Too Early to Look Toward 2015?

[SycamoreStateofMind]

Thought this interesting convo on the Belmont thread deserved its own thread so I will let the copied below start the thread and I will respond.

Ah I'm not so sure it's going to be Brown. Remember we are getting one hell of a PG JUCO Tre Bennett. Now I know he is coming from JUCO but still..



He also mentioned in an interview that he looked to do that here as we were losing our star point guard. I've watched some tape and I like what I see. With the additions that we have coming in next year, I'm not too disappointed with what I see. So lets see, we lose Manny, Lucas, Jake, and Dawon. Think about it, we are losing (counted it up just now) an average of 92.7 minutes a game.

Next year we gain two freshmen, Que and and Brandon Murphy. We gain two more Freshmen from Redshirts in Alex and Brenton. Brenton will help run the floor I think. Alex, I think will fill the role that Lucas has this year, be a shooter 5-10 Minutes a game as a Freshmen. Brenton will come in getting quality minutes from the start, I'm guessing around 20.

And then Hopefully our BIG MAN Mike Samuels will be good and ready and able to play good minutes. I personally think Brenton will match up well with VanVleet from ole WSU.

Although we all scrutinize Devonte, he as gotten much better from last year. Let's hope he continues being this aggressive.

Also remember that Bell will be getting more minutes at the post which is gonna open up some spots for Moore to mismatch with someone. I feel like we are recruiting bigger players and need to continue to get better at feeding the post. We are getting better but our dribble penetration will go down with time.

Okay feel free to pick apart everything

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

Honestly, a bit early to be looking at next year but I will take a stab at it for fun.

The line-up next year - without having seen Q, Murphy or Bennett will likely look something like this:

PG Brown
SG Scott
SF Smith
PF Gant
C Moore

Bench

Kitch (for Moore)
Bell (for Gant)
Bennett (for Brown or Scott)
Etherington (for Smith)
Murphy (for Smith or Etherington.

I don't know what you do with Samules, Burnett and Q at this point. My gut tells me either Murphy or Q redshirt, but might need both. Zero
experience on that bench - you really don't know what your going to get from any of them. They will be exposed early and often, we will find out real quick who can and can't make an impact at this level.

Bennett might start by conference play as Brown will continue to do what Brown does. A scorer that can't take care of the ball and lacks the ability to get his teammates involved in the game. Good kid that goes hard though, I don't want to be too awfully hard on him seeing as how he is the only guard coming back with experience at the D1 level.

 

[Southgrad07]

Yes its a little early for 2015 talk. We haven't even started valley play this season lol A lot can change in the next 9-10 months that would change the outlook of the team (player development, injuries, transfers, etc).

That being said i'll be brief in saying I think Scott and Bennett will handle the point and Brown will almost exclusively be at the 2. Front court will be very solid with a ton of combos to roll out there depending on matchups and foul trouble. K.Smith/AE at the 3 should be fine. Biggest potential weakness would be in the backcourt with relying on inexperienced guys playing big roles and lack of depth. Flip side it could be a strength if those players (Bennett and Scott) are ready to perform. Should be another good year, but this year's team still has a chance to do some great things. Hopefully Odum and Arop are just warming up for one hell of a farewell tour! If so sit back and enjoy the ride!

 

[GuardShock]

Our best post feeders are our bigs, Samuels in and have a high low with Gant/Kitchell would pressure defenses

I'd love to see Samuels study what Roy Hibbert does. Swat the crap out of that ball.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Yes its a little early for 2015 talk. We haven't even started valley play this season lol A lot can change in the next 9-10 months that would change the outlook of the team (player development, injuries, transfers, etc).

That being said i'll be brief in saying I think Scott and Bennett will handle the point and Brown will almost exclusively be at the 2. Front court will be very solid with a ton of combos to roll out there depending on matchups and foul trouble. K.Smith/AE at the 3 should be fine. Biggest potential weakness would be in the backcourt with relying on inexperienced guys playing big roles and lack of depth. Flip side it could be a strength if those players (Bennett and Scott) are ready to perform. Should be another good year, but this year's team still has a chance to do some great things. Hopefully Odum and Arop are just warming up for one hell of a farewell tour! If so sit back and enjoy the ride!

I don't think the rest of this season has much bearing on next truth be told.

 

[Southgrad07]

I don't think the rest of this season has much bearing on next truth be told.

