🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Odd as this may sound, Jacque Vaughn is probably too old to really consider him for the KU job after Self. He's already 45, which isn't old, but Self is probably going to coach 8-10 more years, which puts Vaughn in his early to mid 50s when KU starts looking for a replacement (assuming Self retires in his mid 60s as he has suggested in interviews).

If KU wants someone that will stay for 15-20 years, they need to look for someone that will be no older than 47 or 48 in 2028, which means that person is, at most, 40 right now.

Everyone, say hello to Jeremy Case, currently the video coordinator at KU, former player and national champion at KU, son of a coach (father is an assistant at Middle Tennessee State). Case just turned 36, which puts him in the perfect age bracket for this job. He was an assistant at both SE Missouri and Houston Baptist, so he has some D1 sideline experience. I would not be surprised if Case eventually leaves KU again to go and be an assistant (or maybe even the head man) at a smaller D1 school so he can get his feet wet running his own show before returning when Self decides to hang it up.

That's just my guess.

@Kcmatt7 said in Washburn Game Thread:

Big Dave for 26

Tonight is as good a chance as he will have all year to get right. If not tonight, when?

@jayballer67

K-State probably doesn't have double digit wins this year. I can't see more than 3-4 wins in conference for them.

I'm not sure Gethro will be in the mix. This team is better playing small, and Gethro isn't so talented that he is screaming to get on the floor immediately, so there's no real point in burning the shirt just to play him 8 minutes a game.

If TGF was playing a little better (still looks behind due to missing time this fall) he could be another guy that could help inside with his length. 4's and 5's would have no chance guarding him on the other end, and he could do okay in spot time handling post defense. Unfortunately, that's at least a few weeks away, but could add some upside to this team. That would help spell Wilson, and Big Dave will still play some, so teams cannot go full bully ball on KU. The big thing is that, even when he's in, Big Dave has to understand that he isn't going to be force fed the basketball. That's not his strength, and not the strength of the team overall. He has to be active, and that's where he can get his touches and shots.

@Kcmatt7

Big Dave is the wrong kind of big man for this particular team. This team needs a screen and lob big man, not a post up big man. A screen and lob big man would open up the paint for back cuts and drives, with the threat of misplaying the PnR always there to give an easy alley oop dunk every once in a while.

Harris needs to be on the floor as much as possible because the other guys all flourish off the ball. I'm not saying Harris should play 35 mpg, but he should be getting 28 or so because his ability to play the point helps make the other guys better. Garrett is a good stop gap PG, but he is not enough of a creator to be a fulltime PG. Harris is, and should play that role.

This team should be playing 5 out the majority of the time. That is unfortunate because that means Big Dave probably only plays 15-18 mpg, and that leaves no real role for Lightfoot at all. Even against bigger teams, KU's advantage this year is in spreading the floor, not trying to match size for size.

Having a lineup with Wilson or Enaruna as the biggest guy, then with some combination of Garrett, Agbaji, Braun, Thompson, Harris, TGF is the best look KU can have. The rotation should look something like this:

Harris and Garrett: 25-30 mpg, with Harris on the higher end, Garrett on the lower end, and Garrett only playing about half his minutes with Harris.

Wilson, Agbaji, Braun: 22-25 mpg, with Wilson closer to the 25, Braun and Agbaji closer to 22.

Enaruna, Thompson: 18-20 mpg, with Enaruna on the lower end, Thompson on the higher end if he's hot or needs to spell Harris or Garrett if one or both is in foul trouble.

McCormack, TGF: 14-18 mpg, both probably closer to the 14 mark than the 18 most nights. TGF could move up a level if his defense improves.

Lightfoot and others: minimal

It will be hard to get through the full season without at least a few hiccups. Not every school is positioned like KU to isolate their basketball teams in a single dorm. That means more exposure. You would also need to essentially "bubble" everyone (managers, coaches, training staff, etc.) that would otherwise come into contact with the team to avoid exposure. With cases going up so fast in so many places, chances of avoiding exposure for 15 different people is pretty tough if they are having contact with outside individuals.

