🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Did anyone notice it? I would say that Q dialed up his effort and intensity to the highest notch we have seen it last night. He got 3 boards (above ave for him), he dove on the floor, he drove it several times (though I still thought he did not finish strong - dunk the ball! You are 6-5!). He also had some good close outs and worked much harder over picks and to stick with his man. Did a light bulb go on?

Overall, my observation is that he played with much more fire and heightened effort. It was a very positive step on a night where Och came up zeros. Did anyone else see a more aggressive Q as well?

I am glad you started this thread. I noticed it too. Seemed more energized. Maybe the trend line is turning the right way. It's been a bit stagnant.

You could tell right after he hit his first three pointer that it boosted his energy. After that first shot fell he had a little extra pep in his step and it continued through out the whole game. It was awesome to see, and I hope we get that Q going forward.

One thing I noticed is that his hands are extremely weak. He has a a hard time handling hard passes and he gets the ball stolen from him on a regular basis both while dribbling and going for rebounds.

Meh. Still not impressed. I'd like to be. Not expecting the lofty preseason ranking any more, but some form of effort or energy would be appreciated.

I noticed that Grimes is the largest of all wimps when it comes to going to the basket. Two opportunities for him to at least make it to the rim, and he pulled up in the wimpiest of ways. He needs to grow a pair, IMO.

Agree with @Texas-Hawk-10 about his strength, too.

And how did he stay in the majority of the game and Ochai was benched??

@jayhawkcsg Ochai is hurt.

I commented on this on the game thread, nice baby steps from Grimes.

BShark said:

@jayhawkcsg Ochai is hurt.

@BShark What's wrong with him? I hope it is something minor and he'll be ready to play again Saturday. We need all remaining hands on deck!

@bcjayhawk Heard he re-aggravated his injured shin.

@BShark I know he's been wearing that shin pad a few games ago.

@BShark Whooo boy....that's all we need.

Hawk8086 said:

@BShark Whooo boy....that's all we need.

Well at least KU managed to scrape by KSU without him. It's been pretty evident that he hasn't been right the last couple games or so.

The past couple games Ochai has been shooting sideways/cockeyed instead of squared up like he did earlier. Bad shin would explain that. :-(

@BShark Ochai hurt? i know he said a while back he got his right shin knocked into or something. DIdn't realize he was that hurt. Self not making a big stink of it. If he's hurt, he better rest up for the last part of the season! Chubby Charlie to the rescue! :)

Whatever it is, I hope he continues.

Bill Self said on HawkTalk tonight that Grimes showed more activity and energy last night. So he saw what @Fightsongwriter saw.

He also gave a clue as to what many of us suspected. He said that when things don’t go well for Grimes it impacts his “psyche.” And that decreases his energy. The use of the word “psyche” is incredibly telling and linking it to his energy explains a lot of what we’ve seen.

@HighEliteMajor did he say anything about ochai?

HighEliteMajor said:

Bill Self said on HawkTalk tonight that Grimes showed more activity and energy last night. So he saw what @Fightsongwriter saw.

He also gave a clue as to what many of us suspected. He said that when things don’t go well for Grimes it impacts his “psyche.” And that decreases his energy. The use of the word “psyche” is incredibly telling and linking it to his energy explains a lot of what we’ve seen.

I was talking about it in the game thread and with a buddy. VERY noticeable to these old eyes.

I didn't find the energy difference as notable as I did his big happy smile in the handshake line. Actually looked like he had fun last night, and that is huge in motivating players.

@Crimsonorblue22 I only heard about 15 minutes, and all I heard him mention was that Agbagi had an off night, that Agbagi was due a few of those, and that Garrett stepped in. It was part of the discussion on Garrett. But he never mentioned any injury.

Probably something that got overlooked, I wasn't on the game thread so I don't know, was Garrett also shooting the ball confidently. Sure, he banked one in. But the other one he made was taken with confidence and was pure.

If he can just force you to guard him from three, the entire offense changes.

Did anyone else listen to hawktalk? They have a newer segment where Self spins a wheel and get a ? from what it lands on. Last night it was a former player, Tyrel Reed. He said he knew Self was soft as a player and wondered what was his worst injury lol.

