RawleArenas wrote: ↑Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:03 am
In regards to recruiting, I've gone on the record saying that Lloyd has been extremely disappointing. Bruce Pascoe said that Lloyd is waiting till after the season to push the gas pedal, after he determines which players are staying. I have not heard anything from Lloyd on this, but I'm almost certain that he understands how serious the stakes are, so we'll see.
To be fair, one thing people miss out on this team is not that they're just talented, but they are the sum of Miller's maturity as a coach. Everything that Miller learned about program building, roster management, and juggling egos was put into last years team. I mean if we had both Brown's and Batcho frorm last year, even without Akinjo, this team would have been downright menacing. I've made this point in previous posts, but Miller got to the point that he was able to put together championship rosters in one year, a skill 99 percent of coaches don't have. That being said, I am excited to see that Lloyd was able to take Miller's value meal of international players and supersize it. It's been a joy to watch. It feels bad to say this, but it almost makes you think that if Miller was Lloyd's recruiting coordinator, UofA would be unstoppable for years to come. Lloyd's systems and Miller's scouting/recruiting go together like peanut butter and jelly.
This team reminds me of the 2001 squad. I remember in the Final Four against Michigan where Jim Nantz said that you could almost make the case that every player in the starting five could earn player of the game honors. Billy Packer followed by stating that's the reason why they were going to play in the national championship. You get the feeling from watching them play that this team has a similar ceiling. Every player in the rotation has the ability to be a gamechanger. If we play the way we're capable of we have a strong chance to be the #1 overall seed. Even Zag fans are worried about the possibility.
Comparing this team to 01 and it’s almost a wash.
Gardner v Kerr - gotta give advantage Gardner dude was such a good defender for his size and NEVER got tired.
Benn v Gil - i would say Benn (we are only talking AT UA for the one year. Benn is legit a NPOY candidate and I’m not sure Gil was even the best player on the team (Gil could have nights though where the ceiling was just as high)
RJ v Terry - i love Terry but RJ is the answer here all day. They are close in D but RJ was a much more potent scorer even if Terry does a little bit more of everything than RJ did.
Wright v Tubelis - this one is tough. In todays game I’d rather have Tubelis as we don’t need a high/low post game w two guys in the paint always like we had w Woods and Wright but Wright was our most consistent threat in 01. He’s the guy we went to w two Collins twins draped all over him in the final moments. For each team , I’d call this a push, maybe slightest of edges to Tubelis.
Woods v C-Lo - another tough one. I’d prob lean slightly to Woods as he really did take over the title game and keep us in it and he had a few double digit block games, which C-Lo can’t quite say he has. This one is very close as well.
Bench - maybe this is recency bias after last night but i think this bench mob is better than 01 by a decent margin. I loved Walton but Anderson RS that year and Edgerson was a banger but basically he, wessel, Frazier and Hanour were just bodies to steal a few minutes for the starters to rest. Our bench this year legit has 3 guys who can give u double digit points on any given night. And Kier is a well rounded bucket getter.
So you add it up and I’d give PG and C slightly to 01, SF decently to 01; but PF and SG slightly to 21, and bench decently to 21. Pretty equal teams in terms of talent imo.
