🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Ya know I went to bed last night , had this dream/nightmare that we had got our butt's handed to us on a platter against Washing ton last night. - -Then realized this morning it wasn't a nightmare - - -it is reality.

We really did get our ass handed to us on a platter. - - There was not one good thing that came out of that game last night. - There was no positives to come out of this game. What did come out of this game was at least last night the lack of that leader - that guy that wanted to step up and take control/charge of that game, leadership.

Devonte let's face it , he is just not a slasher, a guy that is going to get to the rim. Malik - - -WOW not sure what to say about Malik. He has been a no show these last two games, non exsistent. He has got to step his game up, we need this guy.

Vick was at least showing something/ a little production. - But when us guys were talking on slack last night we had some on that said Vick was a black hole, you know like we kicked it in but it never came back out putting up crazy shots. - -I had to will disagree with that. That option is what Washington was giving us , they were giving up the middle as it was stated during the game, as Washington decided they had to give up something - -because they were not going to give up the 3. - -Every 3 was going to be contested, which they did. - If anything LaGerald I think became so self conscientious of so many shots he began to become sensitive about so many, wanting to rather kick it out then shoot, - made him hesitate - like almost shot put some of us shots - -short arming his shots at the rim -LaGerald was no more to blame then any of the others for sure.

Just makes me wonder that in the future , how many other teams are going to try and run some kind of zone at us? - Teams that like Syracuse & Washington extend the front of that zone out, take away the 3? - -Glaring weakness last Night. You don't think other Coaches are going to look at that Game film and take notice?

We were talking on Slack last night, some were saying calling us negative nellies, to that I respond uhhh no negative Nellie - just calling it like it was/is - -It is called REALITY. - plain and simple, we played ugly, uninspired ball. - to the individuals that said there were people who was that so called Negative Nellies please give me an example where we didn't get beat in this game last night?

How many offensive rebounds did we get? - -multiple shots? -- How many loose ball scrums did we win? - - Who won the turnover margin? - - Who shot more free throws? - -How many multiple shots did Washington get? - -Who was it that had his way on the inside making our Big guys look silly? - -How many times did the guys just plain did not slide/move their feet? - -How many times did our perimeter guys get beat on drives? -It is REALITY sorry, it is what it is. - The guys just played very uninspired ball, several on slack noticed it - -saying at times they acted like they didn't even want to be there.

Fran ya I know it's Fran but he stated Doke was being careful in the 2nd half not to pick up that 3rd foul. - Well let me say IF that was the case - -then I don't give a rats ass have a seat. - If you are so tentative playing soft so you don't pick up that 3rd foul and Fran was mentioning this in the middle of the 2nd half - -Doke had 2 fouls - -did he EVER pick up his 3rd? - - - - Bottom line IF that was his thinking - which really I don't think that was but IF he indeed was then get him out, he is doing us no good if that's the case.

People say well we always have one of these games a year, well don't we think it's about time to correct this? - -Sure just didn't see this coming, some said we needed Billy. - You really think Billy would of made that difference last night? - -I sure don't I think the blame goes to the entire team, lot of reaching on defense I could go on and on - but I'm telling ya - -we got exposed big time last night and it was a glaring weakness, lets hope we have no repeats. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

After getting their tails kicked last weekend, the Syracuse Orange coaching staff delivered the perfect strategy to their guy Hopkins to address Kansas' three point proficiency. To Hopkins' credit, his team executed the game plan wonderfully. The team has a high ceiling and a low floor.

@jayballer54 The game felt eerily like the chiefs great undefeated start and then they look like a lost team. Not that 1 game is the same, but it had that feel to me.

Let it all out @jayballer54 don't hold back (kidding of course).

It was me that said Vick was a black hole and he was, I stand by the statement.

He's just not cerebral enough in the middle of a zone to make teams pay for giving him the ball wide open. Against Cuse he was able to make one simple pass out of it that led to a basket or some sort of ball movement (many of them back to Devonte for a 3). Last night it was 1 on 5 offense the entire game!

