🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Kansas came out as expected, as they always do. Coach Self proclaimed after the KSU game that Kansas is "not an inside-out team." But we knew better. It was standard Kansas basketball. Look inside. Rotate the ball. Inside-out.

For 9 minutes, our offense was stagnant. We couldn't generate any flow. Most of all, we couldn't score.

Kansas was down 15-9 at the 10:55 mark of the first half. And it was concerning.

Then it happened. Self made the switch. The game changed. Four out, one in.

Go to your DVR and enjoy.

Ellis moved to the perimeter -- Mason, Graham, Greene, Ellis and Cliff. With that switch, Self moved Greene onto the court for the first time. Kansas was off to the races.

Eleven possessions, 22 points, and a 31-24 lead. Lucas found the floor during this stretch, and because spacing, Ellis drove and dished to Lucas for a hoop. Everyone looks good.

The last six possessions first half, Kansas reverted back to a more traditional hi-lo set. Thus I was expecting Kansas to start the second half with it's normal set.

But Self didn't fall for that. Self stuck with the four out, one in attack. A little wrinkle, though. Self put Ellis in and had Traylor on the perimeter. Traylor is lost on the perimeter, but because of spacing, Traylor was able to drive nearly unmolested for a clumsy hoop. Traylor isn't suited for this attack. Defenses don't have to guard him outside of 15 feet like the do Ellis. But it didn't matter.

Eight possessions into the second half, Kansas had scored 14 points and stretched the lead to 15 points and that was the ball game. Self continued to run the 4/1 attack, even with Traylor and Lucas in together.

ISU, of course, made a run. But our offensive attack was too much. With the floor spread, Kansas was able to drive and kick, especially to a hot Wayne Selden (good for him -- great to see).

As Fran Fraschilla said, Kansas gave ISU "some of it's own medicine." And that was the ball game. With eight minutes left, Oubre hit a two point jumper pushing the lead back to 15 points. At this point in the game, Kansas had made 9 three pointers, on a refreshingly wonderful 20 three point attempts.

Four out, one in. 20+ three point attempts on the night. Focusing on our tremendous shooters. Spreading the floor for our slashers. Putting Ellis in a position that better suits his skills. This is all I have asked for -- begged for. This was out best game of the season. Half-time lead? There was no coughing this one up. We kept the pedal to the metal.

This was not about limiting possessions. This was not about pounding it inside. This win was a beautiful demonstration of the "best shooting team in the Big 12", as Fraschilla put it. We played to our strengths. And when we play to our strengths, we are strong. Real strong.

And when you play like this, do you even notice the double digit turnovers? Does it really matter?

Just look at the box score. That wonderful boxscore. That is Kansas basketball, at least in 2014-15. We should all feel extremely content right now. Content about the direction of this team. Your coach -- old fool's gold himself -- played four out, one in for nearly 3/4 of a basketball game. We have never, ever seen that during Self's tenure at Kansas. Now we have. And that move won this game.

That team in Lexington, Kentucky -- we're sick of hearing about them -- but they better lace 'em up. A different Kansas team is rollin' their way.

@HighEliteMajor Very convincing win. The light bulb is finally on !! Almost made it to 90. ISU is just not the defensive team to beat us with their lack of depth. They were dead tired at the half. We beat ourselves in Ames. It may be called magic there, but in AFH its called FATE !!

A team has to play to their strengths and this KU has to many weapons on the outside to play outside in. ;) Just glad HCBS sees the writing on the wall.

However we can't forget about the inside game. Live by the three die by it. However DoubleDD is happy. ') Just saying.

@HighEliteMajor

SO GOOD TO HEAR!!! I was unavoidably detained at a vail christian frosh game and tried to follow on phone...but we weren't scoring ANY points...now it all makes sense!

Hitting play on dvr right now...well after I get a bowl of ice cream...

Rock Chalk 4 out 1 in Jayhawk!!!

Fran quoted Self as saying he was working on this game after KSU till midnight in his office and back again early Sunday for this game plan. Tough, well fought, sometimes dirty win.

Tough and well fought.

!image.jpg ↗

Dirty.

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Alexander 4 pts in 15 min?

Pundits at half calling Brannen, Vinnie, "the Microwave", Greene.

@VailHawk Nice thing about not being able to see the game, but knowing the outcome, watching it is much more fun. And a lot easier on the ticker. What flavor ice cream?

@VailHawk He got 2 PF's early, plus like HEM said, the bombers were hitting from the outside.

@brooksmd

Agreed! Vanilla w chocolate syrup classic. Not much Alexander tonite? Still sick...or not his style game? Oops...you just replied above thx!

@VailHawk You teach at Vail Christian?

@brooksmd

Nah, but good buddy is boys coach and know some faculty. Doug Bruce is the girls coach who coached somewhere in KC, MO for years.

@VailHawk Okay. Was gonna give you a big "atta boy" if you were. Our youngest attended Christian schools from day one and is a much better product than his older brothers who went to government indoctrination centers. Plus they have to run on a tight budget so they always accepted help from parents. My days off were always during the week so I donated one day to helping the IT person. And teachers kept me well informed on how son was doing.

@brooksmd

Alexander looked to be under the weather, low energy was apparent.

@JayHawkFanToo He might have had a touch of what KO had. But there were several players huffing and puffing from the pace of the game. I'll give the boys credit though, they didn't get beat on the transition like they did at ISU.

@brooksmd both teams were dying. I know some were wondering about cliffs back. Tv guys say anything about our nba picks?

@brooksmd
.
No transition points by ISU in the first half and 12 in the second, most of those at desperation time at the end of the game. KU chose not to crash the boards for offensive rebounds and get back on defense; it worked.

@JayHawkFanToo I checked stats first half and we were up maybe 12-0 on fast break pts?

@Crimsonorblue22

Yep. Coach Self had a good game plan...that is why he makes the big bucks. :)

@HighEliteMajor

I had two visions tonight.

Vision 1: HEM infarcting 5 minutes into the first half.

Vision 2: HEM having a post basketball orgasm e-cigarette with 5 minutes to go in the game, and Mrs. HEM saying, "Hey, tiger, what about me?" :-)

Ahem.

The committee meeting is called to order: here ye, here ye, hear ye...

