@stoptheflop said:
Just not closing this out. Turnovers and more turnovers
Make FTs and it's over...
DCHawker
4842 posts
Why oh why leave anyone open on the arc....
@BShark Not quite sure what to say to that....
Gonna have to convert on some 1 and 1s....
@DoubleDD said:
Is Frank Mason the best rebounding point guard in the nation??
At least for the under 6 ft crowd....
@BShark Which way?????
They can't stop LL down low, but he sure can stop himself... 12 pts and 7 RBs, but he should have had many more. 4 TOs credited and he's been stripped a few times and missed a few bunnies...
Two straights bad TOs - value the damn ball guys! We could be opening up some breathing room....
Pace has really slowed down...
@chriz said:
Love watching Bragg play with his head in the game
Well, half a head... He's scoring, but is still a major liability on the defensive end - out of position and not blocking out...
@BShark said:
Hilton magic indeed
Hilton con...
Hilton bait and switch....
Hilton 3 card monte... (okay that's a bad pun)
Frank is hurting....
@stoptheflop He's too strong for them - will post them low
We shoot 60% - 40% from 3 - out rebound them by 11 - we should be up 15. 11!!!! TOs allowing the Clones to stay in this....
Did Svi not read the scouting report and watch tape - don't leave Thomas open for 3s - he isn't going to drive - he just shoots....
@HawkChamp Problem is who else does he guard?
@wissox Okay - half court defense then...
There is just NO defense in this game........
Odd game - no real rhythm - uncharacteristic TOs on both sides. Makes me a bit nervous that ISU is 0-6 from 3 - you know that they will start making a few at some point.
Did Bragg actually miss the rim on both of those bunnies??? Nice clean up by Vick....
Really BAD TOs - not like ISU is creating them - they don't generate a lot of steals - we're just giving it away...
If LL can just be strong with the ball, he can dominate in the paint - we may see more post feeds than any other game this year...
@approxinfinity It's never good, right? And, against WVU there, it would be another 20 point+ smack-down...
Looks like it's going to be a lot of shots at the rim on both sides...
@JayHawkFanToo It's not a complaint - it's a factual observation.....
@JayHawkFanToo Again, we seem to be talking past one another. I wasn't and am not suggesting we trade schedules with anyone. And, I'm not complaining about KU's schedule or our record.
Again, my only point is that while we likely will be #1 tomorrow, that is more a product of being the team that has gone the longest without a loss (excepting Gonzaga), rather than on the overall resume AT THIS POINT.
I'm not at all suggesting that Baylor is better than us, but they unequivocally have more quality Ws at this point - Louisville, Oregon, Xavier and ISU and MSU. So does Villanova - Purdue (away), Notre Dame, Creighton and Xavier. I didn't mention Gonzaga - you did - but in addition to the win against a perhaps overrated St. Mary's, they've also beaten Arizona, Florida, and ISU. The other team in the conversation is UCLA. They've played a weak schedule overall, and have only one quality W, but it is arguably the single best win of the year - UK at Rupp (which, of course, we can and will match....).
As to losses, you characterize Baylor's as a bad one because of the margin, but they lost to a really good team on the road - and, we know from direct experience that double digit losses in Morgantown can be expected. I don't think that is a worse loss than a neutral court loss to an IU team that has turned out to be mediocre. Villanova's only loss was to a very good Butler team on the road. UCLA's only loss was by 2 to a full strength Oregon. Gonzaga of course doesn't have a blemish, but despite more quality wins, because they play so many teams with rankings in the 200s ad 300s, I don't think they rate.
Now, 2 weeks from now, when we've beaten UK, WVU, Baylor and ISU, we will unequivocally have the best resume in the country. We simply do not now....
@JayHawkFanToo It's not green grass, brown grass or chartreuse grass... I think we're talking past one another. You are clearly inferring criticism in my comments. I'm not being critical re the schedule. We typically have one of the toughest non-conf schedules year in and year out - and play 2-3 top teams. Just hasn't played out that way this year.
You can slice and dice it any number of ways. If you want to use the Sagarin ratings, I would note that we've played the (tied for) fewest top 25 of any of those teams - just 2. Louisville, not listed above, has played 8 such games; Villanova 5. If you look at RPI, we've only have 4 top 50 wins - Duke at 15, TCU is next highest and then Nebraska (of all things). This year, so far, we simply don't have as many high quality wins as other teams (or that we typically do at this time). Our overall SOS is mostly a product of the fact that we haven't played any really bad teams - only 2 in the 200s.
And, it is simply a statement of fact that we haven't played ISU, WVU or Baylor yet - either at home or on the road.
Our overall schedule strength - and opportunity for high quality Ws - will obviously change in the next two weeks.
Again, we've beaten every team we've played since the first game - that's all we can do; can't control how other teams play. My point and only point is that IMO, there are at least 3 others teams that have better overall resumes at this point than we do - and that if we are #1 this week, which seems likely, it will be more a product of the fact that we were the last to lose, rather than relative merits of each team's resume....
