Quote from: The Sultan on Today at 02:28:18 PMYep. Your starting line up is exactly what I am picturing.

His bench makes me very nervous. But again - I haven't seen the freshmen play on this stage so I'm erring on the side of the unknown.

Quote from: wadesworld on Today at 02:02:48 PMI'd be surprised if two of Tre, Caedin, Clark, and Jones are not gone next year.  Would expect 2, would think 3 is more likely than 1 or 0.  Whether Shaka then uses all 3 spots on portal players we'll see, but my guess is yes.

People constantly overrate the need for depth here.  You need 7 good players to be a competitive team.  My preference would be a rotation of 8.

We were a 2 seed two years ago with a sophomore Ben Gold 7th in minutes and a sophomore Sean Jones 8th in minutes, prior to getting injured for the year half way through the season.  Nobody past those guys played more than 10 minutes per game, and Kolek missed a number of games late in the season with injury as well.  We were running a 6 man rotation for a while.  The year before that we won double Big East titles with freshman Sean Jones 8th in mpg at 12.  And people think Gold and Jones are "fat we should've cut" prior to their 4th year in the program, let alone years 1 and 2.

I've consistently brought up Villanova's two national title teams.  6 guys played 27+ mpg, Gillespie played 14, and nobody else was more than 12 on their second title team under Wright, and their first title under Wright they had an 8 man rotation.

Florida won a national title last year with 6 players over 20 mpg, one player just under 15 mpg, and nobody else above 12.  They basically played 7.  You can go on and on looking at how deep national title teams' rotations are.  Some are deeper, but most are 7 or 8.

You don't need 15 Big East rotational players to be competitive in college basketball.  The idea that we need to completely flip the roster is so far from the truth.  Nigel and Royce should be two of the best offensive players in the Big East next year.  Stevens is a proven 3 point shooter, and I trust we'll see an improvement defensively and going to the hoop.  He's definitely a rotational Big East player.  If you get 3 Big East rotational level players, you can easily find Ben Gold/Sean Jones sophomore year level of production from one of Sheek, Egbuonu, Philips, Walker, Miletic, or Owens.

Depth doesn't matter unless you're the 24/25 Marquette team

Quote from: Vander Blue Man Group on Today at 02:24:14 PMFirst, what changes the equation to me is Nigel, Royce, and Adrien.  They are proving with each game they can be counted on next season and beyond.

Royce will be an upper classmen. Nigel might be pre-season All Big East 1st or 2nd team next season as a sophomore.  And Adrien has shown a lot as well. 

For me, that's a very nice core to start with. 

In regard to the portal, I think we do need to balance out the classes with a couple of one-year guys that will be seniors, and maybe a guy with 2 years left.  If Sean and Tre are both gone, this team will have no seniors so that is a spot where you can add that experience. 

I'd like to see them add 3 guys via the portal.  A starting 5 with one year of eligibility left, a starting wing (one or two years left), and a combo guard (one or two years left). 

Starters:
C - Portal addition
F - Royce
G/F - Portal Addition
SG - Adrien
PG - Nigel

Bench:
Portal addition (combo guard)
Sheek
Owens
Egbuonu

Plus, Phillps, Miletic, Walker

I get that the bench is unproven but I see depth and upside.  To me, I don't see why this hypothetical squad wouldn't be competitive. 

Yep. Your starting line up is exactly what I am picturing.

Quote from: wadesworld on Today at 02:02:48 PMI'd be surprised if two of Tre, Caedin, Clark, and Jones are not gone next year.  Would expect 2, would think 3 is more likely than 1 or 0.  Whether Shaka then uses all 3 spots on portal players we'll see, but my guess is yes.

People constantly overrate the need for depth here.  You need 7 good players to be a competitive team.  My preference would be a rotation of 8.

We were a 2 seed two years ago with a sophomore Ben Gold 7th in minutes and a sophomore Sean Jones 8th in minutes, prior to getting injured for the year half way through the season.  Nobody past those guys played more than 10 minutes per game, and Kolek missed a number of games late in the season with injury as well.  We were running a 6 man rotation for a while.  The year before that we won double Big East titles with freshman Sean Jones 8th in mpg at 12.  And people think Gold and Jones are "fat we should've cut" prior to their 4th year in the program, let alone years 1 and 2.

