PSU bball and the Joe Hampton decommitment

[wbcincy]

I was moving all weekend and didn't get a chance to participate in that thread, but there are some things I wanted to note from reading through that thread.

First, this sucks. Of course it does. It was a very highly rated player at a position of need. Nothing good about it.

However, there was some ridiculous talk in that thread about how maybe Chambers can't recruit and how the Chambers supporters have been trying to excite people over nothing but verbals. Hey guys...we just signed the best class in 20 years. Not verbals, signed. 30th best class in the country. Top 5 in the Big Ten. So how anyone can argue he can't recruit because of one decommitment, or that verbals are all we've been excited about, is either disingenuous or ignorant, take your pick.

Also, to the losers who revel in rubbing failures in the face of supporters, just know you're the worst. Just awful human beings. How miserable do you have to be to take enjoyment from that? "Oh man, you know those guys with that positive attitude and outlook? I'm about to really shove this failure in their face! They'll think twice before they look at the bright side again!!!" Congrats?

This season was not what it could or should have been. Lot of bad breaks and some failures in coaching, admittedly. And losing Hampton hurts. But that class doesn't sign for a long time. We just signed a top 30 class, our best in 20 years. Maybe we wait until the 2016 class is actually put together before losing our minds? We did just have a couple very highly recruits visiting, guys who list us among their favorites.

Now if Chambers whiffs on 2016 and next season doesn't show progress, I'll be on board with the idea it may be time for a change. But losing Joe Hampton certainly isn't that point.

 

[Doctori]

Nice post...but...we still could use a talented, athletic...

...big man in that class...still plenty of time to turn over some stones to look for some hidden gems.

 

[fairgambit]

Being no basketball guru, and probably stating the obvious, it seems to me the 2016 class is the key to Chambers' future at Penn State. The 2015 class was a big deal, no doubt about it, but following this poor season, and the Hampton decommit, 2016 will tell us if the 15' class was just a one time wonder. I understand we have 5 scholarships available for 2016, so if we can put together another highly rated class, the future will indeed be bright. Let me add that I've been watching games with detachment this year, neither getting to low about losses or too high about wins, but yesterday I went nuts after the win. Now, if my dream about us winning the BigTen Tournament can come true, or if we can win a couple of games, get an NIT bid, and win a couple there, maybe the sting of losing Hampton will fade a bit.


This post was edited on 3/9 11:27 AM by fairgambit

 

[wbcincy]

Originally posted by fairgambit:
Being no basketball guru, and probably stating the obvious, it seems to me the 2016 class is the key to Chambers' future at Penn State. The 2015 class was a big deal, no doubt about it, but following this poor season, and the Hampton decommit, 2016 will tell us if the 15' class was just a one time wonder. I understand we have 5 scholarships available for 2016, so if we can put together another highly rated class, the future will indeed be bright. Let me add that I've been watching games with detachment this year, neither getting to low about losses or too high about wins, but yesterday I went nuts after the win. Now, if my dream about us winning the BigTen Tournament can come true, or if we can win a couple of games, get an NIT bid, and win a couple there, maybe the sting of losing Hampton will fade a bit.


This post was edited on 3/9 11:27 AM by fairgambit

I agree, the 2016 class is a bellwether. How those 5 open scholarships fill out will be vital to the program's future. We'd then be stringing together good classes. It's why Hampton really hurts, but I'm not going to lose hope until we actually see what that class turns into.

I do like our draw in the B1G tourney. There's no reason they can't make it to the Quarters against Wiscy, which I would consider a success for the tournament.

 

[NewEra 2014]

Good post, wbcincy. I fully agree with you about this:

"Also, to the losers who revel in rubbing failures in the face of
supporters, just know you're the worst. Just awful human beings. How
miserable do you have to be to take enjoyment from that? "Oh man, you
know those guys with that positive attitude and outlook? I'm about to
really shove this failure in their face! They'll think twice before
they look at the bright side again!!!" Congrats?"

There are a couple of posters here who have made dozens of miserable posts about the coach, the players, the arena, the program, etc. and they really like to come out during gametime. Then, the team wins and they profess to be "so happy we won". I have absolutely no tolerance for those kind of posters, and I appreciate you calling them out in your post. I think the best thing we can do is to continue to call them out for their idiocy. The good thing is, they will be the first to jump on the bandwagon when things are turning around. They will act as though they have been behind the team the whole way.

Overall, I had this team at 6 conference wins after the pre-conference schedule. They got to 4 conference wins and a bunch of close losses, which was a disappointing result. Realistically, the team was about as good as Minnesota and NW, both of which had 6 conference wins. There are things that I wish Chambers would do differently during games, and I wish certain Penn State players had a higher basketball IQ than they do. But this is the hand we have been dealt as Penn State basketball fans. It does no one any good to hammer on these things incessantly, at every opportunity. We all get it--time to give the negativity a rest.

But this program does have hope with Chambers as the coach. Not a certainty for success, but true hope. I am OK with letting things play out through the 2016-17 season, because the odds are that Penn State will not do better than Chambers. Given this program's history, there is a good chance that Penn State would do much worse. In the meantime, it is good to have posters like you on board, wbcincy.

 

[PSU-Knocker]

Originally posted by wbcincy:

Originally posted by fairgambit:
Being no basketball guru, and probably stating the obvious, it seems to me the 2016 class is the key to Chambers' future at Penn State. The 2015 class was a big deal, no doubt about it, but following this poor season, and the Hampton decommit, 2016 will tell us if the 15' class was just a one time wonder. I understand we have 5 scholarships available for 2016, so if we can put together another highly rated class, the future will indeed be bright. Let me add that I've been watching games with detachment this year, neither getting to low about losses or too high about wins, but yesterday I went nuts after the win. Now, if my dream about us winning the BigTen Tournament can come true, or if we can win a couple of games, get an NIT bid, and win a couple there, maybe the sting of losing Hampton will fade a bit.



This post was edited on 3/9 11:27 AM by fairgambit

I agree, the 2016 class is a bellwether. How those 5 open scholarships fill out will be vital to the program's future. We'd then be stringing together good classes. It's why Hampton really hurts, but I'm not going to lose hope until we actually see what that class turns into.

I do like our draw in the B1G tourney. There's no reason they can't make it to the Quarters against Wiscy, which I would consider a success for the tournament.

I, too, would consider it a HUGE success to get to meet Wisky. However, that is so unlikely simply because we would have to play Wednesday and Thursday only to meet a well rested Purdue team on Friday. That's an awful hard task to ask of the legs of a Team which is not superior in talent to either Iowa and Purdue.

I do share your hopes though.

 

[Mister Magoo]

Would you take a JUCO or transfer?

Seems like a lot of scholies to give to high school kids on our radar.

 

[Nitwit]

Losing Newbill to graduation may be a bigger deal

Not sure how well we compete next year year without him. He carried this team on his back all year. Where will the points come from?

 

[wbcincy]

Re: Would you take a JUCO or transfer?

Originally posted by Mister Magoo:
Seems like a lot of scholies to give to high school kids on our radar.

Definitely, especially if it we could land a JUCO/transfer PF/C. I imagine Chambers would like to spread the classes out a big and not have 5 scholarships open at once, so I fully expect all 5 won't be HSers.