That went out the door when Harwell played well under expectations and McFarland never recovered from those nasty injuries…
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Fair enough. I really agree with everything you said.
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Agree, Meadowlark…This class coming in is better, and will play better, than a lot of people think…I think we challenge for a Big 12 title again…
I just wanna go on record that I’m a big Corey Hadnot fan, I’d start him. Maybe not right away, but I think it shakes out that way at some point sooner rather than later.
No offense to Mercy, just wanna put that out there now. Just really like his downhill game, his moxy, the length and aggressive funk that he plays with, and his wiggle and knack for getting to the cup and finishing. @IowaCoog @Kyle_Be_Coogin
Also I think he can absolutely give you combo PG minutes!! Zero doubt.
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I see him more as a spark off the bench. I don’t think starting matters, as much as minutes. IMO Mercy will be the best offensive player on the team next season. Hadnot could easily play the Pettiford/Dillingham role they played as freshman. They didn’t start but nobody can deny how crucial they were to their respective team’s success
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I like Hadnots film. I been trying to hype him up on here…
I think we still see some 3 guard lineups. I think Chase starts but unless he works on his dribbling i can see Mercy sliding over and playing a few minutes at the 3. Mercy can board for a guard too. Mercy is a better athlete than Sharp and he played the 3…so its possible.
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Great? Too optimistic based on sample size.
Highly unlikely.
Too generous of an assessment. I think he fits what UH needs.
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No one really knows how this will come together. What some see as questions makes no difference. I think we are going to have a really nice front court who fit what we do well.
I will have to see how many minutes Diane and East can play and if we can avoid a huge drop off when one or both are in the game.
Something I am excited to see is what Thomas, Miller and Haddnot can do. I think chase has a chance to be really good and I think we will see him develop more and more throughout the year. He won’t be the same player by the end of February that he will be in November. Question is who’s going to fill the role off the bench. Will it be a secondary point guard like Jefferson or Alozi, or will it be a wing like Jackson? Will they provide serviceable minutes or will they be real factors game in and game out? I like what I have heard about Alozi. Jefferson can really defend. Jackson I don’t know much his readiness to contribute or his strengths and weaknesses.
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I don’t have much to add, but I’d be feeling better about this coming season if we had added one absolutely can’t-miss, proven stud at either the 2/3 or the 4/5. Someone like a Yaxel or Cryer who you know will be giving you 15+ every single game and can be depended on to get a bucket when you need one.
Some of the guys we got have potential to do that, but I foresee the same scoring drought issues we have had. Everybody on the roster looks like a solid role player in need of a superstar to complement. Thomas has that star potential except he’s undersized and coming off a serious injury and has never been a particularly proficient shooter from deep to really open up his game (had decent %'s his first two seasons but barely shot them.)
I do think the defense will be better and more up to Sampson’s typical standards, though.
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Yaxel coming from UAB was absolutely not a “can’t miss” guy. There were concerns about him translating to a harder league
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Just like when UH switched to the B12…
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NCAA MBB and FB fans (I’m guessing all sports)
I don’t think so…
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Eventually the Band, Cougar Dolls and the cheerleaders too
Much more can’t miss than anybody we got. 18 11 4 with 2 steals and 2 blocks with solid performances against ranked opponents.
Feels like you’re splitting hairs anyway since that doesn’t affect my point— swap someone else in if you want— the point is we didn’t get a surefire transfer whatsoever.
You’re correct, he was undoubtedly talking about basketball only.
But Dedan is a surefire pickup.
And Gillespie has fairly similar stats to Yaxel albeit without a lot of experience vs P4 teams. And Hadnot had some great games vs high level teams.
Are those two “sure fire?!” No but we’ve had like 2 bad transfers in Sampson’s time. I would put money on these guys being good too, especially since motor is not a concern with either of those two
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Dedan Thomas has been consistently good and actually so have Gillespie and Hadnot. Maybe you mean superstar potential, but the guys we picked up have all had nice careers, no doubt. East is the only one who hasn’t had multiple years of success, and that’s because he was only a sophomore
Dedan is the closest thing to a surefire pickup but he’s coming off a serious injury and is undersized. And yeah, I meant actual guaranteed studs. I think almost all the guys we picked up have potential to be good, but I don’t see anyone who is capable of being “The Man” on offense when the going gets tough and we are in one of our patented scoring droughts and just need a sure bucket-- I just see a lot of good role players. No Cryer, no Flemings, no Rob Gray, etc.
Dedan averages around 34% from deep and makes less than 1 per game for his career so to me that says he’s not quite that guy. Given all the offense we lost this offseason and our struggles at times, we really needed a guy who was guaranteed to be able to score effortlessly at this level. (Not saying I wanted him, but Haggerty was that kind of guy. So was Cryer.)
I like Gillespie and I’m hopeful, but he isn’t half the passer or shooter Yaxel was at UAB. 4.5 dimes versus 1.7, mid-30s from 3 versus a horrid 27%, 1 block and steal versus nearly 2 each. He’s also not been very good against the best comp the few times he’s played it in his career.
I have faith Sampson will be able to get a lot out of this team, I just wish we could have gotten at least one proven #1 option type stud that a lot of other teams we will be competing against in March were able to.
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