@Bwag Really, no ball hogs on this team - very unselfish - ball doesn't "stick" as HCBS has often complained about. Best passing team in many years. Many fewer stupid, lazy pass TOs that past few years. Fun to watch when they open it up....
DCHawker
4842 posts
@Hawk8086 The only problem with that is that 89 of the top 100 and 9 of the top 10 recruits HAVE committed. Apparently, the vast majority of top recruits aren't waiting around or aren't that concerned about who is staying and going elsewhere. The question is why no one is committing to KU.
@BeddieKU23 May believe that we are #1, but MSU clearly deserves to be ranked #1 as of now. Responsible for our only loss, as well as for Louisville and Providence. All ranked. No one else has a profile that's anywhere close. Best we can say, which is pretty good, is that we beat a team in Vandy that was ranked at the time and UCLA is in some rankings now. And, we should have beaten the top-ranked team....
Half a century this half...
Anyone miss Traylor or Lucas???
@JayHawkFanToo And, we're progressing to the mean....
@Bwag Bragg for Mick is only one so far.
@JayHawkFanToo yeah - they are shooting better than 50% and too many open looks and easy drives to the rim.
Ellis, Traylor and Lucas - 1-7 from the field, no FTs, 2 RBs, 2 TOs, 4 missed at the rim, no blocks - not going to win with that kind of production from our "bigs".
@jaybate-1.0 Maybe tonite, but they've played and beaten nobody this year - and lost to Valpo.
@DanR As is outside shooting, as is defense....
Matador D by BG there....
@DanR What excuse does he have to be tired? Not wearing himself out in this game.
@brooksmd He was producing and Lucas and Traylor have done nothing....
@DanR No defensive effort at all by Perry
What is Landon's vertical - about 2 and 1/2 inches????
Same ol same ol - missed bunnies. Perry will not/cannot dunk unless he gets a running start...
@jaybate-1.0 Hhhmmm. Well, I must confess that I am not quite up to speed on the latest neuroscience research. What I can observe, and the data seem to support, is that the synapses are connecting and firing for many other freshman around the country - Newman, Zimmerman, Murray, Ellenson, Simmons, Ingram, Labissierre, Brown, and Rabb, too name just a few -- ALL of whom average more than 20 mpg and more than 10 ppg. Apparently, other coaches don't ascribe to the @jaybate-1.0 "neural net grow in" philosophy(?). Then again, you may ultimately be proven correct and most of these players will be abject failures as pros as they have clearly pushed too hard too early to compete in meaningful games against quality competition.....
@HighEliteMajor You hit the mark, as usual. The only way that our most talented young players are going to get better is by playing through and learning from mistakes. And, that is in game situations against real opponents, including quality opponents and tight games. Not just practice and not just against much lesser competition.
As I mentioned in another post, Harvard had 3 frosh play more than 20 minutes each yesterday. Our 3 guys got 11, 9 and 0 minutes. Looking at other teams, Duke has 3 frosh averaging more than 20 minutes per game. So does Kentucky. Michigan State, which has a veteran team, has 2 frosh average more than 15 minutes per game.
Our three that arguably have the most upside - Svi, Diallo and Bragg - average 17, 11 and 11. Perhaps that is one reason we don't have any top 100 ranked recruits yet, while other blue bloods have 3, 4 or even 5 100 commits already? Think Bolden, Allen and others sitting out there are watching.
The best players want to play. The best players need to play if you want to maximize your potential by the end of the year.
@benshawks08 Agree they look tired, but there isn't any excuse for that. This is a 10 deep roster, which should mean that we should be able to wear down other teams, not the other way around. But, that only works if you take advantage of that advantage. We played basically 7 guys yesterday.
This is the second or third game this year in which Frank and DG played 34+ minutes each. If this keeps up, they aren't going to have any legs at the end of the year. We saw that with Frank last year - he was worn down and beat up by the end of the year. Unfathomable that Vick didn't get in for at least a few minutes to give them a blow, esp. with Selden on the bench with foul trouble.
Again, Self tightened up and went to a very short bench in the second half, even though playing everyone is what got us the early big lead. Think about it - Harvard played 3 frosh more than 20 minutes each. Our 3 got 11, 9 and 0 minutes. Does Self have that little confidence in our guys that he thinks the Harvard first years are that much better?
Sure, Diallo looked very raw and Bragg wasn't on his game, but the only way they are going to get better is with more playing time. And, if it isn't going to come from playing the Harvard's of the world, when is going to happen? There aren't that many Loyola's on the schedule.
The fact is that we've generally performed better in the first half of games when Self typically does play 9-10 guys. We've been beaten in the second half a handful of games when it is mostly the starters playing and we get into half court games.
Self shouting at them to "show some emotion" out there..
6-15 from FT line...
@SoftballDad2011 Since the early run of turnovers, Harvard has totally out-executed us - and dominating down low.
