🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Welcome and don't be a stranger. I expect you will be amazed at the level of expertise here, myself notwithstanding.

@jayballer54 Thanks for inviting us to think outside of the USA basketball box. I think it is likely that European kids see the world differently than US kids so you raise an interesting issue. My guess is that he stays but I'm just shooting in the dark.

@wrwlumpy I really enjoy your recent posts. Seems like you are more active than I remember. Keep it up!

@jaybate-1.0 Nobody can sling it like you can! This is such an uplifting post going into a tough Texas game.

@benshawks08 Nice comparison and right on target, too

Thanks for the smile. I do wish you had left Bob Knight out of the story. Thinking of him kind of ruined it for me--just sayin

@jaybate-1.0 I read the whole thing twice and I swear I felt my IQ rise by 10 points. And I'm now a little better looking, too! Thanks a bunch!!

@KUSTEVE Thanks for the chuckle...
"The Most interesting team in the world"

@JayhawkRock78 You make a fair point. I am not trying to do a point by point comparison of KSU football to KU basketball for the last 100 years. And I also admit that KU basketball is considered royalty by the basketball world AND that 10 big 12 titles in a row is a monumental achievement.

Still I would not turn away from a Bill Snyder clone if I was going to get a football team similar to the last 20 years at KSU, which I think was the point of the original post. And, if after 20 years of success, then the the program struggles (as we seem to think KSU will), well so be it. I'm still not turning down 20 good years.

@ralster I generally agree with your posts but not this one. I would take a Bill Snyder clone in a heartbeat. I don't care if the rest of the country disrespects KSU ( and I'm not sure they do). We Kansans live in fly-over country and will never get much traction with the East and West Coast media. What is important to fans is having a competitive team year in and year out, whether with five star recruits or not. By being competitive, fans have some thing to hope for and look forward to.

Further, for Bill Snyder to do it consistently (and twice, at his age) with what you deem lesser talents is doubly impressive. And he runs a clean program as far as I know. So for sure, I would love another Bill Snyder.

I do agree that KSU will have a hard time replacing him but that too is a measure of his accomplishments. There aren't a lot of interchangeable, master-level, head coach capable prospects out there.

Finally, although this may not be popular on the site, I think you give KU basketball a little too much credit. The last three KU basketball coaches have done a great job, no doubt. KU plays at almost the highest levels most of the time. But so does KSU in football. The game last Saturday was of national importance, maybe on the level of the elite eight (which would get the winner into the Final Four?) And KSU has played at that level a lot.

KU has had success but also some poor results. I'm thinking of the killer B's, for example or not getting out of the first weekend of NCAA Tournament play. So I would say that KSU football is equivalent to KU basketball IMHO.

@bskeet Thanks for the link. I hope he has a great season.

That's a lot of money. For a change I'm confident that it will be spent responsibly

@nuleafjhawk Stop it! You're making me tear up.

Seriously, that is pretty good. Don't tell me if you didn't write it. I don't want to know.

Can I send it to my wife?

@HighEliteMajor said:

Fisher terrorized our bigs with trapping on the block and the short corner. And it was not haphazard. It was very well coached, nice angles to the trap, perfect release points, etc.

I'm afraid the OAD phenomenon will make this kind of execution a thing of the past. I give you last years' Jayhawks as evidence. A world of talent without enough practice to execute well.

And then there were the injuries

MMMMM Cheetos be good!

Those unique particulars better keep their hands off my marshmellows!!

Who says I'm not?
Wait--Are you Nostradamus?

What I wonder is ...
How did Nostradamus know that I would be sitting here today reading KU Buckets while eating marshmellows covered with toasted coconut? What a guy!

Thank you for posting this. I don't follow the NBA much so I wouldn't know about Tarik if you (or some one) didn't post about him. Tarik Black impressed me with his maturity and positive attitude during his one year at KU and I hope he prospers in the NBA.

Let me add my voice to the chorus...
I just finished your post on the PG situation. I am impressed by your thinking and the way you present your ideas in words. Your post brought out a lot of good back and forth from other posters, and that is always a good sign.
KUBuckets is such a good site because of thoughtful posters like you. Thanks for your efforts.

I hope you're right and I think you may be. I'll be watching on Saturday and pulling for the Wildcats.

I just logged in after being away several days and all I can say is it looks great. I'll have to nose around a bit to get familiar with it but the first impression I have is favorable, for sure.

@Kip_McSmithers I'm impressed with your grasp of formatting and I'm jealous. Also you know a lot more about NBA teams than I do. Thanks for posting

@jaybate 1.0 maybe the tail is wagging the dog. Instead of barring gambling from college sports, maybe we should bar sports from college. Colleges in India don't have intercollegiate sports and they seem to do fine. Just a thought

I used to go in there when it was a retail mall--maybe ten years ago. Great view of the river and eagles sometimes glad you liked it.

@approxinfinity change is hard but I am for it

@drgnslayr thanks for the chuckle. I sure do appreciate you and all the other posters here. Some of the other boards get quiet in the summer but you guys keep cranking out the smiles!!

@HighEliteMajor I respect your knowledge and experience, and I also mostly agree with you. I do wonder if we would be discussing this if Embid didn't get injured and we had won the national championship. So my question is how much should injuries affect your analysis. Kentucky wasn't the same without Nerlans, but with healthy players, they do very well, thank you. And KU was a lot better when Joel was healthy. Just saying.

