2021 Men's Basketball Recruiting Thread

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

this ass Penn State fan I know put me on to that kid last season, really quality player 

he has experience in a far harder conference, which also has some value. 

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

OP updated to include Jasper commitment and added a few transfer targets.

[Dunndone414 469]

And in guard news, this is HUGE and very unexpected. We were not a factor recruiting him out of highschool. Alabama and Illinois are likely the favorites.

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Dunndone414

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

He will have plenty of people after him forsure 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Maverick.AU

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

Assuming we really have a pick of the litter situation, I hope we get someone who can work well at the small forward...I'd like to be able to run Jabari at the 4 as much as possible 

[steeleagle 2,945]

9 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Assuming we really have a pick of the litter situation, I hope we get someone who can work well at the small forward...I'd like to be able to run Jabari at the 4 as much as possible 

I thought Flanigan would man that small forward spot. W/ Cambridge his backup...

I don't want Flanigan at the 2, except in small amounts. He simply doesn't have the best ball handling and quickness for that spot. 

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

 

[Dunndone414 469]

16 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

 

The only worry here is that Sankey has been insistent the intraconference transfer rules will be in place again this summer. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

18 hours ago, Maverick.AU said:

He will have plenty of people after him forsure 

Although we offered, I'm surprised considering we already have a vet PG committed to us in the portal.

There seemed to be some issues w him the last 2 years, bt him and the coaches. Coaches indicated he needed to play better D and drive more to the basket. 

Ofc, I know the Mizz coach preaches tough D from his players. I wonder how much of their issues are fact. Need to here from someone who watched Mizz a lot.

Plus will he have to sit a year or get a waiver from conference for inter conference transfer to play this fall?

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

3 hours ago, steeleagle said:

I thought Flanigan would man that small forward spot. W/ Cambridge his backup...

I don't want Flanigan at the 2, except in small amounts. He simply doesn't have the best ball handling and quickness for that spot. 

Those two will almost certainly be the  2 deep at that position, but I’d simply like a bigger body 2 guard for a few reasons, one of which (as it translates to my earlier point), so as to have a different look there during droughts. Cambridge isn’t going to be offensively very good during most games, and won’t get the touches he got this previous season to shoot out of it. Flan has improved with his catch and shoot 3 ball, but I, and I think he’d also agree, see most of his offensive improvement in what he’s done dribbling the ball, and the looks that come off that

theres not gonna be as many iso dribble opportunities for him. You’d think the best version of this offense involves the PG, Jabari and maybe even the new shooting guard getting touches over him. Part of that is based on how touches have been distributed in the past. So someone who can purely be a steady off the ball scorer, while also having the frame to not be killed on D would be amazing

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

Pretty much a beefier Justin Powell 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

🤞

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Pinson to AU looks like its a very real probability according to the recent smoke about him and AU before he entered the portal, and the fact that his only post about an offer has been Auburn. I can't imagine we are the only team that has reached out to him.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

OP updated to include Xavier Pinson.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

I might be paranoid but I feel like getting him has to be an indicator you don’t expect to Cooper back 

Or you just expect him to have to sit out a season. I feel like it has to be one or the other 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

28 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I might be paranoid but I feel like getting him has to be an indicator you don’t expect to Cooper back 

Or you just expect him to have to sit out a season. I feel like it has to be one or the other 

Couldn't you have Pinson play the other guard position if Cooper stays? Then have Alexander backing up Pinson and Zep backing up Coop.

[Tiger 8,817]

Pinson and Zep would be a hell of a bounce back from Cooper leaving. 

[cole256 17,039]

5 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Those two will almost certainly be the  2 deep at that position, but I’d simply like a bigger body 2 guard for a few reasons, one of which (as it translates to my earlier point), so as to have a different look there during droughts. Cambridge isn’t going to be offensively very good during most games, and won’t get the touches he got this previous season to shoot out of it. Flan has improved with his catch and shoot 3 ball, but I, and I think he’d also agree, see most of his offensive improvement in what he’s done dribbling the ball, and the looks that come off that

theres not gonna be as many iso dribble opportunities for him. You’d think the best version of this offense involves the PG, Jabari and maybe even the new shooting guard getting touches over him. Part of that is based on how touches have been distributed in the past. So someone who can purely be a steady off the ball scorer, while also having the frame to not be killed on D would be amazing

This is absolutely right, what people seem to be missing is everything flan did he did being the only dribble drive threat that we had. Everybody keyed in on him. Can't you just imagine the damage he could do if we had proper spacing? 

 

 

 

So here are clips of Powell's best games. If you notice you won't see see him handling the ball too much and when you do see it you'll see he can't dribble fast with a defender in front of him. And he has to try to do herky jerky move to try to get by. 

This is the main reason you saw a drop in his production against good teams.....they essentially started guarding him like they do flan. I discussed with somebody else in another thread just how hard it is to score when you are keyed on. It's harder to score in college than the NBA if you don't have other threats. 

Now everybody knows Bruce runs a guard friendly system but besides deep shooting there's no skill downgrade with flan at the 2. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

This is absolutely right, what people seem to be missing is everything flan did he did being the only dribble drive threat that we had. Everybody keyed in on him. Can't you just imagine the damage he could do if we had proper spacing? 

 

 

 

So here are clips of Powell's best games. If you notice you won't see see him handling the ball too much and when you do see it you'll see he can't dribble fast with a defender in front of him. And he has to try to do herky jerky move to try to get by. 

This is the main reason you saw a drop in his production against good teams.....they essentially started guarding him like they do flan. I discussed with somebody else in another thread just how hard it is to score when you are keyed on. It's harder to score in college than the NBA if you don't have other threats. 

