24-25 MBB Team

[Lightning]

Stating the obvious Maui, and most of Big12, could be difficult to maybe even awful. "Good" TDS is hard to replace, KJ impossible to replace but Malone looks like an upgrade. Front court could be ok to good, maybe not early though. Backcourt like many have said is problematic unless someone surprises big time. Has anyone seen any info or gossip on offseason impressions?

 

[leftybuff]

Stating the obvious Maui, and most of Big12, could be difficult to maybe even awful. "Good" TDS is hard to replace, KJ impossible to replace but Malone looks like an upgrade. Front court could be ok to good, maybe not early though. Backcourt like many have said is problematic unless someone surprises big time. Has anyone seen any info or gossip on offseason impressions?

Yes.

 

[Da Lama]

Stating the obvious Maui, and most of Big12, could be difficult to maybe even awful. "Good" TDS is hard to replace, KJ impossible to replace but Malone looks like an upgrade. Front court could be ok to good, maybe not early though. Backcourt like many have said is problematic unless someone surprises big time. Has anyone seen any info or gossip on offseason impressions?

Here's the impression that matters most: We lost every player in our top 6 rotation. EVERY. PLAYER. That is some scary @ss next level sh!t.

 

[BuffinCali]

Here's the impression that matters most: We lost every player in our top 6 rotation. EVERY. PLAYER. That is some scary @ss next level sh!t.

If you want to see scary, look at the % lost.
% of points lost
% of rebounds
% of assists

90%+ lost in each category

Then read this: The Maui tournament has "one of the a strongest fields in the events history"

UConn tops field as Maui Invitational returns home

Two-time defending national champ UConn highlights the field for the Maui Invitational, which returns to the island after wildfires forced a move to Honolulu in '23.

www.espn.com

 

[MaybeaBuff]

If you want to see scary, look at the % lost.
% of points lost
% of rebounds
% of assists

90%+ lost in each category

Then read this: The Maui tournament has "one of the a strongest fields in the events history"

UConn tops field as Maui Invitational returns home

Two-time defending national champ UConn highlights the field for the Maui Invitational, which returns to the island after wildfires forced a move to Honolulu in '23.

www.espn.com

CU may not win a game. They lost so much. Oh my god no returning starting point guard. Blah blah blah. Guess what, with the exception of Iowa State every team in the Maui and across most of D1 had massive turnover. Lost huge percentages of its production. Lost people in the portal, lost people to the draft, lost people to graduation. Get over CU's losses and move on. It may very well be true that CU struggles this year, on the other hand CU might do just fine. You either trust Tad and his staff and players to perform or you don't. But condemning them to be that bad is just stupid. Either support them or don't it makes no real difference to me, But why not wait and see what the season holds before you burry this team in the flatirons and leave them for dead.

 

[Birch1]

CU may not win a game. They lost so much. Oh my god no returning starting point guard. Blah blah blah. Guess what, with the exception of Iowa State every team in the Maui and across most of D1 had massive turnover. Lost huge percentages of its production. Lost people in the portal, lost people to the draft, lost people to graduation. Get over CU's losses and move on. It may very well be true that CU struggles this year, on the other hand CU might do just fine. You either trust Tad and his staff and players to perform or you don't. But condemning them to be that bad is just stupid. Either support them or don't it makes no real difference to me, But why not wait and see what the season holds before you burry this team in the flatirons and leave them for dead.

For sure. I think we’re all a little bummed that with the crew we had last year, and Cody Williams, we couldn’t reload. Guessing our NIL is pathetic for bball?

 

[BuffinCali]

CU may not win a game. They lost so much. Oh my god no returning starting point guard. Blah blah blah. Guess what, with the exception of Iowa State every team in the Maui and across most of D1 had massive turnover. Lost huge percentages of its production. Lost people in the portal, lost people to the draft, lost people to graduation. Get over CU's losses and move on. It may very well be true that CU struggles this year, on the other hand CU might do just fine. You either trust Tad and his staff and players to perform or you don't. But condemning them to be that bad is just stupid. Either support them or don't it makes no real difference to me, But why not wait and see what the season holds before you burry this team in the flatirons and leave them for dead.

Who said they were going to be bad? I followed up a comment on losing the top 6 players with some stats. That is real. That doesn't infer they will lose 20 games

 

[MaybeaBuff]

Who said they were going to be bad? I followed up a comment on losing the top 6 players with some stats. That is real. That doesn't infer they will lose 20 games

Your reply indeed had stats. My comment was more of an observation of many posts in this thread, not an indictment of your post.

