AH1971

I think you're vastly underestimating Rice and Carlyle's ability. They might not be deadeye 3 point shooters (and that's ok) but they are both three level scorers who can shot create for themselves. I will ASSURE you that teams will not be sagging off Rice and Carlyle they way they did Cupps/XJ/Galloway last year, 3pt % as first year players be damned. Tristen Newton (32%) and Stephon Castle (26%) weren't 3 point shooters and teams didn't sag off either of them. They scored and got to the rim when they wanted.

Oats was the first coach they targeted. They did not go after Beard.

In the last 3 years, 5 of the top 7 programs of all-time in this sport by my estimation have been open. 1. North Carolina—-hired Hubert Davis, no college HC experience 2. Duke—-hired Jon Scheyer, no college head coaching experience 3. Kentucky——hired Mark Pope, coached at Utah Valley and BYU, zero tournament wins 4. Indiana——hired Mike Woodson, no college head coaching experience 5. Louisville x2——Kenny Payne no college head coaching experience and Pat Kelsey, coached at Winthrop and College of Charleston, zero tournament wins Throw in Arizona whom I consider a top 10 program that hired Tommy Lloyd (no head coaching experience) as well as Syracuse hiring Adrian Autry (no head coaching experience). Ponder that, it’s a crapshoot.

Very well could have been. I just don’t think raw % always tells the story. MM was absolutely dreadful shooting the first 3-4 weeks of the season, like sub 20%. He finished at 32% which again is respectable for a freshman. But he shot 38% for the B10 season on volume (5 attempts/game) which is elite for a freshman, yet somebody somewhere will see 32% and conclude MM isn’t a good 3 point shooter.

This sparked my interest. He basically went 7 straight games without a 3 pt make, 0-22, from mid-February through the PAC 12 tournament. In the other 28 games he shot a modest 33% which is respectable for a first year player. He had 10 games in which he hit multiple 3p’s and had single games where he went; 6-8, 4-7, and 5-10 respectively. For comparison, only Mgbako had more multi-made 3P games than Rice (16). His stroke looks fine and not someone I would consider a 3pt liability down the road.

That is a good point but I think you can extrapolate a little better scoring output as well. Washington St was 322nd in tempo last year. 15 ppg in that system for a freshman says a lot.

Great news!

NGW/Tyme alluding that Rice's visit is just smoke. Any confirmation on your end when he might land on campus?

He's been at two bottom of the barrel P5 jobs with below average talent. Has taken one of those teams to the tournament and won a game. Had a top 30 KenPom defense this year playing a bunch of true freshman and sophomores. Dude can coach. Just a matter of a bigger program buying in and letting him build.

Isn't Rice scheduled this weekend?

His personality is 10x that of Archie, has great connections to both this state and the NBA, and served under Stevens and Painter.

I don't think Schertz is married to SLU. Very possible he's still auditioning for a bigger gig. Shrews and Schertz are both probably the proverbial favorites for the job opening whenever there's a vacancy and if we had made a move this year, I would have still preferred both of them over May.

Literally. He's a monster.

This should be a wake up call and what to expect when IU does ultimately end up moving on from Woodson.

Wonder how close Conwell and Jayden Taylor (Perry Meridian + Buer) are? Guessing that’s one of the connections to NC State?

Seem to remember Antonio Reeves wanting to transfer but he wasn’t sure he had enough credits to graduate and transfer as a grad student (remember the court hadn’t placed an injunction on stopping free for all transfers at the time). He actually went back to Illinois St in the summer and tried to take as many courses as he could and ultimately ended up back at UK.

There's over a 1,000 page thread dedicated to that sort of topic.

Agree that he would be a 9th man type player. Those guys typically avg around 10 mpg which is what I said I believed Cupps would play next year.

Saying that Mike Woodson has no intention of using or developing Gabe Cupps because X, X, and X happened in the past is in fact bashing. Nobody on here has any clue how or what Gabe Cupps will look like next year. From my experiences, the best thing about freshman is that they always become sophomores.

This isn't the bash Mike Woodson thread. If you want to do that, take it to the appropriate place. Writing off Gabe Cupps after a single year after being thrusted into a role he wasn't ready for is just silly.

He wouldn't have recruited Cupps if that were the case...

That's on him

Yeah I think's its crazy to write off Gabe Cupps after 1 year

Bates improved a lot from his freshman to sophomore year

Cupps will be in the rotation next year, 10-15 mpg as a backup 1 guard. Players do get better, especially from freshman to sophomore year.