Realistic current roster going into the portal opening

[SanDiegoCuse]

So reading the tea leaves between the board and throughout social media(plus a couple other sources), this is what looks to be our current roster.

PG: Westry, Cuffe - Neither are really PGs but just for this exercise.

SG: Starling, Moore.

SF: Bell(Big question mark whether he’s back)

PF: Brown, Freeman

C: McLeod(Vague posted on social media so who knows?), Patterson

That means departing are Benny, Mintz, Copeland, Taylor, Carey and Hima.

This means that there will be likely at least 3-4 portal additions. Glaring needs at PG and C. I think a versatile SF who can shoot the three should be a priority(obviously will be if Bell leaves).

It’s going to be a crazy Monday and really a several week period of wild movement.

 

[Cuse House]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

 

[CapitalO]

I really think Freeman has the skills to be a combo forward if he does watch out baby.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

Agreed and Bell is not a team player. His body language is atrocious when pulled from games. Although he has made some baby steps in improving his game, he is very one dimensional. He might improve with a team oriented point guard, but if Red wants to improve on the defense and rebounding then Bell needs to be replaced.

 

[44Wallace]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

Since the 2nd half of the away NC State game he has been a non-factor and has been shut down by opposing defenses. Obviously teams have game-planned to eliminate him as a large source of our points. That being said, that's when the novel concept in basketball known as "create your own shot" comes into play, and since he can't do that, he's useless on offense. Combine that with his terrible defense and we shouldn't lament his departure.

I will say though that a good catch-and-shoot guy like him would fit on a team with multiple perimeter threats who all demand attention. He should never be the top or only 3-point shooter like he basically was here or they'll also be in the same situation we were in all last season (thanks Taylor).

 

[BigNastyJon]

I wanna keep Bell. I think he’s one of the best shooters in Cuse history. He’s gotten better, and can continue to get better, at everything else.

 

[Melancer46]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

Much like Judah and Quadir, I’ll leave it to the staff to determine if guys are culture fits/if they must go to right the ship. But given where we are talent wise, it’s hard to keep losing the precious little talent we have. Bell ideally would be a shooter off the bench but with our current talent level, there’s no doubt he should be starting here despite how serious some of his warts are. I imagine if he were informed that they plan to recruit over him, he probably leaves in search of more playing time but that’s sort of the catch 22 that we’re in. We probably don’t have the cachet right now to get guys like him to buy in to bench roles.

 

[Zepharus]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

I think the thing that dooms Bell is that he is a mentally soft player. Can't have that and win. Contrast the act we dealt with all year and then look at like, NC State. Tough... non whiney

 

[atlanticuse]

Bell only shot as well because we had no other options. And once other teams keyed on him, we blew massive leads, since he couldn’t or wouldn’t defend.
Hence, big blowouts and small victories which should have been by bigger margins.

 

[bballbeadle]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

Why would Copeland leave?

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

That team is way better if you retain Copeland. Just need 1 excellent portal add who’s older and can shoot 3s reliably you’re covered.

Will be sad if we can’t get him away from Judah and see if there’s a 2nd to 3rd year jump.

 

[Newhouser]

He drives me crazy but I think we have to keep Bell if the $ is right. I think he improved this year and he has never really played with a PG who can help him. Sorry I don't count Q's french pastry passes helping. A PG can set a shooter up and Bell has never had that here.

Q, Judah and the rest I think we can replace easier unless as I said earlier Bell is the main locker room problem.

 

[gilardino]

need reynolds from St Jospeh's key key player

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Bell only shot as well because we had no other options.

Hang on, we've given shooters passes for much lower shooting percentages when they were the only outside threat on the team, but you're saying that being he only outside shooting threat somehow made it easier for Bell to shoot well?

 

[kingtidge]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

I disagree.

He's as pure a catch-and-release shooter as we've had.

His deficiencies on D and rebounding are considerable, and he has the athleticism to be good but lacks focus at times (as he has admitted himself in post-game comments.) ...but we've seen in spurts of activity when he's focused on D - blocking shots, swiping away dunks, skying for rebounds... There just haven't been nearly enough of those spurts, but he is very capable when it happens.

