For those of you advocating playing experience over youth and inexperience, remember that our experienced or veteran players got us a whopping 7 wins last year. I would always go with talent over experience. By doing this, your young talented players will be gaining experience. The only players from last year, IMHO, that should get consideration for playing time this year are Marcus(definitely), KJ(back up who plays), Coleman(back up who plays), Amadou(starter or back up depending on how Degnan plays; very disappointing season last year). Combine these guys with Nelson, Segura, Degnan, Kirkland, and Threatt and we might be pretty good. Steve Johnson can hit some open shots so there might be some use of his shooting during the season, but he couldn't guard me. This is my opinion after one showcase this year and last year,s 7 win season.
Post by ctghostman on Oct 28, 2014 12:58:31 GMT -5
Because of last years record, SJ has to win now - he can't afford to take lumps with inexperience two years in a row. Looks like he'll have to though - per comments of the board, 5 of our top 7/8 maybe newcomers - for SJs sake, they (the newcomers) better be good. I hope he's right.
The key for freshman guards to play right away is that they need to be able to Handle the Ball.... and make good decisions. Both Segura and Nelson have shown to be very good in both of those categories. Threatt showed good ballhandling, but he was a little too over-aggressive on his decision making.
For frosh Big Men to play right away, they need to have the Physicality and Size. Kirkland definitely has it and Degnan certainly has the size. I would still like to see his Physicality on Rebounding and defense.
Threatt and Kirkland should not be considered inexperienced and young. They are not, and should hit the ground running.
I'm amazed at how many have decided that Degnan and Kirkland have jumped ahead of Malcolm and Coleman on the depth chart based on viewing one intrasquad scrimmage and Degnan going through some drills.
I didn't see one minute of the scrimmage, so I am not in much of a position to comment. Still in reading the earlier quotes, I felt the same way as Stag76. I will be really surprised if Coleman, Malcolm and Amadou are behind the freshman on the depth chart. The issues that these players had last year (fouling too much and not being physical at other times) are things I would expect them to have improved on in the off season. I would hope Malcolm is ready to contribute this year and there are few players in the Maac will match up with him size wise. Meanwhile, Amadou has been a two year starter who played well as a freshman and who played better as the season progressed last year.. He's the team captain and has a strong work ethic. I kind of think we are going to find he has improved his game since last year and is going to be much more ready to contribute than the freshman. If anyone out there willing to predict that Degnan or Kirkland get more minutes than Sidibe does? Without seeing any of them play, my money is on Sidibe.
The other idea that really concerned me is that Sydney played Rose at the 2 guard. Rose played last year because he was the only player on the team that had a decent handle. He wasn't in there because of his shooting. I am hoping that this year we have two players that can handle the ball and shoot and that those two guys can be at the 1 and 2. I'm doubt Rose has improved his shooting enough to be among the top two guards. Still I see Rose getting critical minutes at point guard but not getting any time at the 2.. Rose wasn't completely ready for prime time last year but was the best option Sydney had. I expect him to be better, but still I think if there is any spot the freshman can try to claim it would be the 1 or 2 guard. Without seeing any of them play, I will predict that one of the freshman gets more minutes than some of our returning guards.
Post by nashvillestag on Oct 28, 2014 23:40:29 GMT -5
RF, agree that Rose is really not suited for the 2, at least not for too many minutes. Actually the disaster of last season was mainly built around the fact that the Stags only had one "decent" guard in KJ, with not much else as far as productivity. The fact that Stevie J. came on and really became the second best backcourt player spoke volumes about how bad the situation was. Nothing against Steve who is a great kid and certainly can shoot the ball, but we need better options, and I'm sure you will see them in Nelson, Segura and Threatt. Regarding the frontcourt, I also think Amadou as the incumbent will certainly see a lot of action based on a lot of things you have articulated about him. Not so sure however about Malcolm or Coleman as they both really do have a lot of competition from Kirkland (an experienced JC player) and Degnan, who quite frankly will soon prove to be a much better scoring option than any of the other big guys IMO. The thing to watch about him initially is if he is physical enough to defend and rebound. He certainly is big enough. And really because of his style of play (inside-outside "stretch") I believe he will be playing PF only, so therefore he will not take minutes away from the center spot. Be interesting to see how Sydney handles this problem for sure.
If the frosh/newcomers are not in the lineup at the beginning of the season, by all accounts it sounds like the are going to push our "veterans" for playing time. This is a good thing: produce or go to the bench. Competition is always a healthy thing. Lets hope that Syd can figure it out, so that we can establish a reliable rotation early on. GO STAGS!
If the frosh/newcomers are not in the lineup at the beginning of the season, by all accounts it sounds like the are going to push our "veterans" for playing time. This is a good thing: produce or go to the bench. Competition is always a healthy thing. Lets hope that Syd can figure it out, so that we can establish a reliable rotation early on. GO STAGS!
Well put Hawk and I think with this statement you may have put your finger on why the team has the chance to show significant improvement this season. And quite frankly this type of thing was referred to in discussions with some of the coaches last week at the dinner when they mentioned that a lot of their practices had been "spirited," and to them that was a good thing. The fact that each player is fighting hard for playing time should only make the team better IMO.
I am encouraged the player talent level seems to be improving, but has Sydney's decision making? A few of us here are right in being cautious about whether Sydney can capitalize on better players. Over the past 3 years it has taken him forever to sort out his starters to the point where he seems to have sacrificed many MAAC games while trying to find his team for the tournament. That is foolish, as conference wins will really matter this year.
Many times my buddies and I were dumbfounded at who sat and who played. My guess is that planted a seed of discontent on the team that led to so many changes. Granted, we aren't at practice, but actual game play under pressure is far more telling. Many get intimidated, nervous, play it safe/unaggressive, or fire up ridiculously low odds shots 10 seconds into the shot clock.
I for one must see an aggressive team that is moving rather than standing around waiting for the other guy to do something. The scoring droughts must end this season. It must be better than .500
Last Edit: Oct 29, 2014 12:03:06 GMT -5 by stagparty
RF, agree that Rose is really not suited for the 2, at least not for too many minutes. Actually the disaster of last season was mainly built around the fact that the Stags only had one "decent" guard in KJ, with not much else as far as productivity. The fact that Stevie J. came on and really became the second best backcourt player spoke volumes about how bad the situation was. Nothing against Steve who is a great kid and certainly can shoot the ball, but we need better options, and I'm sure you will see them in Nelson, Segura and Threatt.
With the addition of Rome Segura, it looks like that KJ Rose will play both PG and 2G this year. KJ certainly brings a lot to the table but he he is not a true PG nor is your typical 2G because he does not shoot well, but he can put points on the board and do a lot of the other things like Ballhandling, Passing, Physical defense and winning the 50-50 looseballs. Some people call that a "Glue" player.... I call it a "Hybrid", but its very similar to the role that Nickerson and Kudjo Sogadzi played in the past. I do see KJ playing about 12mpg at PG and 12mpg when Tyler Nelson is also playing the 3G...... that certainly worked at the Red-White scrimmage as KJ-Rome-Nelson three guard line-up basically doubled the opposition.
Last Edit: Oct 29, 2014 14:37:13 GMT -5 by JoeStag