Oh the places we may go in 2005-2006 edited sorry
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:48 pm
Only half of this came through last time. My fault.
What a difference a year makes...or rather will make. Wave goodbye to our top two scorers, a center who showed a ton of potential (especially defensively), the heart of the team and my namesake, and another integral senior big body. Welcome an amazingly high number of new faces from around the basketball spectrum to BG's Anderson Arena. 6 players have played their last minutes in BG brown and orange and will be replaced by 8 players yet to know what its like to play in front of a crowd of under 5,000 that feels like 20,000. And play most of them will, because minutes are to be had. BG returns just 2 players who saw a considerable number of starts last season, and 5 with any notable experience at all. Those 5 players will be the backbone as the team builds but the battle for playing time, starting positions, leadership roles and potential BG stardom will make this offseason and early season exciting to watch no matter what the extensive transition brings on the court. Will one of those fresh faces take over Reimolds' or Almansons' role as one of BG's top scorers? Will one be the next Antonio Daniels, Anthony Stacey or Keith McLeod. Will one of them beat out a more experienced player for a starters role? Will one of them be redshirted? Will one of their vastly different personalities clash with a Head Coach who has seen an incredible number of players transfer in recent years? As the groups works out and the best weed themselves out the BG faithful will be waiting and guessing as to who that next star will be. Each of these topics should make the boards around BG hoops full of traffic no matter if there is a game on the next day's agenda or a month down the road. For now, I will try to outline what I expect to happen this season. My knowledge of each of the new players (and many of the old) is not deep and I invite anyone with more insight to please add on, but in this downtime and with the entire class in, now seems like as good of a time as any to start a discussion.
First lets dive into what is coming back. This won't be a long discussion
SG/PG Steven Wright 6-3 170 Sr. (Potentially with 2 years left of eligibility if he can graduate and we have our facts right)
Wright is the odds on favorite to lead this team in scoring next year. Started every game last year after 26 the year before. Played in 30 minutes a game and is really the only sure thing starter we have coming back. Averaged 11.6 points a game last year after 6 the year before. At times he completely disappears and at times he is the man. In a perfect world he is a good second guard who you don't have to rely on but who can go off for 25 on a good night. (Not sure about his D) Definite Starter, probably at the 2.
SF/SG/PF Mawel Soler 6-5 217 Sr.
Soler will likely be a starter somewhere with his hardworking mentality and skills. Small forward seems to be the most likely position. He does not have great offensive ability but is the glue-utility type player that every team needs. He played just 16 minutes a game last year but if memory serves me he was playing alot more by years end. I expect him to start at the 3. Hopefully he will be able to keep up his nice FG % with the added shots. My name may be Mawelsoler1 by years end.
G John Floyd 6-2 185 Jr.
OK point limited athletically and defensively but who was second in the MAC in assists with 5.3 and was fourth in scoring on BG with 7. I expect him to be around his 28 minutes a game and have those numbers go up while competing with Perrick and Samarco for time at the point. As the game starts slowing down for a QB as his experience grows, I expect John to see the floor better resulting in less turnovers, more assists and more proactive defense with better positioning. He can score a little and has shown flashes with that. I expect him to start at PG in the early weeks but as we look for scoring to take a back seet to one of the more dangerous players. On a perfect team he is a bench glue player.
PG Perrick Robinson 5-9 167 So.
A fan favorite, sparkplug who could develop into something special but might have a rough road ahead with Floyd and Samarco directly ahead of him and a resume of just 1.3 pts per game and playing 12 minutes a game with an 49 assists to 46 turnovers. A solid sparkplug backup who may develop into something more. His defense will get him on the court if he can start distributing and scoring more.
C Matt Lefeld 6-11 240 Jr.
May be the starter by default as we have no one else with comparable size. His stat line from last year was not exactly gaudy. 3.8 minutes a game, 9 total rebounds and .8 points a game. Has the size to be something and made 12 starts as a freshman but averaged just 6.9 minutes a game. For BG to be anything they will need a strong post presence and he is the only one with any experience coming back.
Walk-ons: These two guys really don't factor into the future. I think every person on this board would give almost anything to switch places with them but based upon there limited minutes in past seasons I don't expect anything special from either one
SG Patrick Phillips 6-3 200 Jr.
SF Alvin Freeman 6-6 206 So.
And now the Newbies: In my order of likely production ability: I don't know much about these guys and would love to get your insight.
