Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › Jesse Chuku
This topic contains 13 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by LUHoops00 12 years ago.
-
AuthorPosts
-
December 20, 2012 at 2:45 am #8554January 18, 2013 at 6:16 pm #8950
Going to draw some ridiculous comparisons and parallels here, so you can choose to just toss them away if you like, but figure worth connecting these dots for anyone that cares!
Obviously JC is sitting out and last time he was in a game situation was this summer at the Fiba Championships for Under 20, where he repped Great Britain. I think some of you will recall that the leading scorer on JC GB team was a kid who plays for Maine, named Ali Fraser. Fraser like JC stands 6’7 tall, and he is having another really good year for the Black Bears. Maine is 7-10 on the year, KenPom ranked 281, and are 2-2 in their American East conference play. Fraser averaged 12.9 ppg and 7.8 rpg last year, and he has upped that production this year, averaging 13.8 ppg and a pretty solid 8.8 rpg. Now, the reason I mention this isn’t for the ppg reference, because Ali lead Great Britain team this summer in scoring, way outproducing JC in the points category. However, JC averaged 8.4 rpg in that tourney to Ali’s 7.9. So JC outrebounded his teammate who has been a stout rebounder at the D-I US Men’s Basketball level for the past two years. Looking at Ali’s game log this year, to put it into perspective with some LU “like” opponents, check this out: He put up 21 points and 15 boards in a loss to Holy Cross. Perhaps more impressive, and 65 will certainly appreciate this because we sat together at the Quinnipiac game and that front court was a monster, Ali went for 14 points and 11 boards in a win against Quinnipiac. Perhaps we can draw some conclusion, not sure how accurate or ridiculous it is, that JC should/could be an impact on the glass from day 1 next year. How is offense plays out, still TBD in my opinion.
Interestingly, Murphy Burnatowski, who is leading Colgate in scoring and second in rebounding, is a transfer from Maine who probably transferred because he saw Ali eating into his playing time and could see what Ali was going to be in the future. Burnatowski didn’t put up big numbers at Maine, but sitting out a year and working on his game has helped, cause he is way outproducing what he was when he was a Black Bear.
Anyway, just a ridiculous 7 degress of Bacon type analysis, but figured worthy of putting pen to paper.
January 18, 2013 at 7:46 pm #8957I think this is a somewhat legit comparison Hoops. And really, it is all we have to go one from the FIBA tournament as putting it into relevant context.
The caveat for me however is that in that tournament and on the GB team, Ali Frasier was definitely asked to shoulder a large portion fo the scoring load, whereas Jesse probably was not. This could have simultaneously hurt Frasier’s reboudning #’s while helping Jesse’s. What this does prove, beyond doubt for me, is that Chuku can absolutely be a rebounding force at this level if 1) he wants to and 2) he’s asked to. I also think he could turn into a pretty good offensive player judging by the video we have seen of him and his athleticism and comfort with the ball for someone his size. Look at a guy like Malcolm Miller at Holy Cross who is probably somewhat similar athletically, but I think Jesse is way ahead of him skill wise (judging by small video samples which I realize is a very dangerous game). And Malcolm is a pretty solid Patriot Leage contributor. I don’t think many low to mid major teams are oozing with skilled 6’7 athletes. I was not super high on him from his KUA video, but his highlight tape from the FIBA tournament seems to display to me some pretty special traits for the PL.
January 18, 2013 at 7:53 pm #8959Thanks SBum, I’m hopeful on JC man, really am. And if he uses this year off to improve like Burnatowski did, all the better. Can never have enough stud athletes at 6’7 with 7’3 wingspan on your team.
January 18, 2013 at 8:20 pm #8960Wonderful analysis guys. There appears to be a bit of an irony here. This year’s front court has significant offensive skills but lacks the overall athleticism required for rebounding and defense against the bigger, faster, stronger opponents we sometimes face. On paper at least for next year, we should be far more athletic and potentially one of the better rebounding teams in the PL but may lack the post up player of GK or the long range sniper like HG. Tim Kempton, IMHO, may be the wildcard. I seem him in the GK mold. He has already scored 30 + in several games this year which implies that he has a scoring mentality. With his pedigree and body build, I would also hope that he is a techically sound rebounder but I hate putting immediate pressure on a freshman. Only time will tell.
January 18, 2013 at 10:08 pm #8961re: Kempton – I don’t want to be the nay-sayer, but I’m nervous about that one. The only recruiting video I could find for him was a football video; that in and of itself makes me question where his heart lies. And in that football video, he looked like he was wearing concrete shoes, running through mud. Needless to say, I’d really love to hear how Chuku looks in practice vs. Gabe and Goldie…
January 19, 2013 at 12:50 pm #8966Yes, there is zero z-e-r-o Kempton video outside the football one. I think he quit football this year to focus on basketball, not totally unusual for guys to play other sports in high school for a while.
The only thing I have read even on Kempton is the ESPN Recruiting write-up, so I’d agree, he’s a mystery. However, I like the fact that he has the genes, size, and apparent shooting touch. So with some added bulk, and he is already 227 lbs which would be heaviest guy on this years team, he should be able to grow and hopefully rebound. He is a big wild card, agree, but what if he breaks really right. He apparently had some other solid offers from good places, so that has to be a plus right. Hopefully he keeps growing and turns into a classic steal.
January 19, 2013 at 5:43 pm #8969The lack of video IMHO is directly related to his lack of involvement with recruiting services. I put very little emphasis on them anyway since they essentially hi-lite films. Brophy doesn’t put much of anything online. Did CJ has any video online in HS? My optimism with Kempton is based on several factors.
