🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Ah, the shifting winds of recruiting. As we've all heard by now, Chris Mullin pulled an incredibly baller move and stole the Diallo carpet out from under Calipari's feet. The big question is, with Slice at St. John's, has Mullin now tilted the scales enough to beat out Norm Roberts? I gave it a couple days to let the dust settle, but things couldn't be any less clear at this point.

For starters, Slice to St. John's is perhaps the slickest move, both tactically and strategically, that I've seen in recruiting in the past decade. Short term, you get the obvious in with Diallo, and long term, you get the guy with the best connections in the NY/NJ/Philly triangle, an area we've recruited heavily over the years (Twins, Robinson, Taylor to name a few). That's hardball, hardcore, tough nuts politicking. St. John's now has Cheick's lead recruiters from both ISU and UK. In fact, the move is so strong, it's virtually knocked UK out of consideration, and I thought they'd be our biggest competition given how lukewarm Cheick was to Mullin. But Mullin did what he had to do.

All hope is not lost, though. Last Thursday, the consensus was Diallo was all but mind made up on KU and ready to commit at the JBC. Even losing some ground, there'd be a long way to slide to lose this one. Mullin is still recruiting as though he's not going to have Diallo on his team, too. That could indicate that he's not as strong as he hoped he'd be even after the move, but he may just be being prudent. Diallo is a Nike prospect, but St. John's is UnderArmor, so it's unlikely that Nike is using any pull to move him in either direction. Norm Roberts is a great closer, too, and I'm sure he's preparing some great stuff to go for the kill. He'll be telling Diallo about Self's track record with getting bigs into the NBA. He'll point to the last kid from Africa that signed on the dotted line, injured his back and foot, and still went #3 in the draft. He'll mention the door is wide open on a potential title contender at KU, whereas at St. John's they'll be lucky to finish 4th in the waning Big East. If anyone can make this deal happen against these headwinds, it's Norm.

Still, the waters have been significantly muddied since last weekend. If Diallo stays on schedule and declares at the JBC or the day after, he's ours. But if he waits until next week, it's anybody's game. Heck, there are even a few die-hards saying ISU is in this, despite the KU v SJU consensus. Things aren't as rosy as they were, but I'm going to keep the faith on this one.

@konkeyDong I have recently submersed my self into the deepest depths of recruiting to see how accurate I can get with recruiting in 2016. I have been working on my own network of ghost twitter, fb, istagram, etc. I have friended, friend requested, followed each and ever recruit, recruits friend, coaches, parents, brothers, and sisters. I figured its too late in the game to try to figure out the Cheick situation but I have looked into it and I am hearing the same thing you are. The dark horse or new news is that he has been offered a BIG paycheck over seas and it defiantly didn't hurt the former SMU recruit Emmanuel Mudiay's draft stock. In fact there have been rumored to be 3-4 guys offered.

I guess it's just a matter of who writes the biggest cheick.

Sorry, dumb joke, but good info, you sound like the guy in TV shows who you go to for the tips on some horse or the dirt on who committed a crime. I'm liking your vibe on this one.

That would be some outstanding news if it happens. We really do need a solid big to run HCBS system. Thanks to another member here who explained all the offenses on another thread. The hi lo went from what are we doing with this system ? to oh I see its an easy system to learn and run. Maybe some KU teams more than others, but with the guards we have and the potential guards we may get this could be the final piece. Then we would be in great position to make a legit run for 12, and another final 4 run. Thanks for the info.

@Statmachine what about Ingram? Any news on anyone else? Thanks for info!

I heard that this is actually nothing to worry about and its still a done deal to KU. However I have no idea how reliable these experts I follow on one account are? I don't even put much into what the experts say.

@Crimsonorblue22 Ingram wants to play with Bragg and Really likes KU. Apparently HCBS sent him a text last week informing him that BG was going to be questionable to start the season AND again "we NEED you". Again this intel is so new to me I am not sure of its accuracy but that people in these kids circles DO tell what they know.

