🏀 KuBuckets Archive

KU will begin the 2023-24 season ranked #1 in the AP poll. Duke is 2, Purdue is 3, Michigan St. is 4, Marquette is 5, UConn is 6, Houston is 7, Creighton is 8, Tennessee is 9, Florida Atlantic is 10.

There are 4 Big 12 schools ranked in the preseason poll with the other two being Texas at 18 and Baylor at 20.

The Maui field is going to be insane. 5 of the 8 teams are ranked in the top 11. For KU Tonkin Maui, they will potentially have to go through two top 5 teams as Marquette seems the likely second round opponent and potentially Purdue in the championship.

Illinois is ranked 25th so our first exhibition hame will be a ranked match up. In the regular season, KU will play between 2-4 ranked opponents with Kentucky and UConn being basically guaranteed ranked match ups and KU likely facing two more in Maui. Missouri and Indiana are both receiving votes so possibly two more ranked match ups, but not guaranteed.

For good reason https://theathletic.com/4949096/2023/10/16/hunter-dickinson-kansas-basketball-bill-self/?source=emp_shared_article ↗

@FarmerJayhawk said in KU is #1:

For good reason https://theathletic.com/4949096/2023/10/16/hunter-dickinson-kansas-basketball-bill-self/?source=emp_shared_article ↗

This is an awesome article. Bill is in the lab.

He should be a walking double double

Bill again should love this veteran laden team.

Hunter hi low with freak athlete/quickest jumper off the floor I’ve seen in KJ - both unselfish

Juan too unselfish but great D and ball mover

Kev gotta be stud Kev and get that shot figured out but he’s a dog on D

Elmarko needs to play loose right now he’s probably overthinking it but good athlete and smart

Bench gonna be yet again the rough spot

Gotta tell ya, I’m not sold on Hunter being a “banger” down low. Seems like he likes to float away from the basket. HCBS loves the inside physicality and intimidation a big guy can provide. Maybe KJ can help with that when HD goes high post, but I believe this will be a different type of team. I trust Self to find a way to make it work.

Just my opinion based on limited games.

Yeah i really am not sold on Hunter being some next level answer for Bill. To me he is still the big slow 2nd team All Big 10 mask wearing a-hole who steps on people until he proves otherwise.

I thought I saw another poll -- coaches? -- that had Purdue #1 and KU #2.

@approxinfinity said in KU is #1:

Yeah i really am not sold on Hunter being some next level answer for Bill. To me he is still the big slow 2nd team All Big 10 mask wearing a-hole who steps on people until he proves otherwise.

Ya I have to agree some at least. To me I'm not just quite sure about his fit. I think with the way we have got out and run the last few yrs an up tempo team , Hunter seems out of place. - -Now is he just slower getting up the court OR is he just some what lazy running the floor.

Sure when we run half court offense then he might be ok, now from the small display we saw he didn't impress me as a rebounder, he didn't impress me as a rim protector -- he just looked lik a sloth compared to the rest of the team up and down the floor. - In the exhibition other then a couple of times he wasn't posting up - he was on the perimeter shooting three's. during these games anyways he just kind of looked out of place.. - Now that could all be a one time thing not sure, but from what i saw he just looked like out of place compared to the rest of the team --I dunno hope I'm wrong cause I think we are at our best when we push tempo - get out and go - I didn't see Humter doing that much, more like half court unless they held it up for him

The article got me really excited. If it's as good as it sounds, we should be playing a week or two after the spring solstice, hanging another banner, and have another jersey retired.

If Juan, Kevin, and Hunter can stay healthy then I think this will be one of Self's better KU teams. Hunter is an experienced 7'1'' and can score in the post and shoot 3's. That's something Self has rarely if ever had and I think it pairs well with Juan and Kevin.

Depth is my only concern. If Juan, Kevin, or Hunter get injured it makes the team much worse. I actually think Kevin is our most important player and I'm actively praying for his ankles. I'm also hoping Self can add a 2nd half transfer. Right now we have a pretty salty 7-man rotation plus Braun and McDowell. Getting another body would be big for this team.

Serious question.

Are y'all excited for this upcoming season? Is your excitement the same as always?

