@DoubleDD 1,000% upvote.
KUSTEVE
6008 posts
Since I started this Embiid/ Diallo diatribe, I went back and watched Embiid highlights from his year with us. And JoJo did things on the offensive end that Diallo will never be able to do. A few of his moves I'm not sure even Hakkem could do. Funny that I remember him being somewhat clumsy with the ball, and somewhat limited. Memories can play tricks on you that way. But, that doesn't disprove what I said originally, which was Diallo is our Embiid. A fierce rim protector we can throw the ball into, and he can dunk, dunk, dunk. I think he handles himself well when driving to the hoop, which will add a mobility we haven't seen in the paint since TROB. So, I'm excited about Diallo.
I am prone to hyperbolations of massive sizes when it comes to KU basketball ... so, I am GUILTY AS CHARGED. I haven't thought we were going to lose a game since Ted Owens was coach ( back then I was surprised when we did win a game). I make no apologies for loving my team, or thinking the very best about them. I will be wrong, but then again, so will you. Predicting the future is such a hit or miss proposition. When I went totally nuts over a guy named Devonte, I was told on here " he would redshirt", or he might get a few "mop up minutes". Remember??? So, if you think Diallo is just some slug, then we will agree to disagree. But your doubt is not going to dampen my enthusiasm one iota.
RCJHGKU
@ParisHawk Then we'll agree to disagree. I think Diallo is a shoo in for a lottery pick. We will revisit this next March...hehe...
@jaybate-1.0 I figured you'd be practically giddy over the prospect of a 6'9" Carmelo clone bombing from beyond 3....LOL....
@Crimsonorblue22 You have a point. My question would be is Svi or Greene coming off surgery going to be quicker?
@globaljaybird He supposedly was drunk when he did that interview. Is there anything more insufferable than having to listen to a drunk?
@jaybate-1.0 We return our top 3 scorers. We lose 9 points a game from Oubre, and 7 ppg from Cliff. I'll go on record now and say that Diallo/Bragg will exceed their numbers. He used Oubre at the 3 last year - why wouldn't he use Bragg at the same position? Even though he has the height to play the 4, his frame is pretty sleight and I have seen him play with his back to the basket maybe once in all his clips. So, now we have an absolute defensive monster at the 5 with a huge motor, Perry at the 4, a 6'9" mobile big man with driving skills, and the ability to shoot the 3, along with the combination of Frank, Wayne or Devonte. That is light years ahead of last year, imo. I'm sure Svi will get his minutes as well, but I am not convinced that he would start over Bragg by conference play IF Coach decides to go that way. Our team speed with that lineup could potentially be off the charts.
I believe we will see a quantum leap from Devonte this year. I'm talking potential All conference type break out. I recognize your concern about Frank maintaining his breakout from last year, but I think whatever regression to the mean occurs with Frank will be made up with improvements from Devonte and Wayne ( Wayne has to improve, right?)
I think Diallo will have the same impact that Embiid did. Although Diallo is shorter, he makes up for it with a fierceness of will, a relentless competitor who will absolutely dominate the paint on both ends. The dude is a warrior - a 100% bonafide badass. Teams will begin to think twice when they enter into the Diallo zone. And then the question of Perry's toughness, imo, becomes a moot point.
I think we have a great opportunity to win the national championship this year. We're due for a great NCAA run. We've got the roster to hang another banner.
Passing thought : he signed Coleby instead of Chu-Chu because he has a bead on another big with higher upside for 2016, and wanted to clear a path for playing time for the new arrival. Maybe Chu would've prevented this from happening.
Marsha : "Forget the money.......I need Brylcreem" !!!!!
@jaybate-1.0 I think you're discounting Diallo's offensive game. Withey couldn't make a jump shot to save his life, but he sure could dunk. Same with Embiid. Diallo is extremely quick, much quicker than anyone we've had since maybe TROB in the post, and I think his drives to the basket will result in lots of scoring opportunities.And, he will dunk, dunk, dunk. He has a relentless motor that makes him, imo, the best big man in the 2015 class. His defense will be light years ahead of what we endured last year.
Replacing Oubre at the 3 could be a challenge, but we do have a plethora of choices available. I'm sure we'll see in-season tryouts. like we did at the 5 last year.
I'm very excited about this team. It's been since 2012 since we've went into a season with so much experience, which was the last time we made the FF.
@HighEliteMajor I wonder if this means Vick won't reclassify for 2015, and the last scholarship goes to Chukwu.
@Crimsonorblue22 It's what they reported, so just passing it along. Here's a link: http://chicago.suntimes.com/basketball/7/71/643408/fred-hoiberg-told-recruit-april-wouldnt-back-report ↗ ↗
@JRyman Hoiberg told Diallo there was a chance he wouldn't be coach at Iowa State when Fred was recruiting him, so 99% certain he goes to the Bulls.,
@Texas-Hawk-10 I wasn't trying to be obtuse - I simply reacted to your initial assessment of a lack of quickness. This sounds like the blind men describing the elephant story- all see something different. If I was less than accurate, my apologies. i have read the debbie downers on KUSPORTS pick this guy apart, and was simply reacting to your comment.So, no harm intended to you.
