I thought Nova already landed their shooting guard in Brandon Slater. They're really going to take another one in Reeves?
They could easily play together, both have enough size to guard threes. Also Jay Wright is willing to play four perimeter players at once.I thought Nova already landed their shooting guard in Brandon Slater. They're really going to take another one in Reeves?
If I had to bet I'd say TT is goneThat's a bummer. Kid can shoot, but he's built more for any of those schools. Luckily, 2018 is loaded with talent that we are involved with. Plus, the great foundation we are building. The experience the freshmen get this year is gonna be yuge. Marek, OBeast, HW, Sidibe, Moyer, and Hughes with a year learning. Damn.
TT probably stays. Senior Frank, or not. PC, or not. Gon' be real good, soon.
If I had to bet I'd say TT is gone
Uconn fans gonna love that
I am so happy Nova didn't get him. I'm good!
Providence and the Hall were pretty terrible for the last 10-15 years in the old/real Big East and were largely mediocre for most of their history in the conference. Cooley did a nice job with PC but still only got them back to mediocre/middle of the pack. Once the powerhouses SU, UConn, and Louisville (plus solid Pitt and ND programs) left, now there's little top level competition besides Nova (and maybe Xavier) in the new/fake Big East because GTown has been struggling. Those tiny schools have benefitted but I don't see it lasting.And I shall as well. Providence, and the Hall are building. UCon is holding on, falling off a cliff with one finger.
I wish Provy, and the Hall well. Always rooted for them when not playing us.
Hopefully David Duke doesn't follow suit.. although it wouldn't surprise me if he teamed up with his buddy there.
We were mediocre this past season, but hardly mediocre (FF) 2 years ago once we got the regular season out of the way. I'd say our miraculous FF run was accomplished largely on the backs of our NBA-level guys (Richardson and Lydon), with a surrounding cast that complimented the more talented players.I don't think there is any correlation between early NBA draft picks bolting and success on the court. Certainly not lately with Syracuse. Syracuse has been medicore the past three seasons with guys drafted.
We were mediocre this past season, but hardly mediocre (FF) 2 years ago once we got the regular season out of the way. I'd say our miraculous FF run was accomplished largely on the backs of our NBA-level guys (Richardson and Lydon), with a surrounding cast that complimented the more talented players.
This past year, we had NBA-level talent but Lydon was playing out of position and Battle was injured much of the season. TT's an NBA prospect but was nowhere near ready, mentally or physically, to play near his potential.
Hopefully, he starts to do that this year. Unfortunately, we're very young up front. The difference is, we have some front line depth. Again, we have some NBA talent to lean on (Battle and TT). Actually, Brissett might also be in that category, but it's hard to tell how quickly he develops.
So back to your point .. that NBA talent isn't a guarantee. But it's certainly a starting point to be in the top 3 ACC and past the 1-2 rounds in the tournament. We just haven't had the surrounding cast.
I think you're sorting it out well. Your point is a valid one -- we've had 6 straight first round draft picks but certainly not 6 great years. I'm just pointing out that the reason for the fluctuation in success is not that talent isn't extremely helpful. It is. But it's not always sufficient without the surrounding cast.Good points. I'd argue that the reg season of the miracle F4 run still mattered. There was a reason SU was a 10 seed and that many of us were still sweating out Selection Sunday...mediocre team and not the recipe for sustained success. We don't know that about TT yet re: NBA. Still a long way to go for him and he MUST become a stretch 4 or a beefier post player if he expects to sniff the NBA, IMO. I don't want to get into another player development issue/thesis/debate either. Would Malachi have been drafted if the Virginia game didn't happen in the Tourney? Maybe he would have been back although probably not with Frank still here and all that.
Really hard to decipher all of this. Villanova has been so good with like, what, one NBA caliber player the past three years or so? System fits, player development must play a role in all of this but I'm not trying to masquerade being smart enough to figure all this out.
I think you're sorting it out well. Your point is a valid one -- we've had 6 straight first round draft picks but certainly not 6 great years. I'm just pointing out that the reason for the fluctuation in success is not that talent isn't extremely helpful. It is. But it's not always sufficient without the surrounding cast.
You gave a Nova example (not much NBA-level talent, but great year 2 years ago). And i think that proves that it's not impossible to succeed if you don't have much NBA talent. It's just a lot harder and less likely. Duke's in the mix almost every year because they've had a bunch of NBA players: Parker, Okafor, Winslow, Hood, Ingram are examples. We did beat Duke at the Dome last year. But their NBA guys (Tatum and Kenard) had 42 points. So Talent matters. But the surrounding cast does too.
Obviously it could happen, but with MAL committed, I'd be surprised if 2 highly rated PGs sign with the same school. Unless Providences plan is to play Duke at SG some.
We were mediocre this past season, but hardly mediocre (FF) 2 years ago once we got the regular season out of the way. I'd say our miraculous FF run was accomplished largely on the backs of our NBA-level guys (Richardson and Lydon), with a surrounding cast that complimented the more talented players.
This past year, we had NBA-level talent but Lydon was playing out of position and Battle was injured much of the season. TT's an NBA prospect but was nowhere near ready, mentally or physically, to play near his potential.
Hopefully, he starts to do that this year. Unfortunately, we're very young up front. The difference is, we have some front line depth. Again, we have some NBA talent to lean on (Battle and TT). Actually, Brissett might also be in that category, but it's hard to tell how quickly he develops.
So back to your point .. that NBA talent isn't a guarantee. But it's certainly a starting point to be in the top 3 ACC and past the 1-2 rounds in the tournament. We just haven't had the surrounding cast.