How much will USF BB improve?

[beastiebull]

There are several freshmen who start at BE schools.  Not the top 5 maybe, but 6-10 there are several.  I think Syracuse was even going to start Billy Edelin the year they won the NC but he got in trouble.  

You pointed out yourself that Pitt may be starting Howard's HS teammate (just because Howard was his teammate doesn't mean he's as good.  There's a reason we ended up with him and Pitt ended up with the other guy.)

I'm not sure your point about Cann is much of an argument because virtually every other school backed off of him.  He's here because we didn't.  Don't you think if scouts thought he could compete they wouldn't have backed off?  Cann is a player who never had to work to be great.  He was very good before his injury.  Now he's going to have to work extremely hard to compete against the calibre of player we are going to face every night in the BE.  Will he handle it or will he get frustrated and fade out?

How many BE schools were going after the guys we got when it was all said and done?  

[Velcro]

The others backed off because they thought it was a risk, that doesn't mean he can't compete, just as it doesn't mean he can.

He may turn out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, or he may be a flop.

But his talent is still there, just hope he keeps putting in the hard work here at USF and makes himself into a top player.

[The_Reaper]

I think we will be the surprise of the BIG East this year. We will be the sleeper noone wants to play, because we will be beating teams when they least expect it. I think we will have a good year.    Reaper

[Guest S.  Bien]

beastiebull is so right on.  The Big East is another universe, it's like talking BCS football, a C-USA team can play say an SEC team and win, they may think the SEC is weak, but they'd have no idea.  The same holds true for the Big East, in conference, it's just plain sick.  I've been to the Carrier Dome to see a game, play in front of 20k fans for an AVERAGE home game at Da Cuse and tell me it's not different.

I agree that the only proven commodity on this team that's definitely a Big East caliber athlete is Melvin Buckley.  The rest of the team is an enormous question mark.  Much like beastie said Sills could turn out to be another Allen Ray, any one of the majorly talented BE guards that loves to penetrate and dish- or he could be just another Rucker Ghost.

I do disagree about Chris Howard, all reports that I've read USF really grabbed a steal with this kid.  Academics, and timing fell into place for us, but scout.com has him listed as a 3 star recruit, and a ranked PG.  Also, Zarronn Cann's another intriguing prospect.  His type of knee tear usually takes a full 24 months to return from, and he tried to do it in 8!  That was foolish, but if this kid can return to his skills before the knee injury he was one of the more versatile and skilled SF's in the country coming out.

This team has a ton of question marks.  There's a lot of intriguing prospects that if they all pan out we could be a 5-6 wins in the Big East team.  If they do not then we'll struggle for 1-2 wins.   With that being said there's no substitute for talent, and it will eventually be on the way, but you need to land kids like Dante Curry, and lots of them, to make an immediate impact in the BE.  Our only chance to be in the BET this year is if Sills, and Cann come in and just tear the world up, and Buckley is better than advertised, and Jones continues his drastically improved play from the end of the season.

[Papa_Bull]

Beastie. According to current reports, it's likely that Sam Young won't qualify. It's possible that if he doesn't, that he could STILL end up here teaming up with Howard. They were very good friends.

Both West Virginia and Pitt wanted Zaronn at the time he committed to USF. Duke, North Carolina, Florida, Florida State had all shown him interest until the knee injury.

[Papa_Bull]

Bien...

Two questions:

Do YOU think USF will finish LAST in the BE this year?

Do YOU think it's a "realistic" GOAL for USF to make the BE this year?  

[Papa_Bull]

The HOOPSCOOPOnline

FINAL RANKING OF THE TOP 285 RECRUITING CLASSES FOR THE CLASS OF 2005

Published on July 3, 2005

http://www.hoopscooponline.com/members/toprecruitingclassestodatefortheclassof2005-2005.html

That ranks USF at #33 nationally, WITHOUT Melvin Buckley even shown, which would place us #5 in the Big East. Yes, I know we lost one guy, Stores, but we gained Markusovic in his place. OTHER schools on that list also lost players and didn't even replace them with someone else.

[Guest S.  Bien]

Bien...

Two questions:

Do YOU think USF will finish LAST in the BE this year?

Do YOU think it's a "realistic" GOAL for USF to make the BE this year?  

I don't really even know.  I think a goal for the team each year should be post season, screw 'realistic'.  However there are too many questions to say for certain if we can pull ourselves out of the cellar.  I mean the first questions are will Sills even show-up and stay on the team- his history of sticking around is less than stellar.  Will Cann be 100% healthy, are these new JC's fillers or are they capable of contributing.

Who in the hell is Melvyn Richardson, and why do we think he's BE caliber when we only beat out UCF for his services?  Oh, and who's this foreign center that couldn't even start for his national team?

To me Brandon Stores was a serious loss for this team.

I look at this team, and for it to have any chance to win more than 1 or 2 conference games we'll need Melvin Buckley to be every bit as good as advertised.   Prek, and Dennis really need to step up their games, and Jones needs to be legit around 230lbs without losing hops.  On top of that Sills must come in and ready to play, ditto for Melvyn Richardson, and Cann....with ALL of that, I still think this team struggles to win 4!

Sorry, but we're building for 06'.  In 06' Buckley will be a senior, as will Sills, Richardson, and Prek.  I think Howard will be a big time combo guard by 06.  And help is on the way in the names of Dante Curry, and at least one more four star hoops player.  

There's just to many questions, and to little time to gel for this team this year.

[Velcro]

So we are better than a european national team?  If someone doesn't start for their national team, that doesn't mean he isn't any good.  It just means he isn't in the top player for his position in his country.  

When we start getting the best player at a given position from an entire country, that is quite an accomplishment.

[Papa_Bull]

Actually CBS Sportsline is very high on Richardson and thinks Frane will contribute immediately:

Junior college transfer Melvyn Richardson is one of the best bets to earn some early playing time. He averaged 8.1 points and 6.7 rebounds last season, and brings badly-needed size and bulk inside.

Frane Markusovic is coming off a stress fracture in his right leg, but is expected to be healthy in time for school. At 6-10, 242 pounds, he could use some bulking up, but has the height and shooting ability to play as a freshman.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/teams/report/SFL/8616834