Eielson
3/21/2014, 06:13 PM
Last night I vented quite a bit about Kruger. I've said plenty on that subject, so I'm not planning to use this thread to vent any further. He's not THE guy I want on my sideline for a crucial game, but if we get a good enough team, I don't expect him to sabotage it. He's certainly no Travis Ford. With that said, I think this team could be talented enough over the next two years that we could end Kansas' streak, and give Kruger his first outright regular season conference championship.
Last year we said good bye to our best player post-Blake Griffin era (Osby), our best shooter (Pledger), our starting point guard (Grooms), and eventually even M'Baye. Those were some brutal losses, and with no potential players to replace Osby, I thought this team had absolutely no shot at the NCAA Tournament. I thought NIT might even be a stretch. I'd felt that it was Osby vs SDSU in the NCAA Tournament, and M'Baye was the only person I thought had potential to in anyway comparably replace him. While we could have certainly used Osby (perhaps beaten KU and won conference?), I was wrong about just about everything else.
With those key losses in mind, losing Clark and Neal seems petty. Don't get me wrong, I loved Cam Clark. I think his mismatch ability at the 4 spot created a lot of our success, and while he had a disturbing tendency to disappear, he showed up on the biggest stages (32 against KU and MSU, and a big performance late against NDSU). He's no Osby, though, and I think he's replaceable. Neal developed into a serviceable player this year, but of our six losses between this year and last, he's easily the most replaceable. I wish him the best, and thank him for his time with the program, but I'm not concerned about losing him.
What Clark did for us, was put a Band-Aid on our lack of size. This year's team would have really struggled without him, but with the additions of Buford, Lattin, and McNeace, we should be able to completely remove the Band-Aid. Size is no longer an issue, as all three of them are big and athletic (we might also be able to add a 4th athletic front court player in Cunningham). I expect Buford to step into Clark's role next year. He's our most highly rated recruit, and while he has plenty of things to work on, he appears our most college-ready player, and he's the only one I expect to start from day 1. I watched some highlights films of his, and I saw countless dunks. One in particular that stuck out to me was an offensive rebound that he semi-windmill dunked. He's not going to get confused with Vince Carter, but it took enough athleticism that I don't think many of our recent players could have done it other than Blake. His jump shot needs work, but apparently it is quickly developing, and he's supposedly become semi-reliable knocking down 3's as a trailer. If he can get them to respect his jump shot, he's going to be dangerous on offense, as he has a very quick first step and can get to the basket (and finish). I don't think he'll replace Cam's offensive presence as a freshman, but I'm very excited about his defense. One ESPN analyst claimed he was as good as any PF in the country at blocking shots. We sure could have used that this year, and I bet Kruger can't wait to get this kid on campus.
As much as I think Buford will help, I think Lattin could be the real gem of this class. He is very raw, but his potential is through the roof. He's tall, athletic, runs the court really well, and has great shot blocking ability. Most of his early offense will come from transition dunks and offensive rebounds, but that's alright for now, because his defensive game is more developed. Given time, he could become quite a weapon on both ends of the floor, but we'll have to be patient with him. An ESPN analyst claimed he could develop into a player that is mentioned with Blake Griffin, Harvey Grant, and Waymon Tisdale. I wouldn't go that far, but while he isn't the best center right now, he's got as much potential as just about anybody.
I don't know much about McNeace, but I hear he's another big, athletic body. I suspect he'll take some time to develop, and won't contribute immediately.
There are a few issues that this group has, but I think we can work several of them out. One of the things I wanted was a shot blocker, and appears that's exactly what we have coming in with this recruiting class. I also think that we have a lot of good players, but not much superstar potential. The guy I would really like to see develop into that superstar is Jordan Woodard. He really didn't have a great season, but he showed the potential, and most of his mistakes can be corrected with time. I was very impressed with a particular sequence last night. He drove to the basket and drew all 5 defenders into the lane. He recognized this and found a wide open Booker for three. A little later, he penetrated again, but this time the defenders stayed with their men. He recognized this and went in for the lay up. If he can do that more often, and become a consistent threat from 3, he could be incredibly dangerous. I love the way he can get to the line, and I think he could be the leader of this team. His defense needs work, but I think we'll see improvement each year as he gets coached up.
Similarly, I think we have a lot of good three point shooters, but no great three point shooters. I would really like a Mike Neal kind of player for this team (or just about any team for that matter). I think Booker is going to be that guy for us moving forward. He and Kruger seemed to have embraced that role for him, so I expect him to be working on his 3 all off-season. If he can consistently shoot 40-50% for us off the bench, he's going to be a deadly weapon.
