FINAL GRADES

The gray uniforms with the red socks deserve an A+.

We always look good.  ND and then Cincy are my pick for gross unis.

If we ever start to dominate, it'd be cool to revive the uniforms from the Mullin Final Four run.  Since the plan is to dominate next year, maybe we could get Georgetown to revive the Ewing uniforms too.  Not sure the hip hugger shorts would go over to well though.

Quote from: HowCouldUBeSoHarkless on March 26, 2013, 09:48:27 PM

Obekpa needs to get more credit for improving his rebounding skills MID SEASON. Dude was terrible to start the year at grabbing a board but he ended extremely strong.

Definitely, take away the two games he played less than 15 minutes due to fouls and he averaged 7 rpg once conference play started.  Also shot 68%% from the line the last two months.

Yeah his shot looked so much nicer toward the end of the season. Always thought he had a nice stroke. I know we need him to become a low post presence, but I wouldn't mind if he had a consistent 10-15 foot J.

Quote from: HowCouldUBeSoHarkless on March 26, 2013, 09:48:27 PM

Obekpa needs to get more credit for improving his rebounding skills MID SEASON. Dude was terrible to start the year at grabbing a board but he ended extremely strong.

Definitely. He will be a great rebounder eventually. I expect him to play 25ish mpg next year, and 8 boards in that time is great production.

Whatever Okafor did the summer after his freshman year, Obekpa should mimic.

Final grades:

Lavin C -
I think he showed that can be a good motivator. Still, in game 33, the players were one dimensional, and the roster had shaken out to a group of guys that couldn't shoot, rebound or pass. Next season is his make or break year.

Jakarr-A. Great debut. Next season he should be great.
Harrison -A. Our best player. We collapsed w out him. That much can't be debated.
Obekpa- B. A nice debut. He has tons to work on, but his rebounding improved as the season wore on. Will be a strong 4 year player.
Greene C+. He can't run the point, and he can't shoot, but he's out there, and took care of the ball. With practice, he can take another step forward.
Dom-B. He improved all around, but he's got to play smarter on defense. Too many silly fouls. He needs to shoot thousands of jumpers this summer.
Marco-F. He's not able to play at this level.
Jones-C. Hard to tell what he'll end up being. Let's see what he does this summer.
Felix C. Same as Jones.
Garrett D. He actually regressed. He's not good enough at bball to not work on his game over the summer. I love how hard he plays, but he way too raw for a guy about to be a junior.
Branch C-. He's too timid. He's talented, but he was a freshman in his Soph season. He needs to think about getting into the lane on every single possession.

Every single player on our team needs to play a ton of ball this summer and hit the weight room hard. I expect there will be some transfers. We finished the season w out one guy that could shoot a 3.

thats a pretty solid grading Poison.

Quote from: Poison on March 26, 2013, 03:53:03 PM

Final grades:

Lavin C -
I think he showed that can be a good motivator. Still, in game 33, the players were one dimensional, and the roster had shaken out to a group of guys that couldn't shoot, rebound or pass. Next season is his make or break year.

Jakarr-A. Great debut. Next season he should be great.
Harrison -A. Our best player. We collapsed w out him. That much can't be debated.
Obekpa- B. A nice debut. He has tons to work on, but his rebounding improved as the season wore on. Will be a strong 4 year player.
Greene C+. He can't run the point, and he can't shoot, but he's out there, and took care of the ball. With practice, he can take another step forward.
Dom-B. He improved all around, but he's got to play smarter on defense. Too many silly fouls. He needs to shoot thousands of jumpers this summer.
Marco-F. He's not able to play at this level.
Jones-C. Hard to tell what he'll end up being. Let's see what he does this summer.
Felix C. Same as Jones.
Garrett D. He actually regressed. He's not good enough at bball to not work on his game over the summer. I love how hard he plays, but he way too raw for a guy about to be a junior.
Branch C-. He's too timid. He's talented, but he was a freshman in his Soph season. He needs to think about getting into the lane on every single possession.

Every single player on our team needs to play a ton of ball this summer and hit the weight room hard. I expect there will be some transfers. We finished the season w out one guy that could shoot a 3.

thats a pretty solid grading Poison.

