🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@JayHawkFanToo You're thinking of UNC, not Kansas. ;)

@Crimsonorblue22 I don't know about Heslip specifically, but not all D-League players are under contract with an NBA team. There are plenty of D-League players who are under contract with the D-League team. Naadir Tharpe wasn't tied to a specific NBA team when he signed with the D-League last season.

@Crimsonorblue22 Players with an NBA contract aren't eligible to play based on the NBA's rules, and I would guess players invited to Summer League have some sort of contract while playing for a summer league team.

@JayHawkFanToo I don't see any school who has a player invited to play in this tournament denying them that opportunity. This tournament is providing the players currently in college a month of supervised practice they can't get if they stay on campus. Also the quality of this tournament is pretty high so not only are players getting a month of practice, they're also getting some games in against very high quality competition.

The city of Toronto is definitely becoming one of the biggest recruiting hotbeds there is right now. If you made a college team made up exclusively of kids from the Toronto area, it would be a legitimate contender to win a national title.

@HighEliteMajor If KU's out on Williams, Coleby sounds like he's replacing Williams as the Chukwu fall back plan.

Definitely not the ceiling Chukwu has, but he's at least a decent shot blocker. 0.9 bpg in 16 minutes is about 2.5 per 40 minutes which isn't the best ever, but it's a respectable number.

Two names most familiar to KU fans would be former Baylor guard Brady Heslip and former ISU forward Melvin Ejim. Two other high profile names are Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Pangs from Gonzaga. Another name familiar to KU would be Dwight Powell from Stanford.

@globaljaybird said:

@Crimsonorblue22 Would most certainly be my pleasure only I can't quite figure out how I could smooth that over with the other half-she is not what we would call a big BB fan ... ?

You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

@Crimsonorblue22 I believe she graduated HS in 2014 and is interning at KU over the summer.

@Crimsonorblue22 I believe she's interning with the KU athletics department.

Hoiberg is gone. He's always been an NBA guy and will be headed back in the next week or so.

@KUSTEVE Thanks for telling me "other" really means "all" now. Try arguing what my post really says instead what you want it to say.

@KUSTEVE If you're talking Wayne Selden today, absolutely. If you're talking HS Wayne Selden pre knee injury, that Wayne Selden blows Vick away as far as athleticism and quickness go.

None of three you listed are known for their ability to blow by people off the dribble. Greene is a shooter, Svi uses his size to his advantage to shoot over people, and Selden is learning new skills because playing with a bad knee as a freshman cost him a lot of his quickness on the court. Comparing Vick's quickness to three guys are aren't known for that skill doesn't make Vick quick compared to other D1 players, just quicker than a guy who's had knee surgery and a couple of guys known as shooters.

Vick will be a good player for KU, he's just not likely going to be the superstar that some people hyping him up as and others read those statements and get goo goo eyed over.

@JayhawkRock78 It went out Monday night when the storms came through, but I'm on the NW of town in the Cypress area and the power was back on when I woke up yesterday. I'm hoping the water is receded enough so the Dynamo-Manchester City game doesn't get canceled tomorrow night.

The pictures here in Houston are incredible. Tropical Storm Allison about 15 years ago is the only comparable situation here in Houston in my lifetime. I haven't been able to get into work for the past two days because I can't get out of my neighborhood. The water is receding now thankfully, but cabin fever has definitely set in and it sucks.

@jayballer54

There's no change to his KU visit. June 1-2 is a Monday and Tuesday, his KU visit is scheduled for the first weekend in June which would be the 5-7.

@drgnslayr

I honestly don't think Maker is worth pursuing at all under any circumstances. He wants to be a perimeter based player like Kevin Durant. I also think his skill set is highly overrated. Add in that this relationship between Smith and Maker has other various red flags and Maker just isn't worth the baggage that comes with him.

@konkeyDong

Speed and quickness are two different things. Guys that can get their own shot whenever they want are guys who are quick off the dribble. Even in the new video, Vick's quickness doesn't jump off the screen at me. Could it improve with a couple of years under Hudy to add some muscle? Sure, but I just don't see it with Vick. The two biggest things Vick has going for him is a great looking jump shot with NBA range, and length. His length will allow him to guard 1-3 on defense and be the primary on ball defender for KU in a couple of years.

