2025 Transfer Portal Thread

#8,101
#8,101
omghulkhands said:
KY’s defense wasn’t that bad. Their offense pace was just so high that they end up in a lot of high possession games.
Click to expand...
It did improve throughout the year but was pretty leaky there until early/mid February. I think on the most referenced analytics site we ended up in the 50-ish range nationally for defensive efficiency, but were as low as 118th at one point after Ole Miss. (This adjusts for tempo, opponent strength & possessions per game).

Warren Nolan, which uses probably the most simple formula and doesn't account for opponent strength (it is just opponent points / 100 possessions) had us 218th nationally to end the season. Of course, opponent strength does account for a lot so it should be considered (Giving up 90 versus Bama is a lot better than giving up 85 against School for the Blind). Advanced Stats - Defensive Rating 2024 College Basketball | WarrenNolan.com

At the end of the day, we struggled with quick teams that could also space the floor with good shooters. Alabama averaged 99 PPG in their 3 wins against us. Duke, which is super talented but not quite as "quick" at some positions, we handled pretty well-- gave up 72 in a victory. Arkansas, not a good team by any means but super athletic, shredded us with ease. Eventually we shifted to playing drop coverage defense, allowing 3PT shots to avoid getting beat off the dribble. That first game in Knoxville against you guys went down as a "good" defensive game and we came away with the upset. But I watched that game simply aghast at our defense. We must have surrendered 20, 25 wide open shots that were fortunately missed. We did that because we simply could not stay in front of Gainey, ZZ or Lanier. Fortunately, you guys attempted more 3PTs than any game in your history and those 3 guards combined for 6-29 from 3.

So while I agree with you that we weren't terrible defensively we definitely had our limitations and that affected our ability to (usually) win games when we weren't having an A or B game on the offensive side of the floor, or if the other team was knocking down the open 3s we were giving them.
 
#8,102
#8,102
That's all well and good if things like that were done in a vacuum and players and coaches didn't have emotions and biases. Throwing money around at anyone and not properly evaluating their personality and fit with a team (or how their "camp" fits with the program) is one of the best ways to tank a culture/locker room, and if that's broken, it doesn't matter how talented your team is. You aren't winning big time.
 
#8,104
#8,104
TrippieRedd said:
At some point you just have to throw your hands up and pay the kids.

You want a final 4? Pay for it.


“yOu pAy fOr it”
“dO yOu hAvE 1 MiL”

Put the ice in the cooler.
Click to expand...

I mean...the kids have to sign even when we're paying them though. Get the feeling Rice & Adams both have said "I want $$$" we wrote up the deal and got to the table and they said "Wait...we now want $$$"
 
  • Like
Reactions: InVOLuntary, ArdentVol and Lankykong
#8,105
#8,105
TrippieRedd said:
At some point you just have to throw your hands up and pay the kids.

You want a final 4? Pay for it.


“yOu pAy fOr it”
“dO yOu hAvE 1 MiL”

Put the ice in the cooler.
Click to expand...
This is where I'm having a hard time understanding the situation.

We heard early in this portal window; "The boosters are backing Barnes. They feel his program is close to a Final 4 appearance. He's gotten separate fund commitments to pursue Ament"

Miss out on McKneely due to money. Pivot to Rice and allow him 2 weeks to take additional visits and leveraging for more money. Ultimately, pass on him over 1-1.5 million.

Then, settle for a bunch of C tier options who they apparently can't get traction with now. I really don't understand the thought process.

There's a gaping hole on at the 2-guard spot. If you're serious and your goal as a program is to pursue a Final 4, you throw a $3-4 million dollar bag to fill your final starting spot.

You supposedly saved $1+ million on letting Freeman go to Auburn. I'm just confused at this point why they went all in on Ament to take this approach. You're probably only getting one year out of him.

This predicament they are in just doesn't make sense to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol, Ryno14, Derek Reese's jumpshot and 3 others
#8,108
#8,108
RyanWalkerPGH said:
This is where I'm having a hard time understanding the situation.

