Landon Lucas is just plain bad. Bad defense, bad offense, and bad body language. No quickness, no hustle, no emotion, no intensity.
Svi was not aggressive at all. Shied away from driving it. That really hurt us tonight.
That pretty much sums up the WVU loss.
@SlickRockJayhawk Averaging a double double in big 12 play, well at least before tonight. He was overwhelmed inside tonight though.
Apparently very sick. Looked to have flu when I saw him Saturday.
@SlickRockJayhawk That's just the tip of the iceberg. LL could be still sick I guess so maybe we shouldn't be too hard on him but man 4 points total in the last 2 games no way his he avg. a DD anymore. He is just not athletic what so ever, did good on the boards. I agree with the hustle, emotion and energy. We played like a very very tired team which is worrisome, got beat up and down the floor quite a bit. The missed point blank shots and fts are getting old, like a month ago. We must have missed 10 tonight that had bows on them. JJ was great outside of a few defensive lapses and missing a dunk trying to make SC, which pisses me to no end. Not sure if frank is already gassed for the season or what but he hasn't shot well from the floor the last 2 or 3 games and just looks slow on the bounce like he cant get to the rim and finish, maybe its the better comp. Svi, Vick and Bragg were pretty much useless outside of 2 or 3 plays a piece. DG had a decent line but nothing crazy after another strong first half. I honestly feel like we are very lucky to only have lost by 16. Shooting 40% from the line (actually less because I know we missed atleast 2 front ends of 1/1). The only reason why it was close was 3 point shooting, Not very often does a road team shoot 45% from distance on the road while hitting 13 of them. I'm a little worried to be honest that we could be in trouble, We will know a ton about just how much heart and toughness this team has after an effort like that after next Wednesday. If we lose those two I bet we aren't going to KC regardless if its our region( because we will be at home already) or win the big 12.
@kjayhawks I think the onus is on the coaching staff for not landing legit bigs. Dok is, but he is the only one the last several years with actual pro potential. Don't know why they didn't go after Tyler Davis or other guys with actual size and the post man attitude. For the most part, they have done a poor, poor job and everyone sees the results. You would think the university of Kansas could get someone that can fill that role and play tough.
The failures I see after the W Virginia loss are:
1. Allowing 47 second half points;
2. Lucas and Bragg only scoring 4 points;
3. Only 7 bench points; and
4. Out scored at FT line by 13 points: 19/6.
Terrific offense by Jackson, Mason and Graham, but this game shows our guards can't win road games with just their offense. Yes, the refs certainly contributed to the loss as is always the case in Morgantown. But, our defense must improve. W Virginia played great; better than I've seen them play. Hopefully, our guys will regroup and Svi, Vick, Lucas, and Bragg will play better against Kentucky.
@stoptheflop I thought the crux of the loss was that their guys beat our guys off the ball and we couldn't do the same. It comes back to poor defense IMO. They got easy baskets and to the foul line. As god as Josh was offensively...........I thought he was really bad defensively. It seemed like his man got by him a lot. He wasn't alone, though. The loss is only one game........but the symptoms have always been there.
Did you see the same thing?
JJ's defense is atrocious. Stands flat footed and guys drive right around him.
This thread is mildly better than the Mitch Lightfoot hate thread on the Phog right now.
@HawkChamp I respectfully disagree with that assessment. He landed Cliff, Chieck, Carlton, and Udoka. So they haven't panned out. I don't see Dukes bigs lighting it up either, and they were highly sought after. He's landing players. And he is 18-2 coaching with an entirely new philosophy than he did his entire career. Losing Udoka was huge. Bragg not progressing as he should is even bigger.
Yep absolutely nothing wrong with having a couple kids like Mitch on scholarship.
@BShark @Crimsonorblue22 I actually think he will be a very solid player in a couple of years. He is plenty athletic and extremely competitive. Let him fill out over the next year and a half and lookout for a Junior Lightfoot. If he can develop a decent jumper I think he could be a matchup nightmare for opposing 4s. The guy is plenty athletic from what I've seen so far to be playing high level division I basketball. Arizona was in on his recruitment too.
We seem to go through this same argument almost every year.
We blame one or more of our players for not being a 5-star recruit.
So the player, who is who he is, should somehow wave a wand and add 5 inches to his vertical, etc.
If people want to scream, then scream at our coaches for recruiting him and not landing a higher level player.
It reminds me of the old Brady arguments. People blaming Brady for not being taller and more athletic.
Can someone explain to me the logic of beating down a lower recruit for not playing like a McDs AA?
And if it is just a case where the player can snap his fingers and become the next Lebron James... why don't we all snap our fingers and become Lebron and walk-on so we can cinch another NC?
