The portal.

@BShark said in The portal.:

@FarmerJayhawk said in The portal.:

The perfect wing. He and Tre at the 3/4 would straight up bully everyone

My new top choice personally

He or RJ???

I prefer Williams but it sounds like he will be asking for DP type money. Which I get, but just about any school can only afford that for one guy.

I think both are good players that would do well here. I have a few concerns with Luis but I’d happily have him as the last piece of the starting puzzle.

BeddieKU23

Hopefully we are able to find a big-time wing player. We have the capital, we have the need, our system is meant for wings to flourish. Need that 2nd dude that can take pressure off Peterson.

That 2nd big behind Flory is ideally someone like a Javier Francis or Federiko x 2 from Texas Tech. Those two guys I’ve been jealous of how well they fill their role all season.

BeddieKU23

Clearly looks like we have 3 immediate needs… A 4th is needed depending on who you get at the wing.

A starting Wing-

Best available/best fit. Need to hit this one the most.

I know Williams and Luis are at the top of the Wishlist currently. Luis we’ve been linked with but he’s also doing the draft. Williams just entered and might be too expensive or might have a plan already. Perhaps Lejuan Watts? Otherwise, we might have to wait for additional entries because I don’t see a clear target there.

High-End Rotation or starting guard-

We’ve been recruiting Nigel Pack, Kyan Evans and Rodney Rice so far. Any of the trio would help. There are a few other prospects I like in the portal but best to stick with what KU has been linked with. Seems we are clearly hunting a ball handler with playmaking ability.

Backup 5-

Can’t just be a body that gets you 5 fouls. You need a dependable body. Ideally, a rebounding, rim protecting, lob threat.

4th need- backup 4 man.

Unless Tiller is taking that role with his injury concerns your starting wing will have to be interchangeable, or you need another option. We didn’t have another 4 man this year and we all saw the struggles there without Adams.

If you can find the capital to squeeze in 3/4 needs this could be a fun roster.

Jhawk69

Now that JUCO players have 4 years of eligibility, should we consider looking into JUCO transfers more often?

BeddieKU23

@Jhawk69 said in The portal.:

Now that JUCO players have 4 years of eligibility, should we consider looking into JUCO transfers more often?

Could be an option but perhaps it’s best to look at Juco guys that have proven themselves moving up first. Coit is an example of that.

MR11

@BeddieKU23 said in The portal.:

We’ve been recruiting Nigel Pack, Kyan Evans and Rodney Rice so far. Any of the trio would help. There are a few other prospects I like in the portal but best to stick with what KU has been linked with. Seems we are clearly hunting a ball handler with playmaking ability.

Does anyone know how Elmarko has been looking lately since he was supposed to be close to fully recovered by end of March? Not that I think we should stop at 2 options for ball handling, but it would make me less nervous about getting a starter level player at this position if he is back with a full offseason for improvement.

BeddieKU23

Swain reporting:

Starting Wing- KU will be patient here. RJ Luis and Darion Williams are potential targets until they are not currently.

Kyan Evans had a zoom call with KU, there is interest. His coach went to Minnesota but possibly playing closer to home could be in play (he’s a KC native). Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota also involved.

Nigel Pack is another with confirmed interest but sounds like KU isn’t pushing here at the moment.

As for bigs- Shawn Phillips from Arizona St for the backup big spot.

Also a new name Utah’s Ezra Ausar

BeddieKU23

K-St’s Brandon Hausen in the portal. Really good shooter. Poor kitties

SlimShaddy54

@BeddieKU23 This really surprises me my friend , I did not expect that. Seems like I ever seen him shooting a three – he made it

SlimShaddy54

@BeddieKU23 My personal choice for two of those from the position you listed would be RJ Lewis at the wing, just kind of a personal favorite of mine, no special reason just always kind of liked his play Yet on the other hand Williams would be sweet too lol. I’ll stick with Lewis.- - -Then I kinda like Rice think we would be a nice addition

drgnslayr

@msanchez said in The portal.:

I’d much rather watch a team full of solid, versatile, gritty, physical & athletic players who can all handle the ball and score — not just stand around while the system runs through a couple of ‘go-to’ guys.

This is my opinion exactly. We have to have players that can easily create for themselves.

Look at last season… we only had two players capable of creating their own shots… Hunter and Zeke. And Zeke was undersized, so often had to back out on his shot.

KJ drove me nuts. For a while in the season before this one he was comfortable hitting that baby 12-footer in the paint. This past year, he missed a few then lost all confidence. Teams were giving it to him and he wouldn’t take it most of the time.

