so DJ, Kuany and Dimitrios all got a little bit of PT (DJ the most) in the USC game

Solid game for DJ, going 3-3 shooting, and 3-4 FTs for 9 points, including a 16 footer, and a strong dunk in traffic. He only grabbed 1 rebound and had 2 TOs, 4 fouls, but overall a pretty good game vs a talented and big front court. He looked like he belonged.

Kuany with 4 points on 1-2 shooting, and 2-4 FTs. He had 2 rebounds, 3 fouls and 1 TO. He looks like he can move his feet pretty well and his length is good on an otherwise undersized team. He was out of possession sometimes on defense, which is why I think his PT is very limited right now. Still I can see potential for him starting next year when he gains some strength and learns the schemes.

Jury still out on Dimitrios. He scored his first points on a nice jumper, but missed 2-3 FTs (2 badly). He got 1 Rebound and 2 fouls. Dimitrios has nice size and strength, but he doesn't look quick enough on defense yet

I think we will see more of DJ, and depending on matchups, also Kuany. I think we will continue to see only spot duty by Dimitrios this year.

Thanks for bringing this up. It's not at all outside the realm of possibility that we could eventually get some very good play out of Lars, and/or Thorpe and/or Kuany, I'm talking about in future years. Because of that, I'd say sure, we can use an athletic big, but our biggest recruiting need right now is a PG with skills that compliment Joel Brown. Well, we could use a REALLY GOOD player at any damn position, too.

need scorer

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke? Thorpe shows real promise.

Kuany looks all over the place with his long legs abs arms and thin frame

He plays like a 3, but will get in trouble driving to the rack. But he has made some short range floater-type shots that are high and on target. They look awkward and difficult but they go down

His shooting looks similar... not your classic form, although maybe again, it just looks different because of his body

But he looks like a solid (Not great) shooter in warmups

But what I was really focusing in was his defense. He was able to stay with his man without fouling and his length bothered people. One time he was deep in the post when he was supposed to be at the wing defending. USC has a wide-wide open shot

I think all three of these guys (and Lars) are the types of players who will be strong contributors (starting or top rotation) in their Junior and Senior years.

That is great! Along with two or three Bradley level talents, Cal could finish in the top third of the conference and always be on the bubble.

If we want to contend for conference titles and make it past the first weekend more than once every four or five years, we will need to upgrade our incoming talent level.

That is not to say that the former is not entertaining and exciting, but folks here should recognize that the latter will take more than coaching up the players.

Maybe this board will get pie eyed and giggly if Cal squeaks by FUCLA and $C shreds Furd, both of which are in the realm of possibility.

As The Big Bafoon would say... Please. Beat fucla

calgo430 said:

---

need scorer

---

Badly!!

DJ wasn't afraid to attack the paint. He and Matt may be a formidable pair in 2 years.

bearister said:

---

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke? Thorpe shows real promise.

---

When he drained that baseline three against UW, he looked -- for a couple of seconds -- like an NBA player.

BeachedBear said:

---

I think all three of these guys (and Lars) are the types of players who will be strong contributors (starting or top rotation) in their Junior and Senior years.

That is great! Along with two or three Bradley level talents, Cal could finish in the top third of the conference and always be on the bubble.

If we want to contend for conference titles and make it past the first weekend more than once every four or five years, we will need to upgrade our incoming talent level.

That is not to say that the former is not entertaining and exciting, but folks here should recognize that the latter will take more than coaching up the players.

---

Disagree about Klonaris. He looks too slow and lost for D-1 basketball. Wouldn't surprise me if he transferred (along with Cobi who looks like he never recovered from his injury).

UrsaMajor said:

---

BeachedBear said:

---

I think all three of these guys (and Lars) are the types of players who will be strong contributors (starting or top rotation) in their Junior and Senior years.

That is great! Along with two or three Bradley level talents, Cal could finish in the top third of the conference and always be on the bubble.

If we want to contend for conference titles and make it past the first weekend more than once every four or five years, we will need to upgrade our incoming talent level.

That is not to say that the former is not entertaining and exciting, but folks here should recognize that the latter will take more than coaching up the players.

---

Disagree about Klonaris. He looks too slow and lost for D-1 basketball. Wouldn't surprise me if he transferred (along with Cobi who looks like he never recovered from his injury).

---

You might be right about Klonaras, but I think it may be too early to tell. Most non-elite players look slow and lost when they first get serious playing time, and this kid's last serious playing time was in Greece. I think he has been recovering from an injury, otherwise he would have played more in the non-conference games. He will never be considered "quick", but there are plenty of contributing D-1 players who are less than blazing. He will first have to get playing time, and then prove that he understands his role and most importantly, he must contribute something positive to the team. I liked his one basket when he made his shot while being fouled. He showed strength, and at least for that one moment, a good shot.

bearister said:

---

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke?

---

You were seeing things. The ball spins sideways out of hand, and there are exactly zero good shooters who shoot like that. He is going to have to rebuild his shot, as will Joel Brown. I hope there is a coach who can help them.

Sluggo

sluggo said:

---

bearister said:

---

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke?

---

You were seeing things. The ball spins sideways out of hand, and there are exactly zero good shooters who shoot like that. He is going to have to rebuild his shot, as will Joel Brown. I hope there is a coach who can help them.

Sluggo

---

No, I'm going to have to call bs on that. I didn't mean to overstate my case, but there are guys on the team now with worse shooting form. Last year Sueing had a more awkward stroke. Does Kuany have work to do, OH YEAH, but I was pleasantly surprised the few shots that he has taken that he didn't have the typical AAU born and bred horrific shooting mechanics.
He takes a couple of outside shots in this:

sluggo said:

---

bearister said:

---

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke?

