I’m far from a Koolaid Drinker (quite the opposite), but I’m going to attempt to answer your question with tangible data. No excuses for losing, no blaming Covid, and no hypotheticals like “we would have won this game or that if”…..
So, why am I confident we can show marked improvement next season?
1) Domask and Jones will be a year older and better.
2) Banks has shown positive development and should continue to do so.
3) Role players like Verplancken, Brown, and especially Freshman D’ Amico should continue to mature.
4) We will add 6’10” Freshmen Scottie Ebube and 7’0” Cade Hornecker to our frontline. In my opinion, Ebube will immediately be the best big man on the team and should make the MVC All-Freshman Team, pushing Filewich and Muila into reserve roles. Hornecker has the skills to play the Stretch 4, if necessary. But he may need a Redshirt Year to get bigger & stronger. Bottom line is our length will be greatly improved.
5) Foster Wonders is already the best pure shooter on the squad and will be eligible next year, after spending a Redshirt Year in the program working on his defense and athleticism. He should give an immediate boost to our Offense.
6) We are very much “in on” the Number 1 rated Juco PG in the country. If we get Bryan Moore, he will be an immediate game-changer and he has 3 years of eligibility remaining.
7) I don’t know what’s going to happen with Ben Harvey. But if he’s no longer able to play, that gives us another scholarship to use. The staff will use it to hit the Transfer Portal hard to get better and more athletic.
8) We have a good, capable, young Coaching Staff. They already work their butts off on the Recruiting Trail and will continue to learn and improve Game Strategy.
Really, the only Negative I see for next year is the loss of Coupet. But I’m confident his replacement will come either in the form of Bryan Moore or via the Transfer Portal.
Yes, I’m fairly disappointed in the current mediocre season. But I do believe there are legit reasons to be hopeful for the immediate future. Hope that answer the question.
Good post. This is a hopeful yet (mostly) realistic vision for how the program can make strides in the near future. My couple biggest concerns/hang-ups at this point are:
- As difficult as it would be, I do think Bryan needs to give very serious consideration to bringing in at least one new assistant with a strong offensive feel. The mostly woeful offensive outputs and frequent scoring droughts just aren't going to get it done. If he's determined to have the staff remain intact, they need to do whatever it takes this offseason to come up with some new approaches to breathe more life and pace into the offense.
- Lance Jones. I'm probably in the minority on this board, but I've begun to question if Southern can get to the next level with Lance as a key piece. Pains me to say it, because I like Lance quite a bit and he plays his ass off, but his ongoing assist-to-turnover woes, decision-making at key times, very streaky scoring, FT shooting woes, etc., has no doubt been part of what has dragged down the offense. And he's at the end of Year 3 ... what is magically going to change? His defense is pretty damn good, though. Right now they have no choice but to roll with the good and the bad, but if the roster composition changes ... ?
I don't think super seniors leaving is the only thing, we will also be the oldest team around in a couple years.. I just think when you build through freshman like Bryan has you need to wait until you have the oldest guys playing to evaluate. Once Lance and Marcus are seniors we should have old guys on the court every year. Ben is really good, but he has been horribly inconsistent and does not fall in the category of Lucas Williamson and the kids from Drake because he has not been in the program for multiple years.
How much longer of mediocrity? No one answered the question …. Just a barrage of excuses and blame past coaches were posted.
So many on this site is quick to defend but no one laid out reasoning of when and how this will be turned around.
To the Kool-aid drinkers on this site ……. Sale me your vision of how and when this is turned around. For example: recruits, change in philosophy on offense and defense, staffing changes. I don’t want fluff …. Convince me on how this going to get better real soon.
To the few supporters who agree with me …. thanks for being honest. I want NCAA appearances!
Don't feed the troll. Dean is just here to denigrate the coaching staff because he is still butt hurt SIU canned his god Chris Lowery. There have been good comments on this thread, but I would encourage folks not to reply to Dean/lewis-park-16e directly because he is literally the biggest troll on here.
I would rather be patient have some growing pains for the simple reason of sustainability. Build a consistent winner and challenge for conference titles and at large bids not having one offs like Drake or looking for the next job like Ford at MOST I like our future let Mullins have full recruiting seasons then make a decision like most l am frustrated but the future could be bright
How much longer of mediocrity? No one answered the question …. Just a barrage of excuses and blame past coaches were posted.
So many on this site is quick to defend but no one laid out reasoning of when and how this will be turned around.
To the Kool-aid drinkers on this site ……. Sale me your vision of how and when this is turned around. For example: recruits, change in philosophy on offense and defense, staffing changes. I don’t want fluff …. Convince me on how this going to get better real soon.
