(03-13-2023 09:19 AM)eastisbest Wrote: (03-12-2023 11:01 PM)UTfanBGalum Wrote: Guessing Lorrentson not back next season. That is based on recent bigs with similar skill set that only lasted a year. Ball handling is suspect and only plus is 3 shooting.Hope i'm wrong and he ends up as all conf senior year!
Hss ball handing and defense is fine for the limited minutes he's been given. His motion in the rotation improved. His presence around the basket improved. Of course, same could be said of the big from last year no longer on the team. Andre is far ahead of that one still.
No one develops wholly in practice or sitting on the bench. If K had took the risk of giving him 15-20 minutes a game during season in the post and wing, and played Shumate on the wing, while Edu posted, with Milner/Moss on the other, I believe we're in the NCAAs instead of Kent.
Can only speculate. Being fair to myself, it's what I've said at the beginning of the last three seasons with K. A team needs the right metrics as much as it needs highly skilled players. That takes risk when you're not recruiting 3-4 star posts. Kent took that risk and it paid off.
Most mid-major coaches don't like throwing numbers in the post; would rather rotate a bunch of wings and guards. Look at Kent's roster over the years. When they haven't had a top 3/4-caliber MAC post player getting 30-minutes a game, they've had 3-4 average guys with different skill sets rotating minutes.
Neither Hornbeak or Payton played in Nov.-Dec they way they played in Feb.-March. If they had, Kent would have won at least one of their big non-conference games. Odusippe and Gillespie were getting decent minutes inside early. Actually, don't think Payton established himself until the first (only) Toledo game.
So I agree with your point: --
No one develops wholly in practice or sitting on the bench. If K had took the risk of giving him 15-20 minutes a game during season in the post and wing, and played Shumate on the wing, while Edu posted, with Milner/Moss on the other, I believe we're in the NCAAs instead of Kent.
As a mid-major you got to be a coach willing to let the season play out, to a point ... willing to trust the players to develop, then make a down-the-stretch decision.
Take a step back and think. In Kent's case, it perhaps cost them a regular-season championship, twice.
Indeed, until Kent played Toledo last year in the regular season, they were just a .500 team searching for themselves. Then blew up the second half of the season when all the pieces fell into place (only to implode in the MAC Tournament lockerroom). Still, it made them a tough out in the MAC Tournament both years.
Matchups were an issue as noted, but that goes both ways. Toledo has always had the better offense. ALWAYS.
But that third game in three nights -- no matter which teams are playing -- almost always goes to the better defense. While the last 10 minutes became tougher for the Rockets, with defense established, and post presence established, the game turned decidedly toward Kent.
There's a lesson in there if one wishes to chew on it and swallow it down.
But that's a thought for next season. Right now, let's blow the doors off those Wolverines.
