But also just for the record... Whichever brainiacs at Oregon thought it was a good idea to recruit 3-5star centers(Dante, Bittle and now the x-fered Ware) and then just rely on Will Richardson to do the rest or whatever half-baked scheme that was... completely asinine.. but at least now FINALLY this class is steps in the right direction.. Guess they've learned from their mistakes.. but honestly anyone with half a brain can tell you Oregon shoulda been much better, these past few seasons, they just made some recruiting errors which really killed their momentum n also didnt allow for the big recruits they got to really showcase properly.. but I CANT see that happening to this seasons squad, Kwame Evans n Sheltstad and Dante returning is a lot of firepower!
Stanford really has an awesome pair of recruits coming in with 6'3" attack guard Kannan Carlyle and Peja Stojakavic's son Andrej whos like 6'8 these days I think.. Plus Stanford has an interesting returning player named Brandon Angel who can really shoot the 3 and he's like 6'8 and 230lbs. Bigtime breakout candidate had a very strong close to last season. Looks the part of a pro.
of the few Super Seniors i'll be vouching for in some capacity (usually just in more of as an Undrafted Free Agent / SL / G-League / Two-Way type of deal) one is Branden Carlson 7-footer at Utah.. absolutely one of the best bigs in the nation --- just like he was last year.. anyone who tells ya otherwise -- i agree to disagree with. I'm hoping that Carlson destroys the Pac12, as he did last year. Even though he's born in 1999. Cuz this player to me is actually prepping for the pros, if its not the NBA he can play somewhere else for sure.. He could've went pro this summer but it appears he went back to school to play with his brother another season.. But this is just the new reality in college.. its more about preparing for the pros... which wait a second.. thats what college is for.. to prepare young professionals.. what a time to be alive..
Penny Hardaway has this crazy mess of transfers (as always) at Memphis.. Lotta former high ranked recruits trying to drum up past glory/momentum.. One player I thought looked particularly good whenever I caught his games was David Jones who's built like a tank at 6'6 from the Dominican Republic with long arms n athletic, n it seemed his skill was improving.. n really was a stalwart defender n seemed like an NBA athlete on the break.. Memphis will be his 3rd college team.. They'll have the former 5-star recruits Quinerly and Brown there but I'm thinking Jones is actually the best prospect on the team for the NBA, maybe, depending on his progress.
and Tyler Burton seems to be the higher profile 5-year xfer for Villanova getting talked about... but as a Blazers fan I'm interested to see how Hakim Hart does in that system, cuz he might be worth taking a flyer on.. I was also damn unimpressed with Mark Armstrong's(Villanova) showing for a team usa squad that couldnt medal at the FIBA U19 tourney this summer..think he shot 12% from 3 if memory serves me correct.. so I'm hoping that was a bit of a wake up call for Armstrong n some of those players who put that team usa uniform on and then didnt show up after the ball tipped off..
I'm really hoping Brandon Murray and Moussa Cisse get cleared for Ole Miss right away too.. That is a solid and balanced team they have, n I know theres a lot of hate for the Chris Beard hire -- I could care less about Chris Beard, I hope those players do well cuz its a talented bunch. N they lost 20 games last season I think they might be able to win 20 games this season.. N theres all sorts of players who will vie to be pros up and down the depth chart,, including 7'5" Jamarion sharpe.. but most notably Matthew Murrell a wide bodied 3pt specialist 6'5 wingplayer whos also explosive.
LSU needs their guards to match the frontcourt to be competitive.. If they rely on 6'3 true freshman Mike Williams III to run the show that'll be fun but volatile. I particularly liked what I saw from 6'10 Derek Fountain last season, he's solid... They have Damion Collins x-ferring in too so their frontcourt is crazy long n they have Will Baker at C.. Mkwani Wilkenson a 6'5 Junior they have is actually an NBA level defender we're just waiting to see if his offense can become passable, so thats still worth monitoring..
Man the big10 is gnna be a BLOODBATH this season.. my goodness.. there are gonna be some bruised egos at the end of conference play and probably some fired coaches.. cuz some of those coaches deserve to be fired... very overpaid.. Hard for me to believe Ohio State, Indiana and Maryland arent being a bit underrated in that conference.. Reneau was asked more to play as a bigman Freshman season.. All indications are this year that he's gonna be showing off his 'all around game' so thats gonna be something I think is quite interesting as a Blazers fan cuz I'd consider picking him up as a PF.. N he's working on defending smaller players so lets see how that looks.. 235lbs but moves smoothly n puts in work on the offensive glass. I dont think Penn State is gonna be the worst team in the league either.. these writers at CBS i think arent very good at their jobs tbh.. that vote on these preseason polls..
