ACE Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 I'm not sure why everybody is freaking out about Husak. Soderburg made it very clear that this kid is a project and will likely redshirt. With the 13th scholarship, why not use it to try to develop a big guy. A bigger key will be the Greek. Brad has talked very enthusiastically about him. If he can't provide a little bit off the bench, then I will be disappointed in Soderburg. Will this year's version of Sloan, Varner, IO, plus Frericks, Johnson and the Greek be as good or better than last year's version of Sloan, Varner, IO, Braun and Brown? I don't think that's an unrealistic expectation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 Well said ACE...seems like a lot of folks got their shorts all tangled in a wad over one All Star game. I learned long ago not to put too much stock in any All Star game. Not too much "D" played in these games which makes true evaluations pretty meaningless. Let's see what we have after Coach Soderberg has time to work with these kids and then we can make the real evaluations on what we have or don't have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 Every high school all star game I've been to there are always the "Rock Stars" who try and show off. This is street ball at best. OK, so Husak didn't look impressive, big deal. If he didn't look like he belonged out there why did he get invited? Now Ahern scoring 40 is an eye opener. Here's hoping we didn't overlook a gem in our own backyard. Got to trust you guys know the situation better than we out of towners, but scoring 40% of an all star teams points will grab your attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 ACE, not everybody is freaking about a known seven-foot project. Last season KBrown averaged 27 minutes of playing time and produced 7 pts/per game and 6 rebounds/per games. Granted he added some bulk as well. CBraun averaged 13 minutes per game, 3 points per game and two rebounds per game. As I see it, next season Coach Soderberg will have 40 minutes of post playing time to distribute, to generate the KB/CB production. It is my simple way to look at the situation, but it's factual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 I agree. I think our frontcourt should be at least equal to last years. I also believe our back court will be better. With RB, AD, JF, and DC we should be more balanced and harder to stop. We will be missing Marque's heart which as we all know pulled out a lot of close games at the end. Hopefully the more balanced attack will keep us from needing so many last minute miracles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 Darren Clarke scored 41 points also, in the Nike Super Showcase last summer in Orlando. So both players have shown they can score 41 points in meaningless games. What does that prove? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 I don't think we will lose anythin offensively repalcing KB and CB. I think we can improve in scoring and at least equal on the boards. I have to admit though, I'm a bit worried about the defensive end. Here's believing in Brad, and his ability to get the best out of his players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 great points tseugnekillb. i am not freaking out either, i am only trying to temper the rolling thoughts that this upcoming season is bound to be better than last. i state again i want to wait until december to judge if we have suitable replacements for our outgoing group. i dont agree with your statistical view of replacing brown and braun. simply because of how defensively effective kenny brown was last year which wont show up in those numbers. from a scoring standpoint, i have no doubt that sloan and i/o and johnson and fericks would match the offense of sloan and i/o and braun and brown. but i tend to envision that our opponents will run roughshod over sloan and i/o and johnson and fericks compared to the defense that our frontcourt provided last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted June 30, 2003 Author Share Posted June 30, 2003 Roy, keep in mind that IO and Sloan will be seeing significant time together for the first time. Even if Frericks doesn't equal Kenny defensively, we will be vastly improved defensively at the 3 position, with Sloan getting time there instead of Diener. We will be bigger and more athletic at the 3 and get more rebounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 right now, unless the greek is a BIG pleasant surprise, my guess is that i/o will have to play the inside spots with sloan and fericks. there will be no one else to play the needed minutes. the lion's share of the minutes at the point guard, and two wings will be garnered by fisher, drejaj, bryant and morris. i bet when the season is over and you compare minutes, fisher and drejaj will be the same as they were last year playing time wise, and bryant and morris will equal the time that deiner and perry shared. so the question is, will bryant and morris exceed the output of perry and diener? if so, it wont be by much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted June 30, 2003 Author Share Posted June 30, 2003 Brad stated that his intention is to play Sloan and IO at the same time a lot, which gives us a much bigger lineup than we typically played with last season. As a result, we will be getting much better defense and rebounding from the 3 than what Diener gave us. As for the back-ups at the 4 and 5, Johnson and the Greek will replace Braun. It's not being too optimistic to think that the Johnson/Greek duo can produce more than what Braun did. While Frerichs might not be quite as good as Kenny, we should be bigger and more athletic, and have more options with our back-up bigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 ace said, "It's not being too optimistic to think that the Johnson/Greek duo can produce more than what Braun did. While Frerichs might not be quite as good as Kenny, we should be bigger and more athletic, and have more options with our back-up bigs." I hope you are correct. even then, replacing chris braun's input both offensively and defensively is not my biggest concern. even still, you are relying on two pretty big question marks in your above statement. all the more reason to wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted June 30, 2003 Author Share Posted June 30, 2003 I thought very little of Chris Braun's game last season, which is why I think the two newcomers will outproduce him. My take, admittedly sight unseen, is that Johnson will offer quickness in the paint, something we didn't have last year, and the Greek will be able to score in the paint better and might be a little more creative offensively than Braun. I don't think my expectations are very lofty, they are just higher than what Braun gave us. If I'm wrong, we're in trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 >right now, unless the greek is a BIG pleasant surprise, my >guess is that i/o will have to play the inside spots with >sloan and fericks. there will be no one else to play the >needed minutes. Roy, you seem to be forgetting about Justin Johnson. I believe Soderberg will start Frericks and Ohanon on the interior (we're talking defense, here) and bring Vouyoukas and Johnson off the bench. In a pinch or in the case of foul trouble, Soderberg can use Varner or play Ohanon as the defensive center and slide Sloan over to the defensive power forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 admittedly chris was injured a couple of times during his billiken career, but i wont argue about his worth the last couple of seasons. chris more or less regressed each season. some of that could have been a diminished role, but he probably had a diminished role due to the fact he wasnt playing any better than before. i too agree he SHOULD be easy to cover. but i will wait to see how johnson, i/o, fericks and the greek perform before backing you on that thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 Welcome to the club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 i call it the way i see it. dont think i have changed my perspective a bit. like i said in the other string, we had more "known facts" about the team last year than we do this year. i question whether we will replace our two best players from last year that is all. come december, i will make a stance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted July 1, 2003 Author Share Posted July 1, 2003 Roy, you include Brown as one of our two best players from last year. I'm not sure I agree. I think I would put both Josh Fisher and Sloan ahead of Kenny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 I prefer to cite facts in discussions, so lets compare last year's team to this year's team: Front Court losses: Braun and Brown. Front Court gains: Frericks, Ian, JJ, and (if not redshirted) Husak. Front Court returnees: Sloan and IO. Analysis: Losing Brown will hurt defensively, but Frericks should be a capable defensive player. Frericks and Ian should be an offensive upgrade over Brown. Sloan and IO should be improved, and JJ and Ian should be upgrades over Bruan off the bench. Small Forward loss: Drew Deiner Small Forward gain: Darren Clarke and (possibly) Floyd McClain. Small Forward returnees: IO and Fisher. Analysis: This should be an enormous athletic upgrade, a rebounding upgrade, and probably an offensive upgrade. Guard losses: Perry Guard gains: Reggie Bryant and Brandon Morris Guard returness: Drejaj and Fisher. Analysis: Losing Perry will hurt, but Morris should replace Perry's ballhandling and team leadership and, hopefully, Bryant will replace Perry's scoring. The team will have good depth and a variety of options at the guard positions. Team Outlook: If IO and Bryant can consistently score, Frericks and Ian can defend, and Morris can lead, then this team should be better than last year's team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 damn i bet you are a good attorney. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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