Step back off the ledge guys. Just write this one off. We were without our two best players. We can't get too high or too low this year.
Granted, I didn't get to watch because I was hoofing it across Kansas but I did listen. We weren't expected to win even with Cook and McGill playing. It's a teaching moment and no players got tossed under the bus after the game.
As far as getting some inside bulk...we might be waiting a very long time for that. Mullins has stated repeatedly that he prefers a four-guard system. We may have more than one big guy in the future but he will not play them together if he sticks to his plan.
Without a competent big man who can play both ends of the floor, this team will remain at mediocrity or below. So if we're waiting a long time for a big man, we'll be waiting a long time for a team capable of making the NCAA tournament. There's no ledge here as it is a rebuilding year, but the fact remains, this team is desperately in need of a big man who can control the boards and play some menacing defense.
We were picked 10th and last this year for a reason. No real expectations for anything much better.
I would still take our freshman over trees guys any day
I absolutely love Domask, but not sure I agree with you on this one. Williams and LaRavia looked like season veterans while Brown continues to prove he needed a redshirt and Jones just drives with reckless abandon hoping to either get fouled or pray that someone might be open down low for a pass (lacks court vision) .
Of the Saluki freshmen, Brown certainly has the most to prove. He's averaging 20 minutes a game this season while shooting 25 percent from the floor and 23 percent from 3, and averaging 3 points and less than 1 assist per game. While he's plucky defensively, he doesn't really have a DI body yet, and he's pretty small, especially if he's not going to predominantly play PG.
I'm not trying to kill the guy... he seems like a good kid and Mullins obviously likes his approach or he wouldn't be playing this much (and obviously Cook's injury freed up some minutes). But yes, it looks like he probably should have redshirted, and I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach before penciling him into any prominent role in future seasons.
SIU continues to struggle with rebounding and consistency on both offense and defense. All you can do is be patient while these kids develop.....and hope that SIU brings in a couple of solid low post players for next season. I'd still like to see Mullins show the capacity to switch it up a bit and go with a center, power forward, two wings, and a point guard.....just to remedy the rebounding issues.
I would still take our freshman over trees guys any day
I absolutely love Domask, but not sure I agree with you on this one. Williams and LaRavia looked like season veterans while Brown continues to prove he needed a redshirt and Jones just drives with reckless abandon hoping to either get fouled or pray that someone might be open down low for a pass (lacks court vision) .
Of the Saluki freshmen, Brown certainly has the most to prove. He's averaging 20 minutes a game this season while shooting 25 percent from the floor and 23 percent from 3, and averaging 3 points and less than 1 assist per game. While he's plucky defensively, he doesn't really have a DI body yet, and he's pretty small, especially if he's not going to predominantly play PG.
I'm not trying to kill the guy... he seems like a good kid and Mullins obviously likes his approach or he wouldn't be playing this much (and obviously Cook's injury freed up some minutes). But yes, it looks like he probably should have redshirted, and I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach before penciling him into any prominent role in future seasons.
I was impressed with how Brown defended the post early in the game...giving up 6 or more inches. He's got heart, but yes, I also would like to see him shoot better. With the talent level we have now, we must play almost perfect to win. We missed a few bunnies and some not-so-easy inside shots that we must make to be competitive.
“The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.”
-- Al McGuire
Step back off the ledge guys. Just write this one off. We were without our two best players. We can't get too high or too low this year.
Granted, I didn't get to watch because I was hoofing it across Kansas but I did listen. We weren't expected to win even with Cook and McGill playing. It's a teaching moment and no players got tossed under the bus after the game.
As far as getting some inside bulk...we might be waiting a very long time for that. Mullins has stated repeatedly that he prefers a four-guard system. We may have more than one big guy in the future but he will not play them together if he sticks to his plan.
My guess is that Mullins would prefer talented tall players over talented shorter players.
The devil is in the details--can mid-majors reliably recruit, develop and keep...talented tall players?
I do not believe Mullins would have a problem not sticking to his 'plan'...whatever that is.
(The InSU freshmen inside duo last night looked pretty good...)
(1) US COVID-19 statistics (February 29, 2020-June 16, 2020): 2,124,000 reported cases and 115,052 deaths
(2) Donald Trump (June 15, 2020) told a group of senior citizens that there would be very few cases of COVID-19 if the US stopped its testing and contact tracing: "If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, actually."
(3) Donald Trump [(Jan 20, 2020), when asked if he's worried about a pandemic]: “No. Not at all. And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s — going to be just fine.”
Yeah, Brown has to get out of his head right now and start shooting the basketball with confidence. His defensive play has been a pleasant surprise, but if he can't hit shots like he was recruited to do, then he can't be on the floor for so many minutes if this team is going to have any kind of success. At this stage in his development, he gives up too much size and strength-wise to not be hitting shots at a higher clip. Karrington Davis should be eating into those minutes substantially at this point from what I've seen.
This team has young pieces to build around, but its far from complete. There's obvious needs and I'm sure if we all can see it, then the coaching staff is fully aware. Let's not forget, as a player and a coach, Bryan has seen first-hand what it takes to be successful at the highest level of D1 basketball. Patience kids. We'll get there.
--Insert something witty here--
Benson isn't a great big man by any means, but I hate to think how awful we'd be without him. He's been more than serviceable. We HAVE to sign at least two decent bigs this spring if we're going to get out of this quagmire.
Benson isn't a great big man by any means, but I hate to think how awful we'd be without him. He's been more than serviceable. We HAVE to sign at least two decent bigs this spring if we're going to get out of this quagmire.
He’s gotten much better since the start of the season. He looked really lost at the Murray State game I was at. Probably feeling a lot more comfortable now and a credit to the coaching staff for improvement.
My guess is that benson was more of a role player at Northwestern. High energy guy that played 4/5 minutes twice a game while their starting big guys took a break. His role here calls for a lot more than that and he has worked hard on his rebounding, gotten a little more aggressive on the offensive side and in my estimation has improved substantially. I don't know that we can expect much more improvement but as mentioned before, I don't know what we would do without him.
