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Tad Boyle has simplified recruiting

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
Something that seems to be coming up in every interview I read of Tad or the assistants is their recruiting philosophy:

Find players who can shoot, pass and dribble.

The first time I read that, I thought it was kind of flippant and maybe not wanting to get into details with interviewers.

But after thinking about it, I think it's a pretty astute point. So many programs fail because they forget the basics. They focus too much on measurements, vertical jumps and the eyeball test of whether a guy looks the part. Like with NFL teams that consistently fail because they put more weight on the combine than the film and production, college basketball programs fail because they start worrying about things other than whether a recruiting prospect can play basketball.

I also think that this is a big reason why we've seen so much success from mid-majors. The Gonzagas of the world built great programs by being able to shoot, pass and dribble better than opponents that could jump higher, had more quickness and could get up and down the court faster.

I love that Tad's grounded in fundamentals. Couple that with being able to get elite athleticism at our level and this is how you build a powerhouse.
 
I think I need to stay out of the politics forum for a while. I'm noticing a lot of spill over recently :lol:
 
are you talking specific positions? because I don't want to name names, but I don't think the shoot, pass and dribble apply to all the guys on our roster. This is obvious when we talk about a guy like spencer who defines his recruiting mantra perfectly, but there are other positions where dribbling isn't that important? Do we really care that Wesley Gordon is not a great ball-handler because he is better suited to not handle the ball too much and get in position on offense and defense.
 
are you talking specific positions? because I don't want to name names, but I don't think the shoot, pass and dribble apply to all the guys on our roster. This is obvious when we talk about a guy like spencer who defines his recruiting mantra perfectly, but there are other positions where dribbling isn't that important? Do we really care that Wesley Gordon is not a great ball-handler because he is better suited to not handle the ball too much and get in position on offense and defense.
I kind of assume that for the big guys down low, you just replace the word "dribble" with "rebound" and everything should work itself out nicely.
 
Everyone can be taught to defend and rebound (with the great ones having a special knack for it), but a college coach has to have players that shoot, handle and know how to pass
 
are you talking specific positions? because I don't want to name names, but I don't think the shoot, pass and dribble apply to all the guys on our roster. This is obvious when we talk about a guy like spencer who defines his recruiting mantra perfectly, but there are other positions where dribbling isn't that important? Do we really care that Wesley Gordon is not a great ball-handler because he is better suited to not handle the ball too much and get in position on offense and defense.

It's definitely relative to the position. Does Wes shoot, pass and dribble well for a PF/C? But to your point, the coaches did address that specifically in a recent interview (sorry for not remembering the site or link) where with a big man the order of importance changes and they may value whether the prospect can play with his back to the basket more than whether he can dribble.
 
I'd bet most coaches feel that they can teach rebounding. There aren't many players are as instinctive as Dre is, so his type is a rarity. It would be interesting to see the opinions of coaches as to what they look for in a "big", as far as potential and rebounding.

I also wonder if the coaches lump together ball-handling skills of the bigs. In that I mean where the hold the ball relative to their body and the defender when their back is to the basket, how well do they make a few dribbles when they spin and make a baseline move, and how well do they kick out in certain sets, etc.
 
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