And no anger in there at all. It's almost as if someone stole his log-in info.

Jakarr Sampson - B+: He's clearly not a #1 option on offense, but was forced to be one in Harrison's absence. Fell in love with long 2s which was very frustrating. Must work on consistency on outside shot (and maybe step back and actually hit a 3 if he insists on taking a 18 foot 2 pointer every shot) and shot selection. Solid defensively, great athlete, will be much improved next season.

D'Angelo Harrison- C-: Far and away the best scorer on the team, and the team did collapse without him, but I can not give him any higher than this. Coming into this year he was supposed to be a leader, and the best player, but he clearly has maturity issues, and really really disappointed. Sometimes on offense if he didn't shoot in a while he would just jack up any shot just to shoot. Must work on shot selection (a theme on this team). I hope he's back for next season, but if not I wish him luck.

Chris Obekpa- A- : A force on the defensive end. I didn't expect him to have nearly the impact he had this season, but he was surprisingly good. Still VERY raw offensively, but that's to be expected. If he can become even decent offensively, become a better rebounder (which is inevitable) and work on his FT shooting he will be a premiere player in the conference and future NBA draft prospect in 2-3 years.

Sir'Dom Pointer- A-: Had his ups and downs, but he was the engine that runs this team. When he played well the team won. By far the most improved of the 2012 class. Still needs to become a better shooter, and become smarter defensively, but he will be a huge impact player next year.

PGIV- D: Played out of position all year, and was very disappointing. Jumper is way too inconsistent. He can't make his own offense aside from contested long 2s. May be better off transferring to a lower level or on a team where he plays a much lesser role.

Amir Garrett- D: Should focus on baseball. Way too raw at this point.

Jamal Branch- C: Showed flashes of potential. Must be more aggressive getting to the basket, and creating offense for his teammates. His pull-up J looked good in some games, and awful in others. I think he has the potential to be a good player next year. If Rysheed doesn't come here it's essential that he step into the starting PG role.

Marco B.- D-: A 3 pt specialist who barley hit any 3s. Overmatched at this level.

Balamou/Jones: Inc.: Flashed some potential. Didn't get enough PT for me to really make a judgement.

Lavin- D+: When they first hired him I was his biggest fan, but the honeymoon period is over. He's been able to bring some nice talent here over the years, but that hasn't translated to wins yet. Yet to land a recruit in 2013. An awful in game coach in my opinion. His delving out of playing time made little sense to me. Rarely did he make in game adjustments that worked. Rarely did he run any sort of a set offense. Running the weave all game isn't going to work at this level. MUST MUST MUST hire an Xs and Os guy for next season. Losing Dunlap clearly hurt this team a lot. Must have impact recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015. Anything less than an NCAA tourny appearance next year, and I would consider firing him if there was a solid replacement available.

 

I am a huge fan of harrison. But how can anyone give him an A. Guy got thrown off the team. Got to give him an F.

Branch has got to be better than a d. I'd give him a B pre injury / C- post injury.

I give him a C for his body of work.  He wasn't the player we hoped for or needed, but the kid has played less than a combined full season's worth of games.  I like him in the full court, and I like the way he plays with Harrison.  He certainly has some upside.  He needs to come back much stronger physically and work on his skills in the offseason.  He's not overly quick or athletic, so he really needs to add strength and skill to beat his man.  There is no reason he can't be as effective as Khalif Wyatt if he puts in the work.  Wyatt doesn't have much if anything on him athletically.

He's probably never going to be a kid that can break down a defense consistently, but he's really good in the open court and he could become a very good player if his jumper develops.  I would not be surprised if he comes back a much better player...he's not that far off and a half-season worth of film and experience to go over could really help him improve.

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on March 26, 2013, 01:34:52 PM

Branch has got to be better than a d. I'd give him a B pre injury / C- post injury.