Someone I know that works in the medical community told me that they are not expecting a vaccine to be available to first responders until early Spring at best, which means it probably won't be available generally until mid to late summer at the earliest. The other thing we don't know is how long immunity lasts post vaccine. Flu shots last 10-12 weeks. If this is at all similar, that means we need a shot roughly every two months to protect the population. That's six doses a year. Multiply by the population (350M in U.S. alone) and that's over 2B shots needed in a year.

Every plan I have seen is to distribute about 100M shots. If those go to first responders, that's probably only a year's worth of doses for that group. Suffice it to say, a vaccine is not coming to save us, or at least isn't going to save us next Spring.

Questions that have to be answered for this team:

1. Can everyone stay healthy and COVID-free? COVID could keep someone out of the lineup for 2-3 weeks, but also may throw off timing and fitness for several weeks after that.

2. Can the guards/wings figure out their roles and rotation? There are a lot of them, and they have to exist in a world where only 3 or 4 of them get significant minutes. Someone is going to get left out. The only questions are who and why. Depth is a must this year for obvious reasons, but guys that aren't playing one week have to be ready to play the next.

3. How do the new guys fit in? TGF, Thompson, even Wilson since he barely played last year. It's unlikely that at least two of those guys won't have to be very productive for KU to be good, so they need to be on track. It hurts that TGF hasn't been 100%, but that just means Wilson needs to be ready.

WSU is not going to be an easy job for whoever takes it. Overly high expectations from fans, Koch interference holding the purse strings, and no real way to recruit the type of players needed to consistently compete with Memphis, Houston, etc.

@FarmerJayhawk said in All Politicked Out? Election 2020:

Related observations. I’m always amazed how awful Democrats are at non-Presidential politics. They spent $200 million to lose by 35 points combined to Cocaine Mitch and Lindsey Graham. Well done folks!

Cocaine Mitch is the all time greatest. Keeping the Senate majority is massive. And I firmly believe if you shot Biden up with truth serum, he’d rather have ML McConnell than Schumer. They can make deals and Biden can blame McConnell for anything. And he’d be happy to take the barbs.

The GOP picked up state legislative seats nationwide, which has big redistricting implications.

There was an EPIC polling failure in JoCo and Kansas broadly this year. Someone in the party showed me a poll that had D’s picking up 10-15 House seats and 5 Senate seats. The GOP expanded their supermajority in the state legislature, including a big upset in knocking off Sen. Hensley, who’s been Minority Leader longer than I’ve been alive. Can’t blame anyone but themselves. The GOP just outhustled D’s.

I think Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer should step down from leadership, especially if Senate R’s keep 52-53 seats. They flat blew it.

There is some data out that as it became clear that Biden would likely win the presidency, fewer Republicans (particularly in red states like Kansas, Iowa, Montana, South Carolina and others) were willing to vote for Democrats as Senators. These are people that would have voted for Democrat Senators if they thought Trump would win, but flipped. I think that same trend carried downballot to state races as well.

The Pfizer vaccine cleared another testing hurdle. Probably still months away, but getting closer.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in The other thread pretty lengthy - new one Covid:

Covid, close to home. My bro in laws uncle passed today. 61. Healthy guy. Cattle rancher from s. Ks. Like most rural Kansans, where cases are raising like crazy, didn't wear a mask. He gave it to his wife and daughter, but they were ok. He's been in wichita about 2 weeks on a vent. Finally pulled it today. Sad day! So simple to wear one, do it for others. This guy was a very good man.

So sorry to hear of your loss. This is so tragic.

@Kcmatt7 said in Bears picked over Jayhawks in preseason Big 12 poll:

Things Scott Drew has done:

• Take Baylor to their first tournament in 20 years.
• Take Baylor to eight tournament appearances, they had only been 4 times in their entire history
• Took over a program at literally one of the worst times someone could - almost as bad as Bill O'Brien at PSU
• Has had them ranked in 12 of the last 13 seasons. At a medium sized private Baptist college in Wacco, TX where they are at best the school with the 4th best brand awareness. Maybe.
• Gotten them to a 3 seed four times
• Gotten to the elite 8 twice (which is all Self had done when he was hired).
• Had them ready to be a 1-2 seed last year
• Preseason consensus top 3 team

I'm sure the haters will say something but the dude is a winner and an above average acquirer of talent.

