Good point about conference play. Regardless I think we will see most of K-St's numbers regress in conference play and true colors will show
BeddieKU23
31745 posts
Didn't Trae say KU has been recruiting him since Sophomore year? I doubt UK got involved that early
By Senior year I think Mitch will have paid his due's and could earn a starter's role. He will need to bulk up and expand his game but it could happen. How likely I don't know but we have to think Self got him for a reason other than rotation player right? Maybe not but guys that bleed KU tend to improve and earn their keep
Would KU really even be an option seems how he eliminated KU from his list first time around.. The only dynamic that works in KU's favor is Romar is fired, Trae goes to KU and both Jackson/Svi go pro leaving a spot open and somehow KU got involved again. Seems like a lot of domino's will have to occur..
Yes the Diallo situation is interesting if he doesn't go Pro like Maker did.. With scouts already saying Diallo should go to College its likely he ends up at UK. That would help KU out..
I do hope we get a visit and its not the UK/KU game.. January 14th against Oklahoma St- another one of the schools he's considering maybe? Have to think it will be a weekend game so that leaves OSU, Tech, Texas, or Iowa St in January/Early February
I knew Sneed was a top 150 player I just didn't think he'd be averaging double figures as a freshman. But it makes sense given the competition and the complete lack of anyone else on the team that can produce that he's got solid early season numbers.
Yeah teams are going to expose K-St when substitution rotations happens or foul trouble occurs.
You said it best- toxic. Bad, wish fans could talk things like normal human beings but you truly find out there isn't many places like that. That's why this place is really a gold mine most of the time.
Young could still end up at UK because I do think he can play off the ball and be effective- his shooting ability says so. I've always thought UK was the team he likes the most but the Green/Alexander situation changes things.. KU just needs to keep grinding away and hopefully get him to a big game where our guards show out in front of his eyes.
What Mason & Graham are doing definitely helps.
I have not seen Baylor play man but their zone is more of a match-up based zone now so it has man principles as well. Lately KU hasn't had much success with transition in Waco. We seem to jump out on them in Allen or in the Big-12 tourney which opens up the court more. We'll see Baylor has legit rim protection this year and a PG I believe is their best in years.
Burton- I don't know best guess is Jackson and hope he stays out of foul trouble. Burton can shoot the 3 so putting Bragg on him is not smart. Vick might get beaten because Burton has a good 50 pounds on him. Svi could be an option because he's good at initial disruption on defense and Burton likes to get the ball at the top of the key.
Frank is the better offensive player and right now I would say him. Morris is really good, if we didn't have Frank I'd wish we had him. Will be an excellent battle of senior guards. I'm sure each will be trying to 1-up each other
Sounds like the Phog.
Crazy how people turn on kids with the slightest news that really didn't clear anything up for anyone. I don't see Young deciding until the spring when he knows what Graham will do. The January date just seems like something to shut up the media
Gladly will share my thoughts about how we match-up against each team. I'll start at the top.
Baylor
Probably the only team in the Big-12 with an advantage over KU in any area of the game. They have excellent size 1-5. Acuil Jr roaming the middle with his shot-blocking ability has really changed things for Baylor inside. Motley is also huge and can block shots. The zone looks big and with rim protection it makes it formidable.
How KU will beat Baylor- Josh Jackson will be a huge reason why. Putting him in the middle of the zone or finding the soft spot and using his play-making ability is a game-changer for KU. Previously we used Jamari or Ellis and Jackson is worlds better at passing out of that spot on the floor. Our passing ability is also better as a team overall. We can change directions better and find open shooters which if our guys are hitting will force Baylor to adjust. Then its about forcing Baylor on offense into jump-shots. Lecomte is a dangerous shooter but everyone else is streaky at best. If KU was to attack one player on Baylor that would change the complexion of the game it would be Motley. Often Foul prone, you take away Baylor's biggest offensive advantage if he's sitting.
West Virginia
Beating Huggins is easier this year then in years past. Defend West Virginia with aggressiveness and take care of the basketball. If they can't force turnovers at a high rate and they can't make easy shots inside they struggle to produce offense and keep teams off the scoreboard. They don't have 1 player that KU should be scared of, or a guy that will individually change the game like they had last year with Williams/Paige combo.
