People have been asking this incessantly, but I don't know what the big mystery is. Last year Pastner was all in and had to take Dixon. Even if he doesn't take Dixon; what recruit in his right mind was going to sign with us knowing that we had 4 accomplished seniors in the backcourt, and during the recruiting period, Pookie and Markel were top 100 recruits who were slated to be on the roster.

Even if Pastner doesn't take Dixon, no recruit in his right mind was going to sign with us. It would have meant spending an entire season on the bench.

What about this year? All the playing time in the world and we have a bunch of JUCOs.

Well that's checkmate

It is an absolute myth that high end players run from competition.

High end players do run from developmental dumpster fires.

(11-18-2014 08:35 PM)spankadelphia Wrote:  What about this year? All the playing time in the world and we have a bunch of JUCOs.

59 Crawford
72 Magee
95 Crawford

Plus Kedren. It takes time. Our other most recent 4 star guards mostly got off to slow starts against competition inferior to WSU, and all of them had the benefit of playing next to guards that were already in the system

CDR
Milwaukee Wisconsin
22 minutes, 4 points, 2/7 field goal, 0/1 three point

Anderson
Milwaukee Wisconsin
28 minutes, 0 points, 0/2 field goal

Kemp
Jackson State
25 minutes, 5 points, 2/13 field goal, 1/7 three point

Mack
Jackson State
21 minutes, 14 points, 4-12 field goal, 3-7 three point

Spoon
Fairfield
12 minutes, 2 points, 0/2 field goal, 0-1 three point

Crawford
Miami
21 minutes, 8 points, 3/10 field goal, 2-8 three point

I'm not suggesting that the new crop of guards are going to be great players; but they are going to improve quite a bit. They won't be as bad as they were today.

The team really needed Kedren to come in right away and play well and to be a steadying presence. Instead he was probably the worst player on the floor.

(11-18-2014 08:35 PM)spankadelphia Wrote:  What about this year? All the playing time in the world and we have a bunch of JUCOs.

Plus three 4 star FR guards and a starter transfer from Vandy.

details matter

Are we running out of excuses yet for josh? It gets old reading garbage.

Just realize the guy is in over his head and let's make a coaching change to save this program before we are completely obsolete.

(11-18-2014 09:14 PM)Malachi Wrote:  Are we running out of excuses yet for josh? It gets old reading garbage.

Just realize the guy is in over his head and let's make a coaching change to save this program before we are completely obsolete.

Trolls gonna troll

(11-18-2014 08:35 PM)spankadelphia Wrote:  What about this year? All the playing time in the world and we have a bunch of JUCOs.

Hell, what about the class of 2012? He knew in when AB, JJ and Chris were all frosh that they would be gone in 2014.

Josh has proven he's overrated as a recruiter, but even more so as a talent evaluator.

Is there really any question now?

Edit: on second thought maybe I'm wrong. maybe he's not a good developer of talent.

(11-18-2014 09:01 PM)Tygrys Wrote:  It is an absolute myth that high end players run from competition.

And there isn't really any point guard to compete with. Both Pookie & Markel were & apparently still are 2 guards. Instead of loading up on Juco 2s, we obviously needed a floor general, a ball handler, a guy that can handle a press, can set up the bigs....i.e., a point guard.

Just taking two of our past successful freshman pt guards (& we have had several) as examples, Andre Turner & Derrick Rose (because they had totally different progressions). Turner, known early as Andre Turnover, later earned the name, the "Little General" because he became a very proficient floor general, running the offense, getting others involved, doing all the things a floor general does. But he didn't start out that way, with sometimes more TOs than assists, taking 1.5 to 2 seasons to reach an acceptable level of proficiency. Rose was a much quicker study & was the man down the stretch in his freshman yr. after a very slow start, looking lost in early season but taking charge by late Jan. One thing they both had in common was even while struggling early, they both showed flashes of being very good from the start.

Now, in comparison, what have we seen from anyone playing the pt that showed flashes of even mediocrity? BTW, this is not a criticism of really any of our guys ...THEY AREN'T PT GUARDS!

Seems I remember both Kentucky and North Carolina having an off year not too long ago. I don't remember exactly; did they change coaches?

Please excuse me. I'm just making excuses I guess.

