🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Well let me start this by saying this will probably upset some - -that's how it goes. -Another scenario where everybody is goin gto have their own opinions & not everyone is going to agree on everything and thats fine - -that's why we are here right - -voice OUR opinions , - -your opinion - - my opinion - -thats cool - -don't think there is a right or wrong -- it's just opinions. - Having said that here is mine - -like - -love it - -hate it - -no problem lol.

The way I see this and I am just kind of follwing a thread I seen else where & that is - - This current team right here - - they are a team that is very hard to watch. -perfect example is last night. -- during the 1st half we went on that roll and ended up pretty decent 1st half 40-25 -- Now the rough part is that this team just has ALOT of flaws -way to many inconsistences .

Yes I know almost ALL teams wil have inconsistences BUT , like what we have or had - -more turnovers then assists - -- -like last night another example went thpugh over 5 1/2 to start the 2nd half - -ZERO point and a big part of thatt was we were just coming down jacking up shot - -3 pt attempts - -instead of even trying to get the ball inside.

My feeling is -- with the current shape the guys are in - if this continues we are looking at probably a 2nd round elimination in the NCAA tourney. - -laugh if you want - - cuss if you want - -call it bullshit if you want - but thats what I'm seeing right now.

There is so much of the time we just look ugly - -really bad basketball - -Then on the reverse side - there ARE TIMES we can look really good.

Here is what I have seen and know - - - What I'm afraid is come tourney time - -in a close game in the tourney - - Doke will be elimated from the game - -because of his free throwing defenicy Coach will have no option other to take him out - as other teams will duplicate the Oklahoma bullshit - -that's one reason - -the 2nd reason - I'm afraid we very well might have an early exit - is our shooting -- we gonna have on of these night where we can't hit crap again from the perimeter - -really aggressive man to man - -OR beter yet some team employs zone for the game - we will be in trouble - -3rd our dam turnovers gonna cost us for sure and you can't have that in the tourney - -during the season you MIGHT be able to get away with that - but in the Tourney? - -umm not so much - -also we just have to get balanced scoring - -we can't afford for Vick to disappear .

I'm sorry but I just can't get over the top excitted about this teams chances of making a long run in the tourney - just so much we need to clean up - -Hell even our free throws as a team is not that good -- come tourney believe me thre is going to be a team that is going to take Dedric out of the game - - believe that, - -who has been consistent enought to take over that load in scoring if that happens? - -you can almost take it to the bank Dedric is getting that double double- -so if he is elimated then who picks up the difference?

At this point - -right now I'm just not seeing it - -like I said a few weeks back - this team is playing with a loaded gun - -we are playing with house money right now. - -I sure hope I'm wrong - - -I would love to be wrong - -yet I'm not that confident that I am

ONE positive point that could help - -- Quentin looks like he is showing some really positive signs he is coming out of that slump -- alot more aggressive - we get him & Vick to help - -Devon do what Devon' does we might be better chances let's hope so -- ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Q and d dot are scoring more and contributing on both ends. Marcus is better at the line. So far nobody can stop doke, even when he is hacked and jumped on. Vick will be having a long long talk w/coach about shot selection and clock at the end of game situations. He will either learn and play team ball or sit at the end of the bench. Feeding the bigs when u can't hit the 3! Dedric will be good. Isu shot a lot of 3's. Big game sat. My fav 🤮🤯🤦‍♀️😡🚬🌬👊🤡 will have the play by.

@Crimsonorblue22 Self pulled Doke shortly after the first time OU intentionally fouled him and Doke didn't come back in the final 4 minutes or so because of that.

Doke has actually gotten worse this year at the line and is absolutely a liability on the offensive end in close games because of that. I think we'll see more of that strategy this year from other teams in the league as well because it works. Teams can bring in a bench guy to guard Doke and ear up the fouls and be subbed out on offense.

@Texas-Hawk-10 yeah, I agree. But for most of the game he will be a huge plus for us, agree? I meant he was finishing at the rim while being fouled and refs not calling them.

@jayballer73

The next few weeks should tell us exactly where this team is going. It's winter break so they will be having a ton of practice time and this is where Self expects to see this team take the next step forward.

