CJP Said What????

[1979jacket]

He probably said it because he was complimenting a player we recruited that plays for our next opponent.

Had Michael Devoe not committed earlier that week at the PG spot, Johnson was set to visit and likely commit. Devoe committed and Johnson's visit was cancelled, while at the time, there was no indication JO was going to play himself in to a 1st rd pick.

Johnson is a nice player, but, at the time, he wasn't someone you processed a kid for. He was a tough nosed, defense first PG.

I don't care what time it was. I don't care about stars. Johnson is not a nice player - he is better than anybody on our team. It's this type of Pastner goofiness that has destroyed my confidence.

 

[crut]

I don't care what time it was. I don't care about stars. Johnson is not a nice player - he is better than anybody on our team. It's this type of Pastner goofiness that has destroyed my confidence.

This is a ridiculous complaint. So but this logic we should just start only taking 3 stars recruits because they are better than the 4 star recruits we have? You can't retroactively place blame because a player projected well below who we did take in 2018 is doing well. That's no one's goofiness. It's just that the athlete massively outperformed expectations. Another example - Josh Okogie.

 

[dtm1997]

"Leading indicator"? I guess. But the bigger picture is that it puts players on a fast-track. Puts them in front of some fairly important 'influencers' at that level.

That combined with his superlative FR year, his actual skillset (which was tremendous) and the fact that he was sure to show out athletically in a combine scenario ... on top of the Bell nonsense ... it was certainly not a stretch to think he was likely to be gone.

But I read you loud and clear. My bias is showing and I promised to avoid the toxic-talk so I'm just gonna leave it alone at this point.

It was not a stretch at all, but it was far from a certainty, and not enough to justify oversigning in November during our window to land Johnson.

 

[dtm1997]

I don't care what time it was. I don't care about stars. Johnson is not a nice player - he is better than anybody on our team. It's this type of Pastner goofiness that has destroyed my confidence.

What was your evaluation of Xavier Johnson last year ahead of the November signing period when we took Devoe first?

 

[kg01]

It was not a stretch at all, but it was far from a certainty, and not enough to justify oversigning in November during our window to land Johnson.

Deep down ... way deep down, I hear you and agree with this.

It's just tough when, having hindsight - not hindsight in terms of seeing what the guy is doing at Pitt, I mean hindsight in seeing how desperately we need a body - well, you see what you see (wha?).

 

[kg01]

What was your evaluation of Xavier Johnson last year ahead of the November signing period when we took Devoe first?

I had him as a sure first-team ACC guy.

What? I can say it. Nobody's gonna dig up the receipts.

(I'm just kidding people. Settle down.)

 

[smokey_wasp]

I do seem to recall that many were quite certain Okogie was coming back, though I am not sure of what the exact timing was. Wasn't there even a thread titled "Okogie to Return" or something and then the mods had to change it? I know I wasn't sure he was leaving until day 1 of the combine.

That being said, the frustration is understandable. yes, Pastner has had some bad luck and bad timing, but he has also made calculations that haven't worked out and has simply failed to land his top targets. Then he reaches for Didenko and everyone is trying to find a way out of it. He's going to have to bring in a player to quiet the critics.

 

[dtm1997]

I had him as a sure first-team ACC guy.

What? I can say it. Nobody's gonna dig up the receipts.

(I'm just kidding people. Settle down.)

Pretty sure you did post in his recruiting thread. At least you were at that lunch.

 

[dtm1997]

Deep down ... way deep down, I hear you and agree with this.

It's just tough when, having hindsight - not hindsight in terms of seeing what the guy is doing at Pitt, I mean hindsight in seeing how desperately we need a body - well, you see what you see (wha?).

We did need a body. We've filled the Okogie's spot that could have been Xavier Johnson with Jordan Usher, who's got great size & athleticism and plenty of foundation to be highly additive once eligible.

 

[tbglover]

Johnson cancelled his visit cause Devoe was committing seemingly taking that spot.

I don't care what time it was. I don't care about stars. Johnson is not a nice player - he is better than anybody on our team. It's this type of Pastner goofiness that has destroyed my confidence.

Goofiness? There was a scholarship out there for a PG and Devoe, who was also the higher rated player, was ready to accept it and commit. Johnson was scheduled to visit. A commitment wasn't automatically about to come. But if Pastner had waited and not taken Devoe's commitment only to see Johnson head elsewhere you'd be mad about that. Bird in the hand

 

[kg01]

We did need a body. We've filled the Okogie's spot that could have been Xavier Johnson with Jordan Usher, who's got great size & athleticism and plenty of foundation to be highly additive once eligible.

Happy to have Mr. Usher and I think he'll be good for us. Can't be waiting a year to fill spots of need though. Not ideal.

In honor of our guy @Peacone36 , there is one allegedly high-level player out there we could sign. Probably won't be eligible right away. And his dad could be available for a spot on the staff which we know CPast isn't averse to. Who is it? Well, I'll give you a hint ..

(I'm probably about 37% serious at this point.)

 

[1979jacket]

Johnson cancelled his visit cause Devoe was committing seemingly taking that spot.

