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HookEm

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Everything posted by HookEm

  1. It’s annoying to get outspent by Texas Tech
  2. Everything I see has him at 6'7 - 6'8, unless he suddenly grew 2 inches. He seems more like a multi year project and someone who would get 15 mpg max for us next year. Get him if we can, but I would much rather get some guard depth.
  3. Not really. About 30 minutes away.
  4. Doing a little more research here are some good teams and their international players: Florida Alex Condon (Australia) - 10.6 PTS, 7.5 TRB, 2.2 AST - 3rd Team All-SEC Reuben Chinyelu (Senegal) - 6.0 PTS, 6.6 TRB, 0.7 AST Urban Klavzar (Spain) - 3.2 PTS, 0.6 TRB, 0.8 AST Kajus Kublickas (Lithuania) - 0.7 PTS, 1.2 TRB, 0.3 AST Arizona Henri Veesaar (Spain) - 9.4 PTS, 5.0 TRB, 1.3 AST Anthony Dell'Orso (Australia) - 7.2 PTS, 1.4 TRB, 1.4 AST Motiejus Krivas (Lithuania) - 7.9 PTS, 4.5 TRB, 1.1 AST Conrad Martinez (Spain) - 1.6 PTS, 0.3 TRB, 1.0 AST Duke Tyrese Proctor (Australia) - 12.4 PTS, 3.0 TRB, 2.2 AST - 3rd Team All-SEC Khaman Maluach (Senegal) - 8.6 PTS, 6.6 TRB, 0.5 AST - NCAA All Region Tennessee Igor Milicic (Croatia) - 9.4 PTS, 6.7 TRB, 1.9 AST Felix Okpara (Nigeria) - 7.1 PTS, 6.4 TRB, 0.3 AST Looking back over Miller's teams, I'm not seeing a ton of international players. Most years he had basically no international players. Then in 2017 he had Lauri Markkanen and Dusan Ristic, and then the next year he had Deandre Ayton. Outside of those guys it was slim pickings.
  5. Awesome. I'm staying a good ways away at the Marriott Hotel Pudong East. Not sure I will have much time to do any exploring. I'm going to a couple of big chemical complexes while I'm there... BASF-YPC and Wanhua. Should be interesting.
  6. Who are some recent euros like this who have been a key piece of an Elite 8 or better team? Just trying to calibrate.
  7. Any tips? Where is she staying?
  8. No, I'm just stupid. I thought that is how you spelled his name.
  9. In related news, I may have Covid. Joke's on them as I'm bringing it back to them.
  10. Looking at how the lineup is shaping up, I think we will go with bigger lineups this year than last year. Last year we played three guard lineups for the majority of the game, with Pope, Mark, Tre, Weaver and Larry getting almost all of the minutes at the 1-3 spots. However, none of those guys are really proper small forwards. That moved Kent, Kaluma and even Pryor to play most of their minutes at PF. I think a lot of that was because our depth in the post was so bad. This year, I think most of the small forward minutes will go to Swain (6'8) and Heidi (6'7), with us occasionally going to a three guard lineup with Weaver at the 3. Of course, if we pick up an elite guard that will change things. Right now I see the minutes looking like this: We could end up starting both Pope and Weaver, but that would mean Swain plays PF and Traore comes off the bench. I would personally rather bring Pope and Heidi in off the bench for an infusion of offense.
  11. Headed to Shanghai and Yantai next week. This thread is dead.
  12. I think the roster is better than Drake / Cincinnati, and better than last year. Mark and Heidi got significant minutes for title contenders in Houston and Purdue. Swain outplayed all of our bigs last year and has another year to improve. Matas and Traore both have potential to be All-SEC. Pope was 7th in the Pac-10 in scoring at Oregon State before RT misused him. I think there is a lot to work with when you include Weaver and Codie. Add another really good guard and we are set. I'm pretty happy given the short time to pull it together. I also like the continuity of bringing back most of our guards. Also like that Traore and Swain have experience playing together for Miller.
  13. Mark distributed it well in his last 5 games of the season running point. He has the ability to get to the basket and was killing people on drive and kick. I would like to start this group and play a physical style of basketball: PG - Mark: 6'6 SG - Weaver: 6'3 SF - Swain: 6'8 PF - Traore: 6'10 C - Vokietaitis: 7'0 Then bring Pope and Heidi off the bench. We are very thin at guard though. We really need someone who can give us a reliable 15-20 mpg at PG/SG.
  14. This is by far our biggest signing to date for 25-26. His last two years at Long Beach State: All Big West 1st team and 2nd team. All Big West Tourney Team. In 2024, he was 12th in the NCAA in rebounds per game. And his FT shooting isn't terrible for a physical big body. I also like the fact that he averaged over 30 mpg his last year at Long Beach State (a tourney team). I assume Traore and Matas will split time at Center, but I wouldn't be shocked to see some time with both of them on the court together. Traore apparently was in great shape going into last season. Having an elite rebounding 6'10 forward playing alongside a 7'10 euro... Yes please. Both of those guys really move well and can run the floor. This is what Miller said about him when he went down last year: “Lassina was a starter on this year’s team. He had a great summer and preseason, where he improved his game as much as any player in our program," Miller said, per the Xavier team website. "He emerged to be our team’s best rebounder, low post defender and shot blocker. He was in superior condition and became a tone setter for everything that impacts winning. We will miss Lassina’s ability and presence. No one player can replace him. All of us will have to do more, be better and step up in our respective roles. And, we will eagerly await his return to the basketball court in the 2025-26 season.” Hopefully he is completely healed from his knee injury and can hit the ground running. Does he have one or two years of eligibility left?
