UNC has no bigs, we good.

Lets go Jayhawks...

A lot of their fans seem to think they gonna gt whupped, varying from competitive to a whupping/beatdown. I think it will be a very competitive game They showed , they were talking Davis needed to have a huge game - - didn't know how they would guard Hunter if he posted up in the block.

I hope Hunter's touch is back so the guards may FEED THE BEAST. RC Surprise stat: Hunter leads the team in steals, 3.

LFG

Flory will be an impact since they have no bigs. Juan lobs. But the guards are where we need to defend against.

These clowns 🤡 on best bets

In the words of Charles Barkley GANE TINE

DiggyTime

Scouting report. Not good early

They're fast and going past us

Need better from Hunt. Open looks. Make them

Need boards

@BeddieKU23 said in UNC Game Thread:

Need better from Hunt. Open looks. Make them

Yeah other than the KJ mid range shot I've been happy with our shot selection.

Super fast guards

@BShark

Hopefully they settle in and make these looks they are getting

Need to get ball to Hunt near the basket

@AsadZ said in UNC Game Thread:

Need to get ball to Hunt near the basket

If Hunter would ever get near the basket

+1

KJ

Like that???

We knew this game would be electric but holy crap

Scorers

KJ is the man. On fire

Defense is pretty much optional at this point, neither team has any rotation

Man this team is so much fun to watch

Fast and Deep

Can make treys

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

Defense is pretty much optional at this point, neither team has any rotation

UNC is very fast lol.

Scorers make a difference. Flory can run the floor. Coach has handled the egos AGAIN. They look like they are having fun

@BShark ya they can run for sure

@stoptheflop KJ has 10 pts in 9 minutes. Love the assist from 5 to 4.

Diggy and storr talked about never playing in such a big environment

Weak call not his fault the other guy is a foot shorter

Flory time

Mayo naise

Wow

Dude has no fear for sure

Mayo is a stud

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

Weak call not his fault the other guy is a foot shorter

Yeah that was a joke

@BeddieKU23 said in UNC Game Thread:

Mayo is a stud

Got that in the gym range

Big time player

The bench may score more in the first two games this season than they did in the conference season last year.

He is happy to be back in the Land Of OZ

@kjayhawks Nothing wrong with that for once

@tundrahok said in UNC Game Thread:

@stoptheflop KJ has 10 pts in 9 minutes. Love the assist from 5 to 4.

Shooters around KJ is a beautiful thing.

Can't imagine how happy Zeke is to be home. Gotta be a dream come true

Self can run out teams from the gym

Teams are going to play us very slow

Limit number of possessions

Self said they hadn't shown any new plays in the first game so this is a blank slate for him

Pretty

Having a guy that can go get a bucket late in the clock off the drive is nice. Haven’t had that in a few years

Storr having fun, now

I think KU came to play

Looks like we've got some real toughness, maybe (at least at home in a big game when we're winning, lol).

The refs are the only thing keeping them in it.

Freethrows an issue

Whatta block!

Im sold on Rylen

I know it’s not nice but I yell get out bitch with a block like that

We got ourselves a billy self team

@BeddieKU23 scrappy

Storr can score

@AsadZ that rhymes 🙋‍♀️

@AsadZ said in UNC Game Thread:

Storr can score

Are you the real slim shady?

It’s fun to watch when ku can score in and out

Smart timeout

D1

I knew that was coming

Harris and Bidunka were working that one together. Very cool.

I like his smile

Cheap nut punch on that flory oop

Dragged that foot

KJ has to stop just falling down before he hurts himself

Mayo isn't intimidated

Bilas digging deep for the heels

Lots to like!

Pretty good half there, defense still needs some work. But we won’t lose shooting like that. Carolina seems speedy but super short to me.

24 bench points. Very nice change from last year

I mean. Thats pretty much an A+ graded on the early season curve

I am already tired of the blatant “love” for Puke.

Keep feeding Hunt on the low block and let him go to work with scoring and passing for assists

Flory is going to be a real stud

He has some motor

Reminds me of TRob

The sound system sucks. Too loud. It overwhelms the crowd. - really my only complaint. The rest looks good, but ruining the crowd noise is a huge negative.

They’re replacing the broken shot clock. We’ll see if they can get it done.

What a happy looking couple! Guess who I'm talking about!🤣

Most talented Self team since 2008

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

Freethrows an issue

Not when the guards are taking them. Flory...it's rough for sure.

@approxinfinity This is 2022 erasure. Probably some others as well

@dylans said in UNC Game Thread:

The sound system sucks. Too loud. It overwhelms the crowd. - really my only complaint. The rest looks good, but ruining the crowd noise is a huge negative.

JBL speakers are garbage. No mid range. The old Fieldhouse sounds crappy - they’ll figure it out…I hope.

@BShark said in UNC Game Thread:

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

Freethrows an issue

Not when the guards are taking them. Flory...it's rough for sure.

Reminds me of Doke's FTs. I sure hope Flory gets better

@approxinfinity idk 2010, 2011, 2017, 2018 and 2020 were pretty salty. Let’s hope this group has a better finish than all of those.