Goofiness? There was a scholarship out there for a PG and Devoe, who was also the higher rated player, was ready to accept it and commit. Johnson was scheduled to visit. A commitment wasn't automatically about to come. But if Pastner had waited and not taken Devoe's commitment only to see Johnson head elsewhere you'd be mad about that. Bird in the hand

You know more than me and maybe I am Monday morning quarterbacking but I want both of them -Devoe and Johnson. If there was no spot for Johnson, then there should have been. The talent on this team is NP5. If you are saying Johnson would not come once Devoe signed as a point guard, then I am more understanding. Are you saying that? The goofiness term I will not let go of though given the Bell fiasco. He got our best player suspended, ruined our season and probably hurt recruiting for several years. It just flat disgusts me to look at our talent level and then have coach defend his recruiting by using Johnson as an example of a turned away player. Johnson is very good and better scorer than any player we have. I like Devoe but he can't score like Johnson can score.

 

[H-Wade]

You know more than me and maybe I am Monday morning quarterbacking but I want both of them -Devoe and Johnson. If there was no spot for Johnson, then there should have been. The talent on this team is NP5. If you are saying Johnson would not come once Devoe signed as a point guard, then I am more understanding. Are you saying that? The goofiness term I will not let go of though given the Bell fiasco. He got our best player suspended, ruined our season and probably hurt recruiting for several years. It just flat disgusts me to look at our talent level and then have coach defend his recruiting by using Johnson as an example of a turned away player. Johnson is very good and better scorer than any player we have. I like Devoe but he can't score like Johnson can score.

He was saving the scholarships for all the top 100 guys we'd be bringing in this cycle. CJP said himself that this class was the big one we had to hit on.

 

[jeffgt14]

Butterfly effect is full force. We get both Devoe and Johnson and we might not have room for Usher. Who knows who will end up being better between those 2 in the long run.

 

[kg01]

He was saving the scholarships for all the top 100 guys we'd be bringing in this cycle. CJP said himself that this class was the big one we had to hit on.

No, you're totally wrong. It was the '18 class that was the make/break class. No wait ... wait, now it is the '19 class. My mistake.

 

[Peacone36]

This is ridiculous, IIRC, only @connell62 came out and thought Johnson projected as more than an athletic back court defender. He was ranked in the 200’s and showed little shooting prowess in his prep career.

I don’t remember any of you guys pounding the table 16 months ago about bringing Johnson in.

 

[LargeFO]

This is ridiculous, IIRC, only @connell62 came out and thought Johnson projected as more than an athletic back court defender. He was ranked in the 200’s and showed little shooting prowess in his prep career.

I don’t remember any of you guys pounding the table 16 months ago about bringing Johnson in.

You're right on that. THT is the guy that I really hate we couldn't pull. He is rock solid and a lot of strengths are our main glaring weaknesses.

 

[lv20gt]

You know more than me and maybe I am Monday morning quarterbacking but I want both of them -Devoe and Johnson. If there was no spot for Johnson, then there should have been.

Saying there should have been one is asinine. Either you are suggesting pulling scholarships, which even though I agree with, isn't something you should expect, or you are suggesting that Pastner should have not taken someone in prior class because he knew this 3 star would want to commit and greatly outperform his ranking. You're right that there are probably some players on this team that shouldn't be. Some were here when Pastner got here. Some are because Pastner was trying to scrape together what he could to field a team. The truth is though we only had 2 spots left once Devoe committed and another underclass pointguard wasn't a priority unless it was an absolute top shelf recruit which Johnson wasn't. We needed a bigger wing, which we landed in Moore, and a big, which we also landed in Banks. Once the ship opened up we probably would have taken him, but by then the window closed.

Johnson is very good and better scorer than any player we have. I like Devoe but he can't score like Johnson can score.

And coming out of highschool he wasn't.

Instead of landing him we got a freshman averaging 10-4-3 in ACC play on 46% 3 point shooting in ACC play.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

This is ridiculous, IIRC, only @connell62 came out and thought Johnson projected as more than an athletic back court defender. He was ranked in the 200’s and showed little shooting prowess in his prep career.

I don’t remember any of you guys pounding the table 16 months ago about bringing Johnson in.

Yup. Furthermore, in November nobody thought Okogie would go high enough to leave. Nothing seemed even 50/50 until he started his pre-draft workouts and got feedback in the spring.

 

[g0lftime]

I do seem to recall that many were quite certain Okogie was coming back, though I am not sure of what the exact timing was. Wasn't there even a thread titled "Okogie to Return" or something and then the mods had to change it? I know I wasn't sure he was leaving until day 1 of the combine.

That being said, the frustration is understandable. yes, Pastner has had some bad luck and bad timing, but he has also made calculations that haven't worked out and has simply failed to land his top targets. Then he reaches for Didenko and everyone is trying to find a way out of it. He's going to have to bring in a player to quiet the critics.

I figured he was gone once it was known he was out in Arizona in a hot tub with our coaches ex-buddy. He knew it was a NCAA violation if he was caught.