In Reply to: Re: agreed! posted by TheHappyBurgermeister on March 27, 2025 at 11:23:24
I still believe it matters, it's a plus, it's just become a whole lot less common and more difficult to achieve - likely impossible if you recruit multiple elite young players - there just isn't money enough to keep them all for multiple years. But Michigan State will do well sooner than most schools because of their continuity and with coaches like Izzo and Cronin, it takes more time to learn and then master their systems. Their players get better with time. Harder to do especially with more elite talents commanding astronomical salaries these days, but still meaningful.
We are going very hard after Dent. So is Duke. And other schools are also going hard after Thomas as well. I think either can penetrate, draw defenders and pass off out of that. That is indeed part of Cronin's offense and it's where Andrews' failure to build on his previous season hurt us badly this past season. We need the lead- or point guard to be able to penetrate the defense and either score or draw the defenders and pass off to the open player. So fully agree with you.
Dent might be the better of the two at that but both should be very good at it. Dent is also a bit taller of the two and that is also a plus. But Thomas is an outstanding defender - likely better than Dent in that area.
As to NIL, we have what we need, among the top schools in the country. Cronin realized the importance of that and really built it up in his time here. But money is not unlimited. I also worry that a player commanding as much money as Dent is may very well chafe if he is not the focus of his team's offense (and his posse members even more so) and while UCLA needs the PG to penetrate and be able to score, we need to run the offense through Mara in the post and everyone works off of that. Bilodeau will be a key point producer next year and his whole game should be enhanced by having Mara in the paint. (He shot nearly 41% from outside the arc this past season.) You add a nice sized wing who can defend and also score some and with Skyy Clark at the 2 spot, we have a solid offense. If we have a Mick Cronin level defense, that's a full program.
If our new PG comes in expecting to be "the man" in the offense - not just running the show but also as high scorer and featured player all around, I don't think he and his connections are going to be very happy on a team where his instructions are penetrate get the ball in to Mara who is a terrific passer also.