🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Genius does the seemingly impossible.

It is one definition of genius.

Genius sees what can be, where others do not.

It is why genius can at times be mistaken for madness when things are not going well.

Tonight another amazing thing happened in Allen Field House.

Bill Self, desperately needing a win over OU to keep hope alive for an 11th conference title and the best seed possible for the Madness, sent his team out amped up and playing outside in with a straight emulation of Hoi ball in the half court, and coached KU to a blowout half time lead.

But then the man determined to be able to play it both outside in and inside out put his young team back into the hottest blast furnace a young team has ever been put in. He had given them a sure win outside in, and then took it all away from them and said, “Nope, boys, you are going to have to win this one inside out, or we are not going to win another conference title.” He put their backs to the wall by making them play back to the basket. He said, “Its now or never, guys. This is non-negotiable. You are not small. You are not weak. You are not small, weak, face the basket only players. You are men. You can play the game of basketball back to the basket driving it inside. You can and you WILL. Or you are going to be responsible for ending the greatest streak in the history of Kansas basketball. Others say you are to small. You are NOT small. You are short. Others say you are weak inside. You are NOT weak inside. You are STRONG. Others say you cannot beat a good team inside out. I say you MUST beat a good team inside out to recover your self respect and dignity that was taken from you by Kentucky that first game of the season. We are not a weak, small, team. We are short, strong team with the manhood to play the game like men no matter what size we are. Of course we can beat people playing outside in. We can beat almost all teams outside in. We are flipping great outside in and I know it. But there will come a time, sooner or later, when circumstances and match ups will require us to play inside out against someone in the Madness and we have to be able to do it. You think I was afraid to play outside in. I am not afraid of ANYTHING, or ANYONE. And neither will you be now. Because you know you can play it anyway they want, and anyway we want. You are now unbeatable men, regardless of how much standing height you lack. NOW, no team will ever be able to be sure which way we will come out either half. Now we can switch modes to counter whatever they do. NOW WE ARE MEN.”

And Bill Self transformed a bunch of short boys with bad body language into men walking around with broad shoulders and just a bit of swagger. They are a confident team now, because they mastered what they and the rest of us did not believe they could do. They beat a good team inside out. It was scary. It was horrendous for a long while. But finally it was unmistakeable. The steel tempered before our eyes the last four minutes and a team was born. It was the most awesome momentary transformation of a team I have ever witnessed in 55 years of watching and loving the game.

Self and his players did it.

I am confident they will win the conference now.

And there is a very good chance they will not lose another game in the conference. Maybe one in the conference tournament.

But the team is now forged and ready to begin mastering what they now know they can become. A great short team. They now know if they work hard and keep working hard that greatness is possible for them.

@jaybate-1.0

I love the concept that they can play outside and inside. Just hope HCBS doesn't reel in the outside game.

Let shooters bombs away. :)

@jaybate-1.0 You mean I nearly suffered cardiac arrest just so HCBS could prove a point? jb have him call me in advance when he wants to prove a point again. :flushed:

I'm going to emulate you and avoid this site until we we win the next game after a loss. Welcome back.

@jaybate-1.0 said:

" The steel tempered before our eyes the last four minutes and a team was born. "

Great line

@jaybate-1.0 -- Great post. Perfect. We watched tonight, and what did we see? We saw Utah. An amazing first half. A game premised on the perimeter game. Threes flying. KU logs 51 points and the game looked like a runaway. All orchestrated by coach Self. It is who we are.

But then Self happened. It's like he looked in the locker room mirror and screamed, "This is not who we are!" We have been witnesses to this before. We know the drill. Self put on the air brakes. Inside out. Pound it in. Post feed. We've heard it before, get it inside. Work the ball. No early shots. Kansas had the big lead so what better way to preserve that lead. Twice early in the second half we nearly ran the shot clock out. It was a clear change in focus and approach. With the change in focus, the air came out of this team. Our demeanor changed. The momentum shifted. We saw Ellis trying to post up. We saw Traylor standing in the lane clogging things up. We saw guys standing around.

In the first half, until Cliff checked in with appx. 14 left, we were playing 4 in, 1 out. Ellis was on the perimeter much of the time. The floor was spaced a bit differently. Ours was not a post feed game in the first half. We rained threes. 51 points and a big lead. We've been here before.

