De'Aaron Fox Trimming List

[Cat Ballou]

The Crystal Ball is not meaningless if you know how to interpret it. Some prognosticators have a lot more credibility than others.

Meyers has good info for example, and the people on here that slam him because he has the audacity to sometimes pick against UK are ridiculous. The guy is just putting forth his best guess based on what he hears.

Chris Fisher is good, and the Duke 247 guy - Andrew Slater - also has really good info.

Yes, there are a lot of guys on 247 who are just lemmings, or who make picks after every offer or visit hoping they get lucky - those guys can be ignored - but certain guys are pretty reliable.

In the case of Fox, for example - Meyer, Fisher, and Slater are all picking UK, and yes - that is a very good sign.

 

[Cat Ballou]

Fox is as smart as Hell. If you've read any of his interviews, he has this very analytical approach to picking a team. In interviews as well, he is very well spoken. Off the charts basketball IQ.

Really excited about this kid. I think he could be a very special player at UK, and in the NBA someday as well. Imagine Rondo without the difficult personality (love the guy, but...) or John Wall with a serviceable outside shot.

 

[SosaUK]

The Crystal Ball is not meaningless if you know how to interpret it. Some prognosticators have a lot more credibility than others.

Meyers has good info for example, and the people on here that slam him because he has the audacity to sometimes pick against UK are ridiculous. The guy is just putting forth his best guess based on what he hears.

Chris Fisher is good, and the Duke 247 guy - Andrew Slater - also has really good info.

Yes, there are a lot of guys on 247 who are just lemmings, or who make picks after every offer or visit hoping they get lucky - those guys can be ignored - but certain guys are pretty reliable.

In the case of Fox, for example - Meyer, Fisher, and Slater are all picking UK, and yes - that is a very good sign.

Didn't Meyer say that Fultz was a 100% lock to UK or he would be shocked if he didn't commit?

 

[JustthefaxMa'am]

Crystalball is a farce.

It's actually made of plastic for more flexibility on changing its predictions as needed.

 

[Fadhi]

I keep on seeing people claim that Simmons has no shot... but that does not appear to be true. He is always taking a healthy amount of threes whenever he is playing in AAU.
Plus, his H.S clips show him launching threes when he is in transition.
A poor shooter with his athleticism would not do that.
It has to be his lower release that has sparked this notion of him being a poor shooter.
I have not read anything about him having a busted stroke¤ only have seen consistency brought up- which is very common for H.S kids.

 

[bucsrule8872]

According to the Crystal Ball this time last year, we should be welcoming in Newman, Brown, Bragg, and Diallo.

The Crystal Ball predictions are just guesses by guys who get paid to know more than the average fan yet they rarely do.

We predict classes on here all the time and have just as much luck with our predictions as Meyer and company. The only difference is we don't get paid to do it and no one pays attention to our predictions.

 

[Cat Ballou]

Didn't Meyer say that Fultz was a 100% lock to UK or he would be shocked if he didn't commit?

Yes - that is still his position as of today, so we'll see. Fultz is potentially a multi-year guy - like Matthews. He needs to work on his shot accuracy - and has a lot of physical maturing to do - so he may be perfectly okay coming in and playing behind a Malik Monk for a year - and he could be huge for us as a sophomore.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Yes - that is still his position as of today, so we'll see. Fultz is potentially a multi-year guy - like Matthews. He needs to work on his shot accuracy - and has a lot of physical maturing to do - so he may be perfectly okay coming in and playing behind a Malik Monk for a year - and he could be huge for us as a sophomore.

Cal is looking at some crazy good depth if that happens, especially on the wing. Fultz, Matthews, and Mulder all coming off the bench?

I just can't see it happening.

 

[Backdoorcut11]

Yes - that is still his position as of today, so we'll see. Fultz is potentially a multi-year guy - like Matthews. He needs to work on his shot accuracy - and has a lot of physical maturing to do - so he may be perfectly okay coming in and playing behind a Malik Monk for a year - and he could be huge for us as a sophomore.

Lol no he's not. He's Is miles better than Matthews. He's a one and done type player. Please follow along so you don't post silly. Gracias.

 

[Cat Ballou]

Lol no he's not. He's Is miles better than Matthews. He's a one and done type player. Please follow along so you don't post silly. Gracias.

Whatever...saying it now. Charles Matthews is profoundly under-rated. I think he'll be an important part of our team for the next. 2-3 years.

 

[mj2k10]

I keep on seeing people claim that Simmons has no shot... but that does not appear to be true. He is always taking a healthy amount of threes whenever he is playing in AAU.
Plus, his H.S clips show him launching threes when he is in transition.
A poor shooter with his athleticism would not do that.
It has to be his lower release that has sparked this notion of him being a poor shooter.
I have not read anything about him having a busted stroke¤ only have seen consistency brought up- which is very common for H.S kids.

