Digging into Fresno State basketball 2011-12

Not to downplay what appears below but it's always critical to keep in mind that some of the players on any team will move forward over the summer, some will remain in a static state and some will regress. Coupling that with 'determining' the impact of new (unseen) recruits make the following a fun exercise but not much else.


It's Rodney Terry time now for Fresno State basketball as the former Texas assistant needs to ready his program for entry into the tougher Mountain West Conference a year hence.

But first comes the 2011-12 WAC season.

Go big or go home is a sometimes uttered sports phrase and as for living large in Bulldog land, it's Daquan Brown, Kevin Foster and Bracken Funk, meaning 6-foot-9 and 215, 6-foot-8 and 220 plus 6-foot-7, 240. There's nary a battleship among the trio but certainly athletic ability with the first two and a physical banger in Funk. Another one to make it a quartet is seriously needed, especially considering Brown and Foster are making the transition from JUCO and the fact that Funk averaged 6.4 points and 3.9 boards overall -- while not bad for a frosh -- but his stats diminished in league play and his shooting percentage finished at 41%.

PTW doesn't see 6-foot-7 Jerry Brown having membership among the bigs as some have posted elsewhere.

But Terry has announced his class so seemingly that's it for newcomers, meaning no fourth big.

Terry could really enjoy the flavor of a hot wing and there's a mighty Bulldog hope that 6-foot-7 sophomore redshirt Givon Crump will become a points producer. He had somewhat of a rep for scoring as a prep talent but didn't play much (15 games, 43 minutes) in his initial year at Baylor so any jury remains out at this point.

Jerry Brown and walkon Bennie Rhodes fill out the wing spots. The former missed last season due to injury and enjoyed a degree of success in taking the ball to the hoop as a freshman. His beyond-the-paint shooting prowess has yet to be established.

The latter is a backup.

Crump appears to have more range than Brown and that asset will be sorely needed in 2011-12.

The backcourt at shooting guard is manned by Kevin Oleikabe, Garrett Johnson, Tyler Johnson and juco transfer Larry McGaughey. The latter could also see some time at the wing.

Oleikabe is point size at 6-foot-1 but performs best as a scorer and distance shooter. Garrett did provide eight points a game but 37% overall shooting alongside 32% from long distance won't cut it this season if he expects solid playing time. Tyler Johnson had his moments as a frosh but struggled from 15 feet on out with his shot attempts. There's certainly playing time to be earned if McGaughey can quickly adjust in his jump from the JC ranks.

The point remains the province of Steven Shepp who maintains a good assist-to-turnover ratio but his shooting, never a strong point, regressed this past season. The Bulldogs may need to go with Oleikabe at the point regardless of his best talent being point production and hope that he can become an effective dual (shoot, pass) threat.

Jonathan Wills' numbers were disappointing and it also lessened as the season wore on -- plus he has to shoot better than 34%.

Julius Bilbrew, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard out of southern California, is the one prep signee for Terry. 

Not landing a prospect offering hope for improvement at the point hurts but give Terry's initial recruiting two-man class (Foster is a Steve Cleveland signee) a pass due to time constraints.

SUMMARY

Short and long term, Terry must begin landing Mountain West level talent, with a focus on players from the prep ranks. But for next season, his best contributors will be Foster, D. Brown, Oleikabe and possibly Crump. Tim Steed would have been a surefire starter but for whatever reason(s) he is off in the find-a-new-home galaxy.

Play at the point looks iffy and that's a problem falling into the Must Solve category for the future.

What Fresno State needs in the new season is synergy, the whole being better than the sum of the parts, a la what Idaho achieved this past season. That's difficult to achieve with the variance among so many personalities -- just ask any coach -- but a new coach and new system allows for a fresh beginning