🏀 KuBuckets Archive

I think it is good for this team that there are so many people in the media, including the folks on KWCH Sports Sunday, that are doubting whether or not this team can beat UNM without Embiid.

The Sports Sunday people were on the verge of negative and COMPLETETLY discounted KU's chances to win.

Their projections were based solely off the game with Iowa State. Pretty annoying. I think they're a bunch of Wichita State homers.

So, what are your guy's thoughts? Will this help KU that everyone is writing them off?

@DinarHawk Yes! Nothing like a little disrespect to motivate a team. When we play with passion and fire, we're hard to beat. Our problem has been coming up with that passion and effort consistently. Manufacturing a little motivation for us can only be a good thing.

Many are predicting UNM will upset KU. That annoyed me at first. After reflecting, now I'm grateful.

KU with Embiid beat New Mexico by 17 points; without Embiid KU should win by a dozen.

@DinarHawk

I'm torn.

I see all these great things these players have done and can do.

But I see all these things the best players--Wiggins and Selden--don't do particularly well.

I see great team offense and defense from time to time.

But I see lapses into no offense and defense that isn't coordinated, when ever something goes wrong.

I see them going deep.

I see them going down to Syracuse.

This team has turned me into a Hamlet.

I am trying to stay scrappy and get back into John Wayne mode.

No one should ever complain when they have guys as good as Wiggins, Selden, Ellis and Black.

One should only pull one's hair out, when they don't play very soundly. :-)

@DinarHawk It can't hurt.

At times this season we've tried playing Stupid. We've tried playing Lazy. Those games haven't worked out too well.

Let's play ANGRY.

Or as @drgnslayr has so eloquently pointed out repeatedly - let's play with a chip on our shoulders.

A BIG dang chip.

@DinarHawk Since New Mexico's loss to us, they have played one (1) team that made it to the tournament. Let them wring their hands, doubt our team, and fill themselves with woe. I am not participating in the doom and gloom. Furthermore, seems like people are worrying over a potential match up with Syracuse. The same Syracuse team that lost at home to an 8-24 Boston College team, a team that compounded their loss with a 2nd home loss to a Georgia Tech team that had a losing record as well within 2 weeks. Then they got blown out at Virginia, lost to Dook, and laid an egg in their conference tourney. Puhleez.
There is one team in our bracket that gives me pause, and it's Florida. Can we beat them, can we handle their pressure? We lost by 6 on their home court. My hope is our guys have grown up a bit since that game. We'll be at full strength hopefully, ready to show America we're as good as any team in the country.

@DinarHawk when I looked at the bracket, first thought is the committee really wants to see embiid's return in the second weekend. Eku and possible unm are not as tough as those trending up teams. Some were thinking the Syracuse is tough, I beg to differ, it is a team that is trending down as it peaked way to early. I also think the committe wants to see more of wiggins. By that, I am not saying the path to second weekend is soft, but, it is one that I would not complain. My worry is, will embiid be able to play with a new wiggins who has shifted to another gear. I think HCBS will figure it out. I agreed with jay bate that a win against isu would be nice but a lost maybe better. The rest is needed as I think more than one embiid is not a hundred percent. I think we also need that game to remind tharpe again that he needs to show up. One motivation factor is tar would play hard to get back to Memphis and prove to his doubters at home they were wrong about his transfer. So, I see us in Memphis the second weekend with or without embiid. Rcjh

@nuleafjhawk

"A BIG dang chip."

Helllll yes!

I want everyone to diss us...... We need all the help we can get to juice this team like they were juiced when they played Texas at AFH. I want that team back.... for 6 games!

Mushburger is at it again!

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/musburger-narrates-selfie-webb/ ↗

Thanks for the input everyone!

I have to admit I'm a little worried about a possible second (third) round matchup with New Mexico, and maybe a Sweet Sixteen matchup with Syracuse.

I'd hate to take stupid Michael's line but "I'm scared". :)

@DinarHawk

As I mentioned before, KU beat Ne Mexico by 17 with Embiid in Kansas City, If we get to play them again it will be in St Louis, a venue that will not be that different from the Sprint Center. Now, Do you think KU is 17 point worse without Embiid than with Embiid? I don't think so; maybe a few point but certainly not 17.

I think we can. I think we can. I think we can.

@JRyman I know we can. The team has to have the same attitude and play up to their potential. They have to ask themselves a hard question: Do we want to end the season on a down note?

Wiggins needs ask himself if he wants to end his only college year on a negative note. This kid is going to be super competitive and focused. He came to KU with two goals: win NC and go to the NBA. We all know he's as good as gone to the NBA, but he has one more commitment to fulfill.

@KUSTEVE Hm. Can't believe more people haven't commented on your post. Seems like a crowd that waits to speak rather than listening. Anyways...

Nail, meet hammer. You nailed it, buddy. For everyone being so terrified of UNM, a team that we beat by 20 when we didn't even play very well, I'm shocked to see such negativity. Don't forget that UNM has played in a very weak conference with their toughest opponent (SDSU) being one that is offensively inept. There is absolutely no reason to be so pessimistic. There will definitely be a pro-KU crowd in STL, and I think we should win by double digits. I can't help but think we got a pretty favorable bracket.

