I'm hearing Cheick Diallo to Kansas???
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The open scholarships can be a double edged sword. On one hand open spots can mean that players looking to go to KU may not have a huge position battle and immediate PT is there. On the other hand as soon as fill your roster with depth, now you have 2-4 players or more unhappy with their role on the team. Nobody wants to Red-Shirt anymore unless an injury or academics force it. Landon Lucas is a rarity now. You will see less red-shirts and more transfers which we are seeing.
As far as 2015 It doesn’t sound like KU will get 3 players to fill the roster. I could be wrong but at the moment it looks like the max we will sign is 2 more. If it was up to me I’d sign a transfer who can sit and be eligible in 16-17 for that last spot. We will have plenty of open spots, could be as many as 6-7. We could still have a bunch of upperclassmen left after next year but we clearly will be relying hard on a good 2016 class to supplement the roster. Self should maximize 15 to set up future years.
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I don’t get it… why would guys rather transfer than redshirt? They have to sit a year anyways. No guarantee they will find playing time somewhere else either. Redshirt shows your commitment to the program. Doesn’t mean you will automatically earn PT, but it gives you every opportunity to do so. An extra year to learn and master your coach’s system?! Seems like a no-brainer unless you just don’t get along.
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He is taking an in-home visit with Mullin this weekend. Going to tell him “sorry, I’m going to Kansas!” (?)
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the latest I heard or saw on Diallo, was off 247 sports.com, that was showing that St Johns had puller ahead of us in the latest crystal ball predictions 35% - 29% but like other posters I just can’t bring myself in believing he will end up there. they just got the 6ft 11 kid yesterday Yankota Sena then the kid that was suspended during the yr last year who is 6ft 9 his name is Chris Olakpa shot blocker rim protector coming back there next year, seems to me if Mullen believed that Diallo was coming I would think he wouldn’t have offered the 6ft 11 kid on top of the fact he is STILL recruiting big guys. then just read Newman is following in Zimmermans footsteps and not going to sign a NLI, put this on top of the fact he is now not going to take any official visits I’m starting to think we might be better of without Newman he just kind of seems like a head case, same kid that said he didn’t even want to have to go to college. things are getting crazy
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@jayballer54 Recent rumors suggest Newman is planning to play overseas, a’ la Mudiay. Diallo, as @Statmachine has noted, has an overseas offer too but isn’t expected to take it up (apparently his family is well to do and he wants the American college experience). Still, I don’t like the news that he’s taking a meeting with Mullin this weekend. It’s a definite wrench in the gears.
The other mentioned bugaboo, that Diallo might not pass the clearing house, doesn’t scare me as much. Although his school has had some difficulties, there’s no whiff of academic turmoil on him personally, and someone close to Roberts has indicated that KU’s staff has a plan for the clearinghouse should an academic issue come up. I’m not sure what that means. Maybe he does summer school in Lawrence or JuCo in JoCo, but apparently Self and co learned their lesson with McLemore and Traylor and have a solid contingency plan. We’ll see…
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I think we’ll be just fine, Diallo or not. if we miss out on Diallo, it might open the door for another player who will fit in long term for us. We taught TROB and Withey how to play the 5 - why can’t we teach Landen?
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@drgnslayr See, I don’t think we have to recruit in this circus. We just don’t. Kansas, with coach Self, using all of its leverage and muscle, focusing on non-OADs like Bragg, surely would trump the Texas A&Ms of the world if Self would guarantee recruits that he wouldn’t bring in OADs. Why couldn’t this work?
@KUSTEVE - The reason we can’t teach Landen is the same reason that we couldn’t teach Justin Wesley. Lack of talent. It’s that simple. Lucas can only get so good. He’s only got so much going for him. Can he improve? Sure. But it’s the reason why some make it and some don’t. Teaching is only a part of it. He’s been here now three seasons and is barely serviceable.
Imagine the disaster here if we don’t get Diallo. We do not have to be doing this ridiculous dance.
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@HighEliteMajor It will not be a disaster if we miss on Diallo. I have followed HCBS on his social outlets and if you watch his new followers every day you will see that the transfers (handlers) will all of the sudden start following HCBS. That is clear as day to me that the lines of communication are open between some of the best transfer talent out there. I think things will be hunky dory by the end of this month.
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“See, I don’t think we have to recruit in this circus. We just don’t. Kansas, with coach Self, using all of its leverage and muscle, focusing on non-OADs like Bragg, surely would trump the Texas A&Ms of the world if Self would guarantee recruits that he wouldn’t bring in OADs. Why couldn’t this work?”
I agree… but isn’t this based on the premise we develop players? It seems like we lost our bargaining chip when Danny left, especially for bigs.
I’ll believe it is our path when we let recruiting assistant go and pick up a developmental assistant. That is the first step. It even helps recruit OADs.
I’m like you and I’m sick of the soap opera around OADs. Our entire season ends up being based perhaps on something as silly as what shoes our guys are wearing.
