🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Something stuck out to me today that I hadn't noticed before.

1. KU can't play defense when it counts. They spent the better part of the year just out scoring opponents.

2. It seems that opposing teams are having their best three point shooting nights against KU, especially in the second half.

3. Graham can't do it all by himself. As good as he his he's not that good. Svi looked to be the Robin to Batman Grahan. However he has completely fallen of the map. Weird.

4. This two Big man rotation of Mitch seems to have derailed. Let's face it with this current crop of big men, KU has only 8 fouls to give in the paint. Very hard to play that way. If the refs have a tight whistle KU bigs are in big trouble.
   \

5. Sadly the worst and this just dawned on me. Yet It appears to me there is a lack of chemistry on the court with this current KU team. What was a undeniable strength of this team (Guard play). Has become a ver big weakness.

Anyways my frustrations are out. Believe Coach can this KU team can right the ship.

DoubleDD said:

Something stuck out to me today that I hadn't noticed before.

1. KU can't play defense when it counts. They spent the better part of the year just out scoring opponents.

2. It seems that opposing teams are having their best three point shooting nights against KU, especially in the second half.

3. Graham can't do it all by himself. As good as he his he's not that good. Svi looked to be the Robin to Batman Grahan. However he has completely fallen of the map. Weird.

4. This two Big man rotation of Mitch seems to have derailed. Let's face it with this current crop of big men, KU has only 8 fouls to give in the paint. Very hard to play that way. If the refs have a tight whistle KU bigs are in big trouble.
   \

5. Sadly the worst and this just dawned on me. Yet It appears to me there is a lack of chemistry on the court with this current KU team. What was a undeniable strength of this team (Guard play). Has become a ver big weakness.

Anyways my frustrations are out. Believe Coach can this KU team can right the ship.

We would have more fouls to give if Silvio doesn't go ape shit in his first minute on the floor. Two fouls were ridiculouse on Lightfoot.

We need doke to grow up and play like a man-even though he's a child. Only chance we have.

@Gunman If SDS has not made any improvement by now, is he ever going to? I would think Coach would be able to trust him for 5-7 minutes or more by now after over a month of practice, but he does not. I guess we will have to wait till next year to see what he can do. Problem is we need help NOW!

@DoubleDD Meeotch actually played a good game.

@Big-Clyde52 I don't trust him or Sam

@Crimsonorblue22 He is manning up, but a little too aggressive. He needs discipline.

@DoubleDD

Nothing you mention sounds fixable.

But don’t worry.

We are going to suck some more before we get this new offensive scheme down.

Gotta get Svi shooting with stereoscopic vision.

Also it will help for Mitch not to have a mouse.

Must be some bad blood being worked through at practices.

I expect more conflict before the herd of horses readjusts the pecking order in the pasture.

As Self said, this is a long term change.

Self is doing all this on purpose, for whatever reason.

It will sink in some more each day for a couple more weeks to these guys that two guys with more stars—Malik and Vick—are reserves permanently now, and would have to learn the new way to play, to play more.

Self schemed for Malik and Vick and now he is scheming for Mitch and Garrett.

Vick and Malik are in shock.

It’s like Trump getting elected.

The adjustment is brutal and irreversible.

All the old ways of thinking have to change.

Everything you thought you could count on? Now you can’t.

The chemistry issues are stemming from Self giving Graham, Newman, and Svi multiple days off each week because he has no bench. Doke can't play balls to the wall because there's no one behind him.

At this point, Vick is a liability for this team. That stretch he had where he scored for Baylor, then threw it away, then threw it so far in front of Graham he carried it killed all of KU's momentum and allowed Baylor to regain control.

Right now, if we lose in Ames, we're probably looking at a 5 game losing streak because then the schedule gets hard with WVU, OU, and @Tech all in a row.

@Texas-Hawk-10 do we know if doke can play balls to wall if he can't stay in cause of fouls? He drives me nuts! I think by now he should have learned what's an offensive foul. No? Agree our team is limited w/out a back up. Frustrating

This team needs a simple solution, I have one. Have a players only meeting and workout the issues right then and there. Now no this doesn’t mean that they will go win a title like everyone says just because the 08 team did, they simply don’t have the talent to win a title. We had one of these when I was senior, their were 6 of us seniors and we had a in counter. We told some of the guys that weren’t going hard in practice and games that if they didn’t start playing we were gonna beat their a** right then and there, reminded them that this was our last go round and we weren’t having it.

