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Jaden Jones Arrives This Month !

Either way, it is going to accelerate his development for next season to practice with the team this season. He could be a big help on the scout teams, too, even if he does not play this year.
 
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Probably not playing, per Carino:


It is a free year, there is no reason to not play him some.

Unless things change, if he starts playing NEXT year, he will only have 4 years. Playing some this year, he will still have his 4 regular years plus this year. They can work him in slowly(classwork, weight training, etc), but in my mind he should get some playing time if it truly is a free year.

Best of Luck,
Groz
 
It is a free year, there is no reason to not play him some.

Unless things change, if he starts playing NEXT year, he will only have 4 years. Playing some this year, he will still have his 4 regular years plus this year. They can work him in slowly(classwork, weight training, etc), but in my mind he should get some playing time if it truly is a free year.

Best of Luck,
Groz

I agree with you.
 
It's a lot to ask a true freshman to do. Come in mid-season during conference play where you are working toward first NCAA bid in 40 years. BTW, learn the offense, defense, and get into Pike playing shape.

I know it's a free year, but there may not be opportunities late in season to get minutes. Having him practice with team and get into shape and learn our system should be helpful enough for year one.
 
This is fabulous news. If he shows he could help this year than he should be allowed after he learns our system to contribute. We only have 12 scholarship players and this year doesn't count against his 4 years so why not if he can make us better and add more depth. Maybe we can still add an OOC game or two during our breaks between our BIG games. Hopefully we can play all 20 games on their scheduled dates. The frosh could all benefit from that type of game. GO RU.
 
What he provides this year is more depth IF folks go down. If not, then it’s just money in the bank for next year.
 
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It's a lot to ask a true freshman to do. Come in mid-season during conference play where you are working toward first NCAA bid in 40 years. BTW, learn the offense, defense, and get into Pike playing shape.

I know it's a free year, but there may not be opportunities late in season to get minutes. Having him practice with team and get into shape and learn our system should be helpful enough for year one.

Totally disagree. Yes, Bring him along slowly. But, If he is good enough to play, he should play with the free year. Obviously, if he is not in shape(which I doubt) then it is different. It is not rocket science.

He has been playing highly competitive AAU and high school basketball for years. I am assuming that he is a typical student that can and will adapt.

Best of Luck,
Groz
 
Great news either way!!! Welcome Jalen!
It's as win-win as they come. He gets the benefit of S&C, practice--he'll get better going against our starters and he's clearly good enough right now to make them better----and time to get acclimated to college.

Oh yeh and possibly contribute in actual games....
 
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As I see it, the plan right now is for him to not play. As we all know, though, plans can change.

Plans constantly change. I love Coach and he is smart in not giving out the game plans publicly. See McConnell and injury updates........

Best of Luck,
Groz
 
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After Quarantine, there is no comparing Jaden Jones and Oskar Palmquist as far as potential impact this year. JJ will prove his worth the moment he starts practicing with the team and will play this year, he is not a 4 year player like Oskar. JJ is a better rotational option than Oskar, Duke and Mag, and a top 6 option on offense with RHJ, JY, MM, Geo, and Myles. JJ is the same size as Caleb McConnell, still working rust off, but plays bigger, stronger than Caleb, who is more smooth, finesse. Both very good. He brings more offensive skill set than Paul, Cliff, or Reiber. The quicker we turn JJ into a legit offensive option and acclimate him to our defensive schemes, will lessen the blow of losing RHJ and JY, and possibly Geo, next year. He has played 6 HS games this year he is in basketball shape, avg 26.8 pts, 8 reb, FG 65%

Imagine an all healthy 10 man rotation, this year, of JY, Paul, Geo, MM, Caleb, JJ, RHJ, Reiber, Cliff and Myles. We will become a legit threat to win the B1G conference and B1G tournament, and have a legit claim of many teams as the third best team this year behind Gonzaga and Baylor.
 
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After Quarantine, there is no comparing Jaden Jones and Oskar Palmquist as far as potential impact this year. JJ will prove his worth the moment he starts practicing with the team and will play this year, he is not a 4 year player like Oskar. JJ is a better rotational option than Oskar, Duke and Mag, and a top 6 option on offense with RHJ, JY, MM, Geo, and Myles. JJ is the same size as Caleb McConnell, still working rust off, but plays bigger, stronger than Caleb, who is more smooth, finesse. Both very good. He brings more offensive skill set than Paul, Cliff, or Reiber. The quicker we turn JJ into a legit offensive option and acclimate him to our defensive schemes, will lessen the blow of losing RHJ and JY, and possibly Geo, next year. He has played 6 HS games this year he is in basketball shape, avg 26.8 pts, 8 reb, FG 65%

Imagine an all healthy 10 man rotation, this year, of JY, Paul, Geo, MM, Caleb, JJ, RHJ, Reiber, Cliff and Myles. We will become a legit threat to win the B1G conference and B1G tournament, and have a legit claim of many teams as the third best team this year behind Gonzaga and Baylor.

All of this may be true, eventually. But regular freshman at least get five months (June-November) to get acclimated to the system before then playing in games. Expecting JJ to leave high school one week and then suddenly become a "plus" player in a high major college two weeks later is just asking a bit much. At a minimum, Pike won't play him until he understands our team defensive schemes.

That said, if he is THAT GOOD, I don't see the harm in giving him garbage minutes initially, but then working him into the rotation in the last 6 or 7 regular season games.
 
All of this may be true, eventually. But regular freshman at least get five months (June-November) to get acclimated to the system before then playing in games. Expecting JJ to leave high school one week and then suddenly become a "plus" player in a high major college two weeks later is just asking a bit much. At a minimum, Pike won't play him until he understands our team defensive schemes.

That said, if he is THAT GOOD, I don't see the harm in giving him garbage minutes initially, but then working him into the rotation in the last 6 or 7 regular season games.
If you have seen his recruiting videos and follow his IG, JJ has a very strong work ethic like Cliff Omoruyi, a top 50 player. I saw him working like that since his commitment his Junior year but from what I've read he's been working hard like this for longer than Cliff has played basketball. We all see how skilled and impressive Cliff is.
 
If we have to depend on him, then we are in big trouble. He wants to get off to a great start next year.
 
It's a lot to ask a true freshman to do. Come in mid-season during conference play where you are working toward first NCAA bid in 40 years. BTW, learn the offense, defense, and get into Pike playing shape.

I know it's a free year, but there may not be opportunities late in season to get minutes. Having him practice with team and get into shape and learn our system should be helpful enough for year one.
There's also a little thing called school. This ain't Chapel Hill.
 
Who do we play February 10th? What kind of defense do they play?

Bottom line...if he defend adequately it comes down to whether he can.....
primarily knock down open shots
secondarily score in transition

I wont compare him to any player on the roster. I need to see him play and need to see more of Oskar, Mag and what type of health Caleb (or Calub to some) is in.
 
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Awesome news, independent of whether he plays this season or not. The learning curve will shorten for him since he gets in early and can really get a jump on things for the fall. I hope he makes it hard on Pike to keep him on the bench, but we all have to keep our expectations in check. I hope the current team is so good as to not even have to use him, but it would be like getting an early X-mas present to see him get some play while we roll through our schedule.
 
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