The House of Blue

How many times do the players need to be named? Just because we signed some guys that weren't in the top 20 doesn't mean they aren't capable players.

-Shaquille Cleare was a top 50 recruit everywhere, twins teammate in Houston, 6'9" 270 manchild.

-Alex Len, 7'2" Ukrainian who is athletic, can shoot and had a block percentage that rivals Gorgui Dieng. He is a lottery pick if he puts it all together.

-Evan Smotrycz is a 6'8" PF who is a lights out shooter and was a key piece as a sophomore for a very good Michigan team.

-Damonte Dodd, who is prepping, and Charles Mitchell were both top 100 caliber recruits.

-Pe'Shon Howard who had a very solid freshmen year before being hurt all last year, is a very solid combo guard

-Nick Faust, another top 50 recruit with a boatload of offers (since apparently this matters so much), who is a very athletic slasher, lockdown defender who improved his shot greatly at the end of the season as a freshmen despite playing out of position all year on a bad team.

-Sam Cassell Jr and Seth Allen who will show what they are worth this year. Both have excellent potential, especially Allen

-Jake Layman a SF who, despite only being ranked in the 60's!, was coveted by Billy Donovan, Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim and held a ton of other offers. He just made the USA U-18 team and has been one of the most versatile players there. 6'8" athletic, long, can shoot, excellent defender.

There are other basketball players out there besides the ones that are ranked in the top 20 of their class. Maybe they can't dominate as freshmen but they are all going to get significant time this year and will be primed for the sophomore jump when the twins would be coming in.

Not Chris but I can tell ya that Young and the Harrisons will play together. Young will play the 3 in that scenario which he is perfectly capable of. Young's commitment to Kentucky is pretty imminent also from what I hear.

Andrew Harrison
Aaron Harrison
Nick Faust
Alex Len
Shaq Cleare
-------------------
Jake Layman
Charles Mitchell
Evan Smotrycz
PeShon Howard
Seth Allen
Sam Cassell Jr.
Damonte Dodd

The Maryland approach wouldn't be apples to apples with what Kentucky's been doing. It's been #1 rated classes with a nice role player or two by way of upperclassmen like Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, Harrellson types. Cal's been GREAT at restocking the cupboard and then meshing tons of new faces after major roster turnover. Even for all the praise he gets in that regard --- he's still underrated.

Maryland's turnover wouldn't be as extreme. If the twins came to fruition for any lineup Maryland put out there, I think a final four argument becomes fair. Obviously, anything can happen in a one-game elimination tournament, but Maryland would be sporting a roster pretty befitting of a top 3 seedline.

I happen to think highly of Turgeon as a bench coach so maybe that's just an agree to disagree thing. But he wouldn't be doing what Cal is doing for the 13-14' roster. He's be blending in a pair of ultra-talented guards with what will, by that point, be known quantities around them. Faust is a baller whose shot release belies the rest of his game. Len has lotto ceiling and we as Maryland fans probably give him the benefit of the doubt on potential. Personally, I need to see him stay on the floor for 25-30 minutes before I get carried away. But in the interest of rank he'd of probably been a top 25 type had he come from the States. Shaq Cleare was obviously highly recruited and gives us nice beef inside.

The bench would have talent to be sure, but it's not all about rank and pub'. We're also looking at style and fit. There's guard depth to spell the twins but also a cast of low maintenance types to accept lesser roles. That's not PR spin for "no talent", it's how teams get built. We have wide bigs to let the kids make $ off the pick and roll, and stretch 4's to get them in space. Only the twins would be freshmen on Bklyn's hypothetical 14' squad, it wouldn't be a handholding job with diaper dandies galore.

I have no clue where they kids will end up but if I were on Maryland's staff I'd pitch the known quanities that would be surrounding the twins just as Kentucky can pitch the NBA fast track. These kids are going league/lotto regardless of where they play, it's all about selling them a situation. Kentucky/Cal are the last program anyone wants to be going against for top players. But your post misses the mark on a few counts.

That might be a decent crew to set up with the Harrisons. Maryland seems to have a very guard heavy roster (Including Faust, who is quite good and plays one of the Harrison twins positions at SG and Stoglin, who likes to have the ball and score) which can be difficult to win with come tournament time. Can the Harrisons come in and play with this squad? Sure. You'll be running a lot of four guard sets though, which will probably cut into some of these talented big guys' time.

