The team is worse than lousy right now. The teams we beat earlier in the year we might lose to if we were to play them again. With losing John Carlos Reyes, Jerome Robinson and A. J. Turner, arguably our three best freshmen, coupled with Eli Carter's slump, we can be absolutely beyond belief some nights. While there is a silver lining in the emergence of Milon and Thompkins, their play can not overcome our other deficiencies.
As to the future, Eli Carter and Dennis Clifford will be gone at the end of the season. While not great players, they will be missed. What can we expect from what remains and the new additions?
Center:
I believe Reyes was just beginning to show us what he could do offensively when he got hurt. Physically immature, this year off should enable him to put on some needed muscle and weight. While I don't know if he has the athleticism to play the 4, he appears to have a number of strong moves around the basket and a nice touch with the basketball.
Idy Daillo is surprisingly raw around the basket. He was initially a fouling machine. It is hard to imagine how anyone with his God given physical tools could have such an immature game. He is a project and hopefully will continue to improve.
Mike Popovic is a 6-10 European player who is suppose to have good offensive moves, a nice scoring touch, better than average speed and a mean streak. While still not filled in physically, he is a fairly balanced player.
I like Clifford but he is only beginning to reassert himself after his many injuries. While I would love to still have him next year, I feel fairly optimistic about our future. I think Popovic is given an opportunity to start. Reyes and Daillo will both contribute but the extent to which they play will be based on how quickly they mature. The good news is that instead of having an evolving Clifford and a foul plagued Diallo, we now have three guys, if they stay healthy, that can contribute with Reyes and Popovic possessing some good offensive skills hopefully Diallo staying away from fouls possessing great shot blocking and rebounding potential.
Strong and Small Forward:
Between Turner, Milon, Owens and Meznieks, this was our greatest weakness. When we played most ACC teams, we could not matchup at either strong or small forward. Even when Turner was healthy, we had no one who could both defend and score at the same time. While Turner is a good defender and Milon is a great jump shooter, neither could play both sides of the ball let alone rebound consistently. With Owens and Meznieks, they are just not big or talented enough to play the 4.
Going forward, Mike Sagay would appear to be a specimen. At 6-8 with Olympic athleticism, he should be able to defend and rebound at the 4 position. With a healthy Turner at the 3, we should be able to play defense and rebound at an ACC level with these guys on the floor. Neither of them have a recent history of scoring a lot so we are going to need to get offense elsewhere. I honestly think Milon if he stays will provide some of this. As to Owens and Meznieks, I am not sure what they can contribute on the ACC level above being role players. Generally, for us to be competitive, it will be more important that we get rebounding and defense from the 3 and 4 going forward. With Reyes and Popovic, we are going to get scoring from the 5 and with Graves and Thompkins, Hicks and Robinson, we are going to get offense from the point and shooting guard.
Point and Shooting Guard:
Ty Graves better be as advertised because this is going to be his and Jerome Robinson's team. Robinson is a good defender, good shooter, good penetrator, good rebounder and only getting better. Ty Graves is a prototypical point guard who is both smooth and aggressive. He is the whole package and we sorely need him. These two guys are going to lead the team and we will be able to go as far as they take us. To my earlier point, if the power small forwards neutralize our opposition defensively and on the boards, we have a great chance with these guys and Hicks and Thompkins off the bench, to succeed.
We should be a lot better at the point and shooting guard this next year. Eli Carter tried to transition to the point guard from shooting guard and he had mixed results. With all the weaknesses and youth on the team, he simply could not do enough. Unlike Hanlon who usually saved his best for the second half of games, Carter's BC teams tended to collapse or disappear in the second half of games.
Graves already has shown us that he is willing to sacrifice himself on his high school team so a smaller player can start at the point. From viewing his tapes, the kid can outright play. With Robinson, the guy is only beginning to grow his whiskers and assert himself. These two guys could be special together. The only issue for me is what is their ceiling. The ACC is so good. Do Graves and Robinson have the potential to play at the highest level? Time will be the only one who knows this.
Conclusion:
By the way, I do not blame Christian or the staff for what happened this year. Based on what we have seen, we do not know whether Christian is a good coach or not. He currently does not have the horses to compete. I have played and coached on good and bad teams. Two or three years from now we will be able to fairly assess the guy and his staff. We need to give him time.
Next season Christian, his coaches and his team will have a chance to reinvent themselves. If Popovic, Graves and Sagay are upgrades at the point guard, power forward and center positions and Robinson and Turner come back to start at the 2 and the 3, we will have a completely new starting five than what will be suiting up against Virginia Tech this week. It will be a group consisting of three freshmen and two sophomores. We will not be a team of one and dones but four and five year guys who still have some work to do on their game. We are going to have to be happy with close losses at times where we really want to win. But unlike this year where our leaders will be gone at season's end, we will be living in the realm of possibility.