G Martin Samarco 6-2Ypsilanti, Mich. (Schoolcraft College) JR
Samarco is the oldest and has the most experience and maybe the most ability. We will need a scorer and the Junior College All Ameican might be the answer. I expect him to wrangle the position out of Floyd's hands in the not to distant future. Blurb from BGSU.com: Samarco, who will have two years of eligibility remaining, was 13th in the country averaging 21 points per game and finished 14th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage making 46.7% of his shots. He connected on 122 of 261 three-pointers last season and was a first-team All-Region XII honoree. "Martin brings to our team an ability to score and will have an immediate impact on our program," added Dakich. "He gives us a solid scoring threat from the outside and is an excellent addition to our team"
G Brian Moten 6-4 Saginaw, Mich. (Eldon)FR
Moten was the latest signee but maybe the best of the bunch as he was heavily recruited by Virginia. Per Bleed Oragnes post:Moten, 6-5, was 5th in MI's class of 2004 Mr. Basketball voting. He averaged 28ppg as a senior and is described as a pure shooter. The schools that offered him out of school were UVA, Auburn, Baylor, and BG.
F Lionel Sullivan 6-6 Detroit (De Porres)FR
Sullivan sounds like a bruiser do everything type who can play the 3 and 4 spots pretty easily. Sounsd like he is ready now but won't be much of a scorer. Could take Solers spot when he graduates and I could change my name to Lionelsullivan1.
F Jeremy Holland 6-8 Austin, Ind. (Austin)FR
Could be a dynamic scorer but could be a smaller Eyink. At the least he is 6-8. In the MAC that counts for something. Especially on a team with our height problems.
F Erik Marschal 6-7 New London, Ohio (New London)FR
Should compete with Holland for the starters spot at the 4. Its probably up for grabs between Sullivan, Holland and Marschal
F Dusan Radivojevic 6-7 Serbia-Montenegro FR
Could be the scorer we need to replace Reimold
• Nick Wilson, 6-4, G, Trenton, N.J. (Central)FR?
• Darryl Clements, 6-4, G, Detroit (Rogers)FR?
1 Floyd 6-2 Jr.--Samarco 6-2 Jr.--Robinson 5-9 So.
2 Wright 6-3 Sr.--Moten 6-4 Fr.--Wilson 6-4 Fr.--Phillips 6-3 Jr.
3 Soler 6-5 Sr.--Radijovec 6-7 Fr.--Clements 6-4 Fr.--Freeman 6-6 So.
4 Holland 6-8 Fr.--Sullivan 6-6 Fr.
5 Lefeld 6-11 Jr.--Marschall 6-7 Fr.
What a difference a year makes...or rather will make. Wave goodbye to our top two scorers, a center who showed a ton of potential (especially defensively), the heart of the team and my namesake, and another integral senior big body. Welcome an amazingly high number of new faces from around the basketball spectrum to BG's Anderson Arena. 6 players have played their last minutes in BG brown and orange and will be replaced by 8 players yet to know what its like to play in front of a crowd of under 5,000 that feels like 20,000. And play most of them will, because minutes are to be had. BG returns just 2 players who saw a considerable number of starts last season, and 5 with any notable experience at all. Those 5 players will be the backbone as the team builds but the battle for playing time, starting positions, leadership roles and potential BG stardom will make this offseason and early season exciting to watch no matter what the extensive transition brings on the court. Will one of those fresh faces take over Reimolds' or Almansons' role as one of BG's top scorers? Will one be the next Antonio Daniels, Anthony Stacey or Keith McLeod. Will one of them beat out a more experienced player for a starters role? Will one of them be redshirted? Will one of their vastly different personalities clash with a Head Coach who has seen an incredible number of players transfer in recent years? As the groups works out and the best weed themselves out the BG faithful will be waiting and guessing as to who that next star will be. Each of these topics should make the boards around BG hoops full of traffic no matter if there is a game on the next day's agenda or a month down the road. For now, I will try to outline what I expect to happen this season. My knowledge of each of the new players (and many of the old) is not deep and I invite anyone with more insight to please add on, but in this downtime and with the entire class in, now seems like as good of a time as any to start a discussion.
First lets dive into what is coming back. This won't be a long discussion
SG/PG Steven Wright 6-3 170 Sr. (Potentially with 2 years left of eligibility if he can graduate and we have our facts right)
Wright is the odds on favorite to lead this team in scoring next year. Started every game last year after 26 the year before. Played in 30 minutes a game and is really the only sure thing starter we have coming back. Averaged 11.6 points a game last year after 6 the year before. At times he completely disappears and at times he is the man. In a perfect world he is a good second guard who you don't have to rely on but who can go off for 25 on a good night. (Not sure about his D) Definite Starter, probably at the 2.
SF/SG/PF Mawel Soler 6-5 217 Sr.