@joeloveshawks said:
@stoptheflop I say yes. KU can win another Big 12 Championship and make a Final 4 run with the current game plan and lack of depth. Duke won't all recently with no bench and essentially one big man. We all know that Nova won it last year with a similar look. The key will be getting hot and staying hot. Nova was on fire last year in the tourney and was able to cut down the nets. It is possible for a team to shoot its way to a title and this KU team has more shooters than any other contender.
Not saying we can't, but just to be clear, both Villanova and Duke played more guys, had more bench minutes, and got better production than we did last night. If you will recall, Villanova played 3 subs against, each with at least 12 minutes, and Bridges came up big against us. In the Duke - Wisconsin title game, Duke played 8 - one of the subs was Allen, who also came up big in that game. And, Duke had more up front than we do - Okafor and Jefferson. The two recent UConn titleists might be better example of guard oriented teams that won without much help from their bigs - but those were also both very good defensive teams.
@JayHawkFanToo Not putting down anyone - or, at least don't intend to. Just making the point that we really have only one quality non-con win and we haven't yet played WVU, Baylor or ISU in conference. We may be ranked #1 more by default - since we haven't lost since the first game - than by merit. I would argue that Villanova, Baylor and UCLA actually have better resumes as one loss teams than we do - all with more quality wins, including on the road. That's all. We've beaten everyone we've played since IU, which is all we can do - although I think most would agree that we can and will need to play better to beat the B12 teams above, esp. on the road, as well as UK.
@jayballer54 Agree with all of your several thoughts. As to the final point, we might be ranked number 1 this week, I really hope not. And, I agree that we haven't really earned it. Who have we beaten? Duke, but without their bigs and they've now lost 4 games. No one else. No of the other top teams in the B12. With the stretch we have upcoming, we could well have 2-3 losses in the next couple of weeks - unless we really step up our game. 5-0 in conference is nice, but deceiving - we've had about as easy a first 5 games as you can get. Of the remaining 14, there are only 4 that I would be comfortable penciling in as wins right now. Doesn't mean we can't win each game, but I don't recall struggling to put away the lower echelon teams in the conference at Allen like we are this year....
@Crimsonorblue22 That be true - and really no really good front court players - it's a guard league this year. Motley has been good, but he isn't a dominant low post player. Has 7 points and just fouled out in the KSU. BTW - would argue that this is a pretty impressive performance by Baylor - up 7 with 4+ minutes to go on the road and getting nothing from their best player.
@Crimsonorblue22 Agree it needs to be situational.
@Crimsonorblue22 said:
@DCHawker no! Gotta have something. Bragg's lost, Vick's needs to fire his ass up! We got 3 from bench
Agree. So, I think the issue with Bragg is that he simply isn't a 5. Subbing him for LL isn't going to work - he doesn't box out, he doesn't play strong and he is routinely out of position. I would actually prefer to see Coleby give LL the breather or foul trouble minutes. Bragg's minutes should be at the 4 only - when we need to go big and have both in and LL in at the same time or when we have JJ or Svi in foul trouble.
@Crimsonorblue22 Any one game, sure - but every game the rest of the season?
@JayHawkFanToo Not suggesting they should foul anyone. Just that some fouls generally come with playing good pressure defense. We certainly weren't stopping penetration...
@JayHawkFanToo said:
KU is playing with 7 players so they have been trying not to foul, only 6 players had double digit minutes. OSU played 10 players an 8 had double digit minutes and Hammond had 9 and only because of foul trouble.
But, there's the rub, right? Being too concerned about fouling = lack of intensity on the defensive end.
With the road games, we're going to need something - anything from the bench. Basically a 5 man "rotation" today. No FGs, no steals, no assists and no blocks from the bench today...
@JayHawkFanToo said:
No favorable refereeing that I saw, OSU fouled like there was no tomorrow.
Well, maybe. Just would note that they were constantly getting to the rim with fairly few fouls called. Just guessing that folks would be screaming bloody murder if we end up on the short end of a 45-14 FT attempt differential.... But, maybe I'm mistaken about that and we would take it in stride...
@bskeet said:
This game has helped us. We are learning sooo much. Really this is the best case scenario... We get a win, but we see things we've never seen and are pushed pushed pushed.
Funny - I keep seeing a lot of the same issues and we don't seem to be able to correct them?
There certainly have been some bad calls both ways, but we've gotten the homer calls on balance - 30 fouls to 14. Even with the missed ones, the difference in the game is the sheer number of freebies we've gotten...
@Bwag said:
@HawkChamp said:
The game on monday could get real ugly real quick
Hopefully a win here in a close game will inspire us for the tough middle part of the schedule.
Or it's a bad sign.
Struggling to hold serve at home doesn't seem to be the best omen for the tougher road games...
Trending downward to 66% on FTs...
@BeddieKU23 Go ahead - we can hear you even if he can't....
@HawkChamp said:
@BShark Lucas went for the block which left the offensive glass wide open. Can't do that
Fine to go for blocks if there was a semblance of weak-side help, but there isn't and hasn't been all year....
@HawkChamp said:
Making Solomon look like a first team all big 12 player.
We make bigs on every team we play look like all league....
We just can't put them away. Not getting consecutive stops....