The Problem with Transfers

[Tonyc]

There are problems integrating some transfers and incoming freshman into your system. The problem is they dont know your system. They have to learn it. When they dont know how to play within your system it makes it difficult to build team chemistry. Having to many transfers coming into your program only makes it tougher. They will have to work hard to learn your system then be integrated into it, many times thats a slow process.

The most important thing with a team is being able to execute and play as a team. One bad link and it doesnt run smooth. Many times, you beat opponents by not making more mistakes than them. That relates directly to team chemistry and the ability to execute your game plan. When its running smoothly, that create confidence.

The development takes time and patience for not only them but for the coaches. If you look at teams that have picked up more than one transfer and have incoming freshman, you can see how it could be tough for them to learn to play together. If your team has a nucleus of players who have learned to play together then many coaches can work, you in to the lineup after you've proven in practice and the coaches know they can trust you in a game.

What is a nucleus? A nucleus is having players coming back who have played together in the prior season. They know how execute together. If your team does not have a solid nucleus from the prior season the chances of building a team that knows how to execute together and work together, is not very good. They are a work in progress.

Why is it when you look at a teams roster and see all these big names and wonder why they just dont seem to gel? That team is lacking chemistry. Why is it those teams make so many mistakes...they lack team chemistry. When you're on a team its about the being able to play together as a unit, execute together and anticipate/knowing what your teammates are going to do. That all comes from playing together for a length of time until your comfortable playing with each other.

The one thing that can destroy a team is a bad attitude. A bad attitude brings your teammates down. Your attitude is your altitude. People need somebody to follow, their leader. People want to follow somebody with a positive attitude, not some crybaby. This is why I feel when a new recruit or transfer looking at schools, starts asking for more money, well imo let them go somewhere else. If your good enough the coach will make you an offer. You give that kid the money they want and everybody else will want the same deal and if they dont get it then that creates bad attitudes. Let me give you an example. How many ballplayers have a great season, sign a multimillion-dollar contract and then dont play up to it the following seasons. Some do many dont. I equate this to when you set your thermomotor to 70 degrees and when it reaches 70 degrees it shuts off. Many players want a certain amount of money and when they get it they slack off. Money should be used as a motivator to keep improving knowing that as you keep on getting better there is more money for you. NIL is good but imo you have to prove yourself and once you prove yourself there will be more.

By bringing in too many transfers make it seem like you're trying to take a short cut to be a great team. Instead, if you build a nucleus with what you have and maintain that nucleus year after year then all you have to do is build your underclassman and plug them in. This continues year after year. When you have a nucleus to work from and you're working with underclassman and working them into your system that creates a positive attitude. Its not fun sitting on the bench but it is fun knowing that you are getting better and becoming part of the team. Its also great knowing your becoming part of something special.

If a position on your team is open and you need to fill it understand many times bringing in a transfer that is proven could be helpful. Still they need to learn your system. There are many reasons why transfers leave a program and that must be reviewed. If you think there may be a fit thats great.

Geno has had continued success because he built a nucleus of players who have worked through his system and earned their positions. He recruits incoming freshman teaches trains and develops them and when he thinks their ready, he moves them into the rotation. Geno has also built a great recognition program that his players strive for. They are never satisfied because there is always another goal to reach for. Having a recognition program sets goals for his players to strive for. It keeps them motivated. It keeps them reaching for the next goal. UConn has become a family and learned its all about the team and the team is what makes everyone better. This is why UConn is so special. When your number one on top, everyone else is behind you the view doesnt change.

 

[GoingPostal]

A well written narrative on the pitfalls of teams that have too much reliance on the transfer portal. Fortunately UConn has had the luxury of not having to rely on transfers to restock the program. What transfers Geno has recruited have been to fill specific needs and they have come in and been key additions to the program. Good recruiting is the answer to not having to rely on transfers but transfers, when needed, serve an important tool in Geno's toolbox.

 

[Bone Dog]

The venerable portal-patchwork teams. I remember Doug Bruno saying in an interview that he has tried follow Geno's example, to turn DePaul into a program rather than merely an annual team. But getting a commitment from Morrow may have doomed DePaul. She elevated the competitiveness of the team. And then she left.

When she first got to Tennessee, Kellie Harper was stuck relying too much on the portal. Her best players, like Horston and Burelle (not transfers), seemed to have closer ties to UConn players than to their own team. And I don't just mean Evina. They were also besties with Paige and Azzi from the FIBA years. That's how little team chemistry Tennessee had. I think that's what doomed Harper's tenure at Tennessee more than anything else. And Caldwell may be trapped in the same cycle.