@dylans said in UNC Game Thread:

@dylans said in UNC Game Thread:

The sound system sucks. Too loud. It overwhelms the crowd. - really my only complaint. The rest looks good, but ruining the crowd noise is a huge negative.

JBL speakers are garbage. No mid range. The old Fieldhouse sounds crappy - they’ll figure it out…I hope.

I could have told them JBL is trash

24 bench points in the first half. Refreshing.

Feels like the 22 championship game in reverse so far.

Be nice to make something

We couldn't have butchered the end of the first any worse and now we need to get past the first 5 minutes of this half.

Make something

I think we forgot there was a half to go here

Bad shot selection

Got to give it to Hunter and Zeke

Can not play like that.....go inside

AJ and Zeke back in

Only outscored 10-4 thus half. Seems worse. Good test of character.🤪

Our intensity has dropped off.

Needed that!

Going to learn that playing through hunter when we’re struggling might not work

@DanR He's not into it.

Guy is not in shape

Just got to make shots and move the ball. KJ, Hunt and co have all missed very makable shots

Jesus the refs are trying to be the focal point here smh

Using Hunter and Bidunga interchangeably from game 1. Nice.

Refs the only reason this close

Mayo should be starting

Zeke is the shooter we needed last year.

Mayo is a smooth operator

@RockChalkinTexas definitely

Nobody got a Mayo off the bench. He's showing he's our best player on o

Self letting them play

No short leash

@DanR said in UNC Game Thread:

Guy is not in shape

This is the truth

Mayo is like butter

Mayo seems like he can be a good defender too so unleash that local kid

Storr needs to step up his D

@Crimsonorblue22 said in UNC Game Thread:

Storr needs to step up his D

funny

Juando a pretty ghostly stat sheet thus 4 points and 3 assists

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

Juando a pretty ghostly stat sheet thus 4 points and 3 assists

I like that Bill has actually had him out of the game at times.

@BShark he's got a bench! I am so glad he embraced transfers

Crazy to think we got another guard that will get burn in Moore. Seeing that we got 8-9 legit dudes without even seeing him yet is scary

YESsSSSS

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh

There you go Juan

Juan heard us yep

Think that’s the second dunk in a KU uni

DJ playing like he's got something to prove

Clean pocket pick imo

Davis has as many FTs as our team

We get to add Shak Moore to this team at some point as well

Good foul Diggy. If youre gonna foul in transition dont give up the and 1

I hate the way they officiate games now we with get a bunch of tic tac calls

Dude landed with the ball on his hip give me a break

15 FT differential

Yep it begins

Vegas on the line with these refs

Seems weird to have depth. So get hunter out and speed this up

Trash D hunter

Who wants it more?

That was unbelievable

@BShark like I’ve been saying I don’t think they care who wins but man they sure seem to love that line

That was good d for a middle aged sedentary computer programmer

I mean he looked like me out there, weekend warrior

Lost All momentum. Time to make shots cause the d ain't it

@BeddieKU23 said in UNC Game Thread:

Lost All momentum. Time to make shots cause the d ain't it

Losing the ft and rebounding edge. Pretty inexcusable at home and their foul trouble

So its Mayo and Storr. Noted

Bilas shut up please.

Good time to find out who the beast mode guys are on this team

Rebound!!!

Defense

DJ!

Mayo has gone Icey cold

Get hunt out. Concrete shoes

Look tired. Mayo's legs are gone

@DanR he doesn’t look like he is in game shape yet missing all that time.

Hunt did not even put up his arm when RJ was in the lane to challenge the shot.

Storr + Dickenson + Mayo + swiss cheese defense

Hunt just leaves a lot to be desired. He is who he is

@kjayhawks I’m not sure if he’s in good enough shape to change a lightbulb

No boarders when he misses that 3

@DanR He should quit trying to hit a 3

37 fouls called so far. They must have a quota to get tonight

Are we watching KU football or basketball tonight? Epic collapse

Mayo should have shot it in the lane than have Hunt throw up a miss

I still think we’ll win this once bill sees the light

Kids out of control and gets bailed

Whatever refs

Their guards are going to run up into traffic in the lane and flop to get a foul.

We can’t hit shit.

Useless

Brick city

Can’t make an easy shot or throw up a stupid shot smh talk about a tale of two half’s here

Hunt tired

I hate bagging on a player, but he’s getting paid

Where's the crowd?

Need to get Flory back in we all looked totally gassed

Oh dear God Hunter

Good

Can we not start on an L riding our starters please

DJ again!

Wtf seriously

Crap

Really?

Pathetic refs

These refs are going to start a riot!

Bidunga!

Trimble is destroying us

Self needs a T this absolute bull shit

NC is going to go over 30 FT’s and have 5 more rebounds than us. That is 8 more rebounds this half.

how can a team look that good in the 1st half and then just like horse doo the 2nd ?

We played everyone in the first half. We didnt clench our butts and ride our starters

@jayballer67

Making shots and defending is a real issue still

Hunter had 2 fouls early first half….

Mayo has had 4 looks with out a man within 10 feet of him. Clanked everyone of them, crazy how tired we look

Kease can play, Bidunga can play.
Next man up.

Finally!

