Self seems confident in Jalen Wilson. Will be something to monitor
BeddieKU23
31745 posts
They scored 10 in the first half, 19 in the 2nd. Sorry to the fans that had to watch that
Amaree recently had 27 against Prolific Prep (Current KU signee MJ Rice plays for them). Highlights are very promising. Looks prepared physically, can shoot it and get wherever he wants on the court. I would not be upset if we made him a priority.
It was me, I edited the original so there was no confusion on him being a transfer at this point.
If they get a visit I'm sure an offer will go out. Was thinking unless a sure-fire talent was available for that 'big guard spot' we should just wait to see what the transfer portal tree shakes out.
I thought I wrote that he decommitted in the original post but I didn't, sorry for the confusion
No doubt Remy messed up the play.
Jesse also went on to say that Dave is too dependent on the seal in order to score, which is correct. Dave took himself out of a layup by moving to get open and giving up his inside leverage that he had on the smaller guy. You'll see Dave do that a lot
Not in portal, just decommitted.
KU has interest in recent Texas A&M decommit PG Amaree Abram #188 from California.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound point guard is long, tough, competitive and plays with aggressiveness on both ends of the floor. He's a good defender, he gets in the paint, can make shots from three and is an unselfish passer.
Kansas: "I think it's a wonderful program and I am very blessed to be receiving interest from them. We have been talking about visits and stuff like that.
It's going to be hard to top this years Carousel that's for sure. The money being thrown around to these coaches is going to create a point of no return. Tucker started it and its just continuing to balloon
@Kcmatt7 said in Coaching Carousel:
@FarmerJayhawk makes too much sense right? Lots of Urban Meyer talk but I don't see it.
Can't see Urban being a hit with the ND folks, bad fit especially in light of his off-the-field issues. Seems like its Freeman & Fickell
Is there really any value to winning the tip?
Don't ever change brucie
Yes certainly looked like he was a bit more comfortable on the floor then he was in the previous 3 games. His speed and athleticism shine when he gets the chance. He can score and Self keeps saying he's the best on-ball defender we have. I think he should see a few more minutes his way cause he's got some things going for him Harris/Remy cannot do.
Agree rebounding has been an issue that's caused some of the breakdowns. In short we could really use an Oscar Tshiebwe type rebounder. Dave & Jalen must step up. It's hard to do that when each is averaging under 20 minutes a game though. Dave and Mitch have below avg hands so they just miss rebounds you'd expect them to get. Neither really rebounds outside their area as well. We're a bit lucky Braun has filled in the gap so far and Remy seems to have a knack for the ball (he really gets up there vertically for a 6' footer).
The part you mentioned about playing fast has been a point of emphasis by Coach several times recently when taking to the media. It's probably something that's going to take time to dial in. Seems like a lot of aspects of this team are in the infant stage still.
Riley to USC is a shocker. All that pumped up bologna to LSU. Florida gets Napier. No Idea what LSU is getting but they seem to have missed a good opportunity to have a coach here before ESD. Seems like no matter who they hire they have missed the ball if it doesn't happen in the next few days. Coaches can go in-home and have big recruiting weekends before ESD now.
As a FSU fan I'm hoping some dominos fall our way because of this..
Unlikely, OU had a good recruiting class and don't think KU is contending for any of those guys
I think that's part of the issue so far. So many new faces learning, they have all struggled at times with situational defense and knowing where they are supposed to be. The initial defense is pretty decent but it was mentioned on the broadcast yesterday KU's last 10 seconds of the clock D has been pretty bad and that's when guys are getting switched a lot & seeing breakdowns.
In my eyes opponents have made a lot of 'questionable' shots against KU as well. We'll see if those kind of things balance out as we go.
Overall though, this group collectively is probably just an average defensive team with a low ceiling. I think they can improve the effort and buy-in as a group on that end which could make this an average/slightly above average defensive team. Reminds of the 17-18 group that just scored a lot and was good enough defensively.
@BShark said in Iona Game Thread:
@BeddieKU23 said in Iona Game Thread:
The defense is bad right now. But Self went on to blame himself for messing around with lineups and creating out of rhythm situations. Still its totally an effort thing as a group.
Bit of both for sure. Like @Texas-Hawk-10 said the pieces just aren't very good for defense either. This will be a team that wins on offense.
Oh yeah that's a really good point as well. We just lack the horses on defense collectively.
I'm okay with this being a Top 5 offense all year especially after last years debacle on that end.
We know Bill is gonna Bill when it comes to preaching D but his ticket to a good season is getting the 7-9 guys dialed in on offense and hoping the success on that end translates to better effort on D. And that kind of fits the mentality of a lot of our guys. Agbaji, CB, Remy, Dave all play better when they score.
