Kwe Parker question

#1

LibertyVolance

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#1
I am a complete nimrod concerning BB. Nonetheless, I watch the Vols and am an avid spectator fan. These freshmen are really exciting and this team has exceeded expectations this year.

My question about Parker is this: Reading an espn recruiting article on him, it said that he was a phenomenal leaper with a 42" vertical jump and extremely athletic as a 4* HS guard from NC. In the infreqent times that I have seen him get on the court, I haven't seen that yet.

Do you expect a lot from him next season? Has that HS foot injury slowed his progress this year? What do you think about his upside potential?
 
#3
#3
Yes, he jumps super high and is athletic. He hasn't gotten into good game flow in the games I have watched him. He gets too excited and throws super fast passes which disrupt our guys a bit. I think he'll be better next year when he gets used to the speed of the game
 
#5
#5
He wasn't a "true 4*". Whatever that means. His rating on Scout was an unranked 3*.

Kwe just needs to develop his game in the gym. He can no longer rely on pure athleticism to carry his game.

Kwe always looks happy on the sideline. I'd be surprised if he transferred THIS year.
 
#7
#7
I am a complete nimrod concerning BB. Nonetheless, I watch the Vols and am an avid spectator fan. These freshmen are really exciting and this team has exceeded expectations this year.

My question about Parker is this: Reading an espn recruiting article on him, it said that he was a phenomenal leaper with a 42" vertical jump and extremely athletic as a 4* HS guard from NC. In the infreqent times that I have seen him get on the court, I haven't seen that yet.

Do you expect a lot from him next season? Has that HS foot injury slowed his progress this year? What do you think about his upside potential?

To answer your question, I think KP is a phenomenal athlete, but a mediocre basketball player at this point. He has potential, but unfortunately for him, he's blocked by two better players in Bone and Turner and will be seemingly forever unless he dramatically improves his skill level. It may be in his best interest to transfer to a program that will allow him more playing time and some time to learn on the job so to speak.

I expected him to be the furthest behind this season in regards to all the freshmen because he was able to get by in HS on his athleticism alone. In my mind, he was always going to need some seasoning. I'm just not sure an opportunity exists for his role to grow at Tennessee with Bone and Turner being in the same class.
 
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#9
#9
Thanks for these answers. Yeah, playing behind Turner and Bone wouldn't allow much playing time for Kwe since those 2 have developed quicker and are making an imprint now. And those 2 will be here for awhile too.
 
#10
#10
He has more potential then the other guards. He will be good after a year or two. Russell Westbrook only averaged 3 points his first year at UCLA.
 
#11
#11
I am a complete nimrod concerning BB. Nonetheless, I watch the Vols and am an avid spectator fan. These freshmen are really exciting and this team has exceeded expectations this year.

My question about Parker is this: Reading an espn recruiting article on him, it said that he was a phenomenal leaper with a 42" vertical jump and extremely athletic as a 4* HS guard from NC. In the infreqent times that I have seen him get on the court, I haven't seen that yet.

Do you expect a lot from him next season? Has that HS foot injury slowed his progress this year? What do you think about his upside potential?

He's got a lot of work to do if he's going to play significant minutes heading into the future.

As of today:
He's athletic for sure, but I'm not sure how he got a 4 star rating or even a 3. He can't shoot, not a good passer, and looks uncomfortable bringing the ball up.

Hopefully, he can improve in these areas over the summer
 
#12
#12
He has more potential then the other guards. He will be good after a year or two. Russell Westbrook only averaged 3 points his first year at UCLA.

Bone, Turner, and Bowden have shown glimpses of how good they will be

When has Parker done that ?
 
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#13
#13
He's got a lot of work to do if he's going to play significant minutes heading into the future.

As of today:
He's athletic for sure, but I'm not sure how he got a 4 star rating or even a 3. He can't shoot, not a good passer, and looks uncomfortable bringing the ball up.

Hopefully, he can improve in these areas over the summer

Take 4* Parker over 3* Williams??
 
#15
#15
I do wonder if there's a chance he redshirts next season if he opts to stay. Would balance out the guard classes a bit, and give him that year to really concentrate on developing his game.
 
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#16
#16
You should also admit you were saying he'd be the starting PG by SEC play this current season, so...

I said probably. I did also say it could be his second year. I acknowledged the others are more ready but I think after a year or so he will be better. He needs to build his confidence and work on his shot.

I was right about Grant Williams all the way though.
 
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#17
#17
I don't think he'll transfer honestly. He seems to like it and his high school buddy is here too. I think he'll get more playing time next year. We could see him or Turner playing off the ball more next year than they are right now, that way we could slide either shembari or bowden to the 3 to make up for losing hubbs. Johnson should help with that too, but we don't have another true 3 on our team.
 
#18
#18
Bone, Turner, and Bowden have shown glimpses of how good they will be

When has Parker done that ?

He has shown flashes. Great d, good passing. He passes and plays d better than Turner and Bowden. They shoot way better though. Bone is better in most areas. With Parker's athleticism if he gets his confidence up and his shot going at all he will get better than Turner and Bowden pretty quick imo.
 
