Draft Declarations Thread
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No reason to withdraw beforehand. Just hold out for someone to call up and give you a guarantee.
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It doesn’t look good. I wonder what the basis was for ruling him to sit a 2nd year at minimum. Pretty crazy, not something I agree with and I’m not surprised this was the ruling
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I’m glad we avoided the Vanderbilt fiasco. Watching his AAU games he had red flags galore.
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Are we talking on court red flags or off the court red flags? On the court, Vanderbilt is a nice player. 6-8, athletic guy that can handle the ball a little, pass, shoot from the midrange and rebound. He’s not a ball hog or anything. He never tapped into a lot of that at Kentucky, but he only played 14 games for Kentucky, so that’s to be expected. He was grabbing almost 8 boards a game in just 17 minutes. KU could have used a rebounder like that last year. He missed so much time due to injury that its hard to say what he is or could have been.
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Both actually. Maybe not off-the-court issues in regards to eligibility concerns, more character concerns watching him play.
No doubt Vanderbilt is a talent, and built for the modern NBA if he can find a team that will invest in him. Is he really ready? I would say not even close. But its his decision to make. At Kentucky he was already over-recruited anyway.
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Crimsonorblue22 said:
@mayjay body fat % 13.85
On the other hand I heard on the pod cast today about Doke - he was at 7.59 body fat. - They said for somebody his size to be under 8 % body fat was just insane.
They brought up some interesting points today on the pod cast they said for instance : KU is not going to have Doke , they are not going to try to develop a jumper from him during the year, they may work with him in practice but they don’t want him trying to shoot jumpers during the game. Kind of makes sense at this point , they know where they want him at KU and that is down low close to the rim. - -They are quite happy with his production last year.- Again he can work on developing his jumper during practice so come that next level
They also said They think the NBA they will not expect him to develop a shot. - - - hmmmm interesting. - they said the NBA realizes OK this is what we are getting they won’t expect him for his jumper - they will rely more on the occasional pick and roll - but they are not going to be looking for him to try and shoot jumpers over Jo Jo and guys like that - they aren’t depending on him for a lot of offense as again they realize what they are getting in Doke. - Interesting thoughts.
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If the expectation from NBA folks is that he won’t develop a shot, what is Azubuike returning to Lawrence to work on, exactly? That’s not meant as an attack for you (or even a question, really). It’s more of just me wondering.
If Azubuike isn’t working on expanding his offensive game beyond dunks and short jumphooks, and if his conditioning is improved already, as indicated by the body fat numbers, then I don’t know how he improves his draft stock with another year at KU.
That makes some sense. Body language is important, though I will offer the caveat that judging body language and such in high school is difficult because of the talent disparity and role differences. A guy may be a high character, hard working player in high school as the leading scorer and superstar, but become frustrated and angry in college when asked to be a role player.
I myself was a role player in high school. One of the reasons why I had the opportunity to play in college (though I ultimately left the team after a semester for other reasons) when some of my other, more acclaimed high school teammates did not is because I was already used to being a role player. I was a good enough athlete to play in college, and I was able to step into that role. I wasn’t trying to go from being a guy that got 15 shots a game to a guy that might only get one or two because I wasn’t one of our top scorers in high school anyway. There was very little change for me. Our leading scorer (from high school) struggled a bit in college because he went from being “the man” to being a backup that was expected to just defend and screen for the top scorers.
Obviously, none of this means that a guy with a bad attitude is suddenly going to become a team first guy. It’s just to point out that just because a guy is one way in high school or on the AAU circuit, doesn’t mean that is who he will be in college on a different team with different expectations and responsibilities.
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I can’t remember what game it was I saw of Vanderbilt on the circuit but it was hard to believe he was being reputed as a Top 10 talent at the time. I’m also aware that AAU ball is not the best setting to form judgement on kids so I always have to keep that in mind. What I saw of him was not flattering and it stuck with me. It didn’t surprise me that he played a handful of games and then left Kentucky. But that’s the Kentucky way. It also reminds me of my initial judgement. Maybe he’s doing the best thing for his career. If he gets healthy and finds a team and develops he’s certainly what the modern NBA wants from a hybrid wing/forward position. I can just imagine that if he ended up at KU and did this we would probably be a bit upset given he basically did nothing he was touted to do this season. Of course the injury played a big part of it. This would look like Diallo all over again.
Good backstory as well!
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The Martin twins plus big man Caroline returned to Nevada. With the returning talent, incoming freshman Jordan Brown and transfers this is a loaded squad. Top 5 good.
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@justanotherfan I wondered too. - -I just read another article just a couple of minutes ago and a Veteran NBA assistant from the Eastern division said the biggest things Doke needed to work on wasn.t on the offensive end BUT the defensive end. He said with all the pick and rolls and switching off a big needed to be able to learn how to defend the smaller guy - - he gave an example of some big ending up guarding Steph Curry in the playoffs making him pass the ball off I just can’t remember the big’s name.
He was also talking about in the NBA how bigs need to be able to dribble - -pass and then shoot also - -the writer said the sooner people come to realize the reason Doke came back wasn’t because of the offensive end - or lack of a jumper - the sooner people realizer that the better off they will be - -it’s mostly on the defensive end.
