🏀 KuBuckets Archive

One bright spot for me in an otherwise somewhat painful game was seeing Cunliffe get some time on the floor. I think he should get more minutes based on the stats (granted a small sample).

Sam___Malik______Garrett

9 min__21___25

7 pts___9____6

3-5 FG_4-8__3-3

1-1 3s_0-2__0-0

0 TOs__2___1

2 RBs__3___6

I'm just not feeling it yet from either Malik or Garrett, though Garrett seems to have more potential to lock in. At 6'6" and 200lbs he's taller and stronger than both of them. Plus he's a good defender with experience at another program.

!0_1515076606763_Cunliffe_Sam_web.jpg ↗

Yeah I'm puzzled too about his lack of PT. Seems just as capable as Malik at this point.

@wissox As I noted elsewhere, esp. given that he has already demonstrated that he is at least a capable D-1 player. In his half year with ASU last year, while he wasn't particularly efficient, he did start as a freshman and averaged nearly 10ppg and 5rpg in 25mpg.

More Sam, less Newman!

He brings so much more energy and defensive intensity. My grandma could do the blow by on Newman.

He was in a nothing to lose situation so he appeared better than perhaps Self is seeing in practice. Similar to "everyone loves the backup QB until he is the starter."

@BigBad

There is some intrigue because he hasn't been exposed.

I don't think too many people have said start him bench other players instead. However I don't know how it can be ignored that our perimeter starters are playing too many minutes and we just happen to have someone now eligible to play that can give guys rest. He gets a DNP against Texas then plays what a handful of minutes against Tech and does relatively well while we had starters having terrible games. We can do nothing but trust our coach here but at some point it sure would be nice to know whether Sam is better then the minutes he's getting or not

@BeddieKU23 Agree that our starters are playing too much. Funny thing is Self ALWAYS tightens the rotation to about 8 in Big 12. Cunliffe makes sense here but if Preston was around I bet he'd still be odd man out.

@BigBad

Agree it is funny that self is usually tightening his rotation but this year isn't normal. This year probably breaks the mold where we are inserting up to 3 guys into the rotation now and maybe soon?

Sam will most likely stay in witness protection if we get these guys playing and judging from how he's being used now his role looks limited . This doesn't seem to be the type of team where someone like Sam can't enter the rotation, we certainly are not getting enough consistency from the guys ahead of him. Everyone should get a fair shake if how we played Tuesday is going to be something we see more of.

@BigBad Something you said, I want to clarify - Are you saying Sam thought he was in a "nothing to lose situation" and that somehow affected our perception of his play?

Sam’s issue is he’s not a great ball handler, so is limited to playing the 3 right now. I wouldn’t hate playing Vick at the 2 and Cunliffe at the 3 for stretches. Same with Garrett. He can play the 2 in stretches.

Meh

@HighEliteMajor I'm saying when you haven't had minutes and you go into a game where momentum is clearly on the other team, you tend to go into attack mode. Which is what we needed. He was aggressive and had nothing to lose just attacking. As in not looking over his shoulder at the bench. When he is playing in a normal game situation he may be still thinking and not being aggressive in the way Coach Self wants him to.

When basketball wraps up in April it will be Newman's 3rd year in D1. From what I hear NBA heads are saying Doke needs to improve his shot outside of 4ft. I personally think they return for one more year. Vick, Svi, Graham, and Presron are gone. So our 2018-19 team will be over the top talented! This year I think KU figures it out after adding a piece or 2 in Feb. Hopefully they arent too far behind in the big12 race? I am excited and nervous about the weeks to come but I sure hope everything goes our way!

@BigBad Ok, makes sense as a possibility.

@Statmachine

and we could still add Langford in the spring to replace Vick. If Vick is gone we need Langford, not Newman IMO

wissox said:

Yeah I'm puzzled too about his lack of PT. Seems just as capable as Malik at this point.

Actually I'm beginning to think Sam might be MORE capable. - Is this a case where a kid might have been over rated coming out of high school? - Looks more and more like it might have been - -happens sometimes you know. - - -I kind of wishing Cunliffe get the chance to see the floor a little more. - - at least let's see - he might not work but at least give him a little more opportunity - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Fightsongwriter said:

More Sam, less Newman!

He brings so much more energy and defensive intensity. My grandma could do the blow by on Newman.

