Lukas Kisunas Commits to UConn | Page 9 | The Boneyard

Lukas Kisunas Commits to UConn

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Video is from his jr year at Brewster. He looked a little too deliberate near the basket. Need to be strong and decisive with interior moves. All reports Are that he added height and weight this year. He also has another year of development before putting on a UConn uniform.
 
HuskyHawk said:
I don't think he'll be as nearly good as Jake was (I think people forget how good he was). ...

I'm with you that Carlton is the better prospect. But I am convinced that Kisunas is the kind of guy who will be hard to keep off the floor by the time he's a junior or senior.
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Jake became very good. But people forget how far he had to go when he was in high school. Mike Leblanc was the higher rated player on his high school team (Voskuhl's Already A Contributor). Kisunas is not obviously worse than Jake as a high school player.

Who's better, Carlton or Kisunas, time will tell. But both can be major contributors. Kisunas is going to play from day one, he provides a look at center that no one else can provide.
 
Based on the hit/miss ratio of foreign born kids who played bball for UConn I'm going to say he will have a productive career with the Huskies. Any one want to compile a list?
 
One of the best aspects of the new crop of bigs for UConn is that there will be ample size and muscle for them to work against each other in practice. Cobb, Kisunas, Carlton, and Diarra will become accustomed to the pounding that the interior players face everyday in practice and not just in game situations. One of the major issues with the Brimah, Facey, Enoch, Durham group was that they did not have the power and weight needed push each other around in practice.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Kisunas isn't a reach, he's just not the kind of guy that the morons who give ratings like. He doesn't jump out of the gym, but he knows how to play. Every year we watch an Ivy team made up of guys almost entirely like this give some #1 or #2 seed absolute fits. Surround those kids with better athletes, like we have, and their basketball skill set and knack for doing the little things is magnified.
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HuskyHawk said:
That said, I think he'll be better than Brimah or Facey at filling the role we actually need filled. A 6'8" guy from Northeastern got 15 boards against us last year. That can't happen. We haven't had a guy who even knew how to block out in several years. Nor a center who could catch a pass and make a layup.
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Agree on both of these, although Shonn Miller was perhaps the exception on blocking out. It's been very disappointing the last couple of years watching the team give up offensive rebounds because nobody can stick their butt on someone's hip before going after the board. If you give me a choice between outlandish athletic ability with sketchy basketball IQ, and solid athleticism with even better basketball IQ I'll take the latter. That's what we have here. Good hands, smart with the ball and off it, and although not quick he runs like a player. And the point about not playing AAU is right on. At the end of this year I'll wager his ranking will be between 80 and 120. You can't teach 6'10" & 250, and there aren't a ton of those out there.
 
Doctor Hoop said:
Agree on both of these, although Shonn Miller was perhaps the exception on blocking out. It's been very disappointing the last couple of years watching the team give up offensive rebounds because nobody can stick their butt on someone's hip before going after the board. If you give me a choice between outlandish athletic ability with sketchy basketball IQ, and solid athleticism with even better basketball IQ I'll take the latter. That's what we have here. Good hands, smart with the ball and off it, and although not quick he runs like a player. And the point about not playing AAU is right on. At the end of this year I'll wager his ranking will be between 80 and 120. You can't teach 6'10" & 250, and there aren't a ton of those out there.
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Who knows if he will crack the top 100 but I agree, I think all of our 2018 commits will end up ranked higher than they are currently. Akinjo should be top 100 and I bet Kisunas and Matthews end up top 150 guys if not close
 
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3rdbass said:
The problem with his moves is that it seems to take forever and he is going in slow motion. I wonder if he will just get his shot rejected a lot or lose the ball from small guards reaching in. I did see this a few times in the raw video that was posted.
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There is no way he will get stripped more than our recent bigs. He at least has strength and good hands and can pass out of the post (Carlton can do this also). This is the type of big we need. For several years we have had guys like brimah who if the ball gets passed to him in the post will immediately panic and throw up a shot if he doesn’t turn the ball over first. Now we are going to have guys like Carlton and Lukas who can actually think and make a good decision if they catch the ball down low. For the type of basketball uconn is trying to play, this is an upgrade.
 
QDOG5 said:
Based on the hit/miss ratio of foreign born kids who played bball for UConn I'm going to say he will have a productive career with the Huskies. Any one want to compile a list?
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I'll play! I threw some guys in who did play a year or so in the US prior to enrollment. I go back to the Earl Kelley days.

