Quality Is Job 1 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I hate to be the spoil sport, but it will be hard for this team to be as good or better than last years team. It is a simple numbers game. If you assume that KM, MM, JJ, and DE will be the same, then we have to find a replacement for BC's numbers. CE could up his point total. So could CR or JM. However, it is hard to imagine our point total increasing in the post to equal BC's 15 points (?). Our defense has been holding opponents to around 61-62 ppg under RM. I don't think last year changed anything, but it may have. Someone can run the numbers. We need one of the bigs to really step up this year, or all of them need to step up. That said, I do not think defense will be how we are as good next year, we will need the points. Mitchell, McCall, Jett, and Evans won't be the same as last year — they'll be better. Ellis will likely be better. Manning and Glaze will get to play. Last year's team started the year with 16 years of experience in the system, but this year's team will have 20. I have no doubt that the team will be significantly better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldo027 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I hate to be the spoil sport, but it will be hard for this team to be as good or better than last years team. It is a simple numbers game. If you assume that KM, MM, JJ, and DE will be the same, then we have to find a replacement for BC's numbers. CE could up his point total. So could CR or JM. However, it is hard to imagine our point total increasing in the post to equal BC's 15 points (?). Our defense has been holding opponents to around 61-62 ppg under RM. I don't think last year changed anything, but it may have. Someone can run the numbers. We need one of the bigs to really step up this year, or all of them need to step up. That said, I do not think defense will be how we are as good next year, we will need the points. The returning players (KM, MM, JJ, DE, CE, RL, CR) can only stay the same, they've all reached their peaks and can't improve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 The returning players (KM, MM, JJ, DE, CE, RL, CR) can only stay the same, they've all reached their peaks and can't improve? Didn't you hear, athletes now peak at the age of 20 or 21 and don't get better from there.... What a ridiculous assumption, that none of our starters from last year will be better this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 One other point I think is important to remember, we beat a very good Memphis team and almost beat a really good Mich. St team and after recently watching my tivo'ed copy of those game, it hit me that BC played well under his normal game in both of those games. For whatever reason he was not the BC we saw most of the year. Now if we could plat those two teams that well in the NCAA tournament without getting the usual quality game from BC then I think we will do just fine picking up the slack from his departure. I'm not intending to be critical of BC-he was probably my favorite player, but his last two games were subpar based on his entire year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbizzle09 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 i am not worried about replacing conklin. conklin excelled last year because of hard work, attitude, smarts and effort. while all division one athletes are indeed good athletes, the fact is as measured against other division one athletes in pure athletic abilities, conklin was probably average. athletic ability is god given. hard work,attitude, smarts and effort are self discipline modes. big difference. anyone can become a hard worker, great attitude, etc. we just the light bulb to go off at the same heart and soul level of brian conklin. plenty of candidates. hopefully someone on the team saw it and is now a believer. This is an excellent post. +1, Roy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbizzle09 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 One other point I think is important to remember, we beat a very good Memphis team and almost beat a really good Mich. St team and after recently watching my tivo'ed copy of those game, it hit me that BC played well under his normal game in both of those games. For whatever reason he was not the BC we saw most of the year. Now if we could plat those two teams that well in the NCAA tournament without getting the usual quality game from BC then I think we will do just fine picking up the slack from his departure. I'm not intending to be critical of BC-he was probably my favorite player, but his last two games were subpar based on his entire year. The fact of the matter is, once the conference season started Conklin was not nearly as effective as he was at the beginning of the season. During the non-conf portion of the season, Conk shot 66.1% from the field, 86.3% from the stripe and averaged 15.4 PPG. However, during the conference season and post-season games, his FG% dipped to 43.6%, his free throw shooting was at 76.2% and he averaged 12.9 PPG. Now, of course, some explanation can be that he became a focal point of defenses due to his great start. Also, the level of competition was tougher in the conference and post-season games than in the early non-conf ones, overall. However, he was not nearly as good in the last 20 games as he was in the first 14. My thought, when I see those numbers in BC's last 20 games, is that is more what we need to replace as opposed to the beginning of the season. During those last 20 games, KM, MM and DE had a better idea how they fit in the offense and became more assertive and scored at a better and more efficient clip. That will continue into this coming season. By increasing RL, CE and CR's minutes, while integrating JM in the rotation, we should have no problem making up for the loss of offensive production from BC, while at the same time improving our overall shot-blocking and rebounding. And, of course, you definitely need to take into account improvement of players from one year to the next. There really should be no reason we are not a better team this coming season than last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 The fact of the matter is, once the conference season started Conklin was not nearly as effective as he was at the beginning of the season. During the non-conf portion of the season, Conk shot 66.1% from the field, 86.3% from the stripe and averaged 15.4 PPG. However, during the conference season and post-season games, his FG% dipped to 43.6%, his free throw shooting was at 76.2% and he averaged 12.9 PPG. Now, of course, some explanation can be that he became a focal point of defenses due to his great start. Also, the level of competition was tougher in the conference and post-season games than in the early non-conf ones, overall. However, he was not nearly as good in the last 20 games as he was