Jim I see your concern, and thought it through before posting. I see your strategy as outlined above, however I disagree. Getting a JUCO big man now will balance out our recruiting classes, and allows us to be very competitive THIS year as opposed to waiting another year to develop talent. Our guards will be studs this year. I have no reason to believe this won't be the case.
Jenkins will be good for 25-30 mins/game this year. That leaves approximately 10-15 mins/game available between Dixon/Relvao/Temara at the "4" spot.
That doesn't include a full 40 mins/game available at the "5" spot.
If you saw the games I saw last year, Dixon would need to improve 100% in every facet of his game over this summer to earn 10-15 mins/game next year.
Dixon was slow, uncoordinated, and didn't look like he belonged on an A10 basketball court. He was lucky to get 5 mins/game on the court last year. Even Paulsen said he wished he could've red-shirted him. This is My $.02
Daniel Relvao averaged 8 PPG at Mountain Mission High School in Grundy, VA. He wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. Don't think for a minute he will come in and produce an immense amount this year.
I see Temara getting the most minutes out of the 3 of them next year, however he will be learning the game.
As you can see with my write-up above, my case for a JUCO product to come in this year is a valid argument.
Jim I see your concern, and thought it through before posting. I see your strategy as outlined above, however I disagree. Getting a JUCO big man now will balance out our recruiting classes, and allows us to be very competitive THIS year as opposed to waiting another year to develop talent. Our guards will be studs this year. I have no reason to believe this won't be the case.
Jenkins will be good for 25-30 mins/game this year. That leaves approximately 10-15 mins/game available between Dixon/Relvao/Temara at the "4" spot.
That doesn't include a full 40 mins/game available at the "5" spot.
If you saw the games I saw last year, Dixon would need to improve 100% in every facet of his game over this summer to earn 10-15 mins/game next year.
Dixon was slow, uncoordinated, and didn't look like he belonged on an A10 basketball court. He was lucky to get 5 mins/game on the court last year. Even Paulsen said he wished he could've red-shirted him. This is My $.02
Daniel Relvao averaged 8 PPG at Mountain Mission High School in Grundy, VA. He wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. Don't think for a minute he will come in and produce an immense amount this year.
I see Temara getting the most minutes out of the 3 of them next year, however he will be learning the game.
As you can see with my write-up above, my case for a JUCO product to come in this year is a valid argument.
First of all, barring something unforeseen, Jenkins will be our starting 5 man. He's most effective operating around the basket, has a deceptively good face-up jumper from 15 feet and in, and as many A-10 teams (Dayton, vcu?) have shown, you can be successful with a shorter center as long as he has the strength to not get pushed around.
If Jenkins can avoid foul trouble, he'll play 30 mpg with Relvao and Dixon battling it out for backup minutes.
That leaves 40 minutes of playing time at the 4. Depending on how quickly Temara acclimates to the college game, a lot of those minutes could wind up being used by wings and guards.
My hope is that Temara is Hancock 2.0 and comes in ready to start from Day 1. That gives us a 6-9 face-up 4 man with the skill to play on the perimeter and the strength to hold his own in the paint.
In the event that doesn't happen, we're probably going to play a lot of small ball because DP will want to get our guards on the court as much as possible.
Moore, Livingston, Grayer and Abram all showed they can play effectively together. Murrell is a far better shooter than he showed as a freshman. Now throw in Boyd, Newman and Kier, all of whom will push for playing time right away.
College basketball is a guard's game and all of a sudden we have a bunch of them.
And thanks to the influence of Golden State, very few teams these days emphasize the traditional big man anyhow. It's a skill game now. Spread the floor, stretch the defense and shoot the 3.
Very similar to the style DP used so successfully at Bucknell, but with better athletes.
With 10, perhaps 11 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, why in the world would you want to add a JUCO to take away developmental playing time?
Let's face facts: We're not one "missing piece" away from competing for an NCAA bid, or even the NIT, in 2016-17. We're in rebuilding mode. Doing that in a sustainable manner takes time.
With more than 700 players across the U.S. transferring every year, recruiting classes tend to balance out organically.
The reality is, all 12 of our current players aren't going to play meaningful minutes. The cream will rise and 2-3 of them will probably wind up transferring out in search of a better fit at another school.
Guess what I'm saying is, with all due respect, I don't see your argument for a JUCO to be valid at all.
