DoubleDD said:
The scary thing about the Shockers is their depth. I think they go like 12 deep. Marsha plays them all. He has a lot of fouls to give and options to change the flow of the game.
They do have a ton of depth. Getting arguably their best overall player back (Mcduffie) will give them 10 guys to mix and match.
Good point. It was a bad loss. I know we would be really upset if that was KU that blew the lead against them. The difference maker for Duke is Bagley. Duval has also been an upgrade for them at the PG position but without Bagley this team would be similar to last season's squad. Because of Bagley Tripper can pick and choose which games he chooses to show up for.
BShark said:
I'm thinking he plays in the Syracuse game but not against Toledo. Could hear something as early as today.
We could certainly use someone of his size against the length of Syracuse's zone
BShark said:
soon
?
Boy that was some collapse by Florida.
Florida is very similar to KU, 4 guard offense. Not a ton of post players but they have options. They score easy and make 3's. Dangerous team when things are clicking. They have not defended well and against Duke they certainly let them back in it.
UNC was exposed a ton against Michigan St. Obviously if you don't make shots it looks worse.
Gonzaga is better then I thought they would be especially this early.
Arizona misses Alkins badly. They will be so much better with him in the lineup. Ayton is absurdly talented. Imagine that pairing with Doke. PG play to me is the reason they are not good right now. At the same time they don't look like a team that wants to play together right now. It's the Trier and Ayton show for the scouts and nobody else
Purdue is still a very tough team when they make shots efficiently.
How good is Arizona St? Asking because we play them soon. Put a whooping on Xavier and got 91 points from 4 guards! 91 of their 102 from guards. The posts played 50+ minutes and had 11 points combined. I didn't expect that at all.
Simi Shittu to Vandy. Damn. Shittu is really good in my opinion.
Has to make Langford even more enticed to consider them..
Vandy will have to start "processing some players" as they are 1 over now on scholarships.
Bowen won't play at Louisville. They also fired their assistant officially.
Yeah Devonte has struggled shooting the ball. I'm not worried but you would like to see him start making shots more consistently. He's getting good looks and his passing is outstanding. He's Top 5 in assists per game and total assists so far in the country. If he's passing the ball at a high level to guys who are making shots we can't complain too much.
I've been impressed with Lightfoot's improvement on his shot. It's clear he put in some work to improve that part of his game. He's still got a ways to go elsewhere. He just seems a year away from being comfortable. He needs playing time and he should get plenty of it in the next month at least.
Last year Svi was at 116.7 and Vick was at 110.7.
I think both are capable of having O-Ratings in the 120's based on how many shots they are getting so far. Both have been efficient. We'll see, obviously where they are right now is not sustainable.
Add in Azubuike's 139.9 & Garrett's 134.4 and you have 4 guys that are lighting it up right now even with the Kentucky game already accounted for.
Only 4 games in but some interesting stats so far on our guys.
Some general background info. Last year Frank Mason was our best offensive player. His Offensive rating was 128.4 , almost 7 points better then anyone else on the team. His PER was 25.5 which was also best on the team.
This years squad through 4 games, 4 guys are over Mason's 128 O-Rating including freshman Marcus Garrett. Svi and Vick are hot as fire right now with O-rating's of 143.4 & 141.4.
Five players right now have a PER over 20, only two Hawks finished the season with such mark last season (Mason, Jackson)
Are we just looking good playing bad teams or is this a real offensive juggernaut of a team? Probably a mix of both. Newman has the lowest stats right now of the guards (comparable to Devonte's Jr Season).
Will be interesting to see how the stats even themselves out with more games
JayHawkFanToo said:
If I recall correctly, Juiston was definitely Division I material but ended up at JuCo for other personal reasons and it is not surprising he did well there and now at UNLV.
Yup, personal tragedy derailed him and he ended up at Hutch. We could have definitely used him, he's top 10 in the nation in rebounding right now. Looks like he's on his way to having a good season in Vegas. ISU fans have to be mad as well
Crimsonorblue22 said:
@BeddieKU23 the guy I wanted! But he was just a juco player.
I wanted him as well. Kid can play.
His handler wanted him at UNLV and so far looks like he ended up in a situation where he's getting to play a ton.
