Abu

[upstater]

We did recruit Abu when KO was still largely unproven. We were decent in the probation year, but certainly it was harder to sell the rich tradition of championships, etc., with JC no longer coaching. We did get Hamilton, which was a great get. Abu on top of that would have been really nice, but it took him a good chunk of the season to evolve from scrub with bit minutes into a regular starter.

Our first post-Abu effort was Colson, who has turned into a nice player at ND, but I guess we were never seriously in that picture. Larrier and Robinson both struggled this year.

Good point about Abu. He chose before the season really got started. So, he was NC State's signed on the dotted line watching UConn win a national championship.

As for Colson, UConn was very late on him--because of Abu. He was a second thought.

 

[Walker11]

NC State is a weird team, they can beat any team in the ACC, but can get beat by anyone in the lower half of the league. I almost picked them over Nova in my bracket, but they are so inconsistent. Then again Nova sucks in the tourny.

That's what you call a team with a ton of talent that is coached terribly.

NC State picked Abu over Gary Clark. We'll see if that was right call in a few years.

I really like Clark and think he will be better than Abu, who is still a talent, for sure. On a general note, I was looking at your roster after your 1st game and was surprised with how many juniors and sophomores y'all have this year - if one of your guard recruits is legit you may be top 10, and worst case, you will be better than a 9 seed.

 

[champs99and04]

^ Yes, Cincinnati will be very good next year. They're the example of a program that really needs to pounce the grad transfer market hard - they're maybe one or two shooters away from being a contender.

It will be critical for SMU and Cincinnati - both who could be top ten teams - to register a couple big victories in the OOC. Otherwise, they won't get any respect from the committee.

 

[caw]

The AAC could be decent at the top next year but every team needs to schedule better. The bottom can't be RPI negative wins.

 

[Chief00]

Quite frankly, recruiting needs to get better, much better.

 

[upstater]

^ Yes, Cincinnati will be very good next year. They're the example of a program that really needs to pounce the grad transfer market hard - they're maybe one or two shooters away from being a contender.

It will be critical for SMU and Cincinnati - both who could be top ten teams - to register a couple big victories in the OOC. Otherwise, they won't get any respect from the committee.

AND, not lose games to the bottom of the AAC. Temple blew out Kansas after all.

 

[uconngb]

Before you all get carried away, Abu had 1 double double this year before tonight....

I don't care what his stats were....my point is he is exactly what we were lacking this year...a strong, burly forward who can go after the ball and play physically with anyone. Yes, he had a great game yesterday, and no, that wasn't his normal game....but no denying he has what we lacked so much of this year.

 

[storrsroars]

Having been at the game, I don't know if Abu gets his stat line without Freeman - an even bigger load - next to him on the defensive end. Between the two of them, that was some of the most physical defensive play I've seen since the BE folded. Nova just wasn't going to get into the paint and although Ochefu was bigger than either Abu or Freeman, he was completely outplayed and neutered.

The level of physical play from NC State reminded me of the old Leonard Hamilton Miami teams or Pitt when they had Krauser, Gray, et.al.