Don't have time to dispute all of your points, but I'll comment on a few.  Please tell me what budding superstar was being blocked by JJ?  Seriously?  JJ became a solid player, by  virtue of playing time in his first three years.  Had  he not been injured last year the season would have ended quite differently.

As for late season swoons, I recall that also being a problem for Ron, due to a general lack of talent and depth in the program more than poor coaching.  The team couldn't afford to sit Micah or DC last year because there was too much of a drop off when playing subs; again just didn't have depth. 

As BBatko points out, this team has some depth and size at all positions, so guys don't need to play all 40 minutes.

phil95 wrote:

-JJ wasn't a worthy A-10 starter until maybe the last 7 games of his junior year. Before he was injured as senior he was only good enough to start on the bottom 3- 4 teams in the conference. The only thing that should have kept him the starting lineup that long was his much improved passing skills.
-Had he been a very respectable 7th man in years 2- 3 & a starter as a senior, you would know that the program was truly on an upswing. "Solid" players can't play 30 minutes a night for top 75 schools.
-Do you realize that his career shooting percentages were 39.3%/31.7%/66.4%?
-The standard line was that he was a good leader & our best defender. I have no insight on his leadership skills. However, I had coaches from 2 separate A-10 teams confirm for me that JJ was routinely targeted on defense  because he was so frequently out of position. 8 blocked shots & 54 steals as a starter, in 103 career games is pretty sad.
-Most posters who know him attest to his fine personal qualities. I would not dispute that. What I do know is that he played way too much in his first 3 years given his meager contributions.If that was because Ferry had no better bodies: shame on him. If was because Ferry played favorites; shame on him again. Letting Jerry Jones, Eric James, & Josh Steele rot on the bench hurt the program.
-I am convinced that if JF would have found Micha & DC another 3-4 minutes of rest each per game last season by playing Steele, Castro, & Jackson positive things would have happened last year. This is doubly true for the non-con schedule. Steele most certainly would have benefited & maybe Castro would have found his breakthrough moment.
-My main reason for thinking it was time for Ron to go was that his last few teams fell apart down the stretch. When coupled with the defections after his last season & his inability to recruit size, the  poor finishes made me think that a good coach that took the program from the dump to respectability could go no further. I am sure Ron is very proud of his resurrection job at DU. The university should be embarrassed by the method & circumstances of his dismissal. None of this changes the fact that Ferry's teams haven't gotten stronger as the year goes on.
 

Those guys didn't get more run because they didn't deserve it. That's why a pair of transfers will likely be in the starting backcourt this year instead of the guys who were reserves last year. It was shocking to me how bad Castro was last year. I would have glued his butt to the bench as well. They would have lost some of those ooc games if Ferry had given those guys more minutes.

phil95 wrote:

-JJ wasn't a worthy A-10 starter until maybe the last 7 games of his junior year. Before he was injured as senior he was only good enough to start on the bottom 3- 4 teams in the conference. The only thing that should have kept him the starting lineup that long was his much improved passing skills.
-Had he been a very respectable 7th man in years 2- 3 & a starter as a senior, you would know that the program was truly on an upswing. "Solid" players can't play 30 minutes a night for top 75 schools.
-Do you realize that his career shooting percentages were 39.3%/31.7%/66.4%?
-The standard line was that he was a good leader & our best defender. I have no insight on his leadership skills. However, I had coaches from 2 separate A-10 teams confirm for me that JJ was routinely targeted on defense  because he was so frequently out of position. 8 blocked shots & 54 steals as a starter, in 103 career games is pretty sad.
-Most posters who know him attest to his fine personal qualities. I would not dispute that. What I do know is that he played way too much in his first 3 years given his meager contributions.If that was because Ferry had no better bodies: shame on him. If was because Ferry played favorites; shame on him again. Letting Jerry Jones, Eric James, & Josh Steele rot on the bench hurt the program.
-I am convinced that if JF would have found Micha & DC another 3-4 minutes of rest each per game last season by playing Steele, Castro, & Jackson positive things would have happened last year. This is doubly true for the non-con schedule. Steele most certainly would have benefited & maybe Castro would have found his breakthrough moment.
-My main reason for thinking it was time for Ron to go was that his last few teams fell apart down the stretch. When coupled with the defections after his last season & his inability to recruit size, the  poor finishes made me think that a good coach that took the program from the dump to respectability could go no further. I am sure Ron is very proud of his resurrection job at DU. The university should be embarrassed by the method & circumstances of his dismissal. None of this changes the fact that Ferry's teams haven't gotten stronger as the year goes on.
 

Certainly if there was more size, skill or even a better scoring threat at the three spot; they would have gotten more minutes than JJ.  There just weren't many options.

Eric only sat his freshman year behind JJ, and he had chances to play, just didn't perform.  His father also told me he had a foot injury that hampered him his freshman year.  Eric made great strides in year two and the injury to JJ gave him an opportunity.  He played too many minutes last year and hit a slump midway through the A-10 schedule, but did bounce back late season.
Josh Steele wasn't even on the team until last season, and you all know what happened with JJ getting hurt so Steele's development wasn't hindered by JJ.  I have hopes for Steele but he wasn't ready to play significant minutes last year.
That leaves Jerry Jones, who, in fact played a fair amount, based on his talent level.  Jerry was similar to JJ, and had some bright spots, but not enough of them to warrant much more playing time, and he was a couple of years older than JJ anyway.

Last edited by levon1975 (10/10/2016 11:42 am)