For we founding members of the University of Kansas Outside In Illuminati Conspiracy (there, I'm in such a good mood that I used the C-word tongue in cheek for all the conspiracy smear artists), THIS WAS A GAME FOR THE AGES!!!!!!!

There was, after an early dark phase, unrepentant outside in that pleased the governing council no end and cast all of the KU basketball conspiracy, er, legacy in light, and left the all seeing eye at the top of our collective pyramid weeping for joy!

Threes were missed but three ball shooting continued unabated.

There were at times even pronounced MICRO-BURSTS of trifectation resulting in a sparkling 10-21 with 47.6% accuracy.

And the overall FG% of 50.8% was so good that members of Outside In Illuminati Conspiracy feel uncompelled to break down that actual 2pt FG percentage. It had to be good enough to please KU Head Coach H.P. LoveSelf, the Outside In Illuminati Conspiracy's agent in the coach's seat this season.

To mix literary metaphors unmercifully, The Conspiracy's diabolically clever H.P. LoveSelf cast a black magic spell over the Thomas Hardy-esque Mayor of Casterbridge--Fred "the Mayor Michael Henchard" Hoiberg, played out the subtitle to Hardy's novel of deterministic pessimism subtitled "The Life and Death of a Man of Character" to a tea. He entered the season impoverished of rings, his Mayoralty fortunes sky rocketed to #14 in the nation, and then after a game in Casterbridge's own Allen Field House, the Mayor returned to poverty.

After out rebounding ISU in Ames, but giving up many high school cherry picks, H.P. Loveself decided to spend fully half the game releasing 3-4 to get back on defense to eliminate the cherry picks, then spent the other half the game rebounding furiously back to a -3 deficit on the glass.

Members of the Outside In Conspiracy duly note that Wayne Selden, after breaking from his slump vs. KSU, erupted out of it with 5-7 from three ball land, while Brannen Greene continued his occultishly high percentage of trey shooting with 2-3.

Members also duly note that our H.P. LoveSelf cunningly long benched the Mayor of Casterbridge, with fully 9 Jaybirds registering 14 minutes or more. And what is more, 5 of the 9 ended up scoring in double digits.

Members gleefully note that of 89 total points, over half were scored outside the paint!!!

The Conspiracy's hypnosis of H.P. LoveSelf did not, however, completely alter his predilections, as fully 16 points came on turnovers.

About the only less than stellar metric The Conspiracy was not able to blunt was the 16 total turnovers by the Jayhawks, but at least it was -1 TOs relative to Michael Henchard's men, many of the unsightly TOs came as a product of ISU desperately pressing down the stretch.

To pick nits, FT percentage was a lackluster 65.2%.

All in all, though, members of the Conspiracy concur that H.P. LoveSelf has been incorporated into the Conspiracy and that members of the Conspiracy should look benignly, perhaps even positively, upon H.P. LoveSelf's ingenious, but likely passive aggressive, elaboration of his 3 man weave into a 4 man weave utterly reminicient of Henry Iba's. Members of the Conspiracy also concur that there is significant likelihood that if H.P. LoveSelf elects to play an entire game Outside In under our influence, that LoveSelf will probably elaborate the 4 man weave to a full 5 man weave. We do not have a problem with this so long as the lead is >15 and in the second half.

The meeting is now adjourned.

As usual, members are warned to say they know nothing of our organization, if asked by non members.

Rock Chalk!!!

(Note: there is no conspiracy and there was no black magic involved. Coach Self just coached one heckuva great game and his players played superbly and it was an honor and a privilege to watch'em play!)

Great game. A few of my own musings:

• Just a couple of games ago we were debating the merits of cutting Selden's minutes, perhaps even removing him from the starting line-up. After back-to-back good performances against the kitties and the 'clones, maybe he's OK where he's at. I will say this - his offensive success is heavily reliant on him knocking down treys, so in that respect we can still entertain the idea of Greene cutting into his playing time. I think what I would like to see is for Self to stick with Selden, but then to quickly switch plans if he's struggling, rather than letting Wayne labor and the team suffer. Go with the hot hand or whatever the situation calls for. This team has too many talented options. For the past couple of games though, it's been nice to see Wayne lighting it up.

• Speaking of the redistribution of minutes, it might be time to start easing up on Mason's. He's had some pretty paltry shooting performances over our last 5 wins (the exception being an 8-12 night against TCU), hasn't hit a 3 in the last 4 games, and he needed a flurry of points at the end of the last 2 games to extend his double-digit scoring streak. Given his shooting woes, I wonder if his legs might be tiring a bit. I just don't see any reason to play him 37 minutes when we have a capable back-up, unless Self is concerned with Graham's turf toe and has decided to prioritize managing Graham's minutes instead.

• I know Lucas gets a lot of flak on these boards, but he's a nice 4th big to have around. I think a lot of our angst regarding Lucas is that he has often been thrust into a position where more is expected or needed from him than should be. Either because of foul trouble or Cliff's faulty motor or Jamari being ineffective...it has often fallen all the way down to 4th-big-Landon to play major minutes. He lacks on skill, but he's always ready and always comes with effort. Good game from him tonight.

As HEM predicted, we swept the 3 games in 6 days. Now for the next mini-campaign: a 4 games in 10 days stretch that goes @Okie St., @Tech, home against Baylor, @WVU. The game in Morgantown on the 16th is the one I have highlighted, which is not to say we can't lose any of the other 3, but the match against Huggins' bunch will be tough. I have it penciled in for a loss right now. Even so...we're definitely in the driver's seat.

Wayne Selden Jr. is a starter.

Great game and the crowd definitely fed the fury last night. It was the loudest I have heard Allen this year and I'm glad our fans came to party just as much. Huge win, huge implications towards the league. Now we must root for Oklahoma tonight to hold serve against West Virginia at home.

Some game thoughts:

All Selden needed was some home loving from his momma to get him off his scoring schnide. 14 points Saturday, 20 last night and we needed all 5 of his triples to keep the lead at a safe distance. When he's making outside shots its great and he does enough of the little things to be a key part of this team. Just wish his 2 point game especially his drives would fall. Great game Wayne anyway.

Greene, what can you say about this kid. The light has come on and its great to see how quickly he can ignite our offense and energy with his shooting. His defense has been much better and its hard to not see him getting more minutes the way he is playing. Him and Oubre on the court at the same time was great to see.

Ellis has hit his mid-season stride. No longer forcing things, proud of how he's responded and he's rebounded the ball so well lately.

