Thought Felder was going to be an instant contributor when he transferred from Boston College. You just never know
I’m not sure I’d say all those guys excelled. Leon averaged 6 and 3 rebounds- No Egbunu averaged 9 and 6 -No Bonham- No at this point Lofton-to me was a No as didn’t move the needle. I like looking at mid majors for sure but not sure we’ve been great there or even good to this point. CC is our best transfer I can think of and he came from a big school. We will see with Richard as Jury is still out. If he goes from 10 a game to 15 and 6, then I’d call it a success. Rebounds went down almost 2 a game.
Maybe excelled isn't the right word, but Leon was a key piece for that E8 team. We haven't had anyone like him since, and it's hurt. He could defend his man, would do the little things like take charges and knocked down close to 40% from 3.
Why do you make points scored the yardstick of success? Horford, Noah, Taurean, Corey, and Lee all hung right around the 10 ppg range and they had pretty decent college careers.
All correct! Never the most talented, but Leon was a consummate team player on both ends of the court. Rarely made mistakes.
They Also impacted the game in other ways. The two bigs might score 12 but they’d have 11 rebounds and 4 blocks. Green would have 6 assists and steals. Beyond some three point shooting Richard doesn’t impact the game at all and the others mentioned haven’t either. You brought up hall of famers in my book so tough to compare.
Simply not true. Richard was our second-leading scorer (10.4 ppg); Kugel averaged 9.9. He was our 4th-leading shot-blocker (18); Kugel had 6. He was our best free-throw shooter (85.7%); Kugel shot 66.3%). He was our best guard/wing shooter (49.3%); Kugel shot 45.6%. He was our best rebounding guard (145); Kugel grabbed 91. He was 3rd on the team with steals. All this, even though he averaged just 21% more court time than Kugel. Plus, he played solid defense. Good all-around player.
That wasn't the point. I agree that Kugel was our best player at the end of the season. But you were saying that Will Richard only brought 3-point shooting to the table. That's clearly wrong. He does a lot of things well.
One of the best teams I have seen was the 1989 Illinois team. I think that Dickie V called them the Flying Illini. Nobody was very tall and nobody was a huge body. But they all could play both ways at an up tempo. One of the best teams ever to not win it all. I hope that Coach is looking to build a team like that.
I loved watching that team. Every guy in the starting five was in the 6'-4" to 6'-7" range. The lack of interior size was more than compensated for by the skill, the athleticism, and the sheer will to win. Still... I really hope we land a 6'-10" or taller guy, because the talent on that Illini team is hard to find. They did lose in the Final Four, but they were the best team in the land. Sometimes the best team loses.
Glenn Rice just went off. Illinois had humiliated UM at home and on the road that year but not in that game.
These numbers are not really a good representation, because Richard was playing much more than Kugel at least the first half of the season. Of course, Richard’s total stats will be higher, as well as his averages.
Again, Kugel's production is not the point. You said Will Richard contributed nothing but 3 point shots. That's wrong. The numbers prove it.
Again, Kugel's production is not the point. You said Will Richard contributed nothing but 3 point shots. That's wrong. The numbers prove it.