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Message: [QUOTE="Coach Orange, post: 1018122, member: 2260"] Unless a roster is loaded with McDonald's All-Americans (Kentucky) or contains arguably the best talent playing at the college level in over a decade (Carmelo), it's talented players who possess developed skills and experience that win games in March. UConn, Wisconsin, and Florida all have talented players with experience on their roster. On the surface, we looked like that type of team this year. A senior, a junior, a redshirt sophomore, a sophomore and a freshman starting, with a senior, a sophomore, and a redshirt sophomore coming off of the bench. We really weren't that type of team, though. BMK never developed an offensive game, and Christmas has only developed marginal offensive skills in his time here. Furthermore, our two redshirt sophomore guards had little real court time in previous seasons, and their inexperience showed at various points throughout the year. DCII's injury took some of our depth with it, too. The result was a second-round loss to a deeper, more experienced team (four seniors, two of whom are fifth-year players, and two juniors, one of whom is a redshirt after transferring from Ohio State). The bummer is that we will likely face the same scenario next season--lots of talent, but lots of inexperience and unrefined skills. Christmas has a ton of work to do this summer if he is to be a consistent offensive weapon. Cooney and Silent G will have this past season to draw on; hopefully, they will both continue to add skills to their arsenal. However, if Grant should depart, Roberson and McCullough will face baptism by fire--will their skills and basketball knowledge be ready for that? If Coleman redshirts (and even if he doesn't, really), the backup center will be a question mark, as will depth at guard beyond G. There's no guarantee that Joseph steps in and runs the team at a high level from day one, either. Ultimately, there are too many "what-ifs" there to assume a deep tournament run. McCullough would have to be a Carmelo-level talent with Carmelo-level impact for us to have any real title hopes. That's asking an awful lot of the young man. Perhaps we, as fans, should hope that most of these talented players are forced to stay in school (aka they are not "draftable commodities") and develop their skills over time, even if it means next season is a good, but not great, year. It would be especially beneficial if we could keep a point guard (Joseph?) who could control the game in March and April. Coleman redshirting to get healthy, get in shape, and work on his skills would help, too. If some of these things happen, we might have a strong opportunity for another Final Four visit in a season or two. It wasn't an accident that one of our best campaigns in the Boeheim era came with two fifth-year seniors and two juniors starting, three of whom developed their skills greatly during their time here and the fourth being a top-10 draft pick, with a third-year sophomore guard and a solid sophomore forward coming off the bench. What could have been if one knee had held up through April… [/QUOTE]

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