🏀 KuBuckets Archive

I have been wondering a lot about Wigs and KO, so, I dug back into last year's first 5 B12 Games and tallied Wigs' stats. I put KO's 1st 5 B12 games side by side. I hope to read more insights from the great posters on this site.

Player AW KO

MPG 32.2 26.6

FG% 40.0% 58.8%

3P% 37.5% 33.3%

FT% 75.9% 58.3%

REB 7.8 6.2

AST 1.6 1.8

BLK 0.8 0.4

STL 0.8 2.4

PF 3.4 2.6

TO 3.0 1.6

PPG 11.4 12.0

I found the figures rather interesting. RCJH!

@Shanghai_RCJH

A couple thoughts:

Wigs played 2/3s speed to protect the merchandise, and still approximated Kelly going balls to walls.

Kelly's effectiveness is falling fast as coaches realize he cannot make FTs and so are roughing him up to crater his three point stroke.

Kelly is vital to our team's improvement. He is pivotal. When he played well for a stretch teams could not scheme solely to stop Perry. Kelly's activity levels on both ends make other guys do more too. He is a natural leader.

But if he doesn't make his FTs, they will rough him up more and more and his Trey percentage will keep falling and that will close down his inside game and KU WILL STRUGGLE.

Frankly, Kelly desperately needs Cliff inside and Wayne backside to step up and taken the pressure off him.

Regarding Wiggins, he just was/is a monster talent--off the charts. But his dad has apparently taught him to conserve his talent to make it last. So: we never saw more than half what he could do.

Even in the pros he is holding back to minimize wear and tear and injury risk.

Only when he makes it a round or two into the play offs will we ever see what he can really do.

Talent wise, he is on another planet than Kelly.

But I like Kelly on my team way more, because Kelly playing full speed is almost as good as Wigs at half speed, and Kelly makes everyone better because he is aborn leader, and Wigs is not.

@jaybate-1.0 Thanks. Could only dream of Kelly stays another year. RCJH!

@jaybate-1.0 I totally agree about the Ft's limiting his game and potential. I screamed when he and Perry missed FTs late in the game. He gets tot he line to often to miss as many as he does. He's an effective slasher and goes hard to the basket and needs to make other teams pay for putting him on the line. Otherwise they will just employ the hack-a-Oubre strategy, especially in close games.

I have heard many people talk about Wiggins saving himself when he was in college. But it honestly has to stop.

Did he put up 25 and 8 like he was capable of? No. Did he disappear at times? Yes. That is product of not having the right mentality but not lack of effort. Self has mentioned time and time again that just because a player lacks a motor, doesn't mean he isn't trying hard. He has said that thinking to much, and simply not knowing how to play hard all the time. A player thinks he is giving his all until a butt chewing occurs, then they explode (like we have seen in the Big Red Dog this season). I believe players like Ellis always plays his hardest or what he thinks is his hardest.

If a player is going to slack off before the NBA, it wouldn't be on the offensive side of the ball. He would fill the stat sheet with points, rebounds, and assist but would not play the type of defense needed to save his legs. But when we look at Wiggins, he was the only lock-down defender on KU last year and was arguably the best thing he brought. We would routinely guard their best player and do it very well. Wiggins was not half-a**ing it like so many have proclaimed.

We can pick apart how Wiggins was not the bull-dog he needed to be and didn't us his superior athleticism to finish above the rim. All those are fair critiques. But to blast our best defender that year on effort doesn't fit.

@JhawkAlum nice!! Oh, all that media attention and baggage he brought!!! Wiggs, Embiid, and Tarik are the gifts that keep giving!! I don't think that group had any trouble hustling back on ISU! I loved that those 3 chose KU!

@jaybate-1.0 I don't think Kelly's FT% needs any more than an extra 15 minutes a day spent getting used to the fact that shooting freebies is not a high-energy activity, but just needs to be done in a zone like Brannen has developed. I do agree that defenses are going to increase the physical contact as long as opposing coaches feel that it's effective.

@KU62

Agreed. U r now our free throw coach!!!!