🏀 KuBuckets Archive

!josh.JPG ↗

This year we lost a valuable player in Perry Ellis. A big positive with Perry was his consistency. The talk around camp over the past half year or so was, "how are we going to replace Perry's consistent points?" A legitimate question.

Josh Jackson appears to be the answer, and more.

As the season progresses Josh has been lifting his point totals while squashing his point total off-nights. The season is still young, but looking back over the last 4 games, Josh has earned the title of "Mr. Consistency" with 19, 17, 18 and 21 points. Am I ready to place Josh's consistency near the consistency of Perry Ellis? No. Perry scratched and clawed for 4 years to earn his title. Josh is still a newcomer.

There are other statistics going in Josh's favor that may change my mind very soon. He may not have to spend 4 years earning his consistency title. That's good, because there is no chance he will remain in a Jayhawk uniform beyond this season.

Perry was a power forward. Josh, a swing guard. So how do they compare in the post stats? Perry actually had fewer rebounds in his senior year, averaging just 5.8 rpg. Not very high numbers for a power forward, especially when considering he didn't have to fight many of his teammate post players for rebounds. In Josh's last four games he has averaged just under 9 rpg. And he is rebounding from the swing guard position, often finding himself further away from the basket on rebounds over where Perry might have been positioned. Josh also is averaging just over 2 bpg in recent games, compared to Perry's consistent stat around .5 bpg over all 4 seasons as a Jayhawk.

Statistics by themselves only give a glimpse into the reality of what is happening. Looking closer at Josh's consistent scoring numbers it becomes apparent that he remains inconsistent on HOW he gets his points. He is yet to find his groove at the 3-pt line. That doesn't stop Josh from getting his points. Josh remains inconsistent from the charity stripe, shooting a low percentage, especially when comparing to Mr. Consistency Ellis. But for every free throw Josh misses, he seems to compensate for his miss by scoring off the offensive glass.

We have to keep reminding ourselves that Josh is still a freshman. And sometimes he will remind us he is a freshman by making freshman mistakes. All we have to do is look past his youthful mistakes and focus on the one area of consistency that Josh scores higher marks than Perry and most players that have worn the Jayhawk uniform; competitive tenacity!

@drgnslayr great post. The only disagreement is in the competitive tenacity summary. I believe both have that. Josh's athleticism is what I think separates them. But, I'll leave open if Josh does edge Perry in that characteristic...need a bigger sample size.

All of your stats also don't count assists. Perry was never much of an assist guy. JJ has incredible vision for a Freshmen. He is averaging 2 more assists per game than Perry did. Which is another 4 points each and every game.

Another way to look at this is team scoring. We as a team are outscoring last seasons high scoring offense. By 5 points per game. That is without both Selden, Ellis and Greene. That is 22 ppg we are missing and we have added 5 more points on top of that. And, our defense is averaging roughly the same amount of points given up as last year. So we are scoring more and defending equally as well.

If you look at the defensive presence that JJ has, he far out-paces both Wayne and Perry. Our defense is scary for opposing guards. JJ is averaging 1.6 steals per game. Perry and Wayne averaged 1.2 together. Josh has 1.5 blocks per game. Wayne and Perry again were 1.2 added together.

But again, not only has JJ been good enough to stuff his own stat sheet, he has made everyone else better. Across the board we are stealing the ball at a much higher pace than last season. This year we have 4 guys averaging over a steal per game. Last year we had nobody averaging a steal per game. He has allowed Devonte, Frank and Svi to be able to play more aggressively because his athleticism makes up for things. Buke being a solid rim protector was a big part of that as well, but JJ with 1.5 blocks a game is a better rim protector than we had all last season. He changes the entire game simply by being a freak athlete.

@Kcmatt7

You nailed it. Jackson's athleticism and length have changed the way this team operates. Jackson has what scouts call useful athleticism. He can use his athleticism in game situations.

