Better or worse team next year?

[Chicagojayfan]

I think a bit better in terms of results, but around the same in terms of talent.

Negatives - No Kalkbrenner, no Ashworth shooting
Positives - should have 2 ballhandlers again, get a full year of Zugic, and Graves who can get to the paint more, also a year older for McAndrew

I think last year's results were shaped by 2 things 1) the loss of Pop early on. While the team did an incredible job to recover, the games we lost after he got hurt hurt us in terms of seeding. Similarly, 2) the BE had a down year (maybe not so much in reality, but by not gaming the metrics as they should have), and that led to us getting a terrible seed. Almost any other seeding where we didn't face a 1 seed gives us a good chance to get to the next weekend

[cu8493]

I get that comparing Steven to Nik is apples to oranges given the level of the respective leagues. We will lose Steven's headiness, experience and handles. Outside of free throw percentage, his shooting was actually quite average (39.3% overall and 37.4% from 3). Looking just at last season states, Graves shot 77% from the line compared to Steven's incredible 93%. However, Nik got to the line nearly twice as many times as Steven, making 60 more FTs over the course of the season. The ability to draw fouls and get to the line twice as often at a 78% clip is a net gain, IMO (particularly considering the pressure he apparently puts on opposing defenders) - although obviously what was a foul in the American Athletic Conference might not be a foul in the Big East.

Steven took about 30 more shots overall last season, but Nik took almost 70 more two point shots, showing a much greater ability and willingness to take more inside shots, and his two point shooting percentage was 49.3% inside the arc while Steven shot 42.4% inside the arc. Finally, Nik only turned the ball over at a rate of about 1.6 per 40 minutes played. Steven turned the ball over at a rate of 3.8 per 40, while playing about 2 more minutes per game. Given that we hopefully will have plenty of outside shooting options, Nik's abilities to penetrate and score inside (IF they translate into Big East level of play) without turning the ball over should help collapse defenses leaving more open outside shooting may actually improve our offensive flow, IMO. Again, nothing is certain until we see how well he handles BE level phsysicality. But I think it will be a net improvement (now leadership, maturity and other values Steven also brought to the table are a different question)

[SeattleJay]

Hey guys, they are going to be as good or better next year. My heart stopped twice last week for a minute and a half, so I was on the other side. So, I asked if I should come back for another season. Well, here I am with a pacemaker that I got on Monday night. Let’s go Jays!!

[jfan]

Wow, glad you are OK! That had to be scary!

[Realhoops]

I think it’s borderline absurd to try and predict how good teams are going to be and how they are going to stack up with others this far out in this day of near complete roster turnover everywhere.

[BenningtonBluejay]

Hey guys, they are going to be as good or better next year. My heart stopped twice last week for a minute and a half, so I was on the other side. So, I asked if I should come back for another season. Well, here I am with a pacemaker that I got on Monday night. Let’s go Jays!!

Glad to still have you here!

[SeattleJay]

Hey guys, they are going to be as good or better next year. My heart stopped twice last week for a minute and a half, so I was on the other side. So, I asked if I should come back for another season. Well, here I am with a pacemaker that I got on Monday night. Let’s go Jays!!

Glad to still have you here!

Thanks BB and Jfan. CU basketball and this board helps a lot. Thanks to everyone.

I’m very fit. I work out 5 or 6 days a week and still hoop at age 68. I never had a heart issue until I passed out while driving my adult daughter on the freeway on Thursday night. I don’t know how I pulled to the shoulder as I was unconscious for 7 minutes. That was on Thursday night. On Friday morning, I had another 20 second episode and my family was a little freaked out. I texted my son who played D3 that we had just signed Josh Dix and he thought I was “focused on the right things”. Haha

Let’s go Jays!!!

Last edited by SeattleJay on Wed Apr 09, 2025 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[KenoshaJay]

Hey guys, they are going to be as good or better next year. My heart stopped twice last week for a minute and a half, so I was on the other side. So, I asked if I should come back for another season. Well, here I am with a pacemaker that I got on Monday night. Let’s go Jays!!

Enjoy cardiac rehab - make sure they order it for you......
Best wishes!

Last edited by KenoshaJay on Wed Apr 09, 2025 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[SonofFrankTomera]

Hey guys, they are going to be as good or better next year. My heart stopped twice last week for a minute and a half, so I was on the other side. So, I asked if I should come back for another season. Well, here I am with a pacemaker that I got on Monday night. Let’s go Jays!!

Glad you are back! This place wouldn’t be the same without you.

[jays911]

Hey guys, they are going to be as good or better next year. My heart stopped twice last week for a minute and a half, so I was on the other side. So, I asked if I should come back for another season. Well, here I am with a pacemaker that I got on Monday night. Let’s go Jays!!

Blessings.