@Statmachine hopefully he told him more than that! Wish they would all declare now!

@Statmachine My concern on Ingram is that most of the schools on his list are in his home state of North Carolina. I thought he was Roy's to lose with KU in second. I really like what I'm hearing about him though. I hope he realizes that KU is the place for him!

OK I really have no idea who to trust on these accounts so please don't hold my feet to the fire if I am inaccurate. I figure some day soon I will at least be able to form an opinion or hypothesis about where some of these kids are going? I have heard today that Bragg is still actively working on Zimmerman.

@dylans Trust me I cant see him making his way to Kansas BUT his good friend is Bragg who is also actively recruiting him.

Bragg, Diallo, and Ingram would be a fantastic class.

@RockkChalkk After what I have sifted through I would say that we could realistically land all 3

@Statmachine we will hunt you down if you are wrong!!

@Crimsonorblue22 I think you guys will be most happy with my Intel by late night and my insight on who's going where? Only time will tell

Any chance for Brown or Newman? Doesn't look too promising from where I sit.

@dylans Since starting this operation I am getting good getting in the know really fast. For example if you wanted to know about Malik Newman's situation you find him on the web. Then you find out he talks with a girl by the name of Courtney Cronin about his recruitment. You find out that she is lagit because Jarrance Howard is folloing her. You also find his closest friends and family all linked together because of all this info posted up voluntarily by ALL of his close friends and family. Nothing to report atm but I just did my recon and will follow up on it tomorrow.

I did see where one of the guys HCBS is recruiting is keeping his home town on his final list of schools because he is telling a few ladies he is on again off again with that he is staying in state. I would imagine it works that way for a lot of these guy so they can have their cake and eat it too. Right up until they commit and then I guess its off to greener pastures? Maybe that's one more benefit that these boys have figured out and this could be just another reason to wait it out until the end of April first of May?

@dylans

Switch chairs!!!

@VailHawk The Big Blue Nation ‏@KentuckyFanClub · 3h3 hours ago
Courtney Cronin, recruiting editor and creator of "Beyond The Game: Malik Newman", thinks that Newman will most likely commit to UK

@5541-james

"The hi lo went from what are we doing with this system ? "

I could be seeing this wrong.. but in my imagination Self has been transforming the hi/lo considerably over this past season. He's repositioning the low post. He used to have a 4 and a 5, right and left, camping in the low post. Now he seems to like to pull one up to around the FT line and have the other in the low post, or flanked on the baseline.

We have the same strategy to work out of the post, but sometimes the post is just below the FT line. This gives our post guys a completely different opportunity to rack up points because they don't often have to use back-to-the-basket scoring moves. They can turn to the basket and drive or just pop an easy midrange shot.

Plus... sometimes we have a 4 or 5 slash through the paint and accept the ball and score off a slash. I believe both of these moves came about because neither Perry of Jamari could score effectively with their back to the basket... both are better scorers while in motion.

I was like everyone else in here and disappointed when we turned away from the perimeter offense in the middle of the season.... but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the ways we attacked in the post. I'd like to see some of that with some high recruits that are capable post scorers.

I'm hoping some of that file footage will come in handy recruiting bigs. It seems to be tailor-made for Diallo!

@drgnslayr When Taylor catches the ball in the key and drives down the lane it scares and excites me everytime. It scares me because it's Traylor. It excites me because I can see a player like Bragg or Diallo killing it with that move.

The whole Diallo thing is making my head spin.

KU has been in the race all along. ISU was gaining a lot of traction but then Mullin hires Jeff A away from ISU. So St. John's starts getting traction.

Then St John's hires Slice from Kentucky, but in explicably KU rises from the ashes yesterday when St. John's signs Sima and flies to Greece to pursue the 7'2" guy over there..