For example, I remember a few years back when it was declared that Tyrel Reed had the highest vertical leap on the team. Higher than EJ. Higher than Tyshawn. Higher than Travis. Tyrel Reed had the best vertical leap. Tyrel was a heck of an athlete to be sure, but in game situations, he couldn't tap into that same athleticism, whereas the other guys could, so even though Tyrel's numbers in the gym were better, those other guys looked more athletic.

Perry was also a good athlete with impressive measurables, but in game, he can't tap into that. Jackson can. He covers so much ground it's amazing. He consumes passing lanes. He recovers before people can even realize it. And that's just on the defensive end.

Offensively, because he can post, drive and pass, he's a nightmare matchup. You can't put a 4 on him because he's too quick. A smaller wing will get eaten alive. Honestly, there's maybe a handful guys in the entire country that truly match up with him (Josh Hart at Villanova, Justin Jackson at UNC and OG Anunoby are the ones that come to mind initially). Everyone else is either too small, too slow, not good enough or some combination of the three.

Add to that the fact that Josh is sneaky strong. I remember when we were comparing him to Wiggins over the summer (sadly lost when we had to re-load everything), I mentioned that Jackson is much stronger, and pointed to a similar play that both he and Wiggins made in their high school highlights. It was a transition play where both guys took a bump in the side from a smaller guy on the break and finished - Wiggins with a gliding fingerroll, Jackson with a thunderous two hand jam. The difference in balance, strength and body control that single play showed made me even more excited to have Jackson on this team. KU has not had anyone with this kind of size, talent and athleticism in my memory.

@justanotherfan

Great post by the way.

When comparing Josh to Andrew we have to consider that Josh is a full year older then Wiggins. A year more of maturity makes a difference. I agreed back in the summer when you did that comparison of the two and how much different they are physically. Josh has a NBA ready body now, Andrew still looks like he's filling in to his 3 years into his NBA career.

I wonder if Josh is able to maintain more weight then Andrew is. Josh put on 15-20 pounds this summer and so far its paying off. I wonder if that was done so that Josh could play the 4 in this lineup.

Imagine if Self had tried to play Wiggins in the block more, a place where Wiggins is doing damage in the NBA now.

@Kcmatt7

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

You nailed it.

@drgnslayr All I gotta say is, " Welcome to the Big 12 Josh." We all know youre gonna be a stud but this TCU team is a mid level big 12 team and they had youre number tonight. Learn from this and be stronger, better, faster next game. Youre gonna have to.

Can't believe Dana O'Neil can make such a big boo boo:

!Capture.JPG ↗

@RockChalkinTexas probably didn't even watch the game. But still not surprising

Ha.... so much for Mr. Consistency! I'm a walking, talking jinx!

But seriously, in some ways he still proved my point. Josh showed his frustration during his initiation into Big 12 basketball... especially his first Big 12 road game.

He did come through in the clutch, with just under 5 minutes left when he went down on the hardwoods for a loose ball and created a very needed possession for us.

This is the exact reason why he will earn the title of "Mr. Consistency." Because he can always hustle and still contribute, even while having a bad game.

@RockChalkinTexas Probably got snookered by auto-complete on her phone.... Been known to happen to even the best! And I am obviously getting old. Read your post, thought, "So, what is wrong? Hmmm....it LOOKS wrong. What is it? OHHHHH!!!"

@RockChalkinTexas

It was the ol' Freudian UNC slip!

She has Justin on her mind, not Josh.... probably because she has been glued on UNC and their troubles:

UNC again faces NCAA extra-benefits charge in academic case ↗

BTW: It sounds like AD Bubba is trying to damage Kansas by connecting their illegal activities to the witch hunt the NCAA did on Diallo.

Thanks, Bubba....

@drgnslayr

Perhaps I did not read the article as carefully as I should have and I missed the link but I do not see the connection that you mention to KU. The NCAA did not conduct a witch hunt on KU that I know of. The issue was Diallo's transcripts that had nothing to do with KU but with Diallo's lack of planning and preparedness. Had Diallo chosen a different school, the process would have been the same..don't you think?.

