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#2,052
#2,052
iKrager said:
Highly rated 5*.. Of course the dude can score. I'm talking about the Damian Lillards or the Stephen Currys of the world, maybe not that elite, but we need to recruit a scorer who is under the radar.
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Likely won't happen, that's not what Martin wants. He wants someone who can play defense more than someone who can score. He feels it's easier to teach someone to score than to play defense, Josh Richardson is the perfect example.

I'm not saying that's necessarily the right thing, but it's his mindset. Now I will say, you saw Washpuns, Q, Reese etc taken who were guys that weren't big time scorers at all, but hard nosed. This current class is all hard nosed guys, but much better scorers than what we had been getting. Austin and Cornish averaged about 25ppg their senior years.
 
#2,053
#2,053
bleedingTNorange said:
Likely won't happen, that's not what Martin wants. He wants someone who can play defense more than someone who can score. He feels it's easier to teach someone to score than to play defense, Josh Richardson is the perfect example.

I'm not saying that's necessarily the right thing, but it's his mindset. Now I will say, you saw Washpuns, Q, Reese etc taken who were guys that weren't big time scorers at all, but hard nosed. This current class is all hard nosed guys, but much better scorers than what we had been getting. Austin and Cornish averaged about 25ppg their senior years.
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Won't surprise me to see Austin average 10 ppg next year. He will likely start or see significant minutes.
 
#2,054
#2,054
bleedingTNorange said:
Likely won't happen, that's not what Martin wants. He wants someone who can play defense more than someone who can score. He feels it's easier to teach someone to score than to play defense, Josh Richardson is the perfect example.

I'm not saying that's necessarily the right thing, but it's his mindset. Now I will say, you saw Washpuns, Q, Reese etc taken who were guys that weren't big time scorers at all, but hard nosed. This current class is all hard nosed guys, but much better scorers than what we had been getting. Austin and Cornish averaged about 25ppg their senior years.
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I don't really have a problem with Martin's philosophy on recruiting. My biggest problem is that he has taken kids way too early that aren't SEC caliber. And I'm not talking about his first class. I give a pass there.

Going forward, he needs to recruit the top 150. I know rankings aren't everything, but in hoops they are pretty reliable. Scouts see these kids head to head in AAU. You've got to recruit the right fits, I get that. But Martin needs to raise the bar a little. Now, he's got to have some tourney success or it's not going to happen. If he were to make a run to the sweet 16 this year, then I think going forward he will be able to more often land the Looney, Lyle, Nichols kids that he's finished 2nd for in the past.

Specifically, I'd like to see him get more kids in the top 100. So far, his only 2 are Stokes and Hubbs IIRC.
 
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#2,057
#2,057
Otis07 said:
I hope he recruits two more Josh Richardson's each and every year
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I wish we had a whole team of Josh Richardsons but I think people are going to be disappointed when we have to rely on Josh for scoring next year. Yeah, I know he's improved his offense, but he is not relied upon to score right now and the focus of other team's defense certainly isn't stopping JRich.
 
#2,058
#2,058
BigZiti09 said:
I don't really have a problem with Martin's philosophy on recruiting. My biggest problem is that he has taken kids way too early that aren't SEC caliber. And I'm not talking about his first class. I give a pass there.

Going forward, he needs to recruit the top 150. I know rankings aren't everything, but in hoops they are pretty reliable. Scouts see these kids head to head in AAU. You've got to recruit the right fits, I get that. But Martin needs to raise the bar a little. Now, he's got to have some tourney success or it's not going to happen. If he were to make a run to the sweet 16 this year, then I think going forward he will be able to more often land the Looney, Lyle, Nichols kids that he's finished 2nd for in the past.

Specifically, I'd like to see him get more kids in the top 100. So far, his only 2 are Stokes and Hubbs IIRC.
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Agree with what you're saying.

This 2014 class is his best so far. It doesn't have the star power of Stokes or Hubbs, but there are no reaches like you referred to. Every single one of these guys barring injury will be a contributor throughout their Tennessee careers, and that's the kind of player you should be recruiting.

As you mentioned, he needs to make the tourney, and ideally make a run. Recruiting will become a lot easier if he is able to do that, and as you mentioned you'll see him start landing more guys ranked 17-125 than 150-200.

The frustrating part to me is the guys we've passed on in hopes of landing bigger fish. We could have J3 if we said never mind on Nichols, J3 was top 50 and started every game for Missouri this season and looks like a nice prospect. Makinde London is top 75 and was pretty much begging to come to Tennessee, but we held off because of Looney.
 
#2,059
#2,059
BigZiti09 said:
I wish we had a whole team of Josh Richardsons but I think people are going to be disappointed when we have to rely on Josh for scoring next year. Yeah, I know he's improved his offense, but he is not relied upon to score right now and the focus of other team's defense certainly isn't stopping JRich.
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Hubbs is gonna have to be ready to step up some, but as I have said before, I think you're gonna see a lot more balance. You won't have 2 guys predominantly touching the ball and taking the shots like we do this year. You will have 1-5 that all pose an offensive threat at least, and guys coming off the bench that can score as well. We may not have someone average more than 13ppg, but we may have 6 guys averaging 8+ppg
 
#2,060
#2,060
bleedingTNorange said:
Likely won't happen, that's not what Martin wants. He wants someone who can play defense more than someone who can score. He feels it's easier to teach someone to score than to play defense, Josh Richardson is the perfect example.

