trueblue32

Giving players minutes because they're tall and we want to be like the high majors is a recipe for disaster. The Arizona game showed us we need to play to our style and make other teams matchup with us. Who knows what the starting lineup looks like but I'd be shocked if our closing lineup doesn't include Jordan, Graves and Johnson. They'll probably be our top 3 barring a surprise from somebody and should be on the floor together in winning time.

Bronstein

Lakers signed two summer league big men not named Nick Perkins

We know he had an opportunity with at least the Mavs and I wonder what the decision making process was to go with the Nets. I feel CJ would have fit better with the Mavs NBA roster and gotten more opportunity in the summer league. Nets have probably 6 guys on their roster that will be regulars in the NBA and the Mavs have.. maybe 2?

Having an extended disagreement about a game on our 2019-2020 schedule = dick measuring contest worthy of a new post Posting about a dick measuring contest = legitimate content clearly

Perkins has been good, but if the Lakers are looking at taking a big man from their SL team I fear that Cacok has shown more than him thru 2 games. Luckily they're playing in Vegas too so Perkins has opportunities but he can't be the pretty good, second best UDFA big man and make an NBA roster. I agree though that I feel that they're not using him well. Additionally I feel running with first unit PG Joe Young, who is just trying to get his own, has done him no favors.

I think Jordan, Johnson, and Graves are pretty locked into starting in the backcourt. I think Nickelberry gets the 4 spot but maybe Hardnett pushes him. The 5 is the tricky spot. At the 5 I feel like Mballa is the most physically ready but if he has to sit I'd think Skogman starts. While Bertram isn't anything exciting I don't see how he doesn't get some minutes at the 5 if for nothing else to eat fouls. Hardnett isn't strong enough to deal with true posts and it's tbd how Skogman does there. Here's how I picture rotational depth charts. Gallion doesn't have a clear path to mins and neither does Fagan regardless of the injury situation. Bertram is probably out of the rotation if Mballa is eligible which puts us at 10. Deeper in season I see Williams getting potentially buried with a redundant skill set to Nickelberry and Hardnett while Grant gets spot mins providing shooting none of the others have. Primary Ballhandlers: Jordan*, Segu Secondary Ballhandlers: Graves*, Johnson* Wings: Nickelberry*, Hardnett, Grant, Williams Forwards: Mballa* (?), Skogman, Bertram It'll be interesting to see how it pans out but I like our odds for the 3-peat.

"The ESPN contract also includes language that would protect the network, should marquee schools, such as UCF, Cincinnati or UConn leave for another conference." https://www.apnews.com/d01c9d9805f6460bab475f8d93c32ef6 Not sure which is true but i guess it would make sense since the contract is mainly for football from what it seems and UConn didn't contribute much there.

ESPN had stipulations in the contract for if one of the marquee teams leaves so I don't think the schools will be seeing anymore money (maybe less). However adding us or any of the other rumored teams probably doesn't really change that.

Damn I've caught a handful of Oakland games and Im really high on him, Oakland has had some talented teams his first two years and I don't think he's really gotten to shine. That's a good pickup for Miami.

Someone commented on the reddit post that Hardnett followed a UB coach (presumably Jenkins) on Instagram last night

We went hard after him last year

I also wondered this but having already signed to Washington State you would think they'd have that kind of stuff lined up/know what they're doing. Who knows, hopefully he ends up coming to UB though.

Not looking great for us haha

I agree although I do recall an article in the Spectrum Jordan's freshman year where he was quoted saying that the coaches said he's Lamonte Bearden if he tried on defense hahah Edit: found the quote "Jordan shares certain traits with Bearden. Both are athletic, quick and have great ability to finish at the rim. But the coaching staff and Jordan feel there is one significant difference between the two. “I play defense,” Jordan said jokingly."

I understand your point but we should temper expectations on John. Big men are typically slower to develop and from his highlights it doesn't look like he's had much exposure to D1 level competition. I'm excited at the prospect of him being at UB for 4 years but I wouldn't be surprised if he has a season similar to Jeenathan (who I'm high on for this season, but was shaky as a freshman)

No customary "It's a great day to be a Bull" tweet yet 😢

omg the play at 1:17 in the first video

Yeah maybe in the future. In the meantime you can get an idea based on a combination of 247 - high schoolers https://www.jucorecruiting.com/junior-college-basketball-player-rankings-top-100 - JUCO and Kenpom or transfer ranking lists (i.e. Jeff Goodman) - transfers

You're right, that's why I put the "FWIW" at the beginning of my original post. It was more of a ballpark thing, shows that our recruiting is still doing quite well.

I've never seen transfers get updated ratings, some of the top JUCOs get re-rated in Harris' case. A lot of JUCOs get pages for their JUCO career but it just shows them as unrated/unranked in Cadwell's case. My calculation just used everyone's high school profile.

I think he already went on a Pitt visit, he also visited Oklahoma State

FWIW, using the 247 class calculator, if UB lands John we would have the #42 recruiting class in the country between Clemson and Nebraska. I used Nickelberry and Mballa's pages coming out of high school, and Gallion doesn't have a 247 page so we might be slightly higher.

Hopefully Segu is ready by then. He's shown flashes. I think Nickelberry will be capable of playing a Blake Hamilton-esque point forward role, but with more talent around him he'll have less weight on his shoulders. I also have a good feeling about Gallion, although he might be more of a combo guard. I think it says a lot that the staff has landed 3 3-stars (maybe 4 with John) and scooped up Gallion in the middle of them. I think they feel that they found a diamond in the rough with him.