K on ESPN College Basketball Podcast

[Billy Dat]

He goes for about 10-15 minutes with Katz and Seth Greenberg
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=11785982

I listened to it a few hours ago but here are some highlights:

-When asked about coaching one-and-dones, K said he embraces it because those are the kids with the most talent (aside from being good kids, too), and the trick is that you have to spend much more time getting to know them during recruiting so that you can really hit the ground running because, in his words, "you only have 9 months with them".
-He also said that coaching teams with one-and-done talent requires simplicity, you have to strip down your approach and avoid the tendency to 'add too much stuff in"
-He expects this years tam to "pick up full court". We'll see how long we can stick with that.
-When asked about platooning due to a deep team, with a reference in the question to Kentucky, K said he wouldn't take that approach because there are always 1-2 kids who are better tha n everyone else and therefore need to be out on the floor. He said, "Like Okafor, I need to figure out how to play him as much as possible. Winslow is like that, too." I thought it was interesting that he added Winslow to that list.
-Based on what he's seen so far, he's worried about turnovers and defensive rebounding.
-He spent a long time talking obliquely about how Men's basketball needs to follow football's lead and "evolve with the times" so that it controls its own destiny. I think his point was that most of the $ in college basketball goes right to the NCAA because of the tournament and he said its not that way in football. I was disappointed that he got on that topic because he spent a long time not really saying anything, despite Katz pushing him for specifics, and it was kind of lame.
-He talked about quickly moving on from the Mercer game. 'Why would I dwell on that? That's painful. That needs to go in the rearview as quickly as possible". That's an interesting change from "here's to never forgetting tonight".

Certainly worth a listen.

[Duke3517]

I really wish those great high school talents were not held back from going pro. I have a feeling Okafor will have no business being in college basketball this year. From what I am reading he is way too talented for the college game.

[Kedsy]

I really wish those great high school talents were not held back from going pro. I have a feeling Okafor will have no business being in college basketball this year. From what I am reading he is way too talented for the college game.

Well, at least he's on our team while he has no business being in college, right? Much better than the alternative.

[MCFinARL]

Well, at least he's on our team while he has no business being in college, right? Much better than the alternative.

Amen to that.

[Kfanarmy]

Well, at least he's on our team while he has no business being in college, right? Much better than the alternative.

Obviously it is great to have the talent. A lot of people prefer watching the superstars. I've always been partial to the skill and finesse that upperclassmen can display as a team.

[Kedsy]

Obviously it is great to have the talent. A lot of people prefer watching the superstars. I've always been partial to the skill and finesse that upperclassmen can display as a team.

I can appreciate both.

[sagegrouse]

I really wish those great high school talents were not held back from going pro. I have a feeling Okafor will have no business being in college basketball this year. From what I am reading he is way too talented for the college game.

Yeah, if he's a man among boys, I will love every minute of it.

[Duvall]

I can appreciate both.

And Duke almost always has both.

[mo.st.dukie]

I really wish those great high school talents were not held back from going pro. I have a feeling Okafor will have no business being in college basketball this year. From what I am reading he is way too talented for the college game.

He was probably ready for the NBA 2 years ago and was ready for college basketball when he was in the 8th grade. He had no business being in high school basketball. He was way too talented for the high school game. It's a shame junior high school guys are held back from being college basketball players.

[Duke3517]

Clearly I would rather have him play for Duke than anyone else. All I said was it is a shame that the NBA do not let these young athletes make a choice to go pro. I just don't get the huge benefit for a kid to just go to college for one year.

[MCFinARL]

Clearly I would rather have him play for Duke than anyone else. All I said was it is a shame that the NBA do not let these young athletes make a choice to go pro. I just don't get the huge benefit for a kid to just go to college for one year.

But the NBA rule isn't really designed to benefit the kids. It's designed to protect NBA teams from their own foolishness in selecting players who have never been tested against competition above the high school level. If the players have to play a year in college (or abroad), it reduces the likelihood that a top draft pick will turn out to be Kwame Brown. And having a rule means teams don't have to take the chance on a raw high school player to keep some other team from getting him.

[flyingdutchdevil]

But the NBA rule isn't really designed to benefit the kids. It's designed to protect NBA teams from their own foolishness in selecting players who have never been tested against competition above the high school level. If the players have to play a year in college (or abroad), it reduces the likelihood that a top draft pick will turn out to be Kwame Brown. And having a rule means teams don't have to take the chance on a raw high school player to keep some other team from getting him.

"With the first pick of the 2013 NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select... Anthony Bennett!"

Bennett may not be Kwame Brown, but college isn't a foolproof scouting process either.

[Duke3517]

"With the first pick of the 2013 NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select... Anthony Bennett!"

Bennett may not be Kwame Brown, but college isn't a foolproof scouting process either.

Especially after only one season.