Iowa St
ISU has no choice but to play small-ball because nobody on their team is a true post other than Merrill Holden. Bowie is undersized, Burton is undersized but makes up for it with sure girth and athleticism. Perfect game for KU's 5 guards rotating in and out. Doke/Bragg and Lucas holding down the 5 for rebounding/rim protection. KU's guards are better than ISU's although ISU's guys are veterans and can have big games. If KU plays up to its potential I see no reason why we can't win in Ames this year. Niang was a match-up nightmare and is no longer. Burton has been trying to fill a similar role but doesn't have the Basketball IQ that Niang had.
Oklahoma
OU is easier to defend this year without its fearsome 3 guys. Woodard has always been solid and has taken on more of a scoring role but either Mason/Graham can slow him down. James is an improving talent that could be headed on a similar path as Buddy Hield was. Similar games/ similar build. Their defense so far outside of the Wisconsin 2nd half has been pretty good considering all the new guys in the rotation. Lattin is still a defensive force who's producing on offense now. I'm not sure how they will handle our guard heavy attack.
Texas Tech
Tech is playing faster then years past where Tubby "settle for one shot" mentality seemed to be his plan to try and beat KU every year. This tech team is experienced and has depth to play. Their best 3 point shooters so far are Aaron Ross & Anthony Livingston which are 6'8 guys (often a position that troubles KU). Livingston has big game ability with a 30 pt game already. The transfer from Arkansas St was a big pickup for Tech- he averaged 15 a game the last 2 seasons. We should be able to play our 4 guard lineup against them without any troubles.
TCU
Dixon has some size and they rebound pretty well as a group this year. Might be a game where KU has to play more traditional if there is any improvement from now until the opener in 21 days. We can play the 4 guard lineup and make them adjust especially if our guards can rebound.
Oklahoma St
As mentioned before OSU is playing at a breakneck style this year. Top 10 in tempo in the NCAA's. Taking lots of quick shots. This is a team we can play the 4 guard lineup- another match-up where we probably need to play it in order to win both games because OSU isn't very big. They have a lot of 6'6. types. Juwan Evans is a potential nightmare for Graham or Mason to guard. He was in Stillwater last year and he's only gotten better. Shooting the heck out of the ball right now. These games figure to be high scoring/ high pace which benefit KU because at least KU can defend and force misses.
K-St
Basically the same team as last year. Stokes- their PG is healthy so that helps them. DJ Johnson has stepped up as a senior big. Having the typical senior year that KSU gets from its bigs. Barry Brown is a good player- their best player when he's shooting well. Iwundu has been around forever it seems and he's been solid for them. One player exceeding expectations at least to me is Xavier Sneed. He's been shooting the ball well but the one game K-St played with a pulse Maryland he was scoreless. To be honest K-St only has 6 players that can compete on a nightly basis. They have little depth and they are stealing minutes during games from guys that would be walk-ons at KU. We shouldn't be worried about them challenging us.
Texas
A mess at the PG position right now. Just imagine what Mason will do to them. Lots of talent and Shaka hasn't figured out how to use it. They don't really match-up with KU and I don't expect much will change that would change that opinion.
That one I'm not sure of. But judging his form so far this year I doubt he was. I just think he's struggling right now due to lack of PT and being a freshman. So much is thrown his way and he's not settled yet
Its as bad as it was in HS, I saw a game this past summer where he tried to bank the 1st attempt in and air-balled the 2nd...He's already had a bank this year.
Me too as this isn't something new about Doke- he was a 30% shooter on the AAU circuit in High School. There is a lot they need to help him with.
Mitch will be good in time, you can see things in limited action that will translate as he gets older/bigger/mature. He can rebound, protect the rim some and he's very active. I also liked him hedging ball screens- quick. I'll be shocked if he isn't one of the teams top players by Senior year.
Do you think it will make a difference with the Oklahoma St being the last conference game? Possibly a situation where KU is playing for the conference which would give the game some importance for KU.. If the league is won before game 18 then certainly I could see them dropping the game if the perfect storm happens again.
