Anyone surprised that Johnny Juzang went undrafted in the NBA? If he stayed at UK, I believe he would have been drafted for sure.
Johnny Juzang
- Thread starter sosoblue
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The only reason it was even a thought of him getting drafted is because he left Kentucky and excelled at UCLA.
He is continuing the "proud" traditions of the quitters not getting drafted that left UK.
He let them talk him into coming back instead of going while hot. Cal would not have done that
This. He may have snuck into the 2nd round after the Final Four run in 2021. I do not think he would have been drafted at UK either, although unlike some in this thread, I see no reason why he would not have improved and been a good starter for UK his sophomore and junior seasons.
He was stuck behind 3 good guards his freshmen season at UK so he just needed to wait his turn. He is a west coast guy so not surprised he left anyways.
Really good college player who had a game fit for college. Not near explosive enough to play at the next level. Everyone doesn’t make the NBA, but most think they’ll make it.
Calipari also would not have allowed Juzang to win more than 9 games in '20-'21, and would not have allowed Juzang and his teammates to get past St. Paul's in the '21-'22 first round. Truth.
He and Charles Matthews helped lead their teams to title appearances in a time frame that UK hasn’t even made a final 4. Some quitters they are.
Ucla made it to the title game? News to me.
Juzang was gone before he stepped on campus. I think homesickness was more at play than Calipari.
He was a Justus recruit. That guy should have known that Juzang didn't want to be here.
He was a Justus recruit. That guy should have known that Juzang didn't want to be here.
I was disappointed he left but I understand it. It's a long way from California to Kentucky, distance and culturally. It may not have been the best decision for him, I can't say, but I get it.
LOL, yeah, Cal, who wouldn't play him, was going to get him drafted. Sure, lets go with that.
Juzang is a good shooter, but he isn't athletic, is not quick, or fast and he has a slow release.
Phil Jackson could have been his college coach and he wouldn't get drafted, just like Oscar didn't get drafted.
Who was Oscar's college coach last year? Why didn't he get drafted?
Juzang is a good shooter, but he isn't athletic, is not quick, or fast and he has a slow release.
Phil Jackson could have been his college coach and he wouldn't get drafted, just like Oscar didn't get drafted.
Who was Oscar's college coach last year? Why didn't he get drafted?
Point remains. They both accomplished more, and you’re an idiot for trashing them.
Juzang got hot for a 3 week period and everybody thought he was "elite". But the truth behind the numbers show that he was basically the same player, with a slight improvement due to experience as he was at UK. He just got more opportunities at UCLA. Dude is what he is, an inefficient scorer, who can be streaky and get hot occasionally.
Why, UK hasn't exactly had a great draft record over the last few years.
You’re talking out of your backside, since you have no idea if that would have happened or not
So stupid to say that Calipari wouldn’t play him. I mean let’s ignore the fact that he was behind 2 other players who were flat out better than him. Also let’s ignore that his minutes were on the upswing when the season was shut down.
But yeah, Calipari didn’t play him.
You're probably right. His stock was very high after UCLA made that run in 2020-21. But staying for another year likely cost him being drafted. He may not have been a first rounder in 2021 but he likely would have been picked up by someone based on that run they made.
I also agree that it has become very common for guys who couldn't cut it at UK to go undrafted.
Wait... We lost to St. Peter's AND St. Paul's in the first round? What about St. Mary's? Did we play them, too?
Heck of a roller coaster for him. He missed his opportunity after the FF.
Regarding Oscar. I don't believe you can get drafted if you don't enter the draft. Oscar decided, on his own, to come back to school. I think you will see him drafted next season. And, he became POY under Cal when he wasn't even noticed while playing for HuggyBear.
I thought we played St Peters, just wondering, if Peter and Paul ever met..and who won.
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Yikes we have been disagreeing a lot lately.
Juzang sat behind 3 guys who played in NBA. One who is a budding star and the other a solid role player.
Re:. Oscar....wow, just wow. Oscar was NPOY...no credit to Cal for that? Wouldn't be surprised at all to see his efforts result at a shot in the league, despite his overall game not translating to league very well.
Reality is Kentucky draws more interest from league for fringe NBA prospects. It is the reason guys like Jorts got a run.
In his defense, I think he’s just saying we ‘would’ have lost to St. Pauls and St. Marys if we’d faced them too. He makes a good point.
St Joseph's, the hospital not the school
So you basically just said what I said.
I said Cal wouldn't play him.
You said it was a stupid comment, then said there were 2 players that were better than him.
So basically, you said the same thing I said, only you moved your hands up and down, I moved mine side to side.
He decided to come back because everywhere he went to do NBA workouts, he heard the same exact things: "Go back to UK and develop a jump shot".
If he could have gone, he would have.
Maxey is a star in the NBA already, and Quickley is better than anyone thought he would be too.
Oscar was projected to go early 2nd round from the mock drafts I saw. That's probably where he will go after this season too.
Okay, so what's the difference between "Cal wouldn't play him" and 'Cal would rather play the two NBA prospects that were better'. That's what you're saying, right? It's the same thing.
On the Oscar thing, again, where am I wrong? My point is valid, just hecause Calipari is your coach, doesn't mean you automatically get drafted. That wasn't a slight at Cal or Oscar, it was the truth. I simply used Oscar as an example to prove my point. If Juzang stayed at UK, he still wasn't getting drafted. He's not an NBA talent and he wasn't dragging UK from 9-16 to the FF.
If you are good enough, you can make it in the league. Juzang may not be good enough. Unless he gets into a niche role somewhere, I hope he got his accounting degree!
Cal did play Juzang. He played 12mpg as a the 4th guard on team.
That's more than Tony Delk, Jeff Sheppard, Anthony Epps, Allen Edwards, Cliff Hawkins, Kelenna Azubuike, Ramel Bradley, Joe Crawford, Dom Hawkins, Charles Matthews and Jermarl Baker played as 3rd or 4th guards as Freshmen.
Regarding Oscar, jury is still out but he certainly was nowhere near the player he was last year while at WVU. He could make himself an NBA player.
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Juzang got solid run here for a freshman shooting about 33%.
Particularly with Maxey and Quickley in front of him.
I'm sure his role would have grown considerably if he stuck around.
So you're comparing Juzang to players that played in a completely different era, when freshmen rarely got drafted, or even thought about going to the draft?
12mpg isn't much and if we're being honest, that 12mpg was piece mealed. He rarely got into a flow, just like Allen didn't.
I don't understand why so many get bothered over stuff like this. Cal does what Cal does. He plays NBA potential over kids that are simply good college players and that's what happened here.
Guys like Juzang are great college players, guys that are long and athletic, are built for the NBA. It's why Villanova, Baylor, Gonzaga and uNC are so successful and UK isn't.
Yup, and I'm sure Allen's role would have grown in year 6 or 7 if he stayed here too.
Bryce Hopkins forced Cal to play him after that LSU game remember? Yeah, how'd that work out for good ole Bryce?
Juzang left because he knew he wasn't getting any run with BJB and Clarke coming in, so what'd he do? He went to UCLA and dragged his tem to the FF.
That's not surprising, there are 2 teams that are out there trying to get kids that are all about the NBA, the rest of the country is looking for kids that are built for the college game and take years to develop.
Cal has changed the last couple years to a system that has more college type players, but he still prefers NBA potential, which quite honestly isn't necessarily what you want if winning college titles is your goal.