Or has the off-season of events (positive and negative) had an impact on your thoughts/opinions etc.

Interested to hear

First exhibition game is two weeks from today. I had to look that up, so I guess I'm not quite as excited as usual.

With the Jayhawks, I've never been crazy about transfers (in or out), and this year I'm really dissappointed that Udey and Earnest are gone. Guys who transfer in and stick around for a couple years (like Kev) at least earn their wings, but the one-and-done dudes like Remy... meh.

Also, I think I'm less excited about college sports in general due to the amount of money dictating everything--from the NIL stuff to facilities/academics to conference expansion all purely for financial reasons.

I am ALL IN on this being a really fun squad and season. There will ge time for others to break through and shine. Will Furphy get as much playing time as GD? Will Coach get his buy-in from all? So many questions but I don't doubt Coach's abilities and he will get the ship righted with so many different and new players.

@BeddieKU23

I had to dig deeper and came to realization that unconsciously I have not thought much about this season as of yet due to other factors such as tragic circumstances around the world.

Hopefully my interest will increase when games actually begin.

@DanR said in KU is #1:

First exhibition game is two weeks from today. I had to look that up, so I guess I'm not quite as excited as usual.

With the Jayhawks, I've never been crazy about transfers (in or out), and this year I'm really dissappointed that Udey and Earnest are gone. Guys who transfer in and stick around for a couple years (like Kev) at least earn their wings, but the one-and-done dudes like Remy... meh.

Also, I think I'm less excited about college sports in general due to the amount of money dictating everything--from the NIL stuff to facilities/academics to conference expansion all purely for financial reasons.

💯

@BeddieKU23 said in KU is #1:

Serious question.

Are y'all excited for this upcoming season? Is your excitement the same as always?

Or has the off-season of events (positive and negative) had an impact on your thoughts/opinions etc.

Interested to hear

For fans who have been watching since the Danny days like me, I’m finding this transition period challenging to latch onto. Transfers, portal, NIL, IARP. Big changes. Will take some getting used to.

I feel like I’m not connecting with the team as much as I have in the past. College hoops has always been a big business, but now it’s like you can see the sausage being made, and who wants to see that?

Is that counting Illinois game?

I remember how excited i was for the Rush Chalmers Wright Downs Kleinmann class to start play. When Rush reverse dunked on a transition sprint to start the season I got goosebumps. Pretty sure I wont ever feel like that about an incoming class again.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in KU is #1:

Is that counting Illinois game?

Forgot that one... that's the 29th @ 5 pm on BTN

@DanR It's a different world than what I grew up in. Back in the day - NOBODY transferred. You gave a college your word, they gave you a scholarship and you were married to each other for the next four years.

I am ........97% less enthused about college sports than I was 20 years (longer, actually) ago. It's a circus.

Our exhibition game against Illinois is 11 days away from today, getting the juices flowing I'm ready

The transfer rate across college sports hasn’t gone up all that much the last 20 years, and mirrors the rate growth among the student body at large (which that rate is actually way higher) https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/transfers/RES_TransCompD1TeamsSlides.pdf ↗

To answer the question, I’m less excited because football is good and I’m previous years the season has over in all but name. Now every Saturday we have a lot to play for and it crowds out my interest in basketball. Because I’ve always been a KU football fan first. Basketball was just a nice perk.

@FarmerJayhawk said in KU is #1:

The transfer rate across college sports hasn’t gone up all that much the last 20 years, and mirrors the rate growth among the student body at large (which that rate is actually way higher) https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/transfers/RES_TransCompD1TeamsSlides.pdf ↗

Am I reading that report wrong? The transfer rate literally doubled in 17 years for Mens Basketball from 2004 to 2021, and that doesn't include data from the last two years.

I was a Senior in HS when Danny and the Miracles won the tourney. Hutch CC won the JUCO tourney that same year and where I went to HS, we went to state 3 out of the 4 yrs. I was a fan prior to that, but that year made an impression upon me.

Over the last few years, it seems like there has been more drama. Maybe I am paying more attention to it because my life is not as busy or it could be that things are being reported more with news available 24/7. Probably a little of both.

