Reasons to believe in next year’s team
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Next season’s team will be something.
I like Harris, but I liked him as the 6th scoring option. He will undoubtedly need to be more of a scorer this season. I think he has more to give in the paint, but I’m afraid we saw his best shooting from 3pt range already. He’s a comfortable choice at PG, but he was playing next to three All-Big 12 caliber players.
Who starts at the 2 will be interesting to see. McCullar could theoretically play here if we went big (would be my choice), but something about Bobby just screams he’s going to find a way in the lineup. I wish I could see Yesufu in this spot, but I just don’t see him making a leap past Bobby just based on things we’ve heard. I think he is a better player than Bobby though, so to me it is sad to see. I’m honestly pretty low on Bobby after what I saw last season. I know he looked okay when healthy, but that jumper is broke. I hate the idea of him playing next to Harris for long stretches.
The 3 - if we go big and play McCullar at the 2 it will be because Dick or Rice force Bill to. It would be very encouraging. But I doubt that is what happens. McCullar starts here and we may legitimately be playing Harris/Bobby/McCullar next to each other in what would undoubtedly be the worst 3pt shooting back court Bill has ever rolled the ball out with. I mean, undoubtedly.
The 4- Jalen on lock. I think this is the year the game moves in slow motion for him. Much like it did for Och this past season. Already from that G-league tape you saw his catch and shoot prep was worked on this last month. I fully expect him to be 18ppg and pretty much unstoppable. This is his “rafters” season. My pick for B12 POY and should be on Naismith watch lists early.
Center might be the position I’m ultimately most concerned with. Zach has shown a nose for the ball. Clearly able to shoot it from deep. Has the potential to be the 2nd most dangerous weapon on the team. But that is a lot of pressure on the sophomore who, in my opinion, lacks athleticism to dominate at this level. He won’t be a presence in the paint on either end. Decent rebounder. Smart guy. But I do not have the confidence he is the answer. Behind him are two freshman with the complete opposite problems. They will be raw. Athletic. A presence in the paint. BUT they don’t come with IQ. They will probably struggle not to foul. If I were betting right now, Zach starts, but a chance Udeh ends up getting 20+ minutes of run by the end of the season.
The bench is probably the strongest part of the team. The depth is unreal. You’ll have a 5* freshman wing no matter what. Probably two. You’ll have Yesufu in his 2nd year in the system. You’ll have two freshman big men with size and physicality. You’ll have KJ for situational substitutions at the very least. Essentially we are 2 deep at every position again. A little young, but there are options for Bill to ride the hot hand.
I have to admit, I’m not in love with our projected starting lineup if it doesn’t include one of the freshman. And even with one of them, I have my concerns. We are unathletic. This is a below the rim starting lineup if it is Harris/Bobby/McCullar/Wilson/Clemence. Which is a HUGE contrast from a year ago. CB lead the team in blocks I think (lol). Ochai is a freak athletically. And those two absolutely dominated in transition. UK just absolutely out-athleted us a year ago WITH two NBA wings. I think you’ll see more of that this year, but from teams we should beat.
Not only that, but the lineup above is a TERRIBLE shooting lineup. Just awful. Nothing really nice to say about it. McCullar has had enough attempts (idc whatever his catch and shoot was) to show he is at best a barely over .300 3pt shooter. Harris is a low volume guy. Bobby missed all 3 of his attempts last season, and I can’t recall one hitting the rim. Jalen is adequate, but without taking a step forward he isn’t a “good” shooter. Clemence is the best of them, and he’ll spend half of his time in the post. It just isn’t good.
I just feel like we lost some of what made us good a year ago. We are going to try to defend everyone to death, when last year we RAN everyone to death. We ran teams out of the building. It won us the KSU, Miami and NC game. That ability to score 15 in a blink won those games. The FF run with DG/Svi/Malik/Vick/Doke RAN in transition.
Finally, the biggest thing this team probably lacks is a playmaker guard. No Remy. No DG. No Frank. No Tyshawn. No Sherron. A bunch of JAGs. Not a single one of the guards is the type of guy you want the ball to be in their hands late.
So, for the first time in a long time, I just am not very excited with what I think we will be rolling out there next season. Can’t help it.
On the the flip side, this team could be an elite defense. Could still theoretically be a good team on the break. If McCullar, JWill and Clemence all take big steps forward that could be a very dangerous trio. I’m not here to say all is lost. I just would have preferred to stay athletic and offensive. And it feels like Bill gravitated back towards his comfort zone of defense and “coach’s pet” type of guys.
