Bagley for Whitman
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Bagley is good at basketball. Really good. When you’re trying to win national titles, finding people that are really good at basketball helps you do that. If Bagley wants to come to KU, come on down. We can figure out minutes and rotations later. He’s good at basketball, and that helps win games.
Additionally, Bagley is versatile, as is Preston. They could play together with Azuibuke because they can both handle and shoot from the perimeter (that front line would be HUGE). Playing them with Newman and Vick would be a pretty scary lineup. You could also go semi-small with those two, Svi, Vick and Graham together, or smaller with either Bagley or Preston, plus Svi, Vick, Newman and Graham. That’s a fun lineup that would probably be very explosive without giving up much in the rebounding department if Bagley were in there as the only big.
Whitman was going to be a backup. Bagley could potentially start. That’s an upgrade (if Bagley comes). If not, KU is still okay because Whitman was depth, not someone they were relying on.
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Who’s the backup for Azubuike’s minutes though?
Preston is more of a SF then a 5, Lightfoot the same.
He had a role here, especially one that could be fluctuating by opponent, foul trouble, etc.
This is a crushing blow to the rotation.
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@Kcmatt7 An LOI is not a legally binding agreement. Preston could still leave and play elsewhere without sitting out because fall classes haven’t started yet. That’s why Frankamp had to sit out at WSU, he left KU in September after classes had started.
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Bagley isn’t coming to KU. It’s as likely that I suit up for KU this season.
And Whitman was going to play a bit, how much we can’t really say. It’s unfortunate, especially during the first semester as KU will only have 8 scholarship players.
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@BShark Well, I for one welcome you to the team, and I am looking forward to you taking it in to the rim for a last-second victory at the Octagonnorhea of Doom!
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There are so few true 5’s in CBB now that you don’t have to have a true backup to the position. It’s more important to have versatility than having a true 5, even as a starter, let alone as a backup.
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I’M READY COACH, PUT ME IN.
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All righty then…how tall are you and how much eligibility you have left?
P.S. Can you play defense?
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@JayHawkFanToo 6’1’’, fat and old. Defense would be a problem.
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@JayHawkFanToo He defends his position on here pretty well usually.
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justanotherfan said:
There are so few true 5’s in CBB now that you don’t have to have a true backup to the position. It’s more important to have versatility than having a true 5, even as a starter, let alone as a backup.
Line-ups without Doke will be trickier now. Lightfoot definitely isn’t beefy enough to pull it off against most opponents. So it will be Preston by default I guess. Certainly Doke is going to get every last minute he can handle.
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BShark said:
@JayHawkFanToo 6’1’’, fat and old. Defense would be a problem.
So you sound more effective as a thoroughly offensive player?
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Hopefully we hear something soon about potential replacements. If only we had non-goober insiders.
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I think Whitman came to KU expecting to be the #3 option up front, but has discovered that Mitch’s improvement has bumped him to #4. Without a history of excitement about KU, the uncertain possibility of getting a ring while not playing much might not be as attractive to him as playing a lot somewhere else.
As mentioned before, he may not go pro anywhere. Therefore, if he loves to play he would do well to go where he maximizes that opportunity. Unlike an underclassman, he is not able to project into the future knowing if he pays his dues now he might get more time later. This is it for him.
People who are scholarship players at places like W&M are likely not hugely motivated by dreams of Final Fours. Especially if they end up being merely an afterthought to 7 or 8 other guys.
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meanwhile Evan Maxwell has surfaced at some place I’ve never heard.
Said KU was the worst year of his life. Apparently the KU life ain’t for the weak
http://www.news-sentinel.com/sports/indiana_wesleyan_hoops_embracing_high_expectations_20170719
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@BeddieKU23 Wow, I thought my phone was a crystal ball like Tolkien’s palantír or something. I read your post, wished you had included the link, and then blue letters magically appeared on the page.
To test this, I will try to wish the winning numbers in Powerball to appear…
Thx for the link.
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justanotherfan said:
There are so few true 5’s in CBB now that you don’t have to have a true backup to the position. It’s more important to have versatility than having a true 5, even as a starter, let alone as a backup.
Agree. But look at the Big-12’s big’s this season and I think KU has to get another body with size.
The Big-12 is going to have much improved post play this season. Acuil Jr, Lattin, Brodziansky, Smith, Wade, Maston, Williams are all experienced bigs with skill. Throw in Bamba at Texas who will be the highest drafted player of the bunch.
I think its better to have a 4th big then nothing at all
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mayjay said:
@BeddieKU23 Wow, I thought my phone was a crystal ball like Tolkien’s palantír or something. I read your post, wished you had included the link, and then blue letters magically appeared on the page.
To test this, I will try to wish the winning numbers in Powerball to appear…
Thx for the link.
Forgot that people usually like to see for their eyes so went back and edited it real quick.
if those winning numbers come through please help out a fellow bucketeer!
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@BeddieKU23 “Said KU was the worst year of his life. Apparently the KU life ain’t for the weak.”
I don’t think it was the toughness, but the fact that he was suddenly in a public school (secular) environment after 2 years in a rigorously evangelical school, Liberty. The coach said he felt lost at Kansas, and I suspect the off-court shenanigans first semester soured him on his teammates if he wanted prayer-group instead of party buddies. Indiana Wesleyan is also an evangelical school, so he probably feels right at home.
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mayjay said:
@BeddieKU23 “Said KU was the worst year of his life. Apparently the KU life ain’t for the weak.”
