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I couple of things stood out to me. He seems to have a delay or hitch in his shot, settles for too many contested shots, and struggles to finish around the rim.
The positive the kid can get to the rim, and likes to jump the passing lanes. Says high IQ type player.
So what do we think KU fans?
Svi should work on drawing contact. Hope he's good at the FT line! If this kid can shoot 85% or so from the line, it will be hard to keep him from playing in the league someday soon.
Most guys just don't get it how they need to raise their FT%. When you are a dead-eye from the line you not only lift your scoring stat, you put pressure on the defense to not foul you on the shot. That's the kind of leverage every big time scorer likes.
It may take Svi some time to adjust to D1... but I see much of his D1 future will be spent on the FT line!
@drgnslayr I read somewhere his ft % wasn't that great. Anyone know?
I looked up all of the U16-U18, pro team and a few tournaments he participated in and his FT% was about 75%. I didn't include his 50% FT shooting from last month lol. Could have something to do with his growth spurt from 6-6 to 6-8 in shoes?
I guess he will be listed at 6'-10" by KU ...so he can probably play some center? :)
I always heard that growing guys start clunking the back of the rim on their FTs.
I hugely appreciated this feed being posted. Thanks. But could we change the title of this thread to "building up Svi" instead of breaking down Svi? 😄
@jaybate-1.0 he did say he was good at everything!
I can only wonder if his struggles to finish around the rim are related to the fact that he takes a lot of contested shots. At the 1:33 mark of the clip he starts a move out at the 3pt line and beats his man badly into a vacant lane off a hop step. At 6-6, I would like to see him go ahead and dunk that, but he just flips it in. I would like to see the ability to finish the explosive move with a dynamic finish, but I think that will come with time and maturity.
The thing I am concerned about from this video more than the other video is that he takes a lot of shots that are very, very difficult and I can't tell if that's just poor decision making on his part or if its a reflection of something else.
For example, he has a very good first step to get the advantage on the drive. He has a very good last step to set up his shot (whether a layup or jumpshot). What I am missing from Svi is that strong second step that gets him clear of his defender before help arrives. If you watch guys like James Harden and (young) Kobe Bryant, they have the ability to separate. They are rarely dealing with both a defender on their hip and a defender coming for help. Svi doesn't create that distance on the drive right now. He uses his first step well, but he doesn't explode free of the defense.
Defensively, he's a ball watcher like a lot of younger players. I'm not worried about that so much, because that's just a process of learning a system and focusing on the assignment and principles. I think he can do that because he is athletically cable of being a good defender.
His drive and kick game isn't that great, but ideally, he's the one catching the kick and taking the shot.
Because Svot is Lov is long, skinny, young and not playing against a lot of prison body leapers, there is lots to question about his game.
He looks likely to have a lot of difficulty staying in front of D1 guards. Frank Mason would shoot by him like a crotch rocket Yamaha down shifting past a Dodge Sprinter running on three cylinders burning unrefined cooking oil from a Mexican restaurant.
And yes, the Svotster's trey is very suspect after the FIBA games, where he was having trouble getting it off with a height advantage against zero ground clearance types.
But...
There was something unmistakably mouth watering about this game that does not at first jump out at you. Svi has what most great point guards and slashers and penetrators have. He has a sixth sense about how to move his body to get an edge on a defender and put himself between the basket and the defender. He even slows up and forces the turn and burn defender trying to catch him to run into his back, before he commits to taking the ball to rim or pulling up and shooting. This is something YOU CANNOT TEACH EVER. This is something only natural scorers do. It is the unspoken part of putting space between yourself and a defender. It is getting the angle on the defender and then sliding in and delaying so he has to slow to avoid hitting you and as he slows, you explode up for the shot--lay up, or J. Magic Johnson is the only other XTREmely Tall ball handler I have ever seen with this gift. Because Svottie has this rare gift, he is worth developing as a ball handler, whether he be a 1, 2, or 3. Like Tyshawn Taylor's rare speed that made him worth putting up with his often painful development arc, Svi is going to be worth teaching him to guard his position, which this feed makes appear that he cannot not do consistently.
Svi needs coaching up, if ever a player needed coaching up. But man could he become a great weapon once coached up.
