Duke Insider Andrew Slater Just Changed Pick For Bolden To UK

bucsrule8872

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May 30, 2005
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Someone on Duke's board posted that they think Jefferson would be ok with Bolden starting over him. That he would be willing to do what is best for the team.

LOL!

Name me one team that K has put on the floor where four or more Freshmen started?

K starts his 5th year Senior.
 

bucsrule8872

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I read a couple of Duke posters saying they actually don't want to add Bolden because they are afraid he would create chemistry problems.

I tend to agree with them. In fact, I think the best rotation for them would be:

Starters
G Jackson
G Allen
G Jones
F Tatum
F Giles

Key Reserves
G Kennard- perimeter reserve.
F Jefferson- interior reserve.
F Jeter- foul trouble depth.

K's best teams have had a SF at the 4 spot. I think Tatum at 6'8 is perfect at that spot. It also increases their depth inside by having Jefferson coming off the bench, then Jeter as further depth at the 5. Furthermore, it means more minutes for their wings, where they are very deep with Allen, Kennard, and Jones.

Still, I think K starts his fifth year Senior.

But, I expect to see Tatum slide to the 4 for a lot of minutes. That's another reason Bolden should choose UK over Duke.
 

Bkocats

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LOL!

Name me one team that K has put on the floor where four or more Freshmen started?

K starts his 5th year Senior.
and honestly, he should. Jefferson is pretty good player, and has experience. We had a player like that, he should start over Bolden, as well
 
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Blue Decade

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If you consider the available facts, Bolden isn't hard to understand. Duke has a scholarship available for Bolden. With 5 freshmen coming, Kentucky probably doesn't have a scholarship available for Bolden. Due back are Hawkins, Briscoe, Matthews, Mulder, Willis, Lee, Humphris, Wynyard. In order for Bolden to get a scholarship at Kentucky, 1 of those 8 must leave, or else Hawkins or Willis would have to give up his scholarship and pay in state tuition. If Bolden wanted to go to Duke, he would already have announced. So it's obvious that Duke is Bolden's plan B. Bolden is waiting for a scholarship to open up at Kentucky so he can take it. For this reason, Bolden will wait as long as necessary, or as long as he can wait, before announcing. The Duke insiders are predicting Kentucky because they know Bolden has declined Coach Krzyzewski's overtures to commit. Watch for Bolden to commit very late to Kentucky, but Calipari must still clear a scholarship somehow.
 

Bkocats

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inclined to agree w/ @Blue Decade. Made the comment that Lee might be waiting on Bolden (kind of as a joke, mind you) - but that wouldn't prevent any announcement.
Cal has also gotten very swaggy - he's excited about next year's team. Makes me think the work behind the scenes is done, they're just waiting for an announcement that Lee or Briscoe isn't coming back.
I don't think anyone would transfer, btw - Cal wouldn't want the negative perception of that.
 
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Optimally Briscoe comes back, Lee leaves, and we get Bolden. Lee seems like a great kid, I'm just ready to move on from all of our guys that regularly play that disappoint more often than not. Poythress and Skal are gone, Lee the last one remaining.
Agreed. Lee is a great kid, and has represented UK with class, but let's face it, he simply doesn't have what it takes to be a starter at a program like UK. He NEVER developed any post moves, and was a fouling machine. Bolden gives us a big man who can score in the paint and block some shots, but most importantly, it allows Bam to move to the 4.

I'm hoping Briscoe comes back, Lee moves on, (for the betterment of the program), and we sign Bolden. We already have one hell of a team, but with Bolden we become great, IMHO.
 

westerncat

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inclined to agree w/ @Blue Decade. Made the comment that Lee might be waiting on Bolden (kind of as a joke, mind you) - but that wouldn't prevent any announcement.
Cal has also gotten very swaggy - he's excited about next year's team. Makes me think the work behind the scenes is done, they're just waiting for an announcement that Lee or Briscoe isn't coming back.
I don't think anyone would transfer, btw - Cal wouldn't want the negative perception of that.

I agree . I think that is exactly what is going on.
 