You wrote "taking a lot of shots". Which is different than "making a lot of shots".

See the problem?

 

[stuway]

This makes me giddy!! Would absolutely love for he and k jones to get the ball rollin and commit. And of all the kids for next yr I want this kid and monk the most!!

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Cal is looking at some crazy good depth if that happens, especially on the wing. Fultz, Matthews, and Mulder all coming off the bench?

I just can't see it happening.

I can't see it happening either, especially if we land two wing players and Bridges.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I can't see it happening either, especially if we land two wing players and Bridges.

If we get Monk and Fultz and Bridges, then we probably start three guards and Bridges at the 4.

Our best five might look something like this:

G Fox
G Fultz
G Monk
F Bridges
F Killeya-Jones

Mulder, Matthews, Wynyard, and Humphries coming off the bench.

If we win with small ball this season I can easily see this being the direction we go. This class is loaded with elite guards and wings and if we get four top 15-20 guards/wings then Cal has to play them.

 

[KyFord]

At this point the class is looking like Fox, SKJ, Bridges and the rest is to be determined.

 

[lkc1234]

I keep on seeing people claim that Simmons has no shot... but that does not appear to be true. He is always taking a healthy amount of threes whenever he is playing in AAU.
Plus, his H.S clips show him launching threes when he is in transition.
A poor shooter with his athleticism would not do that.
It has to be his lower release that has sparked this notion of him being a poor shooter.
I have not read anything about him having a busted stroke¤ only have seen consistency brought up- which is very common for H.S kids.

I don't care if it is his lower release or his upper release or what. If he is not making shots then he is not a good shooter.

 

[Drcatfan]

I would be happy with any of the three, but Smith is the best IMO - crazy quickness and athleticism. Also, just looks smoother to me, like the game is slowed down a little for him. People seem down on Simmons, but he absolutely oozes potential, just don't know how long it will take him to polish his game to eliminate mistakes and turnovers.

 

[jrpross]

At this point the class is looking like Fox, SKJ, Bridges and the rest is to be determined.

I'd say Monk is about as likely as those guys. Probably more so than Bridges, for whom I still wouldn't count out MSU

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

If we get Monk and Fultz and Bridges, then we probably start three guards and Bridges at the 4.

Our best five might look something like this:

G Fox
G Fultz
G Monk
F Bridges
F Killeya-Jones
.

I hope this is our class and I certainly hope Cal goes small this season and next. If Alkins came instead of Monk or Fultz, I wouldn't be disappointed in the least. Landing any pair out of those three would be huge.

Here's the big question though - what if Ulis returns? Would Fox still want to be here? Ideally, I'd love a lineup of Ulis-Fox-Monk-Bridges-Lee(yes, I know many of our fans think he's gone after this year - I'm not one of them, however).

 

[calionreppa]

Kid is from Louisiana. Texas fans pissed because LSU made the cut

 

[jrpross]

Kid is from Louisiana. Texas fans pissed because LSU made the cut

Well if it's any consolation to them, LSU sure as hell won't make the final cut

 

[Bigblueforever]

NC State

Link please or you just guessing.

 

[railroadkat_1]

I do know Kobie Simmons is taking a visit to UK on August 28th. He Has said UK was his dream school for a long time. Interesting timing!

 

[stenchymouse]

As far as "Crystal ball" predictions go, I think that they're just predicting where the kid would go if he were to "choose today".

Obviously, these predictions are going to change a lot...

As far a Fox goes, he's ABSOLUTELY the PG I want the most!!!

I'm not sure that most people even consider Simmons a true PG anyways.

 

[KnowsAllTellsAll]

Smith was the best of the three before he got hurt. But regardless of how far ACL surgery has come, it still makes him a question mark, particularly in college because he's only going to be there one year, and it normally takes a couple years to return both physically and mentally.

Before injury, it was Smith, Fox, Simmons. Now I'd say Fox, Simmons, Smith.

Do you hold this same opinion that you are using to downgrade Smith to Poythress? Or are you using it because it is commonly held that Smith is not leaving the State of NC and therefore Fox and Simmons must be better?

 

[4UK]

Do you hold this same opinion that you are using to downgrade Smith to Poythress? Or are you using it because it is commonly held that Smith is not leaving the State of NC and therefore Fox and Simmons must be better?

Sure, if Poythress is the guy you want to use as a comparison. It's not a very good one, however. Poythress will be in his fourth year in a program and playing exclusively off the ball. Smith, on the other hand, will be in his first year, trying to learn the offense at the hardest position to play in basketball, while trying to recover physically - and more importantly, mentally - from a tough injury.

