barsad said:
MilleniaBear said:
I just looked at the Nov/Dec boxscores for the 24/25 season and Blacksher played solidly. He dropped off significantly (at least offensively) when we reached conference play - as will happen when your non conference
opponents are weaker than your conference opponents. The real turning point was the Pitt game where Blacksher put up a goose egg and JW got 24 in relief.
Madsen is a good coach, but not infallible, we should be honest when he makes mistakes. Blacksher was a bust and we would have had a better record in 24-25 if JW had been unleashed. Look at the game logs, JW didn't even get past 30 min in a game until Jan 22, that means he only was a true "starter" for 14 out of 32 games. Just want to make sure Madsen doesn't make that mistake again.
It appears Madsen has shifted his preference for guards with respect to size and experience. Before, he was landing smaller guards from mid-majors. Cone from NAU, Blacksher from Grand Canyon. This hasn't worked for P4 level competition.
Since then he's only added 1 guard shorter than 6'2, TT Carr, who has already moved on. The guards that he's added this offseason are 6'3, 6'3, 6/5 etc. He's also prioritizing P4 experience. Cooper is the only transfer that's coming from a lower level.
I've never been a fan of smaller guards. Too much of a defensive liability. But, it just so happens we have one of the best small guards to ever play college basketball. : )