So How Good Are The Players?

[drquigley]

The conventional wisdom seems to be that once Ewing is gone a new, better coach will take our current roster and, if not be tourney eligible, at least be competitive with our BE rivals. But I wonder. Assuming all those eligible to return do, are these guys really all that good? Do Murray, Spears, and Heath have the bball IQ to complement their bball skills? I'm especially worried that we have projected our benchwarmers to be "saviors" once they get a new coach and some significant playing time. Riley has tons of energy but can he shoot? Is Ryan strong and quick enough to be a legit big man? And can any of the others (Anglin, Bristol, Bass) shoot 3's and score in the paint? In short, will it really only take a new coach to make us significantly better?

[CTHoya08]

Next year’s roster will look nothing like this year’s, no matter who the coach is. But even ignoring that, the answer depends greatly on who the coach is. There’s plenty of daylight between merely “better than Ewing” and “good.”

[prhoya]

Mar 4, 2023 11:46:14 GMT -5 drquigley said:

The conventional wisdom seems to be that once Ewing is gone a new, better coach will take our current roster and, if not be tourney eligible, at least be competitive with our BE rivals. But I wonder. Assuming all those eligible to return do, are these guys really all that good? Do Murray, Spears, and Heath have the bball IQ to complement their bball skills? I'm especially worried that we have projected our benchwarmers to be "saviors" once they get a new coach and some significant playing time. Riley has tons of energy but can he shoot? Is Ryan strong and quick enough to be a legit big man? And can any of the others (Anglin, Bristol, Bass) shoot 3's and score in the paint? In short, will it really only take a new coach to make us significantly better?

Literally, anyone with average basketball IQ in touch with how college basketball is played today is a better coach than Patrick Ewing.

[drquigley]

Mar 4, 2023 11:51:27 GMT -5 CTHoya08 said:

Next year’s roster will look nothing like this year’s, no matter who the coach is. But even ignoring that, the answer depends greatly on who the coach is. There’s plenty of daylight between merely “better than Ewing” and “good.”

Exactly. So can I assume that we need more than a new coach to be competitive (10-10 in BE) next year?

[CTHoya08]

Mar 4, 2023 12:57:56 GMT -5 drquigley said:

Mar 4, 2023 11:51:27 GMT -5 CTHoya08 said:

Next year’s roster will look nothing like this year’s, no matter who the coach is. But even ignoring that, the answer depends greatly on who the coach is. There’s plenty of daylight between merely “better than Ewing” and “good.”

Exactly. So can I assume that we need more than a new coach to be competitive (10-10 in BE) next year?

My point is that there are some names being floated that might get this roster from two wins to four. There are some others that might get it to a middling record like that. But given the inevitable departures, yes, we’ll need some new players to go along with a new coach.

[hoyasaxa2003]

It is hard to underestimate just how bad how defense was this year. A good coach like Pitino, with time, would whip our defense into better shape - substantially better. That alone would have been worth a few more wins this year. And a coach like that wouldn’t allow us to take horrible shot after horrible shot. So I think fixing those things alone take us from 2-18 to something like 7-13 or maybe even a bit better. We are very broken under Ewing.

[Bigs"R"Us]

If we get Pitino, we will be above 10-10 in league and make the NCAAs in year one. Players will come and he will use the portal. Plus, he can coach.

[augustusfinknottle]

Mar 4, 2023 14:59:33 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

If we get Pitino, we will be above 10-10 in league and make the NCAAs in year one. Players will come and he will use the portal. Plus, he can coach.

100%

[drquigley]

Mar 4, 2023 14:59:33 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

If we get Pitino, we will be above 10-10 in league and make the NCAAs in year one. Players will come and he will use the portal. Plus, he can coach.

Gotta disagree. Unless he brings in a better players (quality big man, power forward, true point guard and deadly 3 point shooter) Pitino will only be able to do so much. I agree however that he could win 7-8 games in his first year with returning players.

[HometownHoya]

Scheme can fix a lot. Pitino would definitely need to bring in a true PG but players shoot a lot better when they have a scheme getting them good shots and they're ready for those good shots. Akok is a pretty damn good PF and I'd bet Rick could get something out of Bass. We need more big men anyway with both Q and Malcolm leaving after this year so he's going to definitely bring in players.