I thought it looked like a line drive🤣

@Crimsonorblue22 heat seeking missile

@kjayhawks that's fantastic :)

@approxinfinity Ya only caught the end of the show while I running to get Milk but I got a good laugh outta that.

https://theathletic.com/826728/2019/03/01/nba-draft-college-coaches-poll-whats-going-on-with-quentin-grimes-at-kansas/ ↗

There's a lot of "he shouldn't have gone to Kansas, Self sucks" in that article from anonymous coaches. :/

Vecenie's wrap-up is really good.

BShark said:

There's a lot of "he shouldn't have gone to Kansas, Self sucks" in that article from anonymous coaches. :/

Vecenie's wrap-up is really good.

Jealousy is not a good trait for these coaches

@BShark He does suck - says all the other coaches who have won 14 straight Conference Tournaments.

It does feel as though it's a Bill Self smear campaign. I mean, in the comments he brings up Newman and how it worked so well for him to transfer. Except that it didn't really...

I don't see what Q would get out of transferring at this point other than a year out of the spotlight to work on his game. But to me, if his goal is to get to the NBA ASAP, he needs to stay here for another year and commit to Hudy and be putting up 1000 shots a day.

@Kcmatt7

Some of those same coaches in the preseason I bet were praising Grimes and how good they thought he would be under Self. I distinctly remember seeing at least a handful of coaches say they thought he could be the best freshman in the entire class and how absurd does that claim look now..

At this point I don't think anyone should be able to blame Self for his struggles this season. He's let him play through every imaginable situation over the course of this season. He's logged over 700 minutes. Self can't make him shoot better or fight for rebounds or find the open man. Normally we'd expect Self to decrease his role or have him come off the bench at this point and he hasn't budged on starting him. If his K-St game was something he'd shown on a semi-consistent basis he'd be 40 spots higher on that Top 100 list right now.

@BShark be nice to see all of it.

@Kcmatt7

I agree I don't see the benefit to transferring unless he felt he wasn't playing the position he'd play at the next level and wanted to find somewhere that would promise him that role. The fact he's still in the Top 100 at all is a credit to his prior reputation, not his College rep or production as it stands. He's not getting drafted on 38% FG, 32% 3's and 54% FT.

I hope him and Devon come back.

BeddieKU23 said:

@Kcmatt7

I agree I don't see the benefit to transferring unless he felt he wasn't playing the position he'd play at the next level and wanted to find somewhere that would promise him that role. The fact he's still in the Top 100 at all is a credit to his prior reputation, not his College rep or production as it stands. He's not getting drafted on 38% FG, 32% 3's and 54% FT.

I hope him and Devon come back.

I think it has to be at least a 75% chance that they're both back.

Kcmatt7 said:

BeddieKU23 said:

@Kcmatt7

I agree I don't see the benefit to transferring unless he felt he wasn't playing the position he'd play at the next level and wanted to find somewhere that would promise him that role. The fact he's still in the Top 100 at all is a credit to his prior reputation, not his College rep or production as it stands. He's not getting drafted on 38% FG, 32% 3's and 54% FT.

I hope him and Devon come back.

I think it has to be at least a 75% chance that they're both back.

Dotson will be back. I'm confident that he will get good information for next yr which could be his last here. He is a possible all American next yr and definitely will be in the race for conference honors.

I cant read Grimes yet. I do think he has a good support system in place that will help him. His mom was a KU grad so I'm sure she will preach that end. They know he isnt a 4 yr guy but he is just behind where everyone thought he would be this yr so I think they will see the benefit in coming back. That's my hope. I mentioned before that when your preseason top 10 people lurch. Agents, NBA connections in unofficial ways. I'm sure they were confident he would only need a year so if he comes back I'd assume things got worked out behind the scenes. If he leaves I fully expect its because the family bet on him being good enough to leave and arranging such. We will see what happens

Dotson will be back for sure. I am not even sure if he will test the waters.

I think Grimes declares and finds out from NBA people what he needs to work on and eventually comes back for one more year.

With Grimes, it's all about his ego whether he comes back or not. An unchecked ego can make a man do some funny things. Like declare because that was the plan no matter what. A little bit like Newman. Can you imagine all the publicity he would be getting this year if he had come back?

Grimes is not ready to star in college and he not ready for the NBA period. Who knows what he decision he’ll make? He’s been told his whole life he’s the next best thing and a OAD going into this season, so this is likely a bitter pill to swallow.

Prove me wrong Q 🤞

Effort again was good today. Late in the game he had a big time rake out of the ball when OSU was going in for a lay-up.

@BShark yep, also hit a big 3 to tie it at 67 and a ft. Hopefully hes turning the corner.

