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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 2407931, member: 289"] [U]The Players[/U] [B]QB: [/B][I]Eric Dungey is clearly the incumbent. He replaced Terrell Hunt 9 plays into the season opener as a true freshman and has never surrendered it, despite a series of injuries which ended his season early in each of his first two years. And that’s the problem: he’s a ticking time bomb. He’s built himself up to 6-4 222 but that doesn’t protect his head and he seems to have had multiple concussions… When healthy, he’s, (ironically) a heady QB who knows how to run the offense, is a good leader, throws a catchable ball, (I don’t think he has NFL arm strength), and is athletic enough and courageous enough to run the ball, sometimes not in his own best interests. That’s why having a good back-up is a necessity.[/I] [I]SU is blessed there. Zach Mahoney was recruited almost as an afterthought by the previous regime as a JUCO transfer. He started the season as a 5th string QB, basically an emergency guy. But a series of injuries, (including a DQ of a QB due to concussions), put him in the #2 job and when Dungey got leveled by Central Michigan…Later in the season, he took over again when Dungey had a season ending injury against Louisville and the started the next week against #1 ranked Clemson. … Last season he again had to take over for the last three games. Zach has a stronger arm than Dungey but less accurate. He was recruited for an offense where the QB ran so he is mobile but Dungey does better throwing on the run … In two years he’s passed for 15TDs vs. 6 int while attempting 252 passes and ran for 4 scores while Dungey, in 531 attempts threw 33TD passes vs. 12 int. and ran for 11 scores. So we are blessed with a competent, experienced back-up QB, something not a lot of schools can say. It’s a good thing we can say it. [/I] [I]Rex Culpepper, (son of Brad Culpepper, who played for 9 years as a DT in the NFL, 6-3 221) was one of the last touted recruits of the Shafer Era. Babers had a chance to pass on him but decided he had good potential and completed his recruitment. At one time he was considered the likely successor to Dungey but he seems to have faded into the background.[/I] Dungey won a lot of respect with his gutty performances this year and is quite a team leader. He was far from a perfect quarterback for this offense. Aside from his tendency to take off an run with the ball, Eric tends to focus on his top two receivers and can often miss other receivers who are open. He tends to throw sideline passes short and to the inside of the receiver where the defender can get at it. He threw interceptions on the first possession of every road game against highly ranked teams. He wound up with only 14 TD passes to 11 interceptions. Jimmy Garoppolo had 53tds and 9 interceptions in Babers second year at EIU.Matt Johnson had 46 and 8 in Dino’s second year at BG. Again, they were not in the Atlantic division of the ACC but 14/9 is not a Dino Baber offense. Dungey again got injured and had to be replaced by Mahoney, who was at his best in the first half against Wake Forest, throwing 3TD passes and leading the team to a 38-24 lead. It was the bets the SU offense looked all season. Inexplicably, he was totally ineffective in the second half, when we scored 5 points or at Louisville, where we scored 10. He was then replaced by Culpepper, not because Rex was better but because Rex had three more years of eligibility left and Mahoney had none. Rex looked as bad as Mahoney against Louisville but was somewhat sharper against Boston College. We still scored only 14 points. Dungey will give it another go next year, with Culpepper available as a back-up. But Tommy DeVito is the future at this positon. He is the one who will really make the Babers offense sing. [B]RB:[/B][I] Babers soured on Fredericks and made him third string behind Strickland and slender recruit Moe Neal. Fredericks ran for 139 yards at 5.0 per pop. Strickland ran for 566 but at only 3.5/carry. Neal, who had good straight ahead speed but “a high school body” according to Babers, gained 357 yards at 5.3 per carry. Perkins never even carried the ball. Fredericks transferred out. Baber’s staff brought in some more promising RBs but reports from camp are that Babers remains ‘in love’ with Strickland as a his running back, leaving fans to expect more of the same from last year. And more of the same isn’t going to get it done.