The last two Big 12 players of the year knew they were the best, therefore, they played like they are the best. I guys come in thinking "These guys are just as good as me." Basketball as a freshman is all about mentality, its just how its used.
Are we close?
- Thread starter ajk4st8
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Thats what seems to be the biggest problem. Several large recruiting classes yet few immediate impact players. Even Nebraska has landed some.
But the past is behind us. Nothing we can do about that now. It does sound like we finally might have a couple for next year. I really hope it is enough.
AT isn't good. I don't care if Duke recruited him. Who did we beat for Mann, Boozer, and Eick? DG has a lot of promise as does Ham. I don't know about Buckley. I hope so. I think LA, Christopherson, Gilstrap, and Colvin will help but the recruiting has been weak until very recently.
Who did we beat for Ham. A bunch of tiny west coast schools. AT is a role player. He doesnt show himself in the stats, but he makes himself known on the court with his defensive presence.
Eh? Brackins and Wesley*???
Eick was player of the year in Neb? You don't think anyone was after him??:no:
Our recruiting looks weak cause these guys are playing year 1.
* Yes, WJ transferred but still was a hell of a find.
Wes was a rare case of someone that fell into our hands. He had a previous relationship with a guy we just hired and we didn't have to win any kind of recruiting war...
So?? We still got him after Gmac saw something in him.
Fwiw...I don't think we've ever won a recruiting battle with any coach.
Thanks for writing back, as well. I try to have reasons for most of my arguments (you'll have to ask AClone for his opinion, though :wink
I can see where you're coming from with the experience, and I guess I can understand that. Here's my deal: how does one gain experience? Riding pine or playing in a game? If we don't get these young guys more minutes, we'll never have experience.
I can also see your point with JVB. I wish he was getting more shots in the offense, because he certainly has been producing lateley.
Something different needs to happen, and I don't mean a head coaching change. 1-7 shouldn't be acceptable to anyone. On a related note, I don't know why we have more suits than players on the sidelines.
I was at ISU from 95-00, and that's what my opinions of ISU basketball are based on. They aren't based on waiting 4 years, or waiting for experience. It was about recruiting good players that can play right away, including JUCO's.
If you were at ISU from 95-00 you should be aware how a bad team can become a good team very quickly.
For whatever reason Mac didn't get any impact players for the most recent class. Maybe we tried to get some and failed and went with back-ups or maybe he thought we would be ok with WJ and CB (oops).
Regardless, McD seems to have learned from his mistake and we're bringing impact type players into the fold.
We lose very little this year. Hopefully the game begins to slow down for some of the young players and the two we have coming in upgrade our athleticism. We can have a decent year next year and hopefully parlay it into future success. At least I hope.
Yes, it happened quickly. Not after 3 years of "building a foundation". That was my point.
It also happened, like you said, because we recruited impact players. Not players that took 3 years to develop.
I hope it works out, too. Right now, it sucks.
Same here. Losing by 10 points in league means you are a long way from competing. We fail to get open shots in some cases. In other cases we get open and we cannot hit the shot. We are poor rebounders. We lose the ball when pressed. We cannot defend MO from the three point line. That tells me we are a long way. We need a Wesley to show up next year plus some people able to be more offensive. Two years away from being decent at a minimum unless a miracle happens. The slow ball system will not allow us to become last years Drake next year....another system might have....
Sounds like you may want Wayne Moore and recruit the inner city for atleticism....recruitment of HB will makle or break McDs job at ISU.
I know a little about LSU and there is no comparison between what is going on at ISU and LSU in MBB. The athleticism on the LSU team both last year and this year is far superior to what ISU has.
Last year LSU played in a very tough SEC. They had significant injuries to some key guys (guys that had been to the Final Four). The key players ended up being a Freshman (Anthony Randle...who ended up being a lottery pick last spring) and a JUCO tansfer Junior (Marcus Thornton...who did lead the SEC in scoring but was a major ball hog). The real issue is that the team just quit on then coach John Brady (a buddy of LE and TF by the way)...pure and simple. He had been at LSU about 10 years, was 192-139 with 2 SEC Titles, 4 NCAAs, and a Final Four (just 2 years earlier)...but the team had quit on him so LSU canned him mid season.
This year the SEC is weaker than it was last year (not as many good teams or players). LSU brought all of its key cogs back save for Anthony Randle and "added" two guys that had limited PT last year that were starters on their Final Four team of 3 years ago (Tasmin Mitchell who missed all of last year and Garrett Temple who missed a lot of last year). Most importantly, they brought in a new coach in Trent Johnson. This year LSU is playing hard for their coach whereas last year they were not.
