Stacked
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I know everyone is all worried about the recruitment of Myles Turner and Devonte Graham but seriously we are so stacked with depth and experience I think we have the complete package for making a huge run next year either way. I think we are getting too worried about the tallent comming in and not giving the tallent we have the opprotunity to flourish like Robinson, Withey, Releford etc.
Naadir Tharpe will bounce back and forth between 1 and 2. Hunter Mickelson was ranked number 55 and the 8th best pf in the same class. He set some shot blocking records as a freshman at Alabama and should see the floor more than anyone might expect. Self loves his shot blockers. That’s 2 ESPN four star top 100 recruits with 3 years of exp going into what should be their senior year.
If you remember Perry Ellis was a McDonald’s AA out of high school in 2012, he came in with Landen Lucas, and Andrew White. That’s 2 ESPN four star top 100 recruits and one McDonald’s AA with 2 years exp.
Everyone remembers last years heavy weight recruiting class. I cant even imagine how badly Bill Self is ready for summer school to start so he can get back to work on these guys. Wayne Selden, Conner Frankamp, and Brannen Greene are all returning. That’s one 5 star McDonald’s AA and 2 more four star recruits with a year under their belt.
Regardless of who else comes into this class Bill Self has already added 2 more 5 star McDonald’s AA that Fill the holes left by Embiid and Wiggins. Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander are both in the top 10 and are both considered to be OAD talent. Those are some big shoes to fill but Self has plenty of quality/depth in those spots and should be able to find something that works.
That is a McDonald’s AA participant at the 2-5 accompanied by 6 other ESPN top 100 four star recruits (coming out of hs) with experience coming off the bench and a point guard that can do this
… I love that video! Self will have no choice but to give Conner the nod next year. During last years alumni game reporters asked the pro’s “who impressed them the most” and the unanimous answer was Conner. I think it was Tyshawn Taylor that elaborated and said he has shot around with some of the best shooters in the NBA and that he had never met anyone better than Conner. I think we got what you might call a stacked deck! So lets forget about last year and look forward to this summers alumni game when we get to see our first glimpse of the new recruits and see how much Hudy has influenced our returning roster this off season…
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Thanks for the inspirational thread! It’s always good to go into summer with our chins raised high!
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@drgnslayr I like it too!
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I get frustrated when everyone wrights off the current roster because they haven’t seen them play since viewing their highlight reels a Few years back. Back when we were watching the highlights we were sure talking them up.
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@Statmachine As Adrian Cronauer would say “That’s a reeeeeeally hot forecast there Roosevelt…DAMN hot !!”
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@Statmachine Oh how I hope you’re right. Let’s have Bill Self call off the recruiting of Turner and Graham. Heck, according to you we’re good. We don’t need them. We’ve got Mickelson ranked 55, sat out a year, and couldn’t handle Anderson’s program. Yea, Self loves his shot blockers, let’s forget about Turner. Oh yea, Ellis, so much potential and was a flash in the pan at times, soft, and so inconsistent. Yea, let’s forget about Turner.
Oh, Lucas? I love Lucas’ vids and he came in highly touted, but all he had was one good defensive play down the court in one game. Yea, let’s forget Turner. Oubre and Alexander are going to experience the high school transition to D1 B12 bball . Remember, they will be facing sophs, juniors, and seniors that know how to play. I can’t wait to see them against some competition ie. uk, ISU, UT, Baylor, and maybe reach the tourney. Let’s play Stanford again. You are right, we don’t need Turner.Overall stat, I get your point. I even agree for the most part. But your idea is a little bit silly. You can’t forget Turner. I really don’t want him going to Texas or even SMU to simply face us and beat us. I’d rather have him and lose to Texas than be without him and win. I just think he’s that special and likely to stay 2 years.
Let’s just say all that you say makes sense, but let’s not end there. Let’s go ahead and pickup Turner if we can. I’d rather have Turner at this point than Graham. I am going to give Tharpe some slack after having a crappy year and expect him to have a breakout year his senior year. I think Tharpe might have a chance to be one of the best pgs, but he’s got to decide now. If not, Self needs to quickly switch to Mason. My starting five:
Tharpe/Mason
Selden/CF- I was giddy when CF hit those treys aginst Stanford, but that was one game and he sure missed some looks that should’ve been hit by his shooting skill in other games. We’ve got to have a dead eye, knock down, make a team pay, dagger type player when it counts most. I want a Ali FarokManesh :). CF and Green are those shooters. Wiggins showed some of it late at times. But when teams sag, we’ve got to have that sharp shooter on the floor that can pull them out to open the lane for our bigs.
