2024 Transfer Portal Thread

#126
#126
Stoerner Fumbles said:
I don’t disagree. Having watched a few practices over several years, I find our biggest weakness on offense is players not knowing when to shoot or drive. Barnes is highly critical of “bad” shots, and dribbling into traffic. A lot of these “bad” shots are open shots, they’re just early in the clock, or the five is high and not available to rebound. What you’re saying about Mashack could be said about Josiah or Santi. I think we’ve all screamed “shoot” or “drive” at the TV more than once. In fairness this is the style Barnes plays. They just won a very tough conference. Obviously this season has been looser than normal as far as the green light being on, but there are times the older guys still seem to be wearing their “don’t shoot shock collars”.
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💯
 
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#127
#127
CAVPUT said:
Basilio is childish and completely unprofessional. Unless things have changed over the last few years, he sits around shooting the breeze with his buddies over lunch. Got a voice and manner that grates on a person. How anyone could listen to his schtick and think it credible amazes me. I'd rather stick an ice pick in my ears than listen to his juvenile rambling.
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No offense but your take on Tony is incorrect.
 
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#129
#129
Stoerner Fumbles said:
I don’t disagree. Having watched a few practices over several years, I find our biggest weakness on offense is players not knowing when to shoot or drive. Barnes is highly critical of “bad” shots, and dribbling into traffic. A lot of these “bad” shots are open shots, they’re just early in the clock, or the five is high and not available to rebound. What you’re saying about Mashack could be said about Josiah or Santi. I think we’ve all screamed “shoot” or “drive” at the TV more than once. In fairness this is the style Barnes plays. They just won a very tough conference. Obviously this season has been looser than normal as far as the green light being on, but there are times the older guys still seem to be wearing their “don’t shoot shock collars”.
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Great point, for guys like DK and Gainey it's a bit easier to just come in and do what they do...but for the older guys, especially JJJ/Santi they've got 3 or 4 years of coaching that has made them more gun shy.

This is really the first season where I've not seen us trying to wait for shots in the last 5-10 seconds of the shot clock. I hope it's a sign Barnes has realized that good offense is about taking the best shot when it's available and who cares if it's early or late in the shot clock.
 
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#130
#130
bleedingTNorange said:
This is one the staff has been keeping tabs on and wants…

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He would be a big get...

I'd love to bring the Greeneville player from Belmont in to be our backup PG as well. (Assuming we move on from Freddie)

Northern Colorado has a player putting up some big time numbers as well.

I think those 3 would be a tremendous haul.
 
#131
#131
Stoerner Fumbles said:
I don’t disagree. Having watched a few practices over several years, I find our biggest weakness on offense is players not knowing when to shoot or drive. Barnes is highly critical of “bad” shots, and dribbling into traffic. A lot of these “bad” shots are open shots, they’re just early in the clock, or the five is high and not available to rebound. What you’re saying about Mashack could be said about Josiah or Santi. I think we’ve all screamed “shoot” or “drive” at the TV more than once. In fairness this is the style Barnes plays. They just won a very tough conference. Obviously this season has been looser than normal as far as the green light being on, but there are times the older guys still seem to be wearing their “don’t shoot shock collars”.
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You've got more inside info than I, but I've said this countless times over the years. There has to be something in the way Barnes coaches that makes the players be too gun shy or thinking too much on the court. We've seen too many shooters come in and have the worst years of their career. It's hard to go from running spread PR all your life to running a true motion offense. A lot of read and react. A lot of Barnes saying good shot/bad shot.

The ones that have made it had enough to just shoot it anyways. Dalton, Admiral, etc.
 