 

[MaybeaBuff]

For sure. I think we’re all a little bummed that with the crew we had last year, and Cody Williams, we couldn’t reload. Guessing our NIL is pathetic for bball?

I have a little inside info on CU and its NIL. I think Tad handles it very smart. Paying loads of money to one or two guys creates dissention in the locker room, like why does that guy get all the money when I'm the one producing and such. The guys at CU are getting plenty of money for what they are doing. Personally I like the transfers, I think Tad got kids that fit his culture and will ultimately help the program continue to succeed and move forward. They are not necessarily big names, but the have all played a ton of meaningful minutes, albeit not at the big 12 level. I'm sure there will be growing pains, but in the end I think they will be competitive, and maybe surprise a lot of people. Lean into the new guys, let Julian and RJ and Ruff figure out their new roles, wait and see if BD and Assane develop. CU has a lot of good pieces. Now its just time to put the puzzle together.

 

[hokiehead]

I can relate to the feeling of not liking all the negative talk about this year's team.

And, I appreciate the takes from fans who follow this stuff far closer than I, even if it's not the projection I'd like to hear

 

[Goose]

I realize I've become almost a parody of my views on it, but in all sincerity our PG position literally scares the hell out of me. I'm not as down on Hammond/Ruffin as Lama is, but I also realize that without a massive jump they're probably going to be the worst PGs in the conference. And I honestly believe that PGs decide who wins. We're losing a LOT. Look at our depth chart from KenPom for the end of the season:



Ruffin and Dak are the only two coming back. And we're not talking high contributors. We have some potentially good players coming in, but anyone who says they know what to expect out of them is full of **** and lying and you should not be listening to them. But it's very understandable to be questionable on them because of where they're coming from. Yes, DWhite exists, but he's a bit of a unicorn. Expecting any of these guys to do that is really foolish. Add in the fact that for these guys to really take off, they need to have a PG who can get them the ball (see my earlier concern) and.... yeah...

 

[Da Lama]

CU may not win a game. They lost so much. Oh my god no returning starting point guard. Blah blah blah. Guess what, with the exception of Iowa State every team in the Maui and across most of D1 had massive turnover. Lost huge percentages of its production. Lost people in the portal, lost people to the draft, lost people to graduation. Get over CU's losses and move on. It may very well be true that CU struggles this year, on the other hand CU might do just fine. You either trust Tad and his staff and players to perform or you don't. But condemning them to be that bad is just stupid. Either support them or don't it makes no real difference to me, But why not wait and see what the season holds before you burry this team in the flatirons and leave them for dead.

I love this program. It goes back to being a ball boy for the team when I was young. I've had season tickets for almost 2 decades. I donate as much to BB as I do to football. But I hear things from people in the know and I see things with my own eyes. I'm very afraid for this season as a poor showing in a high-profile conference will likely set us back considerably. I love Tad, but I think he's leaning on way too many unknowns this season. I may end up being completely wrong about this season () but as others on this board savvier than me will tell you, most programs (and especially ours) is only successful with solid guards. I don't believe we have that in 2024-25, whether that's due to talent and/or experience. If Tad gets more than 16 wins out of this group, I'll will very happily eat crow.

 

[RiverBuff]

Lots of doom and gloom. Yes, based on facts.

But in Tad I trust! I'll take the over on 16.5

 

[Birch1]

Lots of doom and gloom. Yes, based on facts.

But in Tad I trust! I'll take the over on 16.5

 

[DBT]

CU may not win a game. They lost so much. Oh my god no returning starting point guard. Blah blah blah. Guess what, with the exception of Iowa State every team in the Maui and across most of D1 had massive turnover. Lost huge percentages of its production. Lost people in the portal, lost people to the draft, lost people to graduation. Get over CU's losses and move on. It may very well be true that CU struggles this year, on the other hand CU might do just fine. You either trust Tad and his staff and players to perform or you don't. But condemning them to be that bad is just stupid. Either support them or don't it makes no real difference to me, But why not wait and see what the season holds before you burry this team in the flatirons and leave them for dead.

Fire Tad!

 

[Bison]

Here's the impression that matters most: We lost every player in our top 6 rotation. EVERY. PLAYER. That is some scary @ss next level sh!t.

But I haven't seen you talk about the incoming players much if at all. It's not like we are replacing six players with six players from within the program or fresh out of high school players that hasn't played much at the D1 level. We are replacing some of those six players with a few players with lots of playing experience albeit at lower levels. Yes there will be growing pains but I don't think it is as bad as you have made it appear all off season long.

And I have not seen anything that breaks down which Big 12 team hit the transfer portal hard or lost players to the transfer portal.