Today St. John's takes over the lead on 247 Crystal Ball, but several analysts are still saying Kansas is the likely destination and that it will be announced Friday at the Jordan Brand.

then late this afternoon recruiting analyst extraordinaire Jerry Meyer indicates that KU is still his pick if Chieck goes to college......but that overseas has become a more likely option because Chieck's high school has had some difficulty getting athletes through the NCAA clearinghouse in the past few years.

So, who knows?!?!?!??

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@Statmachine

Really interesting information, I can only imagine all the work involved in tracking all the bits and rumors.

Do you think that having so many potential top players at UK leaving is the reason why so many top players have waited this long to commit?

Do you think the platooning at UK and eventual earlier than anticipated exit have or will affect UK negatively? Are recruits wandering why attend UK, play limited minutes while sharing the spot light and not even win the Title? If the UK players go lower than expected in the draft, would that be the beginning of the end of the Cal Experiment?

You are probably in a better postilion than most of us to address these items. Your insight will be much appreciated.

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@JayHawkFanToo I believe that recruiting just got harder for UK because coach Cal has ruined his reputation with recruits parents due to high levels of arrogance. These parents don't want some arrogant SOB mentoring their kids. Remember this? John Calipari Getting Blasted For His “Classless” Post-Game Interview Following Victory vs. Notre Dame. He is shooting him self in the foot but that's ok he is missing on ALOT of talent this year and can not possibly replace the talent that just left for the NBA. After watching tons of HS all star games I think these kids are wanting to play together but I don't think its any school in particular. UK is loosing its luster here lately and I am sure it has something to do with Cal's attitude.

@Statmachine I hope you are right about Cal loosing his luster. He does have the #1 recruiting class again though. If UK adds Newman it will stay the #1 class. If Bill adds Diallo and Ingram to Bragg this class will be top 5 also. Maybe #2 if four stud freshman sign.

@dylans

"When Taylor catches the ball in the key and drives down the lane it scares and excites me everytime. It scares me because it's Traylor. It excites me because I can see a player like Bragg or Diallo killing it with that move."

It excites me, too! But I have to admit that I don't have a clue if Diallo has good dribbling skills. I believe Bragg has pretty good handles.

Worst case scenario .. Diallo commits and signs, and we don't get Thorne or another big. Then Diallo bolts because of either ineligibility or like Emmanual Mudiay did to China.

Ah, the OAD merry go round. Where it stops, nobody knows.

Somehow I think it would just be nice to have a Tyler Davis-esque guy in the bag right now, wouldn't it?

But we just gotta recruit the best talent, don't we? No one would turn that down, would they?

@JayHawkFanToo

"Do you think the platooning at UK and eventual earlier than anticipated exit have or will affect UK negatively? Are recruits wandering why attend UK, play limited minutes while sharing the spot light and not even win the Title? If the UK players go lower than expected in the draft, would that be the beginning of the end of the Cal Experiment?"

I also ask these questions. Has Cal's greed for more finally caught up with him? Let's face it, unless these kids are getting cash under the table why would any highly-touted recruit go to UK to sit on the bench? How does that help his stock? Just because they get to practice everyday with other McDs AAs? They don't have the exclusive on the top tier players so you can go elsewhere, practice daily with top players, AND be an important part of your team, fighting for a national championship and being pushed to your limits. That is what NBA scouts want to see... not just how well you can dunk in warmups.

I say that, but Cal still has one of the top recruit classes coming in, but this time he has lost the head off his monster... the twins. Now he has to regroup and have less experience on the floor trying to pull it all together. And since he just goes after all the recruits at the top, without considering chemistry, anything is possible. Maybe he will have a player step up, like unibrow, to gift him another NC, or maybe not? What Cal's system lacks is a way for his team to develop a chip. These guys just walk around all day with cameras in their faces and sports guys telling them how great they are.

