The vicious cycle of not being elite

[srw]

Coaching style - just maybe.

That team was way too young to win....

Coaching style or not.

[srw]

Not a knock on Will, but I'd sub TB in his place during the 06 year. And yea - as BradleyBrave said, what about POB?

I forgot Pat..

He was the obvious number 3...sorry

and yes TB was before will. I was a year off

[real fan]

Taylor is a very good player, he was our best rebounder last season and could have been our leading scorer if he had played more, a 6-6 player that can score from anywhere on the floor is irreplaceable, Jim Les has played so many guys out of position in the last 5 years which is why we have trouble inside, Egolf is a true 4 and Brown a 3, put in a capable center with these 2 and 2 of our guards and you have the start of something very good, play these guys out of position and you end up with what we have seen, a team that has a lot of good players that are in a position to fail because they are not playing to their strengths.

[srw]

Taylor is a very good player, he was our best rebounder last season and could have been our leading scorer if he had played more, a 6-6 player that can score from anywhere on the floor is irreplaceable, Jim Les has played so many guys out of position in the last 5 years which is why we have trouble inside, Egolf is a true 4 and Brown a 3, put in a capable center with these 2 and 2 of our guards and you have the start of something very good, play these guys out of position and you end up with what we have seen, a team that has a lot of good players that are in a position to fail because they are not playing to their strengths.

I can agree with this real..

Question for you....

Lets say 32 mins for TB.( at the small forward position)
That leaves you 88 mins for..

SM AW DSE WL and DD

Who do we play....Im not in any way disagreeing...Just showing the imbalance.

[ser_solace]

Taylor Brown could have definitely been one of our best players to match up with anyone in SRW's original list.

Really, I think if Egolf would have stepped up this year, we should be competing for the conference title (with Brown). But he's the one that has been the most disappointing. There's still time of course...

I think Maniscalco would definitely be one of our Elite if he wasn't hurt.

Healthy Maniscalco + Warren + Healthy Brown + a Hypothetically Good Egolf. That would be enough to compete.

[ser_solace]

On TB being elite..

He could be an elite 3 I believe...But the problem with this collection of players is its way to heavy on the guard end which forces him into the 4 role, egolf into the 5 etc.

A heavy guard team could do well IMO if we had guards of the same caliber as the '06-'07 team, which many seem to forget somehow. That was a team that could have gone to the NCAA had it not lost to UNI @ home.

Ruffin, JC, Will, Tauai, Danny Adams, freshman Warren > Maniscalco (even healthy), senior Warren, Dunson, DSE, Lemon, Eastman

The missing ingredient I think is that our current guards top to bottom aren't as good at outside shots as the '06-'07 team. Certainly, Lemon, Eastman, and DSE aren't.

An injured Maniscalco and Warren are the only ones really. Dunson's 3 pt % is at 27% thus far. So, we've got a bunch of guards who can't shoot consistently from outside, and we're playing a guard heavy team...

[BradleyBrave]

A heavy guard team could do well IMO if we had guards of the same caliber as the '06-'07 team, which many seem to forget somehow. That was a team that could have gone to the NCAA had it not lost to UNI @ home.

Ruffin, JC, Will, Tauai, Danny Adams, freshman Warren > Maniscalco (even healthy), senior Warren, Dunson, DSE, Lemon, Eastman

The missing ingredient I think is that our current guards top to bottom aren't as good at outside shots as the '06-'07 team. Certainly, Lemon, Eastman, and DSE aren't.

An injured Maniscalco and Warren are the only ones really. Dunson's 3 pt % is at 27% thus far. So, we've got a bunch of guards who can't shoot consistently from outside, and we're playing a guard heavy team...

Very true, however we had a very good, very capable big man that year in Zach Andrews and a serviceable backup in Matt Salley. We haven't had a big man remotely close to the caliber of ZA since then, nor have we had someone who could defend or rebound like Matt Salley. That's the difference, first and foremost. I think we'd all be amazed at how much better we'd shoot from the outside if we had a big man averaging 11 pts and 7 rebounds like Zach did in '06-'07.