As far as the question of the thread goes, they're pretty solid players and are better then they've played the last year. All of our transfer's have had their numbers go down in one way or another.

[Bigs"R"Us]

If Pitino comes, he’s not keeping this roster. He will build his own team. There is nothing from 0-20 & 2-18 worth saving. Burn the memory

[prhoya]

Mar 4, 2023 16:59:58 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

If Pitino comes, he’s not keeping this roster. He will build his own team. There is nothing from 0-20 & 2-18 worth saving. Burn the memory

He can pick and choose. Don’t be surprised if he can get a five star too. With Pitino, we will be the story of the off-season. everyone will be watching, season tickets will be selling like the old days, former players will have access to the TAC, etc…

[astrohoya]

The players and coaching are hard to separate. Spears and Murray suck because of the decisions they make….a good coach would force Spears and Murray to stop taking the awful long twos and suicide drives. That alone would make them better. Spears needs to improve his three point shooting, under any coach.

Do I think those guys can be the best players on a Final Four team? No. Do I think they can be a lot better than they are with better coaching? Yes.

Also while outside of Akok, nobody looks like a great individual defensive talent, they could be a lot better with better coaching on how to help and more emphasis on guarding threes and close in shots.

So these players are not good enough, but they could be a lot better with better coaching. My completely rough guess is a top coach could get these players into the high double digits. It will take better players (as well as retention and development) to get higher than that.

[78HOYA78]

I was surprised to learn that the Big East does not have any 5 star players on any rosters. From one of the TV commentators. Is this true or not a big deal.

[Nevada Hoya]

A question. Are we having the transfer portal forever. I was under the assumption that it would just see us through the pandemic. Now it seems to be ongoing. Personally, I do not like it beyond the covid years. Too much like the pros and toss out the term STUDENT-athletes. One and done is one thing (and I did not like that), but free transfers, sigh!

[EtomicB]

Mar 4, 2023 16:59:58 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

If Pitino comes, he’s not keeping this roster. He will build his own team. There is nothing from 0-20 & 2-18 worth saving. Burn the memory

It won't bother you that some of the kids will have to sit a year if dropped from Gtown?

It's not a good look in my view.

[TC]

Mar 4, 2023 19:09:20 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

Mar 4, 2023 16:59:58 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

If Pitino comes, he’s not keeping this roster. He will build his own team. There is nothing from 0-20 & 2-18 worth saving. Burn the memory

It won't bother you that some of the kids will have to sit a year if dropped from Gtown?

It's not a good look in my view.

Coach gets fired, everyone gets waivers.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Mar 4, 2023 19:09:20 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

Mar 4, 2023 16:59:58 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

If Pitino comes, he’s not keeping this roster. He will build his own team. There is nothing from 0-20 & 2-18 worth saving. Burn the memory

It won't bother you that some of the kids will have to sit a year if dropped from Gtown?

It's not a good look in my view.

I understand the sentiment but no reason why someone like
Akok couldn’t be a valuable asset for any new coach. But I think the roster next year will look drastically different. I’m sure many of our current players will find their own way independently from our coaching situation.

It’s highly unlikely this will be anything like 2017 when Ewing kept everyone on the roster except Agau.

[hoyazeke]

Mar 4, 2023 11:46:14 GMT -5 drquigley said:

The conventional wisdom seems to be that once Ewing is gone a new, better coach will take our current roster and, if not be tourney eligible, at least be competitive with our BE rivals. But I wonder. Assuming all those eligible to return do, are these guys really all that good? Do Murray, Spears, and Heath have the bball IQ to complement their bball skills? I'm especially worried that we have projected our benchwarmers to be "saviors" once they get a new coach and some significant playing time. Riley has tons of energy but can he shoot? Is Ryan strong and quick enough to be a legit big man? And can any of the others (Anglin, Bristol, Bass) shoot 3's and score in the paint? In short, will it really only take a new coach to make us significantly better?

Not with Primo being the PG. If someone that taught real offensive and defensive schemes took over this team with a true PG I truly believe we are at least firmly on the bubble.

[hoyazeke]

Mar 4, 2023 18:58:45 GMT -5 78HOYA78 said:

I was surprised to learn that the Big East does not have any 5 star players on any rosters. From one of the TV commentators. Is this true or not a big deal.

I thought Whitmore was 5*.