@HighEliteMajor

I'm not bothered by the fact that we recruit the top shelf talent. What is bothering me is we seem to ONLY be invested in the top tier. Self is trying to establish Kansas as a school for top tier talent. This means we pass up a lot of other guys that could develop into good players and stay more than a year, representing our potential depth. Self doesn't want to recruit lower players because he thinks it makes us look bad to OAD guys. We have 3 scholarships and do you think we are actually going to fill all 3 spots? Doubtful. Teams that develop talent FILL their roster.

Maybe I'm missing the point. I'm no college coach. Maybe if we get the right guys we don't need 13 scholarship players. In some ways it seemed to help us last year when we lost Conner because we had too many guys fighting for those minutes. We do have 3 bench post players. If we do land someone like Diallo, then we have 3 quality post players in Ellis, Braggs and Diallo. Is that enough?

@drgnslayr

The open scholarships can be a double edged sword.
On one hand open spots can mean that players looking to go to KU may not have a huge position battle and immediate PT is there.
On the other hand as soon as fill your roster with depth, now you have 2-4 players or more unhappy with their role on the team. Nobody wants to Red-Shirt anymore unless an injury or academics force it. Landon Lucas is a rarity now. You will see less red-shirts and more transfers which we are seeing.

As far as 2015 It doesn't sound like KU will get 3 players to fill the roster. I could be wrong but at the moment it looks like the max we will sign is 2 more. If it was up to me I'd sign a transfer who can sit and be eligible in 16-17 for that last spot. We will have plenty of open spots, could be as many as 6-7. We could still have a bunch of upperclassmen left after next year but we clearly will be relying hard on a good 2016 class to supplement the roster. Self should maximize 15 to set up future years.

@BeddieKU23

I don't get it... why would guys rather transfer than redshirt? They have to sit a year anyways. No guarantee they will find playing time somewhere else either. Redshirt shows your commitment to the program. Doesn't mean you will automatically earn PT, but it gives you every opportunity to do so. An extra year to learn and master your coach's system?! Seems like a no-brainer unless you just don't get along.

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He is taking an in-home visit with Mullin this weekend. Going to tell him "sorry, I'm going to Kansas!" (?)

the latest I heard or saw on Diallo, was off 247 sports.com, that was showing that St Johns had puller ahead of us in the latest crystal ball predictions 35% - 29% but like other posters I just can't bring myself in believing he will end up there. they just got the 6ft 11 kid yesterday Yankota Sena then the kid that was suspended during the yr last year who is 6ft 9 his name is Chris Olakpa shot blocker rim protector coming back there next year, seems to me if Mullen believed that Diallo was coming I would think he wouldn't have offered the 6ft 11 kid on top of the fact he is STILL recruiting big guys. then just read Newman is following in Zimmermans footsteps and not going to sign a NLI, put this on top of the fact he is now not going to take any official visits I'm starting to think we might be better of without Newman he just kind of seems like a head case, same kid that said he didn't even want to have to go to college. things are getting crazy

@jayballer54 Recent rumors suggest Newman is planning to play overseas, a' la Mudiay. Diallo, as @Statmachine has noted, has an overseas offer too but isn't expected to take it up (apparently his family is well to do and he wants the American college experience). Still, I don't like the news that he's taking a meeting with Mullin this weekend. It's a definite wrench in the gears.

The other mentioned bugaboo, that Diallo might not pass the clearing house, doesn't scare me as much. Although his school has had some difficulties, there's no whiff of academic turmoil on him personally, and someone close to Roberts has indicated that KU's staff has a plan for the clearinghouse should an academic issue come up. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe he does summer school in Lawrence or JuCo in JoCo, but apparently Self and co learned their lesson with McLemore and Traylor and have a solid contingency plan. We'll see...

I think we'll be just fine, Diallo or not. if we miss out on Diallo, it might open the door for another player who will fit in long term for us. We taught TROB and Withey how to play the 5 - why can't we teach Landen?

