Player TJ Power

[deepdarkblue]

Gollum is at the bottom of the picture.

 

[torontoduke]

Big jump for TJ in the 247 rankings.

 

[dukeboy911]

Yep #19 now. 4 Top 20 kids. And since all are in the teens, I'm hoping this means we get multiple years out of all of them. Want that continuity.

 

[torontoduke]

Must feel pretty good to knock down those treys. Good for TJ

 

[dukeboy911]

Has only been averaging 4 minutes since the start of the new year. If Mitchell comes back, do we think TJ transfers? Cooper will be starting at PF next year, and we'll also have Isaiah Evans taking time at SF. I'm assuming TJ projects to play at both the 3 and 4 depending on the lineup, but I'm just not sure how many minutes he'll have next season.

Hopefully he's patient enough to stay until an upperclassmen where he *should* see even more minutes.

 

[rome8180]

I think he transfers regardless of whether Mitchell comes back, but Mitchell coming back would certainly make the decision a lot more clear-cut for him.

 

[physicsfactor]

I agree. This is one of those “obvious transfer is obvious” situations. It’s 2024, and he’s a 5-star recruit stuck on the bench. That’s a transfer.

 

[torontoduke]

It is really unfortunate, because you can see how a man with his skill set can help down the road as a soph/jr/sr(?).

I understand how many folks want him to get more run, which may help with retaining him in the program - it would seem that he's is not ready for the physicality of the game at this point.

 

[2001Dukechamps]

Yeah, I can easily envision Power developing into a stud upperclassman for a program like Creighton, UConn or Wake who are portal hunters that seek potential shotmakers on the wing.

 

[Pantone287]

Sounds like he's out the door already, which makes me feel less bad about him not getting any burn lately.

 

[bdotling]

Wasn’t he like 1-5?

 

[rome8180]

Wasn’t he like 1-5?

He was. And I think Scheyer actually forgot he made that one. At least it sure sounded like that in his press conference.

"TJ provides shooting on the floor. You'd better know where he's at when he's out there. Even though he didn't hit tonight, all four of his threes are in and out."

 

[bdotling]

Maybe the social media team is making up for Scheyer’s remark but I also find it hilarious the reaction to the three is all about Flip’s pass.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

I just don't know what position he guards. Like he basically needs to bulk up and be a 4 because I don't see him every being playable on defense against a three guard opponent.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I started this post with something about playing smallball center, then went down a TJ Power rabbit hole because I looked at his stats, which are plain awful across the board. He can't really play any position, let alone center. He appears to have one skill only.

Anyway, got to his 247 recruiting profile, and saw this: He’s a 5th year senior, and older for his grade at that, which has to be a consideration when projecting him out long-term. Maybe there's some legitimate reason for this, but I would assume it's a standard case of a kid who gets held back multiple years in school by well-to-do parents for sports purposes. His birthday is September 23, but it's difficult to find the year anywhere online, probably because he and his parents are sensitive to the age issue. He's likely 20 now, which would make him 23 during his senior year.

My immediate reaction was to be discouraged that he's so old for a freshman yet so unplayable. But if we somehow hang onto him for 4 years, I think he's potentially very valuable. There won't be many 23-year-old elite shooters in college. That only exists when the player shows incredibly low potential in all other facets of the game, like Power, but that's not a huge problem at the college level.

Parents who hold their kids back in school typically don't want their kids to end up going to some random place like Creighton or whatever, so I think if Power transfers, it will be to the Ivies or Northwestern or something.

 

[childress22]

The only thing I don't get about all the messaging about T.J. working hard, being back in the gym after the games, etc -- is that it seems to be largely focused on his shot. Like, the guy could hit wide open threes, on the road, back in early December. Where it seems that he needs the extra work is not on getting his 3s off, but on 1) staying in front of his man 2) having the confidence to put the ball on the deck against college defenders.

It's not too hard to find videos from 2022 of him dribbling, even crossing over against smaller, reasonably athletic guard defenders. But it's seemed, going back to the scrimmages, that that hasn't really translated to college yet. Almost every time he catches it, he either doesn't dribble or takes one token bounce with no attempt to do anything. I'm all for guys "playing within themselves" and not forcing it, but if he wants to not be Joey Baker, he's to to work on developing/re-gaining a real handle he's comfortable with, like Singler- or Winslow-level. He looks like he's had the ball ripped from him by Blakes/McCain 300 times in practice and doesn't want to dribble again.

 

[rome8180]

Yeah, Singler with bad defense but a better jumper would still be a valuable player. Joey Baker with worse defense is not.

 

[bdotling]

The only thing I don't get about all the messaging about T.J. working hard, being back in the gym after the games, etc -- is that it seems to be largely focused on his shot. Like, the guy could hit wide open threes, on the road, back in early December. Where it seems that he needs the extra work is not on getting his 3s off, but on 1) staying in front of his man 2) having the confidence to put the ball on the deck against college defenders.

It's not too hard to find videos from 2022 of him dribbling, even crossing over against smaller, reasonably athletic guard defenders. But it's seemed, going back to the scrimmages, that that hasn't really translated to college yet. Almost every time he catches it, he either doesn't dribble or takes one token bounce with no attempt to do anything. I'm all for guys "playing within themselves" and not forcing it, but if he wants to not be Joey Baker, he's to to work on developing/re-gaining a real handle he's comfortable with, like Singler- or Winslow-level. He looks like he's had the ball ripped from him by Blakes/McCain 300 times in practice and doesn't want to dribble again.

Um just because the kids guarding him are black doesn’t make them necessarily reasonably athletic. All that shit dribbling he was doing in that video would no way work in college

 

[childress22]

I just meant that the guys can at least stay in front of him without trouble, and yet, somehow, in high school, that didn't cause his to automatically pick up us his dribble.

 

[rome8180]

Even if your handle is mediocre, you should at least be able to attack a closeout or drive in a straight line.

And if he is going to be a purely catch-and-shoot guy, he's gotta work at moving off ball more. There are plenty of movement shooters who hardly dribble. But TJ isn't really moving much out there either.