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People need to chill. Returning players in BOLD

Frosh stats...

Ethan: 10.6 ppg, 4.8 reb

I. Mike: 11.3 ppg, 5.8 reb

Ben Moore: 6.2 ppg, 3.6 reb

Jarrey Foster: 4.9 ppg, 3.4 reb

Jahmal McMurray: 15.2 ppg, 2.5 asst

Sterling Brown: 4.4 ppg, 3.8 reb

Ben E. 10.5 ppg, 3.1 reb, 1.9 asst (in ACC)

Shake: 10.5 ppg, 2.7 asst

Nic Moore: 10 ppg, 3.9 asst

Whitt: 6.1 ppg, 1.1 asst, 1.7 reb (in SEC)

I think the freshman will be fine. But stats don’t tell all especially on glue guys like Sterling and Ben were. In that regard stats can be misleading. The glue guys provide things that stats don’t necessarily capture. Looking forward to making a run this year though.

If Landrum’s shot comes around, he will be fun to watch.

Junior wrote:If Landrum’s shot comes around, he will be fun to watch.

Truth. He could develop into a Justin Jenifer type player that Cincy has. Very similar style guys. Landrum just needs to turn into a 36-37% shooter or so from 3-point range and he could be very useful in a specific role.

Good stat breakdown. Shows how behind 3 of the 4 freshman are, but some guys take time to develop so lets not overreact. I expected Landrum to need work and didn't expect much from Everett offensively, but all 3 are behind and projects. Hopefully at least one of them turns into a real solid player to go with Chargois.

Three guys not mentioned in the stat breakdown (not big names) were Ryan Manuel (3/1), Nick Russell(1.5/1 @KSU) and Cannen Cunningham (3.3/2.9). None were stars at SMU, but all were very quality role players/ veteran starters to put around your star players. I would love 2 of the 3 freshman in this class to turn into those type of players. You need to develop guys like that to go around the Shake Milton, Jarrey Foster, I. Mike, McMurray, and Ethan Chargois kind of guys who have the star power.

Um Nick Russell definitely started for 2seasons at smu. So did Ryan Emanuel. Don’t think it’s fair to say the current crop of freshmen are behind. Sterling started 26 games his freshman year so he and ben Moore got more minutes per game than Douglas has gotten. If you gave Douglas 19 minutes a game he would probably have similar numbers to sterling. The reason BM and sterling got more minutes was because both played on teams that a) had less gap between the freshman and the starters and b) that team didn’t have a coach that needs to prove himself a fan base with a NCAA tournament bid.

Pony_Law wrote:Um Nick Russell definitely started for 2seasons at smu. So did Ryan Emanuel. Don’t think it’s fair to say the current crop of freshmen are behind. Sterling started 26 games his freshman year so he and ben Moore got more minutes per game than Douglas has gotten. If you gave Douglas 19 minutes a game he would probably have similar numbers to sterling. The reason BM and sterling got more minutes was because both played on teams that a) had less gap between the freshman and the starters and b) that team didn’t have a coach that needs to prove himself a fan base with a NCAA tournament bid.

You totally lost my point, yes we know Ryan Manuel* and Russell started. I said that (veteran starters). I have no idea the point of your first two comments.

The point is that Freshman can develop into quality role players/veteran starters even when they don't contribute much as freshman if they have the tools and work ethic.

These freshman are behind how Sterling , Ben and Jarrey looked as freshman... Numbers aside if you actually watched their play Sterling/Jarrey /Ben were much more efficient and effective players than any of the 3 we are discussing. Looking at stats we have 2 freshman guards shooting under 25% from the field and averaging at or less than 2.0PPG in 10+ MPG. That is behind. Behind doesn't mean lost cause, it means you expected them to be performing/playing better. If you don't think that is behind then I don't know what to say to you and your standards of play for freshman..

I agree with you and have that Douglas has potential and all the tools (and I think he will be good next season), but if you think his overall play isn't behind were anyone expected it would be then you're the only one. Landrum is about what I expected, just a little lower shooting %.

I digress, the point is that we shouldn't give up on these freshman, because 1 or 2 of them could still be high quality contributors for us like the 3 I mentioned.

We shouldn't really be comparing post players to guards (I know in this offense it is hard to see the hazy line there)

The frosh Guards are behind where players like Nic, Ben, Shake, McM were - but we did not expect any of them to be a Nic or Shake. Other poster makes a great point bringing up the ones I did not mention as they are a much better comparison.

Manual 3.3 ppg, 1 asst (in CUSA)

Russell 1.5 ppg, 1 reb, .3 asst (in B12)

PonyTime wrote:We shouldn't really be comparing post players to guards (I know in this offense it is hard to see the hazy line there)

The frosh Guards are behind where players like Nic, Ben, Shake, McM were - but we did not expect any of them to be a Nic or Shake. Other poster makes a great point bringing up the ones I did not mention as they are a much better comparison.

Manual 3.3 ppg, 1 asst (in CUSA)

Russell 1.5 ppg, 1 reb, .3 asst (in B12)

Agreed. FWIW I meant Cannen more for Everett Ray purposes, but shouldn't compare Douglas trajectory to Ben Moore or any other big man.

I totally agree. Too many people want to compare these frosh guards to Shake and Sterling, but I didn't see any of them as the caliber of those to players coming in (Douglas was close to Sterling level recruit). We definitely need to give them some time to develop like a Ryan Manuel type player. Did we hope for more impact and better numbers as freshman? Of course. But that doesn't mean lets get rid of them write them off as a bust recruit. They are much more talented than a guy like McDowell. Lets give them a full offseason to develop under Jank and Co and see. One might be a bust, but one might be a future Nick Russell type player.

Good news: We already struck gold with Chargois (despite his recent conference struggles).

Development of a player is definitely an unknown factor until next year gets here. With that being said I would like to say I like the athleticism of the 2 freshmen coming in next year as well as Mike.