Starting 5 should have been Lowe, Ish, Zack, Jeffress, Fede/GDG

[Sean Miller Fan]

I bring up what WVU is doing way too much but its one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen in college basketball. Its a team of absolute garbage offensive players + Javon Small. But they defend at the level of Tony Bennett's team and even with the vast lack of offensive talent they have, they will coast into the NCAA Tournament.

I bring this up because we decided to part ways with 2 of our better defensive players in an effort to bring in more offense. Dunn and Corhen are unquestionably better offensively than Jeffress and Fede but are also quite a bit worse defensively and on the glass. Personally, I absolutely felt we needed to move on from both because I didn't think they were P5 level offensive players but I now think I was wrong.

I think we all agree that this team is worse than the sum of its parts. Having a defender like Jeffress, who can also rebound, and do the things on offense that don't show up on the stat sheet like tip outs, loose balls, making the extra pass, etc is what this team needed. Fede was a good rim protector, which is important. Teams run layup lines against us without the threat of a blocked shot.

Basically, this team was very poorly constructed but if you asked me last Spring, I 100% take Dunn and Corhen so I understand where Capel's head was at. He was going for offense and figured the defense and rebounding would be adequate enough. As it turned out, we can't defend or rebound, and the offense, strangely, may have been better with a guy like Jeffress who is just a passer/swing guy.

 

[HailToPitt725]

In hindsight, why couldn’t we bring in Dunn and Corhen and retain players from the existing team such as Jeffress and Federiko? The culture was an important part of our success in 2023 and 2024, and those two played a big part in it. Could it be too much turnover to handle some of the adversity they faced during the season? Not sure.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

In hindsight, why couldn’t we bring in Dunn and Corhen and retain players from the existing team such as Jeffress and Federiko? The culture was an important part of our success in 2023 and 2024, and those two played a big part in it. Could it be too much turnover to handle some of the adversity they faced during the season? Not sure.

Jeffress isnt a P5 player offensively so I'm sure the thought was how can you justify a scholarship for a player who provides no offense. However, he'd be the best defender on this team and maybe the best rebounder. And the fact that he isnt an offensive threat could actually be a good thing because he's not looking for his own. He would keep the ball moving, be a cutter, do the dirty stuff.

I'd like to see us bring both back next year.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Jeffress isnt a P5 player offensively so I'm sure the thought was how can you justify a scholarship for a player who provides no offense. However, he'd be the best defender on this team and maybe the best rebounder. And the fact that he isnt an offensive threat could actually be a good thing because he's not looking for his own. He would keep the ball moving, be a cutter, do the dirty stuff.

I'd like to see us bring both back next year.

To your point, I think there’s a larger argument to be made that Capel’s biggest flaw has been his inability to create a well-rounded team. More often than not, his rosters have been less than the sum of their individual pieces.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

There was no harm in bringing Jeffress back. We didn’t even use all 13 ‘ships. He obviously wasn’t a world beater, but he could provide defense, rebounding, and energy off the bench as the 8th or 9th man.

 

[PittPoker]

Jeffress isnt a P5 player offensively so I'm sure the thought was how can you justify a scholarship for a player who provides no offense. However, he'd be the best defender on this team and maybe the best rebounder. And the fact that he isnt an offensive threat could actually be a good thing because he's not looking for his own. He would keep the ball moving, be a cutter, do the dirty stuff.

I'd like to see us bring both back next year.

Jeffress sucks.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Jeffress sucks.

Fede’s nothing worth mourning either. That anyone is pining over these 2 tells a tale. And it’s not a good one.

 

[Pitt666]

Fede has a total of 5 points in his last 80 minutes over his last 5 games. He isn’t missed.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Fede has a total of 5 points in his last 80 minutes over his last 5 games. He isn’t missed.

You dont need his scoring. Need him to play D and dissuade the hundreds of layups we give up.

 

[Pitt666]

You dont need his scoring. Need him to play D and dissuade the hundreds of layups we give up.

Last year we needed scoring. At least more than 42% from the line, which he has produced again. The player that got away was Santos. If we had him at the 4 for 3’s maybe that helps this team.