Middle of the pack. That sounds about right from a coach who had to rely on the transfer portal. The real progress should be made when coach Nagy can recruit his own players. Kills me to see ISU ranked higher, but their relatively new coach has had a chance to get his own players. Hopefully, this team continues to get better throughout the season. That did not happen last year.
In a vacuum I get where you're coming from, but really most of the Valley is dealing with a similar level of roster turnover, so I'm not ready to write this team off as middle of the pack based solely on that.
I do think there are fair questions to be answered (such as is there enough 3-point shooting, limiting turnovers without a true point guard, no proven post player), but there is also intriguing upside with the group's athleticism, size and how optimistic Nagy has been about the team's defensive potential, coupled with his track record of producing quality offensive teams.
So, hoping for Year 1 success under Nagy in a league with lots of question marks, but we'll start finding out how it looks in about a month.
@siudawgs Hmmm...you look at the top of the list and you see those teams returning two to three starters that know their coaches and the systems. The nucleus is there and that makes a huge difference.
@siudawgs Hmmm...you look at the top of the list and you see those teams returning two to three starters that know their coaches and the systems. The nucleus is there and that makes a huge difference.
Did Coach Nagy bring his dog to practice?? I love it!
https://twitter.com/SIU_Basketball/status/1841569416502288884
Biggest takeaway is that his dog died in the car en route to Carbondale?!
Awful.
https://x.com/MarchArchPod/status/1842204816358981868
Luke Martin was a guest on this new episode. Between Nagy and Martin, there is a lot of optimistic projections for Kennard Davis to take a large step forward this season, which would be a great development. If he can score in the 12-14 ppg range and play excellent defense, that would be a good starting point to this team exceeding expectations.
Martin also was implying Elijah Elliott could be the lead guard the team is looking for. If the starting lineup ends up being Elliott, Dibba, Davis, Sykes and big man TBD (Hensley? Moreno? Massey?), that would make Mayo a 6th man extraordinaire, which could be a great weapon. Alternatively, they could start Mayo and bring either Elliott or Sykes off the bench. Either way, Southern should have a 6th Man of the Year candidate if they stay healthy ...
Elliott played some pg at UTRGV. He was also a big time scorer. I would expect him to lead the O. I think Moreno may end up starting center. Yes, Mayo or Sykes starting with the other one as the 1st off the bench. Wild guess is Sharpe, Aligbe and Webber getting the least amount of PT with possible redshirts for the freshmen. Nagy indicated he only goes about 8 deep. With our talent and up tempo I'd rather see us go 9 or 10 deep. Hensley and Massey will get plenty of PT so that may leave talented Steffe and Bey out of the rotation, which would be a shame. We have a wealth of talent!https://x.com/MarchArchPod/status/1842204816358981868
Luke Martin was a guest on this new episode. Between Nagy and Martin, there is a lot of optimistic projections for Kennard Davis to take a large step forward this season, which would be a great development. If he can score in the 12-14 ppg range and play excellent defense, that would be a good starting point to this team exceeding expectations.
Martin also was implying Elijah Elliott could be the lead guard the team is looking for. If the starting lineup ends up being Elliott, Dibba, Davis, Sykes and big man TBD (Hensley? Moreno? Massey?), that would make Mayo a 6th man extraordinaire, which could be a great weapon. Alternatively, they could start Mayo and bring either Elliott or Sykes off the bench. Either way, Southern should have a 6th Man of the Year candidate if they stay healthy ...
Not sure how much clock he'll get, but Steffe will eventually end up in the rotation if not right away. We're gonna need his ability to stretch the floor.
--Insert something witty here--