---

You were seeing things. The ball spins sideways out of hand, and there are exactly zero good shooters who shoot like that. He is going to have to rebuild his shot, as will Joel Brown. I hope there is a coach who can help them.

Sluggo

---

I don't know enough to form an opinion on Kuany's shot, but your comment made me immediately think of Kenny Smith. I had no idea how he was such a great shooter with the ball rotating sideways lol

bearister said:

---

sluggo said:

---

bearister said:

---

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke?

---

You were seeing things. The ball spins sideways out of hand, and there are exactly zero good shooters who shoot like that. He is going to have to rebuild his shot, as will Joel Brown. I hope there is a coach who can help them.

Sluggo

---

No, I'm going to have to call bs on that. I didn't mean to overstate my case, but there are guys on the team now with worse shooting form. Last year Sueing had a more awkward stroke. Does Kuany have work to do, OH YEAH, but I was pleasantly surprised the few shots he has taken that he didn't have the typical AAU born and bred horrific shooting mechanics.
He takes a couple of outside shots in this:

---

Call bs. Call a friend. Call whatever you want. But if you watch the game tomorrow you will see the sideways rotation that needs to be fixed. I am not the first person here to point it out. You actually don't address whether I am correct. BTW, he is shooting 7 of 14 from the line. Small sample, but not good.

I do like him as a player. Amazing NBA physique. Not much else yet, but there is time.

Sluggo

ilyn said:

---

sluggo said:

---

bearister said:

---

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke?

---

You were seeing things. The ball spins sideways out of hand, and there are exactly zero good shooters who shoot like that. He is going to have to rebuild his shot, as will Joel Brown. I hope there is a coach who can help them.

Sluggo

---

I don't know enough to form an opinion on Kuany's shot, but your comment made me immediately think of Kenny Smith. I had no idea how he was such a great shooter with the ball rotating sideways lol

---

You are right. Kenny Smith was a great shooter with a sidewise rotation. So I guess it is possible, but better to fix if you can.

Sluggo

Yes, you need backspin to be a consistent shooter. So I assume his hand placement is off?

bearister said:

---

Maybe this board will get pie eyed and giggly if Cal squeaks by FUCLA and $C shreds Furd, both of which are in the realm of possibility.

---

Well, it was no shredding, more of a Furd fold, but I'm halfway there. Maybe I got things mixed up and it is Cal that shreds FUCLA (which would put Bruins in full auger in death spiral) and it was $C that squeaked by.

Candy Assed Collapse.

sluggo said:

---

bearister said:

---

sluggo said:

---

bearister said:

---

Was I seeing things or does Kuany have a pretty smooth shooting stroke?

---

You were seeing things. The ball spins sideways out of hand, and there are exactly zero good shooters who shoot like that. He is going to have to rebuild his shot, as will Joel Brown. I hope there is a coach who can help them.

Sluggo

---

No, I'm going to have to call bs on that. I didn't mean to overstate my case, but there are guys on the team now with worse shooting form. Last year Sueing had a more awkward stroke. Does Kuany have work to do, OH YEAH, but I was pleasantly surprised the few shots he has taken that he didn't have the typical AAU born and bred horrific shooting mechanics.
He takes a couple of outside shots in this:

---

Call bs. Call a friend. Call whatever you want. But if you watch the game tomorrow you will see the sideways rotation that needs to be fixed. I am not the first person here to point it out. You actually don't address whether I am correct. BTW, he is shooting 7 of 14 from the line. Small sample, but not good.

I do like him as a player. Amazing NBA physique. Not much else yet, but there is time.

Sluggo

---

The sample size is so tiny. You don't attempt to fix a player's stroke based on 4 three point attempts in 59 minutes of play. Or at least I wouldn't try to fix it. As for the 7 free throws out of 14, again the sample size is very small,but most players 6-9 and taller don't shoot free throws well. 65% is a decent number for them, and if he had made just 2 more in that sample, he would have shot them at 64%. Same thing with the threes. If he had made one more three of his 4 attempts, he'd have shot them at 50%, which is up there in Theo or Bradley country.

I don't care how his shot spins, you don't fix a shooter's stroke if the shots are going down, and the sample is not big enough. We have to see a lot of games where he gets substantial minutes to make this judgment, IMO.

I played a lot of tennis and golf, and the different spins of the ball fascinated me. I remember back in high school learning different spins of a basketball, because in those days, many of the good players learned to be skilled in shooting shots off the backboard, layups, hooks and jumpers. But I also experimented with putting some sidespin (I called it circular spin) in combination with backspin. I shot these shots one-handed, and it was very deadly in practice. I was already a good shooter without sidespin, and I was afraid to use it in games, because if I wasn't making shots, the coach would yank me, and send me to the bench. I always wondered if it would be a better way of shooting.

Finally, there are a number of unorthodox shooters who have played this game, and shot well. Wilt shot all his long distance shots (now called threes) off the glass. Kareem shot his hooks by almost facing the basket, and nobody has ever hooked as well trying that. Hal Greer was an 80% free throw shooter, shooting only jump shots. Bob Petit shot them one handed with no assistance from his off hand. Cazzie Russell shot his jump shots and his free throws with a line drive. You would swear there is no way that ball goes in the basket, but it it did. He shot FTs at 80%. Let's give Kuany more time, and a lot more shot attempts, before we monkey with his spin. If he can shoot threes at 35%, long twos at 40-45%, and FTs at 65-70%, it would not be wise to change his shooting style, IMO.