SDSU at #8 is laughable. They weren't better than us last year. Not even that close...


I think you guys are seriously underestimating how much Lorenzo and CJL are going to improve this offseason. Superstars usually improve almost as much between their So/Jr year as they do their Fr/So year.

Improvement is steep between Fr/So year for all players, but dominant athletes who are also good at basketball see almost the exact same improvement the next year.

These guys are basically professional athletes at this point. They both know they are going to be pros soon and its safe to assume they are preparing for that.

That involves practicing basketball.

5/6/2012 10:55:48 PM

Quote :

"That involves practicing basketball."

i'm hoping so, anyway.

5/6/2012 11:39:30 PM

^^agree completely. I'd put us closer to #11 but I'll take it. I think the <10 rankings are assuming our incoming players are going to make an immediate impact, but it's definitely not impossible

5/6/2012 11:42:25 PM

wait, do you mean actually practicing or playing xbox?

5/6/2012 11:57:49 PM

Quote :

"If you want something to worry about, think about the 2013 season"

What are you talking about? Our lineup will be loaded:

PG: ZO, Lewis, Barber
SG: Purvis, Hart
SF: Warren, Hood
PF: Leslie, Jefferson, Randle
C: Meeks, Vandy

5/7/2012 9:24:31 AM

Haha, dream the dream bro.

5/7/2012 9:33:34 AM

What are you talking about? No way Leslie will be here and probably a >50% chance that Brown will leave early as well. We're going to be heavily relying on some freshmen and sophomores in '13. I like our recruits, but it's scary thinking of losing Brown/Leslie/Wood/Howell in the same season.

5/7/2012 9:35:05 AM

that was a joke guys.

5/7/2012 9:37:36 AM

Quote :

"and getting something out of TJ Warren (prob playable, but not that good)"

what makes you say this?

Quote :

"Lewis will be as good as Johnson for sure. That's silly."

Lewis is talented, no doubt. Both players have their strengths and weaknesses. Johnson was a beast though and played good defense for his height. You could tell he was a senior. He came in for Zo and usually played calm and under control.

I think what is being questioned is if Lewis can come into college and control the game like a veteran while still a freshman? Yeah, he played for #1 Oak Hill, but it makes it easier when your team is stacked with D-1 recruits. Obviously he'll have to prove himself defensively as well.

5/7/2012 9:40:21 AM

Quote :

" think what is being questioned is if Lewis can come into college and control the game like a veteran while still a freshman? Yeah,"

Set boasters to stun

5/7/2012 9:43:46 AM

^^ Face just hates AJ because he thinks that he blew the Duke game.

5/7/2012 10:17:47 AM

I thought it was the UVA game he blew. The whole team blew the Duke game.

5/7/2012 10:34:29 AM

yup

5/7/2012 11:00:42 AM

you guys are giving alex johnson way too much credit here. he had a few good games, but for the most part was barely serviceable.

5/7/2012 11:58:17 AM

Quote :

"but for the most part was barely serviceable"

DO NOT AGREE


for a bench player, he was pretty solid

5/7/2012 12:04:06 PM

there's nothing to agree or disagree about, it's a fact. here are his lines in the three tournament games, and the season.

min reb ast to pts
15 3 0 1 0
18 1 0 1 0
14 1 1 2 0
19.5 1.7 2.8 1.6 4.4

those numbers are barely serviceable on the season; the bare minimum you'd expect a player that doesn't just objectively suck to give you. and his tournament numbers objectively suck. no points and a 1:4 a:t ratio.

5/7/2012 12:16:58 PM

so 3 games in the tournament equal fact for an entire season?

5/7/2012 12:19:34 PM

I POSTED THE SEASON STATS YOU IDIOT.

5/7/2012 12:20:25 PM

Barely serviceable is a good description.

He was a turnover princess, he couldn't shoot, and he was too small to offer that much defense.

What do you want out of your backup PG? I'd say reliability with low turnovers(strike 1), ability to hit open shots (strike 2), some flexibility to allow your PG to slide to SG (he could do this), and in general to just provide a spark off the bench (strike 3).