@Gunman What Coach is doing with/to Silvio is really unfair. How is he going to gain any confidence if he yanks him out after being in for 30 seconds every game. Self is really hurting us with that ridiculously short leash. Don't even bother playing him then.

The 16 to 11 foul disparity did play a factor in engineering the game for Baylor. Several of the fouls on Dok and Mitch were absurd. But if Dok has the ball or is going for a board, the other team can pummel him to death with no whistle.

I he played Silvio more and DG less so that he could get some rest, it would help the bigs and cut down on DG's To's.

Now that we have losses to BU and OSU, a tie for the conference championship seems to be our only hope. And that is if we can steal one in Lubbock, which will be no easy task.

@Fightsongwriter I agree at that point Acul (probably spelled wrong) was getting what ever he wanted anyways, why not see what Silvio could do had he been in a little longer. Obviously in hindsight it wouldn’t have matter because we ended up getting creamed. At this point it is a complete waste of time and eligibility to have Silvio in uniform if he isn’t going to play. Also if he’s so pissed off at Newman and Vick, give Sam some minutes.

@Fightsongwriter Self has always had a short leash. When 3's were not as popular that got a lot of people yanked including Brannen Greene at times.

l wouldn't trade Self for any other coach, but he has a always stressed man to man defense. But where he fails IMO is all you have to do to win is score more.

Trae Young wouldn't be averaging 30 for KU.

@Gunman bg couldn't dribble down the court or show up for practice or fill in the blank.

@Gunman I agree, this team is at its best when the ball is moving side to side and they are getting open looks. Doke sometimes holds the ball way too long to not even get a shot up. If Self wants to win another conference title he has to change back to a 4 guard line up and let our guys freelance on the perimeter IMO.

kjayhawks said:

@Fightsongwriter I agree at that point Acul (probably spelled wrong) was getting what ever he wanted anyways, why not see what Silvio could do had he been in a little longer. Obviously in hindsight it wouldn’t have matter because we ended up getting creamed. At this point it is a complete waste of time and eligibility to have Silvio in uniform if he isn’t going to play. Also if he’s so pissed off at Newman and Vick, give Sam some minutes.

I agree. I think Sam is done for whatever reason. Why can't the press ask why and shouldn't Self have some revelation about Sam's predicament.

If Sam did or said something wrong and is being reprimanded spit it out. We don;t need details, but little info goes along way especially when the season is below par.

kjayhawks said:

@Gunman I agree, this team is at its best when the ball is moving side to side and they are getting open looks. Doke sometimes holds the ball way too long to not even get a shot up. If Self wants to win another conference title he has to change back to a 4 guard line up and let our guys freelance on the perimeter IMO.

lt does get stuck alot when it goes to Doke.

@Gunman exactly at this point I’d be shocked if Atleast 2 of the 3 of the trio of Sam, Vick and Malik didn’t transfer. We obviously have one too many guys for next year if everyone stays and 2 too many if we land Langford.

Gunman said:

kjayhawks said:

@Fightsongwriter I agree at that point Acul (probably spelled wrong) was getting what ever he wanted anyways, why not see what Silvio could do had he been in a little longer. Obviously in hindsight it wouldn’t have matter because we ended up getting creamed. At this point it is a complete waste of time and eligibility to have Silvio in uniform if he isn’t going to play. Also if he’s so pissed off at Newman and Vick, give Sam some minutes.

I agree. I think Sam is done for whatever reason. Why can't the press ask why and shouldn't Self have some revelation about Sam's predicament.

If Sam did or said something wrong and is being reprimanded spit it out. We don;t need details, but little info goes along way especially when the season is below par.

Self did address Sam awhile back, said he simply wasn't doing what he needed to in practice to earn minutes

Texas Hawk 10 said:

Gunman said:

kjayhawks said:

@Fightsongwriter I agree at that point Acul (probably spelled wrong) was getting what ever he wanted anyways, why not see what Silvio could do had he been in a little longer. Obviously in hindsight it wouldn’t have matter because we ended up getting creamed. At this point it is a complete waste of time and eligibility to have Silvio in uniform if he isn’t going to play. Also if he’s so pissed off at Newman and Vick, give Sam some minutes.

