I can honestly say that before this season started that I didn't really have any expectations as far as where we would be at this point in the season. Any time you lose your two biggest scorers from the previous season it is obviously going to be a rebuilding year even if you have what you believe to be two strong replacements already in house(which we did not). There was a lot of hype on here going into the season which is always as to be expected because we all want to hope for the best each season. I honestly can't say that i am surprised or not surprised about where we are at this point. We are almost in the exact same spot as last season just missing out on the top pod and personally that was disappointing considering the talent we had last year. I tend to look at it as a positive that what most would consider a development and rebuilding year we were once again right where we were last season. It really depends on how you want to look at it I suppose. The scariest things about this team are the rebounding disparity combined with not making shots, still having too many turnovers this late in the season and the lack of consistent scoring threats. The most optimistic things about this team right now would be the ability to win a game on any given day, the sudden reemergence of Jannson Williams and Mikel Beyers hopefully and finally becoming the scoring weapons we need them to be. This team has proven as of late that we have all of the pieces for potentially a great late season run, but they have also shown through a lack of consistency that run can end very quickly. These are my personal opinions on some of our current players looking towards next season. I believe there is a chance we could be looking to fill 3 to 4 spots more than we were expecting going into next season as Danny tries to retool this team with players like Obinna and Early coming in to better suit his system.
Kinsey showed flashes of his athletic abilities and scoring potential last season. He has shown some progression this season, but still needs to make a bigger leap in consistency during the off season in order to be the type of dominant scorer and leader we will need him to be. I don't see him going anywhere, but thanks to a preseason post he made along with the trend of transferring these days you can never tell.
West isn't going anywhere. As long as he continues to develop as a scorer, a leader and continues to provide that hustle and defensive effort he could be an important part of molding a successful team next season.
Bennett in my opinion has proven as many have previously commented to be a square peg Danny has tried so hard to fit into the round hole that is Danny's system. The combination of his weight being back up to 335? and what looks like a downward trend in his playing time leads one to believe this experiment might come to an end following the season. The best option might be for Danny to help Bennett find a nice new home where his size and ability might be better suited. Although after what happened with Sustic this last off season Bennett could easily still be on the team next season.
Jannson and Beyers have been on fire as of late. These two have really surprised many with their play in the past few games. A week ago I had almost written them into the most likely to transfer after the season section. Now if they keep this level of play going not only will they potentially make the rest of this season interestin they could be some of the most important keys to next years team.
Taylor had some seriously high expectations before he ever took the floor in an actual game this season. The jury is still out in my book as far as he is concerned. I don't know if he will ever be all we need him to be, but he is young and it's still hard to tell. Maybe with a year of experience under his belt and getting stronger during the off season will be the key to unlocking or disproving all of those expectations.
Goran and Marko are also very young and will continue to develop. If nothing else Goran can be that important big man rotation we will need for all the 6'8" to 6'9" players we will be using. He has shown more quickness than I thought he would have for his height. I have higher expectations for him becoming an important role player in Danny's system than Bennett. Marko could end up exploding at some point or end up developing into a someone that can give us some bench scoring. It's really hard to tell, but i consider his potential worth another season before declaring either way.
George might be the most disappointing part of our team for me personally. I had much higher expectations for what he would contribute to this season. Things could change, but as of right now the best we could hope for is to see him as a Rondale Watson type player that continues to provide some minutes and scoring off the bench.
Rucker is a player that I hate to make any type of judgement on because he is young and hasn't had time to really show if he will be beneficial for us in the future. Too early to call, but I'm just not sure he will fit into the system we are starting to finally get a glimpse of going forward.
Brooks-Harris has as much potential as any player on the roster, but has also brought more distractions than almost any other on the roster. Unless something changes this could be a potential spot that opens up before next season.
Dillon is a player that I had high hopes for and so does Danny. Personally I would like to see him make the switch back to football and give Green and Wells a run for their money for the starting QB spot. I don't think this is a thought in his mind though and I believe Danny doesn't want him going anywhere. He has the potential just like CBH to become an important part of the future, but just like CBH I don't know that he will ever get there.
