Welcome Flory Bidunga

[BiggDick]

Whenever five-star freshman Flory Bidunga catches the ball at Kansas basketball practice, there’s a good chance he’s dunking with authority.

It doesn’t matter if a defender is in his way — Bidunga (pronounced: bee-DUNE-gah) has already posterized many of his new Jayhawk teammates.

“This one right here, he’s a freak,” guard Jamari McDowell told The Star. “They’re both (freshmen Rakease Passmore and Bidunga) super athletic. Tons of energy and they try hard.”

Bidunga joins the Jayhawks after playing basketball at Kokomo (Indiana) High School. The 6-foot-9 center was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and attended Kokomo for three years.

In his senior season, he averaged 19.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 3.2 assists per game, leading his school to a 25-4 record and 4A sectional title.

Naturally, the hype around the five-star recruit is sky high.

Kansas coach Bill Self fueled the flames over the summer when he said: “He’s one of the best prospects we’ve had here in a while.”

So far, his teammates feel similarly.

“Flory has impressed me a lot,” second-year guard Elmarko Jackson told The Star. “The way he has progressed so far since he has been here, it’s been crazy. It’s going to be interesting when Hunter (Dickinson) comes off the floor — no disrespect to (former backup center) Parker (Braun), but Flory is just a different type of athlete. I know Dajuan (Harris) is super excited just to get on the floor with him.”

Alabama transfer Rylan Griffen took it one step further. After playing with the Crimson Tide for two seasons, he believes Bidunga might be the best rim protector he’s played with.

The soft-spoken Bidunga isn’t one to boast about his talents. He called the transition to KU basketball smooth but believes he still has a lot of work to do.

As for what he believes his role will be?

“I’m a freshman coming up — I really have to fight my way through to prove myself and prove to people that I can be trusted in this program,” Bidunga told The Star. “I’m not really sure about the role because the season (hasn’t) started, but I’m really working hard, working my (butt) off to be a part of it.”

To secure that role, Bidunga is trying to play with pace while continuing to do the things he excelled at in high school, namely rebounding and blocking shots.

He’s also putting on weight. Bidunga arrived in Lawrence in June weighing 222 pounds. After a summer of workouts, he reported he’s up to 235.

Bidunga is competing with redshirt junior Zach Clemence for the backup center spot. (Clemence, however, said he sees himself playing multiple positions, presumably including the four.)

The most likely outcome — at least early on — is Bidunga plays a few minutes off the bench. As he progresses, he will likely become the backup center.

That said, while Bidunga noted he’s learning from big men Dickinson, Clemence and KJ Adams, he is obviously leaving his own mark, too.

“Flory gets better every day,” Self said. “You can’t make major jumps every day, but incrementally he’s gotten better every day. There are some things he doesn’t do well and he’s not going to do well for a while, but he’s getting better at those things. There are things you just can’t teach — that motor, the quickness off his feet (and second jump). He’s a terrific quick-twitch athlete.”

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/colle ... 47559.html

[BiggDick]

rim protector, rebounds and blocks shots, already tacked on mass, apparent humility and willingness to improve and be coached, progress...we knew he was a quick twitch athlete billed as a freak, but this other stuff to go with is so good to hear.

As far as NBA potential on this team, pretty sure this dood has the most.

also wonder how much Zach will really spend at the 4...

[jfish26]

[The player] — who is hoping to have a long NBA career like the great Wilt Chamberlain — didn’t choose his college jersey number as some sort of tribute to Kansas University’s most accomplished No. 13.

“Well, my birthday is Sept. 13. That’s why I chose No. 13. A lot of people think I chose 13 because of him. No, I’ve worn 13 since I started playing basketball. It’s not anything about him,” [the player], KU’s 6-foot-9, 220-pound freshman forward from [an African country], said after scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking five shots in the Jayhawks’ 70-63 win over TCU on Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I came here and people said, ‘You are wearing his number.’ I said, ‘Who is him anyway?’ I do my research so I know who is him now,” [the player] added good-naturedly.

KU fans can’t help but think about Wilt — at least a little bit — when they see [the player] swat shots as he did in 21 minutes of action Saturday.

“That’s what I do best. Blocking shots is kind of easy for me. My wingspan is 7-4 1/2. It’s really easy,” said [the player], who exhibited good timing on his rejections.

“I count in my mind a little bit. One second, two. Two seconds I jump,” [the player] said. “If you are a shot-blocker you have to take a little time. If you jump first, you will not get a block.”

