Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Should Jayhawks Target Ven-Allen Lubin? New Center Option Emerges Amid Eligibility Cases for Self

Starting point is 00:00:00 There's a really productive big man from a powerful league that is in the transfer portal trying to get eligible right now. And I think Kansas should go after him. 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 up, Derek Johnson here? This is Locked on Jayhawks. And on today's bonus episode, we're breaking down Ven, Alan Lubin, as another transfer portal deep dive. Lubin part of these players trying to get eligible here. And you got to see him up close and personal.

Starting point is 00:00:40 And he, I don't know, he got a big daddyed Flory Budunga in the game that they played against each other. So let's break down his game, get to a scouting report, potential fit with KU and more. Let's start here. He filed in North Carolina trying to get eligible. And I don't know that he officially actually entered the portal back in the spring. So he might need a separate ruling to be able to leave. NC State and it does seem like in general if you see a lot of NC State fans they feel like they have a good shot at getting him back um should also mention like LSU his former coach with

Starting point is 00:01:16 Will Wade they have a bunch of spots at LSU I there'd be a lot of teams that would be interested I guess in in Van Allen Louvin right um but even as much as if if people think he would just go back to NC State well jamaical still well everybody thought he was going back to UCF goes to texas tech tavy on banks who maybe we'll do a deep dive on another episode because I think he'd be really interesting. Everybody thought he was going to be going back to Iowa. It doesn't sound like that's the case. So who knows. But Van Allen Lubin is a 6'5-pound, 250-pound forward five-man, who is a four-star recruit out of high school. He was a consensus top 70 recruit. Attends Notre Dame, where he goes for about six and four per game. Then he goes to Vanderbilt, where he enjoyed over 12 points, over six rebounds per game. Leaves again, goes to North Carolina, where he averages 8.7 points and 5.5. five rebounds per game on 68% shooting. And then he changes sides of the rivalry. Three goes to NC State, plays for Will Wade, 13.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 67% from the floor.

Starting point is 00:02:18 So he's had experiences from a bunch of different power schools and has had, you know, different degrees of success and production there. And for his career, you're talking shooting 61% from the floor. You're talking 73% from the foul line. He has been a bit inconsistent. I think you could say throughout his career, like their NCAA tournament loss against Texas, he had just six points at five rebounds.

Starting point is 00:02:44 That came right after he averaged 16 and 7 during the ACC tournament, right? But one of those highs was he ate Flory Bedunga's lunch earlier in the non-conference portion of the season. He went for 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks on 7 of 11 shooting while helping hold the badunga to just eight points, right? He outplayed him in that game. So I don't know, would that make you interested, right? Again, would he go back, just okay you even have enough money to afford a player like this?

Starting point is 00:03:14 I don't know, but he's very interesting player. You look at some of the metrics here, 70th percentile in RAPM, 98th percentile in windchairs per 40, 96 percentile in P-E-R and 95th percentile in Wins above Replacement Player. He's also in the 88th percentile or better in all of those in his year before. for at North Carolina, right? So stacking those years together. Interestingly enough, though, the on-off numbers are inconsistent, I guess would be the way of putting it.

Starting point is 00:03:44 NC State was six points better per 100 possessions with him off the floor. So NC State was actually better with him off the floor just by some of those numbers. On the flip side, North Carolina was 12 points better per 100 possessions when he was on the floor. But then you go back to Vanderbilt and they were seven points better when he was off the floor. So you have this weird kind of inconsistency where, you know, those numbers kind of showed an up and down mark. And I don't really know what to make of that, to be completely honest, right? But Evan Miyakawa has him ranked as the number 38 transfer overall. If you sort by available right now,

Starting point is 00:04:20 he would be number 12. I mean, pretty impactful, right? If you add him to KU on Bart Torvik, for instance, KU goes from right now being number 10 to they would be number seven. So if you're looking for a big man, I'd be in on this for sure. Now, can you afford it? Is it plausible? Who entirely knows? But, you know, how would he fit with Kansas? What's his scouting report?

