🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@cjbooth38

I agree its not that KU won't have talent next year, its that there will be little to continuity throughout the roster.

We are looking at Lagerald Vick being the only guy coming back who would have played in every Big-12 game. That's just scary.

Coach Self wanted a top PG for a reason, going after Young so hard was not a luxury signing its the difference between having an actual point guard on the roster that can be depended on to fill the shoes of Mason departing and Graham most likely leaving as well.

Now its up to Self to pull that magic rabbit out again and find a suitable plan Z at this point. Usually its worked. We better hope it does again

@BShark

Well we've all seen what Scott doesn't know these days

@Eric-san

Direct comparison I would say Tyus Jones. Jones was on the National Championship Duke team a few years ago as a freshman. Young is an elite shooter, even better then Jones. Young's shooting compares to Steph Curry. That is what I see. High praise, he's a good player.

@JayHawkFanToo

Just posted on 247. Before you say well he called Self last, I would not read into it.

Trae spent much of his day Tuesday calling coaches to let them know of his decision. Brad Underwood in the morning, Lon Kruger in the afternoon and Bill Self in the late afternoon/early evening.

When I asked Trae if it was a hard process for him his response went something like this.

"YES!!!!!!!"

No doubt that it was. Calling coaches before making announcements seemed to be something in the past so I have a lot of respect for Trae for being mature enough to make those calls.

Where will he go? Unless there is a change of heart in the next few hours I expect Trae to stay in the city he knows so well. Norman.

@jayballer54

they are fake. Just adding more fire to the mockery of the situation that Weber has created

@JayHawkFanToo

Trae called the coaches last night and KU wasn't the school that won

Kansas St hung this banner as well last night while playing ISU.

!whocares1.jpg ↗

Kansas St is not headed for the tourney the way they are playing having lost 6 of their past 7 games. Their schedule does get easier but what's to say that is what turns it around.. I do not feel bad for them.

Iowa St now has the same conference record as West Virginia. How is that possible when WVU seems like a light years better team.

Oklahoma St has won 7 of 8.. Scary to think where they'd be if they had not lost the first conference games. They could win their last 5..

@stoptheflop

His jump-shot is so much improved this season. Making more 3's then ever. I believe this past off-season was the first time he trained on his shot.

@mayjay

Sure, I'm certainly not mad that we chased the top kids they were both fits for the program. But now they go to Alabama and Oklahoma. Kansas couldn't beat out football schools for basketball players. It does sound illogical in a sense don't it? Especially with our current PG's the poster boy for playing under Self

@BShark

And I don't think they want to use Garrett as primarily a PG with his size and defensive versatility. The good thing is he's run his team wherever he's played

@BShark

:thumbsup:

He will be good in time

I want to say D

Crazy Dunk. Wiggins is good for 4-5 of those a year.

He always plays his Super Bowl games against the Cavs. I think he's averaging close to 30 a game against them. Without Lavine he's really getting a chance to shoot more/enhance his stats.

@BShark

And your right who knows who we could have gotten not chasing Sexton/Young. But both were swayed to stay close to momma. I'm not understanding when we have a Senior PG that a top ranked PG wouldn't want that situation

@BShark

Exactly it throws out his entire credibility. I can't believe more people are not on him about it. I see no reason to use the site for his information.

@Statmachine

that person has been confirmed to be a high schooler..

@BShark

Which makes not getting guards in the summer/fall the outcome of waiting.. At some point things do come back to get you.

And what a tool Matt/Ryan have been about this situation. really couldn't have played up KU's chances anymore especially yesterday only to pull the rug out late into the night. Emotion aside, this is a very poor job.

@BShark

a lot of uncertainty indeed

since its over lets lock this one up and start the 40 threads about duval not coming here

I think it will be difficult to leave Waco with a victory. The first game was such a close game and they really came to Allen and had us beat for a while. I can see Motley and Lecomte going off in this one.

I'm not saying we will lose but with Baylor wanting to keep itself with a chance at the conference title it has to beat KU this weekend. They will give us all we can handle.

