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'20 CO SG Luke O'Brien (SIGNED to COLORADO)
- Thread starter Goose
- Start date
Without having watched one minute of him playing: maybe he was able to spot up with another creator his first two years, now as an upperclassman he has the ball in his hands and has to create on his own. Wouldn’t be the first player to have percentages go down with more responsibility.
chitownbuff
Club Member
Or maybe he was able to shoot over defenders without much arc, and is trying to adjust his shot before he gets to the college game (and taller defenders).
Medford M.
Well-Known Member
Higher usage rate often results in worse percentages. Especially if he was shooting a lot of spot ups his first two years.
ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
Had them twice as a referee, and the one thing that struck me about him is he doesn't create for himself. Might be the way Columbine's offense runs though.
ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
Maybe if the damn officials would let him run his game...
Still got another year though!
brettden
Well-Known Member
I certainly am not a scout, but I have seen a lot of HS basketball, especially in the last 4-5 years. Not sure why the early offer here, unless there is some unseen potential (like he is 6'6" now but expected to be 6'10" or something). He has good skills, but he does not look like he has anywhere near the burst or athletic ability of a P5 wing/guard. I know we aren't competing with ACC type teams, but he still looks like he will struggle in the college game. In one highlight he had a breakaway dunk, and at 6'6" it was a barely dunk. Also, I think his shot release looks a little low/forward. He does get his feet set quick, and has a quick release. My untrained eye says he will need a RS year to get up to speed, and even then will be more of a front court than back court type player.
The quick offer was odd to me. I will say that I was surprised at the Walton offer as well and he impressed last year. That was with a redshirt year and he is a 7 footer. Changes things a bit.
Lightning
Well-Known Member
I pretty much agree with the 2 prior posts, although I do see potential. I live near the Columbine and Chatfield HS's and decided to attend tonights game between the two. My last HS game was my son's about 15 years ago in Illinois. I have to say for 5A schools I was not impressed with the team talent levels I saw tonight. Chatfield was pretty bad. Columbine is undefeated in their league. Chatfield played zone which makes it harder to evaluate Lukes all around abilities. Columbine played man. O'Brien hit 2 threes and had a steal within the first 70 seconds, and had 14 pts by half time. I left 4 minutes into 3rd qtr when he was subbed out, and he had 24 pts, hitting 2 quick 3 pts and a couple of bunnies in the 4 minutes. Not sure of his game totals..Columbine won 84-50.
He seemed bored or just a little too lackadaiscal. His 3 pt shot looked pretty good to me, quick release and range beyond the 3 pt line. He missed three straight short mid range shots and a contested layup plus two put backs on that miss. He is a decent athlete but not strong or explosive. He looked very comfortable the several times in the open court against some pressure. He is more than a spot up shooter, His handle is pretty good, could tighten it up, and court vision was good. He needs work on defense, not very intense. He shares the ball maybe to a fault but then again the competion was weak. He has another year (although his high school schedule won't help as much as maybe the summer AAu stuff). Hopefully CU has him on a strength schedule. I'd imagine a definite redshirt year and hope for the 6'6" to grow to 6'8".
He seemed bored or just a little too lackadaiscal. His 3 pt shot looked pretty good to me, quick release and range beyond the 3 pt line. He missed three straight short mid range shots and a contested layup plus two put backs on that miss. He is a decent athlete but not strong or explosive. He looked very comfortable the several times in the open court against some pressure. He is more than a spot up shooter, His handle is pretty good, could tighten it up, and court vision was good. He needs work on defense, not very intense. He shares the ball maybe to a fault but then again the competion was weak. He has another year (although his high school schedule won't help as much as maybe the summer AAu stuff). Hopefully CU has him on a strength schedule. I'd imagine a definite redshirt year and hope for the 6'6" to grow to 6'8".
dyemeduke
Well-Known Member
I'm not fully excited about this kid either, but whatever, Tad's the coach, in spite of some of our concern with recruiting. I just wanted respond though to the "unseen potential" of growing more. This came up a lot in the Satterwhite recruiting, and in my strong opinion, offering and recruiting guys based on future growth spurts is stupid (not saying you are advocating this). One or two inches is understandable, but any spurt that would alter their court position is not guaranteed at all...arm length/height ratios be damned.
