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I'll take T Todd and T Williams right now. Sign them both. Follow with I Moss and C Maidoh. I'm good for 2019

Isaiah Moss would be a huge get, but I'd be surprised if we got him. I doubt being on a potential middle of the AAC team that might not even make the NCAA tournament - if Cumberland leaves - is very attractive.

I'd take Todd, Williams and Maidoh. They all seem like realistic targets. Maidoh would probably be a redshirt, Williams might be and Todd could probably contribute some backup minutes.
 
So far Brannen seems mostly to be leaning towards athletes over shooters. I've always thought that is the reasonable approach for our level. Athletic shooters tend to be too high rated for us to get (at least they were under Mick and I'm not convince we are going to see a huge jump in recruiting with Brannen or any other coach for that matter).

You can teach athletes to shoot (which is why you see great athletes getting drafted high in the NBA, even if they aren't fully developed yet) you can't teach shooters to athlete. It comes down to player development and player development on the offensive end is where Brannen needs to separate himself from Cronin (hopefully maintaining close to the same level of development of the defensive end). The thing is, on the offensive end a good deal of player development is dependent on the player, the player needs to work out, eat right and go out and shoot 1000 times a day during the off-season and a coach can't really force him to do that. Which is why coaches talk just as much about attitude and personality as they do about skill when recruiting (although attitude is harder to judge from an outside perspective though).

I expect Brannen to continue Mick's trend. Elite athletes who he thinks are teachable and who have excellent work ethic. There's a reason those types of players are generally higher rated then unathletic pure shooters. The ideal would be to get some Cumberland types - good enough athletes with good offensive skills - but even those types of guys are higher rated then we could normally grab with Cronin. If there is a change under Brannen I doubt it will be dramatic, a small shift towards slightly less athletic guys and slightly better shooters. It may also go the opposite way though - more athletes with less offensive skills because Brannen thinks he can develop their offense.

It's too early to say with Brannen what he will go for. So far in 2019 it seems like he is going for athletes over shooters, but that may just be because he has limited options available. For 2020 it's hard to know who his actual targets are this early, so hard to judge from that to. We should learn more over the next couple of years.

Excellent take. I agree virtually 100%. It's going to be small changes almost unnoticeable to the average eye. Small developments of skills. Will be worth watching if shot form changes with Brannen. With Cronin shot form never seemed to change for a player...other than very minimal changes like small increases in loft angle etc. A guy like Shaq Thomas only changed his shot form for 1 season and it was still flat at that. Scott can get some loft added too. Johnson can change his footing. Caupain could have changed his footing. But it never seemed to happen. Cronin was more likely to make extremely minor adjustments rather than a bigger overhaul of the shot.

We will see how that plays out. It seems from first practices that Brannen is also key on ball handling techniques. I don't think Cronin never addressed those things but who knows if we can get better under different coaching.
 
Brannen may soon feel the problem Cronin seemed to have. We need defenders and we need scorers and you can't ignore one side of the court. I think Brannen will get his mix. If Cronin was a 75% vs 25% athletes vs scoring guys...Brannen may be the other way around ( or maybe it's 60-40). But we are going to need both to play at both ends. We can't have a team of scorers who can't jump or defend. And we can't have a team that can jump and defend that can't score.

For now (2019) Brannen may have to resort to getting the athletes who can't score to fill out the depth on the roster. The multi asset player has likely been picked apart by now with little left to go after. 2020 he can focus on getting his offensive talent with a solid roster structure in place. Maybe...just maybe...he can do a little more with the skill sets of the athletes than Cronin could. Shooting and dribbling etc.

I think the bigger opportunity here is style... Cronin recruited for an uptempo run and press system.... Then walked the ball up the court and set back in a zone.

Never understood it


Ive always said athletes that can shoot are in the NBA... Not uc
 
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Excellent take. I agree virtually 100%. It's going to be small changes almost unnoticeable to the average eye. Small developments of skills. Will be worth watching if shot form changes with Brannen. With Cronin shot form never seemed to change for a player...other than very minimal changes like small increases in loft angle etc. A guy like Shaq Thomas only changed his shot form for 1 season and it was still flat at that. Scott can get some loft added too. Johnson can change his footing. Caupain could have changed his footing. But it never seemed to happen. Cronin was more likely to make extremely minor adjustments rather than a bigger overhaul of the shot.

We will see how that plays out. It seems from first practices that Brannen is also key on ball handling techniques. I don't think Cronin never addressed those things but who knows if we can get better under different coaching.

