🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Instead of the Blue Jays, Creighton really ought to name themselves the Barrels. They could really find a nice sponsorship deal there.

We are now 5-1 on the season. 3 Top 10 games out of the 6. That is toughening up this team by the day. Even in a total letdown game against NDSU, they dug deep at the end when everyone seemed disinterested and figured out a way to win the last minute.

Raise your hand if you foresaw Jaylen Wilson doing what he's doing.

Speaking of Wilson, raise your hand if you saw him foul the Barrell player.

Marcus Garrett does so much for this team that doesn't show up in the boxscore. To play that great of defense and not foul is amazing. No one in America wants Garrett guarding them.

I saw a video on the local news of DDot working out with the Bulls who signed him after the draft. I doubt he has a chance to stick so I'm just kind of wishing he'd stuck around.

Funny how Mitch has fallen in our estimation of him. He was always kind of the beloved 7th or 8th man but now, I guess we need someone like him to back up Dave and he's not up to the job and so he has become the fall guy for Dave's problems.

I remember when the Badgers thought they were getting Ochai. I was pretty excited and to be honest a little disappointed he didn't go to Madison, but excited at the same time that he came to Lawrence. He's invaluable to this team. To win without him scoring is remarkable.

This is such a strange season. Hearing cheering after Creighton scores was startling but I guess to be expected in this 2020 of seasons.

For a long time I thought of Gonzaga as a mid major that will never make it big time. After watching them nearly win it all several years ago, and of course seeing them blow us out on Turkey Day my tune and respect has changed. Creighton is kind of the same story. I think they'll break through and win a regional and get to the FF. McDermott's done a good job there.

Christian Braun is kind of a head case. It reared its ugly head against Gonzaga when he got T-d up for being a jerk after dunking on a guy and I saw a flash of it today when he barked at the Creighton bench or another player, I couldn't see which, after making a 3 pointer late.

But I'm really glad he's on our team. He is arguably our 2nd or 3rd most valuable player. He does a lot of different things well and his scoring late tonight was a difference maker.

The bench is a bit of a puzzler. 24 of 90 points against the Zags. Only 2 against Kentucky, but 14 tonight. I'm hoping for consistent bench production.

Shoutout to the frontline workers, many of whom we assume are KU fans but have seen little to no KU this year because of the all important job they're doing. They're the MVPs.

Big thing killing them today was coming into the game as a team they were shooting at a 81.3 % free throw clip. - Tonight they hit think like 50 %

Self mentioned he wasn't happy about the 800 jay fans getting tickets!🤬 he said if Jayhawks can't sell to our own fans he'd buy them. Don't sell tickets to our opponents!

@Crimsonorblue22 said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

Self mentioned he wasn't happy about the 800 jay fans getting tickets!🤬 he said if Jayhawks can't sell to our own fans he'd buy them. Don't sell tickets to our opponents!

Agree 10000 %

@Crimsonorblue22 I don't understand how that happened. I mentioned in the game thread that you'd think Jayhawk fans would be more than willing to pay top dollar for tickets to that game.

@wissox said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

@Crimsonorblue22 I don't understand how that happened. I mentioned in the game thread that you'd think Jayhawk fans would be more than willing to pay top dollar for tickets to that game.

Well Maybe I dunno but maybe kids are gone now right ? - -won't be back till after the 1st of the year - - - maybe Quarintine/ COVID - -just guessing some possibilities - -but would think they would want to for sure - -top 10 match up

Refs trying their best to bring Duke back. This after K spent a timeout talking to the official instead of coaching his team.

@wissox I'm sure 4:00 was rough too, kids are gone too. Finals online I think.

Huge win last night. This group has fight.

Thompson's TO in crunch time really hurt and kept the score unnecessarily close. So did Braun's missed FT. Thompson isn't ready for the extra pressure by experienced guards when the game is on the line. I was surprised Thompson was handling the ball at the most critical time of the game. Nice win though. Oh hey, I put in my ESPN application to be the guy responsible for registering scores during the game. 30-45 seconds to put the score up is ridiculous.

@stoptheflop Thompson earned Self's trust by playing well down the stretch up to that point. He was playing over Ochai, who is pretty much a turnover machine in those spots. I think Bryce can get better in that regard, Ochai kinda just is what he is at this point.

Was it Thompson who hit those pull up jumpers?? God I wish more KU players would work on that shot... it’s a totally worthwhile shot attempt. Instead they just want to either shoot a three or drive to the bucket and get blocked or lose the handle so many times.

Good to see Mitch do some good things out there. I will NEVER say anything willfully bad about a kid who absolutely is a Jayhawk for life guy. He is what he is and I love his effort.

