🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Has officially begun. Never heard of football. Lance who? No idea.

@BShark Lance Stephenson? I’m still not ok with that. Bozo blew a real chance at a natty.

This is Kansas!

We take good coaches and turn them into laughingstocks

@nuleafjhawk said in Basketball Season:

This is Kansas!

We take good coaches and turn them into laughingstocks

What good coach?

@dylans we've had several coaches that had done well in other jobs and tanked when they got here.

It's Sunday, man. Don't be so contrary. Go Chiefs!

@nuleafjhawk Who? Les Miles - out of touch old pervert. Lance Leipold? Where did he win anything of significance? Mangino was an assistant. Terry D2 Allen won at a lower level, but never had success in D1 football. Turner Gill?!? Charlie Weiss was a turd at every stop post Patriots. Clint Bowen - forgot he existed. David Beaty - woof.

@dylans Wow! You're even more sour on KU football than I am.

We all thought Turner Gill was a good hire. Charlie Weis was at least a known entity when he was hired. Nobody knew anything about Les Miles - except that he had a National Championship under his belt.

Who WOULD you be excited about? Whoever it is, KU would destroy him/her.

@dylans Lance won 6 D3 championships. I'm just reporting the facts. You judge whether that's significant.

@dylans said in Basketball Season:

@nuleafjhawk said in Basketball Season:

This is Kansas!

We take good coaches and turn them into laughingstocks

What good coach?

Leipold

@wissox said in Basketball Season:

@dylans Lance won 6 D3 championships. I'm just reporting the facts. You judge whether that's significant.

Agree

@wissox I believe it is significant. He accomplished the biggest thing he could at the level he was. You can't ask for more.

I think if we had last year's OC we'd be ranked about #12 right now

@wissox said in Basketball Season:

@dylans Lance won 6 D3 championships. I'm just reporting the facts. You judge whether that's significant.

1- 3 is significant.

If the coaches were good they would have their program established and winning by year three. That doesn’t happen at KU.

Writing off Lance at this point seems like an overreaction.

This is like listening to a bunch of whiners at a bar talking about divorcing their wives because two weeks after the wedding she burned a steak.

@mayjay have you been to the grocery store lately??? Do you have any idea how expensive a good steak is??

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

Writing off Lance at this point seems like an overreaction.

your right my friend - -- - -way over reacting holy crap. that always seems to be the answer , especially here at KU.- -The guys simple answer is HELL let's fire Coach -ya let's That's a big part of the problem, you want to end up deep in the depths of that HELL HOLE we were in for over a decade- --you wanna be right back n the pit again and be the kickin can start all over again

ya that's right let's start all over again.- - Anyone who has that train of thought doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground for Christs sakes Fire the Coach are you fricken Serious ? -- 4 games into a Season and you wanna fire the Coach. Any one who knows anything should flipping know the progress this dam team /program has made since Lance has been here , from where we were BEFORE he got here until now.

But ya let's fire the Coach and then when we do - - - go to Websters and look up the word continuity , because if we were to fire Coach L we sure the frick don't have any. - -Did people think that we was going to go from the ol rotted out outhouse to Georgia in three fricken years ?- - ya ok then if you thought that then you can believe me when I tell you that I am going to be the fricken Pope tomorrow too lmao.

Do we need changes ? -hell ya ., - -Does JD have to get better ? -Hell ya , Does our OC have to get better -Hell ya- -but again it isn't just the offensive side of the ball.- -Our defense has been sucking butter milk late in the game giving up leads -that's on BORLAND - -THAT'S ON THE DEFENSE

This group is much better then this program was BEFORE Coach L got here -- if your someone who is ready to fire the Head Coach after four games and want to be a band wagon fan then maybe your in the wrong place, maybe you need to find a different past time - Maybe you could take up knitting. Now I'm not saying by far I'm any Saint in this - Do I make fricking ridiculous remarks when I'm hot after a loss?- - sure do- -Do I make a complete ass out of myself a lot of times when we lose ? - -yep sure do, cause I'm thinking with my heart and NOT MY HEAD, - -all logic goes right out the window , then after some time when I've really had time to think about it I think boy- - - some fan you are. -I'm more then happy with our progress

Were never going to make ANY PROGRESS if w just keep firing Coach's like Coach L at the drop of a hat-- -recrits look for continuity --stability in continuity not atmospheres where Coach here today - -gone tomorrow-- I mean dam come on

@nuleafjhawk Nah, we don't eat steak anymore. I've burned too many. Luckily, my wife likes apples and peanut butter.

@jayballer67 I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm not calling for his head right now. He DOES need to get off his ass and do something about the OC. And/or the QB. We don't NEED a Heisman Trophy QB this year. We need someone who can hand the damn ball to one of our very talented running backs. Run the ball. Run the ball. Run the ball. If Daniels is going to stay in there (for some unknown reason) - he shouldn't attempt another pass the rest of the season.

Real talk Lance should not be on the hot seat at all. This thread is just about where my mental energy is being spent now. I'm excited for basketball season. I may or may not watch more KU football games this year.

@BShark Q - How can you tell when KU fans are excited for basketball?

A - When it's Four games into football season.

Lance isn't on the chopping block. Didn't we just give him a trillion dollar contract? Unless he molests an underage cheerleader (doubt we have those) then he's good for a while.

I still like him. And if this is a problem with our OC I expect him to make a change quickly. It is very clear to everyone this is not the same style offense we had last year.

thought this blog was about basketball? Says so in the title.

How does everyone feel about this year's team? Where will our weak areas be?

@drgnslayr said in Basketball Season:

thought this blog was about basketball? Says so in the title.

How does everyone feel about this year's team? Where will our weak areas be?

ya it is a basketball thread , somehow e got stuck it the football crao. Your right Coach L is in NO danger , if he is then KU needs to drop the football program

@drgnslayr read the first post. The thread title is sarcastic.

Next years QB? https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/unlv-s-starting-qb-says-he-will-no-longer-play-over-representations-that-were-not-upheld/ar-AA1rah4U?ocid=nl_article_link ↗

@dylans what does this mean? Is he religious and his teammates are wild?

@approxinfinity It means he has one year of eligibility left next year. lol. I don’t know maybe he’s not getting paid what he thought he would - be it cash, strippers, gambling, whatever.

@dylans well he came from holy cross. I mean Im not saying you are wrong.

@dylans Too bad he didn't decide to sit out before our game! At this point taking a win over a 2nd string QB may have been what we needed to kickstart the season.

@wissox that comment is borderline nuleaf-ish. :)

@nuleafjhawk I've always aspired to be nuleaf-ish

@wissox 😆

@approxinfinity It turns out he was promised 100k by an assistant coach and he’s getting 3k a month instead.

I would imagine that will impact future recruiting at UNLV - they don’t pay.

@dylans yeah we can install a couple less bathrooms next year and divert 100k his way next year right?

@approxinfinity I have no idea what the NIL budget is, but I imagine it’s better than UNLV. KU carries a good rep in that regard.

Zeke starting according to Bill. Storr or Griffen off the bench.

@Kcmatt7 said in Basketball Season:

Zeke starting according to Bill. Storr or Griffen off the bench.

Probably Griffen, but a line up with Mayo, Storr, and Dickinson is giving up a lot of points. This is shaping up to be Bill Self’s worst defensive team at Kansas.

@Kcmatt7 Where’d you see this?

We all know who should go to the bench…

It would be bad if Griffey who started at Bama who was better than us last year comes here and goes to the bench….

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Kcmatt7 Where’d you see this?

We all know who should go to the bench…

It would be bad if Griffey who started at Bama who was better than us last year comes here and goes to the bench….

I seen the exact same thing. They talked with Self and he said if we were to start tomorrow that Zeke would Start for sure as he has been the most consistent payer right now. - -Which leaves the last spot between Griffen & Storr

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Kcmatt7 Where’d you see this?

We all know who should go to the bench…

It would be bad if Griffey who started at Bama who was better than us last year comes here and goes to the bench….

Who in the hell is Griffey ? -This is Basketball -- not pro Baseball lmao

Ah, the bellyaching has already started and we're still in the first week of official practices. We are SO BACK

@Kcmatt7 Goodman pod.

Actually upon hearing another clip from it on twitter sounds like he may have said AJ starting instead of KJ.

Juan/Zeke/Aj/Hunt

The 5th spot up for grabs.

All from the Bill Self summer motivational series. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3! :)

And he said KJ…

@Kcmatt7 said in Basketball Season:

@Kcmatt7 Goodman pod.

Actually upon hearing another clip from it on twitter sounds like he may have said AJ starting instead of KJ.

Juan/Zeke/Aj/Hunt

The 5th spot up for grabs.

No he said KJ . was talking about the team needed shooters around Hunter- - leaving the final spot between Storr & Griffen

I’ve listened to the podcast and that part 10 times and it sounds like AJ and he moved his mouth to pronounce AJ….but then 10 seconds later he says KJ and you can semi tell the difference but idk.

I think the 4 starters clearly include KJ and that’s who he probably meant to say

Griffey lol…autocorrect got me

Best lineup would be: Mayo, Griffen, AJ, KJ and Hunt…..

Dang was about to upvote until you excluded Dajuan ;)

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

I’ve listened to the podcast and that part 10 times and it sounds like AJ and he moved his mouth to pronounce AJ….but then 10 seconds later he says KJ and you can semi tell the difference but idk.

I think the 4 starters clearly include KJ and that’s who he probably meant to say

Griffey lol…autocorrect got me

Best lineup would be: Mayo, Griffen, AJ, KJ and Hunt…..

That line up is giving up 90 points per game.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Poor ball handling as well. Thankfully we have more guards than that.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I'm trying to limit my defensive expectations of this team. Praying you are wrong about the 90 ppg.

Maybe Griffey has some basketball eligibility left and could help us.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Not even close. I think you are thinking of last years team lead by d2 and Hunter gave up 89 to Samford and 89 to Gonzaga.

Mayo better athlete than juan

Griffen better defensively than Murphy

Storr miles better than Mccullar athletically and just needs to give a darn on the defensive end

Kj is kj

Hunt isn’t even that bad it’s how coach schemes him to play ball screens that’s bass ackwards

@BShark Poor in what ways?

Because we don’t have Juan we’d lose what? Ball reversal guy?

He doesn’t ever get a paint touch off the bounce as he can’t get by his man like tyshawn or mason.

He doesn’t hardly look to shoot so teams play 5 on 4 and pack it in.

Griffen and Mayo create spacing and both can attack better than Juan

The opinion of Juan by the staff is so inflated it’s comical. They act like he’s Tyus Jones when in reality he had the worst play in a title game at the most crucial moment in Kansas bball history. Luckily we defended them up and bailed him out

@kuballin10 he also had 3 of our 6 steals and a block. Coaches love winners.

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Not even close. I think you are thinking of last years team lead by d2 and Hunter gave up 89 to Samford and 89 to Gonzaga.

Mayo better athlete than juan

Griffen better defensively than Murphy

Storr miles better than Mccullar athletically and just needs to give a darn on the defensive end

Kj is kj

Hunt isn’t even that bad it’s how coach schemes him to play ball screens that’s bass ackwards

This is how I know you have no idea what you're talking about right now. Zeke Mayo is nowhere near as athletic as Harris. Mayo isn't quick enough to beat Summit League players off the dribble. 90% of his highlights are him doing stepback 3's because he can't beat his defenders off the dribble. Mayo was also a black hole on defense in the Summit League, but is suddenly going to be able to defend Big 12 guards like LJ Cryer, Caleb Love, and Jeremy Roach?

Furphy sucked on defense, Griffen is marginally better, but still below average.

AJ Storr might be a better athlete than McCullar is, but it sounds like he's still not playing any defense and is still a ball hog who might be trying to top his 32% usage rate from last season.