I'm interested to see what 6'10 3pt shooter Ben Gregg is gonna do at Gonzaga his Junior season-- but it seems he's gonna be coming off the bench behind Anton Watson, whos playing in whats gotta be his 8th or 9th season at Gonzaga no? 10th? Gonzaga got HIT HARD by the x-fers.. Wake Forest stole 2 of their big 5 star projects in Sallis and Reid.. and also Kaden Perry having a career ending injury STINKS.... What a TERRIBLE STORY.. That kid was pretty good when I saw him play... n I dont think he ever played much after that.. which STINKS... --- So just on the strength of that alone I'm kinda sympathetic for this Zags team.. But their opponents sure wont be... Major "put up or shut up" season for Nolan Hickman -- Even with Ryan Nembhard there now, they need Hickman to be reliable. I do think the Graham Ike experiment at C will go well.. Whenever I saw him at Wyoming he was putting up big stats with ease.. n Ike will make the SL/G-League... Lets see how the Steele Venters experiment goes as well.. Lotta moving parts everywhere u turn with all these x-fers.
The more I look around at these rosters the more I'm sure Arizona has some of the most talent n depth.. (n its gonna be more of the same in '24-'25 tbh) Can't wait to see what kind of form Dylan Anderson and Henri Veesar are in.. Very interested to see if Filip Brovcanin is good enough to get on the floor yet, or what Muraskas looks like at a Freshman, I saw him play in a fiba tourney or 2. Jaden Bradley who was part of that incident with Brandon Miller and the Alabama teammates, the one where the girl got shot and killed, is at Arizona now alongside Kylan Boswell (who had more turnovers than assists at this illfated Team USA U19 showing this summer) Pelle Larson should be interesting to watch though, and they have a KJ Lewis, and a 7'2 freshman Krivas whos legit but he wont play anytime soon with Anderson and Veesar and Ballo there.. Veesaar in particular who everyone lists at 7' and at PF looks particularly interesting to me from the Blazers POV.. (take one of the wings like Justin Edwards or Buzelis with the lotto pick n then tkae this kd in the late 1st or early 2nd.. makes sense looking at the blazers depth) PG - Scoota, Simons, Brogdon, *Mahaney(2rp) SG - Simons, Brogdon, Buzelis/Sharpe, Thybulle, *Ugolin(2rp -stash) SF - Sharpe, Buzelis, Brogdon, Grant/Thybulle/Murray PF - Grant, Buzelis, Walker/Murray/Camara, Veesaar C - Ayton, Williams, Reath, Veesaar AND THEN you can look to trade Brogdon to the highest bidder, once Buzelis is on the roster.. Or that makes sense to me..
Im gonna dredge on solo in this thread.. I dont care about Dame or Stotts or some of this offseason stuff.. Much more messed up but also hilarious offseason storyline is this drunk Bob Huggins losing his job at WVU.. WVU actually has an interesting group of players too.. Kinda rooting for them to do well.. Like I see this CBS preview that has them 13th outa 14 teams in a conference (called the big 12 btw, n it has 14 teams.. big money college shit btw! brilliant minds!) WVU is more talented than most of those other bottom feeders..
I think Cincinattis transition to the Big XII should go a bit smoother than some are expecting too.. Ody Oguama is one of my favorite Seniors in the nation.. Monstrous athlete. Hope he shows out this year, cuz that kid might be able to play pro, certainly is built for it. They've got Edgerrin James Jr. (oldschool NFL fans will remember his dad was a beast of a running back for the Colts during the Peyton Manning years) and Rayvon Griffith very underrated 2man recruiting class coming in.. Cant wait to see the Bearcats..
You seem to have an incredible grasp of the college game and the players within. Can i ask, who would be your top prospect for the blazers to target in next years draft if they get another lottery selection? I know this answer may change based on the play of the team this year so i will ask you again at the end of the season.
Guess im going thru lots of teams who had coaches who've made fools of themselves publicly --- so why not bring up Rick Pitino whos back in action at St. Johns.. This time, presumably, hes not using lets call them --- ladies of the night, to lure in recruits.. (we hope) anyway Slick Rick Pitino.. Or I guess 'not so slick rick pitino' would be more appropriate in light of the events at Louisville. First off this x-fer he got from UMass is very draftable.. Not so slick rick also landed Zuby Ejiofor, and they have Joel Soriano returning so very solid presence at C.. he's also got Brady Dunlap who should be a great college 3pt shooter --- and the crown jewel of his recruiting class is 6'4" combo guard Simeon Wilcher, whos got a solid foundation to be a pro..