Need a score now

Good job AJ. Tbe effort is there

Defense

Sieve

Mayo made up for the matador d

Mayo has to start next game

WooHoo

Helluva feed

Big time

wtf do we have to do to get a Fing foul call. With all the hate on Hunt he’s had a few big boards and buckets here

This has been an extremely biased game called by the refs

@BeddieKU23 BUT WE GET ALL THE CALLS

Offensively we have been pretty good second half. But
Defensively we have given up 50

Damn

Nice

Got lucky

Phew!

92 points and we had a cold spell!

We will take it

🌾🌾🌾🌾💙❤️🫶

Rock chalk!

What a freaking game

Thy pissed Hunter off on that last foul call on him.

42 points from the bench.

@patoh3 we would've lost without them!!

@patoh3

Did we have that many in any 10 games last year.

Wow, good guys win again

Bill Self just tied Phog Allen for most wins. Wow.

Oh I'm gonna really like Flory

The second half defense was maybe the worst I’ve seen in the Bill Self era.

I’ve been told Bill Self has some land for his retirement it’s about the shape and size of North Carolina

@approxinfinity Pretty much sys it all

Great to hang out with you all! Even better with a dub.
Self is the best! We're so lucky as fans.
G'nite

RockChalk

@Zabudda Probably not, but I don’t have the stats available to confirm.

Thought AJ played pretty decent for the most part

Four down with 3 min to go. Outscored them 9-2 after that. Nice

Good win - but...give up a 15 pts half time lead...huge negative differential at the FT line at home...second straight game in which we dominated in the first half, but defense disappeared in the second half...

Bidunga 11 minutes 8 pts, 8 RB’s, and 1 official block.

Mayo with FT's a jumper and the assist to Hunter in the last little bit. Player of the game with 21 points.

@patoh3

Yeah official. Didn't look like a freshman.

Post game not on espn+ ?

@Zabudda Hunt obviously isn’t in game shape and had some lapses and Mayo missed some good looks he likely hits most games but both stepped up
In crunch time. Nice to see Juan make some plays late to keep our heart beat going. KJ disappeared in the second half, we have got to be quicker on our defensive rotations or teams with a stretch 4 will light us up. A win against UNC is always great and having stuff to work on probably helps. If we’d spanked by 20 we probably would be a little full of ourselves.

@DCHawker

Least they got things to work on

I'm tellin ya our D-2 player came up big in some critical minutes late in the game. HELLOOOOO (KU BALLIN ) didn't hear from you tonight , hmmmm Surprise, Surprise lol

Anyone catch that KJ had 37 minutes?! I thought his minutes would go down this year? I was told his minutes would go down? I’ll be honest, I’m rarely upset watching KJ play.

@benshawks08 said in UNC Game Thread:

Anyone catch that KJ had 37 minutes?! I thought his minutes would go down this year? I was told his minutes would go down? I’ll be honest, I’m rarely upset watching KJ play.

The issue is 37 minutes and 2 RBs at the 4 spot...

where would we be without KJ'S 14 first half points ?

This team is going to get so good as the season goes on

@DCHawker I said last year and this year we won’t win in March with KJ playing 30 plus minutes and tonight I think proved it. We don’t win that on a neutral court. He got schooled several times on defense when ask to cover a guard and was one of the main culprits of poor rotation. I believe he had 1 rebound and 2 fouls for second half stats.

@benshawks08

Griffen was on the bench a lot and seemed like the matchups dictated this a bit too. Not a sustainable number for Adams though.

🐦 View Tweet?s=61&t=8gxVJFoXYFc_4K5Nm7wEnw
Pregame video, dream on!💙❤️🌾🌾

@jayballer67 how 'bout we stop calling him that?

Couldn't find the post game on the ESPN- what's up with that?

Went on reddit for kicks to see what people are talking about. I was shocked to see informed, interesting and respectful discussion about the game from NC and KU fans. Nice job, basketball fans!

https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1gmzske/post_game_thread_1_kansas_defeats_9_north/ ↗

Wait, only 4 TO's, in the second game of the year, with god knows how many new people, against U-freakin'-NC?

I am gratifyingly amazed!

@DanR I know some former buckets members that are on there.

@DanR wished I knew why theres no pre or post game!

@approxinfinity Zach play?

A rough outing for Coit looking at the box score. 0 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds woof. I forgot he was on the floor several times tonight. Not to keep on KJ but damn dude had 2 rebounds in 37 minutes. Love ya man but damn that’s unacceptable in 37 by any player let alone a forward. Storr and Mayo are likely starting before the end of the semester.

@kjayhawks KJ was CLEARLY HURT but it's also on Bill for playing him. As for Coit, we need Shak for sure. Depends on match-ups.

@BShark ya I wonder about that after the fall I just don’t know why he does that trying to get a call. They ain’t gonna call it if you fall every single time. It will be interesting to see how Shak fits into the rotation.

Learned a bit about this group tonight. Awesome to see the guards hitting shots. Speed and athleticism of UNC was a challenge. Refs are rusty.

