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Portal 24-25 transfers (Basketball)

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TwentySix said:
Circling back on Amari Williams, the Drexel big. I personally have never been a fan of the traditional big, I think they are too easy to get in mismatches with the way the game is played today and I absolutely do not think Omier and a non-stretch 5 can play together. That being said, if Larranaga feels like this team needs that kind of size, this guy could be the goods.

ELITE defensive instincts and timing on shot block attempts. I don't know what his wingspan is, but he's long as ****. I just watched Drexel's game against Villanova from this year and his presence defensively was obvious. Won the game with a block at the buzzer. Nova was hesitant every time they got around the basket. Didn't look extremely comfortable getting out to contest behind the line, he was matched up on Eric Dixon a lot who shoots a lot of 3s, and Williams just wasn't close enough for good contests imo. Dixon didn't have a great night shooting but had more open looks than you'd want to see.

Offensively, more there than I expected from initial viewing. I said he looked comfortable passing, but he actually had moments where they put him at the nail or on the low block and ran sets for him to facilitate. Some legitimately good passes, bounce passes in traffic, cross court skip passes to shooters, just good stuff. His guards did him absolutely no favors when he established good position, just didn't even try to get him to him repeatedly, but when they did he showed pretty good touch around the basket. He's not going to be like Omier where you give him the ball at the top of the key and want him to iso, but he does have enough of a handle and coordination where when the D pressed up he was able to get by them a few times and drive.

Biggest issue for me other than just the given limitations of a guy of this archetype, he is not a strong rebounder. Someone of his size, length, and athleticism should be much better in this aspect than he showed. Got his hands on a few but didn't secure them, and often times just didn't get good positioning or show much effort to get the board.

Anyway. Probably more than anyone wants to read but it's late and I'm bored so figured I'd take a closer look at him.
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Thanks for that.

The top three things i want from a true 5 are defensive presence down low (effectively defending opponents' bigs and deterring drives to the hoop, strong rebounding, and an ability to pass back out to our 3pt shooters.

Scoring ability -- enough to keep the opponents defense honest with dunks and the threat of an accurate mid-range shot.

I too am not high on traditional bigs. In today's game, they are the odd man out position-wise. And, L likes the 5 Out offense. That said, this season was ridiculously bad in terms of opponents driving freely to score inside on us, all the second and third chance rebounds we gave up.
 
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A few nuggets from the Five Reasons Canes Pod:

- Vish expects Nigel to come back. Not sure how I feel about that given his injury issues and just the fact that he's probably maxed out as a college player. That said, he speculates that we're after some of these lower major transfer guards to fill the Bensley role, which insulates us in the event Nigel missed more games next year.

- No surprise but Ky is almost assuredly gone along with Wooga. Cleveland leaning towards going 'pro' but that doesn't necessarily mean NBA. Norchad weighing coming back vs. going pro vs. transferring. Thinks decision drags out and staff is going to recruit 4's and 5's in portal anyway regardless of what happens.

- One player they're after in the portal that would fit well at the 4 regardless of Norchad's decision is Mikeal Brown-Jones from UNC-Greensboro. Originally from North Philly, played two years at VCU before transferring. Averaged 19 and 8 on 54% from the field and 43% from three, including a 39 point game back in January against The Citadel. He's a bit of a hybrid Norchad/Jordan Miller and would fit what L likes to do perfectly.

 
I'm honestly to the point to where I wouldn't be crushed if everyone who is speculated as leaving, leaves. Just load up in the portal with the right dudes, maybe find a late HS add like Djobet was last year, and hit the reset button on this roster.

I'm defininitely not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and would say "thank you for your service" to guys like Omier, Poplar, Pack, and Joseph who all contributed to the Elite 8/Final Four runs - but if they wanna leave, go for it. Progam still is gonna be here and it's on Coach L and staff to manage it properly.

Think of it this way...IF everyone leaves, and we have all these scholarships, then maybe we get a decent amount of portal kids who want to make us a destination for a few years, come together and build an "all-portal" kind of squad and make a run. Coach L could sell that, like Thanos with Infinity Stones.
 
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JZCane0825 said:
A few nuggets from the Five Reasons Canes Pod:

- Vish expects Nigel to come back. Not sure how I feel about that given his injury issues and just the fact that he's probably maxed out as a college player. That said, he speculates that we're after some of these lower major transfer guards to fill the Bensley role, which insulates us in the event Nigel missed more games next year.

- No surprise but Ky is almost assuredly gone along with Wooga. Cleveland leaning towards going 'pro' but that doesn't necessarily mean NBA. Norchad weighing coming back vs. going pro vs. transferring. Thinks decision drags out and staff is going to recruit 4's and 5's in portal anyway regardless of what happens.

- One player they're after in the portal that would fit well at the 4 regardless of Norchad's decision is Mikeal Brown-Jones from UNC-Greensboro. Originally from North Philly, played two years at VCU before transferring. Averaged 19 and 8 on 54% from the field and 43% from three, including a 39 point game back in January against The Citadel. He's a bit of a hybrid Norchad/Jordan Miller and would fit what L likes to do perfectly.

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Said it earlier in the thread but really like Brown-Jones. Would love that pickup.
 
hotshot said:
Thanks for that.

The top three things i want from a true 5 are defensive presence down low (effectively defending opponents' bigs and deterring drives to the hoop, strong rebounding, and an ability to pass back out to our 3pt shooters.

Scoring ability -- enough to keep the opponents defense honest with dunks and the threat of an accurate mid-range shot.

I too am not high on traditional bigs. In today's game, they are the odd man out position-wise. And, L likes the 5 Out offense. That said, this season was ridiculously bad in terms of opponents driving freely to score inside on us, all the second and third chance rebounds we gave up.
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Agree with all this. And like I said, my worry with Williams is I didn’t see a strong rebounder on film. Defensive presence and offensive chops are there, but I still think we’d be a bad rebounding team.

But realistically the perfect player isn’t walking through the door and IF we’re going the traditional big route he would solve some issues. I’d personally just rather play smaller, in a guard driven sport where more and more teams are trying to get a mismatch switched onto their best ball handler I just think it makes more sense.
 
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Omier has repeatedly said he loves being a Cane. Not saying he wouldn’t transfer for NiL but I’d think he’s more likely to declare (or come back).
 
Hope L is glued to the TV screen for the tourney and has his eyes wide open looking at possible future Canes. Especially those playing at smaller schools/in lesser leagues.
 
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