Weird team this year. Wilson is apparently our Lawson-type go-to-scorer. I suppose we need a guy with brass balls to take the offense when needed into his own hands. Biggus Davus is... well, he seems to be lacking in fine motor skills? Or he can’t seem to fine tune that big body of his. He can’t seem to figure out how time a shot block attempt. I don’t think he has good hops for his height. One announcer said he plays constantly like his hair is on fire. Agree totally. My god, someone teach him how to shot fake. Get the ball in his usual spot, back in with a dribble or two if he’s not double teamed, then shot fake to get his defender up in the air then just go up into his arms and draw the foul. He can shoot free throws well which is great- weird that he can control his free throw motion so well when in game play he flails around. He is late on switches constantly. Late in last nites game, He watched a creighton guy off a switch drain an uncontested three when all he had to do was move up on him. The creighton guy couldn’t believe it either. The announcer even got mad at Dave. So frustrating to see a guy try sooooo hard, and yet not seem to get some basic things. He should be a MUCH better rebounder. Sigh. But clearly Self is gonna keep giving him many minutes, at least until it’s obvious another lineup is working much better.

@stoptheflop Ha, yes, there was a point where we scored a three while losing by 6 and a half minute later we were losing by 6 still. I actually rewound thinking 'were we losing by 9?' Then they corrected it to us scoring a two, rewind again, yes it was a 3 and they finally got it right. Pretty ridiculous!

@Bosthawk Good analysis of Dave's game. I watched 2nd half of Duke-Illinois. Aye Dosunmu has a great pull up jumper with a Jordanesque hang time that is cool to watch.

Not sure if it was mentioned anywhere else, but LOL KState!!!!

@Bosthawk

Yes Thompson has a rep for his mid-range pull up game. Confident shooter, has a bit of a weird motion on his perimeter shots but it works. He showed flashes last night of why he was highly rated coming in. Really think by middle of Conference Play (sort of like how Christian Braun emerged last season) he's going to be an important rotation piece.

Mitch stole some possessions and rebounded in the post. Helps when Creighton doesn't have anyone 6'8 and up. Still don't care for him to try and make plays with the ball though, that's not his game.

Last night was the best Dave's played all year. A few times in the first half he actually moved towards the basket and finished the play. In the 2nd half he was a mess outside of the pass to Wilson for the 3. He gets credit for making the right play but before that had made several bonehead plays. The biggest problem with David on offense is the usage (still above 30%) and that's a coaching issue. On defense I have no solution, I have no idea what he's doing on that end

@BeddieKU23 Really liked Self sticking with Bryce late. Feel like he earned it, good to let him play through a mistake.

If Dave could just play like the first half all the time... He still had issues but he at least wasn't taking a bunch of fadeaways. He would at least be passable for 20 minutes or so a game.

@BShark

Agree that sticking with Bryce was good for him. Despite it being a bad turnover the Creighton player just made a heck of play on the ball to steal it and get the bucket. That was Marcus Garrett territory theft

@BeddieKU23 said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

@Bosthawk

Yes Thompson has a rep for his mid-range pull up game. Confident shooter, has a bit of a weird motion on his perimeter shots but it works. He showed flashes last night of why he was highly rated coming in. Really think by middle of Conference Play (sort of like how Christian Braun emerged last season) he's going to be an important rotation piece.

Mitch stole some possessions and rebounded in the post. Helps when Creighton doesn't have anyone 6'8 and up. Still don't care for him to try and make plays with the ball though, that's not his game.

Last night was the best Dave's played all year. A few times in the first half he actually moved towards the basket and finished the play. In the 2nd half he was a mess outside of the pass to Wilson for the 3. He gets credit for making the right play but before that had made several bonehead plays. The biggest problem with David on offense is the usage (still above 30%) and that's a coaching issue. On defense I have no solution, I have no idea what he's doing on that end

Dave gets in trouble on his offensive end when and this was brought up by Ellis from ESPN - -when he starts fading away on his shot. - -Actually he has a decent turn around J on the baseline or just flat out face up 10 footer or so - but when he fades - - - ummm no

@BeddieKU23 Mitch was pretty useful vs Creighton and his PER is a pleasant surprise.

@approxinfinity

He definitely gave us some net positive minutes last night. I liked how he would set the high screen and dash to the lane which would create spacing and reaction from the defense. His PER is still influenced greatly by limited minutes.

@BeddieKU23 said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

@approxinfinity

He definitely gave us some net positive minutes last night. I liked how he would set the high screen and dash to the lane which would create spacing and reaction from the defense. His PER is still influenced greatly by limited minutes.

As it should be. I feel like this should be the bulk of what Mitch does. Come in for spot minutes. Set good screens, create some space, pick up some rebounds by out hustling the opponent.

