He just needs to slow down. We havn't seen him coached up yet. Who thought Diarra would be this impactful..
Luck is just probability taken personally. And "got lucky" is what someone says when they don't want to give credit to someone else for getting it right.It’s not true????? Please stop it’s just reality luck is part of coaching whether it’s him or Calhoun. Too bad you guys are so ignorant of that
Luck is opportunity meeting preparation. Interest in Derdack is an example of staff prepping and being prepared. Husky 249 mentioned that as he continued to view tape on Derdack, his value began to become apparent. May not be #1 guy in portal, but sounds like good enough.
Don't really know how fair it is to knock Ball for his lack of showing out this year. He was pretty decent against high level competition at the beginning of the year, when freshman are still trying to figure out the speed of the game. He doesn't play now because he's got an All American, a lottery pick, and a fourth year guy who plays with a veteran's savvy in front of him.
Not sure how fair it is to compare Hass and Solo's freshman years, as the talent of their respective teams and their role on each was significantly different. They're relatively the same size but Solo's athleticism is way beyond Hass' and his shooting stroke, though streaky at times, is fundamentally better (in my humble opinion). Seems like all of the recruiting services agreed that his ceiling coming out of HS was much higher as well. I think the comparison is colored a bit by how much senior Hass does for us now. I don't think Solo is a lock for the NBA but as it stands his potential to get drafted is much higher.
That’s kind of my point though, it’s not a question of fair if you want to maintain the standards of this program as an annual contender. Awarding PT because someone was loyal or waited their turn is not going to cut it in the age of the portal.
Me
Right maybe I didn't communicate this well enough in my post. I don't think he should be handed a starting spot because he stuck around - I don't think anyone should be handed a starting spot period. I just don't think he should be written off so quickly since his playing time is minimal due to being on an incredibly talented roster. I think if this team weren't as good as it is and Solo was called on to play more minutes the entire season we may be looking at him in a completely different light.
He was playing really well until his abdomen injury. JC and Hurley were describing him as the alpha dog preseason last year. So add me to the list.
Fair. All this is to say, Hurley and the coaches see these dudes in practice every day and have earned this fan base’s trust. If we don’t go after any starting guards and it’s clear that Ball is the guy, I will not question that. I just have my doubts that is how it will go.
The luck part was Timberlake falling through. Things out of their control.
If he’s willing to compete for his role, sure. He had his chance to come here and get real development as a freshman ala Solo before projecting into a bigger role next year. He can go elsewhere if he wants any promises.
Feels like a bad match for both parties. I wouldn’t want him for anything other than competing for a Joey C role. Just hasn’t shown enough. And I doubt he wants to go somewhere to sit on the bench.
And that includes a lot of late shot clock attempts
Hope you're right and hope Raftery is a better judge of talent than Billy Packer who famously said, during the 1999 Final Four,
It was Ajou Ajou Deng
