NCAAbbs

I stole this question from the KSU folks: Which newcomer will make the biggest impact for us next year?? And, who will be the most improved player for next year.

I think Sollazzo. With his size, basketball IQ, and the available playing time, I think he'll make an almost immediate impact. PG is the toughest position in basketball in my opinion, esp. as a true freshman, but I just think his size will create matchup nightmare for opposing teams.

I think Jones will be incredible, but he'll be playing behind CP and he is coming off of an injury.

Coy may take some time to develop and adjust to D1 ball.

Ward will be a nice role player and likely do some much needed dirty work underneath.

Most improved player...I think Micah Williams will bust out next season. Unless Mike Smith returns to his original form, I will be real tempted to move Micah up on the depth chart if not the starting lineup.

I also think Hamlin will shock a lot of people last year. There was not a more efficient player last year in terms of minutes played and production.

Don't forget about Isiah Brown. I think he could be big for us next year.

Long term I think it will be Jones(if he can return to the player he was pre injury he can become just like CP) but for next season I think it will be Sollazzo. ETSU hasn`t had a true PG(that wasn't a headcase) in how long? With teams focusing on Tiggs, CP, and Mike Smith, Sollazzo should be able to pick his spots and tear teams apart.

Most improved is tough to predict, I hope it is Mike Smith. With all the expectation based on his freshman season I think was our most dissipointing player last year, hopefully he turns it around and becomes the most improved. We need that 3rd guy to help carry the scoring load.

I was surprised that Smith didn't play better for ya'll last year. He is a hard-nosed player. I think he will have a bounce back year for you. I would temper the expectations on a freshman PG though. You will definitely need him to come up big in order for you to have a great season, but I wouldn't expect good to great play from him until atleast Christmas. College basketball is so much faster than high school basketball. A combination of factors make it very difficult at first for freshman PGs: Learning new plays, learning teammates tendencies, shot clock, crowd pressure, being the youngest person on the court as far as physical development.

I think one of you big men (Brown very possibly) is going to make the biggest impact, as that is your greatest need. CP can go to PG if you need him to, but you are going to need minutes from one of your new big men.

I'd have to guess it will be Drew Hanlen at Belmont.

Most improved: Hamlin. I believe he'll be an Eryk Thomas type player for the Bucs, which probably means the middle school mentality A-Sun office will screw him out of defensive POTY. True newcomer I think will be Seth Coy, and here's why. His impact probably won't show up on stat sheets in terms of PPG, it'll be the amount of space he takes up underneath defensively. He'll create some matchup issues for other teams, and his size will be a much needed presence.
On the true PG note, we had one in Dequan Twilley, too bad he couldn't keep his head on straight, we also had the player that Pitt idolized in Sam Oatman.

I could see Hamlin becoming a Thomas-esque player. I also think that Hamlin was further along his junior year than was Thomas. ET was a non-factor for the most part during his junior season.

You might be right about Coy. I think one of the biggest things working in Coy's favor is that he's played alongside one of the best big men in America for 4 years. He may never play against or with someone is good as Zeller during his collegiate career. Zeller is a future NBA player.

Oh there's no doubt that Sollazzo is going to be up against it from the very start. What I think will help and tone down some the learning curve is that we really don't run a very structured or complex offense, if he can pick up the primary and secondary fast break plays he'll have half the battle won already. The chemistry factor is what might take the longest for him to pick up. I think Jacoby Davis will probably start at the beginning of the season, but I fully expect Sollazzo to take over at some point this season. Its not without precedent at ETSU for a freshman to come in a contribute right away at the PG, most recently Dequan Twilley started and contributed from the 1st of the year, but like you say it took till the Dec 30th game against Tennessee for everything to fall into place.

I'd like to see Tiggs improve

I hope that I'm dead wrong but I think Tiggs is as developed athletically as he'll ever be, but maybe he can improve as a player somewhat. I really hope I'm right about Coy and Hamlin, there's potential to really cause A-Sun teams some problems.

Tiggs suffers from the same problem that Timmy had...he can only go in one direction.

Tiggs could improve himself quite a bit if he would work on his ball handling skills. Belmont exploited that weakness in his game.

I think Coy is a work in progress, he's a big body so he`ll play based on that alone, but me personally I'm not counting on much contribution from him early in his career at ETSU. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but he screams project to me.

You're exactly right. He shouldn't be expected to be the answer for us in the paint or the go-to guy. However, I think he will play an important role. Based on the youtube clip I saw of him, he has good hands, a nice shot around the basket, and can run the floor.

I changed my avatar to give the kid some props!

And that's what I meant by saying his contributions may not show up on the stat sheets, but he'll make a difference in the team. My hope is though that Isiah Brown really comes around. This team desperately needs a Jerald Fields/Dillion Sneed type, i.e. a 6'6-6'8 house that can get down low and just be a banger.

Things is both Dillion and Fields had wider bodies than Brown and they had an offensive skill set on the low block. Brown is a lot like Hamlin, good athlete that will give you some put backs, and catch some ally hoops, but neither one has an offensive skill set like Dillion or Fields.

I remember Jay saying during a broadcast last season that Brown struggles with his shooting, and has been working overtime to improve. We do have a scholarship left, maybe it could be used on a Fields type player? Dillion wasn't the best offensive player in the world, but he was serviceable at this level.

Sneed wasn't even starting by the end of his Senior season. So are folks saying that what they really want is a big man that can come off the bench?

Sneed wasn't starting because he wasn`t good, it was Bartow's "some players do better when they come off the bench" We did the same thing with both CP and Dequan Twilley.

You must have watched different games than I. Sneed wasn't starting because he couldn't play defense without getting into foul trouble; hence he became a "spot/situation" player. Nothing at all wrong with a role player such as Sneed. I'm am just trying to understand if folks are truly wanting a role player like Sneed.

Fields and Sneed are as different as daylight and dark, yet folks seem to be somewhat equating them.

Good points. Fields and Sneed were alike in stature only. Fields was far more versatile. Looking back, Fields was a lot better than I gave him credit for at the time. Sneed was a monster on the boards, but was limited in every other way. Initially, he was used as the go-to guy, but that simply wasn't where he was effective. He was most effective during specific situations, namely when we needed a damn rebound.

In terms of what we need, I'd rather us sign a true back-to-the-basket player. Hamlin and Brown are very similar in terms of their offensive games. They'll get putbacks, but they're not the kind of players who we're going to post up. Opposing teams will know this and capitalize on this limitation. Coy may develop into an effective post-up man, but I'm not sure it'll be this upcoming season. If we could sign someone who plays with his back to the basket, I think we would be less of one-dimensional team that tries to 'out-athlete' everyone.

Thanks, that helps me understand.

They had different offensive skillsets, but both were bangers underneath. Fields wasn't afraid to clear the lane, and neither was Sneed. Dillion got alot of fouls called that were garbage, especially his senior year.