Borges says Bouk is gone | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Borges says Bouk is gone

Ts5034 said:
I don't know If anybody pointed this out yet, but I think the fact that Bouknight got hurt this season pretty much sealed the deal for him declaring for the draft. I don't think he would risk coming back for another year to improve his draft stock and risk getting hurt again to put him in a worse situation. Bouknight and Hurley are probably getting input from NBA scouts so Bouknight can make an informed decision, as he should. When it comes down to it, the risks of coming back are probably not worth it.
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I think the deal was sealed before the season he was gone either way .
 
Ts5034 said:
I don't know If anybody pointed this out yet, but I think the fact that Bouknight got hurt this season pretty much sealed the deal for him declaring for the draft. I don't think he would risk coming back for another year to improve his draft stock and risk getting hurt again to put him in a worse situation. Bouknight and Hurley are probably getting input from NBA scouts so Bouknight can make an informed decision, as he should. When it comes down to it, the risks of coming back are probably not worth it.
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We often heard that publicly from Calhoun, that the scouts were telling him if a guy was ready. Interestingly, I don’t believe we have heard that from Danny. It may be that he just has a different philosophy about discussing that or he doesn’t yet have the relationship with scouts that Calhoun did. Danny hadn’t already produced a Reggie Lewis before UConn. Or something else? But, thus far, I don’t believe Danny has said publicly, the scouts have told me he’s ready.
 
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He’s definitely ready.
Best of luck, hope you’re an all star for my Celtics (when they pull a trade off for you). But historically Celtics don’t draft UConn players so I guess you’ll end up somewhere else. I just hope it’s on the East Coast because you’re going to be a very very good pro.
 
HuskyBoi said:
Why would he turn that down?
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I am not so sure it is always so black and white like most of life, otherwise, why did RIP turn so much money down after his 2nd year and come back for his junior year? Why did Kemba do the same and come back for the 3rd year? In the 90s we had another stud named Ray who could have bolted after his second year but he came back for his junior year.

Sometimes these situations are a little more nuanced and I think a lot more is going through these kids' heads than we give credit for.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have 2 of those 4 championships and a shootout vs UCLA in 95 if it was just money.

I mean, very likely he is gone, I am 95% sure, but I think it is not always such an easy choice for some, or even many, or possibly even most of these players. However, 95%+ of fans were 95-100% sure Ray, RIP, and Kemba were gone after their 2nd year too.
 
olehead said:
So trashing him brings him back. Did he not get wherever he wanted when he dropped 40 against Creighton?
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He did - he played great that game. What I’m saying is once people knew how to defend him, he struggled. The Creighton game was a good example of how not to defend him.
 
CTBasketball said:
We’ll have to wait and see. He needs to develop his body if he wants to succeed, as well as game.
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Definitely. He has the talent for sure. Obviously besides developing his body, he needs to take things much more serious when it comes to taking care of his body too. Those cramps were not normal in any way.
 
Kenny11 said:
Definitely. He has the talent for sure. Obviously besides developing his body, he needs to take things much more serious when it comes to taking care of his body too. Those cramps were not normal in any way.
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Idk if cramps should be blamed on that. Hurley just said he needs to drink more water.
 
Jorgensen said:
Right...the article isn’t news, but the diction in his tweet is either making a GIANT assumption, or he knows something as a beat writer. He chose “he’s gone,” and not “he’s likely gone” or “he’s probably gone.”
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Yes, but he does say "almost certainly" which leaves room to back peddle if Bouk decides to stay...I think he should stay and gain some muscle and strength and get through a season uninjured...Then he can hang with the Men in the NBA, right now he is too fragile and will be a mid first to possible early second round...stay another year and he is definitely (not almost certainly) a top 5 pick IMO!!
 
Travelman32 said:
I am not so sure it is always so black and white like most of life, otherwise, why did RIP turn so much money down after his 2nd year and come back for his junior year? Why did Kemba do the same and come back for the 3rd year? In the 90s we had another stud named Ray who could have bolted after his second year but he came back for his junior year.

