If roundball is your blood, this is the place to discuss the Flames as they move into the Ritchie McKay era for the 2nd time.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

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By jinxy
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#588025
I would bet we look at a juco or grad transfer for mcdowells spot. No way mckay wants 5 in same class and frankly we could use another veteran next year. Whether its a guard or forward will prob depend on how preston robinson and newton develop.

I really like abis tape the best but love all 4. They all plug holes and make our roster even more flexible. Picture the athleticism of mcghee warfield rode abii and robinson.

What a job rmk is doing. Bball recruiting is so boring because they are targeting so few guys and signing them with no decommits. So much less drama than football in a good way. Oh and he keeps raising the bar and tbe guys next year they are targeting would up it again.
Last edited by jinxy on November 13th, 2019, 9:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
By olldflame
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#588026
And here's the official LUAD site's take on the class.

https://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cf ... 1&teamID=6

Ritchie says he is keeping all options open for the scholarship made available with McDowell transferring (as he should), but it really looks like the situation is made to order for a grad transfer, and he has shown a propensity to dip into that pool, especially when he has a lot of youth and wants to add maturity.
By olldflame
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#588504
A Sea of Red wrote: November 21st, 2019, 7:50 am It wasn’t necessarily his fault. His signing ceremony was at 2:30 and there were “compliance issues” which held up the release.
Well, I'm glad they were resolved. Poor guy has already been put through the wringer by the WPIAL. Moves back to his HOME DISTRICT for family reasons after playing the last 2 years for a private school, and they won't make an exception to the rule that says transfers can't play in post season. :roll:
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By Geraldos Mustache
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#593851
College recruiting is a mystery to me. How the scouts find talent, how they rank players, how they offer scholarships and more. There is a kid here at Aurora Christian (Aurora, IL) who dropped 110 points in two games over the weekend and is a high school senior. He's a 4-year varsity starter on a perennially good team. He's not been signed by anyone and very few offers have come in for him.

Here's the article with him scoring 56 points Friday night. He then scored 54 points the next night...
https://basketball.dailyherald.com/spor ... point-game

Chicago metro area is a hot bed for basketball talent. Perhaps back-to-back 50+ point games will raise his profile?
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By A Sea of Red
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#594848
I'd be shocked if we don't target a grad transfer big for the final scholly.

We know we have 4 starters for next season:
McGhee
Cuffee
Rode
Robinson

5th one is up in the air. It could be the grad transfer big and McGhee would run point or we slide Dobbs in at PG.
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By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#594850
A Sea of Red wrote: January 27th, 2020, 9:55 am I'd be shocked if we don't target a grad transfer big for the final scholly.

We know we have 4 starters for next season:
McGhee
Cuffee
Rode
Robinson

5th one is up in the air. It could be the grad transfer big and McGhee would run point or we slide Dobbs in at PG.
I think that we will be making every effort to bring in a 1 year grad transfer is pretty much set in stone, although Ritchie won't do it unless he finds someone that he firmly believes will be a 100% fit with the mission and culture.

Personally, I believe it's more likely to be a PG than a big. As it stands now, the only true PG on the roster next year would be a FR. Dobbs looks like a good one, but that's a lot to put on him, and what if he got hurt?

With Robinson, Rode, Preston, Maide and Newton returning and Abii coming in, I actually think the 4/5 positions are less of a need.
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By A Sea of Red
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#595862
oldflame wrote: February 14th, 2020, 10:52 am Especially encouraged by how well he rebounded, since he will almost certainly be playing the 3/4 for us next year and taking on some of Caleb's role.
You think so? I'm thinking he's more of a 2/3. I look for Abii, Rode, Robinson, Cuffee to fill up most of the 3/4 minutes.
By Chippy
Registration Days Posts
#595866
A Sea of Red wrote: February 14th, 2020, 11:14 am
oldflame wrote: February 14th, 2020, 10:52 am Especially encouraged by how well he rebounded, since he will almost certainly be playing the 3/4 for us next year and taking on some of Caleb's role.
You think so? I'm thinking he's more of a 2/3. I look for Abii, Rode, Robinson, Cuffee to fill up most of the 3/4 minutes.
Agree. Warfield may play 3 on occasion but neither he or Cuffee will play the 4. Rode and Robinson at the 4 and the 5 is TBD, not sure Preston is ready to start but he will probably get time there as will Robinson and Abii who is listed at 185 here and 225 on other sites?! Ideally it would be nice if we got a big in the grad transfer portal.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#595867
A Sea of Red wrote: February 14th, 2020, 11:14 am
oldflame wrote: February 14th, 2020, 10:52 am Especially encouraged by how well he rebounded, since he will almost certainly be playing the 3/4 for us next year and taking on some of Caleb's role.
You think so? I'm thinking he's more of a 2/3. I look for Abii, Rode, Robinson, Cuffee to fill up most of the 3/4 minutes.
It's going to be interesting. Where Warfield ends up getting his minutes could depend a lot on factors like whether Dobbs can step in and play major minutes at PG and what kind of player we can get in the grad transfer market. It's pretty obvious Ritchie doesn't have a lot of confidence in Preston yet, which would point to us continuing to go small, with Abii splitting time in the post with Robinson. I was mainly saying that Warfield being 6'5" now and a dominant rebounder at the HS level makes his getting backup minutes behind Rode at the 4 a viable option. Another big wild card could be Marten Maide, who is really good, and also capable of playing multiple positions.