Lucas banged inside well last night, his energy when inserted has been good to see. Definitely has made strides since December. Good to know we can get quality minutes from our 4th big.

Mason & Graham are a great tandem. We do need to find a way to give Mason a break sometime. He does look like he needs to good ol R&R.

Now the troops need to regroup for Saturday. It's a big win to get and hopefully we can pull it out

@wrwlumpy I mentioned that hip check during our chat. Right in front of a ref to boot. Pretty sure that's a foul.

From Self during Big12 Media days:

You go from 7-foot (Embiid) and long to 6-61⁄2 (???) and not long guarding you....

Who is Self referencing as the 6'61/2"er???

@brooksmd I spent a career teaching every level of biology from remedial to AP at "indoctrination" centers. I coached academic teams and spent countless hours before and after school helping students who were struggling. Our indoctrination center did not get to pick and choose our students, but we did the best we could for everyone who came. Yes, some of us didn't do a good job, but most of us worked our tails off for low pay and precious little respect from the public. I kept the parents of my students informed. We welcomed volunteer help when we could get it. Sorry, I know this is a basketball site, but I found that remark deeply offensive.

3 Things:

PASSION: Give the whole team credit for really wanting this game and putting in the hard work after the quick turn-around from the kitties. :-)

EFFORT: All the players gave everything they had and got to it on both ends. Held ISU far below its Big 12-leading 49.1 field goal % on the season. :-)

SHOTS: 5 players in double-figures for the 5th time this season. 4th game of the year over 50% shooting. :-)

Now they will get some well-deserved rest and have plenty of time to get ready for Okie State.

Great Game Jayhawks!

Also loved some of the signs in the crowd --
Hilton Magic Show with CANCELLED written across it was a classic.

Bill Self's Game Plan was of World Series caliber. What a string of change-ups! Man O Man, posters on this board have lived like terriers churning at a mole hill, dead certain of rewards for such sustained attack. Yee-haw!

@jaybate-1.0 .....Superb jb. major FOS as usual, bust just superb !!

@KansasComet He sure earned it tonight!!

@BeddieKU23 I'm beginning to wonder if Wayne is a little far sighted they way his bunnies & floaters seem to always be short? Hope SHE doesnt say that !!

@wrwlumpy
Saw. That dirty play and was mad the refs missed---or ignored it.

Audio of Bob Davis & Greg Gurley--fun to hear them call the highlights!

https://soundcloud.com/img-audio/jayhawk-img-bob-davis-ku-isu-mbb-highlights-2-2-15 ↗

Today on Katz Korner at 1 pm on @ESPNU: @KUAthletics Self, @UCLAAthletics Alford, @PCAthletics Cooley, @TexasMBB Barnes, @UKCoachCalipari.

So what does Andy Katz ask Rick Barnes and why waste the time with him?

Katz: Rick, tell us how it feels to be Bill Self's *#TCH.

Barnes. Andy, let me tell you. I've gotten used to it these last eight years. Maybe that is a better question for Bruce Weber.

All Fun -- No Malice.

This feels just as good the morning after, as it did the evening of. After reading all the posts here are a couple other things:

-We should all feel great for Selden. Big half of basketball. But we've been there before. He carried us to the win against Florida with a similar second half display. We still see that he just can't finish at the rim, as @globaljaybird noted.. Last night was no exception. Sometimes slumps end with explosions. Sometimes they end gradually. Let's just hope it ends. Starter, 6th man, whatever -- we need the guy.

-The Press: Why is this important? See West Virginia. And see how we didn't handle it too well in the last four minutes last night. Our lineup composition will be interesting, and as I mentioned yesterday, can we get by without both Mason and Graham in the game? Selden was exposed against the press against last night -- similar to last season. The "he just isn't a point guard" thing. He allows himself to get trapped, is prone to hold the ball a touch too long, and most of all, doesn't look comfortable attacking the press with the dribble. Graham and Mason might get some major minutes in that game together, which could cut into Greene and Oubre. That could be dangerous.

-As @icthawkfan316 mentioned, Lucas did play some good minutes last night. Perhaps I'd call them "competent" minutes. He plays when there is foul trouble, nothing more. " ... he's always ready and always comes with effort. Good game from him tonight." Exactly.

-@JayHawkFanToo noted Self's adjustment on stopping transition. I"ll admit, when I saw the video early of Ellis, Oubre and Selden retreating on our shot, taking them out of offensive rebounding position, I was skeptical. Actually, I thought it was pretty risky. But it worked like a charm. The transition points ISU got in the second half were basically meaningless. We shut it down the entire first half and early second half. Of course, shots going in are also a way to limit transition points, and we had some of that, too. But the strategy was clear and successful. A coaching adjustment that helped change the dynamic from the first encounter, to be sure.

-I love to talk about how adjustments by coaches win (or lose)games. They really do. Look at last night. Offensive scheme, transition, shifting Graham in with Mason when ISU started to press -- big decisions. And heck, we saw how coaching can directly impact a game in the Super Bowl. We'll never know for sure, but one simple play call could have changed the destinies of scores of players, families, and franchises. Coaches earn big money for a reason. It is their choices, preparation, game planning, and decisions that impact the game more than any other element.

-@VailHawk - Hardly missed Cliff. But he did draw some attention inside. Kind of a tough match up for him, with the athleticism ISU has. Cliff ain't the best guarding on the perimeter. I do think that when Cliff came in, ISU usually countered with McKay.

-@Kip_McSmithers - Self was referring to Jamari Traylor. I think Self in the same comment also referred to Ellis as being 6'7".

-@jaybate-1.0 - Any chance I get to be chairman of the University of Kansas Outside In Illuminati Conspiracy? I mean, I'll work hard. I'll be at every meeting. I can keep secrets. Ooh, sorry .. I know nothing of the organization. And yes, Mrs. HEM is curious. She asked me what all this outside-in, inside-out stuff was all about. I said, "well, let me show you." She responded with, "uh, no thanks." Which is why I write post game summaries.

Oh, and I noticed I got through a full post without saying "three pointer" or "Brannen Greene."

@HighEliteMajor said:

Oh, and I noticed I got through a full post without saying "three pointer" or "Brannen Greene."

Soooooooooooooooooooooo close.