Obviously we still have some time in this season and things could change for any of these players either for the positive or negative. My hope is we get to see some exciting basketball the rest of this season and they continue to develop what we have started to see recently. My personal take going into next season regardless of what happens the rest of this season will be a wait and see approach. We will still be young and continuing to rebuild, but could surprise a lot of people just like the season before last. I hope that Beyers and Williams continue to play the way they have been and when we add Obinna it just creates an even tougher back court for opposing teams to be able to contain. The additions of Early and Obinna are a great first recruiting step for the future and hopefully Danny can add one or two more spot up shooters to the mix before next season. Things are looking up for Marshall basketball. We just need to wait until Danny and the team smooth out all of the bumps in the road so we can finally enjoy it!
Kinsey showed flashes of his athletic abilities and scoring potential last season. He has shown some progression this season, but still needs to make a bigger leap in consistency during the off season in order to be the type of dominant scorer and leader we will need him to be. I don't see him going anywhere, but thanks to a preseason post he made along with the trend of transferring these days you can never tell.
West isn't going anywhere. As long as he continues to develop as a scorer, a leader and continues to provide that hustle and defensive effort he could be an important part of molding a successful team next season.
Bennett in my opinion has proven as many have previously commented to be a square peg Danny has tried so hard to fit into the round hole that is Danny's system. The combination of his weight being back up to 335? and what looks like a downward trend in his playing time leads one to believe this experiment might come to an end following the season. The best option might be for Danny to help Bennett find a nice new home where his size and ability might be better suited. Although after what happened with Sustic this last off season Bennett could easily still be on the team next season.
Jannson and Beyers have been on fire as of late. These two have really surprised many with their play in the past few games. A week ago I had almost written them into the most likely to transfer after the season section. Now if they keep this level of play going not only will they potentially make the rest of this season interestin they could be some of the most important keys to next years team.
Taylor had some seriously high expectations before he ever took the floor in an actual game this season. The jury is still out in my book as far as he is concerned. I don't know if he will ever be all we need him to be, but he is young and it's still hard to tell. Maybe with a year of experience under his belt and getting stronger during the off season will be the key to unlocking or disproving all of those expectations.
Goran and Marko are also very young and will continue to develop. If nothing else Goran can be that important big man rotation we will need for all the 6'8" to 6'9" players we will be using. He has shown more quickness than I thought he would have for his height. I have higher expectations for him becoming an important role player in Danny's system than Bennett. Marko could end up exploding at some point or end up developing into a someone that can give us some bench scoring. It's really hard to tell, but i consider his potential worth another season before declaring either way.
George might be the most disappointing part of our team for me personally. I had much higher expectations for what he would contribute to this season. Things could change, but as of right now the best we could hope for is to see him as a Rondale Watson type player that continues to provide some minutes and scoring off the bench.
Rucker is a player that I hate to make any type of judgement on because he is young and hasn't had time to really show if he will be beneficial for us in the future. Too early to call, but I'm just not sure he will fit into the system we are starting to finally get a glimpse of going forward.
Brooks-Harris has as much potential as any player on the roster, but has also brought more distractions than almost any other on the roster. Unless something changes this could be a potential spot that opens up before next season.
Dillon is a player that I had high hopes for and so does Danny. Personally I would like to see him make the switch back to football and give Green and Wells a run for their money for the starting QB spot. I don't think this is a thought in his mind though and I believe Danny doesn't want him going anywhere. He has the potential just like CBH to become an important part of the future, but just like CBH I don't know that he will ever get there.
Obviously we still have some time in this season and things could change for any of these players either for the positive or negative. My hope is we get to see some exciting basketball the rest of this season and they continue to develop what we have started to see recently. My personal take going into next season regardless of what happens the rest of this season will be a wait and see approach. We will still be young and continuing to rebuild, but could surprise a lot of people just like the season before last. I hope that Beyers and Williams continue to play the way they have been and when we add Obinna it just creates an even tougher back court for opposing teams to be able to contain. The additions of Early and Obinna are a great first recruiting step for the future and hopefully Danny can add one or two more spot up shooters to the mix before next season. Things are looking up for Marshall basketball. We just need to wait until Danny and the team smooth out all of the bumps in the road so we can finally enjoy it!
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