2023 College Basketball Transfer Portal

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Originally Posted by Masterofreality

IÂ’m not sure that desperately needing a combo guard and only having like 2 months to find one LAST year (plus inheriting a guy on your roster) has anything at all to do with ANYTHING that Sean wants to do THIS year and going forward?

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That's an interesting reminder. This year is the first year when Miller is not constrained by the two factors you mentioned; time and current roster. I wonder how he views this roster post transfer portal. Did he get the players he really wanted? Does he believe we have the capacity needed to compete at the highest level of the B.E.?

My two biggest questions are the quality of our BIGS, especially if Free is not able to return to last year's form and whether or not we have enough three-point shooting capacity. My read on the new P.G. from WKU (which came from info. on this board) is that he isn't particularly strong from outside the arc. Des and Hunter will need to improve dramatically over the summer and if they don't, we are left with Olivari and Craft with possibly Green added to the mix. One thing I loved about Kunkel is that he had the brass balls to take that shot no matter what point we were in the game. If he was open, it was going up. Hope we can replace both his talent and his spirit.

I have a lot of confidence in Miller to meld these players into a team but I'm not confident we have the roster we need to achieve B.E, championship or Final Four status and after all, that's what we all expect from Miller at some point. Not disappointed in the roster but I just don't know.

Interested in how others view the roster.

Many recruiting sites have said that Hunter is the BEST shooter in the country in his class. I have hopes that he lives up to that and is able to get his shot off against taller players. Something that he has going for him is that he doesn’t completely rely on his outside shot to score, he is also able to drive the ball to the basket. I do expect Claude to be much improved as a scorer too.

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Originally Posted by XUGRAD80

Many recruiting sites have said that Hunter is the BEST shooter in the country in his class. I have hopes that he lives up to that and is able to get his shot off against taller players. Something that he has going for him is that he doesn’t completely rely on his outside shot to score, he is also able to drive the ball to the basket. I do expect Claude to be much improved as a scorer too.

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Typo? Hunter best shooter? Assuming you mean Trey Green. For all the other stuff, heard the same.

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Originally Posted by noteggs

Typo? Hunter best shooter? Assuming you mean Trey Green. For all the other stuff, heard the same.

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My eyebrows raised a bit too. Gotta imagine you are right about him being mistaken as Green was indeed talked about as being the best shooter in his class.

I think Miller offense is going to be consistently low in 3 point attempts (but high in %made). Honestly think of Texas guards actually- X guards will excel at killing you in that mid range game. Offense built around attacking the hoop at all times while rotating and screening to look for lanes. Eventually it opens clean looks from 3 but not the emphasis.

All that to say, shooting isn’t a huge concern. And I think the transfer era will hurt all time legacies, because I legit think Green could have been on Holloway level for X. Have high hopes for him but do think you lose some ceiling by not starting early and taking the lumps that could come from it.

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Originally Posted by Jumpin_Jamal_Forever

That's an interesting reminder. This year is the first year when Miller is not constrained by the two factors you mentioned; time and current roster. I wonder how he views this roster post transfer portal. Did he get the players he really wanted? Does he believe we have the capacity needed to compete at the highest level of the B.E.?

My two biggest questions are the quality of our BIGS, especially if Free is not able to return to last year's form and whether or not we have enough three-point shooting capacity. My read on the new P.G. from WKU (which came from info. on this board) is that he isn't particularly strong from outside the arc. Des and Hunter will need to improve dramatically over the summer and if they don't, we are left with Olivari and Craft with possibly Green added to the mix. One thing I loved about Kunkel is that he had the brass balls to take that shot no matter what point we were in the game. If he was open, it was going up. Hope we can replace both his talent and his spirit.

I have a lot of confidence in Miller to meld these players into a team but I'm not confident we have the roster we need to achieve B.E, championship or Final Four status and after all, that's what we all expect from Miller at some point. Not disappointed in the roster but I just don't know.

Interested in how others view the roster.

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I am right there with you. Not that I’m not excited about the new guys— I am. This is my perspective, however— Imagine last February if we were suddenly told X had traded Nunge, Jones, Kunkel, and Boum for the four guys we just landed in the portal? This board would have gone mental. We are talking about three all-BE caliber players, one of whom may be a first-rounder this year. And Kunkel? Say what you like, but the guy competed at a high level for three years in the BE. We might have been toast against Texas, but we would have been burnt toast without him.

I realize a systematic shift may be occurring, especially towards the defensive end. Maybe that nuance will pay Dividends in the near term. Of course we all trust Sean, and Boum was proof of that. It’s hard to imagine the new guys match the productivity of the old guys though— seems like an unreasonable expectation.