Don't think? Guys do improve within a season and get a chance to prove what they are or are not capable of doing. By season's end i'd think we'd have a better idea of how guys like Burnett, Bell, and Kitch will fit in moving forward. Find out if Gant can be relied on throughout an entire season to carry a heavy burden. See if Brown makes any strides in the decision making department. Find out just how good Moore can be and if he can stay out of foul trouble by seasons end.. Not to mention we should get a first look at Samuel's between now and march. Yes, there will certainly be many questions that cannot be answered this season will all of the new faces coming in, but I'd have to disagree that we wont find anything out about our team moving forward in the next 3 months. Just have to agree to disagree there.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Don't think? Guys do improve within a season and get a chance to prove what they are or are not capable of doing. By season's end i'd think we'd have a better idea of how guys like Burnett, Bell, and Kitch will fit in moving forward. Find out if Gant can be relied on throughout an entire season to carry a heavy burden. See if Brown makes any strides in the decision making department. Find out just how good Moore can be and if he can stay out of foul trouble by seasons end.. Not to mention we should get a first look at Samuel's between now and march. Yes, there will certainly be many questions that cannot be answered this season will all of the new faces coming in, but I'd have to disagree that we wont find anything out about our team moving forward in the next 3 months. Just have to agree to disagree there.

Sure there will be development, but the guys we have coming back, those we have coming in plus the separation of classes and how Lansing likes to use the redshirt leads me to believe that there just isn't much left to the imagination for next year.

Senior Eligibility (4)
F Jake Kitchell *
F Justin Gant
F Demetrius Moore
C Mike Samuels #

Junior Eligibility (4)
G Devonte Brown *
G Brandon Burnett *
G Tre Bennett
F Khristian Smith

Sophomore Eligibility (3)
G Brenton Scott
F Alex Etherington
F T.J. Bell *

Freshman Eligibility (2)
G Laquarious Page
F Brandon Murphy

Looking above, there will be some position battles but for the most part, we know exactly who is going to play and who isn't, no? The only thing really left to my imagination is how much Bennett can push when he gets here. Otherwise, here is how I envision the lineup looking:

PG: Scott
SG: Brown
SF: Smith
PF: Gant
C: Moore

Bench: Bennett, Kitch, Burnett, Etherington, Bell
Redshirt: Murphy, Page

 

[GuardShock]

Sure there will be development, but the guys we have coming back, those we have coming in plus the separation of classes and how Lansing likes to use the redshirt leads me to believe that there just isn't much left to the imagination for next year.

Senior Eligibility (4)
F Jake Kitchell *
F Justin Gant
F Demetrius Moore
C Mike Samuels #

Junior Eligibility (4)
G Devonte Brown *
G Brandon Burnett *
G Tre Bennett
F Khristian Smith

Sophomore Eligibility (3)
G Brenton Scott
F Alex Etherington
F T.J. Bell *

Freshman Eligibility (2)
G Laquarious Page
F Brandon Murphy

Brenton and Alex will both be Freshmen next year because of the Redshirt right?

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

You left off Q Jason.

Kyle I don't think we r going to see much of Samules this year. I'm also not sure that Burnett and Bell are going to find many mins. We know what we are getting fome Kitch at this point, nothing new to discuss with him - he is what he is at this point in time.

Brown will benefit from the time and experience he is going to get. Until someone teaches him that when him how to slow down and play under control then he's going to continue to take bad shots (fade away in the first half) and make bad passes (top of key to corner baseline picked off in second half) game in and game out.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Brenton and Alex will both be Freshmen next year because of the Redshirt right?

Correct. I just did a quick copy/paste. The chart was done prior to the season.

http://www.sycamorepride.com/showthread.php?27839-2014-2015-Eligibility-Chart

 

[Jason Svoboda]

You left off Q Jason.

Kyle I don't think we r going to see much of Samules this year. I'm also not sure that Burnett and Bell are going to find many mins. We know what we are getting fome Kitch at this point, nothing new to discuss with him - he is what he is at this point in time.

Brown will benefit from the time and experience he is going to get. Until someone teaches him that when him how to slow down and play under control then he's going to continue to take bad shots (fade away in the first half) and make bad passes (top of key to corner baseline picked off in second half) game in and game out.

Q = Page. He's there. I fully expect him to redshirt.

 

[TreeTop]

I watched the few videos of Tre Bennett online, I think he's gonna be a starter when he arrives.

He'll be a junior, so physically more mature than Scott (supposedly)....and then also, I believe Rashad Reed was a starter right away after transferring from Vincennes.

Dawon was a starter (as was Myles Walker) right away, after transferring from Juco.

