Last week was a pivotal week and it was a good time to go 2-0 while holding serve at home. I'm really hoping we can leave this week 2-0 again and maybe create some early separation in the conference standings. We owe our former hawk Bryce Thompson a nice thank you
BeddieKU23
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4 games into the Big-12 war here's some thoughts on guys trending up, trending down or staying consistent.
Agbaji: Staying consistently good to really good.
16 games in and Och is averaging 20.6ppg. Who would have thought we'd have a 20pt scorer with the depth this squad had on paper? Shooting nearly 53% from the field and 47% from 3 he leads the Big-12 in scoring and is certainly a 1st team Big-12 player, the likely POY in the league and has a real chance at 1st team All-American, if not POY. After some up and down games Agbaji was really good in a pair of home wins this past week. We'll see what he's got for this week. He's been terrific.
Braun: Staying consistently good
CB's made a big leap this year and is the 2nd leading scorer. Recently his shooting numbers have taken a bit of a dive (down 10% in FG% recently) & only 11ppg in conference play so far. We've seen CB dominate in stretches over multiple games already this season so this might just be a bit of a lull as defenses have adjusted to him some. While he struggled mightily in the first half against West Virginia he had some nasty plays like the no-look pass or the big block that was called a phantom foul. CB had 5 official blocks on Saturday, he has more blocks this season (22) then he had combined in his first two years so that's been an underrated element to his game. He's extremely important to this lineup and I think another peak in his scoring is coming soon.
McCormack: Trending up in conference play
Big Dave, what is there to say about Davith'. In 2 conference games he scored 36 points and grabbed 30 rebounds. The other 2 conference games he scored 5 points and 10 boards, came off the bench and sat a majority of another. Non-Conference play he was mostly inconsistent and sometimes unplayable and not enjoyable to watch. However the Dave that gets 19 & 15 in conference games is the Dave we know can exist. He's trending up because Saturday he finally looked comfortable and healthy. Tuesday he gets a rematch with the mountain-man Groves from the first round of the NCAA tourney last year. I hope we see the "trending up version of Dave".
Wilson: Trending up since entering the starting lineup
Losing Remy Martin with a knee injury has been difficult for KU but the bright spot to that development has been Jalen Wilson finding his groove reentering the starting lineup. He flat out had his best game in a Jayhawk Uniform Saturday filling the stat sheet to 23 pts, 8 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and a partridge in a pear tree. Jalen has hit double figures twice in 4 conference games. He kept the Hawks in the bad loss at Tech and then was the catalyst I thought Saturday on a lot of fronts Saturday. Hopefully this Jalen is here to stay. We are all here for it.
Martin: Trending down and concerning.
A knee injury has kept Remy out of the lineup for the past two games however the rumor mill has stirred the pot that there's more then just an injury going on in Lawrence. Who knows what's true and what's not but even Self got heated in his post-game interview about it. Regardless this team could use a healthy Remy, physically and mentally. KU's PG situation has looked a bit leaky without him, although we saw positive minutes from Yesufu off the bench (who had missed the previous game himself). Self doubled and tripled down today that's he's day to day with a bone bruise and hopes he'll be playing Tuesday night. Perhaps we'll have closure to this situation and we'll see Remy out there playing. Will be interesting to see how Self handles that because Wilson is playing better starting. Never a dull moment.
Dajuan Harris: Trending up
Juan got the game winner Tuesday which was a great individual play to bail out a wild ending to that game last week. Followed it up with a solid 6 pt 5 assist game on Saturday. He's been mostly consistent throughout the season handling the ball, getting the ball moving on offense and playing pesky defense. We know his limitations on offense but we've never had to question his effort & he's all about the team.
Coleman-Lands: Consistent bench piece
We know what JCL can do best which is shoot the rock. Bailed the team out on New Years day when he scored 20pts. He's averaged 5ppg in conference play off the bench and seems to fill his role well as veteran guard. I wouldn't be surprised if he has 1-2 more games this season where he helps lead them to victory.
Lightfoot- Consistent Mitch but trending down in conference play
Look Mitch has had some bright moments this year as the backup 5. We know what he gives us off the bench and we also clearly know what he can't do. He hasn't looked great of late especially if Dave has a good game, you can see the drop off. He's blocked 7 shots so far in conference play which is 1 shy of his total from non-con play. He's shown improvement making baskets around the rim shooting 61% on the year which is a career best. He's been a much more reliable option when he gets position in the paint. Mitch tends to plays well when KU plays smaller frontcourts and that's been a theme most of his career.
Yesufu- Incomplete but trending up after Saturday
Hasn't really had a chance to make an impact so far this season. He's struggled at times but Saturday was a bright spot for him after missing Tuesday's game with an ankle injury. 4 assists, no points but had lots of energy and had a burst of speed our other guards do not have. Particularly liked after a bad turnover how he sprinted down the court to disrupt a layup, displaying hustle that will please his coach. He had a few impressive passes Saturday so he's definitely trying to fit in. Has struggled to score the ball as his numbers indicate and that's mostly due to sporadic playing time. Feel like he's one you gotta keep putting out there to work out the kinks because his athleticism and speed are there.
