aphilso1

Dang. Really wanted this one.

If this move happens, they should just call the conference championship the Rose Bowl. USC and UCLA collectively account for 58% of the Pac-10's Rose Bowl victories.

I am wondering how this plays into the situation. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/30/sport/miles-bridges-arrested-charlotte-hornets-spt-intl/index.html

Odd semantic to argue over. "The power forward (PF), also known as the four, often plays a role similar to that of the center, down in the "post" or "low blocks"." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_positions

The national recruiting outlets never listed those offers, nor did the ASU and Georgia recruiting sites. The extended offer list was only ever mentioned on Husker-centric pages after Q was signed. I'm going to believe Georgia and ASU over Robin when it comes to whether Georgia and ASU offered.

This is some very bizarre analysis. HCFH talked about PGs last week, and said the depth chart is Griesel, McPherson, and Jacobsen. No mention of Lloyd. Clearly Lloyd is slotting in at the 2/3, not the 1. Gary is a lot of things, but an efficient scorer? 51% FG% as a post player. And 22% from three/61% from the stripe (which actually was a major improvement over the prior year, when he was 11% from three/53% from the line). McPherson's offer list left a lot to be desired: Iona, Providence, St John's, Nebraska. Kojenets already redshirted last year.

1. Griesel - proven commodity 2. Gary - D and boards guy 3. Emmanuel - Trey 2.0 4. Keita - guaranteed minutes since he's one of only two 5s on our team. Will contribute even if he's not ready, so we better hope he's ready. 5. Lloyd - highest ceiling on the team

Our offense won't be anywhere close to those teams though. Gotta have elite defense if you're going to make up for miserable offense.

What will it take for us to climb out of the conference cellar (dead last)? Team cohesion and avoid injuries. The difference between being a bad team and a miserably bad team usually comes down to whether your players give up on the season or not. Just don't mail the season in, and don't lose 2-3 key players for an extended stretch of time, and we should be able to finish in the 12th-13th range. What will it take for us to climb out of the bottom tier (into the conference top 10)? Elite defense. I don't see enough dudes wearing red that can go get buckets. Gotta win games via slugfests with this roster. What will it take for us to climb into the top half of the conference? Elite defense, nearly elite rebounding, and 2-3 guys who unexpectedly turn out to be difference makers on the offensive end. Do we have any players who, in their current positions, are good enough at their spot to get us in contention for an NCAA tourney bid? If so, who are those players and what would we need to have to build around them to make that happen? Griesel and Gary are good enough, obviously. They've proven that they can contribute on an NCAA Tourney team. But as a whole, clearly this is not a roster that is going to challenge for a bid.

Hey, remember that time you said you didn't want David Roddy because we already had Akol Arop?

Dude...nailed it! What an incredible prognostication.

I saw that and wholeheartedly approve. For one, I think it's good for the game in general. Remember the 2014 World Cup, where the US had a tough decision and cut Landon Donovan with the final roster spot? Then Altidore proceeded to get injured about 0.172 seconds into the first match, and the US was stuck adjusting its shape and playing with a false 9 for the rest of the WC. A 26-man roster prevents this sort of scenario, or at least makes the scenario exceedingly rare. That's good for the game as a whole. It's also good for the players' health, as more depth on the bench means coaches will be less inclined to play their guys when they are hurt. As for the US in particular, I think this helps us more than most. We are relying on a very young group of core players, and those players' development is not linear. They are talented, but going through the natural ups and downs in the early parts of their careers. Obviously we do have some guys whose names are written down in ink if healthy (Pulisic, Weston, Adams, Jedi, Dest), but a big chunk of our Best XI ebbs and flows. Being able to bring in three extra guys helps our team manage players that look elite on some days and like bench fodder on others (Musah and Pepi, I'm looking at you). Lastly...I think this puts Jordan Morris squarely on the roster, and that dude just flat out produces. Love the idea of him as a super sub, and I don't think he was cracking a 23-man roster since he isn't a Best XI player and isn't versatile enough to occupy a 23-man bench slot. But with 26 players, I 100% expect to see him burning right backs in the 90th minute in Qatar.

LeBron played out of his mind in that 2017 Finals series and the Warriors still won it easily in only 5 games. I'd say that was the most impressive title of the current Dub Dynasty.

Those are some pretty miserable locations to be camping in the middle of summer. You're more committed than I am!

The Peter Brothers and Lawrence Phillips say "hi."

