WTF is going on!?!?!
- Thread starter Slaz_Swag
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Wanted him to stay but I also don't like how he waited until the last minute to do this. Leaves the Cards much less time to find a replacement.
That said he was the least skilled offensively and at the free throw line and saw that he'd have a decreased role this season. Still need to go after another big now.
That said he was the least skilled offensively and at the free throw line and saw that he'd have a decreased role this season. Still need to go after another big now.
He doesn’t want to compete for minutes the timing pretty much says it all. Several hours after Pryor announcing his return…..
Grab Miller or a similar skilled big and the Cards will be good to go. Scott brought a high motor and hustle which I'll always appreciate but is a total system guy.
If someone isn't throwing him lobs he isn't scoring. His defense/rim protection (or lack thereof) also didn't make up for being super limited offensively. Still wanted him to stay but if he's going and PK replaces him with a better skilled big then I'll be happy.
The market is dictating these decisions. It is hard to criticize the kid when a last minute offer from a school close to his home makes a higher offer. We probably would make the same decision. Now if Louisville wants him they can up their offer. If not they go find a better fit.
You can upgrade the roster offensively.
You can upgrade the roster offensively.
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Agree, but maybe he doesn’t feel like he’s as good as the other bigs on the roster
It's the clear smart play for James: 1. he's not getting the same minutes next year...he likely would in 26-27 as a senior, but. 2. how can you justify increasing his NIL price with a virtually certain reduction in minutes? 3. it clearly was also a linear process...first Ament makes it official over the weekend (and for those scoring at home it couldn't have gone unnoticed that we weren't offering anyone over 6"8 in the Portal until after Ament announced for Tennessee), then Pryor's announced return THEN Scott putting his name in the Portal? Spare me the "but they don't play his position". There are 80 minutes to be allocated at the 4 and 5 positions. An Ament presence would have impacted the 4 minutes. Pryor cuts into both the 4 and 5 potentially. Khalifa is all out of the 5 bucket. Fru just as likely from that 5 bucket with Pryor. And that doesn't even factor in the possibility of Rooths and Hadley getting minutes at the 4 spot. Truth be told I'm a little surprised one of them didn't enter the Portal but can't rule out the possibility that as a Grad Hadley still could. That is a lot of long tall bodies that James didn't have to compete for minutes by comparison to this year. If Pitino was still here he'd be putting on a public PR campaign to get Scott and Rooths to redshirt because their value probably is greater to the 26-27 roster.
I hope if he does transfer that it's not to NC State...but realistically he's a North Carolinian close to his grandfather, and despite the buzz of Will Wade to NC State he has whiffed on alot of his transfer targets. Not to the volume of Pope until the last week's flurry, but he has nonetheless...they would seem more likely to overspend on James but have the available minutes to justify it.
Either way, James was a great kid to have in the Program. I'd wish him the best regardless of where he lands.
I hope if he does transfer that it's not to NC State...but realistically he's a North Carolinian close to his grandfather, and despite the buzz of Will Wade to NC State he has whiffed on alot of his transfer targets. Not to the volume of Pope until the last week's flurry, but he has nonetheless...they would seem more likely to overspend on James but have the available minutes to justify it.
Either way, James was a great kid to have in the Program. I'd wish him the best regardless of where he lands.
Money isn’t everything. There is an age group who thinks money is everything and job hopping is fine. The grass isn’t always greener. If he does actually leave for NC St I hope he never dunks a ball again.
You are right if it is comparable. Keep
In mind he is going to be in college basketball for 2 more years. He isn’t a NBA player today. He has to make his money now. Let’s say he is making 100k to 200k extra. He would be silly not to explore it.
The worst thing I did in my work career was not checking the market for my value. Depending on the size of the organization your value year to year is 2% to 5%.
The roster is limited there is no reason for Louisville to up their offer until there was another offer. Now maybe Louisville comes up but probably not since they started putting feelers out yesterday.
In mind he is going to be in college basketball for 2 more years. He isn’t a NBA player today. He has to make his money now. Let’s say he is making 100k to 200k extra. He would be silly not to explore it.
The worst thing I did in my work career was not checking the market for my value. Depending on the size of the organization your value year to year is 2% to 5%.
The roster is limited there is no reason for Louisville to up their offer until there was another offer. Now maybe Louisville comes up but probably not since they started putting feelers out yesterday.
I think fans needed to see this happen to better understand the landscape. You have a HC bring a kid with him from mid-major, a beloved player to the HC, the relationship publicly is strong. I tend to believe it was. But apparently it doesn't mean that much.
At the end of the day the culture you want to believe exists just doesn't, at least not to the degree you want it.
HC just needs to win, and everything else is secondary to non-existent.
At the end of the day the culture you want to believe exists just doesn't, at least not to the degree you want it.
HC just needs to win, and everything else is secondary to non-existent.