I'd also like to see an elite wing defender develop. I haven't paid as much attention to our individual defense, so I'm not sure where all our guards are at right now. It would be awesome if Cousins was that guy, though.
I think our starting lineup is going to look something like this next year:
Spangler
Buford
Cousins
Hield
Woodard
Booker and Hornbeak should get considerable minutes off the bench at guard. Bennett will get minutes early, but I expect him to get less and less as Lattin develops. If we added Cunningham, I think we could afford to give Buford more minutes at the 3. I think this looks will look like a Sweet 16 team next year. This year's team could have made a Sweet 16, but we would have had to overachieve to do it. I don't think that will be the case with this team.
What really gets me excited is the following year, though. Our guys will have one more year to develop, and we might even be able to bring in Allonzo Trier. He has Oklahoma ties, apparently likes what he sees from Kruger, and twitter suggests he's got a good relationship with Woodard. I don't think he's quite a 1 and done player, but he's close. I don't usually like those kind of guys, but given the timing, he could give us that extra boost we need. Our lineup could look something like:
Lattin
Buford
Hield
Trier
Woodard
Trier is technically a PG, but he's so talented that I think we'll find a way for he and Woodard to coexist. We would also have the luxury of bringing experienced guys like Cousins, Booker (3 pt specialist), Spangler (great offensive rebounder). We'd have size, athleticism, shooting, and a couple of great shot blockers in the post. The only starting line up since Hollis that could rival that involved Blake Griffin, and I think the bench could push this team past that one. There are a lot of "if's," as Lattin may not develop, Buford hasn't stepped on campus, somebody may transfer, and Trier may go elsewhere, but it's all reasonable, and this team would have definite Final Four potential (dare I say more?). All of those things wouldn't even have to come together to make a run at a conference title.
I went into more depth, and stated things more eloquently the first time around, but when I submitted the post, it didn't go through. The first two paragraphs were auto-saved, but I lost the rest. This is a slightly condensed version of what I originally had, but hopefully it covers the main points, and I can add in more later.
I'm by no means the expert on this team, so please feel free to add your two cents in. Last night was pretty disheartening, so I wanted to get some of my more positive thoughts about this program out there. I'm hoping this stimulates some intelligent conversation, and that we'll get lots of information, videos, and opinions out there.
Last year we said good bye to our best player post-Blake Griffin era (Osby), our best shooter (Pledger), our starting point guard (Grooms), and eventually even M'Baye. Those were some brutal losses, and with no potential players to replace Osby, I thought this team had absolutely no shot at the NCAA Tournament. I thought NIT might even be a stretch. I'd felt that it was Osby vs SDSU in the NCAA Tournament, and M'Baye was the only person I thought had potential to in anyway comparably replace him. While we could have certainly used Osby (perhaps beaten KU and won conference?), I was wrong about just about everything else.
With those key losses in mind, losing Clark and Neal seems petty. Don't get me wrong, I loved Cam Clark. I think his mismatch ability at the 4 spot created a lot of our success, and while he had a disturbing tendency to disappear, he showed up on the biggest stages (32 against KU and MSU, and a big performance late against NDSU). He's no Osby, though, and I think he's replaceable. Neal developed into a serviceable player this year, but of our six losses between this year and last, he's easily the most replaceable. I wish him the best, and thank him for his time with the program, but I'm not concerned about losing him.
What Clark did for us, was put a Band-Aid on our lack of size. This year's team would have really struggled without him, but with the additions of Buford, Lattin, and McNeace, we should be able to completely remove the Band-Aid. Size is no longer an issue, as all three of them are big and athletic (we might also be able to add a 4th athletic front court player in Cunningham). I expect Buford to step into Clark's role next year. He's our most highly rated recruit, and while he has plenty of things to work on, he appears our most college-ready player, and he's the only one I expect to start from day 1. I watched some highlights films of his, and I saw countless dunks. One in particular that stuck out to me was an offensive rebound that he semi-windmill dunked. He's not going to get confused with Vince Carter, but it took enough athleticism that I don't think many of our recent players could have done it other than Blake. His jump shot needs work, but apparently it is quickly developing, and he's supposedly become semi-reliable knocking down 3's as a trailer. If he can get them to respect his jump shot, he's going to be dangerous on offense, as he has a very quick first step and can get to the basket (and finish). I don't think he'll replace Cam's offensive presence as a freshman, but I'm very excited about his defense. One ESPN analyst claimed he was as good as any PF in the country at blocking shots. We sure could have used that this year, and I bet Kruger can't wait to get this kid on campus.
