Roster Status Check (3/29/23)

[LIONS90045]

Roster Status Check (3/29/23)

Returning Players

Noah Taitz, 6’3” 190, G Senior
Lamaj Lewis, 6’6” 200, G Junior
Michael Graham 6’8” 225 F Senior
Rick Issanza, 7’1” 240 C Senior
Alex Merkviladze 6’8” 230 F Senior
Keli Leaupepe 6’6” 230 F Graduate

Recruits

Aaron McBride 6’7” F Freshman
Justin Wright 6’2” 195 G Senior
Mike Meadows 6’2” 195 G Senior

This is a highly experienced roster with 7 Seniors/Grad, the kind of roster where people say “this may be LMU’s year.” Of course they need to mesh as a team with all the new players.

Four more recruits to go.

This is exciting.

Did I miss anyone?

[ALioninWinter]

So far I like what’s happening. Cam Shelton is certainly a big loss but he’s really the only player from this past season who will be truly missed. Meadows and Wright are proven players who know how to contribute. McBride offers a lot of potential. It’s looking like we could have a better team next season. Certainly a more diverse team that shouldn’t have to rely on one player to win games.

Chemistry is always a question but CSJ seems to do a good job of pulling his players together.

For the remaining slots we definitely need a couple quality SFs and I’d like to see another 6’10”+ guy to anchor the front court. The last slot should be someone who can play point.

[lionlife]

Mar 29, 2023 18:17:19 GMT -5 ALioninWinter said:

So far I like what’s happening. Cam Shelton is certainly a big loss but he’s really the only player from this past season who will be truly missed. Meadows and Wright are proven players who know how to contribute. McBride offers a lot of potential. It’s looking like we could have a better team next season. Certainly a more diverse team that shouldn’t have to rely on one player to win games.

Chemistry is always a question but CSJ seems to do a good job of pulling his players together.

For the remaining slots we definitely need a couple quality SFs and I’d like to see another 6’10”+ guy to anchor the front court. The last slot should be someone who can play point.

I don't often disagree with your takes, Winter, but I'm more concerned than you are about losing our top two shot creators and best three (maybe best four) shooters. I think we have a long way to go yet in the portal before I feel there's a chance to improve upon last season.

[golions1444]

Is there a chance to get anymore high school guys or are we filing out the rest of our roster from the portal?

I agree we need a couple more solid to really good players to feel good about the roster next season

[thx4leavinjimlynam]

To get a high school kid at this point he most likely would be someone who had committed to a school, but then decommitted if the coach was fired. I believe this is what happened with Chance a year ago and how we got him at this point.

Stan had recruited Chsnce initially, and that’s how we got him on the rebound, per se. That’s why Stan’s recruiting acumen is so vital in today’s college basketball, getting decommitted high school kids and college transfer portal players through his long-term relationships with them.

[LIONS90045]

Mar 30, 2023 12:17:49 GMT -5 golions1444 said:

Is there a chance to get anymore high school guys or are we filing out the rest of our roster from the portal?

I agree we need a couple more solid to really good players to feel good about the roster next season

I think both options are open but Coach Johnson, like many other successful coaches, prefers experienced players who can contribute right now.

[cs17]

Experienced players will benefit the team immediately next season. The staff is still going full bore on filling out the roster from the portal.

I'm bummed Jaylin is probably leaving, but I am encouraged that all our big men decided to stay. That way the staff is heavily focused on guards/scorers.

Cam will be very tough to replace, but Meadows and Wright give us instant mature scoring.

Can't wait to see who Stan and the staff pluck up next.

[ALioninWinter]

Mar 30, 2023 10:32:49 GMT -5 lionlife said:

Mar 29, 2023 18:17:19 GMT -5 ALioninWinter said:

So far I like what’s happening. Cam Shelton is certainly a big loss but he’s really the only player from this past season who will be truly missed. Meadows and Wright are proven players who know how to contribute. McBride offers a lot of potential. It’s looking like we could have a better team next season. Certainly a more diverse team that shouldn’t have to rely on one player to win games.

Chemistry is always a question but CSJ seems to do a good job of pulling his players together.

For the remaining slots we definitely need a couple quality SFs and I’d like to see another 6’10”+ guy to anchor the front court. The last slot should be someone who can play point.

I don't often disagree with your takes, Winter, but I'm more concerned than you are about losing our top two shot creators and best three (maybe best four) shooters. I think we have a long way to go yet in the portal before I feel there's a chance to improve upon last season.

lionlife - Perhaps I overstated the point I was trying to make. Put more emphasis on my first two words... "So far." Then, further on I say, "we could have a better team." CSJ isn't done and we need some more quality adds to the roster before I'll affirmatively state that the team WILL be better.

I like what I'm seeing so far and (assuming chemistry works out well) I think we are already in a better position with regard to scoring potential at the 2 and 3 spots. We may have lost the majority of our top outside shooters(excluding Leaupepe), but those shooters weren't very good. I think maybe where we disagree is that I had a very low opinion of our 2 and 3 guys this past season. I don't think we will miss them.

