(04-09-2018 06:46 PM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  I wonder which GCU guard will leave with Finke coming in. Guessing Aidoo. There’s only so many minutes and you only have so many years of eligibility to show your worth. Fifi didn’t get a lot of minutes this season.

I don't see the Finke kid coming in and playing right away and with DM not able to develop his players, it won't really matter. It's sad that Joshua Braun never improve during his career. He was the same player all five years he attended GCU. That is bad coaching by DM.

(04-10-2018 10:58 AM)FINALFOUR1970SWEETSIXTEEN1992 Wrote:  

(04-09-2018 06:46 PM)Raider_Lope Wrote:  I wonder which GCU guard will leave with Finke coming in. Guessing Aidoo. There’s only so many minutes and you only have so many years of eligibility to show your worth. Fifi didn’t get a lot of minutes this season.

I don't see the Finke kid coming in and playing right away and with DM not able to develop his players, it won't really matter. It's sad that Joshua Braun never improve during his career. He was the same player all five years he attended GCU. That is bad coaching by DM.

GCU's Alessandro Lever was named WAC Freshman of the Year as well as first team All-Conference. Majerle had this to say about Finke:

"I expect him to (start)," Majerle said. "I said, 'I never, ever promise anybody they're going to come in and be starting.' But one of the things we're going to need next year is to fill Josh Braun's spot. And I said, 'Tim, you could be that guy.' He has a great opportunity to come in and play a lot of minutes as a freshman."

"First of all, he's got good size at 6-6. He can really shoot the basketball," Majerle said. "He's got a great body. I think he's got a chance to really fill out when he gets to the weight room here. I love his work ethic ... his IQ. But mainly just the way he shoots the ball."


As Majerle showed with Lever, he can develop young players. If you can shoot, you will play and Finke should play right away. Majerle is not Brad Stevens or Coach K or Jay Wright, but he is a good coach. He has done a good job of recruiting and getting quality teams to play GCU at home and on the road. He should have a good team next season led by Lever and Frayer. He just need to show that he can take this team to the next level in 2018-2019.

Majerle covets shooting skill above all other attributes. In contrast, Jans covets the attributes which make a player a very good defender and rebounder... length, quickness, athleticism, high motor.

As impressive as Lever was offensively this season as a freshman, he is not a great rebounder for his size. Majerle will need to teach him better box out technique. And, his is a little slow footed on defense.

GCU did not match up well against NMSU because of team speed. Majerle will need to put a quicker team on the court if he wants to overtake NMSU next season. And, NMSU needs to get bigger and more skilled without losing any athleticism.

(04-10-2018 01:00 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  Majerle covets shooting skill above all other attributes. In contrast, Jans covets the attributes which make a player a very good defender and rebounder... length, quickness, athleticism, high motor.

As impressive as Lever was offensively this season as a freshman, he is not a great rebounder for his size. Majerle will need to teach him better box out technique. And, his is a little slow footed on defense.

GCU did not match up well against NMSU because of team speed. Majerle will need to put a quicker team on the court if he wants to overtake NMSU next season. And, NMSU needs to get bigger and more skilled without losing any athleticism.

GCU needs Oscar Frayer and Damari Milstead to step up next season. Frayer has the ability to be the best player in the conference, but he has to be consistent on offense. I agree, Lever needs to get better as a rebounder and Majerle likes his shooters.

Casey and Josh who are were the slowest guys that played a lot for GCU are gone so that should help GCU's court speed but GCU has only 8 scholarship players and one of the guys they felt they were going to land chose TAM to say home. Cant fault the kid Mitchell.

(04-10-2018 03:50 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  Casey and Josh who are were the slowest guys that played a lot for GCU are gone so that should help GCU's court speed but GCU has only 8 scholarship players and one of the guys they felt they were going to land chose TAM to say home. Cant fault the kid Mitchell.

Yes, Benson and Braun are gone and the two who are slated to replace them are definitely quicker. However "if" Majerle does start Damari Milstead (sophomore) at the point and Tim Finke (freshman) at the two, GCU will go through some growing pains early on because of their youth. Also, it remains to be seen who replaces Keonte Vernon; who did all the dirty work in the paint. I don't see another players like him (power & athleticism) on the Lopes roster. Majerle could start Roberts Blumbergs or Matt Jackson at power forward but GCU will lose some quickness (and lay the hammer down) in the paint. Majerle may need to look for another JC or grad transfer to fill that role. I just don't see the grit in this group that Majerle has been asking for to close out game. i.e. the "attitude" Aggie players Zach Lofton and Jemerrio possessed.

From what I read about Finke he sounds like Braun 2.0 which is not a good thing. A good shooter but not very athletic and injury prone like Braun. That Fifi kid to me was super talented and just needed to be coached up. However, bi-polar Majerle is not patient enough.

