A couple of thoughts on the season now that the sun has risen this morning:
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Congrats to St Bonaventure. They went on the road and beat 3 power 5 teams in hostile environments. Wow - that’s impressive - not a lot of teams could do that. Well done, and perhaps they have reminded us all that program continuity (5 seniors), cohesiveness, and hard work are still sound methods to win in March. I’m all for getting a transfer stud to come in for a year, but also firmly believe that team cohesiveness, chemistry, and a genuine love of your teammates is really important and translates to wins. St. Bon’s had it, and we didn’t - that was obvious even through the television.
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Excited about our 1st years next year, as we all are. But keep in mind, they are first years and some of the skills they all wowed us with in HIGH SCHOOL VIDEO CLIPS won’t translate in ACC play. None of them are Zion, or Bryant Stith, or Ralph. They are great prospects, and it will take time for them to find their footing. And some may not work out…its happened before. Remember Jabri…he was more highly rated than any of them. If we had Forum back then we all would have been predicting more Natty’s when he committed. Maybe we did do that - I wasn’t involved then We need to give them time to be awesome. And some of them will be.
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Reece is awesome, and had a great year. But if he wants to play in the NBA, he has to be able to shoot at a much higher percentage, from a much deeper range. Can’t play in the NBA if you can’t shoot (shout out Patrick Beverly)- regardless of position. I think he will get there and this is a VERY important summer for him. Rooting for him as we all are - he is a good player. Want to see him become GREAT.
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The transfer portal is a seductive and mysterious place. I find it hard to believe that kids we would have never recruited 12 months ago are now hot commodities for ACC teams. Yes, their are a few outliers, and they are a year older, and have improved. But lighting it up in the mid-majors isn’t always a great predictor of success at a power 5 school. I thought Jaden was very good this year for us, and truthfully, I thought he would struggle more than he did. He stepped up and that was great, but not everyone will. My fear is that the transfer portal can be fool’s gold for some programs and I hope we aren’t one of them. I find it hard to believe that a kid from Southwest Northeast Mid-Dakota State (great school) can come in and help us. HGN knows them all and I trust his opinion, but let’s focus on kids that are highly rated, on the radar, and highly sought after. We can recruit at the level and should be landing more and more each year. Finding a diamond in the rough seems like a low percentage play to me.
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A quick review of the top programs in the NCAA reveals the following about us - objectively:
- we are little at every position except 5
- we played sub-par shooters in the backcourt
- we are sub-par athletically as a whole
The top NCAA teams were impressive, both in the airport and on the court. We had an “Island of the Misfit Toys” feel to us this year, and I think we did as best as we could. But lets get some dogs/studs/specimens up in here moving forward. If we want to be elite, we have to get those kids.
That’s it for now. Was a fun year with you guys - always is. Stay tuned as we have a BIG announcement coming out about LRA which we are very excited about. Appreciate all the support, the critiques, the passion, and the fun.
Much Love,
Hav