🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Wasn't there on the KUSports who had random thoughts, like oakville jayhawk or something like that?

Anyways, here's mine.

It seemed like Mitch got concussed and probably shouldn't have gotten back into the game.

The 2nd half rim seemed loose and contributed to some shooting woes somehow or other.

Fran pointed out our D improving. It could be because KState's shooting was horrible, maybe that's why the rims seemed loose.

Our shooting percentage went from an amazing 78% towards the end of the half to a below average 45% by the end of the game. That beginning of the 2nd half was painful.

Speaking of painful, Cunliffe. Question answered as to why he isn't playing more.

Garrett's 4 minutes were below average but they were a foul every 75 seconds 4 minutes.

DG is amazing. What will be fun is to watch us adjust next year without him because we know Bill Self will have us uber competitive once again.

Love watching Doke dive on the floor.

Love watching Doke make 2 FT's.

Doke's 4 points and 3 rb's were below average.

Newmann is starting to take up Vick's slack. Vick had 8 or 9 quick points and then contributed little else.

Self for coach of the year ..... again.

A couple of winnable games at home coming up. Then on the road for some toughies. Except we seem to play better on the road.

45% is pretty average for college hoops. Loads of teams in that range. Of course, under our typical % for the year.

Agree about Mitch, I hope he is good to go going forward.

@wissox good random thoughts, I liked them.

Oh man, Bruce is on post game.🤮🤯🗣

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Oh man, Bruce is on post game.🤮🤯🗣

Bruce is the post game GOAT. In terms of saying stupid stuff.

Bruce said refs beforehand told him if fouls on Doke weren't within the normal flow of the game they would be ruled flagrant.

Not sure how he gets players

@BShark
Really?? Wow
(I’m assuming you are truth-telling)

@BShark so was Bruce going to foul him differently than ou?

Random thoughts from me, This team is so much better when Malik is playing well. Dude has been not only scoring but averaging 8 rebounds in his last 5 contests (he and DTG played all 40). Vick has played much better the last 2 games and is returning to form. That maybe the best defense we have played in a couple of years to be honest, some of it was they just flat missed shots but we won’t lose too many letting up less than 65 let alone 60. It was nice to see Doke get a couple of Fts to on a night where he was in foul trouble and didn’t ever get going. DTG got a double double with 16 and 11. He lead the team very well tho his shot was off again (someone needs to lock him in his room to rest for about 3 and a half days lol). Svi did what he does bye hitting 3s and rebounded well. Silvio got a few minutes which is all we can do is give him a few when we can. Sam looked sped up but had 2 points, 2 rebounds and an assist in 6 minutes. Just nice to see him get on the floor. Garrett looked lost most of the time he was in there but hey freshman on the road do that at times. Mitch effected the game about much as a fella can without scoring, taking charges, blocking shots and getting offensive rebounds. Great chance here with that being a short trip to Manhattan and our next 2 at home to not only put some distance in the B12 race but get rested and better. These two games won’t be easy but if we could get a big win and sit a couple guys a few minutes late, it could pay big dividends.

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Not sure how he gets players

Let me tell you a story. It's the story of the other offers KSU players had... It's a really fun game. Only mentioning players that got in the game tonight that Bruce got committed in HS (no JUCOS like Wainwright or Mawien).

Levi Stockard: No other reported D1 offers.

Mike McGuirl: Hofstra. Yep, that's it.

Xavier Sneed: Cincy, Creighton, SLU, WSU, ILL. There are some more too. So, a player actually recruited by other schools. Whoa.

Cartier Diarra: SLU, Georgia State.

Brian Patrick: No other reported D1 offers.

Dean Wade: Had some real offers but this one is unfair since he was a lock for KSU since forever and other schools knew it. Probably his most legit signing next to Sneed but a gift.

Barry Brown: Houston, Western Kentucky.

Bosthawk said:

@BShark
Really?? Wow
(I’m assuming you are truth-telling)

@Crimsonorblue22

He also said he did plan to foul Doke.

And yes Bosthawk I am just relaying things he said post game.

