Bagley for Whitman
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I think the loss of Whitman is bigger than advertised. But what I’m not willing to say is that this will necessarily be a bad thing. It is starting to look like we will be playing more 4-guard lineups. I like 4-guard lineups, especially if we can have a monster like Udoka in the middle. I just don’t know how many minutes a game we can get out of Udoka and Billy. They are both inexperienced and you can bet foul trouble will be an issue, especially as teams will attack our low depth in the post.
I think the issue with Whitman was his strength. He didn’t have the strength to translate his game at KU. He just wasn’t going to get there in a few months. Hudy is amazing… but she needs time to build players. So… perhaps we wouldn’t have received much help from Whitman in depth.
Bagley? Yeah… that would be awesome to sign him. I think he is Duke bound.
Maybe we can still land a senior transfer? How does that work this late? I would think it would be tough to steal one because of timing. Isn’t it likely that most or all of them have now accepted aid already?
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@drgnslayr The biggest issue is that KU will only have 8 scholarship players until mid-December when Cunliffe becomes eligible. Garrett, Svi/Vick, and Lightfoot will be the bench. If an injury or major foul issues happen, there will be a walk on playing relevant minutes for KU this season.
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@drgnslayr I also like playing four guards IF those guards are really good defensively. Im just not sure our current guards are good enough outside of Devonte. Villanova was the best college example of playing four out one in, but each one of those guards were defensive savants.
I would much rather see the traditional two posts, which Bill said he was going to do. Maybe its just him talking again, but I think we will see it if he can snag another post man, preferably someone around 6-10 or 6-11.
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@HawkChamp KU doesn’t have the depth to play a traditional 3-2 line up all the time. Lightfoot is too small to play in the post on offense so when he’s in, KU will be in a 4 out set. KU is also not likely going to find a capable body to fill that spot at this point.
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Yes, I know. It will be half traditional half four out. It will work if our guards play good defense.
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@HawkChamp It doesn’t matter if the defense is good or not, KU doesn’t have options because they don’t have the bodies. Garrett, Svi or Vick, and Lightfoot are the sub options for the 1st month of the season. Lightfoot and Vick don’t have the bulk to guard bigger 4’s, Svi is just a below average defender, and Garrett is a question mark on defense until we see him play. Cunliffe is the best fit as the 4th big, but he doesn’t become eligible until mid December so KU has 3 subs to start the year before they get into walk ons. KU will be very limited in their options this year as far as subs go.
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I flip both ways on the issues of depth.
It sounds great to have a load of depth every year… but then we get into the issue of keeping the rust off of all of them. That sometimes creates friction within the team… I know it is a good thing to have competition for minutes… but when it gets too far out of balance, where we can’t give minutes to players that really should be getting some, it can be harmful.
Sometimes teams with a short bench do very well because those players get all the PT they need to come together as a team.
What counts (to me) is the guys carrying a chip. Rarely does the most-talented team win in March.
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HawkChamp said:
Im just not sure our current guards are good enough outside of Devonte.
If we have that problem, then having two bigs in there won’t solve it. It usually ends up creating foul trouble for our bigs if our guards can’t move their feet well enough to stay in front of the competition.
I hope Udoka will sharpen his defense. Right now, I just see him getting into foul trouble often. That can change dramatically if his defensive game is coming along.
Remember the transformation of Withey?
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Some of you are talking about Lightfoot not being big enough for the post. I helped at a camp recently and saw Billy and he’s not all that big himself. Tall, but not muscled up all that much as of yet. Mitch was not at the camp so I don’t have a comparison but from what I’ve seen elsewhere he has the superior ‘motor’.
Doke on the other hand has lost weight, Devonte said about 30lbs, and I’m guessing from the look of him he would have lost more except for he has been building muscle. I said last year that for as big as he was he was light on his feet and moved well. This year he looked even better in that regard and he has good hands. There was not a full up scrimmage so hard to say what his stamina is going to be however it is quite apparent that he has spent some time with Hudy while he was recovering. I worry about his ability to stay on the floor like many of the rest of you but I think Lightfoot is going to be the best option after Doke and not Billy this season. Mainly because I think Mitch wants it more and is going to put out more of an effort. I will say that I hope I am proved wrong!