@brooksmd Need him to what? Drink some Red Bull?
FLAT FLAT FLAT - no energy since about the 12 minute mark of first half. 4-6 from 3 in the first 10 minutes - 0-3 since. Not finishing anything near the rim....
@HighEliteMajor @Bosthawk Well, I guess we are piling on Jamari a bit, but it hard not to do so - in terms of what he contributes (or doesn't) to the team's success (or failures). I will stipulate that he is a great story and does hustle - and he seems to be a good teammate and very likable. But, based on statistics and the "eye test", he shouldn't be getting major minutes on this team, let alone starting.
I'm not sure of the basis that he contributed to the win against Vandy and "that is a fact." He played more minutes than any "big", including Ellis, but contributed minimally in scoring and rebounding. What about defense? Mostly matched up against Damian Jones, who ended up leading Vandy in scoring and rebounding _ 17 and 10. And, this isn't a one off. Over the course of last season, he had one of the lowest rebounding rates on the team and one of the highest turnover rates (last night 2 really bad TOs running the weave). He can't score against bigger players and he can stop them from scoring. I do think he has gotten a bit better at boxing and defensive positioning, but that's from a very low base. Overall, his negative plays outweigth/outnumber his positive plays.
To be clear, I'm glad he's a Jayhawk and deserves to get court time for putting in the effort over 4 years. But, he should be a role player off the bench at most. This team can't maximize it's potential if he continues to start and play almost 30 minutes a game. Self loves the guy and understandably so, but I think it blinds him to the reality on the court.
@JRyman Not concerned about coming back from one game, but rather whether this will be an issue all year long - that is, Wayne, Devonte and Frank getting heavy minutes in every reasonably close game and not having fresh legs by March. Mason really seemed to be worn down at the end of last year.
Yes, Selden came up big, but the offense was very productive for the relatively short time that Bragg and Svi were in the game in the second half. Self just won't play them down the stretch. Had the starting 5 in almost the entirety of the last half of the second half (LL got in for a couple of minutes). And, missing 6 out of the last 8 FTs (Wayne 4 straight) might have had something to do with tired legs.
Apart from the issue of being fresh, due to foul trouble or someone being nicked up, we're going to need some of the regular rotation guys to perform in crunch time at some point.
@HighEliteMajor Agreed. Based on what we know about HCBS's predilictions, difficult to envision Diallo get major minutes. Look how few minutes Svi and Bragg got in the MSU and Vandy games (and how many Jamari continues to get). They, along with Diallo, are the most talented guys on the team and have the highest upside. Sure, they will make mistakes, but if all 3 were consistently getting 20+ minutes, does anyone (other than Self I guess) not think we wouldn't be much better off by the time March rolls around.
And, somewhat related - and not intending to put a damper on the Vandy win - but Selden played 40 minutes last night and both Graham and Mason were mid-high 30s. At that pace, all will be worn down by the end of the year - esp. if Self insists on playing the way we did in the MSU and Vandy games, which means short second half benches and inevitably tight games. We have perhaps the most quality depth in the backcourt in recent memory, if not ever, but it isn't be utilized.
@BeddieKU23 Was a really good win against a good team. But, we will lose games that we shouldn't if we continue the pattern of resorting to driving to the basket as our only offense when we're in tight games. Start missing FTs and the other team hits a couple of shots, and, just like that, a lead and game can be lost.
4 straight missed FTs and matador D by Traylor. WHY can't we put teams away?????????
Offensive execution has been putrid the past 5 minutes. We get a nice lead and then let off the gas - make it easy for the other team to get stops. We've been bailed out on a couple of the foul calls.
God - I'd rather have Lucas in there than Traylor.
@BeddieKU23 Reverting to old, bad habits. How many minutes since we've taken a 3 pt shot???
@BeddieKU23 It's actually quite useful - for the other team....
Second time that Traylor has thrown it away on the weave.
@Bwag Traylor cannot match up with Jones.
@Bwag It is one of life's great mysteries...
@wissoxfan83 I get that - just not sure it would be any different if we weren't playing as well...
Just noting that almost 10 minutes in and no Svi, Bragg or Mick. Typical shorter bench for Self in the 2nd half. Hope we don't get gassed later.
Should have been an and 1 for DG - got hip-checked.
At least Traylor isn't starting the second half.
All things considered, happy to be down just 4. Definitely outplayed in every facet in the first half.
@DCHawker Never mind - he just got on the board(s).
We've had nine guys in the game - everyone with a rebound except one -- guess who?
WHY are Ellis and Traylor back in at the same time?????
A little press action - love it!!!!
@RockkChalkk Need to keep this pace - not going to win a half court game.
Another LL airball from 2 feet....
Interesting that Lucas in for Ellis, not Traylor.
@wissoxfan83 Certainly doesn't look like we are going to win it in the paint. Bad match ups with Ellis and Traylor.