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About This Page: This is a discussion on Basketball within the LetsGoKings.com forums, at Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fan Forum. Bobcats re-sign C Hollins
Hollins re-ups with Charlotte.
Not sure if it was noted in here at all, but I'm pretty sure Mata-Real and Bozeman are on the Lakers' summer
Tyler Lamb committed to the Bruins for the 2010 class.
This is one of those commitments that will (if he progresses realistically) look better later than it does now. Not a guy that is well known/regarded nationally, but looks very much to be known as an elite guard/wing type prospect by the time he reaches UCLA.
It is also rumored that UCLA leads for Tyler Honeycutt in the 2009 class. He is a badly needed small forward, and one of the best small forward prospects in the nation. Fingers crossed.
I read this quote posted over at Scout.com and had to share it because it's priceless.
This was heard at Men's Gym, after Malcolm Lee started the day a bit wild and out-of-control:
"Hey, he won't be able to get away with the stuff under Coach Howland. He could have got away with that **** under Steve Lavin, and even under Harrick but definitely not under Howland."
On the heels of losing out to Arizona for 2009 PG Abdul Gaddy, the Bruins got a verbal from Tyler Honeycutt.
Honeycutt is a badly needed SF for the 2009 class and is universally seen as an elite prospect.
Scouting reports are that he's tall (6'8") and lean, with great ball skills for his size, a nice outside shot, and some of the best shot blocking ability of any prospect in the West.
If you look at the roster, and the probable departures to come, this was probably the single most important recruit for the incoming 2009 UCLA class.
Not sure anyone cares... feel like I'm talking to myself here... but...
Class of 2009 center Anthony Stover just committed to UCLA. He's an elite shot-blocking prospect. By all accounts, he's a "Howland kid" in that he's straight-laced with a supportive family, an interest in education, and a willingness to work.
We're one shooting guard away from another obscene recruiting class by Howland.
You're not talking to yourself. I don't have access to this good info so I love that you are posting it.
I was hoping we could get a team that could end up being a group of great athletes instead of a couple of big time stars that will just leave. Sounds like Howland is trying to build up that kind of team.
__________________ Adam Deadmarsh, you are missed!
He's going for a balance, but when you pick amongst the top prospects, you're inevitably going to see a lot of early departures. And those early departures really make it hard to keep depth at every position.
But the overall talent level coming in this year and next is sick. I'd say that between the 9 commits, about half will be drafted someday, and about half of those in the lottery.
To be able to follow a #1 recruiting class with another that will be top 5 (easily) is scary. Reaping the benefits of consistent success and reputation now...
And what's ironic, it's those guys that don't go early or don't get drafted that will hopefully give us consistent depth while the Kevin Loves and Jrue Holidays and Tyler Honeycutts come and go.
On a related note, it sounds like Renardo Sidney got an offer from USC. He's an NBA talent, in LA, and never seriously offered by UCLA. Sound familiar? I'll let you make your own conclusions (until an Outside the Lines report comes out).
Last edited by Wolvie; October 5th, 2008 at 10:42 PM.
As with Roenick, there are those of us who appreciate your posts on the subject.
Thanks for the info!
__________________ You know you're a drunkard when... You get into a fistfight with a wino over how long a bottle of Thunderbird should be allowed to "breathe".
Well, if you're into holding your breath, UCLA's last best target is Michael Snaer, senior SG for the 2009 class.
After a 2008 class including Jrue Holiday, Malcolm Lee, and Jerime Anderson it's not surprising that prospects aren't climbing all over each other for the scraps of playing time they'd leave.
If Howland misses on Snaer (quite possible), then it will be interesting what UCLA chooses to do. It'll be slim pickings, but given the projected team in 2009, they could really use another guard.
On the heels of losing out to Arizona for 2009 PG Abdul Gaddy...
STOP THE PRESSES!
On the heels of Lute Olson's impending retirement (despite having promised his recruits that he'd be there this season), Abdul Gaddy has been quoted as saying that this changes things. Gaddy's #2 choice was UCLA, and UCLA has been in contact recently.
If Gaddy decides not to sign with Arizona and commits to UCLA, that is arguably the #1 recruiting class in the country for the second straight year.
I have my fingers crossed. (Makes it hard to type this, by the way.)
C Stover
PF Lane
PF Nelson
SF Honeycutt
SG Abdul Gaddy (?)
Last edited by Wolvie; October 23rd, 2008 at 04:17 PM.