Hunter is slow and unathletic which is why he's entering year 5 of college instead of year 2 in the NBA. I agree that Dickinson was misused on defense last season and should've been used the same way McCormack was down the stretch in 2022. Putting 3 bad defenders in front of him doesn't hide those weaknesses, it magnifies them and means KU has 4 terrible defenders on the court at the same time.

You're also right that this group wouldn't give up 89 to Samford and Gonzaga, they would've given up at least 110 in those games.

The offense also isn't going to be as good as people think because this team still won't be able to space the floor well enough due to a lack of 3 point shooting to allow Storr to do what he is best at which is drive and draw fouls.

@Texas-Hawk-10 You aren’t wrong about his tapes but he’s still more athletic than Juan. Juan couldn’t beat those guys off the dribble either…you forget how much more athletic and quicker Samford looked - go rewatch it. They sped Juan up easily

Best lineup is

Moore (when healthy)

Mayo

Griffen

Storr

Hunter

Best shooters, scorers and Storr can’t do worse rebounding wise than your favorite rebounder kj

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Texas-Hawk-10 You aren’t wrong about his tapes but he’s still more athletic than Juan. Juan couldn’t beat those guys off the dribble either…you forget how much more athletic and quicker Samford looked - go rewatch it. They sped Juan up easily

Best lineup is

Moore (when healthy)

Mayo

Griffen

Storr

Hunter

Best shooters, scorers and Storr can’t do worse rebounding wise than your favorite rebounder kj

That line up couldn't stop my middle school team from scoring and isn't the offensive threat you think it's going to be. Zeke Mayo isn't going to be anywhere near the impact player you think he's going to be. He's not someone that can play 30 minutes against B12 level competition without being completely exposed on both ends. He wasn't even SDSU's lead guard, but you have this weird fascination with shoe horning him into that role here. AJ Storr is Temu James Harden without the 3 point shooting.

I also hate to break this to you, but Harris is the superior shooter at 44% to 42% and a much better 3 point shooter at 39% compared to 31%. Moore does have a better PER than Harris, but his PER is also below average.

Dajuan, Moore, Griffin, KJ, Hunter.

KJ will not come off the bench.

Bidunga can spell KJ when we need interior defending.

Griffin will learn to be an average defender.

I think this team will be an almost average defensive team, perimeter above average, interior below average, and bench below.

@Texas-Hawk-10 You may be right on Mayo but I’m just going off the smoke coach was giving him on the podcast

Man Self has matured and changed his perspective. The part where he said as a young coach you want guys to run your play your way to score versus as an older coach you give your players guardrails/parameters to play within and let them go make plays - as the older coach.

That is gold right there and hope he takes some of his advice without the quick hooks and “trusting players that lower the teams ceiling”.

Juan shoots 1.2 threes per game so his percentage compared to Moore’s isn’t some argument you think.

There’s a reason Moore’s pers are better and glad you mentioned that

@approxinfinity If Bill can loosen the reigns and trust Flory I think he comes in for Kj/Hunt and we go 4 guards around him

Curious why you think Storr doesn’t start?

@kuballin10 A 31% career 3 point shooter is someone I'm not worried about beating me from 3 because odds are they won't. In regards to PER, Moore's career PER is 14.2 which is also below average. There's a reason why Moore has never been a full time starter for mediocre MSU teams.

We all know Harris has his limitations as a player, but none of the other PG's are a clear upgrade over him. Mayo is probably the best shooter on the team, but he's a black hole on defense and an average passer and ball handler. He has a role as a spark plug off the bench because of his shooting, but I don't see much else in his game that translates super well to the P4 level.

Shakeel Moore is a better athlete than Harris and on par with him defensively, but he's not a shooter and he's not a great passer and is an overall below average offensive player.

David Coit was also brought in, but if he's playing relevant minutes this season, something has gone terribly wrong.

The PG with the highest upside in the roster is out for the season amd that's Elmarko. Hopefully it's not a Wayne Selden situation where he loses some of his athleticism because of this injury.

I will say that the roster combo's are going to be interesting because this going to be a flawed team. Nobody on the roster is close to having a complete skill set for their position. Nobody on this team is top level on both ends of the floor.

If Self says screw defense and wants to outscore people, then roll with Harris, Mayo, Griffen, Storr, and Dickinson. Harris is in that group because you still need someone to initiate the offense.

If Self says screw the offense and goes with a full bad ball line up, then Harris, Moore, Passmore/McDowell, Adams, Bidunga.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Shakeel in our system could be more efficient offensively

If Shakeels per is better than harris’ and Harris has been in our system 5 years….what does that say about Harris

Coach loves him yet he’s the 6th or 7th best pg in our league

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Shakeel in our system could be more efficient offensively

If Shakeels per is better than harris’ and Harris has been in our system 5 years….what does that say about Harris

Coach loves him yet he’s the 6th or 7th best pg in our league

It says Harris has always been pass first player because PER punishes players who don't take a lot of shots. 15 is considered an average PER, Moore's is 14 for his career and Harris is 13. It's not that big of a difference and both are still below average on the offensive end and more know for their defense than their offense.

Tell me what it says about Shakeel Moore that he could never lock down the starting PG job for a mediocre Mississippi St. program and couldn't find a starting PG job at another P4 program once he entered the portal.

@kuballin10 Griffen can't dribble. If you put those 5 out there you are looking at a guy that has never handled at the P5 level before (Zeke) with...Storr as the secondary handler? That's inviting disaster. Hopefully we don't see that line-up much.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Basketball Season:

He wasn't even SDSU's lead guard, but you have this weird fascination with shoe horning him into that role here.

This is a big part of why they went out and got Shak Moore (and to a lesser extent Coit later). Zeke is not a lead guard.

@kuballin10 i am just going off what people said that Griffin is closer to being a capable defender than Storr, knowing that Bill favors players who can defend.

We should have a good squad

From what I saw of Storr last year in Madison I can't imagine him not starting, warts and all. He'll provide a lot of scoring. Double digits in all but two early season games. Scored 94 in the BIG tournament. But like I said he's got some warts. Maybe competition for minutes, which wasn't present last year, will cause him to refine his game enough so that he can stay on the floor without the head coach tossing him off the top of the campanile in frustration some day.

@wissox Can he rebound? If not I am not sure Self will let him play that much.

@AsadZ Averaged 4 per game. Not sure what Bill's requirement is but 17 points a game against very good competition is relevant too.

@wissox said in Basketball Season:

From what I saw of Storr last year in Madison I can't imagine him not starting, warts and all. He'll provide a lot of scoring. Double digits in all but two early season games. Scored 94 in the BIG tournament. But like I said he's got some warts. Maybe competition for minutes, which wasn't present last year, will cause him to refine his game enough so that he can stay on the floor without the head coach tossing him off the top of the campanile in frustration some day.

Given that Self is saying things publicly about AJ* I can only imagine what's being said in practice ahahaha. It should be an interesting year, as you said we will need his scoring.

*“I would say it’d be hard to keep Juan, KJ, ‘Hunt’ and Zeke out of the lineup,” Self said Wednesday, speaking as a guest on the Field of 68 podcast.

Self was asked about a player that logically could fit into the Jayhawks’ starting lineup: junior guard AJ Storr, Wisconsin’s leading scorer from a year ago. “I don’t know yet,” Self said, asked how the 6-foot-7, 205-pound Storr will “fit in” during his junior campaign. “I know how we want him to fit in, but how (do) we get him to do what we want? You know what I think he should be? I think he should be the best offensive rebounder in the country. I don’t think that’s how he’s thought (about his game). That’s not a knock to anybody else.. He’s thinking, ‘Just give me the ball and get out of my way.’ The way that we play (is), one, ball and body movement. When you get it shoot it, drive it or pass it, but it can’t stick. It’s a different deal for him. “The other thing about it is as strong as he is and as athletic as he is, he shouldn’t get screened. He should be a tremendous defender. I’m talking about offensive rebounding, being a lockdown defender. He’s probably thinking, ‘Whoa, whoa, what have I gotten myself into?’’’

@BShark lol. I love that.

Did AJ or Rylan vomit in a trash can this bootcamp?

@BShark Thanks, I don't read up on the team as much as others. I hope Storr gets that message because if he does become a more complete player he'll leave a mark on this program.

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

@BShark lol. I love that.

Did AJ or Rylan vomit in a trash can this bootcamp?

I was told that most of the newcomers struggled with bootcamp a bit. AJ, Kease, Flory and Rylan specifically. Zeke and Diggy did not struggle but they are also SRs and sounds like they knew a bit what more to expect.

Circus font. Tomorrow.

@FarmerJayhawk ?

@approxinfinity https://www.adidas.com/us/ku-swingman-jersey/IW8200.html ↗ new uniforms this year!

@FarmerJayhawk ah looking good

@FarmerJayhawk said in Basketball Season:

@approxinfinity https://www.adidas.com/us/ku-swingman-jersey/IW8200.html ↗ new uniforms this year!

Sweet! Love em. I for one am all aboard with Circus!

I'm going to go out on a limb and state my concern that Hunter just isn't the kind of player a winning team can be built around. I know that sounds crazy, but based off of what I saw last year, that's my biggest concern. He takes up a lot of space on the offensive end, and while he scores fairly regularly, there was maybe 1 or 2 games he really took over and dominated and I feel like they were all early on. He puts up numbers, but is he actually making winning plays? Is he a leader that makes a team better than the sum of its parts?

Say what you want about big Dave. He was a clearly flawed player his entire time at Kansas, but his energy and leadership did contribute to a culture of a team that overachieved. I'm not sure Hunter has that. Hope I'm wrong. Culture and interpersonal dynamics of a team really matter and I worry about this years team being.... Soft. And a lot of that starts with your "best player." So either someone else steps up as a leader or we may struggle to win the conference again this year despite the influx of "talent."

@benshawks08 Hunter, Dave, Wilt - it doesn't matter. Nobody will be here long enough to make a difference. Thank you very much NIL / Portal.

@benshawks08 said in Basketball Season:

I'm going to go out on a limb and state my concern that Hunter just isn't the kind of player a winning team can be built around. I know that sounds crazy, but based off of what I saw last year, that's my biggest concern. He takes up a lot of space on the offensive end, and while he scores fairly regularly, there was maybe 1 or 2 games he really took over and dominated and I feel like they were all early on. He puts up numbers, but is he actually making winning plays? Is he a leader that makes a team better than the sum of its parts?

Say what you want about big Dave. He was a clearly flawed player his entire time at Kansas, but his energy and leadership did contribute to a culture of a team that overachieved. I'm not sure Hunter has that. Hope I'm wrong. Culture and interpersonal dynamics of a team really matter and I worry about this years team being.... Soft. And a lot of that starts with your "best player." So either someone else steps up as a leader or we may struggle to win the conference again this year despite the influx of "talent."

The big issue is we had zero guard play around him last year. Kevin was the only guy that even tried to create but his game was more junkyard dog.

The best college team HD was on almost made the FF with 2 real NBA players (one of which is a star). I think this roster has some pro talent but it's young guys (usually the case) and potentially Storr if he can fully buy in. That team also had two not NBA pro SR guards that were good but right around average.

Now, building around a big man in 2024 is a pretty bad idea in general but Bill Self is the coach and he can't help himself.

I wouldn't say 22 overachieved at all. That team had 3 NBA wing guards. Lots of length, positional flexibility etc They won 34 games which probably should have been closer to 36. Then you had the Kentucky game which makes perfect sense why that game went the way it did in hindsight.

Softness could be a problem, but the schedule is loaded so they will get punched in the mouth quickly. It will be all about how they respond to that.

@nuleafjhawk yeah it's sure a good thing Wilt never got paid otherwise what a disaster that would've been https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-18-sp-13550-story.html#:~:text=Sports-,Wilt%20Chamberlain%20Says%20Boosters%20Paid%20Him%20to,for%20Kansas%20in%20the%201950s&text=Wilt%20Chamberlain%20says%20he%20was,payments%20to%20today's%20college%20athletes. ↗

@benshawks08 said in Basketball Season:

I'm going to go out on a limb and state my concern that Hunter just isn't the kind of player a winning team can be built around. I know that sounds crazy, but based off of what I saw last year, that's my biggest concern. He takes up a lot of space on the offensive end, and while he scores fairly regularly, there was maybe 1 or 2 games he really took over and dominated and I feel like they were all early on. He puts up numbers, but is he actually making winning plays? Is he a leader that makes a team better than the sum of its parts?