Kenny Strawbridge commits to UMKC. Originally recruited by Oklahoma, but then hurt his ankle and fell off the map. Don't know much about recruiting, but seemed like a nice add after the Isaiah Ross loss.

(04-11-2018 02:58 PM)RoosHouse Wrote:  Kenny Strawbridge commits to UMKC. Originally recruited by Oklahoma, but then hurt his ankle and fell off the map. Don't know much about recruiting, but seemed like a nice add after the Isaiah Ross loss.

Richardson appears to be a good regional recruiter. His main issue is to keep his talent on the UMKC team through their compete eligibility. Some of the players he has signed would have been all-WAC performers if they remained in a Roos uniform until graduation.

(04-11-2018 01:24 PM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  From what I read about Finke he sounds like Braun 2.0 which is not a good thing. A good shooter but not very athletic and injury prone like Braun. That Fifi kid to me was super talented and just needed to be coached up. However, bi-polar Majerle is not patient enough.

Injury prone? Joshua Braun had 4 knee surgeries before stepping on GCU's campus. Finke had an injury (singular; as in "one") that only required rehab (no surgery) to get him back to playing at a high level. Also not sure where your assessment of Finke being unathletic is coming from.

I know you despise Majerle and want nothing more than for GCU to fail, but can we at least have one conversation based in fact and reality rather than hatred and loathing?

NMSUs Gabe Hadley is transferring out of NMSU. 1st Aggie transfer.

I guess we can add Kortrijk Miles and Wayne Stewart to the list of NMSU players transferring. At the moment, I'm not too concerned. I think Jans is just tallying up his scholarships available in order to bring in some of the prospects he is currently recruiting.

D1 Transfer Additions to the WAC
Trey Drechsel (GCU)... 6'6... 205... GR... 14.9 ppg… 7.2 rpg… 3.9 apg… 32.1 3PT%... 36 threes… 61 career starts… Western Washington transfer
Jeremy Lieberman (CBU)... 6'1... 175... SR... 4.8 ppg… 2.0 rpg… 2.5 apg… 29.3 3PT%... 27 threes… 59 career starts... Wyoming transfer
Delante Jones (Seattle)... 6'5... 195... JR... 11.5 ppg… 3.4 rpg… 1.8 apg… 33.9 3PT%... 39 threes… 55 career starts… American transfer
C.J. Bobbitt (NMSU)... 6'7... 225... JR... 10.3 ppg… 4.8 rpg… 1.0 apg… 36.1 3PT%... 22 threes… 50 career starts… Denver transfer
Michael Finke (GCU)... 6'10... 230... GR... 9.8 ppg… 4.6 rpg… 1.1 apg… 30.9 3PT%... 29 threes… 49 career starts… Illinois transfer
Baylee Steele (UVU)... 6'11... 245... JR... 4.4 ppg… 4.1 rpg… 0.3 apg… 0.0 3PT%... 0 threes… 22 career starts… Eastern Michigan transfer
JoJo Zamora (NMSU)... 6'2... 175... SR... 6.9 ppg… 1.4 rpg… 1.1 apg… 36.0 3PT%... 32 threes… 20 career starts… Utah transfer
Zach Pirog (CBU)... 6'11... 225... SR... 2.9 ppg… 2.3 rpg… 0.1… apg… 0.0 3PT%... 0 threes… 20 career starts… UN Omaha transfer
Brandon Suggs (UMKC)... 6'8... 220... SO... 3.8 ppg… 3.5 rpg… 0.3 apg… 0.0 3PT%... 0 threes… 12 career starts… Bethune-Cookman transfer
Cavit Havsa (UVU)... 6'4... 160... Jr... 4.0 ppg… 1.6 rpg… 2.4 apg… 22.0 3PT%... 9 threes… 11 career starts… Fordham transfer (Redshirt 2018-19)
Brandon Averette (UVU)... 5'11... 175... JR... 5.2 ppg… 1.5 rpg… 1.8 apg… 45.5 3PT%... 10 threes… 1 career start… Oklahoma State transfer (Redshirt 2018-19)
Matt Owies (Seattle)... 6'0... 180... SO... 2.6 ppg… 0.9 rpg… 0.9 apg… 26.3 3PT%... 10 threes… 0 career starts… Hawaii transfer
Tyson Smith (UTRGV)...6'2 ....185... GR... 1.4 ppg… 1.0 rpg… 0.3 apg… 31.6 3PT%... 6 threes… 9 career starts… Loyola of Chicago transfer
Carlos Johnson (GCU)... 6'4... 220... JR... 5.9 ppg… 1.4 rpg… 0.2 apg… 33.3 3PT%... 2 threes… 4 career starts… Washington transfer (Redshirt 2018-19)
Solomon Hainne (UTRGV)… 6’6… 190… JR… 4.0 ppg… 2.0 rpg … 0.7 apg… 0.0 3PT%... 0 threes… 4 career starts… Evansville transfer
Isiah Brown (GCU)... 6'2... 174... JR... 3.9 ppg… 0.9 rpg… 1.2 apg… 26.9 3PT%... 7 threes… 2 career starts… Northwestern transfer (Redshirt 2018-19)
Michael Henn (CBU)... 6'8... 230... JR... 4.1 ppg… 1.6 rpg… 0.6 apg… 38.9 3PT%... 14 threes… 0 career starts… UC Davis transfer
Connor MacDougall (UVU)… 6’9… 240… GR… 4.0 ppg… 1.9 rpg… 0.1 apg… 0.0 3PT%... 0 threes… 0 career starts… New Mexico transfer
Dashawn McDowell (Seattle)... 6'5... 185... SO... 1.4 ppg… 1.0 rpg… 0.5 apg… 50.0 3PT%... 2 threes… 0 career starts… SMU transfer
Myles Carter (Seattle)... 6'9... 230... JR... 0.8 ppg… 1.4 rpg… 0.0 apg… 0.0 3PT%... 0 threes… 0 career starts… Seton Hall transfer
Danny Dixon (UMKC) ... 6'10... 230... JR... 1.5 ppg… 1.3 rpg… 1.1 apg… 0.0 3PT%... 0 threes… 0 career starts… George Mason transfer