[The player] hit four of seven shots and one of two free throws. He cashed an 8-foot jump shot the first half, then deposited an alley-oop from [the point guard], hit a 10-foot turnaround jumper and scored off an inside spin move all in the second half.

He was asked about his jumper tending to not have much arc.

“It’s because I jump high,” [the player] said. “I jump high and it’s not gonna come down, just go straight. I think I’ve improved a lot. Before I could not hit a jump shot. I’ve been working on my game every day.”

[The player], who had played just 18 minutes combined in KU’s first four Big 12 games, totaling four points, one block and five rebounds, figured he’d play more Saturday since [the team's leading scorer] and [the leading scorer's primary backup] both picked up two first half fouls and [another rotation player] took a shot to the face (actually administered by [the player]) on a rebound, limiting his time the final half.

“The first half I played like five minutes (six minutes, two blocks, two points). I was getting a little confident. I said, ‘OK I think I can do it,”’ [the player] said. “The second half I just bring all energy. I said, ‘Now that’s the time I can show everybody I can play.’

“Sometimes if you get tired, of course you need to come out,” noted [the player], who said he never got tired Saturday. “I just feel I can play more. I do. I feel like I can do it. It’s not my decision. I’m not going to go to coach, ‘Oh, why are you not giving me time?’ I can’t do it. It’s coach’s decision,” [the player] added.

He’s not ever complained. In fact, during the first four Big 12 games, he was totally into the games despite mostly being a spectator.

“Even when I am on the bench I’m still pushing my team: ‘Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go,”’ [the player] said. “I give energy even if I am not playing.”

Self said he went into the TCU game figuring [the player] and [a fellow frosh] (10 points, four boards, 16 minutes) would get more playing time that usual.

“Obviously TCU plays a lot of bigs,” Self said of the Horned Frogs, who fell to 9-8 overall and 1-4 in league games; KU is 15-2, 4-1. “Those (two) guys did some good things. They have certainly earned some more minutes. They are getting better, no question about it. [The player's] attitude has been so good. You can’t help but get better when you care as much as he does.

“He’s a fabulous kid. Everybody wants to play and he wants to play. You can see how raw he is, but you can also see how he can do some things to change a game that nobody else in our program can. We’ve got to get him more minutes. He’s earned them, but it also would definitely help our team down the stretch if he is a little more seasoned player. There’s no way he can get there unless we give him a chance to work through some things. I’m really pleased with his attitude.”

[The player] and [another frosh forward] are quite a combo at practice.

“Sometimes we play on the same team. Sometimes we play against each other,” [the player] said. “We talk to each other every time. We play like a competitor. It’s not a fight. We talk every night. He’s my roommate. We talk a lot.”

[The player] said he loves the occasions when he’s on the court the same time as senior [leading scorer], who Saturday had 10 points and nine boards in 25 minutes. [...]

“[The leading scorer] is a senior. I am a freshman. If I play next to him, I can get a lot of experience. It’s helped me a lot playing next to [him],” [the player] said.

[The player], who is an outgoing person, said he continues to text Self daily, as was his habit before he was declared eligible by the NCAA.

“I still do. It’s because I want to get better. Every single day I want to get better,” [the player] said. “I ask him after every practice what I need to do now. He says, ‘More rebounds, block shots, running the floor.’ I say, ‘OK, I got you,”’ [the player] added.

As far as Saturday, “I got nine rebounds, five blocks, that’s pretty good. I can do more. I can get more rebounds and blocked shots,” [the player] said.

Perhaps he can land a triple-double at some point, considering he was reasonably close in points, rebounds and blocks Saturday.

“That’s insane,” he said of 10 blocks in one game. “I think I can do it because I’m not going to say I can’t.”

The player averaged 3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game in his freshman year (after which he went to the NBA and played in parts of a handful of seasons, before bouncing around various sub-NBA stops).

The player never did register a triple-double, not at Kansas or (based on a quick search) any professional stop.

[pdub]

The player was also terribly mismanaged by Self in favor of another smaller fan favorite player who really wasn't that good at anything.

[BiggDick]

Every offseason, we get excited about next year’s depth (with depth so often being the newcomers)

And almost every season, there’s some refrain of “play (unproven/younger reserve with loads of potential) over (more experienced guy who may have already plateaued)”

The point I thought I had here is escaping me now. But maybe that’s all to say, a big storyline is whether Self is really gonna try to leverage depth, or if he’ll play Hunter/KJ/Juan like 35 a night each anyway.

[TDub]

[The player] — who is hoping to have a long NBA career like the great Wilt Chamberlain — didn’t choose his college jersey number as some sort of tribute to Kansas University’s most accomplished No. 13.