Certainly not the ending we all hoped for leaving the holiday tournament 2-1 after the upset loss to Dayton. Some good, some bad. Let's recap it all.
Biggest Concern leaving the tournament- team defense
No question this group is going to have to find an identity defensively going forward. Kenpom has this D in the 30's and I think that number is not accurate to how they are playing on that end. The defensive play against Dayton & Iona will not beat many P5 schools if the offense isn't cooking. At times the perimeter defense causes a lot of havoc and gets steals which leads to transition points. So far that aspect is much improved from some recent squads and might be one of the better teams in the Self era at getting easy points off turnovers. Hopefully that's something that is consistent and will lead to overall growth as the season goes on.
Some defensive concepts that I've noticed that haven't worked at all have been switching all ball screens on the perimeter. This has led to a lot of breakdowns. Bigs getting stuck guarding guards, guards stuck guarding guys bigger then them. It's become a staple of recent Self squads but its not working so far with this group at all. I'm not sure this is a scheme that will work with this group. Good thing its early and these things can be improved upon. You know Self is going to practice defense a lot in the coming months.
Other team concerns- Rebounding & Free Throws
Christian Braun & Remy Martin are the two leading rebounders on this team right now, both guards. Both are excellent at attacking the ball in the air, pleasantly surprised how well Remy rebounds for his size so far. Agbaji could do more. We all know Dave could do more, its also year 4 of asking that same question with him. We know Wilson can rebound but there's serious concerns about him. It seemed like a lot of 50/50 balls and those grey area rebounds went to the opposition. Luck or a concern? I don't know yet. Rebounding will have to be a collective effort a lot of games.
Free Throws were a major issue in the Dayton game where they went 9-20. As a team shooting 66%, yikes (285th nationally). Hopefully we can get a few guys like Remy/Ochai to hit at 80% consistently. Dave, we know can make FT's so his struggles there seem to correlate to his overall play so far. He needs to play free and stop trying to do too much. Wilson loves to attack but if he's going to shoot 30% from the line good grief that's not helping.
The good-
Very impressive week from Christian Braun as he had the best 3 game stretch of his career this past week. Aggressive drives to the hoops and some very impressive finishes. He's gotten some easy baskets as well off steals and played at a high level all week. His defense lacked at times (Self mentioned in post game yesterday) of a specific play that sparked an Iona run. He rebounds (leading the team) and has shown some impressive vision (2nd in assists) setting up guys for easy baskets after some dribble penetration. If he plays like this on a consistent basis look out. He's 1st or 2nd in almost every statistic so far.
Team Shooting & Passing
Shooting 52% as a team so far (7th nationally) even with Dave's struggles (45%). So far we look like an improved shooting team but we haven't played a Top caliber team yet either. Right now we need the high level shooting to continue nightly until the defense improves. The Hawks are 7th nationally even with Dave, Jalen & Juan under 45% and playing high minutes. They are also 17th nationally in 2pt % despite a lot of missed easy baskets so far.
One aspect that has improved a lot by having several ball handlers on this team is the passing is improved. 17 assists per game so far (28th nationally), that's almost 4 more per game then last years squad. It helps when you have several PG's to rotate in and out. I see lots of ball movement and guys getting easy shots. So far I like how we are sharing the ball and hope it continues.
Updated after the ESPN tourney. Braun a big riser after a really strong 3 game tournament. We need that CB every night.
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Season Point Totals Updated
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Kenpom updated. Defense has cratered
Self mentioned post game he needs to do a better job subbing and I think we could all agree that the lineups have lacked rhyme or reason. We all want to see the newcomers but it seems clear certain guys have to be on the floor a majority of the time.
The defense is bad right now. But Self went on to blame himself for messing around with lineups and creating out of rhythm situations. Still its totally an effort thing as a group.
Decent. Left with a w
Sure Iona
Such bullcrap makes
Why can't we just put away this team
Nice d from jaun
About to be in another dogfight ugh
What is with ochai today
Same shit every game from dave
No surprise
@tis4tim said in Iona Game Thread:
Self’s teams seem to lack a killer instinct. Not sure why. When we got up 20 should have totally put the foot on the throat and snuffed out any hope.
Iona was lifeless and then we put in subs and stopped playing hard
Wow agbaji
How can you let them go on a 12-2 run like nothing???
Bullcrap play once again
Jalen with a good stroke is just as bad at the line as Doke
Stop fouling
CB this tournament has shown a lot of good things especially the ballhandling and finishing in the lane
That's just bad offense
Love the effort
Bobby with some nice minutes today.
@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Iona Game Thread:
What a lowkey Self-Pitino matchup this is
First ever matchup too
Nice joseph
Pathetic Jalen didn't even try to stop that guy from getting position
Wilson see the bench and stay
So far so good
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Facing pitino for the first time