ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 9:25 am

Bank Shot wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 9:05 am

AGGIEinIOWA wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 8:58 am

ineptimusprime wrote:

Blitz79 wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 8:39 am

I think the biggest thing is probably that their is no obvious difference maker in the group.

We will see, there are still several spots to fill.

Imo we still need a good shooter wing type, unless everyone starts shooting much better.

I mean, I think Albury and Gateretse look like significant difference makers. Look at how well Albury played against Duke last year. But the reality is, the star power of the team was already on the roster with Ian, Mason, and Isaac, IMO. Especially, Ian.

Agreed. We may take a step back with Osobor’s and Brown’s replacements in the starting lineup, but I expect Martinez, Mason, and Fish to take sizable step improvements forward over last year. Our bench should also be deeper

DON'T!!!!! The deep bench is an annual curse.

To be fair our bench was pretty nice this year until Max A. got hurt.

Yes, and I totally blame the preseason projections of being 10 deep by some posters as the reason Max got hurt. I do agree that we did have more depth than most previous years. A great 6th man, and guys like Sakho, Templin, Javon were more useful on average than the Zee types.

Bullnamed_gus wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 7:29 am

Blitz79 wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 7:04 am

Any video on this guy?. 23% 3pt shooting is not good.

I hope we didn't downgrade from j Jackson

He’s much better than Javon.

Javon really wasn’t a starting point guard at our level. Maybe he didn’t have the size or athleticism. His shooting was awesome, and brought a new dynamic but when he was out there without Darius, he was forced into being the primary Val
Handler, he struggled.

Drake is better

@Hoot, I know you keep up to speed on all things Val Kilmer related. Any word on if Javon Jackson will continue to be forced into being the primary Val Handler?

gomretat wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 7:50 am

I concur that he is a definite upgrade over Jackson. However, other than being very excited about hanging on to our core from last year, I am underwhelmed by almost every other move.

On paper Albury and Gateretse are better right now coming to USU than the Montana State guys were this time last year. Not that I think they’ll be better than Brown and Great but their numbers say they were certainly close at the same point in their careers against similar competition. Brown will be tougher to replace because of the intangibles he brought, defense, and his clutch shots that won us so many games. Not sure Albury will be close in those regards but his scoring is elite and if we need it Allen looks capable of handling the point too, certainly much more than Javon as much as I liked his scoring off the bench.

I’m excited to see ann offense that doesn’t revolve around forcing the ball into the post to Great. He was obviously an awesome player but on the road our stagnant offense almost cost us a tournament bid if it weren’t for the insane shots Brown made at UNLV and Fresno.

Add in Welling to the mix too who looks like a real nice player at the 4/5

josephconlin wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 11:46 am

Bullnamed_gus wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 7:29 am

Blitz79 wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 7:04 am

Any video on this guy?. 23% 3pt shooting is not good.

I hope we didn't downgrade from j Jackson

He’s much better than Javon.

Javon really wasn’t a starting point guard at our level. Maybe he didn’t have the size or athleticism. His shooting was awesome, and brought a new dynamic but when he was out there without Darius, he was forced into being the primary Val
Handler, he struggled.

Drake is better

@Hoot, I know you keep up to speed on all things Val Kilmer related. Any word on if Javon Jackson will continue to be forced into being the primary Val Handler?

Ah a man of culture I see! As many of you know Val Handler is the lead character in my off-public-theater show depicting the life of the great Val Kilmer set against the backdrop of the wars of the Diadochi. Critics have said “…once you see it, you can’t unsee it…”

Naturally there were likeness issues (the theater suffers as much as our college athletic budget!) so I had to change the name.

As many of you know, for the last several months the producers of my show had been forcing Javon Jackson to play the main role without pay. He did so admirably. Unfortunately for Javon my acting troupe has adopted the Blake Anderson approach. Once you’re in the portal you’re gone. Auditions have been held for a replacement but we just haven’t found anyone with the right “it” factor (free). I have reached out to our resident “actor” @FloridaAggie13 but he has blocked me on all social media platforms which is too bad for him because he loses $10 per month by doing so.

ineptimusprime wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 8:25 am

gomretat wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 7:50 am

I concur that he is a definite upgrade over Jackson. However, other than being very excited about hanging on to our core from last year, I am underwhelmed by almost every other move.

I’m genuinely curious about why? I’ve been super excited about every portal addition.

That is good news that you feel that way and I hope it works out. I am always cautious in believing that players from conferences that are not as good as the MWC will be able to contribute and that is all we have picked up. Brown and Great were obviously ready for MWC ball and beyond so I get it happens but I have seen plenty of situations where it doesn't translate. I would love to see us get some P4 players who were not getting the minutes they wanted and we convinced them come to a basketball Mecca. Also, the high school offers versus who we lost from our incoming class looks a like a downgrade. I just dont see any sure fire difference makers but lots of this could work out type pick ups. And this is for another topic but even the coaching staff for me has been somewhat meh.

We are seeing a pattern that the best players at lower levels of competition move up to conferences like the MWC, and the best players from conferences like the MWC try to move up to the P-4 level.

There are obviously a few guys who transfer down for playing time, and even fewer who transfer laterally, but the majority seem to be the first scenario.

cval wrote: ↑

April 26th, 2024, 5:32 pm

We are seeing a pattern that the best players at lower levels of competition move up to conferences like the MWC, and the best players from conferences like the MWC try to move up to the P-4 level.

There are obviously a few guys who transfer down for playing time, and even fewer who transfer laterally, but the majority seem to be the first scenario.

This is because in many cases that is the only path now to get to the school of your choice. Work your way up. Schools are addicted to the transfer portal and high school kids have limited options unless they are elite level recruits.

Did anybody watch SUU or UVU the last few years?

What happened to Allen's shooting last year at UVU? He was 35.5% from 3 on 2.1 attempts per game as a freshman at SUU (almost 50% overall), and then dropped to 23.2% from 3 on 2.3 attempts per game as a sophomore at UVU (44.4% overall).

Which year is the anomaly?

3rdGenAggie wrote: ↑

May 2nd, 2024, 11:46 am

Did anybody watch SUU or UVU the last few years?

What happened to Allen's shooting last year at UVU? He was 35.5% from 3 on 2.1 attempts per game as a freshman at SUU (almost 50% overall), and then dropped to 23.2% from 3 on 2.3 attempts per game as a sophomore at UVU (44.4% overall).

Which year is the anomaly?

If you believe the UVU insiders, they say Allen is a formidable 3pt shooter but between a bum ankle and not getting good looks due to a poor team offense, his percentage slipped. We shall see though. I hope he can get back to the mid-30's. He did shoot 44% from 3 over his last 5 games of the season (8/18) so maybe he was settling in.