Austin Kuemper News

[briarduck]

Looks like he's playing well...

http://swishscout.com/?p=3156

Austin Kuemper (Westview) 21 points, 5 rebounds- Austin held his own against the height of DeMatha, and was one of the few bright spots against the Wildcats. He didn’t have a great rebounding night, but he made some nice plays at the basket, and was more aggressive offensively than last night. Duck fans will love his motor and hard play, but he should be a better-shot blocker than he is. Very surprising to see a 6’10” power forward/center with nice athleticism record 0 blocks in 2 games. Considering the circumstances though, he had a great performance against a Georgetown committed forward and a couple other legit Division I prospects.

And Kyle Wiltjer looks great, what are our chances with this kid?

Kyle Wiltjer (Jesuit)- 33 pt, 11 reb, 3 blk- If I could build a team around one player from the state of Oregon, Wiltjer would be it. He has the most complete and well-rounded game in the tournament. Smooth stroke, solid rebounder, sly passer, and keen defender; He simply does it all. There really isn’t much more you could ask from him, other than to put on muscle and become more athletic.

[DarronThomas5]

Considering Wiltjer already signed an LOI with Kentucky I would say our chances are literally non-existent.

[briarduck]

^Damn I knew that...damn Christmas hangover!

[dthomas=ddixon]

Yeah but Kuemper wasn't too good last time I saw him at the rec center...

Just kiddin' TK .

[UOducksTK1]

Yeah but Kuemper wasn't too good last time I saw him at the rec center...

Just kiddin' TK .

Haha, I'm telling you though, except a big man who likes to settle for jump shots and won't bang inside as much as you'd expect for a 6'10" player. I saw him play at Westview, he's got a sweet stroke, but he's soft.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Yeah but Kuemper wasn't too good last time I saw him at the rec center...

Just kiddin' TK .

Haha, I'm telling you though, except a big man who likes to settle for jump shots and won't bang inside as much as you'd expect for a 6'10" player. I saw him play at Westview, he's got a sweet stroke, but he's soft.

I believe you man. From what I've seen he definitely doesn't look like much of a banger, not that physical defensive presence we'd all like. Hopefully he fits into what Altman wants though, thats all I'm worried about.

[woundedknees]

Between Oregon's training staff, and Altman's coaching, we may see an impressive change during Kuemper's time as a Duck.

[greenyellow]

Between Oregon's training staff, and Altman's coaching, we may see an impressive change during Kuemper's time as a Duck.

I think he'll be better than some think since Altman and his staff seem to be able to work with just about anybody and make them serviceable D1 players.

[woundedknees]

After seeing so much potential wasted in guys who were 6'8 and above over the last 10 plus seasons, it will be interesting to observe how Altman handles bigs.

For a while, I deluded myself wondering why other programs seemed to be able to recruit better quality post personnel than Oregon... It didn't take very strong powers of observation to realize that the potential was almost always there, and, at times, Oregon had a stable of ridiculous size available.

It was especially frustrating to see a potential embarrassment of riches, in 7' Ray Schafer and Matt Short, 6'10 Mitch Platt, 6'9 Jay Andersen, and 6'8 Adam Zahn, especially with 6'7 Luke Jackson for support, literally wither and die, rather than blossom into a powerful tool for success.. And that says nothing of the untapped potential at the other positions. .

There was potential, size, and reasonable skill to be dominant in the paint, yet minimal development, and a lot of talent ended up wasted.

[droop10]

Well Maarty Leunen wasn't much of a banger, but due to his ability to get good positioning on the boards, and hit the outside shot the team made it deep in the tourney. Yes, Brooks obviously had a big impact on that team, but you can have success as a team in college without having a big bruising center. That Oregon team could have beaten anybody except Florida that year in my opinion.

[duckfan22]

17-18 years old. These big kids in Oregon don't have to be
a banger. Usually they are taller then the other team. They
can get away with being soft.

The coaches don't coach them up. Hey we have a big who can
shoot let's stick him on the wing. Once however they get to
college all of a sudden they are playing against teams with players
maybe even bigger with more experience and now the learning begins.
I think Altman will coach him up. He sounds like he fit's Altman's
offense and will learn the rest in due time. Just my take...

[Duckattack7]

Last year when he played against Jordan Railey for beaverton (He was 6'11) Jordan out phisical'd him and everyone at school knew jordan as a big Pus*y. So he is pretty soft.

[UOducksTK1]

Well Maarty Leunen wasn't much of a banger, but due to his ability to get good positioning on the boards, and hit the outside shot the team made it deep in the tourney. Yes, Brooks obviously had a big impact on that team, but you can have success as a team in college without having a big bruising center. That Oregon team could have beaten anybody except Florida that year in my opinion.

Leunen was a BEAST rebounder though, and his range extended out to the 3point range. In fact, he was Oregon's best 3 point shooter for us a couple seasons. Kuemper, while he will shoot the 3 sometimes, is better at 15-17 ft. Also Kuemper will never be the rebounder Leunen was. I'm not trying to hate on Kuemper, he'll be a sweet addition to this team. And I'm sure Altman will be able to work with him.

[Tray Dub]

So far, Altman's done nothing to indicate we can't trust him. If he thinks Kuemper is worthy of a schollie, so do I until I see evidence otherwise. Although TK's comments do worry me a little. Still, I'm glad we got AK.

[Duck07]

I've seen enough guys go from being wussies in hs to pretty bad dudes in college once they matured a bit, both physically and mentally. We've started to see actual post moves being used by Joevan and EJ this season so until he's been through a DA training camp and gets to play against Jacob to toughen up, we'll see. As for rec ball, its hard to get a real assessment some times. I've played with Zahn quite a bit and he never goes to the post unless its for the final point, just yakking 3s. So, if some of these critiques of AK are because he's playing against a bunch of 5-7 to 6-3 dudes, its probably no wonder why he's not in the post.