Out of the box in the second half, we missed some early threes. Threes that were taken after the post feed option failed. Don't let the threes fool you. We were playing inside out. Again, it was the focus of our offensive efforts. We ... were ... looking ... inside. We ........... slowed ........... down. A different feel, a different energy, a completely different dynamic, and a different pace. OU found it's way back in the game. Again, we've been here before.

But then, something magical happened. Self was not content to play that way the rest of the game and scrap it out.

It began with Cliff Alexander. The man got to play. 13 rebounds. The better player on the floor. Then, Self put Selden on the bench and a true offensive player found the floor - Brannen Greene. Self chose offense, and Greene promptly hit a jumper. And then followed with a three with 3:25 left. 12 points on the game in 15 minutes (Selden 5 points in 29 minutes).

But even bigger. Even more astonishing -- Self went four out, one in. That is, he put Ellis on the perimeter, Cliff as the only guy in paint. We played some ISU style offense. And it paid immediate dividends. This change came just after the timeout with 3:45 left. Go back and watch. It was truly amazing.

Down 71-69 after two free throws, Kansas now had a new energy. If you can look at the video, watch were Ellis goes on the first set -- to the high wing. Part of the weave. Cliff really low on the block. With the floor spread, Oubre attacks and gets to the line and makes one. Second shot misses and Greene drills the biggest shot of the game, a three from the right wing -- the power of three.

Next possession, same four out, one in set. Mason scores on the jumper. Ellis is no where near the block. Kansas leads 75-71. OU answers with a three. Then, back down -- four out, one in again. No weave this time. The floor is spaced beautifully. Mason does what he did with 2:20 left in the ISU game, same set. He gets an open drive to the hoop. This time, he doesn't score. Instead, he dishes to Cliff for the slam.

We hold OU. Then back down the floor, 1:28 left. Four out, one in. The floor is spread and Oubre takes his guy one on one to the hoop. 79-74, 1:15 left.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Kansas basketball. This is how we can win. Self benched Cliff against ISU and got what he wanted -- a energized Cliff Alexander. Self capitalized on Cliff's production. 13 points, 13 boards. Self placed Wayne Selden right where he needed to be -- on the bench. Self (for him) boldly chose offense over defense, playing Brannen Greene, and Greene responded. Finally, Self embraced the monster. He permitted his team to play the offensive game it is meant to play, and just in time. This game turned, the momentum turned, when we went four in, one out.

It is a magical thing when your scheme matches your personnel. The "post feed" may not be dead -- it may rear it's ugly head from time to time. But it is effectively dead. It is dead because we can't win that way. So it will either die a death assisted by Dr. Self, or it will die a long, agonizing death that we will all be a part of in March. I prefer Self-assisted suicide here. Kill it.

Self won this game by going with the right scheme. And it's a scheme that's right not just now, but always with this team.

@jaybate-1.0

LOVE IT!!!! I admit I was doubting you on Jesse's blog...but I hear what you're sayin' now...I only hope our kids don't forget the next time Self forces the Inside-out and things don't go our way...they can't doubt themselves and get all sulky and sullen...they just need to kick the ball outside and let Brannen drop a BOMB!!! or BULLDOG FRANK!!! or DEVANTE!!!! or SELDEN when he's in the game...or dare I say SVI for THREE!!! I still think he plays a role in some wins this year...okay my fingers are sore from typing...

@brooksmd

That is exactly what I mean. This was an act of will. He could have won it by 20 easily playing outside in. This has been the war he has been waging with his own team since the Kentucky game. How does he keep winning, but also convince this team that they are not a bunch of weaklings that HAVE to play one way--outside in--because they are so small and weak that they cannot play inside out.

This team has not been playing opponents most of the season.

This team has been playing Bill Self.

I think him being willing to take a loss in Ames and being will to sit Cliff finally got their attentions.

But it wasn't until the start of the second half when they knew he was going to force them to play inside out with the entire conference streak riding on it that they realized just how hard a man Bill Self truly is.

Self comes out of the Henry Iba tree. Iba was another cut of wood. He was not the innovator that Phog Allen was. He was not the happy go luck, visionary genius that Allen was. Iba was a hard man. A perfectionist.