I agree they have been hard to watch at times. We still lack chemistry and Self is still juggling lineup combinations and schemes which isn't helping things. KU looked bad at times playing the two bigs, we played well for a stretch with small ball but I don't think that's the long term answer either. KU hasn't figured out its identity yet for some reason.

I'm encouraged by Dotson and Grimes scoring 61 points in the past two games combined. Back-court play is vital for this team going forward. The more we can rely on the two freshman and Vick the better.

I think the thing that holds this team back the most currently is shooting. We lack consistent perimeter shooting. Guys need to make open shots. When KU shoots 4-21 from 3 the result is going to look ugly. Half of those misses were wide open. Making 2-3 more changes that OU game completely.

I think its too early to predict what March will bring. Especially since Doke was out 4 games, KU is now re-adjusting to him being back in the lineup. That has already had a huge impact on Dedric Lawson and his role as well as Marcus Garrett who looks unplayable on offense with the two bigs. Self and company certainly have to figure out rotations and who can play with who. KU needs to get to the point where all 5 guys on the floor are being guarded which isn't the case right now. If by the end of January/beginning of February comes around and this team still looks mostly the same then its time to start wondering where this teams ceiling truly is. For now, way to early imo

@Texas-Hawk-10 If he stays another couple of years, you think he could somehow shoot a negative percentage?

BeddieKU23 said:

@jayballer73

The next few weeks should tell us exactly where this team is going. It's winter break so they will be having a ton of practice time and this is where Self expects to see this team take the next step forward.

I agree they have been hard to watch at times. We still lack chemistry and Self is still juggling lineup combinations and schemes which isn't helping things. KU looked bad at times playing the two bigs, we played well for a stretch with small ball but I don't think that's the long term answer either. KU hasn't figured out its identity yet for some reason.

I'm encouraged by Dotson and Grimes scoring 61 points in the past two games combined. Back-court play is vital for this team going forward. The more we can rely on the two freshman and Vick the better.

I think the thing that holds this team back the most currently is shooting. We lack consistent perimeter shooting. Guys need to make open shots. When KU shoots 4-21 from 3 the result is going to look ugly. Half of those misses were wide open. Making 2-3 more changes that OU game completely.

I think its too early to predict what March will bring. Especially since Doke was out 4 games, KU is now re-adjusting to him being back in the lineup. That has already had a huge impact on Dedric Lawson and his role as well as Marcus Garrett who looks unplayable on offense with the two bigs. Self and company certainly have to figure out rotations and who can play with who. KU needs to get to the point where all 5 guys on the floor are being guarded which isn't the case right now. If by the end of January/beginning of February comes around and this team still looks mostly the same then its time to start wondering where this teams ceiling truly is. For now, way to early imo

I agree with you on that it's good to see these freshman contribute more for sure. - -Devon has actually been pretty decent all year. Thing is , well for me anyways is - - you can see him improving each game a little more. You remember earlier in the year he was struggling turning the ball over? - - Not so much anymore , well I mean he is taking better care of the ball. -- He to me which I've mentioned many times reminds me a lot of Frank on how Devon has no fear of driving the ball -- just a bull into taking to the hole -- and he is a blur end to end. That was mentioned by the announcer the other night. - -I jump on Devon's wagon early in his recruitment just loved his game.

Now although Quentin was rated higher Devon has for sure been the better one. - -Glad to see Quentin starting to show signs come around , he is playing more aggressive for sure, you can see it in the last couple of games. - -I think a lot of people including myself was fooled a little bit after what we saw in that Michigan State game , we though ok here we go - -here is our stud. We thought man he gonna be a big lift for us. - -Thing is no Matter how good someone is -- he is STILL a Freshman - and sometimes it just takes a little longer then he/we may have thought it was going to - -If we can get him to come on and really contribute , it changes things for us drastically..

My last thing is & I agree with you is our outside shooting and this is where I think could be the real chance of us losing enough games in league and ending our season. Come tourney time we could very well end up facing a team that will pack it in so tight we will never see Dedric , really be forced to shoot the outside J. - -that and like I said in my other thread on here and Texas Hawk mention there Is no doubt other teams are going to start hacking Doke anytime he threatens to score in close late games. - -This last time with Oklahoma it was what 4 plus minutes he had to sit? - -A opponent can do a lot with him on the bench. - -Misson accomplished. -- let's hope we can get our identity and soon. - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

@jayballer73 remember what happened in the second game against ok?

