How many practices do you go to every week? What’s the excuse for the 5 guys playing who weren’t here last year?
Great question. Let’s evaluate those other 5 guys early on.
Al-Amir Dawes:
shooting 50% from 3 and 92% from the line. He also has the ability to put the ball on the floor but was primarily known as a 40%+ career 3 point shooter, and is now being asked to run the point because of the coaches lack of confidence in Kadary and because we lack any depth at PG. This is why his assist to turnover ratio is off. But he does currently lead the team in PPG.
Dre Davis:
Has arguably been our best all around player. Second leading scorer, also shooting 90% at the line, finishing around the rim and doing a little bit of everything. Would like to see him be more selective with his 3 point shot and we will see about his availability going forward. Sha was clearly not happy about the lack of communication on the knee injury.
Femi Odukale
If you watched his highlight film from Pitt and looked at this stats, it was obvious he was more of a slasher on offense and that’s about it. If you expected him to be more efficient or take his offense to a different level that was not a realistic expectation. I think you should expect him to be a similar players to what Marcus Toney- El was. Gritty glue guy who will give you some occasional offense, but more often than not frustrate you on that side of the floor. He is going to be out there primarily as a defender. Yet again we are seeing him be asked to play PG and display his inability to execute that role.
KC N’Defo
Here is another guy that didn’t light the world on fire offensively while at St. Peter’s. He was solid against MAAC level competition. He is going to get you the occasional post up bucket, can finish on the break as a rim runner, but is mostly a garbage bucket type guy, who can pass well for a big man in a high / low or back door type scenario. He is clearly pressing at this point and is finding the adjustment to high major basketball a little difficult at the moment. He did have a solid NCAA tournament but did battle foul trouble as well. At the end of the day I think KC is a solid stop gap transition player for 1 year, who already knows Sha’s system, culture, and expectations. Not sure what else you want here.
Tae Davis
Love the raw talent that this frosh has. He is getting meaningful minutes. And I would rather see that, than him rotting away on the bench. Is he also pressing?…yes. Is he making some frosh mistakes?…yes. Does he have a lot to refine?…yes. But I see effort on the defensive end. I see a guy who can potentially guard positions 1-4 with his length. I see a guy who could be a huge focal point for success in a couple years. So is he struggling overall?…yes. But this is a guy I am going to build around. Sha is going to do what it takes to make sure Tae knows that too so he doesn’t transfer out. I can deal with the growing pains here.
So there is my take on the 5 new guys.
At the end of the day if Sha had these types of players in the correct roles, supported properly by the other 5 guys, then it could / should work. But he needs to recruit a PG and Big to compliment all the defensive minded guards and wings he has.
We saw a bunch of individual guys who on paper all seem to be average to solid. But 10 average guys could ultimately be a pesky team on a given night, but to win with a heigher ceiling you need some DUDES that will go out and get buckets. There are no DUDES on this team. I am afraid with NIL we won’t be able to recruit or retain a DUDE.
Delgado, KC, Desi, Sandro, or Powell were never going to transfer and sit out a year when they were the main guy on the current roster. But no sit out rule changes everything for retention. Willard knew this. And the NIL situation has made a previous disadvantage even worse. Yes people were always getting paid. But now the collectives have allowed the masses into the arms race and we don’t have the masses. Willard knew this too.
I think Sha brought in his type of guy with the transfers. He needs time to build his entire roster the way he wants. the bigger question has become is he even capable of building it.