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@Kubie Reason why Mitch may not be big enough has nothing to do with height. 6-8 is plenty tall enough to guard in the post against other 4’s as most college 4’s are in the 6-8 to 6-9 range. The concern is his weight. He may have a great motor, but that motor doesn’t change the physics of what’ll happen when he’s guarding someone who has 25-30 lbs. of muscle of him which will happen in the Big 12 and NCAA Tournament against other P5 programs. Mitch should be fine against the low majors KU will play in the nonconference, but that’s not where the issue ever was since that’s about 10 games out of potentially 40 for KU.
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@drgnslayr I believe in the adage that it’s better to have and not need than to not have and need. I’d much rather have the issue of trying to find minutes for everyone than not have enough players for all the minutes.
That 2008 team was the deepest KU team perhaps ever. That team also suffered through injuries to multiple players throughout the season. Without the depth they had, they don’t win that title. 2012 was very fortunate to not have any injury issues because that team was even thinner than this team will be in terms of depth.
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If Mitch is ahead of Billy this team is in TROUBLE imo. I don’t intend this as a slight towards Mitch at all, he will be a key piece for this team but Billy is needed to be very good.
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I hope that Preston fully comprehends just how important his development is in terms of this squad’s advancing to the Final Four. If he is mature and determined, capable of handling Bill Self’s coaching, this team is bound for glory.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 Sorry I was not clear, I know it’s a weight issue with Lightfoot, I just wanted to point out that Preston isn’t built either. He looked like what we used to call a beanpole back in the day. Now that’s not saying he isn’t strong, just that it doesn’t show.
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Mitch played at 209 pound las season and since then he has gained 8 pounds as of June and he expects to gain another 8 by the beginning of the season and get to 225 pounds. Not bad for his build.
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@REHawk I’m guessing the vets are working him over pretty good, maybe why jack Walt Whitman left? lt
Already worked over jack during camp scrimmages and somebody broke lt’S 
. 
Has Preston been cleared to play?
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So our post situation is a composed of a seldom used sophomore, a sophomore who played 11 games due to injury, and a freshman.
Let that sink in for a minute
Self needs to pull some magic tricks and find himself another player with size and for depth.
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Bagley just completed a trip to Duke this weekend. He is planning on visiting USC and Arizona soon. Important to not that if he wants to reclassify, which would make him eligible for the 2018 draft, both Arizona and USC are out of scholarships, taking them out of contention for him. Duke would probably be in the lead, with Kentucky and us behind them. I still see no harm in going after him if he wants to reclassify, which financially for him is a good move. He wouldn’t have to wait an extra year for a contract.
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HawkChamp said:
Bagley just completed a trip to Duke this weekend. He is planning on visiting USC and Arizona soon. Important to not that if he wants to reclassify, which would make him eligible for the 2018 draft, both Arizona and USC are out of scholarships, taking them out of contention for him. Duke would probably be in the lead, with Kentucky and us behind them. I still see no harm in going after him if he wants to reclassify, which financially for him is a good move. He wouldn’t have to wait an extra year for a contract.
Arizona would make it work if he was serious about going to them. They have a player who sat out last season due to injury that they added for depth purposes only.
USC definitely doesn’t have any openings and I can’t see Bagley wanting to play behind 2 potential NBA forwards that they currently have.
He’s been a done deal to Duke for a while if he can make it work reclassifying. Kansas should have pushed for one of his visits after Duke…
We have a starting position to sell him. Crazy that we can’t fill it.
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BeddieKU23 said:
So our post situation is a composed of a seldom used sophomore, a sophomore who played 11 games due to injury, and a freshman.
Let that sink in for a minute
Self needs to pull some magic tricks and find himself another player with size and for depth.
So you’re saying KU has tons of experience on Kentucky!
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@BeddieKU23 It has sunk in. Deeply.
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dylans said:
BeddieKU23 said:
So our post situation is a composed of a seldom used sophomore, a sophomore who played 11 games due to injury, and a freshman.
Let that sink in for a minute
Self needs to pull some magic tricks and find himself another player with size and for depth.
So you’re saying KU has tons of experience on Kentucky!
Technically yes, although Gabriel played more minutes for them then Doke/Lightfoot have combined…
I wasn’t worried when we had Whitman who was expected to blend his experience, big body, and scoring around the rim to sprinkle into the rotation but now its looking bare down in the post. We hear great things of Mitch’s progress and the potential that lies within Preston if we can get it out of him here. We know how good Doke is potentially. It’s all potential. We need another body no matter if he doesn’t play a ton.
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Well, at least it’s better than just a limited 5th year sr. So not ideal, but improvement from last year…
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I definitely hear what you are saying… I just think every team is different and sometimes the struggle of having less can be a plus.
And then… other times… the depth really pays off!