(03-18-2018 09:43 PM)gleadley Wrote:  

(03-18-2018 02:44 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  Majerle has cleared his roster over the course of the season...

Kenzo Nudo, Boubacar Toure, Shaq Carr, and Kerwin Smith are all gone. It leaves a lot of room to bolster his roster.

I don't think the bleeding has stopped yet for GCU roster. Toure's scholarship was pulled last summer along with Matt Jackson's, but Jackson got it back 2nd semester (after Kenzo's departure). By my count, that leaves at least 5 open scholarships. Signing Tim Finke makes it 4. While I'd like to pretend I had any clue about where they go from here, it's really just hard to guess with the deep international recruiting. Nobody around GCU had heard of Lever or Blumbergs until they signed. I'm guessing we'll see a few JUCO and/or grad transfers, with more international sprinkled in.

I have been hearing some rumors about a mystery player coming out of Germany.

(05-17-2018 02:54 AM)ThunderDan49 Wrote:  

(03-18-2018 09:43 PM)gleadley Wrote:  

(03-18-2018 02:44 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  Majerle has cleared his roster over the course of the season...

Kenzo Nudo, Boubacar Toure, Shaq Carr, and Kerwin Smith are all gone. It leaves a lot of room to bolster his roster.

I don't think the bleeding has stopped yet for GCU roster. Toure's scholarship was pulled last summer along with Matt Jackson's, but Jackson got it back 2nd semester (after Kenzo's departure). By my count, that leaves at least 5 open scholarships. Signing Tim Finke makes it 4. While I'd like to pretend I had any clue about where they go from here, it's really just hard to guess with the deep international recruiting. Nobody around GCU had heard of Lever or Blumbergs until they signed. I'm guessing we'll see a few JUCO and/or grad transfers, with more international sprinkled in.

I have been hearing some rumors about a mystery player coming out of Germany.

Forgot about this post from March. GCU has since added a JUCO and 2 grad transfers, plus a couple sit one/play two transfers from high major programs. Also, speaking of departures, I noticed that Sankare and Allen (nonscholarship) were removed from 2018-19 roster last week. Would open up a scholarship for said International man of mystery. Hadn't heard about Germany, but i seem to remember seeing something online about a Lithuanian.

4th place finish, here we come this coming year! (GCU)

(05-18-2018 08:40 AM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  4th place finish, here we come this coming year! (GCU)

Yes, yes, we know you are the big fish in our little small WAC pond. We get it and the rest of us bow to Aggie dominance. As I have said several times, NMSU is #1 until somebody consistently knocks them off year after year.

...but what do objective national sportswriters know anyway? Amirite?

(05-19-2018 05:22 AM)gleadley Wrote:  ...but what do objective national sportswriters know anyway? Amirite?

The same national sports writers that picked GCU to win the WAC last year... amiright?;

(05-19-2018 11:36 AM)dancingNMSUaggie Wrote:  

(05-19-2018 05:22 AM)gleadley Wrote:  ...but what do objective national sportswriters know anyway? Amirite?

The same national sports writers that picked GCU to win the WAC last year... amiright?;

Not sure C.J. Moore, Aaron Torres and/or Chris Dortch had a preseason take on the WAC last year.