. Yeah, offer right now seems odd, but oh well....hoping for the best. I do like that he has some legit size for a wing - not 6-0 to 6-2 range. As for Walton though...I completely was on board witht hat one. The adage in the football forums is that "you can't teach speed," which while true, isn't 100% true. The only thing you can't teach to me is skeletal composition - how thick and long your frame is. We had a 7 footer in our backyard, and he had a decent stroke and seemed to move okay (not clunky like Mills). Competition in his tapes aside, I thought we had to take a flyer on him. I was not expecting him to contribute so soon though.
ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
O'Brien had 32 against Chatfield. Didn't have Chatfield's boys this year, but I think the fact that they got the 48th (and last) seed in the 5A boys tourney says it all. LOB had a year that was a lot like the year his team had-he went off against bad teams like Chatfield and Dakota Ridge, but really struggled against competition that was equal to or better than Columbine (Highlands Ranch, Overland, and Chaparral in particular). Saw them against Mountain Vista and he had 21 that night.......but it was a pretty meh 21. I don't get the early offer either, and he's a kid we'll have to redshirt.
Lightning
Well-Known Member
3 pt for the entire season b4 state tourney was just 34.5% (56% for 2 pt) but it was interesting how it broke down. He started 7 for 15 in first 2 games then hit a long streak of mostly horrible 3 pt% games (23/95 or 24%) for the next 16 games before going 20/35 or 57% the last 6 games.
The Jeffco league (I think that's what it is called now it has been changed like four times since I graduated in 2012) is trash. That could prove ahoelsken's point.
Glad somebody broke the seal on this. I've seen him play and have no idea why we offered.
68buffs
Well-Known Member
Thank you for being a referee, wish I still could.
Thought I broke that seal on page 1!!!
Only seen tape, but if he can shoot the lights out, I'm cool. But he has to be A+++ as a shooter, because he's not athletic enough for his height.
Secondly, if Tad really has a hidden gem, why not slow play a bit and see if you can get him here as a PWO? Why be the first?
Lightning
Well-Known Member
I understand the skepticism and I'm not trying to be a defender of LOB since Ive only seen him in 3/4 of one game and even though he had 32 pts I was somehow expecting to be more impressed, albeit it's hard to get up for an inferior opponent. But he realistically has 2 years to compete as a RS freshman. His club coach feels LOB is a steal (his son has been a four year 30 minute player at Gonzaga) mentioned another 2 inches is likely, plus is a high character kid who played multiple sports until deciding to focus on BB in 9th grade meaning he is still relatively pretty new to the game. It appeared in the game that Columbine has 2 smallish decent guards they run things thru with Luke playing the 3 guard within the team concept. His club team experience is gonna be key because of the tougher competion and and the opportunity for him to play freer.
Always hard to tell with a kid like this. Chances are he was playing as a stretch 4/5 up until high school considering the lack of competition in Jeffco/ Colorado in general.
Redshirt? In MBB, that is a rare thing reserved for kids that have special situations such as Dombeck, ior Walton. This kid is well coached. Hit the weights!
This kid is either good enough or he's not. I see no reason why he'd be an exception.
I'd guess his shooting is good and he had a rough streak mid year.
This kid is either good enough or he's not. I see no reason why he'd be an exception.
I'd guess his shooting is good and he had a rough streak mid year.
Hoops Fan
Well-Known Member
He may qualify for a second (medical) red shirt year. I believe that the NCAA does make exceptions. However, I think that it is not likely that he would play three more years anyway ... especially given his knees ... and if he is good enough, I think that he would be wise to play professionally somewhere to pick up a paycheck while his knees are still holding up
brettden
Well-Known Member
NCAA players can't scrimmage during a RS year? I thought they could play like 5-8 games and still consider it a RS year? If you can't scrimmage what is the point of a RS year? In football the entire scout team is RS players. Seems odd it would be different in basketball.
brettden
Well-Known Member
If it comes to show up ready to play or choose some else, the someone else option would be my first choice. I just don't see any way he comes in and is effective enough to stay on the floor. Assuming he can shoot in college as well (hopefully better) than in high school, especially initially, is a significant longshot as the competitive level of defenders he will see will be much different (plus his hs 3pt % has gone down each year, with essentially the same useage rate). So less time to shoot, and better defenders on him constantly suggest to me that his shooting % will go down. So where do the Buffs put a 28-32% 3 point shooter? And defensively who will he guard? Unless the tape is lying, or he has some significant physical improvement, he will get abused on the perimeter and inside. I agree with you that RS in basketball is not a common thing, but I don't see any way this kid is not headed in that direction.
