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Pitino at the Half

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There is no example worth pondering pre-portal era. If JC was coaching today, he'd be ripping off players left and right from the portal. He's more Pitino than he is Hurley. That guy was willing to recruit from the state pen to bring in great talent.
And if he wanted to compare Ross to someone on that team Jamal Coombs-McDaniel would've been a way better example even though Coombs-McDaniel produced more on the court up until this point in his two seasons than Ross has. Of course Coombs-McDaniel went on to win a championship at the end of his sophomore season.
 

HuskyWarrior611

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And if he wanted to compare Ross to someone on that team Jamal Coombs-McDaniel would've been a way better example even though Coombs-McDaniel produced more on the court up until this point in his two seasons than Ross has. Of course Coombs-McDaniel went on to win a championship at the end of his sophomore season.
Ross is infinitely more athletic and has better skills than Coombs MacDaniel who I’m not even sure could dunk.

The only comparison is that they were sophomores.
 

HuskyWarrior611

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There is no example worth pondering pre-portal era. If JC was coaching today, he'd be ripping off players left and right from the portal. He's more Pitino than he is Hurley. That guy was willing to recruit from the state pen to bring in great talent.
These theories are quite literally ruining basketball. Why would we not use examples and patterns of great player development that produced high level players and instead go with examples and patterns of players who are not as good as they used to be and won’t contribute much to basketball after college.

Literally ruining American basketball because coaches don’t want to do their job.
 
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These theories are quite literally ruining basketball. Why would we not use examples and patterns of great player development that produced high level players and instead go with examples and patterns of players who are not as good as they used to be and won’t contribute much to basketball after college.

Literally ruining American basketball because coaches don’t want to do their job.
What do you want to do? Jump in a Time Machine? Become a Marquette fan? I like winning.
 
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Ross is infinitely more athletic and has better skills than Coombs MacDaniel who I’m not even sure could dunk.

The only comparison is that they were sophomores.
Ross is infinitely more athletic and has better skills than Coombs MacDaniel who I’m not even sure could dunk.

The only comparison is that they were sophomores.

Jumps higher than him, he hasn't shown anything that makes him a better basketball player than him. Coombs-McDaniel was New England prep player of the year and the 50th ranked recruit in the country. He scored 25 against Providence, 23 against Georgetown, and 16 against Louisville in a three game stretch in his sophomore season. Jayden's claim to fame is he scored 15 points against New Hampshire in his sophomore season.

I was just trying to give you a more realistic comparison because your Lamb comparison is so awful.
 
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Ross is infinitely more athletic and has better skills than Coombs MacDaniel who I’m not even sure could dunk.

The only comparison is that they were sophomores.
Exactly what have you seen from Ross that screams more minutes? I actually want to throw the remote at the tv almost every time he is on the floor. There was one game this year that I thought he was serviceable. The rest, not so much. And yes, there was a very good reason why he saw 4 minutes vs seton hall. Stop trying to outsmart this staff. They know what they are doing and more importantly what they are looking for.
 

nelsonmuntz

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The portal is here - kids can come and go whenever they want now. If they don't like something, they sulk or bolt. Why invest in something that isn't patient enough to develop? Why spend three years hoping someone develops, when they may not or they may leave before they do? Why subscribe to managing that drama, or wed yourself to it, it's exhausting?

Call me crazy, but I prefer reducing risk. I'm not saying to abandon it altogether, I'm saying minimize roster spots for it and be very selective about it. The class coming in is exactly how I see it working best, grab as many top 30 kids as you can and stuff in an interesting longer term guy like Furphy. Fill in with portal.

Long term development is a thing of the past. Not sure you've read about it, but it's why the old guard can't hack it anymore. Some guys are sticking to their guns about it (Shaka & Painter), but I see that strategy aging poorly in terms of being an NC contender longer term. They'll be forced to adapt at some point.

Look at Michigan - from an absolute bottom feeder to a top 12 team in one year, lead entirely by portal kids, and super fun. They'd be the team I pull for outside of BE this year.

Texas Tech - top 10 team out of no where, lead by JT Toppin (UNM transfer), with a starting lineup of nothing but transfers. I can go on and on.

Development - overrated. Get kids that have already proven they can develop elsewhere, and fine tune. It's where we are in the era of collegiate free agency. Development in 2 year chunks. GenZ doesn't have the patience to stare from the bench. What good did that do for the sophs watching 4 pros win a NC last year?