If Q and Dotson keep getting better this team will start to find consistency on offense and we will start seeing 20 point runaway wins instead of blowing 15 point leads. There is no doubt that we have under performed on O so far this season. You can point at a lot of things. But the truth is that Q and Dedric need to hit their open 3s. 1-9 between them last game. If we improve that to 3-9, it was a 12 point win.

Part of it is Doke needing to make the right pass out of the double team. But the larger part of it is that guys just need to make open shots. I think we see some major leaps on the offensive end now that the D looks to be top 10 material.

Grimes has lottery pick potential. If he plays up to his talent, that changes everything about this KU team because offensively they are unguardable.

Think about it this way. Doke commands a double team when he is inside, and for the first 30 minutes of the game, you can't just automatically foul him without giving KU a huge advantage. So Doke is a MUA offensively against basically everyone except down the stretch, when he has to come out because teams can just hack away.

Dedric commands help as well because he can just kill people off the dribble, but he's also such a skilled passer than an automatic double will get picked apart. He makes KU very hard to match up against.

Dotson is so quick that he can cave a defense in off the dribble, and you can't leave him outright unguarded from three because he has shown that he will hit those.

Vick must be accounted for from three, and he has shown the ability to turn the corner effectively. You cannot leave him to help or you will get burned.

Add Grimes playing to his potential to that, and suddenly, where does help come from? You can't leave Doke or Dedric around the rim. You can't sag too far off Dotson and leaving Vick is a fool's errand with how hot he has shown he can get. The defense is stretched to its breaking point on every possession because you can't leave anyone.

I'm pretty happy about where the team is at this point with three new starters/two of them freshmen.

I'm kind of with Coach Self though--they should be having more fun, but the returning two, Vick and Doke, probably have the most negative attitudes of the starting five.

I don't think this team has scratched the surface of what they are capable of yet. I agree that this team doesn't seem to be have fun and smile. I feel like the guards must continue to improve for us to go anywhere in March, you don't see teams get far without superior guard play. The bench has to be more consistent IMO, people talk about how deep we are but we have really struggled to get any bench scoring going. I think Q has played better as of late and he could be the key to a deep run like Newman was last year, we need all guys on the floor busting butt and working as a unit. I'm not too worried at this point with any of this teams issues because we have plenty of time to figure them out, a month from now if we are fighting the same stuff, I'd be more worried.

@jayballer73 I think there are times we look like an NIT team. We're going to look ugly when we shoot 4 for 21 from 3. I would personally like to see Devon shoot 10 3s a game, but that is probably not going to happen. The good news is Q seems to be coming around. Vick is Vick, so he is going to have games where he is the best player in America, and others where he looks not so good. I am still waiting for one complete good game, and hopefully we can get that at some point.

@KUSTEVE Nobody should be taking 10 3's a game for this team. This team shouldn't even be taking more than 12-15 3's total for a game. The problem with Dotson shooting 3's is that he has to be wide open and since he's the primary ball handler, he doesn't get many of those looks.

The way Vick has been playing recently, I would actually sit Vick and start Garrett and let Garrett run the point. This minimizes Garrett's weaknesses on offense and let's both him and Dotson play where they're stronger at. Garrett is at his best on offense when he is facilitating the show and I think Dotson is better off the ball than on the ball on offense. Garrett averages more assists per 40 min (4.1 to 3.7), has a lower TO% than Dotson (12.4% to 18.6%) and has a much better A/TO ration (3.0 to 1.4).

With Garrett at the point, you can run stuff to get Dotson open spot up 3's with pick and pops, Dotson would also get a lot of easy lay ups off of pick and rolls and that hides Garrett's weaknesses on offense because teams will have to play on him if he's running the point instead of shading way off of him when he's off the ball.

KUSTEVE said:

@jayballer73 I think there are times we look like an NIT team. We're going to look ugly when we shoot 4 for 21 from 3. I would personally like to see Devon shoot 10 3s a game, but that is probably not going to happen. The good news is Q seems to be coming around. Vick is Vick, so he is going to have games where he is the best player in America, and others where he looks not so good. I am still waiting for one complete good game, and hopefully we can get that at some point.

