2017-2018 Season

[Cribby]

Transfer pg is a must. Newton isn't a pg and Lykes is a frosh

Kind of pointless now, right? Any transfer would have to sit out a year.

Get one that is eligible.

I guess I should've been clearer, I just assumed since I mentioned Newton not being a pg and needed a transfer people knew what I meant. My apologies.

I just don't see a deep run coming until we get some stability at pg.

 

[Cribby]

Just some random thoughts:

1. We have a lot of good talent coming in next year. Lykes and Walker seem to be the most exciting.

2. We could use a PG transfer who is eligible. This should be the highest priority. You shouldn't go into next year with Newton as a serious option at PG. The experiment failed and he isn't capable of changing. If you want to have him on the bench, as depth, that is fine. I am curious as to what role coach has for Bruce Brown and whether he tries to make him a full-time PG.

3. Our big men need to develop. Huell and Izundu need a lot of work. Miller needs to get in shape and needs a lot of work. I don't know what to expect from Gak, there certainly will be time available if he is ready. As for Waardenburg, I don't expect him to play like a traditional 4.

4. Transfers: No more Michael Gilmores. It didn't make sense then and clearly we know how that resulted. As stated above, go after a quality PG transfer who is eligible. Even if it is for pure depth. Even if you have the most confidence in Brown and Lykes, take a PG who is eligible.

5. We will miss Reed but I think he can be replaced.

Reed is a huge loss, not just his scoring and D. His leadership was top shelf.

I have confidence in the bigs improving, if this staff can make Jakiri into a quality center they definitely can with Iz and Huell. I'm not sure about Miller, dudes body is awful and looks unathletic.

A pg transfer ( grad) is a must, we can't go into another season with Newton at pg.

 

[AustinCane6688]

Need a PG and big grad transfer for sure

 

[tcgrad1014]

Lawrence either needs to improve a lot, get buried on the bench, or transfer. He had a poor year and showed no improvement from freshman year.

He's fine as a role player. I don't think he needs to be buried on the bench or transfer, but I think this season highlighted how much depth and "talent" we actually lacked. He was being asked to do too much for either what he is, or where he is. I think he can be a solid Trey McKinney-Jones type or Rion Brown type player. Their numbers are very comparable.

What's his role? The most troubling part of his season was that he was clearly worse than his freshman year.

Sophomore: 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 35% on 3s
Freshman: 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rebouds, 0.8 assists, 43% on 3s

How was it clearly worse? And, I already told you his role. But, he's a good ball handler (he played PG in HS), he's a solid defender, he can defend 1-4 if needed, he's a good outside shooter and he on a team where he's not asked to be the scorer, or even one of the top 3-4 scorers, he's an important player, like Rion Brown was on the 2012-2013 team.

He is a TERRIBLE ball handler. I'm tired of hearing about how he played PG in HS and can defend 1-4. His dumb turnovers were almost as mind bottling as Newton's. He's a decent defender, but he can't defend 1-4. He can defend the 3 pretty well, and the 4 in a pinch. His MPG went from 12 to 26 (more than doubled) and his scoring average went from 4.1 to 6.8. That's regression. His FG% went from 51% to 41%. That's regression. He went from being a very good 3pt shooter last year to completely average this year. That's regression. His assist to TO ratio went from 2:1 to 1.2:1. That's regression. He had a bad season by any measure I can think of.

 

[edge3241]

I agree that our goal is to be a top 4 in ACC and top 5 seed in tourney. Coach L excels at player development for big men. Izundu took a huge step this year and will take another big step again. He needs to learn not to foul and Coach L was able to do the same thing with Jekiri so I'm confident in that. Izundu has touch which is the most important thing a big man needs because you can't teach it. He needs to learn some post moves because his hook is solid but he needs to go strong to the basket and have the hook as his second option. Huell's talent and potential stands out. He simply was raw and needs to learn fundamentals and needs to add strength. Coach L will have Huell looking like a completely different player next year. Gak and the other guy will provide depth and I have hope in Miller because what Coach L did with Gamble.

As for guard play, talent takes over and we have a ton of talent so I know we'll be ok there. We must have Newton coming off the bench as a spark plug and a guy who can create offense. We start Newton and that will be trouble. I feel the emergence of Newton his freshmen year is why we lost Lecomte and that was hard to watch yesterday. I think this team has the opportunity to have a similar year to last year's team but has more potential. But we HAVE to stop the one on one hero ball and pass the ball better to be elite.

 

[edge3241]

Lawrence either needs to improve a lot, get buried on the bench, or transfer. He had a poor year and showed no improvement from freshman year.

He's fine as a role player. I don't think he needs to be buried on the bench or transfer, but I think this season highlighted how much depth and "talent" we actually lacked. He was being asked to do too much for either what he is, or where he is. I think he can be a solid Trey McKinney-Jones type or Rion Brown type player. Their numbers are very comparable.

