Conner Frankamp should receive a phone call this weekend from the CEO over at AndroGel to make a new television ad immediately.
It seems obvious, Conner must have bathed in this stuff yesterday, because he grew to 6'2" in height and grew several testicular inches in girth. Gee... that stuff must work!
I'm sold on our new PG for next year, and perhaps through our remaining games in this tournament!
Rock Chalk, Conner!
@drgnslayr If he's not busy making commercials this weekend, do you seem him starting on Sunday?
@drgnslayr-Just watched the replay for the 1st time & he was flippin HUGE !! Always stays in position at angles when attacking off the dribble which keeps the defender switching angles too, therefore constantly giving him the angles to pass or drive. What a friggin stud !! Essentially he did everything that Tharpe does not do. Na goes square up to a defender & stalls or picks up the dribble when the guy steps in on him. Gotta give it up for the entire team but without his ball handling, we would have been on the upset alert ticker for sure. Tough as nails, smooth as silk. Hell, Ironworkers, Fitters, Boilermakers, Teamsters? Fuggedaboutit that schizz, this kid belongs in the damn Meatpackers. I agree, ride the wave with Conner & Frank as long as you can. Maybe too big a stage for the start in the dance, but off the bench in a heartbeat... in plain old Kansas slang, quickern' a jackrabbit on a date !!
I would start him. For two reasons.
First... it may inspire him to step up and have a phenomenal game. And if that happens, and suddenly we have a trey shooter knocking out the bottom of the nets with consistency, we are now a different team with huge potential! Imagine what it will be like next weekend if we have JoJo back and the threat of the 3ball from Conner? And if he can give us solid play with few TOs....
Second... I'm not counting Tharpe out. I want him to fight for his PT. When he decides he HAS TO step up (instead of SHOULD) he has proven to be a big weapon (in the past).
Now imagine we have steady PG play with a big time threat of the 3 ball, and a PG backup building his juice inside to prove himself again by having a big game soon.
So we go from not having quality play at the PG position, to having solid play and a monster building on the bench ready to come back and have a monster game again soon.
In between, we have Frank available to mix up our play style by offering a PG who can drive.
WE DEFINITELY NEED TO START CONNER! Enough talk from Naadir. Make him prove himself again!
@drgnslayr-Oh, & I might mention also that when this kid starts nailing his jumpers, opponents will be seriously wondering how so subtlety the defecation made contact with the rotary oscillator.
Hold on a second...
I just read this from Keegan's article:
"Starting the game on the bench, Frankamp locked in on how the Colonels defended and knew what he had to do to keep from spitting up the ball."
Maybe it works best to have him come in off the bench... before we get down by 10!
"One of the more remarkable statistics from any lead guard, starter or reserve, in the NCAA tournament belongs to Frankamp: He has played 122 consecutive minutes without a turnover. Kansas needs more of that sort of ball security."
Keegan has it right... Kansas needs more of that sort of ball security!
I think there is a downside to not starting Tharpe. Tharpe loses confidence and the team loses confidence in him, and maybe themselves also.
I think benching your most experienced player in the middle of the tournament could have a negative effect on the whole team.
Now....is it any better starting him and then taking him out when he makes too many mistakes? Debatable, but I think it is.
He could also bounce back and have a game or two like he has in the past and could win us a game or to.
I would start Tharpe, but give Frankamp more time, and ultimately give more minutes to the guy that is the most effective in that game.
@globaljaybird LOL
But in the future, please eschew obfuscation.
@nuleafjhawk Fair enough. That is why, if he does not perform, others have to get some minutes...but I would still start him.
I think the team loses more confidence if the coach doesn't hold his players accountable.
How much confidence does this team have if we go down by 10 to a nobody and have double-digit TOs in the first half?
We can't let this team sink because of Tharpe. We have to let Tharpe sink.
This is competition... and in competition you either step up or you sit down (on the pine).
Agree. You can't let him continue to play and make mistakes.
But you continue to start him.
Symbolic? Maybe, but I still think it is the right thing to do.
After reading Keegan's article it made sense to continue to start Naa, but have Conner know he may be coming right in.
It seemed to help Conner to watch a bit of the game first from the bench so he could formulate his game plan when entering.
I'm done with the symbolism. I used to think it meant something, but not any more.
I'm not giving up on Naa... just want to kick him in his azz to make him play reasonable. And if he doesn't then he can watch the game. I guess it also kicks him in the azz if he starts the game and is pulled within a few minutes. Works for me... meanwhile Conner has made his game plan.
@drgnslayr Fair enough.
And we did see that Self was already there by telling CF to expect to play more.
Well, after rewatching the game and reading a bevy of post-game articles and comments, it appears a certainty that E. Kentucky focused primarily on thwarting two of KU's starting players: Wiggins and Tharpe. It might be assessed that the Colonels did a reasonable job of controlling Wiggins...at least holding him to less than 20 pts. But their most enlightening report of game preparation involved assessing and controlling the movements of the Jayhawk starting point guard. Tharpe's deficiencies played right into their game prep, and would probably have cost KU an early loss but for Wily Bill Self's timely subbing...and the heady response of Frankamp and Mason, each of whom rose to the challenge. I predict that our coaching staff will approach the Stanford game lineup in much the same way they did our first Tournament contest. If Tharpe can't cut the mustard, Plan #2 goes back into action, probably more quickly than before. Next season, the starting point guard position will be wide open for determination; and Tharpe, most probably, becomes a reserve player.
@REHawk No question that the PG position will be wide open next year.
I'm not as sure as many of you that say Tharpe will be a reserve player.
I understand the rationale...based on what Mason and CF have showed as freshmen. I just think that Tharpe has shown us enough in spurts that he may be able to rise to the challenge.
But it will be interesting.
While some argue that Tharpe is more explosive than Frankamp, which is true, that is not the problem. The problem is decision making and not committing turnovers, and Frankamp has shown that he can excel at both.
As for the confidence issue, I personally think that Tharpe right now is hurting the team's confidence. Having Frankamp come off the bench and run the offense and not turn the ball over would boost the team's confidence, not someone who is a turnover machine.
"Next season, the starting point guard position will be wide open for determination; and Tharpe, most probably, becomes a reserve player."
If Tharpe can't cut it now, why will he next March? We can't keep sacrificing entire teams because Self plays a hunch that a guy is going to figure it all out. Last year was a prime example. That team was primed to take home the trophy and came up short... mostly because of PG play. I am a big fan of EJ... but he should have been put in a minor role last year because he already showed us several times he wasn't ready to carry the torch. We should have prepared someone else for March. We are sitting in that same situation this year, but we have several choices of players that hopefully will come to the rescue.
I think we should make it extremely hard (almost impossible) for Tharpe next year to win the starting job. He should have to prove himself far beyond what someone else has to because he has already shown us how bad he can choke. So give the guy a chance, but make him earn it and go beyond.
I still hope Tharpe can figure things out... but I'm done sacrificing our entire year and the efforts of the entire team because one guy can't execute... and it is, by far, the most important position on the team!
@drgnslayr That sour taste of the Missagain loss still lingers. Another chance at a Final Four gone again.
Self can't let the same thing happen again. He needs to let Frankamp size up the other team and bring him off the bench and play the majority of the minutes.
@nuleafjhawk-What confusion?