Looks like 1 of the players in our 2019 class is reopening his recruitment

[U.P.Zonafan]

So even if Miller gets to the final four next year, or the championship game, or wins it...... We still get to hear liquified "um they were lucky, the refs called it wrong, that shot should never have gone in, that charge Jeter took with 4 seconds left was a bs call, Nico's foot was on the three point line, Cole Anthony's 5th foul was not a foul, Zeke's block was a goal tend, Miller sucks, they played a 3 seed for the Natty so it doesn't count.
I can't wait.

[MDcAtZ]

So even if Miller gets to the final four next year, or the championship game, or wins it...... We still get to hear liquified "um they were lucky, the refs called it wrong, that shot should never have gone in, that charge Jeter took with 4 seconds left was a bs call, Nico's foot was on the three point line, Cole Anthony's 5th foul was not a foul, Zeke's block was a goal tend, Miller sucks, they played a 3 seed for the Natty so it doesn't count.
I can't wait.

It's always some excuse with that jackwad... but the Admins here took a vote and think he's good for the board. His positivity and charm, or something. He's the TRUE definition of a fan.

[KansasCityCats]

Wisconsin couldn't score to save their lives (Happ was unbelievably inconsistent), K-State was worthless without Dean Wade (so they had NO shot at making a deep run in the tourney) and they beat a Purdue team that was arguably the hottest team in basketball...not to mention they destroyed your beloved Ducks!

OU was a weak 9-seed, but they didn't play another weak opponent in the tourney...and they dominated everybody except Dook in ACC play.  Can't discredit the defending champs until (IF) they're knocked out of next year's tourney.

[mvpreed2]

As much as I didn't like to read it, you proved your argument.
Seems like my traditionalist ways are being forced to conform.

On the bright side we have a coach that is adapting to the current trends in college (and pro) basketball and this year it looks like we'll have the pieces to do it whether or not we land Boogie. Lots of good options whether we land him, Brown, or the kid from Kentucky.

On offense yes, defense is a bit slower but as long as we continue to win 30+ games again, positioned to make a deep run in the tournament, I believe I will be more willing to accept the change.

As far as the transfers, I want Baker/Brown/Ellis in that order.
We could actually take two if Miller is willing to take DesJardins off of scholarship, but I don't believe that he will.

I'm not sure who'd I'd take given that list but I think for Miller and our sake we need to be set up to win it all next season, while Josh and Nico are here, so I'd lean more towards Boogie since Baker would have to sit a year and I think Boogie helps us out the most next season. Virginia runs the Pack and had great success - the one change they made between losing in the first round and winning it all was the changes they made on offense. I say we give it a shot and see what a spread offense looks like with the talent we'll have on the roster.

"The truth is, that game did change Tony Bennett, and it changed him for the better. Because they went away from the movers and blockers offensive system that they had played in the past. That was what he had learned from his father, that's what he had done early in his career."

"After last year, they changed to basically a ball-screen offense that relied very heavily on Ty Jerome's ability and Kyle Guy's ability and DeAndre (Hunter)'s ability, and allowed them to be players more so than they had been."

"In this tournament, he was willing to change," DeCourcy continued. "He grew as a coach as a result of the UMBC game: more flexible, more willing to do different things, and that's why they're here."

https://thefandc.radio.com/umbc-loss-helped-virginia-s-tony-bennett-grow-coach-mike-decourcy

Very true, but if we are comparing lineups between the two, we don't have anyone that resembles the freshman PG Virginia has.
I would assume Mannion/Williams would be our Guy/Jerome and Green would be our Hunter.
I forget who their C was but I guess we can pencil Jeter in there.
That 5th man needs to be expandable on offense with 2/3 people so ball dominate, but HAS to be affective on defense to warrant his spot.

Right now, we don't have that guy and I honestly don't believe Ellis would be a fit for that spot.
He would be excellent as the lead guard of the 2nd unit and he would be able to get all the shots he can handle with no real playmakers on the perimeter coming off the bench (MAYBE Armstrong?).
Maybe I'm not seeing the vision as clear, but I am eager to see how this scheme looks with 5-6 fits instead of 1-2 of them.

[eggdog]

Very true, but if we are comparing lineups between the two, we don't have anyone that resembles the freshman PG Virginia has.
I would assume Mannion/Williams would be our Guy/Jerome and Green would be our Hunter.
I forget who their C was but I guess we can pencil Jeter in there.
That 5th man needs to be expandable on offense with 2/3 people so ball dominate, but HAS to be affective on defense to warrant his spot.