Blue Decade

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inclined to agree w/ @Blue Decade. Made the comment that Lee might be waiting on Bolden (kind of as a joke, mind you) - but that wouldn't prevent any announcement.
Cal has also gotten very swaggy - he's excited about next year's team. Makes me think the work behind the scenes is done, they're just waiting for an announcement that Lee or Briscoe isn't coming back.
I don't think anyone would transfer, btw - Cal wouldn't want the negative perception of that.
Briscoe is almost certainly coming back. Lee's brother just made a public comment that sounded a whole lot like an assurance that Lee is coming back too. Lee obviously isn't going to get drafted, and Briscoe won't settle for going in the late 2nd round. If a scholarship opens for Bolden, it will need to happen another way. Calipari will not force anyone out just to open a scholarship. It's possible that Mulder could give up basketball, or that Hawkins or Willis could agree to pay in state tuition, but I honestly don't know why they would. This is exactly why Bolden is waiting till the last minute to announce. It's obvious that Bolden wants to play for Calipari. Maybe Briscoe goes to camp, hits some jump shots, and works his way up into the 1st round. Maybe Adebayo turns out to have an academic problem. Maybe someone transfers. I don't see any of those things happening. But Bolden is waiting on Kentucky for a reason. Calipari has obviously told him that something will probably open up. Something to remember here. Bolden does not have to declare in May. He could just show up in Lexington or Durham in August and sign his financial papers then.
 

Bkocats

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Briscoe is almost certainly coming back. Lee's brother just made a public comment that sounded a whole lot like an assurance that Lee is coming back too. Lee obviously isn't going to get drafted, and Briscoe won't settle for going in the late 2nd round. If a scholarship opens for Bolden, it will need to happen another way. Calipari will not force anyone out to open a scholarship. It's possible that Mulder could give up basketball, or that Hawkins or Willis could agree to pay in state tuition, but I honestly don't know why they would. This is exactly why Bolden is waiting till the last minute to announce. It's obvious that Bolden wants to play for Calipari. Maybe Briscoe goes to camp, hits some jump shots, and works his way up into the 1st round. Maybe Adebayo turns out to have an academic problem. Maybe someone transfers. I don't see any of those things happening. But Bolden is waiting on Kentucky for a reason. Calipari has obviously told him that something will probably open up. Something to remember here. Bolden does not have to declare in May. He could just show up in Lexington or Durham in August and sign his financial papers then.
great post - you make some good arguments here. And, also, good point about Bolden showing up; doesn't have to be on campus till the semester begins
 

Blue Decade

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great post - you make some good arguments here. And, also, good point about Bolden showing up; doesn't have to be on campus till the semester begins
Yes, that's true. However, it would be in Bolden's best interests to go ahead and sign in May. That way, he can participate in Kentucky's offseason conditioning and preparation. Bolden thinks he is a OAD. I have some doubts about that, but it doesn't matter what I think. If Bolden wants to compete against Humphries, Wynyard, and Adebayo and get drafted by the NBA after his freshman season, it is clearly best to participate with the other Kentucky players - or the other Duke players, as the case may be - this summer. I think Bolden is just waiting patiently for a Kentucky scholarship to open up, and he will wait as long as he can. I doubt I am misreading this, because Bolden could easily have committed to Duke before now if he wished. This implies that Calipari is probably encouraging Bolden to wait patiently.
 
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GoCatsForever2k15

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The Duke guys just flipped their picks BACK to Duke, except for Rowe who chose Central Connecticut State.

What a circus.

Based on the CCS pick, they're either all screwing with UK fans or the last dude meant to pick Duke and picked CCS by accident (CCS mascot = blue devils).
 

TrueBlueMGH

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I was guessing troll, but Slater is claiming a source he trusts more than his others in this one thinks it's Duke and so him and the crew are flipping back ..... again.
 

Bkocats

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it either will be, or it won't be. Not much we can do about it either way
just hope fans show class and not try to destroy the guy in social media after his choice
 

SDcatfan13

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Not sure I trust sources too much now with how tight-lipped the Boldens are apparently being. Just think that he is waiting to see what Lee does at Kentucky before committing anywhere.
 
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Aike

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Briscoe is almost certainly coming back. Lee's brother just made a public comment that sounded a whole lot like an assurance that Lee is coming back too. Lee obviously isn't going to get drafted, and Briscoe won't settle for going in the late 2nd round. If a scholarship opens for Bolden, it will need to happen another way. Calipari will not force anyone out just to open a scholarship. It's possible that Mulder could give up basketball, or that Hawkins or Willis could agree to pay in state tuition, but I honestly don't know why they would. This is exactly why Bolden is waiting till the last minute to announce. It's obvious that Bolden wants to play for Calipari. Maybe Briscoe goes to camp, hits some jump shots, and works his way up into the 1st round. Maybe Adebayo turns out to have an academic problem. Maybe someone transfers. I don't see any of those things happening. But Bolden is waiting on Kentucky for a reason. Calipari has obviously told him that something will probably open up. Something to remember here. Bolden does not have to declare in May. He could just show up in Lexington or Durham in August and sign his financial papers then.

