Some thoughts on the program

[billsin01]

So a lot has gone on here the past few weeks and there are varying opinions on basically all of it. So I figured I'd weigh in with my two cents for whatever it's worth. So my thoughts, even if they are really late, on some of these developments:

Hop's move to UW
So I'm admittedly a JB apologist in a lot of ways but I'm not sure the conspiracy theories and 'JB pushed him out' stuff makes all that much sense to me. If you look at the context, with Hop a west coast guy who was reportedly very interested in the USC job that ultimately was offered to Enfield, I'm not sure those theories hold that much water. I mean, guy in his late 40s gets offered a six-year deal at a school in the Pac-12 (the only jobs Hop appears to have been tempted by for the most part) making good coin (I believe the total comp is about $3M/year including shoe money) is simply a really good deal and a really good landing spot. I don't think it's crazy to suggest JB wanted to coach longer nor do I think Hop wouldn't have loved to take over the Cuse and spend the next 20+ years here. But the departure didn't seem acrimonious, the new job seems like a really good one, and he doesn't have to replace a legend, a task which can often seem thankless. My best guess, with zero inside info, is that Hop got offered a great job, conferred with JB who seemed to be eager to continue coaching and Wildhack, who may not have been entirely thrilled that JB's successor was already tabbed before he had his say, and all parties decided it was a really solid solution. Who knows, I guess, but it just seems like a pretty logical move for all three parties as opposed to someone being told you're not the next HC here and snapping his fingers to end up with a really impressive HC job.

Lydon's departure
This board seems intent on arguing basically two things: 1. That a player leaving is always a 'good' decision or a 'bad' decision and 2. That draft position should be the only determining factor in making a decision. I disagree with both and Lydon is a good example. I hope any player who leaves finds success and I don't think any of them owe any of us anything. Want to get that out of the way. I also don't know that Lydon improving his draft position by returning is a given or even a likelihood (though I don't think all drafts are created equal and I do believe players can improve). But to me, if I'm consulting a player, I want the tool that is going to be his calling card at the next level is actually ready for the jump -- regardless of where he gets drafted.

For Lydon, he is going into the league as a stretch 4 -- basically a guy who brings an offensive mismatch into the game when he enters. Yet, Lydon spent the vast majority of the final 5 weeks trying to find his offense. He topped 15 points just twice after his 24-point effort vs. ND on 1/21. He shot lower than 50% in 6 of his last 9 games, and struggled to even get shots off in three of his last four.

So what does that say? I don't know. Again, if he wants to go and can get drafted in the first round, I'm cool with it. But I don't see how that's the black/white decision some think it is. A junior Lydon playing more comfortably within the offense, reliably finding ways to score outside of an open three, perhaps putting the ball on the floor a bit more and unquestionably being a key focal point of the offense would seem like a really solid option. If you're uncomfortable or unsure of yourself at the next level ... that's not a good thing.

So, in short, I think he made a perfectly fine call but the point is to become a solid NBA player, not just a guy who got a contract once a couple years ago. What's the best path to that end? I'm not sure it's simply going as soon as some team decides they'll call your name.

Replacing Hop
I'm like everyone else here that a big recruiter would seem like a great fit, but a guy with really good coaching credentials -- a guy who could help big men or whatnot -- would be a huge benefit as well. Getting talent is obviously important and we haven't done a great job of that the past couple years, but you can bring in program guys and develop them ... as long as you develop them. That's not an indefensible strategy, IMO.

Speaking of recruiting and players leaving early
It will be interesting to watch and see how the roster is managed going forward. For all the criticisms of or compliments for JB (final four run vs. three disappointing regular seasons), the major issue the past three seasons is holes in the roster due to a few factors (players leaving, swings and misses, unexpected departures, etc.).

