James Bouknight is good at basketball | Page 4 | The Boneyard

James Bouknight is good at basketball

auror said:
Ray and Rip were in school 25-30 years ago. It's just easier to improve skill portfolios now than it was then. All the credit to Bouk. He did. He's incredible. He's so good. He worked his ass off during a pandemic with trainers.

But what would Ray have been like with the same resources, knowledge bases, support and game teaching available now 25 years later?
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You said compared to their peers. There were plenty of guys who had better handles than Ray and Rip and could finish at the rim better than them, I don't think that's the case with Bouknight. Ray made his bones as the best shooter in the world, he did it by coming off screens and creating for himself to get to his jumper, Rip was the best mid range shooter in the world by being the best conditioned player and running off screens.
 
You know... he doesn't exactly embarrass himself on defense either. This was his first game back. Matched up against one of the poy candidates for the conference. Bouk looked very comfortable matching up against Duke. In fact he kinda looked like a really good cover corner. Giving a bit of space at times. Knowing he's got the recovery speed to make up the distance.
 
andre jackson reminds me of /kuzma over ben simmons

at least he attempts a shot
 
I’ve watched a couple bball games almost every night this season. I haven’t seen a single player as good as Bouknight is. Removing my bias, he honestly is the best player in the country. If he takes us deep into the tourney he’ll easily be a top 10 pick. What does he even lack? He’s got size, he’s fast as hell, his finishing is just absurd, he can stroke it from 3. Any team that passes on him will regret it
 
Marat said:
I distinctly remember Caron pick it up in mid Feb but that was a full season of games.
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I always like to give Caron his props feel like he is slightly underated and we sometimes forget how talented he was for us and important to our program despite never winning a NC (that game against Maryland will forever be one of my favorites)
 
MuchoDogYears said:
You have to add Rip to that list.
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Yeah great list and Bouk fits right in but gotta add RIp to that list. Don’t forget, in rips sophomore year he led UConn to elite 8 where they lost to a loaded UNC squad consisting of Vince Carter, antwan Jameson and Ed cota. And then we all kno what rip did the following year.
 
Bonesbrigade said:
I always like to give Caron his props feel like he is slightly underated and we sometimes forget how talented he was for us and important to our program despite never winning a NC (that game against Maryland will forever be one of my favorites)
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Yup. The infamous elite 8 game against Lonnie Baxter cornball steve Blake and Chris Wilcox. I believe that game was in carrier dome. Caron and Calhoun got into it at halftime. Caron I believe ended up dropping 30 in second half. Lol.
 
Marat said:
This is just after 1 year and 7 games. Who else at this stage of their careers was better? Ray ? Rip? Not sure if they were better.
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Doest thou forget that year 1 was shortened? By 7, I think. In game count. tonight might have been the last game of his first year.
 
superjohn said:
Don't think that's it. Ray and Rip were amazingly talented scorers but they weren't incredible dribblers, drivers, and finishers compared to the best. I think Bouknight is compared to the best.
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Perhaps your view of Ray has been tainted by the last half of his pro career, when he rarely drove, At UConn, he was a reliable and crafty ball handler and explosive on drives to the rim.
 
Marat said:
I distinctly remember Caron pick it up in mid Feb but that was a full season of games.
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Yes, mid-February was definitely well past game 7 of year 2, but when Caron's shot 'clicked,' he was the best player in college basketball and on clear mission to carry his team to the championship. Simply because of the time of year and it being Sophomore season, Caron is who I most think of in assessing Bouknight.

The only comp as a guard, with things coming on late in the season, would be Ben, who Calhoun had to push and push and push, saying that he could take over games but didn't get that he could.

I wondered, "Really? Is he that good?" and then saw it, though, of course, he had Emeka.

I feel no urgent need to be 'right' abouy Bouk, but completely loved watching him tonight.

Adding to the enjoyment was watching at my sister's with her and her best friend at the back end of dog care there today. She's a competitive athlete who is not overly given to high enthusiasm or hype. Because of the pandemic, I haven't watched any basketball with her in some time, and she watches pro sports much more so. I treaded rather lightly in 'introducing' her to this year's team and Bouknight's narrative, including tonight's return from injury. I didn't know how much he'd play and how he'd show up. She was massively, multiply wowed, and for good reason.

Because we were together, it was even more fun than last week giving her the heads up on WBB game against South Carolina, which started off sloppy and earned a blase txt about that, before she saw for herself that Bueckers is also the real thing.
 
I don't even think he's hit his offensive peak yet either. Hasn't been particularly good shooting outside - on 3s and long 2s he's 19/60, or 32%. And yet he's still averaging 20ppg.

If he rises to what you'd expect him to do with his jumper, we're going to have some fun down the stretch.
 
Hes the most insane player I've ever seen play here, there are times where he just walks through the defense and it looks like they just let him. I just can't believe what we have. He's the best player in the conference, top 5 in the country?
 
Bouknight is ridiculously talented, but I'd like to see him be a stud from the perimeter before I put him in Ray or Rip's class. Those kids were 40+% from 3 as sophomores.

But I can see why he's definitely in the conversation in terms of talent/athleticism. His ability to drive and convert on all kinds of plays near the hoop are crazy.
 
He has the smoothness of Lamb with the toughness of Caron. Lamb was probably one of the best finishers around the basket I’ve ever seen in college. His floaters and layups always seemed to be money. Bouknight has a lot of that with the ability to finish through contact and get to the line that Caron had. Will enjoy his final games at UConn this year to go along with a NCAA tournament run.

Love the Zach Lavine comparison. Guys who make scoring look effortless.
 
Looks like Bouk is really enjoying himself. Playing with a lot of joy and passion. Great to see this time of year when legacies are made.

Need him to be the man in the big games (starting next Sat vs Nova) like the UConn NBA guys everyone is comparing him to who won those big games in the past.

Among his many offensive talents, he really is an amazingly efficient finisher when going to the hoop off the dribble and having the skill and talent to adjust to the D once "in flight".

Would have been pretty cool to have been returning to play at Gampel with a full house!. It is what it is. Let's keep getting W's.
 
auggie22 said:
Last night reminded me of the Maryland game. Though they lost then, Caron looked like a completely different animal than everyone else on the court. That was Bouknight last night.
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He is so head and shoulders talent wise above everyone else that was out there(no disrespect to anyone wearing a Uconn uniform of course) but it was like David Duke who. He just won Big East player of the week and he looked like he didn’t belong on the same court as Bouk. What a special special talent James is!!!
 

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