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Post by Cousin Eddie on Oct 25, 2016 14:27:11 GMT -6
Following the most recent preview article posted in the "Articles" thread, I wanted to make some comments/predictions on the team. I think the grades given by the article of Backcourt: B; Frontcourt: C+; and Depth: B- are not unreasonable given the unknowns, but I think they may be a touch off.
Frankly, if there were one that I think is high, it would presently be backcourt. Every single player is new and unknown - but I think it is widely accepted that the talent is there. With Frontcourt, you have Flack and Sparks that have been around for a long time and then Jech and Hagedorn that are only sophomores - if we are lacking anything here it may be a couple more inches of height. On the other hand, Sparks and Flack have a history of injuries and Jech/Hagedorn seemed to fall into a freshman slump late in the season. I think TBM is going to shock a lot of people with his all around talent.
The one that really seems a bit off to me is depth. I do not hesitate in saying that we have 13 legitimate D-1 scholarship players and I would not be shocked to see every single one of them get consistent minutes. This is what I would project as a starting 5 and depth chart based on what I known and/or have heard chatter about:
G: Dickerson G: Mooney G: Hurst F: Burch-Manning F: Flack
Bench: G: Doss, Simpson, Armstrong, Peterson F: Jech, Sparks, Hagedorn, Power RS: Stensgard, Delimont
I am not sure a team could ask for much better depth. I wouldn't be shocked to see any of the following get a chance to start in the event of injury, illness or slump: Simpson, Doss, Jech.
I am beyond excited about MBB this season. I think we are going to be in for a treat. It would not shock me in the least to see a high flying Dakota Dunk City team with Flack, TBM, Hurst and even Dickerson. All like to run and jump, from my understanding. It sounds like Mooney can do just about everything and Doss is a hustler who, along with Hurst, may be our best defenders.
I think the future looks bright.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 25, 2016 17:21:26 GMT -6
You have a far more optimistic outlook then I do at this point at least when it comes to this season. I can't say I know what exactly will happen but it's time for Smith to get this program turned around and do it soon. We have now been one year away for 3 years in a row. Smith made the decision at the end of his first year that he was basically going to take all his eggs out of the 2015-2016 season and play for this year. Because of defections on the team there are almost no proven players on the roster. Hopefully the gutting of the cancer has been completed and none is left growing because something was not right with the team after Christmas last year. It had much more to do with just simply a lack of talent because the same talent was much better at the beginning of the season. Whatever the reason coach Smith did not do a good job of coaching the team last year and maybe it was just a very poor team chemistry but the fact remains that he wasn't a good coach period. I don't understand how Jech (especially) and Hagedorn fell so far out of favor with Smith. The Coyotes were a better team when they were playing more minutes earlier in the season and suddenly their minutes get cut and the Coyotes slump. Now with their minutes being cut last year has put more questions marks over them then answers at this point. Both of them wallowed in mediocrity while Mike Daum was kicking ass up in Frost Arena. When is USD ever going to put out some talent in men's hoops. Maybe that will come soon but who knows. Right now the only true proven talent is Flack a guy that we may be happy to have play 70% of the season. The Coyotes quit on their coach and quit on themselves in many games and sorry if that is painting the picture black but it is the simple truth. They didn't even show up for the tourney game in Sioux Falls and had many other games where they had very little energy and cohesion.
At this point in time Coyote Men's Basketball is an after thought in the South Dakota sports scene. No one cared about them because it was all about the Jacks men and women, Augie men and USD women. USD at best was the third best team in the state last year and there is no guarantee they would have even ranked 3rd. The Yotes are now back page news.
With that said I am giving Smith the benefit of the doubt for now and will be excited to see the Coyotes play but it's time that accountability is to be excepted. By the time the Summit League season starts we should be seeing a significant improvement from the team. We should be seeing a team that is coming together and busting their asses out on that court. Coach Smith is a nice guy but there are a million other nice guys in America so he needs to also prove that he is a good Summit League coach and that has not been proven.
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Post by Yotes on Oct 25, 2016 18:10:13 GMT -6
Year 3 under Craig Smith. It is at this point that I will become quite concerned if we aren't a sure SL semifinals team and comfortably in some postseason tournament. We sacrificed last season with an eye at 2016-17 by giving three scholarships to D1 transfers. Those D1 transfers will make or break this team. If they are as good as advertised then we should finish top 4 in the Summit and hopefully be the hot team in Sioux Falls.
Beyond those three guards we know we have an asset in Tyler Flack. That preview posted earlier today said that he can do a 720 dunk. Someone get me video of that! Maybe he'll pull it out against Presentation College.
Jech and Hagedoorn looked promising at times as freshmen last season. Hoping for big steps forward from those kids this year. Sparks has looked good when healthy, but he sure has missed a lot of time due to injury. I don't pay nearly enough attention to know what we have in Doss, Simpson, Armstrong, Peterson, and (potentially?) Stensgard and Delimont.
