I don't get that vibe from Doke at all. Weird.
BShark
33646 posts
@BeddieKU23 I don't think he is as much of a need as Ayton but of course we would be better with him. I also don't think he is Trae Young in terms of impact but of course I didn't think Trae Young was in HS either lol. The "worst case scenario" of Dotson, Grimes, Garrett, Moore, Cunliffe and Agbaji is pretty good.
If Danny get canned (good lord he is 9-16 this year and 52-65 overall at Wake so I could see it) I'd hope the staff takes a real look at Mucius if he becomes available.
@BeddieKU23 I remember you said you had a contact at Brewster. Could you ask him about https://247sports.com/Player/Walter-Ellis-46045199 ↗
I have zero issue, absolutely none with players smoking marijuana.
@BeddieKU23 Part of why I feel good about Doke staying is that we haven't heard anything about KU even kicking the tires around on available post players.
I guess it could be that Self is content with 2x Lawson, Mitch, Silvio and McCormack but I have a feeling Doke will be back.
EJ is already visiting UNC, Duke and UK. I doubt we bother.
I'm sure Self will look at guard options but if it isn't a one year player I'd like to have the slot open. Romeo is the best option by a lot.
@Ralster Eh, maybe UVA is more athletic, I haven't watched them enough to tell you. What I can tell you is Graham and Svi are not that athletic for the P5 level. It's a big part of why Graham was ranked where he was and isn't already in the NBA considering his jump shot. I like Graham and Svi a lot, but as we are finding out, they are more cogs than players you want being top players on your team.
Vick is athletic but who knows where his mind is at right now?
We don't have much in the post after Doke.
The biggest part of all of this is no depth. We saw it for years with teams like Iowa State. It's tough when you only play 7 guys but it is even further exacerbated by having only two post players and God bless him but one of them is Mitch.
It's also pretty hard to defend well playing this style of ball without the right (special) pieces. Josh covered up a lot of things last year.
How different would this team be with another legit big? Not even saying Preston was the answer, but he would have helped. Imagine this team with Ayton. That's the huge miss.
BShark said:
Ochai had 27 tonight and hit a game winning free throw.
@RockkChalkk @KUSTEVE The staff is looking at Tevian Jones too. I would say the staff knows there are going to be 2 spots (well 1 with Ochai on board now) available. Jones is a high upside athletic wing.
@Crimsonorblue22 Doke? I've not heard that.
BeddieKU23 said:
CB's for Markese's brother to Illinois. Wonder if he follows him when its all said and done
If he does, I think it would be more of KU moving on. I'd rather not see that happen though, I like Markese long term.
KU has a lot of good options in 2019 and will probably have no seniors.
Interesting question, let's say Vick and Newman (or Cunliffe) leave so there is an open scholarship. We don't land Romeo in this scenario. Would you rather just leave the scholarship open? I would, unless it's a grad transfer which seems super unlikely given the stacked roster. 12 eligible players is more than enough and leaves room for 2019.
Not sure Self can handle playing De Sousa much. He just really doesn't know what he is doing and Self hates that.
Vick is not injured.
I've heard Dedric has about 50+ different ways to score in the post. Dotson off the bounce. Grimes in general. KJ junking it up on D and inside. I'm ready.
KUSTEVE said:
Or, how to destroy the good parts of a team by trying to fix the bad parts. We have looked terrible ever since we inserted Lightfoot into the lineup. When you start Garrett and Lightfoot, you're playing 3 against 5 on offense. And all the changes seems to have thrown the whole team off. Most teams get better as the year goes along, and we seem to have gotten much worse.
AMEN Steve.
Mitch was bad today, that's just a fact.
Grimes 31/13/5 last night.
Dotson 32/6/5 last night.
Ochai had 27 tonight and hit a game winning free throw.
:heart_eyes:
After announcing that he’s committing to @KUHoops yesterday, where was @youngoch at 6am this morning?!?!? In the gym, working on his game. Incredibly excited for this guy and his future! @Northmen_MBB #OPtoKU
truehawk93 said:
@BShark I forgot about that...IRONY? This will be some poetic justice if we get Langford. Most think Vandy and KU are the only leaders of the three leaders. But, if IU is in the picture and think they are just not to the degree the "experts" say. We have a chance to steal yet another recruit from IU and Archie Miller. We all know how Sean Miller has stolen several recruits from KU. But we did get Withey too.
