You have to take into account the shit conference we play in. I doubt he cracks the the starting five at nc, ncst, duke, even wake as a frosh.
I mean, put him in the mac and he probably leads the country in all stats.
The exceptions don't negate the general rule.
Rankings are for the birds. If you take out UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas of the mix and look at all the other schools. Yes, other schools are getting top 100 recruits...but does that translate into Final Fours and National Championships? No. Heck even Duke, Kansas etc get bounced from the tourney. Look at the the programs that regularly get top 100 players...they aren't having crazy good success in the tourney year after year after year. I get so tired of people whining about rankings. Depending on how you view college basketball success, generally its determined in March. The NCAA tourney is more about match up's and seeding and favorable breaks. I mean, LSU has 2 NBA players on their team this year and they got bounced from Day 1. Baylor had plenty of top 100 players, they got bounced. The list goes on my friends. Accept the players we get and move on. Guess what, no fan out there is going to change that.
If that's the case and rankings mean nothing then why is u.c. trying (but failing) to land these top ranked players. Obviously they mean something. It's easy to say they don't matter when we don't get them. How many of the last 10 ncaa champions do not have a top 50 player on them?
If that's the case and rankings mean nothing then why is u.c. trying (but failing) to land these top ranked players. Obviously they mean something. It's easy to say they don't matter when we don't get them. How many of the last 10 ncaa champions do not have a top 50 player on them?
I am more concerned with the development of our players. You know the players that will be will UC for four years. I would like to see continued development of our guys like Troy, Clark, KJ, Jacob Evans, Jenifer. That is what matters.
Sure you try and go after them but once again, teams that get top 50-100 doesn't translate to final fours. Also, UC isn't going to get 2-4 top 50 recruits. It just isn't going to happen. I'm not sure why people don't accept that. You may not like it but people should learn to accept it. I am more concerned with the development of our players. You know the players that will be will UC for four years. I would like to see continued development of our guys like Troy, Clark, KJ, Jacob Evans, Jenifer. That is what matters.
And that is how we are going to win. We are going to be the team bringing the Jrs and Srs to the game that have been productive for 3-4 years. That will be our calling card in the future. It will start next year.
I don't know why people choose to believe we shouldn't be able to/or won't get some top players. Prob not 4 a year but a couple every couple years. Couple better talent with our good coaching then who knows what err could do. I think accepting that we will never get a few top players means accepting that we will never get to a nc game.
The recruiting definitely has been disappointing at times. Mick said last night that he wants good basketball coaches on his staff, not guys that will just help him land top players...but if Larry Davis elects to take a HC job, I would love to add someone on the staff that can coach but more importantly land top players.
What we always learn (and then forget) about the NCAA tournament is more often than not pure talent wins out, if you don't have the best players the only chance you have is to be able to really shoot (like most mid-majors that can pull 1 upset). With the style of team Mick has built, you really need the most talented players to win. If not you'll end up like Pittsburgh and Villanova...great programs that have had really good teams but not much to show for it...The class of 2016 is going to be HUGE for our program.
If LD leaves, I'd love to get Nick Van Exel on as an assistant. I think he could be a great recruiter. Former PGs seem to be able to connect with kids in recruiting. Jason Gardner was at Loyola briefly (IUPUI HC now) and helped them upgrade their program, Kevin Ollie has Shammond Williams and Quannas White on his staff, Wojo was at Duke, Hurley too right? And I'm sure there are countless other examples. I'd love to get some of our former players more involved with the program.
While I don't disagree with you at all but what makes you think Nick Van Exel wants to coach? UC has a ton of legends but none of them are active within the coaching system. Unfortunately.
He is currently coaching in the NBDL for the Texas Legends (team Justin Jackson is on). He also was an assistant coach at Texas Southern in 2009 as well as for the Milwaukee Bucks last season.
He is currently coaching in the NBDL for the Texas Legends (team Justin Jackson is on). He also was an assistant coach at Texas Southern in 2009 as well as for the Milwaukee Bucks last season.
IMy biggest gripe is that we don't have guys who can light it up on offense. If you manage to make it to the Sweet 16, you need more than defense. You need guys who can find ways to score outside a specific system.
Case in point - Virginia just lost to Michigan State. Virginia had excellent defense, but their slow pace of play and inability to score kept from catching up to Mich State at the end of the game. Virginia is basically Cincinnati - excellent defense, but their offense comes and goes. Defense can keep you in games, but you still need to score in order to win.
Stats don't lie - an article from a few years ago found that all but 1 of the previous 10 NCAA champs were in the top 30 on both defense and offense. Having a top 5 or 6 defense did what for is this year? We lost to bad teams despite that, mainly because we sucked on offense at times. Effort had something to do with that as well (Tulane), but if you have guys who can score and guys who can get stops, we can beat teams with superior talent.
Its like deja vu watching the Duke game. SD just can't compete offensively with Duke. How is it possible to be 19 yes old and be 6'11 270 lbs?! On top of that, being coordinated enough to be a skilled bball player. Just ridiculous.