John Wildhack joins Orange Nation today at 12:15

[FrancoPizza]

Also S&C. Please get some weight on these guys.

Hire Jameel Dumas as S&C coordinator.

 

[upperdeck]

Yeah, like Storrs is the hotbed of anything but cow tipping.

you want to compare CT to CNY?

 

[Cusefan0307]

We should just be happy we had a nice 35 yr run, considering our location.

This always ends up being the dumbest argument ever. By this logic Miami and Arizona State should have been powerhouses for year.

 

[Cusefan0307]

you want to compare CT to CNY?

NE Connecticut is not New Haven.

 

[upperdeck]

This always ends up being the dumbest argument ever. By this logic Miami and Arizona State should have been powerhouses for year.

because? Power HS basketball?

Florida was barely anything in any sport until the mid 80s?

 

[Cusefan0307]

because? Power HS basketball?

Florida was barely anything in any sport until the mid 80s?

Well if you want to use that logic there is no HS basketball anymore. Everyone goes to prep schools.

 

[kingtidge]

Yeah, they were good players on a low major team that largely played other low major teams. It's been abundantly clear from game #1 of this season that they're not ACC-caliber players.

My point remains... We need to acquire players in the portal who have been starting and productive at Power 5 conference schools this season. I don't want to see so much as a single mid/low major player added.

I would prepare for the distinct possibility we won't get that.

Running back a lame duck is gonna have consequences, and we'll likely see that reflected in the quality of the transfers.

 

[FrancoPizza]

How many times do people who know have to tell us that Red's contract is not why he's being retained now, and not why he'd be retained a year from now?

Yes - this is mind boggling. As if the real answer is so obvious they don’t have to spell it out.

 

[pearl31]

Well, we are currently 119th out of 362 in KenPom, so Lampkin and Taylor came from better programs than ours, and with the other two guys, they hoped they found good role players. Both had been leaders on relatively successful teams (i.e., winning records, multi-year starters, all conference honors).

So you're using our abysmal kp, that they in large part created, to prove they're good?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Yeah, they were good players on a low major team that largely played other low major teams. It's been abundantly clear from game #1 of this season that they're not ACC-caliber players.

My point remains... We need to acquire players in the portal who have been starting and productive at Power 5 conference schools this season. I don't want to see so much as a single mid/low major player added.

Absolutely, you're right. But it's not like they went out and got trash last year. Maybe they just went by their clippings. I would hope they looked at a lot of tape and met with recruits, but who knows?

 

[IthacaMatt]

So you're using our abysmal kp, that they in large part created, to prove they're good?

No, of course not. I'm just setting the bar, for when fans tell us whether or not Red "crushed" the portal.

We should look at comparable rankings. How good was that team that this guy came from? What do his advanced stats tell us?

We have a lot of data now. I helped you all have a reference point to compare this summer's recruits to.

 

[Scooch]

Absolutely, you're right. But it's not like they went out and got trash last year. Maybe they just went by their clippings. I would hope they looked at a lot of tape and met with recruits, but who knows?

Red and his staff were unfathomably unprepared for portal season last year. And our NIL budget was woefully inadequate. There's no dispute about this, Wildhack and others have essentially confirmed it.

The Mike Water piece from a week ago made it clear that SU whiffed on all of their top targets aside from Lampkin. Carlos was not intended to be a starter, and Davis & Taylor were very cheap pieces that they added when no one else better panned out.

That doesn't even get into Red deciding to build his roster around a no-defense, poor-shooter in Starling, and a one-dimensional, poor-everything else in Bell.

If Red can't retain Freeman and Moore (and the reports about Bell being gonzo), then it's likely we'll be bringing back Starling, Cuffe and Petar. We need a massively strong haul in the portal if that's the case. And if it's a bunch of Hofstra's and Delaware's again then we're screwed.

 

[cusefan88]

Red has tied his HC career to Starling and it really is not aging well.

I really do like JJ but his deficiencies are so glaring that every single player has to be brought in to compensate for your starting SG. That's a huge deficit.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

We should just be happy we had a nice 35 yr run, considering our location.

What nonsense.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Red and his staff were unfathomably unprepared for portal season last year. And our NIL budget was woefully inadequate. There's no dispute about this, Wildhack and others have essentially confirmed it.

The Mike Water piece from a week ago made it clear that SU whiffed on all of their top targets aside from Lampkin. Carlos was not intended to be a starter, and Davis & Taylor were very cheap pieces that they added when no one else better panned out.

That doesn't even get into Red deciding to build his roster around a no-defense, poor-shooter in Starling, and a one-dimensional, poor-everything else in Bell.

If Red can't retain Freeman and Moore (and the reports about Bell being gonzo), then it's likely we'll be bringing back Starling, Cuffe and Petar. We need a massively strong haul in the portal if that's the case. And if it's a bunch of Hofstra's and Delaware's again then we're screwed.

Yeah, if the base is Starling, Cuffe, Petar, White, Anthony, Fennell and Womack, you need a bunch of high level help.

Freeman gave them 13 and 7, not even being 50% effective compared to what he should have been. If they lose him, they lose a lot. Anthony is playing great the last month or so, and I'm sure Melo is doing everything possible to make him a better player. But "on paper", he honestly is no better rated than Moore was. Just keeping it real.

Now, if Melo suddenly starts coming to practices and coaching people, who's to say? That seems silly, of course, and I'm not saying any formal role. But if his kid is here and he comes to practices, should he talk to players? Hell, yeah!

OK, back to reality - this roster "without" the departures - is threadbare. You need an elite PG so Starling can be your second guard, a complimentary player. The PG has to be BETTER THAN Starling, or don't bother.

