KU #1 in Pre-Season BPI.
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What are the odds either school will receive an easier path to the Final Four than Duke, UK, UNC or Nova?
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Every path is hard until it isn’t, or vice versa. You have to play the games. Upsets happen to make a hard path easier, or an easy path ends up being tougher than you thought.
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One thing Vegas teaches: when the odds are stacked against suckers, suckers tend to lose.
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jaybate 1.0 said:
One thing Vegas teaches: when the odds are stacked against suckers, suckers tend to lose.
In Vegas, the odds are always with the house, but you can still win sometimes. The odds are just the odds.
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I’d like to see Vick step up in a leadership role where he leads by his play.
Imagine his attitude becomes, “hey fellas, I got this!”
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With the talent on this team, Vick is probably the fourth or fifth most talented player on the roster behind both Lawson’s and Grimes at the very least, and likely Azuibuke and possibly Dotson. Simply put, I don’t know that we want Vick to try and take over games when there are other, more talented guys that can take over.
We want Vick to play his role, which I believe he can do to an exceptional level. I believe Vick can lock in and be a tremendous defender, and probably shoot around or over 40% from three. If he plays that role, that could go a long way to helping KU get to the mountaintop this year.
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I hear what you are saying. But I think I feel very comfortable with Vick and his experience over players with less experience.
And I think we have seen little of Vick’s real potential up to now. He has always played with hesitation and holding back. Probably over-thinking. That is usually the case when players aren’t playing with full confidence in their game. Vick has lacked that total, killer confidence needed to take over games.
I think if this is a game of “meso-ball” and the losers are put to death, we would see a Vick definitely be up there with any other players. His handles can use some definite improvement… it’s his weakest area. But his athleticism makes up for a lot. It really wouldn’t take much for Vick to pick up a few moves to create scoring space. Another of his weak areas.
I hope Vick is working his tail off right now. He should be thinking this will be “his year” and he should be right!
If we hear more within a couple months that Vick really worked his tail off and improved… we can expect to see him put up some monster numbers this year! I buffered my optimism by making it conditional.
Of all the players we need to step up this year… Vick is right there at the top! He can easily end up being the pivotal player that makes the difference of going home early in March, or playing for the championship! I believe he was the pivotal player this past year. He stepped up enough to get us to the Final Four, but we couldn’t close the deal without him putting together monster games in the FF. And think about what he could have done in the Nova game. Nova wouldn’t have been able to defend against an athlete like Vick. He could have been the piece to break that defense. Nova had the answer for limiting the post and guarding the trey. That leaves one place wide open; the penetrating swing forward. Vick!
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I think Vick has a strong year. I think he probably equals his numbers from last season, but more efficient - so still 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists per game, but shooting 50/40/70 with 1 turnover per game because he simply won’t be called on to do as much.
I feel the same way about Doke, but think his scoring will drop a little. He probably will only average 10 or 11 per game, because Dedric Lawson is just a better natural scorer. However, Doke may very well shoot 80% or more from the field because he will get dunks and layups. I see a lot of 4/5 or 5/6 from the field nights for Doke, but I don’t see many 12/15 or 8/11 nights because those shots will be going to Dedric a lot of times. As a result, I imagine Doke shoots 79% or 80% from the field, but on less shots than last year (probably about 200 instead of 270). Can Doke make 160 out of 200 shots? I think so. I also think we are going to find out.
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I agree. Potential aside, I have always thought that a good, solid upperclassman will almost always outperform a OAD. Players like Wiggins, Jackson and maybe Grimes that can produce from the start really don’t come around that often.
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The number of ball handlers, passers, and multi threat guys on this team are the highest since 2008. I think Dedric, KJ, Grimes, Dotson and Vick put on passing, shooting and driving clinics. Once Dedric and Grimes discover each other on the court, it’s all over. Their two man game could be unstoppable. And Vick will get lobs the whole season.