To the few supporters who agree with me …. thanks for being honest. I want NCAA appearances!
Don't feed the troll. Dean is just here to denigrate the coaching staff because he is still butt hurt SIU canned his god Chris Lowery. There have been good comments on this thread, but I would encourage folks not to reply to Dean/lewis-park-16e directly because he is literally the biggest troll on here.
He just wants someone to sale him their vision. Someone sale this man. buy low, sale high. I would sale my soul for an NCAA appearance. Now is also the time to sale your house!
I’m far from a Koolaid Drinker (quite the opposite), but I’m going to attempt to answer your question with tangible data. No excuses for losing, no blaming Covid, and no hypotheticals like “we would have won this game or that if”…..
So, why am I confident we can show marked improvement next season?
1) Domask and Jones will be a year older and better.
2) Banks has shown positive development and should continue to do so.
3) Role players like Verplancken, Brown, and especially Freshman D’ Amico should continue to mature.
4) We will add 6’10” Freshmen Scottie Ebube and 7’0” Cade Hornecker to our frontline. In my opinion, Ebube will immediately be the best big man on the team and should make the MVC All-Freshman Team, pushing Filewich and Muila into reserve roles. Hornecker has the skills to play the Stretch 4, if necessary. But he may need a Redshirt Year to get bigger & stronger. Bottom line is our length will be greatly improved.
5) Foster Wonders is already the best pure shooter on the squad and will be eligible next year, after spending a Redshirt Year in the program working on his defense and athleticism. He should give an immediate boost to our Offense.
6) We are very much “in on” the Number 1 rated Juco PG in the country. If we get Bryan Moore, he will be an immediate game-changer and he has 3 years of eligibility remaining.
7) I don’t know what’s going to happen with Ben Harvey. But if he’s no longer able to play, that gives us another scholarship to use. The staff will use it to hit the Transfer Portal hard to get better and more athletic.
8) We have a good, capable, young Coaching Staff. They already work their butts off on the Recruiting Trail and will continue to learn and improve Game Strategy.
Really, the only Negative I see for next year is the loss of Coupet. But I’m confident his replacement will come either in the form of Bryan Moore or via the Transfer Portal.
Yes, I’m fairly disappointed in the current mediocre season. But I do believe there are legit reasons to be hopeful for the immediate future. Hope that answer the question.
Good post. This is a hopeful yet (mostly) realistic vision for how the program can make strides in the near future. My couple biggest concerns/hang-ups at this point are:
- As difficult as it would be, I do think Bryan needs to give very serious consideration to bringing in at least one new assistant with a strong offensive feel. The mostly woeful offensive outputs and frequent scoring droughts just aren't going to get it done. If he's determined to have the staff remain intact, they need to do whatever it takes this offseason to come up with some new approaches to breathe more life and pace into the offense.
- Lance Jones. I'm probably in the minority on this board, but I've begun to question if Southern can get to the next level with Lance as a key piece. Pains me to say it, because I like Lance quite a bit and he plays his ass off, but his ongoing assist-to-turnover woes, decision-making at key times, very streaky scoring, FT shooting woes, etc., has no doubt been part of what has dragged down the offense. And he's at the end of Year 3 ... what is magically going to change? His defense is pretty damn good, though. Right now they have no choice but to roll with the good and the bad, but if the roster composition changes ... ?
-One thing I'd like to add, Bryan Moore would be a great get and seems to have some scoring punch, but he doesn't completely replace Coupet. Moore I think helps solve the PG problem and allows Jones to move off the ball where he is better suited as a scorer. I think that will help his Asst/TO. We still need a longer athletic wing, maybe D'Amico and Wonders can pick that up to some degree, but I think they still need depth at the 3/4. People underestimate how much Coupet has helped improve our rebounding this year (he averages almost 5 per game) and his defense has been pretty solid.
-Addressing the Jones critique in addition to moving him off the ball, he's got to start balancing his aggressiveness a bit more, especially when the TOs and offensive fouls start to mount. It's a tough balancing act, b/c that aggressiveness is also what makes him so hard to guard. As he matures I think/hope he's able curtail some of those games where he's at 5-6 turnovers. I think his 3-pt shooting last year was probably a bit of an aberration, although I think he's better than what he's shooting this year. I would expect somewhere around 35-38%, especially with some of the tough 3's he takes. I think the same can be said of his FT shooting, I would expect that number to go up next year...probably never going to be an 80% shooter, but I think 68-70% for him is realistic. As was mentioned, his defense is great and I don't think it's impossible for him to bring up those other numbers next year.