The fruit has not fallen far from the tree.

Haskins, Sutton, Hartman, and Hansen were all hard men.

Haskins produced Nolan Richardson, a hard man.

Hartman was a hard man. He produced Kruger.

Sutton and Hansen were hard men. They produced Self.

Here is a quote about Iba that everyone needs to remember when talking about any of the coaches in the Iba tree. It is a quote by Doug Collins, who was a prolific college scorer at Illinois State that was invited to try out for the 1972 Olympic team.

"I remember when I went to try out for the Olympic team in 1972, Coach Iba told me he didn't care how many points I could score because if I couldn't guard anybody, I wasn't going to make the team. I knew to make the team I had to become a better defender. If you can play offense, you can defend. It just comes down to competitive will."--Doug Collins

Competitive will.

This was what Iba had.

This was what Self has.

It cannot be put in words.

It can only be communicated by being around it every day.

Defense is not an option in the Iba school.

Defense is not something played half way, or part of the time.

Defense is the only way.

Iba was as hard as Vince Lombardi.

Iba was probably who gave Bob Knight the permission to be as hard as he became.

I am not saying being a hard man is the only way.

There are many ways to win.

But hard men can be very successful, when they have brains to go with their hardness.

Self's frat boy looks and boyish smile obscure a very hard man.

Maybe not the hardest.

But hard enough.

If accomplishing some objective is considered foundational to team success, Self will not stop at anything until he either gets it, or runs out of season.

This team of young hard heads, green wood, and naives, just had no clue to the lengths he was willing to go to.

Neither did we fans.

And what he did tonight is not the end of it.

What was accomplished tonight was the breaking of old ways of thinking, of deep self-doubts. Now, comes the mastery. Remember, this is only mid January. There are more mountains of getting better to climb. Cliff just discovered to night what playing hard is...not how hard he can play; that is yet to come.

But the thing is, now Perry Ellis has some players to play with, not just a bunch clueless talents. The getting better is really just starting.

@HighEliteMajor

Totally, as my kid used to say.

KU has to be just good enough at inside out to play it when teams start scheming to stop outside in.

KU has to be just good enough at inside out that an opponent cannot start either half 100 percent certain we will play outside in.

But to play inside out at all, and have it have any countervailing force at all, this team, which has been ass whipped every time it has tried doing it against a good team, has to get over the mental block of its own limitations of ability. It has to understand that there are certain things on a basketball court, like defense, and driving the ball against blue meanies, and playing back to the basket when you get a spot offered you, even by a footer, that you have to do. Its like you have to have a motor. You have to be able to tie your shoes. You have to be able to get your butt down and slide. You have to go out and put a body on someone sometimes. It doesn't matter how much bigger they are than you.

Self has not been asking this team to be a great inside out team. He has been saying you have to be able at least to play it decent enough that an opponent can't just forget about us inside entirely.

But this team got pistol whipped so badly by Kentucky, and then again by Temple, and its even been intimidated by a bunch of mid majors, that Self apparently decided that he was dealing with a mental block, as much as a lack of talent. They sure as heck don't have much natural talent for B2B, but sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Most of the time, most guys want to go slam, bam thank you mam in th ay, and that's okay on a one night stand you don't have to face the next day. But when you fall in love with some gal, and she's got a slow fuse, then sometimes, whether you're good at the long ride, or not, you gotta oblige her like Bruce Springsteen sang, and prove it all night.

Self hasn't been asking this team to become a bunch of all night riders, because he knows that's not what they're good at.

But he apparently was determined that they were going to recover their self respect about being able to play basic basketball in a pinch when they had to.

Sorry to ramble here, but it was an amazing feat of coaching that I really did not think could be achieved by this team.

But damned if they didn't achieve it for their coach.

@VailHawk

No offense taken. And I could still be wrong.

And up until the moment that I began to notice what I did, I was more skeptical and cynical than everyone else about what was happening.

But its what I saw, so I had to say it.

Time will tell though.

There could be some backsliding, but I don't think so. I think when a team has been through the kind of hell this team has been through, then it isn't going to pay for the same real estate twice. It is going to make mistakes trying to learn the next things Self teaches it, but I gotta believe that Cliff and Kelly and Perry, and Brannen, learned tonight what playing hard is and how aggressive you have to be.