Celtics looked outmatched. I find it surprising that they managed to make it to Game 6 of the Finals -- definitely overachieved this post-season to get to that position. They reminded me of some of those LeBron James Cavs teams (pre-Kyrie), where he maybe had one other scorer on the roster to lighten the load. Except that Tatum is nowhere close to vintage LeBron in terms of being able to carry a team. The Warriors constantly disrespected the Celtics roster by double-teaming Tatum, and he could neither finish through the double nor find the open man. Brown is a nice complimentary piece (the aforementioned "one other scorer") and Horford is filling the savvy/old/skilled big man role that those Cavs teams had in Ilgauskas. But that clearly wasn't nearly enough to win the series. I actually don't think Steph/Klay/Draymond were that much better than Tatum/Brown/Al. The difference is that the Warriors have guys like Wiggins who are capable of being The Man when needed, but are also content to defer on offense if Curry is in the zone. And the luxury of Jordan Poole coming off the bench...Celtics had no one close to that level subbing in. Wiggins & Poole >>>>>>>> Smart & White, and that to me was the biggest difference in this series. Not the most entertaining NBA Finals I've ever witnessed. Warriors looked beatable, but not by the Celtics. Steph finally gets his Finals MVP trophy on the sixth try. That's probably what this series will be best remembered for.

Final(?) tally is 10 high schools. https://usatodayhss.com/2021/dior-johnson-southern-california-academy-10th-high-school I'm wondering what the odds are that he is still on the roster for Pitt's final game.

Agreed on all accounts. Prior to his injury, he showed some flashes of skill but really didn't look like someone that was going to put it together anytime soon. That is what was such a bummer with his injury -- it likely set back his developmental clock, meaning his special seasons are further into the future. Thankfully he did get a medical redshirt out of it, so if we can keep him in the program for his full academic career then we will still get to see him at his best eventually. It just may be delayed gratification.

@Keenan9595 I'd love to see Weah at the 9. Ferreira drives me nuts, and I really hope he has fallen out of GB's preferred lineup before the WC. Good movement off the ball, but he simply cannot find the back of the net and as a #9 that's about 95% of his job. I really thought/hoped Pepe was the answer, but his stock has tanked faster than bitcoin. Dike had his moment before disappearing into oblivion, too. Then there's the guys who look good for club but inconsistent in a US shirt -- Pefoc and Sargent most of all. Maybe Wright can break through and be the man, but it just feels like he's the flavor of the month. At this point I'd prefer to play someone in the striker role who already has earned a starting spot. I'm up for a Weah experiment. Agreed that, if all healthy, we have an abundance of riches in the midfield. A 100% heathy Reyna to me is a clear starter, either on the wing or at the #10. I'd love to see LDT get some time as a #6, as that would allow us to drop Acosta (who in my opinion has the least talent of any USMNT regular) from the WC roster. I'm digging your starting lineup, although IMO Reyna is clearly above Musah rather than a toss up. And I am not sure who I'd select to pair at LCB next to Walker. Richards is probably as good a guess as any...such a bummer losing Miles Robinson, as the Robinson x2/Zimmerman/Dest backline was really gelling.

I hadn't seen that one. Wow. Chase stood around in no man's land on nearly every defensive possession. My list of concerns is growing.

He shoots right handed just with very inconsistent form. He seems to have the habit of using his off-hand more than you'd like, which is why I called his shot "all elbows." When he has the space and time to shoot more composed, he uses a more fundamental shooting form which clearly shows he's a righty. Best example of this is the 3:05 mark in the hudl video you linked.

Is it too late to answer this question? I'm going with "no."

Chase's footage looks, to my eyes, like a kid that wants to make the highlight play to pump up the crowd rather than the safe play to get an easy bucket. I see that both in how he passes the ball (e.g. underhanded scoop passes on alley-oops) and shoots (e.g. exaggerated step back 3pt attempts). Obviously this footage is "highlight reel" stuff, so the passes connect and the shots go in. But they still look ill-advised, particularly from a floor general traditional PG (which I believe is what we are recruiting him to be). I'm sure I'd feel differently if his athleticism and/or size jumped off the tape, but to me they don't. He looks like a D1 athlete, but not an elite one. This is admittedly an unfair comparison, but imagine if Benny Parker came in with a flashy, rather than fundamentally sound, skillset and style of play. He would have never gotten off the bench. Now granted Chase is MUCH bigger than Benny, but he's still going to be undersized most nights in the B1G at 6'0 165 lbs. And his athleticism looks much closer to the Benny end of the spectrum than it does to Cam/Verge. I don't see much in his game that I expect to translate to the B1G. His shot is long, exaggerated, and all elbows. And he has a short wingspan, so good luck getting that shot off without a massive cushion. I don't see great passer's vision in his tape. Ball handling appears to be his strength, so theoretically he may be able to run the offense without turning the ball over. That's something to build off of. However, his decision making and style of play will likely negate that. There's my two cents. If he chooses someone else, then I hope I'm right. If he chooses us, then I hope I'm wrong.

I will not be sad if we miss out on this one.