Agree with all of your points here, although I wouldn't want Drew as KU coach. I would argue that Baylor was at an even worse point when Drew took over.

From Wikipedia on the scandal Drew inherited:

"Patrick Dennehy, a player for the team, was murdered by former teammate Carlton Dotson; then-coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign amidst allegations that he had violated NCAA rules by making financial payments to four players and that he made improper statements to the media characterizing Dennehy as a drug dealer."

For those tracking at home, that's a current player being murdered by a former player, then the coach attempting to smear the murder victim by saying he was a drug dealer. Oh, and there was also some illegal recruiting going on, just for fun.

And this was a program with ZERO history to go with a huge scandal. Literally no one wanted that job when Drew took over in 2003. They only had 7 scholarship players in 2005. By 2008 they were in the NCAA tournament (first full recruiting class for Drew were seniors by then), and by 2010 they were in the Elite Eight. Baylor hasn't been below .500 since they have had full recruiting classes (2008 season).

What he's done is probably the greatest rebuild in D1 basketball. People talk about the rebuild Snyder did for K-State football, but at least he didn't inherit a scandal ridden program on NCAA probation. Drew's rebuild is at least as good as Snyder's, probably even better, though its hard to compare football and basketball because of the differences in recruiting.

Simmons for Kyrie Irving. Pairing Simmons with a guy like Durant, and Kyrie with a PnR partner like Embiid could make both teams much better. Brooklyn would be nasty defensively with the size and versatility of Simmons and Durant. Kyrie would benefit from having an interior scorer to play off of.

@jayballer67

There are definitely some advantages to thinking outside the box like that in the short term. It likely gets KU moving towards .500 or better within a couple of years.

The downside is where you go from there. There is a definite cap on the types of players you can recruit offensively into that scheme. We saw this at Ga. Tech - they were solid basically the entire time Johnson was there - two double digit win seasons in 11 years, and only two seasons without a bowl berth, but generally good for 7-9 wins (six such seasons). That is absolutely better than anything KU has seen in over a decade, but it makes it nearly impossible to change styles without tripping up everything you have built.

I think Philly moves Simmons. He has the more limited upside unless he develops a perimeter shot.

Simmons needs to be surrounded by four shooters. Embiid needs to be surrounded by multiple shooters as well. That makes it hard for them to play together, even though they are both tremendous talents.

If DDot was back, this team could be a 7 seconds or less type squad. Garrett is good, but he is a different type of PG. That is just not his style of play, and would be a mistake to try and shoehorn him into that role.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Updated 2020-21 Kansas Basketball Schedule:

It looks like there's still 3 games to fill with 2 of them likely being the Wooden Legacy games and then looking to fill one other non-conference game between Kentucky and NDSU.

Three games in five days seems a little much for college hoops, particularly with trying to space games out a bit for testing to avoid outbreaks between teams.

A lineup with Garrett, Braun, Thompson and Grant-Foster has four guys that did a lot of ball handling in their careers up to this point, but have also all played on the wing, so they can easily switch in and out of those roles. Agbaji, Enaruna and Wilson with those groups seems like a pretty nice fit. Agbaji in particular could allow you to switch everything (Enaruna and Wilson may not have the agility to handle guards defensively).

One other bit of news that is not helpful here is that hospitals are really starting to fill up, especially in rural areas. On top of that, lots of patients are coming in from non-mask counties (mostly rural areas) and taking hospital beds in more populous counties. There is some friction between urban/suburban and rural areas as the sickest patients need ICU attention, but most of the rural areas of the state do not have any ICU beds at all -- for example, along the US 69 corridor in the eastern part of the state, there is not a single hospital between Johnson County and Pittsburg (over 100 miles). If we don't get a handle on this soon, we could see some real tragedies in the rural parts of the state simply due to lack of access to treatment. And I can't imagine being a hospital worker - do you take the local patient, or the one from 90 miles away? Hopefully no one has to make those decisions, but if we aren't careful, that's where we are heading.

