8legs1dream
Team Manager
main thing I can't get behind is the notion that losing TB in any way makes us stronger
Transfer Portal
- Thread starter spiderman
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main thing I can't get behind is the notion that losing TB in any way makes us stronger
There must be a fire burning at Richmond bigger than even Mooney's raging fire. It seems we are losing about every battle regardless of which other schools are being considered.
Probably just money, though. If so, college basketball is rendered nearly meaningless. No loyalty, just money. I'm losing interest very fast.
Probably just money, though. If so, college basketball is rendered nearly meaningless. No loyalty, just money. I'm losing interest very fast.
losing TB obviously doesn't make us stronger.
but that doesn't mean we can't be better the year after losing TB.
We definitely can have hope that our guard play is a lot stronger. King looks legit to me, and we will be asking a lot from him. Hope for health and improvement from Dji. It seems Roche may have an injury? That does not really trend well for improvement, kind of like Burton's injury offseason did not allow him to improve his skill level. Hope Hunt adds something and/or Smith is the real deal as a freshman. It seems like we have potential for good improvement, but need some things to go right and pan out.
Front court is a major concern to me at this point. I love a lot of things about Bigs game, but at present, he is being counted on to eat a lot of minutes and bang with big boys inside quite a bit. Outside of an athletic big body in the portal - which seems slimmer chances by the day - we are really thin. I like Quinn but he is going to need to stay healthy (which is a concern IMO) and play a little more consistent. I do think he has good moves, but it seems to come and go - and finishing ability comes and goes. Walz I like, but it just seems like the expectation set by Moony and himself is that of long term project, so I have lowered expectations for this year myself. That leaves us very thin inside. Although Langford is a guard, if we could land him I think that helps us with defense / rebounding and lessens this concern a bit.
Front court is a major concern to me at this point. I love a lot of things about Bigs game, but at present, he is being counted on to eat a lot of minutes and bang with big boys inside quite a bit. Outside of an athletic big body in the portal - which seems slimmer chances by the day - we are really thin. I like Quinn but he is going to need to stay healthy (which is a concern IMO) and play a little more consistent. I do think he has good moves, but it seems to come and go - and finishing ability comes and goes. Walz I like, but it just seems like the expectation set by Moony and himself is that of long term project, so I have lowered expectations for this year myself. That leaves us very thin inside. Although Langford is a guard, if we could land him I think that helps us with defense / rebounding and lessens this concern a bit.
Forgetting Noyes again 
. He is going to need to pitch in on the interior too. Hoping he can rebound, he is think to bang in there but likely to be needed.
. He is going to need to pitch in on the interior too. Hoping he can rebound, he is think to bang in there but likely to be needed.
8legs1dream
Team Manager
it's pie in the sky BS which I despise but again, if it makes you feel better go for it
You can say all you want about the talent we lost and brought in, but we have 10 damn players right now. A full roster is literally the bare minimum requirement for an 18 year old head coach, so right now Mooney has a big glaring F on his roster composition. How do you build for the future when you are 3 players short? How do you run full practices? How do you have enough players to account for injuries that should be expected during the course of the season?
This is a damn 5 alarm fire and we are handing out title changes and promotions instead of getting quality players into the program.
This is a damn 5 alarm fire and we are handing out title changes and promotions instead of getting quality players into the program.
8legs1dream
Team Manager
I'm sure the usual suspects will be along shortly with a very plausible excuse for each point you brought up.
teams lose great players every year. they aren't always worse the next year.
and as great a Spider as Tyler was, he did shoot 29% from 3 on heavy volume. he didn't have a good shooting year or he'd be getting drafted.
you don't think King is a major upgrade at point?
and you aren't high on Smith and Tanner?
I want 13 scholarshipped players too. the offseason isn't over. full team practices start in October.
Building is the key question. I don’t see UR being able to leverage the portal to fill more than 1-2 gaps. Have to sell the program to the best possible high school players. Sight unseen the 2 latest freshman appear to be good pieces, but the “team” has been Swiss cheese for too long. Need more than the couple of players that CM and staff seem to be able to get. The whole extra Covid year was a blessing and a curse. It helped cover up much of the recruiting woes that have been in place for years.
Exactly, Mooney didn't have to recruit nearly as much for several years due to Covid. And he has never been able to bring in more than a really good player or two each year and then we have a bunch of roster fillers that don't do anything.
Two years ago, he brought in a class of 4. Nelson, Dread, Randolph, and Noyes. Only 1 of that class remains. Dread and Randolph were largely busts. Nelson didn't work out for a bunch of reasons and Noyes has played 50 minutes in 2 years. Last year, we had 1 freshman, Walz, verdict is still out on him but I don't see superstar written all over him.
So, yeah, the high school recruiting sucks. Smith and Tanner both could be home runs, but even if they are, that is 3 recruiting classes and we have 4 players on the roster right now to show for it. And none of them have done anything spectacular on a college court yet. You simply can not build a program like that. The crows are about to come home to roost.
Hmmmm 97, so Mooney is failing in the portal. And his h.s. recruiting is bad. Not a good combo. Especially the h.s. recruiting being that point A - the portal is seemingly never going to be his strength. It is a bit concerning. We do need both Smith and Tanner to be good, starter or at least rotation players it seems this year - barring a surprise portal pick up.
Our greatest class ever wasn't very good their first two years. Feels like a lot of pressure on Smith and Tanner (and Graham) to be good out of the gate if we hope to be above .500.
