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Three coaches in about 2 years meant we had the land of misfit toys for the system that we want to run. It's going to take another season of recruiting and transfers to get some of the odd parts to move along and get replaced by pieces that are a better long term fit versus just being one or two year stopgaps.

(11-10-2022 10:38 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 10:31 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 10:26 PM)skyblade Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 10:22 PM)RuckleSt Wrote:  

(11-10-2022 10:17 PM)bearcat54 Wrote:  I guess THE 7'1 freshman Tolentino is being red shirted. and possibly Josh Reed.

Tolentino is hurt, and Reed is going to redshirt from what I've heard. I wouldn't be surprised if both end up redshirting though.

Do we know how hurt Tolentino is? I know we've all been assuming he'd redshirt anyway. But if Kalu and Ody continue to play as bad as they did tonight, I'd think there's potential for Sage to play 5-10 minutes per night as Vik's backup.

As far as anything thay has been reported, Tolentino's redshirt has nothing to do with injury. There was a quote in Justin Williams' pre-season article that said he came in unable to bench press 90lbs....so yeah, I don't think he's going to be able to hold up as a center this year.

Damn, I weighed 125 going into college and I could still bench 135 back then....how is that even possible? I should note that Kevin Durant couldn't bench 185 at the NBA combine, so the bench press may not be a good indicator of basketball readiness.

7 footers aren't built to move heavy weight from their chest using those lanky arms. It's concerning because he clearly has never done any serious strength training.

I think this team is more talented than many believe. The big issue is they aren't talented enough at the 1 and 5 (Vik is talented, but in an ideal world there is more talent there to either start ahead of him or share time).

We all like to panic too quickly. Let's see how things pan out.

(11-11-2022 11:26 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Three coaches in about 2 years meant we had the land of misfit toys for the system that we want to run. It's going to take another season of recruiting and transfers to get some of the odd parts to move along and get replaced by pieces that are a better long term fit versus just being one or two year stopgaps.

I am still not sure what the offensive system is yet. I also don’t understand some of lineup combinations and can’t figure out what they are doing with their half court defense. Why can’t you just go zone with length at the 2-5 spot. Some nights your will be shot of it but it’s better than giving up point blank shots at the rim.

(11-11-2022 11:35 AM)UCBearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(11-11-2022 11:26 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Three coaches in about 2 years meant we had the land of misfit toys for the system that we want to run. It's going to take another season of recruiting and transfers to get some of the odd parts to move along and get replaced by pieces that are a better long term fit versus just being one or two year stopgaps.

I am still not sure what the offensive system is yet. I also don’t understand some of lineup combinations and can’t figure out what they are doing with their half court defense. Why can’t you just go zone with length at the 2-5 spot. Some nights your will be shot of it but it’s better than giving up point blank shots at the rim.

Hard to rebound out of zone. They gave up .91 points per possession last night. They're trying to win with pressure, with disrupting offensive sets and winning on the glass. They are going to give up more at the rim than we want due to lack of rim protection, but there at other ways to be a good defense.

I like what I've seen on offense so far. The ball moves. They have multiple guys who can create(which is new). They still don't have great point guard play and post scoring so that's going to big things down if shots aren't falling, but they're creating looks.

We have a lot of guys who would be winning bench pieces on a quality roster. Guys who have a set of nice skills to fill a specific piece of territory but are in all honesty lacking in significant areas. It makes it tough.

This is what Wes has had to rebuild with since Brannen - 247 Team Rankings...

2023 - 26
2022 - 41
2021 - 194

We're getting there...

(11-11-2022 11:31 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I think this team is more talented than many believe. The big issue is they aren't talented enough at the 1 and 5 (Vik is talented, but in an ideal world there is more talent there to either start ahead of him or share time).

We all like to panic too quickly. Let's see how things pan out.

This year is throw away. It's all about recruiting right now to get the playing level up to B12 standards.

(11-11-2022 11:53 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  We have a lot of guys who would be winning bench pieces on a quality roster. Guys who have a set of nice skills to fill a specific piece of territory but are in all honesty lacking in significant areas. It makes it tough.

