Next Year

[1972Shocker]

One potential thing to watch:
https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/...y-next-season/

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe that the 2023-2024 academic year includes the summer semester. So I believe the NCAA has already said that if a player transfers during the 2023-2024 Academic year they will be eligible without needing a waiver for 2024-2025. So if i'm reading that right, if a player enters the transfer portal in April, then enrolls for the summer at the new school, they would qualify.

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So if the summer session is in fact considered part of the 2023-24 academic year then I would be surprised if we don't see massive turnover. Mostly players choosing to transfer with perhaps a few pushed out by HCPM.

I think Kenny and Isaac are gone for sure in any case as the rule doesn't apply to them.

As far a players who have used their 1 free transfer (or more) I'm okay if Bell, Rogers, DeGray, Ballard and Beverly hang around. Cortes needs to move on. Although there is no assurance they will stay around.

I don't think we have the luxury of keeping Joy and Bamba around with the hopes that they develop. Even if they want to HCPM may have to push then out of the nest.

So if the 5 guys I mentioned hang around and assuming TJ and Zion stay with their commitments the Shocks would have 6 scholarships to give. If those could be deployed successfully we could get this thing moving in the right direction. But even if those scholarships are deployed successfully their is no assurance that HCPM's system can produce winning basketball.

Among those 6 scholarships we need a top notch point guard, another 3-point sniper, a stretch 4 and another 5. I suppose after that you take the 2 best players you can get. I suppose you could decide to keep Joy and/or Bamba if you don't think you can find upgrades over Joy and/or Bamba with those final 2 scholarships.

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As far as what HCPM's chances of successfully deploying those 4 to 6 scholarships is a whole other question. Count me as not particularly confident. My hope is I am proven wrong.

[ShockTalk]

One potential thing to watch:
https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/...y-next-season/

I suppose you could decide to keep Joy and/or Bamba if you don't think you can find upgrades over Joy and/or Bamba with those final 2 scholarships.

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As far as what HCPM's chances of successfully deploying those 4 to 6 scholarships is a whole other question. Count me as not particularly confident. My hope is I am proven wrong.

Isn't that what Williams and Pipkin are??

[1972Shocker]

Isn't that what Williams and Pipkin are??

They probably are if you can successfully deploy the 6 scholarships (or more if any of Bell, Rogers, DeGray, Ballard or Beverly decide to move on). Although you will most likely have to make that call on Joy and Bamba before you have the commitments in hand to replace them.

[wichshock65]

Everyone and their brother will be coming after our best players (using the term "best" loosely). I'm not convinced the only ones left are at the end of the bench. Does PM have the sphincter muscles to pull off a 100% turnover?

[Onegreatracer]

I'm just not sure why people say that Mills is misusing Pohto... it's the other way around, Pohto is a terrible fit in Mills' system. He had every opportunity to leave after seeing who the HC was and having time to watch and understand his system and chose not to. If Mills bent his system around just to cater to Pohto (a borderline honorable mention All Conf player at best) in year 1 when he was trying to establish a culture that would be a gigantic coaching fail. Not to mention it's not likely to have won us many more games.

[CBB_Fan]

It seems to me that Mills' vision of the team is a positionless basketball concept where instead of players playing certain positions, all players can play at any place on the court: bigs can play on the perimeter, and guards can post up. Just look at the players we've offered, and you'll see that versatile skillset mentioned again and again in the recruiting spiel. Joy is an example this year, and offers like Isaiah Washington, Virgil Hall, and Kany Tchanda all fall in that category. If Pohto doesn't fit in with that, it isn't for lack of trying. He has been trying to add and incorporate outside-in elements to his game from the get-go, to little success in games. Another example is the recent innovation of using Bell and Cortes at the same time despite both being point guards.