This year and last have been amazing, and I believe Ritchie has done a fantastic job of lining up recruits who will be a great fit for both the system and culture, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking it's a done deal that they can step right in and replace our 4 Seniors from day 1. I'm cautiously optimistic, but expect we will take a bit of a step back, especially early in the year. In our favor is the fact that N Florida is taking every bit as big a hit from graduation as we are.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#595868
Chippy wrote: February 14th, 2020, 12:04 pm
A Sea of Red wrote: February 14th, 2020, 11:14 am
oldflame wrote: February 14th, 2020, 10:52 am Especially encouraged by how well he rebounded, since he will almost certainly be playing the 3/4 for us next year and taking on some of Caleb's role.
You think so? I'm thinking he's more of a 2/3. I look for Abii, Rode, Robinson, Cuffee to fill up most of the 3/4 minutes.
Agree. Warfield may play 3 on occasion but neither he or Cuffee will play the 4. Rode and Robinson at the 4 and the 5 is TBD, not sure Preston is ready to start but he will probably get time there as will Robinson and Abii who is listed at 185 here and 225 on other sites?! Ideally it would be nice if we got a big in the grad transfer portal.
Abii is listed at 225 on verbal commits, and I have heard he is bigger than that now. I see him as Myo version 2; a bit longer and leaner, but with a lot of the same skills. I personally will be surprised if we don't go the PG route with a possible grad transfer, but with Cuff being the only Senior on the roster, I think it's more important to Ritchie to get someone who will fit the culture and provide maturity and leadership. I'm becoming more and more convinced that he doesn't care if we ever have another true big man. It's all about positionless basketball (other than PG).
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By Tnobes
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#596116
I watched Drake Dobbs play Minnehaha Academy (my alma mater and where my three kids attend school now) last night. Minnehaha Academy has 3 or 4 highly recruited players including Jalen Suggs and 7 footer Chet Holmgren. Eden prairie came back after being down by 6 at the half and out scored Minnehaha 30 to 7 to win the game. Drake Dobbs looked good, the game wasn't too big for him, he looked poised at all times and not fazed by playing from behind in a hostile environment against big time recruits. I was impressed with Dobbs although he is a little short at 6'1" he has heart and composure and good decision making skills
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#596119
Tnobes wrote: February 20th, 2020, 12:18 am I watched Drake Dobbs play Minnehaha Academy (my alma mater and where my three kids attend school now) last night. Minnehaha Academy has 3 or 4 highly recruited players including Jalen Suggs and 7 footer Chet Holmgren. Eden prairie came back after being down by 6 at the half and out scored Minnehaha 30 to 7 to win the game. Drake Dobbs looked good, the game wasn't too big for him, he looked poised at all times and not fazed by playing from behind in a hostile environment against big time recruits. I was impressed with Dobbs although he is a little short at 6'1" he has heart and composure and good decision making skills
Dobbs is a great get for us. He should bring a lot of things to the table that we are losing with Georgie's graduation. His teammate John Henry (who has an offer from Radford) was hot, so he was content to be mostly a facilitator in this game.
He was AAU teammates with Suggs, Holmgren, and 6'11" 5 star Dawson Garcia on the D1 Minnessota team starting along with 2 5 star and 2 4 star players, and he ran the show like a well oiled machine.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#597307
Dobbs continues to impress.


I've been leaning toward us looking to sign a PG in the grad transfer market because generally speaking, the idea of plugging in a FR as your starting PG is scary. The more video I see of Dobbs, the less scared I am.
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