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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 2677371, member: 40"] What value is there to adding additional players? Respectfully, I'm not sure if that is actually a serious question, Maxx, given the compromised depth we've endured the past couple of years. Our depth limitations due to injuries last year and the previous year left us in situations where we didn't have backcourt substitutes beyond the starters, and had to play a 185 guy at center. Not all players envision coming in and starting right away. Some players [Baye Moussa Keita] recognize that they might never start. We've even had players like Matt Gorman -- who faced with the reality that he wasn't going to see meaningful playing time at Syracuse, still chose to stay because he loved the program. A player like Howard Washington wanted to be here -- it wouldn't have mattered if he was 11th, 12th, 13th, or 14th. Once he was here, he was fine with competing for PT and earning a spot in the rotation. And maybe down the road, he'll carve out a bigger role as a contributor -- maybe even as a starter. That's what I'd want to see from any player we bring in -- willingness to compete. Ultimately, we should try to bring in the best talent we can, and manage the roster so that we can avoid having critical shortcomings in depth at the positions. It also means that you might take a flyer or two on a high potential kid [like Osunn Osunnyi -- sp?] who could develop into a quality player with a year or two of seasoning. Maybe if we got closer to the scholarship limit, then an injury or two or some unexpected attrition [I'm looking at you, Geno Thorpe] wouldn't cripple depth. I certainly agree that JB rarely goes 9 deep. But that doesn't mean that the roster should ideally be managed to 10 or 11. Because all it takes is a bad break or two, and depth becomes a problem. We're finally emerging from the sanctions -- time to take advantage and build the roster back up. Buddy "deserving" a scholarship and being on equal footing with the other players [which seems like armchair psychology] is an entirely separate conversation from all of the above. He is a fine player, as evidenced from his time at Brewster / performance at AAU. [/QUOTE]

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