I never was good with deadlines... Or talent. Think I'll just stay here in the peanut gallery.

@justanotherfan WOW!! Finally someone has an idea that makes some kind of sense. Sorry, Bro, that's the kiss of death.

@DoubleDD I can't really say I'm interested in this topic right now because I am expecting a black swan event (something so unlikely that I can't even think what it might be). Maybe the O'Bannon thing blows up and college basketball is acquired by Netflix. Or all the high school players unionize. Or something else unimaginable. Conference realignment seems so last year.

Change is a constant and inevitable, if not always for the better. I'm amazed at how different college basketball is now versus the 1970s. Another fifty years and I won't recognize it at all. Maybe they should NOT allow a shot until the last ten seconds of the shot clock?

@wissoxfan83 if he were my son I'd be proud as punch of his character and performance on the court. He did so well in a tough situation and I hope we get more like him in the future.

@JRyman I think Jaybate is on target as usual. That said, I also think that the OAD phenomenon is changing how coaches work and recruit. Can a point guard get proficient in less than a year at a college program? Kentucky seems to be doing it this year but last year was a disaster (for other reasons, but still). Coaches may have to dumb down the offense if they have a OAD point guard. Seems to me that college basketball is taking a step back.

@MoonwalkMafia Good post! I swing back and forth on this year's team. I'm never as confident as I wish I could be and I won't be surprised if they don't make it past New Mexico State. If they make it past Syracuse/Ohio State, I'll be surprised, and then it's all gravy. For some reason I do think we have an even chance against Florida if we get that far. Go figure!

@jaybate and @drgnslayr I think you guys got it exactly right. As I remember it, Coach Self wasn't too excited with the conference tourney concept, saying (in effect) that it was more money for the conference without much benefit to the basketball programs themselves. So why knock yourself out to win it? Instead, cool your jets and save your energy for the Big Dance.

@MoonwalkMafia Thank you for injecting a measure of reason into an over-heated discussion. I too like what Wichita State is doing and also wonder how they will respond to better quality opponents. I always did like the 'Little Engine that could' story and that is what the WheatShocker remind me of. And I hope, if KU doesn't win the national title, that they do.

@nuleafjhawk A number 1 one seed with a weak SOS--good question. I d don't have the chops to research it. Maybe someone else can help. It is a good question though.

Love the photo of Black, especially all the open mouths in the crowd in the background. OMG!!

I agree that all the Kansas schools will not end up in the same bracket. I do wonder which of the three schools is most likely to move into an different bracket (by losing or winning or some other way).

Wichita State will probably win out and remain a No 1 seed, so no change.

KU plays Oklahoma at home, Okie State, Texas Tech at home, and West Virginia. I think all of these are winnable. If KU wins one or two games in the Big 12 tournament, they for sure stay at least a No 2 and possible ascend to a No 1. As a No 1, they move to a different bracket.

KSU plays Texas Tech, Iowa State at home, Okie State, and Baylor at home. Two road games (TT and OSU) and two home games (but one is with ISU). I can easily see the Wildcats losing two or three games. Not good for their ranking. So I think KSU will also move to another bracket (the one that KU is in?!).

@jaybate I can (sometimes) remember Jack Hartman. He got more the most out of his players, for sure. I always wondered what he could do with even better players. I remember listening to the AM radio in my car when KSU played in the Lon Kruger era.

Recruiting to the Little Apple was/is hard, I think.

@Blown I asked the same question earlier this season and got some good X and O insight from
Dragnslayr and Jaybate based on the players KU has and their defensive abilities. I think Syracuse has the advantage of being the only major program totally committed to playing zone

As far as the Final four, I expect the four healthiest of the top 15 teams. Just look at how much injuries have hurt so many teams, including Ku. I just hope the Jayhawks are one of the healthy teams

@drgnslayr @jaybate is right. This is a great post and I agree that Frank deserves the award. Thanks

@JRyman I had to favorite you even though it was kind of harsh. I'm still smiling!

@drgnslayr PHOF!! But why do they have to throw 100 long passes to the end zone?

Jaybate Nice judo move to suck nuleafjhawk in.
Nuleafjhawk. Nice Standing Crane counter.

@DoubleDD I have to agree with you about the not-having-fun aspect. In the Georgetown game the players faces showed how much fun they were having. The last game was completely different. Of course we were losing to SDSU and nothing was coming easily.

Some other posters have noted that our losses have been in close games. So I give them credit for playing through adversity. Churchill said When you're going through Hell, keep going! I hope better times are ahead.

@Crimsonorblue22 The way I see it, the universities will make sure there is enough money for the the coaches to be happy.

@drgnslayr You said it better and more truthfully than any one else ever has. There is a huge disparity between what the players get (a valuable educational experience, maybe) and what the NCAA and the universities get (Billions of dollars). This can't go on forever.

@justanotherfan I used to think this way too but now I realize there is so much more to life than money. First I can't feel bad for any 20ish man who has five million dollars. He should do well if he just a little financial sense. So what if he doesn't get another thirty mil?

Second he also won't get physically punished for several years. He won't have to travel all over and be away from home.

I don't mean to minimize his bad luck and he will have a challenge adjusting to losing his dream. But five years from now he may well be thankful.