RE: Looking to next year: Hoops
The most interesting to me is if Estime' actually returns and plays. Gives us another upperclassman who can score in several ways and can shoot the three ball. And no, it's not that bad. Our bigs were the great unknown last year, and now we know. Dodd wasn't going to get his scholarship renewed and Bowen was just serviceable at the five. If McGriff can just get some rebounds, get some junk point on offensive rebounds, and block some shots, we're already ahead at the five. Seems coach knew Carr wasn't going to pan out, so he went after Thomas, who I really like. If you ask me, we got rid of some dead weight. Yes, I really liked Boggs and Pridgen, but both could only play the four on a Siddle team. Pridgen didn't have the outside game Siddle wants in a four, and if Boggs didn't want to play and defend at the four, he wasn't going to fit either. What Siddle values more than anything is versatility and the ability switch back and forth between several positions.
So, next year looks like this:
PG - Phillips/Thomas
2-3 Okauru/Harvey/Estime
3-4 Sims/McCracken/White
5 - McGriff
Okauru, Sims, Estime, Phillips are all upperclassmen in reality. Every one of them has proven they can play at the D1 level. Phillps, Okauru and Sims are a great core and if Estime can come back, I had him as a starter last year. It's easy to forget how good Estime was when he played. In HS he shot 40% from three and led the state of Georgia in made threes as a Senior. I'm a little hesitant to pencil him in based on his history of injury.
So, If we have three starting guards that are all upper classmen, that's a good core. Now we have three scholarships to go after immediate impact transfers. Two at the five and another four with size who can shoot the three ball. Heading into a new year with only three scholarships to fill isn't the end of the world. As bad as we need some real big men in the post, we couldn't have kept Dodd, Pridgen, Boggs or Carr and had any scholarships to go after them. Boggs was the biggest loss to me, because he had all the ingredients Siddle wants in a four and we'd have only had to go after two post players.
I have to wonder if Siddle knew that Dodd and Bowen weren't really a good fit coming in last year, or if he felt he needed to give them a chance? It's funny how many people were outraged when Keatts came in and immediately got rid of some dead weight, but when Siddle didn't do it, and the guys he kept didn't pan out, he's hammered just as much. What would the reaction have been if he came here and immediately sent Dodd and Bowen packing and tried to replace them with transfers? He took a chance on Dood, Bowen and Steere at the five and none of them worked out. Two he inherited, and one was his recruit. Replacing them with quality big men will be his biggest test as a recruiter. If McGriff works out, he only has to hit a homerun with one more good big for us to compete at the top of the CAA.
(This post was last modified: 03-17-2021 03:31 AM by 82hawk.)
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