At this point, we should just use Dave to set screens around the FT line and follow-up on drives. Forget about posting him.
DCHawker
4842 posts
Does anyone keep track of shooting % at the rim. We are probably 300th in the nation...
Jeezuz Dave....
Eerily reminiscent of the Dayton game. Big 1st half lead - 18 this time - and quickly down to 10...
@BShark After the first 50 seconds...
@StLJhawk said in Dayton Game Thread:
Maybe an early loss for a wake up call for everyone to work harder?
Work harder or just execute better? No way to sugar coat this - this was a bad loss. Dayton had a losing record coming in. Has a dozen freshmen. They turned the ball over 20 times. This should have been a blowout. At this point, Baylor rules the roost in the B12 (just beat down MSU), and KU needs to prove otherwise. And, unless the Hawks do dominate the conference, a high seed isn't in the offing - the non-conference schedule is the weakest in memory. Other than UK?, really no other opportunities for quality wins.
We took pretty good care of the ball the first 3 games - reverting to old habits this game. Very sloppy passing...
Porous defense...
@BShark said in UNT Turkey Day Game Thread:
Dave 1-5 from the floor. Och only 5 shots.
Dave didn't make a bucket on his own. Only credited with 5 attempts, but he missed 3 on one possession. A couple of 2 footers. I would rather see more of Jalen or Ochai posting up...
@BeddieKU23 said in UNT Turkey Day Game Thread:
Dave's inability to rebound is startling
Startling suggests surprising, which, alas it's not at this point. Frustrating, vexing, perplexing, perhaps...
@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Tarleton Game Thread:
Dave god damnit play defense
Pretty please with sugar on top...
Their 2 guys are 13-19?!?
So, not being able to see the game, but just looking at the stats, can't fathom how we're only up 8. Shoot over 50% and dominate the boards? And, how do we let 2 guys score 29 of their 3 points??? Do we miss Marcus?
6 minutes in and 6 points against Tarleton???? What up?
Will rely on the thread for the play by play....
The difference in the game was turnovers and FTs (10pt advantage at the line). We didn't shoot particularly well and were outrebounded. But, we protected the ball much better than in years past (think Duke at MSG) so had more possessions. 9 TOs against an Izzo team is pretty good. A function of having 2 true ball handlers on the court at all times (and Dave for just 22).
We're still not a particularly good shooting team. We can compensate for that by moving the ball, penetrating, and getting more shots close to the rim or wide open shots on kick outs. What does seem clear is that is that our best line-up(s) will be fairly small. Always 2 small guards (based on what we saw yesterday, I would be comfortable with any combination of the 4 smaller guards, although Remy needs to get most of the minutes and the ball needs to be in his hands at the end of possessions. Dave will be fine against certain teams, and we can feed the post as per usual, but in many other instances, our best line-up may well be all guards and wings/forwards - basically, Jalen as the "big" and CB or whomever at the 4, and Ochai and two PGs.
@DanR That's my concern. Stop running sets for Dave right now. Let Remy create at the end of the clock...
Why am I still nervous. We have this in hand, right????
@KirkIsMyHinrich Speed kills...But in a good sense in basketball.... ;)
Well, Mitch has certainly played a lot better than Dave this game...
Actually was the right call...
Dave 2-7 with 1 RB and 2 TOs....
Stunning that Remy has no shot attempts. Overreacting to Bill's leash? CB, Dave and Ochai 5-16 from the floor....
Depth will be the key to this team. Hopefully, HCBS will recognize that. We got killed on the boards and the starters shot well under 50%. And yet, we lead by 7. The bench will be the difference...
I will be fine with a super small line-up - 3 little guys - Remy, Harris and Bobby running people ragged...
I don't know about this year, but the future looks good....
The bench is 5-8 from the field. The starters....Well, Harris is 1-1...
Will be interested in minutes distribution this half, but it seems like CB has been on the floor longer than anyone else with little to show for it - actually negative contribution....
So, based on the first 16 minutes, CB should not be a starter on this team...
After 4 years, we know that Dave struggles mightily against length. And, yet, we keep force feeding the post. The result - 1-4 and 2 turnovers. And zero rebounds.....
@BShark yup - so why do we keep feeding it into him when it isn't a good match up?????
CB leading a break is not a recipe for success....
@BShark it is a true fact that he is. But he is long - questionable re athletic - but after 4 years, one would've hoped he could have a learned how to play against that type...
@BShark yeah, but a player that averaged like 10 minutes last year and 3 or 4 ppg...
Kinda surprised that it's tied - seems like they've played better...
@wissox A few times. Was there for the Duke loss a couple of years ago...
Other than the first possession, very sloppy on both ends through the first TO...
HCBS previewed this - DMac not leaning in and inviting contact, but fading away. Got swatted but bailed out...
Getting beat down the court is not a good look...
Good start!
Bit of a double edged-sword -- we should be favored in every non-conference game,but relatively soft schedule will negatively impact power rankings compared to past years. If the team comes together, not inconceivable that we could be undefeated heading into the conference schedule. But, that depends on how we do out of the gate - haven't always been sharp (e.g, v. Duke in MSG) - and how we do in road games - last year, not great....
