Bagley for Whitman
-
Hopefully we hear something soon about potential replacements. If only we had non-goober insiders.
-
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.
-
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
-
@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.
-
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
-
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!
-
@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.
-
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…
-
@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.
-
@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.
-
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!
-
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.
-
@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?
-
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.
-
Blue Devil World @Bluedevilworld · 2h2 hours ago
More
Marvin Bagley is on his Duke visit earlier than expected… he is on campus today!! #MarvinComeToDuke
-
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…
-
@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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
@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.
-
@HawkChamp Bagely would start over Preston from day 1.
-
@Texas-Hawk-10 most likely, yes. Still plenty of pt for the three of them.
-
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.
-
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.
-
@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.
-
@HawkChamp We need a Dwight Coleby.
-
Whitman is leaving because he was behind Lightfoot.
And yes, Bagley would start and play 30+ mpg.
-
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.
-
@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.
-
@approxinfinity vick would be better than svi. Gator arms. Josh was perfect.
-
@Crimsonorblue22 but Vick is 6’5. Josh was 6’8.
-
@HawkChamp somebody’s poisoned the waterhole…Oops.
-
@approxinfinity that’s why vick didn’t play there! He’s still better than svi there!
-
@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.
-
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.
-
@brooksmd ah but you are always one step ahead of the rest!
-
@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
-
Just rumours. I could have been more clear.
Oh and per Matt Scott Whitman was NOT pushed out by Self. It was just a poor fit and a decision completely by Whitman.
-
@BShark Whitman reminds me of kip LOL!!!
-
Coach Self indicated that Lightfoot has been having a terrific summer and gaining confidence.
-
Self doesn’t sound too optimistic about being able to fill Whitman’s scholarship this year.
-
Texas Hawk 10 said:
Self doesn’t sound too optimistic about being able to fill Whitman’s scholarship this year.
Yeah, it’s pretty difficult at this point.
-
“We’re not gonna sign somebody just to sign somebody,” Self told the Journal-World. “The pool of players is so small.”
“The idea is to find someone to help you this year,” he said. “I think that’s the best way to put it. But if you can’t find someone to help us this year, there’s no reason to burn it.”
“This does not affect us on how we will play as long as everyone’s healthy,” Self said. “If you have an injury, that will obviously change the way we play a little. But, right now, I still see us playing two bigs more than we did last year.
“We’ve gotta get our best players on the floor and we’ve got a pretty good seven or eight right now. And that wasn’t including Jack. So not having Jack doesn’t affect how we play at all. Where it could affect us is, if a guy becomes injured, now you’re gonna probably be playing small a lot more.”
Staying healthy is a key part of any team’s success so nothing changed for the Jayhawks there. And Self will spend the next several days, including Friday, looking at every possible avenue to add a player who could impact the team in a positive way right away. He said the chances of adding such a player before the trip to Italy were “next to zero,” but added that he would still have time to look around at potential additions after their return on Aug. 8.
“We’ll go wherever we have to to find a body,” Self emphasized. “But the chances of finding somebody I don’t think are real high.”
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2017/jul/21/self-will-seek-fill-scholarship-opened-whitman-dep/
-
@BShark doesn’t sound good or planned. Now the broken nose…
-
tl;dr like @Texas-Hawk-10 said it seems like the spot might remain vacant.
Also it sounds like Whitman wasn’t going to play much at all but that could be perceived as damage control. I think Self is being honest though.
-
@BShark It might remain vacant or it might not. Self said they were going to try to find someone. You never know.
-
-
@Statmachine can’t get it. Over the limit
-
More of the same.
“We’ll go wherever we have to, to try to find something,” Self said. “If there’s an unsigned (high schooler) or a juco (player) or overseas or whatnot, but the chances of finding somebody I don’t think are real high. If there’s a big walk-on out there, we’d probably be interested in him,” Self added.
Self said the loss of Whitman “doesn’t affect how we play at all. We’re going to play three bigs. We’ve still got three bigs who are going to play. Jack would have provided depth. Where it could affect us … if a guy becomes injured, now you are going to probably look at playing small a lot more.”
-
