With all of the pubs releasing their college basketball predictions next week, I'd like to hear what the board thinks about the roster.
Here's mine:
Harrison - 16 ppg/3.5 assists/3.5 boards/1 steal. His scoring will go down, but he'll feel less of the burden, and play better overall.
Sampson - 14.5 ppg/1.0 assists/6.8 boards/2.7 blocks/1.5 steals. More solid play. He continues to get better, but not worlds better. Comes back for his junior season to put on muscle.
Branch - 10 ppg/3.8 assists/3.5 boards/1.1 steals. If coach says he's better, I buy it. Coach is pretty good at predictions himself.
Pointer - 9 ppg/4 assists/8 boards/ 1.8 blocks/1 steal. More of the same steady play, but now, zones will put him on the bench. The better we play against the zone, the less we'll see it. I see Hooper getting some of Dom's and Jakarr's minutes, because the 3 ball is what kills us most vs the zone.
Obekpa - 6.25 ppg/1.3 assists/ 8.5 boards/5.75 blocks. His game shows improvement, and he begins to develop some offensive moves to the basket. You know, his jumper isn't terrible. He's hit big shots before.
Jones - 4 ppg/1.1 assists/2.6 boards/ .5 steals. He'll get there, but he might not play much in conference this year. He is one of those guys that could bust out as a senior. I still like him a lot.
Balamou - Redshirt. Just a hunch. Still want him here. Hope he looks at it like an opportunity.
Greene - 5.5 ppg/1.5 assists/3.5 boards/1.5 steals. I like his hustle, but we need point guards or shooting guards, and he's struggling with both. He might get burn if we're getting smoked by opposing guards.
Bourgault - 3.0 ppg. I don't see how he plays much, but those are famous last words.
New guys:
Jordan - 7.5 ppg/5.5 assists/3.5 boards/1.8 steals/1.1 blocks. Of course, this is a blind guess based on video. Someone told me he reminds them of Tyreke Evans. I see that.
Sanchez - 7.5 ppg/3.0 assists/6 boards/1.4 blocks. Of course, I know I'm nuts to judge his play off of Twitter posts, but when you hear press like "NBA starter", expectations rise. I don't care what anyone says, there's no way to erase the expectations after hearing that.
Hooper - 13.3 ppg/2.1 assists/2.1 boards/.5 steals/.5 blocks. I like to make my
Gift - 2.2 ppg/0 assists/2.5 boards/.3 blocks
These stats are based on whether the players gets off the bench. Obviously out of Gift, Balamou, Jones and Bourgault, only 1/2 of those guys will see any action against big teams.
Most valuable: Jordan
Most improved: Branch/Obekpa
NCAA: I think we go to the Sweet 16
2nd/3rd in BE, but we cut down the nets at MSG.