting center and a wing, that can either start or be a solid back-up and they can move Wusu in the starting lineup.  If they can do that, the other 2 remaining spots they can really go in any direction.

Suppose julian chooses to transfer to Duke or Villanova?