2023 Offseason

Bill Russell

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I hear Kenny MacFarland is entering the transfer portal. Wilson’s Farms on West State Street is the front runner for his services.
 
I was once told he played center in high school never shoot a 3 point shot till he got to Bonas. I have jokes but I'll keep them to myself.
 
I hate to wish any kid off the team, but I think we need a little new blood on the team.

Not much wiggle room right now despite being tied to every St. Francis PA/NY, ND and SUNY AMHERST player.
 
The portal has been eerily quiet for our guys so far. That will probably change but there arent many I would want to actually leave.
 
The portal has been eerily quiet for our guys so far. That will probably change but there arent many I would want to actually leave.
If no one leaves then we really have no one of impact that could come in.

Rose might be good, but I doubt he's an impact year 1. There's something to be said about learning Schmidt's system and improving, but we really need a serviceable stretch 4 type that can play a little bit of center.

I think of a Marquise Simmons with a bit of David Andoh's shooting ability. We also need some type of guard whether it be a PG or SG I don't care, but someone who can be a scoring threat. Doubt Zid Powell would come to SBU, but someone like that.
 
If no one leaves then we really have no one of impact that could come in.

Rose might be good, but I doubt he's an impact year 1. There's something to be said about learning Schmidt's system and improving, but we really need a serviceable stretch 4 type that can play a little bit of center.

I think of a Marquise Simmons with a bit of David Andoh's shooting ability. We also need some type of guard whether it be a PG or SG I don't care, but someone who can be a scoring threat. Doubt Zid Powell would come to SBU, but someone like that.
I'm hoping Martinez can be a suitable backup for Venning and that could free up Mellouck can be that stretch 4 backing up Farrell.
The biggest issue I notice is Schmidt has players pigeonholed into 1 position. I.e. Farrell at the 4 Evans at the 3 and Mellouck at the 5.

I can't say I watched much SUNY Amherst basketball but looking at Powell's stats at Buffalo he shot 17% from 3 and averaged almost as many turnovers as assists. I Don't know if he's worth bringing in over trying to keep developing Rumple.
 
I'm hoping Martinez can be a suitable backup for Venning and that could free up Mellouck can be that stretch 4 backing up Farrell.
The biggest issue I notice is Schmidt has players pigeonholed into 1 position. I.e. Farrell at the 4 Evans at the 3 and Mellouck at the 5.

I can't say I watched much SUNY Amherst basketball but looking at Powell's stats at Buffalo he shot 17% from 3 and averaged almost as many turnovers as assists. I Don't know if he's worth bringing in over trying to keep developing Rumple.
Didn't realize Powell only has one year left, so I'd be out on him unless we miss on everyone else. He was so good against us, and I don't think 3pt shooting is a big part of his game, but I'm not sure a 1-yr deal would do much good knowing we are losing Banks and Flowers after next year.

Hate to oversimplify things, but we need scoring, and a good amount of it if we think we are going to contend in the A10 next year.

Our adjusted offensive efficiency was 260th, our effective shooting % was 250th, in the country and that was against pretty poor competition. Guys will improve, but I doubt any of the young guys make the jump needed to help us next year.

If we brought every single player back next year and signed no one else, I think we would add 2-4 victories to our record from this year, but obviously that doesn't put you in the hunt for an A10 title. I also have no idea how our SOS will be next year.

The tourney in Brooklyn is two games against ND/Auburn/OK State plus we will have Canisius, Siena and Buffalo at home. I assume next year would be a good time to return to Niagara, but I'm OK with that or Canisius going away for good, but that topic is for another day.
 
How's everybody feeling about the offseason so far?

The rest of the A10's offseason looks like this...

Davidson - second year coach - lost two starters
Dayton - coach considering retirement/dissatisfied fans - only have 5 guys that played on their roster
Duquesne - not much turnover yet but lets see what damage Carla can do over recruiting guys
Fordham - retained coach but lost Quisenberry and Moore
Mason - Coach left and took players with him, no AD so replacing the coach has been a nightmare
GW - only 5 guys on the roster and only one guaranteed returning starter
Lasalle - lost 6th man of the year and all their size
Loyola - current coach might be in over his head along with step up in conference
UMass - only wins offseason title not actual games
Rhode Island - Lost its best player and going to try to rebuild through the portal again?
Richmond - Lost 3 starters assuming Burton isn't back.
St. Joes - Still hasn't figured out the hired Lange not Langel - perennial paper tiger until they get a coach
SLU - Does Yuri use his COVID year and does he stay at SLU for it?
VCU - Coach flirting(accepted?) with PSU, will Ace follow? Will they land Odom as a replacement?

