Most nights the Stags started players who were freshmen and sophomores, and they struggled to keep pace with the upper echelon of the conference. Despite going through a 4-16 season over MAAC play, head coach Sydney Johnson said he feels he has the makings of the core he would like to see make the Stags’ next push for a MAAC championship......
Next season Johnson said he expects Rose and incoming freshman Jerome Segura to be the key contributors at the point guard spot......
“The honest answer is yes I expected more from Malcolm Gilbert 100%, but when we got him out there, when we got him in the game situations, when we were scrimmaging in practice I realized that he had more rust on him than I expected or acknowledged,” Johnson said of Malcolm...
Rose, Sidibe as well as both Gilbert brothers appear to be the key core moving forward for Fairfield, but Johnson said he is looking to bring in an instant contributor to bolster their chances for 2015. Whether that be from the junior college ranks or possibly a fifth-year transfer remains to be seen as the April recruiting period opens up.
Rose, Marcus and Sidibe are certainly part of the Core returning players. But, I am happy that Malcolm was mentioned as the 4th Core player, and surprised that Coleman is not. That is certainly a shift in the Depth Chart. Malcolm improved as the season went on, while Coleman regressed. One of the key improvements for next year is if Sidibe can expand his game to a PF..... that would mean he has to hit those 10-15 footers. He started to take them and hit them at the end of the season.
Segura is almost certain to get a full opportunity, as he is proabably our best or second best ballhander.
And while not mentioned by name, the JUCO or 5th year senior will have to be a core player at 2G.
Last Edit: Apr 16, 2014 13:46:23 GMT -5 by JoeStag
From the article: The Stags were the 31st youngest team in all of college basketball this season...
Can someone provide a link to the site that lists D1 schools as far as youngest and oldest. I'd love to see how our won-loss record compares to the 30 teams that were younger than us.
Ryan Restivo replied to my email with a snapshot of where in the kenpom site he got that information from. It turns out that both Monmouth and Siena had less experience than us last season. We were 31st, Monmouth 17th and Siena was the 11th youngest in the experience category. Apparently, the category that's being compared is D1 experience not age of the players. And yet I don't ever recall reading Patsos stating it was difficult to win the CBI championship in his 1st season at Siena because his team was so young.
Anyone who subscribes to kenpom.com would be able to confirm that information about Monmouth and Siena. Other teams with less experience than us last season were Kentucky, Kansas, Texas, NC State and Michigan but I don't think it's fair to compare us to those schools since they're recruiting a different level talent than we are. Among the 30 teams with less experience than us last season from the Northeastern section of the country were Maine, Brown, Binghamton, NJIT, and James Madison.
And while not mentioned by name, the JUCO or 5th year senior will have to be a core player at 2G.
Saying that a unsigned/non-verbal commitment player is a key to next year is awfully scary.
Unfortunately, I have to agree. If the core players are not enough to get it done and we have to again rely on unproven newcomers, then that is not a sign of strength. It seems Sydney is trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat. That added player or two will only make us a bit more competitive rather than put us towards the top of the MAAC for a real chance at competing for a title. That's an important distinction here.
No doubt. This is a circus. Syd is entering his 4th year and there is more uncertainty than ever. That is not good. And no, it's not because of a recruiting class 4 years ago. Good luck Syd, hope you find that diamond in the rough!
And while not mentioned by name, the JUCO or 5th year senior will have to be a core player at 2G.
Saying that a unsigned/non-verbal commitment player is a key to next year is awfully scary.
Getting a JUCO 2G is not nearly as scary as having to go with inexperienced Freshman like last year. The plan is to get JUCO 2G who can put up points, and wants to be "the man" who can put up points, and has been a player that has done it at the college level.
The plan is to get JUCO 2G who can put up points, and wants to be "the man" who can put up points, and has been a player that has done it at the college level.
These types of players aren't easy gets - they seem to be popular among coaches and therefore there is competition for them. We're not an easy sell right now.
The plan is to get JUCO 2G who can put up points, and wants to be "the man" who can put up points, and has been a player that has done it at the college level.
These types of players aren't easy gets - they seem to be popular among coaches and therefore there is competition for them. We're not an easy sell right now.
JUCO's can score, thats what we need at 2G, and thats what we are going after hard. Someone who has put up 20 consistently, sometimes 30 and almost 40 on occassion. Thats what JUCO's do, just score, score, score. Now, I don't think that we are going to get someone who is going to average 40ppg in Division I..... but it would be nice if he could be a serious double-digit scorer at the 2G. Not easy to get, but we will get our man.
Last Edit: Apr 16, 2014 22:01:44 GMT -5 by JoeStag
Post by nashvillestag on Apr 16, 2014 22:52:53 GMT -5
Well the beauty of basketball, unlike other sports such as baseball or football, is that sometimes one or two of the right players can make a huge difference in the fortunes of a team. Yes folks, I know, I know, the guard situation this past season has been a mess. But does that mean Sydney Johnson, a man who has proven to be very successful in many areas of the sport both as a player and a coach, all of a sudden has no idea how to put together a winning operation? My guess is he will get a high scoring JUCO. My guess is Tyler Nelson will also be a much better fit for this team than most of the players that were manning the backcourt for the Stags this past year. If the above doesn't come true and there isn't improvement then there will be consequences (and there absolutely should be), but to completely discount any possibility of success based upon one cycle of recruiting is folly IMO. You only have to look back to the huge difference that Derek Needham meant to this program when #3 became an important cog from day one of his career. Without his success maybe Cooley would not be where his is today, right? Just saying!
To say this is desperation is really just wishing SJ ill will. One guard makes a profound difference as Needham showed us all. And just Stevie Johnson playing solidly made us markedly better.
So now we are bringing in the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Mass. The recognized best true PG in metro Houston, pop. 6 million. And we want to add one more piece, a proven college scorer. Sounds like a plan to me
'79 -- I agree that there is now a plan in place for our team to be better next season. However, I'm wondering why Sydney didn't realize during his first or second year that Needham, Wade, and Nickerson would all graduate during the same season so he would need to bring in two quality guards to continue the level of success that Cooley and his players had brought to the program. Sydney's solution to that situation (his "plan") was to bring in Jenkins and Grennan. It's difficult to argue that SJ's plan for the guard position worked out well for us. Some like to point out that a juco 2G who can score a lot will improve us tremendously, but what if this juco's defense is awful.
For those who claim a guard as talented as Needham is the reason we were successful in the recent past, I'd like to mention that we were 17-15 overall and 9-9 in the MAAC in the season before Needham enrolled. Cooley had improved our won-loss record in each of his first three seasons. That 17-15 record occurred in the season Han abruptly left the team and we had Memphis, Virginia Tech, and Missouri on our schedule.
I'd love for the incoming players to be the perfect match for our needs and for us to return to the top tier of the MAAC next season. But having seen the results of Sydney's plans during his first two seasons; it's difficult for me to get extremely enthusiastic at this point about the '14-'15 season.