Cunliffe is going to be huge going forward. Just having another body that's been practicing with the team for almost a year gives us exactly what we need for depth. He's an athlete, can make the 3 and rebounds.
December is a slowish month for games, we have an average of 4 days off for every game we play. We also don't play a team in December that has comparable talent. Cuse is down, Arizona St is down, Washington is way down, Nebraska is down, Stanford has struggled.
Adding a Juco now makes zero sense if we are getting De Sousa. And what if Billy is back sometime in December?
To me the two (three) extra bodies are plug and play as need be. We have 7 guys right now that are just learning how to play together. Having 7 guys currently could very well pay off. All 7 are still learning their roles so its important that everyone is getting valuable floor time.
If we have an injury, well the story changes. Right now we are just getting by. We'll continue to get by until something changes
Shakur Juiston the Juco that we wanted from Hutch is averaged 13 pts 14 boards and near 4 assists per game for UNLV right now on 64% shooting. Doing all the things he did in Juco
Grimes is so exciting, just makes it look almost too easy
BShark said:
lol
Even if true maybe he can pay it back and just take like a 9 game suspension?
We'll take anything at this point.
mayjay said:
@Kubie Interesting that his NBA averages through the Article date (Nov 16) are almost identical to his KU freshman year stats. 5.6 pts & 2.1 assists in NBA, 5.5 pts &2.1 assists as a freshman.
Hopefully be year 4 he'll be averaging 20 a game
Lucky for them they squeaked a 5 point win over Emporia State last night. Add the Porter news and its a nice little week for the fans
Non-KU but relevant whenit includes Missouri.
Back Injury likely forcing Porter out for the year. Gotta protect the goods. 3-4 month recovery
Unfortunate for the player.
Sorry, not sorry for the program
mayjay said:
@BeddieKU23 Might really be devastating for Alum if true. Usually school is required to totally dissociate the program from an infractor who is not an employee.
Yeah it definitely wouldn't be a good look for the Alum.
Just a rumor and hopefully for both sides stays one.
Is the Big-12 really that good?
Or is the pursuit of taking down Kansas which is 13 years running motivated the other programs to play above their pay grade?
Crimsonorblue22 said:
@BeddieKU23 I saw that. Can an alum seriously be that stupid?
Blame has to be distributed both ways.
Preston has to be smarter then that if this is the case.
The Alum, well I'm sure will get his/her due coming if its true
Rumor if it is to be believed is Alum close to the program provided the car.
Which begs the question. Have the Alum and Preston been living under a tree since September?
Grimes went for 51 last night.
His nickname is now I get buckets
wissox said:
Thanks for the condolences! Actually were down by 19, I was about to turn it off.
Baylor's length was a problem for them. Their length tends to be an issue for most until conference play roles around.
Ugh I stopped watching once it hit 16 with 13 to go, figured that was enough
HawkChamp said:
Has there been any news on desousa? I haven't seen any quotes from self about him.
waiting for the test score
HighEliteMajor said:
@BeddieKU23 Yes, the word of the day is "worried." Ugh.
Today it will be 'concerned'
Wednesday - 'uncertain return'
Thursday- 'not looking good'
Friday- 'can't comment right now, ask the NCAA'
Next week or 2018- press release stating the obvious
Baylor beat Wisconsin, sorry @wissox. Wisky got themselves in a big hole (down 16) early in the 2nd half and couldn't overcome the deficit in the end.
Oklahoma St got beat pretty badly by A&M. Final Margin was 17. They were up 17 in the first and played an even 2nd half for the victory. A&M held them to 29% shooting. Ouch..
Gorilla72 said:
@BeddieKU23 - Bol Bol is over 7’, but I wonder whether he will be able to hold his position against other bigs in college. Bol is only 220 and he’s been showcased against smaller players. He needs to gain weight to be able to work inside, don’t you think? Or does he have a decent perimeter shot?
As others have said below he's a giant and will need to continue to add strength to his frame. I'm not sure he ever wants to fill out weight wise because that will take away from his perimeter skills that he is so set on keeping. This is basically a guard in a 7'2 frame. Surprisingly he has a really good perimeter shot and its truly unique to see a 7 footer hitting shots outside with skill (Like a Joel Embiid).
