Marek Dolezaj

[orangefog]

And an absolute nba stud for a while, any comparison to him is nonsense & just sticking him to another white foreign guy.

For real, I hate when people do that. But, he reminds me a bit of Toni Kukoc.

 

[iommi]

For real, I hate when people do that. But, he reminds me a bit of Toni Kukoc.

Ha. I was thinking Sean Bradley. Oh, wait...foreign... Uh..Vlade Divac.

 

[chugg21]

For real, I hate when people do that. But, he reminds me a bit of Toni Kukoc.

Same as how all white dudes get compared to only other white dudes and get described as cerebral or a grinder or some close variation of that.

 

[Day2]

For real, I hate when people do that. But, he reminds me a bit of Toni Kukoc.

He reminds me of a young Stellan Skarsgard.

 

[JLine]

We always used to lock guys up early. Battle was the last one. He decided in July after his junior year. But I think we can get a couple of these '18 kids signed before the fall (Williams and Swider?). And then a couple more in Oct/Nov.

Would be nice to just get Williams, Swider, and Carey early then be done with it. But, we will have fun waiting I'm sure, and Hughes is in the mix if need be. Who I really like a lot more than most.

Same with the Euro. Think he could develop into a great program guy. I know we need a 3 to contribute right away. I think he can shoot well enough, and give us 15-20 minutes, while OB and/or MM fill out the rest. He looks like a high energy player that would do well at the 3 in the zone.

Maybe a bit of Tyus thrown in too, but doubtful he gets many minutes at the 3. Hopefully we get Thorpe. We can tweak the lineup around. Though we need to figure it out earlier than we did last year. I think we're gonna be pleasantly surprised next year, and build towards a great 2018-2019 season.

I'll take Marek the Slovakian Freak. JT can enjoy Duke.

I don't think it rhymes, but oh well. Someone more clever can come up with a better nickname. Cleric Marek? Eh, that doesn't work. Anyway, moving on.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Same as how all white dudes get compared to only other white dudes and get described as cerebral or a grinder or some close variation of that.

Shows a lot of grit. First guy at the facility. Last to leave. Deceptively quick.

 

[littlereg]

Shows a lot of grit. First guy at the facility. Last to leave. Deceptively quick.

A lunch pail kinda guy. Big heart. Smartest kid on the field. He's such a smart player, always fights til there's nothing left

 

[jordoo]

Would be nice to just get Williams, Swider, and Carey early then be done with it.

That would be excellent! I'd take those three right now and not look back.

 

[iommi]

Question is: how do we utilize this guy when he joins the fold?

Hopefully, he shoots well enough to stretch the floor. Jokes aside, looking at the small amount of film we have, he does look like a guy who will bring a little bit of everything. I expect him to carve out a role this season as an energy guy off the bench. He should be good in our press. Hopefully, he can play the 3. We have so many 4's and he is too thin for the 4.

 

[RF2044]

Question is: how do we utilize this guy when he joins the fold?

Hopefully, he shoots well enough to stretch the floor. Jokes aside, looking at the small amount of film we have, he does look like a guy who will bring a little bit of everything. I expect him to carve out a role this season as an energy guy off the bench. He should be good in our press. Hopefully, he can play the 3. We have so many 4's and he is too thin for the 4.

Depending on how personnel shake out from this point forward, it will be interesting to see whether this guy [1] would be ready to play immediately, and [2] if he projects at 3 or 4. We could desperately use him at 3, just not sure that he is ready for a heavy dosage of minutes right away. He and Brissett both seems like combo forwards to me.

 

[orangefog]

Question is: how do we utilize this guy when he joins the fold?

Hopefully, he shoots well enough to stretch the floor. Jokes aside, looking at the small amount of film we have, he does look like a guy who will bring a little bit of everything. I expect him to carve out a role this season as an energy guy off the bench. He should be good in our press. Hopefully, he can play the 3. We have so many 4's and he is too thin for the 4.

Yeah, he might end up playing some 3 out of necessity. This team might have to steal some minutes with some of the young forwards on the floor at the same time. But, I think we will have enough very athletic big guys to have a killer press. Might mask some of their shortcomings on offense.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Ha. I was thinking Sean Bradley. Oh, wait...foreign... Uh..Vlade Divac.

Shawn Bradley was born in Germany. So...he counts!

 

[iommi]

Yeah, he might end up playing some 3 out of necessity. This team might have to steal some minutes with some of the young forwards on the floor at the same time. But, I think we will have enough very athletic big guys to have a killer press. Might mask some of their shortcomings on offense.

Sidibe can be huge at the back end of a press. He runs the floor well and can block shots without fouling. I hope we use the press as a weapon.

 

[iommi]

Shawn Bradley was born in Germany. So...he counts!

YES!!

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Janner]

Any reports from insiders on how his trip is going?