Obviously I don’t have all of the insight. I don’t know how good players looked at the end of the season behind closed doors. But I just don’t love the roster makeup. It is going to be older unathletic players blocking younger athletic players all season long. I think the offense is going to struggle because defenses will be able to pack the lane. And I think the transition offense we saw a year ago will be a shell of itself without CB and Och.
I think it is going to be a rock fight season. There will be several games where it is a race to 60. I’d never bet against Bill winning the B12, but this roster just did not end up where I thought it would.
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@Kcmatt7 There is a bit of frustration with two of his best offensive teams (18 and 22) that were simply okay on defense overperforming in the tournament while Bill can be perceived to still not value offense enough…
Next year will be very interesting for sure. The depth but no true stand outs (Jalen aside) will lead to RABID message board and twitter banter…
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I think you need to slow down a bit. First. We still stand a great chance of getting JWIL back.
This team has the chance to be an outstanding defensive team… and if that be the case, how much offense can we expect to get from runouts? Runouts is more than scoring at the rim, that includes secondary breaks on the trey line, which may be the ticket to lifting everyone’s trey stat numbers.
We can examine this until we are blue in the face but we just won’t know how this team will play together and what it will do on offense. Players often move their stat numbers from year-to-year.
There just wasn’t much on the stat line from this year’s team signaling a NC.
What glares at me… is not our roster. What glares at me is the question:
Has Self finally figured out what it takes to get his team to peak in March (April)? If the answer is “yes” we can hope to see better March results in general moving forward. I don’t know about you… but I experienced a very different Bill Self this year in March. A lot more poised… I hope it was his poise that rubbed off on the team and not just the other way around! ha
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Maybe you have an answer here… is there a stat site that can show our team this past year and a breakdown of how they scored their points on the 30-second clock? I’d love to see this stat.
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@BShark Video of a Bill Self crutch if I’ve ever seen one. I’m having Marcus Garrett flashbacks.
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@drgnslayr said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
I think you need to slow down a bit. First. We still stand a great chance of getting JWIL back.
This team has the chance to be an outstanding defensive team… and if that be the case, how much offense can we expect to get from runouts? Runouts is more than scoring at the rim, that includes secondary breaks on the trey line, which may be the ticket to lifting everyone’s trey stat numbers.
We can examine this until we are blue in the face but we just won’t know how this team will play together and what it will do on offense. Players often move their stat numbers from year-to-year.
There just wasn’t much on the stat line from this year’s team signaling a NC.
What glares at me… is not our roster. What glares at me is the question:
Has Self finally figured out what it takes to get his team to peak in March (April)? If the answer is “yes” we can hope to see better March results in general moving forward. I don’t know about you… but I experienced a very different Bill Self this year in March. A lot more poised… I hope it was his poise that rubbed off on the team and not just the other way around! ha
But the reverse it true as well right?
If you can’t score yourself then you are giving up those same breaks. And this team on paper looks like they cannot score.
Besides J-Will, where are the points coming from?
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@drgnslayr said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
Maybe you have an answer here… is there a stat site that can show our team this past year and a breakdown of how they scored their points on the 30-second clock? I’d love to see this stat.
I don’t. But eye test told me we did most of our damage in transition. CB and Och finished very well on the break this season too. But both of them I would consider to be + athletes.
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@Kcmatt7 said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
But the reverse it true as well right? If you can’t score yourself then you are giving up those same breaks. And this team on paper looks like they cannot score. Besides J-Will, where are the points coming from?
I hope we can be a better rebounding team this coming year… that would help some of that.
I have the same concerns you have on where our points come from. But I think if we have a team that is well-oiled in other areas: rebounding on both sides, defense, low TOs, good assist passing… we will produce decent offense. Will it match this past year? Doubtful we have those offensive weapons, but we have a chance to be a much better defensive team.
I think we should tamper our expectations to have a team offense as capable as this year’s team. Very unlikely. Even if we go after a good offensive player in the portal, will that be enough? And isn’t it always a risk that player doesn’t work out on offense? When push comes to shove… grabbing a player from the portal… I’d rather grab a known defender because that is more predictable. McCullar gives us a tough, physical player, easily capable of guarding 2-4.
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@Kcmatt7 said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@BShark Video of a Bill Self crutch if I’ve ever seen one. I’m having Marcus Garrett flashbacks.
Garret was fine when he wasn’t miscast at PG.
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Not only that, but the lineup above is a TERRIBLE shooting lineup. Just awful. Nothing really nice to say about it. McCullar has had enough attempts (idc whatever his catch and shoot was) to show he is at best a barely over .300 3pt shooter. Harris is a low volume guy. Bobby missed all 3 of his attempts last season, and I can’t recall one hitting the rim. Jalen is adequate, but without taking a step forward he isn’t a “good” shooter. Clemence is the best of them, and he’ll spend half of his time in the post. It just isn’t good.