Now everybody knows Bruce runs a guard friendly system but besides deep shooting there's no skill downgrade with flan at the 2. 

I think Flan had the opportunity to be figured out and Justin didn't...it's kinda like comparing a Tupac or Biggie to someone like Hov or Nas right. The latter had the chance to be exposed

I still think that Powell would be more complementary at that position than Flan (on this level), assuming everyone else returns, but in terms of overall value, you wouldn't be wrong in saying Flan had equal or near equal value. On the next level, if Flan continued progressing in his decision making, it'd be interesting to see how the two are viewed. AF could project closer to a #1 option, but would you rather be a solid #1 option or a potentially elite #3 option? something to consider

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

3 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

Couldn't you have Pinson play the other guard position if Cooper stays? Then have Alexander backing up Pinson and Zep backing up Coop.

I guess I'm so restricted to frames and builds. From everywhere I've heard, this Zep kid is an elite defender. Okay, Im with you as him being the "point". But Xavier is insanely undersized as a shooting guard option and I don't think he's the greatest defender. Now could you? Probably! There were quite a few moments with Jared and Jvon on the court, and Bryce himself was probably only an inch or two taller than Pinson. 

It just tasks the 3-5 to be so good on defense (esp around the rim) and maybe with the athleticism we got there, you can live with Pinson being meh on that end 

[tgrogan21 6,198]

16 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I guess I'm so restricted to frames and builds. From everywhere I've heard, this Zep kid is an elite defender. Okay, Im with you as him being the "point". But Xavier is insanely undersized as a shooting guard option and I don't think he's the greatest defender. Now could you? Probably! There were quite a few moments with Jared and Jvon on the court, and Bryce himself was probably only an inch or two taller than Pinson. 

It just tasks the 3-5 to be so good on defense (esp around the rim) and maybe with the athleticism we got there, you can live with Pinson being meh on that end 

Makes sense. I'm not that familiar with Pinson's game so I can't speak on how good his defense is. But this was just me just pointing out that just because we're going after Pinson doesn't mean that Cooper is 100% gonna leave ( I still think he does, though). I just like to imagine what having a quality guard with SEC experience will be like when teamed up with Cooper even if Pinson might be undersized as a SG.

[slyinsocal 831]

IMO, he's played the role of PG more than SG. Outside of the one outstanding game last year where he and Smith both shot the lights out, his 4 game stat line against Auburn is meh. For anyone other than a PG, that's a pretty high number of turnovers. I recall him being more than capable of blowing by his defender. His ability to finish afterwards? Not so much.

1/26/21    7 pts, 4 Ast, 3 TOs, 6 Rebs (fouled out) (@ Auburn)

2/15/20  28 pts, 5 Ast, 5 TOs, 3 Rebs (@ Missouri)

3/14/19    5 pts, 5 Ast, 8 TOs, 3 Rebs (SEC Tourney)

1/30/19   11 pts, 4 Ast, 6 TOs, 1 Reb (@ Auburn)

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

23 hours ago, tgrogan21 said:

Makes sense. I'm not that familiar with Pinson's game so I can't speak on how good his defense is. But this was just me just pointing out that just because we're going after Pinson doesn't mean that Cooper is 100% gonna leave ( I still think he does, though). I just like to imagine what having a quality guard with SEC experience will be like when teamed up with Cooper even if Pinson might be undersized as a SG.

I definitely would enjoy being 3 deep with quality starting point guard options! And like the second post I quoted mentioned, he'd honestly likely be the true second PG on the roster, while Zep reminds me more of just a pure scorer, but these titles start getting so interchangeable it doesnt matter. Either way, I give Bruce all the credit in the world for silencing critics such as myself that didnt enjoy the lack of backup PGs in seasons past. We got ALL of em now

20 hours ago, slyinsocal said:

IMO, he's played the role of PG more than SG. Outside of the one outstanding game last year where he and Smith both shot the lights out, his 4 game stat line against Auburn is meh. For anyone other than a PG, that's a pretty high number of turnovers. I recall him being more than capable of blowing by his defender. His ability to finish afterwards? Not so much.

1/26/21    7 pts, 4 Ast, 3 TOs, 6 Rebs (fouled out) (@ Auburn)

2/15/20  28 pts, 5 Ast, 5 TOs, 3 Rebs (@ Missouri)

3/14/19    5 pts, 5 Ast, 8 TOs, 3 Rebs (SEC Tourney)

1/30/19   11 pts, 4 Ast, 6 TOs, 1 Reb (@ Auburn)

Yea from what I remember, he's really sleek and loves to drive. Also has a fairly troubling FG%...39% I believe. I have faith that the game gets simpler for him when he's tasked to do less, as will be the case here

[steeleagle 2,945]

On 3/24/2021 at 9:43 PM, tgrogan21 said:

Makes sense. I'm not that familiar with Pinson's game so I can't speak on how good his defense is. But this was just me just pointing out that just because we're going after Pinson doesn't mean that Cooper is 100% gonna leave ( I still think he does, though). I just like to imagine what having a quality guard with SEC experience will be like when teamed up with Cooper even if Pinson might be undersized as a SG.

I saw some guy from that area who watches and analyzes a lot of basketball including Missouri. 

He said Pinson was considered a 'pendulum' player. He could carry a team at times and look dynamic and explosive doing it, then he could have games where he definitely hurt the team with his lack of scoring and turnover binges. 

ANd it looks like his game stats reflect this too. Don't know if part of it is how Conzo wanted him to play or if he lacked focus during games and pressed.

Not saying I don't want him...bc right now we need guards like him, but I also hope we can bring in competition and backup support.

[toddc 13,194]