Griffen was a catch and shoot. He wasn’t open enough or we’d pass it to him at his knees and then he’d take a shot with no flow.

AJ… I’m not sure what his strength was. His long ball shooting form was odd, but he could hit an open shot sometimes. Then he was asked to drive and it looked awkward. Down the stretch I give him credit for trying.

Juan… only created when he was forced to. That’s not the attitude you need from your PG.

We shot so few FTs. But this group of guys were never able to accel at playing beyond their comfort zones.

I’m convinced we need better coaching. I’m not talking about Self… just his cling-ons.

The ONLY reason why Houston is in the finals is because of their offensive rebounding. Sampson explained how he put a lid on the goal and made these guys fight it out in every practice. Why aren’t we doing that? What else is he doing to get his lower-ranked players to step up?

It does start with recruiting. I’m so sick of having anemic teams incapable of playing physical. Recruit some bruisers… But then, they need to be coached up in how to use their brawn.

DCHawker

@drgnslayr Agree with most, but respectfully would argue that offensive rebounding is not the ONLY reason Houston lost just one game in conference and is now playing for the title - best defense in the nation and 3 starters who shoot better than 40% from the arc certainly had something to do with their accomplishments…

drgnslayr

@DCHawker

No doubt they are well rounded. But look at that Duke game. They had 18 ORs on the tallest team in the nation! And for the game they had 11 total rebs more than Duke.

I bet if they can create 18 ORs on Florida tonight they will take home the trophy!

approxinfinity

@drgnslayr yeah. I am amazed watching them rebound. Its beautiful. When a shot goes up, layers of guys fold in from the sides and half the distance to the opposing player who isnt trying as hard.

Some possessions i became suspicious that they seemed to care less about making the shot than rebounding… just throw it toward the rim and someone will get it!

SlimShaddy54

@drgnslayr Ilike Houstons Chances. - -Sampson is a really good Coach

Zabudda

Flagg’s miss was contested and off balance he had to angle jump to his right to get it off.

approxinfinity

@BeddieKU23

BeddieKU23

Pack to Oklahoma, phew.

BeddieKU23

Old friend tyon grant foster in the portal again. Crazy thing is he might have 2 more seasons with juco rules now

dylans

@drgnslayr said in The portal.:

@DCHawker

No doubt they are well rounded. But look at that Duke game. They had 18 ORs on the tallest team in the nation! And for the game they had 11 total rebs more than Duke.

I bet if they can create 18 ORs on Florida tonight they will take home the trophy!

It’s as if rebounding is important. Wish someone would’ve beat that into this last KU team!

approxinfinity

Tyon Grant Foster… hmmmmmmmm

FarmerJayhawk

@approxinfinity I’m open to taking him for the right price and role. My guess is his expectations are much higher than a rotation piece

Jhawk69

Ian Jackson from UNC in. Would love to land him.

Texas Hawk 10

@Jhawk69 said in The portal.:

Ian Jackson from UNC in. Would love to land him.

St. John’s most likely.

DCHawker

@drgnslayr said in The portal.:

@DCHawker

No doubt they are well rounded. But look at that Duke game. They had 18 ORs on the tallest team in the nation! And for the game they had 11 total rebs more than Duke.

I bet if they can create 18 ORs on Florida tonight they will take home the trophy!

What makes their rebounding prowess even more remarkable is that they don’t really play anyone over 6’8". Size of their 3 bigs. And, their guards don’t have that much length either…

dylans

I feel like rebounding is as good of a measure of effort/hustle as any advanced stat could be.

Jhawk69

It is more a measure of height

wissox

@drgnslayr They only had 15 OR’s, compared to Flo’s 8. Maybe 3 more would’ve helped.

BShark

@dylans said in The portal.:

@drgnslayr said in The portal.:

@DCHawker

No doubt they are well rounded. But look at that Duke game. They had 18 ORs on the tallest team in the nation! And for the game they had 11 total rebs more than Duke.

I bet if they can create 18 ORs on Florida tonight they will take home the trophy!

It’s as if rebounding is important. Wish someone would’ve beat that into this last KU team!

KU was in the top 30 nationally in rebounds per game? Top 10 in defensive rebounding. Last year’s team had a lot of issues but they did rebound. I think one of the biggest issues was the fact that they just did not get to the FT line. That screams a lack of athleticism to me. They also fouled a lot, which same deal.

approxinfinity

@BShark fair. I find stats often have a scoping issue. With a couple more filters, like rebounds in close games, or when games are close, we might see effort shine through more, would be curious how that stacks up to “when behind” and “when ahead”. Also, if we broke the season up into quarters, feel like we well apart at the end.