Say what you want about big Dave. He was a clearly flawed player his entire time at Kansas, but his energy and leadership did contribute to a culture of a team that overachieved. I'm not sure Hunter has that. Hope I'm wrong. Culture and interpersonal dynamics of a team really matter and I worry about this years team being.... Soft. And a lot of that starts with your "best player." So either someone else steps up as a leader or we may struggle to win the conference again this year despite the influx of "talent."

I think Hunter can be an elite #2 option on offense, and my sense is things will trend that direction as we go. At bare minimum he'll have 2-3 guys around him who can fill it up (Storr, Griffen, Zeke). So we won't need him to play the almost career high and minutes and take a career high in shots this year.

@FarmerJayhawk LOL - everybody that's ever played has been paid. I have a friend that was a DE for KU back in the mid 80's. When Ku was as bad at football as they've ever been. (except now, maybe). He said nobody on the team ever paid a dime the whole time they were there. Never paid for clothes, never paid at a restaurant, never paid for anything basically.

@nuleafjhawk I had friends that played Juco ball and they got paid. It’s not just big boy ball that gets paid. Pretty wild for the NCAA to ever think it could rein that in.

@dylans I actually got paid NOT to play ball. ;)

@nuleafjhawk That deal with Alabama basketball players getting guns for each other/shooting -bad deal in general - sounds a lot like things that happen on the regular at GCCC. - home of Corey Dillon, Tyreek Hill, and briefly Arterio Morris. Jucco’s are shady.

The sports teams were wild when I went to KU - a basketball player and a football player were my neighbors pot dealers. Jayhawk towers was a hot mess. Pierce dgaf who knew he smoked - told the ra to close the open apartment door on the way out if the smoke was bothering him. (90s - nowhere near legal) And that’s the pc stuff.

@dylans Yeah. I'm sure there's so much BS that goes on behind the scenes that the general public is not aware of. I probably don't even want to know....

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Basketball Season:

This is how I know you have no idea what you’re talking about right now. Zeke Mayo is nowhere near as athletic as Harris. Mayo isn’t quick enough to beat Summit League players off the dribble. 90% of his highlights are him doing stepback 3’s because he can’t beat his defenders off the dribble. Mayo was also a black hole on defense in the Summit League, but is suddenly going to be able to defend Big 12 guards like LJ Cryer, Caleb Love, and Jeremy Roach?
Furphy sucked on defense, Griffen is marginally better, but still below average.
AJ Storr might be a better athlete than McCullar is, but it sounds like he’s still not playing any defense and is still a ball hog who might be trying to top his 32% usage rate from last season.
Hunter is slow and unathletic which is why he’s entering year 5 of college instead of year 2 in the NBA. I agree that Dickinson was misused on defense last season and should’ve been used the same way McCormack was down the stretch in 2022. Putting 3 bad defenders in front of him doesn’t hide those weaknesses, it magnifies them and means KU has 4 terrible defenders on the court at the same time.
You’re also right that this group wouldn’t give up 89 to Samford and Gonzaga, they would’ve given up at least 110 in those games.
The offense also isn’t going to be as good as people think because this team still won’t be able to space the floor well enough due to a lack of 3 point shooting to allow Storr to do what he is best at which is drive and draw fouls.

Dammit, I wish I could disagree with you here, but I can't.

I've never seen a year where we could do better by using more zone defense. Especially since we have a footer in the paint that is slow.

I'm sworn to secrecy as far as pictures go, but got some views of the corners, floor, and scoreboard at AFH. Circus font is EVERYWHERE, the corners and scoreboard are.. fine? Overall some good upgrades in the concourses

Hopefully it’s a good upgrade because it has taken a while and cost some $$$

@FarmerJayhawk said in Basketball Season:

I'm sworn to secrecy as far as pictures go, but got some views of the corners, floor, and scoreboard at AFH. Circus font is EVERYWHERE, the corners and scoreboard are.. fine? Overall some good upgrades in the concourses

I saw some pics- -I like it

@FarmerJayhawk said in Basketball Season:

I'm sworn to secrecy as far as pictures go, but got some views of the corners, floor, and scoreboard at AFH. Circus font is EVERYWHERE, the corners and scoreboard are.. fine? Overall some good upgrades in the concourses

There's already been some pictures leaked of what everything looks like.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Basketball Season:

@FarmerJayhawk said in Basketball Season:

I'm sworn to secrecy as far as pictures go, but got some views of the corners, floor, and scoreboard at AFH. Circus font is EVERYWHERE, the corners and scoreboard are.. fine? Overall some good upgrades in the concourses

There's already been some pictures leaked of what everything looks like.

I haven't seen any of the floor or scoreboard released publicly, just the corners and concourses. The new scoreboard looks freaking large. And the baselines now have circus font which is cool

@FarmerJayhawk I don't know if it was an official KU account or not, but there's pictures out there of the circus font on the sidelines amd baseline and the new video boards in the corners and over the court.

@Texas-Hawk-10 gotcha. I’m not on social media much.

Say what now?

Self also hasn’t ruled out freshman Rakease Passmore as a redshirt candidate.

Just checked and I think i get the SEC network. So, hope to watch the Hawks scrimmage tonight!

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Basketball Season:

Just checked and I think i get the SEC network. So, hope to watch the Hawks scrimmage tonight!

I got it. Self says they are playing quarters & going to be in a position where the Coach can actually teach and show what they are doing wrong/certain situations

SEC Network waiting for the women's VB to end.

@jayballer67 They will do things like agree to press at the start of a quarter for 5 minutes or both play zone.

@Zabudda said in Basketball Season:

SEC Network waiting for the women's VB to end.

Sounds like we’re starting on the Plus. No way this ends in 15 minutes

I signed up for a 5 day free trial of Youtube TV to watch this on SEC network. I already have ESPN+, so if it's on there, also, I'm going to be slightly irritated about the 5 minutes I wasted this afternoon signing up for the free trial.

I hate TV

To ESPNNews!

@DanR

I can't find it on plus. ESPN owns SEC Network. The quality on the SEC Network's games is a little lacking with B team announcers and fewer cameras. IDK if that will be the case tonight.

@Zabudda ESPN News

The one thing that stands out once again, Arkansas is significantly more athletic and quicker then KU.

@BeddieKU23 doesn’t help that two really good athletes are out

@BeddieKU23

With KJ as our go to man on offense is what it is in this game.

Not impressed with Mayo at all

Flory Bidunga on the other hand, I'm pretty happy about

We have played them even since i started watching

shooting percentage grossly favors Arkansas at this point

Geez wrong thread I guess

They are athletic and long
We aren’t

They can beat their man off the dribble
We can’t

Pretty easy to see which team is completely controlling the game and getting better shots

Sorry wasnt sure which thread we were using @kuballin10

This one works for me - don’t care who starts it just long as people are making their observations!

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

Sorry wasnt sure which thread we were using @kuballin10

Is there another thread?

If we were up 12 there’d be no talk about “vanilla” @FarmerJayhawk

@kuballin10 we always run vanilla stuff in games that don’t count lmao

Pretty disappointed with our three transfer guards at this point though

We arent happy with Coit?

Looks gun shy tonight

Flory will kill Brazille

@approxinfinity 4, 5, and 6. Passmore, Mayo and Griffen. Coit looks like he paid attention in practice at least

Wow that doesnt happen to Juan often. Got him.

Not Juando's best night either, but no one looks like they are trying too hard

Arkansas fans need to save some of their uneducated outrage for the SEC season

@DanR He was bad last year

Decent the year before

Then bad the other years…..eventually people will see without rose colored glasses

He’s bill’s guy so watch him lead

Bland has been best man so far.

Little disappointed KU couldn't muster up a tad more effort. Looks like they're just taking a flop at this point.

Plenty of time though.

Kease has good size.

Like Kease and Flory

Frosh Passmore doing OK too

Love that! Kease and Bidunga want it

Passmore has a little Paul Pierce vibe, IMO. Banger.

We calling him Kease? Easier to type!

Zach finally called for a travel after 5 travels

what are we, about 4 of 16 from three?

Self has the rare ability to take an all big 10 guy completely neuter him

If you want to recruit in the portal might want to not think you have 4 years to break them down and build them back up

Arkansas offense is simple to run meanwhile ours somehow is complicated yet it’s the weave from 25 feet from the bucket and a pick n roll on the wing

If we think adding a backup pg playing 10 mins

A 6th man wing who can’t defend and isn’t athletic

A big man who can score but can’t defend

And think we are the number 1 team…your insane

Without remy we’d be looking at 6 straight second round losses

The basketball philosophy is outdated by a mile

@DanR yeah our defense is shit but at least we are putting the effort in. Feel like d will get better. The story has been crappy shooting. Please oh please dont be a bunch of transfers that cant shoot.

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

@DanR yeah our defense is shit but at least we are putting the effort in. Feel like d will get better. The story has been crappy shooting. Please oh please dont be a bunch of transfers that cant shoot.

Haven't run any offensive sets. Just mostly random dribble penetration. Transfers have no clue, but the two freshmen look really good and seem to have good instincts to be in the right places even in the offensive chaos

Jeez. Back to back crappy turnovers. Protect the rock!

Arkansas just stripping dribble handoffs from kj to juan and kj to coit

Haven’t seen the hogs run 1 dribble handoff all night

May that trash is done for a reason in legit basketball circles

Fun to see the new guys! Hope we can keep the main dudes healthy.

Add hunter's 25 points and it's a W!

Big picture, mostly mission accomplished. Nobody got hurt first and foremost. Young guys got some run. Like I said earlier, this is like an NFL preseason game. Except our 2s and 3s mostly played their 1s.

Well that certainly wasn’t inspiring!

Please god make Arkansas by far the most athletic team in the country. If not our guys looked like cardboard cutouts.

Back to KU football season…

Oh, and I have a gut feeling that I already hate Storr and his attitude.

I know our offense is designed for different players (like a big guy at the 5) but this was an opportunity for guys to show they can move the ball, maybe go get a bucket when needed... and certainly hit some jumpers.. We didn't do much of that.

Also, the issues with D had little to do with missing pieces in the lineup, to this untrained eye. We got torched from the outside by a true freshmen...

Rakease Passmore truthers rise up

give him the Kease, Please.

Well, that was underwhelming. Uglier than the NFL preseason.

@BShark said in Basketball Season:

Rakease Passmore truthers rise up

Needs to play. Lots to like, effort and showed some aggressiveness which cannot be said for many that were out there last night.

@dylans said in Basketball Season:

Well, that was underwhelming. Uglier than the NFL preseason.

Felt like a preseason game honestly.

My only real takeaways: Zach and Jamari are not P4 players, you can't play KJ next to Flory so with Hunt back it needs to be like a line change in hockey where we have a guard at the 4 when Flory is giving Hunt a breather.

I’m going to dissent with most here and praise Dajuan l. He was our best player. He had 26 points on 11-17 shooting. He couldnt guard Boogie, but who can? Our wings were a dumpster fire. Our defense across the board, including Dajuan, was not good, but saw an encouraging amount of effort. More concerned with the pieces around Dajuan than Dajuan himself. We can all agree he isnt going to carry us. But that isnt who he is. 11-17 for an offensive role player is pretty awesome. I want Kease at the 2. Let the other transfers fight over the rest of the minutes at 2,3,4 (behind KJ so we can play Bidunga)

@approxinfinity

You ain't dissenting with me. His rim finishes were improved a lot. He was smooth and Boogie pissed him off and that is when he started playing downhill. Our shooting was abysmal and our man to man got torched by the Hog's bigger guards. I guess our offense will be get it inside, inside, inside. I think we can be a big time alley-ooping machine if Flory realizes he needs to be ready every time. Zach didn't play very well but he was the only one who seemed offended by the over the top physical stuff and pushed back. Flory needs to drop into the rim protector position because we will see a lot of guards in the lane.