Shooting? Who said shooting?
Well said, KCM.
This team as it currently is (I’m assuming it won’t have Wilson) will have no choice but to depend on freshmen for some scoring. Not a good recipe, but hopefully Rice can at least drive and score.
And Self, it would seem, will have no choice but to let Yesu loose.
It won’t be a pretty team to watch, that’s for sure,
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@rockchalkjayhawk You took the words out my brain. Somebody gotta put the ball ina basketball and it won’t be Juan. Juan is lockdown and a elite decision maker. The Jalen and the 2 Freshman will have to give us the Wing scoring.
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@NormRoberts said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@rockchalkjayhawk You took the words out my brain. Somebody gotta put the ball ina basketball and it won’t be Juan. Juan is lockdown and a elite decision maker. The Jalen and the 2 Freshman will have to give us the Wing scoring.
Yup, but if Jalen stays in the draft…even more so, right?
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Some of you are acting like McCullers is a sure thing to be in Lawrence next season. Why are you so confident?
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@wissox said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
Some of you are acting like McCullers is a sure thing to be in Lawrence next season. Why are you so confident?
McCullar*
Bill wouldn’t have him announce without a promise to play here. See: Malik Newman and Remy Martin. I would be very shocked if he doesn’t end up in Lawrence for a year.
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@rockchalkjayhawk Jalen isn’t looking to great, don’t count on him being a better shooter. He needs to put in time. CB kinda shaky in scrimmage too. Anybody else watch?
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@Crimsonorblue22 said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@rockchalkjayhawk Jalen isn’t looking to great, don’t count on him being a better shooter. He needs to put in time. CB kinda shaky in scrimmage too. Anybody else watch?
Jalen has looked much worse against better competition.
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CB just hit big 3
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Bill is foaming at the mouth to have a more physical version of Marcus Garrett on this team.
I agree with the fear that we won’t have enough offense… but if picking up one guy… at least McCullar should help us obtain an elite defense. Acquiring a scorer would be helpful but not going to replace Och, CB, and JWil’s offense. As it stands, I don’t think we have an elite defense. So we don’t take McCullar we won’t have elite play on either side of the ball.
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I think there’s a decent chance we’re not done in the portal. I know they’d make a spot for Hunter if he wanted to commit.
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@FarmerJayhawk said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
I think there’s a decent chance we’re not done in the portal. I know they’d make a spot for Hunter if he wanted to commit.
Bill wants a starting 2guard.
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@BShark said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@FarmerJayhawk said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
I think there’s a decent chance we’re not done in the portal. I know they’d make a spot for Hunter if he wanted to commit.
Bill wants a starting 2guard.
Yeah, if no Hunter I wonder if they’d look at Grant Sherfield. Put up gaudy stats at Nevada
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@FarmerJayhawk Might have burned bridges there last I heard. What I do know is if Self wants to fill a spot he’s gonna do it. Definitely something to monitor.
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@BShark said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@rockchalkjayhawk Jalen isn’t looking to great, don’t count on him being a better shooter. He needs to put in time. CB kinda shaky in scrimmage too. Anybody else watch?
Jalen has looked much worse against better competition.
Didn’t light it up today in the big boy camp? how’d he do?
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The hyperventilation thread. We haven’t even completed the roster, and we’re eviscerating the team…just like we did last year.
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@Jethro 100% guilty of it. If remy doesn’t take off though then we wouldn’t have won. So many on here we’re right we can’t win a title with Juan playing all the minutes and that applies next year as well.
Need Hunter or Ramey
Juan Hunter/Ramey McCullar Wilson Clemence
Bench Bobby Rice Dick Kj Udeh
Joe’s odd man out. If we don’t get another guard then Rice starts at the 2 and Joe backs him up.
Cam and Cuffe don’t play
Crazy to think mcd national player won’t start heck same for Rice and Udeh. One of them has to surprise us.
What I learned is Self might have figured out March being laid back/confident/chill not his tense usual self.
Trust in Self
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@kuballin10 Every national champion has a we wouldn’t have won if such and such had happened. It happened. We’re thrilled. Join the fun.
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@Jethro You gave us a PHOF candidate with that one!
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@BShark Potential casualty, Cuffe or Yesufu.
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@AsadZ said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@BShark Potential casualty, Cuffe or Yesufu.
I am pretty sure we won’t ask Cuffe to leave. We had him reclass then redshirt, and were on thin ice previously with his AAU (he is the first player we got from them since Cheick). We are seemingly tentatively not having that door shut (recruiting another couple guys from there again and not being turned away) and don’t want it slammed shut. So if Cuffe left after this year it would have been his decision I think.