Israel

Nadav, Doron, Gilad Katz, Uri-Cohen Mintz --> Two huge hits, two misses

Germany

Niels, Enosch Wolf(e), Leon T, Marc Suhr --> One hit, three misses

Africa

Ajou, Ater Majok, Okwandu, Hasheem, Amida, Souleymane --> I'd say one big hit, two hits, one OK, and two big misses

Australia

Ryan Thompson, Justin Brown, Ater Majok --> Still have hopes JB can claim the starting center spot this year

Canada

Denham Brown, Gerry Besselink --> Two hits

Jamaica

Kenton --> All in all a hit

Ukraine

Ruslan Inyatkin --> 4-year backup, hit?

France/Bosnia

Predrag Materic --> Never played a minute for us, but had a long career in Europe and is an agent for a couple foreign NBA guys.
 
"Kisunas isn't a reach, he's just not the kind of guy that the morons who give ratings like. He doesn't jump out of the gym, but he knows how to play. Every year we watch an Ivy team made up of guys almost entirely like this give some #1 or #2 seed absolute fits. Surround those kids with better athletes, like we have, and their basketball skill set and knack for doing the little things is magnified".

Excellent insight. I can't wait to see what he can do with the Uconn staff and working out with the team. Fundamentally sound from the get-go.
 
good get. I like this class. Although no 5 star recruits, I feel much better about the future...completely different feeling from April/May
 
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UConnRock said:
Video is from his jr year at Brewster. He looked a little too deliberate near the basket. Need to be strong and decisive with interior moves. All reports Are that he added height and weight this year. He also has another year of development before putting on a UConn uniform.
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Think he will only fit in the "accidental" game plan....Offensive tips and rolls to the hoop. Don't see his low post game being a focal point of the offense...In a worse case scenerio, he's a great banger in practice
 
Storrsbred said:
What doesn’t everyone get? Kisunas didn’t play AAU. Rankings are based, for the most part, on AAU play at camps. Rankings don’t mean much anyway, except for the gifted few.

This kid is going to be perfect in a couple of seasons.
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All of this is correct, but AAU play and evaluation would be a better indicator of whether he can handle the speed of high D1 basketball. Fundamentals and skills are clearly there, but whether that will translate is a bit of an unknown. I'm encouraged by the fact that he has multiple offers from high major programs.
 
Kenny11 said:
There is no way he will get stripped more than our recent bigs. He at least has strength and good hands and can pass out of the post (Carlton can do this also). This is the type of big we need. For several years we have had guys like brimah who if the ball gets passed to him in the post will immediately panic and throw up a shot if he doesn’t turn the ball over first. Now we are going to have guys like Carlton and Lukas who can actually think and make a good decision if they catch the ball down low. For the type of basketball uconn is trying to play, this is an upgrade.
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The one thing I didn't like is that he brings the ball down and dribbles a lot in traffic. This isn't going to fly in the AAC. It isn't that he has worst hands than AB it is that he brings the ball down low a lot, probably to gather and go up since he has limited ups. He will have to learn to keep the ball high and just pass out if he can't make a quick move instead of dribbling.
 
3rdbass said:
The one thing I didn't like is that he brings the ball down and dribbles a lot in traffic. This isn't going to fly in the AAC. It isn't that he has worst hands than AB it is that he brings the ball down low a lot, probably to gather and go up since he has limited ups. He will have to learn to keep the ball high and just pass out if he can't make a quick move instead of dribbling.
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Gee, I saw the opposite when watching his video. When he went right back up, he kept the ball up. The only time the ball came down was to make a move. I thought his footwork was pretty good. I'm happy with this commit.
 
This thread is depressing. So many things exposed about our fans, they don't remember where most of our 3-4 year players started in impact and skill set in the JC days. Matthews and Kisunas are ahead on the scale for so many 4 year people who turned out to be key components of our winning history. It's not tough to see how good both of these guys can and will be with another year of High School, and then some hard work at UConn.

