Chris Ledlum commits to Vols

#130
#130
joevols89 said:
If he can give us 11 a game he would be a huge success in my book. I’d be surprised.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking that just getting close. 9 and 5 doesn't seem unreasonable. I'll be shocked if he's just a fringe contributor. The poster sort of insinuates that they don't see Ledlum coming close to ON's numbers.
 
#131
#131
Dougie_D said:
Cause we had Uros. It will be interesting how Estrella does. My guess is Aidoo gets 28 minutes
Click to expand...
Not sure. Even Kyle Alexander and Fulky at their best averaged 24 and 26 minutes per game. How many Aidoo gets will also depend on how many Awaka earns and the bigger question how much run does Estrella get? Ledlum is going to get a lot of minutes at the 4, so on frontcourt with 80 minutes available how is that carved up?

Awaka does 2 things that Barnes loves, rebounding and defense. And he can be an elite rebounder. Give him 20 minutes per game and not much time left for Estrella, of course that may be the plan. Without even considering Cade Phillips or Jefferson who others have suggested could play small 4 role.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Volfan1000
#132
#132
Namorto1 said:
Not sure. Even Kyle Alexander and Fulky at their best averaged 24 and 26 minutes per game. How many Aidoo gets will also depend on how many Awaka earns and the bigger question how much run does Estrella get? Ledlum is going to get a lot of minutes at the 4, so on frontcourt with 80 minutes available how is that carved up?

Awaka does 2 things that Barnes loves, rebounding and defense. And he can be an elite rebounder. Give him 20 minutes per game and not much time left for Estrella, of course that may be the plan. Without even considering Cade Phillips or Jefferson who others have suggested could play small 4 role.
Click to expand...
Awaka is absolutely an elite rebounder, but his defense was what kept him off the court last season. He’s a smart young man and I’ll bet he figures it out before next year
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vols4us, AngryButchJones, Lankykong and 3 others
#133
#133
vol_in_ga said:
This is a rare circumstance where this might actually be doable. Give dad a raise to compensate for the scholarship monies and good to go.
Click to expand...
Didn’t Jancek’s kids all attend UT for free even after he moved on? Confident that applies here also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Adam Sandler
#134
#134
walkenvol said:
Awaka is absolutely an elite rebounder, but his defense was what kept him off the court last season. He’s a smart young man and I’ll bet he figures it out before next year
Click to expand...
I thought the same thing. Rebounding was great, even the offense was very good. It was the defense that kept him from more minutes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: walkenvol
#135
#135
walkenvol said:
Awaka is absolutely an elite rebounder, but his defense was what kept him off the court last season. He’s a smart young man and I’ll bet he figures it out before next year
Click to expand...
True. See your point. He did struggle with switches on perimeter players in particular.
 
  • Like
Reactions: walkenvol
#138
#138
ReggieJohnsonFan said:
Lol, what a negative take on things. You have no clue how Ledlum will do at UT - nor do I for that matter, or anyone else. What matters is UT staff badly wanted Ledlum- that’s good enough for me. Also, UT advanced as far as or farther than any of the teams you mentioned in NCAA tourney. Success on the court is what matters.
Click to expand...

There’s a difference between how badly you want someone vs how badly they want you. I think Ledlum was on their list (like a ton others), but I highly doubt they ranked him as their number 1 guy.
 
#139
#139
butchna said:
Didn’t Jancek’s kids all attend UT for free even after he moved on? Confident that applies here also.
Click to expand...
Personally not aware of free tuition for current/former employees children but also wouldn’t surprise me at all
 
#141
#141
Ledlum was a 4*, top 100 player with multiple legit P6 offers out of HS. I think that's what makes me optimistic. Multiple teams clearly identified early he had the athletic ability to play at the biggest level.

If you erased Tyreke Key's injury history, added 4 inches and gave him better ball skills - I would imagine he would have been significantly more impactful at UT. That's essentially the player Ledlum is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AngryButchJones
#142
#142
johnfnkelly said:
Ledlum was a 4*, top 100 player with multiple legit P6 offers out of HS. I think that's what makes me optimistic. Multiple teams clearly identified early he had the athletic ability to play at the biggest level.

If you erased Tyreke Key's injury history, added 4 inches and gave him better ball skills - I would imagine he would have been significantly more impactful at UT. That's essentially the player Ledlum is.
Click to expand...
Fair point. Key did have some better 3p% numbers before coming here, but those obviously didn't translate very well, and I've seen quite a bit of speculation (from Indiana boards) that Ledlum's shot might translate better, considering he's going from a 30% usage guy to someone who should get more open looks.
 