@HighEliteMajor More good stuff. Regarding coaching being important and particularly in reference to the Superbowl, something that I find hilarious was how at the beginning of the telecast either Michaels or Collinsworth were talking about how Belichik had said "the players were going to decide the game", and Collinsworth remarked "that's how it should be." Um...

You say that Mason and Graham could play a lot together against WVU, potentially leading to less minutes for Greene and Oubre, then say that could be dangerous. Do you mean that you don't have a lot of confidence if we aren't playing one or the other, or both, at their current clip? If so, interesting. I've already stated my confidence in Graham. However, if Mason continues to be ineffective shooting the ball it does potentially mean we have only one reliable outside shooter in the game at any given time (Graham's 3-pt % is good, but his attempts are pretty low, making me wonder if he can be relied upon for such offense or if his 3s are simply a nice bonus at this point). That could spell trouble, but maybe not. Regardless, I'm very excited for that game to see how it plays out. But again, I have it penciled in for a loss, and I'm hoping that if that's the case there isn't too much of an overreaction on these boards.

@Crimsonorblue22

I had to laugh at the huffing and puffing comment. Last night I attended my daughters' HS soccer match. She played midfielder, which involves the most running generally, all 80 minutes of the match, then coach asked her to play the JV match afterwards which was shortened to 40 minutes because it was very cold. 120 minutes of running around a soccer field, and our boys, with their TV timeouts every four minutes were huffing and puffing!

She scored a goal and had to assists by the way in an easy match!

@icthawkfan316 I guess Oubre and Greene have been very important to us offensively. I think you know that I really like Graham. I have a lot of confidence in him. But Oubre and Greene are scorers. Giving up scorers for ball handling (and less scoring) is what I see as a bit dangerous. But it may be more dangerous to have our "big wings" -- any of them -- at the 2 spot, and involved as primary ball handlers breaking the press. I also see Self favoring Selden -- thus we could see Mason, Graham, and Selden more -- to the expense of Oubre and Greene. It is a dilemma against the press.

@HighEliteMajor

A motion on the floor to be Supreme High Commisioner Plenipotentiary (SHCP) is recorded and seconded by the chair.

All in favor say aye, all opposed neigh.

The ayes have it unanimously.

The gavel is yours!

😄

@HighEliteMajor

Excellent post, and look how many Jayhawk fans liked it! You are right on the button.

"Then it happened. Self made the switch. The game changed. Four out, one in."

In my opinion, Self never expected success at the inside-out. This was his way of getting the game off slow for us. This was his way of "amping down" the troops. This was vintage Self. He did actually have a strategy, and it was exactly opposite of what I had predicted in my prediction thread. Self didn't want us to get out quick (for a change). He knew this would be a game of endurance. He knew ISU wouldn't go away, even if we built a 20-pt lead. He didn't want to experience another game like OU, especially against this team because if we gave away the second half momentum to ISU we were dead meat, regardless of the lead.

Self amped down the first quarter. He did what I thought ISU would do, and played "rope a dope." He reserved as much energy in our guys as he could. He kept rotating his guys, and he let out plenty of carrot for ISU to run run run (without scoring open court freebies). He wanted ISU to run themselves out, very similar to the strategy against OSU. It has stuck in my head all year... what we were able to do to Phil Forte, Mr. Conditioning. Self played this for a strong finish. He won the coin toss and elected to start the game kicking off. He knew this would be a game of attrition. Look at all the reversal strategies in this game. Not only did we end up spreading the floor and gave them a taste of ISU basketball back to them, we also pushed the ball up the court, another one of their strategies. He wanted to prove we could outlast them. He wanted to break their will.

I have to hand it to ISU... those guys play to win. They didn't break. But they bent. And that is all we need to win in AFH.

Brannen Greene is my hero. Wayne... WELCOME BACK!

But we need to make our pat on the backs really short because Saturday is coming, and a trip to Stillwater, in a place where we don't play well. And it two weeks we get our first taste of WVU, and I think we need two weeks to prepare to play them. We panicked on the pressure of a tired ISU team's press and trap and that was nothing compared to what we will face in Morgantown. What we did learn from this game was we need Devonte and Frank on the floor at the same time. Maybe we just agree to give away that game. We will be playing on two days rest only. That will be the ultimate test for this team. If we can win that game we will show a lot of potential for March.

@jaybate-1.0 I would think Mrs. HEM would know better than to call him "Tiger" :)

@icthawkfan316

PHOF!

A few more comments for discussion.

I thought State's defense early was more effective because they were playing some kind of matchup zone up top. It seemed they were just rotating with the ball. We missed a bunch of shots early which at that point Self was like heck lets go back to what worked in the first meeting. Iowa St couldn't defend the dribble weave with its constant action and we more or less wore them down to exhaustion because of it. Iowa St didn't have the horses to sub in like KU does, Thomas and Nader were ineffective. Mckay is just a hackfest waiting to happen.

Self outcoached Hoiberg last night and it showed in so many area's.
The transition D you know was addressed and all the kids bough into the effort to get back.
The switch in offense just totally left Iowa St unable to stop us.
Our Defense for the most part was stellar in not allowing them to just get where they wanted. I thought it was one of the best jobs we've done in defending the spread offense to date.

Lastly the press Iowa St showed at the end was troublesome for us. I know they put predator aka McKay with his length on the front end but I was more than concerned that in 2 weeks that we don't have 20+ turnovers written all over our forehead. That's how they have won games with this lethal press. It's just like VCU, you break the havoc and its swiss cheese at the backend. But the problem is, WVU does a great job forcing you to be play sped up and they capitalize on it. I really hope Self and co work on this leading up to that game because without improvement I can see us struggling mightily against it.

@icthawkfan316 said:

@jaybate-1.0 I would think Mrs. HEM would know better than to call him "Tiger" :)

Maybe he shot an 82 his last round.

Let's make that a catchword: 10 over par is a "Tiger". 20 over is a "double Tiger", and so on...

This is the team we have been waiting on.

This is the team that @HighEliteMajor, @jaybate-1.0, @drgnslayr and others have been talking about.

This is the team I envisioned at the beginning of the season.

And we finally capitalized on it. The only downer was that Svi was not involved. Other than that, I don't have a single complaint.

