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I've been mostly off message boards since the beginning of the year (and frankly enjoying life more due to that), but since the season is over thought I would give my thoughts.
I like to wait until an end of a season before discussing it in depth - you need to let all the chapters of the book unfold.
On the positive side this team was better than last year's team, even without Usher and Devoe.
The bad news is it was only a little better.
What i'm still not sure about is the change in February. Was it initiated by the staff or was it due to having no choice due to injuries? To me that is something Batt needs to understand. The former is better than the latter.
The team finished 7-3 over the last 10 with the 3 losses being 1 pt on the road to Wake, 8 pts on the road and in the ACC Tourney to Pitt.
This was a much better team late, but was so awful and uncompetitive in January - to the point of being almost unwatchable.
The staff spent way too long trying to run a Princeton offense with Howard as the trigger. This doesn't work because Howard is about as awful a fit for that offense as you could have. He is not a threat at the point of attack, he is not a threat to take anyone off the dribble, and he is not a gifted passer. true square peg/round hole issue. it was also a fairly poor defensive team both on the interior and perimeter for the first half of the season.
The change in fortunes largely aligns with the injuries to Howard and Smith and Terry getting 100% healthy.
When you had Smith and Howard in the game at the same time you are basically playing 3 on 5 at the offensive end.
I like Smith, he has improved alot this year, but he is still a rotational player, not a high level ACC starter due to his strengths and weaknesses. He is a fantastic rebounder and has turned into a really good ballhandler and passer as well as a high energy defensive guy. But on the other hand he is a horrible shooter at every level. In ACC Games he avg 37% FG, 29% 3FG and 36% FT. Hard to get much more inefficient than that. He almost looked scared to go strong to the basket because if he got fouled he was likely to miss FT, so he either went weak or tried to pass. I very much want him to return, but unless his shooting improves markedly you have to understand how to utilize him. If he could improve his shooting and become just an average FT shooter he could be dynamite.
We played less Princeton without Howard and Smith, but when we did play it, Franklin was the trigger man and his game was really well suited for it. You basically surrounded him with 4 guys who are capable shooters. If the defense laid off him he was aggressive about scoring opportunities, if they tried to cover him he was good at finding open shooters. Sturdivant remembering he was a solid player and Terry getting healthy made a big difference for scoring. Terry was also a deceptively good perimeter defender.
The perimeter defense was better later in the season as well, though the team was still susceptible to good interior players.
It's sort of a shame that Khalid Moore transferred to Fordham. He wouldn't have had as big of role here or put up as big of stats, but he would have helped this team and Moore and Franklin as part of a 3 guard - 2 F set would have been a very athletic, interesting pairing. IMO he would have been a better player than Howard in the rotation and been more impactful. I am happy though that he got to go home and have a big year in front of friends and family at a slightly lower level of competition.
I'm glad that all the regulars other than Franklin are likely to return.
I'm hoping Coleman can take a bigger jump next year. I don't think he enjoyed playing at the 4 spot much and I think that affected his shooting some, but we need him to become the scorer he was in HS as well as become a much stronger and willing rebounder. His rebounding is pathetic for a player his size.
Kelly is an alpha scorer. Just need him to tighten his handle a little and be more aggressive about going to the basket. Teams are going to respect his jumper so he should be able to get to the basket where if they foul him he is an almost automatic at the line.
Moore needs to work out with Franklin everyday and pattern his game after Ja'von's. They have very similar builds. He needs to develop a similar skillset and even more importantly a similar mindset about effort.
Terry just needs to continue to play hard. He has proven he is an ACC starting caliber guard.
Sturdivant needs to avoid long droughts. Continue to work on his outside shot. A few more percentage points would make a big difference. Plays well in the clutch.
Howard is an 8-10 min backup type. Without Coach Rev it feels like he regressed in most areas. We really need a starting quality big out of the portal, 2 would be even better.