Oubre/Green
Ellis/Alexander- and if Ellis goes soft his junior year, he’s sitting some pine. I will love to see Ellis/Poythress or Alex/Poythress.
Lucas/Turner- just like Black/Embiid, Turner could have a chance the second half of the season to start or play a huge role inside against a long team. I think Turner woud’ve been great to have against Stanford. We could go small and move Alex to the 5 and Traylor to the 4 for some muscle. But, to your point, I hope Ellis turns on his AA ability and dominates the B12. I hope he haunts Calipari and makes Calipari wish he would’ve gotten him during his recruiting period. I want to beat uk so badly with Eliis. Calipari really wanted Ellis. We are due to spank Calipari again. I think Mickelson is good, but think he’ll have problems with an athletic big inside. I shudder to see Mickelson against Willy Cauley-Stein or even Dakari Johnson.
No malice my friend, just think your post is a bit naive. Again, don’t look talent in the face when you have a chance to have it. Take as much as possible. My case in point is uk. You don’t see Calipari passing on talent and look where he was this year and will likely have another great season.
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@truehawk93 I think he was just looking at the bright side of things, no? He didn’t say he didn’t want turner, he said regardless who else comes in…
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@truehawk93 Tharpe quite possibly will be salty enough to lead KU to an 11th league title. But he is not the guy to compete with the twins or Boatright at the Big Dance. The Jayhawks go a different direction at pg, or we are right back where we were in April 2014. Mason and Frankamp need to step up quickly, one or both to lead the 2014-15 squad right from the getgo.
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@truehawk93 No need to call off the recruitment of Turner or Graham lol. Just sayn we have alot of good/great pieces that I think any coach in the country would be happy with. Self did lead the Golden Hurricane’s to their first-ever Elite Eight appearance with lesser tallent on the roster. Point is we are stacked!
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Can we have Tharpe redshirt this year and get his game together?
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@jayhawkeyes For some time I have given some thought, too, about a possible red shirt for Tharpe. But then, if he really does settle into a reliable starter for 2016, what does that do to the development of Mason and Frankamp…or to the solidarity of the lineup, year after next?
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“Can we have Tharpe redshirt this year and get his game together?”
From what it appears… he could use the year to get his LIFE together first!
But seriously… I don’t think Self would want him holding a scholarship for an extra year. It appears those scholies are just too dang valuable for us now!
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It would not surprise me if Tharpe had the senior season that we would all hope he would. He has shown flashes of being the player that we need him to be. Now, I’m not say that is going to happen…I think it is more likely that Mason becomes the man at the 1 this year.
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@Statmachine I like the main msg in your post. We have, once again, a roster of top50, experienced guys, ready to do more this coming season. I consider Turner to simply be a luxury ‘icing on the cake’, if he chooses KU. If he doesnt come to KU, I’m not as worried. He isnt an Embiid.
Regarding 6’2 Graham–> I really want him. Because at 36-ranking, he likely will have a chip on his shoulder. And he will not be an OAD. And because I like my 6’1-6’4 combo guards.
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I want Graham because we need another high ranked player in the backcourt.
As I’ve said in other areas, there are some guys ranked 50-100 that develop into very nice players. There are others that just never pan out. I think Mason will pan out as a good contributor for KU. I think Tharpe has maxed out as a good backup, but is probably overextended as a starter. Tharpe for 17 mpg is a very good player. Bump that to 26 and the warts show. I’m concerned that the same thing will be the case for both Mason and Frankamp. Mason seems like a poor man’s Sherron Collins. A spark off the bench, but trying to play him heavy minutes every night will lead to lots of wild forays into the lane (and turnovers) along with just so so defense. With Conner, you would get a steadier hand, but probably more defensive struggles and a lack of penetration, possibly offset by his floor spacing. Each of the guys we have now have some issues that could become problems in extended minutes.
