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I think the double whammy of having a very realistic chance at a NC taken from us to last years underwhelming product, to the many question marks of this years talent has us not enthused for the upcoming season.

So many seasons this has been a busy time of discussing rotations, schedules, other teams in the league and what not. This is the first new topic in almost 2 weeks. Amazing!

Some of the past members had us talking a lot too of course and they're MIA's. The fact my computer at home won't load the Bucket anymore makes it more challenging for me to stay on the site consistently.

I don't have a ton of confidence for this season. We have some transfers that we're really relying on. Remy being the key transfer I'd guess. But will the ISU kid contribute? The Drake kid? (see my apathy has me not knowing names) Big Dave and Mitch are returning bigs. Dave would be a borderline starter on our best teams. Grandpa Mitch is good for some high energy minutes. Harris I'm excited about.

Wilson started off the year showing out against Kentucky. But that almost seemed like his peak performance of the year. Ochai, flashes of brilliance, but we need a bright steady light instead of flashes. I think if the both of them can contribute consistently at their ceiling we'll win a lot of games.

The freshmen? Unless they're a once in a decade type high potential player like Wigs or Joel were I just wait and see. I really couldn't name any of them. Looked at the roster and several of them I haven't heard of. Part of this is because of my devotion to a particular baseball team (RIP) so I haven't been r6eading up on guys, watching youtubes of their spectacular dunks against 6'2" dudes. I don't care about Late Night and that they lit it up that night. It's nothing more than a pickup game. I suppose we've had guys score 20 on late night and not score that many total the rest of the season.

I guess I'll have to get out the wallet to watch games on ESPN+ even though I've been paying ESPN for decades through my dish package. Really wish they'd honor those who've paid for ESPN for a long time with a free subscription, or even half off. I wouldn't mind seeing KU in the BIG both for proximity and for exposure on the BIG channel. But they took the high road and tried to hold the league together.

By the way screw you texas and chokelahoma for abandoning your league and going to the football only league. May you lose more there than you did in our league and by a lot. The snake Billy Tubbs would be proud of his sooners for being aholes.

I'm proud to be a KU grad. It's allowed me to follow this team late into March every season. I wore my needs to be replaced 2008 T shirt last night hoping I can order a new one with 2022 on it. Don't want to wait 30 years for the next when I'll probably be pushing up daisy's from below, and if not that, annoying the heck out of my wife and kids for being a crotchety very old man.

I found sheet music for the the fight song that I play on my trumpet. It's a blast to play. The alma mater Hail to thee or whatever it's called I can just play without music. Both cause a sort of worshipful experience in me that is hard to explain.

I love telling friends up here when the GOAT conversations come up about how it's an insult to our GOAT named Wilt that it isn't MJ and Wilt in the debate. I can honestly say both could be co-GOATS. But watching peoples reactions when I mention about Wilt's NBA career and their eyes widen. There's really only two comparisons in sport. Babe Ruth and Wayne Gretzky. But Wilt is right there with them. If you don't know what I'm talking about look up his stats. Don't give me crap about lack of championships. Having the greatest team in pro sports history to go up against when he was in his prime is the answer to that question.

So go ahead and chat. Give me some reasons to be optimistic. Heck affirm my pessimism! Give me your opinions, tell me I'm an "idot", or 'your stoopid' or whatever. Tell me I'm brilliant or tell me to get out of my moms basement every once in a while. Go ahead, make my day!

Admit it... you are yearning for the season to start! It's painful waiting. So many unanswered questions... a team largely made from imports but yet most of our core is returning. It is always exciting to see the new guys... bringing with them new dreams for fans.

I'm very optimistic about this team. More so than the start two years ago with the Doke/Dot combo. This is a team with speed, diverse talents, and a well-known entity at PG. Everyone in here should know me by now. I always look no further than our PG in assessing our success. But this time, it isn't just spotlighting Remy. Dajuan will surely come into his own more this year. I'm as excited to watch his defense as his offense.

We've had so much to consider this year. So many "shiny boxes" on this team. Did we forget about players like Jalen Wilson? He's gone to work on his lower body strength... the one area he was running a deficit though it never stopped him from being aggressive.

I can go through the list, old and new. But we've done that!

Now we've been informed that our coaching staff has brought a higher intensity to practices this year! Might this be the difference? So many new pieces and possibilities... trying to create a team that gels.

OU... Texas... I never felt Texas belonged in our conference and I am happy to say goodbye to these clowns. OU is a different story. I'm not gonna lie!

@drgnslayr Harris I'm not feeling positive about yet, more of a show me vibe. I recall his shot looking very much like a junior high kid who still has to load up to heave it up to the basket from any kind of distance. I'm hoping it is more of a pure college player stroke.

Speaking of show me, I should have mentioned the showdown with Misery. I'm thrilled they're on the schedule. Some were in my view kind of petty about stiffing them and not wanting to play them out of spite. To me, the Missouri game was THE game on the schedule. Still peeved I couldn't watch the last one as I had a wedding to go to. So bring em on. I'm guessing it becomes more of throwback to the hot days of the rivalry, kind of a throw the records out the window style game.