OSU doesn't defend anything well so far and that was the one thing Ford's squads did in beating KU was defend.. OSU is playing at a completely different tempo/pace then before
What's surprising is Lightfoot's form looks very good, he's just putting a little too much juice on it. Just seems to be apart of freshman struggles, I'm sure he'll be okay in time
With Doke I can't even begin to see where that form or action is considered a good thing. He did make a few last game that looked better but as a whole I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish when he gets to the line.
The schedule is friendly enough early where KU could be 5-0 entering the Big Monday game in Ames.
If KU beats ISU in Ames then West Virginia becomes the most likely 1st loss in Conference play. After that only @ Baylor seems likely at this point. I think we hold serve at home again throughout conference play. No Niang's, Hield's too worry about coming to Allen and winning
Nebraska has absolutely no chance.
Yes there was a lot of talk about that. We'll see if the Big-12 gains from adding the championship. I have to think Baylor's issue and TCU being down had a lot to do with a Big-12 team missing it this year. OU would have made it if they could have beaten Ohio St at home.
It changes every year, this year was the year of the Big-10. Next year it could be another issue that becomes the latest thing.
The Big-10 situation was something I don't think will happen often with the current system.
The FT woe's are skewed but we are still seeing a huge weakness.
When Doke goes to the line we pray 1 goes in.
Jackson with his terrible preparation/form for FT's is hit or miss. We are going to have to hope that in crunch time his competitiveness makes him a better shooter.
I'm concerned that in close games FT's will cost us a game or more. And it won't be because we miss 5 or 6 at the end of games, it will be because guys are lazy at the line in the first half or when the game doesn't seem to be at a point where its that big of a deal.
West Virginia has played a very soft schedule as well as some others in the league that have been mentioned. The Virginia game was a marquee victory for them but otherwise they have feasted on weak opposition. Without Devin Williams & Paige they have struggled offensively to find an identity but as you said defensively they keep themselves in games with how much trouble they give teams pressing. We've also seen where Big-12 teams figure out the press especially in the 2nd game of the round robin. If West Virginia is going to be the toughest competitor for KU, offensively they are going to have to find a guy that can consistently score. Right now its more of a collective effort which works in the non-conference part but doesn't really work when facing KU.
KenPom is good at weeding out most stuff even with just 8-9 out of the way. I do not understand K-St being #34 per KenPom though with the 339th ranked schedule. If K-St is the 34th best team in all of College Basketball- then College Basketball is significantly down from past years.
Texas Tech has the 340th ranked schedule, West Virginia 300th, Oklahoma 281, Iowa St 217, TCU 198.
Baylor and KU are the only teams in top 100 so far.
I'm glad the Big-12 has looked better so far then what we might have thought in the pre-season. Baylor has really stepped up and everyone outside of Texas is sporting a good record right now.
I think right now 4 teams are locks for the NCAA's - KU, Baylor, ISU, West Virginia.
OU, Oklahoma St & Texas Tech could play themselves into a bid if things went their way. I think all 3 will have to rely on upsets though to make it happen.
KSU, TCU & Texas have not shown that they are tournament consideration.
The game in Manhattan is always tough but K-St has little depth and our perimeter attack will really hurt them. I'm not sold on OSU defending well enough but Underwood is definitely a step in the right direction for their program after having to deal with Travis Ford's antics.
Tech is a decent team so far and Odiase if he comes back would help them in the post and give them some more versatility with the lineup. They just haven't played anyone to get a full read on them. They look like they will score more then in years past where Tubby tended to slow the game down, Beard seems like a guy that lets them play more freely.
Agree about the Oklahoma schools, good offense at home can lead to upsets. OSU is just a very bad defensive team right now and they will have to shoot lights out most nights to have a chance against the better teams. OU is the one team I think where their ceiling could be higher then it is right now. Mostly because of coaching and having the talent that could develop.