#19
#19
I do wonder if there's a chance he redshirts next season if he opts to stay. Would balance out the guard classes a bit, and give him that year to really concentrate on developing his game.

Based on what I have seen, that might be his best option...but it begs the questions: If he has amost a year in the system and he still appears lost on the court, will another year make that much difference? Was he like Alexander, a late starter? Why is it taking so much time to develop him?

I wish him well, but I am not sure based on the few moments I have actually seen him, that his athleticism will ever be able to be properly used in the college game. I hope I am very wrong, and just jumping to conclusions based on limited information.
 
#20
#20
He has shown flashes. Great d, good passing. He passes and plays d better than Turner and Bowden. They shoot way better though. Bone is better in most areas. With Parker's athleticism if he gets his confidence up and his shot going at all he will get better than Turner and Bowden pretty quick imo.

I hope you're right. This off season is huge for Parker
 
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#21
#21
I don't think he'll transfer honestly. He seems to like it and his high school buddy is here too. I think he'll get more playing time next year. We could see him or Turner playing off the ball more next year than they are right now, that way we could slide either shembari or bowden to the 3 to make up for losing hubbs. Johnson should help with that too, but we don't have another true 3 on our team.

These are in line with my thoughts. The only way I see Kwe getting more time is if they decide to play Turner off the ball. Bone is a pure PG. Whether it's the 2 or 3, I see Bowden playing significant minutes. Kid can play. Shembari is also shooting well when he takes the shot.
 
#22
#22
Kwe has a really high ceiling because of his elite athleticism in my opinion, but he will likely take some time to develop since he is more of an athlete playing basketball than a basketball player at this stage. He and his high school teammate, Jalen Johnson, are likely the premiere athletes on our team right now (and Bone is probably close to these guys as he may be the quickest player). I think Kwe and Jalen both were able to out-athlete almost everyone they played in high school because they are truly elite athletes and I think their skills were not as fine tuned because of this natural advantage. This skills gap explains why Jalen is redshirting and Barnes has said a couple of times that he would never suggest a redshirt to any player he thought would not develop into a big time player because it would otherwise be a waste of a scholarship for five years (I'm paraphrasing a bit here). Anyway, I really hope Kwe sticks it out because I think Kwe and Jalen are similar to some Louisville players in that Pitino takes elite athletes with developing skillsets and deploys them mercilessly once they develop as sophomores or upperclassmen. In truth, Kwe and Jalen are two of the big reasons I am expecting big things from this team next year and bigger things in two/three years because I think our core young guys that are playing now (Bone, Williams, and Bowden) will continue to develop but Fulkerson, Kwe, and Jalen may surpass them all in a year or two. It should be good if everyone sticks together and we can get a legit first round NBA guy in this or the next recruiting class.
 
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#23
#23
Kwe has a really high ceiling because of his elite athleticism in my opinion, but he will likely take some time to develop since he is more of an athlete playing basketball than a basketball player at this stage. He and his high school teammate, Jalen Johnson, are likely the premiere athletes on our team right now (and Bone is probably close to these guys as he may be the quickest player). I think Kwe and Jalen both were able to out-athlete almost everyone they played in high school because they are truly elite athletes and I think their skills were not as fine tuned because of this natural advantage. This skills gap explains why Jalen is redshirting and Barnes has said a couple of times that he would never suggest a redshirt to any player he thought would not develop into a big time player because it would otherwise be a waste of a scholarship for five years (I'm paraphrasing a bit here). Anyway, I really hope Kwe sticks it out because I think Kwe and Jalen are similar to some Louisville players in that Pitino takes elite athletes with developing skillsets and deploys them mercilessly once they develop as sophomores or upperclassmen. In truth, Kwe and Jalen are two of the big reasons I am expecting big things from this team next year and bigger things in two/three years because I think our core young guys that are playing now (Bone, Williams, and Bowden) will continue to develop but Fulkerson, Kwe, and Jalen may surpass them all in a year or two. It should be good if everyone sticks together and we can get a legit first round NBA guy in this or the next recruiting class.

I pretty much agree with this assessment.
 
#24
#24
He has shown flashes. Great d, good passing. He passes and plays d better than Turner and Bowden. They shoot way better though. Bone is better in most areas. With Parker's athleticism if he gets his confidence up and his shot going at all he will get better than Turner and Bowden pretty quick imo.

Disagree that he's a better passer than Bowden right now. Parker plays a little too hot-potato with the ball for me to agree with that. Bowden plays within the flow of our offense.

Definitely agree Kwe has potential though. Good defender too.
 
#25
#25
Why do you think he will transfer ?

Getting very few minutes. He's 10th and would be 13th if Johnson didn't RS, Fulkerson wasn't injured, and Mostella wasn't booted off.

Hasn't shown to be a scoring threat.

Turner, Bone, and even Phillips are getting almost all of the minutes at PG.

He'll be about the 5th option at the 2.

Zach Kent is a strong candidate to redshirt. Don't know if CRB would want to RS 2 players and only play 11.

Coach Tony Jones said that he thinks Parker will transfer out.

But, he looked like he had a big smile on his face while getting some minutes yesterday. Maybe he has a great attitude and will work very hard to improve in the off season.
 

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