Joe would make a lot of sense. Don’t think you even have to force him out by any means. It’s like, well Juan is starting at the 1, transfer is now coming in starting at the 2. Primary back-up small guard is Bob with Rice and Gradey chomping at the bit for minutes too and well, it’s a tough squeeze.
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I can envision the conversation between Self and Joe
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I hope there’s a few more moves left but at this point I don’t know what’s going to make a meaningful impact.
I just don’t understand the Cam Martin situation from redshirting to still being here.
I’m also surprised Cuffe is sticking around. Personally I’m high on him but I expected him to look around.
If Braun does leave that really hurts the upcoming squad. Leader, scoring option, proven winner among many other things. Makes J Will returning of paramount importance.
McCullar is a nice get for what he provides. Perhaps he flourishes here and steps his game up offensively.
Young team with a lot of unproven pieces that will have to play.
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If Braun leaves and JWill returns, who do y’all see as next years leader? McCullar is new, Juan doesn’t seem the type, rest are pretty young.
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@Gorilla72 said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
If Braun leaves and JWill returns, who do y’all see as next years leader? McCullar is new, Juan doesn’t seem the type, rest are pretty young.
JWill 100%.
I think Bobby and Zach end up taking the biggest steps forward in terms of improvement though.
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@Jethro Agreed and I feel like the offensive concerns listed seem overblown. Clemence was a bucket every time he stepped out on the court last year and will open the floor up to get to the hoop even if we have average gaurd 3 pt shooting. College 3pt% generally improves year over year too so I don’t think that will even be as bad as it looks. If I had to pick a something to be worried about, it would be getting Clemence to improve on interior defense and having gaurds that can pressure the ball and make the entry pass harder will help some there.
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@RockkChalkk said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@Gorilla72 said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
If Braun leaves and JWill returns, who do y’all see as next years leader? McCullar is new, Juan doesn’t seem the type, rest are pretty young.
JWill 100%.
I think Bobby and Zach end up taking the biggest steps forward in terms of improvement though.
JWill is among the most experienced, but he didn’t seem to be a leader last year. Early on he moped about his drunk driving ticket/team suspension. Later he let Remy, Christian and Big Dave lead, both by example and verbally.
I hope JWill steps up. Otherwise, the Hawks may have a void there.
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@wissox I am enjoying the fun. I can’t stop laughing at the fact they won when I was so down on them. I wasn’t around for 88 so this changed my entire mindset.
100% agree things have to fall your way and they did. Nova kid hurt, bacot hurt ect we capitalized and made the plays though!
All that but the thread is about next years team which I was referencing how last years March team was different than the entire year. Last years team with a healthy remy is a champ. Without probably lose to creighton or providence easy.
Then with that frame of mind it’s so important to get someone who can score to play the 2 or eat into Juan’s minutes unless he improves offensively (which he could).
I’m happy and enjoying it and still can’t believe they won it!
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@BeddieKU23 said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
I hope there’s a few more moves left but at this point I don’t know what’s going to make a meaningful impact.
I just don’t understand the Cam Martin situation from redshirting to still being here.
I’m also surprised Cuffe is sticking around. Personally I’m high on him but I expected him to look around.
If Braun does leave that really hurts the upcoming squad. Leader, scoring option, proven winner among many other things. Makes J Will returning of paramount importance.
McCullar is a nice get for what he provides. Perhaps he flourishes here and steps his game up offensively.
Young team with a lot of unproven pieces that will have to play.
The people that think we’re going to be limited offensively don’t know Dick. "But Jethro, he’s new. New is bad. He’s never played college basketball. " Gradey, see that spot? Go run to that spot, and we’ll throw you the ball, and you shoot and make it, ok?
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I’ve been heavy on the scoring coming from the new players for a while now, particularly if both Wilson and Braun leave (though it seems like Wilson could return). Our returning players, other than Yesufu, are not really natural scorers. The thing about being a natural scorer is that you can start the game 0-3 or 0-5 and then get it going. If a guy like Harris starts 0-5, he’s not going to be thinking he needs to get up 6 or 7 more shots tonight. That’s not his game. He’s a true PG that wants to distribute, defend and get into the paint when he can. But Rice and Dick are more scoring oriented. They will be looking for their shot because that is their game. I just don’t see how we don’t get scoring from the new additions, particularly when you add McCullar in that group. That’s even moreso if Wilson stays in the draft - I’m assuming CB is gone at this point.
