Pilgrim: Lively and Bona on why they turned down UK
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
Quote from Lively. F’n laughable if he truly thinks that. How does he think he made the right long term decision based on development when Cal has put countless bigs in the league that are thriving and then you have Duke with a coach who he will play for hasn’t developed jack sh*t
“… I’d probably say me looking at my longevity, further in my career. Being able to see which is going to develop me in which type of way, I think I made the right decision.”
“… I’d probably say me looking at my longevity, further in my career. Being able to see which is going to develop me in which type of way, I think I made the right decision.”
My guess is Sheyer told him he can play away from the basket and UK wants him as a rim protector and rebounder. Just my opinion.
Duke doesn't develop players. They get short term favoritism from biased refs so they get a false sense of success.
Get to the NBA.
Bust city.
Get to the NBA.
Bust city.
UK likely has an entire NBA-caliber roster of "second choice" recruits.
Or Sheyer told him he would start and would be allowed to check in and out anytime on his own whereas Cal told him he had to compete and share.
that’s likely what the kid is telling himself. The real reason is he’s a 7 footer that doesn’t want to be stuck playing under the basket 30+ minutes a game.
So Duke tells him they’ll give him some touches on the perimeter and he tells himself that’s better for his career trajectory because traditional back to the basket post players have basically died off in today’s NBA.
What he’s ignoring is how Cal has now had 4 guys play center for him at Kentucky get selected to a combined 17/18 all star games. Duke during that time? Zero and Zero. And all 4 of those guys have a face up aspect to their games.
So Duke tells him they’ll give him some touches on the perimeter and he tells himself that’s better for his career trajectory because traditional back to the basket post players have basically died off in today’s NBA.
What he’s ignoring is how Cal has now had 4 guys play center for him at Kentucky get selected to a combined 17/18 all star games. Duke during that time? Zero and Zero. And all 4 of those guys have a face up aspect to their games.
I honestly get what Lively is saying......
A typical Cal type big is usually very physical, dominant, more of a "back to the basket" type big that thrives in contact, that rebounds extremely well. Like a Cousins, Bam, Randle, Reid Travis, Richards, Patterson....
Lively is not that.....he is more so a Skal type with a decent stroke from mid/3pt range, tall but very lanky, lacking muscle and bulk, a lob threat but no someone you put inside to post up to get a needed bucket.
Lively wants to be developed as a modern day 4 or 5. Not stuck on the block. At Duke he will probably have the green light to play like Banchero does........shoot as many mid range and 3s as he wants and maybe even bring the ball up the floor.
At UK thats not happening and we all know that, I think it was a blessing in disguise not getting Lively, hes more of a project in my eyes. I dont even think he will be the best player or big on Dukes team next year. I think Filipowski(?) will be much better in their 1 yr in CBB. Lively is ranked on future potential alone.
Bona would have been a much better fit for Cal's system.
Just my thoughts.
Agree and from the videos I’ve seen it looks like Bona has a great motor for a big. Oscar is a generational rebounder but Bona has the skills to be really good too. He will get a lot of easy baskets from hustling down the floor.
Bona would have been a fantastic pick up, would have been awesome to get him.
Their loss. I only want to read in the future why they’re disappointed they didn’t choose UK.
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100% this is it. He was told he could play facing the basket so he could show his range. Then they use AD and KAT as examples of players who had range now and say Cal didn’t showcase that. Even though they both went #1 in the draft and are ridiculously wealthy now.
Choosing any unproven coach vs a HOF one when you're a one and done, especially with Cals track record is absolute stupidity.
If u look at banchero from the Uk game to now, he hasn’t gotten any better or developed any other skill he’s literally the same player. Now compare any of UKs players and their trajectory of development over the course of the season. There’s no comparison. Hilarious if anyone thinks any other coach than cal can get them long term development
Bona would have fit us better. Kid dunks everything.
These kids have people telling them things like You Can’t Make a Wrong Decision! Well, yes you can!! How are Okafor and Jabari Parker doing in the NBA?? 😳🏀
Parker was a baller until he had multiple knee/leg injuries dont put him in the same sentence as JABum Okafor.
