CJBL - Oklahoma State Cowboys

[Coffee Warlord]

2043, Day 3. Northern Colorado 71, OK State 60.

That's all anyone need know.

[Emmett13]

That is definitely about 10% payback for the beating you took in the CJBL tournament.

[Emmett13]

The next season starts in the next day or two, so it's time to get my team preview and my initial thoughts on the squad before we sim the games.

We'll start with my starting lineup for day 1, which is going to be a home game against UNLV.



PG: Tevin Ridder, 6'2", 205, Junior, Chaska, Minnesota



Super happy he's my point guard. Had to play a ton of minutes last year since we were stretched so thin with guard depth, so I certainly see him closer to 28-30 this year. But, he's an absolute top notch defender, as good as any defender in the nation at the point. He shot the ball very well from three last year, and rarely turns it over even if he's not the best passing PG. When it comes to CJBL tourney time, he's probably looking at a return to 32-34 minutes a game.

SG: Johni Tusha, 6'7", 190, Freshman, Deer Park, Texas


I was a little disappointed in Tusha after training camp, but I really shouldn't be since he does what I want him to do, very well. He's long, and a really solid defender. He's a lefty who can really shoot the three and should really space the floor for us. I promised him 28 mpg, and I aim to get him that. He'll probably see some time at the 3 as well.

SF: Ismael Green, 6'7", 205, Sophomore, Roseville, California



For his pedigree (#14 ranked HS recruit) he had an underwhelming season. He also was the 3rd or 4th option on the court in most lineups. I was underwhelmed by his progression, and he didn't improve in shooting like I was hoping he would. But, he's still a very valuable player for us. He's a good defender, will hopefully shoot a few points higher this year, and where I think he'll really be valuable for us, is I see him getting some time at the 4. It would allow us to be pretty switchy, and I think he could really be a floor spacer. He's a likely 30 mpg guy, and will probably go pro after the year is over.

PF: AJ Rushin, 6'10", 254, Senior, Katy, Texas



Our team captain is back and ready for his senior year. He's the same player he's been the last few years. He's a below average defender in the post, but is above average at just about every other aspect of basketball. He can shoot it, he's impactful on the glass and he's a really good passer for a big man. I played around with him initiating the offense from the high post, and it had mixed results. I'm sure I'll play with it again.

C: Isaac Lopez, 6'11", 245, Freshman, Woodlands, Texas


Lopez was the #3 recruit in last year's class, and he looks to step right into the large shoes of Marquese Henshaw. Lopez doesn't have the same game as Henshaw, who was a defensive oriented player. Lopez looks to be a major threat around the basket, and what I'm most excited about is his potential at drawing fouls and knocking down 85% or so of his free throws. He's a good defender, but not a great one. His rebounding is solid enough, but he's definitely more of a threat on the offensive glass than defensive. Early on, I plan to really feed him the ball and let him be the main guy and obviously I'll pivot away from that if it's too much for him.

Now our reserves:

I'm doing this by roughly who I think will play the most off the bench:

Garth Ludwig, 6'9", 245, Junior, New Orleans, Louisiana



Ludwig was really seeing himself as a marquee guy, and I thought there was a chance he'd transfer, but I'm super stoked to bring him back. He's just such a steady backup center to have. He's a really strong defender, who does good work on the glass despite his t-rexy wingspan. He's gotten better at finishing around the basket, which he has opportunities to do with his offensive rebounding abilities.

He's a poor passer, poor free throw shooter, and has no range to his game whatsoever. I do see the potential of a Ludwig/Lopez duo in the post being effective. Lopez isn't ideal at the 4, but he's got a little foot speed and probably handle it some.

Jahmel Goodlett, 6'3", 200, Freshman, Orem, Utah


Goodlett is an odd player. Undersized for a SG, especially with his 6'2" wing span, but he seems to have all the skills of being a rough and tumble grit and grind guard. He defends, he's a legitimate rebounder, and it looks like he can shoot the ball well. Right now, he just needs to defend, catch and shoot threes and help out on the glass. And I think he'll be in lineups where he just has to be a role player and could perform well.

Marquez Ahart, 6'5", 182, Senior, Jackson, Mississippi



I think Ahart is a wild card to really get a lot of minutes this year. He's probably the only other true SF on the roster besides Green. He defends very well, has some ball skills, and like Goodlett will be a producer on the glass. His size would be an obvious issue, but he has the skillset to handle some time at the 4 in a small lineup if need be. I really want to pressure the basketball this year, and a guy like Ahart should be able to go all out for 4-6 minute blocks of time.

