Reply To: Austin Price's Senior Season

[LUHoops00Participant]

TMH – You got good insight, love it. I don’t want to read into what you wrote but it is in my genes to over analyze, but Reed has seen AP in person right? He has to have admired his stroke live at least once right?  You’d think he would know AP stats as well right, I mean that seems odd to me…if we all can work full time jobs and pay attention I’m surprised he doesn’t know.

“He loves his shooting form based on about 4hours of AAU tape as was honestly surprised when I told him the #s were not there this year.”

Regarding AP, I’m high on AP, as I said earlier Fran McCaffery has a great eye for talent and the fact that he was atleast interested in AP is a really good sign,  but we got a deep experienced veteran backcourt returning. Maestro Man Mackey McKnight will be in POY running next year and is a senior, AD is back as a senior who will have started 30+ games as a junior. CS returns as a junior pg with experience and SC another junior. If BJ comes back we got another senior and all 5 guards from this current PL run back next year, and all 5 would be upper classmen. As mentioned above, I think AP is more a 2 or off ball guard than a 1, so I think MM and CS are entrenched at the PG spots, and as we’ve seen already this year, you can play the two together. AP needs to beat out AD and SC to see significant minutes, especially if BJ returns. Can it happen, yeah it can, but we’ll see, we’ll see. I’m hopeful, but he will have to be solid from day 1 to get consistent playing time. I see some wiggle and slicing ability from video I’ve seen, I think he can get to tin in our league, but we’ll see. Also, yeah he is really skinny 90, but no more so then CJ was at the same point in career, he’ll get weight on him over the years.

To me the totally cool and interesting part of next year is the front court, so many new faces, so many possibilities, so many athletes! When you talk about frontcourt next year it starts with JG upside, and what a full summer in offseason program and taking classes and working out on campus can do for him…he should be a rebounding/block shot force next year, and is just a tremendous athlete. He is probably the one starter up front that is at all predictable at this point, because just unknowns with other 3 really. I’ll go on record right now, maybe it is a stretch, but I think next year and the following couple years has the opportunity to be the best group of athletes that our frontcourt has ever assembled. Athletes don’t obviously guarantee crap in the win / loss column, but the staff should have some flexibility in options. You can play JG at the 5 with JC and SW on the court at the same time. I really think SW and JC can be on court at same time, SW at the 3 and JC at the 4. To me, from what I’ve seen is that SW is a tiny bit smaller and quicker than JC, and more comfortable putting the ball on the deck and slashing/driving/penetrating and playmaking off the bounce, can create for himself off the dribble and be a big matchup problem in the PL….JC I think is a bit more of a physical presence who can rebound in the PL at the 4 spot like a Greiner, but I think he is bigger and longer then Greiner…JC can get out in transition and yeah hit a 3 ball or long range jumper, but I don’t think he has the game off the bounce that SW has…you can play small like we have for years and keep the 3 guard lineup and have SW or JC at the HG 4 spot and JG or TK at the 5. You can probably also go 3 guards and go JG and TK up front, cause JG has such quick feet. I’ll say it again, if 2 of the SW/JC/TK 3 break right, this team will be competing with Boston U and others for the championship next year….we’ll be right in the game for it…I think 2 of those 3 break right, I really do…I really really do…If you get 2 of those 3 break right with JG, and the same guard play as this year, and we should be in good shape…what would be key is that TK can be a post-up offense guy so we have someone to throw it down low to…JG has shown some flashes of that but his post-up game needs work still, and hopefully it is much improved by next year, that would be really huge for us if it was.

Next year will be fun, but we got business to take care of this year!