@BeddieKU23 said in Self talking about the team:

Just a thought but if we expect this years team to be good imagine next year if everyone returned with the free year.
I don't expect Marcus would come back if he has a great season but who knows at this point. Even if he leaves the roster looks good if everyone stayed. I have no idea what to expect from this season but with so many guys eligible to return that are likely too next season really feels like the year that this group could be magical

There may be some incentive for Marcus to return to KU. He doesn't have a good fit in the NBA unless he improves his perimeter shooting substantially. He could be a dominant college player with his current skills - potentially an All American type - but a non-shooting wing player just doesn't have much attraction at the next level. If he is interested in doing some graduate work, it may be to his benefit to stay in Lawrence.

@Kcmatt7 said in Josh Allen Gonna Derek Carr the Chiefs:

What is good?

Here is a list of starting QBs I would rather have for the next 5 years than Josh Allen:

• Mahomes
• Rodgers
• Wilson
• Stafford
• Ryan
• Burrow
• Murray
• Jackson
• Watson

That's the list. Josh Allen is a top 10 QB asset right now.

Is he elite? No.

Is he good? Meh.

Is he bad? No.I think this is definitive.

I looked at this list for a while and tried to find something wrong with it. Brees? No. Brady? No. Bridgewater? No.

Derek Carr is meh. So are Jimmy G, Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins, and Ryan Tannehill.

Phillip Rivers and Roethlisberger are both washed up.

Baker Mayfield is hit and miss. Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones are mostly miss. Kyle Allen is a poor man's version of those guys. Dak may never be the same after his injury. Cam Newton hasn't been the same since his injuries.

Maybe Joe Burrow or Tua work out, but there's no reason to get excited about either of them.

@Kcmatt7 is right. Josh Allen is a top 10 QB in the NFL. If you didn't truly appreciate Patrick Mahomes before, re-read that last sentence.

I am still not convinced that Josh Allen is actually any good.

Prior to this season, he was a 56% completion rate guy, with a QBR under 50.

For comparison, Lamar Jackson, the most dynamic dual threat QB in the game, has never had a season with a completion rate under 58%, and has QBRs of 46.3 (rookie), 82.3 (MVP), and 76.8 this year. Allen has only been above average this season - QBR of 87. Allen threw more INTs as a rookie (12) than Jackson has thrown in his entire career (11).

I guess my point is, are we sure Allen isn't just a more mobile version of Daniel Jones with some better weapons at his disposal this year?

NFL teams are always looking for explosive playmakers (the good ones, anyway). He will have a legitimate shot. Too bad it didn't end like we were all hoping it would, but with the way things are going right now, it was inevitable that someone would be leaving midseason to deal with a family health issue. I wish him, his mother, and his family nothing but the best.

This has been coming. With more coaches (and particularly assistants in football, since that is who does a lot of the recruiting) leaving with no penalty, it was only a matter of time before they allowed a one time transfer for student athletes with no penalty. It may restrict from transferring within the conference, but beyond that, you could see quite a bit of movement.

I think this could also lead to more issues of mistreatment and such coming to light. Often, guys will not make waves because it could cost them scholarships or transfer opportunities, so things don't come out for years after.

When the allegations first came out, I wasn't sure. But I think the thing that is most telling is that several of his most prominent former players - guys like Fred Van Vleet, Ron Baker, Landry Shamet - haven't said a word in his defense that I can find. That's pretty damning, because if they don't even have an interest in publicly defending him, he's probably sunk. If one of them were to come to his defense, he might be able to save himself. If not, he's in too deep.

Schools are going to have to do a better job of keeping an eye on abuse of student athletes. This doesn't rise to the level of what happened at Michigan State, obviously, but it's a pattern that cannot continue. We saw it at KU with Mangino (the real reason he had to go). Schools are putting themselves on the chopping block if they don't get these types of things handled. Marshall may be out permanently.

TGF being hurt makes it tough to really assess where things are at. His versatility can solve a lot of problems for KU because he has the ability to do a little bit of everything. He can guard 1-4. He can handle the ball. He can shoot it. He's a very solid rebounder. But if his injury lingers, we may see something in that skill set compromised (i.e., if he can't run and jump, his defense and rebounding (and maybe shooting) could suffer.

