So Gurley is gone. I personally still love the combo of Bothwell, Hunter and Slawson. That trio should keep Furman in upper half of league, especially assuming they each get better. I saw a lot of potential out of Hien in spots this year. Can he improve enough to be a starter inside? It won't immediately replace Gurley, but it's a start.
What Next?
What’s next? Lots of losses? All kidding aside I think the key will be Slawson. He is the only one on the team with size that can come close to matching Gurley and or Mounce’s athleticism. The bad news is he is the only one and there will be 2 starting slots to fill besides him. Players can improve but if I had to make the call right now I would go with Hein because of his size and he did play some this year. The other I would go with would be either Lawrence or Foster. Lawrence has some size but really needs to improve his rebounding and play around the basket. The drawback to Foster is his size but he does play a little bigger than his size. Anderson and Kenney can be capable guard subs but both have a long way to go. The unknown is the incoming class. It’s hard for freshmen to come in and play a major role but we really have to hope one or two are capable of doing this. Again the key will be Slawson. We will have to have a lot from him. Hope everyone really works hard in the off season.
I can envision next year looking more like the '17 team (the year Rafferty was out w his back issues)
We had Sibley, Fowler and JD3 at the G spots, Andrew Brown playing a small 4, and Acox in the post. Then off the bench was Beans at the 3/4 and Fr Jordan Lyons at the G spots....and no one outside those 7 played more than 20% of available minutes except Jon Jean (20.9%)
We had Sibley, Fowler and JD3 at the G spots, Andrew Brown playing a small 4, and Acox in the post. Then off the bench was Beans at the 3/4 and Fr Jordan Lyons at the G spots....and no one outside those 7 played more than 20% of available minutes except Jon Jean (20.9%)
Last edited by Paul C on Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I expect the inside game we saw from Gurley late in the year will disappear. Slawson can slash inside but he doesn't have the one-on-capability/consistency that Gurley has against opponents. We will live and die by the the 3-point shot. Lawrence can shoot from the outside, but there were no flashes of an inside game this season. Hien needs to muscle up - question is whether he can be more dynamic. I honestly think BR needs to find a quality forward transfer - the kitchen is rather bare. Losing Mounce and Gurley in the same season hurts.
Go back and read the comments from after the 2017-18 season (if available.) Look for the usual hand-wringing from the usual suspects. We had four seniors who played almost half the minutes, scored over half the points, and were the key players in crunch time in most games. That team won 23 games. We won 25 games the next season despite the losses.
Gurley will be missed but I think the team will respond. Playing time to earn at post and wing for Hein, Lawrence, Foster, and newcomers Repass, Hughey, and Williams .
If anything, maybe we will play better as a team down the stretch of games. Commenters have noted that Gurley put up some good stats late in the season. True, but the team also got stagnant late in games while trying to isolate and feed the ball to Gurley. That was key to the late game losses. Especially if important shooters like Mounce and Bothwell are having tough nights from three point range. Which happened a surprising number of times in the second half of the season.
Gurley will be missed but I think the team will respond. Playing time to earn at post and wing for Hein, Lawrence, Foster, and newcomers Repass, Hughey, and Williams .
If anything, maybe we will play better as a team down the stretch of games. Commenters have noted that Gurley put up some good stats late in the season. True, but the team also got stagnant late in games while trying to isolate and feed the ball to Gurley. That was key to the late game losses. Especially if important shooters like Mounce and Bothwell are having tough nights from three point range. Which happened a surprising number of times in the second half of the season.