I'm not sure what Seldon's final stats were but man something seemed different about him today. He was blocking shots, taking shots, and just seemed to have more hop in his step today.
Is the sleeping giant awakening from his slumber?
Man I hope so!! B|
@JayHawkFanToo I thought Wayne looked a lot more comfortable out there, and a lot less frustrated. His stroke with his shot was great. I was very excited about his game.
A haircut will do wonders for ya. ')
So...who gets the next haircut, Kelly or Davonte? I say go for the twofer...
@JayHawkFanToo I like oubre's!!
Who would have thought Smiley Graham would get an "in Your Face Mofo" techical?
"I was just talking to him Coach"
Gibson was jawing at Mari after a tip in.
Worth repeating from Jesse's liveblog...
Comment From HighEliteMajor:
I rewound the DVR .. Graham said "Your coach looks like a pianist."
Selden took the first small step back to being the player he can be today--not to the super star we expected initially, but to a solid, well rounded D1 wing. He cut his hair, which means he finally figured out he had a real problem of a slump that wasn't going to go away on its own, and he made a ritualized gesture to commit to changing. That is all to the good and I talked about it the moment I saw him at the beginning of the game. I had no idea if he could have a good game today, but it seemed possible. His minutes were going down and he was playing less and less of crunch time. He had motive. He made the gesture. He has been in the mother of all slumps.
Further, I have said that I thought Wayne would pull out of this slump and be a solid contributor come March. The variable I did not anticipate was how fast Greene has come on.
BUT...
I really don't see what Wayne did today as at all exceptional. It is simply NOT a continuation of his horrendous slump. And that is great, great, news.
But he was horribly inefficient. 5 of 13 is a BAD shooting day. And what it probably signifies is that his pop really is NOT back.
The jumping around on blocks means very little, because his blocks were not coming on no-step, or one step jumps. He was chasing and jumping.,which is a good thing to do, but not the same as having his pop back. Blocking from behind is a dead give away that his explosiveness is NOT back either. You're not blocking from behind unless you ARE behind.
The bright spot is he shot 3-6 from trifecta, which means he probably is coming out of his shooting slump, at least when ever he takes open looks. But even this will take a game or two to get confident about, because taking open look treys against defenders sagging off from him based on a scouting report, and during a 15 point lead is different from shooting under pressure in a close game with defenders crowding him. The ISU game will be a good test of his trey.
This game suggests that Wayne's short term future is still not yet in getting to the rim, or rebounding, where he only got two boards in 30 minutes, but rather the open look shooter and a guy who is getting more active gluing. Becoming an impact player is the next step. Keep our fingers crossed that it comes sooner rather than later. If Wayne Selden finds his impact game, this team is going to become very, very VERY tough.
Wayne Selden is a heckuva defensive player, when he goes hard, with or without his pop. Offensively, he has had his shot changed and it may finally be paying dividends for him.
But here is the thing: a case can be made that Brannen Greene was basically being rested for ISU, not Wayne. ISU is going to be a trey shooting contest and resting Greene's legs for ISU was all to the good for KU.
Look at BG's line score. 4-5 FGAs, 3-4 FTs, similar rebounding as Wayne, 1 extra TO, and he did this while sitting from getting punched hard in the nose in what appeared a designated cheap shot by helmet hair Weber.
Wayne could limit Brannen to 10 minutes, if he were to score efficiently on 13 FGAs against good teams.
But 5-13 today came against a not very good team and that is worrisome.
I think Wayne has his mojo back. There were two or three plays today where Selden drove inside, made contact, and went up for his shot. He's certainly solid enough to take the contact and still score. He made one, had a charge on one and was fouled on another, but that's what he needs to do. Combined with solid defense (which he has) an outside shot and rebounding, Paul Pierce made a decent living for a long time in the league doing that.
@JayHawkFanToo I don't consider myself a prude or anything, but Oubre's hair is just plain STUPID.
You're a prude. ') Oubre hair is bad to the bone. :)
Ah were just getting old my friend. ') I want to see the Mohawk. LOL
LOL Not sure but I know a hair cut makes me feel like a new man. ')
We are old school. These strange haircuts the younger kids wear are just not our cup of tea.
@wrwlumpy There's no excuse, but we don't know what Foster was mouthing either and to whom he may have been mouthing. The refs only see what they want. I think Graham got enough that late in the game and decided to let it out. I think Foster is a balling punk on the court. I think he's obviously talented, but a cocky punk.
Ok beat KSU at home...check
Now bring on ISU...it's payback and the guys need to blow them out of the Phog simply to make a statement. They're pretty dominate at home, but seem to struggle on the road. This does not bode well for them come March. By the same token, a win, on the road, in the Phog, and a sweep against KU would pretty much punch their ticket this year. Hoiberg will be elevated to god-like status. He'll go from Mayor to the god of D1 coaching.
Let's hope Self and the ISU game film have a renewed love affair and a big win is their love child. I am personally sick of ISU and the hype. I hope your right about Selden too, hope he stays awake. RCJHKU and beat ISU
Wayne, Wayne, Wayne!
Imagine if he gets hot! If he starts penetrating and feeding or scoring! If he blocks a bunch of shots every game. Pulls some rebounds. Goes down on the floor for some 50/50s....
This team could really kick it up a notch if Wayne kicks it up.
Self has choices at the 2 and he's sticking with Wayne. He usually knows his guys and has a feel for who will bring on their game later.
We'll see how this plays out.
Brannen is definitely pushing on the heels of Wayne.
This is all good for Kansas basketball.
We have a bunch of talented guards. Hard to guess just how far they might take us in March. Even though we lack a big shot blocker, I feel more confident this year that we won't suffer the early exit in March. But does it translate to FF? With the right luck, we can get there!
@truehawk93 There's no excuse, but we don't know what Foster was mouthing either and to whom he may have been mouthing. The refs only see what they want. I think Graham got enough that late in the game and decided to let it out. I think Foster is a balling punk on the court. I think he's obviously talented, but a cocky punk.
What I love is that everybody thinks that Devonte is a little angel. In reality, he is a highly trained assassin with a very big smile. He was baiting Foster...getting under his skin...etc. Devonte moved up as my 2nd favorite player for his actions yesterday, right behind Mr. "when the popcorns poppin"... I might have to run a weekly Jethro Top 3 Jayhawks, as my favorites change from game to game. I would have to give Frank props for one of the best drives of the year, as he literally broke the entire Mildcats team's ankles with his beautiful drive to the basket ...it was truly one of the best plays of the season, imho.
" I might have to run a weekly Jethro Top 3 Jayhawks,"
Please, please, please do!
You are right on the button. Devonte may be the most popular guy on campus, and has a young "boyish" appearance.... but the guy can flat out ball and he grew up on a playground somewhere, because he has plenty of swagger!
Imagine him in 4 years? Gosh... what a pick up!
