Camera angle might have exaggerated the leap. He was losing his grip...
Another photo by "shutterly awesome" Nick Krug, LJW
DanR
13365 posts
Yes, the subsequent T was stupid, but Cliff actually made his first dunk attempt of the game, and we need the big guys to start dominating... so this is my favorite basket:
Photo by "shutterly awesome" Nick Krug, LJW
@DoubleDD said:
Today as an old man I'm still known as DoubleDD. :)
What????? I envisioned you as a buxom young woman!
Got it all wrong in more ways than one.
@jaybate-1.0 said:
But whenever he finds a team that is short enough to play inside out, and hold down the number of treys to <15, he plays inside out. Part of it is that he keeps trying to give his short bigs chances against guys their size to learn to play basic back to the basket post basketball. I suspect he keeps trying because he is hoping to find a game where the light goes on for one or two of the short bigs. It would help their self respect and confidence a lot of there was at least someone they could score inside on sometimes; that I suspect is what he believes.
I think this is exactly what's going on. Self believes the safest winning strategy is to pound it inside, and he's not going to give up on it. It's not a bad strategy; we're just really bad at executing it. It doesn't bother me to see Self still working on it now because it'll be another weapon in the arsenal if they get it figured out. Cliff is starting to get it, and I'm hopeful that Perry will get his mojo back. If he could start drawing some damn fouls at least, we can keep opponents bigs on the bench.
Speaking of Oklahoma dogs... Here's my dog in front of the least imaginative statehouse in the country. Gotta love the literal monument to the oil and gas industry planted right at the front entrance! Hire an artist next time, OK?!
Great article about Bol Bol in the kansas city start last Sunday too. Sounds like he has some motivation issues... but he's only 14, so that's not exactly a surprise.
Bol Bol, 14 years old and 6 feet 10, reaches... ↗
Manute's hands... incredible.
!Bol Bol rs 01215 136f.jpg ↗
Photo: RICH SUGG THE KANSAS CITY STAR
!RoyalsIndians0054_SP_9-5-08_JFS.jpg ↗
FILE PHOTO BY JOHN SLEEZER THE KANSAS CITY STAR
It's hard to get too excited about a potential QB transfer considering how the last couple of big timers turned out. (Christ and Heaps). As George W. so eloquently stated, "Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice... don't fool me again!"
@jaybate-1.0 Oh yeah, He's a true footer the minute he steps into AFH.
@KUSTEVE If it's the one on Mass, Harbour Lights is still here and probably still smells the same although the bathrooms were upgraded a while back.
@JhawkAlum Bragg seems to have great court awareness as to where the cameras are.
@benshawks08 Benshaw, great point. In a nutshell, they had one more turnover and that led to a KU win.
Might as well just start pulling your hair out, DD. All night I was thinking our two-thirds Selden was a liability on the court and then he came through when it really counted. It's frustrating, but the guys are trying.
Oh, Man, I should have checked in here during the game. Where was Jesse, on a date with KenPom?
I haven't seen Baylor play this season, but that certainly does not disqualified me from making a bold prediction just like those guys on the TV.
My bold prediction: We'll either hang on and win by 5 (77-72) after blowing a 22-point lead or we'll lose by 27 (58-85).
You heard it here first, folks.
Oh, and Oubre will move up to #7 in the mock draft in either scenario.
@Kip_McSmithers That story blew my mind, Kip. You mean Ned Reynolds of KY3 is STILL ALIVE?
There must be some really BAD players in college right now if Oubre is the #9 projection. Holy sh_.
I guess I need to watch some other teams play in order to appreciate how awesome our "best player on the floor" Oubre has been in his last four games. Did the guy who ranked him even watch those games or just look at stats and a few highlights against those two powerhouses Lafayette and Kent State? Maybe I need to force myself to watch an NBA game too, so I can figure out what kind of talent it takes to be a Pro these days.
Love Cliff, but he's barely making 50% of his dunk attempts. OAD? Seriously?
Embiid and Wiggins. No doubt those guys were ready for the league. Selby is fulfilling his lifetime dream playing ball in Israel and he was more prepared for pro ball than Kelly and Cliff. I give up.
@wrwlumpy I'm surprised it took your Missourian customers 7 years to wear out the old doormat. I'd think they'd love to wipe their feet off on a jayhawk.
@justanotherfan I agree about 14 wins... and would add that any team that wins all their home games at least ties for the conference title. (probably an obvious prediction)
I still expect Rick Barne's team to fold up at some point as usual. ISU is my biggest worry.
I was surprised to see Jamari start, but I was happy the way he played--really, the best game that Jamari played , IMO, this season. Less moping when he screwed up. He missed a couple bunnies in a row in the first half and got worn out at one point in the second half, but he hustled his butt off running the floor blocking or trying to block shots. He picked off Perry's defender a couple times inside opening Perry up for an easy shot.