Rak's senior season is really the story of two unexpected departures in Grant and Ennis -- not sure many here saw either of those coming before the season. Grant couldn't make a jumper AND didn't get drafted in the first round and still left. Ennis made a good call leaving but I would argue it's safe to say he way exceeded any draft projections of him prior to the season and perhaps ever (not sure I ever would have guessed he was a first-rounder).

Then McCullough leaves after a not overly impressive 16 games in his frosh season which you have to believe would have made at least a couple games difference in 15-16 and then Richardson leaving after a pretty up-and-down season in which he shot pretty poorly overall. Would his return have made us a really good team this season? probably not but we clearly struggled with continuity issues.

Which brings me to my point: Of the last five players to leave early, the only one to have a truly excellent season before departing was Ennis. Grant couldn't hit a jumper, McCullough failed to score more than seven points in his final eight games, Richardson was inconsistent and Lydon struggled to figure out his role (yes, I realize PG was an issue). Even Fab, who had a phenomenal season defensively and was dramatically improved offensively, scored fewer points in his career (in far more minutes, by the way) than Taurean Thompson did this season.

The bottom line is the staff needs to figure out a way to either recruit and develop players who are likely to stay for close to three years (easier said than done) or get high-end seasons out of players before they leave. Obviously they aren't going to be hitting 1.000 on all their recruits and obviously guys are going to leave early. They just do.

But I think, as a program, you either want to be UNC with lots of veteran solid players or UK with a ton of premium frosh talent.

Happy to have Howard back
Not sure what Frank Howard did and whatever it was may have crushed us in multiple ways (losing recruits? losing games due to a rift in the team?). But I think having a junior who is at least theoretically capable of playing decent basketball back, is better than not having him. Hopefully there is buy-in from Frank, obviously, but the one thing I'll point out on his play: Early in the season his jumper looked better an he had some really good games. it's not unusual, or at least it wasn't unusual back in the day, to see a frosh come in and play sparingly, then do some nice things early in the season as a soph before finding the bench for much of the conference season, before emerging as a key piece as a junior. Can frank do that? Remains to be seen, but I still think this is a guy who can contribute. Time will tell I suppose.

What do we have next year?
This is an answer that will have much more clarity a few months from now but my gut says this is a program that is trying to find itself in an unfamiliar basketball landscape. Relatively new conference affiliation, era of unprecedented player movement (grad transfers, hosts of kids leaving early -- transfers, not just NBA entrants), very little continuity from year to year, etc. Strong finish to recruiting and some good things could be afoot (Tucker, Ayala and a grad transfer?), but I think JB is adjusting and trying to find his niche and groove again. It could easily by another tough year, but ultimately I like having him at the helm and am confident this program will adjust and continue to thrive.

Either way, we shall see.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think Lydon's lack of offensive production correlates pretty closely with when he knew he was playing ironman.

 

[ar inj]

But how did Washington know to even ask Hopkins if he would be interested unless he let it known that despite the title of HCIW he was willing to leave for the right opportunity?

 

[Col. Bleep]

But how did Washington know to even ask Hopkins if he would be interested unless he let it known that despite the title of HCIW he was willing to leave for the right opportunity?

That's why coaches and assistant coaches have agents.
Agents keep in touch with AD's.
Mike Hopkins' agent, Bret Just of CAA, had a big week last week...placing Hopkins at Washington and Brad Underwood of Oklahoma State at Illinois.

 

[AlaskaSU]

one small quibble. Malachi's inconsistency was of minor importance. His trajectory was more important. As a frosh he was adjusting and deferring. He was better in conf. than in OOC, and he was best in the playoffs. Although inconsistent, of greater importance is that he consistently improved as the competition got better. By the end he was one of the most capable offensive players in college basketball. It is not a strong argument that his early departure was a surprise because he had an inconsistent season. He started weak but, for the most part, came on like a freight train. For the sake of fairness it should be mentioned that in his last game he only scored 17 points, good but not eye-popping. However, he had 4 fouls and shot 50% from the floor.