New season, new venue, new faces ready to make a big difference. I'm thankful that this team had their Spain trip to get some time together in game situations already. Probably going to be slow starters, but perhaps not as slow as they would have been without that trip to Spain. I'm optimistic that we have a squad and leadership that will be rolling come Summit League play.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 25, 2016 21:23:54 GMT -6
Yotes,
thanks for not ripping on my post and instead making a good response. You are correct about the concern that should be showed if Smith doesn't get this thing going after this year. He kind of went all in for this year and IMO pushed all chips to the center so should have some type of consequence even if it's just a little bit warmer seat at the end of the year. Look at Omaha, it took them barely any time at all to get accustomed to the league and have already finished higher in the league that the Coyotes have ever finished. How does that happen. The Yotes let Omaha pass them by while standing still and eating their dust as they went by. In no way should the Mavs at this point be ahead of where the Coyotes are right now. How many schools in this conference could care less about their basketball programs at least as far as fan support goes. There are at least 3 of them out east that fit that bill. How many Summit programs could draw over 7K for a women's basketball game if they had the seating capacity. I would say one is likely, maybe two and that would already be a stretch. There is no way with the advantages that we now have at USD such as the accademics and the new arena that we should ever lag behind programs like IUPUI, IPFW, Western Illinois and probably Omaha. No way.
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Post by gopheryote on Oct 26, 2016 6:05:18 GMT -6
Don't take this as giving MBB a free pass, but it important to keep in mind the unusual (and nearly devastating) Boots/James handoff/transition/mess. That essentially lead to a lost season and two lost recruiting seasons, which was more painful because we were still transitioning.
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Post by golfingyote on Oct 26, 2016 7:24:49 GMT -6
Yotes, thanks for not ripping on my post and instead making a good response. You are correct about the concern that should be showed if Smith doesn't get this thing going after this year. He kind of went all in for this year and IMO pushed all chips to the center so should have some type of consequence even if it's just a little bit warmer seat at the end of the year. Look at Omaha, it took them barely any time at all to get accustomed to the league and have already finished higher in the league that the Coyotes have ever finished. How does that happen. The Yotes let Omaha pass them by while standing still and eating their dust as they went by. In no way should the Mavs at this point be ahead of where the Coyotes are right now. How many schools in this conference could care less about their basketball programs at least as far as fan support goes. There are at least 3 of them out east that fit that bill. How many Summit programs could draw over 7K for a women's basketball game if they had the seating capacity. I would say one is likely, maybe two and that would already be a stretch. There is no way with the advantages that we now have at USD such as the accademics and the new arena that we should ever lag behind programs like IUPUI, IPFW, Western Illinois and probably Omaha. No way. Just slow your role and see how the year plays out. This is the first time Smith has a roster he actually put together(Flack the lone holdover). Also, the yotes have 1 senior, so lets not act like this is a full on make or break year. If we finish in the bottom half of the conference, you can hoot and hollar all you want.
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Post by Cousin Eddie on Oct 26, 2016 7:42:13 GMT -6
Both gopheryote and golfingyote are correct. Actually golfingyote, Sparks was a Boots/James guy as well. People act like it was such a crazy sacrifice to have three guys sitting the bench - I think you should reconsider that notion. How is it different from a RS year? Ideally, if we actually had a roster full of D-1 talent, wouldn't we want to be redshirting our new guys frequently? I realize these 3 are not freshman, but the point remains. Further, it isn't as if we are only getting one year from them. Dickerson and Hurst have two seasons and Mooney gets 3. In my mind, this is the first year of actually having a complete proper roster for the Summit League. If you want to blame somebody for not having a fully stocked D-1 roster going into the transition (as in the comparison to Omaha), do not blame Coach Smith. Blame Boots for being a lazy recruiter, lying to the AD, leaving Joey with a mess and, in turn, causing Joey to leave Coach Smith with a mess. This isn't pro sports guys. You can't just go offer a big contract to Lebron James and be a winner. The NCAA has rules and coaches need to bust their humps over 12-24 months to build relationships. It takes 2-4 years to build a roster. We finally have one now. I will give you this, by the end of the year, if we aren't in the top half of the Summit then I will be sorely disappointed. In that case, then you can apply all the scrutiny on Coach Smith you want in year 4.
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Post by Yote 53 on Oct 26, 2016 8:22:51 GMT -6
In my mind, this is the first year of actually having a complete proper roster for the Summit League. If you want to blame somebody for not having a fully stocked D-1 roster going into the transition (as in the comparison to Omaha), do not blame Coach Smith. Blame Boots for being a lazy recruiter, lying to the AD, leaving Joey with a mess and, in turn, causing Joey to leave Coach Smith with a mess. Cuz is spot on here. I wouldn't even attribute any of that mess to James as he was just caught in the middle and trying to make the best out of a crap situation. That mess falls directly on Boots. All those people that came on here and said Boots had earned the right to go out his way, etc. Well, we've been reaping the rewards of his "right", it set the program back years and in the meantime we've all got to enjoy watching NDSU go to the Dance, SDSU go to the Dance, Nate gonna Nate, etc, etc. Hopefully the injection of new facilities and a coach who I believe can get things done will turn things around. I think his timeline to do so should be extended a little longer than normal though and we need to show some patience here. This is not a make-or-break year, it's actually more like Year 1 of accountability.