 

[phil77]

Question is: how do we utilize this guy when he joins the fold?

Hopefully, he shoots well enough to stretch the floor. Jokes aside, looking at the small amount of film we have, he does look like a guy who will bring a little bit of everything. I expect him to carve out a role this season as an energy guy off the bench. He should be good in our press. Hopefully, he can play the 3. We have so many 4's and he is too thin for the 4.

What is the difference between a 3 and 4 in our system? Not much. Different sides of the zone?

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Any reports from insiders on how his trip is going?

Not to sound snarky but I wonder if they would try to work in some "home" cooking while he is in town vs the mandatory trips to the Dino and Destiny. A good bowl of goulash might pay dividends. Plus it might put some meat on his bones.

How do you like your goulash -- American or European? A CNY Food Fight

 

[bnoro]

Any reports from insiders on how his trip is going?

Terrible, Jim was at Dino BBQ being lazy and not recruiting so he's just wandering around campus aimlessly.

 

[themorey]

What is the difference between a 3 and 4 in our system? Not much. Different sides of the zone?

I've seen JB make the forwards switch sides in the zone before. Presumably to get the 3 to cover the 3 ball better on a particular side. There's also the ability of the 3 to be a weak side shot blocker. Wes Johnson was the perfect 3 who could shoot 3s, defend the 3, block shots from the weak side and rebound.

 

[reedny]

Is that really true? I could be off base here but seems like the majority of top 100, and even top 50 kids, are still committing by the November signing period of their senior year.

May just seem like more are waiting because of the hoopla we've been through the last 2 years with battle, Thompson, Tucker, etc. not to mention all the recruits who decommitted after the season this year and reopened up in the spring.

Looking back at 2017 quickly, seems like 75-80% of the top 50 were committed before this spring. And that's not even counting kids who reopened like MAL and Tremont.

I think how we do in the early signing period for 2018 will be a huge litmus test for where we stand on recruiting going forward. I've remained pretty optimistic that 2017 was the exception, not the rule. Come out of the early signing period with 2-3 commits from a group of Carey, Jones, Wright, Swider, Williams, etc and I think people will step back from the ledge a little. Less than that and watch out...

I don't have a study to back me up. What I'm going on is anecdotal. For example, our last two recruitments took an inordinate length of time. White's a grad transfer, so let's toss that one out as an outlier. But TT took forever. We also lost other recruits who delayed and played and hit the lottery (Green comes to mind).

As far as whether other equivalent team's recruitments are stretching longer, I'm not talking about kids that commit to UK, or even Duke, early. Those are top programs and their slots fill up. The problem is with the remainder of the recruits who seem to be "hanging out" and trying to leverage existing offers for better ones or, in some cases, more money.

 

[iommi]

What is the difference between a 3 and 4 in our system? Not much. Different sides of the zone?

Yeah, true. Point is we have several 4's. I just meant that we are going to need a big time rebounder at the 4 and with his weight, he won't be that. So we'd have to move a natural 4 to a 3. I'd rather have a strong rebounder at the 4 and a shooter at the 3. Example: if he's paired with Brissett, I'd rather have Dolezaj at the 3 and Brissett at the 4. Brissett himself is better-suited for the 4. Same with Moyer. I'm hoping Dolezaj shoots it well enough to play the 3. I hope to avoid forcing square pegs into round holes. That's why Tucker would've been ideal. At this point, we have to work with what he have.

I think the hope by the staff is that Moyer and Brissett can handle the 3. Gotta see it.

 

[JLine]

I learned how to make a mean pot of classic goulash from my Grandma. Is that a violation if I show up with a tupperware full of it at the Melo center? Just stopping by to say hello, and happen to have this fresh goulash with me. Welcome to the neighborhood.

 

[orangefog]

I learned how to make a mean pot of classic goulash from my Grandma. Is that a violation if I show up with a tupperware full of it at the Melo center? Just stopping by to say hello, and happen to have this fresh goulash with me. Welcome to the neighborhood.

Does your grandmother make potato soup?

 

[phil77]

Yeah, true. Point is we have several 4's. I just meant that we are going to need a big time rebounder at the 4 and with his weight, he won't be that. So we'd have to move a natural 4 to a 3. I'd rather have a strong rebounder at the 4 and a shooter at the 3. Example: if he's paired with Brissett, I'd rather have Dolezaj at the 3 and Brissett at the 4. Brissett himself is better-suited for the 4. Same with Moyer. I'm hoping Dolezaj shoots it well enough to play the 3. I hope to avoid forcing square pegs into round holes. That's why Tucker would've been ideal. At this point, we have to work with what he have.

I think the hope by the staff is that Moyer and Brissett can handle the 3. Gotta see it.

What is his speed and quickness like compared to other guards? Would be interesting with his length if he could spend some time at the top of the zone? But I don't know about the quickness factor up there.