Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - PORTAL TARGET? Stefan Vaaks is a Lethal Shooter But Does He Fit in with Bill Self's Kansas System?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Stefan Vox is a 6'7 handling wing, who is one of the best shooters that will be in the train for portal. But does he make sense for Kansas? You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here with another episode of Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. We are going to be breaking down on today.

Starting point is 00:00:35 episode, some of the latest in the transfer portal with Stefan Fox, another potential transfer portal target for KU basketball. So we'll get into Vox's game, his strengths and weaknesses. Does he fit in with KU? How would this work for Kansas is he a take or not? We get to all that on today's episode of the show. Let's just start right there. Who is Stefan Vox? And shout out to Garrett Hart on Twitter. Again, if you want to suggest a player for me to go over in a deep dive, hit me up Also, I should mention, if we can get to 5K subscribers on YouTube, I will start doing two Transfer Portal deep dives or at least do two episodes, you know, a day until the transfer portal window closes. So how about that for a little task for you? But who is Vox?

Starting point is 00:01:21 He has a 6'7, 212 pound wing who played a lot as kind of a bigger point guard, right? At 6'7, that is the size of more of a 3-4, but he was handling the basketball a lot. for Providence, kind of akin to like a Luca Donchich, another Eastern European who is a bigger wing who can make a lot of threes. Now, he is not Luca Donchich, otherwise you would be in the NBA right now, but Vox is still a very interesting player. He played in the Latvia-Estonia Basketball League before he came over to the States playing for Providence with Kim English before he was let go and put up a good year as a freshman. A 15.8. points per game, 3.2 assists per game. He's got 35% from three, which is made even more impressive

Starting point is 00:02:12 by the fact he was taking over eight attempts per game. It's also made more impressive when you look at how he's taking them. He's taking deep ones. He's taking them off the dribble. He's taking them in contested situations. It kind of best describes his top skill. It is shooting. When I think of Stefan Vox, the number one skill I think of is that three point ability. He had nine games this year with four or more made three-pointers. And that includes his final two games. He was on fire in the Big East tournament. He was 8 of 13 from three in just the Big East quarter final game.

Starting point is 00:02:48 And then he followed it up by going five of nine from three in the big East semifinals against St. John's. Would have been nice to have somebody be able to go five of nine from three against St. John's if you were Kansas. So, I mean, collectively, that's 13 of 22 on three-point shots just during the leagueies tournament. But, you know, that was kind of his thing this year. He was a very good three-point shooter. He finished 69th percentile. So, you know, you're talking solid rate there in RAPM when you look at some of the metrics. It is kind of an interesting split, though, of how

Starting point is 00:03:20 it came together, which will be very interesting as we put together, kind of our fit with KU. He was in 96th percentile in offensive RAPM, which again, RAPM is basically just kind of an all-encompassing metric of how the team does when you're on the court, when you're off, your box score stats, like all the little things. Basically, just an all-encompassing metric. Try to find what your value is when you're on the floor statistically. So 96th percentile on the offensive side of that stat. Very, very good.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Ninth percentile with a negative impact defensively. So in a very similar way to Luca Donchich, who we kind of brought up earlier, the offense very good. The defense, a lot there that needs to be work on, I guess I would say. And the same was true for some of the other numbers. Like you look at wind shares. He was in the 88th percentile for offensive windchairs per 40 minutes. He was in the 12th percentile in defensive windchairs per 40 minutes. So everywhere you kind of look like the offense is very proficient. The defense is very not. He's also 78th percentile in P.E.R. He was 87. percent out and wins above replacement player. So Vox is a very interesting player because

Starting point is 00:04:38 one, we have seen players come to KU before who have been shoot first players and haven't been able to do the other things that are kind of prerequisites for Bill Self and not get as much playing time as they want and then they go to the bench quicker and then it seems like they lose confidence in their shot quicker. And it doesn't always make for the best fits with Bill Self and with the Bill Self system. The other side of this is this prototype of player is not one we've typically seen at KU from the standpoint of a 6'7 ball handler. Like there were times this season where Darren Peterson was your ball handler, but he's,