Vick may not play big minutes until year 3. His athleticism is better in his most recent highlights, but I still don't see enough quickness to be able to get his own shot at the D1 level yet. I just don't see him coming in and being instant impact like some are predicting and he may never get there. I see him ending up being a multi year starter, 2-3 years depending in if he redshirts, and becoming a very to great on ball defender with his length, and a consistent 40% 3 point shooter. I just don't see superstar with Vick, but there's nothing wrong with that because you need role players to do the dirty work. Brady Morningstar and Travis Releford weren't stars, but their contributions helped make the best program in the country from 2010-12 and if we get that out of Vick, it'll be a great signing for Self.

I don't see any court related stuff happening from this. A loan filing made by Cliff's mom became public, the NCAA notified KU, KU sat Cliff as advised by the NCAA, the NCAA investigated as best they could, they never got a hold of what they needed to because they don't have the ability to subpoena. There's nothing more the NCAA can do unless the actual loan documents become public and that's not going to happen by legal means.

I think scoring will up up slightly this year. Taking 5 seconds off the clock isn't going to change the offense teams run, just make them start earlier. This change means teams would have an extra 10-12 possessions at most so we're talking maybe 5-6 points for a really slow, grinding Big 10 style game and maybe 1-2 points for a normal game.

@DoubleDD

Ed Smith should absolutely be worried about Maker's future because Smith has botched this situation about as badly as he possibly could have. He is so impatient to cash in on Maker that he doesn't realize that keeping Maker in 2016 is the best thing for Maker's future at this point. If Maker were to go back into 2016, KU would absolutely be interested in Maker again, but as long as Maker wants to play half a season at most, then he's not worth chasing.

@Statmachine

Sorry, I'm not doing that. I like that it's free and I have no issue with answering a couple of questions to keep the site free. Google is paying KUSports to do market research and that money is what's keeping that site free (and not just the KUSports section, LJW as a whole) because it covers the operational costs of the site. Other newspapers charge to view their site and I don't want to see that happen to the LJW. I also will not pay to subscribe to some of the other sites that cover KU because KUSports is the best KU site out there as far as breaking KU news.

As for LeGerald Vick, I don't see him being a big contributor until year 3 when Mason, Selden, and Greene are gone. I see his path being similar to Travis Releford or Brady Morningstar of be a 40% 3 point shooter who can play top quality on ball defense. I don't see him ever becoming the go to guy for KU, but I can see him being a multi year starter who is a valuable role player for KU.

Words don't do justice how disgusted I was with my Rockets last night. I turned the game off in the first quarter when it hit double digits and checked on my phone a little later hoping it would be better and GS was up 25 around halftime. I love my Rockets, but I've never been a bug fan of Harden or Howard. This is the third game this postseason where they quit after getting behind early. That's a big sign they just don't have any heart and I don't see the Rockets ever winning a title with those two as the cornerstones of the franchise.

The two biggest concerns I have for Kansas this year are the leadership issues that have plagued KU the past couple of seasons and can Diallo stay out of foul trouble enough to be the rim protector KU lacked last season. This is by far the most talented KU team since the 2010-11 team that lost to VCU and there is not a dominant team in college basketball.

I assume this means he was hoping Poythress and Ulis were going pro as well then.

I know if I was the AD at Kentucky, I'd be pretty ticked off right now. I assume Kentucky pays Calipari to try and win national titles and not send players to the NBA, but I could be wrong about that one. This emphasis is also a pretty strong sign that Cal's heart is in the NBA right now and he's waiting for the right situation to head back to the NBA.

I have zero issues saying that I would be perfectly fine with KU winning national titles and never sending a single player to the NBA. Never going to happen I know, but you get sentiment,

1. I think it'll be Chukwu, but Williams is my personal preference.

2. I live in apartments with no yard.

3. Gladiator

4. 1 although I would love to win 5 in the next 5 years.

I would really love to see the NBA and NCAA get together to try and work on issues that can cost a college kid eligibility and make an innocent party suffer the consequences while nothing happens to the guilty parties. Fortunately for KU, they're unlikely to ever see any punishment because the NCAA is never going to see the actual loan documents they need to force KU to vacate last year because Cliff's mom was able to get a lawyer that knows how to handle the NCAA.

