ESPN Draft Analyst Ford Thinks Bam Should Return

[Wall2Boogie]

Rather have Bamba. We're not getting both.

I beg to differ my man. If bamba commits before bam returns, it could be cals best front court while at uk and possibly his best ever. I don't think bams decision will have any bearing on bamba as bam could play the 5 and bamba could get his wish at the 4 the majority of the time since he can guard on the perimeter and would allow bamba to do dirty work down low. Plus having young guards it will be extremely beneficial to them having to guys of that caliber anchoring the front court. I think cal adds another guard or two and neither will be from South America. Bamba is already close to green and diallo, and I guarantee diallo is in bams ear encouraging him to return since we were so close this yr to a final four and a possible championship. I think it's unfinished business for bam as he wants that title. The other thing is this draft is already loaded hence the reason bam is not hiring an agent much like briscoe didn't last yr. I think if bam was even 51%?surebhe would be leaving, he would of hired an agent. As mentioned above look at Terrance jones he came back and became a selfish motherf***** according to cal but him returning and winning a title I doubt helped his draft status, same could be said for bam. If he comes back and develops a short range jumper he will easily be a top ten pick in the weak 2018 draft. Another example would be dakari, expect he would of probably went in the first round after the 2014 season he had he left. Call me insane, but if we could return bam a sophomore to go along with the guys we have coming in and miss out on bamba, I could live with that. Let's just hope cals fax machine works better than tubbbys did for Randolph Morris returning.

Another thing to take into consideration, is not everyone has declared yet which could push an back further. Guys like Tj leaf will probably declare and since he has a nice shooter touch and plays just as hard as bam, a gm more than likely wouldntake a guy like leaf over bam first. I'd kill to have bam return for his sophomore year, stranger things have happened before. A great example would be Jared sulllinger. He probably would of been drafted higher after his first year but he stuck around and was drafted a little lower than he would of had je left as a freshman

 

[Blue Decade]

No guarantee we get Bamba either way.

Exactly. Can't understand why anyone frames this as a Bam vs. Bamba kind of thing.

 

[katwest]

If you are 6 foot 10 and can move and jump like Bam somebody will take you in the first round. Offense and moves can be learned, it's all up to Bam and what he wants.

 

[Sparkaces1]

If you are 6 foot 10 and can move and jump like Bam somebody will take you in the first round. Offense and moves can be learned, it's all up to Bam and what he wants.

I think the only problem with that is he isn't 6'10 lol.

 

[truebluewildcat]

Amazed how some people still haven't quite gotten it yet.

Bamba may very well have a greater potential and be more talented, but he is not getting to a final 4 on his own just like Bam couldn't get to one alone.

We do this every off season. We talk about who may be leaving and who may be coming in, and every year it seems that people are more excited about who's coming in as opposed to who could return and what they could be with a year under their belt. But, the cycle repeats itself because those youngsters every one was so high on and preferred much more to the guys who left for the draft always come up just short.

For a brief moment we'll talk about how "only if x would have returned...", but then recruiting/signing season heats up and we're pushing out dudes with a year under their belt who averaged close to a double double in March in favor of a kid who hasn't been to his senior prom yet.

When will it sink in that we have great years not because dude's signed, but because dudes returned.

AD was great but no title with out TJ and DL. KAT was great, no 38-1 without WCS, twins, DJ. Brandon Knight's class was great, but they don't get as far as they did without Josh, Darius, or Deandre.

 

[WildMoon]

Amazed how some people still haven't quite gotten it yet.

Bamba may very well have a greater potential and be more talented, but he is not getting to a final 4 on his own just like Bam couldn't get to one alone.

We do this every off season. We talk about who may be leaving and who may be coming in, and every year it seems that people are more excited about who's coming in as opposed to who could return and what they could be with a year under their belt. But, the cycle repeats itself because those youngsters every one was so high on and preferred much more to the guys who left for the draft always come up just short.

For a brief moment we'll talk about how "only if x would have returned...", but then recruiting/signing season heats up and we're pushing out dudes with a year under their belt who averaged close to a double double in March in favor of a kid who hasn't been to his senior prom yet.

When will it sink in that we have great years not because dude's signed, but because dudes returned.