in the first 14. My thought, when I see those numbers in BC's last 20 games, is that is more what we need to replace as opposed to the beginning of the season. During those last 20 games, KM, MM and DE had a better idea how they fit in the offense and became more assertive and scored at a better and more efficient clip. That will continue into this coming season. By increasing RL, CE and CR's minutes, while integrating JM in the rotation, we should have no problem making up for the loss of offensive production from BC, while at the same time improving our overall shot-blocking and rebounding. And, of course, you definitely need to take into account improvement of players from one year to the next. There really should be no reason we are not a better team this coming season than last year. -yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 One other point I think is important to remember, we beat a very good Memphis team and almost beat a really good Mich. St team and after recently watching my tivo'ed copy of those game, it hit me that BC played well under his normal game in both of those games. For whatever reason he was not the BC we saw most of the year. Now if we could plat those two teams that well in the NCAA tournament without getting the usual quality game from BC then I think we will do just fine picking up the slack from his departure. I'm not intending to be critical of BC-he was probably my favorite player, but his last two games were subpar based on his entire year. From a statistical standpoint, you are correct. The reason, though, that BC's level of play dropped in both the conference and then in the 2 NCAA games is that he went head to head to bigger, taller and more athletic forwards. Also, the "surprise" factor was no longer present as opposing teams had scouted us/him and were ready for him just like our team was ready for their players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmbilliken Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 From a statistical standpoint, you are correct. The reason, though, that BC's level of play dropped in both the conference and then in the 2 NCAA games is that he went head to head to bigger, taller and more athletic forwards. Also, the "surprise" factor was no longer present as opposing teams had scouted us/him and were ready for him just like our team was ready for their players.He was still good enough to make 1st team all-conference. Not a bad drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 He was still good enough to make 1st team all-conference. Not a bad drop. And your point is?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmbilliken Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I'm not arguing with you. I think we both agree his level of play didn't drop, just the numbers. I don't think it's realistic to expect anyone to improve their game like Conklin did in one year's time. I don't recall anyone improving that much in one year. The fact he did from junior to senior year makes it more amazing. I just hope the incremental development of the other players and the addition of our two freshmen make up the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsrmajic Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 i am not worried about replacing conklin. conklin excelled last year because of hard work, attitude, smarts and effort. while all division one athletes are indeed good athletes, the fact is as measured against other division one athletes in pure athletic abilities, conklin was probably average. athletic ability is god given. hard work,attitude, smarts and effort are self discipline modes. big difference. anyone can become a hard worker, great attitude, etc. we just the light bulb to go off at the same heart and soul level of brian conklin. plenty of candidates. hopefully someone on the team saw it and is now a believer. I suppose it's too much to think that coaching might have played a part in Conklin's improvement (as well as the improvement of the other players). Nah, it's just hard work, attitude, smarts and effort. Wouldn't want to think Rick and his staff had anything to do with player development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 The best thing this team has going for it this season is the NCAA experience. None of these kids had ever played in the most intense games of their careers. Playing do or die games against the nations' top squads had to be a little intimidating. But they certainly rose to the occasion playing w/ composure and confidence on the game's biggest stage. My guess is they are chomping at the bit to get back and try and make a longer run, knowing now what it takes to win those games. I'm looking for everyone to improve over the summer as they should be really hungry for even more success. Also, they're more aware that if they don't bring it hard in every practice and every game, there's someone standing right behind them who's more than willing to step up his game. I think this is what happened to MM and KC last year. As the season wore on MM saw the areas he needed to improve on, and he took serious minutes from KC. Actually making KC pretty much a non factor down the stretch. Not knocking KC at all, the kid was a great Billiken, but more touting MM for realizing he had to step up his game. He easily could have said, "screw this, I'll just sit it out, and transfer in the spring." Point being in all this, we should expect everyone to show improvement. We should expect to see more confidence. We should expect at least a sweet 16 appearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I suppose it's too much to think that coaching might have played a part in Conklin's improvement (as well as the improvement of the other players). Nah, it's just hard work, attitude, smarts and effort. Wouldn't want to think Rick and his staff had anything to do with player development. Coach didn't have anything to do it. All of the players' hate coach, and he has no meaningful impact on their development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Coach didn't have anything to do it. All of the players' hate coach, and he has no meaningful impact on their development. Yes, but he cusses and says mean things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Yes, but he cusses and says mean things. Yeah, it's clear from that clip RM's a d*&%. The players hate his guts. Let's clean house and get him the hell out of here. It's just not a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Cripes sake, I forgot to add look what he did to BC, one of the toughest guys in the A10. Made him cry like a little girl. Bad man. Bad RM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldo027 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 He cried because RM worked him too hard during Christmas break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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