[/I] [I]Strickland (5-11 207) did have one good game last year- against South Florida, when he ran for 127 yards on 30 carries (4.2) but didn’t score. The rest of the year he was 132/439 (3.3). The RB calls out the blocking assignments in Baber’s offense and Strickland was supposed to be a whiz at that. He caught 21 passes for 132 yards (6.3). Reports from camp are that he’s looking stronger and faster. It would help if he ran the ball in more than one type of play. Hopefully there will be more games like the South Florida game. [/I] [I]Moe Neal is 5-11 182, (up from 169 last year). He’s got great speed but doesn’t really have the body of a feature back. He’s better off as more of a hybrid player, running the ball and catching passes. He was in fact, moved to that kind of positon but then moved back to RB, suggesting that the new recruits did not impress and might be redshirted. Moe had a handful of plays where he burst through the defense and out-ran people for big plays but was not able to consistently gain ground. Moe might be able to help us as a kick returner. [/I] [I]The freshmen are an interesting group but I don’t know how much we’ll see of them this year. The key one would appear to be Markenzy Pierre (5-11 214) from Florida who ran for 2537 yards (10.4 yards a pop), and 31TDs last year. Looking at his film, he looks impressive, with power, good but conservative moves, an awareness of what’s going on around him and enough speed to out-run high school players. I think some of those long TD runs would be 10-15 yarders in college but I have no prejudice against 10-15 yard runs. [/I] [I]Chris Elmore is an interesting specimen. He’s 6-0 280 and could provide some real help on the defensive line. But Babers has been trying him out as a fullback or “H” back, thinking he could help more on offense. [/I] Strickland was marginally better this year, (3.8 yards per carry) but got fewer carriers, thanks to a last season injury. He wound up our third leading rusher with 482 yards on 128 carries for 4TDs. I saw more and better moves, better use of blocking and 43 yard TD run against Wake Forest that was a thing of beauty. He burst through the middle, beat the defenders to the outside and motored down the sideline for the score. If we’d have a more mature and better offensive line he might have had a big year, which means he might have one next year. That said, Moe Neal looked good late in the season, replacing the injured Strickland. He was just quicker through the line and had greater break-away potential. He caught Strickland in the last game to wind up with 488 yards in 92 carries. Ironically, he only scored once but his longest play was 71 yards, when he got caught by a world class sprinter who somehow wound up on Central Michigan’s roster. He also had a 47 yarder vs. Wake and a 28 yarder vs. BC. He no longer has a “high school body” and can bounce off tacklers. He also had receptions for 47 and 52 yards, which is why I think he’d be best in a hybrid role. Strickland and Neal at least give us a veteran pair of backs, even though neither one of them is likely to be an All-American. Markenzy Pierre got an early shot gaining 46 yards in 9 carries vs. Central Connecticut. But he also fumbles and Babers spent much of his next show stressing “taking care of the football” and praising Chris Elmore for doing so. Pierre played briefly against Central Michigan and not again until the blow-out loss to Louisville. In his high school highlight film Pierre seemed bigger than either Strickland or Neal and to have more speed and moves than Strickland. I was hoping he would be groomed to take over a weak position. Instead he’s a distant third. Elmore proved to be a sort “Refrigerator Perry”, operating out of the backfield either as a lead blocker or has a slow but powerful runner. He seemed to almost waddle to the line and was typically hit by 2-3 guys when he got there. In the BC game all 280 pounds of him was pancaked at the line and he wound up on his back. I think he could best help us at another positon. Pierre wound up with 89 yards on 25 carries (3.6). Elmore had 56 on 23 carries (2.4). [B]REC: [/B][I]Steve Ismael, (6-2 209), was thought to be our ace receiver going into last season. In his first two years, under Scott Shafer’s system, he caught 66 balls for 985 yards, (14.9) and 10TDs. With AET, he became the “possession” receiver, (if you don’t have possession, you aren’t a receiver), with 48 catches for 559 yards (11.6) and only 1 score. He figures to move back into the quarterback’s cross-hairs this year- unless someone else emerges. [/I] [I]If one does, that will probably be either Jamal Custis or one of two players we have named Devin Butler. Custis is big (6-5 227: there’s been a thought of using him as a tight end) with unusual speed for his size but he’s never quite put it all together. Having to learn a different offense every year he’s been here probably didn’t help. Halfway through his career he has 5 catches for 22 yards. But reports are he’s in the thick of the battle for the other WR slot. Butler played QB in high school but projected as a WR in college. He also has good size, (6-3 196) and athletic ability. He had two catches for 14 yards last year. [/I] [I]Erv Phillips is a converted running back, (who would also make a fine traditional halfback), who plays in the “slot” these days. Last year he caught almost as many balls as AET: 90 for 822 yards (9.1) and 6TDs. He’ll have a similar role this year but is unlikely to top those numbers. Erv is not big (5-11 181) but he has some speed and great moves. But he did not prove to be a big play threat last year. He’s more of a dump-off guy if the deep threat is covered. He’ll get you more first downs than touchdowns.