 

[Da Lama]

But I haven't seen you talk about the incoming players much if at all. It's not like we are replacing six players with six players from within the program or fresh out of high school players that hasn't played much at the D1 level. We are replacing some of those six players with a few players with lots of playing experience albeit at lower levels. Yes there will be growing pains but I don't think it is as bad as you have made it appear all off season long.

And I have not seen anything that breaks down which Big 12 team hit the transfer portal hard or lost players to the transfer portal.

Well, let's look at that:
C - Elijah Malone replaces Eddie Lampkin. One played NAIA ball for 3 years, the other started in the Big 12 and Pac12.
F - Trevor Baskin replaces Tristan DaSilva. One played D2 basketball last year, the other was a 1st rd draft pick and will get significant PT in the NBA this season.
F - Andrej Jakimovski replaces Javon Hadley. This is probably as close to wash as were going to get.
G - RJ Smith replaces Cody Williams. One has been on the court for a total of 15 minutes in two years and has a history of injuries, the other was a Top 10 draft pick despite some injuries.
G - Julian Hammond replaces KJ Simpson. One is one of the softest guards we've had here in recent memory and the other was hard as hell, one of the best to ever play the position at the school and was drafted last Spring.
1st off Bench - Assane Diop replaces Luke O'Brien. Diop has potential, we'll see. Luke was a strong leader and glue guy that did the dirty work against opponents' toughest guys.

 

[Bison]

Take it from someone who has coached D2 and NAIA basketball.

Bump

 

[Tony G.]

Well, let's look at that:
C - Elijah Malone replaces Eddie Lampkin. One played NAIA ball for 3 years, the other started in the Big 12 and Pac12.
F - Trevor Baskin replaces Tristan DaSilva. One played D2 basketball last year, the other was a 1st rd draft pick and will get significant PT in the NBA this season.
F - Andrej Jakimovski replaces Javon Hadley. This is probably as close to wash as were going to get.
G - RJ Smith replaces Cody Williams. One has been on the court for a total of 15 minutes in two years and has a history of injuries, the other was a Top 10 draft pick despite some injuries.
G - Julian Hammond replaces KJ Simpson. One is one of the softest guards we've had here in recent memory and the other was hard as hell, one of the best to ever play the position at the school and was drafted last Spring.
1st off Bench - Assane Diop replaces Luke O'Brien. Diop has potential, we'll see. Luke was a strong leader and glue guy that did the dirty work against opponents' toughest guys.

I've heard that Elijah is an upgrade. Eddie was big and had a lot of energy, but was a turnover machine and missed a lot of bunnies.
TDS is hard to replace, but I've also heard that Baskin is the read deal. I'm sure it will be a net negative, but not as much as expected.
Jakimovsky could be an upgrade.
RJ Smith is a question mark. Cody obviosuly has a lot more talent, but he didn't positively impact too many games last year. He was injured half the year and had growing pains in many games. Unfortunately CU didn't get a ton of value from Cody's 1 year.
Julian Hammond is a big step back from KJ. KJ was special and won't be replaced this year. This is the 1 position that will really hurt us.
Bench: Diop and Dak should definitely improve from their freshman year.

This team won't be as good as last year's team, but it might not be as bad as some are lamenting.

 

[Goose]

Bump

I realize with your obsession over small schools and ****ty leagues, you're desperate to hang on to this. But not every player at the lower levels can hang. There are exceptions. We may have signed a few of them. But expecting every kid to be DWhite is foolish and unfair to the kids.

 

[Goose]

I've heard that Elijah is an upgrade. Eddie was big and had a lot of energy, but was a turnover machine and missed a lot of bunnies.
TDS is hard to replace, but I've also heard that Baskin is the read deal. I'm sure it will be a net negative, but not as much as expected.
Jakimovsky could be an upgrade.
RJ Smith is a question mark. Cody obviosuly has a lot more talent, but he didn't positively impact too many games last year. He was injured half the year and had growing pains in many games. Unfortunately CU didn't get a ton of value from Cody's 1 year.
Julian Hammond is a big step back from KJ. KJ was special and won't be replaced this year. This is the 1 position that will really hurt us.
Bench: Diop and Dak should definitely improve from their freshman year.

This team won't be as good as last year's team, but it might not be as bad as some are lamenting.

Agree 100% on Elijah.

As the board's second biggest TDS skeptic (hi @RumblinBuff ), even I think this is too high of an expectation for Baskin. Baskin may surprise, but asking him to be a first round pick level of surprise is a huge leap.

Agree that Jak could/should be an upgrade overall.