You also were dead on about Syracuse. Don't get me wrong, I'm personally pretty scared of Syracuse as they seem to have our number, but come on. You're right, this is a team that lost to a Boston College team that had 6 wins at the time...in mid-February...and the game was at Syracuse...then they turned around and lost to Georgia Tech at home. Face it, this is a year of teams that have gotten fat on weak schedules (for god's sake WSU's non-conference schedule was tougher than Syracuse).

The fact is UF and Syracuse may not be waiting for us in the Sweet 16 or E8. Florida is playing with a lot of pressure to win it all, and haven't lost a game in months. As KU fans, we should all know how bad that really is. I'm not saying UF can't do it, but I don't think it's beyond the bounds of reason to think that they could lose before the E8. As you pointed out, we lost to Florida by 6 on their home floor when we played our worst game of the season.

I can't say this enough, I'm about as pessimistic as it gets when it comes to KU, but I'm pretty excited about this year's tourney. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if we lost in the first or second round, but I don't think it's a fore drawn conclusion by any means.

Keep your heads up KU fans!

I will say this as people say we lost by 6 to Florida, and outscored them by 9 in the 2nd half.

I recall that Wiggins filled up the bucket with a bunch of threes in mop up time. It was one of those 6 points doesn't really reflect how thoroughly we got trounced that night.

I also recall not feeling very satisfied that night at all, 6 point deficit or not.

@KUSTEVE just wondered, when do you think Embiid will be back? And, is there a chance drs won't allow him to come back? Maybe Embiid doesn't want to risk his future? How far could we go w/out him? Some of my friends don't think he's coming back. I don't know! I'm hoping he'll be on the bench, ready to go, if needed Sunday!

@JayHawkFanToo Regarding UNM, I am worried.
1. Embiid got their big guy in foul trouble and he was a non-factor. Can Black do that?
2. Embiid is worth more than the point differential between he and his replacement. It is hard to quantify how many points he prevents by altering shots.
3. Their guard, Greenwood, did not play against us due to injury. He is back now.
4. They appear to be playing their best ball right now.
5. They beat SDSU......and they are good.

Now...should we win? Yes, but we have to play well for that to happen.
Given our inconsistency, I think that is a reason to be concerned.

@MoonwalkMafia Good post! I swing back and forth on this year's team. I'm never as confident as I wish I could be and I won't be surprised if they don't make it past New Mexico State. If they make it past Syracuse/Ohio State, I'll be surprised, and then it's all gravy. For some reason I do think we have an even chance against Florida if we get that far. Go figure!

@MoonwalkMafia

"I'm personally pretty scared of Syracuse..."

Please... please... stop that!

Open your arms for that game... Andrew Wiggins might score 50 that night slashing through around the FT line in the big hole created after we nail a couple of 3s.

Syracuse zone works great against under-skilled teams and bad coaches.

We are going to avenge 2003 this year! Whether or not we win a national championship.. if we just beat the s#it out of the Orangemen then we've had a pretty dang good year! (along with B12 #10)

I'm betting that Langford will be present for that game and he'll let the boys know how important this win is... these young guns will LOVE Langford!

@drgnslayr

Avenging Syracuse, yes, a thousand times yes! They also eliminated us in an elite 8 game when we were the better team in 96 I think. They played for the championship against Kentucky I think that year. We got em once in around 2000 the famous roy monkey off his back game press conference. We blew them out by about 30. Add another loss a few years ago in some Thanksgiving tourney in KC, and well, we need to beat Syracuse.

I was watching bracketology on ESPN and NONE of the analysts had KU going to the Elite Eight.

If Self is as good of a motivator as we think he is, he will use all of the doubt to motivate them, specifically Tharpe and Ellis. The Ellis we saw against ISU is the one we need in the tournament.

Do you think KU is 17 point worse without Embiid than with Embiid?

@JayHawkFanToo I think KU got 20 points from Embiid in a typical game...sometimes more: 10 points on offense -- either through points or offensive rebounds that led to additional points.. and 10 points on defense-- either through blocks, altered shots or defensive rebounds.

So, in my opinion, our chances against UNM w/o Embiid are 50-50.

Against Stanford I think we're 60-40 and it hinges on Tharpe.

Most importantly, against Eastern Kentucky, we need to get business done. Otherwise our chances against UNM or Stanford go to 0%. (stating the obvious for effect..)

@bskeet

You are assuming that the 20 points you say we lose (if Embiid does not play) would not be made up by Tarik, Jamari and even Landon; I just don't think this is the case. Maybe they don't combine for 20 like Embiid but I am sure they would be close to that. There would be a point difference but it would not be 20 points; I am not sure there is a player in the country that is worth a 20 point differential. Maybe we are just using different terms.