Not sure why you got your panties in a wad. It's never been a secret that Smith isn't leaving NC, and I clearly said I thought he was the best of the three before the injury. But I just can't get too excited about a PG, who wants to be a one-and-done, coming off an ACL injury. By the time he's entirely back to full speed, he's going to be in the NBA. The level of separation between him and the others pre-injury was not so great that I would want that risk if I could get one of the others.

 

[jrpross]

Sure, if Poythress is the guy you want to use as a comparison. It's not a very good one, however. Poythress will be in his fourth year in a program and playing exclusively off the ball. Smith, on the other hand, will be in his first year, trying to learn the offense at the hardest position to play in basketball, while trying to recover physically - and more importantly, mentally - from a tough injury.

Not sure why you got your panties in a wad. It's never been a secret that Smith isn't leaving NC, and I clearly said I thought he was the best of the three before the injury. But I just can't get too excited about a PG, who wants to be a one-and-done, coming off an ACL injury. By the time he's entirely back to full speed, he's going to be in the NBA. The level of separation between him and the others pre-injury was not so great that I would want that risk if I could get one of the others.

Bingo. An ACL tear is never a good thing, but it is significantly worse for someone who would be expected to bring the ball up the court, beat his man off the dribble, shuffle & change directions with the ball etc. Poythress would be asked to do none of those things. As long as his leaping ability isnt affected much, he should be good to go.

 

[KnowsAllTellsAll]

Sure, if Poythress is the guy you want to use as a comparison. It's not a very good one, however. Poythress will be in his fourth year in a program and playing exclusively off the ball. Smith, on the other hand, will be in his first year, trying to learn the offense at the hardest position to play in basketball, while trying to recover physically - and more importantly, mentally - from a tough injury.

Not sure why you got your panties in a wad. It's never been a secret that Smith isn't leaving NC, and I clearly said I thought he was the best of the three before the injury. But I just can't get too excited about a PG, who wants to be a one-and-done, coming off an ACL injury. By the time he's entirely back to full speed, he's going to be in the NBA. The level of separation between him and the others pre-injury was not so great that I would want that risk if I could get one of the others.

My panties aren't in a wad. It just seemed odd to downgrade Smith because an injury which these days is of a type you can 100% recover. When there are so much expectation being put on a post player whose lower body (legs) strength is so important. By the way, didn't Giles tear his ACL? He seems to have recovered just fine. Smith wouldn't be recovering by the time he got to college though, that's more than 14 months away.

 

[KyFord]

I'd say Monk is about as likely as those guys. Probably more so than Bridges, for whom I still wouldn't count out MSU

That is true, we do have a realistic shot at Monk as well. I feel like Fox and SKJ are pretty much locks at this point but that could change.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I hope this is our class and I certainly hope Cal goes small this season and next. If Alkins came instead of Monk or Fultz, I wouldn't be disappointed in the least. Landing any pair out of those three would be huge.

Here's the big question though - what if Ulis returns? Would Fox still want to be here? Ideally, I'd love a lineup of Ulis-Fox-Monk-Bridges-Lee(yes, I know many of our fans think he's gone after this year - I'm not one of them, however).

I don't anticipate getting Ulis and Lee back, but I would love it if they did return.

Cal doesn't expect Ulis back, based on his comments. Lee should graduate and I see no reason for him to stay.

If they do come back, it will be interesting to see what happens. We probably don't get Fox and Killeya-Jones if they come back. Personally, I would rather have a Junior Ulis and Senior Lee.

So, I think it would be Ulis, Fultz, Monk, Bridges, and Lee starting.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

I don't anticipate getting Ulis and Lee back, but I would love it if they did return.

Cal doesn't expect Ulis back, based on his comments. Lee should graduate and I see no reason for him to stay.

If they do come back, it will be interesting to see what happens. We probably don't get Fox and Killeya-Jones if they come back. Personally, I would rather have a Junior Ulis and Senior Lee.

So, I think it would be Ulis, Fultz, Monk, Bridges, and Lee starting.

Good thoughts. I personally prefer the new set of five stars over returning guys if their talent is comparable (i.e., NOT Davis-level), because I think the more NBA guys UK produces, the better the long-term return will be.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Good thoughts. I personally prefer the new set of five stars over returning guys if their talent is comparable (i.e., NOT Davis-level), because I think the more NBA guys UK produces, the better the long-term return will be.

I prefer a mix. A couple of studs back, plus some new studs coming in.

 

[jrpross]

I prefer a mix. A couple of studs back, plus some new studs coming in.

Ditto. '12 was a perfect example. Had Jones & Lamb back as sophomores, Miller as a senior, then the new studs; Davis, MKG, & Teague. All had major roles in winning it all.

Interestingly enough, this year is similar. Ulis & Lee still sticking around, a senior leader in Poythress, and the best freshman class coming in. Hmmm.....