Keonte Kennedy

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dcdore
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Keonte Kennedy

Post by dcdore »

New transfer commit?

Wonder what he means by "Everything comes full circle"?


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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by MrMemorial »

High IQ player. Big 6-5 guard who can fill in at PG in a pinch. Not Steph Curry (shot 32% from three last season). This will be his third stop after a cup of coffee at Xavier and then a few years at UTEP.

https://www.elpasotimes.com/videos/spor ... 942667002/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDnDQo4xL44

Last season for Kennedy:
14ppg / 6 rebounds per game / 35 steals
Redshirted in 2019 - thus 2 seasons left (?)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: Kennedy officially to VU
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

Grad transfer. Two years of eligibility remaining.

https://247sports.com/college/vanderbil ... 187252528/
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by dcdore »

Can't believe there is no more chatter about this commit.

Big help? Little help? No help?
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by MrMemorial »

Good depth help on the wing positions. Wright and Stute may start at the wings but this guy is very athletic...like the guys we play against. Even if he doesn't start he will get substantial minutes.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by bornadore57 »

"He has represented our program in a first class manner," says his coach at UTEP. That says a lot to me.

Keonte seems to have good size, has nice experience, has proven he can score in college, has some pretty good rebounding stats, and has already successfully adapted through one program change.

Overall, I feel our roster, should it remain as it is today, is better than last year's roster. I love that the team will have a chance to bond during a trip to Europe this summer and hope the transfers get to make that trip.

While I know we'll miss Conroy, overall, I like the staff continuity.

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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Nashmann »

I like this guy. Gives us some real options! Looks like a great athlete
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by docdore »

Nashmann wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 2:57 pm I like this guy. Gives us some real options! Looks like a great athlete
agreed...and looks like he plays aggressively. intangibles sound positive also, so maybe he can provide some leadership (something our teams seem to lack too often).
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Jason94 »

dcdore wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 10:59 am Can't believe there is no more chatter about this commit.

Big help? Little help? No help?
From the highlights he appears to have a lot of athleticism and good size. He made a big improvement in his offensive efficiency this season, but his season was hampered with injuries, which might have had an effect on his overall numbers. This was by far his best shooting season of his career, but he shot 31.7% from three and 68% from the line - perhaps he will get better, but I don't know if we count on that. He did make 50% of his 2 pt shots which does showcase his athleticism and did get to the line some. He had good (but not great) rebounding rates and did a really good job of limiting his turnovers despite handling the ball a lot. He could probably handle point in that he will be able to get the offense set up without turning it over, but won't be a great creator or distributor. He did have a good steal rate.

This is a good pick up in the sense that he is likely to be able to contribute immediately as a starter far more readily than Thomas, Lawrence or any of the freshmen at the 2 guard spot, and has good size so should be able to work well with Manjon in a way that Thomas could not. UTEP was an average team in a very average conference, but Kennedy was a very high minutes, high usage player - he won't be required to carry such a heavy load. It is very possible to get 8-10 ppg out of him against SEC opponents, and expect about that much from the other starters.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Jason94 »

bornadore57 wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 11:16 am "He has represented our program in a first class manner," says his coach at UTEP. That says a lot to me.

Keonte seems to have good size, has nice experience, has proven he can score in college, has some pretty good rebounding stats, and has already successfully adapted through one program change.

Overall, I feel our roster, should it remain as it is today, is better than last year's roster. I love that the team will have a chance to bond during a trip to Europe this summer and hope the transfers get to make that trip.

While I know we'll miss Conroy, overall, I like the staff continuity.

Yes, I wear gold-tinted glasses and always will.
Our roster is most definitely deeper than last year's and more well rounded. It is probably better overall though we are weaker at the guard spot the way things ended up last season (not considering the season as a whole where we are definitely better off than when Chatman was injured). I'd think that our starting lineup next season will be:

PG - Manjon
SG - Kennedy
SF - Wright
PF - Stute
C - Robbins

Bench - Dort/Shelby/QMB for sure, probably a lot of Smith/Dia but not sure how much of each. Lewis/Lawrence/Thomas will fight for minutes.