Greene still has the worst footwork I have seen on a wing defender in the entire Self era, but he began to play hard to compensate for it, instead of playing hard to get minutes. He improved from horrible to bad, simply by using effort to cover up horrible. But Greene is so good in other ways, so fiery, so without conscience, and a proud, feisty Georgia man. We haven't had many southerners lately. They are a proud lot and can become hard men, great fighters, if you cut through their proclivity to celebrate their swagger.

And Cliff just didn't know where the threshold of hard was. It has never been a character thing with him. It was honest ignorance. And that is always surmountable sooner or later. Honest ingnorance is what we all suffer from in one aspect or another.

@wrwlumpy

I got a bit sick. I am sick tonight too. I just got sick of being sick and came out and typed through for the game. :-)

Good to be back, and feeling your love. :-) Be warned though that I may fade for a few more days, before I am back for good.

Say, are you posting for just lumpy, or for lumpy and slayr, again tonight. ;-)

Rock Chalk!

Great comments. Cliff will be our starting center for the Texas game, imo. If we are going to go inside out, he has to be in the lineup. He changes the game for us.

@KUSTEVE

But is it better for him to not be in there the first 5-6 minutes when Texas is sure to come out swinging to save him from quick fouls? Either way I'm sure he's going to have his share of them.
We are over-matched inside, we will have to hit jumpers consistently to stay in this one. Cliff is our lone hope of a post rebounding well against these tree's, so his importance is surely needed in a game like this.

@jaybate-1.0 Your astute assessment that Self was willing to absorb the loss at Ames when he sat Cliff to get his team's attention: RIGHT ON TARGET! I was pissed beyond belief Sat. night that Self let that win escape. But now I can envision the true genius of his determined stance. Big 12 dominance? Most probably, from here on out. I still predict some losses; however, now a very sound chance of winning the title outright. For the first time this season I can see our Jayhawks standing all alone with 3 losses or fewer. And I am usually one of the most pessimistic of fans. Yee-haw!

@BeddieKU23 I would venture to say we haven't tried it before, so nothing ventured, nothing gained. He hasn't fouled out yet, and we need a lift in the middle, so I say why not try it?

BTW, truly brilliant coaching by Self, and brilliant writing by the great one, Mr Jaybate,,,

@jaybate-1.0 "Greene still has the worst footwork I have seen on a wing defender in the entire Self era, but he began to play hard to compensate for it, instead of playing hard to get minutes. He improved from horrible to bad, simply by using effort to cover up horrible. But Greene is so good in other ways, so fiery, so without conscience, and a proud, feisty Georgia man. "

I've been wailing away about bad footwork all weekend & no in your face hands either but there was a metamorphosis in Brannen last night. Posted on our chat that he has the shooters mentality & also was my POG over KO, Cliff or Perry. Even Self said his late 3 was the game changer, which is mostly impossible for Bill to acknowledge at times. Also posted that I finally saw Perry play like a real baritone for a change-even had a dunk for cryin out loud ! I would be remiss also if I didn't give Wayne some love too-his bounce was back on defense. And did I also repeat that KO was a damn KO?!!

What if KU makes a few of those wide open threes to begin the half?
Do we lose the learning experience of inside out because then OU is really deflated and we're pumped, the crowd is pumped, we're winning by 25, etc. That's kind of the way I saw it. Suddenly the 3's aren't dropping after a flawless start and we need to try something else.

I'm not the coaching savants that some of you experts are, so that's just what I observed. And me being me, well I just have to say it!

We found out after the game that Jamari has been hiding a hip pointer these last two games. Maybe he doesn't start and Lucas will be back in for a while. Jamari didn't play bad last night.

@HighEliteMajor said:

Self-assisted suicide

Nice line and great post!

I sure hope we see that first half team a lot more this year!

@Jesse Newell You've gone national, at least your tweets have.

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/01/19/bill-self-breaks-screen-video-kansas-oklahoma ↗

@wrwlumpy

Lucas is definitely not the answer, but I'm guessing foul trouble will find him in the lineup saturday for some stretches. Hopefully last night's Cliff keeps him on the court.