Sinan Falls, 6'5", 204, Freshman, Hampton, Virginia


Falls is looking like the guy who will get the majority of the backup PG minutes, at least to start the season. He's rangy and defends, and looks like he'll be an adequate offensive PG. He's a strong athlete and just doesn't have too many weaknesses to the game, but no real standout strengths. I promised him 12 minutes, and that's going to be tough to reach I think, unless I toss him a few minutes at the 2 every once in a while.

Tykei Lipp, 6'4", 186, Senior, Kaukauna, Wisconsin



Lipp has had an odd career, walk-on turned transfer turned MAC journeyman. For a 10th or 11th guy, I'm pretty thrilled. Even though his ratings didn't back it up, his assist rate last year was incredible. But what I'm crazy about is that he's almost as good of a defender as Ridder, but is longer and a better athlete. Like Ahart, I'm really excited to have him as depth as it hopefully allows me to play very aggressively and to bring a guy like him when we are in foul trouble or something like that is a heck of a luxury. I think there's a world he steals the backup PG job from Falls.

Eros Zenga, 6'8", 231, Senior, Cologne, Germany



Zenga's probably had a frustrating time in Stillwater. He's gotten bench minutes in the non-conference games the last two years, and really played just fine and even had a few games where he was extremely productive in limited minutes. But, he just keeps getting passed up by recruits. He can guard the perimeter and the post, but pretty average at both. Rebounds, can shoot it, and passes it really well. I don't see him getting a ton of playing time, but if we are getting smoked on the glass consistently or something, he has the ability to play and be productive.

Naje Masters, 7'0", 245, Senior, Carmichael, California



My emergency senior post transfer for the '44 season. Masters isn't much. He's a legit defender but it goes down hill after that. Solid enough on the glass, but his offensive game is very limited. Worst of all is that he brings poor intangibles to the locker room, which is not advisable for a guy who won't play. Hopefully the other players and Aucoin's culture will keep him in check.


We have 3 walk ons, yet again, Jakoby Broadway, Marquis Evanochko, Jaret Fredricks. They won't play, they will be released after the season. I won't even tell you what position they play.

I'm really optimistic about this team. We have so much playable depth and I'm really interested to experiment with some extremely high pressure, aggressive defense and be confident when the inevitable foul trouble hits that we have a lot of really solid depth who play defense just as well as the guys they replace.

[Emmett13]

33-11 (16-6) - Elite Eight - 4 seed.

Another season in the bucket...or some vessel anyways. To put it bluntly, I am spoiled. Winning the championship a couple of seasons ago has turned me into a real complainasaurus. We had another season that all but 7 other teams would be jealous of, though.

As I'll detail throughout the post, this was just a flawed team with weak post defense that probably did do about as well as I could have hoped.

Let's look at some season results:


We ended up one game behind Kansas in the regular season, which was a heartbreaker. We led the standings for the majority of the conference season. Our road loss to Kansas State and home loss to BYU are killers in particular. If we win either one of those, we win the regular season championship, since we held the tiebreaker with Kansas.

We had some injury issues at the guard position late in non-conference which played no small part in our struggles right before conference play kicked in. We had some absolutely tremendous wins throughout the season and just ran into a buzzsaw in North Carolina who made a great run as a #7 seed.

Let's look at some team stats:



Like I said earlier, we just weren't good on defense. At times I ramped up the pressure, and I did have good success turning teams over, but I think my main issue all year long was how lackluster my post defense was. I tried to get away with playing our stud Freshman Lopez at the 5 all year, and he was competent but probably out of position. It didn't help that his partner in the paint, AJ Rushin, just isn't a good defender and never has been. Even their primary backup, Garth Ludwig, is more of a stationary post defender with his short arms.

So, I think we just got hammered around the basket all year long. Especially against tough teams with strong front lines. Lopez was incredible, but I do think I need to quit playing PF's at C. Especially if I'm sticking with grit and grind. I got away with it for two seasons with Henshaw, because I think he was just so good defensively he could adapt. Lopez is a really good defender, but he just didn't have the chops or physical strength that Henshaw did.

Let's look at someplayer stats



Let's take a quick look at each player:

Starters

PG JR Tevin Ridder - 30.9 mpg, 12.1 ppg, 5.7 apg, 1.75 spg, 51.5 FG%, 46 3FG%

Another year and another extremely solid performance from Ridder. He was lights out shooting the ball. He took a step forward in assists, and by all accounts is a tremendous defender. His nearly two steals a game led the team. He doesn't seem to be any kind of threat to go pro, and I see no reason he would transfer, and he's an absolute lock to come back and start his 4th and final year. With Rushin graduating, he seems the most likely candidate to take his spot as team captain.


