Favour Aire transferring

[Brains]

Bring in Stromile Swift and Korleone Young.

 

[AmherstCane]

This talk about Aire being a miss is really insane.

There are probably 15-20 (probably less actually) kids a year that come straight out of high school ready to compete at a national championship level.

The fact that Aire was not one of those 15-20 (our team actually competed for a NC) does NOT make him a bust.

He was a 6’11 guy who could run. I tend to doubt he was pushed out. But - as long as the money is there - I do definitively believe we could upgrade in the portal (at least as far as next year is concerned).

 

[Cryptical Envelopment]

And some of you all really didn't think we would push some kids to transfer to make room. Lol.

 

[AmherstCane]

And some of you all really didn't think we would push some kids to transfer to make room. Lol.

I pretty much blindly trust whatever L does… but man it seems strange to push out a 4* athletic 6’11” freshman. If anyone is getting pushed out it should be a guy who has failed to develop over 4 years…

Truth be told I don’t think anyone is getting pushed out. They just might not try that hard to keep guys who they are ok with going elsewhere (which seems to be the case with Aire and Jovanovich).

 

[Gables Canes]

Our track record with bigs out of HS has not been good the last several years:

Rodney Miller - never developed
Deng Gak - never developed
Anthony Walker - still hasn’t developed
Matt Cross - transferred
Favour Aire - transferred

Really the last one to develop into a decent player was Sam.

 

[Cryptical Envelopment]

I pretty much blindly trust whatever L does… but man it seems strange to push out a 4* athletic 6’11” freshman. If anyone is getting pushed out it should be a guy who has failed to develop over 4 years…

Truth be told I don’t think anyone is getting pushed out. They just might not try that hard to keep guys who they are ok with going elsewhere (which seems to be the case with Aire and Jovanovich).

It's the same thing. You say the magic words without actually cutting a kid. Talk about minutes. You do their post-season review and boom. The same way we were able to replace 70% of our football coaching staff while only technically firing one (for cause) or how we got the football dead weight to move on. I don't think Aire was as skilled as we had hoped. Wouldn't you MUCH rather have an impact transfer on the roster next year? An Omier or Pack type of impactful player?

 

[AmherstCane]

It's the same thing. You say the magic words without actually cutting a kid. Talk about minutes. You do their post-season review and boom. The same way we were able to replace 70% of our football coaching staff while only technically firing one (for cause) or how we got the football dead weight to move on. I don't think Aire was as skilled as we had hoped. Wouldn't you MUCH rather have an impact transfer on the roster next year? An Omier or Pack type of impactful player?

In a perfect world I would like to see Aire kept as a development guy and Walker and Jovanovich finding greener pastures.

I really think we only have room to add two immediate impact transfer players… and I really don’t want to lose Watson, Casey, or any of our returning rotation players (other than Walker).

I suspect we are adding a big and Aire doesn’t see a path to get into the rotation in year 2… but we definitely need at least one 6’11+ guy in the rotation to compete for a championship.

As outstanding as Omier is, he just gives up too much in height to a guy like Clingan. Small ball is a low probability proposition against a team with NBA-like length and athleticism… which is what you have to expect to compete against to win a championship.

 

[jhtheking]

Our track record with bigs out of HS has not been good the last several years:

Rodney Miller - never developed
Deng Gak - never developed
Anthony Walker - still hasn’t developed
Matt Cross - transferred
Favour Aire - transferred

Really the last one to develop into a decent player was Sam.

Was Matt Cross a big?

 

[NC_Canes_11]

Our track record with bigs out of HS has not been good the last several years:

Rodney Miller - never developed
Deng Gak - never developed
Anthony Walker - still hasn’t developed
Matt Cross - transferred
Favour Aire - transferred

Really the last one to develop into a decent player was Sam.

It’s never been good. That’s always been my complaint about Coach L. It’s absolutely insane how well he’s done in a league known for teams with big front courts, without ever having many.

But like I said in another thread, there’s no reason to hit high school hard unless you can land top 10-15 kids now. That’s perfect for Miami, bc we’ve all seen how well this staff does with the portal.

 

[Brooklyndee]

Now, let's watch what Watson does.
If I am not mistaken, Watson and Aire were somewhat of a package deal.
Sadly, in this new era of college basketball, it's becoming harder and harder to not play freshman at least 5 to 10 minutes a game.
Take that how you want but very few players are willing to sit a year and lose a year of eligibility.

MAYBE they'd be a lil more willing to sit if they knew their coach had a plan for how to utilize them... You can't look at these teams and come away saying we value size. I said it all year and while everyone rode that white horse about gaurd play being what wins when it matters you got to see first hand what it is when those gaurdsnare keyed on and miss all their shots and don't get second opportunities or even decent looks because we have no ability to match up with legit size and a legit inside/outside presence. We need to figure out how to mesh these unique skillets like plenty of other winning programs have. You can still play small ball while having a presence capable of banging and stretching the floor with anyone.

 

[Brooklyndee]

Was Matt Cross a big?

But that's the bigger issue. No e of those dudes are legit bigs. They don't get developed cause we have no use for a bigs skill set.