@drgnslayr See, I don't think we have to recruit in this circus. We just don't. Kansas, with coach Self, using all of its leverage and muscle, focusing on non-OADs like Bragg, surely would trump the Texas A&Ms of the world if Self would guarantee recruits that he wouldn't bring in OADs. Why couldn't this work?

@KUSTEVE - The reason we can't teach Landen is the same reason that we couldn't teach Justin Wesley. Lack of talent. It's that simple. Lucas can only get so good. He's only got so much going for him. Can he improve? Sure. But it's the reason why some make it and some don't. Teaching is only a part of it. He's been here now three seasons and is barely serviceable.

Imagine the disaster here if we don't get Diallo. We do not have to be doing this ridiculous dance.

@HighEliteMajor It will not be a disaster if we miss on Diallo. I have followed HCBS on his social outlets and if you watch his new followers every day you will see that the transfers (handlers) will all of the sudden start following HCBS. That is clear as day to me that the lines of communication are open between some of the best transfer talent out there. I think things will be hunky dory by the end of this month.

@HighEliteMajor

"See, I don't think we have to recruit in this circus. We just don't. Kansas, with coach Self, using all of its leverage and muscle, focusing on non-OADs like Bragg, surely would trump the Texas A&Ms of the world if Self would guarantee recruits that he wouldn't bring in OADs. Why couldn't this work?"

I agree... but isn't this based on the premise we develop players? It seems like we lost our bargaining chip when Danny left, especially for bigs.

I'll believe it is our path when we let recruiting assistant go and pick up a developmental assistant. That is the first step. It even helps recruit OADs.

I'm like you and I'm sick of the soap opera around OADs. Our entire season ends up being based perhaps on something as silly as what shoes our guys are wearing.

Imagine if we became the Kentucky for non-OAD players? Players in that 20-50 range. And sometimes a dark horse guy up to 100. Then we get to comb through the bunch and look for the guys that best fit in our program and have good upside.... just not so much upside they leave in a year. Even though you can't hold a kid to it, try to ask that they commit at least 2 years to our program.

Then we carefully layout a long term strategy where we have mostly juniors and seniors starting, with the occasional sophomore. Quality freshmen will earn minutes, too... they just won't be in a tizzy over minutes since they aren't trying to leave after one year. Since we invested in development, all our guys are happy because they realize they are helping their game more at Kansas than if they made a different choice.

We should rename our school, "Kansas Developmental University." (or should it be University of Kansas Developmental?)

@drgnslayr Maybe we could shoot for OADU ?

@nuleafjhawk

How about TADU?

Vague enough that no one knows if it means two-and-done or three-and-done!

@drgnslayr Amen. I was thinking we could cobble together several good medium guys if we don't get Diallo, and take it from there. Diallo would be great to get, but I'm not of the mind to think all is lost if we don't get him. I understand HEM's reticence to rely on Lucas...but there has to be a couple good big guys out there we could reel in if we get skunked with the highly ranked recruits. For the first time in several years, we have the chance of playing one freshman at a time, not 2- 4 at a time like the last few years.

@KUSTEVE

I think you nailed it. It would be great if we only had to play one or two star freshmen for vital minutes and the rest come from experienced players. It has never been fair to examine Kelly, or Andrew or JoJo and not consider the rest of the team they were playing with. Not only would an experienced team offer better support, they would also help mentor these young players.

Our big problem happened 3 years ago when we lost 6 or 7 of our top players in the same year. We need to do whatever we can to avoid that from happening again!

D-Town Jayhawk ‏@Devans100 · 60m60 minutes ago
@JoelEmbiid help us get cheick diallo to kansas. Rock chalk

In reply to Matt Scott

D-Town Jayhawk ‏@Devans100 · 57m57 minutes ago
@KUTheShiver are we doing a in home with cheick diallo bfore his decsion?

