Team Leadership

[TU_BLA]

Does anyone think that Igbanu is not the clear leader of this team and not either of the 2 seniors? Igbanu is the one to settle players down after a call or non-call, he's the one to settle Haith down, like last night, he's trying to get Haith back on the bench. To me, it's clear the other players on the team look to him to be the leader on and off the court. I don't know if that is troubling since you've got Taplin who has been on the team for 4 years and the only one to go to an NCAA tournament, and Jeffries, may be the best overall player on the team. But I know what I am getting from Igbanu every single game and he's not going to make stupid mistakes or put his team in trouble by getting over emotional.

Discuss....

 

[mcane]

Taplin seems to have lost confidence or a step. His drive to the bucket last night and his corner 3 were encouraging. TU needs at least 10 points out of Taplin to play at a high level.

 

[URedskin54]

Igbanu, Joiner, and Horne seem like the clear leaders to me. I'm less concerned about a drop off next year than a lot of people are

 

[GoldenCaneKC]

Igbanu, Joiner, and Horne seem like the clear leaders to me. I'm less concerned about a drop off next year than a lot of people are

I think you’re right and that we’ll be fine next year from a leadership perspective. The drop off I’m worried about is a talent drop off. Taplin and Jeffries are both talented, key players for our squad. Theoretically Hill can come in and fill Taplin’s void (but you never know with freshmen), but I’m more concerned about who replaces Jeffries’ production.

 

[URedskin54]

I think you’re right and that we’ll be fine next year from a leadership perspective. The drop off I’m worried about is a talent drop off. Taplin and Jeffries are both talented, key players for our squad. Theoretically Hill can come in and fill Taplin’s void (but you never know with freshmen), but I’m more concerned about who replaces Jeffries’ production.

At the beginning of the year I definitely would have agreed with this. Taplin is easily my favorite player on the team and it seemed to me like he just made everything work for our offense. But this year we've managed to play well even when he isn't, and he hasn't really played well in over a month. I think maybe he's been injured, and if he turns it on for the rest of the season we can be REALLY good, but he hasn't been as vital to our success as I thought he would be.

 

[Bill Lowery]

I think you’re right and that we’ll be fine next year from a leadership perspective. The drop off I’m worried about is a talent drop off. Taplin and Jeffries are both talented, key players for our squad. Theoretically Hill can come in and fill Taplin’s void (but you never know with freshmen), but I’m more concerned about who replaces Jeffries’ production.

Don’t forget about Reggie Jones. While not the athlete Jeffries is (who is?) he’s 6-6, athletic and can score. Will give us another threat from the wing.

 

[GoldenCaneKC]

Don’t forget about Reggie Jones. While not the athlete Jeffries is (who is?) he’s 6-6, athletic and can score. Will give us another threat from the wing.

I did forget about him. Don’t know anything about him really, but hopefully he will step in and contribute.

 

[Weatherdemon]

I did forget about him. Don’t know anything about him really, but hopefully he will step in and contribute.

Is he the dude in the dreads on the bench?

 

[Bill Lowery]

QUOTE="Weatherdemon, post: 244805, member: 52"]Is he the dude in the dreads on the bench?[/QUOTE]

Walkon Lindsey DeLine has dreads in his roster pic. Jones doesn’t in his roster pic—around 6-6. DeLine is much shorter.

 

[TU_BLA]

Igbanu, Joiner, and Horne seem like the clear leaders to me. I'm less concerned about a drop off next year than a lot of people are

I think they each lead in different ways. Igbanu is the guy everyone respects and the one you want in your corner. He’s the one the others listen to when he is saying something. Joiner may be the emotional leader, he’s the hype guy and he’s going to give you 110% all the time. I think Horne is a little different. He’s probably the most gifted player in terms of basketball skill and that’s something teammates understand but he needs to step up and tell Scott to keep his head up and find the open man. Igbanu can say that and Scott will nod. Not sure Horne is in that place yet.

Jeffries and Taplin should be those guys for this team but they often wallow in their own struggles on the court that it prevents them from being those leaders.

 

[seniorgolfer]

Igbanu, Joiner, and Horne seem like the clear leaders to me. I'm less concerned
about a drop off next year than a lot of people are

Yes, and you can probably add our PG recruit (Hill) from Ca. to that group...How-
ever, that's when it starts getting dicey....Someone mentioned one of Woj's teams
had two NBAers on the floor, but because they had to play Bishop at one wing,
the team was not all that great.....Plus, taking a quick look at our returning roster,
I don't see anyone like Horne coming off the bench, like we have this year.....
P.S. I also forgot about Reggie Jones, the red shirt transfer....Let's hope he is
a substantial part of the answer there....

It will be critical for us to find at least one 'big' in this 2019 recruiting class, and
barring substantial development from Barnes and/or Jackson, we actually need
another guard.....

Depth, speed, and experienced basketball savvy might turn up as issues....Let's
all hope some unexpectedly great recruiting/player development things happen
between now and next season......

The competitive level in the AAC is such that you can't put less than really good
players on the floor and expect to compete successfully.....