 

[GuardShock]

I watched the few videos of Tre Bennett online, I think he's gonna be a starter when he arrives.

He'll be a junior, so physically more mature than Scott (supposedly)....and then also, I believe Rashad Reed was a starter right away after transferring from Vincennes.

Dawon was a starter (as was Myles Walker) right away, after transferring from Juco.

I have one main question. It seems as though in recent years our team has been very very unselfish and we do not get a single person that always seems to average 20+. I wonder how many points a game he will put up in D1 Ball compared to D3. Right now he is averaging over 20 with a pretty respectable amount of Assists per game. Never know, he might be one heck of a MVC PG.

Atleast even if he doesn't score 20 right away, hopefully his FG% stays up. Shooting almost 60% is amazing.

 

[TreeTop]

I have one main question. It seems as though in recent years our team has been very very unselfish and we do not get a single person that always seems to average 20+. I wonder how many points a game he will put up in D1 Ball compared to D3. Right now he is averaging over 20 with a pretty respectable amount of Assists per game. Never know, he might be one heck of a MVC PG.

Agree...it's been quite some time (David Moss) since we've had even a 15 point (or 16 point) scorer. And while a 20pt scorer doesn't guarantee wins...it'd be nice to have a big time scorer for a change.

Hopefully Tre's avg will translate over to D1.

 

[Bluethunder]

Mentioned this over in the other thread, but I don't think Paige will redshirt. We will be pretty thin in the back court if he does, we would only have Bennett, Brown and Scott. Scott and Bennett will battle for the PG spot, and that should be an interesting battle. Scott has the year of practices learning his teammates and the offense, Bennett has the maturity, body and game experience from the past year while Scott sat out. Either way, I am not as worried about the PG spot as I am with the 2G spot. I would not be shocked to see Bennett and Scott in the game together frequently by the mid to end of the year.

Murphy will redshirt, it is an almost certainty barring injuries, and while I have no doubt Paige could benefit from a redshirt year, I don't know that depth wise we will have that luxury.

As for Bennett and his scoring for next year, if you watch his JuCo team play, they get up and down the court and shoot pretty early in the possession. Also, he seems to be viewed as the number one or two scoring option each night, and I don't know that he will be next year (I think Gant and Smith will be our best scorers next year), but he can shoot the ball, he can get to the rim (he is very quick), he can finish and he can handle the ball. Probably won't need him to come in and score 20 a night. If he can learn the offense and his teammates, take care of the ball and knock down the outside shot (which by the looks of it he can do the last two) he will get his minutes next year.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Mentioned this over in the other thread, but I don't think Paige will redshirt. We will be pretty thin in the back court if he does, we would only have Bennett, Brown and Scott. Scott and Bennett will battle for the PG spot, and that should be an interesting battle. Scott has the year of practices learning his teammates and the offense, Bennett has the maturity, body and game experience from the past year while Scott sat out. Either way, I am not as worried about the PG spot as I am with the 2G spot. I would not be shocked to see Bennett and Scott in the game together frequently by the mid to end of the year.

Murphy will redshirt, it is an almost certainty barring injuries, and while I have no doubt Paige could benefit from a redshirt year, I don't know that depth wise we will have that luxury.

As for Bennett and his scoring for next year, if you watch his JuCo team play, they get up and down the court and shoot pretty early in the possession. Also, he seems to be viewed as the number one or two scoring option each night, and I don't know that he will be next year (I think Gant and Smith will be our best scorers next year), but he can shoot the ball, he can get to the rim (he is very quick), he can finish and he can handle the ball. Probably won't need him to come in and score 20 a night. If he can learn the offense and his teammates, take care of the ball and knock down the outside shot (which by the looks of it he can do the last two) he will get his minutes next year.

I forsee a possible walk-on that would get the minutes Q would get.

 

[Parsons]

Do tell!!

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Do tell!!

I've had several people email me stating Brandon Wolfe of Casey could be a potential walk-on candidate.

 

[GuardShock]

I forsee a possible walk-on that would get the minutes Q would get.

I do not know this player, but you really think a walk on would take the minutes of a scholarship player? I just think that the best player deserves the scholarship which deserves the minutes (in most cases). I haven't looked, but what information do we have on him?

 

[meistro]

I've had several people email me stating Brandon Wolfe of Casey could be a potential walk-on candidate.

I can't see him getting minutes as a freshman. I've seen him play and he can shoot but not much speed. I think he'd have trouble on the defensive end. Could maybe help later in his career.