FanPost

My offseason check list for Painter


1). Look long and hard at the transfer portal. We need to find an athletic guard that can dribble. At the very least. Doesn't have to be a great shooter. Just someone who can either buy in defensively, can use athleticism to break a press and break people off the dribble. I would love a good shooter as well but Painter isn't going to pull in that with NIL. Next year we have just Smith capable of those things. Loyer currently is a liability defensively and not athletic. Loyer however can beat people off the dribble and will only get stronger strength wise. Morton can defend bigger guards but not quick ones, isn't athletic, can't shoot, and average handle. Newman can defend, is athletic, but incapable of creating own shot or breaking people off dribble. Now maybe Heide or Colvin are capable of all this but they will be freshman and we can't rely on that in the tournament again.

2). Practice, practice, practice shooting or find the best shooter in the portal instead of athletic guard. I'd rather scour the portal for an athlete and I do believe we have shooters on this team. Smith and Loyer will only get better. Gillis is consistent for the most part. Confident in him. Morton, Furst, Kaufmann are who they are. I don't see them getting any better. Newman, if he stays, is who he is as well. Maybe Colvin or Heide are good shooters but to expect a freshman to shoot well their first year is a lot to ask...look at Loyer. So we could find an Andrew Funk sharpshooter type. That's so hard to find though. Shit I thought we had that in Jenkins. We'll just have to trust our current team that we will shoot better, and I do believe they will.

3). Edey stays or goes? I'm so conflicted on this. He stays we're a top 10 team next year and will contend during the big ten season but real chance we flame out in tournament again. Not just because our offense will run through him but more so defensively with his inability to guard stretch 5's. On the other hand. What FDU defensively was simple. They brought the weakside defender underneath Edey and sandwiched him, if you will, preventing any pass inside. Great strategy. Penn State did this but Gillis went nuts. Gonzaga, Duke, WV didn't do this cause they had 5's who could guard Edey somewhat straight up. If we could just shoot we win easily. That's really all it is against these small school teams. So you bring back Edey he will continue to be a matchup nightmare and create open looks. It's still such a strength.

4). Current roster make up. I don't wish players transfer. Let's get that out of the way. However I do believe there's certain players that would benefit from change of scenery. Morton I think is staying. Cool, great. I believe he's more of a liability then anything, but he's got the best IQ on the team in my opinion. I'll say that. But he absolutely needs to address multiple parts of his game. No excuse for a guy who's been with us for what 3 years now and really hasn't gotten better? Painter I think likes him so Morton will stay I'm sure. Waddell? Not sure what he brings. Also where does he find minutes. Would think he leaves for better opportunities. Last B Newman. I love him. Man crush for Brandon!!! So much potential. I think he hurt himself at times, but Painter ruined him also. We can get into that another time. He graduated, stuck with the program even though most people would leave, and was a class act. A fan favorite. He deserves so much more though, and I think could really thrive in a completely different offense. I don't want him to go another big ten program but imagine him at Iowa or Penn State? Free range offensively. Guards dictate everything. Would love to have him back though.

4). Painter adjusts. He won't. His man to man defenses and current offense is effective overall. Can't argue. But when it doesn't work he's stubborn and won't change. Maybe a press or zone? Get real. I just hope he thinks long and hard about finding his players strengths and building around that compared to his own schemes. We'll see.

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