@JayHawkFanToo

""You can't chase things because you have an opinion,'' Cunningham said. "You have to follow the bylaws. That's the standard we are held to and we expect to live by those as well. We've seen recently the NCAA has chased after some other schools and went outside their own process and that hasn't worked out very well.''"

I could be wrong... but I took this like he was referring to the Diallo case.

@drgnslayr More likely, Penn State.

@drgnslayr

As much as we don't like it, In the Diallo case the NCAA followed the bylaws to the letter and did what it is supposed to do. Diallo had incomplete transcripts and the NCAA had to wait until all the information was in before ruling on his eligibility. The problem was not with KU, it was with Diallo and KU just happened to be the Innocent bystander. :smiley:

@JayHawkFanToo think there's more to that story. Didn't KU GO get info the NCAA didn't even bother trying to get? I can't remember it all.

@Crimsonorblue22

It is not the job of the NCAA to go get information, it is the job of the student athlete to provide all the required information in a timely manner. I know that KU spent a large chunk of money helping Diallo get the information in, but if Diallo would have been a little more diligent beforehand, a lot of the issues could have been avoided.; can't really blame the NCAA for this.

The NCAA requirement are widely available to schools and student via school counselors and coaches and also directly from the NCAA. I find it hard to believe that student considering playing sport in college, particularly hight profile prospects are not fully aware of the required paperwork. In my opinion, many that submit insufficient paperwork do it because they know their HS work is not good enough to be cleared to play college sports; many of the high profile prospects change schools often or attend unaccredited school knowing the it will cause problems down the road.

For many of these athletes school work is a nuisance that gets in their way to playing sports which they believe is what will get them to the pro leagues, but the truth is that very few get there. This is why I believe that if a players is good enough to go directly to the NBA, he should be allowed to do so, but once they start college, they should stay at least 3 years so they have a decent shot at getting a degree.

@JayHawkFanToo how about this? Didn't the NCAA have this info KU obtained, for quite some time, before they acted on it? Didn't they have a lame ass excuse for not making a timely decision for a kid that clearly was qualified?

@JayHawkFanToo said:

or many of these athletes school work is a nuisance that gets in their way to playing sports which they believe is what will get them to the pro leagues, but the truth is that very few get there. This is why I believe that if a players is good enough to go directly to the NBA, he should be allowed to do so, but once they start college, they should stay at least 3 years so they have a decent shot at getting a degree.

These words should be sent to the NCAA and NBA.They are sense and spirit that should drive all of this, not the OAD rule.

@Crimsonorblue22

Being qualified to attend college and being cleared by the NCAA are two different issues. You can be well qualified to get a home loan but you will not get one until you have submitted all the paperwork and it is not the bank job to go chasing the documentation, it is up to you to submit it.

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@JayHawkFanToo But it is the bank's job to act on the loan application and let you know if something is missing. As I recall, the NCAA went way beyond the usual required info in Diallo's s case. They investigated the adequacy of his African schools back to middle school, and took their time doing it.

It was clearly a case of sanctioning by taking their time, as all that investigation of the coursework ultimately resulted in irrelevant sanctions for receiving improper benefits from the guy who helped him come here.

@mayjay

That's how I saw it as well. When they couldn't find sufficient evidence to hold back his academics while wasting a lot of time in the process they fell back on his handler.

Self and KU were clearly upset about the wasted time and the lack of communication. I bet if you got Self off the record talking about this situation there would be some things said that the NCAA would not want repeated.

Funny how once Diallo lawyer-ed up the process moved on quicker. There is no telling how many games the kid would have missed otherwise

@BeddieKU23

"Funny how once Diallo lawyer-ed up the process moved on quicker."

I thought the motivation came from Kansas finally speaking out negatively about the NCAA and their lack of speed and communication, emphasizing how Kansas always reacted quickly to their demands by addressing their issues.

It was a horrible PR situation for the NCAA. Remember Luck?

@drgnslayr it's all coming back!

@drgnslayr

Thank you for that additional piece of info. Forgot about that. So consumed in this years squad we tend to forget the details of even last years season.

@BeddieKU23

Yes... I'm finding it hard to recall details from last year. Am I just getting too old to remember? Or is just too much stuff happening to keep memories straight?

