Cmr3

1 hour ago, panchosanchez99 said:

She is not listed on the roster yet at school's website; however, USF women's basketball, per WBBBlog, added Fatou Diakite, a 6'3" center who played her freshman season at Charlotte last year. At first glance, she does not look to be anything special, but seems like she could develop into a decent player by her junior season. She shot 36% from the floor last year on 73 attempts. As CJF says, no bueno.

So, it looks like Mputu will be our starter at center next season, with Diakite and Silva getting some time for defensive purposes. If so, I think we are improved offensively over last year at center with Mputu. The rest of the other roster positions are pretty strong, whether it be starters or bench players. I would say that the only weakness on the this team would be centers off the bench and height if Mputu has to defend centers several inches taller than she is.

We got handled last year at the center position specially with the P5 schools. I watched a lot games and I would say Mputu should be a power forward she is way to skinny and not tall enough. She gives great effort but she couldn’t handle those tall centers last year.Maybe the 6’4 Brazilian junior college transfer will step up who’s knows. Our center just has to be good on defense and rebound doesn’t really have to score since we will have a lot that already.

With all the players in the portal I’m surprised CAAR hasn’t been able to get at least one really really good shooter or a 4 star transfer.  I’m cool with the high schoolers, I don’t know to much about the new signee but unless he’s going to beat out Reid and the others for playing time he won’t see the court next year.We will see what happens, a lot of the players he picked up came here to play more and they have a chip on there shoulder.Hopefully they can step up and and reach there full potential here.

I really like the center, power forward, and point guard position. The thing I’m unsure about is the shooting guard/small forward position we really need them to shoot good next year.

16 hours ago, bcgruber said:

Temple did pretty good to pick up mashburn

Yes that’s a great pick up .

19 hours ago, BigSteve said:

I couldn't agree more.  It was a bad example.  I would argue that Memphis has improved (on paper) and UAB will be a handful, but I think USF has done very well.  The other teams in the conference have mostly lost their top players to the portal without replacing them.

Memphis will be the team to beat unless they show other wise specially if David jones returns.Memphis is loaded currently rank 4th in the transfer portal and might pick up one  of the best high school centers in the nation, if they don’t make the NCAA Tournament next year Penny might be gone.

Even though UAB won the AAC tournament they will be picked 2nd, we could have easily beat UAB last season if we had a true big man.How is UAB keeping the team together? They have NIL money or is the coach just that good of sales man? 

2 hours ago, Dave_Glaser said:

They lose an NBA-caliber player and add a guy that averaged 4 points per game on an awful Louisville team (8-24) last year and you think this is an upgrade? Really? FAU’s blip of success is over, just like FGCU’s Dunk City a few years back. It left with Dusty May.

Similar to Green we signed from FSU, he averaged 4.5 points a game.
I think Green is better the Pryor on the inside though.

8 hours ago, panchosanchez99 said:

And that is difference between other people and me. I don't care what others want or do. I do my own evaluation, as CAAR suggests coaches do.

 

No one is ever 100% right in evaluation of players that’s why there is NBA lottery busts most years, there is number one drafts pick that are busts that just about every team and scout thought would be a NBA star. Same thing with college basketball. Every player CAAR recruits is not going to be what they were in high school, juco or where ever they came from, that’s just the reality of it.

I think the players he got so far are  good and will do well. But I have to see them play together for a full evaluation of how good we will be as a team.My opinion now is we will be very good inside, outside is still in question for me and I will need 2 or 3 games to give my honest opinion of how good we are shooting from behind the arch as a team and see who will be the player that takes over games when we need them to.

There is no companies in Tampa that want to help us out ??? 

4 hours ago, Triple B said:

Yeah, after his call last year, I’m not questioning pancho too much right now but highlights are just that high-lights. I’m sure there are some great highlights of Matt Floyd out there ……. maybe. 
One of my biggest question marks is not the points lost but the leadership lost in CY. Have to assume someone will step up….. think it would be awesome if it’s the elder USF statesman, Corey ….. coming full circle. 

We will miss Chris Youngblood leadership for sure.Also, Miguel and Chris were not only good they hit shots during the game and at the end of games that were important, to tie the game, go ahead, or win it. Previous years we had decent talent that that scored a lot but when the game was on the line bricks or free throw misses all game. We lost so many games under Gregory by 3 or 4 points.We had the talent but we didn’t have players that would keep us in the game when we weren’t playing good or to close the game out. Miguel, Youngblood kept us in so many games this year.Reid showed flashes but we will see what happens.

40 minutes ago, bullstampede9922 said:

Yeah, with the amount of money available to him and now doubled, he was never coming here.

I heard Jerry Jones told Cal let me know how much you need to match any offer to any player you want. Karter Knox left his local high school to get paid so no doubt he is chasing the money. I don’t blame him either.

52 minutes ago, panchosanchez99 said:

Did you see Jimmie Williams' highlights? He is quicker than Miguel. So is CJ Brown. Reynolds can also hit the 3; his career % is better than Pryor's, albeit a smaller sample size. Jennings is also quick with a high 3pt%. I am not concerned with this roster. Also, we were largely dependent on outside shooting last year. I think we have much better inside scoring this year.

I know Jimmie Williams and CJ  brown are great in their highlights. I just have to see them play at this level a couple games against good competition to judge how the team will be.Thats just me though.We had a lot of players come to usf that had amazing highlights and didn’t play well here, for some it was the coach or the system and others  just weren’t good at this level. 
I know we will be way better inside that’s for sure. I feel great about the portal pick ups. 

