The lack of guards is definitely something to be worried about if we're done for next year.

dmvpiranha wrote:

Disappointing that we're going to be keeping multiple scholarships open for next year as of now. I can see us finishing above the Pennsylvania teams, but can't see anything higher than 12th. I can usually find something to get excited about, but this is the first roster in years that just doesn't do it for me.

We added just one piece in the offseason and it's a guy who missed all of last year with injury. I'm assuming Max is going to be fully healthy going into next year, and hope his 36% three point shooting in his last year of HS will continue going into next year. Point guard is what it is at this point, but the guards we do have on the roster largely cannot shoot either. Perhaps CC can put them in better places to succeed. Bishop is very hot and cold (shot under 40% from the field), but we could survive that on last year's roster. Not sure that's the case this year. Adams and Harris aren't good 3-pt shooters. We will need Amir to look for his shot a bit more than he did last year.

The intrigue is seeing what system CC installs on both sides of the ball. Miami ran quite a bit of pick-and-roll, and I think that can help Bishop. I fully expect to see us play with more toughness defensively and be unselfish on offense.

This roster definitely has more forwards and centers with at least a little bit of upside. I want to see Hunter and Noel be given the ball more on offense because I think they can score more than they have so far. Rebounding/positioning is a top focus point for next year in general for the team. I realize Keegan didn't play much in his first year at Charleston, but I'm excited to see how he can stretch the floor offensively. He and Ricky might be the two best distance shooters on the team.

Hopefully Ricky is fully healthy going into next year. He needs to be more aggressive taking the ball to the hoop. He attempted a combined 10 free throws in 15 A10 contests last season (and eight of those came in two games). I'm not sure how that's possible. I think he can be the second best player on the team, and right now he might have to be. Qwanzi shot the ball well from three in A10 play (~39%) but always seemed outmuscled in the A10 when he tried to attack the hoop.

Jabari will likely need some time to develop. Not sure what to make of Daniel Nixon, but a breakout second year would be nice.
 

Nixon is a good sub for Adams. Similar play style

If you expected CC to come in and lose both Bamisile and Freeman and quickly find ready made replacements, I would suggest your expectations were out of whack. This is the price of transition. It's late and while there are still some worthwhile transfer candidates out there, none will likely be at the level of what was lost. So if you are CC do you take lesser talent now as a stopgap or do you wait knowing that next year will likely be tough and focus on rebuilding for the ling haul with youth? I personally would do the latter. Otherwise, you set your rebuild back. I would suspect next year we have probably 8 scholarships. You can't get 5 worthwhile transfers let alone 8. So the smart thing is to recruit your ass off this Summer and look for what you can get. Then you see where you are and fill in accordingly with a few Spring 2023 transfers that fit. But the day they decided to let JC go it was pretty much determined that we'd have to take step back near term to go forward.

Last edited by GWRising (6/29/2022 2:03 pm)

Almost always the way.  Hobbs's first 2 years.  Lonergan's first 2 years.  MoJo won 20 games but his first team paled in comparison to the prior season.  JC improved upon MoJo but did not see the type of progress we had hapoed for.  Well put Rising.  The price of transition.

Obviouly our recruiting and transfer efforts have been disappointing thus far. However, I believe that the team will be better this year than last with the current roster we have. Why? There will be real coaching, strategy, structure and discipline. Last year the players literally did what THEY WANTED-- particularly Bishop. This season will be different! 

GWRising wrote:

If you expected CC to come in and lose both Bamisile and Freeman and quickly find ready made replacements, I would suggest your expectations were out of whack. This is the price of transition. It's late and while there are still some worthwhile transfer candidates out there, none will likely be at the level of what was lost. So if you are CC do you take lesser talent now as a stopgap or do you wait knowing that next year will likely be tough and focus on rebuilding for the ling haul with youth? I personally would do the latter. Otherwise, you set your rebuild back. I would suspect next year we have probably 8 scholarships. You can't get 5 worthwhile transfers let alone 8. So the smart thing is to recruit your ass off this Summer and look for what you can get. Then you see where you are and fill in accordingly with a few Spring 2023 transfers that fit. But the day they decided to let JC go it was pretty much determined that we'd have to take step back near term to go forward.

I can't tell whether this was directed at my post. I don't think anyone on here was expecting to find ready made replacements for Brayon and Joe (or that the team wasn't going to take a step back), but I can only say personally that I was hoping we were going to add more CC transfers this offseason. It's too late now because we're in late June, but it would have been nice to have landed some of the guys we were targeting or otherwise in April/May.

I agree that the focus should be on rebuilding for the long haul with youth, but cannot understand why that couldn't have started this offseason. UMass and URI hired new coaches 1-2 weeks before Caputo was announced, but they signed a bunch of young guys for the long-term. I'm not saying we needed to have 2/3 of the roster new, but filling 8 spots next year doesn't feel ideal either for continuity. Not all the transfers have to pan out right away this year, but it would be useful to have a few underclassmen get comfortable in CC's system for year 2 and then add some freshmen for 2023. Given how hard it's been for us to fill even the 12th spot, perhaps this was the best way to go for the short-term, but looking ahead to next year we are looking at potentially losing Bishop, Adams, Lindo, etc. with little to build from unless Max/Daniel have solid years. The current roster construction doesn't make much sense imo. In a way, it feels like the rebuild is set back a year already. I feel like you don't have to wait until year 2 until you can start adding your guys anymore with the new transfer rule.

Having just four guards on the roster also seems concerning given one is coming off injury and another has gone through multiple injuries in college, but I'm still excited to see what Caputo can do with what we have.
 

I'm hoping that good coaching can do wonders.  Not necessarily optimistic, but hopeful.   No reason that Dean couldn't become much more of an offensive player, or that Brown could become a real force inside.  Andmaybe, just maybe Harris is healed and physically capable of playing 20 minutes a game.   Once again (almost) July breeds hope.

Two points ...

1. My post wasn't directed at anyone specific. It was more of a general point about being realistic given the situation. You all know how I felt about the JC departure. No sense in rehashing that. But once that decision was made, it set in motion some things which are probably not overcome short term. You simply don't lose two players of the caliber of Bamisile and Freeman and expect things to be seemless. Also, coaching has its limits - even if you believe CC will be more effective than JC, there are still a number of additional hurdles he must clear that were added as a result of the JC departure.

2. Nobody said CC isn't trying. Of course, he's trying. The problem is the options are becoming fewer and time is running out. There could be a late surprise but my post was more about philosophy. Based on conversations I have had, I don't think CC is going to take someone he doesn't think fits long term just to fill a roster spot now. To me that is spot on. The temptation is always to fill your available roster spots as a new coach. But often as we have seen through several coaches many of those first year last minute guys don't pan out. If we add somebody it will only be because CC thinks he is part of the rebuild ... not just a stopgap.

Last edited by GWRising (6/30/2022 10:17 am)

It has been 6 weeks since the last post on this thread... Still concerned about the lack of additions to the roster (excluding Max).  In the last few weeks, we lost out on Kaiser and Dubsky, 2 local guys who were probably told that there is a lot of playing time up for grabs.

Florida Colonial wrote:

We lost Dubsky but we didn't lose Kaiser.. No chance there

I can confirm that.  I am friends with the family and have watched his recruiting closely. A year ago, before Jamie blew up, we were definitely in the ball game, along with George Mason and Harvard among others. A lot has changed since then!

Now he’s became a top 50 player in his class, he’s going to IMG Academy next year to finish up high school, and he just had an outstanding game last night in the under armor showcase.

I couldn’t be happier for Jamie and the entire family.