[/I] Ismael made a huge comeback, breaking Amba Etta Tawo’s school record with 105 catches for 1,347 yards, (12.8 yards per catch) and 7scores. He didn’t have AEYT’s break-away ability: 94c 1,482 yards (15.8) 14TDs but it was a great season. He led the country in receptions much of the year and wound up #2, one short of the leader. And, despite not being AET, he was #3 in yardage. Phillips, a converted running back, was second to AET with 90 receptions in 2016 and second it Ismael with 89 in 2017, (5th in the country). Those two years propelled him to the top of the school’s all-time standings for receptions with 223. Both were seniors. How will we replace them? We didn’t have to find a replacement for AET: we already had Ismael. Butler was our third leading receiver but was not impressive. He had 33 catches for 327 yards, (only 9.9) for just 1TD. He had many key drops. Ravian Pierce provided a passing threat at tight end for the first time in years with 29 catches for 263 yards and 4TDs but he had trouble controlling his emotions and was in an out of the doghouse. He was a JUCO transfer so has only one more year to get his act together. Custis was a big target and was wide open on a 47 yarder vs. Florida State but had only 7 other catches all year. The true replacements for Ismael might be someone who didn’t play much this year or is being recruited. [B]OL: [/B][I]McGloster (6-7 309) is the one senior and thus the leader of the group. He can play but we don’t have 3-4 of him. Starting guard Aaron Roberts ripped up a knee in off-season workouts and won’t be able to play at all this year. Conway played a lot last year (6-6 296). Foster (6-3 314) is a former walk-on who played 6 games at center last year due to injuries. Darney (6-3 285) has played mostly on the punt team. (Late Update: Foster will not be returning to the team after a knee injury last spring didn’t heal.) [/I] [I]Byrne (6-5 299) was the guy Foster replaced at center after Colin replaced the injured Jason Emerich. We had three 500 yard offense games when he was in there, per the SU website. (He snapped the ball really well.) . Clausman (6-3 331) played mostly on the PAT team. Duerig (6-3 321) did the same and also played on the punt team. [/I] [I]Babers said he wanted offensive linemen with lower body strength and mobility. He wasn’t happy with what he had last year. Thus the development of the freshmen will be significant. [/I] [I]Coaches love tall offensive linemen. Backs can hide behind them before making their cut and defenders can’t jump over them to block passes. Mike Clark, a 6-8 292 redshirt freshman qualifies. He was a 3 star recruit out of Pennsylvania. Liam O’Sullivan is a booked at 6-8 270. He is a redshirt from Illinois with an 80 inch wingspan. He was a 3 star and the #116 best tackle prospect. Babers started recruiting where he knows the players: in the Midwest. His first three SU recruits were Aaron Serviais, Sam Heckel and O’Sullivan. Heckel, (6-4 292) a 3 star from Wisconsin, also red-shirted. He had been rated the #48 tackle by ESPN. He’s said to be the front-runner to replace Roberts. Serviais (6-6 305), is another Wisconsin red shirt. He’s in the mix at center this year, next to Heckel. He was wearing a “boot” and saw limited action early in fall practice but Coach Babers said of him and the DE’s Jake Pickard and Josh Black, (see below): "All those guys are OK. They're not injuries. Some of those guys are just precautionary stuff. If a guy's got a swollen ankle, you put a boot on it. It's not like it's broken or anything. So those guys should be good."[/I] It’s hard for a fan to evaluate an offensive line individually. This group was far from dominant but did seem to improve as the season went on. They had too many false starts early in the year, (I recall Servais’ name being mentioned a lot). The run blocked improved the most. Our quarterbacks seemed to be on the run a lot. McGloster was the only senior so we will get 4 of 5 positons back. We’ll also get injured players like Aaron Roberts and Liam Sullivan back as well as some recruits more highly rated than normal for SU. This group can’t help but get better. [B]DL:[/B] [I]We can put together a decent front line but with no real depth. And these days, most teams alternate their linemen so there are really eight “starters”, (if they are playing a 4-3 rather than a 3-4). We don’t have eight interchangeable guys as many of our opponents will have. We are better positioned at tackle than end, where big juniors Chris Slayton (6-4 315) and Kayton Samuels (6-0 319) share one spot and sophomore McKinley Williams (6-4 292), who was responsible for those transfers in search of playing time and he rocketed up the depth charts last year will share the other tackle positon with ex-linebacker Kenneth Ruff, who