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Post by jhart05 on Mar 9, 2011 13:29:06 GMT -6
I don't know I'd go so far as to say pre season favorites.
Yes we will of course miss Anthony. But Haarsma should be able to slide right into that role very nicely.
We will miss Tone as well, but again, we have some nice guards already and Evan Richard sitting with a redshirt all year.
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Post by BBFran on Mar 9, 2011 13:30:19 GMT -6
We might be in the mix but going into the season I'd guess Butler and Detroit will be the clear favorites on paper. Butler returns Smith, Mack, Nored, Stigall, Marshall and others. They'll miss Howard, Vanzant and Hahn but that's a fantastic returning group. Detroit had no seniors.
For us the question is how do we replace Anthony's interior presence and Tone's amazing workrate. The interior issue is the big one. Kyle obviously needs to get much stronger to be able to work effectively on the low block, and that's probably asking a lot in six months. James Haarsma is a tough kid in the paint but he's about 6'4. I think Lonnie, Evan and more minutes from Ryan Allen can give us another way to fill in for what Tone gave us.
But that's the fun of college ball -- kids are always moving on, so you have to develop other kids and find other ways to get the job done.
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Post by Super King on Mar 9, 2011 14:14:18 GMT -6
Haarsma is more of a 4 than a 5. I've stood next to the guy many times; he is not 6'7" as listed. We'll see how that works out.
Losing Tone will help Meier get more shots -- he's a 50/40/80 shooter, one of the best Milwaukee has ever seen. Meier could very well average 15 points per game without Tone shooting 38% next to him. Kaylon needs to work on his jump shot, but he wasn't particularly bad from 3 this year to begin with. And the Richard/McCallum rotation at the 2 will help fill up some of Tone's shots too. I have confidence in Kelm. He's got incredible ability.
JJ Panoske is the big wild card. If he's really up to 230/240 as people seem to believe, an addition 5-10 pounds in the offseason could make him one of the most monstrous players to ever suit up for us -- as a Freshman. And if he demonstrates even marginal capability in the post, things become much easier for everyone. Honestly, I think James Wright should work hard with Panoske and Kelm the way he worked with Hill to get them to the point where they can make a difference on the block, because it was Wright who honestly helped Hill become what he is now.
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Post by BBFran on Mar 9, 2011 14:58:14 GMT -6
Kyle has excellent basketball intelligence and very good skills, but his core strength is very lacking, which makes him ineffective in the post. That's a matter of physical maturation and weight work. It will come, but it may take a few years. The same was true for Anthony, although he had a better physical base to start with. I saw JJ last night. He's a big kid but he looks like what he is -- a teenager. I will be surprised if his trajectory isn't very similar to Kyle's. (That said, I also saw a guy who looked to be JJ's Dad, and he was a big, strong looking dude, so the genes are there.)
Guys who can effectively play the low post as freshmen are very, very rare, and essentially nonexistent at the mid-major level. Even though JH is, as I said, about 6'4, he'll probably be more effective in the low block than we can expect Kyle and JJ to be next year just because of his physical strength and maturity. That's just the way it works. I would love it if we could find a Juco guy, but every college in the country is also looking for those guys. That's what made getting James Eayrs so special two years ago.
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Post by Super King on Mar 9, 2011 15:13:57 GMT -6
Kelm had excellent technique down low, which he didn't use to his advantage often enough. Great ball fakes are huge weapons in the post. I remember one game in particular (Marquette?) where he used a ball fake to get his defender to practically jump out of his shoes.
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Post by buppie05 on Mar 9, 2011 19:25:04 GMT -6
"Thats what made getting James Eayrs so special two years ago"
James was a treat to watch. I saw him a couple of times on Saturday but missed my opportunity to say thanks and good luck. I hope I get the chance to thank Ant and Tone for the great times. I hope Ant and Tone both continue to play basketball, especially Ant because I think he can make a very good living for himself playing basketball should he choose that career.
It truly was an amazing season. I know we didn't make the NCAA tournament, but it shouldn't be lost on anyone that a couple of months ago there was optimism for a 6 seed and a first round tourny game. The coaching staff and the players returning make me very optimistic that we will be back to the NCAA tournament soon. This season was a roller-coaster at times, and I would be lying if I said I haven't been "what ifing" nonstop in my head about an at large if the ball would have bounced our way a few times, and if we played better as a unit early in the season. That being said, I wouldn't have had this season any other way. We'll get em in the NIT and next year lookout.
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Post by buppie05 on Mar 9, 2011 19:40:11 GMT -6
Forgot to mention.
I know others have mentioned it, but kudos to everyone for having a clean program and a team that played the right way and caused zero off court distractions. Rob has learned firsthand that quality individuals make the best ball players, and congratulations to him and the staff for the quality people they bring in.
I heard a stat today that out of the 6 "BCS" conferences, only Penn st. and Stanford have never been accused of a violation. I know we aren't perfect, but that is one of the main reasons I love mid-major basketball so much. Today it came out that Perry Jones for Baylor received improper benefits, a lot of good it did them this year. In reality it was Tweety Carter who made that team special last year, a 4 year player/floor leader who tried to make everyone better. Our version is named Kaylon and he'll be back next year.
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