Newell Post: KU excelling in shot selection, and some eye-opening numbers prove it ↗

KU can be deadly in transition ... if it's able to get a stop on the other end first. Though the Jayhawks had just three steals against Towson, they still were able to crank up the running game thanks to one of the team's biggest strengths: defensive rebounding.

Kansas Basketball Unusually Offensive So Far ↗

“We’ve shot 50 percent every game. We don’t do that. We just make sure other teams can’t score. Since we don’t do that anymore, I guess we’ve got to make sure we score,” Self added sarcastically.

... and this is one of three reasons I think this is a special team..

1) Scoring efficiency - better than ever

2) Balanced scoring - threats at every position... and it doesn't change when the bench comes in.

3) Sharpshooters - the number of players who are a threat from 3 is greater than ever. About the only guys I don't want launching beyond the arc are Embiid, Traylor and Black.

Three areas to refine before March:

1) Lock-down defense -- but hey, this is a Self team; they will learn

2) Intensity all the time -- If they could just be as sharp as that 2011-12 team this team would be dynamite.

3) Free throw shooting -- it's always crucial at some point in order to make a run at the title. This year with the new rules, it's a bigger deal. The big guys need to get percentages up.

3) Opponents will strategically use this against us if they can't get their %'s up around 70. Jeff spoiled us with his knock em down stroke.

2) I see no problem with this developing as HCBS will have them "stepping" their way through AFH on a regular basis if their competitiveness fails to get them there.

1) This is the trickiest of all because the rule changes on fouls are telling some coaches in order to win they must allow the guys to let the opponents get their shots off to keep their key players on the floor & not foul out. So many teams have that "one" really good player who can dominate a specific matchup, that this is quite problematic. McDermott, Parker, Randle, Smart are marquee names. but many teams have that one guy who can really light it up at times, so I think we will see many more upsets this year than in previous years, especially in the big dance. JMO

3) Opponents will strategically use this against us if they can't get their %'s up around 70. Jeff spoiled us with his knock em down stroke.

2) I see no problem with this developing as HCBS will have them "stepping" their way through AFH on a regular basis if their competitiveness fails to get them there.

1) This is the trickiest of all because the rule changes on fouls are telling some coaches in order to win they must allow the guys to let the opponents get their shots off to keep their key players on the floor & not foul out. So many teams have that "one" really good player who can dominate a specific matchup, that this is quite problematic. McDermott, Parker, Randle, Smart are marquee names. but many teams have that one guy who can really light it up at times, so I think we will see many more upsets this year than in previous years, especially in the big dance. JMO

Thx for the font edit approx.-how did that happen originally? Or as an apologetic Mr Hallmark might say; "I did THAT?"

Thx for the font edit approx.-how did that happen originally? Or as an apologetic Mr Hallmark might say; "I did THAT?"

No sweat. So, in markdown syntax the pound key has a different purpose -- you can use the pound key before and after a section you want to make big and blue. One pound before and after is the biggest, and each additional pound before and after makes it progressively smaller. I believe five pounds before and after is back to normal size (but still blue). This is how bskeet makes the pretty headers when he posts the stories.

I think before we give this team the complete "thumbs up" on offense we need to realize how much of this is related to the rules interpretation.

No one is able to play lock down defense any longer. You can't. Everyone and their aunt has figured out if anyone guards you too close you just put your head and shoulder down and drive right into them to get the foul call.

A big chunk of college basketball is gone.

Okay... the game is "cleaner" and has more offense... more drives to the lane.... and players are "more free" on offense...

Bullsnit. A big part of the game was extracted. There is a hole on defense now the size of a mac truck.

I've already heard buffoons talking about giving college players a sixth foul.

I'm doing my best to focus on how good our players are... but I'm still urping in my mouth thinking about this.

Self better get used to the idea of playing less d and more o... because he doesn't have any choice but to jump in with the crowd of mediocrity.

If Embiid keeps improving his shot blocking... there really won't be any reason why we shouldn't win another National Championship. Between having a deep bench and hopefully what will become the best shot blocker in the paint, the rules interpretation will almost hand us this NC.

Forget the mid majors this time. Few have the depth to handle the rules.

If Embiid can learn to block shots (a lot of them) without fouling, who will be able to stop us? We shouldn't have a problem shooting high %s all year, and our defense may not lock down, but if we have Embiid closing down the drive and post, we'll have an advantage over everyone, including Kentucky. I never thought I'd say that.

I can't imagine now playing some of the game without using both Tharpe and Mason. Because of the rules, it is key to have lightning quick guards at the 1 and 2. Self already figured it out.

I'm thrilled if we can win another National Championship... but I'll put an asterisk beside it: "rules interpretation change"

I still remember when the BG east had 6 fouls & those bufoons are probably on target with that occurrence maybe in the not so distant future. After all, it's that way in the L and they rule the roost in the minors (college). If you've not seen the Izzo piece from CBT, he said that defensive tutoring will henceforth be gone out the window-like the old Groucho Marx'z schtick, "money out the window." This may create a great parity that was non existent before the rules enforcement debacle. I can already hear the talking heads clamor out how great of a defensive coach some so & so is, when there may never ever be a great defensive dominance by any school again. It will truly only be about the offense if some consistency & common sense is not used in the enforcement of the ticky tack krap, like hand checks, for which I was taught to basically measure the distance to know how far you could step in after the man picked up the dribble, and no other reason other than playing aggressive & smart defense.