Starting point is 00:04:42 Let's answer some of those questions next. Our episode of the show today is brought to you by Fanduals sports book. And baseball fans, if you think that you know who's hit in a home run today, Fandwell's giving you a free chance to call your shot with daily dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think's going to hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost. to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings.

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Starting point is 00:05:34 probably go to like 30 to 1. So I don't know, I guess you could get in on that early. And if you're ready to play your game today, join all the action at fandwell.com. That is fandwell.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hit in a homer. Play ball and swing for the fences on Fandul, an official partner of the MLB. Thanks again for joining us here on Lockdown, Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:05:57 Let's get to our scouting report now for Van Allen Lubin. Let's start with the strengths. And the first big one here is rebounding the basketball. he was in the 81st percentile or better each of the last two seasons in offensive rebound rates. You have a really good offensive rebounder here. When you look at his year on the defensive rebounding, it was really good at North Carolina. It was more above average at NC State. But you're at least above average there and go on the offensive glass.

Starting point is 00:06:27 And just to fast forward a little bit into fit, like that's kind of fun because Keanu Dawes is an elite defensive rebounder. You'd be bringing in a really good offensive rebounder. He is not a super high usage player, but he seems to know his role on the offensive end of the floor. And I think that really allows him to be efficient. He's not going to take many like dumb shots or anything. He's going to take him in the flow of the offense. He was in the 98th percentile and true shooting percentage, 96th percentile and effective field goal percentage, and 95th percentile in turnover rate.

Starting point is 00:06:57 So he's not, you know, a prime hub offensively, but he's not going to be a black hole on offense either, right? And he does a lot of the work in the half court. which is nice and he really finishes at the rim. I mean, you're talking 77% at the rim according to CBB shot charts. Flory Bedunga out of comparison was like 72 and a half. So you actually have even better efficiency at the rim there. And a big reason why is the next strength that I want to talk about, which is he is an awesome pick and roll big man.

Starting point is 00:07:25 So as a freshman, he rated out in the 89th percentile in Biggs cutting and rolling. As a sophomore, it was in the 93rd percentile. As a junior at North Carolina, it was in the 96th percentile. In this past season, he was in the 99.7th percentile in adjusted efficiency for Biggs cutting and rolling. And watching the highlights, watching the film, you can see why he just has a really good idea of when to go off the screen. He has a really good idea of when to slip screens where if his guy's not fully paying attention, he'll slip it. and he'll get an easy dunk or an easy layup as part of it. He's able to get up high and throw down lobs and throw down alley-ups.

Starting point is 00:08:09 He just has a really good acumen for knowing how to operate the pick and roll, setting a good pick, getting to the rim, like I said, slipping different situations. And that makes him a super efficient player on the offensive end of the floor. Now, he's not somebody who is just going to, you know, just hit a bunch of hook shots over you. He actually can do that relatively efficiently. when he does it, it's just, you know, you see it more often him either attacking off a pick and roll or grabbing the basketball and powering a layup over somebody, I would say there. But he can use both hands. And like I said, he's going to finish at a high rate at the rim. He's also performed very efficiently in terms of rebound and scramble situations, so often an offensive rebound, as well as inside out game. And that's nice to see because KU and Bill Self has always done that very well. weaknesses though there's not much range on the offensive end of the floor like he actually will take the

Starting point is 00:09:03 occasional three but you're talking like one every like two or three games it's not super successful doesn't really shoot in the mid range even very rarely shoots like more short mid range shots he is very good at the rim as we just talked about but don't really expect a super diverse offensive game or much range there um i also think the defensive end of the floor is a bit of a i don't know if like question mark is the right way because, okay, here's the thing. Like, I think in general, he's actually a fine defender. I think in one-on-one situations, he can be okay. He obviously is, you know, at 250, he's a strong dude that's not going to get overpowered

Starting point is 00:09:40 very often in the paint. He actually has a decent amount of mobility where, you know, he, if you get him out into open space, like, ideally you don't want him guarding a guard, but like, he can hold his own out in space more than, you know, other centers, I guess I would say. I don't know if the difference here is just that he's more of an above average defensive rebounder and he's not a great rim protector. Maybe that's what it is. He's not a great shot blocker.