I am overall less enthused about what has happened this year with the AM situation and the transfers of both Udeh and Zuby. Once the season starts, I will be fired up for the team to succeed. It is a new transition or change that is occurring and as we get older, we tend to not like change.

@DanR yes, I was citing the NCAA as a whole since basketball is one of, if not the smallest sports by roster size. And as such it’s easy to chalk it up to 2 things, neither of which have to do with players being soft or whatever. 1) the one and done rule which meant more underclassmen leaving early which causes more openings at elite schools, ergo more transfers. And 2) increased coaching turnover.

@BeddieKU23 said in KU is #1:

Serious question.

Are y'all excited for this upcoming season? Is your excitement the same as always?

Or has the off-season of events (positive and negative) had an impact on your thoughts/opinions etc.

Interested to hear

Being a big baseball fan, and college football fan means I don't pay too much attention, and the season takes a few weeks to warm up on me. Oddly, the 4th #1 preseason ranking in Bills career makes me pessimistic because all the other years ended in 1st weekend losses.

I loved the early season hype my first year of being a Jayhawk when at Late Night with Larry Brown, the very first Late Night, they confidently proclaimed they're going to Dallas which they did, and easily could have won it. #26-14foulcount I guess because I was new to KU that season remains my favorite as they just had an incredible season. Loads of talent, legendary coach. Wow, such fun!

@wissox said in KU is #1:

Being a big baseball fan, and college football fan means I don’t pay too much attention, and the season takes a few weeks to warm up on me. Oddly, the 4th #1 preseason ranking in Bills career makes me pessimistic because all the other years ended in 1st weekend losses.
I loved the early season hype my first year of being a Jayhawk when at Late Night with Larry Brown, the very first Late Night, they confidently proclaimed they’re going to Dallas which they did, and easily could have won it. #26-14foulcount I guess because I was new to KU that season remains my favorite as they just had an incredible season. Loads of talent, legendary coach. Wow, such fun!

I was there too. Great year. Great memories.

I'll chime in since I asked the question and the responses have been good here.

I'm happy the offseason is coming to an end. I can't lie it was exhausting and there were more negative moments then there should be. I'm disappointed and I don't think that's going away anytime soon but I'll move on best I can. Games will help.

I'm going to lean on Juan, Kev & KJ to bring my enthusiasm back up to where it should be early on. Schedule is brutal so we'll be in some tough games soon enough.

@BeddieKU23 I hear you. It's like riding a rollercoaster in a thunderstorm.

The transfer portal has us constantly guessing who's staying.. who's leaving... who's coming... who's going somewhere else.. I think that's going to be something we have to get used to.

Meanwhile, overshadowing everything for 5 yrs has been the NCAA investigation and threat of penalty. All that waiting — if / when or where lightening will strike— is fatiguing.

Throw in the Arterio Morris debacle and it's been a decidedly un-fun e-ride.

The good thing about this moment is that the storm has passed and the ride is now out of the loopy-loops, the idiot who was about to ruin the ride for everyone was kicked off, and looks like we can look forward to the fun part now.

@bskeet

Good analogy and fitting.

We've had an unprecedented amount of success under Self and there will always be some low points sprinkled in no matter how good we have it. Seemed like the low points piled on this offseason and as you put it hopefully the storm has passed.

I fully support the transfer portal despite some of its warts. The amount of turnover from this past season's team was alarming and disappointing. Especially when you think 1-2 of them that left could have been pillars for future teams. Hopefully it all works out for the better. It needs to

The feast or famine nature of our past seasons is kind of astounding. 2017 Pounded by Oregon in E8 (at least we got that far) 40 miles from home. 2018 FF blowout against a great great team. (but that never happened now) Success. 2019 Embarrassing blowout against Auburn 2020 National Champs! 2021 Embarrassing blowout against USC. 2022 National Champs! 2023 Relatively embarrassing loss to Arkansas and their striptease coach. Not much middle ground there. Either we go far and its fun or we bow out early getting blown out. Or put it this way, odd year, embarrassed, even year great success. So really what could go wrong this year? Nothing, it's an even year!