@HighEliteMajor I agree and disagree on the OAD guys. Duke cut down the nets this year with a mix of older players and OAD guys but for the most part they won based on 3 guys and they were all OAD. I hate this as you do but it seems to be a reality. The only Final 4 team this year that actively does not go after OAD guys is Wisconsin. MSU goes after them, they just don't always land them. I have posted this before but some of the supposed OAD kids end up staying 3 years...Selden, Brandon Rush, etc.

That all said, I do agree that we don't have to go all in as Coach Self has this year. I'd love to have a top 50 guy who is 6'11 already signed.

I full agree on Lucas. The guy plays his ass off and I love that about him. The problem is he is not that good and never will be. He is slow. He is not a great shooter. He is not even a freak athlete like Jamari. He is just a big guy who tries really hard and his ceiling is averaging like 8 and 4.

@Statmachine

Which begs the question...do parents want a classy coach or the shortest path to the NBA and the big money it represents? I bet that initially they all say they want the first but the lure of money is huge and some cannot resists the temptation (see Cliff's mom).

As long as potentially big money is at the end of the tunnel, Cal will bounce back as evidenced by his current class that once again is ranked #1; however, if he falters this upcoming season, we might start to see a movement away from him...at least I hope.

@joeloveshawks

Lucas is an example of a guy that was a development project ... Lots of upside if he had high learning curve... That is the coaches' and staff gamble ... Which gem can you develop out of these 50 to 150 ranked bigs ? Are there ways to assess who will repond with time and coaching or who will plateau or who will bust ?
As much as we all are rooting for him , looks like Lucas has plateaud for the most part
Whithey was another total gamble - but he paid off handsomely

@joeloveshawks I think you hit the nail on the head .. "we don't have to go all in."

I've always advocated OADs when there is an obvious hole. We have a hole right now. Diallo is the only real remedy. But, we don't have to be in this spot. We have a hole because we chose not to address it early -- we chose not to take a possible lesser talent (assuming, of course, Self could have snagged one).

@Bosthawk - I would suggest that Withey wasn't a total gamble, though. He was a top 40 player. Lucas and Withey aren't in the same league. I'd say Mickelson is maybe a more reasonable comparison.

I will say this, too -- I don't want any players outside the top 100 as rule But we'll have a few, fliers, etc. If we do, I want the guys that we really locate as overlooked guys, not the fall back plans that Traylor and Lucas were. That's scrambling.

But our core, we need solid players 15-80. That range should be our rotation guys. Then, if the flier or developmental guy is ready by junior/senior season, fine. But as an example, Traylor ain't it. This is a guy playing because we have to play him. That's what hurts us. Of course, I appreciate both Lucas' and Traylor's hard work, etc. It's just business.

I'm kind of intrigued with the Greek freak that @JayHawkFanToo mentioned last week. 7'1" is 7'1" -- heck, that's the kind of gamble to take.

@HighEliteMajor
Thanks for the insight on Whithey - I always thought he was lower and in the true " gamble" category
And yes you said it exactly - how can we locate the overlooked guys ? There's the key - (I'm sure a board rat could list off a list of D1 good or great players that were " overlooked ") KU reportedly spends the most on recruiting so we need to use those resources to recruit SMARTER and try to rely less on the crack pipe of OADs
To keep up

@Bosthawk Why do you believe that Lucas can't improve anymore and has plateaud?

@phoghawk33
It's just an opinion ... He got a decent amount of playing time but looked a lot like he did last year in terms of mechanics and court sense. His defense is better, and he hustles tremendously but looks flat footed and to me and relatively slow ... He has almost zero shooting touch in my opinion and that has stayed the same over the past two years
But I root hard for him and would LOVE to see him improve ! - but my instincts and "eye test" say otherwise

@Bosthawk I can agree with that. I also root hard for him and I am hopeful with two more years of eligibility he will become a very solid player for us.