He also seemed a lot less disgruntled when pulled from the game in the second half of the season and more coachable (sitting and actively talking with coaches and being coached as opposed to going to the end of bench and slouching in his chair with his arms crossed and scowl on his face like earlier in the season.)

I think with his switch-offs on D that the coaches have gotten through to him that he's gonna get pulled when it happens to try and get him refocused. I also think he has accepted he has a problem going "space-cadet" at times based on his post-game comments and on think he's a lot more coachable when it happens now. Half the battle is admitting you have a problem before you can fix it - and I think he's done that.

Long story short, he has the athleticism and tools to be an elite player. He needs to work on the mental part of his game to focus and perform consistently.

I also think he will shine when actually start running the ball movement offense that Judah likely refused to run for most of our games since Judah was about Judah getting his with ISO hero-ball.

Get a good point guard and Bell has the potential to develop into a special player.

I hope we keep him.

 

[Melancer46]

I disagree.

He's as pure a catch-and-release shooter as we've had.

His deficiencies on D and rebounding are considerable, and he has the athleticism to be good but lacks focus at times (as he has admitted himself in post-game comments.) ...but we've seen in spurts of activity when he's focused on D - blocking shots, swiping away dunks, skying for rebounds... There just haven't been nearly enough of those spurts, but he is very capable when it happens.

He also seemed a lot less disgruntled when pulled from the game in the second half of the season and more coachable (sitting and actively talking with coaches and being coached as opposed to going to the end of bench and slouching in his chair with his arms crossed and scowl on his face like earlier in the season.)

I think with his switch-offs on D that the coaches have gotten through to him that he's gonna get pulled when it happens to try and get him refocused. I also think he has accepted he has a problem going "space-cadet" at times based on his post-game comments and on think he's a lot more coachable when it happens now. Half the battle is admitting you have a problem before you can fix it - and I think he's done that.

Long story short, he has the athleticism and tools to be an elite player. He needs to work on the mental part of his game to focus and perform consistently.

I also think he will shine when actually start running the ball movement offense that Judah likely refused to run for most of our games since Judah was about Judah getting his with ISO hero-ball.

Get a good point guard and Bell has the potential to develop into a special player.

I hope we keep him.

Let me preface this by saying that provided the coaches are happy with him in terms of buy-in/culture fit, I want him back.

The tricky thing with him is that to this point, he's essentially only a spot up shooter. He doesn't shoot well off movement, isn't able to attack closeouts to get into the paint for easier looks, and just doesn't really provide value aside from just standing still in one spot and hoping the defense leaves him open. In his current form, and with this current roster where he's one of our 1.5 perimeter shooting threats, he's a very easy player to defend while also being a negative impact on the other end of the floor. If the other team just decides they'll help off of the other 4 players on the court but make sure whoever is guarding Bell just doesn't leave him, that's basically game over for him right now. No offensive system or advanced passer is really going to save him from that fate; it's really as simple as he either expands his game or he has to be an afterthought for the defense in order to be productive.

 

[kingtidge]

Let me preface this by saying that provided the coaches are happy with him in terms of buy-in/culture fit, I want him back.

The tricky thing with him is that to this point, he's essentially only a spot up shooter. He doesn't shoot well off movement, isn't able to attack closeouts to get into the paint for easier looks, and just doesn't really provide value aside from just standing still in one spot and hoping the defense leaves him open. In his current form, and with this current roster where he's one of our 1.5 perimeter shooting threats, he's a very easy player to defend while also being a negative impact on the other end of the floor. If the other team just decides they'll help off of the other 4 players on the court but make sure whoever is guarding Bell just doesn't leave him, that's basically game over for him right now. No offensive system or advanced passer is really going to save him from that fate; it's really as simple as he either expands his game or he has to be an afterthought for the defense in order to be productive.

Agreed on "If the coaches want him back..."

On the other point highlighted above, he was just doing what Judah wanted him to do when Judah goes full Judah show iso hero.

 

[Melancer46]

Agreed on "If the coaches want him back..."

On the other point highlighted above, he was just doing what Judah wanted him to do when Judah goes full Judah show iso hero.

I don't think that's really true. He wasn't comfortable shooting on the move in high school and hasn't looked comfortable doing it in college either. It's got to be near the top of his priorities to improve on in the offseason IMO.

