BOOT CAMP IS HERE ; LATE NIGHT ON SEPTEMBER 30th
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Svi is definitely not a banger.
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Svi realized that bigger $ comes after this year, but the real reason he came back is he wants a National Championship. He has become that wonderful thing that is dear to all Jayhawk fans - a starting Senior ready to make Brass Knuckles out of Gold Rings. This year, he has all the tools. Imagine Svi, Vick, Dante and Malik on the court at the same time. Someone will always be open and someone will always get the ball to that man.
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Svi isn’t a bad athlete and has the quickness to play on the wing.
Unfortunately, he plays with high hips (a high center of gravity) that means he isn’t low enough to slide quickly on the defensive end because he’s standing too upright. We saw this last year on his closeouts defensively. Giving up that initial first step is all most good slashers need. It doesn’t matter if you can get back into the play. They already got their shoulders even with you.
Svi needs to get lower so he can tap into his athletic gifts on both ends. I think having a lower center of gravity would also make Svi a little more explosive and able to absorb contact when attacking the rim.
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@justanotherfan i noticed a quickness in Svi in Italy I hadn’t seen before. i think he has a break out senior season.
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wrwlumpy said:
Svi realized that bigger $ comes after this year, but the real reason he came back is he wants a National Championship. He has become that wonderful thing that is dear to all Jayhawk fans - a starting Senior ready to make Brass Knuckles out of Gold Rings. This year, he has all the tools. Imagine Svi, Vick, Dante and Malik on the court at the same time. Someone will always be open and someone will always get the ball to that man.
Autocorrect got ya lumps.
But yeah, the team will be at it’s best offensively imo with Devonte, Newman, Svi, Vick and Doke on the court. Doke being out there will also hopefully mitigate some defensive issues.
Most spots are pretty set. Newman and Graham are the starting guards and will play a ton. Doke is the starting 5.
The four spot will be intriguing. Preston being the main back-up 5 plus his perceived effort issues mean that we will see a lot of experimenting at the 4. A mix of Svi/Vick/Garrett/Lightfoot/Cunliffe. At this point I like Garrett a lot more than Cunliffe at the 3 or 4. Garrett and Preston (or whoever doesn’t start out of Vick/Svi if Self wants to start Preston) should be the main bench players imo. Cunliffe and Lightfoot will play due to need but I think they are hold your breath when they are out there players like Jamari and wouldn’t be seeing time on a lot of other Self rosters.
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What I noticed from Svi on defense last year was the time it took to get his feet settled. When he came out to defend he had a bunch of shuffling to get his feet set. If they waited to long and Svi got everything set, he was solid on the ball defender. If they made their move while Svi was getting set up, then it was often a blow by.
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Can the football players participate too?
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@BShark He is flipping the Billy Preston switch:
**Self said one of the Jayhawk newcomers — Billy Preston — stood out during week one Boot Camp exercises.
“Billy Preston has been probably our best one so far … of everybody (on the entire team),” Self said. “He’s in great shape. He’s trying really hard. I hope he can continue that.”
Preston is KU’s 6-foot-10, 240-pound McDonald’s All-American out of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.
“He’s been a warrior, stud,” Self said of Preston. “He does everything hard. He’s not scared of it. He’s embracing it where some of the other guys were a little nervous.
“They are doing fine though,” Self added of all the players. They are doing pretty well. We had a rough day yesterday (Friday).”
Self also praised Preston while speaking as a guest on KU’s halftime show.
“Billy needs to play like a lottery pick, to be real candid with you, because there’s no question from a pure talent standpoint Billy Preston is the best player in our gym. But he’s young. He doesn’t know what he’s doing yet,” Self said.
“His motor doesn’t always run. There are things he has to improve on. There’s some exciting things. You look at it and say, ‘Udoka (Azubuike, sophomore center), Billy and Mitch (Lightfoot, soph forward) … if things fall perfect we ought to have the best frontline in the league. You could also look at it and say if things don’t fall perfect, (it’d be) middle of the pack real easy. We need those three to play big for us.”**
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Why does the bold button not work?
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KUSTEVE said:
Why does the bold button not work?
My experience is it does not transcend paragraphs.
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@KUSTEVE Yep! That was the main reason I linked actually.
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@mayjay Thank you. I’ll try it.
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@mayjay It worked like a charm. Thank you, once again.
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@BShark Preston might have the highest ceiling on the whole team. If we could get that guy to become a rebounding fiend, the Doke/Preston front line could be quite formidable.
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Forgot to tell everyone I ran into Mitch Lightfoot at Jefferson’s when I was in town for the Central Michigan game. The place was swamped of course so I just said hello and shook his hand. Seemed liked a laid back quite guy, no way he was 6’8 lol
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You know what sucks about having it September 30th, is that it’s over a month til even the exhibition games start October 31st.
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Lil Yachty will be performing at late night.
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This will be the crucial year for Mitch and his career at Kansas. He’ll have to really scrap and make an impact in order to help keep him in Bill’s mind next year. Of course he will be challenged because of his size and perhaps his athleticism. I remember the same issue with Kevin Young. Mitch has to think of himself as the next Kevin Young. If he can mold into that player, he will always find some minutes, even when we have a truckload of post depth.