Furphy is out a week or so with shin splits. Not good. Kind of the guy who can't afford to miss practice time.

Interesting to hear Self kind of hint that McDowell may be getting more minutes then we think. We shall see if it's just some coach speak

@wissox Never really understood the "embarrassed" narrative. Disappointed, but never embarrassed!

@DanR TBH I have said the same thing to people sometimes who say things like 'this is so embarrassing' when their team is getting beat bad. I had a weak moment and used it here!!

I'd be more excited if Hunter wasn't such a douche

@wissox

I can't remember all of the games you mentioned but the losses against Oregon, Villanova and Arkansas were strikingly familiar in that Jay Wright, Dana Altman and Eric Musselman all exploited a player matchup weakness that KU could not stop. Maybe because of a lack of quality defensive depth.

@focojayhawk said in KU is #1:

I'd be more excited if Hunter wasn't such a douche

Why is he a "douche"??

@focojayhawk We could probably use a good big man douche. Can he grit his teeth and yell? Can he dunk the ball? - one hand or two is fine. Can he take a charge? Can he intimidate the opponent? I'll nickname him right now - Massengill.

@Zabudda said in KU is #1:

@wissox

I can't remember all of the games you mentioned but the losses against Oregon, Villanova and Arkansas were strikingly familiar in that Jay Wright, Dana Altman and Eric Musselman all exploited a player matchup weakness that KU could not stop. Maybe because of a lack of quality defensive depth.

I think you're thinking of the 2016 Villanova game when Perry Ellis's lack of athleticismwas exploited. 2018 Villanova was just a flat out better team than KU and nobody was beating them that tournament.

Dickinson gives KU an edge and swagger and I'm fine with being the villain this year. Those of y'all that are Chiefs fans already know what it feels like to cheer for the villain because the Chiefs have become that team now because of their success under Mahomes. I've embraced it for years now with the Astros and I'm ready to embrace it with basketball this year.

@Texas-Hawk-10 You embraced a team cheating their way to a world series?

@Woodrow Let a Wisconsin fan tell you why he's a douche. Calls the Badgers scumbags in a podcast last year. The day after the fatal shooting at MSU he shows up for a game in Madison wearing a ski mask. During the game in Michigan later in the year stomps on Tyler Wahl who is prone on the floor. I'll be honest and say there is some doubt whether it was intentional or not, it looked like it could have been, of course from my perspective it was intentional (!) but it was not a good month to be a foe of him, and while I love that he's a Jayhawk because he's very good, I also dislike it at the same time.

@Texas-Hawk-10 What makes the Chiefs the villain under Mahomes? Do you mean because of their success, they're disliked?

@approxinfinity I don't look at the Chiefs as villains.

@approxinfinity Of course the Chiefs are villains! Tom Brady was a villain, Lebron is a villain, Wilt was a villain, the Yankees were villains... Yes, all highly successful teams and players get hated. As to the Chiefs, if you read the comments on any national sports media for the past 5 years, you will know that ALL calls go the Chiefs' way, that Roger has issued a mandate to make sure Mahomes (the "chosen one") always succeeds, and that the Fix is in so there is no reason to even watch the games. (And any ratings figures about the Chiefs are fake, btw.) Then there are Tyreek, Hunt, Clark, all those felons...

Golly, where ya been?

@wissox said in KU is #1:

@Texas-Hawk-10 You embraced a team cheating their way to a world series?

Every team had their system of sign stealing in place. Nobody gives a damn that Yankees and Red Sox were doing it too and mentioned prominently in that report or that Red Sox won the 2018 World Series by sign stealing as well because it's the Yankees and Red Sox and they're supposed to be great every year. People also forget or ignore that the Astros were a better team away from home in 2017 than they were at MMP.

@approxinfinity said in KU is #1:

@Texas-Hawk-10 What makes the Chiefs the villain under Mahomes? Do you mean because of their success, they're disliked?

The Chiefs have become the villains of the NFL because they're basically the final boss now. They replaced the Patriots in that if you want to win a Super Bowl, you have to go through the Chiefs. There's also the perception that the Chiefs get every questionable call and that Mahomes is as protected as Brady was now. Basically, the Chiefs have the refs in their pockets now.