SG FR Johni Tusha - 30.7 mpg, 11.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.22 spg, 42.7 FG%, 38.1 3FG%

Tusha was a bit all over the place, but ultimately had a solid season. He had a game winning put back in the 2nd round against Mississippi State, and several games where he was hot from three. But, as freshman are, he was pretty inconsistent. He did show out in the CJBL tournament, shooting 11-20 from 3 in 4 tourney games, and that includes an 0-4 egg in our elite 8 loss. I assume he'll return, and he'll head right back to his starting spot as his combination of shooting and length is too good not to play. He's got a 20 (out of 20) in work ethic, and I'm optimistic he'll have a great offseason.


SF SO Ismael Green - 32.1 mpg, 13.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.55 spg, 49.5 FG%, 45.3 3FG%

I'll keep this one short, as I'm fairly sure he's going to go pro. I was a bit disappointed in his offseason, but he just went out and improved in just about every aspect. Shot the ball really well, helped out on the glass some, created a little bit. He's borderline to go pro, but I'd wager on him leaving. If we can bring him back, we should have an absolutely nasty back court.

PF SR AJ Rushin - 30.4 mpg, 9.7 pgg, 6.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 46.2 FG%, 35.5 3FG%

I'll keep this shorter, since he'll get his own post later. Really skilled player, who never really popped like I thought he would. I was really happy with his passing this year, he was the 2nd leading assist man this year.

C FR Isaac Lopez - 28.8 mpg, 16.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.27 bpg, 55.8 FG%

An absolute stud and worthy of his lofty HS ranking. I probably played him out of position, but his scoring chops did just fine at the 5. Nice touch around the basket, and an absolutely tremendous free throw shooter at 86.2 % in 5.6 attempts a game. He's a shoe-in to go pro, and I think he'll be a top 10 pick, which would give us two in a row.

Bench

JR C Garth Ludwig - 17.8 mpg, 5.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 53.5 FG%

He's just steady and I dread if he's ever my starting center. He's been on the verge of transferring two years in a row, and he seems to have lofty expectations for his playing time and role. I think he could easily leave, but I hope that he doesn't. His intangibles are through the roof, and he's a strong rebounder who plays great position defense. He just doesn't have the physical size I'm looking for in a 5. I could do much worse for a backup center. But, I will be aggressively looking for a starter to keep him out of the starting lineup.

FR G Jahmel Goodlett - 14.2 mpg, 5.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg, .8 apg, 47.3 3FG%

Pretty happy with his freshman year. His shooting dropped off quite a bit in conference play, which shows how insane his start was shooting the ball. I was a little underwhelmed with his periphery stats, but I didn't let him do much more than shoot 3's anyway. His rebounding ratings are great for a guard, even if he's undersized with short arms, so I'm hoping as he matures that starts to show up some, because he was a complete non-factor on the glass this year. I promised him 12 minutes and he got 14, so he should come back.

SR G/F Marquez Ahart - 25 G, 7 GS, 12.7 ppg, 4.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 53.6 FG%

I'll detail him more in his senior post, but he was jerked in and out of the rotation, and even started at the 2 while Tusha was injured. He was solid when he played and had earned a spot back in the rotation by the time postseason came around, but he got hurt in the 1st round game and it knocked him out for the next games.

FR G Sinan Falls - 11.8 mpg, 3.1 ppg, 1.9 apg, 50.7 FG%, 28.6 3FG%

Promised him 12 minutes a game and ended up with 11.8. He had a late season injury, that kept him out until the 2nd round of the CJBL tournament, and I plugged him back into the rotation, and it's actually the reason he fell below 12.0 mpg.

Anyways, Falls showed a lot of potential as a playmaker and lead guard, and did a good job attacking the rim even if his three point shot never got going. I expect him to return and I think he'll make for a salty backup point guard who might see some time at the 2 with his size.

SR Tykei Lipp - 20 G, 6.4 mpg, 1.4 ppg, .7 apg

Got to play in a CJBL tournament game, if nothing else. I was very intrigued by him, but he just didn't get much of a chance. Will detail more.

SR PF Eros Zenga - 18 G, 5.4 mpg, 1.2 ppg, 1.2 rpg

The German import stuck around for 4 years and basically had the same season in 3 of them. Solid offensive player who could rebound, but just wasn't good enough defensively to get run. Will detail more.

SR C Naje Masters - 10 G, 2.6 mpg, 0.4 ppg, 0.7 rpg

My annual senior post. He wasn't much. Will detail more.

[Emmett13]

Large senior class this year, with 5 graduating this go-around.


