USF vs FAU Game Thread

[Vega]

There is your guy talking about finishing in the top half of the Big East.

(Not gonna happen by the way)

Wonder what Collins would look like in a Bruce Pearl type of system? We certainly have guys that would really benefit from such a system.

I can already imagine him wearing gold dress pants and a green blazer.

Lol, well the interest in hoops would go up, plus he would win right away too.

[Vega]

See Fuhbull in post #11. Said if the Bulls don't finish in the top half of the Big East than Stan should be fired.

My take is....I don't know about most....but I think most people's expectations of this year's team are pretty low. Crater was a train wreck.....and with him gone and possibly having to start a true Freshman at PG.....I think many expected about zero from the PG position. All we had to hang our hat on was maybe Poland would get healthy and help us steal a conference game or two.

Yet I see an improved Fitzpatrick, Robertson and Anderson Jr. Plus newcomers Rudd, Nash and Collins.......and we still have Poland coming back soon.

So do I expect a lot now.....no....but at least there is some hope for this season.

Stan Heath said he has his best offensive team since being HC of USF. His expectations is USF can finish in the top half of the BE.

My take is we have the players capable of achieving such a feat, but not gonna happen. Heath is easy 1 of the worse head coaches in the BE IF not the worse. Without strong will players like Howard, Jones, and Mercer to overcome his coaching, USF will probably fail to meet the expectations and goals set by the coach himself.

[usf97]

So Vega....are you saying in two games....your opinion of Collins has changed?

http://thebullspen.com/index.php?/topic/76051-pg-anthony-collins/page__hl__ anthony collins

Granted....I am happy with what I have seen thus far.....it appears Dority has already lost the starting job to him....but it is still early. I would say what he has done in 2 games against meaningless opponents is probably on par or better than anything Crater did while he was here.

However, back in March you were very down on Collins (link above if you forgot).....you said you expected him to be at best a Crater clone and Sun Belt level talent.

[Triple B]

See Fuhbull in post #11. Said if the Bulls don't finish in the top half of the Big East than Stan should be fired.

My take is....I don't know about most....but I think most people's expectations of this year's team are pretty low. Crater was a train wreck.....and with him gone and possibly having to start a true Freshman at PG.....I think many expected about zero from the PG position. All we had to hang our hat on was maybe Poland would get healthy and help us steal a conference game or two.

Yet I see an improved Fitzpatrick, Robertson and Anderson Jr. Plus newcomers Rudd, Nash and Collins.......and we still have Poland coming back soon.

So do I expect a lot now.....no....but at least there is some hope for this season.

Stan Heath said he has his best offensive team since being HC of USF. His expectations is USF can finish in the top half of the BE.

My take is we have the players capable of achieving such a feat, but not gonna happen. Heath is easy 1 of the worse head coaches in the BE IF not the worse. Without strong will players like Howard, Jones, and Mercer to overcome his coaching, USF will probably fail to meet the expectations and goals set by the coach himself.

I'd like to see exactly where Heath set out those expectations ... The goal every year is to finish in the top half. I'd like to see where he said he expects to this year.

[Triple B]

So Vega....are you saying in two games....your opinion of Collins has changed?

http://thebullspen.com/index.php?/topic/76051-pg-anthony-collins/page__hl__ anthony collins

Granted....I am happy with what I have seen thus far.....it appears Dority has already lost the starting job to him....but it is still early. I would say what he has done in 2 games against meaningless opponents is probably on par or better than anything Crater did while he was here.

However, back in March you were very down on Collins (link above if you forgot).....you said you expected him to be at best a Crater clone and Sun Belt level talent.

Vega has shifted gears a bit ... Now he's building the players up to be top half BE talent so when we don't finish there he can not miss a beat with his love affair with Stan. It's pretty transparent ..... Entering BE play with pg's with the experience ours have is going to be an adventure, but should hopefully pay dividends down the road.

[usf97]

Well as far as Heath.....nor do I really want to get into this already.....he is going to be here for a while. He is under contract through 2015.....so you might as well get used to him for a while. He surely will get this year and a year with the new Sun Dome. So even if the wheels come off in 2011 and 2012......I would have a real hard time seeing USF be willing to eat 3 years of his salary. The 'supposed" new BE TV contract money....if that even ever happens won't be available till 2014.

As far as my personal opinions about Heath....he is what he is. I am not a huge fan nor hater. I can say with confidence I like him better than McCullum. My feelings about Heath are similar to how I feld when Seth left. I think you also have to consider the USF basketball situation is going to be difficult in of itself so the question comes up....who is really better who WANTS to come here? Nor do I really want someone here who brings success and NCAA investigations in their wake, like a Jim Harrick.

Heath hasn't hit much on his past recruits....Gilchrist hasn't panned out as hoped, Famous never amounted to anything special, Crater was a disaster, then there are the ones that never really even saw the court: Leemow, Belardo, Espinosa, Burwell, Haynes

But there have been some solid additions in Fitzpatrick (local and not highly sought after), Noriega, Ron Anderson Jr., Poland, Robertson.

Now I see some talent in the 3 newcomers this season (Rudd, Collins, Nash) but it is still too early to tell.

What I think many are looking forward to is this upcoming class.....with Omogbehin, Austin, Musa Abdul-Aleem and Hawkins.

Even if Heath is one of those "bad" coaches but is a good recruiter.....I will take it.

Plus I am curious to see how things look with new assistant coach Roccaforte in the mix.

[bcgruber]

Vega,

Heath is the worst coach in BE. Did you see Providence last night with Ed Cooley. Mike Rice at Rutgers?? come on. Kevin Willard or even Mick Cronin. And none of those programs have been to the depths

USF has. We have a much higher hill to climb in the BE then all the other programs. With our schedule and home court this year I will be very happy with middle of BE and a possible NIT bid. Collins is so much better then I anticipated, he is what gives us a chance this year.

[theman123]

Some of you guys may not remember, but last year we went to Boca and got beat by the 4-4 Owls. Granted, last year they weren't bad, went to the NIT, but still not very good.

I see a lot of improvement, especially with Collins out there. I think if he plays against ODU, we end up playing Kentucky. Big East is no where near as good as it was last year, this year may be fun to watch. Still don't expet much, but I expect us to compete.

[Vega]

I will be very happy with middle of BE and a possible NIT bid.

Well that will get Heath another season that he would deserve to have. That will be a promising season that will allow him to recruit the 2013 class without the negativity.

I don't think some you understand why I say Stan needs to go after the season if he can't do what's mentioned above. Say USF has a bad season again there is no way a Coach on the HOT SEAT and scrutinized like Stan will be can possibly recruit any talent to the program. You could severely cripple the next head coach because of this.

[usf97]

So you are saying you (Vega) have changed your opinion about Collins then?