The one thing I will add for caution with Harris is we've seen him look more athletic and able to finish at the rim in the beginning of seasons. As wear and tear over the course of the year happens with him because he's playing too many minutes and because he's just not built to handle heavy minutes physically he becomes less effective.

I didn't see anything from either transfer guard last night that makes me think they can run the offense without Self having no choice but to play Harris. Hopefully when Moore is healthy he can be that guy but given that he missed the most important stretch of practice for the season its likely going to take a while.

It was definitely a preseason game and we were missing very important pieces in our top 8. Having said that there was a lot of concerning things I saw again. Athleticism being number 1, lack of quickness number 2. There is no #2 guy it appears after Hunt, at least from this one data point.

The first viewing of Passmore and Flory was positive. Lots to build on with both, Kease might be a steal in this class long term. Flory was lost at times but man he is a building block and his development this year is crucial.

Neither Zach or Jamari should see minutes beyond a blowout. Good practice bodies but their skill level is not at this level.

Not taking much from the game other than Passmore and dajuan looked good and KJ looked like KJ, aka non spacing forward who's a bad fit with the star pieces on the roster

Well things noticed & thought about. # 1 - -w had heard and already knew that our defense sucks and we are going to have to out score people. # 2 all I got to say to Coach Self is - - - - -GOOD LUCK with Storr, he is really going o wear on Self , the kid doesn't give two flips about trying to defend, seems like he wants to be a black hole on offense , something going to have to give before w get into the Season. I got tired of hearing we had three of our players out -- -Guess what Arkansas had multiple players out too , quit making excuses. Hunter would of been the perfect fit - -would of fit right in with the rest of our horrible defense. -Sorr is going to be a Challenge.

Flory & Passmore look like when it's all said and done are going to be very good players for us- -and then if we are going to have to depend on Juan leading us in our three point shooting-- -we are in for a long Season.

Heard on a KU podcast the other day, if you had the option which would you rather have- -- Juan with more of a big breakout year - -be a bigger scoring PG , more aggressive - -OR better defensively and turning the ball over less. -I think you want him turning the ball over less, He is gonna have more Scorers around him this year and should be able to distribute the ball better and better defense. If we think it's gonna be the same as last yr , I think your wrong.- -This was an exhibition and give Mayo & Diggy time to adjust , they are going to be fine-- Then we have Griffen who was out -- I think k Mayo will settle down & adjust- - the only problem is going to be Storr and dealing with his outlook & Attitude. Like they mentioned on the Podcaast - - Storr is going to have to acept that the offens is going to revolve around Hunter plain and simple

Ok, some Day After perspective, after many deep breaths!!

On the surface we looked like shit all around. Hard to argue otherwise to the naked eye.

But digging a bit deeper statistically, we lost this game at the free throw line. KU was 4-10. The Hogs were 23-28.

We lost the game by 16 points. They outscored us by 19 from the line.

Also, in total, KU made ONE more field goal, and ONE more 3pt shot than Arkansas. That alone should mean a win.

I guess playing piss poor, matador defense contributed mightily to the FT disparity and final score.

So we didn’t pass the eyeball test, but the game could have been less of a blowout had we played anything resembling defense?

@BeddieKU23 I am surprised about Zack because Self had praised him immensely during offseason, not sure what was that all about.

@AsadZ said in Basketball Season:

@BeddieKU23 I am surprised about Zack because Self had praised him immensely during offseason, not sure what was that all about.

Bill lying in the offseason, classic.

I didn’t watch Zack closely enough, but i thought he had active hands but made a few bad decisions, and saw one jankerific baseline pull up. Feels like if he isnt P4 its between the ears. Maybe what Self sees in practice didnt translate in gametime.

@approxinfinity Juan did what he did last year against Duke and then never showed up again with scoring like that

He also did it in the second half when the game was already out of reach

Got absolutely abused defensively the entire game and no clue how the box score didn’t have him turning it over 5 times (somehow 2).

He never starts the game and keeps us close he relies on everyone else to carry him

Bill legitimately is staring another second round loss in the face with his favorite 1 and 4 of all time. He has no concept of team building with regards to today’s game and what he values in players isn’t the most important traits in translation to winning it all

After we get bounced this year he will retire with 5/6 second round loss

His systems are outdated and the fact guys can’t shuffle in and out smoothly and he constantly neuters great players (remy and now storr….and it would have been Spencer last year had we got him - he’d somehow not defended well enough or whatever. Spencer or any player would have a better year at uconn vs ku)….causing them to play hesitant and slow

He doesn’t teach guys to attack but throws so much at them they can’t just read and react but rather “think too much” - his own words.

He owes Remy a ton otherwise he’s a 1 hit wonder

I mean people praise how great we are based on big 12 consistency. Nah that’s homer glasses. Big 12 constantly underperforms in the tourney. We finally added legit basketball competition and watch where we finish these last two years.

The big 12 consecutive titles is nice but fans starting to see it was a facade and made sense based on our ncaa accomplishments. Propt us up with 1 seeds when in reality we didn’t deserve them and got bounced.

@kuballin10 https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/11dlk1v/most_wins_against_ap_top_25_opponents_in_the_last/ ↗

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@approxinfinity Juan did what he did last year against Duke and then never showed up again with scoring like that

He also did it in the second half when the game was already out of reach

Got absolutely abused defensively the entire game and no clue how the box score didn’t have him turning it over 5 times (somehow 2).

He never starts the game and keeps us close he relies on everyone else to carry him

Bill legitimately is staring another second round loss in the face with his favorite 1 and 4 of all time. He has no concept of team building with regards to today’s game and what he values in players isn’t the most important traits in translation to winning it all

After we get bounced this year he will retire with 5/6 second round loss

His systems are outdated and the fact guys can’t shuffle in and out smoothly and he constantly neuters great players (remy and now storr….and it would have been Spencer last year had we got him - he’d somehow not defended well enough or whatever. Spencer or any player would have a better year at uconn vs ku)….causing them to play hesitant and slow

He doesn’t teach guys to attack but throws so much at them they can’t just read and react but rather “think too much” - his own words.

He owes Remy a ton otherwise he’s a 1 hit wonder

I mean people praise how great we are based on big 12 consistency. Nah that’s homer glasses. Big 12 constantly underperforms in the tourney. We finally added legit basketball competition and watch where we finish these last two years.

The big 12 consecutive titles is nice but fans starting to see it was a facade and made sense based on our ncaa accomplishments. Propt us up with 1 seeds when in reality we didn’t deserve them and got bounced.

Self isn't screwing Storr up - - Storr is screwing up himself- -Storr not only doesn't he DEFEND well enough he doesn't defend at all. Coach knew that right off Self has nothing to do with that and until he learns then he isn't going to be a big part, what he is is as huge black hole Until he becomes more of a team player instead of a black hole- - -me , me , me it's gonna be ugly for him.= - - You must have one huge hard on for Juan yet it's kinda old - -you need to find something /anything to wine about, dam dude anything if your so un happy with Self and Juan you might need to find you a new hobby OR A NEW TEAM TO SNIFFLE ABOUT - -maybe you could PICK UP KNITTING S A new hobby& a fresh glass of milk

@jayballer67 Honest question: did you watch the game or just check the box score?

If you watched the game what did you think of their guards vs ours especially Wagner/bland versus our 6th year senior?

Bill loves a guard who can control the entire game. He somehow thinks Harris is some tyus jones clone and it’s comical how off he is on this.

The 6-7th best pg just in the big 12 let alone the entire country struggles to lead us against athletic guard heavy teams

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67 Honest question: did you watch the game or just check the box score?

If you watched the game what did you think of their guards vs ours especially Wagner/bland versus our 6th year senior?

Bill loves a guard who can control the entire game. He somehow thinks Harris is some tyus jones clone and it’s comical how off he is on this.

The 6-7th best pg just in the big 12 let alone the entire country struggles to lead us against athletic guard heavy teams

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67 Honest question: did you watch the game or just check the box score?

If you watched the game what did you think of their guards vs ours especially Wagner/bland versus our 6th year senior?

Bill loves a guard who can control the entire game. He somehow thinks Harris is some tyus jones clone and it’s comical how off he is on this.

The 6-7th best pg just in the big 12 let alone the entire country struggles to lead us against athletic guard heavy teams

Dude I've probably watched more Ku games then you have had wet dreams. No Einstein I didn't watch a second lmao. Hell ya I watched, does Juan has flaws ? - -Hell yes Juan has flaws, name me a single player on this team that doesn't If Juan is as bad of a Guard as you make him out to be then tell me this riddler Why the hell then do SO MANY past College coach's - -Current College Coch's , former players that now analyze teams and players Plus others that follow and work around teams all talk about how solid Juan is and when before the Season starts out why is it that people who get paid for this all talk about Juan being a vital returning player for the Season ? I have a tendency to listen to them someone who actually knows what the hell they are talking about then some broken down guy that sits in a recliner and talks shit about players and never thinks he would lose a game IF he Coached the team.

Your a typical troll who comes on sites and talks shit about someone because you don't have a team - -or your own fans have blocked you on their sites your truly a joke you know half about what YOU THINK YOU KNOW but still hope you have a great day - - Hell every one of our players got blown by when playing defense - - well we actually didn't play any defense so that doesn't apply. What did w say ? - -This is going to be one of our worst defensive teams, and other posters talking about combinations of players on the floor and how we couldn't put them on the floor-- this team right now hsa no defense - -it's not only Juan their BUB

@jayballer67 during the scrimmage against Arky the announcers called Harris the best point guard in college ball. I’m not sure I 100% agree with that, but he’s definitely solid. We’ll miss him next season, but someone will figure it out and off the team goes again.

That scrimmage restored my PTSD from last year... we start off totally over-ranked at #1, we have no perimeter shooting, we don't have enough athleticism (at least, not against Cal), but even worse this year is we have no McCullar on defense. We are going to have to average 80+ points to have a good record this year.

I know it's even before being early... I said what I said because of my PTSD.

I'm just putting my trust in Self to turn these guys into a competitive team. Isn't it the fact that we have Self the reason why we get over-ranked early in the year?

JUAN RECALL:

Here is my take on Juan. At times, he looked horrible in this scrimmage and was played by a freshman, who ate his lunch. Yes... we saw what we saw. So here it comes... all the Juan naysayers.

Juan is not an NBA prospect. Never will be. But he is typically a solid defender and solid point guard. His first job is to be the mechanism for bringing Self's game out on the floor. We all know, if Self isn't happy, it is going to show because he's screaming at someone, making faces and turning bright red himself, and benching someone. He usually doesn't lose his cool with Juan because Juan is accomplishing his #1 priority.

Here is the Juan everyone wanted... he put up 26 points, and no two other players together matched his total. He is Juan thinking about getting his own points. How do we like that? In this case, he had to score because we had NOWHERE else to go for points! #1 team in the country, no alpha scorers.

Juan is a PG built perfect for a team with 4 other players with offensive skills. When he's on that team, he will only average around 6 PPG but everyone else will score big. When we have a team like the team we had in the scrimmage, Juan is also lost in space because no one is teaming with him to score.

Actually, I feel a little better about Juan after this scrimmage. Clearly, he has add a bit more physicality to his frame. And it showed up on his own personal offense. I think we will see Juan scoring more this year, I just hope it isn't because he has to (but I fear this).

