Next year's team

[peoriaspitfire]

All this forecasting is leaving out one thing: coaching. The players did what they did this year because the coaches allowed them to do it. Was it out of necessity or a grand plan? Will they change their plan next year due to different personnel or try to exercise the same offensive options that we saw this year?

+1 gazillion

[Rhino65]

I keep hearing that Shaw doesn't want to play in the post. He wants to play more on the perimeter. Illinois recruited him to be in the post..... Same spot he played in high school right? What position does he play for us that keeps anyone from saying he is playing out of position? Is it the 4?

If that is/was an issue with Shaw I hope Geno has already addressed it and put it to rest. I get tired hearing we always have players playing who are "out of position." Egolf, Eastman, Lemon, etc. Coaches have to make decisions that are best for the team. Sometimes that may mean it is not what is best for the player (or what the player wants).

Shaw will bang down low. From what I know he's really worked on being more aggressive/physical all year in practice and has given up the thought of himself being a guard instead of a bruiser. I expect big things from him next year. Obviously still early but I expect big progress next year. While Grier didn't shoot a great percentage overall this year, I though he showed a lot of potential on the offensive end. I'm confident he can turn it around. Fields was obviously a key factor this year that didn't pan out, and from what I know he may be moving on next year. That's a wait and see. His motor is excellent, his problem is that he's too jumpy too much of the time. Bell can be a stopper on defense if he continues progressing, and Walt has really helped teach his offensive game to him. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to debate. With added depth from the now vacant Blake scholarship, a solid backup to Taylor should be added. The main key for next year will be the success of Southerland. If he can create half as well as he did in the top juco league in the country, I expect Bradley to take a big step forward next year.

I know a lot of people didn't believe in the leadership of Walt this year, but I believe the biggest problem towards the end of the year was Tyshon. Especially evident in the Wichita State game, basically every time he touched the ball turned into a shot or turnover by him. That really hurts the team. As the conference season progressed, I have first-hand knowledge that Walt was a great leader of the team. He cared about this season, others were out there playing for the cameras.

Wichita State will win conference next year. There shouldn't be much debate about that as long as nothing catastrophic happens to them. 2nd-5th place is and should be our target next year. Hopefully our strength of schedule can progress a bit next year. A minimum of one or more home games needs to be against at least a second-tier BCS program. Think a NC State type team instead of a South Florida type off the top of my head. Smart, strategic scheduling is a must.

I believe in this program, I believe in this team. I believe in the our coach, and I believe we can succeed.

[Big Mike]

Shaw will bang down low. From what I know he's really worked on being more aggressive/physical all year in practice and has given up the thought of himself being a guard instead of a bruiser. I expect big things from him next year. Obviously still early but I expect big progress next year. While Grier didn't shoot a great percentage overall this year, I though he showed a lot of potential on the offensive end. I'm confident he can turn it around. Fields was obviously a key factor this year that didn't pan out, and from what I know he may be moving on next year. That's a wait and see. His motor is excellent, his problem is that he's too jumpy too much of the time. Bell can be a stopper on defense if he continues progressing, and Walt has really helped teach his offensive game to him. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to debate. With added depth from the now vacant Blake scholarship, a solid backup to Taylor should be added. The main key for next year will be the success of Southerland. If he can create half as well as he did in the top juco league in the country, I expect Bradley to take a big step forward next year.

I know a lot of people didn't believe in the leadership of Walt this year, but I believe the biggest problem towards the end of the year was Tyshon. Especially evident in the Wichita State game, basically every time he touched the ball turned into a shot or turnover by him. That really hurts the team. As the conference season progressed, I have first-hand knowledge that Walt was a great leader of the team. He cared about this season, others were out there playing for the cameras.

Wichita State will win conference next year. There shouldn't be much debate about that as long as nothing catastrophic happens to them. 2nd-5th place is and should be our target next year. Hopefully our strength of schedule can progress a bit next year. A minimum of one or more home games needs to be against at least a second-tier BCS program. Think a NC State type team instead of a South Florida type off the top of my head. Smart, strategic scheduling is a must.

I believe in this program, I believe in this team. I believe in the our coach, and I believe we can succeed.

Right now you have a lot more faith in next season than I do!

[tornado]

Ty & Walt stepped up and played very hard, gave it their all, and had great games.
Not one other player even looked interested.
THE ENTIRE TEAM other than Ty & Walt teamed up for just 8 baskets & 11 rebounds & 1 assist.

[lefty]

Ty & Walt stepped up and played very hard, gave it their all, and had great games.
Not one other player even looked awake or interested.
THE ENTIRE TEAM other than Ty & Walt teamed up for just 8 baskets & 11 rebounds & 1 assist. Anyone who is anxious to see this senior class depart is looking at 72-27 LOSS to Loyola next year if we go with the players we have left over.

Like I said before I'm ready to see Walt go??¦Geno let us become Walt dependent. I don't know if we will be better next year or not??¦.but I think Geno will have to make some changes in his coaching style to be successful here. If he doesn't and next year isn't significantly better??¦.it will(or should) be his last year

[stevebu91]

This one is real easy. My money is on the obvious prediction: LESS PEOPLE IN THE STANDS, ANOTHER LOSING RECORD, A SUBSTANDARD TEAM, and A COACH FIRED AT YEAR END. ALMOST A PERPETUAL THING NOW. GUESS IT WILL BE TIME TO REBUILD AFTER NEXT YEAR.

And no, I'm not usually this negative, but this is the easy answer given what we have seen.

Certain teams at BU are doing well / are rising (soccer, xc, women's golf). BU BASKETBALL the revenue generator is not one of them.

[wily coyote]

Shaw will bang down low. From what I know he's really worked on being more aggressive/physical all year in practice and has given up the thought of himself being a guard instead of a bruiser. I expect big things from him next year. Obviously still early but I expect big progress next year. While Grier didn't shoot a great percentage overall this year, I though he showed a lot of potential on the offensive end. I'm confident he can turn it around. Fields was obviously a key factor this year that didn't pan out, and from what I know he may be moving on next year. That's a wait and see. His motor is excellent, his problem is that he's too jumpy too much of the time. Bell can be a stopper on defense if he continues progressing, and Walt has really helped teach his offensive game to him. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to debate. With added depth from the now vacant Blake scholarship, a solid backup to Taylor should be added. The main key for next year will be the success of Southerland. If he can create half as well as he did in the top juco league in the country, I expect Bradley to take a big step forward next year.

I know a lot of people didn't believe in the leadership of Walt this year, but I believe the biggest problem towards the end of the year was Tyshon. Especially evident in the Wichita State game, basically every time he touched the ball turned into a shot or turnover by him. That really hurts the team. As the conference season progressed, I have first-hand knowledge that Walt was a great leader of the team. He cared about this season, others were out there playing for the cameras.

Wichita State will win conference next year. There shouldn't be much debate about that as long as nothing catastrophic happens to them. 2nd-5th place is and should be our target next year. Hopefully our strength of schedule can progress a bit next year. A minimum of one or more home games needs to be against at least a second-tier BCS program. Think a NC State type team instead of a South Florida type off the top of my head. Smart, strategic scheduling is a must.

I believe in this program, I believe in this team. I believe in the our coach, and I believe we can succeed.

Agree with a little of your post but not much. Here's where we differ. If Fields is here next year and Bell is getting minutes we ARE NOT going to be better. I do think XT has potential but I just didn't see a whole lot of improvement this yr. like the Evansville center or the ISU Freshmen center. What concerns me most, is I don't see much improvement with any of our kids over the course of a year. We need to bring in a JC post that can give us quality minutes right away because I don't see X helping us enough to get us out of Thur. night next year. Hope I'm wrong about XT but he'll need to make huge strides this summer to be a game changer. IMO

[tornado]

... We need to bring in a JC post that can give us quality minutes right away ..

wily - I hope it works - but two thoughts...

-first, that's exactly what we did last year - but one of the two juco bigs we hunted down and landed didn't play much, and when he did, he didn't contribute much - ultimately becoming a very deep sub and now he's done with no eligibility remaining. The other we suddenly found out AFTER recruiting him to be Tyshon's backup - we unexpectedly found that his talents were better suited to playing a wing spot so he really never played the low post - even tho he might have been our best scorer & rebounder at that spot had he actually been inserted into that position.

-second - as always the pickings are slim for UNCOMMITTED decent big men who want to go to a mid-major - but they are especially SLIM if you only get a scholarship to open in May and expect to find & sign a kid by the end of May - and thus the late spring restocking goes on year after year with little success.
As Da Coach aptly pointed out - the guys we either ran off or lost each spring since Geno has been here (Abell, Stewart, Crawford, Shayok) - have all turned out to be considerably better than the guys we got when we used their scholarships on the next batch of spring re-stocks.

[wily coyote]

wily - I hope it works - but two thoughts...

-first, that's exactly what we did last year - but one of the two juco bigs we hunted down and landed didn't play much, and when he did, he didn't contribute much - ultimately becoming a very deep sub and now he's done with no eligibility remaining. The other we suddenly found out AFTER recruiting him to be Tyshon's backup - we unexpectedly found that his talents were better suited to playing a wing spot so he really never played the low post - even tho he might have been our best scorer & rebounder at that spot had he actually been inserted into that position.

-second - as always the pickings are slim for UNCOMMITTED decent big men who want to go to a mid-major - but they are especially SLIM if you only get a scholarship to open in May and expect to find & sign a kid by the end of May - and thus the late spring restocking goes on year after year with little success.
As Da Coach aptly pointed out - the guys we either ran off or lost each spring since Geno has been here (Abell, Stewart, Crawford, Shayok) - have all turned out to be considerably better than the guys we got when we used their scholarships on the next batch of spring re-stocks.

I agree it is hard to find gems in the Spring but Evansville and Drake got a kid from Europe 3 days b4 school started . It can be done . The only thing I disagree with you and only partly is that Blake was NEVER what I would call a 5 . I do agree with you how much he helped though. Do agree with your run off assessments. Can't for the life of me see what Jim saw in one recruit of Geno saw in 3 kids he's brought in. Kind of scary if you ask me.

[tornado]

all mid-major coaches have to take chances - thus we end up with a Jassey or a Rashad Austin - but on the other hand we might get a POB, a Will Franklin, or Tyler Brown (who we would have had except JL got canned and Tyler Brown landed at ISU and was a stud)...

I certainly cannot be too critical of a recruiting miss or two - but there comes a time when 50%, 75%, and 85% of signees are misses, then we have a problem.

Just for clarity - here are the players we either HAD signed, pledged, or actually brought in on GF's watch...

Donivine Stewart
Devon Hodges
Nate Wells
Shayok Shayok
Jalen Crawford
Tyshon Pickett
Ka'Darryl Bell
Anthony Fields
Omari Grier
Stephan Zecevic
Michael Tucker
Mike Shaw
Jordan Swopshire
Chris Blake
Auston Barnes
Xzavier Taylor
Donte Thomas
Tramique Sutherland

18 players, 3 have not yet played, 10 are definite misses, one is starter and GOOD contributor, and four are medium contributors (3 to 10 ppg) but with potential. So of the 15 who have played - 10 are either already gone or kinda complete misses - we are not doing very well.

[wily coyote]

all mid-major coaches have to take chances - thus we end up with a Jassey or a Rashad Austin - but on the other hand we might get a POB, a Will Franklin, or Tyler Brown (who we would have had except JL got canned and Tyler Brown landed at ISU and was a stud)...

I certainly cannot be too critical of a recruiting miss or two - but there comes a time when 50%, 75%, and 85% of signees are misses, then we have a problem.

Just for clarity - here are the players we either HAD signed, pledged, or actually brought in on GF's watch...