At the beginning of this season, I thought KU would have to play 4 out with only one big man on the floor. However, with the way that Perry has been hitting jumpers, I have realized that we don't have to take Perry off the floor to play 4 out. We can space the floor with our five best players - Kelly, Frank, Perry, Wayne and Cliff - because Perry has grown enough as a jumpshooter that he doesn't just keep you honest. He can hurt you from 17+ feet out. He will hit the uncontested jumper. He can put it on the floor and get to the rim. He still has his assorted post moves.

The four out approach also allows Cliff to flourish because it unclogs the paint area. When our guys drive now, Cliff can hang out on the back side of the play and get the easy dunk on the dish off.

The four out approach allows each of our players to capitalize on their best skills. Frank has driving lanes to use his quickness. Kelly and Wayne (along with Brannen and Svi) will get more open looks at threes (as we saw in the first half), and that can open up their drives. Cliff and Jamari both can lurk on the baseline for dunks if their defender goes to help on the drive, as well as pound the offensive glass, something they both do at a very high level.

This team is designed to be a four out team. I just hope we can keep it that way.

@justanotherfan be interesting to see what we do against Texas zone.

@justanotherfan

Yeah!

And the way to play Perry is to have him moving in and out... he now is a threat from 3... but also, his best post offense in the half court is one where he stays in motion. He definitely is not a "back to the basket" threat, and should only be in that position occasionally just to show complete versatility. Perry cutting through the post makes him a big scoring threat! We saw that in both the ISU and OU games.

@Crimsonorblue22

"be interesting to see what we do against Texas zone."

This should be a game for Wayne to get back on track.

Wayne should be a force in this game because he has the tools to drive through their zone seams and either hit the pull up or draw the defense and earn another assist. Once in a while he can even take it to the rim, but that would only be on occasion. If he does this effectively, then Texas will start to sag their zone, opening up the 3-pt line for Wayne and company!

Come on, Wayne!

@Crimsonorblue22

If I remember correctly from my time spent around coaches, you counter zones with an opposite front - so if they are playing a 2-3 zone, you counter by having one man at the top and two on the wings to disrupt their zone. Conversely, if they show an odd man front - a 1-3-1, 1-2-2 or 3-2 - you counter with an even man front - two men at the top and two on the wings.

The four out approach actually plays well with that, especially given our personnel. We can have Frank up top, with Kelly and Wayne on the wings (or Brannen, or Svi). We can have Jamari or Cliff roaming near the basket and Perry can float along the baseline or flash to the high post, depending on how the zone has shifted. We actually match up well with the Texas zone if we are disciplined in our attack. I too am very interested in how we handle this.

@globaljaybird

Copy and paste.

@jaybate-1.0 you must be sick!

@wissoxfan83

Inside out has threes, too.

The threes come on kickouts.

But they only come AFTER the ball goes inside...after the high low set is established on the low blocks and back to the basket is tried.

The key was that Self was determined to play the inside out game the second half.

Making some of those treys early would have made the whole second half sooooooo much easier, but it would not have changed Self's will to see the team learn to play inside out.

One way or another he was going to will the team through its inferiority complex about playing inside out.

@wissoxfan83

About damned time they started picking up on what JNew has been doing in real time, not just his QA. It is the multi-modal interactivity that he is doing that is new that I have been harping for persons inside and outside the media to recognize.

We are in the interactive age whether others like it or not.

We are no longer in the Guttenberg one way printing press era anymore.

The key is NOT that we can all post our thoughts and broadcast them; that misses the point entirely.

The key is the interactivity of ALL our thoughts; this is what is new--the synergy a nonlinear increase in connected thinking.

@Jyhwk_InTigrtwn

Trust me, Self will kill off nothing. He is developing a fitting approach to use all his weapons.

He is a hunter collecting the various kinds of arrows he needs for various kinds of game he will run into over the course of a season.

@jaybate-1.0 is there a shot chart out for this game? Be interesting to see it broke down in halves.

@Crimsonorblue22

Yep, still mighty congested. I only have the strength left to read about the role of agents, agent runners and summer leaguers in the greatest game ever invented. What have you got for me on them? Any thing that will draw what they are up to into the light of day?

:-)

@jaybate-1.0 I did read a sad article on Korleone Young, from Wichita. What a waste of talent!!