So Alex Sarr is the #1 player on my board AND I believe he fits well with the Blazers, as he's 7'1 and appears to be agile n smooth enough to handle PF, cuz he really glides around for such a young n tall player.. So all my "best case scenarios" are gonna involve him being selected.. no-brainer.. He also can shoot 3's and he's an excellent shotblocker.. What Evan Mobley is for the Cavs, Sarr could be for the Blazers, thats the hope. A 2nd Lotto pick? I'd want Matas Buzelis.. N btw I think these 2 answers Im giving ya, are really good ones.. They might stand the test of time better than your anticipating (or maybe ill eat my words in 2 weeks ) To add 2 players like that to this roster.. That is a significant talent boost.. like that is making out like bandits.. getting paid off in a kings ransom.. hitting the jackpot.. all that.. PG - Scoot/Simons SG - Simons/Sharpe SF - Buzelis/Grant PF - Sarr/Grant C - Ayton/Sarr that is a MAJOR upgrade for what we have now.. like its not even close, where theres these fringe 1st rd/2nd rd talents like Jabari Walker, Camara and Kris Murray we'd be replacing with lotto pick talent like Buzelis and Sarr, n the impact would be quickly felt... n that team is enormous n absurdly athletic, n they all run like the wind. Cuz really Buzelis is functional at SG-SF and PF and Sarr is at PF and C, so not only do they upgrade the talent and the athleticism and the fast break n mobility n length n shooting --- but they save spots on the depth chart too.. N the blazers have signifigant money coming off the books in 2026, these 2 picks Buzelis and Sarr would offer some form of insurance for if they walked... Like if Ayton walks summer of 2026.. Sarr is the starting C.. Problem solved, ahead of time.. N like Buzelis in the 3rd n 4th year of that rookie deal, probably gonna be WAY more productive than his paygrade.. Sarr has the talent where he could command a max salary IMO But basically these players would allow the Blazers to "Go For it" by cutting some of the bigger salary pieces and maybe trading picks for even bigger upgrades, like a big money star player.. I like having Brogdon on this roster for example... If we land Buzelis in this draft, like in this scenario.. Brogdon instantly becomes much more expendable IMO.. but thats a good thing it means we sorta maxxed out the roster n now need to consolidate assets to improve.. Buzelis isnt the type of lotto pick that needs the ball btw.. most of these lotto picks do.. Buzelis is super comfy playing off the ball and on the ball he transitions with ease.. So he's really a good match here for a long list of reasons.. cuz like Kris murray and jabari walker and toumani camara... they cant compete with buzelis.. apples and oranges.... I like that sorta scrappy doo attitude n all that.. but to make the best team you need the best players,, n buzelis can do what those older players can, and much more.. so its not even an contest.. n theres plenty of merit as to why buzelis will go top10 and those others went late 1st or in the 2nd rd. and Rayan Rupert is completely redundant n worthless the second the Blazers land Buzelis as well.. (for the record) Buzelis is pretty much everything they'd ever hope Rupert could be, and much more.
This is the type of Buzelis footage.. If Matas is playing like this IDK if theres another player in this draft who can help Scoot and Ayton more.. Or thats how it seems now here way before things get started.. He looks very much like a player who would be selected with a single-digit pick in this footage if u ask me..
I like Miller, and he does make some sense for the Blazers, but I want to see him shoot the 3 better than 28% as he did for the gold medal Spain U19 team this summer. Problem for us Blazers fans is if he shoots it too well from 3, he's not gonna be around for the later 1rp... FSU was unwatchable last season n part of it was cuz Miller wasnt eligible, plus the story goes he got to campus n had very bad shin splints from growing so fast. The truth is last seasons FSU roster was beaten to a pulp before Miller even got to suit up, which SUCKS, everything about that situation last season sucks.. Then he finally gets on the court n gets tonsillitis... Nightmare season where just everything keeps going from bad to worse like its the 1985 scorsese film "After Hours" Some damage was done to that roster last season and now they need to rely on a few players coming back from ACL surgeries from not that long ago.. If Cam'Ron Fletcher is back in form that'll help them absorb the loss of Cleveland. I'm quite interested to see their freshman Taylor Bol Bowen.. That team will only go as far as Jalen Warley can take them, which was quite hit or miss last szn so for everyones sake I hope hes more consistent.. But Baba Miller isnt gonna have anywhere to hide this season we're gonna get a good idea what he's made of..Im thinking were gonna see him at PF a lot though for FSU, maybe even some C.. interested to see what happens vs Duke /Filipkowski,, I guess its one of those things.. If your a Blazers fan your rooting for Miller to take 4 3's a game... and if your an FSU fan your rooting for Miller to take 1 or 2 3's a game n mostly shoot 2's hahahah...