Extremely concerned that we're now a week into June and still trying to fill out the roster. We need to get the new guys on board and on campus to start gelling. Interested to hear who Boyden may have been seen with, but overall things have been very quiet on the portal front for us recently as everybody we were involved with has headed elsewhere. Not encouraging at all.
Extremely concerned that we're now a week into June and still trying to fill out the roster. We need to get the new guys on board and on campus to start gelling. Interested to hear who Boyden may have been seen with, but overall things have been very quiet on the portal front for us recently as everybody we were involved with has headed elsewhere. Not encouraging at all.
I hope Smith and Tanner are both really good. But lets be honest, we say this same things about our incoming recruits every year and then you look at our recent track record and wonder if we are deluding ourselves.
But yes, he is failing at both. Our roster now is devoid of top end talent and I can't remember a time even in the Mooney era where his defenders couldn't point to at least a player or two and say but yeah, this guy is gonna be really good in a couple years. We don't have anyone like that now.
We aren't going to be good this year and we really don't have anything in the pipeline to be excited about for the future either.
it is thin for sure. King looks great, but I can't get all that excited because he's a one year plug. I really don't like the portal unless it's a multi year situation. but if King is a bridge to get Smith ready then it works.
Trevor Smith is every bit the prospect that Nelson was. hopefully with a better ending. just because Nelson wasn't the long term answer doesn't mean we should be less enthusiastic with Smith.
and I love the tape of Tanner. I think he bloomed late and we got a steal. his championship game video is as impressive as any HS tape we've had on a newcomer.
Hunt looks tough and he's a 2 year guy.
but yeah, we have to hit on everyone unless we add to the rotation. as it stands, at least the young talent can't get buried. they should get their shot.
Trevor Smith is every bit the prospect that Nelson was. hopefully with a better ending. just because Nelson wasn't the long term answer doesn't mean we should be less enthusiastic with Smith.
and I love the tape of Tanner. I think he bloomed late and we got a steal. his championship game video is as impressive as any HS tape we've had on a newcomer.
Hunt looks tough and he's a 2 year guy.
but yeah, we have to hit on everyone unless we add to the rotation. as it stands, at least the young talent can't get buried. they should get their shot.
The last 2 years, we have added Quinn, Bigs, Roche, King, and Hunt from the portal. This could possibly be our starting 5 this year. I don't think Mooney is failing in the portal. Far from it. I would like to see our high school recruiting be more consistent. Tyler was obviously a great addition, we had some huge additions the years before Tyler, and I feel good about Smith and Tanner, but the years between have not produced much impact.
I still think Dji can be Goose with more passing ability, and the very few times we saw Noyes he was really impressive. I'm not writing either off. we'll see what they do with the opportunity.
It’s going to be a loooooong season. Young guys should get to play a lot.
I have high hopes for Noyes and am not writing anyone off...just saying none in those classes have made a big impact yet. I liked Randolph, but he and Nelson were probably the best so far of the post Tyler recruiting classes and he averaged 3.3 points a game last year.
Sman, sincerely hope you are right, but seems like whistling past the graveyard to me.
I think we can all agree that going into next season with only 10 scholarship athletes is pretty unacceptable.
I trust we will dredge up at least two more guys.
I trust we will dredge up at least two more guys.
Biggest thing with TB gone, is how do we replace his rebounding.Forgetting Noyes again
1) more minutes from Bigelow
2) guards chipping in
3) Noyes and his hops
and 4) we probably won't replace all of TB's rebounding
This is a starting line up that a program like LaSalle runs out. Yeah, all of those guys are good players, no superstars though. Bigs and Roche probably don't start on a Top 4 A-10 team. You need at least one superstar, most likely 2, to compete in the A-10. This is a line-up that will finish in the bottom half of the A-10 next year.
Pre- or Post- "Rock Bottom" though?
Agree that those mentioned could be the starting lineup. I like Quinn, Bigelow, Noyes, King, and Bailey better.
Right, that starting line up of portalers all have some pretty major flaws - aside from King I guess.
Roche and King are the only two in that lineup that I feel confident shooting from 3. Hunt, I have no idea what we have. Looks like a decent player, but his highlights don't scream A10 starter to me. I am not ruling us out from being decent with our current roster, its just that we are counting on several guys to out perform last year. I definitely think it is possible, but not probable.
Roche and King are the only two in that lineup that I feel confident shooting from 3. Hunt, I have no idea what we have. Looks like a decent player, but his highlights don't scream A10 starter to me. I am not ruling us out from being decent with our current roster, its just that we are counting on several guys to out perform last year. I definitely think it is possible, but not probable.
What are you talking about, Noyes shoots 57% from 3!
On a more serious note, King has shot 37% on 600ish attempts from 3 in his career. He is a good shooter. Roche is at 39% on 380ish attempts currently, not that different statistically.
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Noyes had a rep as a shooter coming in too. just needs opportunity. Tanner is also a shooter.
I still say Noyes, Tanner, Roche, King, Smith and we just hit enough threes to not worry about defense...
Then the change up team of Quinn, Walz, Bigelow, Bailey, Hunt...
Yes king is promising. Just not a deep set otherwise. I definitely see your sarcasm font.
Maybe we can get zack chu back, think he was perfect from 3.
Clearly not expecting anything to happen with him .. but not sure if at this point and during the end of the COVID period, if 3 schools equates necessarily to character issues - unless you know more specifically,
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