His FT rate was lower than Scott Wood's by a good margin and everyone always complains that Wood never gets to the line.

5/7/2012 12:22:04 PM

2.8 apg is pretty solid for a backup point. Wasn't he in the top 10 for assists in the conference?

5/7/2012 12:23:40 PM

hey simonn,

GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU FAIRWEATHER PIECE OF SHIT

Seriously, it takes a special kind of lowlife toolbag to trash a player who played for 1 year under a new system, had an extremely positive attitude, and contributed on multiple levels to the benefit of the team.

DP only averaged 6 points a game with about the same of playing time which was 19 minutes a game. I guess he sucked balls too, right?

@face Lorenzo Brown turned the ball over 118 times to AJ's 58...





[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 12:37 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2012 12:33:17 PM

I thought this was about if Lewis could adequately fill Alex Johnson's shoes next year. The "haters" are just pointing out that he should easily accomplish that. Calm down, people.

5/7/2012 12:36:13 PM

Yeah I don't even think Lewis will be good next season.

I'm just saying he certainly won't be a downgrade. He can't shoot much worse or turn it over much more.

5/7/2012 12:37:59 PM

AJ brought a lot to the team in both character, conditioning, and dedication. Just because he didn't score 12 points a game, doesn't mean he wasn't a valuable bench player. I believe if you said that AJ was a barely serviceable bench player to MG, he would tell you that you need to learn that basketball is more than just stats.

5/7/2012 12:40:05 PM

Quote :

" @face Lorenzo Brown turned the ball over 118 times to AJ's 58..."

Is this a joke?? He played twice the minutes as AJ. You gotta kidding.

5/7/2012 12:41:20 PM

It's actually not a lot more than just stats.

It's hard to quantify just how many points heart, character, etc are worth but I'd argue that made field goals are worth more than smiles and bunny rabbits.

5/7/2012 12:41:57 PM

Quote :

"Barely serviceable is a good description."

i didn't cringe whenever he came in, i thought he was a very serviceable back-up. especially after 4 years of javi (not to trash javi, i'm just saying)

5/7/2012 12:42:12 PM

While work ethic and character are important and we should all be thankful he was here last year, that stuff doesn't mean he was a very good player.

I think what those stats show best is he was serviceable against non-tournament level competition. Which is the majority of the schedule. But he was not good against good teams.

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 12:45 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2012 12:43:51 PM

I'm not saying he was a damn all star. He filled a much needed bench spot and he did it better than some of our previous guards in the last 6 years. He also played a huge roll in keeping team positive and motivated. Every one of the players commented that he was one of the best teammates they had ever had. That IS important.



34.3 minutes per game vs 19.9 minutes per game

he averaged a little over 2 turnovers per game

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 12:46 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2012 12:44:13 PM

Quote :

"I thought this was about if Lewis could adequately fill Alex Johnson's shoes next year. The "haters" are just pointing out that he should easily accomplish that. Calm down, people. "

right, thank you.

i'm not trashing anybody except the people who are romanticizing alex johnson to the point that they think we're not going to be able to replace his minutes.

5/7/2012 12:44:33 PM

^^^^ That's funny because everyone thought Javi was a walking turnover, yet his turnover percentage was significantly lower than AJ's.

I think we can all agree that Javi was better than AJ.



[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 12:45 PM. Reason : a]

5/7/2012 12:44:53 PM

at hard fouls, yes

5/7/2012 12:47:16 PM

So let's get a Pre-Season Positive Attitude ACC First Team list going. My first vote may surprise some of you, but I vote Danny Rubin of BC. He drove me to the airport once.

5/7/2012 12:47:48 PM

Quote :

"i didn't cringe whenever he came in, i thought he was a very serviceable back-up."

not cringing when he comes in is the cutoff for serviceable or not. if all you have to say about him is that you didn't cringe when he came in, then he was barely serviceable.