@wissox

It's not uncommon for a team to shoot lights out in one half and come back to average in another.

Could it be that Kstate shot so bad because KU defense was pretty good?

It always amazes me that when KU plays a team and they don't get their normal average, it's like some kind of anomaly. I don't know maybe give some credit to KU's defense? I mean how is KU supposed to win any game if they don't change or alter an opposing team's bread and butter?

@BShark

I would like to see the video of his post game rant.

During the game they showed him looking up at the replay screen and raising his arms and looking up indicating a bad call while the announcers were saying it was the correct call. I really wanted to Mitch slap him.

@DoubleDD KSU missed quite a few open shots. KU wasn't horrible on defense, but it wasn't an amazing effort either. KSU just missed a lot including lay-ups. It happens. I'll take it.

BShark said:

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Not sure how he gets players

Let me tell you a story. It's the story of the other offers KSU players had... It's a really fun game. Only mentioning players that got in the game tonight that Bruce got committed in HS (no JUCOS like Wainwright or Mawien).

Levi Stockard: No other reported D1 offers.

Mike McGuirl: Hofstra. Yep, that's it.

Xavier Sneed: Cincy, Creighton, SLU, WSU, ILL. There are some more too. So, a player actually recruited by other schools. Whoa.

Cartier Diarra: SLU, Georgia State.

Brian Patrick: No other reported D1 offers.

Dean Wade: Had some real offers but this one is unfair since he was a lock for KSU since forever and other schools knew it. Probably his most legit signing next to Sneed but a gift.

Barry Brown: Houston, Western Kentucky.

This just gets better the more I look at it.

@BeddieKU23 This is a recruiting masterpiece is it not? :joy:

@BShark

I don't know? I thought it was pretty good. Sure Kstate missed some shots. Yet that would assume that every time they are open they would make that shot. Again not sure why we KU fans think that way.

The important thing is KU defense kept Kstate from going on some crazy run. Which it could have easily done with the Home crowd looking for anything to explode.

@DoubleDD I didn't say that. But the goal of defending is to not give up open shots, unless it's a terrible shooter from range. Even then, having a guy in the same zip code is a good idea.

KSU is the best fg% shooting team in the big 12, or they were going into tonight. They had their second worst shooting performance of the season. The worst being against Tulsa, who has a kenpom adjd of #120 in the country. Sometimes, you just suck. KSU sucked tonight, and it wasn't all because of KU. And that's okay.

@BShark

I'm sorry we are going to have to disagree. KU didn't when this game because Kstate missed a few open shots. KU won this game because they have the balls and back bone to go into a hostile environment and win.

They do it every year. It's why they have so many conference championships in a row.

Hey if you want to blame the KU win on Kstate on missing open shots. Knock yourself out.

Not me. I watched a KU team refused to lose.

DoubleDD said:

@BShark

I'm sorry we are going to have to disagree. KU didn't when this game because Kstate missed a few open shots. KU won this game because they have the balls and back bone to go into a hostile environment and win.

They do it every year. It's why they have so many conference championships in a row.

Hey if you want to blame the KU win on Kstate on missing open shots. Knock yourself out.

Not me. I watched a KU team refused to lose.

I agree 100%. The WVU game seems to be the time at which the team looked tough and competitive. Our defensive effort has looked much better lately and, along with rebounding, is the key to a deep March run.

@BShark Good info. So not even close to the pedigree (HS at least) of KU - or probably most other Power 5 schools. So, Weber is a lousy D1 recruiter. But maybe he is a pretty good prep and game coach to be able to coax the record he has given a paucity of talent???

@DCHawker

Yes, he is a lousy recruiter, cannot seem to keep players, has an annoying personality and obviously a super annoying and squeaky voice, other than that he is is a pretty good coach

DCHawker said:

@BShark Good info. So not even close to the pedigree (HS at least) of KU - or probably most other Power 5 schools. So, Weber is a lousy D1 recruiter. But maybe he is a pretty good prep and game coach to be able to coax the record he has given a paucity of talent???