I give him a C for his body of work.  He wasn't the player we hoped for or needed, but the kid has played less than a combined full season's worth of games.  I like him in the full court, and I like the way he plays with Harrison.  He certainly has some upside.  He needs to come back much stronger physically and work on his skills in the offseason.  He's not overly quick or athletic, so he really needs to add strength and skill to beat his man.  There is no reason he can't be as effective as Khalif Wyatt if he puts in the work.  Wyatt doesn't have much if anything on him athletically.

He's probably never going to be a kid that can break down a defense consistently, but he's really good in the open court and he could become a very good player if his jumper develops.  I would not be surprised if he comes back a much better player...he's not that far off and a half-season worth of film and experience to go over could really help him improve.

Like him too and believe his shooting will come around. The injury negatively effected  shooting IMO. That said, I was disappointed in his on ball defense and hope he can improve there.

Instead of grades ill base it on my subjective expectations pre-season and as season went on. 

Guys who were better than i thought this year
Sampson, Obekpa, Pointer

Slightly worse than expected
Greene

Did not meet expectations
Harrison, Branch, Garrett, Bourgault (didnt what what to expect except for shooting ability, which was really bad)

Incomplete
Jones, Felix

Besides the suspension which is obviously bad, Harrison did not improve offensively this year and he actually got a little worse from an efficency standpoint.  Had to take more shots to get his points, got to the line less etc....  He has to improve either his shooting ability or his shot selection b/c his % do not warrent the Lavin "emerald green light." 

I'm not saying he is not needed (we need him back) b/c obviously we cant score without him but compared to his #'s frosh year, i was expecting more to help us.   He is at the top of the list regarding importance and need an improved year from him next year if he's back. 

Quote from: mjmaherjr on March 26, 2013, 11:04:21 PM

Quote from: Poison on March 26, 2013, 03:53:03 PM

Final grades:

Lavin C -
I think he showed that can be a good motivator. Still, in game 33, the players were one dimensional, and the roster had shaken out to a group of guys that couldn't shoot, rebound or pass. Next season is his make or break year.

Jakarr-A. Great debut. Next season he should be great.
Harrison -A. Our best player. We collapsed w out him. That much can't be debated.
Obekpa- B. A nice debut. He has tons to work on, but his rebounding improved as the season wore on. Will be a strong 4 year player.
Greene C+. He can't run the point, and he can't shoot, but he's out there, and took care of the ball. With practice, he can take another step forward.
Dom-B. He improved all around, but he's got to play smarter on defense. Too many silly fouls. He needs to shoot thousands of jumpers this summer.
Marco-F. He's not able to play at this level.
Jones-C. Hard to tell what he'll end up being. Let's see what he does this summer.
Felix C. Same as Jones.
Garrett D. He actually regressed. He's not good enough at bball to not work on his game over the summer. I love how hard he plays, but he way too raw for a guy about to be a junior.
Branch C-. He's too timid. He's talented, but he was a freshman in his Soph season. He needs to think about getting into the lane on every single possession.

Every single player on our team needs to play a ton of ball this summer and hit the weight room hard. I expect there will be some transfers. We finished the season w out one guy that could shoot a 3.

thats a pretty solid grading Poison.

And no anger in there at all. It's almost as if someone stole his log-in info.

I'm keeping it bottled up. For now.

The key to focus on w our returning players is one, to first discover who is returning, and two, to find out what their plan is for improvement. If they take their summers off like everyone did under Norm, it's fair not to expect much improvement.

What are their plans? That's what 13-14 will come down to. And a summer tour in Europe ain't enough. They need to play in a lot of games to really improve.

Lavin- D+: When they first hired him I was his biggest fan, but the honeymoon period is over. He's been able to bring some nice talent here over the years, but that hasn't translated to wins yet. Yet to land a recruit in 2013. An awful in game coach in my opinion. His delving out of playing time made little sense to me. Rarely did he make in game adjustments that worked. Rarely did he run any sort of a set offense. Running the weave all game isn't going to work at this level. MUST MUST MUST hire an Xs and Os guy for next season. Losing Dunlap clearly hurt this team a lot. Must have impact recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015. Anything less than an NCAA tourny appearance next year, and I would consider firing him if there was a solid replacement available.