I see Wilson as a fill in the blanks guy, maybe even a deluxe fill in the blanks guy. He's basically a guy that can give you whatever you need on a particular night. Of course, this is dependent on him staying healthy as well. I'm not sold on him as a shooter, but if he is shooting it well, that could boost the rest of his game (it's just easier to play well when shots are going in).

@Kcmatt7 said in Chargers at SoFi Stadium:

@stoptheflop nobody tackled well... We get Pennel back this week and Saunders is supposed to be back week 5. So I think our fully stocked DL will help our LBs at some point. But we need to find a Hitchens replacement after the season. I think Gay will come around given time. Still need that 3 down MLB though.

Gay did get a piece of that punt, and has been doing well on special teams overall. I think he will catch on in time, but with no minicamp, he's just not ready yet.

Another guy that hasn't been sharp is Juan Thornhill. I wonder how much not being at the facility has hampered his recovery from last year's injury.

@jayballer67 said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:

Well pretty much what a lot of people including myself had thought would happen - - - has happened. Kids just getting started back to school and already the COVID -19 taking it's toll.

Wetmore School district in North Eastern Kansas has went to total remote teaching - - again , after finding out 2 more students have tested positive and a Staff member tested positive. Now closing for rest of the week yet a possibility of continued closure next week.

Wetmore had a student presence at 40% and had a 28% student rate in quarintine - - 28% ! !. to some of you that might not sound bad BUT when your looking at the size of this School - - -that's a lot. - -I think your going to see a lot more of this coming in the near future.

Here in Kansas just since Monday we have had 52 more COVID-19 deaths - right at 1,000 new cases and hospitalilzations are up 44 since Monday. - That to me sure doesn't sound like things are geting better. - - The CEO of St Mt Vail has said he has seen increase of COVID in the Hospital - -getting so tired of this

Dr Faucci mentioned that the US citizens better hold on to their butts until AT LEAST the end of the year, - - that's positive ? - - I'm confused

Rawlins County (NW Ks) also went fully online after several students and faculty/staff had to quarantine. There was another smaller district a few weeks ago that had to do the same (SW Ks I think, but can't remember which one).

We are going to end up regretting not having this under control before sending students back to K12 and college.

The current crop of athletes, for good and bad, learned from Jordan (and Magic, Barkley, Kobe, Shaq, Lebron) that they are their own brand, and really their own business. That's why Patrick Mahomes will be worth a quarter of a billion dollars at some point in the next few years, why Kevin Durant owns a production company and why Lebron James owns a handful of companies. They understand business more than most.

It's also why you see fewer and fewer of the (insert athlete name) retires and is millions in debt stories now. There will always be some, whether due to gambling, drinking, drugs, or whatever other vices they find, but athletes are much better prepared to manage their money now than they were even 10-15 years ago.

@BShark said in Langston Wilson:

Would love to have him.

@BeddieKU23 yeah, his path to JUCO is a lot different than normal. I can't remember if it was mentioned in the recruiting thread or not but he didn't even play HS basketball.

That may explain some of the rawness/hitchiness/choppiness in his game. He looks unrefined because he is unrefined at this stage. That changes my assessment of his development curve.

If, for example, he had played for years and was just now getting to this point, I would look at him as a guy that maybe just can't get to that next level because he's already pretty far on his development path.

But if this is the first time he's really been coached at a high level--whoa. He could improve VERY quickly. Put me down as VERY HIGH on him now.

Shot looks a little hitchy to me, but not unfixable. Release is nice and high, so that helps.

He has a lot of bounce and explosion to him, and he runs the floor well. He also looks like he could add 15-20 pounds fairly easily without losing that explosive ability. He looks like he has the potential to be a versatile defender as well, guarding 4/5 as well as being able to step out onto the perimeter and be very sound.

He has great pop to his leaping. He can just get off the floor with no real windup. That should translate to him being a very good weakside defender if he learns concepts and timing. He may already have that, but the video doesn't show it.

He's not a ball handler, but he can pick and roll, pick and pop and spot up well. His post moves are adequate, though he can probably be double teamed with some effectiveness because he isn't very fluid.

He's a great third big, and probably a nice starter if he's paired with other scorers. If he works with a great PG on the screen game, he could be a high caliber player. For that reason alone, he has some pro potential if he continues to develop.

@approxinfinity

The research is what it is.