Also Reid and the Chiefs have a way of taking risks on guys other teams won’t so it appears they prioritize winning above character.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Being a Chiefs fan, I feel otherwise. We get on the wrong side of the calls.

@AsadZ said in KU is #1:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Being a Chiefs fan, I feel otherwise. We get on the wrong side of the calls.

I didn't say the Chiefs don't have bad calls go against them, just that the perception is the Chiefs get all of those calls just like the perception was Brady and Patriots got all the 50/50 calls.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I don't care if Dickinson is edgy unless he beats his chest instead of getting back on defense. I do want to see why Self is so enamored with him.

@Zabudda said in KU is #1:

@Texas-Hawk-10

I don't care if Dickinson is edgy unless he beats his chest instead of getting back on defense. I do want to see why Self is so enamored with him.

He's 7'2", averaged 19-9 the past two seasons, can shoot 40% from 3, and is an elite passing big. There's a reason he was chosen as the preseason B12 POY and if he plays to his potential here, could very well end up winning NPOY under Self.

With Dickinson and KJ on offense, we are going to see a lot of high-low involving those two. Dickinson's 3 point ability also means we should see a lot of lobs as teams have to guard him away from the basket opening up backdoor cuts for McCullar and others.

The reason he's not in the NBA right now is that he isn't a great natural athlete. Basically I'm expecting to see a lot of elements of the 2022 offense and going back to the Aldrich, Morris, Robinson era of having two capable post players on the floor together. It should be fun to see what Self comes up with for this group on offense.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I'm HOPING the Dickenson/KJ combo is like a Withey-TRob combo as more of a bigger clunkier Withey and mini T-Rob...

Bill likes to figure out a way to utilize those weird combinations of players. With HD's range and KJ's jumping/screening ability it should be fun to watch. I'm guessing KJ will have twice the number of dunks as HD and Harris will be racking up the assists at will

Fans and most other qbs respect mahomes, more so than they ever did Brady. He does a lot of commercials and other celebrity events w/other players. Now w/Travis and Taylor we have more fans than any team! Lol😂

@Crimsonorblue22 until they break up, then Swifties will burn Arrowhead to the ground 😂

@FarmerJayhawk I thought all fairy-tales end happily.... 😊😍🥳💫💖🎆🎆🎆🎆

@mayjay you could say it’s a nightmare dressed like a day dream

@Crimsonorblue22 I agree. Mahomes is a fun kid and I really enjoy watching him play. To see the KC's of the world win championships is a lot easier to take than another Boston team or NY team winning.

@FarmerJayhawk said in KU is #1:

@Crimsonorblue22 until they break up, then Swifties will burn Arrowhead to the ground 😂

No, they will all buy the 3 albums with her songs about the breakup and then cry incessantly!

@mayjay 🤣 I think they’re gold.

Hunter Dickinson named AP preseason 1st Team All-American.

Also, allegedly KSU lost their secret scrimmage game against SMU according to Mike Vernon.

@wissox said in KU is #1:

@approxinfinity I don't look at the Chiefs as villains.

Me either. And invoking Houston into this analogy made me throw up in my mouth a little.

I did a little trolling yesterday of the kitty's. - -100 % right read where they got beat by SMU off their boards - - 86-76. - -was said they got beat to death inside on the board- - - Ahh I'm sorry.

Tomlin didn't play, something going on there, not playing till it's cleared up. - -said he may have crossed the line - - -something to do with the NBA, not sure, but that is what was mentioned.- -Not sure what that might be unless it had something to do with their workouts

@bskeet Yes, when PBS Frontline does a 90 minute expose of the Astros cheating ways, well there's a lot of smoke there. Doesn't even matter if Boston/NY cheated as he alleges, that reeks of whataboutism. I suppose since other people cheat on their income taxes we should too!

No secret scrimmage for KU. Illinois is coming right up. What does everyone think?

@stoptheflop I'm just excited! Suppose to be a cold and wet weekend. Ready to watch some fb games and BB. Glad I get the big 10 station. Dang! Chiefs will run over into the BB game.