I just hope we come to play our game. Monday we played so poorly, mainly missing shots and still found a way to win. Right now I feel like KU can win Saturday because the stakes are high for them as well, a win pretty much means #13 will be hanging in Allen Fieldhouse next year.

@jayballer54

No worries, I'm sticking by my belief that he ends up here. We need him more, we have the position open for him. So if he picks the opposite so be it, its his choice but I'll disagree. I hope its a happy thursday around 1pm

@Crimsonorblue22

Good question.

I know there are many out there that believe Duval is better than Young and those people may be right but Self has been after Young for years so I'm sure they didn't want to jeopardize their position with him by taking Duval first.

Plus I don't think Duval was in any position to end his recruitment when he visited here. He's taking advantage of his visits, that's why he went and saw the Duke/UNC game and is going to Arizona soon as well.

@JayHawkFanToo

I don't think Shaka is a great coach but I've said that since they hired him. The results surprise me because I think they have the most talent outside of KU so there is no reason they should have a losing record.

We don't see Brad Underwood, Chris Beard, Jamie Dixon struggling in their 1st year, all winning records with varying degrees of success in the Big-12 portion of the schedule. Shaka shouldn't have another year to "turn it around" but because Texas only cares about football I'm sure he gets another 10 years

@jayballer54

Have some faith just like @KUSTEVE and @DoubleDD have in game threads.

@JayHawkFanToo

Michigan St as well. The bubble is extremely weak this season

FYI Ryan on 247 just CB'd Young to KU based on intel he got.. He is a career pessimistic person on recruits and was the first to give us the intel on Marcus Garrett from this cycle.

FWIW, I'm thinking Kansas based on the little bit of intel I got today. Enough that I changed my CB pick back to Kansas. I know you guys don't like the CB though.

So both people connected to this situation from KU says its KU..

@JayHawkFanToo

I do agree that if Malik Newman wants to play in the NBA its most likely at PG even though that isn't his natural position. He just happens to be a tweener in size for the average SG. He doesn't have elite athleticism or wingspan so much like Trae Young he has to perfect other area's of his game. Newman wouldn't even be at KU today if he had the right measurable's for the NBA. He can score and shoot the 3 so those are things that fit in perfectly in the new-age KU offense.

Hopefully what the staff wants from Malik and what Malik wants from himself can coexist. Usually Self does great with getting both of those factors to mesh well. We know Devonte is a great teammate but maybe their is a part of him that wishes he had Frank's role? I would hope that if Young signs with KU, that Malik is perfectly okay with another guard joining and possibly taking the role that Mason is leaving behind. Or vice versa, Young will be okay with playing off the ball with his elite shooting ability. I think the way Self has been showcasing his guards of late makes who's 1A and 1B a non issue.

Yes I hope tomorrow gives us some clarity on the situation.

@JayHawkFanToo

He'll get the chance to have the ball in his hand if a NBA career is what he wants. We have seen Mason/Graham/Jackson this year handling the ball. Newman is not a natural passer, he has been a score first guard his entire career.

Are we just looking for reasons to say Young won't be coming here because this player or that player needs to run point? Wouldn't KU be out of the running if the point position wasn't available to him?

The same pitch was given to Duval, who has relayed to the media that KU was looking for a point guard to come in and play right away.

@JayHawkFanToo

Quote from when he signed.

Newman said Self and his staff sold him on the opportunity to be a playmaker in the backcourt.

"They just said they want me to get back to the player I was," Newman said. "I told the staff that I don't need to play the point. They just want me to handle the ball, make plays and make the team better. That's what they sold me on."

Another

Noted Self: “In our opinion, Malik was a top-five player coming out of high school. He’s a combo guard that has good size, can really shoot the ball and stretch it. There are things he needs to get better at, but the year off will allow him to address things that the NBA people wanted to see more of out of him.”

@justanotherfan said:

Another thing to remember is that while some of these kids enjoy or at least can handle the spotlight aspect of recruiting, there are a lot of kids that are shy and really don’t enjoy the other side of the recruiting (i.e. interviews, questions from strangers, etc.). Basketball is their safe space, they have no issue playing on the court, but don’t really want to deal with too many strangers off the floor.

