Five Observations from KU's Open Basketball Scrimmage
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This piece by Rustin Dodd at the KC Star is somewhat re-hashed but a good read.
Key points:
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Andrew White III is making a case for reserve minutes in the backcourt.
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Naadir is the starting point guard.
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Wiggins can be great on D, but it will likely take time to be more consistent.
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We might see a 4-guard set.
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Traylor looks more polished.
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That video they linked to was pretty lame! But holy smokes I’m excited to see them out on the court for real!
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Traylor looks more polished … maybe. But when do you see him? Or pay attention. At the scrimmage, he caught my eye a couple of times on D. But I had a hard time watching him with the more interesting subjects on the court.
But he’s a hard hat guy, blue collar. His job will be to spell our top 3 bigs and not hurt us in the process. He can bring energy, effort, athleticism, and the big block following a play.
I’ve never been a fan of Traylor-like recruits. But I’m a big fan of Traylor’s story, and a big fan of Traylor-like recruits being the 4th big. That said, I thought Lucas looked decent around the basket … something Traylor never has. But Lucas is clearly behind Traylor. Despite some speculative poster enthusiasm for Lucas, he remains a project. Not a “monster.” Not a “load.” Again, which is ok. He’s a red-shirt freshman.
Traylor and Lucas might be very able players by their junior seasons respectively. And Self, through their development, will have some nice insurance if the stud big men of 2014-15 and/or 2015-16 pass on KU.
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Kinda what I was thinking about Traylor and Lucas. Both of those guys will play big roles…in the future. Not this season.
Lets assume worst case scenario after this season and KU wiffs on remaining recruits and loses everyone: Wiggins, Selden, Embiid, And Ellis.
That still leaves a veteran lineup of Traylor, Lucas/Mickelson, White III/Greene/Oubre, Frankamp/Mason, and Tharpe.
Now, assuming KU will retain at least one of those potential draftees and that HCBS lands at least one more blue chip recruit… How is that not the favorite to win the conference…again?
Now just imagine if 2 of the four stay…
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Right. Traylor and Lucas are great to have on the team…as long as they are role players…that doesn’t mean they can’t get significant minutes (probably not together) as they continue to gain experience. Role players can play significant minutes…we just need some “go to” guys on the floor with them. The statement in the article about the 4 guard set made no sense. We won’t have any lineup on the floor (for long at least) that doesn’t include Perry (which the article acknowledged)
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Thanks for posting this with the link to the original story since I don’t regularly read the KC paper.
