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I'm so ready to put this year behind me that I'm on to next year. This is not a criticism of MM, he is playing with with a pretty bare cupboard to borrow a phrase from past departed coaches' threads.

There is a lot we don't know yet. Who will return and who will not? Do we sign any recruits other than Wood and Diallo? As the roster stands now, assuming everyone returns, we have too many small wings/guards and not enough athletic guys in the 6'6-6'8 range. Also, our bigs are not very quick or athletic. I'll list who we have, using traditional positions just because its easier. Obviously, there is a lot of room for position shuffling.

Centers - Holloway, Hines, Turner-Morris
PF - Baldwin
SF - Laurent, Hayward, Diallo
SG - Pierre, Pipkins, Cobb, McLean
PG - Clergeot, Wood

In my opinion, we have too many guys at the 2 and 3. How do we get enough playing time for 5 or 6 of them?
Even if they all return, we are weak at the 4 and 5 and I'm not sure we are well set at the 1.

Speculation can now begin on who may leave and who will we recruit to replace them.

I don't think anyone leaves and I think it will be 0.500 team.

I expect the team to play up tempo and smaller. Laurent will play a lot at the 4 as the book on him seems to be a tough defender who can rebound as well as score. We will be able to do a lot more with the motion sets because we will have two shooters be it Pierre Cobb Hayward on the floor more often than not. This will also create more space for our bigs as well as guys like pip Keon and tre to penetrate because whoever has been guarding cj and unique won't be able to sag all the way to the post

I think at least 2 guys leave -- not going to speculate who that will be -- and that we either have a .500 season or come fairly close. No NIT next year either. Going to take year 3 until we can start thinking about that.

I think the season next year depends totally on how well whoever we have playing the traditional “big” positions can do against the A10. I think we will be a game or two above .500 and should take an invite to a lesser tournament if we get it. These guys need to play together as much as possible.

I'm always amused by the perceived need to have a "center" or big 4. It's not 30 years ago, guys.

You do need at least one "big" who can play. Doesn't have to be a traditional big, but someone who can play defense and score a little. Maybe that can be Hines, but his one-on-one defense leaves a lot to be desired.

I think you roll with laurent playing up front with whatever big remains. Hes certainly athletic enough to play there and do ok on the boards. If Baldwin really commits himself he could help. Big if though.

Still hoping for a fairytale ending for Holloway. Hines eh, has had his moments sure but he is pretty slow with his reactions and doesn't command the attention RH does. He has regressed as of late, especially defensively. KTM has a ways to go but that's to be expected.

UMass87 wrote: Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:01 pm I'm always amused by the perceived need to have a "center" or big 4. It's not 30 years ago, guys.

The A10 is full of big bodies. That's all I mean. I'm not tied to the old school. But, we need guys who will be able to match up and cover the guys who play the 4 and 5 no matter what the role of those players in the offensive scheme.

minutefanjsf wrote: Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:41 pm The A10 is full of big bodies.

Who?

It's a shame that RH has ended up in his current situation. An in-shape, motivated Holloway is exactly what we need. Looking at next year when we have 4 or more guys who can score from the perimeter and/or slash to the basket, having RH down low changes everything. The other team has to pay attention to him, a lot of times with double teams. That makes life easier for all of our wing players.

On defense, RH is actually a pretty adept shot blocker. If Laurent is as good a defender/rebounder as we have been told, our front court just got a lot better. Hines is fine as a 15 minute a game backup to RH but he gets exposed if he has to play 30-35 minutes. I love Baldwin but he is so inconsistent.

Many A10 teams don't have a lot of bigs, but if you only play one he needs to be pretty good.

All I know is today Fordham had some big Euro stiff who killed us...

NilesGold wrote: Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:50 pm

minutefanjsf wrote: Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:41 pm The A10 is full of big bodies.

Who?

Duquesne's front line, Berry at URI, St. Louis front line, to start.

^ Hines and KTM (who I don't even consider all that big) are both bigger than everyone you just mentioned except for Andre Berry, who's a senior. The A10 is not full of big bodies.

We really won’t have clarity on RH until possibly May when the academic year ends. I’m perplexed and surprised with Baldwin. The physical tools appear to be there...I thought the book on him was he played angry, with an edge.....I haven’t seen any indication of that, if anything he floats around, blends in and next thing you know he’s played 12 minutes, scored 2 and grabbed 3 rebounds. I think he relies too much on the 3 but then again he hasn’t shown any ability in the mid-range game or to score around the hoop through contact. We will struggle to win the rest of the season but with RH out Chris really has an opportunity to salvage his Sophomore year and finish strong but really it’s up to him...assuming his leg is okay.
Hines is who he is. A solid 15-18 minute guy. Solid rebounder, decent finisher around the rim. Limited outside of the paint, a little heavy footed...seems to have a good attitude. Problem is we now need him for 30+ minutes a game.
From what I’ve read on Laurent he sounds like a rugged, athletic 6’6” kid. He rebounded well at RU his freshman season and he also scored well....he really had a helluva freshman year in the Big10 playing top notch competition. Not sure why he kind of fell out of the rotation his sophomore season. Hopefully Rutgers loss is our gain. He could step into a huge role next season.
There’s definitely a need to bring in some added size. Between Pip, Carl, Unique, Keon, Kieran, Wood and Cobb we are set at the guard positions. At the 3,4 and 5 spots we have Diallo (any update on his injury), Laurent, Baldwin, Hines, KTM ( he’s a project but he’s got a good frame to start with) and possibly RH.
That’s 13 kids. Could see a Diallo redshirt due to injury and need to add strength and 1, possibly 2 transfers. Hoping MM can find quality in the 6’6 to 6’9 range for those potential spots.