As to the future, Eli Carter and Dennis Clifford will be gone at the end of the season. While not great players, they will be missed. What can we expect from what remains and the new additions?
Center:
I believe Reyes was just beginning to show us what he could do offensively when he got hurt. Physically immature, this year off should enable him to put on some needed muscle and weight. While I don't know if he has the athleticism to play the 4, he appears to have a number of strong moves around the basket and a nice touch with the basketball.
Idy Daillo is surprisingly raw around the basket. He was initially a fouling machine. It is hard to imagine how anyone with his God given physical tools could have such an immature game. He is a project and hopefully will continue to improve.
Mike Popovic is a 6-10 European player who is suppose to have good offensive moves, a nice scoring touch, better than average speed and a mean streak. While still not filled in physically, he is a fairly balanced player.
I like Clifford but he is only beginning to reassert himself after his many injuries. While I would love to still have him next year, I feel fairly optimistic about our future. I think Popovic is given an opportunity to start. Reyes and Daillo will both contribute but the extent to which they play will be based on how quickly they mature. The good news is that instead of having an evolving Clifford and a foul plagued Diallo, we now have three guys, if they stay healthy, that can contribute with Reyes and Popovic possessing some good offensive skills hopefully Diallo staying away from fouls possessing great shot blocking and rebounding potential.
Strong and Small Forward:
Between Turner, Milon, Owens and Meznieks, this was our greatest weakness. When we played most ACC teams, we could not matchup at either strong or small forward. Even when Turner was healthy, we had no one who could both defend and score at the same time. While Turner is a good defender and Milon is a great jump shooter, neither could play both sides of the ball let alone rebound consistently. With Owens and Meznieks, they are just not big or talented enough to play the 4.
Going forward, Mike Sagay would appear to be a specimen. At 6-8 with Olympic athleticism, he should be able to defend and rebound at the 4 position. With a healthy Turner at the 3, we should be able to play defense and rebound at an ACC level with these guys on the floor. Neither of them have a recent history of scoring a lot so we are going to need to get offense elsewhere. I honestly think Milon if he stays will provide some of this. As to Owens and Meznieks, I am not sure what they can contribute on the ACC level above being role players. Generally, for us to be competitive, it will be more important that we get rebounding and defense from the 3 and 4 going forward. With Reyes and Popovic, we are going to get scoring from the 5 and with Graves and Thompkins, Hicks and Robinson, we are going to get offense from the point and shooting guard.
Point and Shooting Guard:
Ty Graves better be as advertised because this is going to be his and Jerome Robinson's team. Robinson is a good defender, good shooter, good penetrator, good rebounder and only getting better. Ty Graves is a prototypical point guard who is both smooth and aggressive. He is the whole package and we sorely need him. These two guys are going to lead the team and we will be able to go as far as they take us. To my earlier point, if the power small forwards neutralize our opposition defensively and on the boards, we have a great chance with these guys and Hicks and Thompkins off the bench, to succeed.
We should be a lot better at the point and shooting guard this next year. Eli Carter tried to transition to the point guard from shooting guard and he had mixed results. With all the weaknesses and youth on the team, he simply could not do enough. Unlike Hanlon who usually saved his best for the second half of games, Carter's BC teams tended to collapse or disappear in the second half of games.
Graves already has shown us that he is willing to sacrifice himself on his high school team so a smaller player can start at the point. From viewing his tapes, the kid can outright play. With Robinson, the guy is only beginning to grow his whiskers and assert himself. These two guys could be special together. The only issue for me is what is their ceiling. The ACC is so good. Do Graves and Robinson have the potential to play at the highest level? Time will be the only one who knows this.
Conclusion:
By the way, I do not blame Christian or the staff for what happened this year. Based on what we have seen, we do not know whether Christian is a good coach or not. He currently does not have the horses to compete. I have played and coached on good and bad teams. Two or three years from now we will be able to fairly assess the guy and his staff. We need to give him time.
Next season Christian, his coaches and his team will have a chance to reinvent themselves. If Popovic, Graves and Sagay are upgrades at the point guard, power forward and center positions and Robinson and Turner come back to start at the 2 and the 3, we will have a completely new starting five than what will be suiting up against Virginia Tech this week. It will be a group consisting of three freshmen and two sophomores. We will not be a team of one and dones but four and five year guys who still have some work to do on their game. We are going to have to be happy with close losses at times where we really want to win. But unlike this year where our leaders will be gone at season's end, we will be living in the realm of possibility.
