Curtis Jones was a horrendous defensive player. Capable of being decent to good, but didn’t have the awareness, focus, or drive on the defensive end to maintain performance. For every game he was “decent” he would have 4-5 where he would sag off the 3 line and pay no attention to his man. If there was a stat for those occurrences I’m sure he’d be one of college basketball’s biggest offenders.
Keshon on the other hand, could be an ELITE defender but again, those efforts were inconsistent.
Easily our best defenders were Jefferson (elite), Lipsey (elite), Heise (very good), and Watson (very good but our coach would never utilize him) and all but Watson will be back. The rest of the rotation? Milan is generally subpar, with major awareness issues, but has shown (Houston for example) he is more than capable of playing passable to good defense. Jackson was always a question of engagement, on both ends. Chatfield had his moments, but wasn’t not athletic, rangy, or smart enough to properly execute the doubles that Otz is too stubborn to abandon. Milan will be back (along with Lipsey, Jeff, Heise) and Jackson and Chat are gone (along with Jones and Keshon).
Our success defensively will largely hinge on the incoming freshman/players, our ability to properly recognize and hedge perimeter screens (we were terrible this year), and how well our incoming bigs can high double/trap/recover, a facet we were not nearly as effective with this year(as Chatfield/Jackson were <<< Jones/Ward defensively). Could we be better? I think we will be better on the perimeter than we were last year, largely because Jones was THAT bad. Interior wise? Possible, but I don’t know.
As for “perimeter playmakers”, it’s going to be a reliance on Tamin, the freshman, and the incoming guard. How this is all going to work out for us I have no idea.
The biggest reason in the drop in performance was Jones’ regression (he didn’t seem to care about defense at all this year), Gilbert’s inconsistency, and the difference between Jones/Ward and Jackson/Chatfield. I’d also add that, as a team, we were VERY poor with our approach to perimeter screens. Our guards did not hedge hard enough and often got caught going underneath. This allowed teams to penetrate and/or shoot over the top of us. Even Tamin (especially early on) wasn’t very good (at this) for much of the year.
I’m going to disagree on the defense, at least qualifying them as “way worse”. None of Jones, Chatfield, or Dishon were “great” defensively and/or were rated great before they got here. Keshon, when his head was on straight? Yeah, that dude could be/was elite. As far as the guys we are bringing in it’s hard to say as nobody really compiles highlights of what these guys do defensively. It’s also hard to gauge defensive capabilities based on shear, individual numbers as the teams they come from are bad and/or bad defensively.
I think Mason and Buchanan are quicker than Jackson/Chatfield and can be much better help/trap/double defenders…at the very least. On the block? Chatfield and Jackson were loads and I’m not sure how well Mason and Buchanan will hold on the block. Or the freshman Euro for that matter. As for Williams…that team was wretched and pretty poor defensively. Metrically he rated “well” against his teammates but it’s hard to say. As a Jones replacement? He will probably be better. Compared to Keshon, especially engaged Keshon? Likely worse.
Long story short, our team defense is going to largely be determined by our interior defenders and our overall team defense on the 3 point line. Chatfield and Jackson were not very good defensively and were honestly poor fits (as defenders) for what we like to do. By simply being better/harder on the hedges and having better trap defenders (for the record I think we should mostly abandon this philosophy but also acknowledge Otz’s reluctance), we can greatly improve our 3 point defense, and force defenses to take tougher shots. But will we? That’s the million dollar question.
Basically I think it’s way to early to make assumptions, especially defensively. Offensively, at least on paper? Yeah, we are losing a lot (if just looking at the transfers).
Yes that’s accurate, but dont sleep on Killyan Toure. He’s 100 overall, and that’s with being a bit under the radar because he played in France before Prep School. very weird recruitment process, which I take as a good sign in this era.
A 4 star top 100 player with only 1 hard offer?? Makes me think it was either ISU or pro ball in some capacity. Very odd. Classic TJ move. He has ties at Brewster going back 20 years.
He’ll probably vie for that classic 6th man instant offense microwave spot. Might be the fastest guy in the Big 12 in terms of sheer speed. Kid is an absolute greyhound in transition. He’s quick as a hiccup, but mostly just fast.
This video is over a year old. Like I said, under the radar:
My honest opinion is tight shirt muscles man thinks this group just didn’t play very hard, and he’s disgusted by it. Kyle Green thinks in those terms too, maybe even more so.
This next group, if nothing else, is gonna play hard, come what may. He’s making moves to ensure that first and foremost.
Wouldn’t be suprised if seeing Houston up close for 2 straight years didn’t make that idea stick with him in that regard.
Heard on the CBS college basketball podcast this morning that Donovan Dent got a $3 million NIL deal to play at UCLA. If that’s even close to the market rate for top transfers, why would anyone even consider leaving early unless you were certain you’d be in the first round or be one of the few 2nd round picks with a guaranteed deal. Even NBA players on a two-way deal, max out at $600k.
I don’t disagree just in terms of pure financial considerations. But the allure of being an NBA player is often priceless to these kids.
Georges Niang has talked extensively in detail about his journey being an NBA pro. He makes 9 million a year right now, but he was a 2nd round pick that got cut. He went from making 600K a year to making about $700 a week after taxes for about a year and a half until he got his break with the Jazz.
He could have made 6 figures overseas at any point in time, but he said he just couldnt live with himself if he didn’t see it through to the end. If the door to the NBA was cracked, he was gonna keep his foot in it until it slammed shut.
Sounds silly, but there’s just no guarantee another opportunity ever comes again after you tell the NBA no thanks at any point in time. There’s just too much competition for them to go out of their way for you. Things happen and they also don’t happen all the time.
BINGO! sometimes taking a Big NIL when the NBA lays any kind of path in front of you is seen as an admission you don’t believe in yourself.
It’s a case by case thing, but pro scouts tend to look at everything unless you’re a sure fire lottery pick, and they will often make stuff up that isnt there. You need to consider everything with these people. They are ruthless.
If all of our players currently eligible to return actually do return This will be our returning players next year.
Milos Uzan *
Emanuel Sharp *
Joseph Tugler *
Terrance Arceneaux
Mercy Miller
Cedric Lath
Kordelius Jefferson
Jacob McFarland
Chase McCarty
Current starters
Ramon Walker is not currently eligible but could get medical redshirt.
These are our incoming freshman:
Chris Cenac Jr. PF, 6-10, 233, 5 star
Isaiah Harwell SG, 6-6, 200, 4 star
Kingston Flemings PG, 6-3, 175, 4 star
Bryce Jackson SG, 6-5, 185, 3 star
That totals 13 players with 15 scholarship players allowed. Who the other players will be is up in the air and I have no idea who they will be. I also don’t know if any of the nine returners will decide to move on or if Walker will get the medical redshirt. So, how can anyone project who our starters will be?
some projections have him 1st round… i think he is gone
we cant afford him if this is an NIL play… i dont think it would be a NIL play becuase he could have made millions last year but chose to stick with UAB… i think he wants to win…
if the combine just goes terrible for him, i think we’d have a shot
