Djery Baptiste (Committed to Vanderbilt)

[Kembacity]

Will 5 and 6.5 be enough? That depends on our PF too. He can't be 5 and 6.5 and be the fourth option on the team.
Excited as I am for the season, and as much as I love Brimah, I think our front court is a total mystery. I think people forgot how bad it looked at times last year. As I said before, 2 out of Brimah, Nolan and Facey have to take a pretty big step up for us this year. I'm guessing Brimah & Facey.

How bad it looked last year.... we won the championship!

Think back to 2011, how good did Oriakhi and Okwandu look all season long?.....

championship

UConn can produce a championship with any combination of star guards/weak frontcourt, or stars balanced all around. No matter what, we'll have a fighting chance with UConn on their chests and KO barking from the sidelines all year long

 

[Scot-e]

I'm not on drugs (today), but generally speaking I rate guys who'll stay for 3-4 years higher than guys who will likely stay just 1. Most one-year players are much better NBA prospects than they are college basketball players, and unless you have an Anthony Davis, once-in-a-decade type guy, I don't think it's easy to win with a freshman focal point.

Would I complain if we landed Stone? Of course not. But I don't think he'll give us an appreciably better chance of winning next year, and suspect he'll be in the league the year after that. Baptiste, on the other hand, could end up being a guy we build around for a few years.

Obviously YMMV, and we really can't lose. I just don't think it's as cut and dried as "Top 5 vs. Top 90."

Normally I would agree. But if we get Stone and another high caliber kid to add to JA- along with the fact everyone that is not a senior will most likely be staying in school -we would be as loaded as anyone- not a weak spot anywhere. RP and SCJr will be juniors going on seniors age wise. DH and AB will have another year under their belt to improve and it might be RP's last year if he is as good as we hope he is- very interesting.

WE ARE DOOMED!!!

 

[champs99and04]

I went back to examine 7774's assertion that kids ranked 10-100 are about equally likely to succeed. I used rivals.com, which goes back to 2003. "Successful" is subjective, especially in the context of today's game, where players who underwhelm in college go on to have NBA careers. Anyway, here are the note-worthy names from the 2003 and 2004 classes, divided by whether they were ranked 10-55 or 55-100:

2003
10-55: Brandon Bass (#11), Travis Outlaw (#13), Chris Paul (#14), Kris Humphries (#15), Linas Kleiza (#17), Trevor Ariza (#18), Von Wafer (#21), Ronnie Brewer (#29), Aaron Brooks (#34), Josh Boone (#54)

55-100: Marcus Williams (#61), Renaldo Balkman (#92)

2004
10-55: Marvin Williams (#11), Dorell Wright (#12), Glen Davis (#13), D.J. White (#15), LaMarcus Aldridge (#16), Jordan Farmar (#22), Rajon Rondo (#25), Arron Afflalo (#26), Kyle Lowry (#28), Daniel Gibson (#29), Corey Brewer (#31), A.J. Price (#32), Al Horford (#36), Greg Stiesma (#45), Darnell Jackson (#54)

55-100: Toney Douglas (#66), Joakim Noah (#75)

It's tough to say there is no correlation.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Remember the tears on the board when we lost Ike Diagu to ASU of all schools.
What was that kid thinking
We had to settle for that unknown from Houston
Emeka something or other.

 

[stick]

Remember the tears on the board when we lost Ike Diagu to ASU of all schools.
What was that kid thinking
We had to settle for that unknown from Houston
Emeka something or other.

OK was already on the team when Diogu was in high school. Isaiah Fox & Sampson was the recruits UConn missed out on.

 

[stick]

So are you insinuating that Drummond killed our team's chemistry in the 2011-12 season?...that is far off

Whatever chemistry our team had from the 2011 championship went out the door with Kemba leaving for the draft, not when Drummond stepped foot on campus.

Stone wouldn't kill any chemistry, if he's as good as advertised then he will find a way to contribute in a positive way. Blue chippers now have a stigma for killing chemistry I guess....

Yeah, love the long-term ramifications of Drummond coming through UConn, but he absolutely killed that team. Drummond is going to be a great ambassador the next 15 years in the NBA, but he was a terrible college player and for that one year UConn definitely would have been better. Of course, UConn probably doesn't win the title last year as who knows what would have happened to Daniels, Giff and others without Oriakhi & Roscoe transferring. That being said, Stone is a totally different type of player from Drummond.

