Interesting response I don't believe we underachieved at all this year I think most us believed we were headed for a finish in the bottom half of the
league and a couple games below .500. If you would have said that we would finish in the top half of the league and only a game below .500 I think many here
would have taken that.
We learned many things this year about the young guys we have the makings of 2 studs Foster and Traz while we have 2 starters/role players in Rahon and Alexander. We learned that KK has a tremendous eye for talent i.e. I do not think any recuriting service had any of the 4 freshmen ranked above 2 stars. I can't wait to see Foster move to his traditional 2 spot which will free him up more to come off screens and it will definitely cut down his turnovers as he will have the ball in his hands less and a year of maturity can not hurt. I can not wait to see Traz next year; a summer spent hitting the weights and working on his game i would not be surprised to see him average close to 13 and 8 a game. Recruiting is a crap shot for a mid major program and if you can get 4 kids a year that can play the way the freshmen displayed you did one heck of a job (yes I know it's impossible to get 4 a year as we only have 13 scholarships to give a year). I would not be so quick to write off PP, anytime you bring in a jc kid there is one huge adjustment period. Not many jc kids are asked to come in and start right away, I think he did a serviceable job and after a summer of work and the game just slowing down for him we can rely on him for 5 to 10 minutes a night next year. Just ask our friends up north how hard it is for a jc player to crack the lineup, look at Ira Brown he came in with some big expectations and now he can't even crack the lineup and that is a 26 year old man not some 19-20 year old kid.
Now I think your prejudice for KK is getting in the way of saying only a 66% success rate for this class.I do think Decensae was hyped way to much, but KK took care of the problem and no I do not expect him to be back next year, which is disappointing because if the kid realized it he had a major chance to succeed here as we need someone to fill the 3 spot for this yr and next (say hello Niyi).
One point I do agree with is I would like to KK bring in an assistant who has some years of experience, look at what Dawkins at Stanford surrounded himself with. Now I do not think we need to overhaul the whole staff but bringing in someone with some experience can only help KK make better decisions in the clutch. Having had someone who has been there and done it already can not hurt. But on the other hand I think the young guys do connect with the kids and it is one of the reasons why we are able to recruit so well for our relative lack of success in the past 10 years or so.
I for one am just happy that KK is infusing some excitement for SCU basketball, the facilities are getting better, the program is getting more money in and the talent is getting better. For those who are willing to be patient I believe it will be worth the wait.
We learned many things this year about the young guys we have the makings of 2 studs Foster and Traz while we have 2 starters/role players in Rahon and Alexander. We learned that KK has a tremendous eye for talent i.e. I do not think any recuriting service had any of the 4 freshmen ranked above 2 stars. I can't wait to see Foster move to his traditional 2 spot which will free him up more to come off screens and it will definitely cut down his turnovers as he will have the ball in his hands less and a year of maturity can not hurt. I can not wait to see Traz next year; a summer spent hitting the weights and working on his game i would not be surprised to see him average close to 13 and 8 a game. Recruiting is a crap shot for a mid major program and if you can get 4 kids a year that can play the way the freshmen displayed you did one heck of a job (yes I know it's impossible to get 4 a year as we only have 13 scholarships to give a year). I would not be so quick to write off PP, anytime you bring in a jc kid there is one huge adjustment period. Not many jc kids are asked to come in and start right away, I think he did a serviceable job and after a summer of work and the game just slowing down for him we can rely on him for 5 to 10 minutes a night next year. Just ask our friends up north how hard it is for a jc player to crack the lineup, look at Ira Brown he came in with some big expectations and now he can't even crack the lineup and that is a 26 year old man not some 19-20 year old kid.
Now I think your prejudice for KK is getting in the way of saying only a 66% success rate for this class.I do think Decensae was hyped way to much, but KK took care of the problem and no I do not expect him to be back next year, which is disappointing because if the kid realized it he had a major chance to succeed here as we need someone to fill the 3 spot for this yr and next (say hello Niyi).
One point I do agree with is I would like to KK bring in an assistant who has some years of experience, look at what Dawkins at Stanford surrounded himself with. Now I do not think we need to overhaul the whole staff but bringing in someone with some experience can only help KK make better decisions in the clutch. Having had someone who has been there and done it already can not hurt. But on the other hand I think the young guys do connect with the kids and it is one of the reasons why we are able to recruit so well for our relative lack of success in the past 10 years or so.
I for one am just happy that KK is infusing some excitement for SCU basketball, the facilities are getting better, the program is getting more money in and the talent is getting better. For those who are willing to be patient I believe it will be worth the wait.