Starting point is 00:10:10 It doesn't get a ton of shot blocks or anything like that. You look at the heikim rate, which is a combination of steel plus block rate. And it's about average. The team metrics are about average. The stop rate is in the 32nd percentile. So the defense is kind of where the question is. And, you know, in general, it's okay to take players who are maybe more average on defense and are going to help you in other ways. But that is a little tougher to get by at the center position specifically, especially knowing that Keanu Dawes at the four is not the best room protector either.

Starting point is 00:10:43 So that would kind of be the big question here would be the lack of rim protection. But let's get more into that fit next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by The Game. Since 1986, the game has been creating classic college hats that fans are proud to wear. Whether you're an alum, current student, season ticket holder, simply someone who never misses a game, a great college hat is more than just a peril. It's a way to represent your school wherever you go.

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Starting point is 00:12:16 But don't wait. This anniversary offer won't last forever. Thanks for joining us here. And we'll continue on with some Player Deep. throughout the week is kind of bonus shows. Don't forget to check out our regular episodes happening during the day, whether we're talking to KU basketball or KU football during fall camp. So what would be the fit with KU for Van Allen Lubin?

Starting point is 00:12:38 Well, I think let's just start here. If you added Van Allen Lubin, he would come in and to me pretty clearly be your starting five. So then it's a conversation of how things work around that, right? I think you'd be okay bringing on, you know, M. Bia and Reeves behind him off the bench. maybe Lubin's playing 22, 25 minutes per game, somewhere in that range, still leaves you a 15 to 18 minutes to play, you know, whoever the backup center or centers are, if you kind of split that up and two.

Starting point is 00:13:06 And I think from a rebounding perspective, it fits really well next to Keanu Dawes. Dawes is an elite defensive rebounder, you know, average offensive rebounder. Whereas when you look at Van Allen Lubin, you know, he is a really good offensive rebounder. He's an above average defensive rebounder. So those would fit together to help you out in the front court on really both sides of the floor. It would also allow you to, you know, run a lot of pick and rolls with Tyron Stokes because of how successful Lubin is as a pick and roll big man.

Starting point is 00:13:38 That would be a really good play for KU, Kenny or Stokes with their passing ability, getting a ball screen from Van Allen Lubin. That would be really good for KU. It would not give you a post score if you're looking for, you know, a big man at at this point to be like a, a constant post-up threat, but I don't know, it just feels like at this point, like the roster, that's just not the thing that KU is going to have, you know, they're going to have to score in other ways. So, but it wouldn't really change that. Now, he would be probably your most efficient, ready-made offensive player overall, but it just comes in a little bit of a different way. Again, he can post up and make a hook shot or use both hands, have a few, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:18 nice moves with footwork and stuff like that. It's just, he's not Hunter Dickinson, you know, he's not Perry Ellis on the block that's that's going to constantly be a hub there. So I think that all works. The question is, like I said earlier, would you have enough rim protection and defense there? Now, the beauty of having Paul and Bia and Christian Reeves on the bench is that in theory, if you figure out you don't have enough rim protection there, then you can just play one of those guys a little bit more. And maybe you can kind of get away with that, right?

Starting point is 00:14:49 The question beyond that is, do you have enough money to afford a player like this? and does he even want to, you know, if he comes back to school, does he even want to leave Ence State? Like those are kind of the big questions here in general. The money part is probably the super difficult one because if you do have enough money, you can probably convince a kid to not want to go back to his previous school, right? And it doesn't seem like Kansas is operating with that huge of a budget. But if they can find something, if somebody's willing to stroke a check and you're like, hey, let's make a big upgrade at the center position, I think Van Allen Lubin would make a lot of sense for Kansas.

Starting point is 00:15:22 All right, that'll do it for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe. See you next time with LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Should Jayhawks Target Ven-Allen Lubin? New Center Option Emerges Amid Eligibility Cases for Self

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