#143
#143
People comparing him to EJ Anosike are also wilfully ignoring the difference between the programs the two came from before coming to UT.

Anosike came from Sacred Heart in the NEC, a decent program in a conference that's consistently rated as one of the worst overall in the country per KenPom.

Ledlum is coming from Harvard in the Ivy League, a decent program in a conference that ranked 12th in KenPom this season, just ahead of the A10 and just behind the WAC.

Not trying to say the Ivy League is a premier conference. Not at all. But it's clear the competition level even from the NEC to the Ivy League is a noticeable step up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ReggieJohnsonFan, Willy14, VolsAgainstTheWorld15 and 7 others
#147
#147
Sadie0051 said:
We will see. Ledlum will not have as good of year as Nkoumoa did this past year. If you think he will your going to be terribly disappointed. Nkoumoa shooting percentages were all better then Ledlums.
Click to expand...
Ledlum has a far more versatile offensive game than ON. ON pretty much exclusively relied on turn around mid-range jumpers, which worked really well 1 out of 3 games. Ledlum can actually handle the ball, can be used as a screener or as a ball handler, can post up, and will probably be a decent spot up option like ON was. ON only shot 33% from 3, so it's not like he was automatic. Keep in mind that Ledlum was the 1 option for Harvard, his quality of looks should improve here as a 3rd option. ON was a mediocre rebounder for his position, and not a good defender at all. Ledlum is better at shot blocking and significantly better at steals than ON. Ledlum should be more versatile on defense (not saying he'll be elite). There was many matchups where ON got played off the floor or hurt us because he wasn't quick enough to stay in front of a lot of 4s and wasn't big enough to guard 5s. Go watch the Missouri and Florida games for reference. Ledlum can't play the 5 most likely, but should fair pretty well at the 4 in the SEC, and can guard the 3 as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cardvolfan and Vol49er
#148
#148
rdk4121 said:
Ledlum has a far more versatile offensive game than ON. ON pretty much exclusively relied on turn around mid-range jumpers, which worked really well 1 out of 3 games. Ledlum can actually handle the ball, can be used as a screener or as a ball handler, can post up, and will probably be a decent spot up option like ON was. ON only shot 33% from 3, so it's not like he was automatic. Keep in mind that Ledlum was the 1 option for Harvard, his quality of looks should improve here as a 3rd option. ON was a mediocre rebounder for his position, and not a good defender at all. Ledlum is better at shot blocking and significantly better at steals than ON. Ledlum should be more versatile on defense (not saying he'll be elite). There was many matchups where ON got played off the floor or hurt us because he wasn't quick enough to stay in front of a lot of 4s and wasn't big enough to guard 5s. Go watch the Missouri and Florida games for reference. Ledlum can't play the 5 most likely, but should fair pretty well at the 4 in the SEC, and can guard the 3 as well.
Click to expand...
Don’t think Ledlum won’t be able to guard the 3 in SEC play. He’s limited athletically. He’s also not going to be able to take a man off the dribble from the 3 point line like he was able to do in a lot of his highlights imo (unless he had a Uros guarding him).

I think he will just be a 3 point shooter and then be used to bang in the post here and get some old man buckets like we wanted Key to be able to do here.
 
Last edited:
#150
#150
rdk4121 said:
Ledlum has a far more versatile offensive game than ON. ON pretty much exclusively relied on turn around mid-range jumpers, which worked really well 1 out of 3 games. Ledlum can actually handle the ball, can be used as a screener or as a ball handler, can post up, and will probably be a decent spot up option like ON was. ON only shot 33% from 3, so it's not like he was automatic. Keep in mind that Ledlum was the 1 option for Harvard, his quality of looks should improve here as a 3rd option. ON was a mediocre rebounder for his position, and not a good defender at all. Ledlum is better at shot blocking and significantly better at steals than ON. Ledlum should be more versatile on defense (not saying he'll be elite). There was many matchups where ON got played off the floor or hurt us because he wasn't quick enough to stay in front of a lot of 4s and wasn't big enough to guard 5s. Go watch the Missouri and Florida games for reference. Ledlum can't play the 5 most likely, but should fair pretty well at the 4 in the SEC, and can guard the 3 as well.
Click to expand...
I’ll believe Ledlum is a better shot blocker than ON when he displays it in the SEC. ON could play above the rim whereas Ledlum appears to barely be able to dunk. I also question his foot speed to guard the 3 position in the SEC. For him to have been rated highly in the portal, I think there are a lot of questions he will have to answer in the SEC
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top