Always good to have a talented player from the state of Kansas on the team. Even better when from Lawrence! This is a different team from last year, with a common core that knows how to win. I'm excited to see if they can make winning a habit.

bill needs an intervention regarding KJ

I feel like KUballin is the equivalent to Smokey on the Friday movies. “When Deebo be here, I’ll be quiet but when he gone, I be talking again” haha

@rcjhdraft Nah the staff needs an intervention with Bill on the best lineups

Since everyone missed me - thanks I feel loved

Pro’s - when we played the right lineups we got up 20.

We won the game

Juan had some clutch buckets down the stretch

Best lineup: Juan (may end up Moore), Mayo, Storr, Griffen, Hunt/Flory

Moore might take diggy’s minutes if he can defend like @BShark says and hit the occasional 3.

Cons - Bill tightened up the lineups the second half and we peed it away. Had it not been for AFH which masks a ton of issues - we’d lost on a neutral court or road game.

Coit’s shot didn’t drop and he struggled to attack the paint

KJ’s man was in the paint as kj set a screen for Juan at the top of the key. Literally everyone knows not to guard him. This kills everything offensively yet Self rolls with it….unfathomable

Kj can’t rebound, can’t shoot outside 10 feet, isn’t guarded by the other team. He’s athletic as heck and can dunk but more negatives than positives

We still don’t defend the 3 well

Griffin got beat on a back door cut then sat the rest of the game and Juan gets beat off the dribble but plays unlimited minutes if not for fouling. Griffin a final 4 starter a year ago….

Bill’s postgame just read he isn’t worried about defending ball screens cause not many teams athletic like unc. Hey Bill u ain’t winning a title with this pu$$ attitude. Better figure it out or round of 32 against elite guards like Arky or unc. U prepare for the best not the other 90%. Idiotic

We have the potential but let’s see what we are made of on the road this year and with Duke in Vegas (dukes for real)

Lineup is set with moore for diggy and diggy getting kease’s few minutes.

Even though we didn't play that well a win is still a win

I wish I hadn't seen the final score while in the car. Was going to watch after arriving at my folks, but man o man, I wish you all could have seen the northern lights and the stars here.Really amazing. I watched the game anyways, way more relaxed than i would have been if I didn't know the score. I think I would have been mad at the refs. But it was an exhilerating win.

Was out with friends for dinner and watched at the restaurant so was distracted. But after a rewatch!

-Juan makes this whole thing go. Everything just runs better with him in. Stoked to see him under 30, you could tell his consistency and intensity were better.

-Hunt was out of shape, that’ll come. But will be a monster in league play. Also for the Bill Self suggestion box, play some more drop coverage.

-Love Diggy but he just doesn’t have the physical gifts to be a starter. Microwave role is perfect.

-Zeke was for the most part terrific. Hope he starts Tuesday but also needs to be in better shape.

-KJ was all world in the first but clearly wasn’t the same guy down the stretch. Very strong glue guy

-The bulb is flickering with Storr. He did some great things but also doesn’t know what to do yet. The drive into 3 dudes was something.

-Rylan kind of has the same thing. The midrange jumper was killer. Needs to embrace a 3 and D role. Just doesn’t have the skill to be a primary scorer (yet). Very impressed with his work on RJ

-Flory also has no idea what he’s doing, but he’s going to be special once he learns to dribble and rebound.

-This team thrives in transition. Dickinson is a terrific outlet passer and these guys can GO. Should be a major weapon.

-Defensive intensity comes and goes. Which is par for the course in early November. And partly was due to some… interesting calls. We couldn’t be as aggressive as we wanted. And missed a few assignments. Good teaching tape against some really good guards. Stoked we get Shak soon.

-Rebounding is going to be an issue all year. Hunt’s great but boy it gets bare after that.

-The only thing that kept this from a blowout was UNC shooting the piss out of FTs. 28/31 is legitimately absurd.

-Bill still rules in end of game situations, Hubert continues to be bad.

-KU and UNC should play every year. It’s too fun not to.

@rcjhdraft said in UNC Game Thread:

bill needs an intervention regarding KJ

About to channel my inner kuballin10

Bill Self is the only coach in the country that starts KJ with this roster.

Rebounds

KJ Adams 2

Diggy Coit 4... at 5'8'' in half the minutes.

Flory 8 and 8 in 11 minutes he needs to play more.

KJ can’t rebound to save his life and it costs KU several points. - he came in wearing lingerie and clearly tweeked his leg late in the half. Hunt needed to sit in favor of Flory for a couple of minutes late in the game to get a breather. But really it looked well coached and played game. The crowd was great, but seeing several hundred UNC fans in the building was weird. I’ve never seen that many opposing fans in Allen Fieldhouse.

@BShark He was hitting them in the first half but I wanted to turn the game off when I saw KJ spamming middies. Just a limited player feasting off the gravity of everyone else on the floor, but Bill thinks he's Draymond green so he's riding him.

I am going to have to agree with a point from @kuballin10. The comment about the guards is troubling. We are at game number four counting the exhibitions and we’ve already played the “best/fastest” guards in the country twice. The problem is that every guard is going to look great if they can get Hunter in a ball screen with the current scheme.

Something has to change there and I’m nervous because I don’t have much confidence that anything will.

