We can't rely on three point shooting to be consistent all season long unless they prove otherwise, need a rim protector, defensive presence in the middle, because the Bucks won't be the last team to carve up Valpo on the interior this year. Wright plays with a lot of confidence. Clearly more polished than McNair.
That polish is the difference an extra year at Link makes. Wright comes in with near sophomore level experience as he had a year to play against college level talent. Don't understand why other Midwest schools don't take looks at these guys
Wright is a true freshman. His year at Link was actually his senior year of high school and he played "up" against prep school kids.
I can already see how this process is going to unfold. All Wright wins MVC freshman of the year, we go 13-18. We have a couple of guys coming in we think will help push this team to the next level. All Wright transfers and Tyler Schmidt graduates. The new guys replace All and Tyler, look promising but we are still 1 or two good players away from being good, go 13-18 next year.
We need to find a way to break the cycle and keep our good players. We were able to keep Cooper, but I’ll consider that an outlier until I see it consistently. Jahari Williamson is shooting 43% from three for Niagara and scoring 12 a game. Imagine how much having another 40% shooter would help this offense.
Was glad that Scroggins got into the game. He is very clearly raw and was a little clumsy, but he is clearly the teams best rim protector. Came in and got 2 or 3 blocks in limited time. He’s still too raw to play in competitive games but he’s gonna be raw again next year if he doesn’t play at all.
I didn't get to watch so I'll limit my comment to stats only. Just 10 TOs but we were held to 5 assists? Were the many shots we were missing good shots or forced efforts brought about by the Buckeye defense? Would average shooting results have kept us in the game?
Our excellent free throw shooting continues and will win us more games as we improve on our team weaknesses.
Just how good can we be in February and March?
Wright is a true freshman. His year at Link was actually his senior year of high school and he played "up" against prep school kids.
Well, this just goes to show I shouldn't be skimming your articles then because I feel like that was mentioned somewhere in there. However, I would still argue that his mindset and "ball knowledge" is a lot further developed as a result of his time at Link Year. A lot of these guys are college coaches and know the college system and the players are competing against college level talent. Scott Drew hired Bill Armstrong off of Link Year, and he has a solid resume of Collegiate coaching experience.
I can already see how this process is going to unfold. All Wright wins MVC freshman of the year, we go 13-18. We have a couple of guys coming in we think will help push this team to the next level. All Wright transfers and Tyler Schmidt graduates. The new guys replace All and Tyler, look promising but we are still 1 or two good players away from being good, go 13-18 next year.
We need to find a way to break the cycle and keep our good players. We were able to keep Cooper, but I’ll consider that an outlier until I see it consistently. Jahari Williamson is shooting 43% from three for Niagara and scoring 12 a game. Imagine how much having another 40% shooter would help this offense.
Was glad that Scroggins got into the game. He is very clearly raw and was a little clumsy, but he is clearly the teams best rim protector. Came in and got 2 or 3 blocks in limited time. He’s still too raw to play in competitive games but he’s gonna be raw again next year if he doesn’t play at all.
vok22, whether your crystal ball proves sadly accurate turns on Coach Powell's ability not only to recruit, but also to develop and retain. I don't count last year because he and his staff had to assemble a roster after the heart of recruiting season was done and the musical chairs portal had largely played out.
This year is different. Can Powell build something that has staying power, where his recruits grow into excellent D1 players and opt to stay because there's legitimate hope of VU once again being relevant in the post-season conversation?
I think that a .500 season and a couple of wins in Arch Madness would help to create that scenario. That may feel like a reach right now, but we've seen these glimpses of hope.....
@david81 A good, immediate indication of program progress will be in evidence on Friday at Western Michigan. Will our youngsters come out motivated and intense after their mixed review performance at Ohio State, or will they reflect a team that still doesn’t know who they are? Another DI win following a P5 loss, that at points were closer than the final indicated, would make a statement that they starting to establish the identity they are searching for.
Western Michigan is almost a must-win game.
Western M currently stands at 263 in the NET
