Kansas College Basketball Season Preview 2006-07

Analysis

Midway through his freshman campaign, Giles was pegged as the starter of choice ... and promptly got injured.  It's been a struggle ever since to live up to expectations.  Last season, C.J. had moments of glory (shutting down Leon Powe against Cal), but down the stretch, his impact on games was rather limited.  Fortunately, he stopped having "bad" games, but he never really broke out much (with the exception of Baylor and Colorado home games).  Continued foul troubles plagued his court time.  But there is no question he can shake things up on defense with his blocks and occasional strong rebounding games.  He hasn't yet found his consistency, and that may be what stands between him and a future in the pros.

Giles was the #54-rated offensive rebounder in the country, #315 in defensive rebounds, and an impressive #34 in blocks per possession.

Giles had a consistency index of -0.23, meaning that he generally followed up good games with not-so-good ones and vice versa.  If the diagram above looks anything like your EKG when watching him play, you know what I mean.  No wonder, as consistency requires a state of mental focus that Giles has yet to show for longer than a game.  (Has anyone forgotten that he once put the ball into his own basket on a missed freethrow?)  As for improvement, that wasn't terribly evident last season either.

All in all, last season would probably best be characterized as slightly better than his freshman season but with the jury still out on his legacy at Kansas.

What KU Fans Say

Comments from KUSports.com Message Board:

• I think we're better off with more consistency from him, not necessarily a higher level of performance.  So, if he gives us 20 minutes of consistent POSITIVE effort versus 10 "great" and 10 "erratic" minutes we'll be nearly impossible to stop.
• Damnit this guy has the body to do some damage. Lots of times I just think he doesn't have his head in the game. Doesn't walk around with any swagger or confidence, always looks dumbounded. Swats at a lot of shots and that results in fouls when he could just put his arms straight up. If he hits a similar learning curve like he did last year then he'll be good, but bottom line for me, he needs to get his head right. If he doesn't look for mr. arthur to have a lot of time to show his stuff.
• this kid has major potential but isn't showing any of it...one major reason is a major lack of motivation
• He has great potential. Most likely not NBA potential, but if he puts on some more weight and has a little luck where he scores 20 in a couple of the early games, you never know. I'm 100% sure that it's all a confidence issue with him. He's gun-shy. It's easy to see. This is probably one of those guys who needs more praise than criticism (even if he's needing to be criticized) until he gets some sort of swagger to his psyche and game.

Comments from Phog.net Message Board:

• CJ is a really productive player when not in foul trouble.
• I'll amend that to "productive", and not really productive. His inconsistency is annoying for sure. Still, I think he could explode if he put his mind to it...
• Looking at the chart seems that there was a significant gap between his performances at home and those on the road.  (NOTE: Further analysis showed this to be true -- will be discussed in future on this site)
• I like the kid, but from my interactions with him, the next time he puts his mind to something may be the first.
• I think at the end of the year CJ was finally learning to play "in the system" and that's why we saw him level off a bit. I think as he continues to learn how to play within the game we can expect more out of him.
• I think this year is the make it or break it year for C.J. If he is unable to focus and play consistently this year I doubt that he does as a senior.  I really believe that his raw athletic ability has been somewhat of a curse for him. He has never seemed to put as much into gaining good position both offensively or defensively like Sasha does.
• When it comes down to it, he really hasn't played very well in 2 years except for just a few games.  Giles at this point is very limited in his ability to help the team. He has potential but somewhere between the bench and the court he loses all his ability.
• KU fans have built CJ up as if he's supposed to be a first round talent. His RSCI when he graduated HS was only 69 though -- 1 behind DJ and 2 behind Galindo. CJ was never supposed to be a lottery pick (or even a draft pick as that only averages out to the top 60/less after international guys are added in). He was supposed to be a college big man.
• I think the reason we expect more from CJ is that we've seen flashes of what he's capable of doing when things are going right for him. Last season's Cal game is a good example.   He's a tall, long athlete who can run, has decent hands a soft shot. He's not fundamentally solid, doesn't handle the ball very well and leaves his feet too early on defense, but he has the raw tools to be an NBA player. He's a poor man's Marcus Camby, but his chances of actually being Camby are only about 30-40% at this point due to his lack of focus and commitment to improvement. And it's not just KU fans who see this- NBA draft people have their eyes on CJ. If he puts it together, he'll play professionally. But he could also lose his spot in the rotation to Arthur and be a total non-factor.

Outlook for 2006-07 Season

Look for upcoming features to discuss this player's potential role on the team this season.

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