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Last summer when we learned Ron Lewis was transferring, most of us felt this year would be a .500 proposition at best (14-14?). Many questioned whether Dakich could survive another rebuilding year.

Here we are in late-February leading the West and having a chance to win 20+ games if we make a run in the Tournament. We are getting great senior leadership from Almanson and Reimold. Should be a lot of fun in March this year.

But make no mistake, that THIS is our year. We had better take advantage of the position we are in currently.

You want to talk about a rebuilding project, look at what we have coming back next year. Who is going to put the ball in the hole next year?

If was apparent that the seniors are our only real scorers on this team. Do you see any of the guys returning being able to step up next year and get us the important hoops when we need them? Wright? Soler? Vandermeer? Floyd? Montgomery?

Hoping that Freshmen will come in an pickup the scoring slack is asking too much of them.

Lets enjoy what we have and make a strong run at The Gund! On any given night we are as good as the MAC has to offer.

Rollo83 wrote:Who is going to put the ball in the hole next year?

Steven Wright.







Despite having a few sub par games in a row, the guy can take it up a notch. I feel next year he will elevate his game and play up a notch consistently.

I agree on Steven, and I also think we'll be able to count on Montgomery for some offense. He showed last year that he can score. We haven't needed him nearly as much this year, but he had some pretty big games, scoring-wise, as a freshman. I also have a feeling that Mawel can score more than he's shown so far this year. If Vandermeer and Lefeld can get us some points in the paint, I think we'll be all right.

If Wright and Montgomery are our "go-to" guys next year, its going to be a long season. I think Vandermeer has a chance to be that kind of player, but I think it will come his junior and senior seasons.

The problem is that Ron Lewis would have been that guy to provide senior leadership next year. If he had his head on straight this would have been his team, much in the same way that it is Josh and John's team this year.

Next year will be when we miss Lewis the most. Of course when his head is in a different place, we don't miss him at all.

Right now can't envision Wright and Montgomery knocking down 27 and 29 points apiece in a tight win.

I hope I am wrong.

Rollo83 wrote: Right now can't envision Wright and Montgomery knocking down 27 and 29 points apiece in a tight win.

Yes, but last year, you could have said the same for Almanson. I think we may have expected Reimold to perform like this, but Josh had shown little before this season to suggest he was capable of playing at this level. Next year we'll need someone to step up in the same fashion, and someone will. I have confidence in that.

Next year's seniors will be Germain, Mawel, and Steven (plus Patrick Phillips, and disregarding for the moment the possibility that Steven may get another year of eligibility). Each year under Coach Dakich, with the exception of last year, the seniors have really stepped up and played well.

For now, though, just let next year take care of itself. I hope we find one or two more guys to put the ball in the hole this year. If so, the next few weeks could be a whole lot of fun.

Rollo83 wrote:If Wright and Montgomery are our "go-to" guys next year, its going to be a long season. I think Vandermeer has a chance to be that kind of player, but I think it will come his junior and senior seasons.

I'll go with Wright and someone different each night. I don't have delusions of Montgomery being the next Reimold, more along the lines of Matt Otto. He can and most likely will contribute a bit on the offensive end, but will still be a liability with the ball when he isn't shooting and also a liability on the defensive end. That said he has picked up his d a little bit.

Our "go to" guys will be Wright, hoping he picks up his game- if he works hard over the summer he can vastly improve his pull up j- McLeod and Daniels each came back after summer workouts and were much improved- Steven could be a 17ppg guy. Mix that in with Floyd scoring a bit and hopefully distributing a little better than this year (the guy sometimes gets ahead of himself- reminds me of tazmanian devil at times) he could be a nice asset. Mawel, I think, could also benefit from a summer of working on his scoring and of course not fouling. I think Mawel could average 10ppg or so. Now this brings us to Vandermeer. Like you said it will be a couple seasons before he is Len Matela like in his scoring, but we'll have to see.

Rollo83 wrote:The problem is that Ron Lewis would have been that guy to provide senior leadership next year.

On paper he would have, but Lewis provided/provides ZERO leadership. His "leadership" on and appearantly off the court makes Kevin Netter look like Anthony Stacey. I think we are better off without Lewis, to be honest with you. He was my favorite falcon, I loved his explosiveness and abilities, but there's a lot more to being a leader than putting up numbers.

Rollo83 wrote:The problem is that Ron Lewis would have been that guy to provide senior leadership next year. If he had his head on straight this would have been his team, much in the same way that it is Josh and John's team this year.

Next year will be when we miss Lewis the most. Of course when his head is in a different place, we don't miss him at all.

You and I must have been watching different guys.

Ron Lewis has the leadership skills of a houseplant. Lewis stuffed the stat sheet with one dimensional game. His mental lapses on defense gave back as much as he got for us. His reasoning behind his leaving the program reveals a lack of depth and direction. We DO not and WILL not miss him at all.

Yeah Dayon, I jumped on the Ron Lewis train way too soon. But this team is on a roll and this season has been awesome. After seeing this season, I have no idea what next season will bring, no doubt we will have a lot of defense, maybe we can just hold people to 5 points and win 9-5

What does Steven need to do, to qualify for a fifth year? This is his second year playing but his third year of school.

You and I must have been watching different guys.

Ron Lewis has the leadership skills of a houseplant. Lewis stuffed the stat sheet with one dimensional game. His mental lapses on defense gave back as much as he got for us. His reasoning behind his leaving the program reveals a lack of depth and direction. We DO not and WILL not miss him at all.

You read my comments wrong! I am not advocating Ron Lewis' leadership skills. I am only saying that had Lewis had his head on straight and been a TRUE leader, his senior year would have been his chance to carry this team. We all know what type of team player he turned out to be and that will hurt our program next year when we should have been counting on him to lead.

I agree with your addition by subtraction theory on Ron this year.