As much as I think Buford will help, I think Lattin could be the real gem of this class. He is very raw, but his potential is through the roof. He's tall, athletic, runs the court really well, and has great shot blocking ability. Most of his early offense will come from transition dunks and offensive rebounds, but that's alright for now, because his defensive game is more developed. Given time, he could become quite a weapon on both ends of the floor, but we'll have to be patient with him. An ESPN analyst claimed he could develop into a player that is mentioned with Blake Griffin, Harvey Grant, and Waymon Tisdale. I wouldn't go that far, but while he isn't the best center right now, he's got as much potential as just about anybody.
I don't know much about McNeace, but I hear he's another big, athletic body. I suspect he'll take some time to develop, and won't contribute immediately.
There are a few issues that this group has, but I think we can work several of them out. One of the things I wanted was a shot blocker, and appears that's exactly what we have coming in with this recruiting class. I also think that we have a lot of good players, but not much superstar potential. The guy I would really like to see develop into that superstar is Jordan Woodard. He really didn't have a great season, but he showed the potential, and most of his mistakes can be corrected with time. I was very impressed with a particular sequence last night. He drove to the basket and drew all 5 defenders into the lane. He recognized this and found a wide open Booker for three. A little later, he penetrated again, but this time the defenders stayed with their men. He recognized this and went in for the lay up. If he can do that more often, and become a consistent threat from 3, he could be incredibly dangerous. I love the way he can get to the line, and I think he could be the leader of this team. His defense needs work, but I think we'll see improvement each year as he gets coached up.
Similarly, I think we have a lot of good three point shooters, but no great three point shooters. I would really like a Mike Neal kind of player for this team (or just about any team for that matter). I think Booker is going to be that guy for us moving forward. He and Kruger seemed to have embraced that role for him, so I expect him to be working on his 3 all off-season. If he can consistently shoot 40-50% for us off the bench, he's going to be a deadly weapon.
I'd also like to see an elite wing defender develop. I haven't paid as much attention to our individual defense, so I'm not sure where all our guards are at right now. It would be awesome if Cousins was that guy, though.
I think our starting lineup is going to look something like this next year:
Spangler
Buford
Cousins
Hield
Woodard
Booker and Hornbeak should get considerable minutes off the bench at guard. Bennett will get minutes early, but I expect him to get less and less as Lattin develops. If we added Cunningham, I think we could afford to give Buford more minutes at the 3. I think this looks will look like a Sweet 16 team next year. This year's team could have made a Sweet 16, but we would have had to overachieve to do it. I don't think that will be the case with this team.
What really gets me excited is the following year, though. Our guys will have one more year to develop, and we might even be able to bring in Allonzo Trier. He has Oklahoma ties, apparently likes what he sees from Kruger, and twitter suggests he's got a good relationship with Woodard. I don't think he's quite a 1 and done player, but he's close. I don't usually like those kind of guys, but given the timing, he could give us that extra boost we need. Our lineup could look something like:
Lattin
Buford
Hield
Trier
Woodard
Trier is technically a PG, but he's so talented that I think we'll find a way for he and Woodard to coexist. We would also have the luxury of bringing experienced guys like Cousins, Booker (3 pt specialist), Spangler (great offensive rebounder). We'd have size, athleticism, shooting, and a couple of great shot blockers in the post. The only starting line up since Hollis that could rival that involved Blake Griffin, and I think the bench could push this team past that one. There are a lot of "if's," as Lattin may not develop, Buford hasn't stepped on campus, somebody may transfer, and Trier may go elsewhere, but it's all reasonable, and this team would have definite Final Four potential (dare I say more?). All of those things wouldn't even have to come together to make a run at a conference title.
I went into more depth, and stated things more eloquently the first time around, but when I submitted the post, it didn't go through. The first two paragraphs were auto-saved, but I lost the rest. This is a slightly condensed version of what I originally had, but hopefully it covers the main points, and I can add in more later.
I'm by no means the expert on this team, so please feel free to add your two cents in. Last night was pretty disheartening, so I wanted to get some of my more positive thoughts about this program out there. I'm hoping this stimulates some intelligent conversation, and that we'll get lots of information, videos, and opinions out there.