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Who else is stoked about

the upcoming basketball season? We have a ton of talent returning. I think this will be Franks best overall team yet and we make the dance.
I am excited because this is an insane amount of talent we have accumulated- with Lawson coming back and Woods added to the mix, whole team coming back except Kotsar and Bolden... and they could ALL be back for another year after that as this year will not count against eligibility! Works out that by Seventh Woods sitting and not being eligible to play last year, we basically get him for potentially three years instead of one- one as a practice only guy (last year), this coming season and the season after! He graduated HS early so he is still only like 21 now I think- he could theoretically be about the same age as Thornwell was when he got drafted even if he stays two more years! It is possible...

Baring a bad season or injury, I think the expectation is Lawson goes pro after this season, but the rest of our team should be here until the graduate or transfer- many good players... Not many “drafted early” types though.

Couisinard really established himself as a budding star already- with him, Lawson and Woods rotating (starting?) we have an ELITE backfield. Add in Hannibal and Moss for depth and... That is an intimidating lineup TBH.

S Forwards- Bryant was inconsistent last year but is one of the most explosive athletes on the team.. I feel the same way about Mccreary, and he is a little bigger. Then we also get Minaya back. Truly an embarrassment of riches at the Guard and forward positions.

PF/c- only potential weakness on the team. Leveque played well for a freshman but he is literally the only returning player with the size needed to play inside. Hope he added some
mass and strength. Who else is going to play inside? Frink? At 6-6? He is one of the strongest guus on the team but can he compete vs 7 footers? Mccreary at 6-7?? We have a lot of flexible players on the outside in that 6-5 to 6-7 range so we will be big in areas where other teams are small. Hope we can make it work! Beyond that we are bringing in two guys- Benson and Iriel who are 6-8/6-9 respectively, so they better be ready to play! They are literally the only other guys on the team big enough to fill the paint- We will need them for depth.

That is my analysis. We will likely struggle vs teams with talented “true” big men. We will have a few nights where our shooting is cold and will struggle periodically because of it.., But there are enough guys on this team who can score that hopefully the guys who are on can take up slack from those who are having a bad night. Offensive consistency has been an issue for us, which- with a defensive focused coach like Martin and most of our top talent outside (lower percrntage shots).. It is reasonable to expect that. What we have working for us are a couple of big guards who can lean on the opposing team, and some long, fast athletic guys all over the court who can fill passing lanes and guard just about anyone (except the big 7 footers). We have lots of experience coming back meaning the guys should know Frank’s defensive philosophy from game 1. I want to see it all put together, but this is an exciting team on paper!!
 
I am excited because this is an insane amount of talent we have accumulated- with Lawson coming back and Woods added to the mix, whole team coming back except Kotsar and Bolden... and they could ALL be back for another year after that as this year will not count against eligibility! Works out that by Seventh Woods sitting and not being eligible to play last year, we basically get him for potentially three years instead of one- one as a practice only guy (last year), this coming season and the season after! He graduated HS early so he is still only like 21 now I think- he could theoretically be about the same age as Thornwell was when he got drafted even if he stays two more years! It is possible...

Baring a bad season or injury, I think the expectation is Lawson goes pro after this season, but the rest of our team should be here until the graduate or transfer- many good players... Not many “drafted early” types though.

Couisinard really established himself as a budding star already- with him, Lawson and Woods rotating (starting?) we have an ELITE backfield. Add in Hannibal and Moss for depth and... That is an intimidating lineup TBH.

S Forwards- Bryant was inconsistent last year but is one of the most explosive athletes on the team.. I feel the same way about Mccreary, and he is a little bigger. Then we also get Minaya back. Truly an embarrassment of riches at the Guard and forward positions.

PF/c- only potential weakness on the team. Leveque played well for a freshman but he is literally the only returning player with the size needed to play inside. Hope he added some
mass and strength. Who else is going to play inside? Frink? At 6-6? He is one of the strongest guus on the team but can he compete vs 7 footers? Mccreary at 6-7?? We have a lot of flexible players on the outside in that 6-5 to 6-7 range so we will be big in areas where other teams are small. Hope we can make it work! Beyond that we are bringing in two guys- Benson and Iriel who are 6-8/6-9 respectively, so they better be ready to play! They are literally the only other guys on the team big enough to fill the paint- We will need them for depth.

That is my analysis. We will likely struggle vs teams with talented “true” big men. We will have a few nights where our shooting is cold and will struggle periodically because of it.., But there are enough guys on this team who can score that hopefully the guys who are on can take up slack from those who are having a bad night. Offensive consistency has been an issue for us, which- with a defensive focused coach like Martin and most of our top talent outside (lower percrntage shots).. It is reasonable to expect that. What we have working for us are a couple of big guards who can lean on the opposing team, and some long, fast athletic guys all over the court who can fill passing lanes and guard just about anyone (except the big 7 footers). We have lots of experience coming back meaning the guys should know Frank’s defensive philosophy from game 1. I want to see it all put together, but this is an exciting team on paper!!
Excellent post. I think McCreary can come in and play big at 6-7, very athletic. You are right, we have an awesome group of talent coming back and Frank will have them ready and playing that suffocating defense and now we will have the offense to go along with it. Good times ahead!
 
Just hope we don't lose our ticket before we even start SEC play....
I'm not asking for a 15-0 start like we had a few years back (against a really weak schedule) but we have to come out of OOC play with a .750 winning percentage in my opinion to have enough bang to have the NCAA not screw us...
This all assume we do well in the conference which we generally have done the past few years
 
I think Frink is going to be a pleasant surprise inside this year. He showed flashes last year and had good production with limited minutes. As a junior I really expect him to bring down a lot of boards this year.
 
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I think Frink is going to be a pleasant surprise inside this year. He showed flashes last year and had good production with limited minutes. As a junior I really expect him to bring down a lot of boards this year.
He’s a decent rebounder, but his skills are footwork and ball handling in the paint.
 
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