BTW I did reference Wilson and it's amazing to see RS Sophomore next to his name because he seems like he should be a senior. I see big things for him by the time he's finished in Lawrence and hoping this year is the start of the big things.

Remy is preseason Big 12 Player of the Year. Color me surprised and dubious as to whether it will go down that way ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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@FarmerJayhawk said in Silence of the flock:

Remy is preseason Big 12 Player of the Year. Color me surprised and dubious as to whether it will go down that way ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Don't think he will tbh. His numbers might take a hit in Self's system but he will also do much more winning than at ASU.

I'm optimistic and guarded about this team. The preseason polls will likely have them in the top 5. I can see 8 starter level players on this team. I think 2 others Lightfoot/Cam Martin will have roles and we'll need someone to be the backup 5 on a regular basis. Different guys bring something different to the table. I believe at least 1 freshman will find some minutes (Pettiford, Adams, Clemence). Its potentially a very deep team capable of absorbing someone slumping, an injury etc that always happens. I see the potential for this to be a much improved team no doubt. They have options at PG now, there's quality depth at Guard/Wing & enough core players back to expect better results this year.

What I'm waiting to see is who takes this team over and is the leader. Who is the guy everyone looks to? Who's going to be the go-to player on offense. Will we have 3-4 legitimate weapons everytime down the court? Will this team defend well enough? So many questions.

As optimistic about this team as I am I look back at last year and I wonder what the ceiling of those that came back (Dave, Braun, Jalen, Ochai, Jaun) will be with another year. I've been of the opinion that none of these guys would start on a number of KU's best teams in the Self era. Maybe you could make the case for someone overall but these guys haven't shown to be as good overall as many of KU's best in the past. It's not a knock, its just my opinion. College Basketball looks really good this year and I expect to see better teams and more depth. I really hope some guys took that next step, hopefully all of them did. Hopefully Remy Martin is the answer in the backcourt and the pieces all fit together. I think the potential and the ceiling is higher with this squad then last years. Hopefully a jam packed Allen Fieldhouse makes a difference.

Expecting Cam to be the back-up 5 fwiw

@BeddieKU23 Forgot to mention Braun in my post. Man he exudes potential at times and then disappears many others. I'd love to see a much improved Braun, but I guess you put what I was trying to say pretty well, these guys don't feel like NC potential players, even FF would be a ceiling that seems unattainable. Another great chance for Bill Self to show his HOF crews and coach this team to heights not believed possible.

I think Bobby is a NC level PG but obviously not yet. Also thought this of Dotson, too bad he didn't get a chance to prove it.

@wissox

I hear you regarding Braun, he was easy to like as a freshman. I think last yr he played out of position and didn't have the pieces around him to mask his weaknesses. He showed flashes but rarely was consistent. It's year 3 so hopefully he's taken a step forward. His shooting was what disappointed me the most. I think that went hand in hand with playing a ton more minutes. He wasn't the most highly recruited/sought after player in High School so there's the question whether he was ready to produce at the level we expect as a sophomore. We will find out if KU development pays off like it usually does in yr 3 and 4

As bad as KU was last season, lack of scoring ability was their biggest issue. Self addressed that by going out and getting the best scorer in the country in Remy Martin. Remy will open up any other options for other players because of his play making ability.

And if Dave becomes the 2nd coming of Wilt we'll be really really really good.

Heh

@wissox said in Silence of the flock:

And if Dave becomes the 2nd coming of Wilt we'll be really really really good.

If Dave is what he was the last 2/3 of last season, I'll take that in a heartbeat.

KU is going to be just fine this year. This team is deep and old and the kind of team more than capable of winning a championship this year. There might be a couple of bumps early while chemistry is being developed, but the skill sets of the projected rotation players compliment each other very well.

Alot of the silence comes from everyone being burnt out on the neverending NCAA investigation, but I'm still paying attention and posting.

I think that we, taking a look around at the college basketball landscape, stand a great chance to be bullies this year. My favorite NBA team? The Bad Boys. Defense wins.

@Marco said in Silence of the flock:

Alot of the silence comes from everyone being burnt out on the neverending NCAA investigation, but I'm still paying attention and posting.

I think that we, taking a look around at the college basketball landscape, stand a great chance to be bullies this year. My favorite NBA team? The Bad Boys. Defense wins.

This is not an elite defensive group. Harris and Agbaji are the only two top level defenders on this team. Yesufu is a question mark because of the step up in competition. Remy Martin and JCL are decent defenders, but don't expect either to be in the discussion for an All-Defensive team spot. McCormack is average and struggles against athletic bigs. Braun and Wilson are below average defenders at best. I doubt Cam Martin is anything special on defense because of his lack of athleticism.

This team will be improved on defense from last season based on experience, but this team won't touch the 2020, 2012, or 2008 in terms of being elite defensive teams either.

@Texas-Hawk-10 agree with some of your points, but this team has the ability and depth to bigtime full court press. And that would feed our offense.

Granted, I know that coach has never really done so, but if ever a time it is now. The depth and speed at our guard positions and abundance of 4s almost mandates it.

