Welcome - Paul Mills

[ShockHat]

I’m surprised Abidde’s there in all the top lineups. Wonder why he’s not a starter then?

[ShockHat]

Pohto's position is a little surprising. He's way down low in both lists.

Less surprising if you take into account how poorly he’s done offensively these last few games. He’s gone through a major slump.

[Kung Wu]

Pohto's position is a little surprising. He's way down low in both lists.

Yup after Abidde and Bell, a healthy dose of Rogers, Ballard and Ridgnal is what the Dr ordered.

[Kung Wu]

Want to win? Play this lineup a lot: Bell, Rogers, Ridgnal, Abidde, Ballard

This small ball lineup also kicks booty:

Bell + Beverly + Rogers + Abidde + Ridgnal

[Aargh]

With the metrics shown in that article it could be Pohto losing minutes to DeGray. Pohto is an effective rebounder, but with DeGray's motor, there probably wouldn't be a dropoff there. Maybe what Pohto needs is competition for minutes.

[ShockHat]

With the metrics shown in that article it could be Pohto losing minutes to DeGray. Pohto is an effective rebounder, but with DeGray's motor, there probably wouldn't be a dropoff there. Maybe what Pohto needs is competition for minutes.

I think so - Mills is a very data driven guy, and if Pohto’s not a fixture in any of the top lineups, then that’s an issue. The sad thing is the team seems to reaaaally transform when they work inside out through Pohto and he’s actually making the bunnies. But it’s been a while now since he’s been any sort of threat to the opposing teams.

What I’m not sure of is DeGray’s offense. I didn’t really see anything spectacular, so… is he capable of that? If not, is his defense worth the trade off (like Dexter?)

[Stickboy46]

Cprtes committed April 16, 2023. Classes at OU were about a month away from completion, so the question of eligibility wasn't known when he committed. Mills obviously honored the offer after it became known that Cortes was ineligible.

Any other questions you want to ask that could be so easily answered or wouldn't be necessary with the slightest effort at checking out easily found information?

So you guessed. Thanks

[shock]

I think so - Mills is a very data driven guy, and if Pohto’s not a fixture in any of the top lineups, then that’s an issue. The sad thing is the team seems to reaaaally transform when they work inside out through Pohto and he’s actually making the bunnies. But it’s been a while now since he’s been any sort of threat to the opposing teams.

What I’m not sure of is DeGray’s offense. I didn’t really see anything spectacular, so… is he capable of that? If not, is his defense worth the trade off (like Dexter?)

One game is all we have of DeGray. He’s got to shake the rust off before we draw any conclusions about his offensive ability. He showed good bball iq and a high motor so I wouldn’t bet against him.

[pinstripers]

Not to sure how much competition PM had in the re-recruitment for KP. I'd guess it would have been mid to low level teams going after him. Was anything published about that?

Would assume his offers were not that overwhelming

[Stickboy46]

Would assume his offers were not that overwhelming

Eh, I'm sure there were some good ones. He's not a strong back to the basket player but our offense really took off last year when we started running it through him as a playmaker. So I'm sure he had some solid P5 offers

That said, while it was definitely a good thing for Mills to get him to come back, it also need to be mentioned that Kenny has lived in the US for 5 years at that point and all 5 years have been in Wichita. That's a huge recruiting tool to use when the player doesn't have to move from his support system in this country

[shocktown]

What I think will be interesting to see is "who all are going to lose minutes to Cortes and how many minutes will he get"? It won't be Rogers (maybe 1-3 minutes to Bell). Logically, it would be who Cortes is replacing, Bell. And while our hope is that Cortes will improve not only our PG position, but the team as a whole, we will most likely see a fair number of minutes lost by our #2 scorer currently at 15 ppg. How much improvement can we expect in assists (2-4?) and fewer TOs (probably minimal at best, .5).

Cortes played 17+ MPG last year, but only scored 3.2 PPG, despite having a good 3pt %. He also had 2 assists per game, but also 1.4 TO per game.

I'm not sure, from at least past performance, we can expect too much outside of giving Rogers and Bell more rest each game and not having as much leg fatigue. Hoping it will be better than I think.

Wanted to bump up this data!

I think it is important for people to temper expectations for BC with the news he may see some playing time tonight.

Not the Savior yet, give it a few more days.

[Bluzrover]

Speaking of data....todays article from Eldridge, "How Wichita State basketball plans to use lineup data to find right spot for Ronnie DeGray:

https://news.yahoo.com/wichita-state...ycsrp_catchall

If for no other reason than this, which indicates to me that HCPM has a plan and process for improvement, I am ecstatic with his hire. I can’t say FHCIB was ever quoted, or reported on having a detailed plan or process for his teams or players who were struggling.

I’m thrilled to have Degray, and now Bijan, in the rotation but it’s going to be really interesting to see how those two affect the play of their teammates going forward. And based on last night’s game, it’s probably going to take several games before HCPM has the “data” to make effective in-game adjustments. Starting the conference slate is not the greatest timing but it is what it is.

Unless we have a rash of injuries (Beverly seems to tweak his ankles a lot) or a complete meltdown (Mills’ style makes me think that is unlikely), I still think we win 15-18 games this season.

[shoxlax]

First of all, I love GM and thought he was going to coach here until he retired. I have tremendous respect for Turg, who turned the program around the right way. However, forget about who these coaches inherited. It does not matter, because Mills, in today’s environment, has a ten times tougher job than either one of those guys had when they came here. Even though a select group of schools cheated it was still possible to recruit a very good player and keep them when GM and MT were coaching.

There is a reason people like Turg and Jay Wright aren’t in college basketball now and why you will probably never see people like Brad Stevens or Billy Donovan back in college unless they are thrown obscene money from a P5 school.

Mills best hope is he catches lightning in a bottle with a few international players like St Marys.

Without rules and restrictions on NIL and the joke the NCAA is with transfers, it doesn’t matter how much we pay in NIL money, because someone will always pay more.

[molly jabali]

Yes… and no… kids want to
play… I think there will be leveling to some degree

[Topshock]

First of all, I love GM and thought he was going to coach here until he retired. I have tremendous respect for Turg, who turned the program around the right way. However, forget about who these coaches inherited. It does not matter, because Mills, in today’s environment, has a ten times tougher job than either one of those guys had when they came here. Even though a select group of schools cheated it was still possible to recruit a very good player and keep them when GM and MT were coaching.

There is a reason people like Turg and Jay Wright aren’t in college basketball now and why you will probably never see people like Brad Stevens or Billy Donovan back in college unless they are thrown obscene money from a P5 school.

Mills best hope is he catches lightning in a bottle with a few international players like St Marys.

Without rules and restrictions on NIL and the joke the NCAA is with transfers, it doesn’t matter how much we pay in NIL money, because someone will always pay more.

Maybe I am naive, but I still think players will stay at a school when they are happy, playing for a coach they like, teammates they like and a reasonable amount of money.

You can't buy happiness.