I disagree on development of kids today vs 20 and 30 years ago. Today’s players treat it like a business, which is good in terms of focus and hard work, and I think the quality of play by upperclassmen in particular is higher than it was back in the day, when upperclassmen were often partying more than working because what was their coach going to do? Cut them as seniors?

I also think a lot of the old school coaches screamed a lot because they had to in order to motivate players. Kids are playing for a lot of cash now, they don’t need a coach to scream at them to motivate them. And when a coach does yell, the players know they better pay attention because they may not be on the roster next year and the MAAC doesn’t pay nearly as well as the Big East.
 
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Jumps higher than him, he hasn't shown anything that makes him a better basketball player than him. Coombs-McDaniel was New England prep player of the year and the 50th ranked recruit in the country. He scored 25 against Providence, 23 against Georgetown, and 16 against Louisville in a three game stretch in his sophomore season. Jayden's claim to fame is he scored 15 points against New Hampshire in his sophomore season.

I was just trying to give you a more realistic comparison because your Lamb comparison is so awful.
If you want to claim the staff finds hidden gems, then the same staff would be playing this gem more than 4 minutes a game on the back end of his sophomore year in a key 3 game stretch. His minutes are shrinking on what is not a deep roster, with a BE low of 3 minutes against a bad Seton Hall team. He's scored more than 2 points 4x in BE play, averaging a whopping 1.6 pt/game, 21% from 3. I witnessed one play 3 feet from the rim where he looked like had an epilectic episode. The staff has tried here too, not like they weren't giving him minutes earlier in the year. He's form over function, and athletically awkward. He's like the kid in gym that could run fast then trip over his feet.
 

nelsonmuntz

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I always laugh when I hear some GenXer say some version of “kids these days”. The amount of fudging off that went on at UConn when I was there in the 90’s was off the charts. How many times did any of you show up at Ted’s on a Wednesday to find a line? Can anyone name a men’s dorm that didn’t have some kind of elaborate multi day video game tournament at least once a month, or worse, a full semester league with posted standings? What percentage of most of your classes were still showing up to every session by the third week? How many professor office hours did you show up to? I bet most of you clowns didn’t even know where your review section with the TA was for at least one class you took every semester, while you were taking the class. I bet many of you didn’t even realize that some of your classes had a section once a week run by the TA.

Edit: How many office hours you spent most of Saturday and/or Sunday playing pickup in the Field House when you had a big paper due or exam on Monday or Tuesday?

But kids these days don’t know the meaning of hard work? Right.
 
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If you want to claim the staff finds hidden gems, then the same staff would be playing this gem more than 4 minutes a game on the back end of his sophomore year in a key 3 game stretch. His minutes are shrinking on what is not a deep roster, with a BE low of 3 minutes against a bad Seton Hall team. He's scored more than 2 points 4x in BE play, averaging a whopping 1.6 pt/game, 21% from 3. I witnessed one play 3 feet from the rim where he looked like had an epilectic episode. The staff has tried here too, not like they weren't giving him minutes earlier in the year. He's form over function, and athletically awkward. He's like the kid in gym that could run fast then trip over his feet.
Hurley was pushing him like crazy early in the season, same with Mahaney. They just aren't equipped for Big East basketball. I'm hoping we'll get to see some of Nowell in these remaining games, not so much for this season but to see any signs of what we could maybe have next season with him. Abraham clearly isn't playing all season.
 
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College basketball is an infinitely better product today than even 10 years ago and especially 20 or 30 years ago, and we still have people basking in the old days. You can't make it up
 
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Here’s an article where Jeremy himself talks about how his freshman year went:


It took Jeremy Lamb "a super long time" to get comfortable with his role as the Huskies' secondary scoring option last season. Kemba Walker kept urging Lamb to shoot, even through the early season misses, but Lamb succumbed to the typical freshman anxiety issues.

"Coach (Jim Calhoun) would always trust me," Lamb said during Wednesday's Big East media day, "but once I started knocking down shots, he'd leave me in there a little longer. I had a little longer leash than when I started, so I was more comfortable. I was in the gym every night. But it was after my shot started falling that I felt more comfortable."

"It was pretty crazy," Lamb said. "At the half of last season, that's when I started making shots. And then as time started going on, they were saying I was the second option. And by the end, I blew up a little more than I thought."


Confidence, trust, and opportunity from your coach goes a long way. That’s how you develop players. Ross and Lamb came in at similar places ranking wise and being late bloomers.

The comparison only looks funny because of hindsight and what one coach was able to get out of a player compared to the other who has shown over and over again he has a hard time trusting non-McD freshmen. Lamb would’ve never have became Lamb in this current setup.

