22-23 Team Discussion

[TheRealMick]

Originally Posted by Queens_NYC

This is my biggest concern about finding an upgrade - especially in the frontcourt.

Koval/Ado graduating frees up ~30 minutes of playing time/game at the 5 spot but you'd expect for a good chunk of that to be allotted to returning players (Lakhin & Ody in particular).

With so little PT to guarantee, I'm not sure if we can even attract a player of Ado's pedigree over this coming offseason.

We're likely looking at a player like Koval again who is coming from a much lower level of competition and is only strong in a few areas (blocking shots & not turning the ball over) and is mediocre-to-average everywhere else.

Why do fans always scream this? No decent player in their minds going be afraid of Ody or Vik taking their minutes. I don't won't a player if he doesn't see he'll be best player on team!

[TheRealMick]

If DDJ comes back it's only play PG. He was better for team when he chased rebounds and got others involved. Wes ran the worst offense I ever seen for DDJ.

[Bcatfollower]

I’m shocked that the guys who were not happy under Brannen are also not happy under Miller.

[skyblade]

Originally Posted by TheLivingLegend

Miginiss?

Somebody on another forum (247 I think) posted a McGinnis instagram PM in which McGinnis stated he was staying. I know random internet poster isn't the most reliable source of info, but he has no reason to make things up (that I know of). Also McGinnis would have to sit out a year if he transfers, so that gives him incentive to stay.

[skyblade]

Originally Posted by Bcatfollower

I’m shocked that the guys who were not happy under Brannen are also not happy under Miller.

I'm not shocked that they are leaving in a respectful manner giving thanks to the current coaching staff.

[TheLivingLegend]

Originally Posted by skyblade

I'm not shocked that they are leaving in a respectful manner giving thanks to the current coaching staff.

It is interesting tho... I can't say I'm all that shocked.

Be curious where this goes. I think brannen a better xo's guy... Wes obviously a better players/people guy.

[sedziobs]

Originally Posted by TheRealMick

If DDJ comes back it's only play PG. He was better for team when he chased rebounds and got others involved. Wes ran the worst offense I ever seen for DDJ.

I agree. We can't do another year of MAW at PG and DDJ at SG. It makes for bad offense and bad defense. I would rather they share PG duties with only 40 minutes combined between them. MAW has shown he isn't a 20+ min caliber player at a high level. I'd rather run with Skillings than MAW again.

PG: DDJ/MAW
SG: Skillings/McGinnis
SF: Newman/Reed
PF: Davenport/Hensley
C: Ody/Vik

Any position can be upgraded with a transfer if we can find one. I'd prefer another 6'7"+ guy who can score inside and rebound (Like Payton Sparks or Kalu Ezikpe).

[sedziobs]

We were already a bad shooting team, and we just lost 2 of the 3 players who were above 33% from three. Davenport is the only decent shooter left. Hopefully Skillings or McGinnis can shoot. Or we need to add reliable interior scoring.

[skyblade]

Originally Posted by sedziobs

I agree. We can't do another year of MAW at PG and DDJ at SG. It makes for bad offense and bad defense. I would rather they share PG duties with only 40 minutes combined between them. MAW has shown he isn't a 20+ min caliber player at a high level. I'd rather run with Skillings than MAW again.

PG: DDJ/MAW
SG: Skillings/McGinnis
SF: Newman/Reed
PF: Davenport/Hensley
C: Ody/Vik

Any position can be upgraded with a transfer if we can find one. I'd prefer another 6'7"+ guy who can score inside and rebound (Like Payton Sparks or Kalu Ezikpe).

I disagree that any position can be upgraded. Wes may not promise playing time, but I don't think he's going to recruit over a guy like Newman, Davenport or even Ody for that matter. Ody has two years left, he didn't transfer here to be put on the bench next year. I can see Wes bringing in competition (like Sparks, who looking at this numbers isn't that different from Ody/Lakhin), but not bringing in a senior whose just going to most of the minutes at center. Sets a bad precedent to bring a guy in and then not give him a chance.

I think next years minutes at least to start the season will look something like:
PG: Transfer (20 minutes)/MAW (20 minutes)
SG: DDJ (25 minutes)/Transfer (5 minutes)/Skillings or McGinnis (10 minutes)
SF: Newman (25 minutes)/Hensley (10 minutes)/Skillings (5 minutes)
PF: Davenport (20 minutes)/Hensley (10 minutes)/Reed, Ody or Lakhin (10 minutes)
C: Ody (15 minutes)/Lakhin (15 minutes)/Transfer (10 minutes)

MAW/DDJ isn't bad defensively, by pretty much all measures MAW was our best defensive guard and DDJ wasn't far behind. Over on 247 someone posted Synergy grades and both MAW and DDJ graded out as excellent.

The big issue is offense (where only Davenport graded out as better than good on Synergy). But if we get another guard to take some of the load and improvement from other guys, MAW may be able to fit in as a 3-and-D PG.

[sedziobs]

Originally Posted by skyblade

I disagree that any position can be upgraded. Wes may not promise playing time, but I don't think he's going to recruit over a guy like Newman, Davenport or even Ody for that matter. Ody has two years left, he didn't transfer here to be put on the bench next year. I can see Wes bringing in competition (like Sparks, who looking at this numbers isn't that different from Ody/Lakhin), but not bringing in a senior whose just going to most of the minutes at center. Sets a bad precedent to bring a guy in and then not give him a chance.

I think next years minutes at least to start the season will look something like:
PG: Transfer (20 minutes)/MAW (20 minutes)
SG: DDJ (25 minutes)/Transfer (5 minutes)/Skillings or McGinnis (10 minutes)
SF: Newman (25 minutes)/Hensley (10 minutes)/Skillings (5 minutes)
PF: Davenport (20 minutes)/Hensley (10 minutes)/Reed, Ody or Lakhin (10 minutes)
C: Ody (15 minutes)/Lakhin (15 minutes)/Transfer (10 minutes)

MAW/DDJ isn't bad defensively, by pretty much all measures MAW was our best defensive guard and DDJ wasn't far behind. Over on 247 someone posted Synergy grades and both MAW and DDJ graded out as excellent.

The big issue is offense (where only Davenport graded out as better than good on Synergy). But if we get another guard to take some of the load and improvement from other guys, MAW may be able to fit in as a 3-and-D PG.

I would want to set a precedent that we are going to play to win and we will bring in whatever players let us put the best possible team on the court. The draw for attracting/keeping players should be that they will play for a winner, not that they can start.

We have lots of tweener players that can be moved around. I don't see any spots where we couldn't bring in an upgrade and shuffle everyone else around to where everyone is still playing decent minutes.

I just can't agree on MAW/DDJ defense. MAW alone is good, especially on a PG. I think he struggles some against taller wings, so it becomes a problem when he's out there with DDJ. I think DDJ was just bad. Teams would iso him and Davenport especially in late game situations. We had no answer. I still don't really trust overall defense stats, preferring to stick to proxy stats like block+steal. But on EvanMiya DDJ was 8th on the team on defense. MAW was 4th.

Our defense was on a down trend all year long. In the last 10 games we were 116 on offense and 170 on defense. We didn't have a single AdjDef below 90 after Feb 1, and the only games below 95 were heavily adjusted against Houston. Without adjusting, we gave up at least 1.08 points per possession in every game except a pair against USF. Before Feb 1, we held every opponent except X and Memphis under 1 ppp. Defense is definitely an issue. And since we're running a liability out there in Davenport most of the game, we can't afford another one on the court at the same time. But we're trying to do that with DDJ (in my opinion).