Maybe more a peninsula than an island.
I’m sorry you’ve felt lonely, but you’ve not in fact been alone. I and perhaps a couple of/several others have posted positive vibes about Knueppel. He can play 1-3 and, imo/iyo, he’ll get some minutes.
2024 Men's Basketball Recruiting
- Thread starter JasonEvans
- Start date
Maybe more a peninsula than an island.
I’m sorry you’ve felt lonely, but you’ve not in fact been alone. I and perhaps a couple of/several others have posted positive vibes about Knueppel. He can play 1-3 and, imo/iyo, he’ll get some minutes.
SkyBrickey
Member
I just gave him a big plug in my minutes projection. Not saying it will happen, but he COULD be the guy getting 25mpg at the 3 in March with both Evans and Gillis coming off the bench. I think both K2 and Maluach are being undervalued a bit...
Uh oh ... I just tried to move kAzE from an island to a peninsula, and now find that you’re on Continent Knueppel.
Shouldn't that be Kontinent Knueppel? And I'm there too.
DBKilby
Member
I am with you and I think he plays over 20 min/gm. He is too well rounded not to play. He is our best shooter imo.
SkyBrickey
Member
Haha. I said could. And I even capitalized it COULD so nobody would misinterpret me to say that I think this is likely. But he is my pick to outperform expectations this year. Kid has major game...
brevity
Member
Jeff Capel adds an international 6-7 wing to his 2024-2025 roster. He comes in as a freshman, but he'll turn 21 at the end of July.
Pittsburgh Sports Now: Pitt Earns Commitment from European Wing Amsal Delalic
Pitt lost leading scorer and demonstrative performer Blake Hinson to graduation, plus freshman guard Bub Carrington to the NBA Draft and starter Federiko Federiko and reserve William Jeffers to the transfer portal.
According to Andrew Parrish's 2024-2025 Scholarship Tracker (a Google spreadsheet), the Panthers have used 12 of 13 scholarships.
1 year of eligibility: Ishmael Leggett, Damian Dunn (grad transfer from Houston)
2 years: Zack Austin, Jorge Diaz Graham, Guillermo Diaz Graham, Cameron Corhen (transfer from FSU)
3 years: Jaland Lowe
4 years: Marlon Barnes Jr, Brandin Cummings, Papa Amadou Kante, Amdy Ndiaye, Amsal Delalic
It will be interesting to see how Pitt, and other ACC teams, choose to complete the rosters over the summer.
Pittsburgh Sports Now: Pitt Earns Commitment from European Wing Amsal Delalic
Pitt lost leading scorer and demonstrative performer Blake Hinson to graduation, plus freshman guard Bub Carrington to the NBA Draft and starter Federiko Federiko and reserve William Jeffers to the transfer portal.
According to Andrew Parrish's 2024-2025 Scholarship Tracker (a Google spreadsheet), the Panthers have used 12 of 13 scholarships.
1 year of eligibility: Ishmael Leggett, Damian Dunn (grad transfer from Houston)
2 years: Zack Austin, Jorge Diaz Graham, Guillermo Diaz Graham, Cameron Corhen (transfer from FSU)
3 years: Jaland Lowe
4 years: Marlon Barnes Jr, Brandin Cummings, Papa Amadou Kante, Amdy Ndiaye, Amsal Delalic
It will be interesting to see how Pitt, and other ACC teams, choose to complete the rosters over the summer.
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
I feel like Pitt will be Jaland Lowe’s team this year. He’s gonna be an All-ACC contender.
If I disagree with you two, does that put me on Inkontinent Knueppel? Yuck
BandAlum83
Member
Agreed, and I love his handle and his motor. Some paces say he's 6'6", others have him at 6'7". anyone know the real?
Am I wrong to say he reminds me of Brandon Ingram?
And we think he won't break into the starting lineup?
SkyBrickey
Member
With both Gillis and James as options, I'd be very surprised if he starts early in the season. Could play himself into that spot by the end of the year. Out of our 4 wing options, Evans seems to have the highest ceiling.
brevity
Member
Submitted for your approval...
On3: Oklahoma State 3-star SG signee Jeremiah Johnson requests NLI release from Cowboys
Probably no Duke interest, but it's a news item about a guy named Jeremiah Johnson, and I would be remiss if I didn't post about it. Isn't that right, Mr. Redford?
On3: Oklahoma State 3-star SG signee Jeremiah Johnson requests NLI release from Cowboys
Probably no Duke interest, but it's a news item about a guy named Jeremiah Johnson, and I would be remiss if I didn't post about it. Isn't that right, Mr. Redford?
The Ringer’s ranking of the The Best of the NBA’s Next Generation Ranked article, besides discussing Zion at 10 and Paolo at 9, has a box in between them on Cooper Flagg:
“…the highlight is that he might have the fastest defensive processing and reaction time that I’ve ever seen from a frontcourt prospect.”
“Some extra, frightening icing on this prospect cake is the fact that Flagg has grown as a ball handler and creator in the past couple of summers.”
“Some extra, frightening icing on this prospect cake is the fact that Flagg has grown as a ball handler and creator in the past couple of summers.”