I could really see OA red shirting and developing under Romeo. OA could be an even greater factor after his RS year, if/when RL heads to the league. OA is going to be a really special PP (Program Player). This is going to get really interesting....JHawk interesting.
Also, hope everyone saw Grimes' Tweet. "Naah...it (alley oops) will happen in AFH!" Love it. I hope Grimes knows something most of us don't know.
Damn Orca whale Miller. :sweat:
Ayton stings. Josiah Turner and Tarc, eh, I'm kind of glad.
It's kind of crazy how many perceived KU locks he has flipped.
:heart_eyes:
@BeddieKU23 The in dorm barber has to be a sick recruiting advantage.
@Kcmatt7 I am the dream crusher, sorry. :(
But I would agree that getting some grad transfers would be a good option to try and fill some holes.
Where KU won the natty next season with Dedric going on an insane tournament run including averaging 30+ ppg in the FF games. After the title game he went on a crazy post game rant where he said he was returning to go back to back.
Tifwiw, but obviously the source is excellent.
:joy:
Markese had 22 pts 11 ast in a pretty big win for Uplift last night.
Grimes won the Houston area POTY award. No surprise there.
Kcmatt7 said:
Just looking at a list of Possible Grad Transfers, there are players to be had. I'd try bringing in at least 1 QB. Jacob Park or Wilton Speight. Both have had a little bit of success at a P5 level. Keller Chryst is transferring from Stanford lol.
I really think bolstering the roster with Grad transfers is the best way to go. Take as many that want to come as possible. It effects recruiting none whatsoever and at least gives you bodies. If you take 10 of them and 3 pan out, it was a great strategy.
Is our oline good enough to trot out someone like Park or Speight? They might die lol.
FarmerJayhawk said:
Had a couple IU fans on Twitter argue it last night. Their response was, "How is Billy Preston doing?" so it went well.
The same Billy Preston that IU was recruiting and really wanted. Odd. :joy:
dylans said:
@wissox lol I’ve been told he won’t be here next season. Thanks for playing along!
By who? Or just general assumption?
Bosthawk said:
@BShark
Thanks... so Romeo is a presumed OAD then huh... 🙁 sighI’m trying, but my enthusiasm for on-paper OADs picking Kansas is at an all-time LOW.
Devonte, Frank mason, sherron, (put name of your favorite 3 or 4 year KU player here)...
guys who were mid to low ranked to no-ranked in high school who then turned out to be jayhawk-for-life STUDS is what gets me pumped these days. Let’s hope Self and staff keep on finding these “program” player types on a continual conveyor belt basis !!
Romeo is definitely OAD. Regardless of how his season goes.
Sherron was a top 20 recruit but I get where you are coming from on this. We don't get to have many fun senior nights anymore. Last year was pretty special with Frank and Landen. This year will be pretty awesome too with Graham and Svi. :heart:
Right now going forward we have Mitch and Garrett with Ochai and McCormack coming in both project as 4 year players too.
http://www.cjonline.com/sports/20180208/kansas-city-area-recruit-ochai-agbaji-picks-ku-basketball ↗
Some good stuff in that article.
@truehawk93 I think KU still has a good shot at Romeo too.
And yeah I think program player is a nice way to say guys you figure to be around 4-5 years.
It can be a tough balancing act for KU as we've seen.
It's hard to find kids that want to come and grind it out in practice to maybe be a bench player. They typically have to bleed KU like Mitch.
This year the sit out transfers are making it so that there aren't many unhappy players. It's really hard when you have 13 eligible players though.
Bosthawk said:
Are RL and Ochai the same position players ?
No. Romeo is a guard. Agbaji is more of a wing/combo forward type. They are also pretty unrelated to each other in general. Romeo if he comes is a guy expected to start and play 25+ minutes a night in one season and then go pro. Whereas Agbaji is a kid we are looking at to be a program player who will develop.