I’ve seen and known several kids like that over the years. They tend, like Allen did, to stay closer to home where they already have a good support system of people they can trust around them. Some of these kids are just naturally introverted and, were it not for their incredible athletic skills, they would likely just fade into the background.

I think Allen is a natural introvert. He played at a small high school, basically neglected being recruited like a top kid and wanted to stay close to home. He'll make money at the next level, will be interesting to see if his character holds him back from being more than a big that gets a paycheck.

@Crimsonorblue22

He probably didn't think they would struggle so much.

Most of their struggles are coaching related. I know they lack a point guard and their leading scorer was suspended mid-season but they have been competitive in games. Andrew Jones is an NBA player as well. Shaka is failing with talent

@justanotherfan said:

Simply put, I think Young goes to Oklahoma because the Kansas backcourt is exceptionally crowded whether Graham stays or goes, and will be even more crowded if he stays.

But your not talking about the position which Young plays-PG. Newman was brought into be what he is, a scorer and ball handler. Mason is gone, we need a point guard.

Why would there be so much emphasis from coach on getting another PG if he didn't need one?

@justanotherfan

FYI KU isn't recruiting Kevin Knox.

Duval has already said his interest in KU will be over if Young picks KU..

MJ Walker, well it seems like we got our foot in the door with him. Staying home seems like the popular thought with him. So far has only visited Florida St so the longer that plays out, the better chance they have.

the latest from Matt..

Alright - it begins now.

Trae Young will announce tomorrow at noon. It's OU or KU and people are wildly guessing like crazy now. KU has the lead in Crystal Ball right now so we shall see if it sticks over the next 24 hours.

I've heard both from multiple people. Nothing that would make me switch my Crystal Ball pick though. I have KU picked right now.

So Oklahoma media have KU - a lot have OU.

As of last night all coaches left in the race have NOT been notified of the decision. NOT!!! I expect that will happen before his announcement though.

Either way - Trae is a great kid that has worked his arse off to get to where he is.

More to come.....

and feel free to post anything you guys find on the interwebs.

@Big-Clyde52 @Kcmatt7

Everything I read about Allen was that he was a shy kid that didn't want the attention that recruiting brought. He was mostly silent throughout that whole process. Kid can play, @Kcmatt7 is right, even though Texas isn't good he's being showcased and allowed to do what he wants. He's clearly their best player and his stock is as high as it will be because of where he is.

@BigBad said:

Which shows you the state of college basketball and the draft pipe dreams. Svi is NO WHERE NEAR athletic enough to play in the NBA. He isnt a consistent shooter and he struggles to defend. He should be a 4 year player.

Svi is 9th in the conference in 3 point %. He's 4th in terms of makes to attempts so I would say he's pretty darn consistent this year. Also making 48% of his 2's.

Now I agree his defense needs work, a lot of it but at 19 with 3 years in College he's a good draft and stash option in Europe for a team that might want to see him further develop against pro's. The fact that he's originally from oversea's adds to the intrigue with him. And he does have great size for a perimeter position.

Interesting take from the other side. So much of what they are relying on is the home factor from that article.

I wouldn't claim much of anything from that article to be a fact and its worded in such a way to really play up a lot of this stuff as facts. Basically regurgitating the USA today article with some side notes to make it feel like his own.

Yes Trae being a hometown Norman kid has been around the OU program for years. Yes Kruger has recruited him for a while, slightly longer than KU has.

We have his mother on record saying she liked the Kansas staff better overall as well as distance not being a factor in seeing him play. What mother wouldn't play up the "stay home" card, they ALL do. Doesn't mean she wasn't aware that KU was close enough to still see him play.

It will be interesting if Trae took his fathers comments about taking relationships out of the equation and making it a business decision. In the end though its his own to make.

Zagoria doesn't know anything about mid-west recruiting..

@JayHawkFanToo

Yeah Tech needs to keep themselves in the hunt and maybe they can make the tournament.

Even with wins against Baylor and West Virginia their resume is super weak especially in the non-conference. They don't have a single road win either. When you can't beat Oklahoma or Texas on the road its not going to look good.

