Och senior year

[pdub]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... basketball

"Ochai Agbaji makes impact at Kansas earlier than expected

One day in his office back in the winter of 2017-18, Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts received a phone call. On the other end was a trustworthy basketball source in Kansas City telling Roberts he should go watch this kid nearby. Roberts had never heard of local senior Ochai Agbaji....

So Self went and watched Agbaji, and the Oak Park High School wing scored 35 points. Kansas offered, and it didn't take long for Agbaji to pick the Jayhawks.

Now, there were no promises of extended playing time once Agbaji arrived in Lawrence -- especially not as a freshman...

Self called Agbaji's parents and told them he was going to take his redshirt off -- and not just to play spot minutes here and there -- to play at least 20 minutes the next night against TCU.

And the first play Self drew up with Agbaji in the game? A backdoor lob...

Agbaji, who Roberts described as one of the nicest and most low-maintenance guys he's coached at Kansas, has developed into an All-American and likely first-round NBA draft pick....

Recounting the feedback NBA teams were giving both him and Agbaji about the player's performance, Roberts said, "Teams were saying, 'You are the best kid, you had the best interviews. But when you got out there, you looked a little passive, you could be a little more aggressive. We told him to come back with the mindset, this is your damn team, we're gonna play through you and you have to take it on. He came back and said, 'Coach, that's what I'm gonna do.' In September, October practice, he was going up and down, pulling up. This dude was playing with a free mind."

[NewtonHawk11]

This is really fucking good.

https://theathletic.com/3144399/2022/02 ... -american/

[pdub]

Access all of The Athletic. Just $1/month.

[NewtonHawk11]

Access all of The Athletic. Just $1/month.

I took advantage of the deal a few months back. Has been great.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Access all of The Athletic. Just $1/month.

I took advantage of the deal a few months back. Has been great.

CJ did a writeup about our pace of play/transition game after the Kansas State game.

Definitely worth more than the $1/month. Definitely better than ESPN Insider, imo, for online articles.

[pdub]

For $1 a month you can be a member here on kcrim and get your name colored red - justsayin.

[CrimsonNBlue]

So a little nugget from that article, a rigid criteria for rafters?

Self, of course, does not care about the points, but he does want the productivity to continue so Agbaji will have a chance to be an All-American. If nothing else, he wants him to win Big 12 Player of the Year.

“Because then he gets his number in the rafters,” Self says, “and that would mean something to him.”

[CrimsonNBlue]

This part was also interesting. I vocally questioned whether Och had the right personality to lead a team and be a dog at the end of games. It seems like he needed a real hardass to bring that out of him. The new rules allowing players to work with NBA trainers and have agents in the offseason will help KU.

“I would have had a better year than my junior year, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near close to what I’ve done already,” he says. “If I wouldn’t have had that awakening over the summer, then I don’t even think we are in contention to win the Big 12 this year. I don’t think we’re even top 10. I wouldn’t have prepared myself for those moments, to win those (close games) like I did this year.”

[NewtonHawk11]

My biggest gripe on Ochai was that he literally had zero offensive game besides a spot up 3 and an alley-oop. He had nothing for beating guys off the dribble or using both hands dribbling.

It's obvious that is what he improved on. He's been nearly damn unstoppable. He has quiet 18 point games now.

[pdub]

Crimscore boost from junior to senior year .426 to .665.
.239 increase.
Similar to Frank's junior to senior jump from .534 to .778.
.244 increase.

[CrimsonNBlue]

I know people obsess over being hierarchical with this stuff, but in my mind, there are 3 truly great individual seasons under Self: Robinson 2012; Mason 2017; Graham 2018--those are the only 3 seasons under Self that were NPOY-worthy.

The next month will tell us if Och can enter that territory. My hesitation is that if he doesn't win NPOY because this is not a great NPOY race with an uncatchable favorite like 2012 and 2018.

[pdub]

Wayne Simien.
Consensus 1st team AA.
B12POY.

Averaged the 2nd most PPG under Self ( with a higher FG% than the guy in 1st ).
Averaged the 3rd most RPG under Self.

Averaged 2.6 PPG more than TRob.
Averaged .9 RPG fewer than TRob.
Shot 5% better from the field than TRob.

[Qusdahl]

One could also argue 3+ guys had great individual seasons on that 08 team, but there’s only so many stats to go around

[PhDhawk]

One could also argue 3+ guys had great individual seasons on that 08 team, but there’s only so many stats to go around

That's a weak argument.

[Qusdahl]

The big operative word there being “could”

[randylahey]

One could also argue 3+ guys had great individual seasons on that 08 team, but there’s only so many stats to go around

I've always thought Darrell Arthur was completely underapprecited because of that. Id argue he was the best most complete big we've had here.

If he played on a team without depth he could've put up crazy numbers

[CrimsonNBlue]

Shady was a notoriously bad rebounder for his frame and athleticism.

[Qusdahl]

Arthur’s only knock may be that he’d randomly have 0 rebound games.

But yeah, he’s among the best combo of both skilled and explosive that we’ve had in a big.

Maybe the question is, whether Arthur or Rush or Chalmers (or someone else yet) would have put up better enough numbers to constitute “great individual seasons” if they were the focal point of the team like TRob or Simien or Frank or Devonte, rather than being just another stud in the rotation

[pdub]

Lotta what ifs in this world.
What if Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins stayed three more years?

[CrimsonNBlue]

Arthur’s only knock may be that he’d randomly have 0 rebound games.

But yeah, he’s among the best combo of both skilled and explosive that we’ve had in a big.

Maybe the question is, whether Arthur or Rush or Chalmers (or someone else yet) would have put up better enough numbers to constitute “great individual seasons” if they were the focal point of the team like TRob or Simien or Frank or Devonte, rather than being just another stud in the rotation

I think it's possible that the fact that none of those three guys stood out from each other, or the rest of the team, is telling but in an inverse way you are suggesting. We don't need to imagine all of that with Robinson, Mason, Graham, because they did do that, and were on Final Four/#1 seed type teams with fellow NBA teammates.

A surefire All Star talent would have still stood out on those teams and we saw those teams go up against those types of players in Durant, Rose, Beasley, Griffin, etc. They were different dudes.

Hell, I think you can argue that, at their top-end, Julian Wright and Sherron Collins were the most talented on those teams. It is a lot of "what-ifs," so it's a neverending hypothetical because Wiggs and Embiid would have their say under the same circumstances.