🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Not being a Debbie Downer or having a meltdown, but I'm already ready for next year and hopefully be rid of the soft and stupid play. No wild and inconsistent Svi and Graham and probably no Newman, which is for the best. Dok should stay but may not - just too much that he doesn't know or can't do yet.

I'm ready to see some actual size and NBA talent with Dotson, Grimes, Desousa and the Lawsons. Hopefully those guys will bring back the grit and toughness that past teams had and what we have sorely missed the last five years. I'm ready for it already. Just tired of seeing our teams the last few years play terrible defensively, make bad passes and get outhustled in general. Next year is looking very good.

It's gonna be real nice trotting out two bigs and a true PG again.

I am super pumped for next season. But enjoy the ride this year. Will be highs and lows. But if they get hot at the right time, this season will still be a lot of fun.

@BShark nowadays that seems more like a luxury lol. It used to be the standard.

And I forgot to mention Marcus Garrett who I think will turn into an old style Bill Self guard. Man I miss the days of Chalmers, Robinson, Releford and Tyshawn.

HawkChamp said:

And I forgot to mention Marcus Garrett who I think will turn into an old style Bill Self guard. Man I miss the days of Chalmers, Robinson, Releford and Tyshawn.

Dotson, Grimes, Garrett, Moore is a great guard rotation. There will be some growing pains early. If we see a second year of it watch out (Grimes being the main candidate to leave early and prevent the 2nd year of this rotation).

The real kicker though is how much the post situation improves with or without Doke. Dedric is the best scoring post we've had in awhile. He is a complete player. Hell even KJ right now would be our second best big. Then you also add Silvio and McCormack. I don't expect a ton from McCormack next year but he should be the 4th big if Doke does leave, that's pretty awesome.

Two losses and we're already thinking about next year? Can we let this season play out?

@BShark based on the first nine games, what are the odds Dok stays? He isn't really even on any draft boards.

@Hawk8086 what is the harm with talking about bringing in better players next year?

@HawkChamp Because it appears that some of those comments suggest they have already given up on this year.

@Hawk8086 with the effort, focus and lack of smarts our players have, it's not much fun to talk about this year. I'm ready for the type of ball we used to play that got us a ring and a title game appearance.

HawkChamp said:

@BShark based on the first nine games, what are the odds Dok stays? He isn't really even on any draft boards.

Not sure. We are already oversigned by 1 though and Self has talked about wanting to add more players.

If we see only Newman and Billy go early and add a random, non-contributing/developmental recruit, that would be pretty awesome.

Dotson, Grimes, Vick, Dedric, Doke

Bench: KJ, Garrett, Silvio, McCormack, Cunliffe, Mitch

Yeessssh.

@Hawk8086 Thank you

This is a coping thread. If you want to focus on this year, feel free to do that. :wink:

@BShark I love that roster and all the sixe but I would like it better if we could get Langford.

HawkChamp said:

@BShark I love that roster and all the sixe but I would like it better if we could get Langford.

I don't think it's possible to have Vick and Langford. It's loaded either way.

Since Langford is a rent a player I would rather have Vick. The impact is only for next year, so it's better to have the SR player that knows the system well.

Hell if OAD gets blown up, Langford might be straight to the NBA.

@BShark yes but is he an upgrade over Vick?

Langford is a better player long term but for one season under Self I think I'd take Vick's SR year. It will be interesting to see how things shake out.

@BShark ok thank you for the intel. I'm not as up on recruiting as I should be.

HawkChamp said:

@BShark ok thank you for the intel. I'm not as up on recruiting as I should be.

Langford shoots the crap out of the ball. He doesn't generally defend as he isn't interested in defense. He has the rep of someone that can "coast" a bit on that end. Allegedly Calipari wasn't all that interested because of that.

He's an NBA talent though and a kid you take if he wants to come here.

@BShark the no defense part leaves me a bit skeptical then. The last thing next year's team needs is a loafer that would fit in with this year's squad. Uggh doesn't sound appealing. I suppose Zion is out of the question?

@HawkChamp Read so many different things there. Clemson seems to be the favourite currently. I certainly wouldn't give KU high chances.

@HawkChamp If we still had Frank we would be singing a different tune right now. I guarantee it. NO player, guard or big at KU in the Self era has been tougher than Frank. Not one.

That said, I agree with your sentiments in a way. I think we need to temper our expectations for this team. I still believe they can win the Big 12 with time and some Self coaching up. But, that's about as far as I am willing to go at this point.

