2024 offseason

[Jack]

It sure isn't the backcourt that would be a problem esp on OFF.Its the 3-4 spot that will be the challenge and DEF REbs.Of course also if Baye fouls out things also get very interesting.
If Reeves gets his 3 pt shot it will be a sweeter season.

I think we got plenty for the 1,2,3,4 spots. It’s the 5 that I have some
concern about.

 

[g0lftime]

Memories. I was fortunate to have attended BC's first youth camp. Help cement my fandom for GT sports.

Both my sons went to Cremmins camp. I have the pictures of them with him on the wall in my den. They are both now in their early 40's.

 

[dtm1997]

 

[orientalnc]

A couple of good points from the video.

Bishop said CDS is going to play George and McCollum together a lot. It looks like Mustaf and Terry will be the primary backups. That keeps Reeves at the 3 and I assume Sutton and O'Brien will get minutes there as well. I am more interested in what was not said. How are the guys potentially playing the 4 & 5 doing? Is it #11 and "let's find someone who doesn't hurt us" at the other spot? Whenever I hear the small ball talk I think we could see Reeves & O'Brien together at the 3/4 a lot this year. The key there might be Powell and how well his game carries over to the ACC. I am not expecting much from Doryan until January.

 

[yjfan]

I think we got enough size shooting and versatility at the 4/5. Bate/sutton for small. Ball. Mutombo the freshman for mother centers and let’s see what soure brings to the table

 

[alagold]

A couple of good points from the video.

Bishop said CDS is going to play George and McCollum together a lot. It looks like Mustaf and Terry will be the primary backups. That keeps Reeves at the 3 and I assume Sutton and O'Brien will get minutes there as well. I am more interested in what was not said. How are the guys potentially playing the 4 & 5 doing? Is it #11 and "let's find someone who doesn't hurt us" at the other spot? Whenever I hear the small ball talk I think we could see Reeves & O'Brien together at the 3/4 a lot this year. The key there might be Powell and how well his game carries over to the ACC. I am not expecting much from Doryan until January.

Lets just say that our front ct is likely not our strength.

 

[Ramblingon]

Anyone notice that new player measurements posted show Ndongo at 6-9, but at 240 lbs. Hope most of that is muscle.

 

[MtnWasp]

If Ndongo is 240 lbs, then we know he is slated to anchor the 5.

 

[1979jacket]

George, McCullough, Reeves, OBrien and Ndongo. Terry and Mustaf to get plenty of time as well as another big man TBD. Others depending on how well they play. Just my guess

 

[okiemon]

George, McCullough, Reeves, OBrien and Ndongo. Terry and Mustaf to get plenty of time as well as another big man TBD. Others depending on how well they play. Just my guess

As good a guess as any at this point.

 

[OG-T]

Sutton will DEFINITELY get time.
Powell and Souare will find meaningful spot minutes IMO.

 

[Jack]

Lets just say that our front ct is likely not our strength.

I would most enjoy seeing this starting lineup be successful;
George, McCullough, Reeves,
Ndongo, and Mutombo.

 

[Root4GT]

I would most enjoy seeing this starting lineup be successful;
George, McCullough, Reeves,
Ndongo, and Mutombo.

Mutombo will not be a regular starter. He will play vs certain matchups. CDS believes in having guys able to hit 3s and penetrate to the basket. Only one big is needed on the court.

Defensive improvement will be the key to this season. Last year our guys got beat badly playing their man on defense.

 

[Jack]

Lets just say that our front ct is likely not our strength.

Mutombo will not be a regular starter. He will play vs certain matchups. CDS believes in having guys able to hit 3s and penetrate to the basket. Only one big is needed on the court.

Defensive improvement will be the key to this season. Last year our guys got beat badly playing their man on defense.

We will see. I remember several times last year we were dominated in the post by our opponent's bigs.
We should, this year, be able to play big or small ball.

 

[57jacket]

We will see. I remember several times last year we were dominated in the post by our opponent's bigs.
We should, this year, be able to play big or small ball.

Correct. Opponents killed us with their offensive rebounds. Need at least one glass banger, whether he can score or not.