Here's a quote:

“For me, it’s not a big deal. I don’t get caught up in, ‘You’re the 1, you’re the 2, you’re the 3, you’re the 4 and you’re the 5.’ It’s more about how do you play and what should the spacing look like, regardless of who has the basketball.” - https://www.aol.com/non-traditional-...110000363.html

This type of gameplan requires 12 good players who have the skillsets to play anywhere, with mix-and-match skillsets where good spacing and passing are paramount. That is the antithesis of this team. Some of our bigs lack the quickness to be successful on the perimeter, and passing and shooting are 4 letter words.

In a perfect world, players that don't fit in that system would find better fits for their talents and we'd instantly bring in a roster that fixed all our issues. But we'll likely lose some players we hope to keep, keep some players with good attitudes despite fit issues, and bring in some players that will turn out worse than hoped. I don't know if this style of basketball fits the recruits we can bring in reliably, and I'm not going to throw out wild predictions of success. I hope things get better quickly, but I think next year will have its own growing pains unless someone spontaneously turns into an Abmas level player.

[ShockTalk]

I'm just not sure why people say that Mills is misusing Pohto... it's the other way around, Pohto is a terrible fit in Mills' system. He had every opportunity to leave after seeing who the HC was and having time to watch and understand his system and chose not to. If Mills bent his system around just to cater to Pohto (a borderline honorable mention All Conf player at best) in year 1 when he was trying to establish a culture that would be a gigantic coaching fail. Not to mention it's not likely to have won us many more games.

My understanding is that Pohto either did or was going to go into the portal, but Mills "recruited" him back.

[BostonWu]

We need to keep Ballard and Rogers. They will be sought after by many teams. I also would keep DeGray, Beverly, Joy, maybe Bamba if the coaches think so. The 2 recruits hopefully stay committed. I would also make an effort to keep Bell. He is a local kid and has been forced into playing pg when he really does not possess the skills for that position. He is our best shooting guard at 44% for the year, our 2nd best shooting 3pt guard at 32% for the year. He plays better defense than most if not all of our guards. He turns the ball over too much but if we had a quality pg he wouldn't have it in his hands as much. If we can keep these guys and add a quality pg we should be successful next year.

While PG is by far our most pressing need, we have gaping holes that go beyond adding just a PG.

[pinstripers]

Another example is the recent innovation of using Bell and Cortes at the same time despite both being point guards.
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No. No. Cortes is a point guard, tho not a particularly good one. Bell is not a point guard on this or any other planet. We play him there sometimes, but he cannot dribble or pass. He's not one, probably never had to play there before.

[CBB_Fan]

No. No. Cortes is a point guard, tho not a particularly good one. Bell is not a point guard on this or any other planet. We play him there sometimes, but he cannot dribble or pass. He's not one, probably never had to play there before.

Regardless of their ability to play make, they both guard the other team's PG and until the last few games never shared the court. I agree that skillwise he was always more of a straight shooting guard (that is what he played in high school and at Drexel), but Mills clearly saw Cortes and Bell as taking minutes from the same pool.

[forevershockerfan]

Most of us want to keep QB and Rogers. So will some foes with deep pockets if the rules allow it.

[Atxshoxfan]

Most of us want to keep QB and Rogers. So will some foes with deep pockets if the rules allow it.

As long as the courts view student athletes as employees of their universities, they will use labor laws, and the rules will allow it.

[Stickboy46]

For those curious, Taylor seems to agree with the way I read that NCAA letter in the OP. It's expected that everyone can transfer freely this off season

[asiseeit]

Focus on retaining our two centers first and build baby build. Rogers only has the one strength but it's one we need badly. Everyone else is vulnerable to be recruited over. XB has the physical tools to be good if he would only see the court when doubled and find the open man.

[Stickboy46]

Alright .. updating my thoughts with the developments from the last few games

No eligibility

• Ridgnal
• Germany

Must Keep

• Rogers
• Ballard
• Good Cortes

Keep but in a different role

• Bell

Pretty Neutral on, could keep, but could also recruit over

• Pohto
• Beverly (might move him up to keep)
• DeGray

Probably should go

• Abidde

Keep because they are young

• Bamba
• Joy

Absolutely has to go

• Bad Cortes