🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@HighEliteMajor I enjoyed those links back to past threads that I ignored. Seriously, what is your point now, and how does it matter?

Can you wrap this issue up in a nutshell and express it in a simple sentence or a question without amending it to counter someone's stats about another player? Jaybate valiantly tried to figure it out, but now I honestly I have no idea whether we're talking about Greene's injury, Self being a deceitful saboteur, Selden tanking like a chunk of lead, or you just don't like the way Self manages to get a #1 seed in the tourney 40+% of the time since he's been here.

Help me out!

@HighEliteMajor I wasn't implying that Self in practice was screaming at Greene to stop taking shots. I honestly can't think of very many bad/quick shots Greene took all year. If anything, based on his offensive philosophy history, in practice Self was probably trying to make sure the players knew they still needed to have a successful inside presence and not "depend" on those 3 pt shots falling every time... and without Alexander, and then Perry getting hurt, it made those shots tougher.

The most obvious factor in Greene's slump was the hip injury. Hopefully, the surgery corrected that problem. The other two known potential factors--1) Bill Self head games and 2) whatever off-court behavior caused Greene's suspensions--we really are just guessing about.

@sfbahawk made a great point that 3pt attempts actually went UP after the comment. I didn't realize that. Soooo... what are we arguing about again?

@HighEliteMajor BTW, I'm not dismissing the idea that Self's "fools gold" comment was directed at his players (Greene in particular). But, I imagine what he screams right into their faces during practice and the locker room has a lot more impact than two words he said casually in a press conference.

Keep in mind too, with Greene, Self is dealing with a hard-headed, very intelligent kid with about 1o times the self-confidence most kids have. He's been suspended for 2.5 games so far as a Jayhawk including the OU game on March 7 during his slump. So, in addition to a physical injury serious enough to require surgery, it seems like Greene might have had some stuff going on in his head other than the fool's gold comment.

I don't think we can put together a true picture based on what is said publicly, but Bill Self not wanting to bomb 25 three attempts per game is not some kind of big secret.

@HighEliteMajor said:

I’m interested if you could show me any link to a “chat” where folks were saying he favored one side.

Game chats don't seem to be searchable, but here's a CJ article Jesse Newell ↗ wrote earlier this summer and he refers back to Greene talking about his hip himself, back in early March.

QUOTE:
“My hip’s hurting, and when I go to jump, it just feels … I don’t know. I know how I shoot,” Greene told The Capital-Journal on March 12 after an 0-for-3 long-range effort against TCU. “I know how my shot feels. I don’t feel like my legs are really getting into it. But that’s no excuse.”

The only thing that concerns me about any of this is that Greene actually recovers from his apparently fake summer surgery for his minor "injury" to contribute this year. I'm not going to sort through the tape, but there were clearly shots that Brannon took where he was not squared up or favored one side. People commented about it during game chats.

Why would anyone ever believe what a coach says about a player's health during the season? What'd you expect him to say: "Hey, Niang, it's his left hip, and it's really sore, so don't bump him or drive that side." ?

@HighEliteMajor Interesting scenario. Many KU fans would be in high panic mode by year 4 and calling for Self's head, you included.

You don't get to just trade accomplishments. You have to trade the failures also. So, no, I would not trade KU's last 17 seasons with UConn's. KU had legit enough teams to win at least 4 NCAA championships during that period. We didn't have any 16-loss seasons, didn't miss a tournament four times, didn't have to vacate any wins, didn't have to ever hear another team's fans chant N-I-T, and (as a bonus) didn't have a jerk like Jim Calhoun as a coach.

OK, I'm over it.

Would have been fun to see them at least get the kick attempt off at the end. Heartbreaker. It'll be a while before I get over it.

@Crimsonorblue22 I originally planned to go tonight, but I couldn't find 5 decent seats together for under $125 each. Prices on StubHub have gone up!

Even for last night, had to pick between $84 tickets in lower section 111 way down left outfield line, or $35 for seats in section 413, 7th row in the upper deck behind home plate and third.

Considering the score, we were happy we went with the cheaper seats. First time I've ever sat in the upper level. (usually only go to 3-4 games a year)

Well, I sure picked a bad game to go to last night. At least it was relatively quick.

@HighEliteMajor said:

Try UConn having 7 elite eights, just as many as KU has. So, again, UConn made four less tourneys, but has the same number of elite eights.

I'll take our 26 consecutive ncaa appearances with some painful early exits over not making it at all ANY DAY, thank you. We'll tie NCarolina's record next year.

UConn deserves to be considered more of an elite program than they are, but they're not even on the radar some years. Hell, most basketball fans across the country wouldn't even notice if their men's team wasn't on the tournament bracket. If KU or UK or NC doesn't make it though, that's big news.

I lived in Tennessee for ten years around a few Kentucky fans (some were total a-holes and some were people like you guys who loved the game). When UK didn't make the tourney in 2009, they were crushed. I don't think KU fans have any idea how humiliating that was for hardcore UK fans, and how it would be exactly the same for KU fans.

@wissoxfan83 He's from Nigeria. I found an old article (here) ↗ that suggests there could be some issues/drama regarding his age.

@Statmachine No, really it's not important unless Diallo is the super secret source.

Hoping for the best outcome though!

