Who's Your Daddy? New Drake recruit

[uniftw]

Are they going to play right away? I guess I haven't looked into the Bulldogs depth lately but if they are that good I suppose Phelps has to in order to get some results.

They'll have too....Drake has lost about 80% of the lineup from last year.

Not true. 4 of 5 starters returning + Van Deest who was a starter for 2 years before missing last season.

The entire bench is new.....


The starting 5 can only take you so far.....for so long.

[DUBulldog]

They'll have too....Drake has lost about 80% of the lineup from last year.

Not true. 4 of 5 starters returning + Van Deest who was a starter for 2 years before missing last season.

The entire bench is new.....


The starting 5 can only take you so far.....for so long.

Yep, the entire bench is new.....and figures to be much better than last season's bench. Drake got virtually nothing off the bench last season, other than Kurt Alexander. Alexander and Hawley were the only 2 players off the bench to averaged more than 3.5 points per game, and Hawley was a major negative on the defensive end, who never met a shot he didn't like. In 3 seasons, he never did figure out either the offense or the defense.

[Khan4Cats]

Yep, the entire bench is new.....and figures to be much better than last season's bench. Drake got virtually nothing off the bench last season, other than Kurt Alexander. Alexander and Hawley were the only 2 players off the bench to averaged more than 3.5 points per game, and Hawley was a major negative on the defensive end, who never met a shot he didn't like. In 3 seasons, he never did figure out either the offense or the defense.

I'm still working on figuring that out from Phelps, too.

Sorry, just having a little fun with ya.

Seriously, the talent looks good. Simons is an interesting match-up issue for teams and one I hope UNI's Nate Buss turns out to be similar to. I'm really interested to see if the size Van Deest has put on will allow him to be even more effective inside or will be a hinderance-always seemed like UNI's bigs were able to move him around pretty easily. The big question will be how much improvement Madison makes at the point as it seemed that often the offense was only run through Rice-if they can utilize the little, quick guy to make plays-could be interesting.

[DUBulldog]

Yep, the entire bench is new.....and figures to be much better than last season's bench. Drake got virtually nothing off the bench last season, other than Kurt Alexander. Alexander and Hawley were the only 2 players off the bench to averaged more than 3.5 points per game, and Hawley was a major negative on the defensive end, who never met a shot he didn't like. In 3 seasons, he never did figure out either the offense or the defense.

I'm still working on figuring that out from Phelps, too.

Sorry, just having a little fun with ya.

Seriously, the talent looks good. Simons is an interesting match-up issue for teams and one I hope UNI's Nate Buss turns out to be similar to. I'm really interested to see if the size Van Deest has put on will allow him to be even more effective inside or will be a hinderance-always seemed like UNI's bigs were able to move him around pretty easily. The big question will be how much improvement Madison makes at the point as it seemed that often the offense was only run through Rice-if they can utilize the little, quick guy to make plays-could be interesting.

I agree that improved play at the point is important. I expect Madison to improve between his freshman and sophomore seasons, as most point guards do after getting that first experience of D1 play. Luckily, Madison won't have to do it himself, and might not even be the favorite to be the starting point guard. Juco transfer Richard Carter is a scoring point guard who can also distribute....averaged 19ppg and 5.5 apg in juco. I have heard him described as "quicker than quick". Drake is also bringing in 2 combo guards in Kori Babineaux, a 6-4 kid who is built like a brick sh!thouse and is a very good ballhandler and passer. With his size and strength, he's also pretty good at getting to the rim. The other combo guard is Micah Mason, a 6-2 guard out of Pittsburgh who averaged 29 ppg as a senior, and 33 ppg as a junior. Despite the scoring numbers, he has a reputation as a very good passer.

Lot of options at every position this year for DU....obviously, half of them are completely unproven at the D1 level, but it's never bad to have lots of options....the cream will rise to the top.

[Wufan]

Phelps brought in a whale of a class and returns 4+ starters. Should be an exciting season.

[glm38]

This kid looks like a really good prospect. Good for the Valley.