Will your team be better or worse next year?

[Drakey]

Drake needs help. Does anybody ever sign anybody who is any good this late? Hasn't really been an issue at Drake in years as recruiting was usually completed early under both Phelps and Giacoletti.

[Snaggletooth]

Wichita, I believe will be very good, but different. I do believe that we can spend a fair amount of time in the Top 25 with the group that we have.

I think that is a very good description.

[bigdawg]

Wichita, I believe will be very good, but different. I do believe that we can spend a fair amount of time in the Top 25 with the group that we have.

I think that is a very good description.

Not trying to troll here but this is crazy thinking in my opinion. WSU wasn't in the Top 25 this season most of the year and they were simply not very good with Fred out. You might still be in the upper 2-3 of the Valley but there will be a precipitous drop in your talent level.

[SubGod22]

Wichita, I believe will be very good, but different. I do believe that we can spend a fair amount of time in the Top 25 with the group that we have.

I think that is a very good description.

Not trying to troll here but this is crazy thinking in my opinion. WSU wasn't in the Top 25 this season most of the year and they were simply not very good with Fred out. You might still be in the upper 2-3 of the Valley but there will be a precipitous drop in your talent level.

The early losses with Fred out kept us out of the Top 25. Those struggles were magnified because our next best PG was also injured and our 4th option wasn't available which left a young and not ready Ty Taylor.

It's much easier to build your team and a plan when you have an offseason to work on it as opposed to a couple of days. Markis McDuffie was also just scratching the surface of what he could do as a FR when Fred was out. Shaq hadn't stepped up to be someone that could be relied upon.

Going back to the without Fred games is short sighted thinking in my opinion as those circumstances were far different than what we will be seeing in the 16-17 season.

[WSUShox88]

[quote="bigdawg"][quote="Snaggletooth"][quote="SubGod22"]Wichita, I believe will be very good, but different. I do believe that we can spend a fair amount of time in the Top 25 with the group that we have.[/quote]

I think that is a very good description.[/quote]
Not trying to troll here but this is crazy thinking in my opinion. WSU wasn't in the Top 25 this season most of the year and they were simply not very good with Fred out. You might still be in the upper 2-3 of the Valley but there will be a precipitous drop in your talent level.[/quote]

Is this for real?

Talk about not looking into things and talking crazy...

Subgod pretty much explained it. There was a reason why they weren't ranked for a large part of the year. I dunno if you were paying attention to that whole injury thing or not.

It's hard to prepare a season when you lose your starting PG to injury for a few games. The PG will be a weaker spot next year. That's for sure. But is WSU 5 or 6 Valley losses worse next year? Uhhh... doubtful.

You're just looking at things with a passive, casual view and being dismissive. It's understandable. You probably did the same thing going into the 2012-2013 season as well, when WSU lost 6 of its top 7 scorers.

People just don't get it..

[Stickboy46]

Wichita, I believe will be very good, but different. I do believe that we can spend a fair amount of time in the Top 25 with the group that we have.

I think that is a very good description.

Not trying to troll here but this is crazy thinking in my opinion. WSU wasn't in the Top 25 this season most of the year and they were simply not very good with Fred out. You might still be in the upper 2-3 of the Valley but there will be a precipitous drop in your talent level.

The experience drop will be there for sure. Talent drop isn't as big as some expect though. Losing Fred hurt us yes, but the thing that killed us this year is losing Fred and Landry at the same time. If Shamet doesn't go out for the season before Orlando, I honestly think we win 2 out of 3 in Orlando and we remain in the Top 25 the whole year, and possibly Top 10-15 for some of the year.

We have a lot of talent left on the team and 2 guards who have been with the team all year, that haven't played (Shamet and Allen). Both are extremely talented and should cushion the fall a bit. If our JUCO transfer can get up to speed quickly, and provide quality minutes we will be fine and Top 25 is very very reasonable. That puts a rotation of Shamet (4* Top 100), Allen (3* A&M Transfer), Frankamp (4* Top 50), and Smith (Top 15 Juco Transfer) at the 2 spots that we lost the most talent. That's a pretty talented bunch of guards that weren't available when Fred was out in Orlando. Behind them will be CJ Keyser and Austin Reaves who may or may not contribute this year (probably not a lot).

The key point is the fact that we will have 3 Guards with 1 + years on the team and a Juco Transfer Guard that were not available when Fred was gone, so you can't just say "WSU sucked without Fred in Orlando, so they will suck without Fred this year"

[BirdsEyeView]

WSU has the best recruiting talent in the MVC by far. However, the loss of two all-american types will hurt you, especially in the NonCon as you adjust without those two and the new guys begin playing bigger roles.

