I have no real substance to offer on Lavin’s coaching except that it was the subject of an all-time savage listicle by a UCLA fan who was still salty enough to write it almost a decade after Lavin’s departure.
Today’s NIL world might just be something Lavin can do wonders with. He’s a way better used car salesman than Keating ever was… and he’s smart enough to just roll the ball out rather than coach the kids backwards (KK).
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6 consecutive years of results has to mean something…I’m not saying that he is a great coach, but a good leader surrounds himself/herself with people who fill his gaps. If he is a good recruiter, and a good face man, and has a good staff that handles the X’s and O’s, what’s the problem?
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I don’t disagree. And I’m not saying he’s a bad coach–my basketball ignorance leaves me with enough humility to usually leave that assessment to the better minds on this board. That SB Nation article is just something that I’ve remembered for years as a peak example of Angry Fan on the Internet, so I had to revive it with Lavin back in the coaching ranks in our very own conference.
I’ve heard through the grapevine that USD is planning on building a state of the art athletics building - will be interesting to see if these transfers/recruits plus a new training facility leads to sustained performance.
Long ways away, but interesting to note.
Kind of a weird one, no? I guess he’s a grad transfer, so missing the xfer portal deadline doesn’t affect him. And his minutes took a sharp decline from 20-21 (when the Dons had pretty much no front court) to 21-22 (when Tape and Massalski ate up the minutes).
I’m still always a little surprised and intrigued by a transfer this late in the process.
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Tyrell Roberts, the guard from Washington State, has transferred to USF.
He torched us in the NIT
USF will be an interesting team. Bart Torvik has them 80-ish now in the pre-season rankings with the new additions. They won’t be as good as last year without Bouyea’s steady hand and Massalski’s rim protection but they are still probably pre-season 3rd or 4th in the conference. Marcus Williams, Shabazz, and Roberts were all sub 35% from 3 last year so I expect them to have a few more head scratching losses than last year’s USF team that was very consistent (minus the Portland games.) FYI, without Jalen Williams, the Broncos are currently around 105 in the pre-season rankings.
Also, not sure if it got posted already, but Tass and Fotu are both not returning for St. Mary’s. They could have used their Super Senior Years.
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That’s good news for Zagville; Zag fans have been fretting this Spring about the possible state of their roster for 2022/23 with all 5 starters testing the waters including no question that Holmgren was gone.
Now just waiting to hear on Timme and Nembhard…will know for sure by end of the day today, but I fully expect both will stay in the draft. Whether they actually get drafted or not is a separate discussion; regardless, both should have solid pro careers be that top level Euro ball or journeyman NBA guys who bounce around incl back/forth from GLeague to NBA.
Nembhard is gone, but it looks like the Zags have signed Malachi Smith. Timme would just be a free agent (a guess), but maybe he’s just ready to move on from college.
Similarly, early in the process it seemed like an exodus from the WCC, but overall I think the conference fared well with the portal.
Sort of surprised Timme returned. That said, he supposedly has $1M+ in NIL contracts so money prob isn’t a motivator to turn pro as he’d probably be a low 2nd round or Free Agent maybe on a 2-way GLeague contract. A huge boon to GU as their frontcourt was looking a bit suspect without him.
Timme played OK in combine games but needs to improve his 3pt shooting and he didn’t test out well physically. Was one of the highest % body fat. He’s never struck me as overweight or out of shape but appears he needs to work on his body…lean out while adding a little muscle/strength and try to eek out whatever gains he can in vertical, quickness, agility, etc. He’ll never be an elite athlete by NBA standards but every little bit of improvement he can make in athleticism can help improve areas of weakness (post D, rebounding, defending guards on switches and pick/roll, etc.). In this regard, Cory Kispert should be his inspiration…entered name in draft after junior year, got feedback, returned to GU, improved his body, got a little quicker, had a good senior year and parlayed that in to getting drafted in the 1st round. Timme and Kispert are different players that play different roles but still a good example of someone where there were question marks and concerns on the physical side, Kispert improved in those areas which helped his D a little bit and it elevated his stock.
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Don’t forget, Timme still has a bonus year as well, so he could get another year’s worth of NIL and another year of experience, if necessary.