 

[superjohn]

Yeah, love the long-term ramifications of Drummond coming through UConn, but he absolutely killed that team. Drummond is going to be a great ambassador the next 15 years in the NBA, but he was a terrible college player and for that one year UConn definitely would have been better. Of course, UConn probably doesn't win the title last year as who knows what would have happened to Daniels, Giff and others without Oriakhi & Roscoe transferring. That being said, Stone is a totally different type of player from Drummond.

So much fail in this post.

 

[HooperScooper]

OK was already on the team when Diogu was in high school. Isaiah Fox & Sampson was the recruits UConn missed out on.

Thanks for correcting him. That's usually my job. I think I've had to do it at least a dozen times over the last few years.

 

[David 76]

How bad it looked last year.... we won the championship!

Think back to 2011, how good did Oriakhi and Okwandu look all season long?.....

championship

UConn can produce a championship with any combination of star guards/weak frontcourt, or stars balanced all around. No matter what, we'll have a fighting chance with UConn on their chests and KO barking from the sidelines all year long

Hell yeah. We proved that twice. But I still would rather have a front court that was better because there aren't a lot of Kembas or Shabazzes in the world.
BTW, I'd take 2011 Oriakhi and Okwandu over 2014 Nolan and Brimah any time. I think Brimah will have a much higher ceiling than Oriakhi but I'm sure if you check points and rebounds there is a big difference.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah, love the long-term ramifications of Drummond coming through UConn, but he absolutely killed that team. Drummond is going to be a great ambassador the next 15 years in the NBA, but he was a terrible college player and for that one year UConn definitely would have been better. Of course, UConn probably doesn't win the title last year as who knows what would have happened to Daniels, Giff and others without Oriakhi & Roscoe transferring. That being said, Stone is a totally different type of player from Drummond.

I guess you'll need to show me the NBA stats of Roscoe and Alex before I agree with you. Andre ran into a tough situation with a disgruntled team and expectations through the roof. He fell a bit short but it wasn't all on him and to call him a "terrible college player" is beyond ignorant!

 

[Silk31]

Yeah, love the long-term ramifications of Drummond coming through UConn, but he absolutely killed that team. Drummond is going to be a great ambassador the next 15 years in the NBA, but he was a terrible college player and for that one year UConn definitely would have been better. Of course, UConn probably doesn't win the title last year as who knows what would have happened to Daniels, Giff and others without Oriakhi & Roscoe transferring. That being said, Stone is a totally different type of player from Drummond.

Disagree with anyone who blames Drummond for the failure of that team. Could it have been J.Lamb falling short of our lofty expectations for him after his freshman year, could it have been Bazz being a horrible leader (which he admitted himself), could it have been Oriakhi pouting that he wasn't handed minutes and had to actually earn them in a crowded frontcourt, could it have been JC's constant health issues that took him away from the team all year?...shall I go on?...a lot factored into why we sucked balls that year but if you are pointing at AD as the main reason then you are just flat out ignorant....

So basically AD shouldn't be used as a cautionary tale for not targeting potential one and done prospects. It's not like JC never targeted those type of recruits we just failed to close on them more often...now we are in better position with these recruits and have potential to close. If KO wants them, then I want them and I trust in his vision for building an overall team

 

[CallMeBruce]

How bad it looked last year.... we won the championship!

Think back to 2011, how good did Oriakhi and Okwandu look all season long?.....

championship

UConn can produce a championship with any combination of star guards/weak frontcourt, or stars balanced all around. No matter what, we'll have a fighting chance with UConn on their chests and KO barking from the sidelines all year long

Oriakhi was great in 2011. Are we really going to pretend that having good frontcourt players isn't helpful?

 

[Tampahusky]

Anyone forget Drummond broke his nose and was playing w a mask. That's a tough situation to put anyone to feel comfortable in.

 

[mauconnfan]

Oriakhi was great in 2011. Are we really going to pretend that having good frontcourt players isn't helpful?

As an avid AO fan (ok I'm not) I will say he was very good in many games I will give him his due. After a real good Maui he took some time off and then was real good when needed to help win a NC.

Kemba was "great", AO was good! Sorry for the dead horse stuff but great and AO just doesn't cut it!