has built himself up to 6-1 284. Black (6-3 250) and Pickard (6-5 250) are listed at one end spot, (hopefully one of them will be ready when the season begins). Kendall Coleman (6-3 240) who looked good as a freshman last year. His back-up is Brandon Berry (6-4 223). That makes us pretty small at that spot. That’s 6 sophomores and 2 juniors at those spots, so there’s not a lot of experience, either, although having all those young players bodes well for the future of this unit- if we can keep them around, that is. [/I] [I]Late Update: Babers has secured the services of JUCO transfer Alton Robinson (6-4 245) Cuse.com: “Made 67 tackles (31 solo) and ranked third nationally with 14 sacks ... Also forced three fumbles ... Six multi-sack games .” Syracuse.com: “Robinson signed with Texas A&M in February 2016, but did not enroll after being charged with felony robbery later that month. The case was downgraded to two misdemeanor charges, which were dismissed this July because of an uncooperative witness…Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said in a statement that the school conducted a "thorough and comprehensive" review of Robinson and that the player has shown "deep regret and remorse" for his actions.” He’ll have deeper remorse if he does it again. So will we. He was rated three stars and the No. 27 weak-side defensive end in his cycle by 247Sports.[/I] This group remained reasonably healthy and exceeded expectations. Slayton had a great year. Robinson was a great addition. Coleman was performing very well until he got hurt. Williams showed promise. If no one leaves early, we have a very solid unit. Now we have to recruit to create depth and give these guys a blow from time to time and to produce their eventual replacements. [B]LB: [/B][I]The figures to be the best unit on the team. Zaire Franklin (6-0 236) had been our middle linebacker and captain of the defense since his freshman year. He’s the best player on the team. Parris Bennett (6-0 216), has played next to him for most of that time and nearly as well. Jonathan Thomas (6-1 209) is undersized but quick and has an instinct for making plays. [/I] [I]Their back-ups in the pre-season depth chart are 6-2 226 Andrew Armstrong, 6-2 215 Ryan Guthrie and converted safety 6-2 202 Kielan Whitner. Armstrong is seen as the eventual successor to Franklin and has been put under his tutelage. He is said to be bulking up for the role and wants to wind up over 230 after being 217 last year. Guthrie is a 3 star JUCO transfer. Whitner gives Babers the option of a sort of nickel back to cover a slot receiver, which is why he’s behind Thomas, who has that responsibility. [/I] And it was the best unit on the team. Bennett had a huge year. Leading the team with 115 tackles, 11 for a loss. Franklin was second with 85 and 5.5TFLs. He was also the captain and the team’s emotional leader. Thomas had 50 and 4. I prefer to remember them for all the games they kept us in against ranked and favored opponents: LSU, NC State, Pitt, Clemson, Miami, Florida State than for those last three games when the whole team was gassed. The big three were out there for the fast majority of plays. Next year they will be out there for none, as they were all seniors. It’s thought that their replacements will be both bigger and faster and may someday be an upgrade but they will be young. Armstrong played a lot and will probably replace Franklin. Guthrie made some big plays. And a lot of people are excited about this guy: [I]Tyrell Richards (6-4 212) is a true freshman. He was the #4 overall Canadian prospect. ESPN gave him 3 stars and rated him the #98 OLB. “The Orange coaching staff thinks it has a steal in the under-recruited Richards.” Per Syracuse.com. Richards’ high school coach: "They think Tyrell will be an NFL player, They think Tyrell's a four star that no one really knows about." Nunes: “Richards comes in as the type of linebacker Babers will most likely be looking for going forward. Taller (than we had), but slimmer -- could play safety in a lot of systems. The key, obviously, is speed, plus an ability to cover in space. While the team’s current linebackers did an admirable job of adjusting to the Tampa-2 and finding ways to make their skillset work for what was needed, they are predominantly pass-rushers.”