Villanova is still not a good match-up for KU even with KU playing a similar style of play now
Part of me wants to see the playoffs become 8 teams but in some years you might be watering down the play if it was 8. Not every year is going to yield 6-7 worthy or even 8 teams. But with 5 power conference champions someone is always getting left out and that's not fair, especially when there is literally no written rules on how to actually get into the playoffs. There is so much bias to certain teams and certain conferences and I don't think that will ever be removed.
6 teams would seem to be perfect but that can't happen. Maybe give the #1 seed a bye.. Again not fair.
If I'm a Penn St fan you do have to feel upset (even though your consolation prize is the Rose Bowl) that a team you beat and didn't win its conference gets in the playoff over you when you won the H2H and won the conference outright. The H2H and conference championship is supposed to mean something but it didn't in Penn St's case because of the bad loss to Michigan and a loss to 8-4 Pitt.
If we are to have everything on a equal footing going forward I think the Playoff committee needs to come out with some sort of written criteria for how the teams are chosen. What has more weight over what because otherwise everything is opinion and subjective to a committee's thoughts.
For those that haven't payed much attention to the rest of the Big-12 this may be for you to get up to speed as we inch closer to conference play. I will go through each team labeling them Contender or Pretender. I've watched 2-3 or more games on each team so far. This may not play out to be accurate at season's end but this should give a good idea of who stands in our way to #13.
Baylor. Ranking: #4 AP, KenPom- #11. Adj O- #15, Adj D- #14.
Contender
Maybe the most talked about Big-12 team besides KU this non-conference is Scott Drew's Bears. 8-0 with big wins against Oregon, Xavier, Louisville and solid wins against VCU & Michigan St. Officially it says they have won against 4 ranked teams but we all know Izzo's squad is not a Top 25 team this year.
Is Baylor for real? Yes they are.
Replacing their starting PG, do it all SF/PF & C should have led to growing pains but their replacements Manu Lecomte (Miami transfer) and Jo Lual Acuil Jr (red-shirted due to heart condition) both used the red-shirt year to develop their games. Jonathan Motley entering the starting lineup has also had a big effect on this teams efficiency at both ends of the floor. Last year he was a 6th man type, this year he's their leading scorer and no questions asked best player. So far these three players have shown to be better then the guys they replaced from last years squad. That's tough to say especially when Prince was drafted & Rico Gathers ended his career as one of the top rebounder's in Big-12 history.
The win against Louisville is their biggest win so far. Winning in that weird ball-room place in the Bahamas (KU lost to Villanova a few years ago) showed a tough team. They were down 22 points and looked hopelessly beaten. They looked like a typical Scott Drew team that was folding playing top competition. But then the game changed and Baylor found a way to come back and eventually won. Louisville will be a solid top 10ish team all year, its a big win. The Oregon win looks good on paper as well as Xavier but both times Baylor got lucky playing them at home. Oregon was also short their best player and looks like a team that is still putting itself together. Xavier might not be a Top 10 team this year but it was another statement win.
The one question every KU fan and Big-12 fan knows though is can Scott Drew coach this team up in Big-12 play. Are they peaking now? Can the zone-match-up defense that gives teams fits in non-conference play hold up when teams who play them annually scout and pick apart game film to find weaknesses. Is Baylor's home court atmosphere good enough to win big games against KU and others? If the answer to those questions is yes, then KU has perhaps its biggest challenger in years on its hands. OU & Iowa St looked poised to take KU down last year and just couldn't survive the gauntlet that is Big-12 play. Holding serve at home and getting 1 or 2 lucky breaks on the road is absolutely needed to win this league. You have to play perfect almost every night.
West Virginia: Rank- #15 AP- KenPom #9- Adj O #16- Adj D # 8
Contender: "Sigh"
I'm not sure which team I despise more: Huggy Bear's slap attack or ISU's weatherwax delusional clan. I guess they both can be on equal footing.