We heard early in this portal window; "The boosters are backing Barnes. They feel his program is close to a Final 4 appearance. He's gotten separate fund commitments to pursue Ament"

Miss out on McKneely due to money. Pivot to Rice and allow him 2 weeks to take additional visits and leveraging for more money. Ultimately, pass on him over 1-1.5 million.

Then, settle for a bunch of C tier options who they apparently can't get traction with now. I really don't understand the thought process.

There's a gaping hole on at the 2-guard spot. If you're serious and your goal as a program is to pursue a Final 4, you throw a $3-4 million dollar bag to fill your final starting spot.

You supposedly saved $1+ million on letting Freeman go to Auburn. I'm just confused at this point why they went all in on Ament to take this approach. You're probably only getting one year out of him.

This predicament they are in just doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...
I feel like the same thing is going on in football
 
#8,109
#8,109
RyanWalkerPGH said:
This is where I'm having a hard time understanding the situation.

We heard early in this portal window; "The boosters are backing Barnes. They feel his program is close to a Final 4 appearance. He's gotten separate fund commitments to pursue Ament"

Miss out on McKneely due to money. Pivot to Rice and allow him 2 weeks to take additional visits and leveraging for more money. Ultimately, pass on him over 1-1.5 million.

Then, settle for a bunch of C tier options who they apparently can't get traction with now. I really don't understand the thought process.

There's a gaping hole on at the 2-guard spot. If you're serious and your goal as a program is to pursue a Final 4, you throw a $3-4 million dollar bag to fill your final starting spot.

You supposedly saved $1+ million on letting Freeman go to Auburn. I'm just confused at this point why they went all in on Ament to take this approach. You're probably only getting one year out of him.

This predicament they are in just doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...
Agents and most of these kids are seeing dollar signs. No visit/offer will be wasted. I can sympathize with the coaches, and you have to think what the kid will be like once.jes in the program if they behave like this now. There are a bunch of Nicos out there. Very few Knecht and Laniers. Kinda think this might be the spark that has Barnes questioning if it's still worth it? These players don't prioritize getting better. They want quick paths and money. Barnes has be find it very distasteful.
 
#8,110
#8,110
RyanWalkerPGH said:
This is where I'm having a hard time understanding the situation.

We heard early in this portal window; "The boosters are backing Barnes. They feel his program is close to a Final 4 appearance. He's gotten separate fund commitments to pursue Ament"

Miss out on McKneely due to money. Pivot to Rice and allow him 2 weeks to take additional visits and leveraging for more money. Ultimately, pass on him over 1-1.5 million.

Then, settle for a bunch of C tier options who they apparently can't get traction with now. I really don't understand the thought process.

There's a gaping hole on at the 2-guard spot. If you're serious and your goal as a program is to pursue a Final 4, you throw a $3-4 million dollar bag to fill your final starting spot.

You supposedly saved $1+ million on letting Freeman go to Auburn. I'm just confused at this point why they went all in on Ament to take this approach. You're probably only getting one year out of him.

This predicament they are in just doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...
You create a huge problem if you pay a 2-guard a lot more than, let’s say Gillespie. There is a lot more than just paying a decent player whatever it takes to secure his services. These leverage situations are happening everywhere.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lankykong and AngryButchJones
#8,114
#8,114
TrippieRedd said:
At some point you just have to throw your hands up and pay the kids.

You want a final 4? Pay for it.


“yOu pAy fOr it”
“dO yOu hAvE 1 MiL”

Put the ice in the cooler.
Click to expand...
Not sure it’s as simple as that. I believe they have shown they are willing to offer a lot of money to the right guys. I think some of it is not wanting to pay that kind of money to someone they can potentially be a problem down the road, or come back and ask for more in a few months, hurting the chemistry of the team.
 