[/I] Of course you never know about “under the radar” types and high school coaches tend to promote their players but Richards could turn out to be a gem. Still, these guys need to respect their elders because Franklin, Bennett and Thomas distinguished themselves in their careers here, despite playing for bad teams. [B]DB: [/B][I]Antwan Cordy is not big (5-8 181) but you feel every pound when he hits you and he was said to have the best instincts of any of our D-backs. With him out, Babers played Daivon Ellison, who is the exact same size and hits just as hard but probably isn’t quite as good an all-around D-back. But he’s the perfect back-up for Cordy. Sophomores Scoop Bradshaw (5-11 167) and Chris Frederick (5-11 193) were listed as the starting CBs in the preseason depth chart. They got to play as freshmen due to the injuries. Another sophomore, Evan Foster (6-0 213) was listed ahead of junior Rodney Williams (5-10 191) at strong safety, probably because of his linebacker like size. It’s interesting that Dowels and Hudson didn’t make the two deep. I don’t think they got worse. I think they have more competition. [/I] [I]Devin M. Butler is our ‘other’ Devin Butler, a grad transfer from Notre Dame who might have bene covering the offensive Devin Butler, who had a couple of catches in that game. Butler injured his foot last year and then had a minor scrape with the law, (a bar room confrontation with the police), before leaving ND. Jordan Martin, (6-3 206- great size for a D-back), is another grad transfer, from Toledo. “He racked up 74 total tackles, including 4.5 for loss, 11 pass deflections, two forced fumbles and an interception in three seasons” per Syracuse.com. Another former Notre Damer, Mykelti Williams, went to junior college and then wanted to come here but was “not admitted by the university”.[/I] [I]Bailey has Frederick and Bradshaw at the corners ahead of Dowels and Butler. He has Cordy and Foster as the safeties with Rodney Williams as a back-up but Jordan Martin, not Daivon Ellison. Dowels and Williams began last year as starters and I assumed Butler, coming from Notre Dame, would be one. I guess that indicates a talent upgrade.[/I] Cordy again went down in the first game and his absence was huge. We gave up big plays all year and in virtually every one of them if you looked at the replay, the safeties were a non-factor. Martin got hurt as well. We also lost Ellison to disciplinary issues. Foster did become our third leading tackler with 64, 7 for a loss. Butler didn’t make much of an impression for a guy from Notre Dame. Bradshaw and Frederick made some plays but also got burned occasionally. Next year we need to get a full year out of Cordy and Ellison. Butler and Martin were seniors so we’ll get some new blood into the mix. I’m anxious to see these two guys play: [I]6-2 175 true freshman Eric Coley is the son of Vincent Reynolds, Baber’s DT coach. He moved from Michigan and starred for -M last year, rushing for 1295 yards at 10 yards a pop and 216 a game and 17 TDs. Defensively, registered 70 tackles, including eight for a loss, five sacks and one fumble recovery. He was rated the #1 ‘athlete’, (meaning multi-positon speed guy), in the state and #51 in the country. Like seemingly every SU recruit, he was given 3 stars by the recruiting experts but this guy could be somebody special. I saw his highlights on TV every Friday night and he was running away from everybody. I couldn’t wait to see him in an SU uniform. I kinda wish they’d give him a shot on the offensive side of the ball.[/I] [I]Ifeatu Melifonwu (6-3 195) has a similar resume and even better numbers than Coley. Cuse.com: “As a senior captain, rushed for 1,876 yards and 25 touchdowns, while intercepting two passes on defense.” He is, of course, a 3 star and rated the #116 safety in the class by 247. We managed to recruit him away from Jim Harbaugh of Michigan. [/I] [B]Kicking[/B]: Then there’s the kicking game, or if you prefer “special teams”: [I]Murphy has been the placekicker for three years. He was excellent the first year: “Made 13-of-16 (.813) field goals and 11-of-12 extra points ... Also handled kickoff duties for the Orange and recorded nine touchbacks .” He was solid the next season: “Connected on 16-of-22 (.727) field goals and was a perfect 37-for-37 on PATs” but shakey last year: “Converted 10-of-18 (.556) field goals... Fifth on SU’s single-season record list for most PATs made by kick (36) and tied for sixth in attempts (39) ... Kicked off 53 times with 11 touchbacks ...” (all stats from Cuse.com). Murphy didn’t do the kick-offs in 2015, indicating a level of dissatisfaction at that point. But Babers put him back on that job. [/I] [I]Sterling Hofrichter was a classic example of a small guy with a big leg last year. He’s only 5-9 196, (a pretty good weight for 5-9). He punted for an average of 42.7 yards. He had to punt 77 times and 23 of them went 50+ yards, with a high of 65. He only had one blocked because he used the so called “rugby” punt most of the time, running to the side and kicking the ball on the run, something that takes quite a bit of talent. [/I] Murphy had a good year overall, kicking 20 of 27 field goals but missing a huge one, (which may have bene partially blocked) against Florida State. But he had 4 of them, including a 53 yarder, in rainy conditions at Miami. Hofrichter kicked 2 of 3 himself, so we were 22 of 30 overall: 73%. Not great but good. The same could be said of Hofrichter’s punting. He averaged 43.2 yards for the year. This consisted of a 46.4 average in the first 5 games, a 37.3 average in the next 3 games and a 43.2 average in the remaining 4 games. [I]The kick returners will come from the ‘skill positon’, (as if other