ToastyAg said:CC09LawAg said:ToastyAg said:
Mgbako and Pop. Don't think I'd lose sleep over anyone else
These types of takes are crazy to me.
You have a team thrown together at the last minute, implementing a new coach and new system, that manages to not only make, but win an NCAA tournament game, and we're acting like the roster is full of scrubs.
Yes, we'd all love everyone on the team to be 6'6" to 6'11" athletes jumping out of the gym and shooting 35%+ on threes, but we have to be a little realistic here.
Do we just completely discount continuity, internal improvement, upper classman leadership, etc.?
We obviously need some talent upgrades, but we can't just have a mass exodus every single year with massive roster turnover if we don't win the championship.
We may just have differing opinions on the program. Continuity and development is great. UH prime example. They're a top team consistently, high floor, etc. IMO we would go into this next year doing everything we can to keep our NBA caliber players, build around them and showcase them. If the staff determines that's Clemence or Marcus Hill or Josh Holloway then that's perfect. If not, I'm okay with that. That way everyone sees we can put guys in the league. If we want to upgrade the talent, we need to show that we develop NBA players. Mgbako is the closest thing we have to that, with Pop making the machine go.
Maybe. I may just be old school but I do not like the idea of these "microwave" teams in the NIL and transfer portal era. I do not want a program with constant turnover where we are chasing after the next shiny object with constant roster turnover. I think continuity is especially important in a system like Bucky's and you need older leaders on the team to get "buy in" from the new guys.
NBA caliber talent is great, and we should chase it. But personally I think that it's easier to get it in the transfer portal if you can offer a situation to a guy and say "We have a roster of role players and your skill set will fit in perfectly here for us to showcase you" vs trying to recruit guys you hope are NBA caliber talent and then trying to shove role players in around them.
Realistically I also don't expect us to have 1st round picks on our roster every year; nothing historically would indicate that being the norm for our program and I would argue it's out of the norm except for a handful of schools in the country. We need to plan a team building strategy that is realistic for our resources and our program. If we swing for the fences year after year you can't be disappointed when you have no depth and your roster looks different every single year.