[tommy]

Especially after only one season.

which is is why the league would like to go to the two years in college rule. Less drafting mistakes.

Also the longer kids are in college, the more free marketing of its future stars is done for the league.

[UrinalCake]

Interesting that turnovers and defensive rebounding are his areas of concern. I would think with two point guards, plus an experienced guard in Rasheed, that turnovers wouldn't be a problem. Also I expected defensive rebounding to be improved from last year, with more size up front and a more traditional lineup overall. But if its true that he expects to press full court then maybe he sees us playing an up-tempo pace, which can be prone to allowing turnovers and also missing rebounds when guys are looking on defense to turn and run down the court. I guess we'll see.

[Billy Dat]

Interesting that turnovers and defensive rebounding are his areas of concern. I would think with two point guards, plus an experienced guard in Rasheed, that turnovers wouldn't be a problem. Also I expected defensive rebounding to be improved from last year, with more size up front and a more traditional lineup overall. But if its true that he expects to press full court then maybe he sees us playing an up-tempo pace, which can be prone to allowing turnovers and also missing rebounds when guys are looking on defense to turn and run down the court. I guess we'll see.

He said that those concerns are specifically based on what he has seen so far in practice and the reasons you gave (bolded) are ones he cited.

[Papa John]

-He talked about quickly moving on from the Mercer game. 'Why would I dwell on that? That's painful. That needs to go in the rearview as quickly as possible". That's an interesting change from "here's to never forgetting tonight".

That is an interesting change of philosophy. While I agree that obsessing over past results is counterproductive, it's also important to make sure you learn from those past results. Our recent tournament history suggests that a bit more of the "here's to never forgetting tonight" mentality might be beneficial... There's certainly a healthy balance to be struck between the two...

[tommy]

That is an interesting change of philosophy. While I agree that obsessing over past results is counterproductive, it's also important to make sure you learn from those past results. Our recent tournament history suggests that a bit more of the "here's to never forgetting tonight" mentality might be beneficial... There's certainly a healthy balance to be struck between the two...

I agree, but perhaps one difficulty with "here's to never forgetting tonight" as it's been utilized in the past, is that frequently many of they key players from a bad loss like that move on -- the one and done's (Parker), the one-year-on-the-court-in our-program guys (Hood) -- are no longer on the team the following year. Yes, many guys do return, but when your two best players are gone, plus a couple of rotation seniors are gone, and you've got in many respects a whole new team the next year, it's harder for this team to learn from the feeling they experienced at the end of last year, because many of them didn't experience it at all.

[kAzE]

He goes for about 10-15 minutes with Katz and Seth Greenberg
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=11785982

I listened to it a few hours ago but here are some highlights:

-When asked about coaching one-and-dones, K said he embraces it because those are the kids with the most talent (aside from being good kids, too), and the trick is that you have to spend much more time getting to know them during recruiting so that you can really hit the ground running because, in his words, "you only have 9 months with them".
-He also said that coaching teams with one-and-done talent requires simplicity, you have to strip down your approach and avoid the tendency to 'add too much stuff in"
-He expects this years tam to "pick up full court". We'll see how long we can stick with that.
-When asked about platooning due to a deep team, with a reference in the question to Kentucky, K said he wouldn't take that approach because there are always 1-2 kids who are better tha n everyone else and therefore need to be out on the floor. He said, "Like Okafor, I need to figure out how to play him as much as possible. Winslow is like that, too." I thought it was interesting that he added Winslow to that list.
-Based on what he's seen so far, he's worried about turnovers and defensive rebounding.
-He spent a long time talking obliquely about how Men's basketball needs to follow football's lead and "evolve with the times" so that it controls its own destiny. I think his point was that most of the $ in college basketball goes right to the NCAA because of the tournament and he said its not that way in football. I was disappointed that he got on that topic because he spent a long time not really saying anything, despite Katz pushing him for specifics, and it was kind of lame.
-He talked about quickly moving on from the Mercer game. 'Why would I dwell on that? That's painful. That needs to go in the rearview as quickly as possible". That's an interesting change from "here's to never forgetting tonight".

Certainly worth a listen.

I've been saying it for months, Winslow will be a lottery pick. He's legit.

[OldPhiKap]

I agree, but perhaps one difficulty with "here's to never forgetting tonight" as it's been utilized in the past, is that frequently many of they key players from a bad loss like that move on -- the one and done's (Parker), the one-year-on-the-court-in our-program guys (Hood) -- are no longer on the team the following year. Yes, many guys do return, but when your two best players are gone, plus a couple of rotation seniors are gone, and you've got in many respects a whole new team the next year, it's harder for this team to learn from the feeling they experienced at the end of last year, because many of them didn't experience it at all.

40% of our roster was in high school last year. Quinn and Amile by contrast need to get the bad taste out.