@HighEliteMajor is absolutely right - spacing the floor opens it up for everyone. Most teams don't have a 4 or 5 man that can move out to the perimeter and guard Perry. Just by shifting Perry to the perimeter and having him face up you can probably add 5 points to his FG% because the help defenders don't dare leave Brannen Greene right now.

Speaking of which, if you are a Big 12 coach right now, Brannen Greene is on a get off the bus alert. He must be guarded from the time he shows up at the arena until the time he leaves the building. He is insanely hot right now. There was a play in the first half where Devonte was pushing the ball up the floor and Brannen was trailing out on the wing. Devonte barreled into the lane and just kind of scooped it back out to Brannen, who had about 7 feet of open space. The result was a foregone conclusion. Right now, Brannen is the hottest shooter in America. He's on a Kyle Korver level right now.

The only minor concern from this game is that Frank is really starting to look and play worn down. We have to get him some rest because his legs are starting to wear out and we still have two months of basketball left.

@ParisHawk My point was in reference to HEM's classic anti-Fizzou rants over the years. Not sure what would be worse for Mrs. HEM to call him: a Tiger, or an Antler. Regardless of how many over par a fellow Jayhawk fan may shoot, not sure anything justifies being called Tiger!

@justanotherfan

"The only minor concern from this game is that Frank is really starting to look and play worn down. We have to get him some rest because his legs are starting to wear out and we still have two months of basketball left."

I'm with you on that.

Imagine what would happen now if we lost him to injury? Or if a secret nagging injury (which we have experienced before with several players) starts pushing his numbers down for the rest of the year?

Frank is our leader and he is also the guy that can take over a game when everyone else is playing bad. He's the guy that never quits.

I hope Devontes' toe is okay. I'd like to see him get more minutes not only to save Frank, but give him more experience as March approaches. Both of these guys will be vital in March. Devonte is very skilled and poised... but we still are experiencing plenty of "freshman" in his game.

I would also like to see Svi get a few minutes here and there, just to fight off the rust. He has now been put in the deep freeze. Kind of makes me wonder if he is coming back next year. It really doesn't help a guy's development to get no minutes for long stretches. I kind of can't believe he will return next year unless Self convinces him he will get minutes. He's on a different life schedule than the rest of our guys. I hope he stays and I hope he spends every breathing second with Hudy after the season is over. Lets see him apply that tough Ukrainian spirit to the weight room. His potential is oozing out the seams. Just strengthen him and give him a bit more knowledge on American ball, and this kid is a future super star.

@icthawkfan316 said:

Lucas gets a lot of flak

I for one have cringed all year when he walks into a game. That started to change the last two games, but after this game... my cringes are gone. No, he's still not a star, or a scorer, but he was solid and made few if any mistakes... and for that I was really really happy.

He's become another weapon that has been sharpened to a dangerous edge this year. What I particularly liked was how frustrated McKay looked being guarded by him. McKay was used to dominating and hacking and scoring underneath against anybody earlier in the game, and then Landen came in, held his own, even drew a foul from him and really threw him off his game (and that guy can game too). You could see the "how dare he" look he gave Lucas a few times.

While Greene and Selden's game made me ecstatic, Landen's "I Refuse to Look Like I Don't Belong Any More" party last night, made me smile evilly with the quality extra minutes he should bring going forward.

And yes, Frank is looking a bit tired lately. We will need him badly for the WV game, but then he needs to start getting a bit less work so he's ready to lead us in the Dance.

Dang, this team is why I like college ball so much better than pro - the change and growth we've seen in just a few months has been remarkable.

RCJH

@drgnslayr @justanotherfan Yeah I referenced Frank's legs late last night. His shooting is down, which is usually a good indicator that he doesn't have the same legs under him.

The problem is two-fold: Self has supreme confidence in Mason, and Graham is a freshman. I think Self would like to get Mason some rest. On some level he has to know he should. But come game-time he reverts back to what he's most comfortable with, and he looks down the bench at baby-face Devonte and says to himself "eh...maybe not."

Regarding Svi, HEM and I speculated awhile back that Self may know he's not coming back, or at least not likely to come back, and therefore Self has stopped letting him develop with playing time. Which is too bad, but you kind of have to wonder where he would fit in next year too. I'd say we're likely to lose Oubre, and that's it (on the perimeter). We're already clamoring for more minutes for Graham and Greene. I just think he's likely to only move into the spot of 5th perimeter player next year, which could mean steady minutes, but we've also seen in years past where it only means scraps.

Of course, the way the schedule set up this year and the top-to-bottom toughness of the Big 12 has not lent itself to either having the luxury of resting your top guys nor developing the end of the bench.

@icthawkfan316 You guys have good memories! I forgot all about that team. Do they still play basketball somewhere?

@ParisHawk Did they ever? :)

@icthawkfan316 I'm not so sure Svi is gone. There just isn't room for minutes right now. Greene is finally playing well enough to get off 2 to 5 threes a game which is basically 6-15 points of instant offense. It would be interesting to see if Svi could take some minutes at the 4 but being so young (aka not strong) that seems unlikely. But with the 4 out 1 in he is just as tall as Traylor or Ellis. Defensive would be the problem which is what this all really boils down to. He's not going to out hustle Jamari. He can't defend like Oubre or Selden or Graham. He can't shoot as well as Greene. His handles aren't as strong as Graham. He can't rebound as well as Perry. There just isn't room on this deep of a team for him to get minutes.

Self had a quote saying he looked down his bench and saw 8 starters. I don't know that I've ever heard him say anything like that in the passed. He's talked about not having a drop off. Or finishing games matters more than starting them. 2008 was certainly close with Sherron and Kaun coming off the bench and Sherron usually in at the end. But even that year was really a 7 man rotation with the occasional 8th man being Little or Cole. This team is really deep. So when can we get Frank some REST!?!?!

Probably never. He's too important to sit.

@benshawks08 First off, it was Roderick Stewart. Little wasn't on the '08 team. But you are right, it was primarily a 7 man rotation.

To your point about Svi, I think you're making my point for me. I'm in full agreement that this team is too deep for him to get minutes. That's not exactly a rock solid argument for him to stick around. Quite the contrary. And my point was does he want to stay another year and in all probability only move into the rotation as the 5th perimeter player (or 8th man as Roderick Stewart was in '08)? And that's assuming Self doesn't recruit some stud wing player that could potentially force him to the end of the bench again.

I'm not saying I'm sure he's gone. I just think the writing may be on the wall.