For the first time in memory, there are no real bench warmer/practice squad/garbage time only guys on the roster. Everyone can play - although obviously some won't see much, if any time. There have to be 2-3 redshirts, right? HCBS isn't going to change stripes - he always ends up playing just a 7-8 man rotation in games that matter. Maybe go to 9-10 this year? Even if so, that leaves 4-5 guys that won't really get any PT. ? Who starts? Who are the first ones off the bench at lead guard, off the ball, and upfront? Which ones redshirt and which ones don't, but mostly just sit and cheerlead?
@mayjay I don't have a subscription to The Athletic. Are you are to cut and paste the full article? Would be greatly appreciated...
@BShark said in Sahvir Wheeler:
@Kcmatt7 said in Sahvir Wheeler:
@BeddieKU23 I'm officially on your side of panic mode.
Nothing like starting 2 guys under 6' and then bringing one off the bench. Pairs well with our D2 6'7 power forward and JUCO 6'7 Center.
Just masterful roster construction going on here. Definitely got longer and more athletic this offseason.
Yeah I'm really not even sure the starting line-up changes outside of Marcus. The whole 3 wing (Braun, Och*, Wilson) thing will get beat like a drum against teams with good guards so I am hoping we do actually go with 2 guards a wing, Jalen, Dave.
*up in the air still
As much as I think Ochai should come back, it's a bit depressing to think that our starting line-up would be the same as last year's team, albeit minus it's best all around player. We suffered an epic beat down in the tournament against a good, but not great, team (they were whipped the next game) that was simply faster, longer and more athletic. And, we had already seen a preview of that against Texas and Tennessee. HCBS acknowledged as much, and said we needed to upgrade our athleticism. As yet, however, we simply don't have the speed or athleticism to guard the perimeter and defend against good guards or wings. Or, to penetrate and finish against size and speed (maybe Yesufu or Pettiford?). Who can guard a mobile big who can hit 3s (welcome to the B12 Tanner Groves)?
Our main issue last year was roster construction - the pieces didn't fit together well. I admit I'm at a loss as to how we're going about trying to fix that....
On CBS latest top 50 draft board, there are 8 players from the B12, representing 6 different teams. 60% of the conference represented, but not KU. When has that ever happened? When viewed through the NBA talent (or lack thereof) lens, pretty remarkable that HCBS was able to coax 20 wins out of this year's team. Of course, he owns the absence of talent, as well...
@KirkIsMyHinrich said in 2021 Recruiting:
@BShark said in 2021 Recruiting:
@KirkIsMyHinrich said in 2021 Recruiting:
I mean players do get better. Frank Mason was a 32.7% 3-point shooter and 66.7% FT shooter as a freshman and a 47.1% 3-point shooter and 79.4% FT shooter as a senior. Players develop and get better. Dajuan Harris looks like he could be really good, so does Jalen Wilson. Maybe Clemence or Adams show potential next season. Maybe Bryce will improve with a full and normal offseason and a hopefully healthy sophomore season. Instead of trying to look for a quick fix and get a 1-year rental who probably won't be much better than a player currently on our roster, maybe we should recruit freshman and give them time to develop and play with each other.
We are definitely hoping for improvement out of Bryce. I would bet money on 4, possibly 5 new faces.
And the Top 6 players on the team next season are still going to be Dave, Jalen, Agbaji, Braun, Thompson, and Harris.
Agree with @BShark that if that is, in fact, our top 6 players next year, then it will be a long and frustrating year. It's the same team that lost games to long and athletic teams by 34, 25 and 19 points this year. Minus it's best defensive player (by far) and the only player who could semi-consistently finish on drives.
I don't know how much they could improve just with an additional year of experience, but that would be a team seriously lacking in speed and athleticism. Who among that 6 can take a reasonably good defender off the dribble to the hoop and finish? Who can create his own shot - maybe Thompson, who demonstrated earlier in the year that he has a decent pull up shot from 12-15ft? Who can consistently knock down 3s? On the other end, who can shut down a top flight scorer? Who can stop quick guards or wings from penetrating?
We were under .500 against at large caliber teams this year. And, most of the wins we did get were against teams that didn't get past the first round (Baylor coming off layoff and a 1 point win against Creighton that won 2 games in the tourney).
Whether through transfers or recruits, we need a serious upgrade of talent, esp. a real honest-to-goodness PG, to improve on this year...
@Texas-Hawk-10 said in KU vs USC game thread:
@KansasComet said in KU vs USC game thread:
@DCHawker Harris will surprise. There is a lot of talent on this team. Compared to the other Blue Blood Programs, the year wasn’t so bad. Losses like this motivate. Looking forward to next season. Wish there was a tournament last year, I think we would have won it.
There's not a lot of talent compared to KU's best teams. Nobody on the roster currently is an NBA level player.
Who coming back would actually be a starter on most KU line-ups of the past 2 decades?
@KansasComet said in KU vs USC game thread:
Matchups were a nightmare. We will be back strong next year!
Would like to believe that, but based on what? We still don't have an elite PG, shooters, or mobile, athletic bigs on the roster or coming in as yet....
Will they get to 90 before we get to 50???
That TGF is our second leading scorer tells you all you need to know...