good piece on Braxton Bonds

#1

kamoshika

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#1
“We have great, great scorers on this Tennessee basketball team, so I don’t need to score that much,” [Bonds] said. “I just want to get them in positions to where they can score. That’s pretty much my job – be vocal, tell people where they need to be, then get ‘em the ball and let them go play.”

He has done that job so well in early practices that Bonds will make impact as a true freshman if his waiver is approved.

“I’m telling you: If he is eligible he is going to play on our team,” Tyndall said. “He is. I’m hoping we will have an answer in the next two to four weeks. He is a tough, hard-nosed kid. He has a great feel for the game and he is competitive. It doesn't matter if it’s Kevin Punter or Josh Richardson; if they are guarding him or he is guarding them, he goes right at them.”

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#2
#2
“We have great, great scorers on this Tennessee basketball team, so I don’t need to score that much,” [Bonds] said. “I just want to get them in positions to where they can score. That’s pretty much my job – be vocal, tell people where they need to be, then get ‘em the ball and let them go play.”

He has done that job so well in early practices that Bonds will make impact as a true freshman if his waiver is approved.

“I’m telling you: If he is eligible he is going to play on our team,” Tyndall said. “He is. I’m hoping we will have an answer in the next two to four weeks. He is a tough, hard-nosed kid. He has a great feel for the game and he is competitive. It doesn't matter if it’s Kevin Punter or Josh Richardson; if they are guarding him or he is guarding them, he goes right at them.”

Scout.com - College and High School Football, Basketball, Recruiting, NFL, and MLB Front Page

I hope he gets eligible. We will definitely need him.
 
#3
#3
We need a true point guard for the common good of the team. I truly believe he is the one.
 
#6
#6
Let's hope he's eligible! With defense as the calling card, he could really help us get to the NCAA tourney!

I think he is a better prospect than most people thought including the staff. He will really help us if he can become eligible. Does anyone know what the odds are of him obtaining that waiver to play? I personally think he gets it but thats just a guess on my part.
 
#9
#9
That's how I feel. Gut feeling I have I suppose. Hopefully he helps us land the other Braxton.

I wish skal was 2016 if we could land skal and Blackwell that would be a legit title contending team imo
 
#11
#11
Ado has a chance to be better than Skal, and our chances of landing him are 1000x better than landing Skal.

Maybe not better within the next couple years, but I think Ado has a higher potential than Skal overall. We have a much better chance at Ado than Skal IMO, but still will be a struggle landing Ado too.
 
#12
#12
Maybe not better within the next couple years, but I think Ado has a higher potential than Skal overall. We have a much better chance at Ado than Skal IMO, but still will be a struggle landing Ado too.

Ado is actually rated higher by 247 in his respective class than Skal, and it's widely acknowledged that Ado is still developing where as Skal was much more polished at that stage. By the time 2016 final rankings roll around I would be shocked if Ado is not higher rated than Skal will be, he will likely be a consensus top 5 recruit.
 
#13
#13
Ado is actually rated higher by 247 in his respective class than Skal, and it's widely acknowledged that Ado is still developing where as Skal was much more polished at that stage. By the time 2016 final rankings roll around I would be shocked if Ado is not higher rated than Skal will be, he will likely be a consensus top 5 recruit.

Ado is extremely raw, but so long and athletic he does have a ton of potential. I would still say Skal has the higher ceiling of the two. I don't ever see Ado being able to develop half the offensive game Skal will have.
 
#14
#14
Ado is actually rated higher by 247 in his respective class than Skal, and it's widely acknowledged that Ado is still developing where as Skal was much more polished at that stage. By the time 2016 final rankings roll around I would be shocked if Ado is not higher rated than Skal will be, he will likely be a consensus top 5 recruit.

I haven't kept up with Ado, but he has 10 CB's to U of L... Are they his favorite?
 
#15
#15
I haven't kept up with Ado, but he has 10 CB's to U of L... Are they his favorite?

For the moment yes. I believe they offered earlier than a couple others and Pitino has a history of grabbing these type of raw but talented centers from Africa. Still plenty of time to make some moves though.
 
#16
#16
Ado is extremely raw, but so long and athletic he does have a ton of potential. I would still say Skal has the higher ceiling of the two. I don't ever see Ado being able to develop half the offensive game Skal will have.

Well most scouts disagree, but seeing as how Skal is much more likely to be a Tiger than Ado I'm not surprised at your opinion.
 
#17
#17
I haven't kept up with Ado, but he has 10 CB's to U of L... Are they his favorite?

Not really a favorite at this point, he visited there and as the other poster too their history with raw bigs is very good to this point so there's some assumptions being made, but as this point I wouldn't say they're a clear cut favorite or anything. That's the thing with the crystal ball, you get points for being the first pick and for how long you had it picked, so people try to run and jump on these guys early with their picks.0
 
#18
#18
Not really a favorite at this point, he visited there and as the other poster too their history with raw bigs is very good to this point so there's some assumptions being made, but as this point I wouldn't say they're a clear cut favorite or anything. That's the thing with the crystal ball, you get points for being the first pick and for how long you had it picked, so people try to run and jump on these guys early with their picks.0
Ahh I see. Thanks BTO.
 