Of course my novice opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. And two years from now hopefully my comments are totally off base.
Lightning
Well-Known Member
From what I read..no scrimmaging or playing a second during a RS year. There are Hardship waivers:
The Hardship Waiver – Not to be confused with the redshirt is the hardship waiver, which is commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as the medical redshirt. A “medical redshirt” does not exist. On occasion, a student-athlete may have competed and used up a year of eligibility, but because of an incapacitating injury/illness, they may be granted a hardship waiver and receive an additional year of eligibility. In order for this to happen, the following criteria must be satisfied: 1) the injury/illness is a season-ending injury; 2) the injury/illness occurs prior to the completion of the first half of the season; and 3) the injury/illness occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than the greater of three contests/dates of competition or 30% of the team’s scheduled contests/dates of competition during the team’s traditional season. (Bylaw 14.2.4) Along with contemporaneous medical documentation, this injury/illness information is provided to the conference office, where the decision on granting/denying the additional year of eligibility is rendered.
I think the 5 year restriction on completing your 4 years of eligibility applies to RS and Hardship...but maybe it is possible there are rare exceptions made to these rules.
Walton- tend to agree, if he stays healthy he'd probably move on after another couple of years. O'Brien- if he automates his shot more he can play (has beyond college 3 pt line range with quick release, and has adequate handle to drive if guarded tightly). Biggest problem I see is defense. We'll have to wait and see. I will be interested in seeing clips from his summer club games.
The Hardship Waiver – Not to be confused with the redshirt is the hardship waiver, which is commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as the medical redshirt. A “medical redshirt” does not exist. On occasion, a student-athlete may have competed and used up a year of eligibility, but because of an incapacitating injury/illness, they may be granted a hardship waiver and receive an additional year of eligibility. In order for this to happen, the following criteria must be satisfied: 1) the injury/illness is a season-ending injury; 2) the injury/illness occurs prior to the completion of the first half of the season; and 3) the injury/illness occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than the greater of three contests/dates of competition or 30% of the team’s scheduled contests/dates of competition during the team’s traditional season. (Bylaw 14.2.4) Along with contemporaneous medical documentation, this injury/illness information is provided to the conference office, where the decision on granting/denying the additional year of eligibility is rendered.
I think the 5 year restriction on completing your 4 years of eligibility applies to RS and Hardship...but maybe it is possible there are rare exceptions made to these rules.
Walton- tend to agree, if he stays healthy he'd probably move on after another couple of years. O'Brien- if he automates his shot more he can play (has beyond college 3 pt line range with quick release, and has adequate handle to drive if guarded tightly). Biggest problem I see is defense. We'll have to wait and see. I will be interested in seeing clips from his summer club games.
This is commonly referred to as the Medical Redshirt. It can be used as a 6th year, and it's only allowed if the player already used 1 year as normal Redshirt, because they were injured and could not compete. I believe Walton would have a good chance at meeting that criteria and thus have 3 more years. But you don't petition for this until your 5th year.
Yep. With losing this year to injury, I think after his 5th year Walton would have a good case to say that he had to also sit out his 1st year due to injury recovery and therefore lost 2 seasons due to injury. If he wants it, I doubt the NCAA would fight him over granting him a medical waiver to get a 6th year on his clock.
ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
If you want to do that, I'd say go to maxpreps and look at how LOB did in games against teams who are still alive (Highlands Ranch, Overland, Chaparral, Mullen, and Mountain Vista all played Columbine). I had them against MV at the end of January and he had 25 I think-but it was a very quiet 25.