"The thing I am concerned about from this video more than the other video is that he takes a lot of shots that are very, very difficult and I can't tell if that's just poor decision making on his part or if its a reflection of something else."
Right on the mark.
I believe he just hasn't had good enough coaching for an extended period of time. He could use some discipline on shot selection. Self is one of the best at teaching shot selection discipline... sometimes maybe too good! Svi will ride the pine for taking about half of the shots on that tape.
@jaybate-1.0 said:
I hugely appreciated this feed being posted. Thanks. But could we change the title of this thread to "building up Svi" instead of breaking down Svi? 😄
Point taken. :)
Name is changed. ;)
If Svi was on any other team he mostly likely starts. However he's playing for KU and lets face it they are loaded. He has a lot questions marks I'm not sure that can be answered very quickly.
Maybe I'm wrong but his shot seems slow to me. Like it takes some time to develop or something? He also takes a lot of contested shots.
However the kid has one of the best ball fakes (a lost art) I've seen in some time. It's like he can ball fake with his eyes. Also as somebody already said ( I think it was Jaybate) He has a court awareness that can't be taught. The dude likes to jump passing lanes. That's not something you can teach. You either have or you don't.
Either way I think Svi sees playing time. How much? Depends on how much his offense game comes around. Yet lets not forget HCBS loves playing defense.
@jaybate-1.0 a blast from the past. :)
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If anyone would like to understand why KU BUCKETS has become so increasingly successful, read this blog. We starts with observations on our new Ukrainian from a video that show warts as well greatness. I'd much rather see this type of video than the Rock/Rap highlight reel. When you think you can't take anymore of this addiction feeding machine, Jaybate offers us the Soul version of a Rosemary Clooney song that illustrates how Coach Self will Accentuate the Positive and eliminate the Negative.
So you wouldn't sign with Kentucky? Drake is coming to Kentucky this year and the squid is selling that to recruits!
“(Calipari) said Drake might come this year. That would be a really good event to go to,” Malik Newman said.
If a player chooses a program based on a rapper coming to campus, it tells you a lot about the player's priorities and IMHO, he would not be one I would like to have playing for my team. Maybe I am just old fashioned???
I hear you. I'm sure we are all old fashioned compared to these teenagers.
But I still think if I was a young hotrod player, I'd want to go to a school that was pitching me on what they had to offer, instead of what celeb was coming to campus. Doesn't it say a lot that Cal has to sell Drake instead of his own abilities?
Amen to that my friend.
Am I incorrect? I want no part of Malik Newman. OAD.
Newman would come in and start immediately at the 2. It would be by acclimation, right? Is there any perimeter player that we want to chase off? I want Svi at the 2 next season. My bet is that Svi next season will be better than Newman. We don't have a need for an OAD in the perimeter spots. I'll pass.
The number one recruit for KU is Carlton Bragg. He's the best fit. If we must get a post OAD, too, so be it. But Bragg should be the priority, in my humble opinion.
Coaches always will take the best player available and if he decides to come to KU, Coach Self will be happy to have him. Having said that, I agree with you that there are other players that would fill the upcoming needs much better.
@HighEliteMajor said:
acclimation, right? Is there any perimeter player that we want to chase off? I want Svi at the 2 next season. My bet is that Svi next season will be better than Newman. We don't have a need for an OAD in the perimeter spots. I'll pass.
The number one recruit for KU is Carlton Bragg. He's the best fit. If we must get a post OAD, too, so be it. But Bragg should be the priority, in my humble opinion.
You'll be glad to hear that Bragg is pretty sweet on KU too. Self loves him cause his skill level is so high and they(Self and Roberts)'re telling him how if he comes to KU, they'll build around him (and they'd be smart to. He's a Darrell Arthur-type talent). In the Bragg/Diallo/Zimmerman sweepstakes, I think that we'll only walk away with one commit, but I'd bet the house that that commit is Bragg. The other two would be nice, but Bragg is a 'franchise' type at the college level.
As for perimeter guys, I think we have a decent shot at Dorsey, but I doubt Newman or Brown matriculate.
@drgnslayr I wouldn't be too keen on a rapper, however Samantha Ryan might sway me. ;<)