Very early but,,
- Thread starter ElComanche
- Start date
It will take coach Kent more than one season to turn around the moribund basketball team The depths it was allowed to plummet to was a disgrace. the team actually has a good chance to be a good competitive team this year. The first basketball tournament pairings have been mad and not a whisper is made.
Sounds like Kent is happy about his big men at the 4&5 positions. Izundu up to 243 pds from 215 Connor at 7-274 pds and Franks at 6' 8 -247 pds. If callison the juco PG is as good as advertised the cougs may win 15-18 regular season games this year.
BX has an article where they interviewed Ernie Kent and he says that this is he best big men that he has ever coached and looking very good.
My opinion is having Hawkinson is the biggest reason
I believe that both Conner and Izundu will surprise a lot of fans and opposing teams this year. I am hoping for the same thing from Callison and the other newcomers.
I have high hopes for both Conner and Callison. I'm in kind of a wait and see on Izundu, he was less than impressive at Houston but got a pretty good endorsement from Lacy and has a full year under Kent's system and coaching. I also think Suggs can contribute, any other newcomer who steps up will be a welcomed surprise.
Izundu was highly thought of as a HS player. He had a couple of good games as a frosh and did not work out with the new coach. The tapes i saw of him were good but he seemed to lack strength. Supposedly he has muscled up from 215 pds to 243 pds. So he may be a surprise. His forte was defense and shot blocking.If Kent s assessment of Callison is correct the guards will be very good this year I see Conner and Izundu each playing about 20 minutes each this year
Having a true point guard can really improve this team a lot. This is where I am intrigued with Callison. Redding was OK last year until he hit the freshman wall. Hopefully, with a year in the weightroom he has gained enough strength to play the entire year. Both of them together will be lightyears from last season.
Regarding Izundu, I read that he had gained weight also. There is going to be more depth this season. It comes down to replacing and improving upon Lacy's production
Redding's a nice player but we need more at the point. If he hasn't improved enought hopefully Callison is as advertised. I expect Clifford and Izundu to have their ups and downs as most bigs do in transfer year 1. Hopefully Izundu retained his athletticism with the added size. Probably further away is Franks but his shooting ability could get him early time. Would be great if he's still growing into those long arms. If he ends up topping out at 6-9"-ish he could become a difficult matchup much like Hawkinson.
Callison and Que Johnson are my 2 keys although Ike and Hawkinson continuing to progress are big as well.
Wholeheartedly agree. I am assuming that Callison is better than Redding and more of a natural PG. I am hoping that the first half of the season was the real Redding and he just tired during the season. Hopefully, he can build upon what he did last season and become a competent backup PG.
I agree as well with Clifford and Izundu. I would think there might be some inconsistency, but with multiple options for a change, Kent can mix and match the hot player. At least, that is what I am hoping. Really, I have no idea about this team right now.
I hate to sound less than positive, but is there any reason to believe that Que is going to be much more than what we've seen before? I'm leery to putting too much hope that he is going to break out.
Until he produces on a consistent basis I'm not holding my breath. He has Klay Thompson-like (accent on like) ability. The question has always been whether he has Klay Thompson-like work-ethic.
Que is still a key in my mind.
Consistency is what Ernie is looking for I'm sure. He's shown it in spurts. As a freshman Que averaged 15 ppg in league play - when he replaced Lacy (who missed about half the conference season). Last year he shot 41% from the 3 pt line in Pac-12 games. He's also a great FT shooter. He certainly has the talent to step up and be a major factor.