On the other hand I am pumped for Flory. He made some plays no one else on the team is capable of making. Got some big boy rebounds, showed a little post move, played with a big time motor, and even a few dribbles on a down hill drive. With normal officiating he’d have ended that game with 3 or more blocks.

I agree about KJ and the minutes got but let’s not go crazy Bill has a lot to figure out with this group and we played a high level team early.

What a game

Some thoughts.

Was disappointed in losing the 20 pt lead and ending the half with that negative momentum play at the buzzer was certainly positive fuel for UNC. Made for an exciting and nail bitting moments late but that was one heck of a starting point for the season. Resume building win #1.

LOTS of positives in that first half offensively and many defensive possessions that kept UNC off script so the potential is there but it was not sustainable. Growth to find for sure.

I'll give Hunt, KJ and Mayo a pass for looking dead tired in stretches of the 2nd half as this game got tight and intense but it must improve from them all. Hopefully they get settled and figure it out because those 3 definitely bogged down the offense during the UNC run.

Hunter is a liability defensively and they need to figure something else out on how to handle ball screens because that just became #1 film for opponents again. UNC has no doubt a top 5 backcourt in the country with those 3 plus Jackson off the bench, that's a very impressive group. Trimble was bailed out a ton by bad officiating but it is what it is.

Not convinced Self is handling Bidunga's minutes that well so far. The kid has too much talent and skills that nobody else can really match. He easily looks like our best rim protector around the rim and most athletic guy. I'm not seeing limitations with playing him next to Hunt as long as you surround him with spacing. Hopefully we see some things evolve there.

Mayo was big time and easily has the most advanced offensive game of the guards. There was a stretch in the 2nd half where he missed 4 wide open looks. Missed open looks in the 2nd half were a big reason why UNC got transition to the free throw line too much.

Saw a lot more positive flashes from Storr. Work in progress but there's a budding star in there. Certainly gives us another weapon.

Harris looks to have a lot more bounce to him this yr. That dunk was so Harris and he had a driving layup in the 2nd half where he got up and it was impressive. Keeping him fresh is key to getting that kind of play out of him. We certainly need him out there running things though, he makes it all work when he's got studs around him.

Rock Chalk that was really fun

If you can play KJ next to Hunt you can do it with Flory too. Of course that would involve taking KJ out of the game at some point...

KJ does a lot of unnoticed things. He is a guy who helps break the press easy. He guards VERY well. He has great court vision. He scored sort of effortlessly at times last night.

He doesn’t guard the other forwards, he switches everything. So he isn’t going to rebound like a traditional big man. Does anyone think he isn’t getting rebounds because he doesn’t have the motor to go get them? He’s the highest effort guy on the court at basically all times…

I feel like there is more to that story. I’ve never had the patience to go watch the film to see what it is, but I feel like there is some good reasons why he doesn’t put up big rebound numbers.

I saw a lot of the Storr that I told you about. Alley oops, nice finishes, and some ugly drives into nothing. I don't pay attention to defense much but I was trying with him specifically a bit last night. I always think someone as athletic as he should be able to D up anyone around his size. But I think he plays soft and then when he sees the guy he's supposed to be stopping ready to make a shot or drive he hustles over there with predictable results ending in points scored.

I did see some trust in him by Self that surprised me. Thought he'd get pulled a couple of times, like after taking on 3 guys at one, but tonight Self left him in. After game 1 Self said he's not getting it. Maybe AJ earned some trust last night.

@Kcmatt7 KJ doesn’t box out. Ever. That’s pretty much the biggest reason he doesn’t rebound imho. Maybe it’s by design, but I don’t like it. I don’t think very many of KUs players box out well though. Would love if the staff preached it a bit.

@Kcmatt7 KJ just sucks at rebounding. I'd almost guarantee that if his wingspan was measured, it'd be 80 inches or less.

It took most people here two years to figure that KJ can't rebound when I was saying it about him his sophomore year when he was playing the 5 and so many people here wanted to argue with me about it saying that KJ would eventually get better. He's actually gotten progressively worse each season with his rebounding. I know it's early and his rebounding % will probably go up slightly, but right now it's under 6%. KJ has the same number of rebounds as David Coit on the season and 3 less than Mayo.

Well that game sure had some highs and lows. What a great early season matchup. Lots has been said above, so not much else to add other than a few things that caught my eye.

— Hunter struggled to get good post position last night. Lots of extended dribbling and backing it down. Slows the offense down considerably. He ended up with great stats though. I guess with his passing skills he can find an open shooter when eventually doubled. Still on the fence if he should ever be allowed on the perimeter and shooting 3s.

— Zeke was great! I can see he was tentative a few times. I hope a big boy game like that builds enough confidence in him to dominate.

— Diggy was invisible last night. What happens when Moore returns?

— as much as I hate replay review, I sure wish coach had a couple red flags to drop last night. Hunter alone got hosed a few times. One of those bad calls nearly cost us the game.

— Bilas didn’t seem entirely on his analyst game. Seemed out of it a bit. Somewhat cliche.

— does AFH seem like it has a much cleaner look on TV? They didn’t change that much, right? It looks smoother, more like a modern, clean arena — with fewer funky angular things.