Caupain always shot with one foot forward and so does Johnson. You need to get square to the target to be more accurate. Thomas and Scott shoot line drives. You need loft. Will Brannen adjust these things or let them play like Cronin did? This stuff needs to happen in years 1 and 2 and not years 3 and 4.
 
I think the bigger opportunity here is style... Cronin recruited for an uptempo run and press system.... Then walked the ball up the court and set back in a zone.

Never understood it

True true. Can't wait to see how up tempo relates with Keith and Logan. Even Scott. Brannen is a first good shot proponent and that is entirely different than Cronin. Why wait on the defense to get set? Other than having offensive rebounding in place it's a bad plan. We don't have the overall scoring talent on the team to attack a set D...we have to take advantage of breaks. Cumberland is the only one capable of doing either or.
 
Excellent take. I agree virtually 100%. It's going to be small changes almost unnoticeable to the average eye. Small developments of skills. Will be worth watching if shot form changes with Brannen. With Cronin shot form never seemed to change for a player...other than very minimal changes like small increases in loft angle etc. A guy like Shaq Thomas only changed his shot form for 1 season and it was still flat at that. Scott can get some loft added too. Johnson can change his footing. Caupain could have changed his footing. But it never seemed to happen. Cronin was more likely to make extremely minor adjustments rather than a bigger overhaul of the shot.

We will see how that plays out. It seems from first practices that Brannen is also key on ball handling techniques. I don't think Cronin never addressed those things but who knows if we can get better under different coaching.

Yeah, I'm sure Cronin addressed it. Watching his pre-game interviews you could often see guys practicing shooting in the background and being coached on their form. Some guys made major jumps as well (Jenifer being the recent example, Cumberland also majorly improve his 3-point percentage last year).

That doesn't mean Brannen can't do better at making improvements though. Every coach tries to teach pretty much the same things, it's being very successful at teaching that separates the great coaches.

If your looking for changes in form though, I'd look more at the younger guys. T. Todd would be a good one as according to the scouting reports his form on 3's is bad. It takes a while to change a players form (look at J. Evans who spent most of his first season benched or in the G-league as they made a major change to his shooting form) and it might not be worth it to try to change a senior like Scott's form.
 
True true. Can't wait to see how up tempo relates with Keith and Logan. Even Scott. Brannen is a first good shot proponent and that is entirely different than Cronin. Why wait on the defense to get set? Other than having offensive rebounding in place it's a bad plan. We don't have the overall scoring talent on the team to attack a set D...we have to take advantage of breaks. Cumberland is the only one capable of doing either or.[/QUOTE

I Actually didn't mind micks recruiting.. He hit on some guys. Missed on some guys...

And year after year he told ppl pace was coming... But he was never commited to playing that way. Its against his dna.

I think his recruitinf level wouldbbebmore successful under a better faster uptempo system.

And to his credit... If he had 5 star guys like he willbget at UCLA his style will be successful
 
I think the bigger opportunity here is style... Cronin recruited for an uptempo run and press system.... Then walked the ball up the court and set back in a zone.

Never understood it


Ive always said athletes that can shoot are in the NBA... Not uc

Elite athletes generally. But there is still a minimum level of basketball skill needed for a even a borderline elite athlete. Look at Diarra who had almost no basketball experience but is an excellent athlete. If he can develop enough over the next 2-3 years to look like he belongs on the court and can shoot 3's, I wouldn't be surprised to see an NBA sign him as an undrafted free agent (or maybe even draft him) and hope they can continue to develop his basketball skills.

I agree with you. I generally supported and liked Cronin, but one thing I never understood is why he wouldn't play the running-pressing system he always talked up. He recruited for that style, talked about playing it in the preseason and even played it early in the season against bad teams. Then first close game we're back to the plodding defensive style. My guess was such a stickler for perfection and minimizing mistakes that he couldn't accept the added risk of mistakes, even tough the other team was also more likely to make mistakes.

It's a good thing for Brannen though. Brannen wants to play the style Cronin recruited for, so our recruits should fit in perfectly.
 
Yeah, I'm sure Cronin addressed it. Watching his pre-game interviews you could often see guys practicing shooting in the background and being coached on their form. Some guys made major jumps as well (Jenifer being the recent example, Cumberland also majorly improve his 3-point percentage last year).

That doesn't mean Brannen can't do better at making improvements though. Every coach tries to teach pretty much the same things, it's being very successful at teaching that separates the great coaches.

If your looking for changes in form though, I'd look more at the younger guys. T. Todd would be a good one as according to the scouting reports his form on 3's is bad. It takes a while to change a players form (look at J. Evans who spent most of his first season benched or in the G-league as they made a major change to his shooting form) and it might not be worth it to try to change a senior like Scott's form.