That is a very solid starting lineup that has 5 players who can score double digits on any given night. Dort probably would have gotten a lot of starter's minutes on a lot of previous Vandy teams, and Shelby will likely backup both guard spots. I think we will be underestimated again due to the loss of Pippen, but when the team gels it will be a very difficult team to deal with. Excellent size, balance, lot of veterans and experience.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Nashmann »

If Stute is gonna be the PF....he needs to go inside some and not just hang out at the 3 point line.....
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Gambit »

Stute has been playing the 4 all along. The 4 these days is more like a wing than a Karl Malone type player. As long as he can defend a post and rebound, I don’t really care where he scores his points.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Jason94 »

Gambit wrote: Mon May 09, 2022 5:15 am Stute has been playing the 4 all along. The 4 these days is more like a wing than a Karl Malone type player. As long as he can defend a post and rebound, I don’t really care where he scores his points.
This is correct - with Robbins starting at Center or Dort playing center backing him up, we don't need a PF who plays inside, as it will clog up the lane. He has good enough size to defend the post and rebound, and his ability to shoot from the perimeter pulls opposing PF's from the basket on offense. We've played players like Dan Cage, Corey Smith, Jeff Roberson and Bruce Elder at PF on good teams - Stute is not an issue at the PF spot.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by underdog74 »

Nashmann wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 10:52 pm If Stute is gonna be the PF....he needs to go inside some and not just hang out at the 3 point line.....
Not so sure I agree Nashmann. Stute is most likely our best 3 pt marksman. I will say he could add an element of slashing and driving to the basket to keep defenders honest.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by underdog74 »

Nashmann wrote: Sun May 08, 2022 10:52 pm If Stute is gonna be the PF....he needs to go inside some and not just hang out at the 3 point line.....
Not so sure I agree Nashmann. Stute is most likely our best 3 pt marksman. I will say he could add an element of slashing and driving to the basket to keep defenders honest.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Versus75 »

Whether it’s Stute or a guard, the best 3-point shooters don’t need to just hang out a the arc. Keep the defense guessing.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by VUaskew »

I still think Lawrence and Thomas will see significant PT. I predict Lewis and Dia may be the end of the bench for the near term.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Hutch37 »

Stack certainly noticed the success that UNC had when it shifted the second big outside. It completely opened up the paint for Bacot to score inside and manek to launch 3's. That could work for VU if Robbins can post up and score-same with Dort. That does not play into QMB's game as much though. Stute can and will certainly play the 4 but it will be interesting to see if the big freshman wings can splash 3's and also rebound. i like the confidence of this new transfer- hopefully he has the skills to back it up.We need a player who can penetrate and score . Lots of guys scrambling for playing time- when was the last time we had this kind of post depth? bet we go small more but QMB and either dort or robbins may play together some too
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Jason94 »

VUaskew wrote: Mon May 09, 2022 10:24 am I still think Lawrence and Thomas will see significant PT. I predict Lewis and Dia may be the end of the bench for the near term.
Could be, but someone has to be the 11th through 13th player, and those players generally play very little barring injuries (thought we've had more than our fair share over the recent years). Thomas' main impediment to more PT is that he hasn't been able to show he can play the point, and at his size it would be very difficult to play him and Manjon simultaneously as it would give us a very small guard combo. Lawrence has a clearer path to PT, but hasn't show the ability to shoot or score consistently, and really struggled when asked to play the point last season.

Most teams will cull their rotation to 8 or 9 players (players who get at least 10 MPG) during the conference season and oftentimes reduce that further during tournament play to 7 or 8 players (in some cases 6) as the longer commercial breaks provide more opportunities for the starters to rest. Even if we played a 10 player rotation that implies that at least three players are not getting a whole lot of PT and unlike previous seasons, it is difficult to suggest who that it. I do agree that Lewis is a possible candidate and potentially Dia, but Dia's PT doesn't really affect either Lawrence or Thomas. It is very possible to have a 3 guard rotation of Manjon, Kennedy and Shelby.

Very likely that someone who would have played a lot of minutes last season sees a bunch of bench time this season. Which is a really good problem to have.
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Re: Keonte Kennedy

Post by Jason94 »

Hutch37 wrote: Mon May 09, 2022 2:05 pm Stack certainly noticed the success that UNC had when it shifted the second big outside. It completely opened up the paint for Bacot to score inside and manek to launch 3's. That could work for VU if Robbins can post up and score-same with Dort. That does not play into QMB's game as much though. Stute can and will certainly play the 4 but it will be interesting to see if the big freshman wings can splash 3's and also rebound. i like the confidence of this new transfer- hopefully he has the skills to back it up.We need a player who can penetrate and score . Lots of guys scrambling for playing time- when was the last time we had this kind of post depth? bet we go small more but QMB and either dort or robbins may play together some too
When Stute rests you could easily see QMB on the court with Dort or Robbins. QMB was really good at the high post in terms of keeping the offense flowing and is a good passer for a center. Very heady player. He also doesn't command the ball in the post so I think we'll see a decent amount of this next season. We almost have too many posts to be able to get them PT next season, but given the injury and depth issues we had this season it is better this way.
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