I don’t think it was the toughness, but the fact that he was suddenly in a public school (secular) environment after 2 years in a rigorously evangelical school, Liberty. The coach said he felt lost at Kansas, and I suspect the off-court shenanigans first semester soured him on his teammates if he wanted prayer-group instead of party buddies. Indiana Wesleyan is also an evangelical school, so he probably feels right at home.
Then don’t we have to question why he ended up at KU in the first place? If the evangelical side of things was so important why did he choose the “big stage” KU scene…
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@BeddieKU23 Why did any of us choose things we changed our minds about later? Perhaps because you expect things will be different? Maybe he connected well on a visit with someone who turned out to be different. Maybe someone threw up on his bed and everyone just laughed. More likely in my mind, he simply didn’t realize how important a structured religious environment was to him until it was gone.
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@BeddieKU23 As a further note to my last comment, you see many discharged servicemembers struggling to adapt to an unstructured life even after looking forward to getting away from military life.
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mayjay said:
@BeddieKU23 Why did any of us choose things we changed our minds about later? Perhaps because you expect things will be different? Maybe he connected well on a visit with someone who turned out to be different. Maybe someone threw up on his bed and everyone just laughed. More likely in my mind, he simply didn’t realize how important a structured religious environment was to him until it was gone.
Your probably spot on!
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I think KU does have one thing they can use to help with Bagley. I believe Bagley and Josh Jackson were prep teammates before Bagley transferred to Sierra Canyon. The prep school they were at had NCAA accreditation issues which caused both to transfer away Jackson’s senior year in 2015-16, but I do believe they were prep teammates in the Phoenix area in 2014-15 which was Bagley’s freshman year of HS and JJ’s junior year.
That’d be something worth using to try and get Bagley to KU for a visit and possible commitment.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 I saw a quote from his dad where he said they were planning on visiting all the schools on his, including KU. Did I miss something or just typical internet rumors?
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I say we go after Deontae from ISU. I don’t think he has committed anywhere and he was one of the best players in the valley. Good size and athleticism too.
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Blue Devil World @Bluedevilworld · 2h2 hours ago
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Marvin Bagley is on his Duke visit earlier than expected… he is on campus today!! #MarvinComeToDuke
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What sucks is that he will have all the PT in the world at Duke or UA.
We have at least two mouths to feed no matter what, and not a great rep with Bigs these last few years. Not that Duke does either…
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@Kcmatt7 Yes, but Dok and Billy arent going to play all of the available 80 minutes in the post. We need a third reliable big and Bagley could play 25 to 30 minutes. I just dont think Mitch is our third big this year, at least he shouldnt be. Bagley would get plenty of pt, that isnt the issue.
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I thought we already had Whitman’s minutes covered. Starting in place of Whitman, Clay Young will now play the last minute of games instead of Whitman.
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I hope that Lightfoot has really made the strides necessary to be a factor. I hope the positive stories turn into positive results. We need for him to take a step up.
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@KUSTEVE I hope so too. He struggled against height and was almost useless against Kentucky and Baylor. Besides growing two inches, not sure what he can do to compensate for that disparity.
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@HawkChamp Bagely would start over Preston from day 1.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 most likely, yes. Still plenty of pt for the three of them.
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I think this is pretty crappy news. I highly doubt Bagley is gonna even end up reclassified or even at KU at this point. Only having 3 bigs could translate to trouble in the games that Doke is in foul trouble. I would be shocked if we didn’t add a Juco or someone just to have a 4th big. The positive is that Mitch is likely ahead of where most thought he would be hence Whitman not thinking he would play much. One other good thing with the Italy trip is Billy should be ahead of most freshman entering the season.
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I wonder if Svi kicking ass this summer has something to do with this. Was Self considering minutes for Svi at the 4? A 6’8 stretch 4 that can get you 25 points on any given night? Sounds pretty great to me.
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@approxinfinity Is Svi good enough to get 25 points any night AND defend another 4 AND rebound well? I think we should stick with playing two posts. Defense last year was atrocious at times and that was with a great talent like Josh at the four. I doubt Svi is good enough to do it, plus his 6-5 wingspan would really hurt his effectiveness at the 4.
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@HawkChamp We need a Dwight Coleby.
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Whitman is leaving because he was behind Lightfoot.
And yes, Bagley would start and play 30+ mpg.
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Lightfoot is a much better option than Svi at the 4. Hell I would posit that Vick is as well. We don’t want to see Svi at the 4.
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@BShark Lightfoot is, except if Svi finds his consistent trey gun / mid-range shot and Udoka turns into an overpowering glass monster. In that case I could see Svi working out at the 4.
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@approxinfinity vick would be better than svi. Gator arms. Josh was perfect.
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@Crimsonorblue22 but Vick is 6’5. Josh was 6’8.
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@HawkChamp somebody’s poisoned the waterhole…Oops.
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@approxinfinity that’s why vick didn’t play there! He’s still better than svi there!
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@BShark Curious, where did you hear that Whitman was behind Lightfoot? @JayHawkFanToo might only be a year off in his breakout prediction, which is still earlier than I would have thought.
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mayjay said:
@BeddieKU23 As a further note to my last comment, you see many discharged servicemembers struggling to adapt to an unstructured life even after looking forward to getting away from military life.
Not me. Never looked back after 20 years. Looked forward to settling down in one spot for a change. Think about the AF twelve times a yr when I check to make sure the retirement check is in the bank.
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@brooksmd ah but you are always one step ahead of the rest!
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@KUSTEVE I myself believe everyone of my fellow Crimson and Blue know how I feel about Mitch. - -I think the kid is a scrapper and when all said and done is going to represent himself and KU just fine.- - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