Hope you didn't get flooded out too badly during the rains. I have relatives all over the state who have been begging for rain, and now they can't wait for it to go away.
@Texas-Hawk-10 Ahhh...so, he's faster than the guys we have at the 2/3, but he's really not fast enough for Div 1. Got ya. So, what does that say about our athletes at the 2/3?
@Texas-Hawk-10 He looks like a cheetah compared to Selden, Greene, or Svi. I don't know where you're getting the guy isn't quick. The guys I listed ( Wayne, Greene, Svi) look like tortoises compared to him.
@wrwlumpy He better reclassify to 2015. My arms are tired from all the pom poms I've been cheering him on with.
@Statmachine I'm as fired up about him as you are. I appreciate all the info you share on Vick - can't wait to see him on the court!
@REHawk I respectfully disagree. The very last thing in the world Cliff wants is for any of this to see the light of day.
@HighEliteMajor Didn't Coach Self write a book on the hi-lo? I know there are some videos out there of him teaching the hi-lo, so I certainly agree he won't be changing the offense anytime soon. It would be like Colonel Sanders making a hamburger- not likely to happen.
Joeloveshawks - I really think this will be our time this year. I don't fear UNC, as Coach Self seems to have Roy's number. As for Maryland, I like what Turg has done, but they don't scare me a bit, even with Stone and Sulaimon added.
We are past our 2 year re-build from the team that lost in the national championship game. We break in one (1) newbie into the starting lineup, whose job is to block everything in sight, and dunk, dunk, dunk, We return our starting backcourt, and a very impressive soph ( Devonte), along with Svi, Greene, and a somewhat unheralded (imo) freshman in Vick. We return our top scorer in Perry, along with Jamari, Landen, and two highly touted freshmen in Bragg, and our new center, Diallo.
All of these guys get a whole bunch more practice due to the WUG, and we are catching college bb in a somewhat down year. I think we win 30+ easily. I think our team defense will be better with a shot blocker in the middle, and our offense will have lots of options, and will be hard to stop.
Maybe it's my crimson/blue glasses I wear, but i could see us going into the NCAA tournament as the #1 seed, with the experience on the roster, and the depth to back it up. This is our year!!!!
@drgnslayr Spewed my coffee on that one...LMAO...
@wrwlumpy Like it has been mentioned, UNC is too big a cash cow for the NCAA to take down. I assume we'll see a similar penalty as Syracuse got, but it won't happen until after this season, I would bet. UNC is too loaded going into this year for them to take them down until after the season.
@drgnslayr I think his announcement was a cry for help, intended to sway Thon Maker to come aboard for 3 months. Pitiful...as Jed Clampett used to say.
@hawkmoon2020 " Big Oil" has never put a gun to my head, or a boot to my throat. This last century is simply riddled with oppressive socialist governments killing millions of people. Remember, they're " here to help". What could possibly go wrong?
@brooksmd The solution is to give them your money, and control of your energy. Because you have to know you are guilty - you are destroying the earth, so you must be controlled by thoughtful socialists, who only want the best for you. Because they know better.
Straight out of 1984., isn't it?
@ajvan I was so hoping Self would play TROB with both Morii, but alas, he never did. It was always 2 out of the 3. Would he play both footers at the same time ( Bolden/Chu-Chu)? That would be a sight, wouldn't it?
@drgnslayr the Chu-Chu" train. Love it!!!
@hawkmoon2020 There you go - we'll call him the "Walrus"....( after Hudy adds 50 lbs onto that lean torso).
@Crimsonorblue22 Like Chuck Woolery, only hold the "lery".
@Crimsonorblue22 **CHUK WUllery. **
@drgnslayr We get to play a slew of games in the summer. Bragg, Vick, and Diallo get invaluable practice time, and Bragg and Vick should see the court during the games. Maybe our newbies will be a little better prepared than what Oubre and Cliffie were to start last season. I am truly not worried about the results - we are playing a slew of teams under a different set of rules, but our core group is pretty damn strong to begin with, so lets have at it. World, meet Frank...and Perry....and Devonte, etc.
@Crimsonorblue22 "Chuck wus the pretty girl". Better?
Talk about an absolute perfect recruit for our team. I was trying to use Chukwu in a sentence, and haven't come up with anything yet. Instead of calling the guys in the paint "BIGS", maybe we could call them "chukwus".
@brooksmd I looked up our team stats, and our 12.8 turnovers a game last year was good for a tie for 201st in Div 1, while Wisky, Virginia, the Shlockers, are all top 10 in least turnovers. Experience will help that number this year, but anybody we can get that values the basketball, can pass and dribble effectively, and has shown ability to create his own shot, and can penetrate has to find minutes in our program. I'm thinking Vick's quickness will be a great asset on the defensive end as well. Maybe we have someone now who can stop guards from penetrating so easily.
