That is GREAT news on Ndongo. His size and athleticism combined with a skillset to do a lot of different things and the defensive intensity/desire - wow! He's going to be the steal of the 2023 class in the Big Ten.
On January 2
- Thread starter RU72
- Start date
Sounds like the staff had a similar view I had that he wasn't as much of a project as we were being told. Hard to imagine he isn't ready to contribute as a freshman. Too much size length and talent. He can really do it all. Once he refines his game, watch out
Also like this. Let Ndongo get game experience at the 4 in OOC games as Mag gets back to 100%.
One of Pike's strengths is his willingness to change defenses, I hope we see some changing offense with lineups like Paul, Cam, Simpson, Griffiths and Ndongo out there together, 5 out, no post, spread the floor with space to drive and tons of drive and kicks
To be fair, Pike absolutely wanted Kyle Lofton last year, so it would’ve had to come at the expense of one of our players and I don’t see him benching cam the way he played. I think Pike is willing to bolster the roster for a player he really likes. Will we be able to attain such a player is the next question.
Seems like NIL can be done if done carefully... Good article below. Current examples are further down in the article.
https://www.espn.com/college-sports...-international-athletes-facing-nil-challenges
Ndongo brings a lot of versatility. Against smaller teams it's possible he can be a small ball 5. He has a long wingspan and projects as an elite rim protector. I expect him to be a very good rebounder as well. I don't expect to see it much but we might see it occasionally. Mag briefly played the 5 against either Iowa or OSU I believe
It sounds like Ndongo wants to be more of a wing though. 4 is where he fits best IMO but he might be able to give some minutes at the 3 if needed
Lots of potential lineup combinations for Pike next year already and we don't even have the full roster
Wonder if the staff being bullish on Ndongo contributing as a freshman impacts what they are looking for in the portal. Maybe more of a need for a 3 than a 4
I think this could certainly be the lineup by February, but January 2nd may be premature.
Overall - this is the ideal roster top to bottom.
Need Cliff and Paul back (Paul with reduced/different role).
Good luck to Hyatt.
This looks right, and I hope pike is willing to play Derek and Baye over Paul and Dre if they are indeed better.
Looks like once again Pike will not be super active in the portal. Seems like he’s shooting some feelers in case Paul/Cliff leave, but more than likely we’ll just be adding depth which is fine.
If either Paul or Cliff leave we absolutely need to find a good portal piece. Can’t go into the year with Davis as our 3rd guard or Wolf as our starting center.
Looks like once again Pike will not be super active in the portal. Seems like he’s shooting some feelers in case Paul/Cliff leave, but more than likely we’ll just be adding depth which is fine.
If either Paul or Cliff leave we absolutely need to find a good portal piece. Can’t go into the year with Davis as our 3rd guard or Wolf as our starting center.
I think he will start working in in December thats 9 months out from his surgery and he will be wearing his brace of course
OP is smoking if he thinks Paul will come back if there is any chance he sits on the bench.
Paul isn't coming back to be a backup
Paul isn't coming back to be a backup
How many bigs do you think we need? If Cliff and Hyatt return, 1 big is probably the max
Paul has shown himself to be a consummate team player. If he decides to come back, I can’t conceive that he would ask for preconditions on playing time and/or starting status.
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He’s a career 28% 3pt shooter…granted his volume and % were up this season, but if that’s the best attribute he brings, replacing that isn’t a real concern.
I think his ability down low is what could be of value at this point.
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Do you think that career number is more predictive of what he will do next year than his last two seasons of B1G play?
His bad FR year at LSU will be 4 years in the past If you were being paid to forecast his performance next season would you use it equally with his other 3 seasons?
Do you think Caleb did or Cliff did?
We’ll never know but I’d bet Pike made promises to each of them to get them back and I’ll bet he does the same with Paul
Worst case is not Paul leaving it’s him coming back, preventing portal options, playing big minutes and being significantly worse thzn other options
I would still say last season was the statistical outlier, and it was still 30%. If your advanced predictive modeling has him turning into a sniper, might want to tweak the algorithm.
Not at all just saying his 3 point shooting was a decent part of our really bad offense
Outlier in term of attempts too and not an outlier percentage if you look at B1G games from previous season
Totally fair and sad that was the case. If he leaves (I’d like him to stay) I’d like to believe any portal target would be able to hit at a similar clip.
I don’t want another big, I want another ball handler or shooter at least. Can’t rely on just freshman for new talent anymore. Need to be proactive in the portal.
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If Paul returns and is healthy, I believe he starts all year. He is too good of a player and has way too much experience. That creates a good problem to have when Mag returns. I think Pike will bring Gavin off the bench in that scenario. Start; Simpson, Paul, Cam, Mag and Cliff. Gavin, Ndongo, Wolf and Hyatt off the bench. Chol is the wild card. Has a high ceiling but has a ways to go.
He shot 28% 27% 30% his last 3 years. He's been consistently mediocre as a 3 point shooter
Maybe it all finally clicks for him in year 6, but that seems more like wishful thinking. I guess it's possible. He was known as a shooter coming out of HS. Doesn't seem likely though
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