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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:36 am
Pard4Life
Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 300
Bison, why is the Bucknell program seemingly going down the drain? Was it truly all Pat Flannery? Are you getting good recruits?
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 2:04 pm
bison137
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 206
Pard4Life wrote:
Bison, why is the Bucknell program seemingly going down the drain? Was it truly all Pat Flannery? Are you getting good recruits?
I don't think the program is going down the drain at all, although thus far. although I don't think Paulsen has been doing a good job. One big issue for the team has been injuries:
- Starting SF Stephen Tyree - who as a sophomore may have been the first player in NCAA history to lead his team in rebounding, assists, shooting pct, and get the league defensive POY - tore his ACL and has missed the entire season. He was also the unquesioned leader of the team. Would have been no worse than 2nd-team All-PL and could have been 1st-team with some improvement in his outside shooting.
- Starting Center Josh Linthicum - had developed into a pretty good center last December, getting a double-double vs Wake and making the All-tournament team at Cal's tournament in Berkeley. Then he dislocated his kneecap and effectively missed the rest of the season. Had to undergo elbow surgery in the summer and has been bothered by more knee problems. His career is likely over.
- 2G Jason Vegosky was a starter as a sophomore. Had a broken foot and a sprained ankle last year that ruined his year. Then broke his thumb and required surgery late in the summer and caused him to miss all of pre-season plus the first few games. Then he reinjured the thumb and missed more games. He is playing with his shooting hand and thumb heavily taped, which has hurt his shooting significantly. If he can't hit threes, he is of limited value.
- SF GW Boon tore his labrum in pre-season and missed most of it. He has been forced to wear a brace on his shoulder, which likely affects his performance. Originally was expected to have surgery on the shoulder after the season but now it appears he may be able to rehab it without the surgery.
As for the past two recruiting classes:
SOPH:
- PG Darryl Shazier is leading the PL in assists and in assist:turnover ratio, and is in the top 10 in 3-pt pct.
- SF GW Boon, although playing with a torn labrum that requires him to wear a brace on his shoulder, is hitting .442 on threes in league play and is in the top 20 in the league in scoring. He was the league's POW a few weeks ago.
- C Todd O'Brien was likely the league's top recruit two years ago and likely would have made All-PL a few times. But unfortunately he transferred to St Joes.
So the above was a great recruiting class that turned into just a good one with the departure of O'Brien.
FROSH:
- Brian Cohen is the league's second best freshman. He is already the team's top defender (with the loss of the league's best defender, Stephen Tyree, to an ACL tear). Every game he is assigned to guard the opposition's most dangerous scorer and also he has become their go-to guy in many late-game situations. Cohen is 14th in the league in scoring and 16th in rebounding as a freshman.
- C Enoch Andoh has struggled at times defensively but is 2nd in the league in rebounds per minute. Unfortunately his minutes have been limited to 14.5 mpg due to Paulsen frequently using no post player in his offense.
- C Probese Leo was known to be a project coming in, since he is from the Bahamas and has only played two years of organized ball. However he is super-athletic for his size, so he may develop into a very good player down the road. He has started to get some minutes the last couple of games (vs American and Holy Cross), so apparently he is showing some improvement in practice.
- PF Ryan Ebner, who is a walk-on recruited as a baseball pitcher, is a solid player who plays pretty good defense. He has started some games.
If Andoh or Leo develop, this may be looked upon as a very good class.
- - - - -
Putting together all of the above, I expect BU to be in the top three next year with any luck on injuries. The following year - if Tyree is given a redshirt year - they could battle HC for the title. This assumes Paulsen learns to adjust his offense to his personnel and to D1 play.
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