I don't want this to veer off into politics.... but I think I watched too much politics since last March, too. I could also blame MLB. My Royals didn't make it, so I was glued on my Cubs.

@mayjay

If your financial papers come from an African Country, chances are it will take the bank a long time to process them. So, if you know 3 years in advance that you will be applying for a loan, shouldn't you get all your paper work in order way before that time? I should know, I deal with a lot of overseas paperwork and the time it takes is hard to believe. In the 70's, a certified letter to South America would take 3-5 days, now it takes well over 30 days...I find it impossible to explain why but true. The NCAA notified him of the incomplete paperwork and it just took a long time to to get the proper paper work in place.

if I want to send a legal document to most any other country in the world, particularly third world countries, I need to have the document certified by a Notary Public, then the document is sent to Topeka so the Secretary of State of The State of Kansas certifies the signature of the Notary public, then it is sent to the Department of State so the US Secretary of State certifies the signature of the Kansas Secretary of State, then It is sent to the Consulate of the Country in question so it can certify the signature of the US Secretary of State; an even longer process is used for legal documents coming from overseas here.

Do you really believe the NCAA selected Diallo and KU specifically and delayer the paper work on purpose? I am as big of a KU homer as any one here and even I don't believe this is the case.

@JayHawkFanToo yes

@Crimsonorblue22

Why do you think the NCAA would do this? Getting even for Alexander perhaps?

@JayHawkFanToo we called them out, they really didn't have any evidence, all bogus 💩. And then there's that Luck guy, 🤔

@JayHawkFanToo I think they suspected financial shenanigans. There could easily be rumors we never heard. Remember, many delays in NCAA investigations are due to waiting for voluntary compliance from 3rd parties. I think we saw other athletes from Africa subjected to lengthy investigations, too, so I don't think we are singled out. (By referees, either, but I am probably a minority of one there!)

Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger, Bill Self, and Diallo were less than pleased with the NCAA’s mishandling of the situation.

On November 10th, Zenger sent a six page letter to Oliver Luck, Executive Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the NCAA.

This letter, in which Mark Emmert, Gary DeCastro, Todd Leydon, Mike Massa, Bob Bowlsby, Bernadette Gray Little, Sean Lester, David Reed, Bill Self, and Geoff Silver were listed under “cc:”, detailed the extent of NCAA’s ineptitudes.

“I am concerned also because the role NCAA staff has played during this misfit process has been that of investigator, not collaborator,” Zenger said in the letter.

“There is still no closure for Cheick Diallo. It is the University of Kansas communicating openly and uncovering facts that we could have discovered together all in the spirit of reaching conclusions and closure for Cheick.”

Later that month on a Saturday, Self decided to air his grievances as well in a conference call with ESPN and CBS Sports.

“We still haven’t been told anything definitively in any area,” Self said.

“We’ve made six visits to Our Savior, and the NCAA has made zero.”

“Our Savior was placed on review by the NCAA after Cheick arrived. He had no idea when he got there. The policy sucks in that kids aren’t notified.”

“This kid left his family in Mali to live out a dream, and he was never made aware of anything. This is a situation where he should be playing immediately.

“We gave it to the NCAA, and we know it’s a weekend. I think the weekend qualifies as a workday in this case.”

Finally, on November 25th, the NCAA finally made a ruling.

“Based on the amateurism review, the NCAA concluded that Diallo received a limited amount of extra benefits,” said in a statement by Stacey Osburn, NCAA Director of Public and Media Relations.

“Therefore, Diallo is not eligible to play for five contests, including the four games Kansas has already played.”

It appeared Zenger was glad the situation reached a conclusion without major penalties.

Zenger said in response to the ruling, “I really want to thank the NCAA staff for guiding this process to a fair conclusion in what was a very complicated situation.”

Full article http://kckingdom.com/2016/03/30/ku-basketball-blame-ncaa-for-diallo-entering-nba-draft/ ↗

Five games for $200 paid by his legal guardian.

@dylans and that's that!