re: Jabari Parker Signing Day Thread.

LINK

quote:

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For two weeks, she had been trying to get her son Jabari Parker, a soft-spoken, 6-foot-8 basketball star-in-the-making, to talk to a coach on the phone. She couldn't understand his reticence, but he's just a kid.

This coach hails from Chicago and coaches a quaint, little private university in North Carolina. His name is Mike Krzyzewski.

So when she got them connected, on her husband's cell phone because Jabari didn't have one, she couldn't believe how quickly the conversation ended.

Jabari spoke genially and respectfully to the famed coach, she recalls, but the conversation "lasted less two minutes." And he didn't even leave his sister's bedroom to take it.

Lola was nervous and confused. Why didn't he seem more excited? Didn't they raise him to treat elders with deference and respect?

"Do you know who this man is?" she remembers asking him. "I want you to give him respect. It's like you're interviewing him."

Do you know what Jabari Parker said back to her?

"He said, 'Mom, don't get caught up in this stuff. Coach K is not Jesus. He's just another human being.'"

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quote:

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"People look at him like he's some kind of guru," Jabari Parker said to me in a phone conversation. "I looked at him as an ordinary human being. Nobody is different from anyone else, no matter what the situation. We're all equal. He's just a regular person."

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His quotes on coach K always made me think duke is to make his mom happy but will end up at Michigan State because of how close it is

If Parker chose UF, imagine next year... UK's class when it goes up against UF's class.

Here is my take on Parker. I have watched him play 3 full games, not counting his game against DeSoto last week, which he shouldn't have played. It was irresponsible to send a kid who is 40 pounds over game weight into a game against an elite opponent, when he is coming off a broken foot. His coach should know better.

But based on the first 3 games, he is not as good as the hype. He got the SI cover last year as the best high schooler since LeBron. He is not that guy. He is ranked second in a class that is loaded at the top. He is not that good.

He has played on a great team for the past 3 years. They won 3 straight state titles. That is amazing, in a competitive state like Chicago, and Parker has been their best player. He is obviously a top 10 to top 20 talent in any given year (probably top 5 in last year's dismal class). But his stats aren't incredible. I am not just talking about the volume numbers, something like 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, etc. THat's fine if you play for Findlay or Oak Hill, and Simeon is as good as those teams, imo.

However, his efficiency numbers aren't great. He shoots 45 percent from the field. His AAU numbers are similar. He doesn't excel at anything but is solid at all facets of the game. I expect more than that from the "best high school player since LeBron."

I have watched him play 6 halves. In only one of them was he a transcendent talent, in the first half of a game against Miller Grove last year. Other than that game, he's missed too many shots for my liking and while a good passer and ballhandler, he isn't anywhere near the level of LeBron or even Durant (and I mean Durant at Montrose).

With all that being said, I think he will start from Day 1 at Duke, MSU, UF, etc. But if he goes to Duke, he won't be their best player next year. Or maybe even their second best. Not that it will have any impact on his draft stock because scouts buy into hype as much as message board posters.

If I have to give a prediction about where he lands, I'll say Duke because of a tweet from Duke Forum last night. Those guys are mostly alums and broke the story about Seth Curry's shins weeks before the national media. Last night, they said multiple sources from the university said Coach K was told to expect a commitment to Duke today. But we'll see. I don't think Parker is lying, but Harrison Barnes lied to the faces of coaches for several weeks and never informed him of his actual decision.

quote:

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Here is my take on Parker. I have watched him play 3 full games, not counting his game against DeSoto last week, which he shouldn't have played. It was irresponsible to send a kid who is 40 pounds over game weight into a game against an elite opponent, when he is coming off a broken foot. His coach should know better.

But based on the first 3 games, he is not as good as the hype. He got the SI cover last year as the best high schooler since LeBron. He is not that guy. He is ranked second in a class that is loaded at the top. He is not that good.

He has played on a great team for the past 3 years. They won 3 straight state titles. That is amazing, in a competitive state like Chicago, and Parker has been their best player. He is obviously a top 10 to top 20 talent in any given year (probably top 5 in last year's dismal class). But his stats aren't incredible. I am not just talking about the volume numbers, something like 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, etc. THat's fine if you play for Findlay or Oak Hill, and Simeon is as good as those teams, imo.

However, his efficiency numbers aren't great. He shoots 45 percent from the field. His AAU numbers are similar. He doesn't excel at anything but is solid at all facets of the game. I expect more than that from the "best high school player since LeBron."

I have watched him play 6 halves. In only one of them was he a transcendent talent, in the first half of a game against Miller Grove last year. Other than that game, he's missed too many shots for my liking and while a good passer and ballhandler, he isn't anywhere near the level of LeBron or even Durant (and I mean Durant at Montrose).

With all that being said, I think he will start from Day 1 at Duke, MSU, UF, etc. But if he goes to Duke, he won't be their best player next year. Or maybe even their second best. Not that it will have any impact on his draft stock because scouts buy into hype as much as message board posters.

If I have to give a prediction about where he lands, I'll say Duke because of a tweet from Duke Forum last night. Those guys are mostly alums and broke the story about Seth Curry's shins weeks before the national media. Last night, they said multiple sources from the university said Coach K was told to expect a commitment to Duke today. But we'll see. I don't think Parker is lying, but Harrison Barnes lied to the faces of coaches for several weeks and never informed him of his actual decision.

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He's not going to be a great scorer but he is an Elite passer though and when asked to he'll be an elite rebounder. He's a smooth athletes not explosive like what people have come to expect since Lebron. He's going to be a perennial All Star trust me.

AJ Rompza is a writer for the Sun times? Being Marcus Jordan's best friend gets you places besides Vegas I guess.

He was the PG for UCF who got in trouble when Jordan picked up his bill for Vegas. He's actually a really nice guy, I tutored some basketball players when I was in grad school there and I thought he was an education major so I was surprised he's writing for a big newspaper.

2- Sulaimon/Jones
3- Hood/Murphy/Semi
4-Parker/Jefferson/Murphy

Semi might be the odd man out, Jones will get PT as a shooter off the bench IMO. Don't see anyone redshirting or transferring unless Murphy really wants out.

I figure Sulaimon, Hood, Parker, and Jefferson all start next year along with Cook, so they're all happy. Duke will be in a weird position because their seniors will be hands down their worst players (even if Dawkins comes back), and I hope they all get less than 10 minutes/game.

If Murphy is happy coming off the bench, I can see there being no attrition. Otherwise, he'll transfer and Semi and Matt Jones will gradually come into the line-up, starting as upperclassmen. I can definitely see Murphy transferring though.

Yeah, I actually agree with you for once. Izzo/Michigan state is under rated most of the time.