@Crimsonorblue22

Great question. Very interesting. Ask JNew. He is the king of QA interactivity right now. I asked him previously. Maybe you ask him this time. He needs clicks on his sight to keep doing the good stuff that he is doing. Don't hesitiate to support him with clicks and questions.

@Crimsonorblue22

Yes, I recall things did not break well for him way back. Haven't heard about him lately. Every player needs good people on his side giving good advice, and good luck.

@jaybate-1.0

http://grantland.com/features/the-life-former-prep-pro-nba-player-korleone-young/ ↗

@Crimsonorblue22

Thx. Cough, cough.

@jaybate-1.0 don't be spitting that crud up on me! Let me know what you think of the article. Rest, fluids, my mom always tells me to get the mucinex to help get that crud up. Rub some Vicks on your chest! You have a few days off til sat.

@Crimsonorblue22

Thx, will do.

@jaybate-1.0 forgot, chicken noodle soup, lots of pepper.

@Crimsonorblue22 Assuming you just want KU, right? Here's half 1 and 2:
!image.jpg ↗
!image-1.jpg ↗

@wissoxfan83

That was an exaggeration, Coach Self did not break the LCD screen. the pounding simply made a small bottle siting on top of the table fall down. Those LCD screens have a super hard cover on them that will survive players crashing at full speed, a fist pounding by Coach Self is nothing.

@Crimsonorblue22

Copy.

@JayHawkFanToo said:

@wissoxfan83

That was an exaggeration, Coach Self did not break the LCD screen. the pounding simply made a small bottle siting on top of the table fall down. Those LCD screens have a super hard cover on them that will survive players crashing at full speed, a fist pounding by Coach Self is nothing.

Clearly you underestimate the power of the fist of Self.

!SHOT CHARTS.jpg ↗

@JayHawkFanToo https://vine.co/v/OjluHAMJ9Q3 ↗ ↗

It is pure silliness the way it was reported...looked like a love tap to me.

@jaybate-1.0 ??? What game were you watching? Or maybe I just don't get what point you're trying to make...?

@KUinLA :-1:

Perhaps you really do not understand which game I was watching. That is most unfortunate, since the post was written in the hope that anyone that made a good faith effort to understand it would be able to. I am stricken with a sense of having failed you. Hmm. What to do for you?

Ah, I've got it. You require a bit more specificity. To wit...

The alias @jaybate 1.0, witnessed virtually the KU-OU B12 conference game of Division I NCAA basketball that tipped off at 8:00PM EST, 19 January 2015 CE (that would be Common Era) on James Naismith Court (that's the wood basketball floor KU plays on) in Allen Field House (that's the building KU plays games inside) in Lawrence (that's the town KU is apparently circumscribed by), Douglas County (that's the county Lawrence is in), Kansas (that's the state that Douglas County is in), 66044 (that's the U.S. Postal Service zip code that Allen Field House is within), USA (that's the constitutional republic that the state of Kansas also with a constitution and a bicameral legislature is in) at the following coordinates:

Latitude: 38.9553221
Longitude: -95.2529378

These coordinates are on the planet Earth, @KUinLA.

Earth is the third planet out from the Sun (the sun is the star at the center of our, well, at least, my solar system).

The Sun is a G2 main-sequence star that contains 99.86% of the solar system's known mass and dominates it gravitationally. It is a massive object in a state of hydrogen fusion reaction that emits light (among other emissions) which have characteristics of both waves and particles. Note: never look directly at the sun, @KUinLA, but trust me it is always somewhere over your head in the day time.

This graphic may help you with visualization of which game I was watching by locating it within the inner and outer solar system.

!solarsystem.png ↗

(Reference: I got this from a wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System) ↗

Don't worry about the Oort Cloud, or the orbit of Sedna. These are not essential points of reference to grasp which game I was watching.

Of course, the solar system is located in Local Interstellar Cloud, Local Bubble, Orion–Cygnus Arm, Milky Way Galaxy; and that would be in the known, reputedly expanding universe.

The known, reputedly expanding universe appears to cosmologists to be a subset of what is theorized (dissenters might argue hypothesized) to be an entire universe.