The guy I'm more concerned with is KJ. I appreciate his natural athleticism. I had hoped he would develop into a real offensive savant but I'm not seeing it in this game. Some guys develop where they just explode in a year, and I thought we would get that out of KJ but I don't think so now. A big part of his production should be rebounding. I've said this on here every since KJ came to Kansas. Someone needs to sit him in a chair and have him watch Charles Barkley rebound until he gets it. He should be the next Barkley. He should have a personal trainer who knows how to teach this skill because he still doesn't get it. And from the 10+ rebounds he should easily snatch every game, he should be adding at least 6+ points off his rebounds.

I know I'm in a PTSD moment here... I see we have more depth... will it even be enough to replace McCullar? Who is going to start playing defense? Defense requires hustle, but it also requires skills. Anyone on our staff capable of teaching defense? I'm not just talking about team defense. I'm talking about (what I always talk about) teaching players how to hedge, etc.

@drgnslayr yeah we don't have McCullar on defense, but he really didn't play healthy outside of the first half of the season (and we looked pretty good when he did).

My PTSD from last season is watching games at the end of the season when he didn't play. It would be nice for the newcomers to get near McCullar's level of defense, but we really just need them to be better than Timberlake/Furphy.

@dylans said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67 during the scrimmage against Arky the announcers called Harris the best point guard in college ball. I’m not sure I 100% agree with that, but he’s definitely solid. We’ll miss him next season, but someone will figure it out and off the team goes again.

I agree with you on that totally bud, Juan IS NOT the best by a stretch, but like said very solid -we be all right, agree

@drgnslayr I agree with everything you said here. This team isnt going anywhere if Storr and Rylan dont figure it out. But thats on them.

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

@drgnslayr I agree with everything you said here. This team isnt going anywhere if Storr and Rylan dont figure it out. But thats on them.

Just think Sorr is going to be an issue , gonna be a war between him & Hunter who is or thinks suppose to lead this team. Heard from previous fans that Storr is a Black hle - -15-17 shots per he wants to get his shots - -forced or un forced- -shooting at best time - or not the best - -dunno.

The takeaways here should be simple:

-Mayo, Coit, and Storr are bad

-The freshmen look like good pieces for the future

That's it.

Those comments on Storr aren't the end of the world, everyone knew that him taking bad shots and playing bad defense wasn't going to improve the team. This confirms that Self is trying to improve his decision making and holding him accountable. Now its a toss up whether that will work or not, but is better to try and fully actualize his talent.

Not convinced that any of the transfers are bad. Definitely a work in progress. None of them are complete.

I wouldn't be entirely critical of Storr just yet.

He didn't get a ton of minutes. Maybe that was Self jabbing at him a bit, trying to get him to play in his style.

But, he did seem a bit more motivated toward the end of the game. He showed some flashes. More of that!

I think we all will be frustrated with the defense this year. It will not be great from what we've read and watched. Maybe one of those Roy Williams years where it's a free for all. Except Hunter can't run!

I just want the offense to look better than it did.
Dajuan was the only guy scoring! Thats crazy.

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

I just want the offense to look better than it did.
Dajuan was the only guy scoring! Thats crazy.

Yep. Total weirdness with Juan scoring.

I’m just gonna assume we had no offensive game plan installed, so he couldn’t set anybody up to score.

Tuesday will tell us a tiny bit more.

Thankfully it's still October. Hopefully we look a lot better in March.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Basketball Season:

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

I just want the offense to look better than it did.
Dajuan was the only guy scoring! Thats crazy.

Yep. Total weirdness with Juan scoring.

I’m just gonna assume we had no offensive game plan installed, so he couldn’t set anybody up to score.

Tuesday will tell us a tiny bit more.

That and missing 3 rotation players (including our best player).

We usually don't start the season playing ranked teams on the road in an exhibition but that's what's happened the last two years. In both occasions we did not look good and hopefully that's not a trend to follow. I can imagine some teams during the conference championship streak looked similar to the other day. I hope so, at least. Tommorow is another day to get better

Matt Tait tweets

Self said he's got AJ Storr "messed up at the moment" because the newcomer doesn't quite know yet what be aggressive means for Self and with #KUbball

Self added that he thinks Storr is still thinking a lot instead of reacting...

Self on Zeke Mayo: I think we have to get more production out of him than we had the other night & he has to put himself in position to be more aggressive.

"I think the other day he kind of played cautious."

——- Anyone notice a 20 year trend? Guys come here and play tentatively. Self needs someone to have the cojones to ask him the tough questions on why this is. We aren’t talking some 1-2 year trend this is years of this…..

@kuballin10 good thing Malik and Remy magically threw off the shackles of Bills voodoo curse when it counted in the tourney huh? Frank and Graham were able to develop from marginal D-1 prospects to first team All Americans in spite of Self. Its a miracle!

@approxinfinity Mason not being given the keys killed me for that Wiggins team….

Literally barely played frankamp which hammers his confidence only to play him against Stanford a ton

Bill has always struggled with lineups and effectively building everyone up not just “his guys”

Frankamp was also just really bad at playing basketball

I'd guess I watched more of Storr than anyone here last year. Everything you guys are saying is true. He's an enigma, but I'm not going to let one exhibition game where we were missing guys say he's a bust. He starred in a game knocking off Purdue last year, you know 2nd best team in the country. He can play with the big boys. I also remember it took him a few games to get into the swing with the Badgers. I don't really watch defense individually. I can't tell you about defensive lapses except that people complained about it. I never liked his carelessness with the ball and at times became turnover prone.

@FarmerJayhawk And yet after playing tharpe all year instead of developing a freshman - Bill was resorted to conner because tharpe was that bad

Complete coaching blunder and not utilizing the season to develop guys in game

To add insult to injury - philon as a frosh looks like a stud

17 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists against Memphis tonight

Starting alongside Sears

Bill gets to ride with his guys yet again this season to yet another round of 32 or sweet 16 loss

Crazy to think at a premier D1 school the coach has favorites so much he will never recruit over them (kj and d2)

@kuballin10 yeah weird how Tharpe was better than Frank all year and Bill played him. I loved Frank from the jump but he needed time to develop. Props for moving the goalposts through, hope you didn’t strain your shoulder.

@wissox

I think we'll see better from Storr as we go but he's definitely in Self's toughening box right now. I have to ask, why did Self go after Storr if the fit was going to be a work in progress. I can imagine KU spent a pretty penny on his NIL deal and are counting on him to be a major factor for this team. There does seem to be a good bit of risk here but as you mentioned he's got big game ability in him with proven production.

@BeddieKU23 the fit was always weird. A guy who is a ball stopper that doesn’t play D coming to a school that moves the rock and is expected to play D.

I think he figures it out but it’s kind of Like Malik Newman where it may take some time.

Always the possibility Griffen knocks him out of the starting lineup as well. And the Storr comes in as a “2nd unit” type of guy and that fits him better.

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

To add insult to injury - philon as a frosh looks like a stud

17 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists against Memphis tonight

Starting alongside Sears

Bill gets to ride with his guys yet again this season to yet another round of 32 or sweet 16 loss

Crazy to think at a premier D1 school the coach has favorites so much he will never recruit over them (kj and d2)

Nobody would have thought the 20-21 team would develop into the ‘22 team. Also the offseason haul of guys this year was pretty insane. A bit early for this take.

The Juan D2 thing is the dumbest thing I've read on this board

@Kcmatt7 said in Basketball Season:

@BeddieKU23 the fit was always weird. A guy who is a ball stopper that doesn’t play D coming to a school that moves the rock and is expected to play D.

I think he figures it out but it’s kind of Like Malik Newman where it may take some time.

Always the possibility Griffen knocks him out of the starting lineup as well. And the Storr comes in as a “2nd unit” type of guy and that fits him better.

If Storr is a bench player, that's a miss from all involved. As one of the "premiere players" that entered the portal with proven scoring production in the Big-10, I fail to see how this isn't a miss if that's the direction it goes. I'm hopeful for the opposite but it's not like we have a perfect hit rate with transfers either, just look at last year. If Storr was your top transfer player and you paid a lot for him, you better get your money's worth in a sense.

I wouldn't be surprised if he follows a Malik or Remy situation. The end result with both was positive.

Griffen was IMO the one I had the most confidence in transitioning to a significant role. 3 and D type guy, perhaps spread the floor more playing the 4 if possible next to Hunter. I think he's a starter and I'd play him over KJ personally but that's another subject matter..

@FarmerJayhawk You and Self don’t get it.

Yes, in October and November Tharpe was better and could run things having been in the system for more time.

Come March it was a complete blunder as time beared out he wasn’t good. Had Self played Mason through the mistakes and trials…by March we’d been a better team.

Mason was ready just needed a leash

Labaron is ready just needed a leash and opportunity

Mahomes was ready year 1 just needed the opportunity

Coach is very short sighted with development and doesn’t grasp practice vs game performance differences

@Kcmatt7 Remy happened

Big Dave in March happened

Braun and Ochai became nba wings along with Jalen - which is what carried us. 3 nba level guys on that squad which we don’t have today.

Bringing up Philon - I don’t need to see anymore. He’s better than Juan and Moore. 6-4 with 6-7 wingspan and a legit nba prospect. Yeah let’s stick with the 7th best pg in the big 12 who can’t stay in front of his man.

Whether it’s Self, his system or what. Spencer wouldn’t have had as good of a year here as he did uconn and Labaron wouldn’t be performing the way he is here like he is at bama. The reason is because how strict Self is with running his system.

He killed Storr’s confidence and many many others.

He needs to balance letting guys come in and play their way aggressively and slowly meld it to fit what he wants so by January it works.

Instead he tries to break them of every bad habit from the tip and neuters them. This has happened for two decades here with countless players. Wish he’d mature in his thought process.

If you’ve taught any sport the ability to retain confidence while tweaking the player is crucial. With the portal we don’t have 2-3 seasons to tear a player down and rebuild him

Self retired after this year or next - book it

@BShark sorry mo st level is more accurate

I know you agree with me on Self letting guys play a bit more and have a leash

He gives leashes to people who don’t elevate the team but then hammers the guys who could

Juan is a high floor low ceiling guy - u know what u get

Storr - complete opposite

To let guys like Storr ingrain quickly you have to let them play through the crap

@BeddieKU23 said in Basketball Season:

@Kcmatt7 said in Basketball Season:

@BeddieKU23 the fit was always weird. A guy who is a ball stopper that doesn’t play D coming to a school that moves the rock and is expected to play D.

I think he figures it out but it’s kind of Like Malik Newman where it may take some time.

Always the possibility Griffen knocks him out of the starting lineup as well. And the Storr comes in as a “2nd unit” type of guy and that fits him better.

If Storr is a bench player, that's a miss from all involved. As one of the "premiere players" that entered the portal with proven scoring production in the Big-10, I fail to see how this isn't a miss if that's the direction it goes. I'm hopeful for the opposite but it's not like we have a perfect hit rate with transfers either, just look at last year. If Storr was your top transfer player and you paid a lot for him, you better get our money's worth in a sense.

I wouldn't be surprised if he follows a Malik or Remy situation. The end result with both was positive.

Griffen was IMO the one I had the most confidence in transitioning to a significant role. 3 and D type guy, perhaps spread the floor more playing the 4 if possible next to Hunter. I think he's a starter and I'd play him over KJ personally but that's another subject matter..

It wouldn't be a great look that's for sure. That said I've heard it likely won't go as far south as the Remy situation in part because Storr can not afford for it to. At least Bill acknowledged that he's screwed him up a bit, hopefully it gets resolved.

Interestingly Torvik projected around 12ppg for Storr. At first I laughed it off but if the team is balanced I think that largely makes sense. Last year at Wisconsin he had the same kind of volume/load that Kevin did at Kansas, with similar efficiency. So if KU is better and he buys in, he may end up around 10-12 ppg.

I'm looking forward to seeing Rylan and Shak tonight. Last I had heard we were trending towards Rylan being the primary back-up 4, in addition to other roles.

I do get that Philon flipped almost entirely due to geography but don’t let that ruin the narrative

I think Self remembers the pieces to winning in 22. A big who you could throw it in to and get a bucket, a point guard who could distribute the ball and initiate offense, hit an open jumper if dared to, and three wings who could shoot, slash, and rebound.

