Dok, Vick, Newman pick 2 game

Question 1 is a no-brainer: Newman and Dok.

I think getting Newman back would be an absolute coup, and possibly pivotal to KU's capacity to be an elite team making a run at a crown. Several reasons:

* We need a leader next year, and a full-bore winner. Newman is that guy.

* We will need shooters. Desperately. Losing Graham and Svi is HUGE, and we're going to have to rely on unknowns to make the jump to college (or Moore as a transfer and Cunliffe for the light bulb to go on). Having Newman back would take pressure off in that regard, but even WITH Newman we STILL need a couple more outside assassins. Villanova proved that you have to have the 3-ball efficiency, which greatly offsets the traditional 2-point game, to win in today's era.

* Defense. KU's perimeter defense was very, very suspect this season, and it cost us against Nova. Win that game and we likely are celebrating a crown now, with Mass Street overflowing with jovial students and Larryville celebrants. But we didn't in part due to our incapacity to stay on Nova's ballhandlers and avoid the open man on the kickout. Too often that was because Brunson or tonight's player of the game (the redheaded Italian kid) were absolutely blowing by Devonte and breaking down our defense, forcing a big to help and leaving one of their stretch bigs wide, wide open for the 3. We have to be much better on defense, and that starts at the perimeter, on the ball. I'd take a junior Newman in that role ANY DAY over a green freshman or some transfer. By year's end, Newman's D had improved greatly. He has immense quickness (more than anyone on our squad this year), is very solid laterally with his feet, and has nice wingspan.

I've seen videos of Romeo Langford, and maybe I'm way off base, but I just don't see how his game holds a candle to the experienced, now highly confident Newman if the latter were to return. Maybe we could get lucky and have Newman return AND land Langford? (Even if it means Vick and Cunliffe depart?)

Perimeter shooters and perimeter defense are the key ingredients that are the major question marks for KU at the moment heading into next year. We will be absolutely LOADED inside, so if we can solve the former issue, and you give the keys to a hot rod like that to someone like Self, the sky will be the limit.

PS: We also need a stretch 4 that can go out and hit the long ball...and face up to nail the 15-footer as well. I submit, as I did a month ago, that a viable candidate for that would be Silvio. Dok? Not a chance. He's strictly back to the basket. Silvio has the latter, but I swear with that form and some imagination on our staff's part, coupled with the requisite coaching and a TON of shots being practiced from now till November, the kid might just develop it. He has a very pure and smooth shooting form and obviously has the height and length to see the bucket well and shoot over people. I say GO FOR IT (Self and company) and work on Silvio's outside game, as a major complement to his inside game AND as a force-multiplier-type weapon added to our formidable arsenal next year. Silvio with a face-up game to go along with his interior game, alongside Dok and Dawson inside? Wow. Just. Wow. But we need those guards too!

NotOstertag wrote: ... The other persistent question I have is how the conversation goes when you need a scholly and you want to run a kid off to get it.

Let's take Vick for a minute. Say Langford wants to come to KU and Self decides he wants to replace Vick's scholarship to get him. What if Vick doesn't want to go? Self can't rescind his scholarship without cause. Does Vick have a say in whether or not he takes a redshirt?

It just seems to me that if I were in Vick's shoes I'd have a lot of leverage in the "if you want my scholarship, what can you do to make it worth my time?" department.

Vick has the last say as long as he hasn’t done anything to get himself tossed off the team.

And redshirts on scholarship are still on scholarship.
You got 13 on scholly and one redshirts, you still got 13 on scholly.