There is some debate about whether the entire universe is a one off deal, or one of several universes. Things get pretty speculative at this point, but that's okay, because this ought to give a pretty unambiguous understanding of which game I was watching.

Regardless, this is the best I can do for you, @KUinLA.

If you still just can't understand which game I was watching, I just don't think I can help you see it.

Now, what game were you watching @KUinLA? Some interactive online game called: HOW AGENTS, AGENT RUNNERS AND SUMMER GAME COACHES SHAPE RECRUITING IN D1? :-)

Just joking.

So: were we watching the same game?

:-)

@jaybate-1.0 Ahh, Brevity -- the very soul of wit!

@jaybate-1.0 said:

Perhaps you really do not understand which game I was watching.
:-)

Is this Basketball ?? Ugh !! Ugh !! Maybe so ... as the three images are ROUND and perhaps look a little bit like a round basketball ... !

@KUinLA :-1:

Come on, were we watching the same game or what?

I am pretty sure we were. :-)

Also, Agents, agent runners, summer game coaches and juco cocaches--what do you think? What's their role in recruiting? Are they anything for the NCAA and KU basketball to worry about?

@RedRooster

Absolutely this was entirely about basketball.

@KUinLA wasn't sure we watched the same game. ;-)

That HAD to be established beyond a reasonable doubt, before further discourse could be possible about the KU-OU game. :-)

How about you @RedRooster? Do you think the NCAA and KU Basketball should be concerned about the role of agents, agent runners, summer game coaches and juco coaches with regard to what Rick Pitino reputedly remarked upon? And with regards to what reputedly happened to Norm Roberts at St. Johns possibly recurring at other places in college basketball?

@jaybate-1.0

S H O E S !

The tread that keeps the world in motion. It's all about S H O E S !

We can live on little food, and sips of polluted waters. But we can't live without our tread!

N I K E !

Imagine aliens landing on this planet in a million years. By then even our bones will turn to ash. So what will remain? Tread! That's what will remain and that's what they will find.

Perhaps they recreate our past, but we are no longer a player. They have determined that our tread remains were actually the living organism, and the remaining tread was our "bone structure" that survived a million years. They make some mock-ups and we are basically viewed as being only 4 inches tall, unless our lineage was from hightops!

Political party? Yeah... N I K E !

Give or take 6+ feet, my assessment is pretty accurate!

Imagine these aliens uncover AFH? What then? What's this bird? He's stomping all over the people. He must have his tread inside those clawed feet!

@drgnslayr

ALIEN PALEO-HUMANOLOGY REPORT: star date 3001

TO: Zeldar, research project director, paleo-humanology

FROM: Beldar, field researcher

EARTH DATA MINING SUMMARY: voice recording found in subterranean salt mine data storage installation under once inhabited paleo human city called Salina, KS. voice transmission sourced to paleo human life form from extinct subspecies--hom0 basketballis coacherator. Subject name: Rick Pitino. Subject assertion: paleo recruiting pool for ancient game of paleo basketball was shrunk for a time by some unexplained lower life forms called agents/agent runners/summer game coaches.

COGNITIVE ANALYSIS: HYPOTHESIS--SHOES-->BLACK MATTER-->RECRUITING ASYMMETRIES

BLACK MATTER: HYPOTHESIS--->AGENTS/AGENT RUNNERS/SUMMER GAME COACHES/JUCO COACHES

PALEO CULTURAL APPROPRIATENESS LEVEL: UNKNOWN.

CONFIDENCE INTERVAL-->INSUFFICIENT DATA

End of transmission.

:-)

@drgnslayr

You have just given a kind of concerning thought.

The Big Jayhawk at center court does have large SHOES!!!

Would Zenger, or anyone else dare sell the rights to the Jayhawks shoes to be repainted as a shoe brand?!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, what if KU were offered $10 Million for the Jayhawk's shoes to be painted some shoe brand?

HOLY COW, SLAYR!!!!!

No other school really has a mascot with SHOES so prominently displayed and the mascot so prominently displayed at center court.

Having a shoe brand on the Jayhawk's shoes would be like non stop advertising for 40 minutes of game time and probably another half hour or so of breaks.

Imagine what the might be worth?

@jaybate-1.0

IT'S OURS TO OWN, MY FRIEND!

