Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) Good to see you back Tger, but yeah, listening to the game saturday all i could think was yeah Ludwig and Dotson are nice, but we really need to at least get one big man in this class, and I hope Dashonte is a possibility.
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) Well, you'll hear no disagreement from me. I think Dotson will have big shoes to fill in MT's, Ludwig will take some time to develop and we'll actually be in need of scoring all over the place in addition to the big man spot, with Temple and Martin also departing. I think seeing whether Spencer and Bass can take on more of a scoring role, plus whether something develops out of Warren, Graham, Harris and Green (if he can even come back), is a huge unknown right now. Not to look ahead too much, but I'm afraid that we may be looking at a rebuilding next year, and 2010 will be a bigger year, assuming some of these talented 2010 targets sign. If I was a big man unsigned right now, I'd look VERY seriously at the Tigers. No real proven low post player coming back, all that low-post tradition at LSU, and you've got some coaches that have had good track records with pro big men (Trent has coached some decent bigs, and Brent Scott is a former big man with good pro ties--in fact he's from MI and that may be why we're getting a little attention from Riley). If we're relying on good team ball this year, we may be hoping on even more of it next year, until CTJ has a couple of recruiting years under his belt. No doubt, however, a talented big in the spring really would help. A Sidney gets us very quickly to having a well balanced team. A Riley, West or Nayahtzkho fills a big hole as well in the middle and at least gives us the size to not lose ground in big games. :geauxtige
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) Ok, so this is probably old news too, but heck, pigskin can't get all the recruiting attention... Found this little bit of footage on YouTube of Rainier Beach, Seattle, which is the school where Aaron Dotson plays. Good team, but it's funny that given that Dotson plays SG, all of his footage is him dunking the ball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AafZTSez9dw Also, Rivals has dropped some footage of Country Day's Eddie Ludwig online. Funny, b/c Ludwig and Derenbecker could almost be twins of each other. Both can hit the three and glide around the outside tryin' to be SGs. Ludwig's tape shows though that he can hit the glass a little and drive to the basket if given the opportunity. The key to his development will be in the strength and conditioning room--if he can add some weight to allow him to bang around a little in the SEC and improve his quickness, he might be a good player in Trent's system moving around, setting screens and popping for a jumpshot. Interestingly, Dashonte Riley also hails from Country Day in MI. Could we be lucky there? :geauxtige
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) I don't think Eddie Ludwig is the answer we're looking for at PF. I think he'll basically replace Alex Farrer as the one white guy that is supposed to be able to shoot, but never hits shots. Also, Dashonte Riley looks loaded with potential, but his Rival videos make him look like the most unmotivated basketball player I've ever seen.
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) Here is an ESPN article on DaShonte Riley. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/notebook?page=hallpass/081217 He's visiting Marquette this weekend.
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) I'll tell you 'Chokes, I think you and the writer of BayouBengalBlog should get together and talk recruiting... :hihi: I'll say there seems to be a lot of doom and gloom on his site today. http://www.bayoubengalblog.com/ I'm posting this b/c it's a good expose on one man's view of Trent's team and recruiting needs in the near future. This is oddly timely with Dandy Don's blog from today as well, which is basically saying that the Tigers won't be very good next year--basically the point that BBB makes, which is if you think this year is bad, wait til next year. I can't say that I completely disagree, although I'll say that (1) I said this was something folks should just embrace when Brady was let go and Trent was brought in... when we lost Bobo Morgan and TMG, we lost two cornerstone top 50 talents, and we bought ourselves a transition period as a result but also (2) we have to let the season play out some to see where this team really stands with Trent's coaching. It remains to be seen whether Tas' goes pro, and I'm not sure he will. I for one believe if we were going to make the change and upgrade in coaching, we need to give that coach some time... unfortunately, the lifeblood of your program is talent. So, no doubt, recruiting has to start THIS year, and signing another couple players in the Spring has to be looked at. If folks like Sidney, Natzyahko, or Riley are reading this, they have to be drooling at the playing time waiting for them at LSU. I agree that looking at JUCO ranks might have to be in the cards. It's sometimes hard to truly see the development of players like Bass, Graham, Warren and Harris from year to year (I mean Tyrus Thomas was a redshirt freshman, right?), but definitely Trent's staff's recruiting abilities need to be on full display... Waiting until 2010's class may not be a luxury. :geauxtige
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) Tas simply isn't a pro prospect IMO. He might be able to do what Brandon Bass has been able to do but it isn't worth leaving college early to be a second round pick. I think Bo Spencer has shown himself to be a capable SEC PG thus far and we may not feel the immediate loss of TMG's commitment. However there's no doubt that Bobo could contribute at least some beef down low defensively. I suspect that the kid is a mite overrated from what he's shown at UCLA thus far.
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) there will be bo and tas and several inexperienced, mid-sized small forwards. you can be a good team without top post play, but not without top post play AND no shooters. garrett green better become kevin durant, fast. the real sad part is that unless CTJ hits a recruiting homerun next year (for 2010) the team will probably not be good this season, next season or the one after that. hey, at least i'll be able to get tix extra cheap when they come to athens.
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) Haha, I don't think I'm completely pessimistic like the writer of that blog, I'm just trying to keep things real here, such as: 1. Eddie Ludwig is only getting the stats he has because he's 6-6 and playing in LA. 2. Dotson could be a bust. Last year, he was the 4th option on his team. The 1st three guys graduated, so now this is his team. We've yet to get some of his stats for this year. But thanks for linking that blog, which I've never read before. I noticed he mentioned LSU was recruiting Kashiff Carr from JUCO. That kid can sky.
Re: Hoops Recruiting (2009) http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?sport=2&pr_key=84218 Natyazhko removed LSU from consideration it appears.