Right now, we don't have that guy and I honestly don't believe Ellis would be a fit for that spot.
He would be excellent as the lead guard of the 2nd unit and he would be able to get all the shots he can handle with no real playmakers on the perimeter coming off the bench (MAYBE Armstrong?).
Maybe I'm not seeing the vision as clear, but I am eager to see how this scheme looks with 5-6 fits instead of 1-2 of them.

Yeah, not exactly an apples to oranges comparison but we should have the pieces to put some different line-ups out there and match up with just about anybody. The Virginia pg was short (5'9") but a good defender and pretty good 3 point shooter. He didn't do a lot else though (averaged 4.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists), which wasn't needed with the other scorers they had and their other guard Ty Jerome was a great set-up guy averaging over 6 assists per game. Between Nico and BWill hopefully we'll be able to post similar or even better numbers but shooting as efficiently as Virginia did is going to be key.

They had different players start at center during the year but in the tournament they went with Mamadi Diakite who was a great shotblocker/rebounder and super active. Thinner and quicker than Jeter I think and not sure we have someone similar but it seems like we're going to be able to get by using a center by committee approach and we should have the talent to make it work.

[mvpreed2]

Very true, but if we are comparing lineups between the two, we don't have anyone that resembles the freshman PG Virginia has.
I would assume Mannion/Williams would be our Guy/Jerome and Green would be our Hunter.
I forget who their C was but I guess we can pencil Jeter in there.
That 5th man needs to be expandable on offense with 2/3 people so ball dominate, but HAS to be affective on defense to warrant his spot.

Right now, we don't have that guy and I honestly don't believe Ellis would be a fit for that spot.
He would be excellent as the lead guard of the 2nd unit and he would be able to get all the shots he can handle with no real playmakers on the perimeter coming off the bench (MAYBE Armstrong?).
Maybe I'm not seeing the vision as clear, but I am eager to see how this scheme looks with 5-6 fits instead of 1-2 of them.

Yeah, not exactly an apples to oranges comparison but we should have the pieces to put some different line-ups out there and match up with just about anybody. The Virginia pg was short (5'9") but a good defender and pretty good 3 point shooter. He didn't do a lot else though (averaged 4.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists), which wasn't needed with the other scorers they had and their other guard Ty Jerome was a great set-up guy averaging over 6 assists per game. Between Nico and BWill hopefully we'll be able to post similar or even better numbers but shooting as efficiently as Virginia did is going to be key.

They had different players start at center during the year but in the tournament they went with Mamadi Diakite who was a great shotblocker/rebounder and super active. Thinner and quicker than Jeter I think and not sure we have someone similar but it seems like we're going to be able to get by using a center by committee approach and we should have the talent to make it work.

I just don't see this lineup being the one that takes us far.
I know the 1997 team wasn't the best one Lute had, etc.
I don't look at this roster and see Elite Eight potential, but Sweet 16 is possible.

[eggdog]

I just don't see this lineup being the one that takes us far.
I know the 1997 team wasn't the best one Lute had, etc.
I don't look at this roster and see Elite Eight potential, but Sweet 16 is possible.

Yeah I probably agree with you there - we're going to be relying heavily on freshmen where as I think they had only one who played significant minutes but hopefully our guys come in ready and the returners improve over last year. Either way I hope we'll be back in the conversation for a title - as of now we're undefeated.

[2012Cat]

From what I've seen I think sweet 16 should be the realistic goal. Once you get there anything can happen. I think green is the wildcard, if he shows up as nick johnson 2.0 we can do it, but if he plays like he did most of the last month of HS ball I'd say sweet 16 is the cap

[mvpreed2]

I just don't see this lineup being the one that takes us far.
I know the 1997 team wasn't the best one Lute had, etc.
I don't look at this roster and see Elite Eight potential, but Sweet 16 is possible.

Yeah I probably agree with you there - we're going to be relying heavily on freshmen where as I think they had only one who played significant minutes but hopefully our guys come in ready and the returners improve over last year. Either way I hope we'll be back in the conversation for a title - as of now we're undefeated.

It is like we are relying on that NM/JG AAU connection to be big for us.
Also BW making that big sophomore jump in development/progression.
Our role players are what worry me most because they are too many unknowns we are expecting to be solid and we don't know if they can handle it:
TA/CK and whatever they can bring, SG/MH being the shooters we needed Luther to be, DD/AB being good off the bench & IL/CJ/ZN being "big" for us in the paint.

A lot of freshmen and unknown transfer commodities to depend on.
Time will tell though..