AJ Rushin, Katy, Texas


Ranked #50 out of high school, AJ Rushin got a lot of run for me. I knew it going in that he was a bad defender, but I hoped that his offensive ability and at least being competitive on the glass would outweigh his deficiencies. And I think for the most part they did. He could shoot it a little, scored inside, a really good passer for a big man as well. He was the polar opposite of his predecessor at PF, Khadre Thurman, who was all defense with very little offensive skill. We'll have to find his replacement in the off season,and I'm leaning more towards a Thurman type.

After 20+ years of CJBL, Rushin finishes:

5th all time in points
2nd all time in rebounds
10th all time in assists


Eros Zenga, Cologne, Germany


Just never got a real chance in the rotation past non-conference play. In hindsight, it is odd that I took he and Rushin in the same class since they are very similar players with Zenga being just a tad bit worse at most things. He was a better rebounder and had better passing ratings. In fact, I'm now regretting not playing him more as his defense wasn't too much worse than Rushin's, but Zenga was a decent amount switchier. Oh well!


Marquez Ahart, Jackson, Mississippi


Had really impressive numbers at Jackson State, and he had some really impactful games for us as well. He actually got the starts at the 2 when Tusha got hurt, but we lost a few games and I got grumpy and he got sent to the deep bench. By the end of the season though, he was back in the rotation. He got hurt in the 1st round of the CJBL tournament which was a bummer. But, even though he couldn't shoot, he played good defense, helped on the glass and could get to the basket. A very good senior transfer.


Tykei Lipp, Kaukauna, Wisconsin


Never was given a ton of playing time, and didn't do anything to blow me out of the water when he did play. Most of his value certainly came on defense and some other un-quantifiable things, and it wasn't like he was horrendous at other things. But, probably over his head in the Big XII.


Naje Masters, Carmichael, California


A 'break in case of emergency' take in the transfer portal. Masters had great size and held his own defensively, even if the other parts of his game were atrocious. He did end up getting 9 minutes in our 2nd round CJBL win. So he'll always have that.

[Emmett13]

Since our move into the upper echelon of CJBL, a fact that we have to confront every season now is that we're going to lose guys to the JBL. 2 more go pro this season, which makes this the 3rd season in a row we've had two guys declare early.


Isaac Lopez, The Woodlands, Texas

Lopez was a stud from the word go. Solid scorer inside, gets fouled a lot and is a tremendous free throw shooter for a big man. This is probably the 4th time I've said this now, but I certainly did him a disservice playing him at the 5 so much. It caused him some foul issues, and I don't think he has the physicality to do that full time. Regardless, he was part of a really solid season and I anticipate him being a top 10 pick. Maybe even top 5, depending on what teams are needing.


Ismael Green, Roseville, California

I was really, really hoping he'd come back for one more season. Was just so efficient this year, shot the ball extremely well, and just really has no flaws to his game. He's ranked in the 30ish range, and there are always tons of talented wings in the draft, so I had some hope that he'd stick around for one more year. I think he'll be a mid to late 2nd round pick unless his combine pops off.

[Emmett13]

Just like the last few seasons, we'll have a lot of spots to fill.

Our roster going into the offseason looks like:

C: Garth Ludwig
PF: ???
SF: ???
SG: Johni Tusha, Jahmel Goodlett
PG: Tevin Ridder, Sinan Falls

I also cut the 3 walk-ons from last year and will go with a whole new group.

Our needs are obvious. Multiple post players, and hopefully brand new starters at the 4 and 5. I really don't like Ludwig as a 30 minute a game guy, but if it comes to that, I think the senior will be serviceable. There is a chance he transfers, since he's wanted to be a focal point for a while.

I do think potentially if we just strike out horribly in recruiting, I could move Tusha to the 3, and try Goodlett at the 2. But, I'd definitely prefer to get a true 3 that can do a lot of the things Green did for us.

With 8 spots to give, here are my top 5 hopes:

1. A stud anchor center to really improve our team defense.

2. A Khadre Thurman+ type at PF. I got away from a defensive identity, and I'd love to have a defensive oriented guy step into the 4 spot and give more shots to better offensive players.

3. A new SF. Hopefully one that provides great size and perimeter defense. If they can knock down a league average number of their three point attempts, even better.

4. My mythical 4/3 combo forward. Every year I look for a guy who can play both positions, but predictably everyone wants one of them and the competition for them is always off the charts. But, one of these years I'll get one. If I could find an Ismael Green who could truly play the 4 for 25 minutes a game, I'd be thrilled.

5. A Ridder replacement. I'm not sold on Falls being the PG of the future here, and I also don't like the idea of starting a true Freshman at PG if I can help it. Although Ridder was a true freshman when we won the championship...