🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Well now that I have the legendary Kenny Rogers song the Gambler stuck in your head, let me ask a few questions going into this season based on the past few months

How much did Coach Self show at the WUG's? Did he gamble and show his new free flowing offense over the standard Bill Self High low? Was it to get through the quicker clock? Did he bluff with it and knew all along that having "non KU" players on his squad he needed an easier concept for the WUG's?

Will he show more of this free flowing offense in the tune up games, or will he keep his poker face on and not show any new wrinkles from years past, in hopes of surprising Michigan State?

I have to wonder with the shorter clock if the offense will change from the high low to more of a motion/flex offense or if the high low will just be sped up to fit?

Feel free to openly ask your own questions going into the "preseason" and maybe as a collective we can come up with some answers.

I for one can't wait for the season to take off and see what the newbies will bring and the elders have improved on

"And the night got deathly quiet
And his faced lost all expression
He said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy
You gotta learn to play it right"
--Kenny Rogers

@JRyman

Just in case there is a soul out there that hasn't seen this -

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@JRyman

WUG Takeaway:

Guys can get stale running tightly-scripted, high- low offenses for two seasons and can be energized by learning to run a more improvisational, quick-hitting offense.

The teacher in Bill Self solved the problem, not the coach. Teachers know they have to shift gears on what they teach ocassionally. You can't teach all heavy stuff. Gotta throw in some fun stuff to to keep the minds sharp and eager.

Or perhaps it was Cin.

"You know, Bill, you don't like the same thing EVERY night for dinner for two years, no matter how perfect I get at making it."

The team is experienced. These ways of playing are arrows in a quiver. We will see three kinds of ball this season.

First 3-5 minutes will be classic high-low passing game to feel out what the opponent is doing on both ends; I.e., how they want to play it.

After that Self will shift gears, to either Bad Ball, or Good Ball for 3-5 minutes.

The last ten of each half he will go with what has worked best.

For a few big games where he feels he needs to squirt into an early lead, he will surprise the opponent with starting in Bad Ball, or Good Ball.

@jaybate-1.0 Interesting takes on a team with experience and still playing "bad ball".

One would think with seniors, juniors and sophomores that have a lot of in game experience that "bad ball" would be a thing of the past.

Maybe it was a way of just getting through the season last year? Make things work for you that you can't fix. You know duct tape and bailing wire.

I've got a lot of hope for this season and with the guys on this team we should see great things.

@jaybate-1.0 Don't forget the fourth kind of basketball: unleash the bulldog. (If nothing else works, tell Frank Mason to get to the rim or to the free throw line.)

@DanR I think coach basically said that, due to the "new" rules.

@drgnslayr I used to not really like Kenny Rogers.

Now I kinda hate him.

@nuleafjhawk

Tell me what you really think.

@drgnslayr I would - but you have to know when to fold em.

@JRyman

From all the coaches comment I have read, it looks like the shot clock will not have much effect in the game; the average possession last less than 20 second anyway. KU played with a shorter clock at the WUG and had no problems.

@jaybate-1.0 Bad ball can be played without the perpetual weave, right?

@HighEliteMajor said:

@jaybate-1.0 Bad ball can be played without the perpetual weave, right?

Now that is something we can agree on.

I am not enough of an X and O guy to understand, but does the wider lane we played with in the WUG make the weave more effective?

Reason I ask is that in one of our early pool games, Selden took a hand off on the weave, drove the lane and flushed it home......about fell out of my chair because that was the first time I had ever seen successful dribble drive out of the weave.

@JayHawkFanToo

"From all the coaches comment I have read, it looks like the shot clock will not have much effect in the game; the average possession last less than 20 second anyway. KU played with a shorter clock at the WUG and had no problems."

I'm not buying Self's comment on that. I feel he is just being the "Riverboat Gambler" and he is deflecting his aces in the hole.

Any reduction in the shot clock should help teams that are heavy on defense. Kansas, typically, is one of those teams. Flipping it the other way, the reduction in the shot clock can hurt teams with a stagnant offense.

I don't think we will see too much of the same team that played in WUG, largely because we won't be playing those style of teams, and when we step into conference play, we will be playing teams that know us.

I think all of us Jayhawk fans should be pleased with taking 5 seconds off the clock. Not because it speeds up the game as much as we perceive it being a slight advantage to teams like ours.

That is just my opinion.

@HighEliteMajor

Yes, but the wide lane may tempt more use of the weave in a touch foul year.

@SoftballDad2011 said:

I am not enough of an X and O guy to understand, but does the wider lane we played with in the WUG make the weave more effective?

Reason I ask is that in one of our early pool games, Selden took a hand off on the weave, drove the lane and flushed it home......about fell out of my chair because that was the first time I had ever seen successful dribble drive out of the weave.

The wide lane does open up the dribble drive more as it does not allow for post players to camp as near the rim as they do in te college game. The international game calls three seconds more frequently than te NBA does on offensive players do it keeps their bigs moving, making defenders move out of the way as well.

Not sure I think it's the NBA that has a defensive three second call ass well so defenders can't camp under the Tim to block shots. Not sure could be international ball though. I just know I've seen it n

@drgnslayr

I have heard several coaches say the same thing so Coach Self is not the only one of that opinion. The average possession time is currently right around 18 second and for the NBA, with its 24 second shot clock, it is 14,4 seconds (60%) If the possession time stays the same it would be 18/30 or 60% or the same as the NBA. In short, no, I personally don't really think it will make a big difference in general although it could on specific instances.

The shot clock is only going to significantly imlact teams like Wisconsin that play at a snails pace on offense and even then, it's only going to mean 5 less seconds of standing around with ball before getting in to the offense.

@JRyman Good post. Personally I think we can hold Coach Self to his word that he learned new things during the WUGs and will apply them to this season with the shorter clock and the rule changes. He is going to have to IMO.

@nuleafjhawk and apparently, know when to hold em.

I used to love Kenny but that was a looooong time ago. I even saw his movie Six Pack, in the theater.