He can provide some BONUS production if he can block a few shots, get a put-back, etc. But it should generally be in limited minutes.

I especially liked his hustle to break up a late lob by fouling the player attempting to finish the slam. Saved at least 1 (maybe 2 even, can't remember) points which in this game was pretty significant.

Bigger Picture thought.

All the talk about McCormack's play so far points out how reliant this offense is on having a quality big in the post.
Until Self shifts away from that philosophy there is no greater potential weakness in the ceiling of a KU team then having below average post play.

Dave's usage rate when on the floor is astronomical (32%) for a player shooting 40% from the field and averaging 10 points a game. The three statistics are not sustainable for success.

@BeddieKU23 Where do you find usage rate stats and what does it mean specifically? I was thinking Doke was shooting essentially double that percentage rate in his career. I know Dave's is for a small sample size so I'd hope it comes up. I think Dave can be useful, but it's gotta be more like the last two seasons, coming off the bench for small spurts with high energy. Wilson's our new center/forward/guard.

Seems to me Dave has no idea how to use his size and length. I call him Bambi sometimes because he looks like a baby deer trying to figure out how to walk around sometimes. He just needs to slow down a bit and figure out how to use his frame (e.g. drawing contact in the lane, post moves).

@wissox https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/ ↗

That is a very good site for advanced stats.

@BShark Thanks, but the problem with those stats is they're total nonsense to a very traditional guy like me.

@wissox Usage % is the % of possessions a player ends. They do so by scoring, missing, assisting, or turning it over.

So 3/10 times when Dave is in, the possession ends because of him.

That number is neither good or bad in and of it self. But since he is turning it over and shooting a low percentage it means he is ending too many of kus possessions without scoring where other players would be more efficient.

@FarmerJayhawk said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

Seems to me Dave has no idea how to use his size and length. I call him Bambi sometimes because he looks like a baby deer trying to figure out how to walk around sometimes. He just needs to slow down a bit and figure out how to use his frame (e.g. drawing contact in the lane, post moves).

this is the perfect Scenario , going off what your saying not knowing how to use his size & length -- - -perfect - -perfect scenario where we could sure use to Get Danny back on staff if nothing else to work with the Big's he was really good with that - I bet you the farm he could get Dave to playing better - With Danny being such a good big himself in College and working with that before I'm sur would be a big plus for us. - -Thing is I don't think you would ever see him come back as an assistant

@wissox

As @BShark pointed out I use Sports-reference mainly.

Doke actually had usage in the low 20's last year, 22.9%, Career average 23.5%. Dave as a semi starter/backup last year had higher usage when he was in the game. Dotson led the team in usage but no surprise since he was the main ball handler & leading scorer.

Dotson & Azubuike had excellent PER's (player efficiency) & TSE (true shooting efficiency). Self got elite production from both at their position.

@benshawks08 broke it down well. The combination of high usage, poor FG% from Dave is not good offense and it's not sustainable for success.

It's been only 6 games but Jalen Wilson's analytics say he should be taking more shots and having more possessions funneled to him. Christian Braun as well for that matter.

Has Bill Self heard about these usage thingys?

Thanks @benshawks08 @BeddieKU23

@wissox He's definitely heard of them. Whether or not he uses them or not....

@wissox

Yeah they pay attention to Analytics. Hopefully they figure something out

@wissox said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

Christian Braun is kind of a head case. It reared its ugly head against Gonzaga when he got T-d up for being a jerk after dunking on a guy and I saw a flash of it today when he barked at the Creighton bench or another player, I couldn’t see which, after making a 3 pointer late.

If you think he is a "head case", then I don't think you understand what it takes for a kid like him to be competitive in the high-end AAU circuit for years.

@BShark said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

@BeddieKU23 Really liked Self sticking with Bryce late. Feel like he earned it, good to let him play through a mistake.

HUGE sign Self MIGHT be softening a bit. 99.9% of the time a freshman is immediately pulled with a turnover in that situation.

@BigBad I'm not sure what you mean by "a kid like him". A lot of guys compete in AAU that are phenomenal players that don't do stuff like that.

@wissox said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

Thanks @benshawks08 @BeddieKU23

Maybe this will clarify it a bit. Dave is Top 100 of all College Basketball Players on usage (32%). He's taken 29.8% of shots when he's on the floor which puts him around 150 in CBB.

I did some quick research at other players with high usage to see how well those guys are doing. 6 guys with similar usage but look at the difference in scoring and FG%. Self is focusing the offense on the wrong guy at this point..

!80bb8e36-e329-48a0-81cf-c404905e2c4a-image.png ↗

I'm proud of ALL the guys - - - their all Jayhawks - - Crimson/Blue. - -If they Crimson & Blue /KU - - I'm behind them

Thanks @BeddieKU23 Thats useful information. It makes sense and of course I had a general idea of what usage meant because I speak english! But wow, those numbers really jump off the page at you.

