Rumors are flying that Embiid will make his decision shortly, maybe within the next week. This is the guy I want most. Not saying I won't take Randle on top of him, but with Embiid we shore up the rim protector for a few years the Self loves to have.

lots of if's on this years squad. TONS of athleticism.

You know if I were to look at this years squad versus last years squad, I wouldn't give you much for last years.

But I also wouldn't have guessed that Tyshawn would have developed a leadership role and the ability to beat any defender in the country off the dribble any time he wanted to. I also wouldn't have guessed that Withey would go from not looking like he could walk to locking down the middle and TRob would score consistently and effectively against double teams.

Now I don't think it is prudent to expect gains like we had last year. That was a special year. But it also points out that the season is long.

I just hope we can run a cohesive team out there. It never seemed like we had one with Selby or X.

I never thought trob successfully learned to play the double team the way he should. He would force shots up and not be patient alot.


I think this team will miss TT more than Robinson. Robinson struggled to score against size and at times took bad shots.

I remember him doing that a lot, but he also put up better than 20 ppg if I remember correctly and almost all of those were against double teams. Dude was a ****ing man among boys.

He had a lot of assists out them too. He screwed up a lot of plays, but he touched the ball nearly every play. He was real talent. He scored on a lot of double teams because he had to. Most of the time, him taking on a double was better than someone else taking a shot (I'm looking at you Conner Teahan).

Robinson was a great player. But he was a physical player, who could outmuscle guys on the block and he actually was pretty fundamentally sound. Great college player.


But he struggled with quickness and size.

And yeah, him taking shots was better than Teahan.

But I would almost contend that Taylor was the engine that made last years squad go.

The ****?

I'd probably agree with that. TT is pretty unappreciated by a lot of folks on this board. I am not one of them. KU doesn't do much without him last year.

It's hard to imagine, but he could beat anyone in the country off the dribble at any time he wanted. He turned the ball over some, but he did way more harm than good. He was the only guy getting in the lane. Hopefully we can get in the lane much more this year. EJ started doing it late, and that's when he took off. But other than TT, nobody was doing anything offensively to create much.

I've said ever since the tournament that TT will be missed pretty bad around these parts. Hopefully we can fill the void, but he was a hell of a player and had a significant leadership role. Those are awful big shoes that several players are going to have to work together to fill.

I think it is easier to find guys to replace what TRob did (Score in the post and rebound) than it is to do what TT did (abuse people off the dribble).

I think Embiid has a chance to be a special player. Julius Randle is already a special player. I would most definitely take Randle over Embiid any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I would take Gordon, Randle, or Dakari Johnson over Embiid if I had to choose between them. I understand 7 footers don't grow on trees but Embiid is very raw having only played for a year.

SDSU is playing in Lawrence next year, Kansas will come to San Diego in 2015-2016.

http://aztecmesa.proboards.com/index...y&thread=26641

Maybe. But EJ is here to fill in for Tyshawn. Maybe he won't be as effective, but he has the potential to be even better.

Meanwhile, Ellis and company have huge shoes to fill in Robinson's absence. Withey benefitted HUGELY from Robinson. Without that monster down low, we might see a slight drop off in performance from Withey this year.

I don't think EJ can slash like TT. We've been spoiled by Sherron and TT always driving to the basket and getting to the line. Hopefully we can develop a good perimeter game this year to offset that slashing loss.

Yeah, EJ, was getting to the basket late in the year, but it appeared to me that it wasn't started off the bounce, if I'm remembering correctly (a lot of shit has happened since March), he'd have a step on guys if they helped off too much. I don't think, at least last year, he'd throw a move and just beat people off the bounce.

Maybe he can get there. Physically he is stronger and more explosive, but at least to date, he hasn't shown that ungodly first step. I don't think he is as fast in open court with the ball, but I think it is there. There were a few times in the open court where he was pretty goddamn fast. If he can consistently beat people, whether it be through the crossover, first step, or some jukes, watch the **** out. He could be better than TT by a fair margin.

But I don't think he's there yet.

Goddamn I love basketball.