Also, last year's team never played a complete 40 minutes at any point in the season.

KUSTEVE said:

@jayballer73 I think there are times we look like an NIT team. We're going to look ugly when we shoot 4 for 21 from 3. I would personally like to see Devon shoot 10 3s a game, but that is probably not going to happen. The good news is Q seems to be coming around. Vick is Vick, so he is going to have games where he is the best player in America, and others where he looks not so good. I am still waiting for one complete good game, and hopefully we can get that at some point.

That's right on - -that's what I am waiting to see , a COMPLETE game - -let's see like what we saw in the 1st half against Oklahoma - -well even that wasn't a complete 1st half of good but for the most part. I'm looking for that COMPLETE game. We haven't seen that this year. - -We talk about this team scratching the service - -are we Ever going to see the Real team - -clock is ticking. - -People are right though , remember with Devonte that smile of his - -laughing and joking - we are not seeing it with this team - -Although I saw Dedric on the bench during the Okla game and saw him laugh with another player. - -The thing with Vick when he is on - -he is on - -and when he is Gone - -he is REALLY GONE -

@jayballer73 Perhaps we are seeing the "real team." It's pretty good. But I wonder if it's in this teams DNA to be able to put together complete games. I bet we can here and there, but I doubt we can consistently, as composed. If guys take a bit jump forward - -perhaps two of the following, Grimes, Moore, McCormack, Garrett -- then we're in a different world. That's what we need. Still, even without that, who in CBB can't we beat? We can beat anyone even with our issues. That means things can bounce our way come March.

@HighEliteMajor I agree. Fans are entitled to their opinion, but is say RELAX. Remember last year? We lost to Washington in the Sprint Center and to Arizona State at home in back to back games. It would have been 3 straight losses but Svi made a last second 3pointer for the win in Nebraska. We beat a not so good Texas team by 6 points at their place to open conference play and on Jan 2, 2018, we lost to Texas Tech at home! So by this date last year we had 3 losses! 2 of them at Allen Field House and the other in our home away from home in KC. Malik Newman was doing nothing for us yet. No way were we going to win the BIG 12 and i'm sure a lot of fans were convinced we wouldn't make it out of the first weekend of the tournament. I'm pretty sure we are all ok with the way the rest of the season went. RELAX! This team has one loss to a ranked and decent ASU team on their court. We beat Villanova! and they will be ranked. We beat a ranked OU team! We beat a ranked Michigan State, a ranked Tennessee and a ranked Marquette. This team has flaws, but this team is still really good and like HighEliteMajor said, this team can play with and beat anybody! RELAX!!

This team has a ton of growth left. We just played our first conference game. There is plenty left to iron out.

Players who can play better than they are right now:
- Grimes
- Garrett
- Dedric
- Moore
- Big Dave

Players who are doing exactly what I'd expect:
- KJ
- Mitch
- Vick
- Doke

Players who are exceeding expectations:
- Dotson

Half of the team is capable of playing better. So of course we haven't seen a complete game. We have 3 new starters. Two of whom are freshman. We have a rough around the edges sophomore. We have 3 transfers. Expecting a complete game in January is unrealistic. Much like last season, we are on a very good trajectory though. And, hopefully come March 2 or 3 of the guys mentioned above turn it up a notch and this team takes a big step forward.

A LOT of growth left. I don't expect to see a "complete" game until February.

The shooting numbers for most of this team are atrocious and not normal to Self teams. If guys swing back to normal %'s play will improve. Certain guys like Dedric and Vick are dependent on seeing the ball go through the hoop. Grimes looks that way as well. I cant imagine guys stay shooting 30% from the field or 20% from 3. The growth in this team will blossom as soon as they start making shots consistently

@Texas-Hawk-10 I disagree. We had some sensational games last year. This year, the best we've had are real good halfs. Last year, we had games where we shot over 50% from 3.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I like that idea of Garrett running point, with Dotson at the 2. Not saying I like that on a permanent basis, but I would sure like see them at least try it out. If only Garrett could hit a jump shot ...

@Kcmatt7 I think you have the right perspective. We're going to have to show patience. The fact we run two different offenses depending on whether Doke is in the lineup is probably slowing the learning curve down for the newcomers.