Here's what's frustrating about Dave. He is taking high percentage shots generally and every single one is just clanging off the rim. Every time. His midrange shot has always seemed competent, but that's when we weren't reliant on him. I think he sees himself as needing to replace Dokes production and no one is going to do that like Doke for a long time.

I think Dave has it in him to be a good passer. If he can work on kicking it out and making quicker decisions with the ball in the post he can do better to stay on the floor. It's interesting because we all watch him and he LOOKS "sped up" or like the game is too fast but I think that's more of a symptom of being slow in making decisions. If he keeps the ball in the post and takes a dribble or makes a move, by the time he does it, guards are digging down, and his defender claims the space he's trying to move into. Maybe we actually need Dave to SPEED UP?!

@wissox

If the law of averages happens here Dave will probably shoot a higher % as the season goes on. We need him to get above 50%. He is getting good post position but they could definitely work with him on taking the ball strong into defenders instead of the fadeaway and all the weird stuff he does to miss shots. If he is going to continue to have such a high usage we need him to make shots at a higher rate

@benshawks08 said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

I think Dave has it in him to be a good passer. If he can work on kicking it out and making quicker decisions with the ball in the post he can do better to stay on the floor. It's interesting because we all watch him and he LOOKS "sped up" or like the game is too fast but I think that's more of a symptom of being slow in making decisions. If he keeps the ball in the post and takes a dribble or makes a move, by the time he does it, guards are digging down, and his defender claims the space he's trying to move into. Maybe we actually need Dave to SPEED UP?!

Had an old coach tell me once, slow down to go fast.

@wissox The guy has an attitude, no doubt. I'm fine with it, as long as he doesn't start intentionally tripping people.

@FarmerJayhawk said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

@benshawks08 said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

I think Dave has it in him to be a good passer. If he can work on kicking it out and making quicker decisions with the ball in the post he can do better to stay on the floor. It's interesting because we all watch him and he LOOKS "sped up" or like the game is too fast but I think that's more of a symptom of being slow in making decisions. If he keeps the ball in the post and takes a dribble or makes a move, by the time he does it, guards are digging down, and his defender claims the space he's trying to move into. Maybe we actually need Dave to SPEED UP?!

Had an old coach tell me once, slow down to go fast.

My favorite to tell my golfers is "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast"

@benshawks08 You're a golf coach? I need some lessons. I've only been playing 35 years so I haven't had much time to learn the game yet.

@wissox I’m a high school golf coach, not a golf professional. I hang around in the high 70s and low 80s but certainly know enough to get some kids who’ve never played before started and coach up some kids with a little experience. Not a ton of interest in the game in my school community so I don’t have to be an expert. Have a few connections with some actual golf teaching professionals for the kids who want to get more serious.

@benshawks08 Easily the best coaching gig at the high school level.

They tried to get me to coach the third team for basketball but with my other positions on campus I couldn’t manage all of it.

🐦 View Tweet?s=21

Interesting thread here from Jesse. May explain what was going on with big Dave on that late I’m the game look for three.

@benshawks08 said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

@benshawks08 Easily the best coaching gig at the high school level.

They tried to get me to coach the third team for basketball but with my other positions on campus I couldn’t manage all of it.

If you’re wondering, I’m that teacher that’s bad at saying no when admin needs someone to do something.

@benshawks08 I was heading towards my first sub 90 round on a normal length course. 4 holes to play. 4 par holes for me, there are no birdie holes in my golf world. On the 15th tee my principal calls me to tell me a girl who had actually punched me that day in the back went to the Baton Rouge Superintendent and said I had laid hands on her. Well I was friends with the superintendent so I wasn't super worried, but still stuff like this can be career wrecking. I soldiered on my quest to break 90, actually was going to make it till I hit a fat 8 iron the 14o yard 18th hole right into the pond. Made 90 right on the number. Still mad, sad really about the girl and her mom who abetted her lie.

By the way this is the same principal who told me to go check lockers for bombs after a bomb threat was called into our school! I found a bunch of moldy lunch bags and smelly gym uniforms, but thankfully no bombs. He and I still laugh about it.

@benshawks08 said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

🐦 View Tweet?s=21

Interesting thread here from Jesse. May explain what was going on with big Dave on that late I’m the game look for three.

This is useful. If Dave can end up decent on the defensive end, and we limit his usage on the offensive end and have him set more firm screens, I think that's all I really want. At the time he sagged off those 3 pt shooters I was was blaming Dave. Not his fault.

@wissox Ouch. That hurts all the way around.

@benshawks08 works in the military too.