CUJacob
Senior
Posts: 353
Reg: 12-05-04
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03-06-05 04:20 AM - Post#5672
With the end of this season, I thought I'd take a look at next year's Cornell team, position by position.
Guard: The guard situation is an interesting one, as there are 5 players who could potentially see a start at some point during the season (dow, canady, gant, lisle and scott). I like the idea of a dow/canady starting backcourt with the others seeing (especially scott and gant) plenty of time off the bench. With this much depth, I don't see any of next years frosh getting much PT.
Forward: I expect big things out of Cornell's senior duo at Forward. We've seen their potential- Collins has hit 30 and Rourke had his 27 against Harvard, but I want to see these two average a combined 35 points next season. They both had too many games where they were held to single digits this year- I'd like to see these guys bring it on every night. The guy to look for off the bench is Ugo. He's supposedly an unbelievable leaper who will contribue. Also, I expect Connor Mullen to see some minutes right away.
Center: Andrew Naeve is ready to start. I'm a big fan of his defense and hustle. He's not the post presence that ET is, but I believe he can average about 8 points and 8 rebounds a game. We'll need Rourke to pickup the post scoring load. The position that concerns me most next year is backup center. I don't really trust Shawn Oliverson to play important minutes. He's awkward and slow and has a lot of work to do. Andrew is going to need to log major minutes, unless Shawn makes huge strides. Prove me wrong, Shawn. Prove me wrong.
I think this team will be very good. Penn will be the favorites (and deservedly so) but it is not out of the question that Cornell challenge for the championship next season. It will certainly be fun to watch.
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CornellUFan
newbie
Posts: 37
Reg: 12-12-04
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Re: a (very) early look at next season
03-06-05 03:28 PM - Post#5673
In response to CUJacob
I actually think you are going to be a bit surprised with what Donahue does next year.
I suspect Collins moves into the backcourt as the shooting guard, thereby moving Ryan Rourke to small forward. I think the power forward position will go to either Ugo or to Jason Mitchell with Naeve playing center.
Donahue knows he has to compensate for the loss of Taylor's rebounding. Ugo is a tremendous banger and has some nice athleticism around the hoop. He could be another Jamie Kilburn or Alaiva Nuialitia type of player inside for us. Although he is only 6'5", he is a bulky 230 pounds. Mitchell is also capable of rebounding and providing a scoring punch. Look for Mitchell to start next year. He is ready and at 6'8" will help increase Cornell's frontcourt size with the 6'8" Rourke and 6'9" Naeve.
In the backcourt, Collins can handle the ball or play off the ball. (He led the team in assists this year)
Dow, Canady, Gant and Scott will all get minutes in the backcourt rotation with Collins. Look for either Dow or Canady to start the point.
I like Canady, he could become a Ka'ron Barnes with his speed and knack for getting to the hoop.
Oliverson needs more time to develop into a 10 minute backup center type.
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