Sometimes these situations are a little more nuanced and I think a lot more is going through these kids' heads than we give credit for.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have 2 of those 4 championships and a shootout vs UCLA in 95 if it was just money.

I mean, very likely he is gone, I am 95% sure, but I think it is not always such an easy choice for some, or even many, or possibly even most of these players. However, 95%+ of fans were 95-100% sure Ray, RIP, and Kemba were gone after their 2nd year too.
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Good point. And were Ray, Rip and Kemba hurt money-wise? They did just great. They were household names and respected brands when they left UConn. When they took the NBA stage, they were ready in all facets of the game and life. Chief would like James to follow their paths and be an NBA All Star.
As Chief tells the young guys, built the foundation by investing long term in yourself. Don’t short sell yourself. Your potential is too great to do that.
 
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Jorgensen said:
I do think he’ll have a long nba career, but a career 20ppg prediction is silly. Even Ray didn’t average 20ppg for his career. Neither does Klay Thompson. I think he’ll be a very solid 2 guard, but not one of the top 70 ppg scorers literally of all time.

www.basketball-reference.com

NBA & ABA Career Leaders and Records for Points Per Game | Basketball-Reference.com

Checkout the complete list of NBA & ABACareer Leaders and Records for and more on Basketball-Reference.com
www.basketball-reference.com www.basketball-reference.com
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Fair point. Maybe I overstated, but if you take out rookie season, and then the victory lap seasons at the end their careers where they become role players, 20ppg is the true average. Obviously the stats don’t read that way. Just making a blanket statement that he’s going to be really good in the nba. If he finished with a 19.1 avg in his career you could say “I told you so” but I’ll be happy with that career either way.
 
Chief00 said:
Good point. And were Ray, Rip and Kemba hurt money-wise? They did just great. They were household names and respected brands when they left UConn. When they took the NBA stage, they were ready in all facets of the game and life. Chief would like James to follow their paths and be an NBA All Star.
As Chief tells the young guys, built the foundation by investing long term in yourself. Don’t short sell yourself. Your potential is too great to do that.
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The landscape of the NBA has changed since those guys were in the draft, and that's besides the point that none of those guys were projected lottery picks like Bouknight was. No idea why you've chosen this hill to die on, it's a strange one
 
billybud said:
Draft Report on Bouk....

James Bouknight - NBA Draft Room

James Bouknight NBA draft scouting report and mock draft ranking. The UConn star is a likely 2021 NBA draft pick with first round potential
nbadraftroom.com
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Don't look now but there's a Kyree Walker sighting at the bottom of the 2 guard list. I thought he dropped basketball completely.
 
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CTBasketball said:
He did - he played great that game. What I’m saying is once people knew how to defend him, he struggled. The Creighton game was a good example of how not to defend him.
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Yes - people learned how to defend him by quite literally building a wall around him. He was double and triple teamed all season. If you look at his season highlight video, he didn’t take open shots all season. I can’t believe we are still talking about this. Yes, you are correct in saying once teams started to double and triple team him it was harder for him to score. Seems like an obvious point.

I hope other fan bases don’t treat their lottery picks like this because the scrutiny towards Bouknight on this board has quite literally been insane.
 
olehead said:
Don't look now but there's a Kyree Walker siting at the bottom of the 2 guard list. I thought he dropped basketball completely.
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To say that Kyree Walker turned heads earlier this week when he announced that not only was he foregoing college but also a pro career in order to focus on training for the 2021 NBA draft, would be severely understating it.

“I know it surprised some people,” Walker said. “The development that I wanted to have to get ready for the draft, it would be different from others. I felt like if I went to college, I wouldn’t have that same development. I just want to get ready for 82 games.”

Walker announced that he would be training with Chameleon BX and renowned trainer Frank Matrisciano in preparation for the draft.

As is stands, players must be 19 years old or one year removed from high school to declare for the draft, per league rules.

Had he gone to college, Walker was clear on which school he would’ve attended.

“I would’ve gone to Memphis,” Walker said. “Penny Hardaway is a player’s coach, he played in the league and was a point guard himself. I would’ve played the point and we made the tourney.”