@drgnslayr

I am with you on WVU. Our guys really don't know Huggo Muggo style smash mouth. Izzo and MSU are the closest approximation, but they play half court and Huggie is taking smash mouth full court. Huggie is borrowing from Nolan Richardson who took Okie Ball full court and added some aggression.

Huggie is taking his own half court maul-ball and mugging and tugging in transition. It is very smart. And he has the right guys to do it with.

As usual, he is short of shooters and scorers. But 40 Minutes of Mugging will expose Frank's limits by forcing him into unexpected distribution choices, which remains his weakness from last season. Self has hidden this by playing half court and de-emphasisizing Frank's penetrate and dish plays in tall traffic. We mostly see Frank going to iron only in the four corners without congestion inside. This minimizes the unexpected for Frank. But Huggie will try to create 90 feet of unexpected choices for him.

Also, board rats are in denial about Devonte's vulnerability to being sped up and roughed up, which showed versus the ISU press. This not a knock on Devonte. He is green wood and doing marvelously, but he has not yet been schemed against as he is about to be by Huggie. Huggie will put Devonte down in transition hard and speed him up. The end to end thugging will be hard for him not to want to take off dribbling outside the flow.

Huggie is going all 90 feet of x-axis. It will be new for our guys and WVU is the biggest risk to my win out prediction.

Other things equal, we should split with WVU.

But the Jarhead Jayhawks can build leads with the trey, and muddy things up. And repeat. The keys will be boarding and protecting. If we wash on those stats, we win both places with superior shooters and scorers. Lose our composure from intimidation and we can lose both places.

Courage, aggression and poise in transition.

Also, we will have to put one or two of their guys down early.

This is the first meeting with Huggie when he really has the tools to play HUGGO MUGGO ball with us since WVU has joined the B12. Like Self he went finesse last season. He had some shooters and the officiating chilled him. The gloves are off this year.

@icthawkfan316 Actually Stewart was 9th man and didn't really play - except when Rush was rehabbing from his torn ACL and Stewart started several games! He went from basically unused to starting to being unused again - then injured himself the day before our FF game against UCN. He celebrated our Championship on crutches...

@ParisHawk Yes I remember. I was sad for him.

And it's an either/or as to if he was the 8th or 9th. By the end of the season, Cole was probably the 8th. I prefer to break it down to perimeter vs. bigs. Stewart was the 5th perimeter player, while Cole was the 4th big.

@icthawkfan316 Oops! My bad on the Stewart/Little mix up! Not sure where my head was at. The only way I see a possible transfer or Svi going back home is the situation you brought up of Self landing another elite wing freshman. He is too talented and Self has talked so much about his upside and potential. Svi has a lot more to offer than Stewart did in 2008. With Kelly gone we would need Svi's size and length at the 3. It's still possible for him to even compete for a starting job next year. While Greene is playing well now, there is no guarantee that Self doesn't get fed up with his ever tangled feet on D. We have to remember that Svi is seventeen (is he still?). He has so much room for growth I just don't see Self letting him go.

My "gentle" counterpostulate to this 4 out, 1 in idea, is that foul trouble on bigs may have allowed this mix of personnel to then do what they're strengths are (drive & kick, & shooting). We resemble recent yrs' Duke squads, but with a little better Self spice, and athletic talent.

Story of the game was our 'inflexible' coach conceding O rbds, just to get back on D. Self's obsession with disrupting the opponent's O paid off here. He realized ISU's "magic" was to manufacture high% FGs or FTs with transition runouts. Self knew that ISU labors in their halfcourt sets, as they always do, and should shoot worse from deep on the road than they do in Hilton. He was correct. He also knew our D is the best its been in 2yrs, even improving since that game in Ames 2 wks ago...just get the boys in position to actually use it. And our depth.

See also most of our 3s were open-look 3s, as Hoiberg was trying do the Stanford-D of packing the paint, which is of course a good way to defend Self's hi-lo (without a 7ftr or a burlybig like Black).

I would further point out that Self has always allowed open-look-3s. Those were the 3s that Sherron went 0-6 vs. UNI, and Reed 1-7 vs VCU. And in both games, ku didnt get back on D. So, we got back on D, disrupted ISU mightily, and hit shots in our own gym.

The games against WVa will be tougher...

@benshawks08 I hope you're right. I'm very high on Svi and his ceiling. I definitely don't see Self "letting him go".

And you're right also in that he could compete with Greene for the starting role next year. But two things: 1) Greene's defense has vastly improved. He's not great, but he's more than competent now as opposed to last season and even early this season. And 2) Svi himself looked lost on defense earlier this season. In particular, it was his inability to handle ball screens that eventually forced him to the bench and paved the way for Oubre to ascend to the starting role. So Svi will have to improve his own defense before he can overtake Greene. Can he do improve enough in practice alone while Greene sees court time, plus get Hudy-ized in the off-season? Perhaps.

Regardless, I would be happy with next year's perimeter if we don't land anybody and we keep Svi.

Me too. Imagine if Greene gets in shape to play big minutes. If he takes 5 threes a game? And if Svi can turn it on like some have hinted he could that would be a very solid perimeter with Selden, Graham, and Mason. Doesn't mean I won't be happy if we land another blue chipper! Imagine how much tougher practices are this year with such a deep bench than last year with all those freshman!

@jaybate-1.0

The thing about WVU's press is that if you break it successfully our chances of scoring immediately off a lob dunk or layup are pretty high. That was something K-St wasn't athletic enough to take advantage of. But from my vantage point Ellis/Traylor/Cliff could get a handful of easy dunks of it. From just watching that game I saw a press that was predicated on the opponent helping them out. K-St gave them 10 or so turnovers without them even trying hard. If our guys are poised, and have an understanding of how to beat it then I'm confident we can expose them. But if we employ the tactics we showed last night then we are in trouble. That's why practice leading up to the game will be key, even with the short turnaround from the Baylor game. I kind of expect us to struggle in Morgantown with it and then have a similar adjustment game at home. If we walk out of Morgantown with a win its hard to imagine KU not winning the league from that point on.

The other key is defensively stopping Staten. He's a one man band out there for them and his quickness is simply not matched. Mason and Graham can be jets but Staten is just a blur out there. He will put a lot of pressure on them and it will be key for them guys to stay out of foul trouble because he's an expert actor.

