phil95 wrote:

Tarin's statement was really well written. Giving specific thanks to KD is good for Tarin & the program. I hope he goes someplace where he can get meaningful minutes on a successful team & leave with a powerful graduate degree. Nobody should be surprised by this with the grad transfer rule in place.

I know that on paper it looked like Tarin would get less run next season but, I was really excited to have a fifth year guy that just won an A-10 honor bring a bit of senior magic, leadership, & continuity to this reinvented roster. All of that inexperienced size is going to need direction from more than just the coaching staff.

Watching him get truly healthy & come to understand the Dambrot way while regaining his confidence was really pleasant. There are at least 6 guys currently thought to be on the roster I would have preferred to lose over him because I place a high value on the known commodity & senior leadership.

I know this is a crappy thing to write but I remain very sceptical that both transfers that had uninspiring freshman years at Akron will become very good A-10 players.

At the end of the season I was really hoping that somehow that TS, MLII, EW, & TV would all return even if it meant losing Krivacevic/Kratholm, a transfer, or one of the freshman bigs. I also knew there was no way that would happen. You can't make players stay.

Does this leave us without a senior next year? Is Krivacevic a senior? Probably no sense in speculating too hard on this until August.
 

I agree, except the part about the University of Duquesne?  :-)
 

El Duque, right as I posted that I thought maybe you did mean it was  going to be his third year with Dambrot. Thanks for not taking me to the woodshed I have a low tolerance for pain.

CLK wrote:

Tarin getting a lot of interest...including UConn 

https://twitter.com/AdamZagoria/status/983812374120615936

He deserves it. He can provide instant offense off the bench and defends pretty well. Could be a nice addition to an NCAA tournament team.

duq81 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

TDM will be a junior with two years practicing in Dambrot's system. Kinda hard to rule him out as a starter.

I like the two freshman PGs, but that's a tough position to break in and start for a guy who's going to want to win 20 games next year. If Brandon or Sincerely grab it and run, great, but I think TDM can get the job done.

I kinda get where Dsnyder is coming from. TDM is very small. Remember, you were the biggest critic of Derrick Colter on the board, mainly because of the limitations due to his size. TDM is a good bit smaller than Colter. A 5'8" player really has to be great to excel at this level. There are going to be games where his minutes will have to be limited because an elite pg will be abusing him. I guess time will tell.
 

While you are correct, somewhere in Baltimore, KJ Maura from UMBC says hi

Last edited by yak-rbc (4/11/2018 12:49 pm)

yak-rbc wrote:

duq81 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

TDM will be a junior with two years practicing in Dambrot's system. Kinda hard to rule him out as a starter.

I like the two freshman PGs, but that's a tough position to break in and start for a guy who's going to want to win 20 games next year. If Brandon or Sincerely grab it and run, great, but I think TDM can get the job done.

I kinda get where Dsnyder is coming from. TDM is very small. Remember, you were the biggest critic of Derrick Colter on the board, mainly because of the limitations due to his size. TDM is a good bit smaller than Colter. A 5'8" player really has to be great to excel at this level. There are going to be games where his minutes will have to be limited because an elite pg will be abusing him. I guess time will tell.
 

While you are correct, somewhere in Baltimore, KJ Maura from UMBC says hi

UMBC isn't playing an A10 schedule. Also, while there indeed have been small guys who excelled, they have usually been elite talents. Colter was a very nice player, but his size indeed held him back. Unless Tavian is elite, his size will be an issue.

duq81 wrote:

yak-rbc wrote:

duq81 wrote:

I kinda get where Dsnyder is coming from. TDM is very small. Remember, you were the biggest critic of Derrick Colter on the board, mainly because of the limitations due to his size. TDM is a good bit smaller than Colter. A 5'8" player really has to be great to excel at this level. There are going to be games where his minutes will have to be limited because an elite pg will be abusing him. I guess time will tell.
 

While you are correct, somewhere in Baltimore, KJ Maura from UMBC says hi

UMBC isn't playing an A10 schedule. Also, while there indeed have been small guys who excelled, they have usually been elite talents. Colter was a very nice player, but his size indeed held him back. Unless Tavian is elite, his size will be an issue.

He was voted the best player in West Virginia (Mr. Basketball) his senior year.  Don't know if that makes him "elite" but proves he certainly has talent.  I think D-M is going to surprise a lot of people. We are going to have three really good true point guards next season.  Going to be fun to watch.
 

Duques102 wrote:

I would have to think TDM at least starts at the begging of the season unless Dambrot goes with two 2's to start games.

Correct me if I'm wrong but pretty sure Hughes, Randall, and Lewis II are all considered more shooting guard types. Weathers and Williams jr. may be able to play some 2 but are more natural wing players.

So 2018 PGs consist of: TDM, Wade, and Carry. Anyone really think either of the freshman will start right out of the gate?

CLK is right, TDM got Mr. Basketball his senior year. I've seen a number of his highlight tapes and would venture to guess that if he was 6'2" instead of maybe 5'8", the kid would have had offers from schools all over the country.

Calvin Murphy, Spud Webb, Muggsy Bogues, Earl Boykins, Nate Robinson, Damon Stoudamire........Tavian Dunn Martin!!!!!!

I wouldn't bet against Wade starting as a freshman. Maybe not right away, but at some point. I do expect TDM to start at the beginning of the year, and then to play a tarin smith scoring role off the bench.

Honestly. Tavian will play 10-15 mins. Watch. I’ve said it already, he’s a spark guy for this team due to his size and coach d’s defensive philosophy

I've got no problem with a short point guard if they've got the talent. They may be easier to post up on but they can cause some problems other places on the court. Richmond recently and G.W. and Bonnies in the past have had some pesky little guards who I couldn't wait till they graduated.

Duques102 wrote:

And how about Chas Brown at UMASS in the recent past? That kid was one of the most talented and exciting players in the league in recent memory.

Probably about the same height as TDM.

Chas Brown played for the Dukes this past season. You mean Chaz Williams, currently playing professionally in Iceland, but yes, he was outstanding at this level. 

It'll be UConn for Tarin,

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/985608196940320775

https://twitter.com/Smittee_/status/985613759694671875


 

Last edited by Brian (4/15/2018 3:22 pm)

I'm wondering if Craig Randall is in the mix for the pg spot? He was a highly rated pg in high school both in Ohio and Arizona. I saw him listed as a combo at Memphis Just watched a lot of his highlight videos and I'm thinking he might be capable of putting up some numbers this season.