 

[billsin01]

one small quibble. Malachi's inconsistency was of minor importance. His trajectory was more important. As a frosh he was adjusting and deferring. He was better in conf. than in OOC, and he was best in the playoffs. Although inconsistent, of greater importance is that he consistently improved as the competition got better. By the end he was one of the most capable offensive players in college basketball. It is not a strong argument that his early departure was a surprise because he had an inconsistent season. He started weak but, for the most part, came on like a freight train. For the sake of fairness it should be mentioned that in his last game he only scored 17 points, good but not eye-popping. However, he had 4 fouls and shot 50% from the floor.

I'm not sure I agree. I mean vs mtsu and gonzaga he was a combined 4 for 21. Before scoring 21 in his excellent game vs Dayton he hadn't hit 20 pts since 1/24. For the season he totaled four 20-pt games on a team desperate for scoring. He shot ~33 percent in 13 games combined in feb/march.

I loved him. That last 10 mins vs uva makes him essentially a legend for cuse fans. Would have loved to have seen him for another year, but hold no ill will in terms of his departure.

But he was the definition of inconsistent.

 

[longtimefan]

But how did Washington know to even ask Hopkins if he would be interested unless he let it known that despite the title of HCIW he was willing to leave for the right opportunity?

The fact that he interviewed for, and clearly wanted, the USC job (just 2 years ago), is a clear indication that he might have interest in a PAC-12 job.

 

[orangenirvana]

I think Lydon's lack of offensive production correlates pretty closely with when he knew he was playing ironman.

Yeah all of those needless pump fakes can be exhausting.

 

[Cheriehoop]

When you hire an agent you have to realize that agents like making money.

 

[orangecuse]

It's going to be very interesting to see where we land in the preseason conference projections. I realize JB is hoping to bring in another guy or two, but unless he hits a bottom of the ninth, two out, two run homer, I can see the projections being as low as we've ever been thought of since being in a conference.

 

[SoBristol]

Bills in O1 wrote:
But I think, as a program, you either want to be UNC with lots of veteran solid players or UK with a ton of premium frosh talent.

We can be what we have been in our better seasons -- the 2015-16 team with solid veterans joined by Richardson & Lydon; or the Wes Johnson team when we added a premium transfer to a team with strong inside play, a perimeter shooter, and a young PG in Triche. Lots of ways to build a winning team.

The issue (bigger than the issue with landing top 25 recruits who chose to leave after a year or two) is the recruiting misses in recent classes. It is a long list -- Chukwu, Obokor, Joseph, Patterson, etc. JB is never going to play 10 guys, but he needs more guys who can play and develop than he has had on recent rosters. If he brings in a class of 4, it is often the quality of the #3 and #4 recruits in the class that makes the difference (Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson being the prime examples).

 

[jordoo]

one small quibble. Malachi's inconsistency was of minor importance. His trajectory was more important. As a frosh he was adjusting and deferring. He was better in conf. than in OOC, and he was best in the playoffs. Although inconsistent, of greater importance is that he consistently improved as the competition got better. By the end he was one of the most capable offensive players in college basketball. It is not a strong argument that his early departure was a surprise because he had an inconsistent season. He started weak but, for the most part, came on like a freight train. For the sake of fairness it should be mentioned that in his last game he only scored 17 points, good but not eye-popping. However, he had 4 fouls and shot 50% from the floor.

He finished on a very high note showing his ability to destroy the DPOY in the ACC over a 6 minute stretch in a regional final. Then he had a good game against UNC in the final four. I agree with you 100% that what he accomplished was adjusting to the college game over the course of the season to become a very dangerous offensive player.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I felt that Malachi was always a shot maker and his biggest growth came in terms of toughness. Fighting for rebounds against bigger guys, etc. He learned quickly that he wasn't going to just jump over people or be bigger like in HS.

 

[jordoo]

Yeah all of those needless pump fakes can be exhausting.

Alright, this made me laugh!