“Well, my birthday is Sept. 13. That’s why I chose No. 13. A lot of people think I chose 13 because of him. No, I’ve worn 13 since I started playing basketball. It’s not anything about him,” [the player], KU’s 6-foot-9, 220-pound freshman forward from [an African country], said after scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking five shots in the Jayhawks’ 70-63 win over TCU on Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I came here and people said, ‘You are wearing his number.’ I said, ‘Who is him anyway?’ I do my research so I know who is him now,” [the player] added good-naturedly.

KU fans can’t help but think about Wilt — at least a little bit — when they see [the player] swat shots as he did in 21 minutes of action Saturday.

“That’s what I do best. Blocking shots is kind of easy for me. My wingspan is 7-4 1/2. It’s really easy,” said [the player], who exhibited good timing on his rejections.

“I count in my mind a little bit. One second, two. Two seconds I jump,” [the player] said. “If you are a shot-blocker you have to take a little time. If you jump first, you will not get a block.”

[The player] hit four of seven shots and one of two free throws. He cashed an 8-foot jump shot the first half, then deposited an alley-oop from [the point guard], hit a 10-foot turnaround jumper and scored off an inside spin move all in the second half.

He was asked about his jumper tending to not have much arc.

“It’s because I jump high,” [the player] said. “I jump high and it’s not gonna come down, just go straight. I think I’ve improved a lot. Before I could not hit a jump shot. I’ve been working on my game every day.”

[The player], who had played just 18 minutes combined in KU’s first four Big 12 games, totaling four points, one block and five rebounds, figured he’d play more Saturday since [the team's leading scorer] and [the leading scorer's primary backup] both picked up two first half fouls and [another rotation player] took a shot to the face (actually administered by [the player]) on a rebound, limiting his time the final half.

“The first half I played like five minutes (six minutes, two blocks, two points). I was getting a little confident. I said, ‘OK I think I can do it,”’ [the player] said. “The second half I just bring all energy. I said, ‘Now that’s the time I can show everybody I can play.’

“Sometimes if you get tired, of course you need to come out,” noted [the player], who said he never got tired Saturday. “I just feel I can play more. I do. I feel like I can do it. It’s not my decision. I’m not going to go to coach, ‘Oh, why are you not giving me time?’ I can’t do it. It’s coach’s decision,” [the player] added.

He’s not ever complained. In fact, during the first four Big 12 games, he was totally into the games despite mostly being a spectator.

“Even when I am on the bench I’m still pushing my team: ‘Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go,”’ [the player] said. “I give energy even if I am not playing.”

Self said he went into the TCU game figuring [the player] and [a fellow frosh] (10 points, four boards, 16 minutes) would get more playing time that usual.

“Obviously TCU plays a lot of bigs,” Self said of the Horned Frogs, who fell to 9-8 overall and 1-4 in league games; KU is 15-2, 4-1. “Those (two) guys did some good things. They have certainly earned some more minutes. They are getting better, no question about it. [The player's] attitude has been so good. You can’t help but get better when you care as much as he does.

“He’s a fabulous kid. Everybody wants to play and he wants to play. You can see how raw he is, but you can also see how he can do some things to change a game that nobody else in our program can. We’ve got to get him more minutes. He’s earned them, but it also would definitely help our team down the stretch if he is a little more seasoned player. There’s no way he can get there unless we give him a chance to work through some things. I’m really pleased with his attitude.”

[The player] and [another frosh forward] are quite a combo at practice.

“Sometimes we play on the same team. Sometimes we play against each other,” [the player] said. “We talk to each other every time. We play like a competitor. It’s not a fight. We talk every night. He’s my roommate. We talk a lot.”

[The player] said he loves the occasions when he’s on the court the same time as senior [leading scorer], who Saturday had 10 points and nine boards in 25 minutes. [...]

“[The leading scorer] is a senior. I am a freshman. If I play next to him, I can get a lot of experience. It’s helped me a lot playing next to [him],” [the player] said.

[The player], who is an outgoing person, said he continues to text Self daily, as was his habit before he was declared eligible by the NCAA.

“I still do. It’s because I want to get better. Every single day I want to get better,” [the player] said. “I ask him after every practice what I need to do now. He says, ‘More rebounds, block shots, running the floor.’ I say, ‘OK, I got you,”’ [the player] added.

As far as Saturday, “I got nine rebounds, five blocks, that’s pretty good. I can do more. I can get more rebounds and blocked shots,” [the player] said.

Perhaps he can land a triple-double at some point, considering he was reasonably close in points, rebounds and blocks Saturday.