It seemed like Self had better spacing with the inside guys this game... or UNLV just didn't double down with guards inside thinking their post height was enough.
Not a bad game overall, but there is still a scary impotence about this team on offense that really bugs me.
I can't really pile too much on Ellis. He almost NEVER gets an easy bucket inside. Opposing coaches all now know the way to stop him is to frustrate him by collapsing the defense around him when he gets the ball.
So--even though we all know this defensive plan--Mason forces the ball into Perry who initiates his spin cycle, three defenders surround him and yet the remaining two opponents manage to cover our other four players who are standing like statues apparently mesmerized by Perry's spin moves. Rinse and repeat. Gotta pound the ball inside.
If I compare the best of what Lucas has shown us this year and the best of what Hunter has shown in just this one game, I'll take Hunter as the 4th big any day of the week. Hunter is probably our only hope for any kind of a legit rim-protector. He sets solid screens, runs the floor really well, and he's smarter in every other aspect of the game than Landen. He bobbled a couple good dishes inside that would have added to his scoring, but that was rust. I sense a "beast mode" potential with Hunter that Withey tapped once in a while.
No reason for Lucas to still be so casual offensively and playing like dunking the ball is illegal. He has shown zero beast mode potential.
But.... the only reason we're even talking about Landen and Hunter is because of Cliff's slow development. He should be a beast, right?? Unless he's fed the ball unguarded for a dunk or layup or gets a put-back, offensively he's still pretty weak. He's had guys barely touch his arm while he's attempting to dunk it and clanks it. They should be getting the hell out of his way. Where's that jump hook he was supposedly working on the day he got to Lawrence? Physically, how could that kid not intimidate a team like Lafayette? I can't even remember the last foul he got banging someone inside. Usually his fouls are bad screens or chasing a guy out of the paint. OK... end of rant. Try not to expect anything from freshmen.
I don't think this is all that uncommon. My wife's grandmother asked us to put her dog to sleep when she died. Luckily the dog died before she did.
It's a shame. For every elderly person like this, who understandably couldn't bear the thought of her dog missing her and/or wondering where she is, there is likely another elderly person or couple -- lookin' at you, mom and dad -- who lost a beloved dog and think they are too old to bring in a young pup.
Vet bills pile up pretty fast for older dogs, so pony up about $5,000 along with dog to a good home. Could be great matches for everyone involved.
@Crimsonorblue22 Here's a wider shot:
!museum.jpg ↗
@DoubleDD said:
I'm a little discouraged with the last two KU games. I know they won but the ball seems to be sticking.
Svi hasn't been on the floor much the past two games. The ball flies around a lot better when he's out there, IMO. Unfortunately it hasn't been flying into the basket from his own hands often enough.
About 5 years ago, I stopped in a place called the Museum of Appalachia off I-75 about 40 miles north of Knoxville, in a little town called Clinton, Tennessee. I spent about an hour wandering around this place looking at old log cabins, goats and chickens, then I ducked into some of the bigger buildings where they had about every piece of junk relic from mountain life in the 1800s-mid 1900s you could imagine. Buckets, clothes, quilts, furniture, fiddles, banjos made out of cigar boxes... stuff like that. The displays all had handwritten cards explaining what stuff was and where it came from. One building had some interesting appalachian art--paintings, textiles, and sculptures and stuff. Right there in the middle of this display I spot what sure as hell looked like a jayhawk carved out of wood. I took a picture of it of course.
That's the kind of effort I expect from people in finding an original avatar.
!shipe.jpg ↗
Seriously, anyone ever heard of Walter Shipe?
@JayHawkFanToo Why would Self say, "I meant to play him today" before the game?
“I meant to play him today,” Self said of Manning. “But when we’re playing well, don’t sub; playing badly you can’t put him in that situation. We’ve got to have a ball-mover back there.”
So, if Self doesn't want to play Evan Manning when we're on a roll or when things are tight, I'm guessing that basically leaves just the times in the game when Mason needs a good butt chewing.
Traylor clanking a couple nonchalant layups was the dominant memory I have of him from this game, but he played with some fire in the first half and hit two big freebies at the end.
Selden... man, what is going on? I swear the 2 spot in Self's offense is the deadest position. Stand on the wing. Stand in the corner. Stand. Stand. Pass. Stand. Stand.
I appreciate the occasional threes and twos just inside the line, but the Selden is a beast and he's rarely in a position to attack the lane. It seems to be by design since whoever is in that spot just floats around out there. I don't get it.
@BucknellJayhawk3 Got a game in 7 days, so 10 days might be too much rest!
@wrwlumpy I like Holly too. Don't anyone be making fun of her.
!IMG_9942C.jpg ↗ Been to Salt Lake City... with my dog.
Interesting city.
Fan from the last game against mizzou was classic:
(Richard Gwin, kusports.com)
Suggested new name for the Big 12: The b1z conference. The BIZ. All business.