I'm going to post an opinion that most will likely disagree with. I think Lydon leaving may very well wind up helping this team on both ends. He was not a good wing defender at all and was likely to play more there this coming season. He certainly improved his offensive play inside last year but he often wasted valuable time on the shot clock passing up good shots that we had worked to get him or driving unproductively. I also think that when Gillon was in with Lydon, Battle and White you have a lot of guys on the perimeter so it you get an open 3 you have to take it because that's the point of spreading things out. You make the other team pay and adjust to you. The more I think about it the less it bothers me that he left. Battle would have been a much bigger loss for example.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Alright, this made me laugh!

I'm going to post an opinion that most will likely disagree with. I think Lydon leaving may very well wind up helping this team on both ends. He was not a good wing defender at all and was likely to play more there this coming season. He certainly improved his offensive play inside last year but he often wasted valuable time on the shot clock passing up good shots that we had worked to get him or driving unproductively. I also think that when Gillon was in with Lydon, Battle and White you have a lot of guys on the perimeter so it you get an open 3 you have to take it because that's the point of spreading things out. You make the other team pay and adjust to you. The more I think about it the less it bothers me that he left. Battle would have been a much bigger loss for example.

Not sure how losing your best rebounder on an already bad rebounding team is a good thing. I think you're undervaluing some of the other parts of his game because he wasn't a dominant scorer and I think a lot of posts about Lydon here have always focused on his scoring or lack thereof in the fans point of view.

 

[jordoo]

Not sure how losing your best rebounder on an already bad rebounding team is a good thing. I think you're undervaluing some of the other parts of his game because he wasn't a dominant scorer and I think a lot of posts about Lydon here have always focused on his scoring or lack thereof in the fans point of view.

I think he was a very good player I have just begun to wonder how well he fits JB's system. He played a ton of minutes, blocked shots well without fouling a lot, rebounded very well, passed the ball well and willingly. He is a talented player for his size and his best skill is something that most guys his size do not bring. The issue here IMO was him not using that skill enough and also not being quite fleet of foot enough to be a great wing defender. Of course our all around horrible defense didn't do him any favors in that regard. His unwillingness to shoot open jump shots that the offense was designed to get him was a killer plain and simple. We had to score a lot to beat most teams and a lot of the time Tyler passed up on one of those good shots we wound up with a much worse shot.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think he was a very good player I have just begun to wonder how well he fits JB's system. He played a ton of minutes, blocked shots well without fouling a lot, rebounded very well, passed the ball well and willingly. He is a talented player for his size and his best skill is something that most guys his size do not bring. The issue here IMO was him not using that skill enough and also not being quite fleet of foot enough to be a great wing defender. Of course our all around horrible defense didn't do him any favors in that regard. His unwillingness to shoot open jump shots that the offense was designed to get him was a killer plain and simple. We had to score a lot to beat most teams and a lot of the time Tyler passed up on one of those good shots we wound up with a much worse shot.

Some fair points there about his reluctance to shoot, but I think we also did a horrible job getting him the ball in the post. Some of that was due to us being a horrible passing team. I think he really helped win us the FSU and UVA games with his defense in the pivot. He's not a real center, but I don't have the greatest confidence we will have anyone as good defensively and rebounding as him next season.

 

[OttoMets]

Alright, this made me laugh!

I'm going to post an opinion that most will likely disagree with. I think Lydon leaving may very well wind up helping this team on both ends. He was not a good wing defender at all and was likely to play more there this coming season. He certainly improved his offensive play inside last year but he often wasted valuable time on the shot clock passing up good shots that we had worked to get him or driving unproductively. I also think that when Gillon was in with Lydon, Battle and White you have a lot of guys on the perimeter so it you get an open 3 you have to take it because that's the point of spreading things out. You make the other team pay and adjust to you. The more I think about it the less it bothers me that he left. Battle would have been a much bigger loss for example.

I liked his game and I'll miss him, but you're not crazy.

