Portal season (Abson, Spillers, etc)

[AppSt94]

Marsh leaving is a good thing.

Was he a problem? Not happy with minutes I assume?

He was a PG, a Freshman PG at that, and led the team in shots taken per minute played. He put up .46 shots per minutes played. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but the next highest was .37. Gregory was .33 per minute for comparison. Many of them ill advised. That’s not what you need from your PG. My understanding is that he didn’t want to be a PG rather a SG and you can’t be a 5’9” SG in Division 1 basketball.

He was what my generation called a “gun bunny”.

He also scored more per minute than anyone else. Well, he's still a D1 basketball player, what position is he going to play at UNCA?

I don't feel like we are at a luxury where we can run good players off because they don't play within a system, even though from the stands it looks like he was doing his job; get us back in the game and score. Everyone takes bad shots, not just Marsh. Marsh single handedly won us some games last year.
Kerns is a good coach that seems to be set in his ways. That way might run some players off and might keep some others. Just one of the many reasons kids will enter the portal. Here's to hoping this doesn't become a trend.

I guess we can disagree on what a good player is. Players that don’t want to run the system are not good teammates and that is a problem. Those problems manifest themselves over time. If you have 12 guys rowing the boat in the direction that the coaches want it to go and that one guy is doing his own thing then he needs to be overboarded. Either by the coach or his teammates. Winning creates a lot of blind spots for fans as was noted ad nauseum over the last two years in the football threads.

I’ll put in terms that you can relate. The player that leaves the box and loaves down the 1st base on a weak grounder is going to get benched to send a message to him and his teammates with the hope that the message is received. If it isn’t and it gets allowed then everyone else loses respect for the Coach as well as the player.

[AppinVA]

Was he a problem? Not happy with minutes I assume?

He was a PG, a Freshman PG at that, and led the team in shots taken per minute played. He put up .46 shots per minutes played. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but the next highest was .37. Gregory was .33 per minute for comparison. Many of them ill advised. That’s not what you need from your PG. My understanding is that he didn’t want to be a PG rather a SG and you can’t be a 5’9” SG in Division 1 basketball.

He was what my generation called a “gun bunny”.

He also scored more per minute than anyone else. Well, he's still a D1 basketball player, what position is he going to play at UNCA?

I don't feel like we are at a luxury where we can run good players off because they don't play within a system, even though from the stands it looks like he was doing his job; get us back in the game and score. Everyone takes bad shots, not just Marsh. Marsh single handedly won us some games last year.
Kerns is a good coach that seems to be set in his ways. That way might run some players off and might keep some others. Just one of the many reasons kids will enter the portal. Here's to hoping this doesn't become a trend.

I guess we can disagree on what a good player is. Players that don’t want to run the system are not good teammates and that is a problem. Those problems manifest themselves over time. If you have 12 guys rowing the boat in the direction that the coaches want it to go and that one guy is doing his own thing then he needs to be overboarded. Either by the coach or his teammates. Winning creates a lot of blind spots for fans as was noted ad nauseum over the last two years in the football threads.

I’ll put in terms that you can relate. The player that leaves the box and loaves down the 1st base on a weak grounder is going to get benched to send a message to him and his teammates with the hope that the message is received. If it isn’t and it gets allowed then everyone else loses respect for the Coach as well as the player.

One of those kids is doing his own thing? I blame Sesame Street. We need to go back to “one of these kids doesn’t belong here.” That’s life.

[Stonewall]

Mantis to Maine.

[DenverOfTheEast]

Marsh leaving is a good thing.

Was he a problem? Not happy with minutes I assume?

He was a PG, a Freshman PG at that, and led the team in shots taken per minute played. He put up .46 shots per minutes played. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but the next highest was .37. Gregory was .33 per minute for comparison. Many of them ill advised. That’s not what you need from your PG. My understanding is that he didn’t want to be a PG rather a SG and you can’t be a 5’9” SG in Division 1 basketball.

He was what my generation called a “gun bunny”.

He also scored more per minute than anyone else. Well, he's still a D1 basketball player, what position is he going to play at UNCA?

Center!!!!!!

[DenverOfTheEast]

Mantis to Maine.

This blows my mind -- kid has 1 year to play, from Indiana and going to go to Maine.... Why Why Why? Where will his degree be from App or Maine? No Indiana school wanted this kid???

Mantias, Harcum, Brown and Marsh leaving makes 0 sense unless there is something more that we do not know.

Basically Mantias for Threadgill was the shooter trade this off season.

[AppinVA]

Mantis to Maine.

