2014 G/F Ricky Kreklow (Transfer Commit)

[T-bone]

Garret Mueller @mue11er:

"Walking on at Creighton instead of taking a Nebraska scholly is like paying for a steak dinner instead of eating a free Big Mac. #Kreklow"

lmfao!

Made my day.

But Ethan at the 5 makes sense to me. I like Ricky at any position. Welcome aboard!

[Outlaw_Wales]

I think a lot of how our lineup looks next year is going to depend on whether Groselle is able to be healthy enough to give reasonable backup minutes.

Without really factoring in Gilmore/Harrell (perhaps Kreklow coming -- and staying healthy -- allows one or both of them to r.s. to bulk up, have 2 years to play with Mo/Huff, etc.):

1 = Chatman. Big minutes as long as he stays out of foul trouble. Backups = Brooks / Zierden.
2 = Brooks / Zierden / Milliken
3 = Dingman / Kreklow / Milliken
4 = Artino / Hegner / Dingman / Kreklow (Dingman and Kreklow at 6'6"ish could work as a smaller lineup)
5 = Hansen / Groselle / Artino

I'd like to see Artino move to that 4 spot where his energy and mobility can be more of a factor without getting pushed around quite as much as he has a tendency to do as a 5. We've seen his ability to pass in the high/low, and he's long enough and athletic enough that I think he could provide some defensive problems for other teams' 4s.

That all depends on Groselle being able to give meaningful minutes, though. If he can't, you can't play Artino at the 4 at all because you have to have both him and Hansen in the 5 spot. That doesn't really leave us with much size at the 4 -- Hegner is listed at 6'9", but I'm not sure how big he really is. Dingman and Kreklow aren't big and physical, but Dingman is a pretty solid defender, has some strength and a solid frame, and would cause some matchup problems for other teams trying to defend him, especially if he can find his shot again. Kreklow similarly is a veteran who I think could play smart defense (kind of like Doug had to do) on some 4s and would potentially cause some similar matchup issues for other teams trying to guard him with a 4.

Realistically, I'm not sure what else we do at the 4 -- Artino pretty much played the 5 exclusively last year. Doug and Ethan are gone. Hegner is the only other guy who is a more prototypical 4 height, but he hasn't played at all yet and there's no way of knowing if he's somebody who can really play the 4 in the Big East. I suppose you could put Artino at the 5 and Hansen at the 4 -- but Hansen has a much more "5ish" body than Artino does and showed the ability to hold his ground and bang a little in there last year, while Artino really didn't.

[Duke1Agn]

Milliken will not be the 3rd option at the 2 or 3. He will be a major contributor next season, and potentially high scorer.

[ictjay]

Milliken will not be the 3rd option at the 2 or 3. He will be a major contributor next season, and potentially high scorer.

Agreed 100%. Also, Ricky does not play "Doug" type of defense. Has tremendous anticipation. Led Bears in steals/deflections per minutes played. Very active!

[AttyAlum]

Milliken will not be the 3rd option at the 2 or 3. He will be a major contributor next season, and potentially high scorer.

Agreed 100%. Also, Ricky does not play "Doug" type of defense. Has tremendous anticipation. Led Bears in steals/deflections per minutes played. Very active!

Kreklow also plays a lot taller than his listed height. He has long arms and is athletic.

[jayball]

Boom!

Walk on commitment because he likes our style, our crowd, our facilities.

He likes them enough to pay his own way.


I said Boom!

[Jet915]

I think a lot of how our lineup looks next year is going to depend on whether Groselle is able to be healthy enough to give reasonable backup minutes.