Lydon's defense was poor, especially on the wing. So that was going to be a problem for a returning junior. The rebounding will be missed. The continuity, too...the turnover in this program is ridiculous. He'd be a tremendous complement to Battle for sure, but we'll just have to make up for those points somewhere else. Hell, maybe Chukwu actually heals and becomes a capable player and Thompson can move to the wing.

 

[billsin01]

Bills in O1 wrote:
But I think, as a program, you either want to be UNC with lots of veteran solid players or UK with a ton of premium frosh talent.

We can be what we have been in our better seasons -- the 2015-16 team with solid veterans joined by Richardson & Lydon; or the Wes Johnson team when we added a premium transfer to a team with strong inside play, a perimeter shooter, and a young PG in Triche. Lots of ways to build a winning team.

The issue (bigger than the issue with landing top 25 recruits who chose to leave after a year or two) is the recruiting misses in recent classes. It is a long list -- Chukwu, Obokor, Joseph, Patterson, etc. JB is never going to play 10 guys, but he needs more guys who can play and develop than he has had on recent rosters. If he brings in a class of 4, it is often the quality of the #3 and #4 recruits in the class that makes the difference (Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson being the prime examples).

Yeah, I don't think it's an either/or type of situation. Obviously avoiding misses, even if you don't land every single top target or every premier recruit doesn't work out perfectly, is a key for any type of recruiting. But it's not really like the incidence of misses is that much more than it was during our golden era. I mean, we still signed Riley, Williams and Mookie Jones in consecutive years. Gorman was in there as well.

I think the key with some of these guys is also the development of others. So Obokoh not working out is not as big a deal if Roberson breaks out with a really solid junior year and becomes a key veteran presence as a senior and McCullough at least gives them a full solid year either his frosh season or theoretically if he were to have come back as a soph. Diagne working out also would have helped.

I see basketball as more driven by the top end recruits and football as being more driven by the depth. In football, you're effectively starting 32-35 players, have to figure at least 20 are not ready to really be on the field unless there's an emergency -- so those remaining 25-30 players being decent in terms of providing depth is pretty critical.

Hoops functions better if you have at least 8 guys who can play and another player or two who are playing sparingly but developing. But even this becomes difficult b/c if guys don't feel they're going to get enough minutes early, they're gone. BJ Johnson is a good example.

At the end of the day, though, having a pipeline of kids who could theoretically develop into solid players is a key and any recruiting miss has a potential to hurt if any other players don't work out as planned (i.e. leave earlier than expected for the pros, transfer, don't develop quite the way you were hoping, etc.).

Bottom line, my general point was that we need to better manage our roster with whatever strategy the staff feels is appropriate. My gut says a Lydon averaging 18 and 9 makes us an easy tournament team and potentially a decent threat to make a run in March, but perhaps that's oversimplifying.

 

[billsin01]

I liked his game and I'll miss him, but you're not crazy.

Lydon's defense was poor, especially on the wing. So that was going to be a problem for a returning junior. The rebounding will be missed. The continuity, too...the turnover in this program is ridiculous. He'd be a tremendous complement to Battle for sure, but we'll just have to make up for those points somewhere else. Hell, maybe Chukwu actually heals and becomes a capable player and Thompson can move to the wing.

Well, I'm not sure Thompson's defense on the wing will do anything other than make us pine for Lydon. But having said that, I think the whole point of a player returning is that they improve -- does Lydon come back more confident in his offensive game and at least develop into a passable defender on the wing? Who knows but I think, from a program perspective, that's how you're viewing a returning player. Instead, working yet another new piece into a new spot essentially has you starting from scratch. That's where Lydon's decision hurts us (not him, per se) as far as I'm concerned.

 

[billsin01]

He finished on a very high note showing his ability to destroy the DPOY in the ACC over a 6 minute stretch in a regional final. Then he had a good game against UNC in the final four. I agree with you 100% that what he accomplished was adjusting to the college game over the course of the season to become a very dangerous offensive player.

