Duques102 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

duq81 wrote:

Ferry always said he wanted to attack the rim. Well, he's got some guys to do that now. Time to show and prove.

 
I still say that's BS. He wants guys to cross midcourt and heave. Makes me want to heave.

Watch next season and see if I'm not right. I was spot on with everything I said about this season with the exception of 10 wins. Everything else, dead accuracy.

Everything except they almost doubled your win total. Anyway, I'm not trying to say he's a straight up replacement, he's a shooting guard and Gill was a 3/4 and should be a 4. That was very obvious before you pointed it out. What I meant is the impact Blackman can bring to the team I feel can more than make up for the loss of impact Gill had, especially considering the fact that you have sanders and Robinson ready to step in. And as repeated many times nakye has so much more talent and potential than Gill did, which can be reflected in the fact that he held multiple offers from power 5 schools (over 40 total d1 offers) and gill had Radford and James Madison.

And you say Jackson and Steele haven't worked out? They were both 18 year old freshman last year, which I hope you understand equates to the fact that production in the first year is limited, but what was positive was both showed flashes and signs of promise. All of a sudden you think freshman should be huge contributors? Literally how often does than happen in this league, especially with us? Castro was a total disaster, but with his resume and pedigree you take a flyer on a guy like that every time, everybody was excited when we got him if you don't remember.

And how can you sit here and act like getting a proven scorer with size at the guard position is not a huge help to this team for next year? Who cares if he's rented, look around everyone is doing this now in college basketball. The shooting guard position was a huge question mark with this team and now that Blackman is locked up, you have a polished veteran presence for a year that guys like Steele and Jackson can sit behind and develop. This did nothing but help us.

Smith, ?, James/Mike, gill, Lewis
Smith, Blackman, James/Mike, sanders/Robinson, Lewis

The second lineup clearly has the potential to be solid compared to the first.

And if you really want to get technical about replacing someone; 2016 stats sir:

Gill : 30 mins, 10.1 pts, 6.5 rebs, 43% fg, 34% from 3
Blackman: 33 mins, 15.8 pts, 3.5 Rebs, 43% fg 29% 3

Your really going to sit here and act like that production plus what either sanders and Robinson can contribute cannot make up for the loss of LG?

They didn't come close to doubling it. Once they got past Mutual of Omaha, they had to play better teams even in the CBI. Took 34 games to reach .500 when they had 10 wins entering A-10 play, and were looking like they had a shot at a real postseason tournament. And of course, they got crushed in the A-10 Tournament by the league's bottom-dweller.

As for Robinson and Sanders, remember, Ferry didn't show much confidence in them for most of the year, and his preference is to have as many smalls on the floor as possible. Sanders needs to bulk up and improve his hands, and learn how to defend without fouling. Potential? Sure. Any guarantees? Ha, ha, no.



 

Duques102 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

Duques102 wrote:

Everything except they almost doubled your win total. Anyway, I'm not trying to say he's a straight up replacement, he's a shooting guard and Gill was a 3/4 and should be a 4. That was very obvious before you pointed it out. What I meant is the impact Blackman can bring to the team I feel can more than make up for the loss of impact Gill had, especially considering the fact that you have sanders and Robinson ready to step in. And as repeated many times nakye has so much more talent and potential than Gill did, which can be reflected in the fact that he held multiple offers from power 5 schools (over 40 total d1 offers) and gill had Radford and James Madison.

And you say Jackson and Steele haven't worked out? They were both 18 year old freshman last year, which I hope you understand equates to the fact that production in the first year is limited, but what was positive was both showed flashes and signs of promise. All of a sudden you think freshman should be huge contributors? Literally how often does than happen in this league, especially with us? Castro was a total disaster, but with his resume and pedigree you take a flyer on a guy like that every time, everybody was excited when we got him if you don't remember.

And how can you sit here and act like getting a proven scorer with size at the guard position is not a huge help to this team for next year? Who cares if he's rented, look around everyone is doing this now in college basketball. The shooting guard position was a huge question mark with this team and now that Blackman is locked up, you have a polished veteran presence for a year that guys like Steele and Jackson can sit behind and develop. This did nothing but help us.

Smith, ?, James/Mike, gill, Lewis
Smith, Blackman, James/Mike, sanders/Robinson, Lewis

The second lineup clearly has the potential to be solid compared to the first.

