Next Year's Team....

[Hot_Town_Hog]

I really think the nucleus we have this year could become a very good team next year if the couple of missing pieces are added. I could see at least 3 of our younger guys that could get ALL SEC honors before their careers are over.

My line-up would be:

Fortson - May not be the best overall PG at this point, but we can disuss that again in 3 or 4 years. Especially if he gets some better players around him.
Welsh - Like him or not, does play hard and can shoot the 3. Would also be a Senior and possibly realizing this is it.
Henry - He is the one guy I watch and say "it will not surprise me if he is really special before he leaves".
6-8 (New Guy??) Not sure who, but surely we can get a player to bang, make buckets, and play D. Needs to really bang and be athletic. Would Powell fit this? That is an honest question.
Washington - Will be a Senior and potential player of the year in the SEC with the proper support and a well back.

We would rotate Welsh and Clarke, but seldom would they be on the court at the same time.

Would work Britt in for any of the other guards depending on the situation. Britt should get at least 10 minutes in total.

Henry would get subbed at the 3 by the #2 recruit we need. Would love to pick up a 6-6 shooter that is very athletic. JUCO player would work just fine. No need for another training year. This recruit needs to contribute instantly.

Wash would get spelled by Clark, Moore, and Sanchez. Could be Wash and one of these guys in the game together at times. Clark sure shows promise to me. Hit the weights and watch out!!

This would give us a pretty solid starting line-up, and 6 capable subs to work in to press the tempo and prevent our guys from wearing down. Suppose we should have a 3rd spot to get another solid 4, or look for at least a 6'4" shooting guard. Guess that depends on the status of the 7 footer. Sounds like he is prep school ready.


Guess the bottom line with all this, is the team could be in pretty good shape if the right 2 or 3 recruits are part of the team next year. Those recruits will most likely determine the near future of Hog BB, one way or the other. Pel has to get the missing pieces in here for next year, or we will not be much better.

[hawgchill]

EXCELLENT POST!

Easy to see how close we are.

[Beaverfever]

Wash will be gone after this year.

[Hot_Town_Hog]

Very well could be, but I certainly hope not. If he gets good advice, he will stay for his Senior year.

Assuming you are wrong, this team does have promise if we could just add a couple key players. Add 3 or 4 good players and the team could be really good. This is where Pel will gain support from everyone if he can add another key player (6'4"+ shooting guard) to this year's class. And of course, hope like crazy Powell makes it and Farmer can give valuable minutes as well.

I may be in the minority out here, but I can honestly see this being a very good team next year if Wash stays and we add 2 or 3 good players with the incoming class. We could have our most talented team in a longtime. Adding the players is key, and that is where Pel will earn his money, or if not, continue to lose support.

As sick as the season has made me, I do have optimism that next year could be our best year in a longtime.

[3kgthog]

Wash will be gone after this year.

Careful. You'll get blasted by those that think he's not ready. Last I checked the only thing that matters is if Washington thinks he's ready. Kids don't listen to scouts and fans. They listen to agents. Period. +1

[Ray Piggers]

Hopefully we pick up Jeremy Adams!

[Hot_Town_Hog]

I can promise no one is any sicker than myself with this season, especially after the OU/Texas games. But it is shocking that some appear to want Wash to go pro just so they can really get on Pel next year.

He will do what he ultimately wants to do, but not all players opt to leave early that are not projected as early 1st rounders. I hope like hell he stays and gets to showcase his talents in the NCAAT next year and then becomes a solid player in the NBA.

[The_Iceman]

Jemal Farmer is going to be a very good player for us. Don't forget him.

He's 6'5", 40 inch verticle, and can shoot the ball. The perfect 2-3 man for us.

[HawgAdvocate]

Wash has a ton of athleticism, he has a ton of confidence when he's wearing a Hog jersey, and he can make a variety of shots from all over the floor. I hate his perimeter game, but it exists.

The fact that he's been going to it when open this year tells me he's thinking NBA as well. JMO. You could see Brewer doing the same thing his last season as well.

