Opinions on transfer Josh Fortune

[shang]

Kind of weird, I don't see any posts other than the announcement of Fortune transferring here.... I would think there be some chatter!!! I for one am excited... he had a great big east tourney, what's everyone think? thx in advance

 

[buffaholic]

http://www.allbuffs.com/showthread....une-(Committed-to-COLORADO)?highlight=fortune

 

[Buffnik]

I don't mind repeat threads. Fortune is absolutely huge for us.

We lose one damn thing from the 2014-15 team as we look ahead to the 2015-16 season. Askia Booker will graduate.

So what does Tad do when he knows he'll be loaded but without one of the all-time CU greats at SG who will have been a double-digit scorer and clutch go-to guy for 3 years?

Tad ****ing Boyle goes out and gets a guy who was a clutch sharpshooter and defensive weapon who scored double digits for a Big East tourney champion Providence team during its conference season.

Ski and the young guards will get better by practicing against Fortune this season just like Alec, Levi and Corey got better by practicing against Carlon Brown for a year. And, like Carlon, Fortune will step right in the next season as a veteran team leader who knows the system and can fill the huge gap left by a team leader and major scorer.

I don't want to spend too much time looking ahead when this year's team could be so special, but I do get excited about the 2015-16 season. I can't help myself.

2015-16 Roster:

Seniors:
Josh Scott (C/F)
Xavier Johnson (F/G)
Xavier Talton (G)
Eli Stalzer (G)

Juniors:
Wesley Gordon (F)
Josh Fortune (G)
Tre'Shaun Fletcher (G/F)
Jaron Hopkins (G)
Dustin Thomas (F)
George King (G)

Sophomores:
Dominique Collier (G)
Tory Miller (F)

Freshmen:
TBD (likely a PG/SG combo guy who can shoot)

That's a squad that's set up for a deep tourney run. Deep, veteran and talented. Fortune removes almost all the questions from losing Ski. And, fwiw, I don't think that Tad would be focused on recruiting a combo guard for the last scholarship right now if he thought Jam Scott was leaving for the NBA -- so I fully expect him to be back.

 

[sackman]

I can't get the idea that Scott is leaving this year out of my head. He's a special player. Players like him don't come along that often.

 

[slider]

Like the player... curious about the class balance. But I'm sure it will sort itself out

 

[Buffnik]

Like the player... curious about the class balance. But I'm sure it will sort itself out

Yeah. For the 2017 class, I'd expect a transfer or JUCO mixed in as part of the group. Then again for 2018.

But even if not, there's nothing wrong in basketball if you need to recruit your "Fab 5" class coming off a big season with a lot of PT available.

 

[CVilleBuff]

I remember his big east tournament game where he had like 24 points. He was in beast mode

 

[jwhite17]

Even though he can't play right away, he will help our perimeter defense this year in practice, and next year, I expect him to fill in for Ski very nicely.

Great find for Tad.

 

[wyobuff]

very excited about this kid and glad he came to colorado - going to be a special player and glad he will have 2 years left to be a buff.

 

[sackman]

Why is he leaving Providence?

 

[rolandftw]

I don't want to spend too much time looking ahead when this year's team could be so special, but I do get excited about the 2015-16 season. I can't help myself.

I don't think I can remember a time when Colorado had more talented upperclassmen. Just stacked.

 

[Buffnik]

Why is he leaving Providence?

Reading between the lines, it sounded like he wasn't happy with how he was being used at Providence. He made a comment about choosing CU because Tad gets his guards into the pros.

 

[Daaah]

Reading between the lines, it sounded like he wasn't happy with how he was being used at Providence. He made a comment about choosing CU because Tad gets his guards into the pros.

Well that's a pretty good reputation to have. Roll Tad.

 

[sackman]

Reading between the lines, it sounded like he wasn't happy with how he was being used at Providence. He made a comment about choosing CU because Tad gets his guards into the pros.

Wow. I can't quite get used to the place CU basketball is currently occupying.

 

[J-R-K]

General thought from seeing Fortune mentioned in various threads- I think people are too excited about him. Not sure why there is an assumption that he'll be a prolific scorer for us when he wasn't even a double-digit scorer at Providence. I even recall someone writing that he could realistically be a 20 ppg scorer. For reference his numbers during his first two college seasons are similar to Jaron Hopkin's numbers thus far during his career, ok but nothing special.

I'm happy to have Fortune and think he'll be a solid addition, he's at least somewhat of a proven commodity and will bring some experience. Just not sure why everyone seems to think he'll fill the scoring vacuum that has plagued us since Spencer went down.

 

[FLounder]

General thought from seeing Fortune mentioned in various threads- I think people are too excited about him. Not sure why there is an assumption that he'll be a prolific scorer for us when he wasn't even a double-digit scorer at Providence. I even recall someone writing that he could realistically be a 20 ppg scorer. For reference his numbers during his first two college seasons are similar to Jaron Hopkin's numbers thus far during his career, ok but nothing special.