positons don’t require skill), players: the running backs, receivers and defensive backs. Sean Riley returned the two punts Brisley Estime didn’t return. Brisley led the nation with 17.7 yards per return. The diminutive Riley (5-8 155) Riley returned his two punts 30 yards, which shows promise. But Brisley at 5-9 183 was a much stronger man and I always felt he had a chance to break one. Riley is more of a water-sprite likely to go down when hit. I’d like to see Nykeim Johnson get a chance at this spot. He’s not much bigger than Riley (5-8 163) but off his film I think he’s faster and more explosive. What I don’t want is to go back to punts being seen as an opportunity to make a fair catch and nothing more than that, which it was for years before Brisley arrived here. [/I] [I]Our kickoff returns have been a train wreck at the 20 yard line for years. I don’t understand why we can’t get them properly blocked. Riley returned 53 of them for 20.66 yards per attempt. Estime tried it 10 times for 18.3 yards. It may not matter who returns them if they get swarmed over at the 20 every time. Nykeim could help us here and Moe Neal had some big returns in high school. I wouldn’t mind seeing Eric Coley or Ifeatu Melifonwu a shot here.[/I] Sean Riley actually did a good job with kick-off returns. He never took one all the way but did have a 64 yarder and several others to midfield or nearly so. He wound up averaging 24.8 yards per return. Punts were more problematic as he had a tendency to let the ball bounce by him and cost us yardage. Dino convinced him to be more aggressive and that stopped in mid-season. He wound up averaging 7.6 yards per return, including a 34 yarder. As with the rest of our kicking team efforts, Riley was good but not great. [I]We used to block a lot of kicks. That seemed to go away when we started fair catching all the punts. A team struggling to compete with superior opposition needs to use the kicking game to make big plays. It’s not just about hoping them miss and securing possession. A lot of that comes from the attitude of the players – you have to want to break it big or block it- and a lot of that comes from the attitude of the coaching staff. I note Babers brought in Justin Lustig, the Nation DII coach of the year, to be his special teams, (and running backs) coach. Maybe he’s a guy who will look to make big plays in the kicking game. [/I] We did seem to take a more aggressive attitude toward blocking kicks, although it didn’t reach fruition until the blocked extra point and return against Wake Forest. Hopefully there is more to come. [I]Then there’s the fact that this is year 2 in the Baber’s system on both offense and defense. Not only are the players likely to perform more efficiently, (and, of course faster), but the coaches hopefully will be able to call for more things for them to do. We’ll see the whole playbook this year. I don’t think we saw it last year. [/I] I don’t think that was the whole playbook, although there was more of it. Most of the passes are still up and down the sideline. We don’t exploit the middle of the field much, although as Ravian Pierce develops, he might get the ball more. I think we’ll see more from the running game as the line and running backs get upgraded. We will have to because once DeVito takes over for Dungey those quarterback runs will become less frequent. [I]For all but the powerhouses, a college football team has something in common with a Triple A baseball team, (or maybe my Mets): the team you see at the beginning of the season is not the team you’ll see at the end of the season. Young players will improve, of course. But players will also get injured. Our equivalent of calling someone up from Double A is to put in an inferior or less experienced back-up, (who will also likely not be as strong or athletic because he hasn’t had as much time in the conditioning program). The powerhouses can replace players and not lose much. They might even find out that the next guy is better than they older player they had starting. That’s unlikely to happen here. Typically, we are a weaker team by the end of the season rather than a stronger one. You can project what you think might or could happen at the beginning of the season, then subtract a win or two and add a loss or two because of this. Discouragement and “playing out the string” are factors, too. That’s why our last game was a 61-76 game that somehow wasn’t really all that exciting for either team. I’d really like to see the regular season cut back to 10 games. It was easier on the players and you could figure averages more easily, too. But that’s something else on the list of what I’d like to see but will never happen.[/I] We didn’t have quite the wave of injuries we had last year, (or in 2014) but basically the same thing happened. The great challenge for this program is in building up the depth needed to be the same team in November that we were in September and October. [/QUOTE]

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