Starting point is 00:05:15 you know, 6'5 and that's a little bit different than Vox here. I mean, Marcus Garrett was a ball handler and he was 6.4, 6.5, but this is just kind of a different. Like we typically don't see Bill Self go for these guys. The guys that Bill Self has had so much success with are honestly the understanding. sized guards, the guards who are super, super quick and can create their own shot. Now, Vox can create his own shot. I would not classify him as super, super, super quick. So I think to me, like, this one's very interesting, because I think in general, like just in a vacuum, if you're telling me, oh, I was just awarded a blank college basketball team. Like, I'm taking Stefan Vox on the team. You know,

Starting point is 00:05:54 the really good three-point shooter, ability to have a bigger ball handler. Like, you hope the defense gets a little bit better, the longer he stays in college. just having size, length, versatility that usually works out to be a good thing. But if you're telling me it's in Billsill's system, do you have to start questioning the lack of rebounding numbers? Do you have to start questioning the defensive questions that we just brought up with some of those kind of all-encompassing metrics? Could those things lead to the classic that, like, that we saw with A.J. Store where you were a good scoring wing had good size, but you didn't rebound enough, you didn't defend enough. You're not playing as much as,

Starting point is 00:06:31 we thought AJ Storr was going to play when he joined the team. You know, Ryland Griffin, you're a good shooter, but what else are you providing a team? And that's up not playing as much as you would have thought with KU, right? My worry, even though in general, I look at KU and I look at them as a team that the last three years hasn't done enough offensively. And I look at them as a team that I want more floor spacing. I want more shooting. And he provides both of those things. I want more shot creation.

Starting point is 00:06:59 I want more guys that can get a bucket. He does all of those things. But if you don't fit into the Bill Self system with some of those things, it makes me a bit trepidacious because then you're not going to be on the court long enough and you might not be instilled with enough confidence to have your strengths and have the things you do well that can help the team be emphasized as much because you're not doing the other things to even get you on the court. right and so i think there's also the on ball question um like would would vox is vox looking to go somewhere where he wants to be the primary ball handler again or is he cool going somewhere where he can play a little bit more off ball and use more of the off ball shooting and can split some of the off on ball duties with the guy like taylin kenny right um and maybe that makes it more appealing because we do know that some of the best bill soft teams have had to lead guards to be able to you know

Starting point is 00:07:53 they're kind of interchangeable. They can play off ball or they can play on ball for KU. And I do think that was one thing that hurt KU a little bit this year, that I think Peterson was interchangeable. You could play him either way. I think with counsel, as much as I loved him and he was a huge hit for KU, counsel was an on ball player.

Starting point is 00:08:11 He was not either could play on ball or off ball. You look at Mario and Sharon, like they could play on ball. They could play off ball. I think that's something that I'm kind of like, the ability to have kind of an interchangeable way makes your offense is so much more dynamic. And, you know, maybe that makes it more appealing because then potentially you have another ball handler who can do those things. You know, and if you are playing more of the one and two, then I guess the rebounding question does become less prominent.

Starting point is 00:08:43 Like the guys we brought up with Rylan Griffin and AJ Store, they were being asked to play more at the three and four positions where the rebounding becomes more important. And if you're asking this kid to play the one or the two, then maybe it's less less important. then comes into the question of the athleticism or the quickness, are you going to be quick enough to defend tos, right? So let's get into more on the strengths and weaknesses of Stefan Vox, because I think this is a very complicated question of what is the fit and come to that kind of full conclusion next. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Indeed, workplace chaos,

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Starting point is 00:11:24 Discord. Lockedon Jayhawks.supercast.com. Get your first month free at with code March locked on jahawks. Dot supercast.com. All right. Strength and weaknesses, and I will say, as we were going over some of these fit with KU things, obviously, I'm operating right now that Bill Self is going to be the coach next year. That could not happen.

Starting point is 00:11:42 He could retire. It could be somebody else. And then, you know, maybe we have to circle back on some of these guys, including a guy like Fox based on if self were to retire and who they hire. What is the system? What does the system look like? Does he fit into that? I'm just going with what I have to work with.

Starting point is 00:11:56 But at least we can get to the strengths and weaknesses and then, you know, you can kind of apply it based on the coach from there. So some of the strengths for Stefan Vox, three-point shooting, as I brought up repeatedly, 35% from three on high volume. And he also shot over 40% from three-point range in the 19 games that he played against Ken Palm Top 100 opponents. So showed out against some of the better competition.