Her backstory is what kills her credibility. She grew up in Kansas City. Even if she hadn't claimed to be black, she falsified her backstory in a way that would probably have destroyed her academic career either way. I'm surprised it wasn't discovered earlier, although she changed her appearance to appear more black. With the internet now, its fairly easy to trace someone back to at least college, if not further.

8 redshirt or true freshmen on the defensive side of the 2 deep. 3 of those are true freshmen in the defensive backfield. In the Big 12. That makes me nervous. That's a lot of inexperience at a critical spot on the field. Maybe all of those guys play well from the start, but its more likely that a couple of them struggle at least a little early on. This is going to be a tough year, but could lead to some good things if everyone gets a full offseason.

@wissox

USA could not be competitive internationally if we went back to college players unless there was a firm cap (say, 24 and under) on international players also. Otherwise, we would be back in 1988, where the Russian players were just further along the development curve than the US collegians.

As I posted above, even if the USA somehow had won in 1988 (likely not the best team in the field anyway), 1992 or 1996 would have probably resulted in losses (and possibly no medal if they go all the way to 1996). The world was catching up. If the US were to field a team of collegiate players now against the rest of the world's best, that team probably would not even make the medal round.

@BigBad and @DanR

Pros were coming either way. Even if not in 1992, by 1996 we would have had pros. If anything, that probably means no Magic or Bird on the original "Dream Team" if we have to back things up to 1996, which may change that team (maybe no Jordan or Barkley, either). That probably changes the overall impact of that team (still great players that lead the US to gold, but not the all time icons).

Even if he is great, without shooting around him, Philly won't advance past the second round.

My jobs have required so much travel in the past that I almost always have ended up either voting in person early, or voting by mail. I will probably vote early in person (obviously no travel scheduled this year) just to try and keep the traffic on election day down as much as possible. If voting in person was still required, I probably would have only been able to vote twice since 2004 in even numbered years (2008 and 2012). Every other year I would not have been in my hometown to vote. I'm glad they expanded early and mail in voting, otherwise I would have been disenfranchised over the last decade.

If we are considering modern era to be after 1980, then Pierce is absolutely the choice. Best overall KU player at the pro level, a legitimate all time type of career. Paul Pierce is really the only true pro superstar that KU has produced in the last 40 years (jury is still out on if Embiid stays healthy enough for long enough).

@Marco said in Final Four bound!!!:

Man,,, the Pac12 and Big10 canceling all sports until spring affects not only football, but looking ahead - if even possible, at this point - the NCAA Tournament. I have confidence that we'll have a vaccine this winter, just a feeling. So hypothetical (and I know, it's a huge stretch), if we were somehow able to cobble together a basketball regular season how could there even be an NCAA Tournament? And if not, that would obviously all but gut the need to hold a conference tournament.

I think the only way to cobble together a season is to have conference play only - otherwise you have some teams that play 25+ games and others that play 16 or 18. Conference play, then conference tournaments. That backs everything up until January, which gives more time to have a plan for how to do all of this safely.

I like the fact that Alexander played WR and S as a sophomore. That means he can run and cover, which makes him a good fit as a LB in the Big 12 defending the spread. He's also big enough that he can add 15-20 pounds and probably not lose anything in the speed and quickness department. He could be a star if he develops.

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2021 Recruiting:

Landed OT Christien Hawks from lovely Norton, Kansas! I really like the kid. 4 sport athlete, hard worker, and from the good old MCL. Great pickup.

I like his size. At 6-5, he has the frame to add the kind of weight necessary to play P5. He will probably need a redshirt year to put on that kind of size, but he could be a very nice five year player.

You could do a basketball bubble if the season were cut down to conference play only. With 18 games to complete, you could do that in less than seven weeks.

Imagine starting conference play right after the start of the new year (let's go with Monday, January 4). Play games on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays like normal, but you would play three games some weeks. At 5 games every 2 weeks, you would finish up conference play on February 20, or could stretch the regular season out to Feb 27. Or, if you needed to back things up, start the bubble on January 18, wrap on March 6, Big 12 tournament runs March 11-13, NCAA tournament starts the next weekend.