Btw, I think that some are sleeping on Martin. He'll be a better defender than many think, and will average about 9 ppg. He'll have the green light to shoot anytime that he is open.

I really can't wait to see what Yesufu & Coleman-Lands bring to the table. If they are consistent upgrades over Thompson & Enaruna/Grant-Foster its a win. I have no idea what we are getting in Cam Martin but I hope his stretch shooting ability translates and he can at least defend at an average level.

@BeddieKU23 that's what I think he'll be, a more than average defender (he has size), and a guy that can stretch the floor. Dave will undoubtedly start, but I'm thinking that Martin will fit in very well with this team as far as kickouts and passing, things like that.

I don’t think he can guard at the D1 level. Having a big whose only use is to shoot threes is incongruous with every bone in Bills body and he will only see floor when games are total blowouts either way.

Mitch will be the real backup 5 in meaningful minutes with maybe one of the freshmen getting a little run when Self is sick of Mitch

@approxinfinity said in Silence of the flock:

I don’t think he can guard at the D1 level. Having a big whose only use is to shoot threes is incongruous with every bone in Bills body and he will only see floor when games are total blowouts either way.

Mitch will be the real backup 5 in meaningful minutes with maybe one of the freshmen getting a little run when Self is sick of Mitch

I have not heard this but I could see it breaking that way after the games start because Bill is Bill. I truly hope not. Mitch and Bryce were both unreal bad last year.

Three long weeks until the first exhibition game… ! Should be a fun year no matter how they land at the end

Glad to see people finally waking up from their summer snoozes! lol

I find it very unlikely we will put much energy into running a full court press. I know we've got the speed and the bodies... we just don't have the coach who will take the time and energy to commit to running that as a real threat. Also... we have too many new guys who have to learn from scratch and we have to gel as a team. Yes... there will be desperate moments when we apply full court pressure.

I do see the potential for Self to run 3/4 court pressure or at least pickup at half court. It requires no scheming and little instruction. Maybe run some traps. It's more a tactic to throw teams out of rhythm so they can't easily run their offense. I think Self sees the potential of Harris having big steal numbers (which happen through chaos and traps).

If Martin can bang treys he'll have opportunities to do so... either through established PT or using him as a spark. We will have those nights when our regular perimeter guys go cold. A guy like Martin could go in and be a real spark, depending on how he is used.

@BeddieKU23 sees it correctly concerning comparing talent to other teams. Big difference with this team though... many of those great players did it on teams without ultimate PG play. I keep saying it... PG is the most important position on the team. He's the quarterback in football. He's the playmaker. Remy is a proven entity. And Harris and others should surprise many.

@Texas-Hawk-10 rarely shows this much confidence in our teams, especially this early. I see why. Experience rules D1. We really aren't counting on one or two superstar freshmen coming in and bringing home a NC. I'm so glad (and refreshed) we aren't setup with another one of those teams! All of our guys are on equal ground, and any one of these guys can get hot and pickup a lot of needed positive attention... more possible than other years when we have a top tier guy stealing the spotlight all the time. This should help gel the team and also give guys something to fight for!

@drgnslayr

It will be interesting to see how Remy meshes his style with Self. I think that's something to monitor. Same with Yesufu, those two guys can go make a play that isn't scripted. I really hope those two have the freedom to create because last year we saw the worst offense in the Self era out there. Harris is in year 3 in the program and we'll see what leap he's made in his game. Pettiford is waiting in the wings. The backcourt positions should be in good hands. If anything Self has options which in the past several years he hasn't really had. I'm glad they hit recruiting hard on that front.

Our track record with upperclassmen transfers is spotty. Malik Newmann delivered, Jeff Withey did too. Charlie Moore? Poor kid just need to bite the bullet and call it a career and get on with life, although Miami is a nice place to discover finally to hang it up! I expected way more from Isaiah Moss and the hyphenated named kid last year who seemed to try extra hard that he was good and failed spectacularly. I think Yesufu can grow into a usable piece. Remy I do have high hopes for as do the ones who chose him for Big12 player of the year. But I still seem conditioned to give transfers a sideways glance.

@wissox

We had the Lawsons too, one worked out well. Tarik Black, Kevin Young other successes.

Players are by and large what they are. So I will say I wasn't too surprised when Moss and Dedric were basically the same players. I was also not surprised by Charlie's struggles. Malik I think is one where Self really brought the best out of him eventually.

@BShark what happened to Newman, is he playing overseas?

@BeddieKU23 Thanks, forgot those guys although I didn't look at rosters to try to remind myself. Dedric Lawson was indeed a nice transfer although it didn't lead us to any sort of promised land. Of those others you mentioned I think Tarik surprised me the most especially since he also earned a couple of seasons in the NBA. I never saw that coming.

The experience edge this team has will lead to better results. 4 starters, 2 rotation guys + 4 transfers. 10 deep before a freshman. Last years squad didn't have any of that. Guys were put in situations they weren't used to. Some guys played that shouldn't have but necessity ruled. While there's some chemistry to build with this squad, the talent is there, the experience is there to be a much improved team, which should lead to a team that can possibly cut down the nets.