Yeah this is pretty good all things considered. Need to see results on the field.
“It had gotten to the point where it was getting overwhelming,” said Olofu Agbaji, Ochai’s father. “He had said he wanted to wait until the end of the season, but once KU was interested, everyone started calling. “We said (that) we might have to considering committing sooner rather than letting the flood gates open. And he knew what he wanted after KU offered.
justanotherfan said:
Agbaji will probably end up reminding a lot of people around here of Travis Releford. He's a great HS scorer, but that will likely not be his role in college. I think he understands that and will make defense and versatility his calling card. He will be a four year guy that may well end up having a career not that dissimilar from other versatile, somewhat local wing guys like Steve Woodberry and Travis Releford.
Seen the Releford comp thrown around a lot with the caveat of "better shooter".
Hawk8086 said:
Sounds like he might be a bit like Garrett?
MUCH better shooter. Not even in the same stratosphere. His ball handling is what he needs to work on which he seems to be rather aware of which is good. But in terms of work ethic, being coachable, junkyard dog and just a quality kid, definitely!
Good nugget on him from Matt Scott
"AAU teams don't have the opportunity to practice together every day like a high school team can. AAU teams have a little time during the months of March, April, May and July. A lot of players go to various camps in June so there isn't much time to practice. When teams do get to practice together the practices are usually long, tough and demanding because there aren't a lot of opportunities to practice. Over the years I've seen a lot complaining. A lot of whining and a lot of excuses. I never once saw Ochai complain, whine or have an excuse. All I saw him do was go as hard as he possibly could every single minute he was on the court. Every drill, every play, every minute. He is easily one of the more impressive kids I've been around on the AAU circuit."
Statement from his twitter. He is all over local radio right now. Will be on 1320 AM at 3pm.
“I talked with my family after I had been offered and it was just like, 'What else are we really looking for,'” Agbaji told the Journal-World. “We didn't have a specific school in mind and we could easily see this being the right fit for me.”
“That's a strength for me,” Agbaji said of his versatility. “I can post up, I can drive, I can shoot. But something that I really want to work on is handling the ball better. I wouldn't say I'm bad but to get around elite defenders and stuff like that, I really need to work on that.”
This kind of self-awareness is good and is in line with everything I've heard about him being coachable.
“I just feel like I can come in and be tough and be a sit-down defender and just work hard to make the team better,” Agbaji said. “That's what they're really looking for and I can shoot the ball, too. Coach Self said when he watched me that my defense was one thing he saw, that I have a good stance, good slide and stuff like that. It's an honor, honestly, to receive that praise from the best of the best. It's just exciting.”
:heart_eyes:
Agbaji, whose father is from Nigeria and whose sister, Orie, plays volleyball at Texas, said he made up his mind on Sunday night — just over 24 hours after the offer came from Self and KU assistant Norm Roberts — and spent the next few days both looking forward to his commitment ceremony and preparing for Friday's rematch with North Kansas City, one of the two teams to beat Oak Park this season.
“That's the reason why I kind of cut it off short and said KU,” said Agbaji, whose name means “King of Children” in Nigerian. “I just wanted to get all that pressure off and focus on going as far as we can in the postseason.”
Whoever was wondering, his dad is from Africa.
@HighEliteMajor Kind of unreal going from no P5 offers to 7 in about a week.
“That’s always been a dream of mine. It’s a honor that they want me to play for them.”
WHAT AN UPSTANDING YOUNG MAN.
Pretty sure on the hat, it was kinda hard to tell with the video quality.
It's Kansas. His dad was wearing a KU hat THE ENTIRE TIME. Lol.
Thanking coaches and such...
@BeddieKU23 Feed has been "live" for a few minutes now. Still no sound and appears to be a splash page. Professional as expected.
Kcmatt7 said:
I have never seen anything like this. A team basically starting over from scratch halfway through the season. Craziness.
Yeah it is pretty wild. Not sure they will be better, but they were definitely correct to jettison Isaiah Thomas, that just was not working.
Crimsonorblue22 said:
Good for mason
Very much so.