Starting point is 00:12:21 And it really is actually kind of crazy. You're talking about a freshman who, albeit he was a 20-year-old freshman, he'll be 21 in May. But like, again, if you watch the highlights or watch this kid, like, he's taken tilted back, three, he's taking fading threes. He's taking threes off the catch. He's taking threes off of the screen. He's taking threes with the hand in his face off the dribble. He's doing them from different areas. It's the, I don't know, the ability to get them off in the different areas.

Starting point is 00:12:48 He's got a quick release, shots from all over, I think makes it more. impressive because, A, it becomes harder to defend if you have a multitude of ways you can get it off. And B, also to me, tells me that, okay, if he was 35% on high volume, and that was his first year year, college basketball, like, what is year two going to look like? Usually shooting gets better and consistency gets better year over year for certain players. Like, could this guy be a 38, 40% three point shooter on high volume next season? I think that's certainly in the realm of possibility, right? He can also make a shot that he creates. Some of that comes from three point range. Some of that comes from his 6'7 frame or, you know, if you have a smaller guard on him, he can just shoot over him.

Starting point is 00:13:28 He was 57th percentile in off dribble jumpers too. So, you know, that's not a huge number, but it's at least average above average. And I mean, KU even needed more average to above average players and being able to get a shot off the dribble this season, right? Because it was like basically Darren Peterson, you know, who was able to do that for KU consistently. So he would add to that. And again, that was his first year. thoughts that he would get better in year two. He also shot well on two point shots.

Starting point is 00:13:57 He shot well at the free throw line. Now, he doesn't get to the free throw line a ton. It's not bad. He's about nationally average. It doesn't take a ton of twos either, but he made all of them at a solid rate. And he was over 70% at the rim, which makes sense given his size being able to finish there.

Starting point is 00:14:13 Also, solid passer. You know, the assist numbers don't jump off the page. It's over three assists per game. He's got above average assist rates. He's got above average turnover rates. And he specifically excels in pick and roll as a pick and roll passer where he rated out in the 90th percentile. He was also in the 91st percentile in attack and kicks. So that's where I think the fit would become very interesting, right?

Starting point is 00:14:35 You have him pick and rolling with potentially, again, a lot of this is potential on who's the coach, what players are coming back. But let's say you had Florey but doing that as your center. That works really well in the pick and roll. That's Florey's best aspect of his offensive game. So you've got a good pick and roll passer with a good pick and roll center. and then you've got a good off ball shooter in Taelin Kinney, who he's good at attack and ticks that he can kick so that he can dish it to. And then at other times,

Starting point is 00:14:59 Kenny can be the ball handler, and you've got a player here in Vox who can hit open shots. So I think there's some things to like that you can certainly point to there. Now, when you look at some of the weaknesses, rebounding is certainly one of them. 23rd percentile on offensive rebound rate, 10th percentile in defensive rebound rate. Those are both very bad, and that's compared to other guards.

Starting point is 00:15:18 That isn't compared to different. That's compared to other guards. So he's not rebounding the basketball at all. And so if you try to view this as, hey, he's six, seven, we're going to bring him on and play him at the three. I don't think that works with Bill. I think you have to bring him on and view him as, you know, we're going to play him as two.

Starting point is 00:15:36 And then that brings in our next question, which is the defense. I think a general, like he didn't have a good defensive year this past year. I wouldn't say he's the quickest player. I wouldn't say he's the fastest player. So you could probably add like athleticism. to the weakness list, so to speak. But, you know, he doesn't get steals. The defensive ratings are really, really bad.

Starting point is 00:15:58 What does that do to your defense potentially? Or is it something you can overcome because you do have the defensive insulation, potentially having Florida Badunga back? And let's say you continue to roll with the two big lineup, right? What if it's Tiller and Badunga back and you were already really good defensively, now with another year of familiarity and those guys grow in their game and getting stronger, can they just lead a good enough? defense for you to at least be top 25 in the country by just having those two players to where

Starting point is 00:16:25 you just say everybody else be offensive guys and those guys will at least get us to where we're decent on the defensive end and what we really need to improve is the offensive end. I think that would be the case for bringing this on here, right? The last weakness I have here is team impact Providence was 15 and 18. Not a great year for the friars. Coach got fired. Sometimes this is overblown. Like there are good players on bad teams.