“That’s insane,” he said of 10 blocks in one game. “I think I can do it because I’m not going to say I can’t.”

The player averaged 3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game in his freshman year (after which he went to the NBA and played in parts of a handful of seasons, before bouncing around various sub-NBA stops).

The player never did register a triple-double, not at Kansas or (based on a quick search) any professional stop.

Diallo?

[jfish26]

Yes. Just saying, it’s hard for me to get SUPER excited when more often than not, guys like this don’t put it together very quickly. And I don’t think we’re dealing with a future NBA MVP and HoFer here.

[KUTradition]

i said when he first committed that i expecting, and would be happy with, a frosh TRob-type season

[BiggDick]

Freshman TRob:

2.5 points 2.7 boards .5 blocks 7 mpg.

But freshman TRob was 4t/5th option front court dood behind 3-4 other established program/future NBA doods.

Flory might have a clearer path to minutes - no likely NBA potential ahead of him in the rotation, he is the NBA potential.

He's likely competing for front court minutes with Zach, who has the program experience, but has otherwise never really wowed, and might not be/be used as a 5 anyway. KJ may be used as a 5 some too, depending. Or heck, maybe Flory gets reps at the 4 or something, who knows...fwiw the KU athletics website lists him as a forward.

And, tho Hunter's an AA talent, he also kinda forces us to play a certain way. If we wanna speed it up, or wanna run more lob plays to the 5, or want a dood who might be more of a rim protector, the opportunities are there.

That's all to say. Dunno if Flory's behind Cole/Morris/Morris/Jeff types in the rotation.

Maybe he could be more of a sophomore TRob stat line:

7.6 points 6.4 boards .7 blocks in 14.6mpg.

That seems like a lot, maybe, maybe something closer to in between fresh and soph TRob.

Then again, maybe doesn't seem like a lot when you think 7.6 points is like 3 or 4 lobs and putbacks a game...

[BiggDick]

I also think of SDS, at least in terms of freshman on-court production.

I looked up the stats, and was gonna post, but will instead mention the fact that from 2017-2022 he somehow only played 66 games in 3 seasons, wut.

And I'm not including more SDS stats cuz I think the comparison should be more qualitative: a strong athletic big who just runs and dunks and hustles his ass off enough to be worth a few minutes come March.

[pdub]

I think JFish's comp of Diallo is appropriate - Self just needs to play the dude.

[BiggDick]

Yea. I don’t disagree with the comp.

Who’s this season’s “another smaller fan favorite player who really wasn't that good at anything,” then?

Like who could get minutes instead of Flory?

Zach? Out of position except not cuz he’s really more a center but not really cuz he’s not big enough KJ? Just double down on Hunter even if he’s hurting us?

I’m more thinking the only one who can take minutes from Flory is Flory.

Well, and Self, hence my question.

[BiggDick]

Oh, and assuming the dood you mention was Traylor, pretty sure the only fan he’s a favorite of is…nm

[DeletedUser]

As far as NBA potential on this team, pretty sure this dood has the most.

Unless he's going to grow to 7'0 or unless he's going to develop an outside jumper, he's going to struggle to survive in the NBA as a Thomas Robinson type player.

[BiggDick]

I don’t disagree.

But the operative term there is, “most.”

Do you think there’s anyone on this roster who has a better shot at the league?

Maybe AJ or Griffen?

[DeletedUser]

I don’t disagree.

But the operative term there is, “most.”

Do you think there’s anyone on this roster who has a better shot at the league?

Maybe AJ or Griffen?

Yes. AJ and Griffen both.

Flory is an undersized 5 who can't shoot.

[mjl2]

Self's D asks a lot of the bigs in terms of knowing where to be, when to ice, when to switch, when to switch back. Flory's going to be able to physically handle that much better than Hunter, but he'll fuck up a lot, just because he's a freshman.

That said, couldn't be much worse at that than Hunter. I hope Self has a plan for that this season.

[mjl2]

I think JFish's comp of Diallo is appropriate - Self just needs to play the dude.

As long as Flory isn't trying fadeaway 17-footers like Diallo was...

[pdub]

Diallo shot 57% from the field which was better than anyone not named putback only Landen Lucas.

[BiggDick]

man, mjl is a solid poster when it comes to hoops talk.

yea, Self expects a lot from bigs as far as gameplan, particularly on D. It's why freshman bigs tend to struggle here.

And Landen was mostly putbacks and didn't have much offense ran for him, for sure. But I remember him somehow still being better at the pick-and-roll lobs than much larger Hunter, right?