I've consistently brought up Villanova's two national title teams.  6 guys played 27+ mpg, Gillespie played 14, and nobody else was more than 12 on their second title team under Wright, and their first title under Wright they had an 8 man rotation.

Florida won a national title last year with 6 players over 20 mpg, one player just under 15 mpg, and nobody else above 12.  They basically played 7.  You can go on and on looking at how deep national title teams' rotations are.  Some are deeper, but most are 7 or 8.

You don't need 15 Big East rotational players to be competitive in college basketball.  The idea that we need to completely flip the roster is so far from the truth.  Nigel and Royce should be two of the best offensive players in the Big East next year.  Stevens is a proven 3 point shooter, and I trust we'll see an improvement defensively and going to the hoop.  He's definitely a rotational Big East player.  If you get 3 Big East rotational level players, you can easily find Ben Gold/Sean Jones sophomore year level of production from one of Sheek, Egbuonu, Philips, Walker, Miletic, or Owens.

Yep, basically what I just posted and have been repeating.

Quote from: Billy Hoyle on Today at 01:59:16 PMIMO, you leave at least one spot open for a mid-year pickup - an international player or an early HS grad (what Shaka did for Walker this year). Maybe it's a Euro or Aussie who can contribute immediately too.

With 15 spots, I agree that keeping one spot open for flexibility makes a lot of sense.

Quote from: MurphysTillClose on Today at 01:27:29 PMIf they bring in only 1-3 players and finish top half of the big east/tourney berth, I'd be ecstatic. Would gladly eat crow for that. I just do not think the roster as currently constructed is built to do that with so little changes. We'd be once again asking true freshman/RS freshman and sophomores to perform at a level they historically don't. I understand you and others disagree, but many were also confident going into this season they'd be much better than what has played out.

What happened to "get old, stay old" that was the foundational piece of Shaka's entire philosophy? Why are we now so confident in relying on youth to compete for top of the BE?

And preferably these hypothetical four would be in the rotation, whether that be starting or off the bench.

First, what changes the equation to me is Nigel, Royce, and Adrien.  They are proving with each game they can be counted on next season and beyond.

Royce will be an upper classmen. Nigel might be pre-season All Big East 1st or 2nd team next season as a sophomore.  And Adrien has shown a lot as well. 

For me, that's a very nice core to start with. 

In regard to the portal, I think we do need to balance out the classes with a couple of one-year guys that will be seniors, and maybe a guy with 2 years left.  If Sean and Tre are both gone, this team will have no seniors so that is a spot where you can add that experience. 

I'd like to see them add 3 guys via the portal.  A starting 5 with one year of eligibility left, a starting wing (one or two years left), and a combo guard (one or two years left). 

Starters:
C - Portal addition
F - Royce
G/F - Portal Addition
SG - Adrien
PG - Nigel

Bench:
Portal addition (combo guard)
Sheek
Owens
Egbuonu

Plus, Phillps, Miletic, Walker

I get that the bench is unproven but I see depth and upside.  To me, I don't see why this hypothetical squad wouldn't be competitive. 

Quote from: GB Warrior on Today at 01:28:29 PMThanks Rod
https://x.com/realblagojevich/status/2024542538804220133?s=46

Tried to tweet like Trump without the skill of a true internet warrior and came up looking like a total dork.

And that's not even mentioning someone saying "I would have been a better governor for this" when they had not 1, but 2, unanimous votes preventing them from every holding public office in the state again

Quote from: MU82 on Today at 02:04:34 PMYup. It's amazing that people watched that and came out of it with anything else.

He is going to keep James and Parham (and likely Stevens) come hell or high water, and he is then going to bolster the roster by using the portal.

Any other take is just kvetching for the sake of it. Jeesh.

James, Parham and Stevens will be priorities for retention. If I had to guess, Phillips and the redshirts would be next. I don't see Owens as being at the same level in terms of priority. Great athlete but plays like Poppin Fresh.

Why the men don't wear the same helmets with full face shields that the women wear is beyond me.

A buddy on mine in the know says we're currently second for Donovan Davis behind Wisconsin.
Not that it's some giant revelation, but man I'd love to win that recruiting battle and bring Davis in.