@HawkChamp yes, I hope manning returns to coach our bigs if he fails. They have just flatout not been as good without him.
@drgnslayr Bragg was thought to be a OAD by many, LL maybe you could say this about. Bragg has been a big disappointment no way around it and he was a highly recruited guy.
@HawkChamp You know I think the or one of the worst things that could of happened to us was when Danny left to go and Coach - -I just wonder how mush that has effected us in getting Big's to come - Danny was a really good Coach in Coaching the big men, every since he left seems like we have been trending down. - Not sure myself who is in charge of Coaching the big's now - -just wondering how big of an effect not having Danny here is with that- - -- ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
@BShark What? - -hate for lightfoot? - - how fricken crazy is that? - -I mean comes in gets a block right off the bat - -rebounds, in very very limited time? - -he just needs time to develop with Hudy , going to be a nice 4 year player for us. - -Hate for him is beyond stupid -- ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
He really did give up on some plays and some of that was due to the foul trouble. It is not acceptable though and tape will show that.
@BeddieKU23 everyone wearing blue gave up on plays and walked up the court too often. There would be trash cans for throwing up in the gym if I was coaching. I'll play the worst player in history and lose by 40 before I let my good players think they are too good to hustle.
Right, it wasn't just one player that was doing it. Although his seemed to stick out more than some of the others because there was clear plays where he just dogged it
I can't believe we were guarding Ahmad with Lucas last night. Ahmad is a not a post player, he plays SF and has a streaky jumpshot. That shot was on last night, but we continued to put a post on him that would stand 5 feet from him at all times.
@BeddieKU23 ya svi or JJ should be able to win that match up. I feel like players in general just don't hustle like the used to. Don't remember getting mad at Kenny Gregory or Kirk Hinrich, I feel like the ego of a college athlete has reached dangerous levels the last few years.
@drgnslayr if we were like LeBron James we might complain about our team's roster when it's the highest payroll in basketball.
And if we were like David Griffin we might interpret LeBrons bitching as a complaint that you didn't throw enough money around.
Meh let's not be like those guys.
@BeddieKU23 I thought jj was guarding him
If KU would have won the game last night would be even be discussing the failures and assigning blame?
"La victoria trova cento padri, e nessuno vuole riconoscere l'insuccesso" - Italian diplomat Count Ciano, in 1942
Or as we know it in English as quoted by President Kennedy... "Victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan."
@drgnslayr said:
why don’t we all snap our fingers and become Lebron and walk-on so we can cinch another NC?
I was going to but then I learned my eligibility expired 35 years ago.....
A lot of posters on many sites, live their lives through these kids, and many have no clue about the intricacies of basketball! First of all, Landen is one of the best 'help defenders' we have ever had, but so many times when he goes to help, his man scores, because our rotation stinks! In the WV game, Frank reverted to the old Frank, and from the start, tried to win the game by himself, and forced, everything! Udoka being hurt eliminates our rim protector, and that is huge because our guards keep getting beat off the dribble. Graham needs to play 2 halves. Bragg can't drive the ball to score like Perry Ellis, and he needs to learn to go to the hoop, strong-40 pounds of muscle, they say-right! Svi makes careless turnovers because he can't handle the ball! All that being said, it's only 'one game', so no need to panic. By the way, we were in the game, but made so really bad plays. I really like Vick, but he had a break away that he loafed on, which should have been a dunk, which he got blocked, and I think they hit a '3' (5 point swing)! Also, did anyone else notice how, in the 2nd half, their guards trapped Frank further out on the floor, towards the sideline, forcing him to give it up, and I would have thought that when he reversed the ball, we would have taken it down the middle, with numbers-but we didn't! And I'm not even going to talk about free throws-no excuse:Period!!! OK, rant over! Don't act like the season is lost-we still have time to get a lot better, and we will! I bet Kentucky fans are as brutal as ours. LOL Villanova's probably aren't happy either! We act like it's just, us! PS: My observations were mostly about one game, and most of it will be corrected by the time we play Baylor, regardless of what happens at Kentucky! And Frank does look a bit tired and beat up! They need to cut down on his minutes, and Coleby needs to get his mental state right, and just go out and play, because overcompensating will cause him to hurt his other knee.
One other thing-I'm tired of teams getting so many offensive rebounds against us. I saw a lot of times when Landen was the only one under the basket, and they made us pay with their 2nd, and sometimes, 3rd chance, points! Landen needs so help in there. I mean, Seriously???????
With Cliff we were on the verge of seeing what he could do and then his family situation happened. Dialogue, had he stayed a year, he more than likely would have developed into a solid lottery pick. Bragg, maybe needed to pump his brakes on departing early and work on having an all around game. So, I don't see where Coach Self failed?