Mitch is worse though. The only thing he is better at is help side blocking (hard to do as the only big) and maybe straight up post defense but both are terrible at it. Hopefully some of the guys we are bringing in next year can improve it.
BShark
33646 posts
Mitch is terrible.
@KirkIsMyHinrich said in St Joes Game Thread:
Hopefully Thompson starts today.
He is starting over Jalen.
@Kcmatt7 said in Season (re)Starts Today!:
@BShark I saw the score but I didn’t get to watch.
Gonzaga was in complete control basically. They quit bothering when they got up 30.
@Kcmatt7 said in Season (re)Starts Today!:
This St Joe team took Auburn to OT. I don’t think they’re 20 points worse than us at this point. But that would be a nice statement win after yesterday’s showing.
I mean, maybe, did you see what Gonzaga did to Auburn? They also basically quit playing with 8 minutes left. Insane.
I would have lost my mind if the refs in Ill Ohio called that a charge. You can't punish Kofi for being big.
Gonzaga dominated the paint again today.
@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Non-KU Games Thread:
The Dons lost to UMass Lowell River Hawks by 8. Oof
Trash ass UVA style means they can lose to almost anyone.
@Kcmatt7 said in Non-KU Games Thread:
@BShark I know we really wanted Dosumnu
Not sure how much, I think the staff got their top two guard targets that class (Grimes, Dotson). Imagine Dosunmu with Dotson last year...
@Kcmatt7 They have an insane roster. Steam rolled the first two games, but now are playing a slightly better opponent.
Gonzaga is really good and the game was tied in the 2nd half despite KU's mistakes. That's fairly promising.
Virginia's brand is an insult to basketball. Great job San Fran.
YESSSSSSS
Virginia might escape...annoying.
VIRGINIA IS DOWN SEVEN TO SAN FRANCISCO THIS IS NOT A DRILL
We good.
@FarmerJayhawk said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
Timme has 26/10 at the under 8. Maybe it’s not just us
Timme and Kispert are going to wreck everyone.
@jayballer67 Fox
Gonzaga pounding Auburn.
KU is favored to win by 19. St Joe is expected to be pretty bad. Looks like they play almost all guards and take a lot of threes, should be interesting.
Spread is KU -19. Don't think I'd bet that.
Interestingly the national narrative seems to be that it was a great game and that both teams are good. When you remove people with KU bias in either direction.
KU is going to be in some score fests this year. Kinda like a worse 2017-18. Dave isn't going to magically improve his defense but he will undoubtedly have better offensive showings. A key will be surviving his below average games and getting wins in his average games.
Let's talk about Jeff bad takes Goodman
"Not good news for KU when Frank Mason takes shot with game on the line."
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BShark Jalen surprised me.
Same, I thought he was a potential transfer risk but he looks like one of the best 5 players on the team. His body transformation is incredible you can tell he worked really hard for it.
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@AsadZ Bryce got his legs the second half.
Yeah Jalen and Bryce both started nervous but rounded into form.
Hickman is the guy we needed to land, Self went all in there and ran into Calipari. SUCKS but that happens regardless of the NCAA crap imo. Never getting Davison or Chandler. Not sure how serious KU was with Diggins or Collins but they both went to ahem, known acquirers of talent.
@Kcmatt7 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BShark I just think we are more like a 10 loss team this year. Will drop a couple of games the three doesn’t drop I’m thinking.
Still wouldn’t want to play us in March/April
I think 6-7 losses. 21-22 wins with the lower game total schedule. This assumes all games are actually played.
@Kcmatt7 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
Mason and Graham are exceptions. Just not easy to find guys severely underranked who will be so good they get jerseys in the rafters.
Need to realize we were spoiled
Yeah. Bryce was a great addition in the last class. We struck out this year in the high school ranks. At this point it has to be a reclass or immediately eligible transfer in. Self will add a guard, of that I am sure.
If we lose tomorrow I'll be worried.
My bad on the last post, it's Cuffe JR that is likely to reclass, not Armstrong. KSU actually has some strong ties there.
Grimes thought he was a OAD...and I guess at KU he was...
@Kcmatt7 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BShark why can Self not land a OAD PG?
Legit OAD guards are pretty rare. I'm happy with landing 4-5* guys. Nothing is happening in this class though short of a reclass from Armstrong but I think for next year and how good the roster looks around that spot, I'd prefer a 5th year SR.
@Kcmatt7 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BShark at least he showed he was willing to play Wilson at the 5 today though. I was worried he’d throw Mitch out there no matter what.
Still hope Dave plays limited time
Ultimately Self does want to win. Dave only played 20 minutes today. If he doesn't get better that might be around his mpg.