-Lastly, I would expect another scholarship to be available beyond the one we are carrying, whether it's Harvey not being able to play, or someone transferring, it is very rare to keep an entire unit together these days.
-As an aside, feel really bad for Harvey. He's been through a lot the last couple years. Forget basketball, I hope he's able to get healthy moving forward.
What's this???!! Thoughtful dialogue about Saluki Basketball??!! Me Like.
LJ was great defensively last night, but I tend to agree that he gets out-of-control on the offense at times and tries to do too much especially late in shot clocks. It is getting a bit late to chalk this up to needing to mature in his decision making, but perhaps he will grow.
Marcus had a wonderful game last night and seemed to get his shot off quicker instead of backing down and getting a great deal of contact in the low post that resulted in not scoring in previous games.
Troy D. needs more playing time as he does so many intangible things on the court. I would like to see him look to score a bit more.
Last night's game not withstanding, but I think having DB in the starting lineup as improved our starts offensively, and even last night we had an easy basket and two missed free throws earlier that impacted us having a dreadful 11-0 start.
Our defense is the best in the conference IMHO and doesn't typically go on vacation at home or on the road. This may be the single biggest positive now and in the future for our team. If we can't score keeping them from scoring does keep things close (reference Loyola, Uni). While this has not led to us winning some of these close games this season, I suspect in the future it will be the foundation of us winning many games.
It will be interesting to see next year what Murray and Belmont bring to the league. Both are fine teams it appears, but the grind of the Valley is something these programs have not experienced. No days off even against the lower half of the conference as compared to the OVC. I suspect both will be in the top five or six, but I don't think they will walk through the conference schedule carefree by any means.
Wonders, Ebube, and H. will all need to contribute next year in some fashion for us to be able to take next step to top three in the conference. That's a lot to ask for two redshirts and a true freshman. I don't see our program being mediocre by any means, but I also don't see them winning the Valley next year at this point either. We need another scorer with length (i.e. Mosely Mo State) if we are going to fight for top three next year.
A lot of good conversation going on here. The disappointing part is that we've fed the troll a solid 8 pages of entertainment on this ridiculous thread, which is exactly why he posts something so ignorant in the first place.
Yeah, that might be true. But at 7-8, 14-13, and no post season for over a decade, it's actually a fair question. Even if it did come from a troll! 😜
What's this???!! Thoughtful dialogue about Saluki Basketball??!! Me Like.
LJ was great defensively last night, but I tend to agree that he gets out-of-control on the offense at times and tries to do too much especially late in shot clocks. It is getting a bit late to chalk this up to needing to mature in his decision making, but perhaps he will .
There isn't a coach in t MVC who wouldn't love to have Lance Jones on their team. He's sure not perfect, but without him, would be way down in the win column.
Some of the stupid comments on here about Jones are really beyond belief.
He tries to do too much because he knows nobody else can create their own shot or they're sitting around waiting for Jones or Domask to do it. Or our anemic offense has not been able to create a shot for someone. That is the case 99% of the time.
@mr_woogers I’m surprised at all the stuff on Lance on this site as well.
But the dude almost single handedly won the Dawgs about 3 games this year. And you are spot on with your final paragraph.
No, he didn’t have a great game vs Bradley, but it happens.
Mr. Woggers,
My observations of LJ do not mean I don't like him as a player nor indicate that he is not essential in our team. I assume you are calling me out as giving a "stupid comment" by merely discussing my observations. I agree he is one of few players we have that can create his own shot. I just believe he waits to late in the clock and tends to be shot focused rather than dishing at times. He has single handedly won games for us this year and sometimes takes it upon himself to make things happen. However, I think he also needs to improve in his decision making and not force things at times. Finding that balance will take his game to the next level. I would also encourage you to refrain from describing other people's viewpoints as "stupid." Having discussions with different viewpoints is the point of this board and can be stimulating. I suspect you are as big a Saluki fan as me and want success for the program like me. We can discuss these types of opinions without characterizing another's comments as "Stupid."
Go Blue,
I actually thought LJ had a great game against Bradley in many ways. His defense, especially in the first half set the tone and took them out of their game. He was a force in creating turnovers, getting some key rebounds, and making big plays (i.e. the block at the basket late). I am surprised at how he has struggled at the free throw line this year as it seemed to me he has always been a solid free throw shooter.
Go Dawgs!
I gave up and went to bed. We simply aren't good enough. If you think you're a 3 point shooting team then damn well recruit kids who can shoot from out there. It's difficult for me to see us much better next year.
I gave up and went to bed. We simply aren't good enough. If you think you're a 3 point shooting team then damn well recruit kids who can shoot from out there. It's difficult for me to see us much better next year.
Welcome back Blue....