Of course he had an exaggerated 28 points last night but it had ZERO impact on the game. Why was Washington giving up the middle and 5 foot shots? Simple, Vick did nothing to change the outcome. It was great game planning by their coach to take away what fuels this team.

3's, dunks, transition those are things that change momentum and things KU lives on this season. We got none of it in any consistent fashion so Vicks game looks so much better then it was. He either made a bunny, missed a bunny or passed the ball out for a turnover (the one late in the game was the signed, sealed and delivered L).

I would have much rather of seen balance from this team last night, balance as we see in most games likely is the difference in the game in spite of the dreadful effort overall. Of course we had 3-4 guys playing the worst game of the season so far so there really isn't much to discuss in what could have been. Washington was happy to give up meaningless 2's that didn't make them do anything on defense. We made their job so easy being baited into exactly the offense they wanted us to play.

So many things for this team to work on. Self may hate losing but this might be one that was needed to get everyone's attention. 4 days comes an even tougher test against a team that plays a very similar approach to us. Good thing its at home

@BeddieKU23 Much tougher test - - Much much tougher. - - ROCK CAHLK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@BeddieKU23

Spot on. Vick did not make them pay up enough inside so they let him have the short jumper. Against Syracuse he passed outside for the 3 and people were complaining he was not shooting enough...so much for that.

@JayHawkFanToo I'll give him a pass for not being as aggressive as he could be against Syracuse (thought not much). Absolutely no excuse for being wimpy and wussy against Washington. Coach should have given him firm instructions on how to handle it when he gets the ball in there. This isn't nuclear physics fellas.

@BeddieKU23 A guy with twenty eight points has zero impact on the game? Wow thats news to me!

@HawkChamp

I agree with @BeddieKU23. Didn't the announcers say he should have 50 or 60 or words to that effect?

** ONLY 268 DAYS UNTIL FOOTBALL SEASON !! **

Vick should have gone for at least 50 last night. But he lacks the "Alpha" and that lead to him feeling like he needed to pass the ball and not take every shot. UW won a mind game last night. Vick looked like he was being guarded by an imaginary 6th guy half of the time.

If JJ were that guy in the middle last night, KU wins by 20 and JJ has 50 points, 10 dunks, 10 And 1's and Dickerson has 2 fouls in the first 5 minutes of the game and plays maybe 10 minutes total before he fouls out. All because he wouldn't have been scared to take 50 shots. Hell, he would have WANTED to take 50 shots.

Vick needs to become an Alpha if we want to win.

@Kcmatt7 you don't have to be an "alpha" to realize that you should take a wide open shot twelve feet from the hoop. Not taking advantage of those opportunities hurts the team. If the player doesn't realize it, then someone on the coaching staff needs to figure it out and HELP the player strategize. There also should have been others in the high post, as we have already discussed.

@JayHawkFanToo yes but Lagerald kept us close, so saying he had little effect on the game is pretty stupid. Yes he should of had fifty. No one is arguing that.

Basketball has a large mental component to it.

For a guy like Vick, he's used to being a third or fourth option. He's not used to shooting every time he touches the ball. For most of his life, had he done that, he would have been benched at the next dead ball. Vick is a good player, but he has never been a star.

Washington challenged him to step outside his role last night and take 35 shots. Vick took 23 and is probably still wondering if he shot too much.

@Kcmatt7 is correct that Vick is not an "alpha." JJ was a star. If he's left unguarded, he shoots because nobody has intentionally left him unguarded since he was 12. Vick is a very good player that compliments the stars (what will ultimately make him successful at the next level in my opinion). He shoots when he's open, but is looking to get shots for the stars on his team.

As a result, there's a degree of hesitation when he's left open because he's trying to make the best possible decision - shoot, pass, drive.

@HawkChamp

I think you are missing the point. Washington conceded points in the paint and whoever played there was going to have that many if not more. KU routinely scores more than that from the inside, it is the outside game that was not clicking and the main factor for the loss...in my opinion and sounds like other's as well.