Given Arizona's replacement coach for Lute, it's a good bet that all of their players will decommit. It's particularly funny, because they took back a scholarship to another kid this year because they had too many elite guys willing to come. Oops.
Also, a clarification. Abdul Gaddy is one of the two best POINT guards in the country in his class. I put him at SG simply because, as it stands, the future-Bruins are loaded with prospects that played POINT in high school. But what they really need going forward is someone to play the 2. Fortunately, several of those guys can play either guard spot easily.
The latest on Gaddy is that it's between Washington and UCLA.
Early thought was that UCLA was the shoo-in, because it was down to UCLA and Arizona before Gaddy recommitted to the Wildcats. (Note, Gaddy committed to Arizona, then decommitted when Lute waivered about returning, then recommitted to Arizona, then decommitted for good now that Lute is gone.)
Washington jumped back into the mix because it's Gaddy's home state, and it sounds like he and his family are feeling a bit skittish about going out of state after this whole debacle. From what is known, if he decided today, it'd be Washington.
Conventional wisdom is that if Gaddy waits and mulls it over, he'll remember why he almost chose UCLA the first time.
Meanwhile...
Mike Moser, a very skilled wing, also decommitted from Arizona. He would also fit quite well into the UCLA recruiting class, as he can play 2 or 3. Skill guy who can play different roles (though not a great shooter at this stage). UCLA is going after him as well.
Even though UCLA only planned to use 5 scholarships for 2009, it's conceivable that they'd use 6 (including one they aren't guaranteed to have, with the thought that Jrue Holiday is almost surely one-and-done). So UCLA will probably recruit both Wildcat would-be's and worry about the number of scholarships later. But that's highly speculative, as Howland has traditionally been very conservative with his scholarships (resulting in multiple seasons at UCLA without the maximum 13 scholarship players on the roster).
Last edited by Wolvie; October 27th, 2008 at 02:24 PM.
He's going to U-Dub. UCLA misses out on him a second time, and Howland made a trip up to Washington for nothing. Publicly, he stated that the whole Arizona thing seemed like a sign he should stay home. Sounds like Lute Olsen may have even told Gaddy to go to UW, which Lorenzo Romar owes him big for. I assume that playing time also had something to do with it. Gaddy is looking to play at the next level, and he will be THE guy at UW whereas he'd be fighting for playing time here. That's why it's hard to pull down back-to-back elite recruiting classes, and a big reason why we still don't have a guard for the 2009 class following the best guard class in the nation for 2008.
Attention turns to Mike Moser, the other victim of the Arizona debacle. He may be a very nice fit given his Luc-like versatility. (That's Mbah-a-moute, not Robitaille.)
And Michael Snaer is still out there, another possibility for a guard to round out the class.
I get lots of my info from scout.com (absolutely GREAT for college basketball, particularly UCLA, but not cheap).
Greg Hicks is one of the main contributors. He is pretty much Yoda when it comes to West Coast prospects and UCLA recruits. Lately, he's been pretty sour on a number of things:
He feels that Shipp and Collison are limiting the Bruins because Shipp still thinks he's an NBA-bound slasher/shooter and because the Bruins insist on using Collison as a point when he's really not a natural, instinctive point.
He feels that Holiday is (already) the best player and best point guard on the team, but that he'll probably hold himself back because it's not "his" team, with Shipp and Collison both seniors looking for their shots. He seems to imply that this team will only go as far as Holiday will take it, and that it's not so much if he can but more if they let him.
He feels that Keefe is less effective now (gained muscle, lost quickness), that Aboya still doesn't look like he can provide interior minutes (useless when he holds back, fouls when he doesn't), and that the freshmen centers aren't that close (Morgan isn't fit, Gordon works hard but isn't skilled).
He also notes that in the preseason thus far, the defensive intensity hasn't been Howland-esque and he wonders if it's a lack of leadership on the floor (as provided by Afflalo and then Westbrook in prior years).
Lastly, he wonders what could have been if Luc played the way he's playing now (in the NBA) during his last couple of years (injuries aside). It was pretty obvious that Mbah-a-Moute was pretty effective as a freshman but then changed "his game" and moved away from the rebounding/defense axis towards a more slashing/scoring emphasis.
Meanwhile, on the recruiting front, Mike Moser took an official visit to UCLA.
Last edited by Wolvie; November 8th, 2008 at 02:43 PM.
ChilledAgua
You know you're a drunkard when... 