1.)As Hoops alluded, he seems to have very good height/weight dimensions for the PL I see him only getting a bit bigger and stronger.
2.)He comes with good genetics. That also means that he has likely been exposed to how the play the game the right way. I wonder how much exposure he has to the Suns since his father is a radio broadcaster there.
3.)I actually like that he played football. I’m not buying the “where his heart is” theory at all. Coaches love athletes who play multiple sports because it shows versatility and because they have a much larger upside when the begin concentrating on a single sport. I believe it was Higgins who told me that.
4.)He is currently the consensus #1 PF in Arizona. He can post up as well as shoot from the outside. I believe I read that he is also a good foul shooter.
5.) His stats show that he can rebound (he better with his height at the HS level) but he can also score in bunches in spite of double and triple teams. I think he recently scored 34 of his teams 49 points in a game.
Does any of this translate into being a great college player? I’ve learned a long time ago that there are plenty of athletes with big reputations that don’t pan out and many others that seem to blossom late but I’m very optimistic.January 20, 2013 at 8:43 pm #9005Quote: “Interestingly, Murphy Burnatowski, who is leading Colgate in scoring and second in rebounding, is a transfer from Maine who probably transferred because he saw Ali eating into his playing time and could see what Ali was going to be in the future. Burnatowski didn’t put up big numbers at Maine, but sitting out a year and working on his game has helped, cause he is way outproducing what he was producing as a Black Bear.”
I think the Burnatowski situation is a little more complicated than that. He was one of the top freshmen in America East in 2009-10 and was a Maine starter. However numerous reports said his attitude was not good – didn’t want to play defense, wanted more shots, and butted heads with Ted Woodward (Maine’s coach, who is a Bucknell grad). During his sophomore year, his attitude deteriorated further and Woodward finally cut into his minutes, despite him being one of the team’s most talented players. Near the end of the year, when Burnatowski decided to leave the team, Fraser was not playing major minutes. Even with Burnatowski gone, he still was not a starter and was only playing maybe 15 mpg down the stretch.
Granted, Fraser has developed into a good player – albeit for a bad team. (Maine lost at home to Binghamton last night.) But I think a player with the skills of Burnatowski – if he hadn’t had the attitude problems and the constant clashes with Woodward – would have continued to see major minutes at Maine. There’s no reason that both he and Fraser couldn’t have each played 26-30 mpg last year. I haven’t seen/heard enough about how his year is going at Colgate to judge his attitude this year, but I imagine he’s happy being the main option in their offense. He also is a legitimate candidate for the Canadian National Team.
January 21, 2013 at 1:34 am #9008I’m sure it was more complicated, but Burnatowski didn’t do s**t at Maine.
“He was one of the top freshmen in America East in 2009-10 and was a Maine starter.”
How was he one of the top freshman when he averaged 6.4 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game or am I missing something.
“During his sophomore year, his attitude deteriorated further and Woodward finally cut into his minutes”
His minutes also didn’t drop a ton into his Soph year, dropping 2 per game on average. Now you’re probably right, I’m sure if I went through game log his MPG was tilted in the first half, but my point is he averaged 6.4 and 6.9 ppg in his two years on campus, while shooting 40% from the field in both years, not great for a 6’7 guy who spends time down low. He didn’t get a ton of minutes cause he mostly sucked. Fraser averaged 5.5 per game in his frosh year or last year on campus for Burnatowski and shot 55% from the field that year, and has gone on to be a very good player. Either way, who cares, was just an interesting parallel that you had to pick apart!
Let’s go LU.January 21, 2013 at 5:18 am #90091. Burnatowski made the American East all-rookie team. That obviously makes him one of the league’s top freshmen. I doubt there were more than two frosh who were better than him statistically.
2. Burnatowski started as as freshman and a soph at Maine. As a soph, he started ahead of Fraser. So if you think he sucked, then what does that say of Fraser?
3. Burnatowski played major minutes the first part of his sophomore year at Maine before his problems with Woodward escalated. In fact, he led them in scoring in two of the first three games his sophomore year.
4. Burnatowski is not a post player and doesn’t spend much time at all down low. At Maine, well over half his shots were 3-pointers. That is one reason his shooting pct is not high. But he was close to 48% on 2-pointers. His shooting pct on twos this year is actually lower than it was at Maine. He has continued to shoot a ton of threes at CU.
5. Burnatowski was rated very highly coming out of H.S., so his success at Colgate (and making all-rookie in America East) shouldn’t be a great surprise.
6. I said that I think Fraser is a good player. Not trying to knock him.
January 21, 2013 at 4:49 pm #9012There was some AAU video of Kempton that I had posted on here awhile ago. If you search him on Youtube or Google, you will find it, surely. Or search his AAU team (can’t recall the name off the top of my head but Arizona or AZ something) In the video, if memory serves, he was mostly featuring a face up shooting game from midrange (top of the key and wing). He was a beanpole, and the video never showed him finishing on the block over a defender. He looked raw, but this was video from his junior summer. When the game reports from Brophy this year spoke of his game down low and putting up 30+, I was thrilled, as he is not going to put up 37 unless he is scoring down low. Plus, he has obviously gotten bigger (height and weight). I will try to locate the old AAU video and repost. I never saw the football clips.
January 21, 2013 at 4:53 pm #9013His AAU team is/was Arizona Magic Pump and Run.
January 22, 2013 at 12:58 am #9026Guy averaged under 7 a game in two years at Maine, that is all. You can tell it is Bucknell week when 137 starts actually posting instead of just reading/lurking!!!!
-
AuthorPosts
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