Huggins again has a team that can contend for the Big-12. The AP poll has them lower then KenPom which has them a solid Top 10 squad right now. They haven't played a tough non-conference, just two games that even stick out. Temple is decent and had a huge lead over West Virginia in a neutral court game. Temple blew the lead like a lot of teams do facing non-stop pressure, WVU came back but didn't have enough clutch shots in the end to get the comeback victory. Just this past week West Virginia went into Virginia and got a huge win on the road. It was a chippy low scoring slugfest. Pack-Line defense against nagging full court pressure. Virginia is not the Virginia of the past few years offensively- and without arguably their best player who was kicked off the team just a few games into the season for what sounds like a drug problem, UVA is 3rd or 4th best ACC team this year. Still a road win is a road win and it shows that no matter how much talent you have, a certain style of play can overcome weaknesses on a team.
As far as West Virginia's players go, Devin Williams is gone (thank every basketball god out there) Paige is gone- he was a nuisance and Jonathan Holton who was the lead man on their press is also gone. Esa Ahmad a former top 100 player who had a typical freshman year last season has become their leading scorer. Their 2nd leading scorer- Nathan Adrian? Who? Now sports a made for TV haircut instead of his traditional buzz cut. Seems like he's been at West Virginia half a century. Went from 4 pts a game to over 10. Juniors Jevon Carter who looks 50 with his hair-line and new dirty player of the year nominee Daxter Miles (see my thread about his dirty hit on a Virginia player) are still kicking around fouling people and launching 3's.
I struggled with putting this team as a contender because I don't think this years squad is that good. Their style of play dictates they can muddy up any game and keep them from losing games they might otherwise. Other than Virginia they haven't played a team that wouldn't beat a bottom dweller in the Big-12 so the jury is still out on how good they really are. Last years WVU squad would roll this years version by 20. But there is enough veterans on the squad to think they will find ways to win some games on the road and they always give KU their super bowl effort in Morgantown in which we always wonder if the ref's drink the local water before the game, or they are secretly wearing West Virginia shirts under those zebra uniforms. Self has never figured out how to attack the press without us fans pulling our hair out. The home/away games will be tough especially with how they are scheduled.
Iowa St: Rank- #25- KenPom #23- Adj O #31- AdjD #19
Contender
In what should be Iowa St.'s last year as a Big-12 contender for a while, Prohm has 6 seniors in his rotation. Gone is George slow-mo Niang and Predator clone McKay from last years squad. Niang was not replaceable and Prohm went the transfer route to try and replace some of the production lost.
Monte Morris has taken over this team and is the leading scorer. Deonte Burton has really come on in recent games and is a match-up nightmare for most squads who don't have an undersized athletic forward roaming around on their team that weighs 240. Naz Long comes back for his 17th season after medically red-shirting with a hip injury. He's been terribly inefficient so far shooting the 3 ball. Matt Thomas is one of those 4 year players that you love to have on your team and hate to play against. Iowa St literally has no one on the team over 6'8. Josh Jackson is as tall as their tallest guy. That in a nutshell has exposed their biggest problem this year- post size and depth. They have neither and Prohm is forced to play mid-major small in a power 5 conference.
Schedule wise Iowa St has played 3 teams with a pulse and lost 2 of them. Miami is rebuilding, Iowa St beat them on a neutral court then lost to still Undefeated Gonzaga 2 days later in a hard fought 2 point game. Monte Morris blew a chance for a game winning shot by not even getting one off in time, which for a Senior leader is inexcusable. Gonzaga is a top team again this year so the loss isn't the end of the world. Last week Iowa St dropped an OT game against Cincinnati in which both teams were allergic from putting the ball into the basket. A 55-54 OT game. Cincinnati usually makes every game they play a fall asleep type affair but this game was filled with lots of missed shots.
The #'s so far say Iowa St is a better defensive team then offensive team. That is usually the opposite as Iowa St spreads the floor and takes jumpers whenever they feel like it. I feel a lot of it is due to Niang being gone. He was such an offensive juggernaut from all over the court and his point forward ability allowed ISU to have 2 PG's on the floor at all times. Without that guy on the floor who could get a basket anytime he wanted ISU has had to rely on other individual talents. Because of the Seniors on this team I still have them as a contender and with the 2nd best home-court advantage in the league they always have the ability to hold serve for 9 games in-conference. This isn't ISU's best squad and it will show in road games where they struggle to get timely buckets and lack size to protect the rim and rebound.