Looks like me playing against my 8- and 9-year old nephews on an 8-foot rim in the driveway.

!tough.jpg ↗

It looks like they're thinking about Johnny's West pizza in Lawrence.

@wrwlumpy LOL

It's interesting that Alexander is being held up as some sort of recruiting failure. Cliff could have gone ANYWHERE he wanted to go. Bad recruiter? No.

Frankly, the only thing that bugs me about Howard is that whenever a team picture is taken, he's just a little too much in the front and center. Kansas seems obviously to be a resume-padding job with photos to back it up.

Probably some dude just repeating the essence of what Self said ↗ earlier this afternoon. which has already been rehashed.

Or he could be some super secret NCAA employee in the know hoping to score some cred on "Fancaster" where we all go to get our latest sporting newz

OMG, look how tall Jamari is now.

(Just kidding)

Selden came in as a freshman ranked with the stud multiplier. A Man among boys in high school--he had an NBA body, but not the skills. Kind of like Cliff Alexander (only better and smarter).

I'm elated that Selden had the self-awareness to stay in college and work on his game. This is a bonus year, sort of like Paul Pierce's junior year.

@Statmachine well, to keep it on topic, it's like this.

Nic Moore grew up making a kick ass peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Devonte Graham comes from some place where they don't eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He grew up making breakfast burritos. Bill Self has a choice to make about leadership... should he judge Devonte Graham's leadership abilities by having him lead the team in peanut butter sandwich making or... (this will blow your mind!!!) find another way to judge his leadership skills based on what he knows? Keep in mind that this is an exercise in leadership (or writing capability in the original case), not actual peanut butter sandwich making.

What's really great about this assignment if you're a teacher is... wait for it... both Nic and Devonte have a unique opportunity to learn about leadership by contributing their own life experiences and talents. Everyone wins.

Except overly-sensitive people who got their fee fees hurt, thinking it's about sandwiches. And neanderthals who refer to a woman as a "dumb B".

The end. See you in a few months.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said: Some dumb B in Portland...

Really? Dumb B? Perhaps you should get out of the south a little more.

Also, read the original article again and try to find two brain cells to rub together to understand the point she was making. (hint: it's not about the pb&j)

@JayHawkFanToo said:

you really can’t make this stuff up…

Are you kidding? Of course you can make this stuff up:
http://m.snopes.com/navy-food-changes/ ↗

@jaybate-1.0 LOL re: Wilt. Really, more like a big three, could play point in a pinch.

What is it with these high school kids. Not one player wants to play the position they're naturally built to play.

The scroll wheel on my mouse was like, "wha the.. ? I'm done?"

@Crimsonorblue22 fixed! (meant Hunter/Lucas/Traylor)

Hunter played well in the WUGs, but was that level of play good enough to get us to a national championship? I don't know... but I'm still hoping by tournament time Diallo is better than Hunter/Lucas/Traylor.

@Lulufulu I share your opinion of KUSTEVE's opinion.

If Graham is 100 percent healed, I know we're going to see a lot of Mason + Graham out there at the same time. Which is fine if they can both shoot about 40% from 3pt range. To me though, those two guys offer about the same arsenal, so I'd much rather see Svi. Not many guards in the conference that match up against him.

Never thought I'd see Bill Self comfortable with two little guards. I was screaming for him to put Vick in for Nic Moore at the end of the gold medal game, and he stayed with Nic Moore all the way (which ultimately payed off with Nic getting that steal to seal the game)

@wrwlumpy nice pic of Selden. For some reason, I thought he was one of those players not interested in ink (arms are mostly free), but that obviously is not the case!

@Crimsonorblue22 Shish Tawook... Lebanese chicken skewers (kabobs marinated in yogurt, garlic, tomato, paprika etc). Something almost impossible to screw up and really not too heavy. On rice with some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden.

I'll keep an eye out to the west!

Where was that, Crimson? I was just out grilling... sun is shining and it's raining and nasty muggy (in Lawrence).

@RockChalkinTexas You from Humboldt, RockChalkinTexas?

I'm not surprised that there wasn't wall-to-wall national coverage about this tournament. Frankly, I'd never even heard of it before this year. Keep it perspective. It's not the Olympics. If it'd been UK or Duke playing/winning it, I know exactly how I'd feel about it: "WUG What? Well, good for them. Yay, USA. golf clap "

I tried to get a bartender in Seattle to change the channel on one of their 400 TVs to a game last week, and he was like, "What the hell are you talking about. Who gives a sh*t about that. People here want to see the Mariners." (and the Mariners suck, so that's about where this tournament ranked outside the KU fan club)

All right. Get to work, people. RCJH!!

@RockkChalkk It was ugly, but gutsy

Did Selden just pat coach on the butt?

Jamari time.... holding my breath

I think that one ref just has a permanent smirk on his face

Blitzkrieg time

@globaljaybird that's what the announcer just said. Seems like 15-20 to me.

@brooksmd ten

Frustrating to watch this.

Well, LL is out.

@BeddieKU23 Man, no kidding Beddie

Same 5 guys. OK, coach.

How about some Jamari traylor right now. Anyone with me?

2OT wow

down two
now... sorry for the mixup

down 2, 38 seoconds left

No idea what self was thinking with player management today.