BGleas

Yeah, not to turn this thread sideways, but Calipari has been extremely successful at UK. I know National Titles are the goal and he's had a ton of talent, but National Titles are hard and also take a great deal of luck. Cal has been to 7 Elite Eights and 4 Final Fours in 10 years at UK (not counting this season since there was no tournament). Indiana has been to 8 Elite Eights and 6 Final Fours in the last 47 years. So yes, while 1 National Title has been a little disappointing for him, Cal has been wildly successful at UK.

Assuming the transfer is amicable, which it certainly seems so in this case, I think it's pretty safe to assume that either Archie called Moser on Anderon's behalf or that Moser called Archie for background and Archie helped.

He never made any public statements. It was his old high school coach who I believe he just played his last year for in high school.

I don't really know either. Just throwing it out there for conversation. But, I'd think for a player coming in a year younger that the summer workouts are even more important. And like you said, the variable is that he does have a choice.

Another point on top of that, is if there is a season but all of the summer training is cancelled does it make sense for him to come a year early and potentially not be fully prepared. Those summer workouts are really important for freshmen.

I was all set to coach my sons team in our first tournament this weekend. His first foray into AAU basketball (he just turned 10). Disappointed the season is probably cancelled, our team was going to be pretty good, but more disappointed to not have that special time coaching my son (though we've had plenty of time together at home the past 5-6 weeks).

Great point. Once he's enrolled in summer classes and working out with the team, he's a college player. I believe all of those guys take summer classes when they're in Bloomington over the summer working out.

I could be wrong, but if I remember correctly didn't he announcer his reclass really late? I think it was in August. So that would be a different situation, unless Lander was planning to wait that long.

I'm don't know if there's a dead period over the summer with the current team. There are definitely workout restrictions in terms of hours with the staff. I just think it would be a bit of an odd thing for a current member of the team (which he would be at that point) to play AAU. I could be completely wrong though. I'm trying to recall if kids that reclassified in the past, whether IU or other schools, did that? Maybe it's normal, maybe it's not, I'm not sure.

I'm not sure when AAU ends, but if he was reclassifying under normal circumstances I would have expected him to report to IU for offseason workouts and some summer classes in June like pretty much the rest of the team does. Could he fit AAU in along with that, I don't know the answer to that.

This isn't about Morgan becoming a guard or perimeter player, it's about him having the skills and opportunity to play on the perimeter as a big man, and he had plenty of opportunity. With that said, I would be floored that if after the NBA told Morgan to work on perimeter skills (we can agree on that, right?) that he didn't focus on that primarily the offseason before his senior year.

You really think he didn't spend the offseason heading into his senior year working on shooting and perimeter play? If I recall, he declared for the draft to get feedback after his junior year. I'd guess they told him to work on his shooting, most likely. You think he ignored that advice and spent the entire offseason working on up and under post moves and drop steps? I doubt it. He spent plenty of time on the perimeter his senior year, you don't think he worked on that during the offseason? He took 88 3-point shots as a senior, 4th most on the team and 35 more than he took his junior year (also 87 more than all of our centers combined last season), and you don't think he worked on that? At no point did I dismiss Morgan. He was a fantastic player. But, the point that he didn't have opportunities on the perimeter and was "stuck on the post" is not reality. Yes, he had to play the position of center, but that impacted him more negatively defensively than offensively.

Um yeah, not at all. You turned this into a labeling thing about being a center. My original point, which never mentioned the word "center", nor did the person I originally quoted, is completely accurate, that Morgan had plenty of opportunity on the perimeter. The original post that I quoted said Morgan was stuck in the post, and that he was more than capable on the outside but wasn't provided the opportunity to show it. He took 88 3's (also, just because a shot is not a 3 doesn't make it's a post touch, nor does it mean that the shot wasn't created from the perimeter) which is a lot for someone supposedly stuck in the post. He had plenty of opportunity to "show it". If you watched, IU ran a dribble drive, handoff/ballscreen offense most of the season. Our bigs, including Morgan, were constantly on the perimeter in dribble hand off situations and ball screen situations. The opportunities were there. The fact is Morgan, who was a fantastic player at IU, but struggled shooting from the perimeter. It was not because of a lack of opportunities, he had plenty.