Something like 8-10 in conference play, a road win anywhere, and not losing in the 1st round of the Big-12 tournament is probably going to be key for Tech getting in. All of that seems like a stretch when they play 3 of 5 on the road against fellow bubble teams + WVU and currently sit 5-8 in conference play. The KU game might have cured everywhere if they had won.

@HawkChamp

Don't forget Cunliffe.

IMO the likely-hood that Graham and Svi both return is 0%.

There's many ways to look at this situation but if Young commits tomm we pretty much have our answer about Devonte.

Young had 44 points last night- his season average.

Lots of deep 3's, one he shot from so far away he looked down to see where his feet where.

@JayHawkFanToo

And I agree we don't know that exact statement that was said other then his family saying it to the reporter.

Of course he must earn his playing time as every top recruit must do here. I think that's kind of a mute point when you can see Trae clearly has enough talent to start at KU and he'd probably start at almost any program in the country. We knew Jackson would start here as a freshman even though Svi was a proven returner and that was debated at length here. Jackson ended up proving he could be versatile enough to play both at the same time. Things usually have a way of working themselves out. Young might allow Self to go extremely small with 3 shooters/ball-handlers (Young, Graham, Newman) for hypothetical purposes.

In the case of Trae, I do think the Staff has told him what his role would be especially with confidence that Graham wouldn't be here. I guess I won't know if that is true until Thursday. The one constant thing with their interviews is the remarks of having a clear role, not having too much competition to jeopardize him being showcased.. If KU does in fact get him it signals to me that the staff confidently sold him playing time.

@JayHawkFanToo

Graham is averaging over 4 assists a game as the "other guard" with less turnovers then Frank. Without getting into detail it would seem that Devonte is doing just fine in proving himself for the next level.

I don't necessarily believe GM's are going to look at him and be scared to draft him because he hasn't been the primary point guard at KU. It would certainly help his case to solidify a 1st round pick if he did come back and try and assume the lead point guard duties at KU. I don't think anyone can question that would be a smart move, maybe even the smarter move. If he risks going pro, there is a good chance he's a 2nd round pick unless he has more of those heroics like he did last night.

I think all of us KU fans selfishly want him to return for his senior year but in this day and age what we want and what we think is the best move for a kid is not what they may be thinking. We saw this last year as a perfect example. Graham is old for his class and may not think he has anything to prove after this season. It would be hard to argue for him coming back if this team were to win the championship. An early exit might make him hungry enough to return.

Anyways its a good discussion to have. Question. Do you think Self would be selling Frank Mason's role so definititively to a recruit if he believed Graham was returning. I think Self would be honest with a recruit if he thought his role wouldn't be as advertised.

@JayHawkFanToo

Good question. I think its telling that Self has actively "sold" the spot to Trae because they know Devonte's intentions. That has been my belief all season long.

We've seen Devonte take on the secondary role because Frank has just been that damn good. We all thought it was Devonte that would assume the lead role after last seasons heroics.

If Young comes to take Franks position, doesn't mean he would automatically have his role, more his position as the point guard. I think both can co-exist on the court because we've seen Graham be unselfish this year and also with Trae we saw him run his AAU squad while being the quote on quote 2nd fiddle to Michael Porter Jr.

Self can't sell it any clearer. You can have Frank Mason's role in the program next year. Should sell itself.

@jayballer54

Mom also said KU staff she liked the best overall. Still close enough to see him a lot which is important.

Dad has done a great job laying out the specifics of his decision. They have really thought of just about everything and seem to be very knowledgeable about everything.

I like our chances even better with that article to be honest. It pretty much spit everything I've thought would be important to them in deciding..

@hawkmoon2020

couldn't agree more!

@BShark

crazy article. A lot of positives for KU with the family. About as in-depth as you could possibly get with a kid.

Some very positive smoke to KU in there don't ya think

@DCHawker

feels like a dream

So KU picked up 2 Crystal Ball predictions yesterday pulling them ahead 2 days from his decision. One is a Minnesota, the other a Maryland insider.

I don't think anyone knows where he's going for sure. It's a good sign that people haven't taken the home school for granted here..

Matt has gone silent of course with him being so close to the situation. Will be interesting to see if he posts anything day before/day off with some innuendo.