Those pieces are all possibly there, but will all depend on how they develop and commit to the pieces where they may not be strong. KJ is a bit of an oddball here in that for what it's worth to me, watching him play is so much fun because of the way he plays. He does have limitations though that impact the overall cohesiveness and effectiveness of the team on both ends. He called the 21 team unathletic and then brought them all back and somehow they played more to their athleticism.

Defense will be this teams "athleticism." Can this team learn to guard at the level necessary to win a championship? He's now had significant pieces of this team get beat on the pick n roll for about 3 straight games dating back to last season, so hopefully he has their attention. Traditionally, Bill has been best at teaching guys to defend. I've heard over and over again on this board and others that he just needs to get guys who can shoot/score and then teach them to defend. Welp, we will see if that plan is actually viable.

Side note: What would @kuballin10 be saying if Juan didn't score 26 in the Arkansas game? Lol.

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Kcmatt7 Remy happened

Big Dave in March happened

Braun and Ochai became nba wings along with Jalen - which is what carried us. 3 nba level guys on that squad which we don’t have today.

Bringing up Philon - I don’t need to see anymore. He’s better than Juan and Moore. 6-4 with 6-7 wingspan and a legit nba prospect. Yeah let’s stick with the 7th best pg in the big 12 who can’t stay in front of his man.

Whether it’s Self, his system or what. Spencer wouldn’t have had as good of a year here as he did uconn and Labaron wouldn’t be performing the way he is here like he is at bama. The reason is because how strict Self is with running his system.

He killed Storr’s confidence and many many others.

He needs to balance letting guys come in and play their way aggressively and slowly meld it to fit what he wants so by January it works.

Instead he tries to break them of every bad habit from the tip and neuters them. This has happened for two decades here with countless players. Wish he’d mature in his thought process.

If you’ve taught any sport the ability to retain confidence while tweaking the player is crucial. With the portal we don’t have 2-3 seasons to tear a player down and rebuild him

Self retired after this year or next - book it

your fricken nuts. Self isn't in any way shape or form retiring next Season , if he retires within the next FIVE you will have your Miracle lol

@FarmerJayhawk This coming from Labaron himself or what……? Or just KU coaches because ultimately he saw he’d sit behind Juan a lot

@jayballer67 this season or next if DP can’t get it done

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67 this season or next if DP can’t get it done

Man you really eithre to put the pipe down and slowly back away - -or share, got to be some awesome stuff you smokin

@benshawks08 Hey Juan scoring 26 and trash talking Arkansas bench down 20 was a sight to behold

He did score just granted once the game was over and Arkansas let off the gas some

I’ll reserve judgment for his scoring until we see the full compliment of players against unc. We don’t have nba wings though so he needs to be a threat otherwise he and kj kill all spacing

I love KJ’s dunks man - just fun to watch and a soft spot for what he’s gone through in life. Self’s stuck with him so the results this season much like last are on coach for his roster decisions

Your remembering of the 2022 title team was quite a bit different than mine. With that pass first pg we got dominated at home by uk….and would have been bounced yet again in the 2nd round had Remy not saved us vs creighton

Juan had 2 incredible defensive plays and the lob to get us going the 2nd half and then sat on the bench for the crucial 8 minute stretch

Juan’s defense that Self thinks is so awesome is due to a minimal sample size against Unc. That’s forever etched in Self’s memory that he can’t see Juan’s lack of lateral movement causes him to not stay in front of his man defensively.

Where Juan excels is off the ball steal passes and tipping them with his long wingspan. He anticipates at an extremely high level when off the ball.

On the ball….completely different story which is just natural due to his d2 athleticism

@jayballer67 trust me….if he says he’s gonna take us to new heights and proceeds to have 2nd round exit, 2nd or sweet 16 exit and the same next year

He’s going to see the grandkids growing up and be like…I’ve done all I can

Where KU goes after Bill I’m excited to see

Can't wait to hear your delightful comments through the ENTIRE SEASON , kuballin10 last year was so fun wit you constantly bringing the logic for every time Dejuan took a step - - -Sooo much fun , looking forward to it. OH wait unless we win, then we won't hear a peep out of you da, that really sucks

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67 trust me….if he says he’s gonna take us to new heights and proceeds to have 2nd round exit, 2nd or sweet 16 exit and the same next year

He’s going to see the grandkids growing up and be like…I’ve done all I can

Where KU goes after Bill I’m excited to see

Wherre KU goes after Bill WERE EXCITED TO SEE ROFLMAFO

@kuballin10 Swain, Bossi, Noel, @BShark, etc etc. It’s very well known his family wanted him closer to home after he went to high school at Link

@FarmerJayhawk said in Basketball Season:

@kuballin10 Swain, Bossi, Noel, @BShark, etc etc. It’s very well known his family wanted him closer to home after he went to high school at Link

Familiar friends and weed. Only reason he wasn't already staying home is because the assistant that recruited him to Auburn left so he opened his recruitment back up. Once Alabama had a large exodus of players it was a done deal.

I almost cannot believe that I am reading posts saying that Self bungled Frank Mason's development. I would argue that Self's development of Frank is among the most impressive examples of player development I have ever seen.

@Jhawk69 said in Basketball Season:

I almost cannot believe that I am reading posts saying that Self bungled Frank Mason's development. I would argue that Self's development of Frank is among the most impressive examples of player development I have ever seen.

It really is unbelievable but goes to show how disingenuous some people like to be.

We are talking about a guy that the staff discovered in a back gym who was not a top 100 recruit when he committed. People on the boards were upset that we took him.

Folks

I didn’t watch the game but still I’m very surprised to hear negative chatter after our first exhibition game. Aren’t we ranked preseason #1.

In my opinion this was perfect outcome for Self to determine what he has to work on in practice to prepare for game situations.

I agree with some comments from Ballin but I believe overall rhetoric is way too strongly negative at least at this time of the year.

@kuballin10 We don't have to go off of anyone's memories. We have the box score. DaJuan played 27 minutes, got three steals, and played a big role in holding UNC's backcourt to 1-13 from three.

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Kcmatt7 Remy happened

Big Dave in March happened

Braun and Ochai became nba wings along with Jalen - which is what carried us. 3 nba level guys on that squad which we don’t have today.

Bringing up Philon - I don’t need to see anymore. He’s better than Juan and Moore. 6-4 with 6-7 wingspan and a legit nba prospect. Yeah let’s stick with the 7th best pg in the big 12 who can’t stay in front of his man.

Whether it’s Self, his system or what. Spencer wouldn’t have had as good of a year here as he did uconn and Labaron wouldn’t be performing the way he is here like he is at bama. The reason is because how strict Self is with running his system.

He killed Storr’s confidence and many many others.

He needs to balance letting guys come in and play their way aggressively and slowly meld it to fit what he wants so by January it works.

Instead he tries to break them of every bad habit from the tip and neuters them. This has happened for two decades here with countless players. Wish he’d mature in his thought process.

If you’ve taught any sport the ability to retain confidence while tweaking the player is crucial. With the portal we don’t have 2-3 seasons to tear a player down and rebuild him

Self retired after this year or next - book it

Storr has literally not played a minute of meaningful basketball yet in a Jayhawk uniform and we are acting like he hasn’t had a game in double digits headed into conference play… get a grip lol.

@Jhawk69 Bill stunted his development by having such a tight leash year 1. I’ve reiterated examples that if X player who’s excelled early in another system had come here it wouldn’t have been the same.

Mason was Virginia’s all time leading scorer for high school ball. Undersized yes, but an absolute dog that we stumbled on. Masons late nights in the gym and Self loosening the leash year 2 is what allowed the growth.

@AsadZ Others see it if you can’t tell by the seats being open in the lower bowl. Never happened in decades even for an exhibition…

@Jhawk69 said in Basketball Season:

@kuballin10 We don't have to go off of anyone's memories. We have the box score. DaJuan played 27 minutes, got three steals, and played a big role in holding UNC's backcourt to 1-13 from three.

Man just rewriting history like our politicians

@Jhawk69 Box score looking vs….using your eyes…got it.

UNC missed some wide open threes.

Three steals

4 turnovers including what was almost the worst for a title game ever (3 seconds with the ball and ahead)

1-5 shooting

Remy - 14 pts, 5-9 fgs, 1 historic block, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 to

Clearly even revisiting the box score didn’t help you

@Kcmatt7 When a coach admits the players lack of aggression is his own fault (the coaches)……that says all you need to know
Mishandling of what is most likely our most important player this year

Third or fourth for big 12 finish?
Baylor, Houston, isu then maybe us?

@AsadZ Preseason rankings don’t matter….need a reminder? How’d last year turn out

We ran it back with our 1 and 4 who kill spacing because Self sees and knows more than what idiots on a message board must only be able to clearly see

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@Kcmatt7 When a coach admits the players lack of aggression is his own fault (the coaches)……that says all you need to know
Mishandling of what is most likely our most important player this year

Third or fourth for big 12 finish?
Baylor, Houston, isu then maybe us?

Again, an actual game hasn’t even been played yet.

Do you come here to troll to just blow off steam or are you this negative of a person in your day-to-day?

@kuballin10 DaJuan had a bad offensive game and a great defensive game against UNC. And he did not ride the bench in that game as you said earlier he did.

@Jhawk69 He sat from the 10:53 mark of the second half until 4 seconds when he checked in.

The final 10 (almost 11 minutes) he didn’t play. He got the comeback going with the lob and two huge steals but to think he would have sustained it is insanity.

The offense stalled as a freshmen outperformed and shutdown Och and if Remy hadn’t been able to hit tough guarded shots or create one on one….we wouldn’t win

If Harris plays the entire second half or 18-19 minutes (like he does now)….everyone including Self knows we lose that game

@kuballin10 So Self has shown he knows which players to play to win - he had Remy and used him to full effect - won a title. Who on the current roster should be playing over DeJuan and what are you basing that off of? Have you spent time in practice? Do you have inside info on team chemistry? Or is it just what you see for 40 minutes on game day like the rest of us.

@kuballin10 Well the comeback started prettj much immediately in the second half. So he played for most of the comeback and made some big plays during it.

It's probably healthy if Juan gets challenged for his minutes.

I'll give you an idea where Juan fits in Self's system.

After Juan's dominant scoring at Arkansas... probably the most points he's had in a game at KU, I seriously doubt after that game Self came up to Juan and patted him on the back and said, "now that's what we want to see out of you from now on!"

I'm sure Self likes to see Juan go get some points, but it's not a good sign anytime Juan leads us in points, especially more points than any 2 other players combined.

Last night's game helped me a bit with my PTSD since we hit some treys. I thought we would have made more treys at Arkansas if our guys shot with their eyes closed.

I do not believe we will be in the cellar of the Big12 this year in made treys!

Now... how about some defense!

Areas of disappointment and approval...

I know it's only October. However some things stand out as big question marks.

Zach Clemence... monster nothing burger. What did he do on his year off? 0 points and 4 fouls... really?

Rebounding... we only outrebounded this D2 school by 10 on our home court.

Rebounding again... KJ! The first number I look for on the stat sheet is KJ's rebounds... or lack of them. His rebounding numbers will end up reflecting how far this team goes this year. I will stand by this comment!

Defense... not a fair game to assess anything about our defense. From what I see, it looks like we are starting from scratch.

Coit.... easy MVP in this game! His energy is electric! He filled the stat sheet with his 24 minutes. 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, on top of his team-leading points!

Bidunga... of course I see his potential! Granted, we played a D2 team but hey... 4 blocks counts! 7 rebounds count (3 offensive), and 3 assists!

Rylan.... valuable! It is the one word that fits here. He will be a vital piece on this team!

Storr... I see some challenges in his game. Hope he absorbs Self ball!

@drgnslayr said in Basketball Season:

Areas of disappointment and approval...

I know it's only October. However some things stand out as big question marks.

