The messageboard has been very quiet the past several months. My fault in large part due to lack of content on front page, not much in recruiting or any controversies.
I watched just about all the Loyola-related A-10 media day interviews and footage, and a good chunk of other teams. Am I a Drew Valentine Kool-Aid drinker? Maybe. A the beginning of last year I thought we had depth, based on previous performances by transfers and expected advances by returning players. That was not the case at all. I think there were serious, demonstrable chemistry problems last year for the first time in a decade. I was a bit concerned that some promising players in the starting lineup had below-average defensive skills. The turnover situation was off-the-charts bad.
After watching the media day interviews, I'm 75% satisfied the problems have been recognized and taken care of. I'm 85ish% sure Drew Valentine has a good idea of what it takes to succeed in the A-10. I'm 70% sure our underclassmen in the backcourt are going to be a big plus this year. The player I most want to succeed is Miles Rubin, without a doubt-- Chicago kid, from a great program, a great coach, enormous upside, playing a position that's a big need for us, and possibly (if we play our cards right) here for FOUR years. If Miles does well and gets a taste at the NBA like his pedigree suggests he might, it would be another legacy plus for the program. Make Miles Happy And Successful.
Dolan and Des are going to be important, wise, and solid (along with Norris) this year. Based on what I saw when he was with Davidson, Des Watson can play the 2-3 on offense and defend effectively against 1-4-- really good speed, length, and leap. Watson will be here next year, too, when he's a senior and we lose 5-6 players to graduation. I have only seen stats and opinions on Dolan, but he's experienced and has good length-- my only concern is defense, especially against supremely athletic teams like Dayton and GW. Who knows what George Mason and VCU will look like with new coaches and almost all new players. The Grad Seniors might just be here for a last go-round at an NCAA or NIT run, but we need to impart every bit of their knowledge and wisdom to the underclassmen.
The backcourt sophomores are going to be a pair I watch a lot-- Dawson and Quinn will take over next year as the primary leaders of this program. They'll need to get a lot of high-impact decision-making minutes this year to have a foundation for leadership going forward.
What does everyone else think? We need some discussion on this board. Being in the dark and depending mostly on non-fan (or worse, Super Fan) X content is a pretty awful arrangement.
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