Best skeleton crew to hang in on the road against a ranked team after many of their followers have written them off. Devonte going inside and lightfoot “Mitch-Slapping” six blocks, scoring inside and from the three line, hitting free throws on a night when Udoka fouls out. Lads, Keep hanging in there.
As loaded as the Big 12 is and given the double round robin, we know everybody is going to lose games. Just have to hang in there and take it one game at a time. Keep grinding. And not lose anymore games at home.
@KirkIsMyHinrich Somehow I won't be surprised if we somehow lose to 0-3 in league ISU on Tuesday.
Nah. It's true I won't be surprised. This team can lose to or beat any other team in this league I think. Lard for ISU is very good! Jackson too.
Okay Melvin Wea -- I mean BShark.
@KirkIsMyHinrich Lol. They always play us tough.
@wrwlumpy I was so proud of the way they played. Great effort by Svi and Devonte. Doke played really good, except for the fouls. Mitch was on another level, and that block with a few seconds left won the game for us. Vick was largely M.I.A. for a large portion of the game again- his on court personality resembles his off court personality at times - quiet and reserved. The skeleton crew found a way to grind out a win against a very good ranked team on the road.
I loved how they DROVE IT HARD. They didn't settle for the deep 3.
BigBad said:
I loved how they DROVE IT HARD. They didn't settle for the deep 3.
Did this against Tech too, at least in the 2nd half. Now if they can get the rebounding thing figured out...
Great win. Especially after a tough loss. Can't say enough about grinding this one out.
My biggest concern after a big win. What was the deal with Vick? He took 4 shots all night? It wasn't just foul trouble.
Self in post game: "We don't rebound the ball worth a crap".
Quite accurate.
Also mentioned Newman and Vick need to play better. Smart guy.
@BShark We have issues. We also have help coming in at some point. I think we have a real chance to be 10-3 in conference going into our 3 game monty beginning Feb. 17th where we play WVU and OU at home, and then we play at TT. If either one of our guys clears, I think we're looking at number 14 in a row. It's not going to be easy, but we aren't going to be a skeleton crew the whole year.
@kjayhawks Dok had 1 rebound.
Good win tonight and need to get the next two games because the schedule becomes very very difficult after KState.
kjayhawks said:
@BShark that and fts was why it was even a contested game. We suck on the glass and it gets really bad when Doke on the bench. Mitch is like Mari was as a high percentage offense rebounder but don’t box out.
Yeah it's tough for Mitch to play center, he has a combo forward type body.
KUSTEVE said:
@BShark We have issues. We also have help coming in at some point. I think we have a real chance to be 10-3 in conference going into our 3 game monty beginning Feb. 17th where we play WVU and OU at home, and then we play at TT. If either one of our guys clears, I think we're looking at number 14 in a row. It's not going to be easy, but we aren't going to be a skeleton crew the whole year.
If KU starts 10-3 I will call it a Bill Self miracle. I would expect Silvio to be cleared to play soon.
mayjay said:
@kjayhawks Dok had 1 rebound.
And I saw him turn away from one that was a poor shot and even hit the ground.
Outside of one game - can't remember which on - he has not rebounded outside his immediate area well, and doesn't French seem to try.
@kjayhawks I think Mitch was focusing on defending the shots rather than trying to box out. Can't box out and get a rebound very effectively if you prevented the shot.
Glad to see Sam contribute when on the court. Both he and Lightfoot were huge.
@kjayhawks when u r swatting u lose the box out position
good defensive energy. needed a 55% night from 3 to win by 4. similar to Texas. giving up too many extra possession by not being able to rebound. beat a well coached team though.
We did play tougher. Obviously, the same problems exist....a lack of rebounding and defense. We need to shoot the ball well enough to win enough games until reinforcements arrive (if and win they arrive) in order to win the conference. You could argue that, in theory, this was one of our 4 toughest conference games. A very good win.
Wvu on the road will be far and away the toughest game. Then osu for whatever reason. KSU and ISU will be rocking, but the ou game should be a fun one to watch. KU can’t stop anyone, so Trae should drop 40 and OU can’t stop anyone so KU should score 100.
KU can beat anyone on a good shooting night, but it puts a lot of pressure in the offense to make shots when the defense gives up buckets so easily. House of cards waiting to collapse, but it can be magnificent to look at.
Someone needs to start the Vick Psychoanalysis thread.
@kjayhawks How do you box out while swatting a shot?
I think the point here is that sometimes it's better to play good defense and box out and clear the rebound than to swat
wrwlumpy said:
“Mitch-Slapping” .
PHOF
@mayjay as @cragarhawk stated, if you keep your man in front of you and don’t have to swat him from behind like Mitch did, it much easier to turn and box him. Mitch had a great game no doubt but he also was beat several times that lead to easy buckets or shot blocks.