Imagine if we became the Kentucky for non-OAD players? Players in that 20-50 range. And sometimes a dark horse guy up to 100. Then we get to comb through the bunch and look for the guys that best fit in our program and have good upside… just not so much upside they leave in a year. Even though you can’t hold a kid to it, try to ask that they commit at least 2 years to our program.
Then we carefully layout a long term strategy where we have mostly juniors and seniors starting, with the occasional sophomore. Quality freshmen will earn minutes, too… they just won’t be in a tizzy over minutes since they aren’t trying to leave after one year. Since we invested in development, all our guys are happy because they realize they are helping their game more at Kansas than if they made a different choice.
We should rename our school, “Kansas Developmental University.” (or should it be University of Kansas Developmental?)
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@drgnslayr Maybe we could shoot for OADU ?
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How about TADU?
Vague enough that no one knows if it means two-and-done or three-and-done!
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@drgnslayr Amen. I was thinking we could cobble together several good medium guys if we don’t get Diallo, and take it from there. Diallo would be great to get, but I’m not of the mind to think all is lost if we don’t get him. I understand HEM’s reticence to rely on Lucas…but there has to be a couple good big guys out there we could reel in if we get skunked with the highly ranked recruits. For the first time in several years, we have the chance of playing one freshman at a time, not 2- 4 at a time like the last few years.
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I think you nailed it. It would be great if we only had to play one or two star freshmen for vital minutes and the rest come from experienced players. It has never been fair to examine Kelly, or Andrew or JoJo and not consider the rest of the team they were playing with. Not only would an experienced team offer better support, they would also help mentor these young players.
Our big problem happened 3 years ago when we lost 6 or 7 of our top players in the same year. We need to do whatever we can to avoid that from happening again!
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D-Town Jayhawk @Devans100 · 60m60 minutes ago
@JoelEmbiid help us get cheick diallo to kansas. Rock chalk
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In reply to Matt Scott
D-Town Jayhawk @Devans100 · 57m57 minutes ago
@KUTheShiver are we doing a in home with cheick diallo bfore his decsion?
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@HighEliteMajor I agree and disagree on the OAD guys. Duke cut down the nets this year with a mix of older players and OAD guys but for the most part they won based on 3 guys and they were all OAD. I hate this as you do but it seems to be a reality. The only Final 4 team this year that actively does not go after OAD guys is Wisconsin. MSU goes after them, they just don’t always land them. I have posted this before but some of the supposed OAD kids end up staying 3 years…Selden, Brandon Rush, etc.
That all said, I do agree that we don’t have to go all in as Coach Self has this year. I’d love to have a top 50 guy who is 6’11 already signed.
I full agree on Lucas. The guy plays his ass off and I love that about him. The problem is he is not that good and never will be. He is slow. He is not a great shooter. He is not even a freak athlete like Jamari. He is just a big guy who tries really hard and his ceiling is averaging like 8 and 4.
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Which begs the question…do parents want a classy coach or the shortest path to the NBA and the big money it represents? I bet that initially they all say they want the first but the lure of money is huge and some cannot resists the temptation (see Cliff’s mom).
As long as potentially big money is at the end of the tunnel, Cal will bounce back as evidenced by his current class that once again is ranked #1; however, if he falters this upcoming season, we might start to see a movement away from him…at least I hope.
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Lucas is an example of a guy that was a development project … Lots of upside if he had high learning curve… That is the coaches’ and staff gamble … Which gem can you develop out of these 50 to 150 ranked bigs ? Are there ways to assess who will repond with time and coaching or who will plateau or who will bust ? As much as we all are rooting for him , looks like Lucas has plateaud for the most part Whithey was another total gamble - but he paid off handsomely
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@joeloveshawks I think you hit the nail on the head … “we don’t have to go all in.”
I’ve always advocated OADs when there is an obvious hole. We have a hole right now. Diallo is the only real remedy. But, we don’t have to be in this spot. We have a hole because we chose not to address it early – we chose not to take a possible lesser talent (assuming, of course, Self could have snagged one).
@Bosthawk - I would suggest that Withey wasn’t a total gamble, though. He was a top 40 player. Lucas and Withey aren’t in the same league. I’d say Mickelson is maybe a more reasonable comparison.
I will say this, too – I don’t want any players outside the top 100 as rule But we’ll have a few, fliers, etc. If we do, I want the guys that we really locate as overlooked guys, not the fall back plans that Traylor and Lucas were. That’s scrambling.
But our core, we need solid players 15-80. That range should be our rotation guys. Then, if the flier or developmental guy is ready by junior/senior season, fine. But as an example, Traylor ain’t it. This is a guy playing because we have to play him. That’s what hurts us. Of course, I appreciate both Lucas’ and Traylor’s hard work, etc. It’s just business.
I’m kind of intrigued with the Greek freak that @JayHawkFanToo mentioned last week. 7’1" is 7’1" – heck, that’s the kind of gamble to take.
