Long Beach State Athletics!: Re: MBB - season post-mortem

it's hard to tell about the new inside recruits, I have some hope one may be a contributor

people get too jacked up on these boards about bigs.

we simply need athletic muscular guys, they don't have to be 6'10"

I want quick guys.

Mansel made some progress, he became a decent role player, to where we can get a solid 20 min out of him next year if he keeps with that progress

we have Traore, we'll have some length

but we do need one of the new bigs to be able to give us 15 or so minutes.

to me, teh big thing is replacing what CObb-Slater did - those guys were 23 year old strong. 60 minutes of toughness

that's why I think at least one of Hart or Hunter has to be a significant contributor both ways.

lateral speed and length is what creates size and can negate much of opponents (at least in teh Big West size advantage.

nobody in the Big West has two all court defenders like we have in Traore and Jones, so hopefully we can just add to that, and guys can make it a matter a pride to be disruptive defenders to supplement those two

Previous Message

Assuming we don't lose anyone to the transfer portal, the big 3 (Murray, Jones, and Traore) provides a foundation to build upon. However, I'm not optimistic about any of returning inside players or the new recruits. CDM needs to hit the transfer portal and look for a couple of veterans who have bulk, at least.

Previous Message

Goal #1: Win the Big West. to me, this is always the #1 goal. We won the Big West. The BWCT is always a crapshoot, but more on that later.

Why: Maturity. Staff and Players get credit. But IMO it's pretty simple, a mature core of Cobb/Slater/Roberts, with some dynamic talent added in Traore/Murray/Jones - it wasn't 2012, with the fab four and you added in Caffey/Ennis/Popps - but some similarity. This was the most similiar extended perimeter defense since then, that team didn't have that real 'big' either, but they were ferocious and translated defense to offense. This was actually a better 3 point shooting team than that. Jones DPOY just like we had LAX/Ware DPOYs from then. We trapped better, we could press soft and press agressive.

other contributing factors. well, we are the lowest (158) ranked Big West Champion in years, so let's face it, it was easier to win teh Big West this year, reflected in the major difference in non-conference games where we got slammed, that frankly was a factor. It doesn't make it any less rewarding to win, but can't kid ourselves, the program isn't the top 70/100 program we should expect, even with a title

CDM? ugh, to me, this is perfect time for an exit. Please CDM, hand over the reigns, I don't know if Scholl is maybe the best, but in my perfect world Scholl has as 3 year deal starting now for some continuity, added Caveness which seems to coincide with a couple really positive attributes. Scholl IMO brings a lot of class/education to the table, we really don't know if he's the fiery type, doesn't seem so, but aftger watching the BWCT, don't want a TUrner or Pasterprick who regularly make asses of themselves during games. Besides, the measure of a head coach is effectiveness, and if he's got assistants to delegate - seems the assistants were a bit more active in games. My opinion, I just think this is the perfect exit for CDM.

yes we had injuries, but bottom line CDM is....
1-4 in the BWCT final
0-5 in post season
no excuses, that continues to be a horrendous record no matter how you slice it. puuhlleeeze people, and dont' make excuses for that record here and there. Scoreboard is Scorebaord.

Next year.
It's an entire different ballgame. in 2013 we had Caffey and Ennis back, and DJ had been aclimated, we added a bunch of athletic types and length and couldn't duplicate defense again in 2013, and wilted in February and March.

WHile Jones and Traore are now a foundation for creating an aggressive defense, can't discount how the muscle and commitment of Cobb/Roberts/Slater was the key elixer for a cohesive switching smother perimeter defense that compensated for a lack of bigs.

Stroud coming in, I really don't expect, at least for the first year, he'll bring quickness, yes should help down low and in that sense help the D, but it's a different type of defense

to me Hart and Hunter are the key new guys, will they be athletic enough to build off what Traore and Jones can do disruptively. Scott is athletic, we'll see how much more he can contribute, hopefully he takes on a Cobb-like dedication. Same for Rotegaard, he's got potential to be a 12 point, 5 rebound guy, his one on one D was suspect, but he does board.

it'll be a different team, more size, I just don't see how it can be as cohesively quick, but maybe by January they can develop that - Jones and Traore will be great defensive leaders with their effort.

NIL: have to bring it up, it's a big issue, has to be treated as an opportunity, Fee should be spending every waking moment how to line up some of these guys (think Jones and Traore) with the right advice so they can make some money - there's no way around it, because the scum of college athletics will go after these guys with promises. LB needs to up their social media and symbiotic marketing for athletets, that's a metric that gets looked at, it's reality. the new rules are here, either take advantage and there's a big payoff, or don't, and wither and die. look at WVB, that Nebraska MB is maybe in part coming to LB to be in SoCal after maximizing her potential at NEbraska, she has as many followers (a sub MB in Nebraska) as any of our major sports - it's mind-boggling. MBB needs to up their game, whether we buy followers, or have campaigns, it's the way it is. LB can embrace NIL, , LB has some advantages with a core LB Community/region a large alumni base, and being in Socal, or let it get used against us. Adapt or die.