#133
#133
To Recap, players discussed so far:

Ja'Kobi Gillespie, 6'0" 175lbs, Point Guard
(Greeneville, TN native) - at least 2 years left
57 games played and 32 starts at Belmont
this year: 17.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.2 apg shooting 56.1% FG 38.7% 3PT and 83.1% FT

Chaz Lanier, 6'4" 175lbs, Guard
(Nashville, TN native) - 1 year left
104 games played and 49 starts at North Florida
this year: 19.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.8 apg shooting 51.0% FG 44.0% 3PT and 88.0% FT

Malik Dia, 6'9" 240lbs, Forward
(Murfreesboro, TN native) - at least 2 years left (eligbility a concern?)
53 games played and 24 starts at Vandy & Belmont
this year: 16.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.2 apg, 0.8 bpg shooting 48.8% FG, 34.1% 3PT, 63.8% FT

Jacob Crews, 6'7" 210lbs, Guard
(Hilliard, FL native) - at least 1 year left
63 games played and 35 starts at North Florida & UT-Martin
this year: 19.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.1 apg shooting 48.5% FG, 41.4% 3PT, 81.6% FT
 
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#134
#134
I will say, on paper Crews looks like he could be a candidate to fill the void a bit DK will leave. Same size, can score at all 3 levels has grinded and even played a year of JuCo to get to where he is now.

But personally of the 4 players mentioned Ja'Kobi Gillespie would be the one I'd most like to see in orange next year. Him and ZZ on the court together could be a lot of fun and then him having that additional year to be the main PG the year after ZZ graduates could help offset the loss a LOT for us.
 
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#135
#135
Namorto1 said:
Yep but actually slightly less minutes than he got last year. Mashack is going to want starter minutes. I would start him in the tournament over Vescovi at 2G and position him to start next year at the 3. If we bring an another wing player from the portal it needs to be a combo forward who can play both forward positions.

Mashack will never be a big scorer but he is capable of getting 10 per game potentially.
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I think he definitely starts next year. He probably would have started this year if Vescovi hadn’t come back and arguably should have anyway. He’s improved his offensive game every year so I’m expecting big things from him next season and would be devastated if he left.

One other point about his minutes though is that his minutes last year were somewhat inflated after Ziegler got hurt and he was thrust into playing PG. I think he probably averaged less than this year up to that point and more after. Not sure how that plays mentally in terms of how he views his contributions but it seems like a potentially significant asterisk to any comparison between his minutes this year and last year.
 
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#136
#136
PG Zeigler
SG Lanier ?
F Mashack
F Crews ?
C Aidoo

Bench
G Gainey
G Carr
F Awaka
C Estrella

Prospects
G Boswell
F Phillips

Breakout or Transfer candidates
G Dillione
F Jefferson

Imo looks like a JJJ guard/forward hybrid and a scoring guard are our two biggest needs. Crews and Lanier would be perfect. Think 1 or both of those bottom guys leave. I'd like to bring in a late bloomer Freshman prospect if so ala ZZ. Would leave us potentially 1 more spot.
 
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#137
#137
Stoerner Fumbles said:
I don’t disagree. Having watched a few practices over several years, I find our biggest weakness on offense is players not knowing when to shoot or drive. Barnes is highly critical of “bad” shots, and dribbling into traffic. A lot of these “bad” shots are open shots, they’re just early in the clock, or the five is high and not available to rebound. What you’re saying about Mashack could be said about Josiah or Santi. I think we’ve all screamed “shoot” or “drive” at the TV more than once. In fairness this is the style Barnes plays. They just won a very tough conference. Obviously this season has been looser than normal as far as the green light being on, but there are times the older guys still seem to be wearing their “don’t shoot shock collars”.
Click to expand...
I can’t remember the last time I heard Barnes criticize someone for shooting too much. In fact after almost every game he says we turn down too many shots. If anyone is scared to shoot it isn’t because they’ve been coached to be.
 
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#138
#138
b_gann said:
You've got more inside info than I, but I've said this countless times over the years. There has to be something in the way Barnes coaches that makes the players be too gun shy or thinking too much on the court. We've seen too many shooters come in and have the worst years of their career. It's hard to go from running spread PR all your life to running a true motion offense. A lot of read and react. A lot of Barnes saying good shot/bad shot.

The ones that have made it had enough to just shoot it anyways. Dalton, Admiral, etc.
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There are nemerois examples of guys coming here and becoming better shooters and scorers. They have been discussed plenty. Barnes has a track record of improving players offensive skill set despite the narrative that he makes people scared to shoot.
 