I agree. I think Sam is done for whatever reason. Why can't the press ask why and shouldn't Self have some revelation about Sam's predicament.

If Sam did or said something wrong and is being reprimanded spit it out. We don;t need details, but little info goes along way especially when the season is below par.

Self did address Sam awhile back, said he simply wasn't doing what he needed to in practice to earn minutes

l remember what he said. Was that last month? Give me a break, l call BS.

On another note Mitch Holtus is back home at the octagon. Somebody forgot to tell the fans there is a game tonight.

I hear what you're saying, but I think we're a couple of free throws away (Oklahoma) from being in an OK and still confident position, and about an hour away from Tech losing to K-State to put us back in that position.

I'm reduced to rooting for Silo Tech.

TT tied at the half with KSU, to be honest KSU got every call so they better pick it up to be a good little brother.

BucknellJayhawk3 said:

I hear what you're saying, but I think we're a couple of free throws away (Oklahoma) from being in an OK and still confident position, and about an hour away from Tech losing to K-State to put us back in that position.

Exactly. Way too early to throw in the towel.

KUSTEVE said:

I'm reduced to rooting for Silo Tech.

I'm not, but, l'm rooting against TT.

Joel is kicking butt tonight

Self says EVERY SINGLE YEAR "this is the softest team Ive had". This year its true. All of our starters are basketball soft.

BigBad said:

Self says EVERY SINGLE YEAR "this is the softest team Ive had". This year its true. All of our starters are basketball soft.

Including DG?

TT in total control now.

@Gunman yes him too. None of them look like they have a reason to play. I'm not talking about "I like to play so I play" sort of thing. I'm talking about real intrinsic motivation and competitiveness that gives you a reason to keep going when you're down. Les Brown talks about this a bit. When you dont, you may look soft and unfocused. Dragonslayer refers to this as a "chip", and he's exactly right when he says our guys don't have one. The eye test confirms his suspicion. Maybe they'll surprise us in March, but I doubt it.

KSU ain't winning tonight, maybe it's a wake up call we need.

Going to be tough now that Tech has taken control. If we lose in Ames...we'll be 2 games back. Regardless of where we are in the standings........the bigger picture question is......when will we start playing better?

@Hawk8086 yep, we still control our own destiny.

This team is just not that good. Self is usually masterful at getting pieces to fit and become better than the sum of all of the parts. There are some good pieces. The pieces are better than losing to ASU and Oklahoma State at home. The pieces are better than being handled by Washington, Baylor, and Tech. They were also better than Oklahoma but their coach failed them. This team lacks cohesion. This team lacks F.O.E.

Gunman said:

BigBad said:

Self says EVERY SINGLE YEAR "this is the softest team Ive had". This year its true. All of our starters are basketball soft.

Including DG?

Yes. How many times in the close games this year has the SENIOR point guard had a complete bone headed turnover? Though the fact that he has played 40 minutes a lot, I'd tend to give him a fatigue pass.

Fightsongwriter said:

Several of the fouls on Dok and Mitch were absurd.

For sure... I have always believed what other coaches have been saying for decades... that post players have to earn a positive reputation with the refs before many of those calls go away.

Until then.. there is no way around this until our post guys back off a bit more. It will reduce the calls and keep them in the game and it will help build their reputation quicker.

Doke's reputation with refs is that he is a big hacker.

I know this sounds like some kind of basketball conspiracy... but this idea has been around for decades and if you follow enough basketball, you can start believing it.

I am a partial believer. I don't think refs have this idea and put all post players on probation at the beginning of their college careers. But I don't see how refs can step out of being human. Doke has a bad foul reputation. All the refs know it. He isn't going to get many of those calls.

HawkChamp said:

Dragonslayer refers to this as a “chip”, and he’s exactly right when he says our guys don’t have one.

For sure.

Every game moving forward will prove that. All we have to do now is win-out in our conference to (at least) share the title and continue the streak.

Talk about "chip material!"

We will see what we do. No team in our league has as much talent as we have, or even close. It really wouldn't take much of a chip to whip the rest of our league. Contrary to what the sports media says... I still believe our league is weak. March will give us the answer to that.

Blown said:

This team is just not that good. Self is usually masterful at getting pieces to fit and become better than the sum of all of the parts. There are some good pieces. The pieces are better than losing to ASU and Oklahoma State at home. The pieces are better than being handled by Washington, Baylor, and Tech. They were also better than Oklahoma but their coach failed them. This team lacks cohesion. This team lacks F.O.E.