I'm also going to tune into the Oklahoma WVU game tonight to see how affective they are against a good team with good guard play which we have. Will be the only time I'm rooting for the Sooners.

@globaljaybird

And a danged FOS, but appreciated compliment, too. :-)

(added subsequently)
I am curious what wax on wax off refers to in the post below. @JayHawkFanToo. It sounds like a reference to something Mr.Miyagi said, is that correct?

Wax on, wax off...wax on, wax off...remember how Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel-san not only about the basics of Karate but also about personal balance?

I believe Coach Self has taken his time teaching his team not only the basics of all the different styles of offense and defense but more importantly, has allowed them to find out for themselves what he they do best and what they don't, and now the team is putting all the pieces together and playing to its strengths and the competition weaknesses.

KU has now put together 3 really good games (UT, KSU and ISU), and one (TCU) that perhaps they were hoping they could use to rest players and became closer than it needed to be. KU is now in firm control of the conference and players are headed towards their anticipated potentials. There is no question that all the rotation players are playing considerably better now than they were 10-15 games earlier.

Mason is starting to show signs of fatigue and I am sure Coach Self wishes he could give him some additional rest, but as well as Davonte has played, he is not quite ready to take over the position for extended periods of time and he is still at his best when playing with Mason. Also, opposing defenses are a lot more aware of Mason's scoring capabilities and are planning accordingly, something he did not see in the earlier part of the season when Ellis was the one constantly being double teamed. The tough conference competition should help not only KU but all conference teams in the post season.

Apology to Landon Lucas;

Mr, Lucas a few games back I mentioned that I never saw worse hands in my life. I was agitated at the time but felt like a replay of the tape would justify my comments. Well in the games since I've noticed those hands are working just fine. Sorry about that hasty judgement!

Seriously though, Landon may not be the stud super talented big man but talk about somebody that with very limited floor experience is coming in and giving valuable minutes. His D is improving, he's drawing fouls, spacing the floor nicely, and when given the chance scoring. His improvement is largely overshadowed by others and he still has a ways to go to be a rotation player. But it is sure nice to see we have someone that won't hurt the team when the situation call for it. Particularly when like last night Cliff just seemed out of sorts and Jamari had periods of time he could not get out of his own way.

@jaybate-1.0 I've noticed the last 3 games, BG doesn't like to get roughed up, more than anyone else in the team.

@icthawkfan316 when both teams went out at half, they all looked really tired. I thought the 2nd half frank was much stronger, finished those 3 free throws, as opposed to TCU game, when he was really tired, and was short. They all need to spend some extra time on throws!!

@Jyhwk_InTigrtwn I agree! Lucas plays hard, got some key boards. I have a hard time w/McKay!!image.jpg ↗

Good discussion everyone.

I was glad to see Self make the adjustment of having guys get back on defense to stop ISU when they try to run. Kind of a novel idea, I suppose.

And once again, Self has them start out in the stagnant inside-out, but eventually switches to outside-in. As we have discussed before, playing outside-in is the only way they have a chance at a final four and challenging UK.

@Crimsonorblue22

That image you posted of Cliff and the fellow with the radiating braids is amazing. I would vote it an award winner. Was it taken by you, or a professional? If you took it, perhaps you should become a professional, if you're not. If a professional took it other than you, you should probably ask @approxinfinity, or @bskeet about how to handle attributions of images like that, to ensure copyright compliance. Just a thought. @wrwlumpy might also know the rules, since he posts so many images. Regardless, its a remarkable image. Rock Chalk!

@drgnslayr, that too is a striking image of MLK? Any idea where that was was taken? I don't recall it.

@Crimsonorblue22

Great image... thanks!

Hmmm.... McKay.... and his 80s hairstyle.....

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@jaybate-1.0 saw it on twitter, I'm not a professional!!

@Kubie

"Apology to Landon Lucas"

Landen may not be a super stud 5-star recruit.... but he has height and he has pretty good fundamentals. Of our bigs, he is the only one that really knows how to set up in the low post. I wish he had stronger low post finishes.... but... he is still improving his game.

He is a bit inconsistent... but he is an option off the bench, and in some games he is our BEST option! Since he does know how set up in the low post, in certain match ups he can dominate in the low paint. That isn't going to be in every game....

Part of his inconsistency is on defense. Sometimes I think that is the rust from not getting enough real game action. He is our best post player at sealing off the boards, too.

He is definitely an important part of our depth!

Really nice win for the good guys. Very glad to see Wayne get untracked offensively. We're simply a better team than the Clones, and we should've won in Ames. I am predicting OU beats the Hillbillies tonight, leaving us 2 games ahead in the standings, with the biggest trap game of the year in Stillwater ( Eskimo Joes ) on Saturday.Hope the guys don't read the press clippings ...we have half a season left. RCJHGKU.

@KUSTEVE

OU better win...Pomeroy still has them ranked as the top Big 12 team and ahead of KU. I just don't get how he can justify this ranking when they lost 4 of 5 conference games in January including a head to head with KU, and since then, they have won only against bottom feeders TTU and OSU and stand 5-4 and tied for 4th place with KSU and 3 full games behind KU in the conference standings.

There looms another serious factor in the Svi Saga. Military turmoil at home. His family might be comfortable with his staying in the USA for an extended spell, perhaps even a 3rd year in Lawrence if his stardom is late arriving and NBA draft boards appear not to guarantee early professional security with First Round selection. As previously posted on this thread, he is currently caught in a numbers game with more experienced players who have proved more advanced mastery at various skillsets important to Bill Self Hoops. Obviously, Svi is a powderkeg awaiting the sizzling fuse. I hope he stays with the program. However, like Wiggins, his talent and potential might be better designed to fit NBA Basketball.

@JayHawkFanToo Real good point about Devonte. I saw some freshmen mistakes this last game i haven't seen from Devonte, so not sure he is 100% ready to run the team w/o Frank just yet. He's close, but still has a ways to go. Of course, one could say Wayne looked like a high school sophomore the first part of the game- I was cussing him, praising him, cussing him, and then the praises took over with every shot. I wonder if Wayne is related to Tyshawn.

A thought struck me watching the team last night - we're going to have Frank, Devonte, Wayne, Perry, Jamari, Cliff!??, Landen, Svi, Hunter??? and the 2016 national player of the year ( Mr Greene ) BACK next year. Add in Bragg, and another big or two, and we're stronger than horseradish ...WITH experience. So, we're a OAD team with loads of rugged veterans at every position. National championship either this year, or next year...OR BOTH YEARS.

