🏀 KuBuckets Archive

I've always been kind of like everyone just needs to calm down about Fran. I'm fully on board. He was unbearable tonight. Low key making sure he didn't favor KState too much, but arguing refs calls all night while just turning a blind eye to the various strange calls against us.

Wow Jaylen Wilson. In a game he has to carry the load in the later stages, he does. Too bad Bill called the TO. Not sure why he did with 4 seconds left on the shot clock, but ouch, that was a brutal time to call it.

Speaking of fouls and Fran, Grady and KJ both committed some dumb fouls to go along with the dumb calls against them. Actually, I'm not sure Grady committed more than 1 foul in that game, but when you reach and you've got two or three you're playing with fire. Ultimately it cost us as attrition made it a two man team.

This team is one key injury away from going from elite to average. Of course there's a lot of teams that can ill afford a key injury, but I don't see anyone coming in as a starter off the bench and contributing replacement level stats. When DeJuan went down, the rest of the state of Kansas outside of Manhattan became very very nervous.

DeJuan was masterful as a point guard again. Offensively it wasn't a rembrandt or even a Warhol. (a lesser painter in my view). But we don't necessarily need him scoring.

The stupid FT shooting early in the half sealed our fate. When you miss 5 in a row it just makes the rest of the game harder. KJ, who's been improving was the biggest miscreant but McCullar missed his only two and we kind of expect him to convert those as an experienced transfer.

Fran is still blathering on about fouls. He also was heard saying Dicky at one point. Understandable mistake.

It was fun to see a good competitive KState team. I think it's good for us to be challenged like that. Last year was an anomaly as they shot lights out and the kid who did so in the first half, Pack?, was so excited about playing for the wildkitties he transferred. There's no shame in losing this game. Tough place to play. We battled back after a really tough start. We got victimized some by referees. But we didn't play a whole 45 minutes and it ultimately led to a 2nd loss on the season.

Honestly, i don't understand the Fran haters. He's just an announcer. He's not really offensive like many others. He knows the game. Knows the coaches. There are way worse. What, do you just want a homer announcer every game?? I'd be fine with that, but it's not realistic.

@rockchalkjayhawk

It's proven time and again to it just sounding like BIG SOUR GRAPES against us at every turn and he has definitely made it worse with him always intentionally rooting for the other team. Frankly (pun intended) he isn't good enough to coach and is like a hanger on who goes to the party even though he wasn't invited. He thinks he's so much better and could outcoach Self and it shows.
And yeah, his homerism for OU when his son was there was just wrong. He never should have called any games those years.

YES! I normally don't complain too much about the announcers but last night Fran was way overboard. Actively rooting for KState over and over. He needs to at least show some level of neutrality. That was bad. And they talk about the 'announcer's jinx' during the game and 100% he intentionally tried to do it to KU at the end. At they are inbounding with whatever, 10 seconds left, he throws out all the perfection KU has in these situations this season. It was a purposeful move.

@rockchalkjayhawk As you can see in my post I was in your camp but last night just pushed me out to the dark side. I guess I could go back and watch and listen for how many times he disagreed with a call against KState. I really don't think it happened.

When I turned on the game on the main ESPN I thought ok, good we'll get the A team, maybe Bilas, or others. Instead even on the main channel we still get him.

In my recap I should have mentioned Grady's defense. He was amazing with 2 blocks and 4 steals. Several steals negated because of phantom foul calls.

Fran sucks. I have nothing more to say that won't be offensive..

@BeddieKU23 I didn't watch the game last night (yes, I am communist. And it was my wife's birthday). But FF has been blatantly anti-KU in every game he's called this year. He takes great pleasure in watching us do poorly. I was going to say get beat, but that rarely happens.

Personally.... I wish we had been shellacked last night. We haven't been playing well during the B12 season except for WV. We need to be pushed and I'm not sure this one-point loss is going to kick us in the backside.

This team isn't playing anywhere near their potential.

What stuck out in this game was Kevin. The worst game as a Jayhawk and I saw this coming. HIs body language has been bad for a while. He's playing way too seriously. Needs to chill out. Needs to smile! His seriousness is part of his overthinking his game and we know what happens to players when they overthink... they play sluggishly, telegraph their moves, and play slowly.

Notice his body language versus JWil in this same game.... at the end when JWil was called for the bogus foul where he reached in. He smiled! He wasn't buying the call but he grinned.

Juan hasn't really been on his game lately, too. Not sure why.

It's frustrating watching sluggish games like this but that is how it goes, especially at this time of year. Glad we aren't peaking now anyways. Hopefully, we will peak at the right time like we did last year.

Fran drove me crazy. Tang is the real deal and I'm glad we can't sleep through anymore KSU games.