This is the kicker for that type of negative recruiting. "They won't let you showcase your skills!!!!" Does that matter? Cal is gonna round you into a better player overall by forcing you out of your comfort zone and teach you to be a good teammate by making you do what you're physically capable of to help the team, and when you do all of that and then go to the combine and show the indivual stuff and in individual workouts then you're gonna get drafted high anyways.
Shortsighted easy route for some of these guys.
Honestly, I hope Cal has had a bit of an awakening if you will. Use the transfer portal and be picky as hell, especially with the bigs...they take way longer to develop unless super talented.
We caught lightning in a bottle with Wheeler/Oscar/Grady. Best recuriting class in probably 5 years imo. That kind of talent and experience can rarely be replicated by Freshmen.
We caught lightning in a bottle with Wheeler/Oscar/Grady. Best recuriting class in probably 5 years imo. That kind of talent and experience can rarely be replicated by Freshmen.
He tore the first one I think in December of his rookie year so I guess we will never know but either way he was an NBA bust…😳🤷♂️
they made their bed now they have to sleep in it. I could care less about them now.
Kids basically just do what they want and then they justify it by saying things they think sound smart.
And you know he will, especially if he gets some NIL clearance. Dumbest shit I've heard of this year.
I could literally care less. We have enough freshman for next year. Our biggest recruits for next year include: Wheeler, Oscar, Toppin, Ware, Allen, Brooks, Hopkins, and Collins. If any leave, hit the transfer portal for experienced talent.
It's called bag money. Nothing more. To hang your career on Jon Scheyer over John Calipari.. lmfao. There's no one I hope flops more next year than Lively, just to set the example..
Good luck fellas..
Good luck fellas..
You can go back and do that with almost all of their one and done players. They've had the best players who are dominant from day one, but you look at them from the start of the season to the end and they're the same player. The Zion team was ridiculously good, but they never really improved all that much and teams began figuring them out towards the end of the year. Jabari Parker and Austin Rivers' teams flamed out in the first weekend of the tournament.
Meanwhile we've had guys like SGA or Quickley go from bench players to first round picks in the span of nonconference play to conference play. Oscar was a garbage man at WVU, and now he has legit post moves and good touch from mid range. Towns had no post game coming into college, and was damn near automatic on the block by the end of the year. If you want development and NBA prep, there is no other legitimate answer than Kentucky.
Big question for me is whether Bona resembles more of D. Collins as a frosh, or an actual impact player ... if he's another Collins, the portal is way more important.
And to that point, we have no idea what we'll even have in a sophomore Collins. Could be a stud from day one, or he could be another long-term project.
And to that point, we have no idea what we'll even have in a sophomore Collins. Could be a stud from day one, or he could be another long-term project.
I don't think Oscar comes back but if he does and Ware also plus Brooks, Toppin and Livingston all getting minutes at the 4, does Collins even come back and work or bail and transfer out.
Agree 100% - Lively is one of those bigs that wants to pretend he's a guard - he's better off at Duke. Bona however would have absolutely thrived here. He made a big mistake going to UCLA.
Wouldn't be surprised if Bona doesn't pull an Oscar and transfer here after wasting a year there.
I don't neccesarily disagree. Jabari would still be a solid pro if not for multiple injuries. But his limitation was always that he couldn't play defense. That did not improve any at Duke.
And it translates to the NBA. So many guys have flamed out.
If you ask me, a lot of these guys pick Duke for the easy path, the money, the handouts etc.. and it shows in their character and work ethic.
The guys that pick Duke (generally speaking), just seem to be a different kind of player than who picks Kentucky. They aren't bad kids by any means, they just seem a bit more privileged and entitled. I think the school and coach you choose says a lot about who you are.. I mean, UofL.. Hello?!
Even look at Duke fans.. Every Duke fan I know is basically a front runner for other great sports teams. They just latch on to whoever is great so they can claim that "their" teams are the best, that's how they think. So same thing as the players.. Duke fans just have a different mentality to me.
