re: Dedan Thomas Jr.

I think Thomas is the player most associated with McMahon since he was the prized recruit who was going to turn it around so probably best for him to start fresh somewhere else. He was the best player on the tea last year, but I did question his grit and toughness. I think Wade could have coached him up if he stayed and bought in.

I’m surprised he went to Houston bc those teams are tough and gritty too, which I perceive as misaligned with his style. With that being said, I believe his growth would be best to improve in that capacity so here’s to him buying in to the Houston program and to be a complete player.

Would have loved him to do that here, but with all the extenuating circumstances prob best for him and maybe everyone to fully cut ties and move on.

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I'm not sure yet, but I do lean your way. We are seeing DJ much closer to his ceiling than Reece. I think ultimately, Reece ends up being the better player, though that is very speculative on my part.

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Agree with this. I’ll have to look up Thomas’ freshman year stats but I’m looking at it from a freshman year to freshman year perspective. I am by no means saying that Thomas is not a good player (quite the opposite actually). I just think that Reece’s potential is high and if I could only choose one, I would take Reece based on what he could become.

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Guys with “potential” either never find it, or find it with another program.

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You’re looking at it through a McMahon lens. McMahon developed nobody here but players can definitely develop over the course of a season.

Had you heard of Yaxel Lendeborg before this season?

You making uneducated statements like that, diminishes credibility. Anyways, this is such a bad conversation to have because I think Reece is solid, but I understand this is what comes with rehiring Wade. He either made a mistake by not keeping him, or some players just don’t want to play for him. My guess is, Wade let him walk. He is not Wade’s kind of PG. He will thrive with Sampson, who is a far superior coach anyway.

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Agree with this. I’ll have to look up Thomas’ freshman year stats but I’m looking at it from a freshman year to freshman year perspective. I am by no means saying that Thomas is not a good player (quite the opposite actually). I just think that Reece’s potential is high and if I could only choose one, I would take Reece based on what he could become.

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Thomas was Rookie of the year in the MWC as well as an all conference player as a freshman. Not to mention averaging almost 14ppg. He’s not a guy that is a “scoring threat” per se, which is why he really doesn’t fit what Wade likes. I also don’t think he’s hit his potential yet, as a scorer, but he understands the game better than 99% of college PGs he’s very intelligent he doesn’t turn the ball over and he understands how to actually run point. This is what guys like Sampson value.

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he understands the game better than 99% of college PGs

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Again, how can this statement be verified?

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This is what guys like Sampson value.

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I would think most coaches value this. Even the last joke that was here. The difference between Sampson and the joke is that Sampson knows how to actually coach.

He wasn’t though, Acuff is the first player to lead the SEC in scoring and APG since The Pistol so you’re incorrect.

6.5 > 6.4

But what do I know.

He’s not in the same conversation as Acuff, but again, he lead the SEC in Assists and Assists per Turnover.

Dedan is a very good player but he didn’t lead the SEC in assists

Biggest thing is if the injured players who have injury history beyond even just this past season were going to stick around they werent going to get paid like a top player. Wade cant take that gamble on a Reed or Thomas.

If they want 7+ figures (probably I would imagine 2-3+ for Thomas), we cant put up that kind of dough for 2 players who have constantly had issues staying healthy in college. Reed has missed the last 2 seasons basically due to severe injuries. Thomas missed some games his last season at UNLV due to a foot injury which he reaggravated here and needed surgery on it to hope it can heal up 100% for next year now. Very high risk to give either of those 2 guys any significant amount of money and hinge a season on their success of staying healthy and playing at very high levels

Dedan is a proven higher level commodity over Reed, but again, just cant match that asking price if its an insane amount for a player who has been anything but healthy the past 2 seasons.

I'm sure if our PG is worse than Dedan next year and he stays healthy and makes a nice run at Houston we'll hear all about it, but nobody will even bring up Dedan if our PG is legit too or he gets hurt once again and misses games as a result.