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Post by bsucardinalfan on Dec 21, 2023 19:36:38 GMT -6
Meanwhile, Enrique Freeman, who was better than Sparks last year in EVERY statistical category is back at Akron and will be kicking our asses again this year. Also Jaylin Hunter, a similar level of player to Jaylin Sellers (less of a shooter, but a much better ball handler) is back at OU and will be kicking our asses again this year. Of course, OU and Akron exist in Magic Fairy Land where they don't face the disadvantages Lewis does. Our excuses are great and all, but...dang it....I would kinda like to see BSU contend for the MAC one of these years. For some people, loyalty triumphs over money. Those individuals, especially these days, are few and far between. Groce at Akron found Freeman in tryouts. Freeman probably feels a certain level of gratitude to the Akron coaching staff. I don't know the story behind Hunter at Ohio, but he may also feel a connection to the Ohio staff. The Akron and Ohio coaching staffs have both been a constant during the college careers of Freeman and Hunter, respectively. Sparks, Sellers, and even Coleman the first time were not recruited by Lewis. Let's wait until a Lewis recruit develops into a "hot property" and see how well he can retain his own. All this really tells me is freeman didn’t have an offer to get significantly more money somewhere else. If IU is going to pay sparks 100k or more more than we can, and he’s going to be a mop up player for them, I’m not going to fault our staff for losing him. Any of us would change jobs for a 100k raise. Sherman are you donating to an NIL fund or are you just going to keep posting without watching the games and pining for the days 35 years ago where we had 2 good seasons? |
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Post by williamtsherman on Dec 21, 2023 20:59:29 GMT -6
All this really tells me is freeman didn’t have an offer to get significantly more money somewhere else. Well DUH! Obviously he didn't. Groce is protected by the problems Lewis faces by Magic Fairy Dust. Everyone knows that. See my signature below. |
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Post by rmcalhoun on Dec 21, 2023 21:19:02 GMT -6
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Post by realitycheck on Dec 21, 2023 21:23:41 GMT -6
For some people, loyalty triumphs over money. Those individuals, especially these days, are few and far between. Groce at Akron found Freeman in tryouts. Freeman probably feels a certain level of gratitude to the Akron coaching staff. I don't know the story behind Hunter at Ohio, but he may also feel a connection to the Ohio staff. The Akron and Ohio coaching staffs have both been a constant during the college careers of Freeman and Hunter, respectively. Sparks, Sellers, and even Coleman the first time were not recruited by Lewis. Let's wait until a Lewis recruit develops into a "hot property" and see how well he can retain his own. All this really tells me is freeman didn’t have an offer to get significantly more money somewhere else. If IU is going to pay sparks 100k or more more than we can, and he’s going to be a mop up player for them, I’m not going to fault our staff for losing him. Any of us would change jobs for a 100k raise. Sherman are you donating to an NIL fund or are you just going to keep posting without watching the games and pining for the days 35 years ago where we had 2 good seasons? I think he’s pining for the days when we won the MAC Tournament and went to the NCAA seven times and the NIT twice. All of those were good seasons right? |
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Post by reevo on Dec 21, 2023 21:28:38 GMT -6
For some people, loyalty triumphs over money. Those individuals, especially these days, are few and far between. Groce at Akron found Freeman in tryouts. Freeman probably feels a certain level of gratitude to the Akron coaching staff. I don't know the story behind Hunter at Ohio, but he may also feel a connection to the Ohio staff. The Akron and Ohio coaching staffs have both been a constant during the college careers of Freeman and Hunter, respectively. Sparks, Sellers, and even Coleman the first time were not recruited by Lewis. Let's wait until a Lewis recruit develops into a "hot property" and see how well he can retain his own. All this really tells me is freeman didn’t have an offer to get significantly more money somewhere else. If IU is going to pay sparks 100k or more more than we can, and he’s going to be a mop up player for them, I’m not going to fault our staff for losing him. Any of us would change jobs for a 100k raise. Sherman are you donating to an NIL fund or are you just going to keep posting without watching the games and pining for the days 35 years ago where we had 2 good seasons? I think you better revisit Ball State Basketball history! We had a consistent run of either NIT or NCAA opportunities from 88-2002. Majerus, Hunsaker, Ray and Buckley all had magical seasons. 5 NCAA Appearances & 4 NIT appearances as well as a second place finish in the Maui Holliday Invitational with wins over #3 Ranked Kansas & #4 ranked UCLA and playing Duke and giving them all they wanted in the championship game. 15 years of very good, upper level Mid Major program that could play with anyone on a given night. Sherm might ornery, but he is not wrong. This program is a shell of what it could be. Hope Lewis is the answer. You want to be the best, you better find a way to get better quality players. That means you have to out recruit the mid major programs in the Midwest regardless of conference. |
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Post by JacksonStreetElite on Dec 21, 2023 21:29:03 GMT -6