We need a shake-up on this team. Maybe drop several in a row and then have a team meeting. These guys are playing on cruise control. Spotty defense in this game and sometimes just horrible. Playing tough defense is the catalyst for this team!

Interest on the "shake up" @drgnslayr

Kevin goes to the bench? We've been needing a 6th man spark. Yesefu to the lineup? I'd try it.

@nuleafjhawk

He talks complementary of KU all the time but his in-game, in the moment commentary is nothing short of biased.

This game was lost simply because KU couldn't shoot the ball from the perimeter. 6-29 just doesn't cut it, a majority of the shots were wide-open in rhythm takes. Sounds like tired legs & it looked like tired legs out there. Self-mentioned them being tired coming in. Shot 64% inside the arc. Missed 10 FT's, another growing issue.

At some point this team is going to have to shoot the ball with consistency to win games like this. Last night was a mess shooting the ball. There wasn't really any point in the game that KU strung together 4–5-minute stretches of made baskets. This game shouldn't have been this close.

IDK, but I think you all are discrediting KState as a formidable opponent. KU didn't have their A game yet could have/should have pulled it off anyways. When you play a really good team in their super amped up gym and come away with an OT loss I don't see the sky as falling. McCullar had zero points because he only took 2 shots. 1 I remember he missed badly on a 3. He's mature enough to stop shooting when his shot isn't there. So a zero point, 5 foul game has bad optics I agree, but he contributed 7 boards, played some D like he always does.

In short, this isn't a bad loss. If anything it's showing a trend for this team to start out slowly before making a stirring comeback. It'd be kind of nice for us fans to just see them do as they did to WVU and kind of cruise through the entire match.

@BeddieKU23 said in Shut up Fran. Nice Game Jaylen. Shut up Fran:

This game was lost simply because KU couldn't shoot the ball from the perimeter. 6-29 just doesn't cut it, a majority of the shots were wide-open in rhythm takes. Sounds like tired legs & it looked like tired legs out there. Self-mentioned them being tired coming in. Shot 64% inside the arc. Missed 10 FT's, another growing issue.

At some point this team is going to have to shoot the ball with consistency to win games like this. Last night was a mess shooting the ball. There wasn't really any point in the game that KU strung together 4–5-minute stretches of made baskets. This game shouldn't have been this close.

And once again , how many dam layups did w miss - -damm

McCullar only shooting twice - - it's like I have heard from other Coach's ' and been told on teams that I use to play on also.

The difference between an Average shooter & a Great shooter - - -Average shooter he misses a couple and he is DONE rest of the game he can't get rid of the ball fast enough - -no confidence at all.

A Great shooter ? - -He puts up a shot misses and the very next time he is putting it up again without hesitation - -because a Great Shooter thinks EVERY SHOT is going in. All the confidence in the World.

@cragarhawk said in Shut up Fran. Nice Game Jaylen. Shut up Fran:

Interest on the “shake up” @drgnslayr
Kevin goes to the bench? We’ve been needing a 6th man spark. Yesefu to the lineup? I’d try it.

I'm thinking I would send him to the Comedy Club this weekend for a laugh. He's given us one helluva year so far and I think he just started bearing down too hard on himself. Last night he was out of character.

@jayballer67

Yeah its been awful

How many of our games in a row were single digit wins. When it came to crunch time the other team made errors and we hit a shot or two. This one was decided by our errors and they hit the easy lob and we hit the game winner but screwed it up. In hindsight Bill over coached with the last two timeouts. It happens and reminds me of Marty Schottenheimer in the Chief's playoffs at crunch time when it's 4th and 15 and he would take a TO and set up a screen pass.
Let's see what happens in the tough games coming up.
I give KSU a lot of credit for their clutch play and game plan.

I can usually stomach Fran too, but had to turn the sound off and listen to Jayhawk Radio Network. They are so knowledgeable about the game and our players. Yes maybe a wee bit biased, and yes the 2 or 3 second delay takes some getting used to, but made the game way better for me.

Played a tough team in a tough environment with shitty refs on an off night… and still almost ekked out an overtime win. Water under the bridge. I’m guessing that going to the Phog with a loss burning in KUs stomach doesn’t bode too well for the horny toads. Beware all those who enter!

I always turn the volume down when it's Frannie , and listen to the KU network. - -Not that I'm crazy about Hanni & Gurley but still there have been times where I felt like I wish I could crawlf in the tv and just tell Frannie to shut the hell up

Long run, not too worried about last night. McCullar had his worst game of the season and Harris had one of his worst games. Self, I'm sure obviously wishes he hadn't called that timeout, but in the heat of the moment, it was the right decision because KU had nothing going when Self began calling for it.

The most concerning thing to me from last night was Gradey Dick. Most of his misses were short which is indicative of tired legs. Was it just a bad game, or are we seeing him hit the freshman wall and getting into territory he isn't physically used to?