Well, Wade is a good player. I really liked Brown when they got him based on what footage I could find of him. Sneed was obviously a good signing. So 2/3 best players were legit recruits. Brown has a usage rate of 29%, Wade 25% (Graham for reference is at about 25%). So Bruce is playing through his best players. Are they overachieving? Hard to say.

BShark said:

BShark said:

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Not sure how he gets players

Let me tell you a story. It's the story of the other offers KSU players had... It's a really fun game. Only mentioning players that got in the game tonight that Bruce got committed in HS (no JUCOS like Wainwright or Mawien).

Levi Stockard: No other reported D1 offers.

Mike McGuirl: Hofstra. Yep, that's it.

Xavier Sneed: Cincy, Creighton, SLU, WSU, ILL. There are some more too. So, a player actually recruited by other schools. Whoa.

Cartier Diarra: SLU, Georgia State.

Brian Patrick: No other reported D1 offers.

Dean Wade: Had some real offers but this one is unfair since he was a lock for KSU since forever and other schools knew it. Probably his most legit signing next to Sneed but a gift.

Barry Brown: Houston, Western Kentucky.

This just gets better the more I look at it.

@BeddieKU23 This is a recruiting masterpiece is it not? :joy:

They locked him up for another 10 years after reading that list.

Imagine he can hide his shenanigans well with families and players until they get in a pissed off huddle with him, squeak, squeak, squeak and the kids go why did I sign up for 4 years of this.

@wissox

Nice Random Thoughts.

Hope Mitch is okay, he's become indispensable especially with Silvio deer in headlights

We needed all 9 guys tonight. We haven't needed depth until you get those guys reffing ($1,000 haircut man) and then they just call fouls because they like the sound of the whistle.

Continuing with the random thoughts:

Kansas is at the half-way point of the conference season with 9 games played and 9 games remaining

5 of the remaining games are in Lawrence and 4 are on the road, which might be a bad thing actually

Graham played 40 minutes again. Newman played 40. Svi played 39. We will see if lack of depth takes its toll in the 2nd half of conference play.

Malik Newman had 10 rebounds last night

Mitch Lightfoot didn't score but still had an impact on the game

KU went to the free throw line 26 times and only shot 20 3s. I'm not sure how many games they've shot more FTs than 3s but it can't be a lot

Kansas doesn't play again until Saturday against OK State. I'm hoping they can play well enough to pull Graham early

My pre-game abuse of the color purple was effective and I might start incorporating that into non-kstate games

Bruce was a terrible recruiter at U of I too. His brother coached Jon Scheyer in HS in the Chicago area too, and Scheyer wouldn't go to play for Bruce.

@KirkIsMyHinrich I agree--you should abuse purple before every game, even if it is not KSU we are playing. It is just fun by itself, like abusing Fizzou.

Not a Bruce fan here, but the results he gets are exactly what I want out of Beaty.

Two big reasons our D looked so good last night - the Liberacettes are dead last in rebounding in B12 - when we are 10+ rebounds like last night we get to transition and speed things up.

And that zone totally threw them off. I've watched in pain as we've reacted that bad to a zone, a real pleasure to be on the giving end. Specially to our purple neighbors.

Couple other thoughts...

Self is great in so many ways, adding this newfound flexibility to his tried and true ways to his arsenal is just deadly.

Much like I was with Lucas last year, going from wincing when he played to cheering, I'm that way with New-man now.

Watching Mitch just makes me smile.

If we keep up this steady improvement, we are going be dancing later than we have in years.

Onwards and upwards!

wissox said:

Bruce was a terrible recruiter at U of I too. His brother coached Jon Scheyer in HS in the Chicago area too, and Scheyer wouldn't go to play for Bruce.

Wouldn't pay Eric Gordon either.

@BShark Ha...Weber planned to foul Doke...but Kruger actually did. Kruger>Squeaky.

Credit Doke for improving his FT form.

Well, Kruger being a much better coach than Bruce was never in doubt. :joy:

Entertainment? I just got on SBnation game thread for KSU: just hilarious reading, especially early when KU was 6of7 from 3. Beware, they call us Squawk over there, but we get the last laugh in the DEVONTAGON-O-GLOOM!!!