I like the way the game is being called more now actually. I watched Louisville hand check their way to a national title last season. I watched the Williams coached KU teams in 2002 and 2003 lose to inferior talent because they got beat up and the officials didn't call it. I'd rather see a finesse game that's decided by skill and athleticism than by who can be the most physical team and not get called for it. Now, some of the calls that we've seen in the first few games, like when a 6-0 guard drives blindly at a 7-0 center and gets a bail out call, I can do without. But I can live with a few ticky-tack calls for a while if it eventually eliminates the semi-mugging style defense that allows slow, less talented teams to hang around with teams like Kansas and Duke.

The new rule interpretation is a big reason why Kansas, and other teams, are shooting a higher percentage from the field. Players understand that if they drive to the basket they'll likely get a layup/dunk or be shooting free throws. Bad decisions and bad shots don't show up in the box score because they are being called fouls now.

Kansas also has something that they haven't really had the last few years. They have 2 legit low-post scorers in Ellis and Embiid, and 2 ultra-athletic wings in Wiggins and Selden that can drive the lane and finish at the rim, or otherwise earn a trip to the foul line.

And then there is the fact that Kansas has a freakishly fast, athletic team that gets a ton of easy buckets in transition.

A lot of you know I also follow Wisconsin pretty closely and their scoring is way up. They had their first 100 point game since the mid 90's. They are scoring in big bunches. But, like KU, they're also giving up way more. It's more entertaining to watch to be sure.

@KirkIsMyHinrich I agree on last years tournament. Not only did Louisville do it, but so did Syracuse all the way to the Final Four. I'm still shaking my head over Syracuse mauling Marquette in the elite 8, and getting whistled for only 11 fouls the entire game. I don't want more fouls called in games any more than the next guy, but I also want to see the game return to it's truer form.

Teams should always take advantage of how the game is called. The big 12 and a greater degree the old Big 8 called games very tightly compared to other conferences, particularly the Big 10 and the other East Coast conferences. The Big 10 particularly has always been known for its bruising style of play.

Come tournament time, the refs allowed a lot more contact and the Big 12/8 conferences had problems adjusting to the more physical game allowed and as a result were pushed around by teams from other conferences. This is an issue that directly affected post-season games year after year but the conference never really addressed.

Again, I don't fault teams for trying to get away with as much as the referees will allow. IMHO, the solution was not to sissify the game; the solution is to make refereeing more consistent across conferences. Having watched a lot of basket ball over the weekend, I can see that this is still an issue and some referees are not calling nearly as many fouls as they were at the very beginning of the season.

I think the issue with Louisville last year and the hand checks and mugging was a problem with calling the game consistently. Without doubt the calls kept going their way.

I just don't think the answer was to create an unfair advantage to the offense where even mediocre players can now drive on anyone and draw fouls or get off shots they could never dream about getting off last year.

I like to see good lock down defense. And some hand checks are a part of it (within reason). You should be able to touch the ball handler... you just shouldn't be able to hold him back. That's always been the rule.

We are compensating for bad officiating by eliminating a key part of the game, and it just so happened to be a part of the game that CS was the master of.... lock down, man-to-man.

We were usually rewarded for the defense CS put on the floor... but with the changes it will be harder for him to earn any kind of advantage.

So the play this year will create more offensive highlights. What's wrong with defensive highlights?

I know.... I'm continuing to rant about this. I need to move on because I'm just repeating myself... again!

I'll try not to talk about it, but threads like this pretty much run into the changes head on!

Sorry....

@drgnslayr: COMPLETELY agree about everything...this game is to be played at BOTH ends. I urped also hearing them want to add a 6th foul...Hey, if I want to watch the NBA I'll do it, but dont pervert the college game. But, on the bright side, have you noticed that the refs have backed off in most games, and frankly, many of the games are like last year again. Ive seen many drives into the paint in the last few days where the offense player "thought" he was going to get the bailout call, but he didnt. They are allowing some contact. (The Michigan-Charlotte game had this, as well as a Charlotte player getting a charge call against MitchFlop McGaryFlop. Yay.)

With respect to Jaybate, maybe the advertising and scheduling FEMA-sized disaster the "new rules" were creating, have actually led to a movement to "swallow whistles" a lit bit more than in the first few days of this season. There is hope. All I know is Russell Robinson + Chalmers would be on the bench with 3 fouls in the first half...and that woulda been awful sad. Those guys played perfect Selfian D.

I don't necessarily think it is compensating for bad officiating as much as it compensating by inconsistent refereeing between conferences. Refs are directly told by the conference and not the NCAA how to call games. You will notice that refereeing seems to be fairly consistent WITHIN conferences but wildly inconsistent BETWEEN conferences.

The NCAA needs to adopt and police a standard that is followed consistently by all conferences, rather than allow the conferences to police themselves.