5/7/2012 12:49:37 PM

Player A: 97.2 o-rating, 47.9% TS, 7.1 Dreb%, 21.1 Ast%, 21.1 TO%, 2.5 STL%

Player B: 93.1 o-rating, 47.4% TS, 8.3 Dreb%, 24.5 Ast%, 28.1 TO%, 2.5 STL%



Closer than I thought, but still slight nudge to Javi. Javi did explode occasionally so I think it's fair to say AJ was the more consistent of the two.

5/7/2012 12:51:36 PM

Quote :

"i'm not trashing anybody except the people who are romanticizing alex johnson to the point that they think we're not going to be able to replace his minutes."

Of course his minutes are easily replaceable. Will Tyler Lewis be able to do it? Probably but I have no idea until he starts playing against ACC level opponents. Why people attack this kid for being a decent bench player is beyond me. He's not a starter, he's not an all-star. He's an above average bench player that brought a lot to the team.

He was apparently better than Jacquan Raymond (sp?) because MG never gave him a chance to play. Regardless he did a much better job than I thought he would.

5/7/2012 12:53:28 PM

Javi also had to carry a much heavier load than AJ. Not really a fair comparison, imo.

5/7/2012 12:53:37 PM

those stats couldn't be more tainted though, considering the different coaches that those two played for.

Quote :

"Why people attack this kid for being a decent bench player is beyond me. He's not a starter, he's not an all-star. He's an above average bench player that brought a lot to the team."

okay i realize you're just trolling so i'm going to stop here, but no one is attacking johnson, and he is not an above average bench player. not even close. that's absurd.

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 12:57 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2012 12:54:10 PM

Quote :

"I think we can all agree that Javi was better than AJ."

nope. after watching javi for four years, and watching AJ last year, I feel pretty confident saying that AJ was better.

5/7/2012 1:01:07 PM

Anyone here think Gottfried is super nervous about next season?

If we don't at least make it to the Sweet 16, everyone will think it was all just Alex Johnson.

Kinda like the Amato / Philip Rivers thing...


Creepy parallels here...

5/7/2012 1:02:17 PM

face is in a trolling mood

5/7/2012 1:04:04 PM

I laughed

5/7/2012 1:04:33 PM

Quote :

"nope. after watching javi for four years, and watching AJ last year, I feel pretty confident saying that AJ was better."

5/7/2012 1:04:59 PM

agreed



^^i did laugh as well

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 1:05 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2012 1:05:12 PM

Quote :

"he is not an above average bench player. not even close. that's absurd."

I agree I wouldn't call Johnson an "above average bench player".

But I think to label him "barely serviceable" is a stretch too. He came into the program knowing he was only going to be here 1 year and did what the coaches asked him to do.

Quote :

"It's hard to quantify just how many points heart, character, etc are worth but I'd argue that made field goals are worth more than smiles and bunny rabbits."

Signed,

J.J. Hickson and the 2007-08 NCSU b-ball team

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 1:08 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2012 1:05:44 PM

Quote :

"Signed, J.J. Hickson and the 2007-08 NCSU b-ball team"

hahaha

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 1:09 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2012 1:09:29 PM

Quote :

"He came into the program knowing he was only going to be here 1 year and did what the coaches asked him to do."

people keep saying this, like i should care at all when i evaluate how good of a basketball player he was.

do you think tyler lewis is going to not do what the coaches ask him to do? this is not an irreplaceable quality. it's a good quality, but it doesn't change the fact that he was an undersized and undertalented player. he played hard, and came to us when we needed him. i appreciate that. but don't tell me we're going to have a hard time replacing him.

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 1:20 PM. Reason : .]

5/7/2012 1:18:59 PM

Yep, team Chemistry and leadership can be the difference between a good and bad team sometimes. I think the team rallied around newcomer AJ more than they did around our previous "veteran" pg.

and i hope the argument has moved past whether lewis will be able to replace AJ. It may take a year, but I think we all agree he'll eventually be better.

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 1:21 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2012 1:19:21 PM

[Edited on May 7, 2012 at 1:20 PM. Reason : double-post, my bad]

5/7/2012 1:20:07 PM

Quote :

"I think we can all agree that Javi was better than AJ."

5/7/2012 1:24:05 PM