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Many think Mitch is an elite athlete including our good friend Fran…
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@JayHawkFanToo It depends on your definition. If it’s by normal standards yes he is, by players at elite basketball programs probably not as much.
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If you look a the article and others written contemporaneously, many consider Mitch an elite athlete. His rebounding is well above average for someone his size and with comparable playing time. I would love to see what he can do if he is given enough game minutes to get confident and develop his game.
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JayHawkFanToo said:
If you look a the article and others written contemporaneously, many consider Mitch an elite athlete. His rebounding is well above average for someone his size and with comparable playing time. I would love to see what he can do if he is given enough game minutes to get confident and develop his game.
Well he’s going to get minutes, so we’ll find out. Provided all of CBB isn’t sucked into a death vortex by the FBI.
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There is a good chance that when all is said and done college BBall will never be the same again.
As the expression goes, a rising tide lifts all ships. Likewise, an investigation of this magnitudes will probably affect all big time programs to one extent or another. Once the NCAA gets involved we might see so many penalties and appearances vacated that the affected teams might start their own version of the NCAA. We ain’t seen nothing yet…
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Anybody going to late pm?
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Even though we experienced Mitch for several minutes last year… I kind of feel like none of us have a total grip on his athleticism. Especially now since he has had a summer of Hudy.
He was so undersized for the post (compared to what we are used to) that it was hard to totally assess his athleticism because of him lacking height and girth.
I do think he has a decent vertical leap, but there is a lot more to athleticism than jumping. Others have challenged his athleticism, but I’m not one of them, only mentioning it because others have. I can honestly say I don’t know what tag he has earned in this area. That is why I say “perhaps.”
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He was rather bad in Italy but it should be noted he was injured/not comfortable. So hopefully he is better now.
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https://t.co/hbn9CNZrLh Lightft looks a little thicker
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@BShark Oh man…if this guy can figure it out…oh man…
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KUSTEVE said:
@BShark Oh man…if this guy can figure it out…oh man…
One of the most talented bigs Self has ever had. Just…a bit of a headcase.
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@BShark BTW, Frank Martin takes a huge hit from Evans being arrested, imo. He brought Evans with him from K-State to SC. Evans was instrumental in bringing in Thornwell and Dozier. Even if no funny business was going on, it sure puts a different light on SC’s Final Four run last year. I have always liked Frank, but if he thinks he has to have an Evans on his staff, maybe I am rating Frank way too high. Maybe Frank knew Evans so well, he encouraged him to go to Okie St. Maybe Frank wanted some distance. I dunno, but I won’t look at Frank Martin the same way. And that is unfortunate. And I noticed that Brad Underwood made an announcement, of course, of his “shock” that Evans was arrested, even though Underwood worked side by side with Evans for years.
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Much like Ellis, and because of need, Mitch has been playing out of position. He has the build to be SF but has been playing PF. In HS this is not an issue but in Division I it is. He does have knack for rebounds so I will guess he will play a 3/4 combination.
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I think Evans said he left for Oklahoma St for more money opportunities in the scheme.
Juwan Evans could have been one of those reasons…
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@BShark ahhhh snap… Glad to see Preston and Doke getting along. Those two are going to be BEAST! Team chemistry seems good!
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I’ve heard some downright nasty things about Billy. I guess he is just shredding everyone in practice.
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@drgnslayr Do tell. I’m all ears.
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@KUSTEVE Self ain’t playin when he called Billy the best player on the team. Let’s just see if he can consistently transfer it to games. Kid has a ton of talent. It might be that Self was the perfect choice to help him fully unleash during games.
Newman is an exciting talent too.
Frank and Josh had “IT” but this team has more talent. Esp if you are counting Doke vs Landen.
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@BShark Our starting 5 should be as solid as a rock.
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situational basketball is where I’m worried.
Doke foul trouble. Devonte foul trouble. Those 2 situations provide the most unknown right now.
Excited to see how this group blends in and digs in
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BeddieKU23 said:
situational basketball is where I’m worried.
Doke foul trouble. Devonte foul trouble. Those 2 situations provide the most unknown right now.
Excited to see how this group blends in and digs in
Devonte being a SR knows what to do imo. Like, it’s worth him letting a guy go by him sometimes so as not to pick up a foul. He is worth more on the court than a cheap foul. Plus, KU at least has a semblance of guard depth.
I am much more concerned about Doke foul trouble.
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@BeddieKU23 A heavy dose of Svi, Vick, and Garrett in the 4 out when foul trouble occurs.
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Ok I admit it…I am totally geeked about this season. Is it normal for a 50 year old man to be this excited about a college BBall team???
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I am going!!
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For anyone wondering about Lil Yachty. Seems like a great move for the target audience (the recruits) based on twitter posts.
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@BShark I’m interested to see how much they tone him down. I know it is supposed to be family friendly, but every other word coming out of Yachty’s mouth is not appropriate for the audience. Well I say that… But If they just let it be rated R, it’d be sick.