By conference, I would not be surprised to see WSU on top again, but doubtful you will be in the Top 25.
ISUr has way too much turnover every year to expect anything but another inconsistent year....unless they hit home runs on a few recruits we are targeting.
Missouri St. could challenge you - I love their young guys and could get Ruder back.
UNI will be very good with Carlson and Koch inside

[Stickboy46]

WSU has the best recruiting talent in the MVC by far. However, the loss of two all-american types will hurt you, especially in the NonCon as you adjust without those two and the new guys begin playing bigger roles.

By conference, I would not be surprised to see WSU on top again, but doubtful you will be in the Top 25.
ISUr has way too much turnover every year to expect anything but another inconsistent year....unless they hit home runs on a few recruits we are targeting.
Missouri St. could challenge you - I love their young guys and could get Ruder back.
UNI will be very good with Carlson and Koch inside

That first part is true. There will be growing pains. Thankfully Marshall postponed our international trip from last year to this year. So they get extra practices and games to try to get everyone together. I believe they will be going to Montreal in August. My main point is that we aren't really "starting over" when it comes to guards. The 3 most talented guards on the team next year will have been on the roster and practicing for the team for at least 1 year each.

I don't think Top 25 is as far out of reach as many think. WSU should have a decent non-con schedule to prove themselves with some winnable games (OU comes to mind, along with a couple winnable games in the Battle for Atlantis)

[BirdsEyeView]

WSU has the best recruiting talent in the MVC by far. However, the loss of two all-american types will hurt you, especially in the NonCon as you adjust without those two and the new guys begin playing bigger roles.

By conference, I would not be surprised to see WSU on top again, but doubtful you will be in the Top 25.
ISUr has way too much turnover every year to expect anything but another inconsistent year....unless they hit home runs on a few recruits we are targeting.
Missouri St. could challenge you - I love their young guys and could get Ruder back.
UNI will be very good with Carlson and Koch inside

That first part is true. There will be growing pains. Thankfully Marshall postponed our international trip from last year to this year. So they get extra practices and games to try to get everyone together. I believe they will be going to Montreal in August. My main point is that we aren't really "starting over" when it comes to guards. The 3 most talented guards on the team next year will have been on the roster and practicing for the team for at least 1 year each.

I don't think Top 25 is as far out of reach as many think. WSU should have a decent non-con schedule to prove themselves with some winnable games (OU comes to mind, along with a couple winnable games in the Battle for Atlantis)

The bolded part above is like an Oklahoma fan saying "Well this SG has been with the team for 2 years, so losing Buddy Hield shouldn't hurt as much since they have been here." Ummm what? You just lost Buddy Hield....just like WSU just lost two all americans. Regardless of how long they have been on the team or what their star rating was from the recruiting services, you lost FVV and Baker.

My guess is that adjustment will hurt you in NonCon still and you won't win many of those big NonCon games to adjust...hence my prediction that Top 25 will be tough to reach.

[Stickboy46]

WSU has the best recruiting talent in the MVC by far. However, the loss of two all-american types will hurt you, especially in the NonCon as you adjust without those two and the new guys begin playing bigger roles.

By conference, I would not be surprised to see WSU on top again, but doubtful you will be in the Top 25.
ISUr has way too much turnover every year to expect anything but another inconsistent year....unless they hit home runs on a few recruits we are targeting.
Missouri St. could challenge you - I love their young guys and could get Ruder back.
UNI will be very good with Carlson and Koch inside

That first part is true. There will be growing pains. Thankfully Marshall postponed our international trip from last year to this year. So they get extra practices and games to try to get everyone together. I believe they will be going to Montreal in August. My main point is that we aren't really "starting over" when it comes to guards. The 3 most talented guards on the team next year will have been on the roster and practicing for the team for at least 1 year each.

I don't think Top 25 is as far out of reach as many think. WSU should have a decent non-con schedule to prove themselves with some winnable games (OU comes to mind, along with a couple winnable games in the Battle for Atlantis)

The bolded part above is like an Oklahoma fan saying "Well this SG has been with the team for 2 years, so losing Buddy Hield shouldn't hurt as much since they have been here." Ummm what? You just lost Buddy Hield....just like WSU just lost two all americans. Regardless of how long they have been on the team or what their star rating was from the recruiting services, you lost FVV and Baker.

My guess is that adjustment will hurt you in NonCon still and you won't win many of those big NonCon games to adjust...hence my prediction that Top 25 will be tough to reach.

Agree to disagree. We wont have as talented of single players as Fred and Ron, but I don't think Shamet and Allen are "cliffs" when it comes to talent, they are very talented and will just need experience. In fact both of them are Higher rated than Fred and Ron coming in respectively. That doesn't always translate but we will be deeper with talent next year than this year. Its just not concentrated in 2 guys. We were borderline Top 25 this year with a lot of injuries. With a healthy team, next year, WSU will be Top 25 most of the year.