Starting point is 00:16:48 they're bad players on good teams. But Vox had a negative three net rating when on the floor for Providence. So like technically Providence was a better team when he was off the floor. His offense was actually net positive, but the derating on off was in the 16th percentile. The other thing to keep in mind to is Providence played very fast. They were top 20 in tempo. How would he fit into a slower team and what do the stats look like if it is kind of a slower pace? So I think a very mixed review here on Vox.

Starting point is 00:17:18 So I think for some teams, fits in better than others. And I've repeatedly said and will repeatedly say, as we move through the offseason, I want Kansas to get shopmakers. I want them to get bucket geters. I want them to get scores. And so I do, you know, I don't mind the idea of having another ball handler next to Taylin Kinney. We've seen that work out a lot of times in Bill Self, Bill Self's coaching days, right?

Starting point is 00:17:43 the offensive shot making you would have at the one, two, with Kinney and Vox, would be really good. You'd have good size in the back court at Kinney at 6'4 and Vox at 6'7. But I don't know that Bill Self loves that, right? And I would be very worried about the defensive issues, you know, especially if you're consistently guarding smaller, quicker guards who are just blowing by you and getting into the lane and how that can lead to rotation issues. And so you look at that with the lack of rebounding, you know, would that lead to him? getting benched for his mistakes more often. Often it's in the shun boom, it is that kind of Riley and Griffin situation, right?

Starting point is 00:18:20 So I think for me, given the fact that Vox is probably going to come with a hefty price tag, give it up the season that he just put up, I think he makes sense for more school, for other schools more than he makes sense for Bill Self and Kansas, given the price tag that's probably going to be associated with it. All right, let's finish up here with some of the latest news. and we'll get to that next.

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Starting point is 00:20:40 You can check out the Everydayer Club at Lockdownpodcast.com slash everyday or our specific link locked on jhawks dot supercast.com add a free version of the show you can use March get the first month free and good times okay so uh in regards to some of the latest self stuff um we just kind of wait and see what's going to happen there I had a separate episode just kind of talking about what's been the latest with I don't know the rumors that are coming out to uh Gary Bador to um you know Jeff Goodman what's kind of being said in in this regard and we just kind of wait and see. Now, like, Bill Self is not somebody who wants, I think, the limelight on him in this regard to where like, in some sense, I could see Bill Self being like, I don't want this to come.

Starting point is 00:21:27 Like, I'm sure he would tell KU as soon as possible so KU could start, you know, getting the wheels in motions for their plan. But from a standpoint of not wanting the attention on him, I'm trying to think when that would be because he doesn't want to do it like during the final four. And then he'll feel like I'm taken away from the final four for. people talking about this. So would it be after the Sweet 16-a-day? Would it be like next Monday or Tuesday or something like that? I don't entirely.

Starting point is 00:21:50 Would it be like a Friday? No, because that would be during the game. I don't know. I don't know what it would be. Or is it just based on, you know, when I make decision, I'll make the decision. I haven't made a decision. Who knows? So we'll wait, kind of wait and see on that and keep you updated here with locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:22:04 KU. Women's Basket has their next NIT game tonight. They are in, well, assuming you're listening to this on Thursday. They are in the round of eight. So this would be to make it. the NIT semifinals if they can get this victory as they try to continue on their season and continue to develop as a team and springboard this into the offseason and then potentially next year. And then the last bit of news, this is coming up on Friday. So the Louisville Kings are about to be the, you know, KU team of choice in the USFL because Jason Bean, Earl Bostic and

Starting point is 00:22:41 Jeremy Robinson, three Jayhawks on the team, including Bean, who is, you know, beloved for what he was able to accomplish here at KU. Again, Friday night for that one. So I'll be keeping an eye on how those Jayhawks do in that one as well. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. We'll have plenty more deep dives to get to. We'll have more Bill Self stuff to get to. So make sure to subscribe to the show, hit us up with anything you want either on the

Starting point is 00:23:03 Discord or at L.O. underscore Jayhawks or at D. Johnson Radio there. Thank you that for days. Catch in all of our shows and see you next time on Lockdown Jayhawks. Thank you.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - PORTAL TARGET? Stefan Vaaks is a Lethal Shooter But Does He Fit in with Bill Self's Kansas System?

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