 

[canes1977]

MAYBE they'd be a lil more willing to sit if they knew their coach had a plan for how to utilize them... You can't look at these teams and come away saying we value size. I said it all year and while everyone rode that white horse about gaurd play being what wins when it matters you got to see first hand what it is when those gaurdsnare keyed on and miss all their shots and don't get second opportunities or even decent looks because we have no ability to match up with legit size and a legit inside/outside presence. We need to figure out how to mesh these unique skillets like plenty of other winning programs have. You can still play small ball while having a presence capable of banging and stretching the floor with anyone.

Did we not just get to the Final Four for the first time in the program’s history? Whatever we are doing is working. We just ran into a UConn team that was on a historic run.

 

[Gables Canes]

Was Matt Cross a big?

We tried to play him like he was, and maybe that’s part of the problem.

 

[hotshot]

Wasn't Jovanovich supposed to have a deadly 3 pt shot? Could he play any defense though? Could he get his shot off against D1 defenders? Was he homesick for Wisconsin? Who knows.

Aire and Jovanovich are Exhibits 1 and 1a of why the Portal, not High School, is the way to recruit these days. Never even got to see what these two could do. When you bring in xsfers, you've got a far, far better track record to go on.

 

[Allabouttheu95]

Our track record with bigs out of HS has not been good the last several years:

Rodney Miller - never developed
Deng Gak - never developed
Anthony Walker - still hasn’t developed
Matt Cross - transferred
Favour Aire - transferred

Really the last one to develop into a decent player was Sam.

Surprising trend here because I was convinced L & staff were wizards at developing bigs after Jekiri and Izundu.

 

[AmherstCane]

Surprising trend here because I was convinced L & staff were wizards at developing bigs after Jekiri and Izundu.

Don’t forget Julian Gamble. He was useless before L arrived and became a key contributor of the 2013 team. Sam was also a huge development success as a stretch 4.

Miller and Gak were the only “failures”… but Gak had bad knees with multiple surgeries that really made it almost impossible. And Miller just wasn’t willing to put in the work - his weight and conditioning was the outward manifestation of his lack of commitment.

I don’t think you can call Aire a failure. He either wants a bigger NIL deal or doesn’t see his path to being a major part of the rotation next year.

 

[Allabouttheu95]

Don’t forget Julian Gamble. He was useless before L arrived and became a key contributor of the 2013 team. Sam was also a huge development success as a stretch 4.

Miller and Gak were the only “failures”… but Gak had bad knees with multiple surgeries that really made it almost impossible. And Miller just wasn’t willing to put in the work - his weight and conditioning was the outward manifestation of his lack of commitment.

I don’t think you can call Aire a failure. He either wants a bigger NIL deal or doesn’t see his path to being a major part of the rotation next year.

I even thought Miller developed nicely on the offensive end. Defensively and athletically he was unplayable but offensively he could get to that left or right shoulder and put the ball in the basket.

 

[AmherstCane]

MAYBE they'd be a lil more willing to sit if they knew their coach had a plan for how to utilize them... You can't look at these teams and come away saying we value size. I said it all year and while everyone rode that white horse about gaurd play being what wins when it matters you got to see first hand what it is when those gaurdsnare keyed on and miss all their shots and don't get second opportunities or even decent looks because we have no ability to match up with legit size and a legit inside/outside presence. We need to figure out how to mesh these unique skillets like plenty of other winning programs have. You can still play small ball while having a presence capable of banging and stretching the floor with anyone.

When football posters visit the basketball board telling an elite eight then a final four team how to get better…

The 2013 team completely debunks the notion that L doesn’t value size.

We didn’t have size because before last year we couldn’t recruit a blue chip big. Those are the literal toughest players to get and all the mid major bigs who end up being players had major question marks coming out of high school.

Aire transferring doesn’t mean L doesn’t value size… it means he probably wasn’t worth what he was demanding. If you watched any of the games, he was pretty much unplayable this year. He seemed to pick up a foul a minute against any decent team.

Before making this post about valuing bigs, you should see who we get from the portal. We also have a 6’10 baller coming in this cycle.

 

[Da_Lucky_One]

Think Poplar played a good bit more as a Frosh than Aire did, albeit not all that well. With Omier our only inside presence this season, Walker, Aire and/or Casey had a real chance to fill the void. None came close, Walker on the court, Aire apparently unimpressive in practice, and Casey either injured or showing he also wasn't ready.

The irony is that when Coach L discusses his recruiting philosophy, he is quick to tell everyone that he feels guys from DC and further north through PA to VT are more prepared to play as freshman when they get to college.
However, when they come to Miami, a large majority of them sit on his bench as freshman.
So I wonder, where is the disconnect?
I think Chris Lykes is the only exception to that rule.
Even Wong sat as a freshman until injuries forced him on the court.

 

[Da_Lucky_One]

We had ONE big and we spent ALL tourney hoping he didnt pick up fouls, thats basically telling buddy you cant play not even one minute here, lol.. Or thats how he took it..

That issue is on the HC and the coaching staff. That is a highlight of their failure to develop and prepare the team for the tournament and future situations.
Along with winning games, you have to prepare your team for various situations. Especially foul trouble.
This is the downside of being caught up in winning as you play your starters 32+ minutes per game.
Development of your bench requires 5 guys on your bench to get at least 10+ minutes a games.
Freshman need 5+ minutes per game if you want them to be sophomores.