Mail time!

My apologies to the PTI guys, but I've always wanted to say that.

Anyway, Big Blue sent me a host of questions, so I'll take a stab at some of them.

First off, David Simmons. There was a rumor going around that he was ahead of schedule (I've added it to my list of things to check on this week). Now, remember that ahead of schedule would be end of season or NEC tournament time. But that's cleared to play. He then has to get back into game shape. Even if he were to do that, he'd be rusty as all heck. Could he concivably play in the NEC's? Yes. Would I be surprised? Yes.

As to guys coming back too soon: First, that decision is made more by doctors and trainers than coaches. A doctor or a trainer wouldn't let a kid play if he was risking further injury by playing. And no, Howie wouldn't do that to a player, either. He cares about the kids. He's hard as heck on them, but it's tough love. Trust me, I've heard him speak about them in ways that convince me he's much more interested in them than stats. He wouldn't let a kid do something truly risky.

Now for recruiting. I'll touch on this in general terms, since I'm still cultivating the sources to know more about these things ahead of time (one of the last things a young reporter gets, extra sources), so I'll just speak generally for now.

I doubt they'd sign a kid just to sign one. When they bring a kid in, it's because they think he can help the program in some form or another. If it means waiting to find the extra guy, then that's what you do.

Now my favorite part of these discussions. Believe me, no one at Central has anything against centers. If a 7-footer with skills is available, he'll be chased. The debate I had not long ago with my friends over on the CCSUfans board was this: You don't get a 6-8 kid just because he's 6-8. We've seen in recent games some teams that were taller, but whose bigs weren't anything special. At this level, it's better to have kids a couple inches smaller who are warriors like Obie and Simmons than 6-9 guys who don't rebound or go to the hole on offense.

The question was asked about height for recruiting and about next year, and they kind of meld into one. My theory is that the Blue Devils will actually be fairly deep up front next year. You'll have Tamir, Marcus, Simmons and Baskerville to go along with Horton, who can slide over (and is a block machine). If 3 of those 5 are effective on a given night, that's a frontcourt my friends.
Being that deep with gritty interior guys (assuming Baskerville is a beast like I think he will be) negates the need for a "true 5".

By the way, a thought on Marcus: he's close. One of these days he's going to get an offensive rebound and go back up hard with it and realize that he's strong enough to do that with regularity. Once that happens, and he combines inside play with his perimeter game, he'll be a force in this league. I still think it can happen for him. He seems like he's coming out of his shell.

My thoughts on the needs for next year: Shemik grows further into the PG role, Joe improves defensively (he's already becoming a good rebounder), Simmons gets healthy and the frontcourt is as deep as I think it will be, which means the young guys get better and the frosh contribute.

CCSU will be loaded on the wings, especially if Johnson is as good as advertised when he gets here. Coach could have more problems deciding who to play than finding someone to play next year, which is never a bad problem to have.

The biggest questions will be guards off the bench (I'm assuming Joe is the 2 next year). Who will they be? Hall should be one, but can they get a fourth guard? Also, can Joe prosper as the main perimeter scorer? His main issue will be avoiding trying to be Tristan. He can't be, that's why Tristan is who he is. But if Joe plays like he can, he and Shemik will be a solid backcourt.

In terms of the team philosophy: I can't imagine it changing. Coach's teams will play defense first, they'll work for good shots, and they'll scrap. There might be some tinkering with the best offensive players being on the wing instead of in back with Tristan, but the basic systems and ideals will be the same.

I hope I covered all of those to at least some level of satisfaction... the email if you have a question is mstraubblog@hotmail.com or just post them as comments here. I check this thing just about every day, even if I don't post anything, so if there's something there I'll try and get right back to you with answers. Sometimes I collect them and do a bunch at once, but if there's a few there I'll do them right away.

Glad to be back in the swing of things, I'll let you know what's coming later in the week. And as always, if something should happen, you'll have it as soon as I do.