B + number 1/letter i + number 2/letter z.
Hey, it could work with the right typeface.
Third tallest state capitol dome in the country, btw.
(behind 2 Illinois, and and 1 Texas)
Beat me to it, JayhawkFanToo.
After letting the Kansas statehouse fall into an embarrassingly dismal condition, the state just finished renovating the capitol this year, and it's fantastic. Reclad the copper on the dome. Lower level is a cool visitor center/museum amidst the huge limestone foundation blocks. You can climb a couple hundred steps up to the top of the dome and walk outside on the little balcony. The stained glass under the dome is brilliant compared to how it used to look. And the murals are still pretty great, especially the john brown one.
My dog has been there (during the reno), but we need to go back and get an updated pic with the coppper dome before the patina goes green again.
Denny's in Lawrence? When, where?
Funny how history repeats itself. ↗
Word (a.k.a. rumors) from the KU students is Jamari was trying to break up the fight, and didn't want to show his I.D. to the cops. Who knows. At least 10 cop cars and an ambulance (refused) up there Saturday night by the Oread monstrosity, so it certainly could have escalated into something worse. I'm inclined to give the KU/Lawrence PD a little credit for handling it fairly well, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that most if not all the charges are dropped.
Been to the Jefferson Memorial... with my dog.
That first half was just bizarre. I really did not understand keeping Traylor out there that long, but a great job by Self to figure out the right lineup for the second half. Hated to see Svi sit, but (as Jaybate has pointed out), he'd been out-manuevered.
I rewatched the second half this afternoon with my pessimist wife who gave up at halftime lat night. I warned her that it was not an exciting comeback or finish.
On a second viewing, what a tortuous (and tortoise-like) comeback that really was. Selden hit two or three? 2 point shots right inside the arc, two total defensive lapses (dunk that traylor gave up--wtf?--and then the wide open three from the corner a couple possessions later), a crapload of free throws that Cliff and Devonte thankfully nailed, one mason ankle sprain, two ref timeouts to check out-of-bounds replays. We were helped by the pace completely keeping Florida totally out of sync. Then, in the last minute, Donovan just sort of threw in the towel only down two possessions. Very anti-climactic.
(hyperbole)
Saw the first half grabbing a bite to eat at a bar... not sure if I care to waste another minute of my life watching the second half. It would be sweet if Texas could come back and win, but the sound of the KY crowd makes my skin crawl, so it's not worth the torture.
@Crimsonorblue22 Go ahead and clap like you would if you were an Oscar nominee congratulating the winner. Big fake smile too, masking your bitter tears.
If Zenger introduces Beaty at the game tonight, what's the prediction for crowd reaction: polite golf clapping or unrestrained booing?
I'm definitely not happy with the choice. This is Zenger's last shot. If Beaty fails, they'll be leaving town together.
It's just amazing to me that even though Wiggins and Embiid--lottery picks and 15-year NBA stars if they stay healthy--struggled at times last year, people expect the next crop of OAD's to be as productive. Those two were as good as it will ever get other than some physical anomaly like the Unibrow or Wilt... or maybe a Svi! Really, the reason we're better this year is because we don't have to rely on five new starters and three new backups.
Oubre and Alexander are going to be just fine. They're good, but they're not nearly in the same league as Wigs and Embiid from last season. Cliff is playing within his comfort zone. Oubre hasn't yet found his zone yet, but he will. I was glad to see Oubre leading the cheering on the bench though against MSU. I hope they both stay two years because the team would be a killer next year.
Greene... I don't know. He's a smart kid and a good student. I'm not giving up, but I'm still kind of skeptical of him ever putting it together. If I'd had my druthers, we'd still have Conner and Greene would be headed to Wichita or Georgia Tech.
@HighEliteMajor Interesting statistics. All those guys are either in the NBA or headed there. Oubre seems to be in good company.
Do you think Oubre should be playing more at this point? It's not like he hasn't stunk it up for about 48 of the 50 minutes he's been on the floor.
I've been to Rhode Island with my dog.
It's been driving me nuts to see both Perry and Jamari on the floor at the same time. I love the guy, but Jamari should be Perry's backup, an energy burst when we need it, and that's it. He shouldn't be in the circle for the opening tip. Something is different with him this year--he seems to have traded in his hunger for swagger.
To make matters worse with our "little big man syndrome," Cliff looks to be about 6-7, not 6-8. His shoulders are squarer than Perry's (yeah, I know: whose aren't?), so he appears slightly taller. Selden looked taller last year too. What the hell's going on?
@drgnslayr If Buying Alaska was a drinking game for every time they said "Now THIS is Alaska!," you'd be dead at the end of the show. I'm a sucker for HGTV, but that show is stupid.
@benshawks08 I was planning to rewatch the game last night, but my wife had deleted it from the DVR.