Inconsistency doesn't mean you're not dangerous. It means you're inconsistent. Richardson played a phenomenal second half vs. UVA and played well against UNC. He was also a non-factor vs. MTSU and Gonzaga. That's something I think improves if he comes back for a second year and that's a good thing for the program. Again, his leaving isn't necessarily a bad choice but I still think it's tough as a staff to account for guys leaving after shooting 33% in February and March. It doesn't make it bad, but it is hard to account for.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

So a lot has gone on here the past few weeks and there are varying opinions on basically all of it. So I figured I'd weigh in with my two cents for whatever it's worth. So my thoughts, even if they are really late, on some of these developments:

Hop's move to UW
So I'm admittedly a JB apologist in a lot of ways but I'm not sure the conspiracy theories and 'JB pushed him out' stuff makes all that much sense to me. If you look at the context, with Hop a west coast guy who was reportedly very interested in the USC job that ultimately was offered to Enfield, I'm not sure those theories hold that much water. I mean, guy in his late 40s gets offered a six-year deal at a school in the Pac-12 (the only jobs Hop appears to have been tempted by for the most part) making good coin (I believe the total comp is about $3M/year including shoe money) is simply a really good deal and a really good landing spot. I don't think it's crazy to suggest JB wanted to coach longer nor do I think Hop wouldn't have loved to take over the Cuse and spend the next 20+ years here. But the departure didn't seem acrimonious, the new job seems like a really good one, and he doesn't have to replace a legend, a task which can often seem thankless. My best guess, with zero inside info, is that Hop got offered a great job, conferred with JB who seemed to be eager to continue coaching and Wildhack, who may not have been entirely thrilled that JB's successor was already tabbed before he had his say, and all parties decided it was a really solid solution. Who knows, I guess, but it just seems like a pretty logical move for all three parties as opposed to someone being told you're not the next HC here and snapping his fingers to end up with a really impressive HC job.

Lydon's departure
This board seems intent on arguing basically two things: 1. That a player leaving is always a 'good' decision or a 'bad' decision and 2. That draft position should be the only determining factor in making a decision. I disagree with both and Lydon is a good example. I hope any player who leaves finds success and I don't think any of them owe any of us anything. Want to get that out of the way. I also don't know that Lydon improving his draft position by returning is a given or even a likelihood (though I don't think all drafts are created equal and I do believe players can improve). But to me, if I'm consulting a player, I want the tool that is going to be his calling card at the next level is actually ready for the jump -- regardless of where he gets drafted.

For Lydon, he is going into the league as a stretch 4 -- basically a guy who brings an offensive mismatch into the game when he enters. Yet, Lydon spent the vast majority of the final 5 weeks trying to find his offense. He topped 15 points just twice after his 24-point effort vs. ND on 1/21. He shot lower than 50% in 6 of his last 9 games, and struggled to even get shots off in three of his last four.

So what does that say? I don't know. Again, if he wants to go and can get drafted in the first round, I'm cool with it. But I don't see how that's the black/white decision some think it is. A junior Lydon playing more comfortably within the offense, reliably finding ways to score outside of an open three, perhaps putting the ball on the floor a bit more and unquestionably being a key focal point of the offense would seem like a really solid option. If you're uncomfortable or unsure of yourself at the next level ... that's not a good thing.

So, in short, I think he made a perfectly fine call but the point is to become a solid NBA player, not just a guy who got a contract once a couple years ago. What's the best path to that end? I'm not sure it's simply going as soon as some team decides they'll call your name.

Replacing Hop
I'm like everyone else here that a big recruiter would seem like a great fit, but a guy with really good coaching credentials -- a guy who could help big men or whatnot -- would be a huge benefit as well. Getting talent is obviously important and we haven't done a great job of that the past couple years, but you can bring in program guys and develop them ... as long as you develop them. That's not an indefensible strategy, IMO.