This blows my mind -- kid has 1 year to play, from Indiana and going to go to Maine.... Why Why Why? Where will his degree be from App or Maine? No Indiana school wanted this kid???

Mantias, Harcum, Brown and Marsh leaving makes 0 sense unless there is something more that we do not know.

Basically Mantias for Threadgill was the shooter trade this off season.

I’m surprised he got a D-I landing spot.

[311neers]

Mantis to Maine.

This blows my mind -- kid has 1 year to play, from Indiana and going to go to Maine.... Why Why Why? Where will his degree be from App or Maine? No Indiana school wanted this kid???

Mantias, Harcum, Brown and Marsh leaving makes 0 sense unless there is something more that we do not know.

Basically Mantias for Threadgill was the shooter trade this off season.

We know why Marsh left.

[Stonewall]

As well as the others.

[AppSt94]

Mantis to Maine.

This blows my mind -- kid has 1 year to play, from Indiana and going to go to Maine.... Why Why Why? Where will his degree be from App or Maine? No Indiana school wanted this kid???

Mantias, Harcum, Brown and Marsh leaving makes 0 sense unless there is something more that we do not know.

Basically Mantias for Threadgill was the shooter trade this off season.

Mantis was a liability as an on the ball defender. He couldn’t work to get his shot off and he was the ultimate streaky shooter. When he was on he was on but when he had to think about what he was doing, he was done.

[Saint3333]

I’m glad we can be candid about these players now that they’ve transferred.

[AppStFan1]

I’m glad we can be candid about these players now that they’ve transferred.

I know it is funny. I do remember people talking about Mantis during the season. Like Appst94 said, he was either on or done and honestly he was so streaky that I always cringed when he shot late in the season. He had his moments, and I appreciate them, but there was not a ton of them. I trust Kerns knows what he is doing and if we can get Huntley back along with some impact players from the portal who have experience then we should be okay.

[Rekdiver]

Welll....what ever happens in this crazy NIL Wild West Portal to another dimension...Im just along for the ride............

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

At least none of our guys went to a conference foe. Spillers to Wake probably will hurt the most, but most of us will forget about everyone else once the season starts. Abson was effective his freshman year as well as Marsh this season. Kerns has found guys ready to contribute immediately. Hopefully he lands 2 or 3 in this class of 7. Still would like to get a transfer big.

[Rekdiver]

We need to head to Europe!

[DenverOfTheEast]

At least none of our guys went to a conference foe. Spillers to Wake probably will hurt the most, but most of us will forget about everyone else once the season starts. Abson was effective his freshman year as well as Marsh this season. Kerns has found guys ready to contribute immediately. Hopefully he lands 2 or 3 in this class of 7. Still would like to get a transfer big.

Name and show data/stats that back this up. Like show double figure stats, not a role player off the bench stats please.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

At least none of our guys went to a conference foe. Spillers to Wake probably will hurt the most, but most of us will forget about everyone else once the season starts. Abson was effective his freshman year as well as Marsh this season. Kerns has found guys ready to contribute immediately. Hopefully he lands 2 or 3 in this class of 7. Still would like to get a transfer big.

Name and show data/stats that back this up. Like show double figure stats, not a role player off the bench stats please.

Abson two years ago and Marsh this past year. They both contributed immediately as freshmen. You can look up the stats if it’s important to you, but don’t think it’s necessary if you’ve watched all the games the past two seasons.

[T-Dog]

I’m glad we can be candid about these players now that they’ve transferred.

Or that coaches are leaking out info once players announce they're leaving.

[AppSt94]

As this was likely addressed to me in the routine passive aggressive fashion, I will opine. My assessment of Mantis’ abilities are my own and shared with the guy that sits next to me at games. Haven’t spoken to any coaches about Mantis.

My comments on Marsh were based on a conversation with Kerns in which there was no “leak of information”. I asked why Marsh didn’t seem to play much in the second half against Wake after seemingly being the catalyst for the first half comeback. Kerns comments were very coach speak esque and did not disparage the kid’s character or abilities. He simply spoke facts and said you have to put the guys on the floor that you can trust. Marsh took more shots per minute than anyone on the team which is true. He took ill advised shots and shots outside of the game plan. Again, also true. This didn’t sit well with the more veteran teammates, which would be understandable.

All of this came from an interaction in a public setting and none of it was asked to be kept confidential and nothing he said couldn’t be gleaned from a stat sheet or watching a game.

[Stonewall]

The Portal taketh away and the portal giveth… BIG MAN INCOMING !

[app97]

The Portal taketh away and the portal giveth… BIG MAN INCOMING !

quick glance at a few highlights. Same size as Abson, but he can also shoot from deep.