Ya, - -I'm just not sure what the hell is wrong with Malik. - -OR maybe there is nothing wrong with Malik - -this might just be who Malik is, he might just be one of these cases where he got over evaluated.

I thinking his performance this summer when we made our trip might of given some people some false hope - -expectations - thinking he was THE STUD, not really looking at the competition we played against over there I really don't know for sure. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@BeddieKU23 Just has really kind of surprised me. - I would of thought Cunliffe would of gotten to se the floor more. - -Why can't he give our Guards a few more minutes of rest - we haven't seen why he couldn't - -he can play the 2 - - the 3 not sure about the one but still, surely you would think he could/should be seeing more time then what we have seen so far. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@BigBad

Kind of makes me wonder that Self still thinks Billy will regain status soon. So he doesn't want to change the PT structure yet because Billy will be the one to add to the main mix.

Jayballer54 said:

@BeddieKU23 Just has really kind of surprised me. - I would of thought Cunliffe would of gotten to se the floor more. - -Why can't he give our Guards a few more minutes of rest - we haven't seen why he couldn't - -he can play the 2 - - the 3 not sure about the one but still, surely you would think he could/should be seeing more time then what we have seen so far. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Cunliffe can't play the 2 imo. 3/4 only. Also I have been saying not to expect much from him...

Of course on the other hand I thought Newman would be good...

@Jayballer54

Self sees huge upside in Malik. So Self is investing in Malik. Malik is a bit fragile and needs more confidence (and other improvements). So Self is trying to get the most out of Malik. It's just hard to say how much improvement we will see out of Malik this year. He has improved slightly, but just not at the level high enough to help the team where we need help.

I think Self thinks that there will be a moment where Malik just "gets it." Sometimes that happens. Sometimes the light goes on.

None of us sitting in on practices. So we don't see Malik's potential beyond game footage. We all really need to see both practices and games to properly assess the potential of our players.

@drgnslayr "We all really need to see both practices and games to properly assess the potential of our players."

Well, shoot, that would give us way too much information about both the players and how our coaches do things! Far more fun to speculate!

@Jayballer54 Like Sean Pearson. Never lived up to billing. Malik definitely has that feel. Far, far below all recent 4-5⭐️ Guys we have run out there. Cunliffes handles are no worse than Newman. Malik has been a turnover machine. I would start Sam at this point...no joke.

@Fightsongwriter

What makes you think that Newman is a turnover machine? With which comparable former player would you compare numbers?

@Fightsongwriter I think Malik is a decent ball handler....better than Cunliffe IMO (although a small sample size), but he has made bad decisions at times....no question.

Lightfoot is actually our turnover machine. He turns it over 4.0 times per 40 minutes played, with limited touches. DG, the point guard, is a 3.0. Malik is next at 2.4.

Frank was 2.6 at the PG, JJ 3.6 last season.

Have you not seen Malik bumbling around with the ball, passing it directly to the other team multiple times, and genarally valuing the ball about as much as a 7th grade junior high girls team player (I am qualified to say that after years of coaching girls teams 😬)? Use the eye test @JayHawkFanToo @Hawk8086 . Metrics not needed and they don't reflect all his loose handles and costly bobbles which disrupt possessions anyway.

@Fightsongwriter

You see a couple of bad plays and suddenly Malik is a turnover machine? The numbers do not support your assertion.

More than a couple, game after game. Like normal, you miss the point. There are no "numbers" for bobbles, bumbles, and bad ball handling to layer on top of the to's. It is more than just to's. And he is clearly turning it over at crucial junctures in games. It's to the point where you lack confidence when he has the ball.

@Fightsongwriter I would say that he has good handles......but can be careless in terms of say, going up in the air with no where to go, making bad passes, etc. I don't think it is his ball handling that is bad....it is his decision making at times that causes the turnovers.

@Fightsongwriter I do lack confidence right now in Newman with the ball. I bet most everyone does. Driving and taking a bad shot that gets blocked, when an open player is waiting for the dish isn’t a turnover. But we lose a possession. He does seem surprisingly shaky with the ball. Choking on the press, where the turnover leads to an easy basket. Like the combo guard that ain’t totally a combo — meaning the PG part is lacking.

With Newman, it’s all made worse by his ranking and our expectations of having a potential conference player of the year, or something just short of that.

For me. I don’t see him contributing greatly to team success on the court yet. But man, we need him to flip the switch. As critical as anything right now.