Oklahoma- Rank- None- KenPom #42 Adj O #59 Adj D # 35
Pretender
No team lost more from last year then this squad. 3 starters, Buddy Hield, Cousins, Spangler. They had a banner year making the Final 4 and playing one of the best games in Allen Fieldhouse history. Left is PG Jordan Woodard-their leading scorer and C Kadeem Lattin a defensive player with an emerging offensive game as he's averaging double figures now. Christian James has emerged as their 2nd leading scorer and is trying to follow in the footsteps of Hield, similar game and player. 3 Freshman are contributing and 2 other Sophomores who played sparingly last year. Young squad, definite rebuilding year.
So far they have dropped an OT game against Northern Iowa, beaten an okay Clemson squad and got blown out by Wisconsin on the road. OU looked promising early against Wisconsin but then the Badgers took over the game after halftime and made the final margin of victory look like a blowout. That game to me signaled that they are going to struggle at times in Big-12 play. They have talent, more so then 80% of the league but its going to take Kruger time to get them to play together. I think they could upset a few teams and make the NCAA's because we all know the coach is good and has a proven track record for developing his team. They are still shooting the 3 ball well as a team and they are lucky that 4 year starter Woodard is still around to take pressure off the rest of the squad. They look like a 11-7 to 9-9 Big-12 squad this year.
Texas Tech: Rank- None- KenPom #31 Adj O- #33- AdjD #38.
Pretender
This might be the toughest team to get an early season prediction on because they have played literally nobody so far. Auburn is a young squad with some talent but probably an SEC afterthought again so the 2 point loss to them doesn't bode well for them making the NCAA's without some marquee Big-12 wins. The #'s so far say they are better then average but seriously who wouldn't look good beating Houston Baptist, North Texas, Eastern Kentucky, Utah St, Incarnate Word, Rice, UT San Antonio. So far its the 11th worst out of conference schedule of 351 teams. They play nobody until traveling to Iowa St to start conference play.
New head coach replacing Tubby Smith is Chris Beard who got Arkansas Little Rock into the NCAA's and knocked off Purdue in one of those epic first round games. Beard inherited a good team that made the NCAA's themselves but stood no match for Butler. Starting Center Odiase has not even played this season but Texas Tech is 8-1 anyway. A key graduate transfer in Anthony Livingston is providing solid scoring so far and overall they have 7 guys averaging 8 points or more a game.
They certainly have the experience back and players to finish in the upper half of the league but its hard to predict that with them playing such a soft schedule so far. When they played a Power 5 school they lost and they had a chance to tie the game with 4 seconds left but Aaron Ross- their leading scorer's shot was blocked. Until this team proves itself in conference they could be a team that finishes 11-7 to 7-11. The ceiling is there for them to continue off last years success with a 1st year coach.
TCU: Rank- None- KenPom- #51 Adj O- #67- Adj D- #54
Pretender
First year coach Jamie Dixon comes back to his Alma-Mater after a successful stint at Pittsburgh where he routinely made the NCAA tourney. TCU was undefeated until last night when SMU blew them out at home. SMU is a tough place to travel and win but the margin of victory says that TCU still has a long ways to go. There was some chatter they would be ranked but good thing this game gave everyone thinking that a wake up call. The two wins against Washington- a perennial underachieving team with NBA talent are probably not going to be substantial resume wins by end of season.
Dixon has some talent leftover from the previous regime and he did land a Top 40 PG in Jaylen Fisher who has been solid so far 11ppg, 4 assists. Alex Robinson a transfer from Texas A&M has been their leading scorer. Perennial disappointment Karvier Shephard is still around, Kenrich Williams is back from a knee injury and is averaging a double/double so far. Brodziansky- a twig post has also become one of their leading scorers in his 2nd year with the team. TCU plays 10 guys on the regular and has depth to stay in games. Can a good coach make that much of a difference in 1 year to change the winning culture around the program. Will fans show up and support the new coach and updated facilities? They should do better than 2-16 but its more likely 7-11 would be a big turnaround for this squad. KU does travel down to TCU for the Big-12 opener so we'll get to see soon if TCU is improved..