@drgnslayr Wayne shoots the worst % of anyone on our team. Wayne made the same number of turnovers as Frank, even though Frank played 300 more minutes, and handled the ball far more than Wayne. Many of the turnovers Wayne makes show up as missed shots, as he lunges straight into the heart of the paint, hoping to get fouled, and ends up bricking from 4 feet away> if he is fouled, then he stands in as a 65% free throw shooter. He has trouble with any kind of pressure when dribbling, and doesn't pass the ball well under duress. To me, he plays slow, without having another gear available. Now, he could certainly play at a higher level this year, and I am very hopeful that he does play better this year, but the thought of a #2/3 with great ball handling skills has me salivating. I love the aggressive drives to the basket, and love the way he passes off once the defense collapses on him. I am not saying he is a replacement for Wayne, but I love the thought of him playing in a line up with Devonte and Frank, and how our offense could take off with three great ball handlers in the lineup.
@HighEliteMajor It's your job to talk me off the cloud, and most of the time, you do a good job of breaking me out of my self induced myopia. Not on this guy. The hook has been set, and I'm like one of those big tunas being reeled in on "Wicked Tuna" with Vick. I get it - you're thinking Doyle, and I'm thinking Brandon Rush with better handles.
As for the rankings, who is better right now? Number 12 Wayne Selden, or number 100+ Frank Mason? Who was better last year....number 4 Cliff Alexander, or number 100+ Devonte Graham ( Graham was originally 100+ before playing an extra year). My point is rankings are educated guesses, based on all kinds of factors. We've all seen cases in our experience in sports where a guy with seemingly better physical attributes gets pushed around by guys that are tougher- more determined- more aggressive. There's no list that can adequately measure the human heart + desire to succeed. Every year, there are guys littered throughout college bb who, when given opportunity, makes mincemeat out of the rankings. My belief is we got a steal with an underranked guy, and he will provide some valuable minutes this year.
@joeloveshawks I thought Vick could play point. I know, I know...I get new signee tingles...lol.
@drgnslayr Thin guards run faster...lol. This kid has to get minutes with those skills.
I am wondering out loud if Wayne moves to the 3. Start Devonte and Frank, with Vick backing them up, and have Svi back up Wayne. Greene could still back up either the 2 or the 3. I think our team would much better with Wayne at the 3. Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, as I would sure like to see the ball in his hands less next year.
@FarSideHawk Rankings are educated guesses. Or, uneducated depending on the results. They're predicting the future, which is a pretty cagey proposition. Didn't the "experts" have Embiid way down there, until KU signed him? I distinctly remember Devonte being 100+ in the rankings, before he decommitted from App St, and he had a year to get better. Then he's number 36.If we took the rankings seriously at first glance, then we would've written off Devonte. So, i personally take the rankings with a grain of salt.
@joeloveshawks Who knows about those rankings.... the clips I saw showed a very talented ball handler and passer, with an absolute zeal for driving to the rim. Not sure if the jumper is quite ready, but the dude plays quick. There are guys that are fast, and some are quick, and a few of them are fast- quick, and Vick is fast-quick. The best part is watching the guy make great decision after great decision when leading the break. Wayne, and to a lesser degree, Frank, both made poor decisions at times when attacking the rim. i think this guy will help.
@RockChalkinTexas I love the fact he cancelled his scheduled visit to Kentucky to sign with us. He plays with a different speed than Wayne or Brannen, so I think the contrast will be good.
@RockChalkinTexas I absolutely love him. Love the ball handling skills, and the scorer mentality. He is a great addition.
@drgnslayr He's going to run his presses, and get his brains beat out in the Big 12. OU, the Clones, and of course, KU, will rout him. Come to poppa, Smarty. Try and press our guards....
@drgnslayr Hilarious. I saw an older woman with teeny shorts the other day. At Walmart, of course. Even the camouflage design couldn't hide a terrible fashion mistake. It was ...memorable, but not in a good way.
@HighEliteMajor HEY!!!! Old fart discount smack talk is not allowed!
@wissoxfan83 I'm thinking I might be the spring chicken around here at 54.
🎶🎶it's been a hards day night, and I've been working like a dog. Oh wait- that's already been taken, hasn't it?🎶🎶
I can't wait for the first time Diallo snatches down a board, and heaves it 70 feet to Frank for the wide open layup. Or when he runs the court and flushes a Selden "bunny miss". I also can't wait for Frank and Devonte to violently pressure the ball, or drift into the passing lanes knowing they have help at the rim ..."run, run like the wind". I can't wait for teams to clog the middle, and Greene, Bragg, Frank, and Devonte scorch them from the 3 because Diallo can pass. I can't wait for a guard to get past our perimeter battalion, only to be greeted with a faceful of ball from Diallo or Bragg. I think HEM is absolutely right about the post presence opening up the 3 ball. But I think it goes even deeper than that - Bill's teams have always been great half court defenders traditionally. What made us so elite in 2008 was our team's ability to turn the opponents over. My gosh, how many runouts did BRUSH, Mario, Sherron, and RussRob get that year? Yes, an offense that is getting wide open looks beyond the 3 will be really nice, but give me a suffocating defense that is getting easy baskets to go along with it. That way if the 3 ball isn't dropping, we're still fine as frog hair.