If BJJ averages 10 ppg and 5 or 6 rpg he will be a real asset to the team. You are absolutely correct, in my opinion, there are other weapons around Brandon. Hunter Dickinson, a pre season AA, Caleb Houstan who some think is the best shooter, or certainly one of the very best to come out of high school last year, Eli and DJ who some, including me, think will be the best backcourt in the B1G, an outstanding young player who I think is destined to become an outstanding combo guard probably by the end of the year in Kobe Bufkin, a disrupter in Moussa, lot’s of weapons. In that environment it may be difficult for Brandon to average more than 10 points, but I think he will. I’m not gonna go crazy here but I think he’ll average more than 10.
I also thing he will very much hold his own on the defensive end and on the boards. By the end of the year Moussa will be a man, and he will play a lot at the four and the five, but Branson will still be starting because of his experience and his maturity, and because he will deserve to start.
I also think he will be a senior leader (well, I don’t know what they have him classified as because of Covid), but an experienced leader who has been around and who knows, from his experiences, what this is all about. My understanding is that that is already on display in practice. I really do think we will see the BJJ many of us have hoped for, and really, the one I thought under Juwan that he would become. I think we’ll see that this year, but, like everything, this is just my opinion for whatever it’s worth.
Edit: Please see my comments to DL and to Cursed. I completely misread DL’s post. You know you’d think a guy who taught for most of his adult life and who has a couple of advanced degrees could FREAKIN’ READ! It’s hell to get old!
Sorry DL, as the kids used to say, “My bad.” I didn’t read your last sentence correctly. It was early and I had some sleep issues last night! I thought you said it WOULD be a stretch, and clearly you didn’t. Thanks for not coming back at me for my mistake!
we all misread things occasionally. I like Brandon’s game and think he has just lacked confidence for most of his career, somewhat because he was always close to getting sent to the bench. Hopefully as a senior he sees the light go on and plays hard all the time and earns the big PT.
OTE’s schedule is out… including a game against Gregg Glenn/KT Kings/Calvary Christian.
Also, this feels fitting “The games can be streamed on a delayed basis via Overtime’s YouTube channel”
Or this
“Teams can also receive points for winning “takeovers,” a series of team challenges that include one-on-one competitions, dunk contests and 3-point shootouts.”
I mean, they are mostly high school kids so I’m not sure who else they are going to be playing against? I assume the plan is to just add more teams moving forward.
I don’t think that is accurate as far as draft class, go ahead and google those guys 247 profile. Most are '22 and '23 class guys. There are definitely some who are graduates (there’s literally no rules behind who can play for OTE) so it is a mix. The highest profile signings have been two-year deals from what I’ve seen.
This is interesting… what if OTE is just a monster NIL opportunity?
Would NIL potentially make these kids eligible to play college in two years? Probably not based on how the rules work now but this seems more reasonable than OTE being some elite NBA development path.
OTE straight up pays the guys to play for them though, right? So it’s not NIL money they’re getting, but rather a true cash bag? Or does it qualify as NIL via some loophole?
Probably would need to get deep into the NIL rules to figure this out… I presume the restrictions would technically be:
In the NCAA, you can’t take NIL money as a direct inducement to play basketball or play at anywhere in particular.
In the NCAA, you are considered a professional if you recieve money directly in exchange for playing basketball.
Professionals can’t play in the NCAA.
So my guess is if the OTE pays players directly, then they are ineligible. But if OTE just slightly modified the scheme so that advertisers paid the players exclusively, they’d still be eligible for college. At that point it’s the same model as the NCAA.
Or if they are even paying them for “social media opportunities” rather than playing. Seems like a stretch but it is a more sensible long term plan — paid prep school with monster branding opportunities — than a league that’s gonna be a pre draft feeder IMO.
Probably not based on how the rules work now but this seems more reasonable than OTE being some elite NBA development path.