Link to what Lee's brother said?
 

bucsrule8872

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I think it will end up being Lee. He should be close to graduation, so why would he stay and play for free another year.

People keep saying, "where is he going to go?" Well, there are several places for players to play and get paid besides the NBA. There's the NBADL, there's Europe, there's China. There's a lot of countries overseas where he could play and get paid for it.

Now, Lee does seem to love college life, but in recent interviews he sounds ready to move on.

Obviously, he is not going to rush his decision when he hasn't even been evaluated, but I would be surprised if he came back.

Plus he probably knows he won't play as much next season with all the great players coming in, especially if Bolden is among them. He is not likely playing over Bam, Bolden, Gabriel, or Willis.

I think the next likely scenario is Briscoe leaving. If he came back, though, he has the chance to play himself into the first round by improving his jump shot.

Mulder is the other scenario I find intriguing. It's unlikely he plays much next season. He is buried behind Briscoe, Fox, Monk, Hawkins, and Matthews in the backcourt. If Brisoce comes back, he doesn't have much shot at playing this season. He may be fine with that. He gets his tuition paid, gets to be a member of the most prestigious group on campus, and will continue to make connections that will serve him well long after he graduates. But he could go elsewhere and have a shot at playing somewhere else. It's an interesting possibility.
 

kentucky_wildcat_#1

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If we get him it's going to be nice to see a post player with post moves again especially after last season.


That was a beautiful low post move for the basket. If we're being honest, we had no one on our entire roster this past year that could make that type of move in the post. While it may look like a simple post up for the basket, that one play there could earn that kid tons of cash in the Nba with his strength and size. That move is pretty much unguardable in college. Name a frontcourt player that could stop that basket? I'm not expecting too much from Bolden, but the fact he can make that type of move in the post will help our roster next year a lot. That type of move is what our roster is currently missing.
 

LadyCaytIL

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If Lee comes back and it pushes Bolden to Duke............. ........ better pray to god and sacrificing goats that Bolden sucks azz big time because things will get real ugly on this board if logic holds out and Bolden at Duke is better than Lee at UK.
 

shiloh741

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If Lee comes back and it pushes Bolden to Duke............. ........ better pray to god and sacrificing goats that Bolden sucks azz big time because things will get real ugly on this board if logic holds out and Bolden at Duke is better than Lee at UK.
Considering that after 3 seasons Lee's offense is only dunks I would Imagine Bolden is much better.It would be a huge loss for us and make Duke much better.
 

kentucky_wildcat_#1

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Considering that after 3 seasons Lee's offense is only dunks I would Imagine Bolden is much better.It would be a huge loss for us and make Duke much better.

I'm one of the few Kentucky fans that actually don't expect a whole lot of production out of Bolden in his one year at Kentucky, but the kid is a more talented player than Lee and it's not close. Lee can't rebound the ball and has no low post moves. Lee's game comes from lob plays at the basket. If that isn't happening, neither is Lee's game. Bolden will probably end up scoring 10ppg and 6 rpg, but Lee will never see those type of numbers at Kentucky with his current skillset. Bolden vs Lee is a no contest with Bolden being the more talented and productive player his freshman year in college. If Lee hasn't showed us any post moves in his 3 years at Kentucky, i highly doubt he is going to learn any during his final season at Kentucky.
 

Jakarii

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I can't see that. The dude choose to stay an extra year at school before the NBA, due to an injury no less (a wake-up call that you get nothing for playing college ball), and he's willing to take a back seat for an an unproven and undeserving freshman? Amile Jefferson did not come back to be on the bench.


It wouldn't matter if Amile wanted to start or come off the bench IF Bolden out plays him in practice he would start. Also Anile wasn't on he NBA radar so it's not like he had a choice to come back u less he wanted to play overseas or the nbdl a year early. Bolden does have a better chance to start at UK but he would have less comp for minutes at Duke after Giles and Amile. People who keep mentioning Jeter must not have watched him last season. He is very raw and probably won't play double digit minutes until his Jr year
 

Jakarii

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LOL!

Name me one team that K has put on the floor where four or more Freshmen started?

K starts his 5th year Senior.

That's because he doesn't get a bunch of OAD type players, Cal wouldn't start as many freshmen if he was getting the recruits K was getting or if guys came back for a second year. The year that that happened (2015) only one freshman started and that was KAT