Weird KSU didnt dribble-drive more, like they did in AFH.

Self > Weber-downdraft-carbaSqueeky.

Our surprise zoneD busted their offense.

Liberace’s players not highly recruited because they arent highly skilled at shooting. (Exception is the excellent DWade, good Kansas kid, like P.Ellis & R.Baker...and that frosh guard Diarra), everyone else a buncha yucksters. I sometimes feel sorry for DWade stuck on that team, I like his game.

Ralster said:

Entertainment? I just got on SBnation game thread for KSU: just hilarious reading, especially early when KU was 6of7 from 3. Beware, they call us Squawk over there, but we get the last laugh in the DEVONTAGON-O-GLOOM!!!

Sounds fun.

I went to read the takes of a couple of the reasonable KSU fans. They mostly seem baffled that KSU continually helped OFF of Svi. Real sticking point for them lol.

@BShark That is good recruiting info. It tells me that he is good at identifying under-recruited players........I think most teams would take Brown, Wade, and Diarra...don't you? He is also a pretty good coach for getting what he does out of the players he gets. But they always have a couple of down periods during the season which "dooms" them....pun intended.

I think our defense.......especially the zone that Weber couldn't figure out did contribute to holding them to 57. I also think we saw them want to beat us so bad........they either played tight or were too jazzed up........we've seen it in Manhattan, and IMO at times in Ames. I also think we see the opposite effect in AFH..........teams aren't expected to win so they play free and easy.......and sometimes give us a really good game, and at times.........beat us.

Hawk8086 said:

@BShark That is good recruiting info. It tells me that he is good at identifying under-recruited players........I think most teams would take Brown, Wade, and Diarra...don't you? He is also a pretty good coach for getting what he does out of the players he gets. But they always have a couple of down periods during the season which "dooms" them....pun intended.

Well, Wade had a ton of offers I just didn't list them. I'm not sure how much of it is identifying players vs just taking so many guys, some work out.

For every Marcus Foster, Barry Brown and Diarra you have the following: Isaiah Maurice, Brandon Bolden, Ron Freeman, Jack Karapetyan, Jevon Thomas, Tre Harris, Nigel Johnson etc...

NEVER FORGET JACK KRAP.

!alt text ↗

EXCUSE ALERT - Let's be aware. Let's not get sucked in. But if we fail in March, it will be because they are "tired." BULL.

During the game, yes. If a kid plays more than his conditioning permits, sure, his performance can certainly suffer during that game. But that is game to game.

The idea that it could accrue over the season and thus affect us in March (straw man argument a bit here, because we aren't there yet, and no one has made that excuse, I understand), is BULL. Two games a week. Two. That's all. When you were 20ish, what could you do during a week, or say over a three day period with a full day of rest in between?

Again, this is different than if, for example, DG is tired during a game because he has not had adequate rest during that game. Different discussions.

The EXCUSE ALERT has been sounded. It's coming ...

@BShark

45% is about average. For the season, 165 teams in D1 shoot at or above 45%. the rest (186 teams) shoot below that mark.

That said, KU shoots almost 50% from the field, so 45% is down for us.

BShark said:

45% is pretty average for college hoops. Loads of teams in that range. Of course, under our typical % for the year.

Agree about Mitch, I hope he is good to go going forward.

We shot so poorly in the 2nd half that our overall game % was below average for us was my point. My friend I was watching with kept saying the rims were at fault. Could be, not sure, but something sure changed from the 1st half to the 2nd.

Going 8 minutes (final 3 1st half, first 5 2nd half) certainly had an effect on our FG% last night. That right side rim just looked different and tight. Svi had a couple bounce half way down and back out, otherwise might have had close to 30. Good thing K-St couldn't hit an barn last night on either side

@HighEliteMajor I have never coached basketball, but I have done lots of scientific research in my time, so I decided to check out the topic of fatigue injuries as correlated with too many minutes during a game and too many minutes over the course of a season. The results? They are all over the map. There is more information about the NBA than there is about the NCAA. I realize that NBA players are older and play many more games, so I tried to concentrate on NCAA. I would say (from a quick scan of scientific and medical articles), that your conclusions about fatigue during a game and fatigue over the course of a season are supported more often than not. However, based on quick research, I believe that I am correct that giving players a bit of rest during the course of a game--especially when the lead is in double digits--would pay dividends late in games. If it helps during the course of a season, this would be gravy.