If we don't keep Freeman, I just don't see us having enough money to buy a whole front court. Sorry. Petar, Saddiq White, Womack, but at least 2 or 3 more guys, a couple of whom have to be really good.

We need a legit center, at least as good as Jesse Edwards. A mix of some low post threat, rim protection, and decent rebounding. And a mature PF and SF who can score to replace Bell.

That's like 4 really good guys they need, Starting quality guys at 4 out of 5 positions.

How much would that cost? LOL

 

[Scooch]

Red has tied his HC career to Starling and it really is not aging well.

I really do like JJ but his deficiencies are so glaring that every single player has to be brought in to compensate for your starting SG. That's a huge deficit.

When Griffin said that they need to find their Kyle McCord, I couldn't help but think that Starling was Red's Kyle McCord.

McCord was the guy that Fran had a long-time, personal relationship with. That's the primary reason we landed him. And of course, Fran did so in his first offseason when he could best exploit the relationships he had with current players on other rosters.

Red did the same thing! Two years ago he brought in Starling, Westry and Cuffe. All guys that Red had recruited previously and had personal relationships with.

Starling was Red's McCord. McCord turned out to be a guy who would lead the nation in passing and elevated the entire offense. Starling is a no-defense, poor-shooting SG who seems to make his teammates worse when he's the lead guy (see: Bell, Chris).

 

[IthacaMatt]

When Griffin said that they need to find their Kyle McCord, I couldn't help but think that Starling was Red's Kyle McCord.

McCord was the guy that Fran had a long-time, personal relationship with. That's the primary reason we landed him. And of course, Fran did so in his first offseason when he could best exploit the relationships he had with current players on other rosters.

Red did the same thing! Two years ago he brought in Starling, Westry and Cuffe. All guys that Red had recruited previously and had personal relationships with.

Starling was Red's McCord. McCord turned out to be a guy who would lead the nation in passing and elevated the entire offense. Starling is a no-defense, poor-shooting SG who seems to make his teammates worse when he's the lead guy (see: Bell, Chris).

Really good comparison.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

The use of a private jet is a wonderful thing…

They aren't supersonic it's still a lot of travel. Where's he gonna stay SU turned the only acceptable hotel into Dorms.

I'm sure he will make it to plenty of games and will be shown every 2 minutes. Super booster role getting us players I don't see it.

 

[miamicuse]

Westry is Red's Kyle McCord.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Yes, and we may get guys who are clearly better than the ones we acquired last year. And like every recruiting season (portal or HS), you don't get everyone. You always miss some of your targets.

Jyare Davis - leading scorer & rebounder (17 and 7) on a team who went 19-14, and sits at the border of Quad 2 and Quad 3 last year.

Jaquan Carlos - 10.4 pts, 6 assts, 2.5 TO, 2 time first team all-conference defense. 34% from three. Team rated 153 out of 362. Solidly within Quad 2.

Lucas Taylor - leading scorer for team 92 out of 362. Almost Quad 1, Sun Belt Conf. Shot 35% from three, team's leading scorer at 14.5 ppg.

Eddie Lampkin - 10 pts, 7 reb for 47th rated team out of 362. NCAA tournament 3 consecutive years with 2 different teams. Quad 1.

When we look at the cupboard this summer, this is how we should compare transfers.

Dude, the last year’s portal was a bust. Stop making it out to be something it wasn’t. The evidence is clear based on our 12-18 record.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Lot of great points about last offseason. For me it’s not just about the guys we brought in, but the guys we got in addition to who we already had, and to replace what was lost. Bringing in guys to build a rotation isn’t the same as bringing in guys that are filling starting roles in the ACC.

Freeman got hurt. Does it change trajectory of the year? Unlikely. But it didn’t help. My guess is by now he would have been our best player pretty easily. JJ and Bell simply weren’t good enough to be the ~best~ two returning players. Not only that, we saw some legitimate regression at times (Bell). Why? Who knows. Sometimes, players just are who they are.

I think several things have all gone poorly from a roster/player performance/player development pov, AND the in-game coaching just hasn’t elevated the team enough. Both of these coexist, and it’s why we are 12-18 in a very poor ACC.

 

[djcon57]

Three of those guys came from the CAA. That's a low major conference. Adding them was a disaster, IMHO.

This is a good point to hammer home before this offseason. I know I tried to explain it last offseason, but I don't think people understood.

People were pointing to Nelson on Alabama or others suggesting their success could be repeated by our CAA guys. It's not that they were CAA, it's that there were good to very good CAA guys.

Here's the example to follow... The Preseason POY, 3 times Defensive POY, 2 times 1st team All CAA was a guy from Drexel named Amari Williams. The very league Davis and Carlos came from. He's playing as a 5th year SR at a pretty good Kentucky and is very good for them. That's the level of mid major player we would need to compete.

 

[Red2003]

Red has tied his HC career to Starling and it really is not aging well.

I really do like JJ but his deficiencies are so glaring that every single player has to be brought in to compensate for your starting SG. That's a huge deficit.

So much this. When JJ got a bailout foul on a 3 in Blacksburg of all places. Then whiffed all 3 badly I just said enough is enough is enough.

JJ now has 80+ career starts. No postseason wins, cannot play defense, shows little to no veteran leadership and is so one dimensional as a scorer it just is painful.

Talking about building a team around him is terrible and yea JJ and Autry may just go down together into the abyss.

 

[Bulldog04]

They aren't supersonic it's still a lot of travel. Where's he gonna stay SU turned the only acceptable hotel into Dorms.

I'm sure he will make it to plenty of games and will be shown every 2 minutes. Super booster role getting us players I don't see it.

He’s buying a house in cuse or skan, so is la la

 

[oldpinepoint]

He’s buying a house in cuse or skan, so is la la

Rumor is Skaneateles