@wissox

I didn't mention the Hunter Mickelson, Sam Cunliffe, Dwight Coleby, Mario Little's of the world. Transfers are hit and miss as you noted. I think Remy and Yesufu were great additions from the portal and will prove to be the exceptions. Remy with 4 years proven in the Pac-12, torched KU once. Yesufu was so fun to watch in the NCAA tournament and torched USC, a team that made us look like a bunch of 8th graders. He's got some Moxy to him that I'm excited to see how it all fits here.

Agree on Dedric. He was statistically really good but for me underwhelmed in many areas I thought he'd excel at here. That was a weird squad. The injury to Doke & the drama with Vick ruined a lot of it.

@Marco said in Silence of the flock:

@BShark what happened to Newman, is he playing overseas?

Yeah, he has really bounced around. Seems like he will have a long career but not at any one place.

@BeddieKU23 said in Silence of the flock:

@wissox

I didn't mention the Hunter Mickelson, Sam Cunliffe, Dwight Coleby, Mario Little's of the world. Transfers are hit and miss as you noted. I think Remy and Yesufu were great additions from the portal and will prove to be the exceptions. Remy with 4 years proven in the Pac-12, torched KU once. Yesufu was so fun to watch in the NCAA tournament and torched USC, a team that made us look like a bunch of 8th graders. He's got some Moxy to him that I'm excited to see how it all fits here.

Agree on Dedric. He was statistically really good but for me underwhelmed in many areas I thought he'd excel at here. That was a weird squad. The injury to Doke & the drama with Vick ruined a lot of it.

With the rules change I think things are going to be a lot different going forward. We are basically going to see the lower levels of college hoops turn into feeders for the big boys. We already saw that this offseason with the likes of Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Michigan etc take in players from low leagues that are expected to have very real roles and/or start.

I think most of our transfers have a solid track record behind them already. Quite a bit different than other transfers from our past. Not sure about Martin because of his play being in D2, but I like what I see in game footage. Obviously, Remy is on another level. That shows why he already is recognized so highly in the Big 12.

Remy and Coleman-Lands are probably the safest bets as far as expectations go among the transfers because they're both coming from other P5 schools and have enough of a track record that we can pretty much pencil in their expectations. Remy is a legit B12 POY and I'll even say he's got a shot at NPOY if he duplicates his ASU numbers here and KU remains top 5 for most of the season. JCL will be a solid role player that gets good minutes.

Yesufu is much more of a wild card because he is stepping up a level in competition. We know how good he can be against good teams, the question with Yesufu will be consistency.

Cam is the biggest question mark among the transfers in this class because of how big of a step up he's taking in level of competition.

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Remy saying the right things at least. More on Tait's timeline.

@BShark agree. How long before the smaller schools in unison all try to get the new transfer rules squashed? Because without question, they have basically become farm teams.

If we stay healthy it is hard not to see us being a very dominant team this year. Question will be consistency. How will we do after we drop a couple? Good signs in preseason practices. Guys seem to be focused and working hard. Also.. I am not sniffing out a troublemaker in our new crop of players.

Maybe only distraction is URP? Please someone tell me these jackarses wouldn't punish this team during the season!

@drgnslayr The real question is ALWAYS how will a team deal with adversity. Someone will get hurt, we may lose some games we weren’t supposed to, distractions happen. Seems like this year we could have the talent. If that shapes up to be true then it’s just about gelling and taking on each challenge as it comes.

I still worry about Dave as a legit leader and reliable advantage each game. I just don’t see how his mobility increases to the point where he is definitely better than most of the guys he goes up against.

I’m also concerned, as others mentioned, about the transfers fitting in to Self’s system. It traditionally taken time for most to adjust and freedom and creativity are not always at the top of the list of skills rewarded with playing time and trust from the head coach.

Totally agree that a systematic use of a press is a pipe dream. A trapping press just isn’t how self sees basketball working. What I do see is guards picking up there man nearly full court but especially 3/4 court. Harris in particular is a proven ball hawk and can at least cause some stress on opposing guards as they simply try to bring the ball up the court. If Harris can find a partner in creating havoc it could be a fun year. It’s really too bad he and Garrett couldn’t muster enough offensive threats to play A LOT together to build that kind of chemistry. Remember, Mario couldn’t have made all those steals and been in all those passing lanes without russ rob adding pressure. In this same subject, Dave’s defense needs to take a step forward (which it started to last year) so that the guards can have some freedom to gamble knowing if they miss it’s not an auto bucket.

Basically I still see this season going as Dave goes and that makes me nervous. Hopeful, but nervous.

@benshawks08 how many minutes do you see Cam Martin getting?

He will certainly get minutes and was a highly coveted talent. But tbh I just haven’t watched enough of him to know whether he is truly a Self style guard. Just looking at stats, the 1 foul per game is something that stood out to be as a possible issue as that could indicate a lack of physicality on the defensive end but again, not an expert on Martin so I’m in wait and see mode on him. Hasn’t he been hurt this off season?

@benshawks08 My bad, I was talking about Cam. I've amended my post.

