Monday, May 23, 2011

Digging into Idaho 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.

Minus Jeff Ledbetter, Shawn Henderson and Brandon Wiley,  Idaho Coach Don Verlin needs to find a way of replicating the 2010-11 season where less talent was overcome through much improved cohesion. But that's a task so much easier typed and talked about than achieved.

Kyle Barone and Joe Kammerer return in the middle.  The former is PTW's candidate to earn a guest appearance on the new A&E show "Breakout Kings" as he appears poised to make a much more indelible impression in WAC basketball circles. this coming season. In 26 minutes an outing, he averaged 10.5 points (shooting 61%) and 5.8 rebounds with a body desperately in need of at least 20 more pounds. With a summer to add muscle, PTW expects Barone to be an All-WAC first or second team selection come 2011-12.

Kammerer looks to be a career backup.

Djim Bandoumel appears lost to the academic vortex but Luis Toledo returns and he's a decent inside scorer who needs to up his rebounding totals a bit.

6-foot-9 Wendell Faines is coming in from Saddleback College and he'll be the backup in the middle although he and Barone will also pair up at times. He was the co-MVP of the Orange Empire Conference in southern California (in a down year for talent in the league) and produced 13.6 points (56% overall shooting, 78% at the foul line), 8.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game. Faines is a WAC-level talent who will probably have the greatest effect on the boards.

Dazmond Starke at 6-foot-6, 260 pounds is another junior college transfer who will be in the frontline rotation. He signed a letter-of-intent with UTEP in the fall signing period but was released from it when Coach Tim Floyd eventually desired other frontcourters. Starke and Toledo will share time.

Look for Idaho to have a very solid in-the-paint game this coming season based upon having one of the better group of bigs in the WAC.

However, some outside sharpshooting will be needed to keep defenses honest since Ledbetter is taking his 45% long distance success rate with him.

Deremy Geiger comes up first among the returning wing/backcourt talent but his 32%/31% shooting numbers need to be dramatically upgraded. With his quickness, he should also have more than 24 steals in 32 games.

Landon Tatum looks to be up for the role of starting point (he led the squad in assists) but PTW's hunch is that he's more effective as a change of pace coming off the bench. His shooting prowess also needs to head north.

Stephen Madison looked good at times, especially for a freshman, and his 11+ minutes a game playing time should increase if he can improve his shooting accuracy.

Here are  the newcomers.

6-foot-5 Matt Borton redshirted last season and he brings a canny awareness to the court. He's not ultra quick nor an explosive leaper but he knows how to play (as the son of a coach) and should eventually be a glue-type guy.

6-foot-3 junior college transfer Mike McChristian will add positives all across the stat sheet and is a prime candidate at the point.

Xavier Bazile is a 6-foot-4 190-pound athletic freshman who seems a likely redshirt candidate.

Juco transfer Mansa Habeeb stands 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and possesses dribble-drive shooting ability (51% overall, 32% from three, 64% from the foul line in 172 attempts).

6-foot-5 Anthony Jones is also out of the juco ranks with decent scoring and shooting stats.

Like Bazile, 6-foot-2 Idaho native and freshman Connor Hill just may be another redshirt candidate, depending on shooting adventures of his fellow backcourters.

* PTW needs Vandal fans to help out here. The players listed above total one more scholarship players on the roster than allowed. Is there a scholarship issue with Kammerer? Borton? Hill? Bazille?

SUMMARY

Reproducing ephemeral 'magic' is nearly impossible to do in consecutive seasons but Idaho should be quite competitive if a consistent long distance shooter (or two) can be found.

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