You mention 3 players I will take exception with. Jenifer didn't do much and neither did Jarron on form but they did make a higher % in spite of this. Evans could have been worked on at UC rather than in G league. My point about trying to change a guy like Thomas or Scott in SR year is not optimal. That needs to be done as soon as they step foot on campus. Why on Earth would you wait 3 years to fix a glaring issue in form?
 
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Elite athletes generally. But there is still a minimum level of basketball skill needed for a even a borderline elite athlete. Look at Diarra who had almost no basketball experience but is an excellent athlete. If he can develop enough over the next 2-3 years to look like he belongs on the court and can shoot 3's, I wouldn't be surprised to see an NBA sign him as an undrafted free agent (or maybe even draft him) and hope they can continue to develop his basketball skills.

I agree with you. I generally supported and liked Cronin, but one thing I never understood is why he wouldn't play the running-pressing system he always talked up. He recruited for that style, talked about playing it in the preseason and even played it early in the season against bad teams. Then first close game we're back to the plodding defensive style. My guess was such a stickler for perfection and minimizing mistakes that he couldn't accept the added risk of mistakes, even tough the other team was also more likely to make mistakes.

It's a good thing for Brannen though. Brannen wants to play the style Cronin recruited for, so our recruits should fit in perfectly.

If we can land/keep a few of them haha
 
If we can land/keep a few of them haha

We still have a shot at Johnson....and why wouldn't he want to be here? Even if for some reason he is not starting at PG (which seems a long shot he wouldn't be)...he can get minutes at the off guard as well. We literally have noone to throw in there right now...especially if Cumberland leaves.

I expect to get someone in the transfer market but the minutes are still there. He is fully capable of contributing in a big way. I would lock him in at 20 mpg right now and maybe 30+ depending on who we sign.
 
Isaiah Moss would be a huge get, but I'd be surprised if we got him. I doubt being on a potential middle of the AAC team that might not even make the NCAA tournament - if Cumberland leaves - is very attractive.

I'd take Todd, Williams and Maidoh. They all seem like realistic targets. Maidoh would probably be a redshirt, Williams might be and Todd could probably contribute some backup minutes.

I think this is where we are at right now. A new assistant coach with recruiting ties may open a few other doors. Maybe not big doors but doors nonetheless.

There is one assistant that intrigues me right now but I will wait to post until multiple sources can confirm interest. Outside of that the coaching convo is silent and that's okay by me. I think Brannen is going through the motions and he's going to make good (if not great) decisions.

But just like everyone...it's a wait and see mentality. Even if he lands a good recruiter...even if he lands some good players...it's still all wait and see on the court production.

We can maybe relieve some fan stress for a moment...but the questions are going to be there either way.
 
Please clarify "post season", cuz the back to back conference tournament champion trophies would like to have a word with you...

I'm sorry. You're correct. Mick did have significant success in recent Conference tournaments and that shouldn't be diminished. I was talking about the post season as it pertains to who wins the National Championship.
 
Ok my guy.


It’s guys like you who keep setting the bar higher and higher for Brannen by down playing the importance of Mick.

My guy :). That's nice. I don't have access to the algorithm you're using to indicate I've set the bar any higher for JB than it was for MC, but I'll trust your math is correct. I never downplayed Mick's success. I just don't think the sky is falling because he left. He was a good coach. He now has the resources to excel at the highest level. I wish him luck.
 
Penn State transfer and teams second leading scorer Rasir Bolton will be on campus today for an official visit, averaged 11.6 ppg, 2 reb, 1.5 ast, 38.3% fg. He was a freshman so he would have to sit a year with 3 years of eligibility remaining. Also visiting Iowa State this weekend.
 
Penn State transfer and teams second leading scorer Rasir Bolton will be on campus today for an official visit, averaged 11.6 ppg, 2 reb, 1.5 ast, 38.3% fg. He was a freshman so he would have to sit a year with 3 years of eligibility remaining. Also visiting Iowa State this weekend.

Sign me up... Also there is an outside chance of immediate eligibility here.
 
Immediate eligibility would be nice. Would still be a nice get as a transfer, but we need another guard (or 2 or 3) for this year.

Would love to get a guy like Bolton or Moss. Then Todd or Williams. I still love the Maidoh kid. If we could get 3 guys like that I would be okay with waiting until 2020 on the rest. If Cumberland goes...maybe add another wing if there is a good fit.

Maybe play with 11 roster spots this year and build some relationships for the 2020 class to get it to 13. We may even see another transfer or two after this year depending on what the guys see as their role on the team after a year with CJB.
 
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