 

[phil77]

My biggest question with Bell is would you rather have a one-dimensional player that does his one thing at an elite level but is way below average at every other aspect of basketball or...

Would you rather have someone who shoots 35-37% but is a more well-rounded player who can contribute to every aspect of the game?

I do agree that Bell is best suited to be a shooter/scorer off the bench but after starting the entire year that would be a hard sell by Red. Also I have seen different posts saying that 100% starting center is a priority in the portal and 100% Brown is starting next year and 100% Freeman is starting next year...Where does that leave Bell?

 

[UnknownOrange]

I’ve come to terms with: nothing will shock me

Complete roster overhaul? Sure
Hopkins joins the staff? Sure
A coach leaves for another opportunity? Sure

All of this stuff will sort itself out.

I do wish the portal moved to the Monday after the NC game. What’s the point of now? You can’t enroll at a new school tomorrow so? Seems odd but that’s right on par with the NCAA

 

[shandeezy7]

My biggest question with Bell is would you rather have a one-dimensional player that does his one thing at an elite level but is way below average at every other aspect of basketball or...

Would you rather have someone who shoots 35-37% but is a more well-rounded player who can contribute to every aspect of the game?

I do agree that Bell is best suited to be a shooter/scorer off the bench but after starting the entire year that would be a hard sell by Red. Also I have seen different posts saying that 100% starting center is a priority in the portal and 100% Brown is starting next year and 100% Freeman is starting next year...Where does that leave Bell?

I think Bell is a 6'7" shooting guard, anyway. Not sure if he can guard other shooting guards, but he couldn't really guard other small forwards either.

 

[RF2044]

So reading the tea leaves between the board and throughout social media(plus a couple other sources), this is what looks to be our current roster.

PG: Westry, Cuffe - Neither are really PGs but just for this exercise.

SG: Starling, Moore.

SF: Bell(Big question mark whether he’s back)

PF: Brown, Freeman

C: McLeod(Vague posted on social media so who knows?), Patterson

That means departing are Benny, Mintz, Copeland, Taylor, Carey and Hima.

This means that there will be likely at least 3-4 portal additions. Glaring needs at PG and C. I think a versatile SF who can shoot the three should be a priority(obviously will be if Bell leaves).

It’s going to be a crazy Monday and really a several week period of wild movement.

Around mid-season, I made a post speculating that we could have 6 players leave, and there was a lot of pushback about that being too many.

Crazy to think that it's actually coming to pass.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

My biggest question with Bell is would you rather have a one-dimensional player that does his one thing at an elite level but is way below average at every other aspect of basketball or...

Would you rather have someone who shoots 35-37% but is a more well-rounded player who can contribute to every aspect of the game?

I do agree that Bell is best suited to be a shooter/scorer off the bench but after starting the entire year that would be a hard sell by Red. Also I have seen different posts saying that 100% starting center is a priority in the portal and 100% Brown is starting next year and 100% Freeman is starting next year...Where does that leave Bell?

Your question makes an assumption that Bell can't improve.

I would rather take a guy that's elite at shooting (Bell is) and develop the rest of his game, because even small improvements make his overall game significantly better.

 

[phil77]

Your question makes an assumption that Bell can't improve.

I would rather take a guy that's elite at shooting (Bell is) and develop the rest of his game, because even small improvements make his overall game significantly better.

Your post makes the assumption Bell can improve. Not every player improves and gets better over time. Some players are who they are.

 

[jncuse]

I might be in the minority on this board, but I am not concerned if Bell leaves. Great shooter (when he can get the ball) but really lacking in every other area. I think we need to upgrade his spot with a more well rounded player who can shoot. This years team couldn't rebound and played zero defense, not a recipe for being successful. Look no further than the Buddy/JG3 teams on having a plethora of shooters with no defense. If you have to rely on scoring you'll lose or get blown out on any rough shooting night. Long winded for I want a new starter at SF.

Bell has some warts in his game, but so will many on the portal outside of the top guys -- the top guys that everybody will want.. Do people really think we are going to be able to get 3 or 4 players that are starter/high rotation level players with limited warts?

I don't know if he has attitude issues like others - assuming he doesn't I'd want to bring him back.

Bell is a valid top 6-7 player on a team. I would rather keep that than trying to fill another spot on the portal.