The Official 2019-20 Preseason Thread-Spring Edition

[pinstripers]

We will go get 2 more shooters.

[WstateU]

"Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, in your golden, fleece diapers, with your curled-up, fat, balled-up little fists pawin' at the air."

[12eagle]

As long as shockers do not completely strike out in recruiting I don’t see any way that Torres is back.

[pinstripers]

We are still trying to bring in Grant Sherfield. If that happens, if we bring in a third guard, Ricky gets NO minutes. Zero

[12eagle]

Yep

[ShockCrazy]

I think writing off Torres is a mistake. He obviously CAN shoot. He shot over 43% from 3 his sophomore year of Juco on 71-164 no less, that sure isn't a small sample size. He clearly has a case of the yips. Hopefully can get it figured out this off season because a Ricky who can shoot is a hell of a point guard.

Overall we will be better next year, experience will do wonders for the young players. We just really need another shooter or two to step up besides Dex, without it we are going to be really easy to guard and defenses are going to pack it in.

[WstateU]

Yip!

[1979Shocker]

It's not so much his bad shooting of 3's this season. If he can improve up to 40% next year, that will be good. The problem is, he is not that great of a defender. He's not a FVV when it comes to defense and anticipation.

[IndianaShocker]

The yip is in his knee(s). Get those healthy and he will be fine. He definitely doesn't have the lateral quickness to be a lockdown defender, but his bbiq can make him a + team defender.

[Jhook89]

So everyone just assumes Dex is going to greatly improve his drubbing and driving this offseason, but they don’t apply that logic to Burton improving his outside shot? FVV couldn’t shoot as a freshmen either. Burton just needs to improve his 3 pt % to like 35% next year for him to be a really good pg.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

That was Toure’ at 25% from 3 as a Freshman I believe.

[bighouse]

Cotton also couldnt shoot early on either. I remember him going something like 0-12 against Creighton I think , and they wouldn't even guard him outside the lane.

[choida]

He hit some pretty big shots against Gonzaga

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

No, we gotta take better shots. And with 80% of our bad shots exiting, that will help.

I have to agree that some of JB's and ES's shooting woes can be attributed to poor shot selection, shots out of rhythm, etc. Fixing that will go a long way to better percentages.

I noticed as DD improved his decision making, so did his ability to nail 3s.

[asiseeit]

I trust my own eyes and they have seen a great deal over the years both on and off the court.
The cold hard truth is that if we add one or two quality players then one or two have to find
another program better suited for them. I am pretty sure we all know who those two are. The
success this years team had was because of defense not a couple inconsistent seniors. Their
numbers were under whelming and BELOW the TEAM average overall although each had some
very good games / moments. I wish them well. I would make a large wager that next years
TEAM shooting percentages will be north of this years so the biggest key for a successful
2019/20 is sustaining and building defense. Our centers are awesome and so is DD's. I don't
think I saw ES get beat left or right to the rim more than a couple times the last ten games - big
improvement there. JB plays good D ! I feel good about TA's offense but don't about his D yet.
I know everyone wants shooters but they have to play good D or they won't be a good fit for this
team. Let's see if and who they can bring in. I'd like to see a quality grad transfer.

[top20shock]

Guys. Torres won’t get any better. He’s hit his ceiling and is an atomic bomb maker and a complete defensive liability. Shooting?
He needs to go somewhere else.

[top20shock]

I could see potentially Brown being a more athletic version of Rashard Kelly given time, but if anyone goes its him. I see no reason to lose Torres as he will he a SR and second JC transfers usually take big steps in coaches system. That being said I would be ok with a JC or Grad transfer 6-7 /6-8 stretch 4.

You’re comparing him to Kelly? Not at all IMO.

[pinstripers]

NOT AT ALL INDEED

[shocks02]

We have four players that can only play the center spot. You don't need four guys to play one position. Unless the coaching staff believes one of these guys can contribute at a forward spot, which known of them have proven whatsoever, then someone out of that group probably has to go.

I like Ricky Torres in the pick and roll game. Most of the other areas of his game need work, but I could still see him being a serviceable backup point guard next year. What does GM say? You can never have enough point guards?

If we're going to add two more players then I see it being a guard who can shoot and a stretch four with athleticism. We will need a stretch four that could potentially guard players who give Teddy matchup problems at the 4. This could be DeAnotni Gordon but I'm not sure we can bank on that.