@Lulufulu My expectations have been severely tempered. Winning the Big 12 will be greatly challenged with this roster plus Cunliffe. I have seen at least a dozen guards in our conference that will drive to the basket at will against us. Plus many of them shoot very well from three, which we can not seem to guard at all. Keeping the conference streak going will be more of a challenge than I can remember for many years. Hoping the guys will start playing with tons of pride and grit. I am sure they do not want to be the team that breaks the streak. Lots of pressure!!!

BShark said:

HawkChamp said:

@BShark based on the first nine games, what are the odds Dok stays? He isn't really even on any draft boards.

Not sure. We are already oversigned by 1 though and Self has talked about wanting to add more players.

If we see only Newman and Billy go early and add a random, non-contributing/developmental recruit, that would be pretty awesome.

Dotson, Grimes, Vick, Dedric, Doke

Bench: KJ, Garrett, Silvio, McCormack, Cunliffe, Mitch

Yeessssh.

What other players could we sign besides Langford?

@BShark also, do you think there is a strong enough connection between Dotson and Williamson that could possibly lead to his commitment to KU?

NEXT YEAR?

WOW.

I mean, I'm bummed out, ticked off and disgusted too, but NEXT YEAR? That's a bit extreme, I think.

How about we forget about NEXT YEAR and just look forward to football season?

@HawkChamp I don't miss Tyshawn.

HawkChamp said:

BShark said:

HawkChamp said:

@BShark based on the first nine games, what are the odds Dok stays? He isn't really even on any draft boards.

Not sure. We are already oversigned by 1 though and Self has talked about wanting to add more players.

If we see only Newman and Billy go early and add a random, non-contributing/developmental recruit, that would be pretty awesome.

Dotson, Grimes, Vick, Dedric, Doke

Bench: KJ, Garrett, Silvio, McCormack, Cunliffe, Mitch

Yeessssh.

What other players could we sign besides Langford?

It would be someone not on the radar right now.

I miss Chalmers. Chalmers and Arthur on this team would be nice. Chalmers and Devonte’ on the same team would be fun.

Neither Chalmers nor Graham are natural PGs. Chalmers did not play PG at KU and had to adapt in the NBA.

@JayHawkFanToo Right, but his defense was fantastic and he has a killer instinct that this team desperately needs.

@dylans

I would rather have RussRob instead of Chalmers playing with Devonte.

@JayHawkFanToo To each their own.

@dylans

Chalmers and Devonte are/were similar players in college; RussRob would complement Devonte better...in my opinion.

@Big-Clyde52 I understand your concerns. I just have a hard time believing that Coach Self wont have them ready for battle by then. I expect the conference race to be tight but I expect that Coach will have them peaking by then

In doing some light internet stalking of Dan D, trying to see if anyone else complained or explained his comments about the smell inside Allen Fieldhouse, I came across this article, claiming Kansas was a shoo-in for the Final 4 in 2014-2015:
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/feb/05/experts-say-ku-final-4-shoo-/ ↗

I then looked at the roster for that year... Every time I look at rosters of old, I'm amazed at how we did anything special that year, let alone have the heads vote 100% for us "most likely to make it to the Final 4". The panel consisted of: Jay Bilas, Dan Dakich, Sean Farnham, Fran Fraschilla, John Gasaway, Goodman, Seth Greenberg and Joe Lunardi.

http://www2.kusports.com/mens_basketball/roster/2014_15/ ↗

I have a feeling that next year, with the undisputed preseason talent that will be on our team, the talking heads will all fall in line talking up Kansas. They'll have to.

@approxinfinity Notice at the bottom of that link is a blurb about Malik Newmann visiting 5 schools, but not MSU where he first ended up.

@approxinfinity Actually, it wasn't as strong an endorsement as it looks from the headline. "Shoo-in" does not appear anywhere in the story, just the headline. Each member of the panel was asked to name 12 teams they "would not be surprised" to see make the final four. KU, UK, Gonzaga, Wisconsin, and Arizona all were named by every member of the panel. So, five teams were 100 % choices to be among the 4 teams left, so by the headline 5 teams were shoo-ins for 4 slots. I would like these surveys to be a bit more discriminatory--say, name the final 4 and then break down the responses. 12 is ridiculous.

Good point. Well they got Kentucky and Wisconsin right I guess. Two out of the non-commital forve ain't bad.