And if you really want to get technical about replacing someone; 2016 stats sir:

Gill : 30 mins, 10.1 pts, 6.5 rebs, 43% fg, 34% from 3
Blackman: 33 mins, 15.8 pts, 3.5 Rebs, 43% fg 29% 3

Your really going to sit here and act like that production plus what either sanders and Robinson can contribute cannot make up for the loss of LG?

They didn't come close to doubling it. Once they got past Mutual of Omaha, they had to play better teams even in the CBI. Took 34 games to reach .500 when they had 10 wins entering A-10 play, and were looking like they had a shot at a real postseason tournament. And of course, they got crushed in the A-10 Tournament by the league's bottom-dweller.

As for Robinson and Sanders, remember, Ferry didn't show much confidence in them for most of the year, and his preference is to have as many smalls on the floor as possible. Sanders needs to bulk up and improve his hands, and learn how to defend without fouling. Potential? Sure. Any guarantees? Ha, ha, no.



 

You're right, nothing is guaranteed, Castro is a perfect example of that. However I believe there is legitimate reason to be optimistic, as it is quite apparent the back court situation is much improved compared to last year and that was the strongest facet of this team last year. And from a factual, literal, numbers, perspective yes they almost did double your guess, 17 is 70% more than you predicted, you can make all the qualifying statements you want. If that team would have won 22/23 games last year I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be splitting hairs about who we beat and and how we won the games. A win is a win to me, even if I don't think the current coach is the guy who can elevate the program. Come to think of it, based on your 10 win prediction, shouldn't you be excited that we vastly exceeded you standards for the season? Ferry outdid your expectations by 7 wins! You were so spot on you thought we would lose to all the "crap" teams in the preseason, well the boys pulled it out over UMBC, instead of thinking how your so spot on, that kind of suggests to me you see the situation as much worse than it is in general. I wish this was more about basketball and less about personal vendetta's sometimes. The dude is gonna be here for one more year. If he succeeds, great, if he doesn't we'll can his ass and move in another direction. It is what it is, I'm still sticking up for my program, not putting them down.

+1

There is reason for optimism.  Blackman fills a gigantic hole.  On one hand you argue that Blackman will stunt the growth of Jackson and Steel and on the other hand you say Sanders isn't a guarantee.  Can't have it both ways. 

Bottom line...our backcourt is now one of the best in the league.  Smith(who is now one of the top PG's in the league) is a significant upgrade over Colter.  For future years, it helps with the growth of Littleson.  This is hugely positive news!!!!!!!

Last edited by WEB (4/18/2016 12:09 pm)

Having Tarin Smith and Blackman start with Lewis, Steel, and jackson/littleson come off the bench sounds pretty good to me. I like that waaaaaay more than dc and micah playing 38 mins.

I don't think people however are putting as much attention to the front court. We haven't been able to see much for sanders and robinson due to lack of playing time but I do think this is the weak spot in the line up, not the guards. 

ElDuque wrote:

WEB, get your facts straight. I said Steele and Jackson are role players. The players who would be affected are Lewis and Littleson (the NEW L-Train), and the way they will be affected is when Ferry plays his starters 38 minutes. Steele and Jackson will likely get the crumbs.

I don't think I'm being inconsistent here. I thought Sanders and Robinson should have gotten more PT, and they could have, even with Gill and Powell in the mix. But every time Ferry substituted a big, a little came into the game. Sanders and Robinson both need to polish their games to be of any help next year.

Smith is indeed an upgrade over DC, and that is NOT a knock on Colter. Blackman may be an upgrade over Mason, or he may be the next Jamal Hunter. Won't know until they lace 'em up. Mason was third team all conference and if nothing else he could shoot. Projecting how they're going to play together is impossible.

I am as hungry as anyone for success and sustainability. Both have eluded us since Ferry got here. 

I need to double check to be certain, but I am 99.99% sure that absent some extenuating circumstance(fouls or score), 2 of the 5 between Gill, Lewis, Powell, Sanders and Robinson were in the game.  Thus, we never went small.  In fact, many of us were pushing for Gill to shift to the 3 to increase the amount of bigs on the floor.  It never happened. 

Blackman, Niagara 2015/16

mins./g  33
fg%       43
3%        29
ft%        81
a/to       0.5
stl/g       1

+  excellent at the line to offset Smith 61%.
-  A-10 coaches can frustrate poor ball skills and questionable sharing.