@JayHawkFanToo bro, you are summarizing a game that I already watched! I'm well aware of what happened and I think they did a poor job of capitalizing on it.

@HawkChamp I said we were outcoached in another post. I also believe that it is hard to be prepared for that as a player. No one shoots that much in a game. Especially a guy who is your 3rd or 4th option a lot of times. Someone who isn't used to shooting the ball 20+ times per game is not going to feel comfortable doing it. It is a subconscious thing. He is going to feel guilty for not sharing the ball and taking 30 to 40 shots, even if it is the right basketball play. Not because he doesn't know it is the right basketball play, but because 99% of the time if you did that you would be called a ball hog and people would get upset with you.

So, it does take an Alpha to have the confidence to hoist up shot after shot after shot without a 2nd thought.

Someone on this team needs to become an Alpha. Otherwise we will hit wall come tournament time. 2008 team had several. 2012 team had 2. This team? I don't see any yet. Which is fine. Tyshawn wasn't one until Conference play his Senior season so there is still plenty of time . And this is the type of game we needed to find that out. This could be the type of game that causes Vick to completely break out of his shell and truly become a college stud.

Now that I have watched this team play a 4th of its season, I personally think we need Vick to become a BRush/Mclemore type of guy for this season to end in San Antonio. Except that he has one thing neither of those two players had. An explosive first step off the dribble. Vick is quick enough and athletic enough to get by his defender and take it to the rack. If he can learn to finish at a high rate, he could be a 20 ppg guy the rest of the way.

Two and half weeks ago, I thought the growth of Billy and Doke would be what we need to take us to a FF. But now with the Billy situation, things have changed. It is going to take one of these guards becoming something special over these next 3 months.

@HawkChamp

Time to move on?

@Kcmatt7 Wanted to respond to two things you said, Which I agree on both. - -The 1st , I stated multiple times in other places like you expressed , La Gerald I feel and you could almost see like has been stated he had chance for shot, after shot, after shot - which he took, then as has been said I think he honestly started to feel like he shouldn't be taking so many - which in turn if you noticed , look like he started making short hesitations in his shot - -almost short arming the shot, no fluid follow through - almost rather a shot put action. As hard is it to believe I truly think he was thinking MORE about should I shoot this , I really need to get my team mates more involved, I don't want them to think it is a black hole when they throw it in to me. He like you said NOT an Alpha - an Alpha would not give it a 2nd thought. - You put these things together I fully believe caused him to miss a couple of the shots that he took, Still shot like 63 % 12-19 in the lane. - 19 shots in the lane is a lot of shots so ya I agree.

2nd - like you we DO NOT have an Alpha - -A leader , that guy that wants the ball in crunch time - like Frank did last year - or Josh did. Do we have such a person? -I thought I was Devonte, but maybe not so much, for one Devonte isn't that slash type player - he just doesn't get to the rim play through contact - -again like Frank. - -Devonte is more of a spot of jump shooter, Can he get his own shot? - -I don't know. - I know he can knock down open shots, but create his own shot off the bounce - -penetration - -not sure. - -Who is our Alpha? - -Who COULD BE our alpha? - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer54 The biggest problem with having guys like Frank is that it teaches the other guys to lay back. It doesn't let them develop that killer instinct...

Kcmatt7 said:

@jayballer54 The biggest problem with having guys like Frank is that it teaches the other guys to lay back. It doesn't let them develop that killer instinct...

That is one thing that our KU teams have lacked in several years - that killer instinct. - -I remember countless times we would have teams on the ropes up 16- 20 points only to what seemed to let the other come back and making it a real contest where they had no business of doing - because of that lack of killer instinct. - Had the typical foot on the throat just to let off ease up on the gas.

So again do we even have an ALPHA? sure not Doke, Not Vick - - Not SVI - - Newman? - - Nope.- -I think probably the best chance WOULD be Devonte and that's not saying a lot. - -whatcha think? - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY