NIT & Projected lineup next season

[Da Coach]

Ray will be a very effective defender and rebounder. He is a great jumper and very athletic. He could play the 4 position, especially in the MVC where the biggest 4 players are like Matt Shaw, Dane Watts, and Eric Coleman. I think he could be next year's leading rebounder if he plays enough time. A lot will have to be decided next October.

[georgethedog]

I think Ray can do it better than JC, but he is certainly not ideal, then again I am not against a 4 guard lineup.

Are you basketball ______? If the 4 guard lineup was so good why doesn't everyone do it? Ever seen it work with any other team? It will only take you so far IF you have good guards WITH experience like we had this year. But that will get you 4th in the league an a NIT bid. You must have low expectations I guess.

[amckillip]

I think Ray can do it better than JC, but he is certainly not ideal, then again I am not against a 4 guard lineup.

Are you basketball ______? If the 4 guard lineup was so good why doesn't everyone do it? Ever seen it work with any other team? It will only take you so far IF you have good guards WITH experience like we had this year. But that will get you 4th in the league an a NIT bid. You must have low expectations I guess.

Woah, relax there buddy. I said I don't have a problem with it, I'm not praising it's greatness. I think we easily could have done much better this year had we not had mental lapses such as TT, and missing 8 crucial free throws the other day. That has nothing to do with how big one of our guys are. Maybe you need to talk about something before attacking someone...

[georgethedog]

I think Ray can do it better than JC, but he is certainly not ideal, then again I am not against a 4 guard lineup.

Are you basketball ______? If the 4 guard lineup was so good why doesn't everyone do it? Ever seen it work with any other team? It will only take you so far IF you have good guards WITH experience like we had this year. But that will get you 4th in the league an a NIT bid. You must have low expectations I guess.

Woah, relax there buddy. I said I don't have a problem with it, I'm not praising it's greatness. I think we easily could have done much better this year had we not had mental lapses such as TT, and missing 8 crucial free throws the other day. That has nothing to do with how big one of our guys are. Maybe you need to talk about something before attacking someone...

No attack intended. However, you lead me right to another point about having BIG players. I contend that having a couple big players yields some easy baskets throughout the game and therefore BU could have still won even though they missed FTs. A small lineup makes a team play almost perfect basketball to win because there are no easy baskets and rebounding (especially defensive) becomes a big problem. Even with bad FT shooting if we get the defensive rebound before Matt Shaw tips in the final basket we could still have won. Coach please find us a BIG that can stay on the floor!

[Fetz86]

Villanova last year did fine with 4 gaurds.

[thefish7]

Villanova last year did fine with 4 gaurds.

How tall were their guards? I think part of our "problem" is that our guards are pretty small too... not necessarily as guards, but play em at 3 and especially 4 and they're very small.

[real fan]

Our line-up for next season will be Ruffin,Fears,Crouch, Salley, and hopefully a big Jr. College center;A. Warren, R. Brown,D. Williams will see a lot of time which will give our freshman time to adjust.

[BradleyBrave]

Villanova last year did fine with 4 gaurds.

How tall were their guards? I think part of our "problem" is that our guards are pretty small too... not necessarily as guards, but play em at 3 and especially 4 and they're very small.

Our guards will be pretty big next year. Outside of Ruffin at 5'10", you have JC at 6'5" and Fears at 6'4". For the 4th spot, you could have Warren at 6'5", Williams at 6'4", Brown at 6'7", Salley at 6'7", or maybe Egolf at 6'9". If we get the JUCO big I am hearing we may get, I think you can pencil his 6'8" 250 frame in the middle. We will be significantly bigger next year, but without sacrificing much (if any) athleticism.

[georgethedog]

Villanova last year did fine with 4 gaurds.

That is the exception, not the rule. How many teams did well without playing 4 guards? PLENTY!

[Chico]

I would hope we could start someone who could help us more than Matt Sally. As hard as he tried he just wasn't the big man the Braves needed this year.

[bravesonly]

i think salley will be much better suited for the 4 spot rather than center...if we do land a juco big i think he'll be a great compliment at the 4.

[amckillip]

I think Ray can do it better than JC, but he is certainly not ideal, then again I am not against a 4 guard lineup.

Are you basketball ______? If the 4 guard lineup was so good why doesn't everyone do it? Ever seen it work with any other team? It will only take you so far IF you have good guards WITH experience like we had this year. But that will get you 4th in the league an a NIT bid. You must have low expectations I guess.

Your right Villanova is an exception, and thats what you asked for....