  15. I hope we can land Devin Haid. That is the kind of player I like to get in the portal. Proven all-conference players who still have multiple years left to play for Texas. He was 2nd team All-NorthEast conference as a freshman. He is already a great FT shooter, and I bet he makes good gains in his 3P% over the next couple of years. This guy plus Traore would be awesome.
  16. Brother Mouzone is actually a bad comp for Tech. That dude was always reading and quoting smart stuff. That ain’t Tech. Tech is more like Nick Sobotka, who wants to be a player and thinks he is smarter than he is. He wants a seat at the big boy table, but doesn’t have the skills to be a big player. He gets a little money, buys a pickup and thinks he is king shit. But ultimately isn’t cut out for the game.
  17. Dillon Mitchell is back in the portal. I wouldn’t mind seeing him finish his career in a Texas uniform. He would have helped us a lot more last year than Jayson Kent.
  18. Good call on Aggy. 100% correct that they are Ziggy. And my analogy isn't really great as there isn't a "Marlo" because there won't be a single college running the game. You are correct that really the only thing they have going for them is money (and to a lesser extent owning a decent recruiting base). Brother Mouzone is a decent comp. In the last 20 years, Clemson is probably the closest comp to Marlo. Not really an OG, but making some decent waves.
  19. I will be curious to see where an upstart school like Texas Tech lands after a few years. Cody Campbell is throwing around huge money and they spent their way to the top football transfer portal class. They may not have the depth of NIL funds that some other schools have, but they have a motivated billionaire who is flexing more than any other single donor in the college landscape. To put it In "The Wire" terms, Texas is Stringer Bell. Ohio State is Avon Barksdale. Oregon is Fat Joe. Tech is trying to be Marlo Stanfield. But Tech might just be Bubbles. Aggy is Frank Sobotka, over-inflated sense of importance and never actually in the game.
  20. Hmmm. Looks like a decent shooter, but almost nothing in the way of other counting stats which isn't great given he was playing 27+ mpg. Basically a 3-point bomber (80%+ of his shots came from BTA). No fouls. No turnovers. Basically just 3s. Might be ok as a drive and kick option for Mark or Weaver. I would personally prefer to use the roster spot on someone better.
  21. It took Bill Self 5 years to win a title. BUST!!! Kelvin Sampson still hasn't won a title at Houston. BUST!!! Tom Izzo hasn't won a title in 26 years. BUST!!! 🙄🙄🙄
  22. I have to assume Matas will get a lot more patient on defense as he matures and gets experience at this level of competition. He is currently averaging 8.8 fouls / 100 possessions. Disu improved from 9.9 -> 7.7. Shedrick 10.7 -> 6.1. Bishop 9.2 -> 6.6
  23. Without any additions, this is already probably a tournament team. If we can pick up Traore and an elite guard, it will really help our prospects. I don't know if Swain will be an NBA draft pick as Gerry says, but if so that is a good sign. Swain + Vokietaitas has more upside than Kaluma + Shedrick. Traore could move Swain to SF and give us a really big, physical lineup. Watching that clip of Traore, man he is a big body that is physical in the paint. He also has good hands and touch. Matching him up with Matas would be awesome. The two could play together or back each other up. Swain and Heidi give us some versatility as either can play the 3 or the 4 if we want to go small. Or play both together with Matas or Traore in the post. I like that we are getting some continuity with this team. All our guards get another year together, including Presley. Codie and Vinson stuck around and still have 3 years left to improve (and have played a year with the guards). Our portal additions all have 2-3 years of eligibility left. Then factor in the fact that Miller is an actual coach, with an actual game plan, and I'm starting to get optimistic.
  24. Man, if we could get Lassina Traore and Matas Vokietaitis that would be fantastic. That is the kind of big-man depth we need in the SEC. Matas Vokietaitis- 7'0, 245, Sophomore, AAC Rookie of the Year Season - 10.2 PTS, 5.4 TRB, 0.8 BLK, 63.6 FT%, 17.6 MPG Last 6 gm - 16.2 PTS, 7.2 TRB, 1.8 BLK, 61.8 FT%, 23.3 MPG Lassina Traore - 6'10, 245, Senior, 2x All Big West, Last 2 yrs - 12.4 PTS, 10.4 TRB, 0.6 BLK, 69.1 FT%, 29.2 MPG A lineup of 6'5 Mark + 6'3 Weaver + 6'8 Swain + 6'10 Traore + 7'0 Vokietaitis would be a lot of size, with a bench of Pope, Heidi, Codie, Presley. Not bad.
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