Yup, we have nobody who is elite on both ends of the court, though maybe Nolley can get there. It's hard to fit together a bunch of players with holes in their games. It's impossible to turn guys like DDJ or Davenport into great defenders. There's an argument to be made for playing guys like Hensley/Skillings more, you can teach basketball skills, you can't teach their length/athleticism.

People convinced themselves that Phinisee and Ezikpe would be something they are not and save us this season. But it turns out they are exactly who their stats say they are (Phinisee a situational defense first PG and Kalu probably shouldn't be playing at this level). Not Wes's fault, it's hard to convince one-years transfers to play in the AAC, the pitch is much better for guys who will be around when we move to the big 12.

Recruiting and player development are the big keys for the future. But we also have to put a product on the floor that recruits can believe in and want to play for. This year and next are throw aways to a degree, though I'd like to at least make the NIT. It seems like Wes is adding the recruits to turn us back into a top team, but he needs time to develop them.

(11-11-2022 01:37 PM)skyblade Wrote:  People convinced themselves that Phinisee and Ezikpe would be something they are not and save us this season. But it turns out they are exactly who their stats say they are (Phinisee a situational defense first PG and Kalu probably shouldn't be playing at this level). Not Wes's fault, it's hard to convince one-years transfers to play in the AAC, the pitch is much better for guys who will be around when we move to the big 12.

Recruiting and player development are the big keys for the future. But we also have to put a product on the floor that recruits can believe in and want to play for. This year and next are throw aways to a degree, though I'd like to at least make the NIT. It seems like Wes is adding the recruits to turn us back into a top team, but he needs time to develop them.

Dude, you are way overreaching. Many of us said that they were pieces to the sum of the parts to help the team improve. No one said they'd "save the season." If you want to call it after two games then by all means. There's a lot of games left and Wes is still trying to settle the moving parts. If anything, he's seeing who will get more minutes and play key roles moving forward. I do agree ultimately it's on Wes to recruit, develop the talent and win big games. Then again, isn't that what is expected of any coach?

Frustrating game to watch for long periods of time but CSU looked a lot better than I would have expected, especially coming off its season opening loss.

Is it a better team than last year? I think so. To me, Skillings shows flashes of great promise; Nolley will win some games otherwise lost and there is improvement in play with most of the returning guys. Not world beaters, but capable of a winning season and some kind of postseason perhaps.

(11-11-2022 04:48 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  Frustrating game to watch for long periods of time but CSU looked a lot better than I would have expected, especially coming off its season opening loss.

Is it a better team than last year? I think so. To me, Skillings shows flashes of great promise; Nolley will win some games otherwise lost and there is improvement in play with most of the returning guys. Not world beaters, but capable of a winning season and some kind of postseason perhaps.

The non-conference schedule is basically Maui, Xavier, and a bunch of really ambitious mid-major opponents. These buy game opponents and NKU are not your typical SWAC low major games that we used to see Cronin play. The majority of these games are against Horizon, MAC, and A-10 schools or winning programs. It’s going to make these games infuriating because when UC play poorly there is a real chance to lose. Add in that these are mostly regional opponents that would love to knock off UC and you have a really scary pre-conference schedule where every game is essentially a trap game.

(11-11-2022 05:36 PM)UCBearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  

(11-11-2022 04:48 PM)OKIcat Wrote:  Frustrating game to watch for long periods of time but CSU looked a lot better than I would have expected, especially coming off its season opening loss.

Is it a better team than last year? I think so. To me, Skillings shows flashes of great promise; Nolley will win some games otherwise lost and there is improvement in play with most of the returning guys. Not world beaters, but capable of a winning season and some kind of postseason perhaps.

The non-conference schedule is basically Maui, Xavier, and a bunch of really ambitious mid-major opponents. These buy game opponents and NKU are not your typical SWAC low major games that we used to see Cronin play. The majority of these games are against Horizon, MAC, and A-10 schools or winning programs. It’s going to make these games infuriating because when UC play poorly there is a real chance to lose. Add in that these are mostly regional opponents that would love to knock off UC and you have a really scary pre-conference schedule where every game is essentially a trap game.

I remember the biitchin' and moanin' on this board with Mick's infamous scheduling of cupcakes. We have a coach in Year Two rebuild mode playing better competition with the exception of the opening game. Let's see where we land...