That being said, we should also attribute a lot of his success this year to Courtney Fortson, and the space he created for Washington when driving to the whole to catch great passes for easy finishes. With any other PG, Wash would still be scoring, just not as much or as easily.

I'm selfish, so I want Wash to stay.

[HawgAdvocate]

Jemal Farmer is going to be a very good player for us. Don't forget him.

He's 6'5", 40 inch verticle, and can shoot the ball. The perfect 2-3 man for us.

I don't know why, but I keep thinking of Toby Bailey (UCLA) every time Farmer is brought up.

[rude1]

Very well could be, but I certainly hope not. If he gets good advice, he will stay for his Senior year.

Assuming you are wrong, this team does have promise if we could just add a couple key players. Add 3 or 4 good players and the team could be really good. This is where Pel will gain support from everyone if he can add another key player (6'4"+ shooting guard) to this year's class. And of course, hope like crazy Powell makes it and Farmer can give valuable minutes as well.

I may be in the minority out here, but I can honestly see this being a very good team next year if Wash stays and we add 2 or 3 good players with the incoming class. We could have our most talented team in a longtime. Adding the players is key, and that is where Pel will earn his money, or if not, continue to lose support.

As sick as the season has made me, I do have optimism that next year could be our best year in a longtime.

Obviously you haven't kept up with the recruiting news. There are no impact players being added to this roster for next season. Powell is the best and the word is out that he may not qualify. Borden is expected to be a sign and place, and just check out who we beat out for Farmer and you will realize that he is a sleeper/project type of player. There is not much left out there at this stage of the game, so anyone else Pel  signs at this point will be either a risk or a hopeful sleeper. He must work his tail off for the next class after this one or else he is toast IMO. Next year appears to only going be moderately better if any better than this year, and if Washington opts to leave, all bets are off for even that kind of success. Even if Washington stays, he comes back to a team with the same shortcomings that were there this year. Then projecting even further, you lose Washington and Welsh after that, so you end up with Fortson, Clarke, and Henry along with more freshman as the cornerstone of your team, that groups not going to scare anyone, but of course we will have three or four more freshman, so we can start our youth excuse all over again..............

[WBOBO]

I think and hope Wash stays for another year because he will not be a lottery pick, and
if he stays one more year, the likelihood of him being a lottery pick increases drastically.  This
really is his first year to show signs of becoming a force, both inside and outside the paint.  One
more year should seal the deal.

[HawgAdvocate]

One thing to consider:

We signed a bunch of now and future impact starters this past recruiting season with Fortson, Henry, etc. If the 2010 class is filled with the best crop of instate talent the state has ever produced, as everyone seems to indicate, why would Pel load this current recruiting class with more impact starters and risk losing next year's instate crop to more PT elsewhere like he did with Gulley and Walton?

Pel doesn't have much to offer great players other than PT in a big money/TV conference. Personally, I think he's talking big to the 2010 class to get them a bigger role should they commit and sign, and taking high value role players with the 2009 class that will help the 2008 class grow.

[WBOBO]

I like your previous assessment Advocate.  The 2010 class is going to be nice to the
Razorbback Nation.  Probably the best class of athletes since Corliss was a senior in high school, maybe
even longer.

[Swine & Cheese Club]

Obviously you haven't kept up with the recruiting news. There are no impact players being added to this roster for next season. Powell is the best and the word is out that he may not qualify. Borden is expected to be a sign and place, and just check out who we beat out for Farmer and you will realize that he is a sleeper/project type of player. There is not much left out there at this stage of the game, so anyone else Pel  signs at this point will be either a risk or a hopeful sleeper. He must work his tail off for the next class after this one or else he is toast IMO. Next year appears to only going be moderately better if any better than this year, and if Washington opts to leave, all bets are off for even that kind of success. Even if Washington stays, he comes back to a team with the same shortcomings that were there this year. Then projecting even further, you lose Washington and Welsh after that, so you end up with Fortson, Clarke, and Henry along with more freshman as the cornerstone of your team, that groups not going to scare anyone, but of course we will have three or four more freshman, so we can start our youth excuse all over again..............

