On almost successive plays I just watched Jalen Warley blow by his man, make a layup, steal the inbound pass, make a crazy acrobatic finish over a defender after the steal… and then like two possessions later completely blow by his defender… but Jake Groves himself on the rim with his dunk attempt.
This in the same game where he made a pretty sweet runner off the glass only to follow that up by taking a similar shot that went OVER the back board.
(all of that said, I think this is a player who will benefit a lot from playing under CTB in more ways than one).
I can’t wait for the breakdown. I really feel like Hamilton has checked out the last few years and is just rolling the ball out.
Hoping the film confirms my hunch that Warley has a surprising amount of development potential, despite being a senior. Seems like you teased that a bit already just now…
I often forget that seniors in college are the same age as the NBA guys you think as having young potential. Obviously the typical talent is different, but there are a ton of examples of senior year breakouts in college.
I’m going to stop spoiling my piece after this (and we’re still a ways away from it, I’m still clipping) - but I do think there’s a lot of potential here. If absolutely nothing else, teams not being able to get him off of the primary ball handler through FSU’s switching will be huge. He’s a terror on the ball and has such active hands. Reminds me a lot of Reece with how often he gets his hands on the ball when guarding the primary ball handler (but he’d often get shuffled off of the ball due to FSU’s system).
Im glad you said all of this because I was literally going to come here and ask “With our roster set now, do we expect Warley to be the guy to try to shutdown Cooper Flagg?” before seeing this.
I have a vision. Earley improves significantly and there is a beautiful story about CTBs ability to coach even older, ACC transfers. He develops all sorts of players who commit and work hard. The narrative is strengthened that if you aren’t Snelling as much as you want…try UVA. If you don’t need ciaching, go to duke or Kansas or unc.
Begrudgingly accept Warley will take most of Bliss’s minutes at the 1 given his experience and defensive ability. I will also continue to complain that Bliss needs to be on the floor if he is gonna become London Jr… The coaches love Bliss. He is the future. Put the ball in his hands. This year isnt a deep run, but 25 could be if we can find a leader.
(Yes, I still get vengeful thinking about Warley donning the UVA gear then picking the substandard team in Florida)
Yea Im pretty sure he will get quite a few minutes . One of Warley’s main job will be getting Bliss ready to go the following year. Plus Tony loves to have 2 PG’s playing together
It feels like an ideal situation. Warley will start - has ACC starting experience and as some have said is a poor man’s Reece. And this gives Bliss an opportunity to get major minutes while also getting some time to acclimate + not having everything on his shoulders.
I know you can’t say ‘no’ to a burger boy, but Perry would have complicated things for sure. We’d essentially have been recruiting over Bliss to some extent.
Media, on Oct. 1, 2024: Flagg will win ACC POY and be 1st Team AA, leading Duke to an undefeated season and a National Championship. Scheyer will be favored to win coach of the year.
Media, c. Mid-March 2025: Duke came on late to finish strong in the conference, making the ACC semi-final after a 3rd place conference finish, but earned a 2-seed because Duke’s bench was short, the team inexperienced, and [insert excuse].
Media, late April: After bowing out in the round of 16, Duke is the presumptive favorite to win it next year after losing 9 players.
Big question for Flagg is what kind of lineup Scheyer plays him in; same kind of conundrum Scheyer had with Flip (especially Flip’s freshman year). I do think Flagg is going to be near-Day-1-ready offensively, but his ability to either (a) stay with veteran guards or (b) hold position on the blocks against veteran bigs will be a big issue. Obviously all-conference voters will only pay attention to the offensive stats, so he’ll make all-ACC teams regardless. And he may be offensively gifted enough that his net impact is still positive. But that’s a big reason Scheyer wanted a guy like Maliq Brown; a defensively minded forward, good on the glass and experienced guarding in the ACC, will pair well with Flagg.
Flagg will also be playing with three veteran guards in Proctor, Foster, and Tulane super-senior transfer Sion James, so he’ll be able to hide on defense somewhat against the opponents’ weaker scorers.
We don’t talk enough about the media’s role in how programs are perceived and the impact that ends up having on the floor. Duke has earned the right to much of the treatment they get but your point (and the obvious sarcasm) is a good one.
It still frustrates me the kind of treatment we got when we’re legitimately one of the most dominant programs in the country. If you want to point to potential reasons why we didn’t kill it on the recruiting trail after winning a natty, that’s a big reason why imo. The kids who we should’ve been getting post-2019 grew up all too familiar with anyone and everyone shitting on UVa for years.
So annoying how so many loud voices in the industry chose to go out of their way to hate on us and now those same voices will do anything in their power to protect Gonzaga’s reputation.