(11-18-2014 09:26 PM)MemphisTgrsFan Wrote:  Seems I remember both Kentucky and North Carolina having an off year not too long ago. I don't remember exactly; did they change coaches?

Please excuse me. I'm just making excuses I guess.

Come on. Those coaches also had national championships a few years removed and had multiple big runs. This coach does not have that cache.

(11-18-2014 09:26 PM)MemphisTgrsFan Wrote:  Seems I remember both Kentucky and North Carolina having an off year not too long ago. I don't remember exactly; did they change coaches?

Please excuse me. I'm just making excuses I guess.

Just so I understand, are you comparing Memphis to Kentucky and UNC, or are you comparing Coach Pastner to Coaches Calipari and Williams?

(11-18-2014 09:20 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  

(11-18-2014 08:35 PM)spankadelphia Wrote:  What about this year? All the playing time in the world and we have a bunch of JUCOs.

Hell, what about the class of 2012? He knew in when AB, JJ and Chris were all frosh that they would be gone in 2014.

I'm pretty sure that he brought in Geron Johnson. He isn't perfect, that's for sure, but you seem to feel entitled to be able to get blue chip recruits every single season. Cal is the best in the game, but look at some of the classes he recruited.

2002: Carney, Hunt, Thiero Wade
- Not a single top 50 recruit

2003: Banks, Lopez
- Both gone after less than 2 years

2006: Kemp, Mack, Niles, Willis, Bailey
- No top 50 recruits even though Kemp and Mack were borderline

2007: Rose, Robinson
- Recruited only Robinson knowing that Rose was gone

2008: Tyreke, Garcia, Sallie, Spoon, Simpkins
- After Tyreke none of the players were world beaters

The problem with you and others like you, is that you think that somehow feel entitled and don't appreciate what you have. Look at Arkansuck. They have national championships, great tradition, great facilities, a great fanbase, have umlimited resources and they play in a good conference.

They had to settle for Stan Heath, then they get rejected by Dana Altman, have to settle for John Pelphrey, and finally land Mike Anderson. They haven't been to the tournament in 6 years and have won 1 NCAA tournament game in the last 15 years.

I just want a pt guard........

(11-18-2014 09:26 PM)MemphisTgrsFan Wrote:  Seems I remember both Kentucky and North Carolina having an off year not too long ago. I don't remember exactly; did they change coaches?

Please excuse me. I'm just making excuses I guess.

Yeah and they managed to sprinkle in a few final fours and a National Championship around their down year. We have JV talent being developed by a JV coach. A coach who was at the bottom of our assistant coach list when Cal left. Basically he was the water boy.

I met the whole coaching staff during the AAU tournament in Vegas. Antigua was Cals right hand man sitting with him courtside while they were watching and evaluating John Walls game. Josh was running around getting them sandwiches.

(11-18-2014 09:25 PM)Atlanta Wrote:  

(11-18-2014 09:01 PM)Tygrys Wrote:  It is an absolute myth that high end players run from competition.

And there isn't really any point guard to compete with. Both Pookie & Markel were & apparently still are 2 guards. Instead of loading up on Juco 2s, we obviously needed a floor general, a ball handler, a guy that can handle a press, can set up the bigs....i.e., a point guard.

Just taking two of our past successful freshman pt guards (& we have had several) as examples, Andre Turner & Derrick Rose (because they had totally different progressions). Turner, known early as Andre Turnover, later earned the name, the "Little General" because he became a very proficient floor general, running the offense, getting others involved, doing all the things a floor general does. But he didn't start out that way, with sometimes more TOs than assists, taking 1.5 to 2 seasons to reach an acceptable level of proficiency. Rose was a much quicker study & was the man down the stretch in his freshman yr. after a very slow start, looking lost in early season but taking charge by late Jan. One thing they both had in common was even while struggling early, they both showed flashes of being very good from the start.

Now, in comparison, what have we seen from anyone playing the pt that showed flashes of even mediocrity? BTW, this is not a criticism of really any of our guys ...THEY AREN'T PT GUARDS!

Didn't have any last year it would seem

(11-18-2014 09:23 PM)Malachi Wrote:  Josh has proven he's overrated as a recruiter, but even more so as a talent evaluator.

Is there really any question now?

Edit: on second thought maybe I'm wrong. maybe he's not a good developer of talent.

I'd say the answer is "D" All of the above