Friese and Close and even Gottleib have ended up caught in the same dead end as well. I think sometimes its a side effect of getting a commitment from a superstar -- Juju and Angel may be cases of this -- and in other cases it's just dissatisfaction with the coach or the school. If you manage to land an incandescent superstar, and if they aren't very team-oriented, or worse hyper ball-dominant, it may drive out your better recruits. When Juju returns, will Lindsay be able to hang onto Kennedy, Jazzy and Saniya?

 

[Gael]

A solid nucleus of high school recruits who stay for four years is certainly still important in WCBB. However, transfers are now necessary for top teams, especially in MCBB, and will become increasingly necessary in WCBB for top teams to maintain their positions.

The times they are a-changin'. — Coach Bob Dylan

Top MCBB teams have relied on transfers for years, and that reliance has increased since the recent era of essentially free and unlimited transferability. Even before that, top MCBB teams were faced with the "one-and-done" or "two-and-done" phenomena for high school recruits. Many men's coaches now advocate that, if you are going to have a good player only for one or two years, it's better to recruit experienced junior and senior transfers than freshman from high school. The theory is that the older players are more mature, more experienced, and more trained-up in high DI competition than wet-eared high schoolers. Obviously, all teams still have a mix of recruits and transfers, but the balance has been shifting for decades.

Although WCBB doesn't (yet) have the one-and-done problem, all the top programs are increasingly seeking/buying more transfers. UConn has Williams and Heckel this season, who have been key to its success. UCLA, South Carolina, Texas, LSU, and other top ranked schools all have key transfers. This pattern will continue. Of course, it remains important to have a balance between recruits from high school, recruits from overseas, as well as key transfers.

The point, however, is this: Yesterday's recruiting monoculture for success in WCBB is not tomorrow's.

On another mentioned topic, which may be just semantics, folks forever have said that team success is a result of good "chemistry." Physics is more fundamental than chemistry. Chemistry is built out of quantum particle physics. Therefore, to me, basketball is fundamentally about good physics.

• Player and ball physics: how, where and when the players and ball move, and in future seconds should move, and with what velocities and accelerations.
• Shooting physics: how a ball is mechanically released, in what direction, and with what arc.
• Rebounding physics: how to predict body position, how to effect position, how and when to box out opponents, and how high you can leap.
• Team physics: How all the above individual physics are integrated into coordinated, inertial forces on offense and defense.

Stated more simply, good basketball physics causes good basketball chemistry. Not the other way around.

 

[Cuango]

The venerable portal-patchwork teams. I remember Doug Bruno saying in an interview that he has tried follow Geno's example, to turn DePaul into a program rather than merely an annual team. But getting a commitment from Morrow may have doomed DePaul. She elevated the competitiveness of the team. And then she left.

When she first got to Tennessee, Kellie Harper was stuck relying too much on the portal. Her best players, like Horston and Burelle (not transfers), seemed to have closer ties to UConn players than to their own team. And I don't just mean Evina. They were also besties with Paige and Azzi from the FIBA years. That's how little team chemistry Tennessee had. I think that's what doomed Harper's tenure at Tennessee more than anything else. And Caldwell may be trapped in the same cycle.

Friese and Close and even Gottleib have ended up caught in the same dead end as well. I think sometimes its a side effect of getting a commitment from a superstar -- Juju and Angel may be cases of this -- and in other cases it's just dissatisfaction with the coach or the school. If you manage to land an incandescent superstar, and if they aren't very team-oriented, or worse hyper ball-dominant, it may drive out your better recruits. When Juju returns, will Lindsay be able to hang onto Kennedy, Jazzy and Saniya?

That’s going to be very interesting. JuJu imo was basically being pushed (to the exclusion of all else) to break CC’s scoring record. What happens now? I don’t see any way she can maintain that number of shots, shots she needs as she is not the most efficient scorer in the world. Davidson and Hall are #1s too and they are going to need a certain amount of shots. Will Gottlieb be able to keep everyone happy? I guess we’ll see. I would add that it is very unclear to me whether JuJu will even mind the cutback in shots as she may (imo, likely was) have been pushed by others to take that many shots in the first place. She doesn’t strike me as a “me, me, me” player at all. Anyway, as I’ve said before,I lost a lot of respect for Gottlieb over her focus on JuJu over everyone else. Now Gottlieb has a chance to show she can be a real coach who does more than draw up game plans that consist of “everyone get the ball to JuJu”! The question is, will she?

Of course, her coaching during the pre injury JuJu years did have a good result for two teams at least. Washington is very happy with Avery Howell and we are ecstatic to have gotten Heckel! It’s an ill wind…..