I saw a post on social media today imploring Grimes to be this years version of Malik. Not saying that will happen but today was a nice step in the direction.

BShark said:

There's a lot of "he shouldn't have gone to Kansas, Self sucks" in that article from anonymous coaches. :/

Vecenie's wrap-up is really good.

Self is an excellent college coach. That's well documented.

Self also is not particularly good at developing NBA players. Also well documented.

Self does his best work with players that are good to great college players (the Perry Ellis types) that will be in school for four years, learn the system, etc. He's not as adept with the OADs. We all know this. That should not be a surprise to any of us.

Self is a great coach. He is not great at developing NBA talent.

I see the light starting to flicker for Grimes now that Vick is gone. He and Ochai are much better together. More addition by subtraction. Another thing to keep in mind is Grimes is almost a year younger than most freshmen. He doesn’t turn 19 until May. Cassius Stanley is actually almost a year older than Grimes. I think he’ll take a big step forward in his age 19 season. And it’ll be his first full offseason at KU. More time with Hudy and the coaches working on his shot and getting more comfortable around Dotson and Agbaji will be really helpful.

FarmerJayhawk said:

Another thing to keep in mind is Grimes is almost a year younger than most freshmen. He doesn’t turn 19 until May. Cassius Stanley is actually almost a year older than Grimes. I think he’ll take a big step forward in his age 19 season. And it’ll be his first full offseason at KU. More time with Hudy and the coaches working on his shot and getting more comfortable around Dotson and Agbaji will be really helpful.

Grimes' age is a factor in his development, particularly his strength. As he continues to mature, that will come. Grimes could explode at any moment because he already has lots of skills.

justanotherfan said:

FarmerJayhawk said:

Another thing to keep in mind is Grimes is almost a year younger than most freshmen. He doesn’t turn 19 until May. Cassius Stanley is actually almost a year older than Grimes. I think he’ll take a big step forward in his age 19 season. And it’ll be his first full offseason at KU. More time with Hudy and the coaches working on his shot and getting more comfortable around Dotson and Agbaji will be really helpful.

Grimes' age is a factor in his development, particularly his strength. As he continues to mature, that will come. Grimes could explode at any moment because he already has lots of skills.

For sure. Also of note, Self flat out said the locker room is better now than it was 3 weeks ago. Read: Vick was bad for the team.

justanotherfan said:

BShark said:

There's a lot of "he shouldn't have gone to Kansas, Self sucks" in that article from anonymous coaches. :/

Vecenie's wrap-up is really good.

Self is an excellent college coach. That's well documented.

Self also is not particularly good at developing NBA players. Also well documented.

Self does his best work with players that are good to great college players (the Perry Ellis types) that will be in school for four years, learn the system, etc. He's not as adept with the OADs. We all know this. That should not be a surprise to any of us.

Self is a great coach. He is not great at developing NBA talent.

In general I agree but I don't think Grimes would be setting the world on fire at Marquette or UK.

I'm all for Self targetting more 3-4 year guys. Dotson and McCormack were great pick-ups.

He made some great passes and I remember one tough drive that he actually finished. Made some 3s....I'm hoping he has turned the corner.

How did his catch and shoot look and did he set up on right wing, left wing, or l/r baseline?

@approxinfinity

All improved today. Made one from top of key in stride. The others from his normal spots. He is turning it around on both ends

WOW. Boynton dropping huge bombs.

🐦 View Tweet

BShark said:

WOW. Boynton dropping huge bombs.

🐦 View Tweet

Smart guy. Self has developed a boatload of guards. Some guys just have a steeper learning curve. Grimes didn’t play against top tier competition in HS and his was steep.

Since CBS sucks and I probably won't get to see rebroadcast, did Grimes bring ball up more today and did his emergence throw Dotson off? Was Dotson's role changed bc of Q?

Did other team focus on DD and challenge Q to perform?

approxinfinity said:

Since CBS sucks and I probably won't get to see rebroadcast, did Grimes bring ball up more today and did his emergence throw Dotson off? Was Dotson's role changed bc of Q?

Did other team focus on DD and challenge Q to perform?

Not really. Dotson and Moore usually brought it up, but Q was a lot more active driving it since Dotson was in foul trouble the second half. Q was definitely more aggressive on both ends. Idk if others thought the same, but I thought he played more on the ball in the half court.