 

[dogfan96]

Oriakhi was great in 2011. Are we really going to pretend that having good frontcourt players isn't helpful?

He was certainly great in the 2011 title game.. I'd argue he was the best player on the floor that night. Double double and several great blocks and altering of shots. Kemba was great in the tournament but he only shot 11-34 in the Final Four (although those were some really unfriendly rims)

 

[Tenspro2002]

Yeah, love the long-term ramifications of Drummond coming through UConn, but he absolutely killed that team. Drummond is going to be a great ambassador the next 15 years in the NBA, but he was a terrible college player and for that one year UConn definitely would have been better. Of course, UConn probably doesn't win the title last year as who knows what would have happened to Daniels, Giff and others without Oriakhi & Roscoe transferring. That being said, Stone is a totally different type of player from Drummond.

I'm not going to attack you like some other posters, because I'm largely sympathetic to the idea. But you overstate it. Here are some facts:

- Drummond was massively overhyped and failed to live up to those expectations -- he was embarrasingly raw as a basketball player despite his otherworldly athleticism (frankly, his high school coach should be fired; he didn't develop Drummond at all)

- JC shoehorning Drummond in at the last minute wreaked havoc with our frontcourt chemistry -- Oriakhi was upset for having to earn his starting spot after largely playing well the year before (and responded terribly); JC stubbornly tried over-sized lineups with Drummond at the 5 and Oriakhi at the 4, which was a disaster on offense, as neither of them could score outside of 5 feet; this further squeezed Roscoe out of the lineup, which soiled his attitude and his production in limited minutes

That's really the extent of the problems caused by Drummond -- some of which were his fault (i.e. having no basketball skills), some of which were the fault of the coaching staff in response to Drummond's presence. In addition, the team struggled because:

- Nobody respected Bazz's leadership, which he didn't yet know how to properly assert

- Bazz and Boat had not yet learned how to co-exist in the backcourt -- both expected to be the primary ballhandler/late-shot-clock option

- Boat was in and out of the lineup due to NCAA shenanigans/revenge/malfeasance

- Lamb had nowhere near the right personality to be the go-to guy; he had skills, but no leadership

- JC was in and out with health issues and was replaced by wet paper towel Blaney

- DD came in overhyped (#10 recruit) and gave us nothing at the 3 (basically didn't get meaningful minutes outside of the cupcake schedule)

 

[tcf15]

Corey Evans ‏@coreyevans_10 2h
2015 big men Juwan Morgan and Djery Baptiste begin their official visits to Vanderbilt today

 

[DogMania]

OK was already on the team when Diogu was in high school. Isaiah Fox & Sampson was the recruits UConn missed out on.

Thanks for correcting him. That's usually my job. I think I've had to do it at least a dozen times over the last few years.

I think we should pin a spreadsheet atop this forum that has the following:

First Column: Said recruit that UConn missed out on
Second Column: Recruit we landed instead of that recruit
Third Column: The recruiting year
Fourth Column: How far UConn got during the years that followed

Just to make sure, I'm am kidding!!!! Though I myself need a reminder on such things. I tend to like making up my own version of history.

So who would make this list in addition to Diogu? (Criteria would be recruits we anguished over for months and didn't end up landing.)

Brandon Bass, There was some big named Something Alexander, but I'm not sure if we obsessed on him for more than a few weeks, month at most. As for PGs, the two Brandon's come to mind, Jennings & Knight. We got Kemba instead of Jennings and that both averted a disaster since Jennings went to Europe, kicking Zona in the ass in the process, before entering the NBA, nd of course winning an NC with Walker leading the way. As for Knight, didn't wen end up landing Bazz instead? Egad!!! I'm probably butchering these badly. How about we just lump a few recruits we missed out on for a band of years and list the recruits that we did land around that same time. That way maybe I'll get it right.

Any other misses that we obsessed on and either ended up with a better situation or maybe a not-so-good-one. When we didn't land Bill Curley back-in-the-day, who did we get instead? I can't remember, but I wonder if our first NC might have come sooner if he had landed in Storrs instead of Newton Mass.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I think we should pin a spreadsheet atop this forum that has the following:

First Column: Said recruit that UConn missed out on
Second Column: Recruit we landed instead of that recruit
Third Column: The recruiting year
Fourth Column: How far UConn got during the years that followed

Just to make sure, I'm am kidding!!!! Though I myself need a reminder on such things. I tend to like making up my own version of history.

