Florida guard Riley Kugel, (possibly) commited to the Cowbells.......we'll see.....

I think Golden mentioned that he might be pursuing a longer wing the lack of which caused mismatches for us against several teams. Then of course we need another PG and perhaps at least another big.

But you are right. We should have a solid nucleus.

 

This, and Jeff’s post, are really important, I think. Look at nearly all the Sweet 16 teams, or the others ranked highly this year. A vast majority of them were built on kids they they recruited out of HS and developed, or at least multi-year transfers. Most of them used the portal to complement what they already had on hand, rather than building their core through transfers.

Last season, we only returned 4 scholarship players—and only 2 in the rotation—and had to build our rotation with 4 new transfers (5, if you count Jarvis, who would have been in the rotation) and 2 incoming freshmen. Such an overhaul really prevents you from figuring out how the parts will fit together, and it’s one of the reasons we ended up without much switching ability or good zone breakers or a unit that could break presses easily, etc.

This year, we have 5 rotation contributors returning (or 4.5, depending on how you count Aberdeen), with another two guys returning in Shimmy and Kublickas. If you compare our roster with others, a starting unit of Aberdeen-Clayton-Richard-Haugh-Condon would be a lot better than what most teams could field were next season to start today. If that’s our base, then what we have to do is complement them in the portal: a good ball handling 1, an athletic 4, a 5 who can protect the rim, maybe another perimeter shooter or defender on the wing, based on who we get at least he 1-4-5. But that’s a much different place to be in than we were a year ago.

 

While I think Condon and Haugh proved their value, and certainly exceeded my expectations for freshmen, you don't mention Micah H. Have I missed something? Is his injury going to end his career? Or is he out of eligibility? If eligible and healthy, I'd think he'd figure into CTG's plans

 

The injury is bad enough that you can’t count on him next year. If he is ready to play, that’s a bonus. But, yes, imagine how that would change the calculus this year. Even more continuity and less dependence on the portal.

 

I think it takes multiple seasons to build really good team defense. That's an opinion based only my years of watching college hoops, not on any analytics or other stuff. Guys who've been in a system for more than one year seem to just know where they need to be and when they need to be there, and know the same about their teammates.
But we live in a time when fans expect immediate results.

 

Honestly, I think they did a good job of it in his first season. 31st in KenPom, but top 20 when Castleton went down. I think much of it owed to CC himself. He was long, protected the rim, moved his feet well, got proper depth on the drop coverage, communicated well with teammates. Fudge was also very good staying in front of his man on switches. That’s where we struggled the most this year, IMO.

 

CC was a great rim protector. And you may be right about Fudge. I was scratching my head when the NBA showed interest in him because his offense was... well... not the best. But his defense was pretty good, relying on that Corey Brewer length, quickness, and athleticism.

 

Wow, are you sensitive about Mike white. I only pointed out that transferring can do wonders for a player and cited Nemhard who went from “too slow and unathletic” to an nba pick. Maybe you don’t think coaching (style, system,etc) matters? Or that Mike White got everything from every player?

I disagree on both, but the point of my post wasn’t dinging white but saying transferring can help a player grow. Settle down (or let’s actually get to it and talk about him at uga this year).

 

I’m not sensitive, it’s just why take a weird and false shot at Mike White? What does he have to do with this conversation? And everyone knew Nembhard was going pro from back when he was in high school. The only question was how high would he get drafted.

 

I know its just speculation, but why would Nembhard have left if he didn't think he was being developed properly? It was pre-NIL, so that couldn't have been the driver. Personally I think the narrative that he was slow got under Nembhard's skin and he didn't want the reputation to stick because as it turned out it wasn't Nembhard that was slow, it was White's offense.

 

Other than KW, didn’t the others take a step down in terms of competition?

 

Going to Kansas

 

That’s a fair comment and speculation. But that’s not what was said, nor what I took issue with. Anyone who was paying attention knew that Nembhard was getting a lot of draft buzz at Florida, and still would have gotten drafted. You could argue that transferring hurt him. He’d have been “the man” at Florida, and also teamed up with Tre Mann in the backcourt, they might have made some serious noise. Do we beat Oral Robert’s and go on a run with Nembhard and Mann that year? I think so.

 

Maybe AN would have gotten drafted if he stayed at UF, but he was forced into playing a style of play that didn’t fit his skill set. In other words, White wanted AN to be a ball-dominant PG who would go one on one to try to score or draw a second defender and kick off to an open teammate. That is the offense that kills most of White’s teams. AN went to Gonzaga where he became one of a handful of the best PG’s in college basketball by finding opportunities for his teammates in lightning quick fashion. As big a Gator fan as I am, I was hoping publicly that both AN and Ques would transfer because White was ruining their careers.

 

It’s never too late to criticize Mike White. We are still criticizing Don DeVoe. These guys made us miserable. Tre Mann got drafted based on his talent. He left UF with practically no point guard skills. More of White’s players at UF went backwards rather than forwards.

 

I was responding to a post that said that, based on TG’s player development history, these guys would have been better off staying at UF. I like TG, but I didn’t consider that to be an accurate post. Reeves became way more disciplined at Georgia Tech after sliding backwards at UF and was rewarded with 32 starts and 30 minutes per game of playing time. Jitoboh got into relatively good shape and became a starter. Niels Lane became a starter. A change of scenery often is the best way to go to develop as a player.

 

Basically meaningless stats. AN was generally considered one of a handful of the best point guards in the country while at Gonzaga. Not even close to that in his sophomore year at UF.

 

UConn starts 3 guards.

 

AN was the 31st (if I recall) pick in the NBA draft. He wasn’t projected to be close to that after his second year at UF. AN didn’t fit into White’s crappy offense, which is why we had to put up with Mann and Appleby dribbling all over the place while the other players stood around watching them. Tre would have been much better off attending a different school with a coach that believed that basketball is a team game.