🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@wissoxfan83 Dumb foul by Traylor

@drgnslayr Makes me feel a little better. But, I don't think our defense is as good as past years. Hopefully will continue to improve.

Here's what worries me about this team and the NCAA tourney. Over the long haul of the season we will be very good...I have no doubts about that. But I am troubled by our lack of big men's ability to get points inside...without our guards penetrating (Perry can unless he is defended by a much taller player). What happens if we run into someone with the back court to keep us out of the lane and we have an off night behind the arc? I know I'm sounding the fools gold alarm, but....
Can someone give me some comfort here?

The home crowd gives us an advantage and makes us the favorite. OU could win, of course....if they get hot and we are not. But we are the favorite.

Tisdale was one of my favorite opponents of all time. He was the enemy when we played them, but you couldn't help but love that smile. I had the pleasure of seeing him play in person as he was at OU when I was in grad school at KU. He passed way too soon.

@wrwlumpy Oh....looked like Karloff.

@wrwlumpy Great pics. Karloff? Wasn't he British? Big Country? OSU? You're confusing the heck out of me.

I think the fact that Bragg was first off the bench (not the first time) up front tells us that Self is trying to work him to be more of a factor....I think that will happen.

@KUSTEVE Did not realize it was that long ago.Also, the longer we are #1, the more room there is to slip down and still get a #1 seed.....don't get me wrong...I'll take it.

Being #1 is not that important....but being close is....especially at the end of the season...we want to earn a #1 seed come tournament time. So hanging around close to #1 is important. Hopefully we should be able to do that.

Well, I was hoping for a 15-17 pt lead at the half given the way we started. 14 pts not bad, though..

Have to love Lunquists,s comment....My gracious!

@Crimsonorblue22 Bmac wasn't really a sure OAD when we recruited him and he red-shirted.But...those 2 do help the cause if we want to recruit the top guys.

@Statmachine That is what I have struggled with and, I think, is the crux of the matter. The facts would suggest that we are not the best place for the presumed OAD's (although Wiggins didn't hurt himself since he went #1).

The New Year always means the beginning of conference play to me. I look forward to all of the games, especially the big ones....like tomorrow. KU basketball gets me through the cold winters.

@HighEliteMajor I get what you are saying. Important points. But what about performance in practice? Isn't that the entree into more playing time in games? Doesn't practice help prepare them? I get it...there is nothing like game pressure....but isn't practice a major part of the equation that we don't talk about?

@BeddieKU23 Agreed. Diallo could have 3 or 4 good games at the end of the season and he would be a lottery pick based on potential. He has made it clear his preference is to be OAD.

@jayballer54 Just guessing on both of our parts.

@Lulufulu If it looks like Diallo is staying...I don't think we get Bolden. Crowded front court with Diallo's level of talent,....Self's penchant for bringing freshmen along slow....If he fancies himself a OAD (whether he really is or not)...I don't think he signs up for KU.

@jayballer54 Well, I hope you are right because we need this kid.

@wissoxfan83 True

@wissoxfan83 I think he had a fair amount of talent. If you want to say Thomas was the only one to make it big...fine. But the 76 team had talent. Buckner and May were good NBA players and Benson was solid. Wilkerson played in the league. I believe Abernathy and Green played briefly.
But no question Knight got the most of whatever talent he had.

@jaybate-1.0 The Bragg / Diallo debate that we have all been having is part of the equation.
I'll let you handle the footwear part of all of this.......

@ParisHawk He is one reason why we have had a hard time signing top players since. Other coaches, handlers, parents, Agents (just kidding) have used his relative lack of success against us.

Let's not forget what goes on in practice. The young guys, because of their talent, could begin to outplay Lucas, Mick, or Traylor and force Self to play them....which will then, potentially, give them a chance to show what they can do in the games. Of course, based on Self's history, their margin for error will be less than the more experienced guys.
I have often wondered why Self puts one guy in right away in one game and another in the next game. Practice performance plays a big part. I hold out hope for the young guys.

@HighEliteMajor Yes. I am worried. It makes you wonder when those 2 will get a chance.
That said, I thought Bragg was not good last night.....lost the ball off his leg, missed an open shot from the baseline.
But, you are right...they all make mistakes.

@justanotherfan I hear you, but at crunch time, Graham will be in there instead of Greene. I guess for now it will be either Mickelson, Traylor, or Lucas in the 5th spot at crunch time ...whomever is playing well at the time in Coach's opinion

@HighEliteMajor It's a discussion many of us have chimed in on. I guess I'm not willing to accept a loss because the cause and effect is never clear. If we lose because the younger guys play more, we're not sure how much more beneficial that will be vs. what Self is doing. As KUSteve said, people act as if the sky is falling if we lose. Self is going to make sure we win first and foremost. That means being conservative, sometimes, in how much PT the young guys get.
It will be interesting to see what Izzo does next year with the young talent he has coming in. He tends to take a similar approach with bringing young guys along slowly (OK, maybe not quite as slowly as Self) He's losing guys, so he'll have no choice, to some extent, but to play freshmen a lot.