I’d like to land Graham because we really need a starter at the point that can play 25+ mpg. I’m not sure any of the guys we have now are that guy.
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@Hawk8086 An optimist and a realist all in one paragraph.
@ralster @justanotherfan - I really think Graham would be a nice add, and I have to admit that is nearly solely because 1) His ranking went up to #36, and 2) UVA and NCSU are strongly pursuing him. This isn’t a kid I had ever really looked at or considered.
As much as anything, I’m interested in what happens playing time wise if Graham shows up. We know Self will stick with 4 main perimeter players, with a 5th getting scraps. Selden, Oubre … then what?
I can’t imagine CF sitting now. I have a tough time imagining Mason not being in the rotation. I have a tough time believing Self benches a senior. I can’t believe that Greene won’t get significant PT. And hard to believe White stays if he thinks he’s going to be on the bench again. Even if Graham doesn’t show up, there aren’t enough minutes to go around, even if Self plays a five man perimeter rotation.
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Here’s my question for the day and there could be a follow up so stay with me.
How does a players ranking go up after his season is over? Is it because bigger schools such as KU and UVA are recruiting him instead of a Rutgers per-say?
Did other players stock go down after their season and thats why he moved up?
It makes me wonder how they get 5 stars when UNC Duke and KY are recruiting them as sophomores, and some other kid is only being recruited by Directional State school his Jr year and is only a two star. But then he catches the eye of a Williams, Self or Miller and now he jumps up at the end of his senior year to a 4 star??
Just askin’ just sayin’
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@JRyman Alot of the times players do not get the exposure that the AAU guys get if they are not playing because of injury or financially their family cant afford to send them to camps etc. I don’t know the case for each instance but Myles Turner hurt his ankle between his sophomore and junior year and didn’t play so when he hit the AAU circuit last summer he out played almost every big and his ranking blew up.
Devonte Graham had a strong season for Brewster, helping the school win the National Prep Championship. He got a lot of attention because scouts were there watching other players and took a notice to him and Poof he jumped in the rankings.
Look at Embiid, He played behind Dakari Johnson and had to transfer schools so that he could get a starting position as a senior. Then he was invited to the Jordan Brand Classic and had a good showing. He went from un ranked to the #1 center out of high school.
High level coaches get involved in these guys because they are good, but the exposure has to be there for them to get noticed in most cases.
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I agree with several posters that Tharpe will have a great year. Why? Because he’s gotta! Play your tail off next year or sit the bench. Team has more intrasquad competition than last year.
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Someone just posted odds of who’s going to win now that early entries are declared and recruiting is about done. Kentucky, Duke, Wisconsin, Kansas in that order. If Turner comes that may change a little.
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@wissoxfan83 Wisconsin have everybody back? Good recruiting year?
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By the way, when I first saw the headline of this post, I was thinking “Scarlett Johansson.” Not that I was disappointed or anything, but I think it was a little misleading …
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@HighEliteMajor I was more along the lines of Kate Upton, but yeah, whole different perspective!
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In addition to the things @Statmachine has pointed out, the evaluators also have a chance to go back and watch game tape of the players and determine final rankings. The preseason rankings are based on what happened last summer. The mid-season rankings are based on what happened early in the year. These final rankings take everything into account - how a player did in his high school season, how he played in all star games, etc.
Players are also re-evaluated at this point. A guy that maybe got onto the radar for having a big camp last summer and zooming up the rankings may get moved around if his play during the season didn’t stand up to that lofty showing. A player that played poorly at a camp and fell in the rankings may move back up once the final rankings come out and his strong senior season is taken into account. Camps are a good evaluation tool because they pit guys against other likely college players. On the other hand, it’s just one week and if a guy is sick, or banged up, or not shooting well or whatever, that may hurt his ranking temporarily even though he really just had a bad week.
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Everyone back except one guard who is being replaced by his backup who arguably was playing better at the end of the year.
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Experienced & typical Self squad beats a Bo Ryan squad. And it wont take a Harrison buzzer-beater 3 to do it.
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Here is how I see our lineup for next year:
PG) Mason, Tharpe, Frankamp
2G) Selden, Frankamp, Tharpe
3G) Oubre, Selden, Greene
PF) Ellis, Traylor, Alexander
F/c) Alexander, (Lucas or Mickelson)
