Not all retention is equal in college basketball: The two positions where having returning players is key

[HooperScooper]

Lead guard and center according to the article. He calls Ball a lead guard. I read the article twice and I'm not sure if he's referring to a point guard or just your best guard. Because I think we can all agree that in no way is Ball a point guard. Anyway, he puts UConn in a group who has both returning in Ball and Reed. Some of these are a huge stretch. Duke with Caleb Foster (not a point guard either) and Patrick Ngongba? Foster averaged 14.1 mpg and 4.9 ppg. Ngongba averaged 10.5 mpg and 3.9 ppg. If that's experienced returners then every team in the country (well except Xavier!) has experienced returners.

Purdue, returning nearly 70% of its minutes from a 24-win club, has so clearly won the Retention Wars. The Boilermakers are the only NCAA Tournament team that convinced its three best players (Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer) to run it back for another crack at a title run. UConn, Marquette, Stanford, Notre Dame, Iowa State and SMU join the Fightin' Matt Painters to form the seven high-majors teams slated to return 50% or more of their minutes from last year. For reference, 32 high-major clubs returned north of 50% of their minutes ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

Not all retention is equal in college basketball: The two positions where having returning players is key

Who you retain and what position they play might matter more in college basketball roster-building than ever before

www.cbssports.com

 

[NowInStorrs]

Sounds like Purdue is in a unique position to get upside by a double digit seed this season

 

[TerryBoyz]

Thanks for sharing hooper. Good read and got a laugh from the fighting Matt painters.

 

[Dove]

Purdue isn't exactly recruiting NBA dreamers, so of course retention isn't difficult.

 

[Lafayette]

Purdue is always talked up but could not win with Ivey AND Edey but they laud their shortish guards who were a collective donut vs us in the finals. If we play them in the dance I expect another 30-0 run.

 

[uconngb]

Purdue is always talked up but could not win with Ivey AND Edey but they laud their shortish guards who were a collective donut vs us in the finals. If we play them in the dance I expect another 30-0 run.

Of course that wasn’t Purdue…..but we’ll still roll them

 

[Tenspro2002]

Purdue is always talked up but could not win with Ivey AND Edey but they laud their shortish guards who were a collective donut vs us in the finals. If we play them in the dance I expect another 30-0 run.

Nobody except Edey (and Smith for a spurt in the first half) looked like they belonged on the same court as us. They hit one 3 all game. The gameplan -- Edey got his, got exhausted in the process, and nobody else did anything -- was brilliant.

 

[BigTenFan]

I would prefer to support a program that retains its players and has a culture that reflects the high academic standards of the University. Painter does it the right way.
They lost to a great Uconn team.

Who wants to watch Kentucky with 10 new players every year ?

 

[jibsey]

I would prefer to support a program that retains its players and has a culture that reflects the high academic standards of the University. Painter does it the right way.
They lost to a great Uconn team.

Who wants to watch Kentucky with 10 new players every year ?

You’re talking about St.John’s this year and every other year now.

 

[DogMania]

One thing I definitely agree with the article is the two most critical positions to have experience and continuity at are the point guard and center positions, with the point guard being the most important. Rarely if ever do you see teams make the final four or win it all without having an experienced point guard.

I've seen many top level teams that have a freshman star point guard that just can't help themselves from shooting their team right out of the tournament wanting to impress NBA Scouts and GMs.

As for the center position young inexperienced centers just can't seem to stay on the floor without picking up fouls at an alarming rate.

As for a third critical position, it's more having at least one perimeter player who can lock down or at least slow the opposing team's best perimeter scorer. We've seen teams that don't score at high volumes , but are able to lock down opposing teams perimeter attack. Houston cougars are a great example of that.

So if you can build your roster with an excellent point guard, at least one center that can stay on the floor and perform at a solid level (rebound, block & alter shots and score enough inside to help release the perimeter pressure), and have a perimeter defense that can prevent the opponents perimeter players from torching you from deep and carving you up inside via penetration, you have a great chance to win a lot of games.

 

[NewBlood]

Guard play wins in March.

Silas, Ball, Malachi could be enough to match with dynamic shooting and strong center play.

 

[HooperScooper]

One thing I definitely agree with the article is the two most critical positions to have experience and continuity at are the point guard and center positions, with the point guard being the most important. Rarely if ever do you see teams make the final four or win it all without having an experienced point guard.

I've seen many top level teams that have a freshman star point guard that just can't help themselves from shooting their team right out of the tournament wanting to impress NBA Scouts and GMs.

As for the center position young inexperienced centers just can't seem to stay on the floor without picking up fouls at an alarming rate.

As for a third critical position, it's more having at least one perimeter player who can lock down or at least slow the opposing team's best perimeter scorer. We've seen teams that don't score at high volumes , but are able to lock down opposing teams perimeter attack. Houston cougars are a great example of that.

So if you can build your roster with an excellent point guard, at least one center that can stay on the floor and perform at a solid level (rebound, block & alter shots and score enough inside to help release the perimeter pressure), and have a perimeter defense that can prevent the opponents perimeter players from torching you from deep and carving you up inside via penetration, you have a great chance to win a lot of games.

Pretty much agree with this. So who's going to be our lockdown perimeter defender? Oh where have you gone Stephon Castle!

 

[husky429]

Pretty much agree with this. So who's going to be our lockdown perimeter defender? Oh where have you gone Stephon Castle!

I have a feeling Demary is going to surprise us with his defense

 

[HooperScooper]

I have a feeling Demary is going to surprise us with his defense

I agree with you. That is the hope.

 

[RuffRuff]

I would prefer to support a program that retains its players and has a culture that reflects the high academic standards of the University. Painter does it the right way.
They lost to a great Uconn team.

Who wants to watch Kentucky with 10 new players every year ?

The problem with Painter is the other side of the coin, does nothing exciting to infuse a great returning core to make them amazing. With those three back, all it would have taken was going big on a 4th guy to really separate them from the pack. Now the question will always be can he continue to find these diamonds in the rough and turn them into All American's?

While I certainly prefer what he's doing to bringing on 5 mercenaries, there is some excitement in seeing how a high end new talent comes in and impacts, adds to the product. You just don't want it in all 5 spots on the floor.

 

[BigTenFan]

The problem with Painter is the other side of the coin, does nothing exciting to infuse a great returning core to make them amazing. With those three back, all it would have taken was going big on a 4th guy to really separate them from the pack. Now the question will always be can he continue to find these diamonds in the rough and turn them into All American's?

While I certainly prefer what he's doing to bringing on 5 mercenaries, there is some excitement in seeing how a high end new talent comes in and impacts, adds to the product. You just don't want it in all 5 spots on the floor.

Good points.
Braden Smith will go down as one of college basketball best point guards to ever play the game. Not bad for a kid that got no D1 offers.

The 4th guy this year is Omer Mayer . A 6 4 Combo guard from Israel who turned down Duke to play with Smith.

 

[ucp990411]

Good points.
Braden Smith will go down as one of college basketball best point guards to ever play the game. Not bad for a kid that got no D1 offers.

The 4th guy this year is Omer Mayer . A 6 4 Combo guard from Israel who turned down Duke to play with Smith.

Braden Smith may be a good player but one of the best point guards to ever play the game? Don’t forget which teams board you are posting on.

 

[Travelman6]

Before clicking on the thread that was exactly my guess, not a surprise.

 

[RuffRuff]

Will be interesting to see what Dan Hurley's PG recruiting strategy is going forward as has been evident that HS level hasn't worked. It is a role you want someone with reps and seniority, unless truly special like a Pederson. Smith graduating and Silas with one more year beyond the upcoming, and with no real HS PG recruits on the list so far, Dan Hurley is likely gonna need to find a backup PG for next year that can hopefully take the baton once Silas graduates. A position to scout this upcoming season. Maybe he revisits kids like Lewis & Adams.

 

[6&counting]

I believe he has made this public, but behind the scenes, Hurley very much wants to make it work with HS PG recruiting. In fact, he initially thought Castle would be a 2-3 year guy, but ended being too good to stay.

I'm told through the grapevine he is also aware that he is essentially looking for a needle in a haystack. Just from a skillset perspective: finding a big, score-first combo guard that is smart enough to pass AND capable enough to contribute right away AND a good shooter AND is not OAD is difficult in the high school ranks. Adams would've fit 3 out of the 4, as he wouldn't have contributed his freshman year. 3 out of 4 with Lewis as well, as he is not very big.

Mingo and County seem to fit the bill at this stage if we land them - although Mingo has a hitch on his catch and shoot 3's, and County's skillset is nearly identical to Adams (this could probably be taken as good or bad). But then again Castle couldn't shoot very well and just went in the lotto.

If things go the same way this recruiting cycle as the last (landing no scoring PG's from HS), he would likely go portal again as mentioned above - maybe even one of the guys you mentioned. Adams in particular doesn't seem like he will stick at Maryland

 

[Lafayette]

But we have gotten portal PGs (Newton, Demary Jr) who fit that build - maybe not score first, but definitely consider self to score.

I think Hurley is just maximizing the situation - in 20 parallel dimensions Demary, Jr. would have been the 28th pick in the NBA draft. So brace for that after this year and the portal is closed, so why not try for the frosh PG/CG with 4 of 5 tools? If we cannot, we will be shopping Junior PG/CG in the portal for sure.

 

[auror]

Mingo and County seem to fit the bill at this stage if we land them - although Mingo has a hitch on his catch and shoot 3's, and County's skillset is nearly identical to Adams (this could probably be taken as good or bad). But then again Castle couldn't shoot very well and just went in the lotto.

County is a least more physically developed than Adams at the same age.