@Marco yeah going to be honest that he’s a big unknown for me. I would imagine he will get some minutes early to see how it goes but I’d imagine he has a pretty short leash. Self has adjusted to playing small over the last few years and has seemed willing to put more guards on the floor if that’s where the talent is.

Obviously Dave isn’t playing 40 minutes a game so someone has to get some of those minutes but I’m not plugged in enough on the new guys to really guess who that’d be.

@Marco said in Silence of the flock:

@benshawks08 My bad, I was talking about Cam. I've amended my post.

I’d forgotten we had 2 Martins…

Can't wait! I am a fan no matter what. I've stayed abreast of developments in transfers and think we can go 8 deep for sure....maybe 10???? We'll see if Coach has loosened up on his tried and true fashion we have labored through in years past. Excited to see how he forms the team!
Happy Homecoming!!

@benshawks08

Great post and I agree.

I'm probably more optimistic because we have so much experience on this team and I feel certain Remy is going to step up big time to run the show. We have most of our key players back and then surrounded them with mostly experienced players.

I think Dave's role will change quite a bit. We won't be counting on him as much this year... mostly because we have a legit PG who will be a playmaker. Remy should help all our guys' games. I think Harris will be considerably improved, too... and he has shown us sparks of being a playmaker.

Cam offers us a nice change up from Dave. Maybe we have a game where Dave is off or being controlled on his limited offensive game. Cam can come in and stretch the floor. He should be easy to use on the perimeter with pick and pops. Dave is more pick and roll and then had to finish near the rim. And though Cam's defense is in question.. but to some degree, so is Dave's.

@benshawks08 bro, I forget sometimes too. I think that Cam is going to play about 10 or 11 mpg. He can shoot from deep, and factor in that Coach bigtime recruited Clemence who at 6'10 can also shoot. I'm thinking that Bill is going to start mixing things up some from here on.

Pre-season Kenpom just dropped, KU checking in at #3. Obviously doesn't mean too much, but nice to see.

Seems a little high on B10 teams.

@KirkIsMyHinrich they are definitely high on something, and I'm not so sure that it's just B1G teams...

Hopefully Dave can play about 25-27 minutes a game and more in big games. Keeping out of foul trouble was an issue for him later in the season. I definitely see this as one of the bigger things to watch because of how much of a drop off there's likely to be to the next guy. Maybe Cam surprises us making the jump to D-1.

Just from Late night, I thought Big Dave looked a lil more jumpier, more athletic. Anxious to see if that's true. Dunking seemed easier.

@Crimsonorblue22

Maybe it was the hair but he did look a little more sleek in build. Got up nice on a few dunks . Guy has transformed his body and probably is about as maxed out athletically as he'll be here. If he can play 25-27 minutes a night we'll know that he made big strides in his last year

Dave has worked hard the whole time he has been at Kansas... including through the summer... really working on his conditioning. I expect him to be a little faster and that will help his footwork some.

Did you all see the video of big Dave making the full court shot? It was actually impressive because it didn’t look entirely lucky.

Well remember, he didn't miss a single 3 pt shot last year!
🤔

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article255177727.html ↗

I feel like this could be the key issue all season. This is a good explanation of the selfs way va freedom to play dilemma.

@benshawks08 I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this team shakes out. Coach likes to be in control, and it has served both him and we the fans well. Interesting that he specifically names Remy while bringing up Mason in context. He's basically saying, "don't overthink it, if you can make the shot take it, if not pass the ball."

@benshawks08

Great read from Jesse. Also shows how Self is in a constant learning situation himself.

I suspect we will start the year with last year's guys starting, minus Marcus plus a mix of Remy and DaJuan.

What an advantage we have is we can run all returning players in proper positions and slowly give minutes out by how well the new guys perform.

Also liked how Self discusses adding more players to the regular minutes list. After further discussion it sounds like he is just talking about adding 1 more guy... to have a rotation as many as 10.

Sounds like we need to redshirt more than one. If we don't, we probably lose at least a couple guys to the portal. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. The times have changed... so players move from team-to-team more but that also gives coaches a chance to replace players easily.

A big key to future success is learning how to educate players faster into your system. This will absolutely be paramount moving on into the future.

@drgnslayr said in Silence of the flock:

@benshawks08

Great read from Jesse. Also shows how Self is in a constant learning situation himself.

I suspect we will start the year with last year's guys starting, minus Marcus plus a mix of Remy and DaJuan.

What an advantage we have is we can run all returning players in proper positions and slowly give minutes out by how well the new guys perform.

Also liked how Self discusses adding more players to the regular minutes list. After further discussion it sounds like he is just talking about adding 1 more guy... to have a rotation as many as 10.

Sounds like we need to redshirt more than one. If we don't, we probably lose at least a couple guys to the portal. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. The times have changed... so players move from team-to-team more but that also gives coaches a chance to replace players easily.

A big key to future success is learning how to educate players faster into your system. This will absolutely be paramount moving on into the future.

Cuffe and Adam's are the two guys who should redshirt. Cuffed has lost out on a lot of games because of the Covid situation, not his fault, and he has several players in front of him on the depth chart currently so him redshirting seems like the safest bet. KJ Adams also has several players in front of him on the depth chart and his ranking suggests he also needs time to develop and work on his body so he would make a lot of sense to redshirt. The other 12 guys all have a reasonable path to minutes.

