Jucker Court Basketball Board

He has about an inch on Yancy standing side by side so right at 6"10"...

If Shaq is at 190+ right now, that is great news. Hopefully he can get to 200/205 by the start of next season

can you defined skilled in the context you used it there? when some people say "skilled" they mean natural athletic ability...others when they use it mean basketball skills- i.e ball handling, creating a shot, post moves, etc.

Ellis is 6'11//......artie didnt mean Gates in that statment.....got excited forgot to add that...

I spoke with asst last week and he said if season started tomorrow he bet this would be the lineup

Cash SK Shaq Ellis and then ??? He said Titus if they get him,,,,,,or go small and start Parker,,,,,,or Obekpa if they get him

He also mention a few other guys but I couldnt write down the names of guys I didnt know. Some big guy from Ga, and some other juco.

He did say Ellis could play the 5 next yr for sure, especially in dribble drive offense.

You never know...

Wow, Ellis is 6'11 now?

I was very impressed with the few minutes I saw Ellis on the court in the early games of the schedule. He was very fluid for his size, could handle the ball, played hard and focused and you could tell he had potential to be an inside out type of player. Throw in his long arms and him growing, the kid could become quite a wild card.

Can't wait for Shaq. He will be a major upgrade in athletic ability at the 3 spot for us. Hopefully that jump shot will see major improvement this off season. From his videos, I've just loved his intensity and desire to go attack the rim.

I always cringe a bit when people tell me that a freshman or redshirt freshman is going to come in and start all of sudden. I think JJ will be battling pretty hard to earn a consistent starting spot next year. If JJ finds at least a mid range jump shot this summer and gains his usual muscle, this kid will be a very tough match up for many teams at the 4 spot. Currently his biggest weakness is that bigger guys can guard him because he has no jumpshot which takes away his good post game. I'm excited about Ellis but right now I'm going with the expectation that JJ will receive most of the minutes at the 4 position.

IMO we will need another solid 5 man (i'm not counting on Ellis to be a 5 yet) for next year. I would still like to see that last scholarship go to either a talented pg or an athletic wing player. If not then pocket the thing for a better 2013 haul.

Cronin hyped up Parker all offseason gotta give the man some credit.

@Dan_Hoard

Random UC practice observation ... Octavius Ellis is going to be REALLY good in a few years

I agree, but I do think if he continues to develop he'd have an outside shot of starting later in the season IF UC goes towards a guard oriented lineup. If they ran a 4 guard lineup Shaq could become more valuable than Parker because of his size. Otherwise I don't see how Shaq would start. Evan Sanders, who some here billed as the best recruit of the entire class, would have a leg up on Shaq.

Yeah it really doesn't matter who starts. SK didn't start last year. He still got a lot of minutes and had the highest usage rate on the team.

The combination of Parker and Shaq should make the possibility of a 4 guard offense more attractive since we will have a lot more length on the wing. But that is also dependent on finding someone who can man the 5 like Yancy can.

Also, I like Jermaine Sanders and think he will become very good for us, but I think its ridiculous to say he has a leg up on Shaq at this point. Did Parker have a leg up on Kilpatrick coming into last year?

I meant from an experience standpoint. However, it certainly wouldn't be a ridiculous thought. Again, it seemed like a lot/most on here thought Sanders would be an immediate impact player and was the best recruiting of the class which included Shaq. Now all of a sudden Shaq is way better than Sanders. The hype that gets built from sitting out is amazing.