Game 22: GMU (12-9 / 4-4) vs St. Joe’s (9-11 / 3-5) on Sunday, January 29, at Noon.

[Patriot Lawdog]

I'm sure this has already been said on this thread some where but I need to say it for my own mental health.....I'm tired of every team we play having better guards. I'm tired of every team we play having one dude that is just head and shoulders above anyone on our roster. St Joe's has 2 stud guards, St Louis has the best PG in the league, Bonnies have that St. Peters transfer who just gets buckets, GW has to 2 dudes that can straight ball in their back court, vcu has Baldwin, and on and on. Really disappointing. I like RP but we're never going to finish top 4 with him running the point. And don't get me started on Saquan who despite playing in the back court is a worse shooter than Malik Henry!

Very Surprised with CKE being a great guard himself that our back court is the weak link this year. I do really like DD and JF. I will reserve final judgement on Kim until the HS kids he's recruited here are playing the majority of the minutes. Remember, transfers are usually leaving their old school because of a lack of playing time.

Couldn't have said it better. After thinking about things yesterday, this has been our biggest issue. It's a game dominated by guards (offensively and defensively) where big men are complimentary or a luxury. I mean, Josh came close to a triple double and we still lost. You can get by with average big men. You can't get by with average guards.

Kim's success or failure will be determined by player development. On paper, he's bringing a higher talent level, but whether that translates to wins on the court depends on developing that talent. By CKE's year 4, Fernandez and Dinkins need to be in consideration for all A-10 teams or we're in big trouble.

 

[Petey Buckets]

I'm sure this has already been said on this thread some where but I need to say it for my own mental health.....I'm tired of every team we play having better guards. I'm tired of every team we play having one dude that is just head and shoulders above anyone on our roster. St Joe's has 2 stud guards, St Louis has the best PG in the league, Bonnies have that St. Peters transfer who just gets buckets, GW has to 2 dudes that can straight ball in their back court, vcu has Baldwin, and on and on. Really disappointing. I like RP but we're never going to finish top 4 with him running the point. And don't get me started on Saquan who despite playing in the back court is a worse shooter than Malik Henry!

Very Surprised with CKE being a great guard himself that our back court is the weak link this year. I do really like DD and JF. I will reserve final judgement on Kim until the HS kids he's recruited here are playing the majority of the minutes. Remember, transfers are usually leaving their old school because of a lack of playing time.

Tweeted it out earlier but Reynolds and Greer were 11-18 from 2. Our starting backcourt of VJ, Coop, and Ronnie were 4-17. EDIT: Those three were 4-12. Add in Saquan and Dink and you get 4-15. Still bad!

We haven't had guards that get downhill in the KE era and it's by far the most glaring weakness through 50+ games. Ronnie looked like he might be that guy earlier this season but he's either hurt again or turning into a pumpkin or something.

 

[gmujim92]

Everyone should at least try to be honest: If Kim has come in like DP with a 6-year plan and relying solely on 4-year players instead of getting aggressively into the portal, you all would’ve blown a gasket. He sought to quickly upgrade the overall talent on the roster and very clearly did that. It hasn’t translated into as much success as any of us would’ve liked, but anyone who thinks our record would be better with JF and DD playing Otis/Jaire minutes as true freshmen has a screw loose.

Cold comfort, I realize, but 4 of our 5 A-10 losses have come by a total of 11 points. Even talking about a coaching change at this time is ludicrous.

 

[GMU79]

Everyone should at least try to be honest: If Kim has come in like DP with a 6-year plan and relying solely on 4-year players instead of getting aggressively into the portal, you all would’ve blown a gasket. He sought to quickly upgrade the overall talent on the roster and very clearly did that. It hasn’t translated into as much success as any of us would’ve liked, but anyone who thinks our record would be better with JF and DD playing Otis/Jaire minutes as true freshmen has a screw loose.

Cold comfort, I realize, but 4 of our 5 A-10 losses have come by a total of 11 points. Even talking about a coaching change at this time is ludicrous.

"You guys." Nice finger pointing without sin guy.

 

[GSII]

Pretty sure Charleston got several D2 players and portal players. They are 20-2. Just saying

 

[GMU79]

***

Feel better?

 

[HoopsAdmin]

Feel better?

Cut it out.

 

[HoopsAdmin]

"You guys." Nice finger pointing without sin guy.

If you feel offended by that, maybe you should think about why. Both you guys, let's stop and move on please.

 

[HoopsAdmin]

Back on topic -

I don't know any inside info, but I speculate that KE tried really hard to get us a PG. I think he swung for the fences on some great talent, and just missed - leaving us with limited options for this season. Of course he won't admit that publicly. I am tired of being outclassed at the guard positions too, but I think the staff is trying and they will hit on one of these big-time talents they are shooting for.

In the meantime, we need to be patient. We need to be ok with Kim learning on the job to be a top-level coach and give him the time to develop himself.

