I think he's a great fit for the BiG10 ...I wanted him coming out of high school. I think we really could use him and his physicality.
What kind of $$ are we talking?
What kind of $$ are we talking?
We should go after Najia Hines...but will we?
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Well, if that's the rate, then he's worth the biggest prize, as it's our biggest need.
Yeah - I mean, I don’t know what the other options are and price tags. I think we had to go into the portal period prepared to drop 5K on two players for the frontcourt. The PF has to be a bruiser type who can slide over to the 5 because we’re not going to be able to afford anyone even Ogbole’s level. It won’t surprise me at all if Ware is penciled in as our back up 5 so unless we want Buchanan sliding over again for filler minutes, we’re going to need a versatile 4 (not a Grant type stretch 3). I have no sense what that will cost but we probably need to cap out these 2 critical needs at half our budget. Can’t see us having an ability to spend more than that.
I hate that we’re shopping for a low major volume scoring guard. The last thing we need is a 30% three point shooting kid from Merrimack’s zone D system who isn’t even tall.
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I'd spend $5.5 million on two front-court players - $3 on a center and $2.5 on a PF
Yea my thoughts excatly. Go big $ on 2 guys, hope to fill in the rest with balnce including the 3 guards we currently have and MAYBE Menard...
Yeah - if Pike can keep the 5 guys not yet in the portal for 3M (Tariq, Lino, J Mike, Powers and Buchanan) he should sign on the dotted line for that in my opinion. Not all of them will develop but you hope for the best when you combine them with an upgraded frontcourt. That would get him to 7 players with $2M still to spend. I want a physical wing who plays D and can handle the ball (better than DB) more than I want a low major PG. I’d target about 800k for that and maybe take a chance on one low major shooter (maybe a wing type) for 400Kish. The last 4 or so spots on the roster should be filled by Wooten, Ware (if he stays), kids like that Slippery Rock kid. Cheaper guys.
I like what you are saying, but they must, absolutely, 100% hit a home run on the center and PF pickups as far as on court production next season to have any shot at the NCAAs. If either one is average or meh, we are looking at another lost season. These two positions and the portal pickups that fill them are critical to having any shot at success next season. Let’s hope they hit two home runs and not a couple of swings and misses. They have to get this right or the season is over before it starts.
His rebounding and block rate are what I’m focused on
if he gives you 10-12 a game all on put backs and dunks so be it if he’s getting me 12 boards and 3-4 blocks
I was hoping we could get a PF for closer to $2M but yeah, it might come to this. These are the positions we need to fill to have any chance at all of being competitive.
I’m not sure why we seem to be focused on shopping for small low major guards in the portal unless both J Mike and Lino are moving on. Of the 6 players from our roster who haven’t transferred yet, figure Ware is a last player on the roster type filler (insignificant whether he stays or goes) and then the other 5 are going to be cheaper than what we would have to pay in the portal to replace them.
Seems pretty simple to me
if most of the backcourt is coming back I want to see LARGE investments in a rim protecting center like Hines
a capable post scorer at the 4
and a 3 and D wing and I wouldn’t care if we spent 6 million on those 3 positions
Spend the other 2.5 on retention and filling out roster
Agreed. We’ve hit a crossroad in our own portal exodus where at this point, news of more departures will no longer be a good thing. We will be worse off if we fail to keep at least one of J Mike and Lino (both would be fine), Tariq and Buchanan - anyone who thinks otherwise just doesn’t grasp our situation.
If we’re spending 5M+ on 2 players (which we must do) the outstanding funds we’ll have remaining simply would not be enough to go into the open market and buy everything. Keeping our own players would likely save at least a million dollars.
One of the best. His 2.2 blocks per game was in only 18 minutes per game off the bench, and already ranked #15 in the entire country. That extrapolates to 3.67 blocks per game in 30 minutes per game, which would have been #1 in the country this year (the #1 guy averaged 3.29).
I do question how he's going to develop. Had a nice freshman year, a slight upgrade on EO already at this point.
Yeah I have no idea why Seton Hall didn't get him more minutes but his efficiency numbers are elite. 2nd in block rate and very good rebounding and shooting metrics.
I mean, in fairness to EO, the paper difference between the two of their numbers is a heck of a lot closer than their portal values.
Big O finished 4.7 ppg / 6.0 rpg / 1.2 bpg / 59.8% FG on 19 min
His 3M counterpart, Hines, played easier competition overall and finished:
6.5 ppg / 5.5 rpg / 2.2 bpg / 60.2% FG on 18 min
The main thing is by way of age, one is a senior and the other is a frosh (so that’s the biggest difference really). But Ogbole did improve this season by all counts.
Sean’s point, I think, is that we’d be paying him 3M with the hope / expectation that because he’s a frosh, his output next year would be substantially better than this year overall. If we bring in a center who grabs less boards than EO that wouldn’t be good enough.
I think he’s being cited as a target we’re familiar with, who is probably within our budget because the center market is uber inflated and who we have seen possessed traits we need in a center
But he fits US and what we need....Jersey tough kid with shot blocking and rebounding
Who said he was?
He’s of interest because he’s from Plainfield, NJ and played at SHU, and would be perfect in Pike’s defensive system.
He's a better player right now, as a freshman, but production wise, in an easier conference, they weren't that diiferent. 60.2% shooting vs 59.8%. Almost every extra point scored was also one less rebound corralled. The hope would be this is just a starting point. I don't know how much room for growth I see.
Yeah, just people didnt want EO back as a backup, and limited excess production has them wanting to spend $3M.
Every announcer/analyist was singing his praises...hes better than Big E now, and WILL be much better offensively no question
So SHU is unwilling to pay his asking price,knows his abilities and his faults, yet you want RU to pay a third of its budget on the guy. Shu seems like it didn't blink an eye letting him go.
Crazy thing is if RU had offered him a multi year contract say $3M for 3 years last year out of high school do you think he would have signed? He would have jumped at that offer.
You have to be able to evaluate and project talent. You have to bring in mix of prep and portal players like what UConn does. Bigs in the portal will cost a fortune. There might be a Hines level talent in the prep ranks that you can get cheaper.
You have to be able to evaluate and project talent. You have to bring in mix of prep and portal players like what UConn does. Bigs in the portal will cost a fortune. There might be a Hines level talent in the prep ranks that you can get cheaper.
What makes you think they let him go? If he wants to leave he can leave there’s no permission needed
The kid definitely has big potential, especially as a college player.
Where did I say that we should pay $3 million? I simply mentioned that he is one of the best shot blockers in the country and that there’s interest in him.
Do I think we should consider him? Absolutely. But I agree $3 million is a bit steep for a team with a budget of $9-10 million.
Zero? Hmmm. and what was Big E's "offensive skills"? This kid has a drop step and soft touch around the rim, and goes up hard with authority. Watch some video..He wont miss BUNNY LAYUPS like E did. Please...don't play yourself...
His metrics align with what MJ delivered his first season playing. Definitely the type of player who fits well with what Pike tries to do. That said, 3M a bit steep considering his output to date but we’re going to have to overpay for frontcourt players. Learned this the hard way over the past few years.
He was a freshman in limited minutes
what kind of center do you want? We’re not bringing in an Aday Mara type
need to be at least a little creative at the center spot
front court scoring can be more affordable at the 4 spot and I think we’ll have better luck
center is going to need to possess the defensive and rebounding traits pike is looking for like Hines along with some hope of growth offensively
like I said if we can get 10-12 points 10-12 rebounds and 3-4 blocks from the center spot that’s a win and someone like Hines can do that
will be cheaper to find a skilled scorer that would make you feel NOT SICK at the 4 spot