Soler will likely be a starter somewhere with his hardworking mentality and skills. Small forward seems to be the most likely position. He does not have great offensive ability but is the glue-utility type player that every team needs. He played just 16 minutes a game last year but if memory serves me he was playing alot more by years end. I expect him to start at the 3. Hopefully he will be able to keep up his nice FG % with the added shots. My name may be Mawelsoler1 by years end.
G John Floyd 6-2 185 Jr.
OK point limited athletically and defensively but who was second in the MAC in assists with 5.3 and was fourth in scoring on BG with 7. I expect him to be around his 28 minutes a game and have those numbers go up while competing with Perrick and Samarco for time at the point. As the game starts slowing down for a QB as his experience grows, I expect John to see the floor better resulting in less turnovers, more assists and more proactive defense with better positioning. He can score a little and has shown flashes with that. I expect him to start at PG in the early weeks but as we look for scoring to take a back seet to one of the more dangerous players. On a perfect team he is a bench glue player.
PG Perrick Robinson 5-9 167 So.
A fan favorite, sparkplug who could develop into something special but might have a rough road ahead with Floyd and Samarco directly ahead of him and a resume of just 1.3 pts per game and playing 12 minutes a game with an 49 assists to 46 turnovers. A solid sparkplug backup who may develop into something more. His defense will get him on the court if he can start distributing and scoring more.
C Matt Lefeld 6-11 240 Jr.
May be the starter by default as we have no one else with comparable size. His stat line from last year was not exactly gaudy. 3.8 minutes a game, 9 total rebounds and .8 points a game. Has the size to be something and made 12 starts as a freshman but averaged just 6.9 minutes a game. For BG to be anything they will need a strong post presence and he is the only one with any experience coming back.
Walk-ons: These two guys really don't factor into the future. I think every person on this board would give almost anything to switch places with them but based upon there limited minutes in past seasons I don't expect anything special from either one
SG Patrick Phillips 6-3 200 Jr.
SF Alvin Freeman 6-6 206 So.
And now the Newbies: In my order of likely production ability: I don't know much about these guys and would love to get your insight.
G Martin Samarco 6-2Ypsilanti, Mich. (Schoolcraft College) JR
Samarco is the oldest and has the most experience and maybe the most ability. We will need a scorer and the Junior College All Ameican might be the answer. I expect him to wrangle the position out of Floyd's hands in the not to distant future. Blurb from BGSU.com: Samarco, who will have two years of eligibility remaining, was 13th in the country averaging 21 points per game and finished 14th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage making 46.7% of his shots. He connected on 122 of 261 three-pointers last season and was a first-team All-Region XII honoree. "Martin brings to our team an ability to score and will have an immediate impact on our program," added Dakich. "He gives us a solid scoring threat from the outside and is an excellent addition to our team"
G Brian Moten 6-4 Saginaw, Mich. (Eldon)FR
Moten was the latest signee but maybe the best of the bunch as he was heavily recruited by Virginia. Per Bleed Oragnes post:Moten, 6-5, was 5th in MI's class of 2004 Mr. Basketball voting. He averaged 28ppg as a senior and is described as a pure shooter. The schools that offered him out of school were UVA, Auburn, Baylor, and BG.
F Lionel Sullivan 6-6 Detroit (De Porres)FR
Sullivan sounds like a bruiser do everything type who can play the 3 and 4 spots pretty easily. Sounsd like he is ready now but won't be much of a scorer. Could take Solers spot when he graduates and I could change my name to Lionelsullivan1.
F Jeremy Holland 6-8 Austin, Ind. (Austin)FR
Could be a dynamic scorer but could be a smaller Eyink. At the least he is 6-8. In the MAC that counts for something. Especially on a team with our height problems.
F Erik Marschal 6-7 New London, Ohio (New London)FR
Should compete with Holland for the starters spot at the 4. Its probably up for grabs between Sullivan, Holland and Marschal
F Dusan Radivojevic 6-7 Serbia-Montenegro FR
Could be the scorer we need to replace Reimold
• Nick Wilson, 6-4, G, Trenton, N.J. (Central)FR?
• Darryl Clements, 6-4, G, Detroit (Rogers)FR?
1 Floyd 6-2 Jr.--Samarco 6-2 Jr.--Robinson 5-9 So.
2 Wright 6-3 Sr.--Moten 6-4 Fr.--Wilson 6-4 Fr.--Phillips 6-3 Jr.
3 Soler 6-5 Sr.--Radijovec 6-7 Fr.--Clements 6-4 Fr.--Freeman 6-6 So.
4 Holland 6-8 Fr.--Sullivan 6-6 Fr.
5 Lefeld 6-11 Jr.--Marschall 6-7 Fr.