The Stags-veteran line-up-better finish top 3/4 or many questions will be asked at year end.
Veteran lineup is relative to the level of experience that the other MAAC teams are bringing back.
I see all 5 returning starters on Manhattan's roster, including two All MAAC players. I believe Quinnipiac has four starters back and their Texas A&M transfer. We know Iona is loaded, and 4th place Canisius has four of their 5 starters back.
I'm not sure what's going on with everyone (only 7 players listed on St Peter's roster, Monmouth's roster is not listed, Siena has 3 starters listed but lost Pickett and Camper). Point is that although Stags have a veteran lineup, probably everyone else does too.
Very fair point that it's hard to evaluate the others until we get to see how their rosters are constructed, and BTW some may have improved with better transfers and freshmen then they had leave. I guess from my standpoint though, assuming the league is kind of at the same level of strength as they were this past season, other than Iona who talent-wise may have be a level above everyone else, the Stags certainly showed they could compete favorably with any team in the league in the second half of last season. Therefore with the same roster, and I mean the same totally but also with five new additions if you count Maidoh and Leach coming back from injuries plus the freshmen, that should be a crew capable of doing very good things if they play to the late season level (rather than the first half of last year). A lot of the contests should be close and go right down to the wire, I think we all know that. But in the end I would like to think the experience of EVERYONE playing together as a unit previously should pay off in the end. If OTOH the team fails to live up to some of the modest goals that some of us are hoping for (and BTW echoed from Jay Young in the article that started this thread), that would be cause for alarm that things weren't moving in the right direction.
Been trying to envision Santa flying through the air on Christmas Eve pulled by at team of Reindeer on "shrooms". Usually Stag Euphoria is waining by December 24. Hopefully they will eat a booster batch this year.
I'd like to see a better overall season from Green. He doesn't need to be a star - but I think a little more consistency and maybe taking his game up just a notch would be a big help. Can replace "Cruz" for "Green" in that statement, as well.
I'd like to see a better overall season from Green. He doesn't need to be a star - but I think a little more consistency and maybe taking his game up just a notch would be a big help. Can replace "Cruz" for "Green" in that statement, as well.
Well in the article Jay was very effusive with his praise for how Green was as a leader. Therefore I think that would mean he is counting on him to have a major impact on how the team functions this season. As far as a player I look at Caleb as kind of a 'game manager' as opposed to a dynamic PG who makes a lot of things happen on the court, something that is reflected in both his low assist rate, but also his low turnover numbers. Actually that is not a bad thing as long as there are enough options alongside to benefit from the way he plays the game. I'd like to think the Stags are constructed positively that way. But back to how he performed last season, I think that because the team had such a wretched start and because Caleb was not very good and therefore made a bad first impression with the fans, something that tends to linger for a long time, maybe the fact that he quietly had a real good second half of the year (IMO) might have been overlooked by many. Looking forward, if he plays more like he did in February and March rather than earlier would certainly mean he would indeed have a better overall season, and that could only help the Stags become a better team.
Last Edit: Aug 19, 2021 9:06:36 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Post by Stagophile on Sept 14, 2021 22:00:53 GMT -5
It looks like Chef to me. He is by far the most athletic player we have. I just hope Jay can figure out how to harness and maximize Chef's raw talent this year!
Post by reindeerfan on Sept 15, 2021 11:29:37 GMT -5
Chef surprised me last year. I expected him to be an impact player. still kinda do but its hard for me to see how he gets the minutes to be an impact player.
It's definitely Maidoh doing the high jumping at the end.
I hope Chef improves and makes some good veteran contributions... but I also hope he's like the 11th guy on the bench and doesn't see a ton of minutes because Cook, Maidoh, Crisler, etc. are playing great.
I like the way the team is practicing to get more Athletic. Chef already came to the Stags with some athleticism, but the reason he does not play is that he needs to work on his skills.
Chef surprised me last year. I expected him to be an impact player. still kinda do but its hard for me to see how he gets the minutes to be an impact player.
If Chef performs better than our other players in practice and the scrimmage(s), then he’d get the playing time to become an impact player. And with the depth on our team, he’d need to make an impact during the game because JY has lots of options available to him. I bet Chef becoming an impact player would please JY tremendously.
It's definitely Maidoh doing the high jumping at the end.
I hope Chef improves and makes some good veteran contributions... but I also hope he's like the 11th guy on the bench and doesn't see a ton of minutes because Cook, Maidoh, Crisler, etc. are playing great.
It will be a tough group to break into. The most competitive on the team. And there’s Willis too, who presumably could redshirt. I’d love to hear from someone with insights to how those players are performing in practice. Cook moved past Maidoh before his injury, I believe. And Jay trusted Crisler best in crunch time. Maidoh still has that enormous upside but it’s time to show it consistently. I’m sure he’s working hard to make it happen.
It's definitely Maidoh doing the high jumping at the end.
I hope Chef improves and makes some good veteran contributions... but I also hope he's like the 11th guy on the bench and doesn't see a ton of minutes because Cook, Maidoh, Crisler, etc. are playing great.
It will be a tough group to break into. The most competitive on the team. And there’s Willis too, who presumably could redshirt. I’d love to hear from someone with insights to how those players are performing in practice. Cook moved past Maidoh before his injury, I believe. And Jay trusted Crisler best in crunch time. Maidoh still has that enormous upside but it’s time to show it consistently. I’m sure he’s working hard to make it happen.
I feel the upside on Maidoh and Cook is quite a bit higher than Crisler, but I do think Young felt Crisler was more ready to contribute last season. Certainly Crisler showed he can box out, set a pick and take a charge, not sure offensively he delivers the firepower we will get from another player at that spot.
I feel the upside on Maidoh and Cook is quite a bit higher than Crisler, but I do think Young felt Crisler was more ready to contribute last season. Certainly Crisler showed he can box out, set a pick and take a charge, not sure offensively he delivers the firepower we will get from another player at that spot.
I also think that Young is more comfortable with Crisler shooting a 3 than he would be with Maidoh or Cook shooting a three. If Crisler could improve his % from beyond the arc, we’d also have the advantage of Crisler having good passing angles to drop it down low to either Cook or Maidoh, due to Crisler’s height. Personally, I prefer Cook in the low post — I feel he’s more comfortable scoring while drawing contact compared to Maidoh. Something that really surprised me looking at last year’s stats was Chef actually had a better % from beyond the arc than Crisler, but Chef only had 16 attempts from beyond the arc compared to Crisler’s 59.
Last Edit: Sept 17, 2021 11:36:36 GMT -5 by stag76