[Aargh]

I'm pretty certain we CAN'T bank on finding a stretch 4 better than Gordon in the late signing period. If that were to happen, do we really want to recruit over someone who made a two-year commitment? A JuCo AA who can play inside or outside would work , but those are really rare and highly sought. JuCos take half a season to get going, so for next year, we've got some issues at PF.

[rjl]

I could maybe see Poor Bear as a stretch 4, at least on the offensive end of the court. He's got a nice jumpshot. Give him an offseason to work on it, and it could work.

Defensively, though... probably not so much.

[WstateU]

Speaking of Poor Bear. I can't recall if it was the first or second half, but he took an outside shot that caused me a sudden outburst. :)

[pinstripers]

The only way you bring back Mo and Poo both is if one redshirts and moves to another class. And I hope that happens

[ShockerPrez]

Dont think we can or should make a decision on poor bear or Udeze after 1 yeae. Both show some good potential. Not sure how much time they can get, but to me, it never hurts to have talent on the bench. Injuries happen. And if they become productive for only their jr and sr years, whats wrong with that?

Sometimes, it seems we are not patient enough with development. We get 4 years, sometimes 5, not 1.

[Mr. Pickle]

Thoughts on This Past Year:

-I appreciate all that the seniors gave this year - game winning shots, sticking with the team through tough times, etc. I think they are both fine young men, and wish them nothing but the best in the future. With that said, I won't miss some of the poor shot selection and 1 on 1 ball that was displayed this year. Was that a product of the makeup of the team among other things? Probably. However, I can't help but think that more of a team offense will return as they depart.
-With that said, having some shooters should help the offense some with keeping the defenses honest. The ball needs to be less sticky next year, and I expect it to.


-I think we appeared to be better prepared this year for opponents with respect to game planning, etc. It appears as if Coach LG was beneficial this year, and I'm looking forward to continuing to have him on the bench, and Coach TW for recruiting and a HCGM buffer for players.

-The fans did a great job of sticking with the team this year, and continuing to put 10k in the seats for the home games. Our fanbase certainly has its flaws, but loyalty and passion are not among those.

- I expected an NIT appearance this year, and the team played well enough to reach that. All in all, I would call this year a success given the circumstances put in place over the offseason.

Thoughts on Next Year:

-No idea who is or is not coming back, and I won't speculate.

- We have to shoot the ball better: period. I think Dennis will continue as a good shooter, and expect Stevenson to improve a lot with an offseason of work. It may take a few games, but I expect Etienne to become a reliable shooter as well. Allen is going to get his points, but I hope that he can develop a mid range game. Torres has to become a 30% 3 point shooter, or he shouldn't see any more minutes next year than he had this year. I expect Asbjorn to continue to develop some back to the basket moves, and continue a little mid range game. Jaime has got to learn to finish more consistently and catch the ball to set himself up in the first place.


-I expect us to have a top 50 defense next year. It improved steadily over the last 10 games, and I think we have the pieces in place and experience for it to improve into next year.

-Stevenson and Dennis could certainly be the team leaders next year as Sophomores. I don't see Jaime or Torres being vocal leaders at this point.

-Schedule looks nice for next year: I hope we can get one more headlining nonconference game in addition to the games we already are aware of.

Prediction for Next Year:

*I expect this team to struggle slightly less at the beginning of next year, and to have a moderately successful non-conference season. I think we will continue to gel as the year moves on, and , provided there are no major injuries, roster/coach turnover, etc., I expect this team to be back in the NCAA tournament as a 8-10 seed.

[WstateU]

Two thumbs up... darn good observations Mr. Pickle.

[shock-it-to-me]

Question, and I apologize if this was covered elsewhere, the chance Moore scholarship that went to the walk on this year. Will that be available next year? Surely we can’t afford to let the walk on keep that scholarship for another year just because it’s a “feel good“ story

[SHOCKvalue]

Question, and I apologize if this was covered elsewhere, the chance Moore scholarship that went to the walk on this year. Will that be available next year? Surely we can’t afford to let the walk on keep that scholarship for another year just because it’s a “feel good“ story

Yeah, that’s why right now our scholly math vs newcomers is 1:1. If Sheffield or another comes along too then guys currently on the roster will be leaving.

[GreatWhiteBuffalo]

I know some here don't like to speculate, but what fun is that? I'm thinking Rod is one to leave...possibly Torres.