Coach Martin not interested in top ten players

#51
#51
Let's make a mountain out of a mole hill. Good or great players who stay for 3 or 4 years, learn to play together and get some maturity are not a bad thing to have on a team. I don't believe he meant he wouldn't recruit the elite players, but the focus will be on the others. How many of the top 5 or 10 will any one team, regardless of who they are, get anyway?
 
#54
#54
How many top 10 players were recruited to UT in the last 10 years, 1? I don't think its a big issue. I also don't think its fair to expect a guy straight out of MSU to compete with the big basketball programs in recruiting. The bar needs to be set to a realistic level.
 
#55
#55
tri_vol said:
That is true but it still proves that you dont have to have top ten players every year. How many NCs has Cal won versus K with his four year guys?
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Oh, no doubt you need longer-term guys as a foundation. With that being said, you're probably going to have to get some NBA talent on your roster before you win anything--however long they end up staying.
 
#56
#56
WesternKyVol said:
Yeah, our best bet is to emulate the recruiting practices of the Horizon League.
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than we had this year--guys who can move and get after people on defense AND shoot as well. That's a good combination. They are averaging 10 treys a game in the tournament.

We had almost nobody would could play strong man defense OR shoot. The talent on this team, overall, was WEAK. There are a lot of good basketball players in the country who are not top 50 players--all the mid-majors have them--and if I were coaching UT I would make a point of identifying and getting some very solid all-around players of a type that Butler, Xavier VCU and various mid-majors have--athletes who can handle the ball and shoot, basically, while at the same time recruiting select big dogs. We can't stop recruiting the ballers--but at the same time we can't waste a ton of recruiting time and effort chasing guys who are going to sign with the elite programs.

For starters, you need a good PG or two. A must. Then you need a couple of bigs who are active--not necessarily great, but ACTIVE, guys who can move. Then you need at least four swing men (6'3 to 6'6") who can handle the ball WELL and, ideally, shoot. Hopson, though a McD AA, doesn't handle the ball well. I'm not sure Tatum does either. I loved Pearl, but his recruiting fell off for a couple of years.
 
#58
#58
VKAman said:
Oh, no doubt you need longer-term guys as a foundation. With that being said, you're probably going to have to get some NBA talent on your roster before you win anything--however long they end up staying.
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Those two things don't have to be mutually exclusive.
 
#59
#59
He referenced Duke as program he would like to emulate in recruiting. I'll take that all day every day all day. Now, we wait and see.
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#61
#61
iflipburgers said:
How many top 10 players were recruited to UT in the last 10 years, 1? I don't think its a big issue. I also don't think its fair to expect a guy straight out of MSU to compete with the big basketball programs in recruiting. The bar needs to be set to a realistic level.
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The only reason we had a competitive team this year was because of top-10 players, Hopson and Harris. Get rid of them, and we're Auburn or South Carolina.

If Cuonzo is not prepared to bring in top-20 classes, he is in the wrong place. Of course we can't do it Cal's way (half of the top 10) but we can't do it Duke's way either (the best players in America who want a four-year degree from an elite University).

We have to take a more pragmatic/workaholic type approach: Pursue the best players in America relentlessly, like Cal and, if we miss out, land guys like Golden, Prince, Chism, Smith, and Bradshaw to fill in the gaps. Then, once they are on campus get more out of less than Cal does with more. If we do these things, we compete. It is a tall order. Unfortunately, if that isn't what Hamilton had in mind when he made the hire then we are destined for mediocrity, once again.
 
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#63
#63
One problem some of you have is some dillusion about NBA players on a team's roster. You act like the "Top 10" 1-and-done players is the only way to get NBA talent on yoru roster. Really? There are 3 and 4 year players to make it to the NBA all the time. If you are waiting for UT to do nothing but recruit NBA 1-and-done players then you better be prepared to wair a long time. We can have NBA talent on our roster without those players. A Top 100 player that stays for 4 years and develops into an NBA player is not some crazy notion.
 
#64
#64
tri_vol said:
I will take a team of above average solid juniors and seniors over the top 5 freshman any day of the week. The more experienced team will win 8/10 times.
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I agree. And four years of Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith beats one year of John Wall and whomever or Harrison Barnes and whomever every time. (Personally, I'd take four years of Chris over FOUR years of Wall or Barnes, but that's just me...)

I am a little bothered, though, by the new coach seeming to assume that he's "building" a program. He's not starting from scratch, and I hope that's not what he means. If nothing else, Golden showed himself to be a very efficient floor manager (2:1 assist to turnover ratio; much higher +/- to Goins at the close of the year). Anyhow...
 
#65
#65
Agreed, and we haven't historically had to worry about the "one and dones" attending UT anyway. The notion of getting players to "stick" for four years is much better than the attrition we've seen over the last few years. We've had a lot of band-aid jucos due to R. Smith, D. Crews, etc getting booted. Part of the problem with this year's team. Golden does show promise and the prospect of getting C. Jones will fill the point guard drought of the last couple of years. The last "steady" point guard is in the NBA.
 
#67
#67
From what I understood, he said that he was more interested in three and four year players. I honestly doubt that he wouldn't deny a top 10 player the chance to play for our university...
 
#68
#68
How can grown individuals misunderstand a statement so fully?

Jesus guys, even IF that's what his thought process was, do you think he'd actually say it? Come on............be rational.
 
#69
#69
Cooleyvol said:
How can grown individuals misunderstand a statement so fully?

Jesus guys, even IF that's what his thought process was, do you think he'd actually say it? Come on............be rational.
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That is way too much to ask for on this message board. Rational thought is no fun!
 
#70
#70
Cooleyvol said:
How can grown individuals misunderstand a statement so fully?

Jesus guys, even IF that's what his thought process was, do you think he'd actually say it? Come on............be rational.
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Rational? Here? Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream.........
 
#71
#71
In case no one has put it up, here's the quote.

“It’s top 100 guys — it’s not always those top 10 guys,’’ he said. “When you’re trying to build ... it’s hard to have guys with one year, you want four-year guys.’’

You translate.
 
#73
#73
Good lord I call foul on Gonzo the clown. Tell that to UK who is in the Final 4. So this prick basically told our recruits to screw off. Blah blah blah they don't want to be here or did Gonzo not want them to be here.
 
#74
#74
calban said:
In case no one has put it up, here's the quote.

“It’s top 100 guys — it’s not always those top 10 guys,’’ he said. “When you’re trying to build ... it’s hard to have guys with one year, you want four-year guys.’’

You translate.
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Obviously saying, "it's not always those top 10 guys," means he is absolutely not interested in them. Duh.
 
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