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#139
#139
SGMVols said:
I can’t remember the last time I heard Barnes criticize someone for shooting too much. In fact after almost every game he says we turn down too many shots. If anyone is scared to shoot it isn’t because they’ve been coached to be.
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Nice thought. That is indeed what he says in press conferences. If you've spent any time around the program, you know how rigorous he is about shot selection, and how fast you can find the bench if you take a bad one. We're the best we've been at letting it fly, but he is who he is.
 
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#140
#140
Kas232323 said:
There are nemerois examples of guys coming here and becoming better shooters and scorers. They have been discussed plenty. Barnes has a track record of improving players offensive skill set despite the narrative that he makes people scared to shoot.
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This is also true, but it is also player dependent. Particularly with PG's he has typically enhanced their offensive game. Grant is another great example. JJJ's behavior is a good example of looks passed up for better looks. J Phillips began as a scorer and regressed to being worse. I am Barnes biggest fan. I think he is adapting, and we may see the fruits of that. I believe in this team and their ability to get deep in the tournament based on improved offensive aggression and efficiency, but I also understand that certain players take the guidance the wrong way and overthink it.
 
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#141
#141
Stoerner Fumbles said:
Nice thought. That is indeed what he says in press conferences. If you've spent any time around the program, you know how rigorous he is about shot selection, and how fast you can find the bench if you take a bad one. We're the best we've been at letting it fly, but he is who he is.
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I can’t recall a single recent instance of him benching a guy for shooting. I can recall many instances of him benching a guy for NOT shooting an open shot though.
 
#142
#142
Stoerner Fumbles said:
Nice thought. That is indeed what he says in press conferences. If you've spent any time around the program, you know how rigorous he is about shot selection, and how fast you can find the bench if you take a bad one. We're the best we've been at letting it fly, but he is who he is.
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I think you've hit on the issue. Barnes is trying to evolve. What we hear in PC's is who he's trying to be. What we see on the floor from the older guys is who he has been.

I also think a little of this is Santi needs to be more selfish. He believes his scoring isn't as needed the same way it was in the past, so he's actively hunting for other ways to contribute which keeps him from working himself open to shoot as much. We need him hunting for open looks more!
 
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#143
#143
SGMVols said:
I can’t recall a single recent instance of him benching a guy for shooting. I can recall many instances of him benching a guy for NOT shooting an open shot though.
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Oh wow, maybe not this year and not as much last year; but in past years it was as certain as death, taxes and him not carrying the wasted timeout into halftime. Jujuan Smith would have worn out a pair of sneakers every game just going back and forth to the bench if he'd played under the Barnes we had for the first 6 years here.
 
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#145
#145
SGMVols said:
I can’t recall a single recent instance of him benching a guy for shooting. I can recall many instances of him benching a guy for NOT shooting an open shot though.
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You're watching a different TV show than the rest of us. Again, no one contests that he's progressing and evolving, but he has some pretty specific thoughts about when a player should shoot/not shoot. That leads to the hesitancy we see. If you watched the Kentucky game, they cut to Grant smiling and burying his head in his hands after Barnes sat Josiah for pulling up on the break. It's not a new narrative, but we all agree it is going in a better direction.
 
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#146
#146
VolArmy74 said:
Andrej Stojakovic is in the portal. Peja's son. Former McDonald's AA. I know we offered him in high school but he went to Stanford. 6'7 195 would be sophomore next year.
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Would love to have him but he’ll have offers from everybody. Wouldn’t count on it.
 
#148
#148
VolArmy74 said:
He didn't have a great season and was terrible on defense. I'd be curious to see if we'd still pursue him and if he may take the Knecht approach and see if Coach Barnes could transform his defense.
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He was a kid who got away with lots of bad habits in HS. He was tall enough that the wind up he takes to shoot didn’t hurt him. At Stanford, he changed his shot but still isn’t quick on catch and shoot or pulling up off the dribble. His percentages have gone down and he is bad in traffic and bad recovering on defense. I still think they’ll be a line of suitors, but I cant say that I like him better than what we have.
 
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