[BUBraves2006]

When are we going to get to the point when we don't have to rely so heavily on junior college transfers to help carry the team? I realize that many factors go into this whole thing.

There is usually an adjustment period with these guys. Look at Andews and Salley. They both took quite awhile (5-10 games) to make much of an impact. Others in recent years have had less of an adjustment (Bennett, Wright).

Is it just me or don't you all think that these junior college guys should be generally counted on as second or third options (depending on their respective position)? I really hope that after we can get some experience next year with Egolf, Thompson, etc. This way we can turn to them and not have to HOPE that a scholarship opens up because we have no depth at the position.

It just seems like we're playing the "free agent market" to look for a quick fix a lot, someone who can only help for a bit instead of "developing within." Junior college transfers can be important and I'm not saying there are no use for them. Some of the guys I mentioned were critical to us succeeding the past two seasons. I just hope that Jim Les can keep guessing right with these players because of the small window you have for them on the team.

[BradleyBrave]

When are we going to get to the point when we don't have to rely so heavily on junior college transfers to help carry the team? I realize that many factors go into this whole thing.

There is usually an adjustment period with these guys. Look at Andews and Salley. They both took quite awhile (5-10 games) to make much of an impact. Others in recent years have had less of an adjustment (Bennett, Wright).

Is it just me or don't you all think that these junior college guys should be generally counted on as second or third options (depending on their respective position)? I really hope that after we can get some experience next year with Egolf, Thompson, etc. This way we can turn to them and not have to HOPE that a scholarship opens up because we have no depth at the position.

It just seems like we're playing the "free agent market" to look for a quick fix a lot, someone who can only help for a bit instead of "developing within." Junior college transfers can be important and I'm not saying there are no use for them. Some of the guys I mentioned were critical to us succeeding the past two seasons. I just hope that Jim Les can keep guessing right with these players because of the small window you have for them on the team.

I think if you look closely, BU has tried to start trending away from the JUCO player and more towards the 4 year player. This year's class had Andrew Warren. Next year's class has 2 transfers and 3 4-year players. The class of 2008 has Daniel West, who's a 4 year player, and likely at least 1 more 4 year guy. I think we went heavy on the JUCO route initially because of the desire to get back to respectability quickly. Jim did a fantastic job at finding some real diamonds in the rough. But I think the overall goal was to eventually get back to recruiting mostly 4 year kids, and I think we're just about there.

[BUBraves2006]

When are we going to get to the point when we don't have to rely so heavily on junior college transfers to help carry the team? I realize that many factors go into this whole thing.

There is usually an adjustment period with these guys. Look at Andews and Salley. They both took quite awhile (5-10 games) to make much of an impact. Others in recent years have had less of an adjustment (Bennett, Wright).

Is it just me or don't you all think that these junior college guys should be generally counted on as second or third options (depending on their respective position)? I really hope that after we can get some experience next year with Egolf, Thompson, etc. This way we can turn to them and not have to HOPE that a scholarship opens up because we have no depth at the position.

It just seems like we're playing the "free agent market" to look for a quick fix a lot, someone who can only help for a bit instead of "developing within." Junior college transfers can be important and I'm not saying there are no use for them. Some of the guys I mentioned were critical to us succeeding the past two seasons. I just hope that Jim Les can keep guessing right with these players because of the small window you have for them on the team.

I think if you look closely, BU has tried to start trending away from the JUCO player and more towards the 4 year player. This year's class had Andrew Warren. Next year's class has 2 transfers and 3 4-year players. The class of 2008 has Daniel West, who's a 4 year player, and likely at least 1 more 4 year guy. I think we went heavy on the JUCO route initially because of the desire to get back to respectability quickly. Jim did a fantastic job at finding some real diamonds in the rough. But I think the overall goal was to eventually get back to recruiting mostly 4 year kids, and I think we're just about there.

Yeah, I'd agree with assessment completely. I do think we are taking the right steps. I think my concern is just for next year, as we don't positively have another Salley/Andrews coming in. Yes, there has been all kinds of speculation about scholarships opening up and for the Braves' sake, I hope one does.

Maybe it is more about wanting an instant impact type of player as soon as he steps on the floor. I think Ruff has been that kind of guy, and his development has been enormous since his first year. But, we also lucked out in a way that he couldn't play his first year so he's a senior in age and a year older in maturity.

I think the combination of how Ray Brown hasn't done much yet after his rather lofty pedigree and how limited Warren's minutes are at times, I just want someone who can simply play immediately and that we'll have for awhile. That's hard to find, but it's just another expectation I have for Jim Les going forward as he continues to establish himself as a good recruiter and game coach.