Without really factoring in Gilmore/Harrell (perhaps Kreklow coming -- and staying healthy -- allows one or both of them to r.s. to bulk up, have 2 years to play with Mo/Huff, etc.):

1 = Chatman. Big minutes as long as he stays out of foul trouble. Backups = Brooks / Zierden.
2 = Brooks / Zierden / Milliken
3 = Dingman / Kreklow / Milliken
4 = Artino / Hegner / Dingman / Kreklow (Dingman and Kreklow at 6'6"ish could work as a smaller lineup)
5 = Hansen / Groselle / Artino

I'd like to see Artino move to that 4 spot where his energy and mobility can be more of a factor without getting pushed around quite as much as he has a tendency to do as a 5. We've seen his ability to pass in the high/low, and he's long enough and athletic enough that I think he could provide some defensive problems for other teams' 4s.

That all depends on Groselle being able to give meaningful minutes, though. If he can't, you can't play Artino at the 4 at all because you have to have both him and Hansen in the 5 spot. That doesn't really leave us with much size at the 4 -- Hegner is listed at 6'9", but I'm not sure how big he really is. Dingman and Kreklow aren't big and physical, but Dingman is a pretty solid defender, has some strength and a solid frame, and would cause some matchup problems for other teams trying to defend him, especially if he can find his shot again. Kreklow similarly is a veteran who I think could play smart defense (kind of like Doug had to do) on some 4s and would potentially cause some similar matchup issues for other teams trying to guard him with a 4.

Realistically, I'm not sure what else we do at the 4 -- Artino pretty much played the 5 exclusively last year. Doug and Ethan are gone. Hegner is the only other guy who is a more prototypical 4 height, but he hasn't played at all yet and there's no way of knowing if he's somebody who can really play the 4 in the Big East. I suppose you could put Artino at the 5 and Hansen at the 4 -- but Hansen has a much more "5ish" body than Artino does and showed the ability to hold his ground and bang a little in there last year, while Artino really didn't.

I see Harrell as a 2/3 and Gilmore as 3/4 although with next years lineup, probably 4. As for Kreklow, I can't imagine him paying to play the 4. He was forced to do that at Cal and got injured a lot.

[Jaysker12]

Without really factoring in Gilmore/Harrell (perhaps Kreklow coming -- and staying healthy -- allows one or both of them to r.s. to bulk up, have 2 years to play with Mo/Huff, etc.):

Gilmore does not need time to "bulk up". He already has a nice frame with decent strength and isn't afraid of contact - ready to play at the D1 level. Harrell definitely needs to add weight and strength, but with his stroke and size he'll also be able to make an immediate impact. I would rather our coaching staff not redshirt either true freshmen as both are very talented players with the potential to be high impact players next season

[Bluejay Bilas]

If interested, there are quite a few posts about the Ricky Kreklow transfer on Bear Insider (never been there until this, but unsurprisingly the average Cal poster seems to have better intellect and reasoning skills than what you find on some of our regional rival's sites). Most of the posts are complementary of Kreklow, although there are a few negative ones:

http://bearinsider.com/forums/showthrea ... 52&t=83843
http://bearinsider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84279
http://bearinsider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84019

some examples:
"And only then, his coaching staff FAILS to recruit enough quality big men, and thus has him playing out of position [by] a wide margin at the 4 - and he does so admirably.
Ricky was a victim [of] injury and a roster situation that never fit for his positional abilities, and wasn't going to next year, either. So, if he is graduating, why not find a school and see if he can get ONE good college season under his belt before hanging up the dream and entering the working world."

"He played his balls off 100% of the time even when he was always battling injury. Let's face it, the guy simply had an unfortunate run at Cal marked by injuries, playing out of position and seeing the coaches that recruited him leave. He seems like a good kid and it's just unfortunate that it didn't work out. Just a combination of factors that made things tough for him. I always liked the grit with which he played the game and will root for him wherever he goes."

"Which Cal team were you watching last year? You either missed much of the season, or you just have no respect for the skills such as hustle, aggressiveness, defense, passing, 3-point shooting, few turnovers, etc. that Kreklow brings to the table. Fortunately, Mike Montgomery did have respect for those skills, which is why Kreklow started the last 12 games of the season, of which 9 of those games were at the 3 position."

[cujaysfan]

that's pretty reminiscent of what happened to millard here.

good stuff - thanks for posting.