Fullbacksympathy

I’d be shocked if Curtis doesn’t see the court regularly next season. He’s a pure scorer and already knows how to draw fouls like a veteran. He doesn’t remind me of anyone we’ve had before. I think he’s one of the best guard prospects we’ve ever nabbed out of the high school ranks.

I think Yvan and Cross will split minutes pretty evenly at the 5. Yvan will be more consistent as a post/physical presence but I think Cross will have a 20+ pt night here and there. Cross is no slouch on the glass or defense if you watch his film, and he’s plenty physical. He’s also more explosive than Yvan vertically and can shoot the 3. I’m thrilled about both of them. I don’t think either one will be a deer in the headlights as freshmen. They’re damned near as heavy as Maric was coming out of high school. <—Yvan’s game reminds me of Maric, actually. I think the Draymond comparison for Cross is spot friggin on.

Predictions wo Roby: Mack gets huge minutes Green/Curtis Burke/Cheatham Stephenson/Kavas Cross/YO Other hot take predictions: Legit 9 deep rotation Green/Burke/Cheatham help w PG. Stephenson plays plenty of point forward Cross gets specific sets where he brings the ball up Akol RS, Thor blowout minutes

I think Thor is praying Roby gets drafted.

NBD... just signed Ohio’s Mr Basketball as our last throwaway take-a-chance-on-a-guy commit. Unreal. Do we have a top 5 B1G roster at this point? Serious question.

Holy shit!

Another great pickup. Hoiberg clearly has a body type in mind for his frontcourt. #beef #mean

Yep. He reminds me of Ade. All indicators are that he’s an absolutely great kid as well. Great athlete + great kid typically results in a meaningful contribution. I think he’ll become a 3 (serviceable) and D (elite) guy for us with this staff. The other thing: clearly Fred isn’t keeping anyone on this roster if they don’t fit his vision. Nothing could possibly be more clear than that. I trust his intuition way more than my own.

We already have the most complete roster I’ve seen since Nee’s best teams. That’s mindblowing. With 3 legitimate 240+lb bigs on the roster, I’d go for another shooter. Position doesn’t matter. Or a double double grad transfer big, but man... I feel like both of these pups can see the court at the 4-5 and be serviceable for 4 friggin years. Cross and Yvan compliment each other really, really well. And the Nevada kid can give us a really beefy lineup at the 3-4-5 if we want 750lbs of front court. Also important: they allow Kavas to play a true stretch 4 without giving up a defensive mismatch. He’s going to be deadly in Fred’s system. Just wow. If I’m Roby, the decision becomes harder by the day, particularly if he’s a second rounder.

Cross looks crazy good to me. I’m as excited about him as anyone else in the class. He also looks all of 6’8” from my lens. Looks like a legit 3pt threat. I think he starts at the 4 or 5 in the fall after some summer conditioning. Watch his film and watch Roby or Morrow’s high school film and tell me Cross isn’t a more impressive player at the same age. He is downright skilled offensively.

He reminds me a lot of young Charles Barkley—body and game. Maybe Doc can get him to play mad like Chuck.

I've gotta think we land one more big. That's all we need.

Gotta think so. Pretty unique system/personnel they have there. I’m EXTREMELY glad we got Fred when we did.

That’s an incredibly difficult replacement for Michigan at this point in the game. Wow indeed.

The thing I like about this staff is that they are proactive with the transfer rules. In almost every other program, the transfer rules make players’ commitments wishy washy at all times, which is a bit scary. With Hoiberg, he clearly has zero guilt about upgrading the roster with transfer talent. So rather than being begged to stay, players are going to have to bust their asses to not be replaced in the next round of free agency. It’s a totally NBA GM approach. Miles was halfway toward that mentality, but Fred is all in. His system will attract way more high level interest. We’re going to get NBA players regularly.

For sure, but he’s awfully crafty and patient in the post for a 6’9” ish 240lb 17yo kid. He doesn’t get a lot of lift, but he uses his body extremely well and is very physical.

Great pickup. Love this kid’s film. True post presence with high IQ, good passing ability, and good footwork.

Hell yes. Let the waiver process begin. Hope this kid can play in the fall!!!

I think we could live with Kavas and Stephenson as our “forwards” and cause a nightmare on the other end. I would also be shocked if we didn’t land one or two traditional PF bodies. I trust the brilliance on both ends of the court with this staff to maximize mismatches offensively and minimize deficiencies defensively.

I think we land this kid this week (he’s here through Friday), he gets immediate eligibility, and we get our Deshaun Thomas at the 4 for a couple years.

I think Cam Mack is an NBA player. A+.

I'm praying for the Spurs... I feel like they could turn him into a steal like they do everyone else.

Not among anyone who knows anything about basketball. He ascended the coaching ranks faster than damn near any NBA coach ever. He’ll do well in LA just like he has everywhere else.

As a prospect, Horne isn’t on the same planet as Cross. Their body types aren’t similar either. Cross is a legitimate 4, not a tweener by any means.

His film is terrifying. He’s unbelievably talented. Wow.