(02-08-2016 12:03 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  

(02-08-2016 11:40 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(02-08-2016 11:08 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  I hope you're right Mark. I personally don't see it but I hope you're right. I just feel like if you're going to be a top half of the league PG playing 30+ min as a junior and senior that you should be able to contribute 10-15 minutes against quality opponents as an underclassmen.

Agreed. In this day and age you can usually tell very early if a freshman has it or doesn't. Grooming guys for a few years to be "solid" veterans simply by being around the program for a while doesn't really lead to the kind of success that it once did in basketball. Guys are too talented, too fast and too athletic now. If you don't have those from the get go, you're development and success is going to be minimal no matter how long you are in a program. I think we've seen this played out with a few UC guys over the last few years.

Excellent point. And we need look no farther than a couple of miles over to Victory Parkway for a freshman guard averaging 11 points a game. Let's hope our prized recruit from Wilmington can have that kind of immediate impact next season.

No doubt. I have very high expectations for Cumberland. I think he's legit and brings an overall skill set that UC hasn't seen in a good while. I just wish they had multiple guys of his caliber on the team or coming into the program.

(02-08-2016 11:40 AM)Marcus Wrote:  

(02-08-2016 11:08 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  I hope you're right Mark. I personally don't see it but I hope you're right. I just feel like if you're going to be a top half of the league PG playing 30+ min as a junior and senior that you should be able to contribute 10-15 minutes against quality opponents as an underclassmen.

Agreed. In this day and age you can usually tell very early if a freshman has it or doesn't. Grooming guys for a few years to be "solid" veterans simply by being around the program for a while doesn't really lead to the kind of success that it once did in basketball. Guys are too talented, too fast and too athletic now. If you don't have those from the get go, you're development and success is going to be minimal no matter how long you are in a program. I think we've seen this played out with a few UC guys over the last few years.

People always seem to have this perception that players get so much better as they become juniors and seniors. As you said, you can always tell who has it or who doesn't.

^To me the exception there has been witj juco's (some not all).

There have been some big time jumps from jr to sr year

Let's remember in general Juco's are not what they were 20 years or more ago. Back then if a good baller did not meet the standards for a four year school academically they went the Juco route and we got a great player like Van Exel. The Juco route today often has players who got an early dismissal from a 4 year school and then get a return. Ellis for example.

Now non qualifiers go to prep school for a year. I think a guy named Kilpatrick did that and then Redshirted which is why he was a 24 year old SR.