Crazy stuff!!! :rolleyes:
 
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imno1 said:
Im watching the raw footage video and was confused. Big men are allowed to pass the ball?
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He's so far ahead of a couple of our last bigs in that area with another year of HS its amazing. And moving his feet on D, not sure how some call him slow because while he's certainly not fast the key I see is he understands the game. Heck he even intercepted a pass they tried to throw by him while coming to help. Our big guy(s) had passes whizzing by his arms when coming to help late for 4 years. Elevation? overrated if you're tough, hold your ground and rebound. Agree he needs to hold down the fort then turn and box out but to think all guys who can elevate over him will score all the time is crazy. I would much rather have a guy who stays on the floor and doesn't elevate, put his hands up while not giving to much space and then fighting for what will be a rebound most of the time than a guy who's thinking block the shot and isn't close to fighting for a rebound when he takes himself out to the play.
 
Stinger92860 said:
Gee, I saw the opposite when watching his video. When he went right back up, he kept the ball up. The only time the ball came down was to make a move. I thought his footwork was pretty good. I'm happy with this commit.
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Re-watch the raw video again as he brought it down quite often while getting stripped a couple times. His post moves are so slow that it makes it susceptible to being stripped.

If he comes in there with the attitude of doing the dirty work of setting screens and defensive rebounding then he will do fine. I just don't see much on the offensive side from him besides tip ins and some pick and roll lay-ups. Again a good pick-up but one that has you scratching your head especially during the fall recruiting period.
 
I really like this kid and im thrilled with this class.
3rdbass said:
I guess recruiting has really changed when we are excited by composite recruiting number 101, 173 and 303 joining us. It sucks we aren't even sniffing the top 50 recruits. I know these guys fit a role on the team but these aren't the normal recruits we were getting even when we got DHAM, Adams and Gilbert.
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These seem like solid guys who will contribute for atleast 3 years. You add 3 4 or 5* top 100 kids in 2019 class and youve got a team that historically has had a big season. In 2003 we got commitments from a 4* and 3 3* which isnt that impressive but those guys would play a big part in our title run in 2004 and go on to win a ton of games over 4 years. The recruits were Shad, Hilton, Denham and Marcus White.
 
WhereistheDove? said:
We should make a blaze jar for you. Every time you say the word blaze, you have to put in a dollar and when you're on to your next idiosyncratic talking point, we can give it all to a charity of your choice. We could do some real good here.
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I love the posters who are stuck on things that did not work. We had to come up with a strategy that counteracted the scandal schools - but did not participate with them. I think we hit a home run with Blaze.
 
I love Jake, one of my favorite Huskies of all time. He was a huge part of that first championship.

However, this kid is light years ahead offensively. He has form and touch and is a real smart player. If he can score 5 or 6 as a freshman and contribute in lots of other ways that would be great. He looks like a building block to me, a great complimentary player on a team with a couple of stars. I think his ceiling is Jakeish with a bit more star power.
 
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I'm not overly concerned about the rankings. Way more concerned with the offers. Pitt and Virginia are a pretty good indication the kid has higher level game than his rankings would indicate.

We had a lot of holes we needed to fill due to transfers and guys potentially leaving early. Not at all upset with filling out our roster - this year - with some under the radar guys.

Next year we'll be telling. That's when it's going to be critical to land some high end talent to take our roster to the next level.
 
Ok! Clearly I'm missing something. Someone help me sort this out. At this point - ASSUMING NO ONE LEAVES AFTER THIS YEAR - the 2018-19 roster would include Seniors Adams, Cobb (RS), and Larrier (RS); Juniors Gilbert, Diarra, Vital and Williams; Sophs Polley, Williams, and Carlton: And Freshmen Akinjo, Matthews, Kisaunas, and Wilson (RS). That's 14, isn't it? Are we expecting someone to leave early? Are we still recruiting Carey, Shittu, etc.?
 
geordi said:
Are we expecting someone to leave early?
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Yes. Larrier has been pretty transparent about probably leaving after graduating this year and Adams has the possibility of being drafted.
 
Excalibur said:
All of this is correct, but AAU play and evaluation would be a better indicator of whether he can handle the speed of high D1 basketball. Fundamentals and skills are clearly there, but whether that will translate is a bit of an unknown. I'm encouraged by the fact that he has multiple offers from high major programs.
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I disagree about AAU. None of those teams play defense (for the most part). Playing for Brewster and in nepsac is a better barometer
 
Welcome aboard young lad. Get ready to throw some weight around and Congratulations on the most recent smart choice of your budding career - great play, Lukas, great play.
 
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