I think if he can play at 240,245 that might be a target weight to keep him at going forward. He changes things so much defensively because of his ability to protect the rim. He does have some serious motor questions, maturity issues that have been well documented. I wouldn't be surprised if his eligibility is in question as well as the person he's lived with out West could come into question.
The one thing that will take time for him to adjust to is the speed of the game. In College it will be an adjustment but shouldn't be as big of a deal after a few games. In the NBA it will be something that I could see him struggling for a while at. He tends to be a split second slow on reactions and that can cost him. Bol has all the tools of a top 5 player but in my mind is the toughest player to rank, project because I do think his mind is ultimately going to be the most important thing for him to learn how to control. Altman will definitely push him in his one year which could help him tremendously.
A game changing recruit for Oregon potentially.
Frank had 11 and 6 last night! solid outing
Self is now 'worried'. He's obviously not playing anytime soon or at all.
Bol Bol finally committed to Oregon.
Don't worry UK didn't want him.
That was great @jaybate-1-0
Having Cunliffe available is big because it gives you 6 guards to run the 4-1.
Having De Sousa is important because if Doke is saddled with fouls and Mitch is saddled with fouls at least we are not going to Clay Young.
How much we want to wager Monday is "no update Monday" on Preston? A few green eggs and ham?
HawkChamp said:
The game against A&m is starting to look pretty tough. They may be the class of the SEC this year. Should help our non con strength.
Helps the game is at home.
So far A&M looks good. We'll see how they handle another Big-12 foe tonight in Oklahoma St.
mayjay said:
@BeddieKU23 "Young"=Secret Weapon
So far the most poised walk on we've had in years. I'm sure he's loving Preston's antics
Lightfoot has shown an improved jumper. We can only hope the rest of his game continues to improve as well.
The biggest weakness he has right now is fouling. He's subbing for Doke for rest/foul trouble and compounding the issue as soon as he gets in. Either he's going to have to start being less aggressive with his block attempts or we'll be stuck playing Clay Young again and again
JayHawkFanToo said:
I just posted the usual breakdown for the conference in another thread and it is pretty close to what you have from KenPom. Looks like the conference is pretty solid so far.
So far yes. Only a few teams haven't played popcorn tech but this early it looks like Kenpom is liking the Big-12 again.
West Virginia was blown out by A&M. Iowa St- Missouri.
KU beat Kentucky. Tech beat Northwestern, that's it for good wins for the league.
Baylor has a big 3 game stretch. OU has some good games coming. The rest of the league has maybe 1-2 good games left. Oklahoma St should lose big tonight even with Jeffrey Carroll conveniently returning
I know its early but wanted to see where KU was after a few games.
Other teams of note: Big-12 and future opponents
Texas A&M- 8th, Syracuse, 62nd, Stanford- 70th, Arizona St- 75th, Nebraska- 102nd, Washington 135th.
West Virginia- 13th, Texas Tech- 17th, TCU- 2oth, OU- 21st, Baylor- 23rd, Texas- 32nd, Oklahoma St- 41st, Iowa St- 61st,
So far Devonte has reminded me of Ryan Arc-what-cha-wanna-ma-call-it from Nova a few seasons ago.
You know the offense is there, he's a proven scorer but his value in running the team is outweighing his scoring right now.
He has shot poorly, 13-46 isn't going to cut against better teams over the course of the season. We need him to score in double figures as we go on. Good thing we have a couple easier games at home he can continue to work on leading this team and finding his shot.
I wouldn't say their is a major difference in this class to others. But the Volume (7 guys including transfers) makes it exciting. Self has landed 4 guys in the Top 35 and they were all primary targets (De Sousa was mostly unknown). This class felt like Self got over the hump on the recruiting front as he landed guys he really went for instead of scrambling for other options when missing out on kids (which seemed to be becoming the norm). That probably has something to do with it. For those that follow recruiting Dotson & Grimes are rewarding victories the staff landed.