I didn't get to watch last night live, but seeing it this morning, the first half was KU's A game and the second half was KU's D game.

Everyone that was telling me over the offseason that KU's improved athleticism would cover up those weaknesses on defense, guess what? It won't matter with Hunter who's going to get those key minutes down the stretch over Flory.

I don't know why Self isn't playing Hunter on defense the same way he used McCormack down the stretch in 2022 by having him play drop coverage on screens and be a rim protector.

The second half defense is exactly what I thought this team would look like. It took UNC 5 minutes to cut that lead from 17 at halftime down to 6 points. Coit is absolutely a high energy player, but if his shot isn't falling like last night, then he's not providing enough value to play bog minutes. Hopefully Shak Moore is ready to take those minutes by the time conference play starts up. Zeke Mayo had the same number of rebounds in 29 min as KJ, Griffen, and Storr had in 81 combined minutes and Coit had one less than those 3 combined. Our guards should not be getting more than double the rebounds of our forwards ever. We all know KJ can't rebound, but Griffen and Storr combining for 3 rebounds is unacceptable because those two should be much better rebounders than KJ.

KU's overall success this season is going to come down to AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen and whether or not they can stay on the floor for 30 mpg while providing average defense.

I think my ideal minutes distribution at this point would be Harris, Storr, and Mayo around 30 mpg, Hunter and Griffen around 25 mpg, KJ around 20 mpg, Flory around 15 mpg, and Coit/Moore around 10 mpg. I know that's 205 minutes, it can be tweaked based on specific game needs, but I think the minutes end up close to that, KU will be okay this season.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in UNC Game Thread:

@jayballer67 how 'bout we stop calling him that?

Where have you been ?

Oh, and what happened to boxscores on the LJW / KU Sports site? they give up?

So - in light of the comments about KJ on this thread, I re-watched the game and paid extremly close attention to what KJ did on both offense and defense.

Defense- KJ was excellent. When his man looked to drive and score, he never gave up, moving his feet constantly. He looked a lot like Marcus Garrett in my opinion. He communicated well with his teammates as a good veteran should about switching and helping his teammates get to the right opponent quickly. His boxing out in fact was fantastic. He always had his man in sight, and made sure there was no chance his opponent would get near the basket, except for when a teammate got beat and he had to shift in the paint to try and stop the opponents drive to the hoop. This of course put KJ away from the basket almost every time, thus never was he in a good position to rebound.

Offense - he mostly is a role player here, setting picks, moving pretty well away from the ball. Obviously he is not a prime target, but when he had the ball in open space he shot well in the first half. But when other KU players shot the ball he was passive, standing around really, and got easily boxed out virtually every time. Thus he had no offensive rebounds (he had one in the first half but I think that was it) Because of all the minutes he got, he was tired in the second half, and perhaps hurting a bit.

We all know Self has always had his “glue guys” and his favorites and we all know KJ is one of them. Self loves guys who play hard defensively and do what they are coached to do. kJ does both. And if Self and the coaching staff wanted KJ to become a rebounder, his playing style would be different. And if they wanted KJ to shoot more, he would be shooting more. Apparently they love what KJ is doing and has been doing the last several years.

As far as his scoring ability (and Juans ) after all these years, it is what it is. He will never improve all that much at this stage. He and Dajuan at least know this, and don’t force up too many bad looks.

Now if we can get the transfers to buy in to playing consistent high effort defense, (we know they can score) I think this team will be real contender.

Flory Bidunga and Zeke Mayo…you two have changed my life.

@Bosthawk I saw what you saw. KJ definitely got hurt (leg or ankle) maybe 5 minutes in to the second half and slowed noticeably. The lack of boxing out and offensive rebounding is frustrating, but I found myself wondering if Coach Self gave him orders to get back on D instead, to slow the fast break. Glad we won. The second half was a tough watch.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Your minutes are spot on yet kj played what 37…..and I doubt that changes

Bill’s playing favorites and letting some guys play through mistakes while others can’t bites us in the arse again.

Rylan can’t sit the bench because of 2-3 boneheaded plays….he ain’t a frosh

Self is great but man he’s stubborn and his lineups with his guys gave up the lead built from letting guys like flory, zeke and especially Rylan play more

If Kj, Hunt and Juan are 30-35 mpg we will have an ugly sweet 16 loss when other players should have played more

The allowing “his guys” to get beat back door or turn it over not no quick hook vs final 4 players getting the quick hook

I can tell you both player and parent will get upset real quick with his childlike favorites

@HoraceZontal said in UNC Game Thread:

@Bosthawk I saw what you saw. KJ definitely got hurt (leg or ankle) maybe 5 minutes in to the second half and slowed noticeably. The lack of boxing out and offensive rebounding is frustrating, but I found myself wondering if Coach Self gave him orders to get back on D instead, to slow the fast break. Glad we won. The second half was a tough watch.

Did they not show his injury during the broadcast? There was little time left in first half when KJ tweeked his leg - I think knee since he was wearing lingerie on it. He was limping around pretty bad during the timeout afterward. I couldn’t believe Self put him back in before the half. KJ lost his bounce after that.

@rockchalkjayhawk I heard the lighting was much improved which would show better on TV.