We will see. I remember several times last year we were dominated in the post by our opponent's bigs.
We should, this year, be able to play big or small ball.

Correct. Opponents killed us with their offensive rebounds, second chance points. We need a defensive rebounder, whether he can score or not.

 

[MtnWasp]

We're almost certain to see a lot of mixing and matching by coach during the pre-season slate to see who will play hard and produce.

The big questions going into this season are global ones:

1. Has Stoudamire assembled a roster that better fits his personality than last year?
2. Will any combination of his players gel into a squad that can get over .500 in the ACC?

A myriad of small questions come to mind:

1. Any Sophomore slumps for Ndongo and George? That would be devastating.
2. Can Ndongo carry the 240lbs and not lose his quickness? To go from 214 to 240 in one year is a huge jump for a basketball player.
3. Does McCollum's game fit with Stoudamire and his team mates? (Amare Abrams... no, don't even go there)
4. How long will it take Terry to knock off the rust?
5. Can Mustaf use that body to make an impact on the defensive end at the 1, 2 and 3 and get on the court that way?
6. Will Reeves finally achieve some degree of consistency in production, especially in conference play?
7. Can OBrien and Reeves shoot the corner three at an adequate percentage to spread the floor the way we want?
8. Can OBrien defend the 4 adequately in the ACC?
9. Will Powell's traditional 4 skill set mean he takes the 4 spot? Or will it be Sutton?
10. Will Mutombo provide some match-up relief on defense at the 5 or is he another Ebenezer this year?
11. Can Onwucheckwu defend the 5 in the ACC or will he need more time?
12. Does Souare have some surprises for us or does he remain the team cheerleader?


I'm sure there are plenty of others, but that is what springs to my mind going into October...

 

[slugboy]

I would think a goal this year is to make the tournament, and that’s about 20 wins. Some projections have us between 14-18.

Our first three games are West Georgia, North Florida, and Texas Southern. We better be comfortably 3-0 at that point. I could see a lot of time for the bigs in those three games just to take advantage of physical mismatches.

Then there’s UGA and Cincinnati. Those are crucial for a bid. Both were ranked ahead of us last year, but I don’t know how good they are this year. Last year, we got smacked in the paint, so I would expect something out of the bigs this season, in those games. Unless Ndongo can own the paint, I think we have to use our centers. If I’m wrong, I’d like to hear why.

Then, we mix in four more games that should be gimmes in with the rest. There are basically seven gimmes for the year.

We also need to do well against Northwestern and Oklahoma. I count 19 conference games, not including the conference tournament.

Winning all the gimmes gives us seven wins. If we go just under 50% in conference, that’s nine more wins, which gets us to seventeen. We have four tough out of conference games against UGA, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and Northwestern, and we’d need to win half to get to nineteen. That, plus a win in the conference tournament should have us just on the right side of the bubble, and that’s a strong season.

I think that requires some games that are guard-heavy, and some where we use our front court, and some blends. We recruited centers for a reason.

 

[Jack]

We're almost certain to see a lot of mixing and matching by coach during the pre-season slate to see who will play hard and produce.

The big questions going into this season are global ones:

1. Has Stoudamire assembled a roster that better fits his personality than last year?
2. Will any combination of his players gel into a squad that can get over .500 in the ACC?

A myriad of small questions come to mind:

1. Any Sophomore slumps for Ndongo and George? That would be devastating.
2. Can Ndongo carry the 240lbs and not lose his quickness? To go from 214 to 240 in one year is a huge jump for a basketball player.
3. Does McCollum's game fit with Stoudamire and his team mates? (Amare Abrams... no, don't even go there)
4. How long will it take Terry to knock off the rust?
5. Can Mustaf use that body to make an impact on the defensive end at the 1, 2 and 3 and get on the court that way?
6. Will Reeves finally achieve some degree of consistency in production, especially in conference play?
7. Can OBrien and Reeves shoot the corner three at an adequate percentage to spread the floor the way we want?
8. Can OBrien defend the 4 adequately in the ACC?
9. Will Powell's traditional 4 skill set mean he takes the 4 spot?
10. Will Mutombo provide some match-up relief on defense at the 5 or is he another Ebenezer this year?
11. Can Onwucheckwu defend the 5 in the ACC or will he need more time?
12. Does Souare have some surprises for us or does he remain the team cheerleader?