@HighEliteMajor This is hilariously wrong.

@KirkIsMyHinrich Now, I've exuded wrongness many times, but perhaps not always "hilariously." As such, in reaching your conclusion, I hope that you have considered NBA schedules. I went to NBA teams and looked at the Boston Celtics. Please consider -

• NBA teams play 82 regular season games.

• Those 82 games are over 6 months. That's 13.66 games per month.

• That works out to be appx. 3.2 games per week.

• NBA games are 48 minutes long, not 40 like NCAA games.

• Here is Boston's schedule, for a random two week period November 1 Home; November 3 @ OKC; November 5 @ Orlando; NOvember 6 @ Atlanta; NOvember 8 Home; November 10 Home; November 12 Home; November 14 @ Brooklyn.

• Kyrie Irving leads Boston in minutes at 33 minutes per game. At 3.2 games per week, that's 105.6 minutes a week. Five Boston players average more than 90 minutes per week, and the 6th 74.1 minutes per week. Compare to DG at a max of 80 minutes per week, but really averages 36.6 per game, or just over 73 per week.

• NBA players are older. And while they can be in great shape of course, they battle age more than a college kid.

• NBA players have a six month season, college kids a max of five months even in full tourney mode. But NBA players could have two full months of playoffs, playing games at the rate of three per week.

So, with that, I'm not totally sure my wrongness is hilarious. But it might be. And, course, I could still be wrong. Just my opinion.

@lincase I think you're exactly right. Thanks for pounding out some research. And I support your opinion that giving players rest during a game, will likely help them during that game, and late in that game.

@HighEliteMajor I am not sure about cumulative fatigue, but I do think there is more of a chance for pulled muscles or cramping when there are constant games without rest. But that is more addressed by between-game conditioning and stretching regimens. If the players keep disciplined, they should be ok. I know what it is like, though, to think you can take that one little session off, and then, just like the nursery rhyme, pop! goes the gastrochnemius!

I worked through college as a laborer and bricklayer. Many days in the summer I'd work 8-10 hours busting tail, go home, have a bite and then head to the park to play ball for a couple of hours. I know that's not quite the same intensity, but the energy was there, no doubt, so I don't buy the fatigue excuse either.

Wilt averaged 48.5 minutes per game one season. That's not a typo.

My daughter in high school played JV and Varsity soccer at the same time. She'd play the entire 80 minutes of a match, take a breather and then play 60 more minutes in the JV match. Soccer involves a lot of running. But she's young and energetic.

I realize it's not ideal for our guys to play all 40 minutes but it's not as big of a deal as some make it out to be.

I bet if you asked DG, Svi or Malik if they minded playing 40 minutes they'd have said, 'Naaah".

What may be hidden from us sometimes is a nagging tweak or soreness, that 2 games/wk just causes it to pester longer. Sherron’s groin strain in Feb of his sr yr, still affected his explosiveness in March vs UNI, obviously, but we learned that from SelfNewsService only after that seaaon. Then there’s the curious case of one Elijah Johnson, who had healed his knee injury, but it bothered his mental aggressiveness long after. Which fueled fan speculation that he had “shot” knees. Nope, more of a mental snag, like DRose in Chicago.

@HighEliteMajor

I generally agree with you. In our younger days, before video games, we spent our off days and vacations playing sports all day long.

NBA players are pros and their full time concern is physical conditioning where college athletes are only doing it part-time.

The NBA does rest players for games at the time towards the end of the season and in preparation for the playoffs.

More importantly, now that Preston (and car) is gone, players have to hoof it all the way from their dorm to Wescoe Beach, going uphill both ways. :smile: