Borges: Roster looks to be set for 2018-19 season

[intlzncster]

I agree that four guards isn't ideal, but if Jalen and Alterique are both healthy, four guards are enough. If they aren't healthy, then it's a lost season anyway.

Of course he didn't know Heron was going to be available. That's the whole point. The fifth guard is a luxury and not a necessity. I said as much at the time so it's not a matter of hindsight.

Hurley has done excellent work rebuilding two programs, but this is a different type of job than he's taken in the past and I worry that his approach is too rigid.

I think 5 guards are necessary to a MCBB. Guys get dinged during the season and you need that depth to survive.

I also think that Hurley believes Brendan Adams is going to be better than most on here think. He thought enough of the kid to bring him over from URI to a school where he knows he'll be able to get better recruits. Only time will tell who's right.

 

[Rico444]

I agree that four guards isn't ideal, but if Jalen and Alterique are both healthy, four guards are enough. If they aren't healthy, then it's a lost season anyway.

Of course he didn't know Heron was going to be available. That's the whole point. The fifth guard is a luxury and not a necessity. I said as much at the time so it's not a matter of hindsight.

Hurley has done excellent work rebuilding two programs, but this is a different type of job than he's taken in the past and I worry that his approach is too rigid.

1. The 5th guard is absolutely not a luxury when one of your projected starters is coming off of two lost seasons from shoulder injuries.

2. If Alterique gets hurt and misses the year, it's not a lost season at all, and that fifth guard becomes very important. Just because Kevin Ollie couldn't keep the ship afloat when Alterique went down doesn't mean every coach in the same situation is going to have his team fall apart.

 

[champs99and04]

No. Ollie PTSD is causing people to overstate the need for depth. Our lack of depth the last two years certainly did not help, but with regards to the impact it had on our season it is way down the list.

We effectively had four guards in 2014 and one of them was Terrence Samuel. In 2011 we had four guards and one of them was Donnell Beverly. I could go on listing teams but you get the point - if you have three guards that can play, that's enough. That means you can still afford one injury.

Brendan Adams could become an astronaut tomorrow and not one person outside of this board will think any differently of our team heading into next season. Down the road? Sure, he could turn out to be a high caliber player. But even beyond the fact that every fan base in the country makes the same claims about their incoming players ("He's going to be better than people think"), it is difficult to envision him contributing in a meaningful way this season. That doesn't do Jalen Adams any good.

 

[David 76]

Folks,
It is possible to stop responding to a broken record.

 

[nycscooby]

People won't want to hear it, but Hurley has left himself open for criticism regardless of how the Heron thing plays out. If you boot a kid to make room, you come off as hypocritical. If you never gave him a look, it begs the question of why you filled all your open scholarships with marginal players. "We're focusing on 2019" is and will continue to be a cop out. This team is a player or two away from winning big, now, and it isn't hard to see. Pandering to the fan base with vain references to culture might work for a bit, but if it's at the expense of the opportunity right before your eyes, you might come to regret it when the patience of those same people inevitably wears.

A player or two away from winning big? I know we will be better with HCBH and a year of experience with the frosh and hopefully a full year of AG but...

 

[intlzncster]

A player or two away from winning big? I know we will be better with HCBH and a year of experience with the frosh and hopefully a full year of AG but...

If we had LeBron, we'd win big. Keep up.

 

[champs99and04]

A player or two away from winning big? I know we will be better with HCBH and a year of experience with the frosh and hopefully a full year of AG but...

There are only five players on the court at a time. We're already adding one talented player (Gilbert) and a player who has proven to be productive in the A-10 (Smith). Adams is very good already and Vital is one leap away from becoming an all-league caliber off guard. What we are lacking is proven front court players.