Ahrens averaged 6.6 PPG. He was supposed to be our points producer. He was given every opportunity and simply didn't get the job done. He shot 36% overall, 33% from the arc and 79% from the charity stripe. He had good games against Portland, Pepperdine and Bellarmine; but he had 14 games where he had 5 or fewer points.

Stephens deserves some slack since he was a freshman and (as I've argued any number of times) seldom had plays drawn for him. He averaged 6ppg, shot 36%, 33% and 74%. He had several very good games but then disappeared in 17 games where he scored 5 or fewer points.

Narble averaged 2.8ppg, averaging 40%, 35% and 68%.

Lewis averaged 3 ppg while shooting 49%, 29% and 39%.

Those are terrible numbers from what are supposed to be your scoring positions.

Meadows and Wright certainly seem to have the potential of being significantly better than the guys above we're losing. I don't know if Taitz will even play. If he does, anything he contributes will be a positive over this last red-shirt season. I don't put much stock in freshmen, but if he's as good as advertised, McBride will add an element we flat out didn't have this last season. Those are all positives and CSJ isn't yet done.

Now, we will all agree that the 1-spot is still a big problem for us. I'm guessing Meadows will fill the position with Wright at the 2 ... unless CSJ pulls in a bigger name or two. Anderson's ability to light a fire will be missed, but not the multitude of stupid mistakes. Shelton's will and scoring ability is near impossible to replace, but surely CSJ can pull in one or two guys who can actually guard guards 1-on-1 (which Shelton could not). CSJ HAS to find another PG. No one else on the team can be trusted to bring the ball up court! At best, CSJ will find someone even better than Meadows. Or at least, someone who can spell Meadows, play some D, and at least be a scoring threat.

As I stated in the prior post, we definitely need a couple guys who can play the 3, and play it WELL! Fill out the current roster with some guys who can score, and we should have a pretty good team that has significantly better scoring options than what we saw this last season.

CSJ has 4 slots yet to fill. Let's see what he can reel in.

[lmu2008]

Mar 30, 2023 22:05:22 GMT -5 ALioninWinter said:

Mar 30, 2023 10:32:49 GMT -5 lionlife said:

I don't often disagree with your takes, Winter, but I'm more concerned than you are about losing our top two shot creators and best three (maybe best four) shooters. I think we have a long way to go yet in the portal before I feel there's a chance to improve upon last season.

lionlife - Perhaps I overstated the point I was trying to make. Put more emphasis on my first two words... "So far." Then, further on I say, "we could have a better team." CSJ isn't done and we need some more quality adds to the roster before I'll affirmatively state that the team WILL be better.

I like what I'm seeing so far and (assuming chemistry works out well) I think we are already in a better position with regard to scoring potential at the 2 and 3 spots. We may have lost the majority of our top outside shooters(excluding Leaupepe), but those shooters weren't very good. I think maybe where we disagree is that I had a very low opinion of our 2 and 3 guys this past season. I don't think we will miss them.

Ahrens averaged 6.6 PPG. He was supposed to be our points producer. He was given every opportunity and simply didn't get the job done. He shot 36% overall, 33% from the arc and 79% from the charity stripe. He had good games against Portland, Pepperdine and Bellarmine; but he had 14 games where he had 5 or fewer points.

Stephens deserves some slack since he was a freshman and (as I've argued any number of times) seldom had plays drawn for him. He averaged 6ppg, shot 36%, 33% and 74%. He had several very good games but then disappeared in 17 games where he scored 5 or fewer points.

Narble averaged 2.8ppg, averaging 40%, 35% and 68%.

Lewis averaged 3 ppg while shooting 49%, 29% and 39%.

Those are terrible numbers from what are supposed to be your scoring positions.

Meadows and Wright certainly seem to have the potential of being significantly better than the guys above we're losing. I don't know if Taitz will even play. If he does, anything he contributes will be a positive over this last red-shirt season. I don't put much stock in freshmen, but if he's as good as advertised, McBride will add an element we flat out didn't have this last season. Those are all positives and CSJ isn't yet done.

Now, we will all agree that the 1-spot is still a big problem for us. I'm guessing Meadows will fill the position with Wright at the 2 ... unless CSJ pulls in a bigger name or two. Anderson's ability to light a fire will be missed, but not the multitude of stupid mistakes. Shelton's will and scoring ability is near impossible to replace, but surely CSJ can pull in one or two guys who can actually guard guards 1-on-1 (which Shelton could not). CSJ HAS to find another PG. No one else on the team can be trusted to bring the ball up court! At best, CSJ will find someone even better than Meadows. Or at least, someone who can spell Meadows, play some D, and at least be a scoring threat.

As I stated in the prior post, we definitely need a couple guys who can play the 3, and play it WELL! Fill out the current roster with some guys who can score, and we should have a pretty good team that has significantly better scoring options than what we saw this last season.

CSJ has 4 slots yet to fill. Let's see what he can reel in.

