For now at least it looks like we know who will be on the KSU 2021 roster, and (at Baller's urging) KSUFreak has given what I thought was a very solid analysis of the positives and negatives for the three transfers. Not everyone is on campus yet, but I want to take a look at the KSU MBB team that will soon begin preparing for the 2021-2022 season.
There are 14 scholarship players (for real, no walk-ons) on the roster. In my view, they fall into fairly distinct groupings. The first group, Carlton, Seryee, Logan, and Maximus, are guys who I don't expect to get a lot of minutes -- but I will hedge that by noting that this group probably includes two of the most offensively skilled big men and probably the two best leapers on the roster. Still, I will set them aside for now.
The remaining ten guys are the ones I expect to be the basis of the rotation, with the caveat that Luke and Monte are coming off major injury issues from last season. I am going to assume for now that they will be healthy -- and that no one else gets hit by major injury (more on that later). To me this is one of the most balanced rosters KSU has had in a while. Two natural centers in Davion and Kaosi, two true point guards in Nijel and Markquis, two clear fours in Monte and Ishmael, and four guys for the interchangeable 2/3 spots that I will somewhat arbitrarily assign as Mark and Luke at the three with Selton and Mike at the two.
The big thing that jumps out at me is KSU has two complete teams for five on five where every player is experienced to some degree and playing at their natural positions. That should lead to some night and day improvement in practice options starting early in the preseason preparations. This group should come out of the gate much, much faster than last season, and that is obviously badly needed.
Another positive in my view is this roster has four established quality outside shooters in Nijel, Mark, Markquis, and Ishmael. Also, Mike is actually a 32.4% three-point guy for his career with 364 attempts, and Monte in his only partially healthy season did shoot 30.6% from three on 36 attempts in 19 games. The others are mostly unknown or non-shooters, although Luke was supposedly shooting very well in practice prior to his injury last season, so there is some hope for him as well. It appears that there is no reason that KSU should not have three established outside shooters on the court most of the time, which is quite a change from last season. That should dramatically affect spacing in a positive way.
It all looks rosy until the injuries start, of course. The major concerns are center and point guard because if you lose both guys at either of those positions, the options are somewhat scary. Fortunately, the four deep bench guys I set aside earlier give at least some bodies (possibly three bodies) for the center position, and Maximus could potentially play anywhere in the four/three/two spots to provide some minutes in a pinch. A rash of injuries would be bad news as always, but even in that case having 14 actual players gives some hope.
As we plunge into the dark age of the basketball calendar, there are at least some fun things to ponder. What will the best team be? What will the best offensive team be? What will the best defensive team be? What will the surprise combinations be? For example, would Kaosi and Logan give KSU a nice balanced pair at the five/four spots with both outside (Logan) and inside (both) punch? Will Maximus be a significant alley oop threat and/or an effective slasher? Lots of questions to think about.
There are 14 scholarship players (for real, no walk-ons) on the roster. In my view, they fall into fairly distinct groupings. The first group, Carlton, Seryee, Logan, and Maximus, are guys who I don't expect to get a lot of minutes -- but I will hedge that by noting that this group probably includes two of the most offensively skilled big men and probably the two best leapers on the roster. Still, I will set them aside for now.
The remaining ten guys are the ones I expect to be the basis of the rotation, with the caveat that Luke and Monte are coming off major injury issues from last season. I am going to assume for now that they will be healthy -- and that no one else gets hit by major injury (more on that later). To me this is one of the most balanced rosters KSU has had in a while. Two natural centers in Davion and Kaosi, two true point guards in Nijel and Markquis, two clear fours in Monte and Ishmael, and four guys for the interchangeable 2/3 spots that I will somewhat arbitrarily assign as Mark and Luke at the three with Selton and Mike at the two.
The big thing that jumps out at me is KSU has two complete teams for five on five where every player is experienced to some degree and playing at their natural positions. That should lead to some night and day improvement in practice options starting early in the preseason preparations. This group should come out of the gate much, much faster than last season, and that is obviously badly needed.
Another positive in my view is this roster has four established quality outside shooters in Nijel, Mark, Markquis, and Ishmael. Also, Mike is actually a 32.4% three-point guy for his career with 364 attempts, and Monte in his only partially healthy season did shoot 30.6% from three on 36 attempts in 19 games. The others are mostly unknown or non-shooters, although Luke was supposedly shooting very well in practice prior to his injury last season, so there is some hope for him as well. It appears that there is no reason that KSU should not have three established outside shooters on the court most of the time, which is quite a change from last season. That should dramatically affect spacing in a positive way.
It all looks rosy until the injuries start, of course. The major concerns are center and point guard because if you lose both guys at either of those positions, the options are somewhat scary. Fortunately, the four deep bench guys I set aside earlier give at least some bodies (possibly three bodies) for the center position, and Maximus could potentially play anywhere in the four/three/two spots to provide some minutes in a pinch. A rash of injuries would be bad news as always, but even in that case having 14 actual players gives some hope.
As we plunge into the dark age of the basketball calendar, there are at least some fun things to ponder. What will the best team be? What will the best offensive team be? What will the best defensive team be? What will the surprise combinations be? For example, would Kaosi and Logan give KSU a nice balanced pair at the five/four spots with both outside (Logan) and inside (both) punch? Will Maximus be a significant alley oop threat and/or an effective slasher? Lots of questions to think about.