@HighEliteMajor I think Self continues to pursue even the top10 guys for one reason only: It is an unknown that which kid will be a Wiggins, Parker, Okafor...and which McD will end up being a 2 or 3yr player. He may know that the odds favor him getting to keep a player for Yr 2, where the "gamble" of the OAD circus will actually pay dividends with a Yr2 guy who is now experienced, stronger, more confident, and tougher, and much more comfortable in his system.

Self seems to be playing the odds with OADs, and perhaps banking on the fact that a certain percentage of OADs will not leave after 1yr.

@drgnslayr Your right about the hi lo changes, and it didn't click tell you wrote that. I was watching Kansas at Texas on YouTube, which to me was this teams high water mark and cliff or perry were either running the baseline or at the top of the paint. Texas was running a zone if I remember correctly so that style of attack would be what I would expect. But against man to man that didn't work quite as well, especially when we did get to the rim, except when the the 3s were dropping. I also watched the 2012 team and they were a great defensive team but they also moved the ball like I have not seen in a while and the passes into either or Robinson or Whitney were incredibly efficient. We need to get back to that but like you said Ellis and company are not the best players to push the center out and be in a position to catch and turn for the easy lay up or monster jam. Hopefully it all returns next year with a true shot blocker like Whithey, and a post man that can handle anyone in the paint and finish at the rim.

Also I wonder why one of our best post man to ever play at Kansas like Wayne Simien doesn't start coaching like manning ? His play in the post was outstanding and he had that back to the basket turn around fadeaway that rivaled collision or raef. Maybe we need to upgrade at the bigs coaching. Just a thought ?

@phoghawk33

"Why do you believe that Lucas can't improve anymore and has plateaud?"

These guys are all kids. None of them have come close to plateauing unless they suffer a major injury. Now and old man like me... ha.. I'm finally reaching my plateau! :-)

@5541-james

I don't think we have to do too much to make that same formation work well against a m2m. Our post player moving forward has to set high ball screens... maybe not out at the 3pt line like we always have them. Maybe closer around the FT line and we can even pick up screen help from a post defender and have our perimeter guys trained to curl in and around our post player's screen. We've become too predictable on our high ball screens because our perimeter guys always stay on the outside of the 3pt line. We need to mix it up more and utilize other options in the future, and some of it is to variate where we set our high ball screens.

BTW: I loved it when we had a post guy flanked down on the baseline. Few D1 coaches take advantage of the options that can be run through that area. I'd really love to see us develop someone for baseline attacking. If Kelly would have stayed around for another year and learned a few more skills he would have been a guy that could attack from there, too. Perry tried some but didn't have all that much success. Part of it is knowing where you are at and not letting the backboard block your shot!

@drgnslayr Ya me too on the baseline prowling, it's usually good for at least one good alley oop a game, plus wide open shots on the baseline. I remember whenever someone ran a zone on us when the Morris twins were here they would run the baseline and just made them pay!! I still love it when I see a zone vs Kansas because we usually have success as soon as we get a few possessions to see what exactly our opp is doing.

@Statmachine I like Brown better than Newman. Brown outplayed Newman in the McDs AA. I think Newman will be another Selby.

Diallo is all KU. He is not a risk at all. If anyone is a risk, it's Maker. I wouldn't touch Maker at all. Now he seems to be staying put in the 2016 class. My guess is his grades ior ineligibility.

We're fine. I'll take Diallo and Ingram please.

@truehawk93 Yes, me too. Sooner than later. I keep checking the boards a few times a day to see if I missed anything. Hurry up and commit guys!! Your killing me smalls!

Cheick Diallo @cheick_diallo13 played well at the @JordanClassic practice. Upcoming in-homes with Kansas & St. John's

@drgnslayr said:

@phoghawk33

"Why do you believe that Lucas can't improve anymore and has plateaud?"

These guys are all kids. None of them have come close to plateauing unless they suffer a major injury. Now and old man like me... ha.. I'm finally reaching my plateau! :-)

Would that be the "lower" plateau? :beer:

@brooksmd

Can you keep a secret? :-)