Great post. We shouldn't lose too much sleep over Jalin, Kwane or Chance leaving.

I really hope Taitz plays. He was an ESPN top 100 recruit, and had offers from BYU, St. Mary's, USC, Washington, SDSU... He didn't light it up at Stanford but has historically been a very good 3PT shooter, which we need next year.

[lionlife]

Mar 30, 2023 22:05:22 GMT -5 ALioninWinter said:

Mar 30, 2023 10:32:49 GMT -5 lionlife said:

I don't often disagree with your takes, Winter, but I'm more concerned than you are about losing our top two shot creators and best three (maybe best four) shooters. I think we have a long way to go yet in the portal before I feel there's a chance to improve upon last season.

lionlife - Perhaps I overstated the point I was trying to make. Put more emphasis on my first two words... "So far." Then, further on I say, "we could have a better team." CSJ isn't done and we need some more quality adds to the roster before I'll affirmatively state that the team WILL be better.

I like what I'm seeing so far and (assuming chemistry works out well) I think we are already in a better position with regard to scoring potential at the 2 and 3 spots. We may have lost the majority of our top outside shooters(excluding Leaupepe), but those shooters weren't very good. I think maybe where we disagree is that I had a very low opinion of our 2 and 3 guys this past season. I don't think we will miss them.

Ahrens averaged 6.6 PPG. He was supposed to be our points producer. He was given every opportunity and simply didn't get the job done. He shot 36% overall, 33% from the arc and 79% from the charity stripe. He had good games against Portland, Pepperdine and Bellarmine; but he had 14 games where he had 5 or fewer points.

Stephens deserves some slack since he was a freshman and (as I've argued any number of times) seldom had plays drawn for him. He averaged 6ppg, shot 36%, 33% and 74%. He had several very good games but then disappeared in 17 games where he scored 5 or fewer points.

Narble averaged 2.8ppg, averaging 40%, 35% and 68%.

Lewis averaged 3 ppg while shooting 49%, 29% and 39%.

Those are terrible numbers from what are supposed to be your scoring positions.

Meadows and Wright certainly seem to have the potential of being significantly better than the guys above we're losing. I don't know if Taitz will even play. If he does, anything he contributes will be a positive over this last red-shirt season. I don't put much stock in freshmen, but if he's as good as advertised, McBride will add an element we flat out didn't have this last season. Those are all positives and CSJ isn't yet done.

Now, we will all agree that the 1-spot is still a big problem for us. I'm guessing Meadows will fill the position with Wright at the 2 ... unless CSJ pulls in a bigger name or two. Anderson's ability to light a fire will be missed, but not the multitude of stupid mistakes. Shelton's will and scoring ability is near impossible to replace, but surely CSJ can pull in one or two guys who can actually guard guards 1-on-1 (which Shelton could not). CSJ HAS to find another PG. No one else on the team can be trusted to bring the ball up court! At best, CSJ will find someone even better than Meadows. Or at least, someone who can spell Meadows, play some D, and at least be a scoring threat.

As I stated in the prior post, we definitely need a couple guys who can play the 3, and play it WELL! Fill out the current roster with some guys who can score, and we should have a pretty good team that has significantly better scoring options than what we saw this last season.

CSJ has 4 slots yet to fill. Let's see what he can reel in.

That's a fair assessment of where we differ. I know Ahrens didn't light the world on fire, but I actually think we'll miss his size, defense and gravity. However, I thought we'd miss him less if Chance blossomed into that player next season - obviously, that isn't happening. You can find players to replace what Jalin brought, but I always worry about the crapshoot game of "can he maintain his efficiency when he's asked to do more?" We'll see with Wright and Meadows. I honestly thought Jalin was ready to be the primary scoring option, or at least become a more consistent scorer.

I am with you that the wings are a huge concern right now. I've admired Lamaj for his litany of tools, but self-shot creation isn't one of them. We've got a weird roster of quality, role-player bigs and a few promising guard transfers, but without filling out the wings, we won't do much. Also, I still wonder who will create shots and space the floor for this team.

I am rooting for your optimistic take to be the correct one. Right now, I see a 15 win team, though, if we don't add shooting, shot creation and size on the wings.

[julia6]

[fryer4three]

As of now, it clearly looks like Stan plans to start three guards. Here is what I see off the top of my head:


G: Hill/taitz/wright
G: meadows/taitz/wright/Lewis
G: taitz/lewis
F:Keli/merkiviladze/McBride / graham
C: Lars/Rick

Could see McBride being too talented to keep out of the starting lineup at some point though. Can he or merk play the small forward? I don’t think he shoots well enough or merk is quick enough to defend SF or wings.

Do we have any more open spots? I see a need, like others, at the Sf position.

[LIONS90045]

I believe we have two spots left.
Our 3 bigs will all get plenty of minutes with Coach Johnson’s fast paced offense.

[ALioninWinter]

Two spots left. Both need to be 3s. How strong they are will dictate how the team does next season.