AD was great but no title with out TJ and DL. KAT was great, no 38-1 without WCS, twins, DJ. Brandon Knight's class was great, but they don't get as far as they did without Josh, Darius, or Deandre.

looks more like its you who don't get it.

 

[turkeywildturkey]

Same Chad Ford who had him out of 1st Rd 2/3 weeks ago and then had him in mid 1st Round this past week? Ford is awful. My ritual of Ford bashing when seeing his name always ends with this--he's the same analyst that talked up James Young as a "great passer". Missing on players happens, but not knowing how they play and being a draft analyst that gets paid to know what players can/cannot do is pretty telling.

I agree. Young was one of the worst passers ever to play at UK. Ford obviously didn't watch him play much.

 

[turkeywildturkey]

I beg to differ my man. If bamba commits before bam returns, it could be cals best front court while at uk and possibly his best ever. I don't think bams decision will have any bearing on bamba as bam could play the 5 and bamba could get his wish at the 4 the majority of the time since he can guard on the perimeter and would allow bamba to do dirty work down low. Plus having young guards it will be extremely beneficial to them having to guys of that caliber anchoring the front court. I think cal adds another guard or two and neither will be from South America. Bamba is already close to green and diallo, and I guarantee diallo is in bams ear encouraging him to return since we were so close this yr to a final four and a possible championship. I think it's unfinished business for bam as he wants that title. The other thing is this draft is already loaded hence the reason bam is not hiring an agent much like briscoe didn't last yr. I think if bam was even 51%?surebhe would be leaving, he would of hired an agent. As mentioned above look at Terrance jones he came back and became a selfish motherf***** according to cal but him returning and winning a title I doubt helped his draft status, same could be said for bam. If he comes back and develops a short range jumper he will easily be a top ten pick in the weak 2018 draft. Another example would be dakari, expect he would of probably went in the first round after the 2014 season he had he left. Call me insane, but if we could return bam a sophomore to go along with the guys we have coming in and miss out on bamba, I could live with that. Let's just hope cals fax machine works better than tubbbys did for Randolph Morris returning.

Another thing to take into consideration, is not everyone has declared yet which could push an back further. Guys like Tj leaf will probably declare and since he has a nice shooter touch and plays just as hard as bam, a gm more than likely wouldntake a guy like leaf over bam first. I'd kill to have bam return for his sophomore year, stranger things have happened before. A great example would be Jared sulllinger. He probably would of been drafted higher after his first year but he stuck around and was drafted a little lower than he would of had je left as a freshman

That's why he's a draft analyst, and not working in an NBA front office.

 

[Bungalow Bill]

Bam should do what he wants.,,he can't play but tons of others are in the league who can't
Bam can't finish if not a dunk right under basket or a oop
He will get a GM fired for taking in first round

Moronic, but you're not the only one posting ignorant stuff in this thread. Bam has all kinds of upside. He can guard the pick and roll, has much better shooting range than he was allowed to show with our guards driving off of his picks, is an athletic freak and is very young with a great attitude to learn. He'll get more GMs fired for passing on him that for picking him to soon.

 

[zcats]

Bam defends the perimeter as well as any big man in this draft and didn't get a chance to show his rim protecting abilities because our scheme had him around the perimeter.

Also, he's 19, with every measurable tool in the world and a fantastic attitude, work ethic and personality. If he were from Greece or Angola he'd be a top 8 pick.

I love Bam too but he is certainly not a rim protector. Frankly he isn't long enough. He is great defending the perimeter and away from the bucket but down low, not so much. He is just overmatched by bigger guys which is the way the game is played. He is a big power forward. By the way our scheme is not to have him away from the basket. The smart opponents stick him out there with a screen switch which Cal seems to love. They do it to get our bigs away from the basket and to get a mismatch with our guard stuck down low on their post man. Happens all the time.

 

[catben]

I think the only problem with that is he isn't 6'10 lol.

When he goes to the NBA Draft camp, we will know exactly how tall he is.

 

[Col. Angus]

Love Bam. Love his athleticism and how he turned on the last couple months of the season, but game changers on the defensive end like Bamba don't come around often and UK could stand to have 5 of em in Cal's 8 years including Davis, Noel, WCS, and Towns in terms of rim protection and shot altering. Bamba's offense wouldn't be THAT far behind Bam in terms of interior scoring but his defense is on another planet.