Oklahoma St: Rank- None- KenPom- #47 Adj O #27 Adj D #81
Pretender
First year coach Brad Underwood brings an exciting style of play to OSU that Travis Ford never did. I think this was the best hire in the Big-12 in the off-season that has 3 new coaches. So far OSU is top 10 in tempo- they play fast and take lots of shots. Offensive numbers have been staggering so far but when they have played better competition they have come back down to earth. UNC absolutely destroyed them when some people were starting to take notice of this team.
Future NBA Sophomore Juwan Evans leads the Big-12 in scoring at 23 ppg. His shooting #'s so far are impressive and some TV guys have compared his game to Chris Paul. I think his usage % is near 34% so he's getting big numbers while also getting a lot of opportunities. Phil Forte is back for his senior year after having his year cut short last season with injury. Just another guy your like "he's still around". Never been a fan of this guy and every-time he plays KU its his Super Bowl. Jeffrey Carroll might be the guy who's benefited the most from the switch in style and coaches as he's doubled his scoring average from 8 to 16 this year. Oklahoma St has 3 guys averaging 14 pts or more a game so they definitely want to score the basket. OSU plays 11 guys in its regular rotation and has 7 guys who have attempted 15 or more 3's on the season.
Schedule wise they have dropped games to UNC as mentioned before in Maui & a 1 point loss to Maryland who's in a down year from past squads. Otherwise their best win is against a struggling Georgetown team and a injury stricken Uconn squad down to 6 or 7 healthy bodies. OSU has 1 more chance before conference play to get a big win traveling to Wichita St next weekend. Style wise this team might surprise in Big-12 play by scoring but the biggest issue is this is a team that doesn't defend anything. When Central Arkansas & Rogers St (must be a Div-2 squad) can score over 85 points against them imagine what KU and others will put up. Of course the last game of the regular season- traveling to Stillwater is the annual Bill Self can't win in Gallagher Iba reunion. This year we don't travel in February, its the 18th game of the schedule so maybe this will break the curse that has followed this team in that gym.
Kansas St: Rank Never, KenPom- Overrated Adj O # false Adj D # biased
Pretender
Did I mention yet that K-St sucks? If not then I am saying it now. Just how delusional are K-St fans. They have actually had a discussion I've seen that says their talent is a wash at most positions this year with KU. The water in Manhattan must have a nice spike to it. I don't expect anything less from them because its typical, so typical that all you can do is laugh. Hey some K-St fans still think Dean Wade is the next Larry Bird. It would be like them to have the worst coach in the Big-12 with that pip-squeak voice that follows when he opens his mouth. How many more years does Bruce Weber get. They could have had Underwood- instead they get mediocrity- at best.
What else is there to say about this team. They have played a bunch of YMCA squads at home, lost a 1 point game to Maryland- not the only Big-12 school to do that so far. Cream puff central so far in out of conference play. Not wasting anymore time discussing them. They will finish last in the league in my opinion and I'll be so happy if that does happen
I forgot Texas.
At this point Texas is a pretender. Shaka has a lot of work to do with this squad and at 4-4 they are struggling mightily to win games. I think we've talked up Texas enough over the weeks. I see them as a bottom level Big-12 team unless they figure out chemistry and the PG mess they got going on.
Thoughts everyone?
Davidson is a fun offensive team as always and have 2 legit 20+ point scorers on the team. Gibbs got 30 last night against UNC, he can get 30 against us too. They will test our defense. They play optional defense so it should be a high scoring game. I think UNC has cooled off a bit and this is always a big game for Davidson every year, they usually play them tough.
they sure did blow it in the last minute or so.
@kjayhawks said:
@BShark Ya wouldn't put mason back in, play with 4 make it even lol
I wish they would give him a few more minutes to get to 30
He should be he's the whole package
Love these type of games
NBA jams like whatt
Ok this isn't fair
Best freshman at KU I have seen
That Josh kid on KU. Yeah him, he can play ball ok
Got a little sloppy hopefully the guys come out and put them away
Some of those guys shoot from 35 feet lol
Great hedge by mitch on that lass poss
8 of 13 from 3 is crazy
Bragg has to make that. How bout a dunk?