Looking through the only teams that might be having a better offseason than us are Duq, Joes, Loyola?. Its shaping up for the league to be terrible again next year and if we can have a full offseason with most of our guys back we should be in great shape. Assuming we plug the massive hole at PG or LUC or Rumple make a leap.
 
I dont feel much right now. We have not had the upheavel that other teams have had so I think that bodes well for continuity. I do wonder if anyone else will be joining the portal. It will be fun to see who else we get in here to fill out the roster. We all know what the holes. Things could definitely be worse so I am hoping for a quieter off season than last year.
 
I think the write up on Saint Joe's isn't fair. People romanticize the Martelli era. He was very up and down and most of his great success came before 2004.

Lange's teams haven't been great, but they have improved every single year. They return their two best guards and welcome in a solid recruiting class. They will be top 6-7 in the conference next year.
 
In his 4 years his best win was in his third game. They beat UConn without UConn's best player. The last three years the best win they had every year was vs Richmond each year. Richmond has been decent but only once was it a Q1 win. The next best win over those three years was vs a Dayton team in 21 that was middling at best.

I just dont see where he capitalizing on the talent he has brought in. If they are top 6-7 next year its because the A10 on the whole is worse than it was this year.
 
In his 4 years his best win was in his third game. They beat UConn without UConn's best player. The last three years the best win they had every year was vs Richmond each year. Richmond has been decent but only once was it a Q1 win. The next best win over those three years was vs a Dayton team in 21 that was middling at best.

I just dont see where he capitalizing on the talent he has brought in. If they are top 6-7 next year its because the A10 on the whole is worse than it was this year.
I mean is it his fault that the A10 has been trending down? As we know, it's hard to secure good OOC games when you're coming off bad years and aren't expected to be top 5-6 in a mid major conference.

Fans really don't get that it takes a while to build the system you want as an HC. His A10 record has improved every year and he will have one of the better rosters in the A10 next year. It took Schmidt EIGHT years to build a consistent winner.

They can and really should be a team that wins 11+ A10 games next year barring injuries.
 
Maybe so, but we few followers of the PL were scratching our heads when he was hired.
 
Maybe so, but we few followers of the PL were scratching our heads when he was hired.
Philly guy who moved up after leaving Navy. If CBB is turning more into the NBA in terms of style of play, then I guess it makes sense to hire a guy who was an assistant with the Sixers for eight years along with D1 experience under one of the best CBB coaches of all time in Jay Wright.

Would Langel have been a better hire? Maybe, but I don't think Lange is the disaster many people think he is...

I also think SJU's prowess is not nearly as high as many alums and media people think. Since 2004, the Hawks have only been to three NCAAs. Martelli was a nice coach for sure but he wasn't close to as elite as many Hawks fans think he was.

SJU has made it past the first weekend three times in the past 40 years ('81, '97, '04). Maybe because they beat us senseless for so long, but I think people really think SJU should be a top 4 team in the A10 most years, when in reality they profile a lot like Davidson, GW and us to an extent.

A solid program with a few strong teams a decade, but not close to a VCU, Dayton or SLU type of ceiling. Lange inherited a pretty down program that hadn't had a winning record in the three years prior to his arrival.
 
I hear what you say, and don't strongly disagree. Nonetheless, I don't put too much stock into the Jay Wright coaching tree. I will point out my alma mater just hired Lange's associate HC John Griffin III. One of the finalists for the job was Halcovage, like Lange, a Jay Wright disciple. We'll see how Halcovage does at UB, but I'm not unhappy he didn't get the Bucknell job. I would have preferred Paulsen, another alleged finalist, but he's on to Worcester.

Now if I could have alum Jay Wright himself, I'd be all in.
 
Maybe because they beat us senseless for so long, but I think people really think SJU should be a top 4 team in the A10 most years, when in reality they profile a lot like Davidson, GW and us to an extent.
I agree with this. I've always considered SJU our peer, there were a lot of close losses but until Nelson and then Solomon years it was a fairly close contest. Then they bashed our heads in, but since Schmidt arrived SBU has flipped the tables, even for the decade Martelli was still there. Other than being in Philly I'm not really sure why they'd be expected to be in the A10 top tier.
 
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