Where are you getting those numbers? Yeah, it's not disingenous, it's correct.

My original reply was to a post saying he was forced into the post and did not have perimeter opportunities because of it. While the position he played was center most of his last two years, he was on the perimeter a lot, he just wasn't all that effective there.

Who said he didn’t play center?

No idea. Doesn’t really matter. 88 attempts from 3 is a lot for a Center. I know I wish he had taken less at that percentage.

88 3-pt attempts seems like a lot for someone stuck at center.

I don't really think it was about opportunity for Morgan on the perimeter, it was more a lack of performance out there. There's more to perimeter play than just shooting, but he did take 88 3's his senior year and only made 29.5%. As a junior he took 53 3's and was slightly better at 30%, but the reality was that he really wasn't a very good shooter in his IU career. I think the post was where he was best suited, not where he was necessarily forced.

I don’t agree with you much on this topic, but I do agree here. Even for first round guys, while you can obviously start collecting endorsements (though most companies are not adding big spends during this) once you declare for the draft, as far as your NBA money, it’s not like you get drafted on June 27th (whatever the date is) and two weeks later your first paycheck from your team is in the mail. Most of these guys won’t get paid until the season starts, and there will be a lot of uncertainty there.

Not sure how this one would fit roster wise or anything like that, but IU could use some “angry” on this team. It’s been missing for awhile.

Another one from my Celtics days, I was at LeBron’s first ever summer league game just after he was drafted. Back then the Celtics used to host the Summer League at a little tiny gym at a UMass satellite campus just outside the city, and it was LeBron’s first actual NBA participation. The place was packed, it was insane.

You can't really compare him to Brunk simply because they were both ranked around the same spot and are both bigs. Luka Garza was ranked #105, so right around the same spot. You'd have to compare him to all of the bigs of similar type/skill that have been ranked around that spot to really come up with a prediction of what he might become. I think the real difference here will be skill and shooting and whether he can develop those things. Obviously, Garza is an outlier in averaging 23 ppg as a big ranked #105, though you could also point to guys like Frank Kaminsky (ranked #204) or Ethan Haap (ranked #152). All three are extremely skilled, fundamental players that also add in intensity and passion, and with Garza and Kaminsky they were able to extend their shooting out to the 3pt line. A guy like Brunk is less skilled, certainly hasn't been able to extend his range really at all, though he does bring the hustle and passion. This isn't me saying that Duncomb is going to turn into an All-American. I'm just saying, immediately comparing him to Brunk because they were both ranked around the same spot isn't really a strong analysis. How skilled and fundamental is Duncomb? He's be described as both. Will he be able to extend his range as he develops? We don't know. Does he bring an innate propensity for working and playing hard? We don't know. If he's able to work hard, play hard, is naturally skilled and fundamental, and is able to develop a perimeter game along with his inside game, then he'll be much better than Brunk. If he can only do 1-2 of those things and never develops range, then yes he'll probably be in the Brunk range as you said.

Yes, was with the C's from 02-06. The Suns were phenomenal. What was amazing to watch up close and personal, was how Nash just controlled the entire thing. He was always in complete control of what they were doing. I know some people discount his MVP's because sometimes guys win because there becomes MVP fatigue with superstars like MJ and LeBron, etc., but Nash was amazing during those years.

Like I said, I'm biased so I don't like it, because of course I would have loved to have seen that Celtics group with more than one title. But, I see where you're coming from. Howard was a beast, absolutely. He's just been so unlikeable the last 5 or so years, and then you add onto that the all of the injuries that have diminished him game and all wrapped up it's going to hurt his legacy.