@Texas-Hawk-10

Sounds logical to me.

Question... with this transfer portal... seems obvious players may be lost easier.

Also seems easier to snag decent, experienced talent.

Isn't just turning smaller schools into talent farms?

Maybe we redshirt two. Take a hard look at where they are later in the year. If they don't look like minutes players Self advises them to transfer. Meanwhile... he brings in a new batch!

Am I seeing this wrong?

@drgnslayr said in Silence of the flock:

@Texas-Hawk-10

Sounds logical to me.

Question... with this transfer portal... seems obvious players may be lost easier.

Also seems easier to snag decent, experienced talent.

Isn't just turning smaller schools into talent farms?

Maybe we redshirt two. Take a hard look at where they are later in the year. If they don't look like minutes players Self advises them to transfer. Meanwhile... he brings in a new batch!

Am I seeing this wrong?

I'm just going to say it... While we have more than benefited from the new transfer rule, the smaller schools are being put at a serious disadvantage. I don't think the rule will last for long.

@drgnslayr said in Silence of the flock:

@Texas-Hawk-10

Sounds logical to me.

Question... with this transfer portal... seems obvious players may be lost easier.

Also seems easier to snag decent, experienced talent.

Isn't just turning smaller schools into talent farms?

Maybe we redshirt two. Take a hard look at where they are later in the year. If they don't look like minutes players Self advises them to transfer. Meanwhile... he brings in a new batch!

Am I seeing this wrong?

I don't think it changes Self's approach very much in regards to players already on his roster. Maybe Kyle Cuffe transfers out because it could be awhile before he sees big minutes with Harris, Yesufu, and Pettiford all capable PG's already here and none looking like early exit candidates. That combined with how little he's played recently could hinder his development and he ends up at a lower level.
Maybe Adams or Clemence, but I would say those two would be more likely after year two based on the class KU has coming next year if either Adams or Clemence fails to crack the rotation in 2022-23. 2022-23 is looking like it could be be very young team at the 4 and 5 spots.

That is part of why I thought they would maybe go transfer to get a big. It will be very interesting to see who wins those starting jobs for sure.

@BShark said in Silence of the flock:

That is part of why I thought they would maybe go transfer to get a big. It will be very interesting to see who wins those starting jobs for sure.

I'd love to see Clemence and Udeh being the starters at the 4 and 5 spots respectively next season if both Wilson and McCormack are gone which seems pretty likely at this point.

@Texas-Hawk-10 me too. No one is really talking about Clemence though, why? Udeh and Clemence as our bigs, I'd take that all day everyday. Point would be Yesufu(?), Dick a more athletic version of Svi and Zuby factoring in too .. That's not even mentioning the others, Pettiford etc.

But anyway, I digress, can't wait for this season to start.

So we have URP still looming...

Why do we seem to be in a rhythm of recruiting better talent recently? Or am I just seeing this through more optimistic eyes?!

From everything I read.... it makes me wonder if Self becoming a HOF is now paying off big dividends.

I know we haven't landed that very top shelf elite recruit... but I see that as a plus and I think, deep down, Self does, too. It seems like recruiting in those players shows desperation. Filling in starting role gaps with freshmen seems desperate to me.

@Marco said in Silence of the flock:

@Texas-Hawk-10 me too. No one is really talking about Clemence though, why? Udeh and Clemence as our bigs, I'd take that all day everyday. Point would be Yesufu(?), Dick a more athletic version of Svi and Zuby factoring in too .. That's not even mentioning the others, Pettiford etc.

But anyway, I digress, can't wait for this season to start.

I think Harris would actually handle the majority of the PG duties with Yesufu mostly playing the 2 in 2022-23. The good thing about how Self is building is that a lot of players expected to be on the roster in 2022-23 can play multiple positions. Yesufu and Pettiford can both play the 1 and 2 spots, Braun can play the 2-4 spots, MJ Rice if he makes it here can play the 2/3, Zuby and KJ can play the 3/4, Clemence can play the 4/5 spots. To me, Harris, Cuffe, Dick, and Udeh are the only players who are basically one position players.

@Texas-Hawk-10 You see Dick as a one position player?

@Marco With his size and stroke Dick seems like a good fit at the 3. If you see Self putting Dick in at multiple positions, I think it will be bad news.

Size and stroke :thinking_face:

@BShark 😂

@approxinfinity said in Silence of the flock:

@Marco With his size and stroke Dick seems like a good fit at the 3. If you see Self putting Dick in at multiple positions, I think it will be bad news.

There is so much phrasing here my God

@FarmerJayhawk

Where is the laugh emoji?

!c04267c8-bf2a-41eb-8c43-f074274a74f0-image.png ↗

oh... here it is!

@BShark you've been to to many Dicks!

@Crimsonorblue22 said in Silence of the flock:

@BShark you've been to to many Dicks!