Finally got the feed that was brutal
Like losing site of your child
Very true. Just going to be a tough stretch where we find out what these guys are made of.
could be waiting on grades before going on visits..
It's never too early to look ahead with the conference opener only 24 days away. I hadn't really dug deep into our conference schedule as I wanted to see how teams looked first.
It's clear the scheduling guru's did us no favors in this 14 day stretch from January 24th to February 6th.
After a home game against Texas on Saturday Jan 21st, KU travels just 3 days later for its annual 8 on 5 match-up against West Virginia in Morgantown.
@ Kentucky in Rupp 3 days later
Home vs Baylor 3 days later
Home vs Iowa St 2 days later
2 days later our annual trip to Manhattan to face squeaky and the kids who wished they played for KU.
How on earth are these kids supposed to "get up" for all these games. Each team presents different levels of emotions for KU to deal with. We will definitely find out the heart of this team during this stretch
The minutes discussion is a good one. We've obviously seen what has happened to Frank in the past when he plays too many minutes. He is a senior though and is our leading scorer so how much you can really limit a talent like him is difficult.
Self talked about the 4 guard lineup and how if KU is forced to use it more then the traditional lineup that limiting Frank's minutes from say 35 to 32 will be impossible. Self wants to desperately rely on the traditional lineup for many reasons but we all know he's smart enough to see that this particular lineup and style is benefiting his team.
I see no reason to sugar coat that the best lineup for KU is to ride its 4 guard lineup as far as it goes. The ceiling for the traditional lineup is just not good enough. The posts are just so far behind our guards its not even a discussion.
I do hope that our posts will improve so we'll have style flexibility. 4 guard lineup is 1a & going big is 1b. That all depends on Carlton Bragg's effort. His defense has been poor, he's fouling a lot and taking himself out of the game. I didn't think effort would have been his issue but I guess we just automatically assumed he was ready. Once Bragg learns to play hard consistently we'll see better results. He's the hope for Frank playing less minutes. We can't play Doke & Lucas together or Doke/Coleby so its all on Bragg to bring consistency to the 4 spot.
But I have a hard time believing what's best for this team is taking Vick out of the starting lineup. He fights for lose balls, he rebounds, he doesn't foul at a high rate and he can make perimeter shots. Vick has intangibles that Bragg doesn't have right now. And Vick is only going to get better as this season goes on. Vick is the now, Bragg might still be another year away.
@JayHawkFanToo said:
Does anyone think that Huggins or any other coach, with the exception of John Chaney, encourages or condones this type of behavior? I would think not as it would certainly be counterproductive in the short as well as in the long term. Players/teams with this type of reputation get extreme scrutiny from the refs and a very short leash, definitely not something you want.
Having said that, has Daxter Miles done something like this before? He was an honor roll student in HS and he has been Academic All-Big 12 First Team his first two years, not the type of player you would expect to act like this. I am not defending him or condoning what he did, I just don't know enough about him to label him one way or another with the information at hand; I am sure none of us would label EJ a dirty player for his one time nut hit, would we? Just curious if someone has more information on him.
I don't know if this is another character reference but Miles did mouth off his freshman year before the UK game in the NCAA'S and they made him pay dearly for it.. it's not a correlation to the play on Saturday but just pointing out this isn't the first time he's negatively in the news. I think that play was dirty and don't need to see him prove it again to think that. Not saying he should be painted a dirty player if he learns from it but that elbow had a lot of intent and I don't want to see one of our players be on the receiving end
Found the fouling stat.
KU is 67th in fouling.
West Virginia is 265th in the country in fouls (having played 1 less game).
You think officiating isn't consistent? yeah look no further than the team that fouls you a minimum of 2-3 times per possession is at the bottom of D-1 in fouls.
In Allen Fieldhouse- average 18 fouls a game.
Neutral Court- average 23 fouls a game
So are we getting the home ref at home?
that was great