I agree with this. I have no idea if Ross could be as good as Lamb because he hasn't had a chance. That could be because Hurley didn't love his game as a frosh, but it does seem like non-superstar frosh aren't going to play much. I think he's even said that.
Ross is infinitely more athletic and has better skills than Coombs MacDaniel who I’m not even sure could dunk.

The only comparison is that they were sophomores.

Coombs McDaniel could do 360 windmill dunks.
 
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College basketball is an infinitely better product today than even 10 years ago and especially 20 or 30 years ago, and we still have people basking in the old days. You can't make it up
The talent is better right now than it was just a few years ago because players are all of a sudden staying longer and the NBA hates traditional bigs. I'm not sure the talent is as good as it was when I was a kid and the studs were playing as upperclassmen but it's closer than it was 5 years ago.
 
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I always laugh when I hear some GenXer say some version of “kids these days”. The amount of fudging off that went on at UConn when I was there in the 90’s was off the charts. How many times did any of you show up at Ted’s on a Wednesday to find a line? Can anyone name a men’s dorm that didn’t have some kind of elaborate multi day video game tournament at least once a month, or worse, a full semester league with posted standings? What percentage of most of your classes were still showing up to every session by the third week? How many professor office hours did you show up to? I bet most of you clowns didn’t even know where your review section with the TA was for at least one class you took every semester, while you were taking the class. I bet many of you didn’t even realize that some of your classes had a section once a week run by the TA.

Edit: How many office hours you spent most of Saturday and/or Sunday playing pickup in the Field House when you had a big paper due or exam on Monday or Tuesday?

But kids these days don’t know the meaning of hard work? Right.
I can’t remember that at all I was too drunk most of the time
 
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Hurley was pushing him like crazy early in the season, same with Mahaney. They just aren't equipped for Big East basketball. I'm hoping we'll get to see some of Nowell in these remaining games, not so much for this season but to see any signs of what we could maybe have next season with him. Abraham clearly isn't playing all season.
Hurley was pushing because he wanted them to work out, needed productive minutes. Here we are.

The Nowell saga is truly peculiar. Like you, I really want to at least see him this year because it's easily our biggest position gap next year. We don't even know if he's an option at this rate.

Abraham has appeared to have grown gluteus roots deeply entrenched in the pine. I know that Trilly stuff is outstanding, didn't see anything more than what appeared around December. Yet another weird one, because pound for pound, looked like a better athlete and more coordinated basketball player than Ross. My biggest takeaways from the summer open practice were: 1) Mahaney is tiny and undynamic 2) Abraham is a smooth, chiseled athlete with a great compact stroke. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next couple years - would suck if IA departs and goes stud elsewhere because we decided to give those minutes to Ross.
 
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The talent is better right now than it was just a few years ago because players are all of a sudden staying longer and the NBA hates traditional bigs. I'm not sure the talent is as good as it was when I was a kid and the studs were playing as upperclassmen but it's closer than it was 5 years ago.
I'd agree with that, though I think that's offset by the players being able to move to teams better suited to their level. Guys like Rahsool Diggins or Brendan Adams would have hung around for 4 years previously and would have been able to contribute on good teams their senior year as role players, but got to move down and become main options at mid majors more suited to their talent level
 

HuskyWarrior611

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College basketball is an infinitely better product today than even 10 years ago and especially 20 or 30 years ago, and we still have people basking in the old days. You can't make it up
The fact that more and more American players aren’t being drafted high would disagree with you. This product sucks and it’s why nobody talks about it.

Media only talks about Hurley because there is nothing else interesting in college basketball to pay attention to except Cooper Flagg this year. Nobody cares about a 24 year old one and done player scoring 17 a game for Auburn.

We used to be able to watch Kevin Durant’s, Derrick Rose’s, Greg Oden’s and Kevin Love’s within a two year span.

Nobody in the last 2-3 years was even as good as a Buddy Hield and Doug McDermott.
 

HuskyWarrior611

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I agree with this. I have no idea if Ross could be as good as Lamb because he hasn't had a chance. That could be because Hurley didn't love his game as a frosh, but it does seem like non-superstar frosh aren't going to play much. I think he's even said that.


Coombs McDaniel could do 360 windmill dunks.
It’s unfortunate. There’s no reason a freshman can’t do what Mahaney did this year. Coaches are just choosing differently these days at the cost of long term development.
 