Its basically 8 weeks in the bubble (including the conference tournament). If you include the first two weeks of January, that's 10 weeks total. It's not perfect, but it is doable.

@BeddieKU23 said in K.J. Adams:

@Marco

Should be a solid core. You could theoretically have Sr's: Agbaji, McCormack & Grant-Foster, Jr's: Braun & Enaruna, 3rd year players Wilson & Harris & a second year of Thompson. That might be enough to make up for the lack of top end elite talent at any one position.

If Grant Foster stays healthy, look out for him as a senior. The level of improvement from HS to now is mind blowing. That type of trajectory is very rare.

@drgnslayr said in K.J. Adams:

I've never seen a KU freshman show up to Kansas knowing how to rebound. Wait... I said NEVER... okay... thinking, thinking... I'll keep to my original statement.

Thomas Robinson. Averaged almost 3 rebounds a game in just 7 minutes as a freshman. Averaged over 6 rebounds a game as a sophomore in just 14 minutes. TRob understood how to get position and pursue the basketball.

@approxinfinity said in K.J. Adams:

@justanotherfan 9 is a lot under Self, especially a freshman. That's not just being great that's being in and rebounding for enough minutes to produce volume all season long.

When I say 9, I'm talking about in HS this year (assuming he gets a full season). A guy with D1 size and athleticism should be able to get 5 boards just getting off the bus.

Many top D1 PG prospects average 5 rebounds per game purely because of their athleticism (John Wall, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Lonzo Ball, etc.). That's why for a wing guy to have just 7 a game sticks out to me.

I'm happy with the Adams pickup, but have one other item of concern.

For an interior player with D1 size and athleticism, he averaged less than 7 rebounds per game. HS basketball affords plenty of rebound opportunities. I would hope he averages better than 9 rebounds a game this season at a minimum (10 to 12 would be ideal). Less means he's either not working hard enough on the glass, or he is not a good rebounder. Each has its own issues.

If he isn't working hard enough, that will only get worse in college because there are guys whose scholarships literally depend on grabbing every available rebound. If you aren't as hungry as them, you won't eat.

If he isn't a good rebounder, again, that will get worse in college because that means he has either poor positioning or poor timing, both of which will hurt him when he can't simply use his size and athleticism to grab a handful of boards each night.

I will be watching him closely this year to see where things go. He has talent, but, as his ranking suggests, there are some holes in his game as well.

@Texas-Hawk-10

The tricky part is all of the people that the team has to interact with that would be outside that bubble - coaches, managers, food service, etc.

The NBA bubble works because it is essentially self contained. Everyone that is involved with game management - players, coaches, media, staff, trainers, etc. - is inside the bubble. For college basketball, we don't have that. There would be travel involved. Hotel stays. Bus drivers. With spread still not fully under control, every interaction carries a percentage of risk with it.

And that doesn't even address issues if fans are allowed to attend, even in small numbers.

The bigger issue with COVID-19 is (if the season is played) the possibility that certain guys may be unavailable related to COVID-19. It's going to be tough to contain the spread on college campuses. Dorms and college apartments just aren't designed for that type of thing, even if every single student is vigilant about mask wearing, hand washing, etc. And assuming every 18-24 year old on campus is going to be that responsible for 16 straight weeks - well, we've all been to college and know that asking us to have been completely responsible for 16 consecutive hours would have been a stretch.

My opinion is based on the two highlights posted. In the highlights, his drives that he makes are basically straight line drives. He doesn't make any dribble moves to beat an opponent. It's just catch and drive for the most part, and even then, its not a thing of quickness, he just gets the angle and goes to the basket.

On the second video, you notice a couple of times with him in the post and he can't just use his strength, quickness, footwork, or athleticism to just beat his man on the back down. He's effective in HS with his skillset, but will look very ordinary in college against a strong 6-5 guy (think Mario Little type) that will have a quickness advantage on him.

I don't think he's a bad player, but he is a 9th or 10th man at best to my eye right now. His handles are not great, so he isn't really a wing. His set shot is solid, but he's not a guy that can fly off screens and knock down threes all day. I don't see an elite athlete (probably peg him at above average, but not more than that).

He's a nice recruit to get if he's going to be here five years. He will need a redshirt year to become a significant contributor IMHO.