All this really tells me is freeman didn’t have an offer to get significantly more money somewhere else. If IU is going to pay sparks 100k or more more than we can, and he’s going to be a mop up player for them, I’m not going to fault our staff for losing him. Any of us would change jobs for a 100k raise. Sherman are you donating to an NIL fund or are you just going to keep posting without watching the games and pining for the days 35 years ago where we had 2 good seasons? I think he’s pining for the days when we won the MAC Tournament and went to the NCAA seven times and the NIT twice. All of those were good seasons right? That happened? Did you have to decipher hieroglyphics to learn about that? |
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Post by bsucardinalfan on Dec 22, 2023 5:56:58 GMT -6
All this really tells me is freeman didn’t have an offer to get significantly more money somewhere else. If IU is going to pay sparks 100k or more more than we can, and he’s going to be a mop up player for them, I’m not going to fault our staff for losing him. Any of us would change jobs for a 100k raise. Sherman are you donating to an NIL fund or are you just going to keep posting without watching the games and pining for the days 35 years ago where we had 2 good seasons? I think he’s pining for the days when we won the MAC Tournament and went to the NCAA seven times and the NIT twice. All of those were good seasons right? Yes I exaggerated. Then again, virtually no current BSU student was alive in 2002. That is ancient history. It’s true we’ve been terrible since and hopefully we can get back to being a top mac team - but let’s be honest, even being the best team in the MAC now is not very impressive, seeing how far the conference has fallen. But let old guy keep not ever watching the games and just trashing the coaches and players - glad it keeps him busy. |
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Post by williamtsherman on Dec 22, 2023 8:19:05 GMT -6
It could be true that in 23 seasons of failing to come anywhere near contending for a MAC title, I might have become slightly impatient and sometimes express less than full satisfaction with the program. Just a personal failing on my part, I guess.
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Post by realitycheck on Dec 30, 2023 10:34:11 GMT -6
Saw that Sparks got the start against Kennesaw State. Ware was a scratch due to illness. Looks like Woodson considers Sparks as the backup center hence the start. 10 points, 8 boards and 4 blocks.
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Post by zonebuster on Dec 30, 2023 11:18:18 GMT -6
Saw that Sparks got the start against Kennesaw State. Ware was a scratch due to illness. Looks like Woodson considers Sparks as the backup center hence the start. 10 points, 8 boards and 4 blocks. He got that done in only 14 minutes of clock. Woodson said post-game that Kennesaw went with a smaller, quicker lineup early in 2nd half so he countered with Walker so they could switch on every pick. He was very happy with Sparks' play. Hope he can get his confidence back as they head into the Big Ten season. Sellers had a nice night last night leading UCF with 19 points. Went 3-6 on his 3's and 8-8 on FT's. |
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Post by rusty on Dec 30, 2023 13:00:58 GMT -6
Sparks played good and it’s great to see he’s not the bench warmer as many here seem to think. Sellers well he’s leading his team.
Just think if they both stayed?
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Post by rmcalhoun on Dec 30, 2023 13:41:34 GMT -6
Sparks played good and it’s great to see he’s not the bench warmer as many here seem to think. Sellers well he’s leading his team. Just think if they both stayed? but he is a bench warmer who got time against kenesaw state and started because IU had two guys out. |
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Post by universityjim on Dec 30, 2023 15:05:04 GMT -6
Sparks played good and it’s great to see he’s not the bench warmer as many here seem to think. Sellers well he’s leading his team. Just think if they both stayed? but he is a bench warmer who got time against kenesaw state and started because IU had two guys out. He's a bench warm whose most prominent strength is drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line, but he is a poor free throw shooter. This is an interesting thought, and I'm probably wrong, but we might be a better team without him. If he was a strong free throw shooter I would not be saying this. I'd assume we'd be starting Sparks and Jihad instead of Hendriks and Jihad so I'm probably wrong but it would most defiantly change the chemistry of this team and how it operates. Sparks passing out of the post was much better than Jihad or Hendriks. And we'd be deeper. |
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Post by CallingBS on Dec 30, 2023 17:19:37 GMT -6
but he is a bench warmer who got time against kenesaw state and started because IU had two guys out. He's a bench warm whose most prominent strength is drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line, but he is a poor free throw shooter. This is an interesting thought, and I'm probably wrong, but we might be a better team without him. If he was a strong free throw shooter I would not be saying this. I'd assume we'd be starting Sparks and Jihad instead of Hendriks and Jihad so I'm probably wrong but it would most defiantly change the chemistry of this team and how it operates. Sparks passing out of the post was much better than Jihad or Hendriks. And we'd be deeper. You're definitely wrong |
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Post by lmills72 on Dec 30, 2023 19:49:15 GMT -6
We would be better with Sparks, or Sellers, or Coleman.
But the guy we lost who would definitely make us a lot better is the guy we were never going to have this year, and that's Jacobs.
We could survive with our current interior guys if we had solid all-around guard play. Anderson does a decent jobs filling Seller's spot. But Jacobs is the guy we really miss.
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