@approxinfinity Dotson had his first bad game of the year. He couldn't get going, but it had nothing to do with Q. Q was playing defense, deflecting passes, scrambling for loose balls on the floor, going to the basket like he meant it, shooting 3s. He looked vastly improved. Dotson didn't finish today, but he was hounded the whole game pretty tight.

@approxinfinity

Dotson just had a forgettable game. Sat in the first with 2 fouls, had 4 by the under 8 timeout. Missed open shots, he plays different on the road. His d was still good though.

Grimes just impacted the game, more aggressive and found open guys when needed. If he continues to shoot well the rest of his game will continue to flourish

@BShark That was an epic quote by Boynton. And this could be an epic game along Grimes’ journey. Seeing the effort continue is huge. Maybe over the “psyche” thing Self has mentioned.

https://247sports.com/college/kansas/Article/Quentin-Grimes-helps-KU-basketball-defeat-Oklahoma-State-Cowboys-129650982/ ↗

@BShark In the after game interview, I was struck by how much Dedric propped up Q. You could hear how genuinely Dedric was concerned for Q with the kind words he said. I'm super impressed with Dedric- if we have a team leader, it's definitely him. Maybe the Q break out has finally arrived. Maybe our team leader has arrived.

Dedric always speaks highly of his teammates. Not trying to downgrade what you said! I can't imagine him popping Mitch before they went overseas. I still don't see anyone stepping up on the court. Anyone else?

@Crimsonorblue22 I sensed a "big brother" speaking when Dedric talked about Q. I think they have a real strong bond.

Grimes showing up at about the right time? Sure seems like it. It's good to see him come through when it's needed most. They hung around and ground out this win. OSU playing really scrappy. Boynton doing well with the talent he has. Glad hes a B12 coach because he's a great coach.

Listened to CBS highlights and the two morons had NOTHING to say about KU's win on the road. In fact, they actually criticized them for winning on the road. I find it interesting that when KU does well, they get beat up.
Then the Pukies game highlight came on after KU/OSU. They had nothing but greatness to say. The Pukies did no wrong. I would hope not, because they played in Cameron and Miami is 4-12 in ACC. No disrespect to Miami but really? They even said this was a great game without Zion, really? This team struggles with better teams. They struggle with teams in the top 25. They are not the #1 overall. Then Tenn beats UK.
There will be some shuffling at the top this week. KU should be rewarded for this tough road win.

Hope BU beats ksu tonight in the barnyard.
Hope ISU beats TT in Ames.

truehawk93 said:

Hope BU beats ksu tonight in the barnyard.
Hope ISU beats TT in Ames.

I would bet that your sentiments are shared by quite a few.

I think Texas will give tech a game too!

HighEliteMajor said:

truehawk93 said:

Hope BU beats ksu tonight in the barnyard.
Hope ISU beats TT in Ames.

I would bet that your sentiments are shared by quite a few.

NOOOOO....really? haha

!0_1551572791458_upload-ab6ce80d-25e2-4dc4-87b4-4c2fa4deec81 ↗

At this point I think Tech wins the league. They’re playing like a legit top 5 team right now.

Dedric (both in play at attitude) reminds me of a 50 year old who owns pickup games at the neighborhood rec league. I would do unspeakable things to keep him around another year.

@FarmerJayhawk I'd be OK with TT winning B12 as long as we win the big prize in April.

colohawks said:

@FarmerJayhawk I'd be OK with TT winning B12 as long as we win the big prize in April.

I would bet that your sentiments are shared by quite a few.

Lord, please don’t let KSU win the Big XII outright. Their fans will be insufferable! 🙏

Gorilla72 said:

Lord, please don’t let KSU win the Big XII outright. Their fans will be insufferable! 🙏

Probably, but at last check, 14 is more than 1.

justanotherfan said:

Gorilla72 said:

Lord, please don’t let KSU win the Big XII outright. Their fans will be insufferable! 🙏

Probably, but at last check, 14 is more than 1.

This is the same fanbase that made a DVD in football about their "Decade of Dominance" which included just one B12 title while during that same time frame, fellow B8/B12 school Nebraska won 3 national titles in 4 years while playing for a 5th title and Oklahoma also won a national title.

They will be insufferable and make a Blu Ray about this season regardless of what happens in March with them.

@Texas-Hawk-10 🤮

@Texas-Hawk-10 If they win the title out right, there will be T-Shirts on the subject about stopping KUs streak. We will all feel better next fall when the jayhawks spank them on the gridiron.