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Originally Posted by Jumpin_Jamal_Forever

That's an interesting reminder. This year is the first year when Miller is not constrained by the two factors you mentioned; time and current roster. I wonder how he views this roster post transfer portal. Did he get the players he really wanted? Does he believe we have the capacity needed to compete at the highest level of the B.E.?

My two biggest questions are the quality of our BIGS, especially if Free is not able to return to last year's form and whether or not we have enough three-point shooting capacity. My read on the new P.G. from WKU (which came from info. on this board) is that he isn't particularly strong from outside the arc. Des and Hunter will need to improve dramatically over the summer and if they don't, we are left with Olivari and Craft with possibly Green added to the mix. One thing I loved about Kunkel is that he had the brass balls to take that shot no matter what point we were in the game. If he was open, it was going up. Hope we can replace both his talent and his spirit.

I have a lot of confidence in Miller to meld these players into a team but I'm not confident we have the roster we need to achieve B.E, championship or Final Four status and after all, that's what we all expect from Miller at some point. Not disappointed in the roster but I just don't know.

Interested in how others view the roster.

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I think Sean got players he knew fit the style he wanted to play. They are all decent to good defenders and the guards he brought in can and will score. He has a plan. Could it backfire? Sure but I think he is confident in what he is bringing in. He would have continued to wait if he didn’t believe in the guys he brought in. The portal is still open. I think McKnight is exactly the tough hard nosed PG Sean likes and Oliveri is a scorer and he showed that against Texas this last year. Then you bring back Big East starter level players in Claude, Hunter and Freemantle and a potential first team Big East player in Zach. The staff right or wrong also believes Des is a future pro. I Would be shocked if this team isn’t a top 20 team, with the talent coming in and what is coming back, along with who is coaching them.

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Originally Posted by XUBison

I am right there with you. Not that I’m not excited about the new guys— I am. This is my perspective, however— Imagine last February if we were suddenly told X had traded Nunge, Jones, Kunkel, and Boum for the four guys we just landed in the portal? This board would have gone mental. We are talking about three all-BE caliber players, one of whom may be a first-rounder this year. And Kunkel? Say what you like, but the guy competed at a high level for three years in the BE. We might have been toast against Texas, but we would have been burnt toast without him.

I realize a systematic shift may be occurring, especially towards the defensive end. Maybe that nuance will pay Dividends in the near term. Of course we all trust Sean, and Boum was proof of that. It’s hard to imagine the new guys match the productivity of the old guys though— seems like an unreasonable expectation.

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I don’t think anyone expected Boum to be what he was this last year, that was a pleasant surprise. Before the season started many thought he would be coming off the bench behind Des. Then you can see the jumps Kunkel, Jack and Colby made and you can attribute that to coaching. So do I think the offense will be as efficient as last year?, probably not but they still won’t struggle to score and the defense should be much better by default. One thing for sure is that they won’t have to rely solely on 6 guys. The depth and talent level will be much deeper.

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Originally Posted by xavierj

I don’t think anyone expected Boum to be what he was this last year, that was a pleasant surprise. Before the season started many thought he would be coming off the bench behind Des. Then you can see the jumps Kunkel, Jack and Colby made and you can attribute that to coaching. So do I think the offense will be as efficient as last year?, probably not but they still won’t struggle to score and the defense should be much better by default. One thing for sure is that they won’t have to rely solely on 6 guys. The depth and talent level will be much deeper.

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Yep, that was my point about Boum. As for depth, we’ll see. I don’t think anyone thought we’d get so little from our bench when last season started. I also am not at all sold on our inside depth next year. I like your assessment better than mine though.

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Originally Posted by xavierj

I don’t think anyone expected Boum to be what he was this last year, that was a pleasant surprise. Before the season started many thought he would be coming off the bench behind Des. Then you can see the jumps Kunkel, Jack and Colby made and you can attribute that to coaching. So do I think the offense will be as efficient as last year?, probably not but they still won’t struggle to score and the defense should be much better by default. One thing for sure is that they won’t have to rely solely on 6 guys. The depth and talent level will be much deeper.

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I, for one, expected exactly what we got from Boum. I’m sure my posts from his commitment showed my excitement about his game. He was a guy that shot from deep and got to the line. He did it for 4 years and there was no reason to think he wouldn’t do it for us.

I see the new backcourt as equal or better than Boum and Kunkel. Oliveri is a very similar player to Boum, and McKnight is more of a PG than either Boum or Kunk. Deep shooting may suffer a bit for the new guys, but I expect the backcourt D to make up the difference.