For sure, take the time to stroll down Mass. street. Great shops, especially for KU trinkets /Tshirts. Or the KU bookstore is great for that. For sure......get to AFH early. Last year, I arrived early enough that I was able to sit in the bleachers {not my seat} and watch the team do early warm up. Definitely take the time to go through Booth HOF.

@HighEliteMajor Good points as always. I do agree with a lot of what Dragon was saying. I don't think we can really say that Oubre's bad games in the tourney were because he was brought along slowly. He had plenty of PT in the conference games. As long as Bragg and Diallo get to where they are playing significant minutes, I'm not sure that Self's methods will hold them back.
But....it is hard to tell.
I do agree that for tonight's game.....go ahead and throw them in the fire....why not?
But we know that letting young guys play through their mistakes is not Self's style....except of course with Wiggins.

@KUSTEVE My philosophy every year is that when our contenders play, I hope that the home team wins. Otherwise, the road victor, in this case ISU, has a leg up on us. They will be one up on us if we lose at OU.
Of course, if you are more worried about OU than ISU....I see why you would want OU to lose.
Since I view both of these teams, and maybe WVU and Texas as well, as our competition, I don't like to see any of these teams win road games.

@HighEliteMajor I would say that Cliff probably should have played more...just like we believe with all of our talented freshmen. But, my point was that even with Self bringing him along slow, I believe that we would have seen a different Cliff at the end of the season if he had been able to play. If you are talking about the last game.....I don't have a problem with the way Self handled the minutes given the closeness of the game in the 2nd half.

@HighEliteMajor You mean playing him amidst the allegations at the end of the season? Heck no.
I just think that if that had not happened we would have seen a much better player down the stretch than we did earlier in the season.

@benshawks08 I believe that it was starting to click for Cliff and that if he had been able to play at the end of the season, we would have seen a better player. But....we will never know.

@HighEliteMajor You make valid points. Many others agree with you. I agree that Self brings along the freshmen a little slower than we would like. We saw it with Oubre. He ended up being, in most cases, a 30 min. guy. That doesn't mean it's going to happen with our 2 young guys this year. I think they will get to the point where they are playing significant minutes.....you have noted Self's comments which seem to point in that direction. There will be games where he has the opportunity to get them minutes without endangering a victory....Tech at home, for instance.
Yes, we could have probably won at SDSU with about any combination....but we don't know for sure....it did get close in the 2nd half. Hard to tell what would have happened when you change one variable. I think playing the more experienced guys in your first road game, in a tough environment is defensible. Self is not going to take chances and I can't hold that against him.
It will be interesting...and crucial, perhaps, to see what he does in this regard going forward.

@HighEliteMajor Self will probably adjust to what is working or not working. If playing Mick, Bragg, Diallo works...Lucas will not see much time. If what we do doesn't work on the big guy....he'll try Lucas.

@sfbahawk Yes...missing those layups was driving me crazy. That and some sloppy play on our part was how SDSU got back into the game.

@wrwlumpy This could be a game where Lucas plays more.

@BeddieKU23 If the entourage is that big, I think I would take a pass. But if we don't get anybody else.....he would be hard to pass up. Talent wins.

@nuleafjhawk Agree that there is still some rust. The well-oiled machine really only applied to the first half. Many sloppy parts to the 2nd half. But we got it done when we had to.
Wayne bailed us out in the 2nd half, which impressed me since sometimes guys don't do well after sitting out, basically, a whole half.

@HighEliteMajor Probably not. But we don't know. I don't know if he was in when they cut the lead to 4. How does the game change if he doesn't get some of those offensive boards? Again, we probably still win. The first road game of the season....in a tough environment like that, was probably not the place to get Diallo and Bragg their minutes.
I noticed that Bragg came out when he missed that shot that looked like he was going to dunk. Quick hook......probably a little to quick.
But, I don't fault Self for playing who seemed to be the most effective.

I think we will see, at least early on in the conference season, the younger guys will get more playing time at home than on the road...easier to play in front of the home crowd....of course we will likely have bigger leads at home also.

@AsadZ Self went with the players that were playing well at the time. Without those offensive rebounds from Traylor....who knows what would have happened in that stretch.
I hear you on the experience for the younger guys.....but the number one goal is to win.....I have no problem with Traylor getting those minutes.

@brooksmd Me too!

For most of the half, we executed precision offense. A few crummy possessions, but overall.....very well done, so far.
And we did that with no Selden.

@jayballer54 I would vote Bolden....but at this point, either he Azubuike, or Allen would be great.
I say no to Maker........too much potential baggage and clearly expects to be OAD.
Of course, If we don't get anyone else and he is available.....I might change my mind.

@Lulufulu I like that game plan.

For sure...a couple of those loses look bad. Look what WVU did to them. On paper, we shouldn't have a problem with them. But.....we know that emotionally, at least, we will get their best shot.

We were just so much more talented than Montana. That said, I thought we executed well. It was fun to watch.
Lots of good games to watch today....Dook vs. Utah, Nova vs. UVA, UNC vs. UCLA, ND vs. IU, OSU vs. UK. Purdue vs. Butler on right now.
It's a good day when we win and Dook and Kentucky lose.

@ralster UCLA sure looks a lot better than when we played them. Yes....we deserve some of the credit for that.