#8,115
#8,115
cardvolfan said:
You create a huge problem if you pay a 2-guard a lot more than, let’s say Gillespie. There is a lot more than just paying a decent player whatever it takes to secure his services. These leverage situations are happening everywhere.
Click to expand...
You're already paying Gillespie $2 million and Ament over $4 million.

Chaz was still getting a bag by last year's market standards.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol
#8,117
#8,117
MoCo_Vol said:
Ja'Kobi suddenly not the 10th rated best portal player?
Carey suddenly not the 26th best PF in the portal?

Ya'll gotta stop acting like we ONLY have Ament.
Click to expand...
Carey is a nice role player and that's about it. The issue is the lack of scoring options.

Gillespie & Ament are going to have immense pressure to shoulder the load if they don't figure something out.

Also, the factor that no one is talking about, what does this team look like defensively?

Obviously, you know what you're getting from Okpara. However, outside of that there could be a drop off when you consider the impact Zeigler, Mashack, and Okapara had defensively.
 
  • Like
Reactions: oldaaucoach, CamVol8 and Bigorangefan 98
#8,119
#8,119
RyanWalkerPGH said:
You're already paying Gillespie $2 million and Ament over $4 million.

Chaz was still getting a bag by last year's market standards.
Click to expand...
I’m not so sure on the $2,000,000 for Gillespie. I’m really talking about taking a lower tier 2-guard for that spot and paying him a good bit more than Gillespie. Your comment seemed to be saying “just pay them because we have all this money.”
 
  • Like
Reactions: MoCo_Vol
#8,121
#8,121
RyanWalkerPGH said:
This is where I'm having a hard time understanding the situation.

We heard early in this portal window; "The boosters are backing Barnes. They feel his program is close to a Final 4 appearance. He's gotten separate fund commitments to pursue Ament"

Miss out on McKneely due to money. Pivot to Rice and allow him to take 2 weeks taking additional visits and leveraging for more money. Ultimately, pass on him over 1-1.5 million.

Then, settle for a bunch of C tier options who they apparently can't get traction with now. I really don't understand the thought process.

There's a gaping hole on at the 2-guard spot. If you're serious and your goal as a program is to pursue a Final 4, you throw a $3-4 million dollar bag to fill your final starting spot.

You supposedly saved $1+ million on letting Freeman go to Auburn. I'm just confused at this point why they went all in on Ament to take this approach. You're probably only getting one year out of him.

This predicament they are in just doesn't make sense to me.
Click to expand...
It makes complete sense. A player asks for an amount. We make a reasonable offer. Player then agrees that certain conditions have been met, however, he then contacts another school and tries to leverage it and asks for more money.

It's kind of a Nico type situation, and what's to say the kid may not come back during the season with more demands? The coaches analyze it and have valuations for players. They aren't going to mess up chemistry and program culture for ones that don't fit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lankykong, MoCo_Vol and therickbol
#8,123
#8,123
T2P_Priceless said:
I feel like the same thing is going on in football
Click to expand...
In football, we brought in 23 early enrollees. We have a roster cap of 83, and I think we had 82 in the spring. We couldn't add much. We spent a bunch of money on the high schoolers. Now that 6 have left, we can bring in more.
 
#8,125
#8,125
cardvolfan said:
I’m not so sure on the $2,000,000 for Gillespie. I’m really talking about taking a lower tier 2-guard for that spot and paying him a good bit more than Gillespie. Your comment seemed to be saying “just pay them because we have all this money.”
Click to expand...
To be clear, I'm not suggesting you pay some lower tier guard that kind of money. I'm just suggesting in retrospect they should've just ponied up and paid McKneely or Rice. Or pursued other upper echelon guards in the first place.

Although, people keep acting like the goal is to make sure you get a deal or great value on these kids. Ultimately, the most important thing is filling a need. Who cares if you "overpay" some if it's the difference between a Sweet 16 or Final 4. Is anyone going to care that Tennessee paid a million more than they had hoped for Rodney Rice if it results in a Final 4? Doubtful.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol and cardvolfan
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top