24 minutes ago, BigSteve said:

I would agree with you.  We'll probably be picked 3rd in the conference but we'll have some opportunities to pick up big wins over Memphis/UAB for our tournament resume.  I also think scheduling will be a lot stronger out of conference so those will be fun to watch as well.  We have a very talented team and I like that we are very athletic.  We're going to get after it.

Honestly I can’t really judge our team yet until I see us play. We were such a good 3 pointing shooting team this passed season and I’m not really seeing that with our current roster.

Maybe we will be more of an inside first team next season unless we get a couple more players from the portal that are great shooters. Last season Miguel could create his own Space to get a 3 point shot and Youngblood as well. We need at least one guy like that, the new juco player seems really good but I have to see him play at this level to fully see what he is about.This is all just my opinion, I could be wrong. 

Looks like Memphis picked up some really nice players from the portal again. They will probably be ranked coming in to American conference play like last season before they collapsed. 
 

UAB has mostly everyone returning and they picked up 2 good players from the portal. 
 

I’m guessing they will be picked to finish 1 and 2 in the American, hopefully we can mess that up again next year. 

15 minutes ago, jg233 said:

With so many good to great experienced D1 players in the portal, it is hard to believe we even have to look at JUCO players...talent is talent though.  We could be great, we could be terrible...probably won't know until sometime in December.   

UAB had a great rebuild this passed season with JUCO players. They’re best player now is a JUCO player and a NBA prospect. 

We will be way better inside next year. Coach just needs to pick up a really good 3 pointer shooter. 

Dam we really need a guy like him next year. Let’s see what coach can find in the portal. Unless Karter Knox commits. 

2 hours ago, Bull Matrix said:

Getting to a point now that they can wait a little longer for the extension. 

Well if some how we make the tournament this year he will be gone. That would be 2 years in arrow of putting a winning roster together.And with the portal the way it is they see that as a skill

We’re over here losing our best players  more then likely to power 5 teams and Penny Hardaway is getting some of the best talent from the AAC to transfer to his school. He got Haggerty and now Colby rogers from Wichita State one of the best 3 point shooters in the nation. Both of them had big time school trying to get them and Penny got them, either his a good sales man or they got some NIL funds. 

2 hours ago, Shockley3333 said:

Not sure how someone could say this. He single handedly won us 5 or more games this year. Sure, he got too out of control sometimes but, he'd sit during those times.

He had his moments but he’s not there yet. We really had no competition at his position and if he goes to a P5 team he will have a lot competition.He needs a lot playing time to grow into that frame. From what I read he had a late growth spurt and he hasn’t grown into it yet. That’s why he was way better of staying at USF.

1 hour ago, BigSteve said:

Any chance Pryor comes back? 

I think we might be better without him to be honest.He’ll be riding the bench at a P5 school, he won’t come back. Coaches are going to tell him what he wants to hear and he will bite. I wish him the Best, But he would have been better of here here to further his basketball career.

I could be wrong, but something tells me I’m right about Pryor situation.
 

Miguel and Youngblood have better chances of getting a good amount of playing time at P5 schools. 

19 minutes ago, panchosanchez99 said:

We will be a top 25 team next year because we will be a better squad next year. My guess is that we will be picked first in the conference and just may be a pre-season top 25 team. If not, we will crack it early. 

Jennings will make fans quickly forget about Miguel. Brown will make fans quickly forget about CY. And Reynolds will make fans quickly forget about Pryor. And recruitment isn't over.

I can't state enough how impressed I am with Reynolds' skills, especially his ability to shoot with both hands equally well down low. In his highlight video, he hits 5-6 shots with his left. One was off the backboard and the others were nothing but net. He can hit the 3 and is bigger, stronger, and has better hops than Pryor. For entertainment value, his dunks are also more awesome than Pryor's. 

As of now I don’t think we will be picked preseason top 25 or be picked to win the American.   Depending on who else he picks up maybe.I really like Reynolds’s as well.

Jennings seems good from what I’av seen in film those were highlights though, but he hasn’t had the numbers to convince me he’s as good as Miguel.

Brown I have to wait to see him play in the college level to judge honestly. 

17 hours ago, Triple B said:

I assume this means Reynolds is official ....

 

Probably the best actual center we had in while. Last year we played really without a center Pryor, walker, strout are more small forwards/power forwards. 

2 hours ago, CousinRicky said:

Bull94 will tell you that we don't need a true center. Like UConn and Purdue didn't need one.

I think the reason we didn’t make the NCAA tournament and lost in the 2nd round of the NIT is because we didn’t have a true center. With a True center we wouldn’t have lost to UAB twice they were just bigger inside, the same with VCU. 

If we would have kept all 3 players and added the center we just got we would been a top 25 team next year. 

He knows something we don’t I’m sure he has someone committing soon more then likely his nephew.If that’s the case we can relax.

I still think if we get one really good shooter that can drive we will be better next year. 

2 hours ago, olafberserker said:

 

11 hours ago, BigSteve said:

Exactly.  He isn't leaving.  If he works wonders in the portal and makes the big dance next season, he'll be gone for sure.

I agree. I think since we didn’t make the ncaa tournament and we only got to the 2nd round of the NIT, we are less likely to lose him this year. if this coming up season we make the NCAA tournament I think he will be gone.Honestly next years team might be better all the way around with a real center, he gets one good solid shooting guard or small forward that can make the 3 and drive to the basket and we have a great chance not only to win but for him to be gone.

One thing I got from the Cal Arkansas press conference is the Athletic director said Cal told me what we need for NIL and it’s my job to get that done. What’s out Athletic Director doing?