Personally, I'd love to see agents, or their runners, that pull crap like this lose their license to be an agent and if it's someone trying to get certified, they get their certification denied.

Damn shame, Cliff was just starting to figure it out when he was benched and would've been a huge help next season.

@ralster. My other BIG issue (personally) with a dumbed-down playbook, is that it doesn’t speak well for the current roster’s intelligence level, if they cannot execute what '08 and '12 could execute.

2008 and 2012 were teams loaded with upper class men throughout the rotation and both had senior PG's who multi year starters running the show. The past 2 years have been teams with a lot of freshmen and sophomores in the rotation and had sophomore PG's in their first year of starting. Nobody should've realistically expected the past two teams to be able to run the more complex sets that the 2008 and 2012 teams could because the experience just wasn't there.

The 2015-16 team will be mostly upper classmen in the rotation with a multi year starting PG like the 2008 and 2012 teams. This team is also going to get over a month of unlimited practice in the summer with all be one player (Greene) able to practice for about 3 weeks before they leave for South Korea. Do not underestimate just how huge those practices will be for this team, especially with someone the caliber of Nic Moore running the second team against the starters. This is a year (barring injuries) that anything short of a Final Four will be a huge disappointment unlike the past two years.

I know I've seen WUG events on Fox College Sports in the past just scrolling through the channel guide. I've never watched so I have no idea if the broadcasts they show are live or not or if FCS still have a contract or not. I would guess the WUG website would have a live stream of events so that's always an option.

Here's the deal on the roster for the WUG right now.

Front court: Bragg, Ellis, Lucas, Mickelson, Traylor

Back court: Graham, Mason, Moore, Selden

That's 9 players confirmed, Self expects Vick to finish the reclassifying process prior to the start of practice in a couple of weeks to make it 10 players.

Self is also expecting to land a transfer to round out the class. If the transfer is American born (Johnathan Williams III being the likely person in this scenario), they will be eligible for the WUG and be the 11th player and the 12th player will be a current KU walk on. If the transfer is not an American born player (Paschal Chukwu is the likely person in this scenario), then the 11th and 12th players would be current KU walk ons. Players not on the active roster will serve as managers for the team. This means Evan Manning will be on the active roster because he is the best player among the 3 walk ons. Now it's just a matter of whether or not the final spot goes to an incoming transfer or my guess would be Tyler Self if it's a walk on.

KU is likely going into 2016-17 with Carlton Bragg and Landen Lucas in the front court. Those two have a skill set that compliment each other. Bragg is similar to Marcus Morris and Ellis in that he's a face up player and can play in the high post. Landen Lucas is more of a traditional low post back to the basket player. Whoever KU gets as a transfer should determine what type of front court player KU targets the hardest in 2016 because that person should be a back to play the opposite front court role the transfer does.

@REHawk "what’s to stop Self from playing an American born h.s. player (Vick), whether he signs in 2015 0r 2016?"

If it's a 2016 kid, the WUG rules would prevent that. A kid has to either be entering college for the fall semester or have been enrolled within the previous year.

If Vick isn't reclassified in time for the WUG, KU would still need 3 more players to reach 12. KU has 3 walk ons currently on roster and could invite Christian Garrett if Self wants to go that route as well.

@Statmachine

My understanding of the Vick situation is that Vick will start the process of reclassifying to 2015 as soon as he graduates and it will just be a matter of whether that process finishes in time for him to play in the WUG. I've seen nothing that's indicated Vick won't be on the roster for the 2015-16 season.

Playing in the WUG was never going to be a big recruiting boost and considering these games are typically on Fox College Sports and being in Korea, will be happening in the middle of the night here in the US so it also isn't going to be a big boost of exposure either for KU.

The big bonus from this is the unlimited practice KU gets to have starting June 8 for the WUG. Self will have a huge head start on the 2015-16 season installing more complex schemes for the year. Everything else is a net neutral at best impact for KU.

@HighEliteMajor

If this was an NCAA game where KU had it's full 16 man roster (I assume KU fills out its 13 scholarships and isn't adding a walk on), I would agree about Manning and a second walk on playing relevant minutes in a game. This isn't the NCAA though and KU won't have 3 of their front line players for the WUG so it really doesn't bother me if Evan and another walk on get some minutes here and there during the WUG.