Fun fact of today- Mayo has made 27% of the 3 pointers Nick Timberlake hit all season last year….. in 2 games 😳

Pretty sure Nick won a game for us when Kevin was hurt.

@dylans that’s what I was referring to. I thought it was early second half, but perhaps late first. He clearly was affected — slower and earthbound. And that was for the rest of the game. Tigger without his bounce is very sad.

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

Fun fact of today- Mayo has made 27% of the 3 pointers Nick Timberlake hit all season last year….. in 2 games 😳

!alt text ↗

@BShark lol I completely forgot Nick Timberlake exists.

@dylans said in UNC Game Thread:

@BShark lol I completely forgot Nick Timberlake exists.

Our "depth" last year was him and Parker Braun. Loooooooool

My son and I made a last minute trip from Ohio for this game. Our first time back since 2020 senior night. It was an awesome night in the fieldhouse. Such a great environment.

@BigBad Wow, great memories formed!

Self had a tight rotation in this game as NC had a furious come back.

I'd love to see Flory, Passmore and Zach get more mins.

@BShark forgetting Sarah Marshall is a guilty pleasure of mine.

As the hype builds towards KU-Duke in a month I'm sure by game time ESPN will be promoting it as Flagg getting prepared to take on KU all by himself and will probably be successful.

@wissox That game is only 2 weeks away.

@wissox to be honest, he’s scares the shit outta me but they don’t have much else. Make him earn his and shut everyone else down. Crazy to think we played UNC Friday then MSU Tuesday and Dook all before thanksgiving.

@dylans oh come on now. Boys to Men? One Direction? In sync?

Crap, I forgot too.

@BShark
That is some fine photoshopping !!

@Bosthawk said in UNC Game Thread:

@BShark
That is some fine photoshopping !!

Not my work, it made me chuckle for sure.

My first comment since UNC/KU.

Fun to watch our offense start to make things happen.

But what stuck in my head was our bad defense. It almost has to improve.

UNC was an obvious perimeter team... why did our guys think they need to sink in like they would be weakside help when they end up guarding no one? We have a footer in the paint. These guys need to be out there on the perimeter, sticking to their own man only, let our bigs guard off the drive. On most plays we had 3 guards guarding no one!

If we learn some level of defense... and also rebounding... we should develop into a damn good team! I'm already starting to like a lot of the new pieces!

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

@wissox to be honest, he’s scares the shit outta me but they don’t have much else. Make him earn his and shut everyone else down. Crazy to think we played UNC Friday then MSU Tuesday and Dook all before thanksgiving.

Yeah, but you get scared by basically any opponent of ours.

@wissox well I can’t argue with that, I’d say the ones that don’t scare me end up beating us. As much it may turn the tide I have zero fear for MSU Tuesday. Hopefully I’m not jinxing us but we win that by double digits 8 out of 10 times.

@drgnslayr The old Bill Self defend inside out….meanwhile it can cause some issues with how todays game has been played

Defensively these last 3 years we’ve been bad….

I’d like to see us run a 4 guard line up a little more often. Worked in 2018 and 2022 was pretty much 4 guard JWill was much more of a guard than a Forward.

So, who will start in Diggy's spot against MichSt? Why isn't Zeke starting? Zeke is getting his minutes, 29 against NC, but he needs to start. Starting Griffen or Storr is a tossup for me; both will contribute and get minutes. And, KJ can't play 37 minutes.

@stoptheflop said in UNC Game Thread:

So, who will start in Diggy's spot against MichSt? Why isn't Zeke starting? Zeke is getting his minutes, 29 against NC, but he needs to start. Starting Griffen or Storr is a tossup for me; both will contribute and get minutes. And, KJ can't play 37 minutes.

You think Diggy won’t start?

He shouldn’t be starting

Should be

Second half bucket getter Juan

Zeke

Rylan/Storr - see next spot

Storr (but it will always be KJ)

Hunt

Whoever doesn’t start from Ry/Storr is 1st off bench with Flory and Moore once he’s healthy

Kease and diggy in spot minutes

@dylans

@BShark lol I completely forgot Nick Timberlake exists.

Hey, I kind of like "Can't Stop The Feeling!" Ooops... it was Justin.

@kuballin10

Do you believe KJ should get any minutes of playing time?

My days at the bucket became much more pleasant when I discovered how to block someone. I’m sure others days at the same became more pleasant when they learned to block me! If you want to block me I can tell you how! lol just joking.

@wissox I’ve only blocked one person in all my time here, but it’s sure made a difference this last year or so. Doesn’t impinge on their free speech and allows for a much more enjoyable experience for me, a win win.

to show a difference from last year to this about Depth , last year struggled with points off the bench--This year first two games bench has scored -- --- -45 points - --& 42 points

@Jhawk69 Definitely - he needs to be the spark off the bench but his inability to rebound and offensive inefficiencies really hurt us on both ends against top tier teams

@kuballin10 I agree. I would like to see us play 4 out with Storr and Griffen at the 3 and 4. KJ I would like so see get about 20 mpg off the bench. How many minutes do you think he deserves?

