KoreAmBear said:
SFCityBear said:
helltopay1 said:
if walk-0ns get playing time, you're in trouble.
Right, but the better the walk-ons are, the better the scrimmages and practices will be for the scholarship players. We have more depth at all positions than last season, but some of the players are coming off injuries and we don't know yet how dependable they will be.
I don't think we were in trouble when Ryan Forehan-Kelly was playing or AJ Diggs, Connor Famulener or Alex Pribble. We still had other players and most of the walkons except RFK and maybe AJ Diggs played bit parts anyway. It's good for depth and for periodic contributions. No one is saying we are projecting Logan to be a starter and play big minutes. And if he does play a little that doesn't mean we have failed. That's a false dilemma.
RFK was a special case. He gave up mid major offers to come to Cal. Braun was dealing with reduced scholarships from the Bozeman sanctions and he actively recruited RFK on the basis that he was a guy who would have gotten a schollie if we had one and he was considered from the beginning a full fledged guy like any other recruit. I don't think we get him without that understanding. And he ultimately got a scholarship.
The rest - sorry, having to use them was a result of roster deficiencies. They all worked hard and had their moments. Some had special roles. If Diggs was used as just a guy that came in when you needed a steal or you wanted a full court press, that would have been okay. But he was in much more than that. He couldn't score at all.
Famulener played 21 minutes a game one year with 3 points and 3 rebounds. That hurt and it was because we had no one on the front line. He did a lot of little things and used his body, set screens, etc. but having 3 and 3 in 21 minutes is not what you need.
My policy on walkons is not to dismiss them, but not to consider them until they give me a reason to. I agree with SFCity that they are important as practice players, and great if you guys want to talk about it, but it is more in the weeds on the program than I am willing to get. I hope that Wilcox and Fox are doing their best on all the little things that make a program successful - walkons, lower level assistants, grad assistants, strength and conditioning, trainers, etc. But I don't think any of us have the knowledge to evaluate those things in a meaningful way.