What's his role? The most troubling part of his season was that he was clearly worse than his freshman year.

Sophomore: 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 35% on 3s
Freshman: 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rebouds, 0.8 assists, 43% on 3s

How was it clearly worse? And, I already told you his role. But, he's a good ball handler (he played PG in HS), he's a solid defender, he can defend 1-4 if needed, he's a good outside shooter and he on a team where he's not asked to be the scorer, or even one of the top 3-4 scorers, he's an important player, like Rion Brown was on the 2012-2013 team.

He is a TERRIBLE ball handler. I'm tired of hearing about how he played PG in HS and can defend 1-4. His dumb turnovers were almost as mind bottling as Newton's. He's a decent defender, but he can't defend 1-4. He can defend the 3 pretty well, and the 4 in a pinch. His MPG went from 12 to 26 (more than doubled) and his scoring average went from 4.1 to 6.8. That's regression. His FG% went from 51% to 41%. That's regression. He went from being a very good 3pt shooter last year to completely average this year. That's regression. His assist to TO ratio went from 2:1 to 1.2:1. That's regression. He had a bad season by any measure I can think of.

Amp is an important piece to next year's team. First off, he is the only guy on our team who has any chance of covering a 6'7/6'8 small forward. He's a swiss army knife. He can defend multiple decisions, can hit threes when needed, and finish at the rim. I feel Amp should have taken a bigger step this year but I'm confident that he will improve next year. He has the ability to drive and create but has had trouble doing that this year. I think that's where we will see improvement for next year. He's also made some big shots for us this year in tough situations. His experience will also be important for us with such a young team next year.

 

[tcgrad1014]

We should be challenging for an ACC title next year. The combination of talent, depth and experience is all there.

 

[tcgrad1014]

He's fine as a role player. I don't think he needs to be buried on the bench or transfer, but I think this season highlighted how much depth and "talent" we actually lacked. He was being asked to do too much for either what he is, or where he is. I think he can be a solid Trey McKinney-Jones type or Rion Brown type player. Their numbers are very comparable.

What's his role? The most troubling part of his season was that he was clearly worse than his freshman year.

Sophomore: 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 35% on 3s
Freshman: 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rebouds, 0.8 assists, 43% on 3s

How was it clearly worse? And, I already told you his role. But, he's a good ball handler (he played PG in HS), he's a solid defender, he can defend 1-4 if needed, he's a good outside shooter and he on a team where he's not asked to be the scorer, or even one of the top 3-4 scorers, he's an important player, like Rion Brown was on the 2012-2013 team.

He is a TERRIBLE ball handler. I'm tired of hearing about how he played PG in HS and can defend 1-4. His dumb turnovers were almost as mind bottling as Newton's. He's a decent defender, but he can't defend 1-4. He can defend the 3 pretty well, and the 4 in a pinch. His MPG went from 12 to 26 (more than doubled) and his scoring average went from 4.1 to 6.8. That's regression. His FG% went from 51% to 41%. That's regression. He went from being a very good 3pt shooter last year to completely average this year. That's regression. His assist to TO ratio went from 2:1 to 1.2:1. That's regression. He had a bad season by any measure I can think of.

Amp is an important piece to next year's team. First off, he is the only guy on our team who has any chance of covering a 6'7/6'8 small forward. He's a swiss army knife. He can defend multiple decisions, can hit threes when needed, and finish at the rim. I feel Amp should have taken a bigger step this year but I'm confident that he will improve next year. He has the ability to drive and create but has had trouble doing that this year. I think that's where we will see improvement for next year. He's also made some big shots for us this year in tough situations. His experience will also be important for us with such a young team next year.

I already covered the "swiss army knife" claim. He can defend the 3, and the 4 in a pinch. He's far too small to defend a 5, and far too slow to defend a 1 or 2. His 3pt shooting was mediocre this year. If he improves in all facets, he can be a contributor. It's now or never for him. If the current level of recruiting keeps up, he'll be pushed out. The talent level differential between Amp and a Brown or Lonnie Walker is enormous. Amp reminds me of the kind of recruit we would get pre-L; a 3/4* with good upside. Now we are battling with Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona for recruits that are ready to contribute immediately.

 

[edge3241]

What's his role? The most troubling part of his season was that he was clearly worse than his freshman year.

Sophomore: 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 35% on 3s
Freshman: 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rebouds, 0.8 assists, 43% on 3s

How was it clearly worse? And, I already told you his role. But, he's a good ball handler (he played PG in HS), he's a solid defender, he can defend 1-4 if needed, he's a good outside shooter and he on a team where he's not asked to be the scorer, or even one of the top 3-4 scorers, he's an important player, like Rion Brown was on the 2012-2013 team.