There is little comparison between the two situations. Every key player (top 7) for LSU was on the team last year...even though some could not play due to injury.
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In thinking about this, it really comes down to what one considers "really solid". Is really solid defined as not being in last place in the conference? Is it defined as being in the middle of the pack in conference? Is it defined as being at the top of the conference?
The thing that confounds me about some of the people posting here is that on one hand they claim that our lack of experience is the big problem and then on the other hand claim that guys with no Big 12 experience are going to come in next year and totally turn around our team. This sort of thought process is quite illogical.
I certainly hope we are improved next year...but that is not really saying a whole lot now, is it, since we are in the basement of the Big 12?!
From my vantage point, it would seem that everything is going to have to go "right" for our fortunes to be vastly different next year. We are going to have to return everyone that has eligibility left. We are going to have to have major improvement from the younger guys on our team that return. We are going to have to count on huge production from guys that haver never competed against Big 12 competition (whether they be coming into the program or coming off redshirt). All of this in a Big 12 that will likely be a tougher conference next year than this year.
The thing that confounds me about some of the people posting here is that on one hand they claim that our lack of experience is the big problem and then on the other hand claim that guys with no Big 12 experience are going to come in next year and totally turn around our team. This sort of thought process is quite illogical.
I certainly hope we are improved next year...but that is not really saying a whole lot now, is it, since we are in the basement of the Big 12?!
From my vantage point, it would seem that everything is going to have to go "right" for our fortunes to be vastly different next year. We are going to have to return everyone that has eligibility left. We are going to have to have major improvement from the younger guys on our team that return. We are going to have to count on huge production from guys that haver never competed against Big 12 competition (whether they be coming into the program or coming off redshirt). All of this in a Big 12 that will likely be a tougher conference next year than this year.
I agree that there is clearly not as much combination of talent and experience on this team as we want, nor as there is most nights among the competition. For those that say we recruited too many shooters, remember that most of this recruiting class were put together with the idea that WJ would be on the team. I hoped but wasn't expecting this much improvement from Brackins. DG is finally driving to the hole with more regularity as I expected, I have just been disappointed with his ability to consistently finish or at least get to the line. That is starting to come on too. A key problem we had the year before was no one that could hit the broad side of a barn consistently from outside. Thus, the focus on shooters. Had coach known WJ was leaving earlier, I am sure he would have recruited differently...but he didn't. I beleive he thought he had the answer to Wes with HB or Ejim in 2010.I get that many folks pin that responsibility on him.
So, what are the biggest weaknesses of this team? First, I would say we don't have enough people that can create their own shot. Gilstrap seems to be that type of player. Hopefully, Colvin will be too, but I am not expecing all world play in year one. The above quote says Warren was a steal...I would say that is armed robbery! Second, we talk about lack of athleticism...seems like we are addressing that point along with the first one. Defensive rebounding is an issue at times. However, Brackins is looking like the real deal as a rebounder, and Hamilton is coming along there. Watching the game the other day, I can't remember how many times I saw their guy get a rebound because they had to go play help D when a less athletic player was beat off the dribble, thus causing them to give up the )-board.
I dont think losing Harrison Barnes will cause greg mac to lose his job...I see greg mac being here as long as jamie pollard is here and neither is leaving anytime soon...
Anytime I hear a new coach say "we're gonna do this the right way"...I just figure its gonna be at least 5 years before you see much winning!!!:sad:
"it sure didnt take mizzou long to turn it around"...quoting larry cotlar
As I recall the story, Wesley Johnson fell on hard times and moved to Detroit to live with a brother or something. He fell off the recruiting grid and somehow we managed to keep track of him when others didn't...
I know there are a lot of people that feel like we are close or that we are one player away, but we are getting dominated in the league. Unless Gilstrap is a bonafide NBA player, 1st Team All Big-12 guy, I think we'll still struggle to get to .500 next year.
I think we are much LESS likely to make the tourney in 2 years than we are next year - Gilstrap will most likely only get one year and Brackins would have to get injured for him to stay all four years. We don't have anybody on the roster or coming in that will likely match Brackins' production in the post.
I think we are much LESS likely to make the tourney in 2 years than we are next year - Gilstrap will most likely only get one year and Brackins would have to get injured for him to stay all four years. We don't have anybody on the roster or coming in that will likely match Brackins' production in the post.