Donivine Stewart
Devon Hodges
Nate Wells
Shayok Shayok
Jalen Crawford
Tyshon Pickett
Ka'Darryl Bell
Anthony Fields
Omari Grier
Stephan Zecevic
Michael Tucker
Mike Shaw
Jordan Swopshire
Chris Blake
Auston Barnes
Xzavier Taylor
Donte Thomas
Tramique Sutherland

18 players, 3 have not yet played, 10 are definite misses, one is starter and GOOD contributor, and four are medium contributors (3 to 10 ppg) but with potential. So of the 15 who have played - 10 are either already gone or kinda complete misses - we are not doing very well.

Pretty hard to argue facts.

[tornado]

nice synopsis of the MVC in 2014-15

http://blogs.kansas.com/lutz/2014/03/07/the-mvc-in-2014-15/

[tornado]

In summary...and after watching the games this past week...

Wichita should be tough next year barring unexpected losses. They lose POY candidate Cleanthony Early but FVV did not have a sophomore slump

Indiana State loses a lot of good seniors but Justin Gant has grown into one of the better big men.
BUT - if they are a marginal NIT team even with all those solid seniors - they will be hard pressed to challenge Wichita next year.

Four different MVC teams lose extremely little - ISU & UNI return virtually everyone and have some young redshirt guys that will make them candidates for the top spots next year.

Evansville & Loyola return some very talented players and should move up.

Drake loses a lot but has some talent returning & coming in, same with MSU & SIU - who both have talented sophomores

That leaves Bradley who have only two players who were among the leaders in any category whatsoever in the league and we lose them both, plus had serious other issues - shooting, ball handling, too many fouls...
Personally I see us as Thursday team again despite some of the wild speculation that somehow we're going to be lots better after losing our two best players, scorers, rebounders...

[wily coyote]

In summary...and after watching the games this past week...

Wichita should be tough next year barring unexpected losses. They lose POY candidate Cleanthony Early but FVV did not have a sophomore slump

Indiana State loses a lot of good seniors but Justin Gant has grown into one of the better big men.
BUT - if they are a marginal NIT team even with all those solid seniors - they will be hard pressed to challenge Wichita next year.

Four different MVC teams lose extremely little - ISU & UNI return virtually everyone and have some young redshirt guys that will make them candidates for the top spots next year.

Evansville & Loyola return some very talented players and should move up.

Drake loses a lot but has some talent returning & coming in, same with MSU & SIU - who both have talented sophomores

That leaves Bradley who have only two players who were among the leaders in any category whatsoever in the league and we lose them both, plus had serious other issues - shooting, ball handling, too many fouls...
Personally I see us as Thursday team again despite some of the wild speculation that somehow we're going to be lots better after losing our two best players, scorers, rebounders...

Can't say I disagree with your current assessment but personally I think it was a waste of typing. Why not wait till all the Spring recruiting is done and then we might have a better idea what we're facing. If we don't get a couple of shooters and a big and I don't mean a 6'6 or 6'7 big like the last two we brought in we could very well be a THur night team again.

[stevebu91]

Guess we will have to play the games this fall and winter again with a similarly poor SOS. The probabilities and Yield Curve (Wins), I suspect, won't be kind for exclusion out of Thursday. Yuck! And How in the Heck is BU going to RECRUIT new and current fans for this garbage. The Billboard campaign this fall says What? Hmmm..

If they could only AFFORD $$$ to correct this problem. They can't as we aren't talking ND Football money at BU for buyouts.

Just Realistic. The probabilities are tough, with anomolies only rarely to modestly seen. What would Spock say? Instead of throwing down money to watch in the stands, maybe donate that extra money to your favorite charity, a winning BU program, or take an enjoyable trip. I've done all three this year and gotten way more enjoyment out of it. Ok, I'm done with my negativity...

Look at what Lemek has done hitting that little white ball around for BU, Delvo, McMahon and Busch in Indoor Track, and DeRose's continous recruiting talents. Might as well pick another recruiting jewel out of Texas or somewhere in the world coach..