He is a TERRIBLE ball handler. I'm tired of hearing about how he played PG in HS and can defend 1-4. His dumb turnovers were almost as mind bottling as Newton's. He's a decent defender, but he can't defend 1-4. He can defend the 3 pretty well, and the 4 in a pinch. His MPG went from 12 to 26 (more than doubled) and his scoring average went from 4.1 to 6.8. That's regression. His FG% went from 51% to 41%. That's regression. He went from being a very good 3pt shooter last year to completely average this year. That's regression. His assist to TO ratio went from 2:1 to 1.2:1. That's regression. He had a bad season by any measure I can think of.

Amp is an important piece to next year's team. First off, he is the only guy on our team who has any chance of covering a 6'7/6'8 small forward. He's a swiss army knife. He can defend multiple decisions, can hit threes when needed, and finish at the rim. I feel Amp should have taken a bigger step this year but I'm confident that he will improve next year. He has the ability to drive and create but has had trouble doing that this year. I think that's where we will see improvement for next year. He's also made some big shots for us this year in tough situations. His experience will also be important for us with such a young team next year.

I already covered the "swiss army knife" claim. He can defend the 3, and the 4 in a pinch. He's far too small to defend a 5, and far too slow to defend a 1 or 2. His 3pt shooting was mediocre this year. If he improves in all facets, he can be a contributor. It's now or never for him. If the current level of recruiting keeps up, he'll be pushed out. The talent level differential between Amp and a Brown or Lonnie Walker is enormous. Amp reminds me of the kind of recruit we would get pre-L; a 3/4* with good upside. Now we are battling with Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona for recruits that are ready to contribute immediately.

I agree with all of this. My point was that we need him next year to be a more complete team. If we can have 3/4 star players with potential coming off the bench and players like Walker and Brown starting then we're in great position to compete with anyone.

 

[tcgrad1014]

Sophomore: 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 35% on 3s
Freshman: 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rebouds, 0.8 assists, 43% on 3s

How was it clearly worse? And, I already told you his role. But, he's a good ball handler (he played PG in HS), he's a solid defender, he can defend 1-4 if needed, he's a good outside shooter and he on a team where he's not asked to be the scorer, or even one of the top 3-4 scorers, he's an important player, like Rion Brown was on the 2012-2013 team.

He is a TERRIBLE ball handler. I'm tired of hearing about how he played PG in HS and can defend 1-4. His dumb turnovers were almost as mind bottling as Newton's. He's a decent defender, but he can't defend 1-4. He can defend the 3 pretty well, and the 4 in a pinch. His MPG went from 12 to 26 (more than doubled) and his scoring average went from 4.1 to 6.8. That's regression. His FG% went from 51% to 41%. That's regression. He went from being a very good 3pt shooter last year to completely average this year. That's regression. His assist to TO ratio went from 2:1 to 1.2:1. That's regression. He had a bad season by any measure I can think of.

Amp is an important piece to next year's team. First off, he is the only guy on our team who has any chance of covering a 6'7/6'8 small forward. He's a swiss army knife. He can defend multiple decisions, can hit threes when needed, and finish at the rim. I feel Amp should have taken a bigger step this year but I'm confident that he will improve next year. He has the ability to drive and create but has had trouble doing that this year. I think that's where we will see improvement for next year. He's also made some big shots for us this year in tough situations. His experience will also be important for us with such a young team next year.

I already covered the "swiss army knife" claim. He can defend the 3, and the 4 in a pinch. He's far too small to defend a 5, and far too slow to defend a 1 or 2. His 3pt shooting was mediocre this year. If he improves in all facets, he can be a contributor. It's now or never for him. If the current level of recruiting keeps up, he'll be pushed out. The talent level differential between Amp and a Brown or Lonnie Walker is enormous. Amp reminds me of the kind of recruit we would get pre-L; a 3/4* with good upside. Now we are battling with Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona for recruits that are ready to contribute immediately.

I agree with all of this. My point was that we need him next year to be a more complete team. If we can have 3/4 star players with potential coming off the bench and players like Walker and Brown starting then we're in great position to compete with anyone.

Fair enough.

 

[RaiseCane]

I also agree that Amp will be an important part of our team next year if he is able to improve his 3 point shooting. I think the biggest on-court thing we lose with Reed graduating is his 3 point shooting. Reed's shooting did create more space on the floor for guys like Brown and Newton to drive. While DJ obviously can get going from 3, and did show a nice ability as the season went on to create off the dribble, he's obviously a more limited player than a guy like Reed.

While Walker certainly seems like a potential star, everything I've seen/read about him has him as a slasher/scorer. That will mean that when we go to lineups like Lykes/Brown/Walker/Huell or Izundu, the 5th player on the floor will have to be our best 3 point threat, as Brown's game is still more of a slasher (hopefully he continues to become a better 3 point shooter, but it's unlikely that will become a strength of his game). If Amp is able to fill that role as a more dangerous 3 point shooter, that should help our spacing tremendously. Otherwise, I think you'll see lots of teams go zone against us, especially when Newton is in for Lykes. Hopefully, Amp does improve enough to fill that role.