I'm not saying that's necessarily the right thing, but it's his mindset. Now I will say, you saw Washpuns, Q, Reese etc taken who were guys that weren't big time scorers at all, but hard nosed. This current class is all hard nosed guys, but much better scorers than what we had been getting. Austin and Cornish averaged about 25ppg their senior years.
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Big difference in recruiting someone who CAN play defense and who WILL play defense. If we sign players who can play defense and are not crack shooters , and they don't play defense when they get here, we are screwed. If we sign a player who can shoot lights out and can be taught defense, we win big time. While I believe players can be taught to shot, the best shooters are usually born with shooting their abilities. I would like to recruit at least one crack shooter and at least have someone who can fill the basket. Someone like Chris Lofton. He was not recruited by UK or UL because they were not convinced he was quick enough and could not play defense.
 
#2,061
#2,061
bleedingTNorange said:
Agree with what you're saying.

This 2014 class is his best so far. It doesn't have the star power of Stokes or Hubbs, but there are no reaches like you referred to. Every single one of these guys barring injury will be a contributor throughout their Tennessee careers, and that's the kind of player you should be recruiting.

As you mentioned, he needs to make the tourney, and ideally make a run. Recruiting will become a lot easier if he is able to do that, and as you mentioned you'll see him start landing more guys ranked 17-125 than 150-200.

The frustrating part to me is the guys we've passed on in hopes of landing bigger fish. We could have J3 if we said never mind on Nichols, J3 was top 50 and started every game for Missouri this season and looks like a nice prospect. Makinde London is top 75 and was pretty much begging to come to Tennessee, but we held off because of Looney.
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That's another thing. He should take them both. Worry about the numbers later.
 
#2,062
#2,062
BigZiti09 said:
I wish we had a whole team of Josh Richardsons but I think people are going to be disappointed when we have to rely on Josh for scoring next year. Yeah, I know he's improved his offense, but he is not relied upon to score right now and the focus of other team's defense certainly isn't stopping JRich.
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Not to mention the effect an increased scoring role will likely take on his stamina and ability to defend at a high level.

Right now, he is able to focus his energy defensively and pick his spots to attack on offense. Next year, he may not have that luxury.
 
#2,063
#2,063
VOLINVONORE said:
Big difference in recruiting someone who CAN play defense and who WILL play defense. If we sign players who can play defense and are not crack shooters , and they don't play defense when they get here, we are screwed. If we sign a player who can shoot lights out and can be taught defense, we win big time. While I believe players can be taught to shot, the best shooters are usually born with shooting their abilities. I would like to recruit at least one crack shooter and at least have someone who can fill the basket. Someone like Chris Lofton. He was not recruited by UK or UL because they were not convinced he was quick enough and could not play defense.
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You don't think that was addressed when scouting and evaluating these recruits? Their willingness to play defense?
 
#2,064
#2,064
BigZiti09 said:
That's another thing. He should take them both. Worry about the numbers later.
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I agree, he held out in both years for bigger fish and missed completely on both.

Outlook for next year would be much better if we had J3 on the roster and London in the 2014 class.

If course all that could be negated with Stokes returning, so who knows.
 
#2,065
#2,065
I would have thought CCM learned his lesson from the all in on Nichols. Turns out he pushed away London for Looney and it backfired. I hope it doesn't happen again.
 
#2,066
#2,066
CAVol said:
I would have thought CCM learned his lesson from the all in on Nichols. Turns out he pushed away London for Looney and it backfired. I hope it doesn't happen again.
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I don't think London is SEC caliber just yet. IMO. We also already had Cofer in the fold. We didn't go all in for Looney. We already had commits. Looney was going to be the cherry on top. London wouldn't have been that.
 
#2,067
#2,067
SJAVol32 said:
I don't think London is SEC caliber just yet. IMO. We also already had Cofer in the fold. We didn't go all in for Looney. We already had commits. Looney was going to be the cherry on top. London wouldn't have been that.
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He's a consensus top 75 player, he may need to develop a bit, but he would've been a damn nice addition.
 
#2,068
#2,068
bleedingTNorange said:
He's a consensus top 75 player, he may need to develop a bit, but he would've been a damn nice addition.
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You gotta look at what a player brings into the table next year, especially when we don't know who our major contributors will be. Cool, he's a well ranked guy, but he's still a project for being ranked so high.
 
#2,069
#2,069
iKrager said:
You gotta look at what a player brings into the table next year, especially when we don't know who our major contributors will be. Cool, he's a well ranked guy, but he's still a project for being ranked so high.
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You also have to build for the future no? What's the harm in taking London in place of Q, what's the negative in that?
 
#2,070
#2,070
This is the Recruiting News thread. Maybe we should make a recruiting class discussion thread :)

Seriously though, London would have been nice to have. Tons of potential.
 
#2,071
#2,071
bleedingTNorange said:
You don't think that was addressed when scouting and evaluating these recruits? Their willingness to play defense?
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Sure they did, but with all the fillers we have on the team, I would rather get a pure shooter than recruit a guy you know is going to warm the bench. I would rather be able to score a few points when you are behind rather than have no one can hit a lay up much less a 3.
 
#2,072
#2,072
VOLINVONORE said:
Sure they did, but with all the fillers we have on the team, I would rather get a pure shooter than recruit a guy you know is going to warm the bench. I would rather be able to score a few points when you are behind rather than have no one can hit a lay up much less a 3.
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I don't think there's a guy in this class that's a bench warmer
 
#2,075
#2,075
I come here for recruiting news and all I got was 2 pages of discussion about old recruits. Please move it somewhere else.
 
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