🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Completely agree. I posted on the live blog that I thought we were going to be a good/great shooting team this year. We can be, we are not playing the right guys in the right situations right now. Even when Frankamp/Greene/White are in, we don't seem to be running a set play for them to get open, like we did with Ben last year.
Another reason could be that Self is working on his preferred strategy of "pound it inside" so far. To him maybe that needs to settle first before the perimeter game; usually his modus operandi...

Clearly 2013 and 2014 are very different from the rest. The 2005 class comes close, but at least on paper so far the recent trend is a cut above prior years.

That 2005 class brought a championship in 3 years. Could these classes do it in their 1st attempt? Let's see....

@approxinfinity it would be great if the new posts are still showing at the very bottom, however if they are a reply to a specific post above, that said post could be in a quote box in that message.
That way you don't have to scroll through to see if there were new responses.

Since I started following Kansas Basketball in 1994, there are three years that I will always think of as 'belonging to KU', which would have balanced out KU's championship tally with all the other elite numbers we have.
Those three years are:

1997 - Best team in the country by far. Choked.

2003 - Previous year's team with Gooden was better, but so was Maryland - returning to Final Four. 2003 was the year for us.

2011 - Best team left in the country at elite 8. Should have closed the deal.

There are other years where we came close, or we should have gone further, but those three years will always stick out for me as missed opportunities. Hope the law of averages balances this out over the next couple of years and we win even when we're not supposed.

Jayhawks getting relevant in the NBA. Hope it continues. I think Keiff was player of the week for Western Conference for last week. TRob is still not seeing the court much and BMac has been up and down. Hope those two figure it out soon this season.

Coach played Mason and Tharpe together a lot against Duke, with Tharpe playing off-ball. Was that to steer Tyus's decision that he can come in run the point and we can move Tharpe to 2 and Mason off the bench?

Don't know, we should be ok even if we miss out on all three on Friday. Heck of a win against the Dookies though! I'm still pumped!

@wissoxfan83 you threw me for a loop there for a while with "Dwight Gooden". I'm like that just doesn't sound right. Gooden's first name something else....oh yeah, it was Drew! :)

Wasn't Dwight Gooden a baseball player?

@truehawk93, I think they seem to have a better understanding of the X's and O's type of stuff, perhaps some experience in coaching. I'm just a simple fan, enjoying the game and don't pay attention to nitty gritty details. But I do find those points and discussions interesting and valuable.

Good points @BaltimoreHawk. It was interesting to see Wiggins guarding the PG at times, when we had the 'long' lineup in.

By the way, I read the headline "Naadir Tharpe to miss KU’s season-opener; Self says redshirts still possible" and thought Naadir is being considered for redshirt!!!

It was early but I almost had a heartattack!

You are right, it was exhibition games, and it was for internal team rule issues.

My thoughts - From the untrained eye perspective. I'm hoping HEM, Drgnslyr, Ralster, etc. will provide a more technical analyis.

1. Wiggins had his moments, but definitely seemed nervous. I thought he settled for some threes that he shouldn't have. Hoping he would attack the rim as his first and second options.
2. Selden looked good on defense and the potential on offense scary good. Was surprised that he didn't play as much or score more.
3. Tharpe & Ellis were as consistent as you would hope the leaders to be. So that was a good sign.
4. Black exceeded my expectations on some counts, but fouling was a problem.
5. Jamari showed improvement and energy off the bench.
6. AWIII has turned into a beast. Bigger, Stronger, and attack mentality to go with it.
7. Embiid - The potential ceiling was evident, as was his green-ness. I think he will improve at faster than expected rate though.
8. Frank Mason is fast! The back-up spot is in safe hands as well as KU's PG future.
9. Brannen Greene can play and will also get better very quickly. I don't see him redshirting at all. I think he will continue to push AWIII for back-up minutes.
10. Conner Frankamp - leading Redshirt candidate. Being a three-savant, and it being the only card to get minutes, has its pressures and it showed. We saw this with AWIII last year. It's difficult to do. A RS will do wonders for him.
11. Landen Lucas did better than I thought. Don't see him cracking the rotation this year, but the future looks bright.

Again, just my 5000 feet level impressions from the first game. It looked sloppy as expected, but the defensive potential and the depth is unlike what we've had in a long time.

I don't see it as a big deal. one game against La Monroe. Didn't Naadir start his first game as freshmen when TT and EJ had to sit out? Maybe it was just the exhibition games...

Andrew Wiggins committed on May 13th.

Tarik Black committed on May 20th.

It's a good problem to have, to have this depth. I really think Greene could be a headliner by next year and would love to see him get some playing time this year, but know that that won't happen (no Roy like 5 for 5 subs).
I still think Frankamp takes the redshirt and Greene will get the opportunity (carrot) to steal some back-up minutes from White.
Even if there is an injury to Tharpe or Mason, I think Self will go to his "emergency point", rather than Frankamp this year.

No surprises there. The real interesting battle now is for positions 6 through 9. I think here is the pecking order, with 9th person getting less than 10 minutes and not playing in tight games.
6. Andrew White III (backing up Wiggins and Selden)
7. Jamari Taylor (first big off the bench - experience counts)
8. Joel Embiid (Has to play - will continue to take minutes away from both Jamari and Black as the season goes)
9. Frank Mason (Greene is the more talented player, but need a ball handler to spell Tharpe for a few minutes. Naadir will log 30+ minutes this season.)

Anybody can set up a facebook page with any name they want attached to any email address (hotmail, gmail, yahoo don't screen much either). So I don't think it's a fool proof method of revealing identities, it just takes a couple of additional steps.
I participate in another fan-run and user-moderated forum for another sport, and never had any issues with conversations getting out of hand. Certain posters volunteer or get asked to become moderators and do a pretty good job of keeping things civil.
I have seen some facebook account linked forums get very nasty also (because some people just don't care). It's all about the moderation.

Whoever has the Kusports account still, please continue to post the link for this site on every story. Also mention the high-profile posters that have already joined this site. I'm hoping Jaybate and others will join by the time season starts.

How do you guys see Tyus Jones fitting in with Tharpe the senior? Would Tyus move to the 2 or would Tharpe move to the 2? Would either come off the bench for the other?
I just don't see how he would fit in? Would appreciate some insight from the 'gurus' here?

I agree with others here. After listening to Self, it seems pretty obvious who the top 8 are: Tharpe, Selden, Wiggins, Ellis, Black, Traylor, Embiid, White. Mason will likely get 8-10 minutes backing up Tharpe. I don't think he will ask Greene to redshirt, because he can come in handy this season as he continues to develop. Frankamp is the likely candidate, but then again, if Self is going all in to win a championship this year, he may want to keep Frankamp's sharp-shooting in the arsenal.

I do think that Wiggins hype is way over the top! It's hard for anyone to live up to.
But as an opposing coach, you need to know how to be diplomatic about it.

FarSideHawk checking in here. Hoping to get all the posters, especially ones mentioned above, from KuSports here.
Thanks for setting this up!

Let's get this thing rolling...