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@HighEliteMajor Thanks for the insight on Whithey - I always thought he was lower and in the true " gamble" category And yes you said it exactly - how can we locate the overlooked guys ? There’s the key - (I’m sure a board rat could list off a list of D1 good or great players that were " overlooked ") KU reportedly spends the most on recruiting so we need to use those resources to recruit SMARTER and try to rely less on the crack pipe of OADs To keep up
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@Bosthawk Why do you believe that Lucas can’t improve anymore and has plateaud?
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@phoghawk33 It’s just an opinion … He got a decent amount of playing time but looked a lot like he did last year in terms of mechanics and court sense. His defense is better, and he hustles tremendously but looks flat footed and to me and relatively slow … He has almost zero shooting touch in my opinion and that has stayed the same over the past two years But I root hard for him and would LOVE to see him improve ! - but my instincts and “eye test” say otherwise
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@Bosthawk I can agree with that. I also root hard for him and I am hopeful with two more years of eligibility he will become a very solid player for us.
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@HighEliteMajor I think Self continues to pursue even the top10 guys for one reason only: It is an unknown that which kid will be a Wiggins, Parker, Okafor…and which McD will end up being a 2 or 3yr player. He may know that the odds favor him getting to keep a player for Yr 2, where the “gamble” of the OAD circus will actually pay dividends with a Yr2 guy who is now experienced, stronger, more confident, and tougher, and much more comfortable in his system.
Self seems to be playing the odds with OADs, and perhaps banking on the fact that a certain percentage of OADs will not leave after 1yr.
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@drgnslayr Your right about the hi lo changes, and it didn’t click tell you wrote that. I was watching Kansas at Texas on YouTube, which to me was this teams high water mark and cliff or perry were either running the baseline or at the top of the paint. Texas was running a zone if I remember correctly so that style of attack would be what I would expect. But against man to man that didn’t work quite as well, especially when we did get to the rim, except when the the 3s were dropping. I also watched the 2012 team and they were a great defensive team but they also moved the ball like I have not seen in a while and the passes into either or Robinson or Whitney were incredibly efficient. We need to get back to that but like you said Ellis and company are not the best players to push the center out and be in a position to catch and turn for the easy lay up or monster jam. Hopefully it all returns next year with a true shot blocker like Whithey, and a post man that can handle anyone in the paint and finish at the rim.
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Also I wonder why one of our best post man to ever play at Kansas like Wayne Simien doesn’t start coaching like manning ? His play in the post was outstanding and he had that back to the basket turn around fadeaway that rivaled collision or raef. Maybe we need to upgrade at the bigs coaching. Just a thought ?
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“Why do you believe that Lucas can’t improve anymore and has plateaud?”
These guys are all kids. None of them have come close to plateauing unless they suffer a major injury. Now and old man like me… ha… I’m finally reaching my plateau!
I don’t think we have to do too much to make that same formation work well against a m2m. Our post player moving forward has to set high ball screens… maybe not out at the 3pt line like we always have them. Maybe closer around the FT line and we can even pick up screen help from a post defender and have our perimeter guys trained to curl in and around our post player’s screen. We’ve become too predictable on our high ball screens because our perimeter guys always stay on the outside of the 3pt line. We need to mix it up more and utilize other options in the future, and some of it is to variate where we set our high ball screens.
BTW: I loved it when we had a post guy flanked down on the baseline. Few D1 coaches take advantage of the options that can be run through that area. I’d really love to see us develop someone for baseline attacking. If Kelly would have stayed around for another year and learned a few more skills he would have been a guy that could attack from there, too. Perry tried some but didn’t have all that much success. Part of it is knowing where you are at and not letting the backboard block your shot!
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@drgnslayr Ya me too on the baseline prowling, it’s usually good for at least one good alley oop a game, plus wide open shots on the baseline. I remember whenever someone ran a zone on us when the Morris twins were here they would run the baseline and just made them pay!! I still love it when I see a zone vs Kansas because we usually have success as soon as we get a few possessions to see what exactly our opp is doing.
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@Statmachine I like Brown better than Newman. Brown outplayed Newman in the McDs AA. I think Newman will be another Selby.
Diallo is all KU. He is not a risk at all. If anyone is a risk, it’s Maker. I wouldn’t touch Maker at all. Now he seems to be staying put in the 2016 class. My guess is his grades ior ineligibility.
We’re fine. I’ll take Diallo and Ingram please.
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@truehawk93 Yes, me too. Sooner than later. I keep checking the boards a few times a day to see if I missed anything. Hurry up and commit guys!! Your killing me smalls!
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Cheick Diallo @cheick_diallo13 played well at the @JordanClassic practice. Upcoming in-homes with Kansas & St. John’s
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@drgnslayr said:
“Why do you believe that Lucas can’t improve anymore and has plateaud?”
These guys are all kids. None of them have come close to plateauing unless they suffer a major injury. Now and old man like me… ha… I’m finally reaching my plateau!
Would that be the “lower” plateau?
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Can you keep a secret?
