2024 Offseason

[Chicagojayfan]

Neal’s defense is what’s going to get him minutes. If he can lock down the opposing team’s stud he will be a very important piece for us. And the ability to drive and finish in the paint. I think he will be a very important player. We missed Kalumas athletic ability on D last year so I hope Neal can make some of those spectacular's defensive plays that Arthur seemed to have at clutch times and also throw down some dunks on the offensive end. He will be one of the better athletes along with Green and LJ.

No doubt he'll get his minutes based on defense and ability to drive and finish, but some of the thoughts here are suggesting we'll have 4 starters that shot less than 30% from 3 PT last year. While it's reasonable to expect that some of them will do better in our system (Pop in particular), that's not something I see as a high likelihood on a team that's emphasized spacing and shooting for as long as we have. We absolutely needed someone to play D on the wing as we lost both Trey and Baylor, the two guys who took on most of that job last year, but if we don't keep our spacing that will hamper the offense

He reminds me a bit of Damien Jefferson in that he can do a lot of things the team needs even if he isn't shooting that well from 3, but Jefferson could mix it up in the paint more and slide into the 4 spot while Neal is more of a 3 IMO

We'll see, lots of practice before the season starts and lots of games before we hit the stretch run and the tourney

[Jaysker12]

It would be a very different look to go from Ashworth, Trey, and Baylor (all coming off nearly 40% 3pt shooting seasons), to Pop, Zugic, and Neal (one 35% shooter and two sub-30%). That's not necessarily a bad thing, just depends on the judgment made by the coaches on what wins the most games. Might come down to matchups.

Also, you have to think that 3-pt shooting at the 4 spot will become waaayy more valuable for us to maintain spacing. Favor McAndrew/Traudt/Miller over Green.

[#RollJays]

It would be a very different look to go from Ashworth, Trey, and Baylor (all coming off nearly 40% 3pt shooting seasons), to Pop, Zugic, and Neal (one 35% shooter and two sub-30%). That's not necessarily a bad thing, just depends on the judgment made by the coaches on what wins the most games. Might come down to matchups.

Also, you have to think that 3-pt shooting at the 4 spot will become waaayy more valuable for us to maintain spacing. Favor McAndrew/Traudt/Miller over Green.

Valid point on the 3 point shooting. Although Ash and Trey were both sub 35% last year. My concern would be replacing Baylor’s rebounding in a lot of these lineups. Neal isn’t huge on the glass and Kalk gets pulled away from the hoop on a lot of contests at the rim. Mason and Traudt haven’t proven to be very effective on the glass or defensively. Maybe McAndrew will be too good to pull off the floor and fills that role for us. I think Green is a better shooter than he showed last year. With Ash, Pop, Neal, Zugic and LJ in the backcourt I don’t see a lot of opportunity to go big and play McAndrew at the 3 but that is an option as well.

[cujaysfan]

Second year guys generally take a leap forward.

So Ash and Green hopefully improve on their numbers and comfort on the floor within our system.

I kinda hope we get two RS out of wing and four spots. But can't figure out who those could possibly be (Davis maybe).

PT battles will be fierce. I'm hopeful that we don't have mid season or post season transfers. So much potential on this roster.

[JacobPadilla]

My thoughts on McAndrew is you get more out of him with a 4 trying to defend him than you would with a wing on him. Quicker, more athletic players can get up underneath him better and are more used to guarding shooters on the perimeter. I think you get more out of his shooting and ability to potentially put the ball on the deck to attack closeouts if it's a forward trying to check him. Defensively, he moves his feet well for a big but I don't think his lack of strength inside would be any more of a hindrance than his foot speed against perimeter players.

[Wizard of Westroads]

CU tweeted this today, so I assume it's from a recent practice. Mason is on his feet and looks like he had surgery on his thigh. Not sure which leg bone was supposed to be broken.

[Bluejoe]

I had assumed that was from earlier in the summer, as Davis is wearing #10 in the other picture that was posted with it. And, I think that is a tatoo on Mason's leg.

[Wizard of Westroads]

I had assumed that was from earlier in the summer, as Davis is wearing #10 in the other picture that was posted with it. And, I think that is a tatoo on Mason's leg.

[NateFunkyTown]

Probably wrong thoughts.

Getting on the floor usually means knowing where to be and what to do on D. Neal is both a veteran of college basketball and has been working out with guys since end of May.

Fedor shows up mid August.

That's a lot of ground to make up.

While I think Fedor is likely much more talented than most of our Euro guys (and Rati coming off a knee injury). We haven't had a day one starter from Europe.

So, I'll be surprised if he's a starter at beginning of season.

It'll definitely be a lot thrown at him very quickly, but I'd say an even bigger reason for optimism here than his talent advantage is his experience advantage. Fedor is the youngest player ever to make his Euroleague debut (the best league outside of the NBA). He's played professional basketball for 5 years now across many leagues for many coaches (EuroLeague, EuroCup, German League, Montenegro League, Adriatic League).

I'm hoping this extended exposure to professional basketball and schemes will accelerate the mental side of things when he joins the team in August. Especially with McDermott running a system that I'd say is closer to NBA/International ball in many ways than most other college programs.

I think I agree with most that I don't expect Fedor to start from the jump, but I'd also go as far to say I'd be surprised if he's not starting by or for the majority of conference play. I'm pretty excited for Pops and Ashworth and they're damn good college players, but everything I've watched and read about Fedor suggests to me that he's likely the best talent of the three. Hopefully the Jays landed a late gem.

[sdebole059]

should be official by August 15th