But i think youre absolutely right that there was an athleticism gap.

BShark

@approxinfinity Just hard to say it was a big issue imo. The offense was bad (not surprising) and the defense when they had to get a stop was actually quite terrible. The defense I do think was a mirage all year. Part of that is Bill being a good coach.

I’m ready to play fast again. Defend. Two way players. I like the portal approach so far.

Kcmatt7

@BShark said in The portal.:

@approxinfinity Just hard to say it was a big issue imo. The offense was bad (not surprising) and the defense when they had to get a stop was actually quite terrible. The defense I do think was a mirage all year. Part of that is Bill being a good coach.

I’m ready to play fast again. Defend. Two way players. I like the portal approach so far.

I really like the Melvin Council guy Bossi put up on the other board. Can run, can defend, and finishes at the rim super well.

BeddieKU23

@Kcmatt7 said in The portal.:

@BShark said in The portal.:

@approxinfinity Just hard to say it was a big issue imo. The offense was bad (not surprising) and the defense when they had to get a stop was actually quite terrible. The defense I do think was a mirage all year. Part of that is Bill being a good coach.

I’m ready to play fast again. Defend. Two way players. I like the portal approach so far.

I really like the Melvin Council guy Bossi put up on the other board. Can run, can defend, and finishes at the rim super well.

Yeah seems like a decent defender as well. His shot is not great, film wise it looked like he could at least hit an open one at 30% clip or so… Alarming was his ability to get into the lane with his athleticism and having such a low FT% rate. You’d expect someone who gets downhill to get to the line more. He also was like 31% on drives then end up in midrange shots. I’d like him as another rotation piece but not a starter. I really think we need another sure-fire dude that can complement Peterson. I did like his size, athleticism and quickness. Transitioned to PG spot and showed pretty decent ball skills and passing ability out of pick and roll. I guess he’s a wildcard, he’s got some traits that really fit here, some weaknesses that I don’t think get any easier stepping up in competition level that are concerning enough to wonder about what role you ultimately would want him in.

approxinfinity

@Kcmatt7 looks like a million spam posts on his x from providence fans. I added a Jayhawk to the mix

https://x.com/melvincounciljr/status/1905623928015376475

Lmk if i got the wrong Council

BShark

@Kcmatt7 said in The portal.:

@BShark said in The portal.:

@approxinfinity Just hard to say it was a big issue imo. The offense was bad (not surprising) and the defense when they had to get a stop was actually quite terrible. The defense I do think was a mirage all year. Part of that is Bill being a good coach.

I’m ready to play fast again. Defend. Two way players. I like the portal approach so far.

I really like the Melvin Council guy Bossi put up on the other board. Can run, can defend, and finishes at the rim super well.

My goat is getting back to his roots.

approxinfinity

Do we read this guy? Council was on his radar https://www.kansan.com/sports/portalnomics-where-might-kansas-basketball-find-the-next-marcus-garrett/article_697df361-a215-4c0d-b0bd-ed1aa73f01f2.html

BeddieKU23

@approxinfinity

A nice breakdown of a few players. Council I think is a floor raiser but not a ceiling raiser here. Still need an additional “star” type player to play with Peterson.

I am wondering if Council is a bit of a value play in regards to NIL, not sure of his market but perhaps getting him still allows the budget to throw big money at a star Wing and backup big.

dylans

@BShark said in The portal.:

@dylans said in The portal.:

@drgnslayr said in The portal.:

@DCHawker

No doubt they are well rounded. But look at that Duke game. They had 18 ORs on the tallest team in the nation! And for the game they had 11 total rebs more than Duke.

I bet if they can create 18 ORs on Florida tonight they will take home the trophy!

It’s as if rebounding is important. Wish someone would’ve beat that into this last KU team!

KU was in the top 30 nationally in rebounds per game? Top 10 in defensive rebounding. Last year’s team had a lot of issues but they did rebound. I think one of the biggest issues was the fact that they just did not get to the FT line. That screams a lack of athleticism to me. They also fouled a lot, which same deal.

KU was 67th is rebounding margin, more important than the gross number of rebounds is the positive net. Ku grabbed 38.5 rebounds to the opponents 34.7. KU was not a good rebounding team there just were a bunch of rebounds to be had (poor shooting? pace of play?). I contend if KJ could rebound, (5 per game Zeke had 4.8) KU would’ve been a lot better.

BeddieKU23

I can definitely see the Garrett comp with Council. Good rebounding numbers, assists (2.3 ast/to rate), steals, career 77% at the line. Played a ton of minutes for the bonnies (37.1 per game).