If Kyree Walker is drafted...he would have really have written a new chapter on draft paths....skipped his HS senior season...chose not to go the college route and instead spent that year training for the draft.
 
billybud said:
Draft Report on Bouk....

James Bouknight - NBA Draft Room

James Bouknight NBA draft scouting report and mock draft ranking. The UConn star is a likely 2021 NBA draft pick with first round potential
nbadraftroom.com
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It will be pretty interesting to see how each organization views that 2-7 spot of SG’s goes. All solid players with 1/2 plus skills but question marks too. Ex:Moses shoots it, but not a plus athlete. Bouk + athlete & doesn’t shoot the 3 significantly well
 
Man , I was so sold on bouknight and loved his game so much but those last few games really flipped me on my head about how I feel about him as a player. I’ve been watching UConn for many years and can’t remember another player who disappointed me so much in the end. Can anyone think of one comparison? Also , had not seen a UConn player dominate the competition like that since kemba. I meann, now he is projected in the high teens- got a figure if he comes back next year he is absolutely top five- maybe national POY- wud love for him to come back and put him and our school really back on the map next year- sure fire first team AA and all the publicity that goes along with it - wish it was 15 years ago and he wud bounce after his junior year and his legacy at UConn wud be complete. I kno im thinking selfishly - but, Just feels like an empty ending. but I know that’s not gonna happen - hopefully he won’t wallow on the bench for years and fall into mediocrity - best of luck bouk - go get em!!
Really cud be national player of the year next year tho. Lol
 
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Chief00 said:
Good point. And were Ray, Rip and Kemba hurt money-wise? They did just great. They were household names and respected brands when they left UConn. When they took the NBA stage, they were ready in all facets of the game and life. Chief would like James to follow their paths and be an NBA All Star.
As Chief tells the young guys, built the foundation by investing long term in yourself. Don’t short sell yourself. Your potential is too great to do that.
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Ray (1996), Rip (1999) and Kemba (2011). It is a different draft mentality now both for players and teams. There is a stigma with being an upperclassman. In Ray's, Rip's, and Kemba's time the potential jump in salary from bottom of the 1st round to lottery made it worthwhile to stay for another year Also Ray as the #5 pick made $1.75M in first year, Hamilton (#7 pick) made $1.8M, and Kemba (#9 pick) made $1.9M. The #12 pick last year (Tyrese Hailburton) made $3.8M in year 1 and is guaranteed $4M in year 2. Conversely in Rip's draft year the bottom of the 1st round made $600K-$800K.

If Bouk falls to #20 in the draft he will still be guaranteed over $4M in the first 2 years. Unless he is a total bust he will make between $12M-$20M is his 1st contract. How do you ask a kid to pass up that opportunity. If he comes back his will be double teamed, knocked around and and risk additional injuries.

Bouk did what he could in college with some bumps in the road caused by his brief suspension, COVID issues in 2020 and 2021, and an injury. Sadly, as fans we did not get to see him prosper in the post season. I have said, Bouk will be known as the guy that got UConn basketball back in the 1st round and hopefully back in the lottery. That is a huge accomplishment and will help the team in the future.
 
RayRay said:
Fair point. Maybe I overstated, but if you take out rookie season, and then the victory lap seasons at the end their careers where they become role players, 20ppg is the true average. Obviously the stats don’t read that way. Just making a blanket statement that he’s going to be really good in the nba. If he finished with a 19.1 avg in his career you could say “I told you so” but I’ll be happy with that career either way.
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Haha agreed, and I hope he makes it happen!
 
navery12 said:
The landscape of the NBA has changed since those guys were in the draft, and that's besides the point that none of those guys were projected lottery picks like Bouknight was. No idea why you've chosen this hill to die on, it's a strange one
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You say none of these guys “were projected lottery picks” LOL. Their actual slots in the First Round:
Ray - 5th
Rip - 7th
Kemba - 9th
They all went higher than James will likely go, coming out this season. Yes I will choose this hill, even knowing he is all but certain to go, because it’s the right advice for him.
 
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