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@Jethro Ha, I see what you did there. I used to have your same belief but after watching him in one of those all star games, playing against other incoming frosh, I was quite disappointed and lowered my expectations to be more realistic. Its rare to have a true frosh that can come in and put it all together to a point where he is a reliable scorer. Last few I can think of were JJ, Wigs, Jo. I just don’t think Dick is in that class of talent and ability to be the scorer we hope for in his first year.
Its also not in Bill Self’s history to put someone out there to just spot up and shoot without having to worry about thinking about anything else. Guys like Greene who I’d say is a better shooter couldn’t carve out time because he couldn’t play D. The one trick ponies don’t see the court much with Self. At least not enough to rack up a strong scoring line each game.
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I saw some of sunrise games on tv, Gradey’s the real deal. All star games are so unorganized it’s really hard to judge. They are the opposite of what Self would call a game. It’s not a team game.
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I can’t think of a single poster in here this past year that went “all in” on this team for winning the trophy!
I feel sure we can all say that things fell right and also that we peaked at the right time! Part of that peak was getting Remy back at near 100%.
My big optimism now is that Self sees the game differently, especially our play in March. Do you think his energy was different this past March over previous Marches? I thought he was very poised and confident… more so than usual. Whatever it was… I hope it sticks and we don’t have to wait another 14 years to bring home the prize again!
Concerning next year’s team… truth is… until we get this bunch together and playing, we won’t know what we have as far as points go. Sure… we have ideas about guys scoring gifts, but that changes, especially as new teams are put together and kids have a new coach/environment.
Personally… I hope we get McCullar and Wilson back. I think that will give us a very solid team. The offense will have to get sorted out, but that is Self’s job. He managed to get these guys playing at a high level so I remain optimistic. I like what I’m seeing possible for next year already!
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Gradey/Zach/Harris trio can put up plenty of points. Need a high jumping big to do nothing but flush lobs and set screens and one wild dog like KJ to rebound. Gold
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@drgnslayr great post. 10000% agree and hope Self learned. He felt they’d win every game in the tourney and his cool confidence just oozed through the team. He had that smirky grin on his face even when it was a dogfight and that’s when as a fan you know we are gonna win.
Self changed in that he said he wouldn’t play or trust someone in March who didn’t produce in Feb. He made a huge exception with Remy in the big 12 tourney which he wanted to win and it paid off. He not only did that but continued that into the ncaa’s and played the perfect balance of Juan and Remy. That plus big Dave being an animal and everyone playing with stones got us a title I still can’t believe we won.
I am sure there were a few on here that still believed and should be credited for having faith when I had known.
I wish but know it won’t happen we start: Hunter Rice Mccullar Wilson Zach
Bench Bobby/Joe Dick Udeh KJ
No way this happens but Bill did have Remy start over Juan but then the injury ect changed course. I’m hoping Bill starts the best guys and let’s them play the most minutes.
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@DanR I think you’re right but hearing from the insiders on this board the coaches already don’t think these freshman will be able to guard or grasp the system defensively. Hopefully they loosen the reigns and let the guys play and get out and run like they had this group do.
Run, run, run (a play out of ole Roy’s book)
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@kuballin10 Juan started every game except the last regular season game against Texas.
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This post is deleted!
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@Crimsonorblue22 Juan started every game after Remy got injured. Remy started first game vs Michigan State.
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@RockkChalkk said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
@Jethro Ha, I see what you did there. I used to have your same belief but after watching him in one of those all star games, playing against other incoming frosh, I was quite disappointed and lowered my expectations to be more realistic. Its rare to have a true frosh that can come in and put it all together to a point where he is a reliable scorer. Last few I can think of were JJ, Wigs, Jo. I just don’t think Dick is in that class of talent and ability to be the scorer we hope for in his first year.
Its also not in Bill Self’s history to put someone out there to just spot up and shoot without having to worry about thinking about anything else. Guys like Greene who I’d say is a better shooter couldn’t carve out time because he couldn’t play D. The one trick ponies don’t see the court much with Self. At least not enough to rack up a strong scoring line each game.
I really got a kick out of your post. Especially your scouting report. I knew if I put some bait out, I’d get some bites. All in good fun- thank you for participating!
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@DanR said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:
Gradey/Zach/Harris trio can put up plenty of points. Need a high jumping big to do nothing but flush lobs and set screens and one wild dog like KJ to rebound. Gold
That’ll be Ernest Udeh early on. He’s going to be the guy that plays 10-15 minutes a game amd has a few foul outs because he’s a very aggressive defender and won’t have to worry about playing extended minutes. Maybe not as physically imposing as Doke, but similar mindset and style of defense when Doke was playing behind Landen Lucas.