Their were obviously things they would like to see improve like most obvious - -his free throw shooting - -but then also like becoming more like 10 rebound per game player - possibly improving protecting the rim going like from 60 blocks to 100 blocks – the assistant said that there is a place for a person like Doke just had these things to work on - - interesting
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BeddieKU23 said:
The Martin twins plus big man Caroline returned to Nevada. With the returning talent, incoming freshman Jordan Brown and transfers this is a loaded squad. Top 5 good.
This isn’t meant to be a hot take, even though it will sound like one. Nevada, with those guys returning, is Final Four caliber good.
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Yep. Low key top 5 team.
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Here’s a weird one. Lagerald Vick withdrew from the draft. Methinks he’s going overseas and will enter the draft next year.
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Doke is still a below average rebounder and not nearly as good a rim protector as he could be, a result no doubt of his low (but improved) basketball IQ including his lack of positional awareness that makes him be at the wrong place more often than it should. There is little doubt that he will be much better in all these areas with an extra year and will be a much improved defender to go with his scoring skill at or near the basket.
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@FarmerJayhawk - according to a 247 article, LaLa said he was not open to playing overseas. She also said he was open to many things, including G League. But then, last spring, she also said he wasn’t returning to KU. I dunno if he’d improve this club or even see much playing time. He disappeared many times last year and drew the ire of HCBS…
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Good call. I’d welcome him back. Would immediately be our best outside shooter and maybe this process has lit a fire under him. His skillset is a perfect fit on this team.
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I don’t recall us being in this situation so late in the game before. It was a foregone conclusion that Vick was gone and we had an excellent change at Langford. Now neither are the case. Despite there being some rumors of character issues Vick was no doubt an intregal part of our FF birth and was a huge part in beating Duke. History shows that the more returnees from a deep tournament run increase your chances greatly returning the next year. Vick coming back would once again put him in the national limelight due to how many games we have nationally broadcasted and would without a doubt be one of our best shooters and has a chance to move into a veteran/leadership roll for our young back court. I think a key concern is whether his return stunts the growth of our new recruits throughout the year? All those things aside I have a feeling that if coach wants him back his ass is gonna be on the roster next season and that solidifies our position as the most dynamic and deep roster in college ball next year. What a time to be alive.
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This would certainly help our three point shooting.
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Also per kusports.com his mom said she’d consider coming back if Self would have him.
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@FarmerJayhawk He’s not eligible to return if he signed with an agent which I believe he did. I think initially he didn’t. I hate to be pessimistic, but I’m afraid he’s another early entry casualty who obviously has almost no future in the NBA.
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@wissox he didn’t. Otherwise they wouldn’t be talking about going to back to college.
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Self doesn’t want him back. It would be a miracle if he ended up back at KU.
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@Woodrow If self doesn’t want him back, why would they schedule a meeting with him?
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@HawkChamp they scheduled a meeting?
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Ooooh a meeting was scheduled? That’s some juicy info. Any sources you can post?
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I also know some of our more intelligent posters sometimes like to do mock conversations between Coach and Player about certain situations. Would love to see a hypothetical conversation about how this one might go down.
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He must have some significant baggage to not be wanted back if that is true.
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@dylans so creative, did you take drama in school?
since Vick rarely talks, it would be that simple.
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Many of us speculated that there was some drama between Newman, and Svi last year. If I had to guess I would have to believe Vick played a big part in our chemistry problem last year? No one really knew what was going on BUT if Vick has been showed the door he must have played a part in our troubles last year? Just a guess… Maybe we should just wish him well and move on?
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@Statmachine I never believed that.
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Vick does have baggage and it’s not really a secret. Vick was the antagonist in the Josh Jackson/Mackenzie Calvert case. He was the one Calvert threw a drink on because he was being an a-hole to her after their breakup.
Bill Self explained that Vick had little to no interest in stepping up to be a leader on the team next year when he would have been the only senior.
There’s definitely enough supporting evidence out there for people that want to argue that Vick was the team cancer last season and KU is better off without him being forced into a leadership role he has no interest in.
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Vick doesn’t have the mental makeup of a leader, it’s not a choice. He can barely talk in interviews, it’s very painful for him. Reminded me of a young Perry. That girl had a lot of problems!
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Crimsonorblue22 said:
Vick doesn’t have the mental makeup of a leader, it’s not a choice. He can barely talk in interviews, it’s very painful for him. Reminded me of a young Perry. That girl had a lot of problems!
From someone who has dealt with it before, he appears to have anxiety and confidence issues.
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@HawkChamp who said they scheduled a meeting?
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@dylans Just like Anrio Adams
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Also didn’t Vick straight punch a girl in Memphis or something?
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@SkinnyKansasDude Once a Jayhawk always a Jayhawk, but dude wasn’t a boy scout. Maybe it’s time for a culture overhaul?
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Vick is a very private, shy personality. He would not have been a vocal leader, but he could be a helpful player.
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Vick could be a dynamic player. If it weren’t for the baggage, there is no doubt Self would want him back. He’s a huge talent that showed signs of potential stardom. Maybe this could be reconciled. His mom is very good with her approach.