Zach Clemence... monster nothing burger. What did he do on his year off? 0 points and 4 fouls... really?

Rebounding... we only outrebounded this D2 school by 10 on our home court.

Rebounding again... KJ! The first number I look for on the stat sheet is KJ's rebounds... or lack of them. His rebounding numbers will end up reflecting how far this team goes this year. I will stand by this comment!

Defense... not a fair game to assess anything about our defense. From what I see, it looks like we are starting from scratch.

Coit.... easy MVP in this game! His energy is electric! He filled the stat sheet with his 24 minutes. 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, on top of his team-leading points!

Bidunga... of course I see his potential! Granted, we played a D2 team but hey... 4 blocks counts! 7 rebounds count (3 offensive), and 3 assists!

Rylan.... valuable! It is the one word that fits here. He will be a vital piece on this team!

Storr... I see some challenges in his game. Hope he absorbs Self ball!

@drgnslayr said in Basketball Season:

Areas of disappointment and approval...

I know it's only October. However some things stand out as big question marks.

Zach Clemence... monster nothing burger. What did he do on his year off? 0 points and 4 fouls... really?

Rebounding... we only outrebounded this D2 school by 10 on our home court.

Rebounding again... KJ! The first number I look for on the stat sheet is KJ's rebounds... or lack of them. His rebounding numbers will end up reflecting how far this team goes this year. I will stand by this comment!

Defense... not a fair game to assess anything about our defense. From what I see, it looks like we are starting from scratch.

Coit.... easy MVP in this game! His energy is electric! He filled the stat sheet with his 24 minutes. 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, on top of his team-leading points!

Bidunga... of course I see his potential! Granted, we played a D2 team but hey... 4 blocks counts! 7 rebounds count (3 offensive), and 3 assists!

Rylan.... valuable! It is the one word that fits here. He will be a vital piece on this team!

Storr... I see some challenges in his game. Hope he absorbs Self ball!

At this point in time- - -as of right now Storr just looks uninspired to me , no mo jo Coach has his work cu out for him, how many rebounds did HE get? I bet not over 4-5-- at this point looks like blow average free throw shooter Make one , miss one- -hope he is fixable, just not sure about his TEAM attitude

@drgnslayr Zach shouldn't play a real minute and Hunt will definitely help with rebounding.

Know it was Washburn and they are undersized, but the rebounding percentages were pretty good. Not going to say that rebounding is a strength based off that, but also don't see any cause for concern there yet.

Also would take it in a heartbeat if KJ is averaging 6 rebounds per 24 mins. That is roughly double his rate last season.

@dylans Who should be playing over him…a ton of other recruits that would have came here if not for Bill’s blind loyalty to Juan.

It all falls and Self for the roster he built

@kuballin10 So the mythical guard that never came to KU… The 20/20 hindsight guy? The top recruit some fantasized about, but didn’t really consider KU? The child that wanted to play closer to home? Who that can realistically play for KU, you know - a guy on the roster, should have been getting those minutes?

As in you’ve got nothing but compliants. You can only work with the guys on the roster. No one else gets to play.

Do you always find yourself thinking the person at the other table is hotter than your current beau? That life is unfair and has dealt you the short end of the stick? If so it might, just maybe be… well you know, not everyone else’s fault.

KU was missing it's leading rebounder so we haven't seen what this team will do at full strength. Hunt averaged just under 11 a game and would expect he might get even more this year.

Rebounding is a concern though. KJ needs to be more consistent there and after that it's a committee likely. I don't see us struggling if Hunt is on the bench as Bidunga is clearly capable and that's a big upgrade from last year's bench. I'm hopeful this is a better rebounding team

Saw a twitter thing today with 5 or 6 guys FF picks. None of them picked KU. Auburn, 4 picks, Bama 2, UConn 2, ISU 4 picks. A smattering of others but none others. Are they not aware of our every other year pattern? Well, I guess the last two years were failures, but still.

@wissox Quite a few of the writers for the Athletic picked KU for the Final Four and couple picked KU to win it all. Right now, I don't see it happening, but if Storr and Griffen play to their potential, then KU will have chance to make a run.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Thanks, I was just referring to one "college basketball report" twitter page that featured the picks. With the way our last two seasons finished it's suddenly harder to imagine us even playing into the 2nd weekend. Roy had a similar stretch from about 1995-2000 where he lost in the 2nd round most of those years. Then the monkey came off his back and he demonstrated that at a press conference after beating Syracuse in the 2nd round. For the next half decade EE's, FF's and NC games were accomplished.

Is anyone else here confused? During DaJuan's tenure at KU we have landed a 5* PG in Elmarko Jackson, am extremely coveted portal PG in Remy Martin, and two additional coveted portal guards in Zeke Mayo and David Coit. Where exactly is the perception that we have been unable to recruit guards due to Self's blind loyalty to DaJuan coming from?

@Texas-Hawk-10 absolutely no chance this team wins a title, we aren’t athletic and can’t guard to save our lives. It will look like last year a lot.

@kjayhawks said in Basketball Season:

@Texas-Hawk-10 absolutely no chance this team wins a title, we aren’t athletic and can’t guard to save our lives. It will look like last year a lot.

Have to disagree this team is miles different then lasts. Scorers galore -we have shooters this season , lsst year we had hopers,-- we have much more depth- -last year no depth to name a couple

@kjayhawks said in Basketball Season:

@Texas-Hawk-10 absolutely no chance this team wins a title, we aren’t athletic and can’t guard to save our lives. It will look like last year a lot.

Right now, I agree this isn't title team and probably Sweet 16 team at best. However, if Storr and Griffen buy in on defense and use their athleticism on that end, then KU can contend for a title because that's the NBA level athleticism KU needs to won in March/April.

@kjayhawks that's putting a lot of stock into exhibition games with partial rosters to be making such surefire predictions. Lots of ball to be played still so lets enjoy the ride a little before putting this team in a box.

I agree that this team shouldn’t be as offensively challenged as last years at times but we looked decent when Kevin was healthy last season.

Heard this off a podcast this afternoon Hosted by Adam Finkelstein & Issac Trotter. - -They said that the big twelve had FIVE Legit Title conders-- Houston , KU , Iowa State , Arizona , & Baylor broke them all down and here is what they said about KU.

They said that KU had absolutely addressed their needs, saying Coach's knew they needed more Catch & Shoot 3 point shooters - - got that with Rylan Griffin - -Coach's knew they needed more wing Scoring - -got that from A J Storr , Coach's knew they needed more middle of the floor shot creator ---got that from Zeke Mayo. Saying that Dejuan was probably the most reliable PG in College Basketball ( Dam sorry kuballinI know how bad that has to hurt others saying good things about Juan guess more then just people here -Talked about the continuity & reliable defense - -saying everyone knows their role, saying defense is always going to be here. Saying also with Juan being at the point of attack and KJ flyin around putting out the fires

They said as far s the defense, they don't know if KU will have a top 10 defense - -but think they can have a top twenty defense and with the Offfensive fire power that KU has this year makes them a vey legit Title Contende

@MR11 Exhibition game last year showed us plenty just like the exhibition game this year

I knew we’d play well against a D2 team and people would think our offense is awesome

Those same shooters struggled against legit D1 athletes in a tough environment. The days of Frank and Devonte beating uk on the road with nba play is over

@jayballer67 Those two idiots couldn’t coach their way out of a wet paper sack let alone actually analyze talent accurately

Shot jock podcasts hosts who have to say 8-10 teams have a legit shot so you will listen

D2 is consistent he’s literally been who he was his first year he played real minutes and has not improved one lick in any aspect of his game

We are horrible defensively at the 1 and the 5….two most crucial spots in the game

@Jhawk69 No one responded to you because it is well documented the players who wanted to come here but wanted to play pg and not “next to” d2 in the sg role

Literally if Curry committed here (yes, steph) Bill would play him at the sg position next to Juan. No one will ever supplant Juan for the pg spot.

His handle is sloppy and weak, he can’t beat his man off the dribble 1v1 and required screens to do it. He can’t defend or keep his man out of the paint. Bill’s eyes are so slanted from some good practices (not a game we talkin about practice) in front of some low level nba scouts that it’s clouded his judgement

@kuballin10 said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67 Those two idiots couldn’t coach their way out of a wet paper sack let alone actually analyze talent accurately

Shot jock podcasts hosts who have to say 8-10 teams have a legit shot so you will listen

D2 is consistent he’s literally been who he was his first year he played real minutes and has not improved one lick in any aspect of his game

We are horrible defensively at the 1 and the 5….two most crucial spots in the game

Atta Boy I knew I could count on you to get you shorts all twisted in a knot AND you didn't let me down. Probably won't hear a lot from you in the Season seeing a how were not losing very many. BUT HEY stop on by give us a holler, throw a couple of screwed up shots ---give it your best shot - -we will be here were not going anywhere. Hell I might even get you some tickets to the NCAA tourney only way you'll get to see - Your a trip buddy- - you hang in there everything going to be all right. Funny thing is those aren't by far the only ones who think that - -Mercy there are A BUNCH OF IDIOTS OUT THERE HUH ROFLMAO-- -GIVE THEM HELL COCH those fricken idiots lmao

@kuballin10

It is well-documented? Interesting. Can you post some documentation here?

Feel free to research this board and 247 along with Vernon ect.

Recruits: Arterio Morris initially, TyTy Washington, Bethea

Transfers: Tyrese Hunter twice, LJ Cryer, Walter Clayton Jr (second to Davis based on how good he was at Florida last year), Kendric Davis (this one hurt the most with smu connection), Wade Taylor….didnt end up transferring but we wanted him big time

Identical thing can be said with KJ at the 4

Grant Nelson, Kaluma the first time, Jaxson Robinson, Harrison Ingram (I actually was able to confirm this one)

Self has his favorites and yes, it hurts recruiting. Not real difficult to comprehend or just get on the streets of aau ball to figure out how these high school teams view him, his system and the roster for any upcoming year

Just watched the Washburn game and you know if spell check is stumped it's not a well known team. I found myself trying to nickname our offense and came up with the PAC-MAN or just plain corn maze. Let's just say we haven't jelled yet and I hope we can fairly quickly because of the big time games coming soon. It was amazing to see how a team that had to reach to score 70 points last year breezed to 84 just by hitting three pointers. Washburn played pretty good defense I thought and Ballard looked in control of things which is nice to see. The two man trap on our point guards worked effectively three or four times.

@Zabudda Brett is a really good coach!

@Zabudda not sure I’d be excited putting 84 points on a D2 team. It used to be we was cheering for walk-ons to break triple digits against them. This team could gel and maybe make the FF giving the right road but we lack so much athleticism. Last year when we lined up against good teams they were bigger, faster and stronger by a wide margin. Watching Arkansas game I think that is pretty evident again. As much @kuballin10 blows his cork, he is a 100% right Juan Harris is a D2 level athlete period. I haven’t got a chance to talk to the high school coach that goes to Bills coaching clinic like last season. But last year everyone on here got pissed when he told me that was the least athletic team he’d ever seen going to that clinic for over a decade and Juan was the most unathletic PG Kansas has ever had. They get to sit in on a few practices each year. It proved to be a very accurate statement.

@kjayhawks when it was 70-29 it was a thorough stomping. We putzed around the rest of the way.

@approxinfinity said in Basketball Season:

@kjayhawks when it was 70-29 it was a thorough stomping. We putzed around the rest of the way.

Yeah, the two stretches to start each half were good. Then Jamari and Zach got time lol

@BShark If Zach needs to play meaningful minutes KU is in trouble.

@dylans said in Basketball Season:

@BShark If Zach needs to play meaningful minutes KU is in trouble.

Can't imagine he plays outside of walk-on minutes.

I’m most interested in seeing if anybody on this team can make our offense more well rounded by driving the ball. Outside of a few plays, we really haven’t seen that yet in the two exhibitions.