I have high expectations long term for Blue Cain, he has become IMG Academy's best player this season and the level of competition that program faces will help make the jump to college easier. With Terry and Sturdivant likely returning that with the rest of the perimeter rotation will allow Cain to be able to come in and work in slowly and pick his spots.
With the right player or 2 out of the portal this can be a NCAA team next season. That soph class is a really nice core and Sturdivant and Terry give you 2 really experienced, solid guards. The obvious missing piece if a starting quality big.
As far as coaching.
Staff was way too slow to understand the weaknesses of this team and how to play to the strengths. Wasn't a particularly good coaching year. Props for keeping the team together when many would have just packed it in, but changes needed to be enacted sooner.
I'm sort of agnostic on coaching change. My head says we need a new HC, but my heart wants Pastner to succeed. I think Batt has a tough decision. It really comes down to does he have the money to make a change that will improve the program. If the answer is yes then you go after a new HC, if the answer is no then you keep Pastner until that changes. Change for change sake is not necessarily good and can lead to an even worse situation. Change because you feel confident it will make things better is when you take action.
I feel like the coaching staff may need further shake up as well. I feel like Wilkins and Schwartz overlap alot. Would love to find a solid big man coach who is also an outstanding recruiter.
I will say that even without any NIL last year, the two players we brought in through the portal ended up being two of the better players we have brought in through that process. IMO they were 2 of the 3 best players on the team this season (along with Kelly).
As far as transfers out, the most obvious candidates would be Meka and Maxwell. Though you have to wonder if they are close enough to graduating they might want to stay for the degree (both are 3 yrs in)- especially Meka who is a local kid.
I believe GT currently has one scholly open if every scholarship eligible player returns.
Sturdivant, Terry, Howard
Meka, Maxwell, Smith
Kelly, Coleman, Moore
Martynov, Bagatskis
Cain
Next year's projected roster has the look of an NCAA type team (alot of experienced players - including a couple of potential 5th yr starters) if it can add a starting caliber big.
Batt has an interesting decision on his hands.
I like to wait until an end of a season before discussing it in depth - you need to let all the chapters of the book unfold.
On the positive side this team was better than last year's team, even without Usher and Devoe.
The bad news is it was only a little better.
What i'm still not sure about is the change in February. Was it initiated by the staff or was it due to having no choice due to injuries? To me that is something Batt needs to understand. The former is better than the latter.
The team finished 7-3 over the last 10 with the 3 losses being 1 pt on the road to Wake, 8 pts on the road and in the ACC Tourney to Pitt.
This was a much better team late, but was so awful and uncompetitive in January - to the point of being almost unwatchable.
The staff spent way too long trying to run a Princeton offense with Howard as the trigger. This doesn't work because Howard is about as awful a fit for that offense as you could have. He is not a threat at the point of attack, he is not a threat to take anyone off the dribble, and he is not a gifted passer. true square peg/round hole issue. it was also a fairly poor defensive team both on the interior and perimeter for the first half of the season.
The change in fortunes largely aligns with the injuries to Howard and Smith and Terry getting 100% healthy.
When you had Smith and Howard in the game at the same time you are basically playing 3 on 5 at the offensive end.
I like Smith, he has improved alot this year, but he is still a rotational player, not a high level ACC starter due to his strengths and weaknesses. He is a fantastic rebounder and has turned into a really good ballhandler and passer as well as a high energy defensive guy. But on the other hand he is a horrible shooter at every level. In ACC Games he avg 37% FG, 29% 3FG and 36% FT. Hard to get much more inefficient than that. He almost looked scared to go strong to the basket because if he got fouled he was likely to miss FT, so he either went weak or tried to pass. I very much want him to return, but unless his shooting improves markedly you have to understand how to utilize him. If he could improve his shooting and become just an average FT shooter he could be dynamite.