@Statmachine

Why would this mean Vick is staying in the 2016 class? Vick gives KU 4 back court players for the WUG and Moore is the 5th back court player.

Nic Moore is a great get for add some depth to the back court for the tournament. KU will still need at least one more non KU scholarship player on the team and Self has said Nic Moore is the only non-Jayhawk that will be on the roster. With KU needing at least one more player to fill out the roster, and up to 3 if LeGerald Vick can't get reclassified in time, Evan Manning certainly seems like a lock to be on the roster. If Paschal Chukwu ends up being the transfer KU lands to fill out their 2015 recruiting class, KU will need a second walk-on to fill out the WUG roster. Since it appears that Chukwu is the preferred target over Johnathan Williams III, I think it's acceptable to begin asking who the last 2 WUG roster spots go to?

Evan Manning would appear to be a lock for a spot, but who gets the other spot? Tyler Self, Josh Pollard, or does Self invite Christian Garrett to fill out the roster?

@HighEliteMajor Like you said, it's a matter of how the pieces fit together. Can Bolden expand his game to play the 4 and be the high in the high-low? We know Self wouldn't play a 7-2 player at the 4 because it takes away the height advantage in the interior. Those two pieces together don't really seem to fit together very well on the court on paper like Ellis and Traylor have never meshed well on the floor because they both do basically the same thing on offense (Ellis obviously being the more skilled). If Bolden ends up being a natural 5, then I do believe Williams would end up being the player to compliment Bolden's skill set as opposed to another natural 5. If KU does end up with Chukwu, I certainly wouldn't be disappointed because the kid does have a lot of upside and it's already known that KU will have front court minutes available for a 2016 recruit and it could end up being more of a matter of which 2016 recruit best compliments the transfer KU lands.

Kelly Oubre made the right decision. He has the maturity to know that he's not going to dominate the NBA game right away. You do not get better by playing against players that are at best the same talent level as you and the vast majority are nowhere near as good as you. You get better by playing against players that are better than you that force you to up your game. Chad Ford's mock is the lowest I've seen Oubre's name in the draft, (Oubre's name falls anywhere from 11-17 on the most credible sites) so there's no guarantee he goes that low.

I think I'd rather have Johnathan Williams III honestly. Chukwu has a high ceiling, but if he's transferring because he didn't get minutes at Providence, there's no guarantee he would beat out senior Landen Lucas when Chukwu becomes eligible. JW3 is someone who's always wanted to come to KU and KU probably would've gone after Williams had they missed out on Embiid. Toughness and strength are the biggest questions about Chukwu and neither are a concern with Williams. Williams played the entire season on a torn meniscus and would have an entire season to heal from that. Williams is also a quality shot blocker (1.5 per game as a freshman when healthy) and could average double digit rebounds when he becomes eligible.

It basically comes down to which bigs Self feels good about landing in the 2016 and does he want a more proven commodity with a a lower ceiling against a kid that's not proven but has a higher ceiling? My personal preference in this case would be Williams because KU will need production in the front court in 2016-17 and Williams has proven for 2 years that he can be a quality player in a major conference.

KU will need at least 1 player to fill out the WUG that won't be on scholarship next season. The 3 spot is where KU is going to be hurting the most for this tournament and Self is probably going to use some combination of Selden, Ellis, and Bragg to fill out that spot unless someone is willing to loan out a top quality wing. I don't see that happening, so why not look at KU's walk ons to fill that 12th roster spot. Evan Manning knows the system and can give Mason and Graham a breather in the back court.

KU can only bring 12 staff members as well and we know Self (1), his assistant coaches (4), Svi and Diallo (6), Director of Basketball Ops (7), Hudy (8), and likely a couple of trainers (10) will make the trip. That would leave 2 spots open and you could bring Tyler Self and Josh Pollard over or even just a single trainer besides Hudy and also bring Brannen Greene over as well and have the full team together for this event. I'll be interested to see which way Self goes with the open roster spots, especially if Chukwu comes (I'd rather have Williams personally) and Self needs two players.