There may be a problem; there is a problem. We don't know all the situations, we can only speculate.

If YOU know what is wrong and don't fix it, the problem could be YOU.

Texas Hawk 10 said:
(SEE COMMENTS IN CAPS)

The chemistry issues are stemming from Self giving Graham, Newman, and Svi multiple days off each week because he has no bench. (NOT PERSUADED BY THIS. WE SAW THIS STUFF EARLY IN THE SEASON, WHEN EVERYONE WAS PRACTICING DAILY. INFERENCE: OTHER DRIVERS YET TO BE ADEQUATELY EXPLAINED. I PLAYED ON TEAMS IN WHICH THE STARTERS GOT SOME BREAKS. I DIDN'T PUNCH ANY OF THEM, OR REFUSE TO SHAKE THEIR HANDS, OR PLAY WITHOUT BENDING MY LEGS AT THE KNEES.) Doke can't play balls to the wall because there's no one behind him. (BUT HE IS PLAYING HARD MOST OF THE TIME. WYSIWYG WITH DOKE. CLEARLY THE REASON FOR LEARNING TO PLAY THIS NEW SCHEME IS TO FIND A WAY TO KEEP IT TOGETHER WHEN HE RESTS, OR WHEN THEY START FOULING HIM LATE AND HE HAS TO BE REMOVED.)

At this point, Vick is a liability for this team. (AFFIRMATIVE.) That stretch he had where he scored for Baylor, then threw it away, then threw it so far in front of Graham he carried it killed all of KU's momentum and allowed Baylor to regain control. (VERY CONSPICUOUS KIND OF PLAY FROM A GUY THAT COULD AND DID DO IT ALL EARLY IN THE SEASON. THIS IS WHY I COMBINE HIS APPARENT INABILITY TO BEND AT THE KNEES AND SELF'S STATEMENT THAT THIS IS A LONG TERM CHANGE IN SCHEME THAT LACOBRE IS NOT A BAD GUY, JUST AN INJURED GUY AND SELF IS TRYING TO RETAIN THE ILLUSION THAT HE MIGHT BE REINSTATED AT ANY MOMENT BY SPINNING ABOUT HIS FRUSTRATION WITH HIM. WHAT IF SELF WEREN'T FRUSTRATED WITH HIM AT ALL? WHAT IF THIS WERE JUST A RUSE TO KEEP OPPONENTS HAVING TO PREPARE FOR HIM FOR A FEW MORE GAMES? IT WOULD LOOK AND PLAY OUT PRETTY MUCH LIKE THIS. BUT IT COULD ALSO BE THAT SELF REALLY IS TIRED OF DEALING WITH A PLAYER THAT CANNOT STAY ON THE COMPETITIVE EDGE. I DON'T THINK ANYONE OUTSIDE THE TEAM CAN SAY WHAT SELF IS REALLY UP TO. ALL I CAN SAY IS THE FAILURE OF TEAMMATES TO RALLY TO VICK'S DEFENSE IS CONSPICUOUS AND MAKES ME LEAN TOWARD VICK BEING INJURED AND THIS BEING A RUSE.)

Right now, if we lose in Ames, we're probably looking at a 5 game losing streak because then the schedule gets hard with WVU, OU, and @Tech all in a row. (I SUSPECT WE RALLY UGLY IN AMES, AND GET BACK ON TRACK DOWN THE STRETCH. BUT WE ARE NOT EVER GOING TO BE AS GOOD AS WE WERE, BECAUSE VICK IS PROBABLY TOO INJURED TO RECOVER THIS SEASON. ALOT DEPENDS ON HOW WE SHOOT IT IN AMES. IF SVI STAYS COLD, WE PROBABLY LOSE. BUT I THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE DOKE GO OFF FOR ABOUT 30. SELF HAS RESTRUNG THE TEAM TO LET DOKE CARRY THE MAIL, WHEN WE ARE NOT HOT, AND WHEN THE OPPONENTS ARE NOT LONG INSIDE. AMES IS DOKE'S GAME TO ROCK, IF HE HAS ENOUGH GAS IN HIS TANK.

Vick is not injured.

On a totally unrelated note, does anyone know if Svi is a contact lens wearer (during warm-ups/games)?

@BShark Might be between the ears.