HuskyWarrior611

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Thing is, if we had a freshman Jeremy lamb on this team surely he’d be playing. This is such a crazy arguement considering that our best player, our alpha, our go to guy is a freshman. Maybe it’s just that the other two kids aren’t ready or worse, aren’t UConn level. The staff knows far more than you.
November Jeremy Lamb gets put on the bench with a minutes restriction for the rest of the season.

He didn’t show up at all in Maui.
 
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I'd agree with that, though I think that's offset by the players being able to move to teams better suited to their level. Guys like Rahsool Diggins or Brendan Adams would have hung around for 4 years previously and would have been able to contribute on good teams their senior year as role players, but got to move down and become main options at mid majors more suited to their talent level
Haven't really thought about it that way, but that does make great sense. While it's chaotic, it does offer flexibility for players across the board. Purists aren't going to love it, passive fans may have a tough time connecting with it because they can't track all the movement, but for junkies I find these times pretty fascinating in terms of how you build a roster. The added level of complexity makes it super interesting. These coaches make a butt load - if you can't hack it, stop whining, retire and let a young current guy figure it out. In very few professions are there 75 year old gramps working anyway. So K, Roy and Jimmy B retired. Most guys their age are sitting around a DJ in Florida drinking mocktails.
 
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It’s unfortunate. There’s no reason a freshman can’t do what Mahaney did this year. Coaches are just choosing differently these days at the cost of long term development.
Because they want to win in the current year maybe? The portal gives you a chance, if you hit it right, to win every single year. Would you like me to run through a couple more top 15 rosters to show you? The intrigue around the sport is not about how it used to be, it's about watching how coaches adapt strategically to changes.
 

HuskyWarrior611

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Because they want to win in the current year maybe? The portal gives you a chance, if you hit it right, to win every single year. Would you like me to run through a couple more top 15 rosters to show you? The intrigue around the sport is not about how it used to be, it's about watching how coaches adapt strategically to changes.
Purdue and Marquette win at as high of a level as anybody and they aren’t even pulling in top recruiting classes to do it.

You are making it seem like one or the other when that’s not the case. As we saw with Mahaney, pulling from the portal doesn’t even guarantee success.

When we were led by RJ Cole and Tyrese Martin we weren’t that successful either. I don’t want to go back to that.

Are there any teams like Marquette and Purdue who are actually doing bad? Because if the floor for this strategy is consistent top 15 seasons that doesn’t sound like a bad strategy.
 
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Well, those are all the reason that will max him out at 25 mpg......along with fouling since Hurley's defensive schemes will make him play aggressively 25-30 feet from the hoop. No one on this board doubts his rebounding ability and scoring ability around the rim. They're both impressive.
If reed is playing 25mpg how is he not the starter? As I alluded to in my first post I’m more worried about him leaving than being able to average 30mpg if he stays.
 
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The fact that more and more American players aren’t being drafted high would disagree with you. This product sucks and it’s why nobody talks about it.

Media only talks about Hurley because there is nothing else interesting in college basketball to pay attention to except Cooper Flagg this year. Nobody cares about a 24 year old one and done player scoring 17 a game for Auburn.

We used to be able to watch Kevin Durant’s, Derrick Rose’s, Greg Oden’s and Kevin Love’s within a two year span.

Nobody in the last 2-3 years was even as good as a Buddy Hield and Doug McDermott.
Zach Edey dominated college basketball the last 2-3 years. And also, Cooper Flagg IS this year's Kevin Durant, those guys are generational outliers and that one stretch in the mid 00s was an anomaly.

It seems like your nostalgia is conflicting with the reality of how to construct a perennially dominant team in this day and age. And also, we absolutely should be able to recruit multiple Liam level guys each year, maybe not lottery picks but our goals for freshman recruits should be at least 2-3 guys each year who are projected 1-and-dones. (And I think this incoming class is close to, if not at that level, and should be the standard from now on).

How can we call ourselves a blue blood and not recruit like it? You think Duke and Kentucky are over there feeling bad about recruiting the best players? They should save some roster spots for 3-4 year development pieces that might turn into a 10/4/2 guy as a senior? This is loser talk.
 

HuskyWarrior611

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How can we call ourselves a blue blood and not recruit like it? You think Duke and Kentucky are over there feeling bad about recruiting the best players? They should save some roster spots for 3-4 year development pieces that might turn into a 10/4/2 guy as a senior? This is loser talk.
Why are we trying to be like teams that haven’t had tournament success in years.

Also KD averaged 26 and 11 in college. Cooper Flagg is not Kevin Durant. He’s good though and the most marketable player the sport has had in years.
 

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