Kenny Pohto 6'11 C 2021 a Shocker!

[ShockerLurker]

Kenny has about 3” of elevation on his jump shot. Even though he’s really tall, his somewhat low release will get blocked by athletic players 6’5” and above if he doesn’t correct this part of his game.

I'm not sure I have ever seen one of our bigs get blocked while shooting a 3. Their defender will typically be cheating off of them to assist under the rim when needed. The point is for him to be accurate enough for them to have to guard him out to the 3pt line. If they close aggressively, get the ball to someone who can drive 1v1. If not, he is good enough to hit the open shot. Unless he greatly exceeds expectations, he shouldn't be shooting with a hand in his face.

[Stickboy46]

He's never going to have Cotton like hops but I'm sure Kerry already has a plan to work on his vertical explosiveness already.

[Dan]

Agree he won’t get blocked on wide open threes, but I recall Garrett Stutuz regularly getting stuffed by athletic guys in the paint do his poor verticality.

[wufan]

Kenny is a freshman with a lot of tools. He might turn that into an upperclassmen that dominates. Maybe. Fortunately we have two other guys we can rely on while we find out.

[shock]

Kenny is a freshman with a lot of tools. He might turn that into an upperclassmen that dominates. Maybe. Fortunately we have two other guys we can rely on while we find out.

This is the most realistic take on Kenny that I have seen.

[Shockm]

Who wants to be realistic? It's not fair to get on the fans for being a little giddy over signing a Top 150 Recruit that is on this particular occasion 6'11" who has unique stretch skills for a "BIG". All of our Top 150 recruits have been major contributors during their careers, and in the case of Fred, and Landry have gone on to "The League".

All of our top 150 Recruits, were minor contributors during their Freshman years, and turned into major contributors during their careers. In the cases of Fred, and Landry, they both took on major roles by their Sophomore years, so it's not natural for "FANS" to be too realistic. That will happen next year, when he has moments where he struggles. However, it is natural for "FANS" to be a little giddy, and perhaps unrealistic.

[Stickboy46]

LOL, you have to love recruiting rankings. Kenny was a consensus top 150 when signed with Minnesota ... they updated rankings today and Kenny plummets to 197 (47 spot drop) after signing with WSU.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

LOL, you have to love recruiting rankings. Kenny was a consensus top 150 when signed with Minnesota ... they updated rankings today and Kenny plummets to 197 (47 spot drop) after signing with WSU.

I saw that and was looking for other players who dropped ~50 spots in the rankings for apparently no reason. I could not find any others at a glance.

[California Shocker]

Probably easier if you try to find players improving 50 spots after signing with a Chicken school out of Lawrenceville.

[1972Shocker]

Probably easier if you try to find players improving 50 spots after signing with a Chicken school out of Lawrenceville.

Makes sense. If you are going to pay the kind of cash KU does for players they must be pretty damn good.

[WuTheOne]

If someone evaluates Pohto as a traditional Center with the ability to bang inside, he's probably top-200. It's easy to look at offense around the basket as the main evaluation criteria. That ignores his ability to guard multiple positions and stroke from deep for a pick-n-pop.

It's easy to ignore D and the ability to give teammates easier looks when ranking players, but those aspects improve the TEAM, even though they don't give the INDIVIDUAL the respect he deserves. I'm hoping the drop in ranking causes Pohto to Play Angry!

[Shockm]

I didn’t hear questions regarding The criteria/evaluation of Pohto as an offensive player being raised. The question that I heard being discussed is How did Kenny plummet 50 spots in such a short time (from 143 to 197) with the only difference in his recruitment during that short time being that he was released from his commitment to Minnesota and he the committed to Wichita State. No criteria was ever mentioned by these services that I know of. Only his ranking was changed.

[Topshock]

Great example of why we are fortunate to have a coaching staff that can evaluate talent and not just read a third party ranking sheet.

[AZ Shocker]

No criteria was ever mentioned by these services that I know of. Only his ranking was changed. [/I][/B]

The criteria was league change most likely. Makes me wonder if a lot kids who aren't lottery picks sign with a P-5 (any P-5) simply to see their player ranking go up. Maybe they think it helps them get noticed easier by the pro leagues. Or it's just ego and something to talk about. Idk....

[Shockm]

Maybe not a lot of thinking about criteria and a lot more Bias involved. Minnesota is hardly a top Big 10 Team. Bottom dweller at 13th place out of 14 Teams. Minnesota would have been 7th or 8th in the American Conference out of 11 teams in Men’s Basketball. They hardly deserve the Respect given. As for a Direct Comparison for 2021, according to Real Time RPI, The Shockers RPI was 25, and Minnesota was 150. Hardly reason for a recruit to fall 50 spots but that’s what happened.