#19
#19
Well most scouts disagree, but seeing as how Skal is much more likely to be a Tiger than Ado I'm not surprised at your opinion.

Skal is 6'11", a good shot blocker, and has three point range. Ado is the same size, a better shot blocker, with no shot outside 3 feet. Ive never heard a scout compare Skal to Ado, but I do know scouts love Skal and think he isn't close to peaking.
 
#22
#22
Looks like Braxton plays up to his competition, really solid read here guys.

Multiple interviews conducted at Tennessee basketball's preseason media day uncovered an interesting trio that's proved tough to beat in pickup games.

Several players said anytime freshman walk-on point guard Braxton Bonds, freshman forward Willie Carmichael and junior wing Armani Moore are on the same team, that team never loses.
Bonds, the nephew of former Major League Baseball star Barry Bonds, said Carmichael — a 6-foot-8 big man from Florida — is a huge part of the reason for that.
"If you're on Willie Carmichael's team, you will not lose in a pickup game. Let's just start with that," Bonds said. "That man is an animal. I mean, Armani's an animal, too, but Willie gets every single rebound. He's one of those guys that's just fun to play with — pick-and-rolls, runs, whatever. He makes the game so much fun."
Bonds said his competitiveness comes from mostly from two sources — his bloodline and his high school coach, Drew Maddux of Nashville's Christ Presbyterian Academy.
"He just instilled hard work and competing every single day into me," Bonds said. "When I was younger [in high school], there were older people who had my spot, and I knew that I was talented but had to work to get my spot. I've just kept that mentality.
Bonds, who took a couple of classes this summer at NCAA Division I program Liberty as a scholarship player before transferring to Tennessee as a walk-on, has been a surprise gem for the point-guard-deficient Vols but might not be eligible to play this season. First-year Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall said Thursday that Bonds should be two to four weeks away from learning the outcome of his immediate-eligibility waiver request from the NCAA.
Carmichael, an under-the-radar prospect who initially signed to play for Tyndall at Southern Miss before following the coach to Tennessee, said he didn't even start playing basketball until he suddenly grew six inches as a high school freshman and friends convinced him to try out for the hoops team. Until that point he'd been a promising track and field sprinter — something that still shows up when he routinely beats everyone on Tennessee's team (including the guards) in up-and-back sprints.
"He's got that track form," Moore said with a smile. "It ain't fair. You can tell he knows how to run."


The big freshman looks nothing like a sprinter in the paint, though, where his relentless competitiveness makes him a tough assignment for anyone. His coaches absolutely love him for it, and so does his teammates … most of the time, anyway.
“I’m just a hard worker,” said Carmichael, who has added more than 20 pounds of muscle since arriving in Knoxville this summer. “If I’m sick, I still work. If I’m hurt, I still work. It doesn’t matter how I feel, I’m gonna work hard and try to make my teammates better and try to get myself better every day. It’s just instinct, I guess. I don’t really know how to go slow.
“Why be out here if you don’t want to be the best you can be? I’m that way with everything I do in life, basically.”
Moore’s contribution to his pickup team has been about what most who have seen him play would suspect. The muscular, 6-foot-5 wing can play and defend all five spots on the floor and is every bit as tenacious as Carmichael on the block — which is why Tyndall doesn’t hesitate to call Moore the best post defender on the team, despite the junior’s lack of height.
“I’m just really competitive, and I really don’t like losing,” Moore said. “I mean, with me, it’s not about going out there and trying to be the toughest guy. But that’s just how I play because I hate losing. I mean, I really, really, really hate losing, so all I care about is doing whatever I need to do and whatever my coaches and teammates need to me to do for us to win games. That’s all I care about.
-247

http://tennessee.247sports.com/Article/Odd-trio-tough-to-beat-in-Tennessee-Vols-basketball-practice-32092709
 
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#25
#25
Clearance Unlikely for Bonds: UT still has not heard back from the NCAA regarding its appeal for a waiver that would allow walk-on point guard Braxton Bonds to play this season. Bonds is ineligible because he enrolled at Liberty University before he left and walked on at UT. The Nashville native cited homesickness as the reason for his relocation.

“They (Liberty) released him, but they’re not wanting to agree to the sit-out waiver being taken away,” Tyndall said. “Without Liberty agreeing, the waiver process has been filed. I would hope we would know literally by this Friday in our first game. I would say probably only about a 20 percent chance of him getting cleared to be eligible to play. That’s tough, but he’s a great kid. He’s a guy who will help us down the road.”
Donnie Tyndall tells Knoxville Quarterback Club
 

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