I'm happy to have Fortune and think he'll be a solid addition, he's at least somewhat of a proven commodity and will bring some experience. Just not sure why everyone seems to think he'll fill the scoring vacuum that has plagued us since Spencer went down.

have you ever seen him practice in a buff uniform?

 

[J-R-K]

have you ever seen him practice in a buff uniform?

No, but I do recall Jeff Bzdelik once saying that (based on practices before the season) Shannon Sharpe would be the most impactful player in his recruiting class...Alec Burks was in the same class.

 

[wyobuff]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AavX0lgrWNk

 

[aghcsm]

Good time to resurrect a Josh Fortune discussion, as the Buff basketball focus is on the verge of shifting to next year. I'm no expert on the guy, looked at a few video clips and stats, but I can tell you from searching articles that (1) his coach seemed quite annoyed that he left, (2) many Providence fans wish he'd stayed but also wished him well, and (3) his playing performance was good and improving significantly towards the end of his sophomore season. These all are very favorable indications. I think he's clearly talented and will perhaps more than replace Booker. One nagging concern is his alleged expression of interest in CU because of Tad's success in getting players into the NBA. If that's a player's main focus, it could result in bad chemistry.. Regardless, I'm excited he'll be playing for us next year and am expecting he'll be a big part of the team's improvement next year.

 

[onealcd]

He just brings something this team does not have currently. I big shooting guard that can actually shoot. Weather he averages 15 points or averages 10 while the other players are able to take their game to the next level is the question.

 

[buffaholic]

One nagging concern is his alleged expression of interest in CU because of Tad's success in getting players into the NBA.

I can't think of a better reason. Would you prefer a transfer who came here because:

- playing time was easy to get?
- really good ladies nights?
- I don't want to play defense, CU's coach doesn't expect defense?
- Weed is legal there?

Hell ya, come play for Tad and he'll get you to THE league!

 

[jgisland]

I'm excited as anybody is that Fortune is coming in, but why again do we think he can actually shoot? Let's all be realistic with our expectations of him.

In two years at Providence he took 63% of his shots from 3, where he shot 32%. Of those 3 point shots 93% were assisted, he doesn't get to the rim particular well and when he does he isn't particularly effective. His career offensive rating is 94.95 while his usage decreased year over year while playing the 3rd most amount of minutes on the team.

Now lets compare that to everybody's favorite punching bag, the guy he'll be replacing......Ski. So where Fortune takes nearly 2/3's of his shots from 3, Ski is actually a slightly better career 3 point shooter at 32.88% (he's shooting 41% this year). Fortune didn't create his own shot at Providence, 73% of his shots were assisted where Ski has only had 30% of his shots assisted during his career at CU.

I hope Fortune comes in and is great, but he's not a knock down shooter, a slasher nor a shot creator.

	Fortune	Ski
Shots at rim	15.47%	26.96%
Shots 2pt j	21.52%	39.04%
Shots 3pt	63%	33.98%
% Made at rim	43.48%	49.85%
% Made 2ptj	47.92%	36.94%
% Made 3pt	32.38%	32.88%
% assisted at rim	53.33%	24.71%
% assisted 2pt j	45.65%	12.04%
% assisted 3pt	93.41%	59.45%

Now these are only stats - schemes change, personnel changes, players change.......but let's not heap unrealistic expectations on a player that has yet to play a game.

 

[absinthe]

Is this your penance for the fireball?

 

[aghcsm]

I can't think of a better reason. Would you prefer a transfer who came here because:

- playing time was easy to get?
- really good ladies nights?
- I don't want to play defense, CU's coach doesn't expect defense?
- Weed is legal there?

Hell ya, come play for Tad and he'll get you to THE league!

Sure, it indicates motivation and doesn't need to be a problem, but sometimes personal goals and team goals conflict. Ideally they mesh and everyone benefits.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Josh has certainly gotten better as his career has progressed, that's undeniable. However, he was getting a ton of minutes at Providence last season (even going all 40 mins at times). He had some monster performances, but also nights where shots did not fall and he couldn't create. It's hard to say exactly how well he'll do in our offense. We need him to take some pressure off and put up some points so the green light will be there, but we're either going to need vastly improved PG play/team passing or else he's going to need to learn to create more in order for him to be scoring closer to 20 than 10.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

Remember that other big shooting guard we were able to get to transfer here... what was his name... think he ended up being Pac-12 Tournament MVP.

Tad has a pretty proven record of making big shooting guards into stars. No reason to think he can't do that with Fortune.

 

[Buffnik]

He's streaky in the past. But when he's on he's nails. Good defender, too.

 

[BuffLuke80]

Hell, wish we had him this year.

 

[Goose]

Fun fact - if you look at Fortune's KenPom page, the first player listed as his comparable for his 2014 season?

2014 Xavier Talton

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

Fun fact - if you look at Fortune's KenPom page, the first player listed as his comparable for his 2014 season?

2014 Xavier Talton

So what you are saying is that XT might as well be redshirting?