Maybe it takes a bit of massaging to get the big wigs to grasp this.

May I suggest we start with pink shoes to promote cancer month. We can even give the old bird a new necklace. Kind of a subliminal message...

!jayhawk.gif ↗

@jaybate-1.0

Better play it safe -

!jayhawk2.gif ↗

@jaybate-1.0 Im still worried about WVU at their place, Texas at their place, OU will want some pay back and Kstate is no pushover.

@jaybate-1.0

Final touches -

!jayhawk3.gif ↗

@drgnslayr

"Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
--Oedipus, after putting his eyes out

But howling!!!!!

@Lulufulu

You are right to be very concerned about all those you mention.

For some reason, WVU concerns me the most, even though I know they were recently blown out and have suspect shooters.

Every one of the teams you mention could tattoo us in their own places, if Kelly's FT% and FG% keep trending down, or if when Frank hits his slump, which he really hasn't had, or if Cliff gets handcuffed by opposing coaches before he can really get untracked.

But what I have been trying to point out is that KU's real Achilles Heel--its lack of height inside, may not really be exposed in conference play the way it was in pre conference play. The Big 12, except for Texas, is about as short this year as KU, luckily for KU. And bottom line we probably do have more good players than other teams, and so we have to start thinking about this in terms of Texas and 8 other teams our size.

And if we get Perry, Cliff and Kelly playing well together, that means we can probably handle the 8 other teams home, or away, if our young players keep playing smarter on the road.

What I like so much about having played ISU early is that our freshmen and sophomores that have never been in D1 rotation combat before got to see road conditions as bad as they get in Ames. This means our young players no longer have to go through the shock of the new. They just have to learn to deal with the known.

Also, we have reason to think Cliff becoming a force inside will have a ripple effect with Perry and Kelly and Wayne. If Cliff were a threat inside, then the guys guard Perry, Kelly and Wayne would have to honor the pass fake inside, which would make it a lot easier for all three to take and make treys BEFORE the ball goes inside. This would allow us to play outside in more reliably.

I realize you are right; that it is very tough even for a seasoned KU team to go into the Octagon of Rheum and get a W. But if Cliff were to suddenly be able to bank with KSU's big man, plus run him end to end, then I think the rest of our players are good enough to go in their and steal one.

But here is the thing: what I am saying hinges on Cliff having the wheels stay on. It hinges on Kelly putting his wheels BACK on. It hinges on Wayne breaking out of his slump. It hinges on Frank NOT going into his slump BEFORE Kelly and Cliff get it going. It hinges on Branden continuing to guard a little better each game and continuing to be a reliable shootist.

A month ago I was predicting a 9-10 loss season with probably five conference losses, a loss in the B12 tourney, and a loss in the Madness fairly early.

What I am really saying here is that for the first time this season, I have begun to see a way to getter done.

It is fraught with peril.

It would take incredibly effort by these guys based on having finally found themselves and strongly resenting how much sand they have had kicked in their faces.

But I can see the path.

And walking it has more now to do with becoming better at what we now are, rather than still searching for what we are.

Rock Chalk!!!

@jaybate-1.0 OMG...you didn't...BUT..you did....a picture of the SOLAR SYSTEM...
you're killing me..I am busting a nut laughing...

@KUSTEVE

Glad you could make it. @drgnslayr and I have been having a thoroughly irreverent late afternoon and early evening!!!!!

@KUSTEVE

Also, don't forget to take in "Still Life with Longhorn"!!!!

It really made me feel good composing it. :-)

@jaybate-1.0 will do...lol.

@jaybate-1.0 and @drgnslayr

You guys are killing me!!!

SZ has already faxed (ksu grad) Nike, Adidas and Under Armour asking for their best and final bids for the branding of our countries most iconic mascot!!!

awesome thread! Hilarious!

@jaybate-1.0 ALL your points are very valid. I see the path too and it is nearing a legendary status. 11 in a row? Thats Coach Wooden type stuff there man. Even if KU does get bounced early in the tournament this year and it gets # 11. I say that is something to be extremely proud of. I think they can do it, even with a couple more eggs laid.

@drgnslayr Are you guys making a mascot for all 3 "petroshoeco" Nike, Adidas and UnderArmor? LOL! Thats funny Sh!!