I'm sure there are plenty of others, but that is what springs to my mind going into October...

Good questions!

 

[orientalnc]

I would think a goal this year is to make the tournament, and that’s about 20 wins. Some projections have us between 14-18.

Our first three games are West Georgia, North Florida, and Texas Southern. We better be comfortable 3-0 at that point. I could see a lot of time for the bigs in those three games just to take advantage of physical mismatches.

Then there’s UGA and Cincinnati. Those are crucial for a bid. Both were ranked ahead of us last year, but I don’t know how good they are this year. Last year, we got smacked in the paint, so I would expect something out of the bigs this season, in those games. Unless Ndongo can own the paint, I think we have to use our centers. If I’m wrong, I’d like to hear why.

Then, we mix in four more games that should be gimmes in with the rest. There are basically seven gimmes for the year.

We also need to do well against Northwestern and Oklahoma. I count 19 conference games, not including the conference tournament.

Winning all the gimmes gives us seven wins. If we go just under 50% in conference, that’s none more wins, which gets us to seventeen. We have four tough out of conference games against UGA, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and Northwestern, and we’d need to win half to get to nineteen. That, plus a win in the conference tournament should have us just on the right side of the bubble, and that’s a strong season.

I think that requires some games that are guard-heavy, and some where we use our front court, and some blends. We recruited centers for a reason.

IIRC, we have 20 conference games.

 

[AUFC]

I would think a goal this year is to make the tournament, and that’s about 20 wins. Some projections have us between 14-18.

Our first three games are West Georgia, North Florida, and Texas Southern. We better be comfortable 3-0 at that point. I could see a lot of time for the bigs in those three games just to take advantage of physical mismatches.

Then there’s UGA and Cincinnati. Those are crucial for a bid. Both were ranked ahead of us last year, but I don’t know how good they are this year. Last year, we got smacked in the paint, so I would expect something out of the bigs this season, in those games. Unless Ndongo can own the paint, I think we have to use our centers. If I’m wrong, I’d like to hear why.

Then, we mix in four more games that should be gimmes in with the rest. There are basically seven gimmes for the year.

We also need to do well against Northwestern and Oklahoma. I count 19 conference games, not including the conference tournament.

Winning all the gimmes gives us seven wins. If we go just under 50% in conference, that’s none more wins, which gets us to seventeen. We have four tough out of conference games against UGA, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and Northwestern, and we’d need to win half to get to nineteen. That, plus a win in the conference tournament should have us just on the right side of the bubble, and that’s a strong season.

I think that requires some games that are guard-heavy, and some where we use our front court, and some blends. We recruited centers for a reason.

9-11 in the ACC does not get you into the tournament anymore. That really doesn't even get you into the tournament in the Big 12. UVA was 13-7 last year and were a surprise on Selection Sunday ducking into the First Four. Clemson (11-9) was a little bit of a weird edge case where they had a few really elite wins and had a lot of poll inertia from their incredible start - the #6 seed was still very friendly, especially after finishing the season with a blowout by Boston College in the ACCT.

Some insider knowledge from The Other Board claims that McCollum is looking like an absolute stud in practice. We already know he loves the pick-and-roll (probably a major reason he chose us) and we may lean more on him than Nait the Great this season. Stoudamire has already said in pressers not to expect anything from Doryan O until later in the season. We will be bad down low again but the good news is that pretty much everybody else in the ACC is this year - Cooper Flagg will of course be a boatload and some transfers/bench guys will make names for themselves, but no more Flip, Bacot, Omier, PJ Hall, Federiko, DJ Burns, or Quinten Post.

I'm excited to see what Mustaf and Sutton bring to the table - they trained against and excelled against very elite D1-level competition last season. No expectation of this but if Sutton could fill the rebounding void, that would be a pleasant surprise.