This roster clearly has some talent coming in at the forward position. None of them are slam dunk recruits, however, and my thought is that if you look at national title contenders, i.e. final four teams, they usually have a nice selection of of experience or a boatload of five star talent. So my reply is that sure, they could be good, but I'm not going to bet my farm on it just yet even with the Harrisons. I still think that UNC, Duke, Syracuse and NC State are going to have better talent and probably finish ahead of you guys.

Edit- so I guess, in summary, I think you guys might even be better off if you DON'T get the Harrisons. They will be playing positions that you already have pretty good players at and you could use some more help in the paint. Give everyone another year to gel together and bam, you're winning the ACC. It's tough to do that with just a couple of one and dones.

Maryland = 5th in ACC

I'm assuming you think that was me since I have a mysterious down vote as well. It wasn't. Here, I'll give you an up vote to neutralize it. Directional arrows and zinger aren't of interest. I overlooked your post because it wasn't substantive. I do the same to Terp fans on our board.

And now i see down votes popping uo everywhere.
Cmon guys, lets not get into down voting....

Look all kidding aside, i have nothing against Maryland.
You guys have a nice program, but honestly i have no idea how you guys are here on this board tryin to talk junk (some...not all)

Right now Maryland isn't in the same universe as UK.
Im sorry but the truth hurts. Right now UK is the "IT" school. UK has nearly matched Maryland's overall accomplishments in the last three years.

In the last 3 years UK has been to 3 straight elite 8's (Maryland has 5 total) UK has been to back to back final fours (Terps have 2 total) and UK has a NC (its 8th) while Maryland has 1 total. Maryland has 5 reg season conf ships and 4 conf tourney ships total.
We are the kings of the mountain in recruiting right now. Yes it will level off eventually but it won't be next year. We just don't land 1 or 2 5* recruits like most other programs...we fill our roster with them every year under Cal.

Its ridiculous to come on this board talking about being a good as we will be next year. I hope Turgeon does well there and best of luck to you guys, but im sorry...the twins will be wearing blue and white and paying for Cal. Its gonna happen. Maybe Maryland will be NC contenders soon but your not ready for UK and probably won't be any time soon.

Whats going on Wildcat fans? Maryland fan here. Was looking for a little info on what your guy's roster is going to look like when we see you in NYC in November? You all just have so much roster turnover that is seems kind of difficult to keep up with. Hoping my Terps can at least be competitive. No one likes to get blown out ya' know (please no sarcastic remarks that look like "wouldn't know what that is like LOL"). I've thought the twins for the longest time were 65KU/35MD at the most. Feel like we have a season or two of growth to go through before we can get to the level of pulling in two top 5 guys. But were back on the rise. The one thing that hold in my heart for the twins is that they want a good academic environment. No offense to any Kentucky degree holders but you guys have a 75% acceptance rate, and you only need 1400 out of 2400 to get in. Compared to a 45% acceptance rate and 1800 SAT minimum. But its likely that they wont be getting a degree at any university though. Again very excited to see you guys in November. Do your fans travel well? I know that Kentucky is a much more national fanbase than Maryland, however we are only about a 5 hour drive from NYC. Also excited to see Noel and Cleare go to work against each other. They battled the hell out of each other when BABC played the Defenders (Here is my Maryland kool-aid powered highlight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1idb4cTl760 I know it is not the cleanest dunk but give me a little bit of a break.

The rhetorical question at the beginning of your sentence is not necessary. I'm not taking it as an attack but it comes off with a lot of "attitude and snark" as my mother would say. Any other info on what your squad will look like next year? Strong spots? Any weaker areas?

You take so many things from my posts that aren't even there.

The heart of it is: What experts are saying Kentucky leads? What information are they basing it on?

Shit talking, this, that, the other, take it up with the other fans, I don't care about any of that. Your posts made reference to KY leading and the inevitability of their Wildcat commitment. So I keep asking where it comes from. Is it just linear assumption?

Edit: I think I've been civil and suspect what the answer is. It's your board. Agree to disagree. Good luck on the upcoming season.

Evan Daniels tweeted earlier tonight that the twins would be wildcats. Borzello also said so in his may 23rd mailbag.

Now, it's possible they are just assuming things based on Caliparis track record with guards but most of these same guys have been awfully confident about the twins to UK for a long time now.

The disclaimer: recruiting is fluid and shit happens.

I'll respond civily. Don't ask a dumb question without expecting someone to respond sarcastically. It IS the internet, remember?