[SFP]

ZA was also under size as a 5! I will hold my comments of what I believe will happen to this team this year. Next year is way to far away to worry about it!

[BradleyBrave]

ZA was also under size as a 5! I will hold my comments of what I believe will happen to this team this year. Next year is way to far away to worry about it!

You can play and win with a 6'8" center in the MVC. SIU did it quite well with Randal Falker. ZA played to his 6'8", and could score on the block. We haven't had a big be able to do that since he was here.

[tangjar1]

Funches was a very tough post player at 6''4 or so. Rebounding is mostly about position and attitude and most of JL's teams seem to play soft in this area.

That being said, there isn't much wrong with this team that a good post player wouldn't fix. It is no accident that BU's best years this decade were with POB. He could block and alter shots on the defensive end, and commanded double teams on the offensive side, both of which helps your guards be much more effective, etc., etc., etc.

IMO, in the Valley, it's not that you can't get big guys, but you have to get a little lucky and have one develop into a good, tough post player, and that hasn't happened with AT & WE.

If JP or someone else happens to become that player, then I think we will see the program take a quick turn for the better, as good guards & fowards are easier to come by than a good center.

JMHO

[BradleyBrave]

Funches was a very tough post player at 6''4 or so. Rebounding is mostly about position and attitude and most of JL's teams seem to play soft in this area.

That being said, there isn't much wrong with this team that a good post player wouldn't fix. It is no accident that BU's best years this decade were with POB. He could block and alter shots on the defensive end, and commanded double teams on the offensive side, both of which helps your guards be much more effective, etc., etc., etc.

IMO, in the Valley, it's not that you can't get big guys, but you have to get a little lucky and have one develop into a good, tough post player, and that hasn't happened with AT & WE.

If JP or someone else happens to become that player, then I think we will see the program take a quick turn for the better, as good guards & fowards are easier to come by than a good center.

JMHO

People forget about Funches too. He was a TON underneath and had a nice shot out to about 15-16 feet. He would do wonders for this year's team.

[real fan]

I can agree with this real..

Question for you....

Lets say 32 mins for TB.( at the small forward position)
That leaves you 88 mins for..

SM AW DSE WL and DD

Who do we play....Im not in any way disagreeing...Just showing the imbalance.

There would be an imbalance, good problem to have as you play the ones that contribute on both ends the most and keep them fresher by playing them only 25 min. a game, minutes are not a forgiven as they should be earned out on the floor, we have 3 seniors and with injuries there is always plenty of minutes to go around, if you are not satisfied with your minutes then do something positive to earn more, we cannot play just 1 big guy at a time because we are trying to stay out of foul trouble, it hurts the team more and also when players are being played out of position they more then likely will commit more fouls , coach these players right so they do not continue to make dumb fouls.

[SFP]

You can play and win with a 6'8" center in the MVC. SIU did it quite well with Randal Falker. ZA played to his 6'8", and could score on the block. We haven't had a big be able to do that since he was here.

I was a huge ZA fan but his demeanor was more of a true 4. 6'8" is fine for the Valley but not if you want to achieve more. I agree we have not had a big like that since him or for that fact a Matt Salley, I'll take no prisoner attitude. Now that is sad. WE needs to stop trying to finesse his game and get back to basics and I still have hope for JP.

[BradleyBrave]

6'8" is fine for the Valley but not if you want to achieve more.

Falker was 6'7" and got them to a Sweet 16, the same place our lottery pick got us (he also got them an MVC crown over our lottery pick). Not sure what 'more' is to you; an MVC crown and Sweet 16 would be OK for me from a 6'7" center. If a guy can play he can play. Can ours?

[SFP]

Falker was 6'7" and got them to a Sweet 16, the same place our lottery pick got us (he also got them an MVC crown over our lottery pick). Not sure what 'more' is to you; an MVC crown and Sweet 16 would be OK for me from a 6'7" center. If a guy can play he can play. Can ours?

Fair but they also had a lot more then Falker on the floor that loved to play D!