I apologize to everyone on this board. We all seem to be in a panic and it started in October. I lead that charge with my PTSD.

As is typical in D1 basketball... the year will play out, and the real concern will come later because of possible injuries. Except for Elmarko, we still look like a healthy team.

I'm building back optimism... one little step at a time!

@dylans The only time Zach needs to get off the bench is to retrieve glasses of water for the other players --he just brings nothing to the table other then turnovers

@jayballer67 …so this is what Self meant when he said I could clean the glass!

@approxinfinity Lmao , ya , ya , we will go with that lol

@kjayhawks What I don’t get is a HOF coach is obsessed with his minimal skill set….thats my hang up that he completely overvalues Juan and gaslights people that he is some John Stockton - incredible pass first pg.

I hammer on it because it is blatantly hurting Self’s own chances and KU’s to win another title. It is frustrating to watch favorites continually play out in the minute distribution with a high level program

@kuballin10 i am curious, people who watch Selfs pressers, does he actually say anything different about Juan that what he has said about starting point guards before him?

Doesn’t he just heap superlatives on people performing at their capacity and use the toughening box on players that have the most growth potential?

I am pretty sure Self can assess and develop talent.

@approxinfinity Shhhh. Some people don't understand what "Coach Speak" is.

Juan would be fine as a back up PG or one that spilts time like he did with Remy and Russel Robinson did with Sherron. Juan I don’t think is good enough to even play over seas.

@approxinfinity I’ve never heard him speak of any other pg like this. He had a npoy who he’d speak well off but nothing like this.

He never spoke of say EJ in this fashion except one faithful night in Ames and 6-5 ej having to play point is lightyears better than Juan.

@Texas-Hawk-10 - Yeah with Juan it isn’t coach speak I mean come one. He says this constantly and has defended him for half a decade. Coach speak is how much Clemence has improved in the off-season or some bs like that

@kjayhawks Hence what we don’t have this year as Moore and Coit aren’t remy (both are too small and not pac12 poy).

Just realizing that the Chiefs and Jayhawks play at the same time Monday night. Damn. Dumb. What do y’all think the safest game is to watch without seeing the other score? I’m guessing the Chiefs by far. May have to watch the Jayhawks late!

@rockchalkjayhawk I'll watch the Chiefs on the TV and KU on my phone

Well My fellow KU Brethren , Here we are sitting on the threshold of another KU B-Ball Season , waiting here with baited breath

I just feel that I would be doing an injustice if I didn't say something about the upcoming Season , that I would feel guilty, and this is - - -- -That we must - - just must temper our expectations for this team and the upcoming Season and the NCAA tourney. - -I know , I know, but we just must.

I mean after all We have is a Hall of Fame Coach, that restricts -stunts players development , We have a Coach who refuses to insert other players and continually playsa D -2 player instead of more talented/better players , we have a Starting PG in hiss what fifth yr / that is nothing but a D-2 player ?--- come on, what's wrong lol.

So just remember before you let your emotions get to far out of control- - -expectations get to high, that this team will go no further until Coach starts , implementing what our expertise here on our very own site is trying to let Coach know what he is doing wrong for heavens sakes, -Why won't Coach listen to our ol gran Pooh Ba , but yet tis the Season for hope.

Looking forward to another Season of enlighten our chat with the ol wise one - -well we can't chat when they lose, we don't hear a lot when we win . LMAO, anyway my friends get ready , tip off is not far away - -just hope Coach can change his ways, he hasn't been very successful lmao--- ROCK CHALK

@jayballer67 With all the #1 hype - if we are behind even one single point at any time during the season........Self should be fired, tarred and feathered, run out of town - but not to Manhattan, I mean we're not THAT cruel.

@nuleafjhawk Roflmao, well , well I see we have been par taking in the pipe again huh lol----just kidding

Mercy I am getting old. Had already forgotten we jumping into the fire fast.---Howard tonight - -THEN N Carolina Friday & Michigan State next week - -. YAZAA

i really think we need AJ to come out strong, thinking he has to play a Major piece in the Season -- Dude has to get it figured out -- this is not Wisconsin - -ROCK CHALK

From ESPN’s Lunardi, a very optimistic take:
It has not been a great few years for the consensus No. 1 team. A season ago, Kansas was banged up and made "only" the Sweet 16. A season before that, North Carolina didn't even make the tournament. You get the idea. Being the hunted in a sport with so much parity is probably a disadvantage. Yet here again are the Jayhawks, with as much power and pedigree as any program in college basketball. For me, the road to San Antonio begins in Lawrence, Kansas.

@HoraceZontal we didn’t make the sweet 16 last season

Here we are, well I'm here and you all are somewhere else. So many new players for us to tear down or the reverse and I mean I am a master of overreacting so that's what I bring to the table and as a preseason Board MVP contender I will post stupid shit all year. I did vote early and hope you all vote too.

UCF with a big win at home vs # 13 Texas A&M

@kjayhawks. Good point — optimistic and revisionist. Lunardi also predicts we win the championship, Self is COY and Hunter is POY.

Flory may be taking hunts place

@kjayhawks said in Basketball Season:

UCF with a big win at home vs # 13 Texas A&M

Gonzaga crushed Baylor 101-63...

@Crimsonorblue22 was thinking that too, maybe hunt could pivot to be be our 3 pt assassin! Kidding of course, no way Bill sits a Naismith Trophy watchlist player. But having two big men split time going in and out could be valuable.

Who knows, we also might have a mayoNaismith contender too :-)

KU UNC tickets are more reasonable now. $250 for ok seats - it was $1000 per seat in the rafters! Hope to see you (will have no idea who you are lol) at the game!

@dylans

Good deal and I hope you enjoy it. You could get a rainbow afro wig and a John 3:16 tee shirt so maybe we could pick you out.

@Zabudda lol. I was actually given tickets, but the price is about a quarter of what it was a couple weeks ago. Probably will just wear my normal day to day - KU t-shirt and hat. Will be easy to spot. 😂

I think I'll be at Oakland and Brown games. UNC will be absolutely electric though

I watch some NBA games now. I didn't watch at all for years and it is all about the 3 ball. The Celtics put up over 40 attempts a game with Tatum attempting 11.6 and shooting 37%.
Our basic offense was to put Gradey or Furphy in the corner over and over and play 4 on 4 against a packed in defense. We were bad at treys and our record suffered as a result. I don't think we will see that this year and then we will become hard to guard all over and since Hunter and KJ are above average passers we are going to be a high scoring team. Juan might average about 9 or 10 dimes with all our scorers or so I think.

I know I had mentioned my grandnephew an AA RB out of SDSU. He made the Jets final 53 man roster as the #3 rb and is one of the two deep return guys on kickoffs. Also he is on kickoff coverage every time. #32.

They are saying this will be the first time UNC has ever been in the Phog. Now I could be wrong and probably am but , I could of swore I had seen them play in the phog before along time back

The time I was thinking of when I think they had a guard I believe by the name of Jimmy Back ? -- name sound familiar to anyone ? & think pretty sure Dean Smith was the Coach and they played that dam four corners - - you fall behind even a early shortly in the second half--you could forget it cause they would could into that dam four corners and just stall out the whole half-, forcing you to foul. No shot clock- -I'm so glad they put the shot clock in the game.- But I thought they had played before--anybody remember Jimmy Black and Dean Smith's four corner?- -Was that played at the Phog --- I'm old lol

@BShark bucket list games UNC and Arizona. - I have family in Arizona. And Arizona on Sr night… wow! Will have to try to make that game. Hope the stars align.

My son, a freshman in Navy ROTC, is scheduled to do color guard for the Oakland game. If anyone happens to be there and get a clean photo of the color guard, I'd be most appreciative.

Predictions on UNC vs Kansas?

Pound it inside first. Then sink the defense in and net treys.

Get back on defense because they like to run.

Rebound, guard, win!

@drgnslayr

We should run ourselves when we get turnovers and missed shots. I know Hunter is good at quickly making the outlet pass. We have speed this year.

@drgnslayr

on Defense, take the head off the snake (RJ Davis), if possible. He's probably going to get his but cannot let him have a major game

@kuballin10

If that game happened it might have been in Hoch Auditorium and not Allen Fieldhouse

@drgnslayr I was looking at their Boards, and they had a preview talk session with Davis, and he was talking how or needing their post up penetration and have dominance in the paint.

He was talking about our size , missed something I guess cause other then Hunter I would say we have a pretty typical sized tteam , but the way he was coming across was like we are really big- -comparion us with Elon size wise I guess. They had a 7'4 guy I guess. But Herbert was just talking about , post up penetration.

Was talking about how fast we get out in transition from defense to offense and what a good player DeJuan was - -I thought Whaaaaa?-- -OUR JUAN ? - - OUR D- @ /na that can't be right lol.

Rebound. Play defense. Execute on offense. Hit shots.

I know it sounds simple, but limiting their possessions and shots is pretty crucial.

@jayballer67
That maybe was Wilt's national title game against the Tar Heels. The triple overtime one. Played at the old Muni in KCMO, 1957. Frank McGuire coached against Dick Harp.

What I am hearing from this board is we can't get in front of driving guards which is partially true and has hurt us in the Tournament and sent us packing against AR and Nova but most teams can't get in front either. The hammer in these games is you need a rim protector and board workers who limit second chances. The big guards who are downhill players like Divincenzo would have a tough time against KJ who can stay in front of them. We have Flory and Zach who are instinctive shot blockers. Zach is long and aggressive and no fear. I know we give him little respect but I think he will hold his own more often than not as his minutes allow him to blossom. KJ is a real athlete and is better and better in the lane however he is not an elite ball handler but a a sneaky good passer. Zach, Shak and Zeke. And just because Jamari acts like he is lost he will factor as a defender and sneaky rebounder. There is just way too much on this deep squad with an actual tough ass bench. All players want to be on the court and we may actually see Juan being rested. Self didn't have a choice the last two years but we can hammer the eff on opponents heads all year. Self wants to assuage his ego and romp ass. I want blood and as we said in the Corps "Killing's our Business and Business is Good."

KU and UNC played AFH in 1960 in the only one campus game ever between them. They've also played regular season games against each other in KC, Charlotte, and Raleigh so next season's game will be the first time KU has ever played in Chapel Hill.

A big part of that is Dean Smith and Roy Williams pretty much refusing to schedule regular season games against KU/UNC.

I ran into a bunch of Heels on Mass last night. They’re all stoked to see AFH.

@FarmerJayhawk said in Basketball Season:

I ran into a bunch of Heels on Mass last night. They’re all stoked to see AFH.

Slight pivot off course…took a trip to North Carolina years ago. Got to see the three big campuses (NC, NCState and Duke). It was Off-season, so I didn’t see any games, but I snuck into Cameron Indoor at Duke. It seemed really small and tight, especially the entry way. But the lights were off! Ha. All those campuses were nice. NC State is more modern.

@Zabudda said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67
That maybe was Wilt's national title game against the Tar Heels. The triple overtime one. Played at the old Muni in KCMO, 1957. Frank McGuire coached against Dick Harp.

That one might of been, but they are talking about the last time they played in th Phog ( Allen )-- -I also heard they haven't played in ( Allen )- -I dunno.

@jayballer67 They played at AFH in 1960, the only one campus game they've ever played against each other.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Basketball Season:

@jayballer67 They played at AFH in 1960, the only one campus game they've ever played against each other.

Oh ok, I didn't know -- been hearing so many different answers. - -What I do know is I'm sure or pretty sure is the Phog is going to be jumping tonight -- -it's gonna be juiced.

Rylan and them was talking about how good the crowd was the other night -- wait until tonight

@Zabudda I thought Zach had some good minutes against Howard, especially in the 2nd half. Got enough run time to get comfortable so he didn't 't look lost. Made me think he'll play some good minutes later when fouls or injuries star to pile up.

Im not down on Zach either. He seems to have active hands on D. He doesnt seem to finish well but he can bring energy, 5 fouls and size and thats useful.