@BeddieKU23 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
I don't see Self going away from McCormack so I hope he can figure out some effort things that have plagued him for 3 yrs now. He clearly has some offensive skill but everything else just looked below average
Yeah this is the thing. Don't forget he tried to forcefully start Dave by playing him out of position last year. He loves Dave.
PG is the huge need going forward. We've addressed the bigs in recruiting (Zach is really good, trust me on this) but you give this core a salty grad transfer SR guard next year WATCH OUT.
Can we have Danny join the staff immediately? Call it some bogus title. LOL
I thought one of Jalen/Tristan might transfer after this year. If today is any indication it will be Tristan. I'd like to keep him but it seems like he isn't a great fit with Self.
Agbaji and Wilson both started today. I think it's possible Bryce works into the starting line-up over Braun. He fits a bit better with Garrett I think.
@rockchalkwyo said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
With that said I have no doubts that West Virginia and Baylor will beat us easily in both games.
Hmm, Self usually manages to put Drew in a box. The 2nd game last year Self destroyed Drew. I will never count Self out against Baylor for that reason.
All time tweet here from Dougie. This is why you try not to have too hot of takes early.
@Kcmatt7 Jalen at the 5 is intriguing though, for sure.
@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
The defense will get better the more these guys play together and get their chemistry working together.
We know Dave isn't Doke, but he's also not going to shoot 3-9 every game either. This is where losing Silvio is going to hurt the most because what's going to hurt Dave the most is not having another legit big to practice against everyday. Silvio was going to be that guy, but now it's an undersized Mitch or a too skinny Gethro guarding Dave in practice.
Not having Silvio also means that Mitch can't play the 4 next to Dave and help on defense which is Mitch's biggest strength on defense.
With the length KU has, I'd like to see Self develop a zone defense to take advantage of KU's perimeter length. Not something to run all the time, but it can be weaponized to great effect to disrupt the other team.
Well said all around.
@Kcmatt7 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BShark does he?
He was legitimately terrible today. 4 TO, 3/9 from the field with zero blocks.
I think we need him to improve for this team to reach their potential. You can't play him 0 minutes.
@Kcmatt7 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BShark I’m already thinking we need to go 5 guards and sit Dave completely.
Dave was 3/9 from the field. He’s not even an offensive presence
I mean, he has to play SOME. He has a good attitude, and we need him to get better. That said, and I was harping on it during the game (not sure how much here but def in my twitter group chat) that Jalen was boxing out better than Dave, which is ridiculous.
@BeddieKU23 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BShark said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@benshawks08 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BeddieKU23 We will lose more than three games this year. Still think we have a chance to win the last one, though.
Yeah, this team will end up winning a lot of games. I had to close twitter, too many overreactions.
The good news is Bryce and Jalen look really good. Ochai was GREAT, 4th foul hurt a lot... Garrett was also great. CB needs to be better.
There's just a lack of talent on this squad. It's been noted by several on Twitter who are not KU Homers. I'll hope they can improve on turnovers and defense. I like parts of this team and will hope the weaknesses get serviceable. Happy turkey day!
I disagree with Goodman. Not sure who KU lands in the last two classes w/o the cloud but I am not sure much changes.
Looking at the roster that played real minutes today
Garrett - proven at this level was good today
Bryce - 5*, looked good
Ochai - same as Garrett, and looks better than last year
Dave - an issue obviously, but was a 4* #36 in his class
Jalen - 4* top 50, looked good
CB - good role player, could obviously improve in some areas, but pretty athletic and talented
Mitch - :upside-down_face: I'll admit, not really a KU level guy
Tristan - 4*, needs work though
Tyon - looks to be playing hurt? High JUCO ranking, obviously athletic but has mental lapses
I'm not seeing a huge talent void overall. I am seeing a lot of new players and guys moving into bigger roles, which has taken time for Self teams in the past.
The defense can be better and I trust Bill to figure it out. It might involve playing Dave less but this squad has a lot to learn about playing defense as a team.
Obviously it was horrible today.
@benshawks08 said in Gonzaga Game Thread:
@BeddieKU23 We will lose more than three games this year. Still think we have a chance to win the last one, though.
Yeah, this team will end up winning a lot of games. I had to close twitter, too many overreactions.
The good news is Bryce and Jalen look really good. Ochai was GREAT, 4th foul hurt a lot... Garrett was also great. CB needs to be better.
Washburn counts for stats this year, had to pull a Scott Drew due to COVID.
The defense isn't where it needs to be but the people discounting the Zags on twitter saying anyone would score on KU are nuts. Gonzaga has multiple pros.