 

[tcgrad1014]

I also agree that Amp will be an important part of our team next year if he is able to improve his 3 point shooting. I think the biggest on-court thing we lose with Reed graduating is his 3 point shooting. Reed's shooting did create more space on the floor for guys like Brown and Newton to drive. While DJ obviously can get going from 3, and did show a nice ability as the season went on to create off the dribble, he's obviously a more limited player than a guy like Reed.

While Walker certainly seems like a potential star, everything I've seen/read about him has him as a slasher/scorer. That will mean that when we go to lineups like Lykes/Brown/Walker/Huell or Izundu, the 5th player on the floor will have to be our best 3 point threat, as Brown's game is still more of a slasher (hopefully he continues to become a better 3 point shooter, but it's unlikely that will become a strength of his game). If Amp is able to fill that role as a more dangerous 3 point shooter, that should help our spacing tremendously. Otherwise, I think you'll see lots of teams go zone against us, especially when Newton is in for Lykes. Hopefully, Amp does improve enough to fill that role.

Brown shot 40% from 3 in ACC games. He will be a serious threat to score both from the outside and attacking the rim. His ceiling is lottery pick.

 

[CTCANE]

Don't sleep on Sam W

 

[CaneSince4Ever]

Gak reminds me of Luol Deng. Good first step...knows what to do with the ball before He gets it in the high-post areas.

 

[edge3241]

I was also impressed with DJ's development this year. He became better defensively and was able to find some other ways of scoring than just shooting threes(driving to hoop, pull up jumpers). He also made some big shots like the 3 to tie it at Virginia to show he isn't afraid of the moment. Coach L will get him in better shape and he will always be someone who can come off the bench and give us a nice spark.

 

[Gables Canes]

We should play a MUCH quicker tempo next year with all of the depth and athletes we will have. Far too often I thought we played we too slow this season (338 out of 351 in tempo per Kenpom), but I understood some of that was due to 1. lack of depth 2. no point guard. Both of those issues will be fixed. I think Huell would benefit in playing a more uptempo offense, and it probably suits Walker's and Lyke's games well too.

 

[Consigliere]

Here is a no brainer.

Elijah Brown to transfer from New Mexico Lobos

 

[Cribby]

Here is a no brainer.

Elijah Brown to transfer from New Mexico Lobos

Wow. That would be a huge upgrade.

 

[Notsince1985]

Lawrence either needs to improve a lot, get buried on the bench, or transfer. He had a poor year and showed no improvement from freshman year.

He's fine as a role player. I don't think he needs to be buried on the bench or transfer, but I think this season highlighted how much depth and "talent" we actually lacked. He was being asked to do too much for either what he is, or where he is. I think he can be a solid Trey McKinney-Jones type or Rion Brown type player. Their numbers are very comparable.

What's his role? The most troubling part of his season was that he was clearly worse than his freshman year.

Sophomore: 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 35% on 3s
Freshman: 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rebouds, 0.8 assists, 43% on 3s

How was it clearly worse? And, I already told you his role. But, he's a good ball handler (he played PG in HS), he's a solid defender, he can defend 1-4 if needed, he's a good outside shooter and he on a team where he's not asked to be the scorer, or even one of the top 3-4 scorers, he's an important player, like Rion Brown was on the 2012-2013 team.

He is a TERRIBLE ball handler. I'm tired of hearing about how he played PG in HS and can defend 1-4. His dumb turnovers were almost as mind bottling as Newton's. He's a decent defender, but he can't defend 1-4. He can defend the 3 pretty well, and the 4 in a pinch. His MPG went from 12 to 26 (more than doubled) and his scoring average went from 4.1 to 6.8. That's regression. His FG% went from 51% to 41%. That's regression. He went from being a very good 3pt shooter last year to completely average this year. That's regression. His assist to TO ratio went from 2:1 to 1.2:1. That's regression. He had a bad season by any measure I can think of.

He's not a terrible ball handler. He did not turn the ball over like Newton. Reed had dumb turnovers too (Notre Dame game comes to mind). He can defend any position, so I'm sorry you're tired of hearing it. His numbers dipped in some categories as he was asked to do more, which is why I said he has a role, which is not what he was asked to do this year. He was asked to do more than he should this year because we didn't have anyone else, but please, by all means, by knee jerk like the other idiots, and hope he transfers, because no one in their right mind is saying he's on the same level as Brown or Walker. Jesus ******* Christ.

 

[Cribby]

Don't sleep on Sam W

This is who I'm excited about , perfect for the college game and for our offense. Imagine him setting high screens and popping out at 6'9. Major mismatch for bigs.