Vick and Newman will pursue pro careers after this season

Wow...and if Udoka declares for the draft early as well, that means the whole starting five is gone leaving Lightfoot, Garrett, and DeSousa as the only returning rotation players.

Dok would be foolish to leave...this year's draft is full of big men. Better to wait til next year and develop into perhaps a lottery pick. As for Vick and Newman, based on recent comments, I don't think Self will be unhappy at all if they do leave.

Hope they both took some foreign language classes because I don't see either of them making the NBA.

Not shocked about Vick, but am admittedly a little surprised about Newman. Still, gotta see how it plays out.

Wouldn't you think, however, that maybe if you were going to enter the draft, that you'd try to exhibit some effort on the court? Just sayin'.

To nobody's surprise, the word is that Vick's issue is mental. He simply cannot or will not focus for long periods. Apparently Devonte has to 'remind' him periodically that he's actually supposed to be playing basketball, not relaxing on a beach in the Indian Ocean. Whether that is a symptom of ADD, or just an undisciplined young mind, it has kept him from developing into the payer we all feel he should be.

Early in the season, Newman seemed perfectly content to play mediocre defense and hang out at the 3 point line and hope somebody would toss him the ball so he could miss a shot. After he got some bench time, I think the effort improved a little bit, and he started doing all kinds of crazy things like moving around on offense, driving, etc.

At some point, HCBS made the comment that when we had Frank and Devonte, Devonte WANTED to guard their best player, and had the desire to share the leadership role that Frank had built. He also mentioned wishing that he had somebody like that who was asking him to get matched to the other team's best guy (like Devonte did) rather than just let the responsibility fall entirely on Devonte's shoulders.

Nevertheless, here's a guy who had a year in the program when he could only practice with the team, where we all heard about is crazy skill level, and yet somehow didn't seem to understand what HCBS is looking for?!?

I'm almost 50 years old, slow, and unskilled at basketball (although I was once quite mediocre) and if somehow Self came calling and told me to suit up, I think I'd understand what keep him from yelling at me (whether I could execute it is another thing).

So as a public service to any recruits that might be reading this:
1.) Play defense. Move your feet and stay in front of your man.
2.) Rebound. If a shot goes up, put your man on your butt, get position, and then go after the ball until it can't be gone after anymore.
3.) Play hard every possession like it's the most important possession of your life.

Am I in the ballpark here?

Malik must have heard me bashing him. 18 points with 3 minutes left in the 1st half.

NotOstertag wrote: Hope they both took some foreign language classes because I don't see either of them making the NBA.

Thank you for the chuckle NotO. Also, could not agree with you more. Niether of them are “league ready” IMHO and while Newman might possess some “potential” I’m not sure its enough. I watched Vick very closely today. He stands around a lot. Numerous times I saw DG running the O, three other guys setting screens and moving without the ball and one dude camped out in the corner. If you DVRd this game run it back and watch. Its a bit disturbing to watch actually. Im not sure after this season if he will even draw interest overseas.