Speaking of recruiting and players leaving early
It will be interesting to watch and see how the roster is managed going forward. For all the criticisms of or compliments for JB (final four run vs. three disappointing regular seasons), the major issue the past three seasons is holes in the roster due to a few factors (players leaving, swings and misses, unexpected departures, etc.).

Rak's senior season is really the story of two unexpected departures in Grant and Ennis -- not sure many here saw either of those coming before the season. Grant couldn't make a jumper AND didn't get drafted in the first round and still left. Ennis made a good call leaving but I would argue it's safe to say he way exceeded any draft projections of him prior to the season and perhaps ever (not sure I ever would have guessed he was a first-rounder).

Then McCullough leaves after a not overly impressive 16 games in his frosh season which you have to believe would have made at least a couple games difference in 15-16 and then Richardson leaving after a pretty up-and-down season in which he shot pretty poorly overall. Would his return have made us a really good team this season? probably not but we clearly struggled with continuity issues.

Which brings me to my point: Of the last five players to leave early, the only one to have a truly excellent season before departing was Ennis. Grant couldn't hit a jumper, McCullough failed to score more than seven points in his final eight games, Richardson was inconsistent and Lydon struggled to figure out his role (yes, I realize PG was an issue). Even Fab, who had a phenomenal season defensively and was dramatically improved offensively, scored fewer points in his career (in far more minutes, by the way) than Taurean Thompson did this season.

The bottom line is the staff needs to figure out a way to either recruit and develop players who are likely to stay for close to three years (easier said than done) or get high-end seasons out of players before they leave. Obviously they aren't going to be hitting 1.000 on all their recruits and obviously guys are going to leave early. They just do.

But I think, as a program, you either want to be UNC with lots of veteran solid players or UK with a ton of premium frosh talent.

Happy to have Howard back
Not sure what Frank Howard did and whatever it was may have crushed us in multiple ways (losing recruits? losing games due to a rift in the team?). But I think having a junior who is at least theoretically capable of playing decent basketball back, is better than not having him. Hopefully there is buy-in from Frank, obviously, but the one thing I'll point out on his play: Early in the season his jumper looked better an he had some really good games. it's not unusual, or at least it wasn't unusual back in the day, to see a frosh come in and play sparingly, then do some nice things early in the season as a soph before finding the bench for much of the conference season, before emerging as a key piece as a junior. Can frank do that? Remains to be seen, but I still think this is a guy who can contribute. Time will tell I suppose.

What do we have next year?
This is an answer that will have much more clarity a few months from now but my gut says this is a program that is trying to find itself in an unfamiliar basketball landscape. Relatively new conference affiliation, era of unprecedented player movement (grad transfers, hosts of kids leaving early -- transfers, not just NBA entrants), very little continuity from year to year, etc. Strong finish to recruiting and some good things could be afoot (Tucker, Ayala and a grad transfer?), but I think JB is adjusting and trying to find his niche and groove again. It could easily by another tough year, but ultimately I like having him at the helm and am confident this program will adjust and continue to thrive.

Either way, we shall see.

Frank is not theoretically capable of being good at this level, anymore than the sun could theoretically rise over California.

 

[billsin01]

Frank is not theoretically capable of being good at this level, anymore than the sun could theoretically rise over California.

I said decent. He's absolutely capable of being a decent piece of a rotation. Counting him to be 'good' or a starting PG? Probably not a good idea. But this notion that he can't improve and help this team out is not accurate, imo.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I said decent. He's absolutely capable of being a decent piece of a rotation. Counting him to be 'good' or a starting PG? Probably not a good idea. But this notion that he can't improve and help this team out is not accurate, imo.

We just don't know yet. I wouldn't be surprised either way. If he can or can't contribute.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I said decent. He's absolutely capable of being a decent piece of a rotation. Counting him to be 'good' or a starting PG? Probably not a good idea. But this notion that he can't improve and help this team out is not accurate, imo.

He could not play ahead of Gillon, despite being given the job. He only played to that fatigue. He made me miss Kaleb Joseph.