So who would make this list in addition to Diogu? (Criteria would be recruits we anguished over for months and didn't end up landing.)

Brandon Bass, There was some big named Something Alexander, but I'm not sure if we obsessed on him for more than a few weeks, month at most. As for PGs, the two Brandon's come to mind, Jennings & Knight. We got Kemba instead of Jennings and that both averted a disaster since Jennings went to Europe, kicking Zona in the ass in the process, before entering the NBA, nd of course winning an NC with Walker leading the way. As for Knight, didn't wen end up landing Bazz instead? Egad!!! I'm probably butchering these badly. How about we just lump a few recruits we missed out on for a band of years and list the recruits that we did land around that same time. That way maybe I'll get it right.

Any other misses that we obsessed on and either ended up with a better situation or maybe a not-so-good-one. When we didn't land Bill Curley back-in-the-day, who did we get instead? I can't remember, but I wonder if our first NC might have come sooner if he had landed in Storrs instead of Newton Mass.

Brandon Jennings, not Brandon Knight (who gave us a hard time when he was at Pitt).

 

[DogMania]

Brandon Jennings, not Brandon Knight (who gave us a hard time when he was at Pitt).

Neither played for Pitt, unless I got those names wrong. Jennings played in Europe while Knight played for...hum...one of the Florida teams or was it Dook?

 

[CTBasketball]

Brandon Jennings, not Brandon Knight (who gave us a hard time when he was at Pitt).

Brandin Knight was at Pitt (1998-2002?), but I think he was talking about Kentucky's Brandon Knight who we recruited very hard until he chose UK, and we lucked out with Napier.

Unless your talking about Bob Knight or Travis Knight.

 

[champs99and04]

Think he is talking about the Brandon Knight that went to Kentucky. Shabazz was really our plan D that year, if that. Josh Selby, Brandon Knight, and Cory Joseph all went elsewhere.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Think he is talking about the Brandon Knight that went to Kentucky. Shabazz was really our plan D that year, if that. Josh Selby, Brandon Knight, and Cory Joseph all went elsewhere.

I watched an old game with Brandin Knight recently and forgot about the UK one.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

I think we should pin a spreadsheet atop this forum that has the following:

First Column: Said recruit that UConn missed out on
Second Column: Recruit we landed instead of that recruit
Third Column: The recruiting year
Fourth Column: How far UConn got during the years that followed

Just to make sure, I'm am kidding!!!! Though I myself need a reminder on such things. I tend to like making up my own version of history.

So who would make this list in addition to Diogu? (Criteria would be recruits we anguished over for months and didn't end up landing.)

Brandon Bass, There was some big named Something Alexander, but I'm not sure if we obsessed on him for more than a few weeks, month at most. As for PGs, the two Brandon's come to mind, Jennings & Knight. We got Kemba instead of Jennings and that both averted a disaster since Jennings went to Europe, kicking Zona in the ass in the process, before entering the NBA, nd of course winning an NC with Walker leading the way. As for Knight, didn't wen end up landing Bazz instead? Egad!!! I'm probably butchering these badly. How about we just lump a few recruits we missed out on for a band of years and list the recruits that we did land around that same time. That way maybe I'll get it right.

Any other misses that we obsessed on and either ended up with a better situation or maybe a not-so-good-one. When we didn't land Bill Curley back-in-the-day, who did we get instead? I can't remember, but I wonder if our first NC might have come sooner if he had landed in Storrs instead of Newton Mass.

Corey Alexander?
And don't forget these blasts from the past.....Randall Jackson, Perry Carter and Travis Best(we got KO).

 

[DogMania]

Brandin Knight was at Pitt (1998-2002?), but I think he was talking about Kentucky's Brandon Knight who we recruited very hard until he chose UK, and we lucked out with Napier.

Unless your talking about Bob Knight or Travis Knight.

Yes, I was referring to BrandOn Knight, and how could I have forgotten that he went to UK and pretty much shot his team to a big fat L against us in that F-4 game. As for Brandin Knight, I had forgotten about him. I remember there was a Knight how was one tough umbre at Pitt, but didn't realize his first name was eerily similar (Brandin).