We played less Princeton without Howard and Smith, but when we did play it, Franklin was the trigger man and his game was really well suited for it. You basically surrounded him with 4 guys who are capable shooters. If the defense laid off him he was aggressive about scoring opportunities, if they tried to cover him he was good at finding open shooters. Sturdivant remembering he was a solid player and Terry getting healthy made a big difference for scoring. Terry was also a deceptively good perimeter defender.
The perimeter defense was better later in the season as well, though the team was still susceptible to good interior players.
It's sort of a shame that Khalid Moore transferred to Fordham. He wouldn't have had as big of role here or put up as big of stats, but he would have helped this team and Moore and Franklin as part of a 3 guard - 2 F set would have been a very athletic, interesting pairing. IMO he would have been a better player than Howard in the rotation and been more impactful. I am happy though that he got to go home and have a big year in front of friends and family at a slightly lower level of competition.
I'm glad that all the regulars other than Franklin are likely to return.
I'm hoping Coleman can take a bigger jump next year. I don't think he enjoyed playing at the 4 spot much and I think that affected his shooting some, but we need him to become the scorer he was in HS as well as become a much stronger and willing rebounder. His rebounding is pathetic for a player his size.
Kelly is an alpha scorer. Just need him to tighten his handle a little and be more aggressive about going to the basket. Teams are going to respect his jumper so he should be able to get to the basket where if they foul him he is an almost automatic at the line.
Moore needs to work out with Franklin everyday and pattern his game after Ja'von's. They have very similar builds. He needs to develop a similar skillset and even more importantly a similar mindset about effort.
Terry just needs to continue to play hard. He has proven he is an ACC starting caliber guard.
Sturdivant needs to avoid long droughts. Continue to work on his outside shot. A few more percentage points would make a big difference. Plays well in the clutch.
Howard is an 8-10 min backup type. Without Coach Rev it feels like he regressed in most areas. We really need a starting quality big out of the portal, 2 would be even better.
I have high expectations long term for Blue Cain, he has become IMG Academy's best player this season and the level of competition that program faces will help make the jump to college easier. With Terry and Sturdivant likely returning that with the rest of the perimeter rotation will allow Cain to be able to come in and work in slowly and pick his spots.
With the right player or 2 out of the portal this can be a NCAA team next season. That soph class is a really nice core and Sturdivant and Terry give you 2 really experienced, solid guards. The obvious missing piece if a starting quality big.
As far as coaching.
Staff was way too slow to understand the weaknesses of this team and how to play to the strengths. Wasn't a particularly good coaching year. Props for keeping the team together when many would have just packed it in, but changes needed to be enacted sooner.
I'm sort of agnostic on coaching change. My head says we need a new HC, but my heart wants Pastner to succeed. I think Batt has a tough decision. It really comes down to does he have the money to make a change that will improve the program. If the answer is yes then you go after a new HC, if the answer is no then you keep Pastner until that changes. Change for change sake is not necessarily good and can lead to an even worse situation. Change because you feel confident it will make things better is when you take action.
I feel like the coaching staff may need further shake up as well. I feel like Wilkins and Schwartz overlap alot. Would love to find a solid big man coach who is also an outstanding recruiter.
I will say that even without any NIL last year, the two players we brought in through the portal ended up being two of the better players we have brought in through that process. IMO they were 2 of the 3 best players on the team this season (along with Kelly).
As far as transfers out, the most obvious candidates would be Meka and Maxwell. Though you have to wonder if they are close enough to graduating they might want to stay for the degree (both are 3 yrs in)- especially Meka who is a local kid.
I believe GT currently has one scholly open if every scholarship eligible player returns.
Sturdivant, Terry, Howard
Meka, Maxwell, Smith
Kelly, Coleman, Moore
Martynov, Bagatskis
Cain
Next year's projected roster has the look of an NCAA type team (alot of experienced players - including a couple of potential 5th yr starters) if it can add a starting caliber big.
Batt has an interesting decision on his hands.