OH MY GOD PHRASING

@drgnslayr

Yeah redshirting is no longer something coaches have leverage over a player to stick around and develop with the one-time transfer rule the way it is. Before a redshirt kind of locked them in because if they transferred after a redshirt year they still had another sit-out year in most cases wherever they went. Now redshirting doesn't really bind a player to KU. No idea how you massage a situation like that anymore.

Hopefully the 4 freshman have patience because after this year every one of them has a chance at PT in 22. KU is going to be extremely inexperienced and young the way the roster is shaping up. Braun, Yesufu & Harris the only locks to come back that will be in the rotation. Perhaps KU can make Jalen stick another year but we're hearing the opposite. If the freshman return & all 4 incoming recruits make it to campus Self has 2 open spots to fill in the spring (assuming Wilson goes pro). Can imagine he'll be hitting the portal for an experienced wing & big to balance out all that youth.

This year is kind of a catch 22 situation. The roster is so deep none of the freshman may play outside mop up minutes. But next year those same kids will be in the starting lineup/rotation with very little experience which isn't ideal either. Usually those freshman have a better chance at PT their first year which accelerates the development curve for them. I see 22/23 as a real transition/rebuild year.

@Crimsonorblue22

Dicksportinggoods?

At least the backcourt should be solid enough in 22. Harris/Yesufu/Pettiford/Cuffe in the 1-2 spots with Braun/Dick/Rice/Adams for the wing/forward spots. I wouldn't be surprised if Self was on the hunt for a high scoring guard transfer in the spring.

The real intrigue will be in the post. Clemence/Adams/Udeh/Ejiofer. Again I can see Self looking for a veteran to help these young guys along.

I really like the look of the back court and don't think they need an immediate impact transfer there tbh.

@BeddieKU23 said in Silence of the flock:

@Crimsonorblue22

Dicksportinggoods?

That would be a perfect NIL. Where are they based? Just checked, according to google it is Pennsylvania, too bad...

@Marco said in Silence of the flock:

@BeddieKU23 said in Silence of the flock:

@Crimsonorblue22

Dicksportinggoods?

That would be a perfect NIL. Where are they based? Just checked, according to google it is Pennsylvania, too bad...

Definitely, they are all over the northeast where I'm from.

@BeddieKU23

Yes...

I think it's harder to know which players will stick around. I don't even think some of the players know anywhere in advance. Remy is an example of that.

What I'm getting at... I think coaches, like Self, have to prioritize adjusting their systems to be simplified and easy to pick up quickly. As this happens... it even further encourages a revolving door. I'm wondering how this impacts teams like UVA... focused so much on defense. Can that be taught quickly? Isn't it easier to teach a little fast offense instead?

@drgnslayr

Definitely will be interesting to see how the game trends with the new portal rules. The revolving door may not be as difficult if the majority of the kids you get in are experienced. I would think the transition for kids familiar with P5 D1 coaching, practice etc would make it easier for them to pick things up in a new system. I think it will be something to watch with all KU's transfers early.

I believe the Big-12 for example has upwards of 50 new transfer players for this year because of the new rules. Half the league added 6 or more transfers in one year. Completely new teams really. The Big-12 will be interesting to watch to see what happens.

I would be interested to know - though we have obviously benefited - what everyone's thoughts are on the new transfer rules.

@BeddieKU23 of course! You know me

@BeddieKU23 the dicks in Lawrence is small

@Crimsonorblue22 yeah, probably too small to offer much, I guess.

@Marco

My first impression is positive. Give players freedom. Give them more to play for and improve! This will create a better "stepping stone" path for players to work their way up to D1 fame that may translate into a high NBA draft spot.

Now I realize it will have an impact in many areas and it is still too soon to see what happens. Will it strictly poach the talented players away from smaller schools? I think it likely. However.. maybe there will come a natural flow of players being available at smaller schools that aren't getting the PT at a big school. I think it will load schools like Kansas with depth. Just how much does it help Kansas to go 10 - 14 players deep? It is logical that practices are better and if someone gets hurt or under-performs you have replacements. I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking this but I hope we don't become the next Alabama in college football... where they have 5-star recruits lining their bench. How depressing it would be to compare to Alabama... and their fans are bloated with expectations, and often total disappointment.

I like that we aren't always favored. I like that we aren't just a team of 5-star recruits. I like the fact I don't expect us to win a NC every year, or even close.

I like college basketball to have Cinderella teams going far in March... largely because they kept quality players for more than one year.

Guess I'll reluctantly give ESPN more money for the + so I can watch more games. I already pay ESPN to watch their channels but they want more more more. With 9! 9! games on some lower tier channel I'd miss a quarter of the season if I didn't purchase it. Oh well, I want to watch so I'll grumble and get out the credit card. Too bad it wasn't like netflix where we all could share the same log in! My TV has ACC network and SEC network so I doubt Duke or Kentucky ever have to play games on such a low rated platform. BIG is great but even a lot of their games end up on BIG+.

ESPN+ has been great for me, lots of Bundesliga and La Liga games. If you aren't into that football though...lots of very low tier college sports on there. Not great.

@BShark I don't about you, but I think that the NFL - the whole product - basically sucks. Give me college ball and the rivalries any day.