KSU is a legit team and their half court defense is one of the best in the country.

@cragarhawk said in Shut up Fran. Nice Game Jaylen. Shut up Fran:

Interest on the "shake up" @drgnslayr

Kevin goes to the bench? We've been needing a 6th man spark. Yesefu to the lineup? I'd try it.

I would start Bobby over Yes. Bobby is more important to our future, and needs the reps.

I can’t decide who Fran’s calls should offend more KU or the opponent? He spends the entire game coaching against KU - basically implying the other coach is too dumb to get it right. It’s pretty obnoxious from the other side too. I’d rather he discussed what was happening instead of what he would do. Figure out what these employed coaches are doing and talk about their strategies instead of your failed ideas!

Could be worse, but his schtick has worn thin.

I told fran he was full of s***, and he told me I needed to get out more, LOL. On Twitter. He had compared a freshman to Frank Mason, and I told him the kid had a long way to go before he could be compared to Frank. He replied he knew Frank better than me, and I should go breath some fresh air and get out more...lol.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Shut up Fran. Nice Game Jaylen. Shut up Fran:

The most concerning thing to me from last night was Gradey Dick. Most of his misses were short which is indicative of tired legs. Was it just a bad game, or are we seeing him hit the freshman wall and getting into territory he isn’t physically used to?

Solid post...

Is it possible that Gradey just isn't in D1 shape yet?

The pace of D1 is exhausting and he's being asked to go 30+ a game. Maybe his legs are tired.

We just listened to Self mention cutting down on practice to rest his squad. That sounds more like he is admitting we don't have enough bench.

I've been counting on MJ coming on this year... but I'm starting to doubt this. Just my opinion... but maybe he's not 100% healthy.

Fran usually has his bias veiled. He is a professional and he works hard to keep it objective. Occasionally -- and last night was one of those nights -- he can't help himself and he leaks. Paraphrasing one nugget "KState is doing well to keep up with KU right now despite the calls going their way."

I posit that there was really no period in that game where the calls were going KU's way.

@bskeet always biased, moreso last night.

Most announcers are bad tbh. I wish I could have it muted but still have the other sounds.

@BShark

I'm pretty sure within a few years we will be able to design our own commentators for sports events with the help of Ai.

@drgnslayr What is he. like during practice? Could it be that he was rated too highly to begin with?

@COHawk

I'm talking about Artificial Intelligence. It is something we will all hear about more soon as it is starting to impact us in many ways.

Eventually, we will be able to program our TV's commentators with the voice style we want and we can have it tinted toward our team. It is so powerful it can do it in real-time and comment on play as it happens.

I know that. I was replying to your comment above about MJ.

@COHawk

Apologies. MJ showed some spark in one game. It was enough to get the attention that we could use him regularly in the lineup as a big guard. Then he disappeared.

It has been reported that he's gone through several medical issues this year, including more recently something that would continue to be reoccurring.

If he was healthy, he would quickly become a force. Here is Self's words: “The key to having our team have a great season in my opinion is MJ coming through and one of those bigs coming through.”

With the upcoming games in the schedule, it will be really difficult to find minutes for a big and/or MJ to develop.

@bskeet said in Shut up Fran. Nice Game Jaylen. Shut up Fran:

Fran usually has his bias veiled. He is a professional and he works hard to keep it objective. Occasionally -- and last night was one of those nights -- he can't help himself and he leaks. Paraphrasing one nugget "KState is doing well to keep up with KU right now despite the calls going their way."

I posit that there was really no period in that game where the calls were going KU's way.

He wants to establish a narrative about KU getting all the calls. This is an underhanded way to discredit us. The question becomes...why does he want to discredit us? It is pressure from ESPN through their vast dealings with Nike? It is just a personal bias? I really don't know. He literally spends the whole game discussing how to beat us, he completely ignores blatant fouls against us, and magnifies any foul we commit that isn't called. I know Scott Drew filled his mind up with crap concerning the officiating at the Phog a few years back. Is he trying to secretly sabotage us?

No kidding... I hate listening to Fran. Like at all. But I admit I should count my blessings. Atleast we aren't listening to Walton every night. Just shoot me... In the head. Alot ....

@kjayhawks When Bill Walton speaks

I miss Max Falkenstein. I never listened to the tv announcers when Max was calling the games. He was simply amazing. Everyone else (tv, radio, internet) since Max and then Bob Davis retired has sounded second rate at best in comparison.

@dylans Max and Bob were simply the best. I know I’m biased but never loved listening to a radio call like with them. In the old days the TV wasn’t delayed 5 or 10 seconds and you could watch while the radio played. Hanni is a great dude and a jayhawk but his voice just doesn’t do it for me.