2016-2017 starters

alagold

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Does it really matter? Whoever starts will look like a bottom tier tournament team for 30 minutes every game and end the year with 3 conference wins.
you are correct,Sir (only too optimistic)
Who is going to score on this team? with Gregory I see a bunch of "40s" games.
 

ball4life66

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Agreed. Kruger has done things at OK that Capel only dreamed of and he didnt have Blake Griffin.
Maybe Capel has learned more being under K for the past 4 years? I like him because he will be able to recruit at an elite level...
 

kg01

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Maybe Capel has learned more being under K for the past 4 years? I like him because he will be able to recruit at an elite level...

I'm not into this osmosis stuff. A quick gander at K's coaching tree let's me know the coaching gene can certainly skip a generation. Besides, he tutored under K before and it didn't rub off. I've mixed like 6 metaphors already.

Also, I'm not so sure he can recruit at an elite level.
 

lv20gt

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Sylvester Ogbonda is he been redshirt?

Yeah he is redshirting along with Gueye. From what I recall reading, good athlete with good length. On the raw side of things but the year sitting out should help with that. I think ideally he'd serve the role Lammers does this year as 4th big who gets progressively more minutes, but, barring transfer, I think he could be a solid 1st big off the bench in a defense and rebound oriented role.
 

ramblinwreck1378

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Yeah he is redshirting along with Gueye. From what I recall reading, good athlete with good length. On the raw side of things but the year sitting out should help with that. I think ideally he'd serve the role Lammers does this year as 4th big who gets progressively more minutes, but, barring transfer, I think he could be a solid 1st big off the bench in a defense and rebound oriented role.
Agree - I see him with a much higher upside than Gueye. Still trying to figure out where he fits into the picture..
 

IronJacket7

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We lose:

Charles Mitchell
Adam Smith
Marcus Georges Hunt
Nick Jacobs
James White

2016-2017 Team:

Tadric Jackson
Corey Heyward
Travis Jorgenson
Josh Heath
Quinton Stephens
Sylvester Ogbonda
Abdoulaye Gueye
Ben Lammers
Christian Matthews
Josh Okogie
Romello White

Is it just me or is this an inexperienced and unproven group for next season???

Not trying to be pessimistic but this worries me. Anything can happen but I personally don't see a strong nucleus here. JMO.
 

RamblinCharger

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Yeah we will take a step back and will continue to struggle until we start recruiting some guys that can create their own shots and some guys that can really shoot well.
 

Peacone36

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I'd be surprised to see at least one of the players on your 16-17 roster still be here.

That said we all saw this coming when we started relying on 1 year transfers instead of 4 year recruits. Let's get to the NIT and enjoy it before the walls come tumbling down
 

ramblinwreck1378

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I'd be surprised to see at least one of the players on your 16-17 roster still be here.

That said we all saw this coming when we started relying on 1 year transfers instead of 4 year recruits. Let's get to the NIT and enjoy it before the walls come tumbling down
Agree - would be surprised if all three PGs listed above are here next year. Don't know how it will happen (transfer or graduation) but I'm fairly confident it'll happen.
 

GT_B

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I think Heyward is probably going to move on.

Keys to not being terrible next year (pretty much all of these have to happen):

- The light bulb comes on for Tadric and he has a breakout year avg like 15 a game.
- Q builds off his progress at the end of this year and improves his consistency and is scoring 10+ a game
- One or more of the True Fr. have a breakout rookie season
- Lammers continues to get better and becomes a scoring threat as well as a good defender.

If these things can happen I can see us being a middle of the pack ACC team. If they don't, we will be in bottom 3-4 teams.

Wildcards:
- Do we get any Grad Transfers next year that can make a difference? Preferably someone who can score the basketball.
- I watched the tape of the games down in the Bahamas (I know competition wasn't great) but i thought Sylvester O. looked pretty good in the games. With a whole redshirt season of weight training and practice against Chuck/Jacobs/Lammers, if he might turn out to be a pretty good player next year.
 

forensicbuzz

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TJa has to become a slasher/shooter/scorer and TJo has to recover what he lost with his knee injury, or we need to pick up 2 grad transfers. We need someone who can score going to the backet (and from the outside) and someone who can handle the ball better at this level.
 

Ramblingon

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I am pre-supposing a good Grad student transfer helping out with scoring, leadership, etc. A scoring PG Grad student would be ideal.
Otherwise, PG is the problem position per usual. Would love to see TJorg blossom. If not maybe Tadric can play a similar role as MGH at PG.
At SG: Okogie has come on strong his senior season. We will miss Smith's long range shooting a lot.
SF: Q will hopefully play with more confidence. He's the senior. Matthews backing him up as he develops.
PF: R. White can start, but needs an experienced player to spell him...another Grad student transfer like our current White?
Lammers is our strength at C, but they will have to get him involved with the offense more. Ogbonda will back him up.

Keep in mind MGH and R. Carter started as frosh and did pretty well.
 

Gtech50

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Does anyone know if there are any potential players looking to transfer for next year? Or will we not know anything about that until the season is over?
 

RamblinRed

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I had the same thought on Tadric. He is at his best when he slashes to the basket. Work this summer on his ballhandling and possibly use him more in a role similar to MGH in the ACC this year.
The plan is to bring in a grad guard. Obviously the best case scenario is a sweet shooting PG, but i have no idea if one is out there. If not, my belief is that the plan should be to try to get the best scoring guard you can get - if it is a PG great, if not then work on moving Tadric to the MGH role over the summer.

Also, I have no inside info on this but my belief is that Heyward is unlikely to be back. He is a R-JR and isn't playing at all this year and did a prep year before coming to GT. i think he moves on with his life.

Would love to have Blossomgame, but he has no reason to transfer from Clemson. He is their best player and already plays in the ACC. They have 3 transfers sitting out this season so they are expecting to be good next year and open their new gym.

One name that has been in the back of my head is Deen at Auburn. The key is whether he is healthy. He has been not healthy the last 2 seasons and is sitting out this year. But if he is healthy he is a scoring, jtterbug PG from Atlanta.

Also keep in mind that the spring also brings second chances with coaching changes (that is how we ended up with White). There will be coaching changes (I do not think GT will be one of them) that will shake some players free.
 

kg01

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Tadric needs to study Dwhine Wade's old-man game. Very effective despite not being a very good 3pt shooter. Strong mid-range game, gets to the basket, strong enough to get to the line.
 

lv20gt

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I believe they have changed the transfer rules to no longer allow waivers for immediate play except in the case of grad transfers which will cut down on the possibilities. If we keep relying on transfers, we are just going to keep finding ourselves in the same hole we are now.

Assuming no transfers, in or out, we have for next year

PG - Heath (SR), Jorgenson (JR). I don't expect Heyward back.
SG - Jackson(JR), Okogie (FR)
SF - Stephens(SR), Matthews (FR)
PF - White (FR), Gueye (So)
C - Lammers(JR), Ogbonda (FR).

Transfers aren't going to save next year's team. Big question marks at every position. The level of guys we would need to add are the kind of guys that transfer to teams that are already contending. What we need is to find some way to land a quality freshman PG. Offer him the starting job from day one if that is what it takes, but it's an absolute must. Otherwise I'd spend the scholarship on another wing recruit to hopefully push Matthews at the SF spot in two years. IMO, only take a transfer if Heyward does in fact not return.

Of course if we get a new coach, like we should, then he might not have the inroads with recruits to land any more ACC level players, so in that scenario we could go the transfer route. But even then I would hope he would be able to bring a recruit or two with him.
 
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