KJ will continue to play 35 or more minutes a game imo. Izzo was very positive about KJ today.

Jayhawker podcast was interesting to hear Self compare KJ to Ochai, and just go on and on about DaJuan and his great value to the team. I guess he doesn't really know his own guys. There is no way KJ is coming off the bench after listing to Bill Self today. That podcast is on IHeart Radio and where you get your podcasts. Great interview/season preview.

Another interesting part was him saying 38-40% of shots taken will be 3's this year. That is the goal. Last year was about 30%.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in UNC Game Thread:

@stoptheflop said in UNC Game Thread:

So, who will start in Diggy's spot against MichSt? Why isn't Zeke starting? Zeke is getting his minutes, 29 against NC, but he needs to start. Starting Griffen or Storr is a tossup for me; both will contribute and get minutes. And, KJ can't play 37 minutes.

You think Diggy won’t start?

Diggy had such a bad game against NC, it seems like other players playing so much better should start. Diggy played 20 min, went 0/4, but had 4 rbs and 3 asissts. I know coach likes consistency so Diggy probably starts-one bad game shouldn't bench a player. But, Zeke has been flat out bringing the scoring and I think deserves to start.

A note about the defense, it feels like Self generally sticks to a simple man scheme early in the season. As the team gels, I would expect him to add in different looks especially on ball screen coverage. If Hunter is getting seriously cooked, I could even see Flory closing out some games as soon as Bill starts to trust him. Potentially even offense/defense substitution situations late in games.

@BShark I would be too - to the media and then tell my guys how to complete negate him offensively

@Jhawk69 25 mpg but he will get 35+ no matter what

@wissox You sure he said KJ to Och? Was it athleticism or what? That seems crazy to me as Och can shoot the 3 and score a ton whereas KJ can literally only dunk it and hit 30% of the time the occasional 5-10 footer

@stoptheflop

Was it a bad game because he didn't score? He got good looks, just didn't make them. But his impact on offense did seem very limited outside the 3 assists. It's interesting he has started so far given he joined the team last. He's wired to score so when he doesn't score I think its going to stick out if he doesn't impact the game in other ways. I thought he tried on defense with on-ball pressure but I don't recall paying attention to his D that much when he wasn't on-ball. Assuming his size was picked on a bit given the athletes UNC had at guard. I think Moore is going to be an important alternative to Coit when we need some defense. I think Coit will be important when we need a guy to score..

@BeddieKU23

Don't forget we need ball handlers. I think that's a big reason he's starting.

@rockchalkjayhawk yes, I agree, Diggy’s impact is felt also with Dejuan being able to go harder at the end of games because he’s had some rest.

To me it’s pretty obvious what the best line up is but I doubt BS will ever not start KJ. Which is okay just don’t play him 37 minutes.

Harris

Mayo

Storr

Griffen

Hunt

@kjayhawks said in UNC Game Thread:

To me it’s pretty obvious what the best line up is but I doubt BS will ever not start KJ. Which is okay just don’t play him 37 minutes.

Harris

Mayo

Storr

Griffen

Hunt

That would be an entertaining lineup for sure. Defense optional for maybe three of em though.

I feel like I at least saw good effort from May and Griffen so far on that end, and Juan is a good defender. There was even a play or two vs. NC where Storr got switched on to Davis and it didn't end terribly. The tools are there, they are learning how to try hard on that end, I'm hopeful the perimeter D will be at least OK this year. Now, when Hunt gets involved? It's over. He just has no ability to move his feet or use his height or anything helpful on that end other than the occasional rebound. I know he puts up decent rebounding numbers but I'm not sure I've seen him actually go GET a rebound. He is tall and stands near the basket.

Where I have been impressed with the improvement in Hunt is on his off ball movement in the post on offense. He has learned how to seal up the lane better than last year and that has led to some easier buckets for him on that end. And with the spacing the guards can provide this year, you can almost book 8-10 easy layups off those lobs to the corner of the backboard after he has sealed his man up the lane.

If this is the only year we get of Bidunga I want to see as much of him as possible. Just makes us better.

@rockchalkjayhawk defense has looked pretty optional at this point as it is lol

@kjayhawks i think bidunga has to be a consideration as well. I dont think there is a best lineup to be honest, because we have a variety of deficiencies and strengths. All the tools are there for a deep run, but imo keeping a large rotation is imperative. This season will require more out of Bill than usual because for us to maximize our potential he will have to be very active with substitutions.

@approxinfinity We saw during the UNC game how Bill will manage his lineup in March - he will identify the guys he trusts and ride them into the dirt. It will either work or they’ll flame out in the second game (round of 32 or elite 8 ) on short rest. A deeper rotation should help with the second game fatigue that we commonly see. Time will tell how Self decides to play the guys and who all steps up to demand/earn minutes.

I do feel like he was TRYING to give AJ more of a run last night but dude couldn't catch a break with the fouls. None of them looked like obvious, have to call em, kind of fouls, but thems the breaks. I think I saw AJ talking on the bench saying he'd never fouled out before but I may have read the lips wrong.

@benshawks08 I believe he's never fouled out before because he's usually not close enough to a opponent to foul them.

@Texas-Hawk-10 this. Lol