Posted by Pmac Devil on April 29, 09 at 13:29:34:
In Reply to: Re: Next Year Will be Fun! posted by ScooterDevil on April 28, 09 at 23:08:24:
Yes, that's true we won't have James to create in tight game situations but other guys will step up. Like you mentioned, Ty is a talented player that will play a bigger role next season. Don't put too much stock in the recruiting services, Pateev and Thompson were both recruited by other big time programs(Georgetown, Florida St., NC State, T Tech) there's more than 1 major college coach that thinks they'll contribute. Herb usually doesn't have stars on his teams, they're usually teams where the sum is greater than the parts and next years team will be a classic case of that. Do I think we'll be a consistent top 20 team like last year, probably not but we'll be bubble team that has a good chance to get into the NCAA tourney. It's not like we're a program that blows people out, we're a well coached, disciplined, fundamentally sound club that plays a matchup zone which is very difficult to prepare for. My point was, we're not falling to the bottom of the Pac like some people are saying, slightly worse than this past year but a formidable team that will make a run at the tourney.
: Let's be a little realistic here. Thompson is a 1-star recruit according to Scout and a 3-star according to Rivals. Those services are pretty accurate when it comes to evaluating talent. Seldom do guys with less than 4 stars turn out to be impact college players at the D1 level. I think we may be surprising next year, but I'm also realistic in thinking we may be next years Oregon. Pateev and Thompson are not rated any higher then Taylor Rhode or Kraidon Woods were coming out of H.S. So to count on them for freshman production is very optimistic. Lockett, Walker, and Rudd are all higher rated than the other two, but they are freshman. These guys are not in the same class as James Harden. They're more like Ty Abbot as a freshman. With all this being said the main issue I think ASU will have is not having a go-to guy. This team has ran it's offense for two years through two players (Harden and Pendergraph). None of the others that have gotten significant time (Glasser, Abbot, Kuksiks, Shipp, or Boeteng) have shown any ability to really create their own shot. I think that Ty Abbot really has the potential to be something special. He's quick and has great leaping ability. I think he can be a very effective slasher and he can still hit the 3. But he has to be more consistent. I really think he's the key guy. He needs to step up and be a 15 ppg scorer for us. I really think that anyone believing we will have a similar record to last year is on crack. I think making the tournament should be a goal, but if we do we'll sneak in.
: : With lower expectations and a deeper team I think we will be a similar team record wise to last year. With Glasser, J Mac, Abbott and Shipp returning guards, Kuksiks, Boat, Woods and Rohde returning 4/5's. Thompson, Lockett, Walker, Rudd and Pateev coming in, we'll be much deeper. Don't forget how competitive we were Herb's first year with little experience and talent, this upcoming year we're going to surprise people, especially those around the Pac that don't think we'll be a factor.