I think for the season as a whole this may be a blessing in disguise. I think it may cause some issues early because Kahlifa & Fru have never played in this System. Before the Scott announcement, I didn't see much of an opportunity for Rooths to get playing time. Watching film on FRU he looks like he could play both the 4 and 5. With Scott gone, I think most of his time will be spent at the 5 along with Khalifa. Pryor will be a 4, and Hadley will split his time between the 3 & 4. I think this may free up some minutes for Rooths at the 3 and 4, but not a lot. I expect we will see a lot of 3 guards on the floor with some combination of Brown, Conwell, Mckneeley, and Wooley.
I was actually surprised it took this long for Scott to enter the portal. He knew for a few months now that his minutes next season will be much less than the season he just completed. With the addition of 2 big men coming in with Fru and Khalifa, he knew these dudes weren't Anselum-Ibeh who was basically a 6'10 walk-on this past season.
He would have to improve drastically offensively, and this decision shows that it will not be fast enough and he would be the 3rd option in the post. I agree Pryor coming back was not the reason he's leaving. Pryor is a wing player and not a post player despite being 6'10.
He would have to improve drastically offensively, and this decision shows that it will not be fast enough and he would be the 3rd option in the post. I agree Pryor coming back was not the reason he's leaving. Pryor is a wing player and not a post player despite being 6'10.
Pryor's return had as much if not more to do with James hitting the Portal as the additions of Fru and Khalifa and I'd submit as evidence the three games in the Paradise tournament. Prior to those three games Scott was starting with Waterman. Pryor was inserted as the starter and his minutes went up to 26, 35 and was earmarked for 30+ prior to the injury against Oklahoma. Scott's minutes sunk to 15 a game, and that's even factoring in the additional minutes he should have gotten when Pryor went down in the OU game limiting to 13 minutes on the floor.
You have four very different skill sets from among Fru, Khalifa, Scott and Pryor. We have little more than highlights to go on with Fru which I always say there isn't a highlight reel known to Man filled with a guy throwing up airballs, having his shot rejected by a midget or having him throw the ball all over the arena for voluntary manslaughters to somebody in the stands. He appears to have a face up game significantly beyond Scott's. From among the four Scott is probably the best rim protector but it's very fair to say that he's the more deficient of each of them with the ability to hit a perimeter shot, to the extent I doubt he took more than a handful of shots outside the lane all year. On a pick-and-roll he also would be limited to screen and rim run for the Lob...Fru, Khalifa and Pryor significantly more likely for pick-and-fade or pick-and-pop to the extent we saw with Creighton where they simply didn't run anyone at James. One area where Pryor has them all whipped by a long distance is he is a VERY good free throw shooter. He can also get out on the break both with and without the ball (at his optimum and when healthy). We have NO idea how the weight loss will impact Khalifa's game but I doubt it transforms him into a rim protector or a lob threat to the extent James was...but he can really distribute the ball in ways that is very advanced for a college big man.
The challenge for us is how does that collection bridge the gap on how we guarded against Tennessee and ultimately Duke. Clemson was in a similar physical style in personnel with their baseline as Tennessee when they were at their best--but handled them better than anyone in part because they couldn't handle Hadley. We become thicker in the post than we were last year with the collection of Scott and Waterman after Pryor went down...but I'm not ready to pronounce Fru and Khalifa as physical until I actually see them on the court.
You have four very different skill sets from among Fru, Khalifa, Scott and Pryor. We have little more than highlights to go on with Fru which I always say there isn't a highlight reel known to Man filled with a guy throwing up airballs, having his shot rejected by a midget or having him throw the ball all over the arena for voluntary manslaughters to somebody in the stands. He appears to have a face up game significantly beyond Scott's. From among the four Scott is probably the best rim protector but it's very fair to say that he's the more deficient of each of them with the ability to hit a perimeter shot, to the extent I doubt he took more than a handful of shots outside the lane all year. On a pick-and-roll he also would be limited to screen and rim run for the Lob...Fru, Khalifa and Pryor significantly more likely for pick-and-fade or pick-and-pop to the extent we saw with Creighton where they simply didn't run anyone at James. One area where Pryor has them all whipped by a long distance is he is a VERY good free throw shooter. He can also get out on the break both with and without the ball (at his optimum and when healthy). We have NO idea how the weight loss will impact Khalifa's game but I doubt it transforms him into a rim protector or a lob threat to the extent James was...but he can really distribute the ball in ways that is very advanced for a college big man.
The challenge for us is how does that collection bridge the gap on how we guarded against Tennessee and ultimately Duke. Clemson was in a similar physical style in personnel with their baseline as Tennessee when they were at their best--but handled them better than anyone in part because they couldn't handle Hadley. We become thicker in the post than we were last year with the collection of Scott and Waterman after Pryor went down...but I'm not ready to pronounce Fru and Khalifa as physical until I actually see them on the court.
We are probably overthinking it. I have no evidence, but a few places have suggested NC ST simply made a strong financial offer and he took it. I suppose we'll never know, even if he does end up @ NC ST.
No hard feelings the guy has a short window to cash in.
No hard feelings the guy has a short window to cash in.
If he has an offer before entering the portal, that’s tampering.
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