 

[GMU79]

If you feel offended by that, maybe you should think about why. Both you guys, let's stop and move on please.

Thanks for the suggestion of psychoanalyzing myself. But I think I'll pass. NOW I will move on.

Back on topic -

I don't know any inside info, but I speculate that KE tried really hard to get us a PG. I think he swung for the fences on some great talent, and just missed - leaving us with limited options for this season. Of course he won't admit that publicly. I am tired of being outclassed at the guard positions too, but I think the staff is trying and they will hit on one of these big-time talents they are shooting for.

In the meantime, we need to be patient. We need to be ok with Kim learning on the job to be a top-level coach and give him the time to develop himself.

Yeah, but it's hard.

 

[GSII]

Yeah, but it's harhard

That's what she says

 

[GMU79]

That's what she says

You know, I thought about that when I wrote it. Touche!
Perhaps difficult would have been a better choice of words.

 

[DRK331]

Post game:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1619865038038224896

 

[Where's the party?]

Not sure if serious…

As serious as the continuous stream of heart attacks I've been enduring this season ....

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Everyone should at least try to be honest: If Kim has come in like DP with a 6-year plan and relying solely on 4-year players instead of getting aggressively into the portal, you all would’ve blown a gasket. He sought to quickly upgrade the overall talent on the roster and very clearly did that. It hasn’t translated into as much success as any of us would’ve liked, but anyone who thinks our record would be better with JF and DD playing Otis/Jaire minutes as true freshmen has a screw loose.

Cold comfort, I realize, but 4 of our 5 A-10 losses have come by a total of 11 points. Even talking about a coaching change at this time is ludicrous.

Probably not, but would they be further along in their development? Yes, they would. At the end of the day, the difference between being 12-20 and 16-16 is not worth stunting the growth of guys we hope to build a program upon. One is a below average team not playing in the postseason and the other is a possibly mediocre team not playing in the postseason. Just another team under the A-10 mediocrity blanket.

 

[JimP]

Tweeted it out earlier but Reynolds and Greer were 11-18 from 2. Our starting backcourt of VJ, Coop, and Ronnie were 4-17. EDIT: Those three were 4-12. Add in Saquan and Dink and you get 4-15. Still bad!

We haven't had guards that get downhill in the KE era and it's by far the most glaring weakness through 50+ games. Ronnie looked like he might be that guy earlier this season but he's either hurt again or turning into a pumpkin or something.

I wonder what might have been if Mason had snagged Sessoms. It appears they were very close to getting him. I wonder if he regrets going to Coppin State - they're 6-18.

 

[gmujim92]

Probably not, but would they be further along in their development? Yes, they would. At the end of the day, the difference between being 12-20 and 16-16 is not worth stunting the growth of guys we hope to build a program upon. One is a below average team not playing in the postseason and the other is a possibly mediocre team not playing in the postseason. Just another team under the A-10 mediocrity blanket.

Easy to say that now. It’s the ultimate second-guess.

 

[EXpatriot13]

Easy to say that now. It’s the ultimate second-guess.

I have zero issue with how KE approached Dink and JF's usage going into the season, or even during the first half. There was hope the vets/transfers/returning players would pull it together. It's obvious that isn't going to happen, or at least not to the level where we're truly competing in Brooklyn.

At this point, I'd much rather the young guys get more run down the stretch with the hope that it builds them up, gets them valuable experience, so there isn't as much of a learning curve and we aren't waiting until mid-next season for it to "click". JF has made a ton of strides and will be more than fine, but do we really know what we have in Dink, Nnaji, etc?

 

[Petey Buckets]

I have zero issue with how KE approached Dink and JF's usage going into the season, or even during the first half. There was hope the vets/transfers/returning players would pull it together. It's obvious that isn't going to happen, or at least not to the level where we're truly competing in Brooklyn.

Agreed, and one thing I'd add is that I think KE's stated style of "you get yanked for defensive mistakes" does more harm than good. KE is progressive in a lot of ways but this is kind of a meathead way to coach. Freshmen make defensive mistakes because of course they do - they're freshmen - and they go back to the bench after 2-3 minutes. That's no way to establish a flow. Also leads to the issues we've seen with the absolutely incoherent bench usage and minutes distribution.

 

[gmujim92]

I have zero issue with how KE approached Dink and JF's usage going into the season, or even during the first half. There was hope the vets/transfers/returning players would pull it together. It's obvious that isn't going to happen, or at least not to the level where we're truly competing in Brooklyn.

At this point, I'd much rather the young guys get more run down the stretch with the hope that it builds them up, gets them valuable experience, so there isn't as much of a learning curve and we aren't waiting until mid-next season for it to "click". JF has made a ton of strides and will be more than fine, but do we really know what we have in Dink, Nnaji, etc?

We still have a minimum of 10 games left and are poised to get one of our best players back from injury. It would send a terrible message to the team, the fans and future transfer targets if Kim decided to start playing guys who everybody knows don’t give us the best chance to win.