“…Flagg is a hooper’s hooper—a real grimy competitor who is coming for this list soon.”
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/5/22/24162049/best-nba-players-25-and-under-rankings
Travis
“…the highlight is that he might have the fastest defensive processing and reaction time that I’ve ever seen from a frontcourt prospect.”
“Some extra, frightening icing on this prospect cake is the fact that Flagg has grown as a ball handler and creator in the past couple of summers.”
“Some extra, frightening icing on this prospect cake is the fact that Flagg has grown as a ball handler and creator in the past couple of summers.”
“…Flagg is a hooper’s hooper—a real grimy competitor who is coming for this list soon.”
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/5/22/24162049/best-nba-players-25-and-under-rankings
Travis
MChambers
Member
kAzE
Member
Oh hey, it's getting lively around here. Good to have some company. K2 seems to be a very polarizing prospect. At least the folks who thought he would be only playing mop up minutes seem to be fading out.
I'll admit, hearing so much hype around Sion James has me a bit more open minded about the competition between those 2, because I do think they are in direct competition. But I'm still leaning toward K2, because I think we have enough of what Sion offers (defense, athleticism, finishing ability) elsewhere on the roster, whereas K2's playmaking and elite shooting abliity gives him an upper hand in my mind. But then again, we're talking about a 5th year player vs a 18/19 year old, and that's still a major advantage for Sion.
I think they will both play (which could be bad news for Isaiah Evans), and I believe Sion has a higher chance to start than K2 (because it makes more sense to have him on the floor with Foster and Proctor), but K2 seems likely to be the back up PG/offense initiator right now for me.
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scottdude8
Moderator, front page and podcast contributor
I don't necessarily think we need a traditional "backup" PG given this year's potential starting lineup, just like I don't think we need a traditional "backup" center if Maliq Brown starts at the 4. I think it's much more likely that one of Tyrese or Caleb is almost always on the floor, and we need a PG off the bench in only very limited situations (hopefully just garbage time!). Similarly, I think even if Maliq starts at the 4 alongside Khaman (which is where my money is, based on his track record in the ACC plus the dominoes that seemed to fall related to his commitment), we could very well see him playing just 15-20 mpg at the 4 and playing another 10-15 mpg at the 5 when Khaman is out, with Cooper downshifting to the 4 in those minutes (or maybe even Mason Gillis, because yes he can defend the 4).
We may see a lot of non-traditional substitution patterns where, for instance, Sion James or Mason Gillis or even K2 sub in for our center, only to play the 2 or 3 with our existing 3 and 4 downshifting.
kAzE
Member
I agree 1 of Foster and Proctor will always be in the game, and that Cooper Flagg can be a very potent shot creator, but just having the flexibility to have 3+ playmakers on the court at all times without sacrificing much defense is pretty sick. On paper, it makes Duke a very tough team to defend. We can wear down teams over the course of a game by forcing them to make multiple efforts defensively every time down the court. Drive, kick, fake, drive again, kick again, offensive rebound, etc. It's going to be exhausting to defend this team.
K2's insane shooting is going to provide so much spacing, too. He's just on a different level than anyone else on the roster as a shooter other than maybe Darren Harris. Gillis is very efficient, but he's not really taking a high volume of 3s, and certainly none off the dribble or very deep looks.
Also, if Foster or Proctor misses any time (somewhat likely), I think you will see a LOT of K2.
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I haven't been on Kontinent Kneuppel, but that's mostly because I feel I know less about him than the transfers. The more we discuss this, the less certain I am, because there are just more viable options than I recall seeing for Duke before. And at the same time, there are 4 players that I feel are going to eat as many minutes as they possibly can (Proctor, Foster, Flagg, Maluach). SOMEONE (maybe even more than one) who would have a team built around them elsewhere is going to play mop up minutes for Duke. And that may be because someone else explodes and simply cannot be denied. Or it may be that after trying 53 different lineups Coach S decides that someone else fits best with Cooper Flagg, or is the lights out shooter that this team needs, or gives us a defense that the Monstars envy.
Saying "I don't know" makes me feel like I'm doing this internet thing all wrong.
bluedevilwildcats
On Holiday
Maybe I'm the last one, but I'm in the mop up minutes camp. He fails the eye test for me other than as an undersized stretch 4 (which obvi makes no sense for him).
We all know how well the eyeball test works, I look forward to being wrong.
I think there's lots of reason to be uncertain - about everyone! We'll have a lot of potential, but no one - no one - has yet proved themselves capable of playing at an All-ACC level. Normally, we have 2 or 3 such players, and I bet we will again this year, but it's anyone's guess who those players will be. (Yes, Flagg is a pretty good bet, but that's it.)
That's why it's a bit strange for me to hear predictions that our top 15ish nationally ranked incoming guards/wings - KK and Evans - won't see meaningful playing time. In almost every case, guards with that talent level have played decent minutes for Duke as freshmen. And they're not coming onto a team that's loaded with proven All-ACC talent. Lots of potential, lots of age/experience, but no one (other than Flagg) I'm certain will be a star.