How many of you ever been a coach or played organized ball at any level? Why is it not possible that the players are not executing? To think Lavin, a high major D-1 coach, does not know X's and O's is foolish. Can we give Lavin more than two years? Just a suggestion. Offenses look so much better when you have players who make plays. No matter what offense you design, the players on the court have to make a play. We lack playmakers and shotmakers. Unless you know of an offense that removes the defense from the court, this rebuilding process is going to take more than two recruiting classes. Lets try and enjoy the ride.

Quote from: thetruth8734 on March 27, 2013, 06:30:55 AM

Lavin- D+: When they first hired him I was his biggest fan, but the honeymoon period is over. He's been able to bring some nice talent here over the years, but that hasn't translated to wins yet. Yet to land a recruit in 2013. An awful in game coach in my opinion. His delving out of playing time made little sense to me. Rarely did he make in game adjustments that worked. Rarely did he run any sort of a set offense. Running the weave all game isn't going to work at this level. MUST MUST MUST hire an Xs and Os guy for next season. Losing Dunlap clearly hurt this team a lot. Must have impact recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015. Anything less than an NCAA tourny appearance next year, and I would consider firing him if there was a solid replacement available.

How many of you ever been a coach or played organized ball at any level? Why is it not possible that the players are not executing? To think Lavin, a high major D-1 coach, does not know X's and O's is foolish. Can we give Lavin more than two years? Just a suggestion. Offenses look so much better when you have players who make plays. No matter what offense you design, the players on the court have to make a play. We lack playmakers and shotmakers. Unless you know of an offense that removes the defense from the court, this rebuilding process is going to take more than two recruiting classes. Lets try and enjoy the ride.

A lot of people don't understand "rebuilding" around here. They wanted immediate success and didn't get it. I too expected better at this point, but I'm not going to say its all Lavin's fault. The cancer was a major setback, harkless going pro was unexpected, and those things are oit of his control. he has made some poor recruiting decisions in term of recruiting all athletes, no guys who can hit a jumper or 3 pointer. The whole "Lavin can't coach" thing is so overblown it's ridiculous. He makes some questionable decisions sure but to claim that he is a horrible in game coach after one season of missing the tourney with nothing but underclass men is absurd, especially after he coached a team of losers to the tourney in year one.

Just don't get some people d'lo c's and D's we were 16-11 with him and 1-5 (barely) without him. Yeah he had some off the court stuff but when he put his uniform on he balled out. Wake up. And don't complain about his shot percentage or lack there of, flawed roster make up has a lot to do with his seemingly on court defecincies.

Name one game where it was super apparent lavin strategically coached us to a victory this year. And nobody mention the notre dame game with that freaking small lineup we do that crap every game. And ND coach did us a favor benching Cooley that long. So next?

Name one game where it was super apparent lavin strategically coached us to a victory this year. And nobody mention the notre dame game with that freaking small lineup we do that crap every game. And ND coach did us a favor benching Cooley that long. So next?

Be careful Chilleb, you will be told to take your meds. Ha!

Quote from: Chilleb on March 27, 2013, 02:11:00 PM

Name one game where it was super apparent lavin strategically coached us to a victory this year. And nobody mention the notre dame game with that freaking small lineup we do that crap every game. And ND coach did us a favor benching Cooley that long. So next?

Be careful Chilleb, you will be told to take your meds. Ha!

Probably, but the truth hurts.

 Strike a nerve, Paultz?  Jeez....

I'm not sure you can point to any one game.  Just like you can't point to a specific game where coaching was clear reason we lost ( though im sure you could come up with a few) Way too many other factors involved in how an outcome comes to be. 

 Missed FT, layups, mental lapses( on court and on bench). 

 Like most sports, coach gets too much criticism in losses and too little praise in victories. 

Strike a nerve, Paultz?  Jeez....

I'm not sure you can point to any one game.  Just like you can't point to a specific game where coaching was clear reason we lost ( though im sure you could come up with a few) Way too many other factors involved in how an outcome comes to be. 

 Missed FT, layups, mental lapses( on court and on bench). 

 Like most sports, coach gets too much criticism in losses and too little praise in victories. 

Not really. I find your Dr. Phil hallway monitoring humorous.