@JayHawkFanToo Go back and listen to Kenwrong's interview with Jesse- Kenwrong is an old bullshitter, a used car salesman stuck in college basketball, selling his weird science hocus pocus to all gullible enough to buy in. I've heard better pitches from door to door vacuum cleaner salesmen.

I think the problem with Kenpom's rankings are they are purely statistical. And always with statistics there are outliers. From what I have read from Jesse and Kenpom, he never claims his system is perfect. I don't think he believes that Oklahoma is currently the best team in the Big 12. His rankings focus mostly on Points per Possession. So if you have a lot of blow outs those will have a great effect on those statistics. OU has a few against some bottom feeders which KU didn't stomp. There is definitely some weird mumbo jumbo in there especially with the idea that close games come down to "luck." But mostly I find Kenpom to be a database of statistics arranged in a way that people can access them to learn more about their team or someone else's. Jesse has been pretty on target with his score predictions this year basing most of the information on stats from Kenpom. I have read enough Jesse to have a pretty good inclination that he is not a stupid guy. The stats are to be used and analyzed, not taken as truths about who is best.

@benshawks08 @KUSTEVE

The problem with Pomeroy rankings is that they do not reflect reality well. All computer models use basically the same information with their own unique twists in an attempt to create a model that closely reflects/predicts reality...this is the ultimate test of any model. When a reasonably unbiased person looks at the results and thinks...this does not look right...then the model is flawed. This is not to say that all computer models are good or bad, simply that some are better at predicting the perception of the general population.

In this regard Pomeroy is not that different than snobish movie critics that tell us a movie is a "masterpiece" when most viewers think is garbage; of course they claim that viewers lack the "sophistication and culture" to appreciate it, but we know that if looks like a turd, smells like turd and floats like turd...it is a turd, and no review is going to change that. Pomeroy uses his own snobish approach to tell us we really do not understand his genius and we are not smart enough to understand what he is doing.

There are a number of computer models and by and large they all have somewhat similar results; however, Pomeroy's model seems to be at odds with most of the other models. If you take an average of all the models, Pomeroy would be considered an outlier.

Bill Self deserves major credit. Once again proving why he is the right coach for this job. He has done a masterful job with this year's group.

@HighEliteMajor I was fooled the first 9 min of the game. It really looked like outside in to me cuz they had sets with 4out 1 in. I am still learning the multifacets of the game. It was great to watch though! I also noted in my post that the 16 turnovers didnt even register to me! 3 point shooting was killer and our drive and kickouts were making that happen. Great game. I dvrd it for future use

@Lulufulu Wasn't able to reply yesterday. For the first 9 minutes plus, they were in their standard high-low. Watch how the top guy, most of the time Traylor, would go out top and screen, and many times to the wing for a screen. Ellis was in that spot too. The "high" does a lot of screening. In the ISU game, lots of the screening was on the ball. The high will also slide down to the opposite low block many times on a post feed. From the high spot, Ellis can get three point looks. in possession 6, Ellis was high, kicked out and got a three from the high post.

This is much different than what we saw after Traylor left with two fouls at 10:19. Ellis came in, 4 in, 1 out.

I have mentioned how our base high-low offense is adaptable to a three point game. It's as simple as focusing screens away from the ball, or setting digging your perimeter game in a little tighter so ball screens can create looks near the three point line.

But back to the regular offense.

In the possessions 4, 9 and 11, the high (Traylor in 4; Ellis in 9 and 11), the high goes to screen the wing. In each instance this is setting up a little two man game. The low post moves to the opposite block. In possession 4, Selden dumps to Traylor and Traylor commits a charge. In possession 9, Ellis screens for Mason, who shoots and misses. In 11, Ellis screens for Selden who drives and turns it over. These possessions show some of our classic high-low attack.

In the first 9 minutes, we had 9 points. Two of those points were Oubre's dunk in the second possession on a run out, and two points were on an inbounds play to Oubre in the third possession. We scored two baskets from our our offense in 9 minutes.The standard offense failed miserably.

The best moment was at 11:55. Cliff high, Ellis low. Ball far side wing feeds Ellis on the block. He spins and guys collapse on him. He dishes to Cliff for an easy lay in. On possession 14, Ellis had a nice runner for a basket. That was it from the offense.

This is a great game to keep on the DVR because you can really see and contrast both attacks. From an effectiveness standpoint, there is no comparison.

@Kubie Landen. Not like Lando Calrisian.

@HighEliteMajor IMO Self is playing cat n mouse with opposing defenses maybe like has been referenced by jb & others as rope a dope. He's far less inclined to do it on D, but is possibly making adjustments to get in the heads of opponents. Clearly the hi lo barely works this year but it can limit possessions. Face it, Bill hasn't achieved all his success with rocks in his head. I think he's making the right adjustments at the right times this year-something he did not seem to do in March the last 2 years. So far, so good as his team seems to respond well when he calls an uptempo 4 & 1. Teams that give me jitters are the ones with players names ending in"ski" Kaminski, Tarczewski, don't recall the kid from Gonzaga, but you follow my drift. Teams with major height...like UK. JMO

Along the same train of thought-imagine how tuff UT could be if they could use Turner & Ridley & Holmes how Norm & Self would school those guys? What a waste of a OAD if in fact he is. JMO

@HighEliteMajor Thanks! Im definitely going to watch that game again anyways and now I'll have a bit more to focus on.

@globaljaybird

I think there is a lot going on here. I do think Self played rope a dope with ISU. The OU game was a big wakeup on how this young team can flip flop.

Self wants consistency.

He'd rather have two good halves, than a great half and a bad half. I think we need to keep that idea in our heads. The OU game was a disaster, and we are very very fortunate to have won that game.

Self knows how hard it is to force momentum on to his guys. It is easier to throttle them back and let them release energy gradually (consistently) over having them come out amped, then run low and in trouble, then refocus to finish strong. Granted, the last way builds character, but Self isn't interested in building character in AFH. Self is interested in protecting home turf. Now on the road is a different story (concerning character)... but for a team this young, you don't want to bite off too much character building in one game. It's best to control what he can control. The character building will come through the season regardless.