The one negative about this 2018 class in general is its a down class. It's real top heavy, has maybe a handful of quality bigs, great guard depth, not a ton of immediate NBA potential but at the top there's a few potential NBA all-stars. KU did a great job landing top talent where it could and avoiding having to target guys outside the Top 100 which would have been in my opinion a bad thing to do in this class.
We landed in my mind two immediate impact guards. The bigs have great potential. I don't know how much of an impact they will have yet. De Sousa could be joining the team soon which could impact how soon he contributes. Enjoy the ride. I think we will see varying degrees of contributions from all in Yr 1 but the future looks bright
Would be nice to know how long he has had the car. Hard to imagine Adidas has any dealings going on with the FBI already at their front door. Of course we have seen some really stupid stuff so nothing would surprise and with Preston none of this comes as a shock to those aware of his reputation coming in..
ParisHawk said:
@BeddieKU23 I agree. This situation reminds me of Darnell and Selby: I imagine a 9 game suspension and pay back the impermissible benefits.
Unless the car came courtesy of an agent or runner, in which case ineligibility is on the table à la Cliff Alexander.
I could see it being 9 games but I believe the amount of games is dependent on how much the benefit was. In this case a car could be a significant amount of improper benefits received which could make it more then 9 games. The only good thing is that any further suspension if it goes that route should incorporate the games he has already been withheld for this situation.
I'd love to think this was just some mixup but it's certainly not being lead on as such.
JayHawkFanToo said:
The NCAA does not have the legal power to force anyone to cooperate or provide any information. All it can do is tell the school that when information becomes available it can retroactively make the player ineligible with the corresponding consequences.
This situation better be resolved quickly or the FBI might take an interest in the case and become involved and that could have huge implications.
The first part is true. I threw it out there as a possibility for why the situation hasn't been settled. We saw the Alexander's that didn't want to cooperate. It's happened before. Who knows if this is the case.
The FBI part seems far-fetched. Even if it got that far KU has held out the player from all games and has taken its own course of action to ensure that whatever it is going on isn't affecting the team or the school. If its booster related etc I don't know its not worth discussing unless we know for sure.
We will see what movement there is next week. If we get "no update" everyday its more evidence that the NCAA is involved because the issue involves improper benefits. That would make the most sense why "no update" would be available because KU has turned to the NCAA for its support here.
I think the longer this drags points to our compliance sending the findings to the ncaa. We reported what was found and I'm sure if it was nothing he would have been eligible to play Friday. We are just waiting for the ncaa hammer at this point in my opinion
It's been going on for 5 days now. I'm assuming KU sent this to the NCAA for review.
What else makes sense at this point other then people not cooperating on the details of the car.
No update to me means they are not the people who can decide at this point whether he plays. KU has withheld him for it's own safety to not be caught in a situation where they played an ineligible player.
If they didn't think there was anything wrong he would play. A fender bender that didn't require a police report, that's nothing.
The longer it drags the more it smells like NCAA involvement and appeals to being ruled ineligible
Players like Daum make rankings of HS kids seem awful overrated. He averaged 25 a game last season as a sophomore and had 1 offer! There are not many programs in D-1 that wouldn't bend over backwards to have him in their lineup.
DanR said:
@BeddieKU23 The best part of Garrett's defensive game is that he makes it hard for the other team to get the ball to his man in the first place. On him like glue the entire time, head swiveling around tracking the ball to stay in position.
Which is why I think Marcus would be a good option guarding him on the perimeter. We have no idea how good he'd do in the post area but in HS he said he guarded Centers. Daum does have post moves and at 250 pounds any guard no matter how good defensively is going to struggle trying to stop a guy from putting his big body on you. We'll see what happens. I know Doke is going to struggle trying to guard him outside
JayHawkFanToo said:
Coach Self has said several times KU will not add a players just to use up the scholarship left; it will add one if he can contribute.
De Sousa will be that player. His situation is perfect. He graduates HS in December so he can take the last spot currently open early.
JayHawkFanToo said:
If he can spot Doke 5-8 minutes of rest per game it's a win-win.
Agreed.
Also we can't really offer anyone else right now. If everyone returned that wasn't graduating next season we'd be 1 over in scholarships. We know that's not happening which is why Self has 3 transfers and 4 HS players signed. The fallout will determine what we can get