RJ is going to be a dropoff. And I'm high on him overall. But even with Cody's injuries that's a huge loss.

Diop and Dak should improve. I think they'll be good.

But the bold is exactly why I personally am scared of this upcoming season. Add in the increased difficulty in the schedule and there could be some definite "Stalzer in Allen Field House" flashbacks at times.

 

[Buffnik]

Agree 100% on Elijah.

As the board's second biggest TDS skeptic (hi @RumblinBuff ), even I think this is too high of an expectation for Baskin. Baskin may surprise, but asking him to be a first round pick level of surprise is a huge leap.

Agree that Jak could/should be an upgrade overall.

RJ is going to be a dropoff. And I'm high on him overall. But even with Cody's injuries that's a huge loss.

Diop and Dak should improve. I think they'll be good.

But the bold is exactly why I personally am scared of this upcoming season. Add in the increased difficulty in the schedule and there could be some definite "Stalzer in Allen Field House" flashbacks at times.

In short, there may be a winning formula Tad can find with this team but it's challenging and I'm skeptical when I see us having a backcourt disadvantage in most of the games we'll play.

 

[BuffsNYC]

In short, there may be a winning formula Tad can find with this team but it's challenging and I'm skeptical when I see us having a backcourt disadvantage in most of the games we'll play.

I agree with this. I also agree that all you MFers have been spoiled over the last couple seasons by a team that could fill it up. Tadball was not invented for the likes of KJ Simpson, Tristan DaSilva, or Cody Williams. It was invented to give guys who played in Grand Junction for years a chance at winning.

 

[PuebloBuff]

Agree 100% on Elijah.

As the board's second biggest TDS skeptic (hi @RumblinBuff ), even I think this is too high of an expectation for Baskin. Baskin may surprise, but asking him to be a first round pick level of surprise is a huge leap.

Agree that Jak could/should be an upgrade overall.

RJ is going to be a dropoff. And I'm high on him overall. But even with Cody's injuries that's a huge loss.

Diop and Dak should improve. I think they'll be good.

But the bold is exactly why I personally am scared of this upcoming season. Add in the increased difficulty in the schedule and there could be some definite "Stalzer in Allen Field House" flashbacks at times.

What do you like about RJ? I'm not sure what to think beyond I like his build and hope he can get into guys ala Parquet on D.

 

[RumblinBuff]

I agree with this. I also agree that all you MFers have been spoiled over the last couple seasons by a team that could fill it up. Tadball was not invented for the likes of KJ Simpson, Tristan DaSilva, or Cody Williams. It was invented to give guys who played in Grand Junction for years a chance at winning.

This is... a really good point, actually.

Scoring is for Front Range tourists and clear skies. Defense and Rebounding get you through a harsh winter.

 

[RumblinBuff]

Agree 100% on Elijah.

As the board's second biggest TDS skeptic (hi @RumblinBuff ), even I think this is too high of an expectation for Baskin. Baskin may surprise, but asking him to be a first round pick level of surprise is a huge leap.

Agree that Jak could/should be an upgrade overall.

RJ is going to be a dropoff. And I'm high on him overall. But even with Cody's injuries that's a huge loss.

Diop and Dak should improve. I think they'll be good.

But the bold is exactly why I personally am scared of this upcoming season. Add in the increased difficulty in the schedule and there could be some definite "Stalzer in Allen Field House" flashbacks at times.

On TDS, my nickname for him in a friends' chat was "History's Greatest Villain." Never has one player, who was so obviously talented, given me so much angina.

I miss him already.

 

[RumblinBuff]

What do you like about RJ? I'm not sure what to think beyond I like his build and hope he can get into guys ala Parquet on D.

FWIW, I like the potential of his outside shot and his ability to get to the line. But, we have not seen nearly enough minutes from him to make any actual analysis.

 

[Darth Snow]

On TDS, my nickname for him in a friends' chat was "History's Greatest Villain." Never has one player, who was so obviously talented, given me so much angina.

I miss him already.

Loved him. How could you not love a guy that thrived on hatred? The crazy part was he did it without even knowing he was being hated

 

[RumblinBuff]

Loved him. How could you not love a guy that thrived on hatred? The crazy part was he did it without even knowing he was being hated

ABCT - Always Be Criticizing Tristan.

 

[Goose]

What do you like about RJ? I'm not sure what to think beyond I like his build and hope he can get into guys ala Parquet on D.

FWIW, I like the potential of his outside shot and his ability to get to the line. But, we have not seen nearly enough minutes from him to make any actual analysis.

What Rumblin' said. I enjoyed his offensive game overall, seemed crafty. But small sample size and all of that jazz.