Embiid's averages for the season are:

Games Played: 28

MPG: 23.1

PPG: 11.2

RPG: 8.1

APG: 1.4

SPG: 0.9

BPG: 2.6

TOPG: 2.4

These are the number we can realistically expect from him. I believe that between Tarik and Jamari they can cover the points and rebounds, but we would miss his defensive presence. I am confident that KU would beat New Mexico by at least a dozen. I watched their game against SDSU and they were comfortably ahead and almost got caught at the end.

I think our chances against UNM relate more to which team wants this more. I think all March games are like that.

If we cruise in there looking ahead to the next round we won't have a next round!

From here on out it is all about focusing inwards... letting the circus go by while maintaining everything right inside the team.

The day I start worrying about playing New Mexico is the day I have to wonder if I'm really a K-State fan. I'm trying not to lose too much sleep ...

@HighEliteMajor

"...the day I have to wonder if I'm really a K-State fan."

The day you start to wonder if you're really a K-State fan will be the day I wear a MIzzou Tiger t-shirt with "Orangemen" sweat bottoms.

@drgnslayr

Oh...the humanity!!!

@drgnslayr I have a hard time wearing anything red here in Nebraska, cause when Ido all my friends and family think I have changed my alliance and went back to being a Husker.

That aint ever gonna happen!!!!!!

@JRyman as long as that red has a big a$$ jhawk on it, should be good!

@Crimsonorblue22 I have one shirt like that and it confuses the he!! out of husker fan. love it!!!

@HighEliteMajor

"The day I start worrying about playing New Mexico is the day I have to wonder if I'm really a K-State fan. "

PHOF

(Sing to the tune of the Hallejujah Chorus of Handel's Messiah)

Hallelujah

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

For ball lord James omnipotent reineth

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

For ball lord James omnipotent reigneth

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

For the lord James omnipotent reigneth

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

(For ball lord James omnipotent reigneth)

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

For ball lord James omnipotent reigneth

(Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah)

Hallelujah

The Field House of this world;

is become

the Field House of our Lord,

and of His Game

and of His Game

And He shall jam for ever and ever

And he shall jam forever and ever

And he shall jam forever and ever

And he shall jam forever and ever

Coach of coaches forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah

and Phog of Phogs forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah

Coach of coaches forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah

and Phog of Phogs forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah

Coach of coaches forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah

and Phog of Phogs

Coach of coaches and Phog of Phogs

And he shall jam

And he shall jam

And he shall jam

He shall jam

And he shall jam forever and ever

Coach of coaches forever and ever

and Phog of Phogs hallelujah hallelujah

And he shall jam forever and ever

Coach of coaches and Phog of Phogs

Coach of coaches and Phog of Phogs

And he shall jam forever and ever

Forever and ever and ever and ever

(Coach of coaches and Phog of Phogs)

Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

Hallelujah

--George Friderick Handelbate, class of 1703
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (1702–1703), BA
University of Kansas, M.S. 1898

@DinarHawk

There, is that positive enough for you. :-)

@MoonwalkMafia Thank you for your kind words. I like the fact our young team could possibly play two teams we've already faced on the 2nd leg of the next two weekends, which gives Coach the full week for both opponents in the Thursday/Friday games that we haven't faced. Big advantage, even if that 4th opponent is Florida. I also have no fear of a slow paced New Mexico team that shouldn't be running past our guards. I love this team, and I think we have a legitimate shot at a national championship, regardless of who we have to play. I don't imagine those other teams in our bracket are real happy about having to potentially play that amazing young team, either. RCJHGKU

@Crimsonorblue22 I think we get Embiid back in the New Mexico/ Stanford winner game. Of course, I have no proof, it's just a hunch. Worst case: we get him back in the Sweet 16 game.

@KUSTEVE I hope you are right, feels so secretive!

@KUSTEVE

Hope you are right, but I kind of doubt he plays again this season.

@jaybate 1.0 afraid of this!

@JayHawkFanToo I hope you are right, but I am inclined to agree with bskeet. If play UNM and win without a problem, I will come right to this sight and congratulate you on your insight.....and be glad to do it!

@HighEliteMajor The same goes for you!

@Crimsonorblue22

I'm probably overly pessimistic, because I have had some nagging back problems over the years.

@Hawk8086 I saw the game at Sprint Center. You are spot on.

@jaybate 1.0 Im also torn. I think this team is great, nigh unstoppable when they are at their best. But, when they have lapses in judgment on defense or lack of motivation and energy, they could lose to TCU. Its maddening. I WANT them to win and get to the second weekend, get Embiid back and mow them down from there. I just hope the team that plays this weekend is the team that kicked Texas' ass last month or whenever it was. I also think Wiggins will come through for KU these next two games. He is our alpha dog with a cool surfer dudes mentality. He will slaughter all his match ups and if the rest of our guys even play just better than average, we shouldn't have too much trouble this weekend. But I do think the games will be closer than any of us will like.
Oh ya, RE: the Big dang chip thing. I say bring it. I know what Wiggins can do when he feels slighted in the least. Lets hear some more Wiggins aint all that talk and he'll go off for 30/8/4 both games. Clearing the path for us to the sweet 16 and breaking the KU Freshmen scoring record in the process. BTW, he only needs 23 more points to do it.