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Post by Cousin Eddie on Oct 26, 2016 9:48:31 GMT -6
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 26, 2016 12:42:19 GMT -6
Both gopheryote and golfingyote are correct. Actually golfingyote, Sparks was a Boots/James guy as well. People act like it was such a crazy sacrifice to have three guys sitting the bench - I think you should reconsider that notion. How is it different from a RS year? Ideally, if we actually had a roster full of D-1 talent, wouldn't we want to be redshirting our new guys frequently? I realize these 3 are not freshman, but the point remains. Further, it isn't as if we are only getting one year from them. Dickerson and Hurst have two seasons and Mooney gets 3. In my mind, this is the first year of actually having a complete proper roster for the Summit League. If you want to blame somebody for not having a fully stocked D-1 roster going into the transition (as in the comparison to Omaha), do not blame Coach Smith. Blame Boots for being a lazy recruiter, lying to the AD, leaving Joey with a mess and, in turn, causing Joey to leave Coach Smith with a mess. This isn't pro sports guys. You can't just go offer a big contract to Lebron James and be a winner. The NCAA has rules and coaches need to bust their humps over 12-24 months to build relationships. It takes 2-4 years to build a roster. We finally have one now. I will give you this, by the end of the year, if we aren't in the top half of the Summit then I will be sorely disappointed. In that case, then you can apply all the scrutiny on Coach Smith you want in year 4. I honestly don't see this team being a top half of the Summit team even with the improvements they may make from November to January. I will be extremely happy if they end up 4th or higher but too many things have to go right for that to happen. I was thinking more like 6th or 7th would be more likely. If Smith has this team kicking butt and they have a good year than forgive my doubt of the program. I look forward to a home court advantage that they just didn't have in the dome. That could be the big intangible that propels them higher than they otherwise may have been.
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Post by Cousin Eddie on Oct 26, 2016 13:51:26 GMT -6
I can totally understand the doubt. It is basically a new team.
My hope stems entirely from the talent that I know we have now. Going forward, it is up to the coaches to make it work together. This is the first year that I think the talent is finally here. You will not hear me making recruiting excuses for these guys anymore. This is their team and effectively their players.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 26, 2016 17:00:37 GMT -6
I can totally understand the doubt. It is basically a new team. My hope stems entirely from the talent that I know we have now. Going forward, it is up to the coaches to make it work together. This is the first year that I think the talent is finally here. You will not hear me making recruiting excuses for these guys anymore. This is their team and effectively their players. My doubt comes at least as much from how last year unfolded vs all the young players this year. If last year was a fluke and a one time thing with defections, chemistry etc than we will be fine but if last year is just our view of the tip of the ice berg then the trouble may not just go away. I thought the talent was average but I thought the consistent motivation factor was well below average. Let's not just cast off the players from a year or two ago as non worthy of being D1 type talent. The Yotes may not have had game changing type players like Wolters, Daum etc but they still had solid players that played well when their hearts were in their bodies inside their uniforms. In other words what I am trying to say is that I don't think it was simply or only a talent issue but more of a team cohesion/motivation issue. By the end of the year I do think we will have our answer to whether last year was a player problem or a coach problem.
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Post by yote14 on Oct 27, 2016 10:58:43 GMT -6
I don't think there is any doubt the last 2 years there was a serious lack of talent. Heart only gets you so far. Luckily basketball is different from football in that you do not necessarily need to develop physically before you can excel. Cohesion is a big part of the game but as stated these transfers have been here a full year already playing together.
I understand caution being used from last years performance and that this is a new team. But they are not a young team. There is legit D1 experience which is different with this new team compared to it being a young team.
I will be very disappointed if they are not in the top half of the league and I would bet a lot of money that they will be in the top half if not contenders this year already.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 27, 2016 12:46:29 GMT -6
I guess as far as how the talent goes, that talent was good enough to have a good first half of the season. It sure didn't look like it was bad at that point of the season. How did that talent suddenly drop off and basically disappear at Christmas time. I guess if the team was not really all that talented than they seriously over achieved early but if the talent wasn't the issue then they seriously under achieved late. My case in point is that the teams talent was not what led to the strange year that USD had last year. It was something quite different than simply a talent issue. Talent does not explain why we saw two complete different teams on the court last year pre and post Christmas. My believe is that there were internal issues. The evidence seems to point to that over the talent side of things.
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Post by yote14 on Oct 27, 2016 14:33:56 GMT -6
You may be right on there being some internal issues. I don't think there were/that wasn't the issue IMO.
The conference grind can always take a toll on a team. OOC games are tougher to game plan for as its teams who rarely face off etc. To succeed in the Summit league you really need a team built around tall and strong big men/forwards. USD did not have that last year with a couple true freshman and flack being out of bball for a full year. Teams locked down on our shooting guards which is where USD had success in the OOC.
My opinion the tale of two seasons was no more than conference teams knowing how to beat us/we did not have the type of team that could compete long term over the entire conference season.
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