KJ Adams- Trending up
Recently got his first start of the year & that is the only game so far where he's logged more then 10 minutes. Tools are there & he's rarely looked out of place even for a freshman. Moves the ball well, goes after everything with max effort. Good kid.
Pettiford: Trending down but due to injury/covid circumstances
Unfortunate for this young man that an injury & covid has stunted his development this season. His two games since returning haven't been great by any means but he's been put in a tough spot and just needs to get his sea legs back. Hopefully in a few weeks he'll be a dependable rotation guard again.
Clemence: Trending down due to injury
Dealing with a toe injury has only played in 1 conference game so far this season which wasn't his best game either. The future is bright for him but he's just buried on the depth chart this year to get any serious minutes. Physical development as well as understanding how to play defense at this level is going to go a long way for him next year.
He's definitely a 5 star talent & I think his upside to the next levels is there to support the rank. He's my favorite in this class which is saying something because the other 3 are studs too. I just think this kid has it all.
Sounds like he's having a really good year!
Dick, a four-star Kansas signee, is a skilled, sizey and versatile wing. He's made a jump in his development over the last eight months and could make a jump in the rankings because of it.
He's playing with confidence, unphased whether shots are falling or not and has found other ways to impact the game regardless. His defense, rebounding, basketball IQ, athleticism and his experience playing at the highest levels of high school basketball is paying off for one of the top teams in the country.
After a " Good for the Soul beatdown" here's some updated stats.
Ochai Agbaji is now #35th on the all-time scoring list halfway through his stellar senior season.
At his current scoring rate (20.6ppg) Ochai would be in #19 place by the end of the regular season just passing Kenny Gregory and a few shy of Jeff Boschee. An extended run in both the Big-12 tournament and NCAA tournament could see him jump all the way to #14 just shy of Devonte Graham, at his current scoring rate.
At any rate Agbaji has a good chance at cracking the Top 20 all-time. What an achievement that's in his sights after coming to KU as an unheralded recruit and even being red-shirting his freshman year for half that season. Ochai your a stud!!
Uptick in points for Wilson getting over 100 on the season.
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KU got back to pre- Iowa St numbers
So he's on his farewell tour with K too?
Did he get a bionic knee?
Yesufu had an extra gear yesterday and made smart plays with the ball. Liked his energy and finding ways to do other things even if the ball didn't go in the hoop.
Dave looked healthy and motivated. Nothing was sped up. He used his size well creating angles and had active hands on a ton of rebounds. He played like a top 10 big in the country yesterday. We know that's not going to happen every game or even every week but we certainly do need him to play like that more often then once or twice like we have seen so far. Whatever he did to play like that needs to be bottled up.
Same goes for Jalen Wilson. I have never seen the kid play better. It wasn't just making shots he changed a good portion of this game with his passing, rebounding and pushing the ball relentlessly. You even saw him defending at a better level then usual. He really looked like he was finally playing for the team and not just trying to force plays to catch up to speed. He has had 2 big games since getting a chance to play a lot of minutes. Seems like coming off the bench for him is not ideal to getting him to play well. Jalen plays like this and this team starts to play to its potential.
Great 2nd half, the best half of basketball for this group at both ends. I was very impressed. Im not going to overreact since we have 2 road games looming but hopefully that win was some serious momentum
A future hall of fame coach can't win in lawrence. This place is just unreal
Hes really gotta organize the puppies
Coleman lands with the 30 second operation to shoot
Dave find a bottle of elixir? Jumping all over
Hahaha karma
Not when yesufu Plays like that
All ball idiots
Come on Refs stop it
Man CB. GREAT 2ND HALF FELLA
I give that Curry kid props he is a gamer
This game is good for the soul!
@Kcmatt7 said in WVU Game Thread:
We are +32 with Dave on the court today 😳
Wow he was awesome today. Him and Jalen drank the same koolaid
Need Dave to get 1 more point. Would make 3 over 20 points.. Can't remember the last time that happened
What a 2nd half. Best of the season
Wow
Wow
West Virginia has only scored 32 points live. Great d today
3rd game of the year Jalen has hit double figures. Game changer if he gets there more often
FLOP CITY BITCH
Come on mitch
That curry had a Keith Langford game
Come on
Yes!!
Oh my that was sick
Jalen having his best game as a hawk
@DCHawker said in WVU Game Thread:
WVU is 7-35. It's been a long while since they've made a basket...
Don't reverse jinx them my friend
Looks athletic today perhaps whatever injury was hobbling him is gone
Worst call in sports
Agbaji with that quick trigger. He's gonna get paid
Cooking!!!
Damn thought that was going in
Cb isn't on this planet today
Yesufu your a bad man
Dave had a nice challenge at the rim using his body
Yes
More bricks
My God
@benshawks08 said in WVU Game Thread:
Och trying to get it going. Starting on the defensive end. You know bill loves that.
Yeah his defense has been great.
@BShark said in WVU Game Thread:
Amazing trolling from Bill playing Harris, Mitch and KJ at the same time.
His I can't shoot specials