@Marco I haven't watched an entire NFL game this year since Chiefs Ravens...

I typically watch the Chiefs, but now they suck again so not even that.

The NFL doesn't suck in my view. It bothers me a lot that it dominates sports coverage, as well as college football at the expense of other sports. MLB has fallen victim to this and quietly moved their World Series schedule a few years back to starting on a Tuesday and ending the following Wednesday. Previously the series started on a Saturday night and would end on a Sunday night. So four of the seven games would be on weekend nights. I always loved an epic game 7 on a Sunday night. Now if they go 7, every other person is preoccupied with their work schedules, kids leagues, etc and viewership goes down. And it's all because Fox doesn't want baseball ruining its football ratings. So in my mind Fox sucks more than football or ESPN which is making me pay twice to watch their programming.

What if ESPN quietly upped their monthly charge for everyone by a couple of bucks and then let us all peruse ESPN+ without ponying up even more money? I know I'd end up paying about the same if they did that but it would still feel like we're getting what we're paying for instead of you loyal subscribers to ESPN now have to pay more if you want to watch your favorite teams.

@wissox Not all cable systems carry or offer (or have capacity to carry) all the ESPNs. Many of us have to buy either a higher level or a sports package to get News or Classic.

Paying a la carte for an additional ESPN service is precisely whay many consumers are clamoring for--paying for what they want and not a bunch of other crap. I will be dead by the time cable service let you select everything, but in the meantime I will be happy anytime I can just buy -- or not buy -- individual channels for streaming.

Most importantly, having a high level of paid viewership for KU does can only help KU and the Big 12 to have more access as sports broadcasting contracts and schedules get developed.

@mayjay Oh you're always the pragmatist making my dinosaurish ways look like i'm the stuck in the 70's guy!! I do like the ALA Carte model of cable/dish or whatever. I really don't want to go to a totally streaming type option for viewing. I like my remote control.

@wissox I hate my 4 remote controls!..LG TV, Sony receiver, cable box, and Roku. And soon our 1 year promotional cable package will go up by $85, so we will be going into streaming more extensively. Peacock, Paramount, HBO Max, and probably Fubo. I guess it's time for my 4 month ESPN+ subscription, too. Of course, Amazon Prime for more than shipping!

What a mess!

@mayjay said in Silence of the flock:

@wissox I hate my 4 remote controls!..LG TV, Sony receiver, cable box, and Roku. And soon our 1 year promotional cable package will go up by $85, so we will be going into streaming more extensively. Peacock, Paramount, HBO Max, and probably Fubo. I guess it's time for my 4 month ESPN+ subscription, too. Of course, Amazon Prime for more than shipping!

What a mess!

Here's the thing though, with all the different streaming services available, we're not too far away from a point where cable will be the cheaper option again compared to streaming because of how many platforms you'd have to pay for to get the same options with cable.

Netflix, Disney+ (with the bundle), HBO, Prime, Paramount, Peacock, and I'm sure I'm missing something is about $100 per month, plus a streaming option like YouTube TV, Sling, Fubo, or any other platform for live TV is starting to push $50/month even for the cheaper options, plus you have to have internet to stream so that's about $100 on it's own in a lot of urban areas.

I've looked into going back to cable because of how much it costs to stream now.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Unfortunately, here it would run @ $300. Local monopolies suck.

I know there's a lot of games on espn+, my mom and probably my sister won't get. Mom lives in small town, sister lives on a farm, rural area in sc ks. My mom hardly can leave house and she is a diehard fan. My sister and hubby are too. Sucks for them.

@Crimsonorblue22 Yes, that's an issue for sure. My mom likes to watch games of all sorts and frequently calling me up asking what channel to find it on, like what numbers to push on the remote. The worst was when the Cubs were playing game six of the NLCS to go to the freaking world series for the first time since 1945 and she couldn't find the channel it was on because Fox was showing KU against TCU. Can you imagine a game between the Cubs and Dodgers of historic significance being relegated to FS1 because the chosen network of MLB wanted to show a horrible KU football team? I hate the Cubs but I'm still obviously pissed off at MLB because they are so stupid. Compared to most problems in the world it's small change I admit, but it's just insane.

Where is the damn remote?!

I paid a fortune for a top shelf universal remote and all it did was make my tv control situation worse. On top of that.. from time to time it will say it needs to be reprogrammed and it makes me take about 20 programming steps to start working again.

The person that figures out a single remote that will really do like these universal remotes claim... and easy setup... will become the next Bill Gates!

@drgnslayr You may have that in your pocket already which means Bill Gates has already benefited from it!

@wissox you’d think. if only they hadn’t named the windows phone “The Windows Phone”. What a horrible name.

If you are to buy the streaming services all on your own, its definitely expensive. Fortunate for me we pay for Prime/Disney and get Netflix/Paramount/Peacock for free sharing. If all these platforms crack down on sharing they will lose even more back to cable

Curious if anyone in here uses IPTV on a VPN... experiences?

Too much excellent programming on streaming for us to go back to high tier cable.

I am going to have to snatch me up some ESPN+ this year myself. I want to see the vast majority of Jayhawk games