Concerning next year's class...

Powell may not qualify.  Has anybody really confirmed this or is this just being regurgitated over and over by people that read it on here.  We don't know if this is true and to repeat it is just spreading more rumors about our recruits.

Farmer is a sleeper/project.  He wasn't recruited by a lot of schools but Nebraska wanted him and to me Doc Sadler is a pretty good judge of talent.  Farmer is struggling lately but over his career in JUCO he is averaging over 20 points a game.  I think he is more of a sleeper than a project and we could use the 6'5" on the wing.

Borden will most likely be a sign and place.  Would be nice to have the added size but he does need next year to work on his game.

Pel's not finished with this class and if you think all that is left out there are sleepers you haven't checked out who we are looking at adding this spring.  Caliste and Adams are no sleepers.

[dotnet]

Say what you want about Farmer, but he is ranked higher than Fortson was by ESPN.  He had offers from Iowa St., Kansas State (good recruiting class), Mike Davis and UAB.  These aren't chump schools offering him.  Rivals doesn't always know or list everyone going after a recruit.  They didn't even know (or list at least) Arkansas was after Powell until he committed the first time.

The current recruiting class (which is currently on pace to make it to campus), fills the needs that you layed out.  Another 3 to play with Henry, and another 6-8 power forward will skills.

Assuming everyone improves half as much as Washington did this past off season, that would be 9-11 guys who we should be comfortable playing at least 10 minutes a game (obviously we would want some to play much more).

[Hot_Town_Hog]

I honestly believe if we can add Powell and Farmer and Washington stays, we will be a NCAAT team next year that could even win a game or two. Adding a surprise kid like Adams would be huge. Pel needs to make sure we address the needs this season.

I will be the first to say, that if we strike out with the 09 class, it will be very disappointing. I would even add making the NCAAT next year should be expected. If the above holds true, we will have a team with lots of potential and should do well in the SEC.

If we struggle again next year, with recruits not working out and no NCAAT, I will really question our situation. I am not a believer that it takes 5 years to get a BB team going. We have already been on our way back from the lows, with 3 straight NCAAT's and even a win last year.

However, for now it looks like the potential is there, and we need to support the Hogs and see how it plays out next year. Pel deserves another year, and I am not convinced he won't end up with a pretty darn good team. As said earlier, we shall see in a year.

Not to discredit myself, but how sweet would an SECT Championship be this year to steal a bid? Get Monk back and who knows. There is not a team in the SEC we can't beat. Hard to win 4 games in a row, but this has proved to be the league where it happens. Can always dream!! Right now we would open with the 3 seed in the East, then play the 2 seed in the West with a win. Make it to the weekend and who knows? Just to be clear, I will not be putting money on this happening.

[Hot_Town_Hog]

Obviously you haven't kept up with the recruiting news. There are no impact players being added to this roster for next season. Powell is the best and the word is out that he may not qualify. Borden is expected to be a sign and place, and just check out who we beat out for Farmer and you will realize that he is a sleeper/project type of player. There is not much left out there at this stage of the game, so anyone else Pel  signs at this point will be either a risk or a hopeful sleeper. He must work his tail off for the next class after this one or else he is toast IMO. Next year appears to only going be moderately better if any better than this year, and if Washington opts to leave, all bets are off for even that kind of success. Even if Washington stays, he comes back to a team with the same shortcomings that were there this year. Then projecting even further, you lose Washington and Welsh after that, so you end up with Fortson, Clarke, and Henry along with more freshman as the cornerstone of your team, that groups not going to scare anyone, but of course we will have three or four more freshman, so we can start our youth excuse all over again..............

Just to be clear, there will be no excuses from me if we strike out again next year. I also don't always buy into the youth excuse. But this team is shorthanded and we have to give Pel the benefit of the doubt this year without question.