DG ranked #11 on ESPN's top 25 players for next season
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Everyone sleeping on Newman and Buke… Just wait.
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I think that’s about right for Graham. He could be better than that or he could be worse than that next season, but 11th is a pretty reasonable place for him to start.
Jevon Carter is too low at 12. I would have him in my top 5. Same thing for Joel Berry.
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Interesting to see how DG will lead, now that its not just for a Mason-breather. I’m remembering Elijah Johnson’s assassin role behind Tyshawn’s lead role, yet couldnt do the same as lead dog all by himself the following year. But I think Devonte is different and has his own mojo. He can play off of Malik’s “alpha” and still assassinate. He does need to get better at attacking like Frank.
Is that asking too much? Mr.Mason attacked better than any guard under Self, with the closest others being Sherron and Keith Langford, and maybe senior year Tyshawn. DG, to me, seems about a half notch below Tyshawn in his rim penetrations.
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@JhwkrRedLegs EJ and Devonte have nothing in common other than they played at KU, imo. I’m really at a loss to explain why there seems to be doubts from our fan base concerning Devonte. I don’t know what you all have been watching, but I’ve watched 3 years of Devonte, and I have no doubt that he will lead us tremendously next year.
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Frank Mason Junior Year vs. Devonte Junior Year:
Frank- 12.9 PPG/ 4.6 assts/ 1.9 tov/ 43% shooting
Devonte -13.4 PPG/ 4.1 assts/ 1.8 tov/ 42.8% shooting
Any questions?
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The issue is not doubting Devonte, but it’s questions about Devonte as the point guard – as the team leader with the ball.
Here’s EJs stats his Junior season - 10.2 PPG/3.5 assts/1.8 tov/43% shooting
Devonte is not near the ball handler that Mason was. That’s a high bar though. Devonte’s ball handling is good, but more in line with a Tyshawn – a glider. He’s not a guy, so far, you can just throw the ball to and have 100% confidence. But he’s pretty darned solid.
The stat comparison to Mason on turnovers is interesting – Mason had 1.9 tov as THE primary ball handler. Devonte had 1.8 as the two guard, playing point perhaps 5-8 minutes a game.
Here’s a comparison – EJ had 1.8 tov his junior season. Exact same as Graham. When EJ became the point guard, that became 3.1. Worth watching with Devonte.
But here’s where I see a difference in favor of Devonte. You’ll see that EJ and Devonte have roughly the same shooting percentage their junior seasons, but Graham averaged 3.2 more points per game. First thought – Devonte shot more, right? Barely. EJ 11.0 attempts per 40 minutes, Devonte 11.6.
The difference in how they scored. EJ just 1.5 free throw attempts per 40 minutes; Devonte 2.9. EJ shot worse from three, and made just 1.8 threes per 40. Devonte made 3.0 threes per game. Advantage Devonte.
Devonte got the line a bit more, and benefitted from Self’s “open season” on three point shots. But Devonte shot at 38.8 and EJ 33.8 from three their junior season. EJ dipped to 33.1 his senior season.
Another interesting note. Devonte got to the line a whopping 4.3 times per 40 his freshman season. That has dropped quite a bit since. EJ did nearly the same his freshman season at 4.0 per 40. But EJ only play 151 minutes to Devonte’s 517 their freshman seasons. Devonte’s per 40 is more reliable.
I think Devonte has a great chance to get to the line at least twice as much as this past season, which would be over 5 per 40, and to bump his three percentage up to his prior percentage – freshman season he was 42.5 and sophomore 44. EJ got to 40% his sophomore season but was a career 34.2 shooter from three. Devonte is at 41.2 for his career. That is a huge, huge difference. And I see no scenario possible where Devonte shoots below his three point % last season. Odds favor improvement.
Devonte will be better a good bit better than EJ this season. I am quite confident in that. While some of the numbers may compare a bit, and they were in the same situation – being behind a PG in the class ahead of them, Devonte is simply the better player.
But it is unfair for us to compare Devonte to the greatest PG in KU history. Mason won POY from everyone. Mason got the FT line 7.3 times per 40. Good grief. And he shot 47.1% from three. He was all everything. We may never see a KU PG like that again in our lifetimes. That shouldn’t be our bar.
As far junior seasons, Graham is better than EJ. Graham’s PER was 17.4 last season. EJ’s was 14.8 his junior season. Mason was 18.1 in his junior year. EJ plunged to 11.8 with the ball in his hands. Mason, of course, exploded to 25.5 his senior season. Graham? I’d bet on right around 19-20. That’s where Tyshawn Taylor was his senior season, and that would be just fine.
I think this really comes down to the eye test thing. Can Devonte stand up and be the man? Or is he a two guard being miscast as a PG, like we found out was the case is EJ?
I’m going with @KUSTEVE on this one. We can’t expect Mason. But there’s no reason at all to expect an EJ like collapse. I’m going with a TT like senior season.
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@KUSTEVE solid stats to be sure and I’m just as happy as all of us are about DG staying “One more year!” But how will he lead KU without Frank? We really cant expect him to duplicate Frank’s NPOY season. But we certainly can expect him to aim for it.
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@Lulufulu My point of comparing Frank to Devonte in their junior seasons was to show going into their senior seasons, there isn’t some great drop off. I personally don’t want Devonte averaging 20 ppg, like Frank did last year. I would prefer he averages more assists than Frank did last year.
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This list is a joke right?? Joel Berry FF MVP, back to back FFs and ACC regular season titles is at 19? wow. The Porter guy thats going to the black hole known as Fizzou is #2 and the tripping sensation Allen at #1. No Newman? Newman is my sleeper for B12 POY. Doke could easily be a lottery pick with a solid season next year as well. ESPN go home you’re drunk!!
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kjayhawks said:
This list is a joke right?? Joel Berry FF MVP, back to back FFs and ACC regular season titles is at 19? wow. The Porter guy thats going to the black hole known as Fizzou is #2 and the tripping sensation Allen at #1. No Newman? Newman is my sleeper for B12 POY. Doke could easily be a lottery pick with a solid season next year as well. ESPN go home you’re drunk!!
Well when you can most of your good writers…
