🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@JayhawkRock78 I agree about the Jekyl and Hyde halves. I don't have a problem with our ranking as I look at the teams above us.
We are winning, but haven't necessarily looked impressive in doing so due to the bad (actually....really bad) halves.

@HighEliteMajor. I don't think Self is going to change his system. He keeps talking about throwing the ball inside and kicking it out if there is no shot.
He will live and die with his system.

If Ojeleye is transferring from Duke due to playing time......would it make sense to come to KU, where the competition is just as stiff?
I would think he would go to some of the schools the articles have mentioned. I recall Indiana, maybe Oregon.........schools like that.

@wrwlumpy Absolutely. In theory, Selden can fill in for the 4 mins. or so that Mason needs as a breather. If Devonte misses the whole season (which is a possibility) we will likely lose a game or two that we otherwise would not. If Frank gets in foul trouble.......we are in trouble. I don't even want to think about what happens if Frank gets hurt.

If you had told me before the game started that we would win by 3, I would, of course, have taken it. But, you have to be concerned about the way we keep letting teams come back. We haven't been able to put them away.
But...we are young. We are inconsistent as a result. Alexander disappears, Svi hasn't re-appeared. I could certainly understand the 5 that Self had in the game at the end. That was the Jamari that we are used to seeing. Energy, defense, rebounding, and scoring when the opportunities are there. I thought Oubre did more good things..continues to progress.
Greene did not hit any threes, but he was clutch at the line.
He still scares me out there, though. Still kind of stumbles around, loses his man. We are a work in progress. We will get better and that makes me feel pretty good.

We were roughed up pretty good inside at times. Perry had a tough time inside. Again......bigger guys give him a problem. 3 pt shooting saved us. Well, and FTs too. We made 10 2 pointers and 10 3 pointers.
Was that the KU Jayhawks?
Great win on the road.

@wrwlumpy I noticed that on TV.

@jaybate-1.0 Clark Kellogg? You mean Greg Kelser? Jay Vincent?

@wissoxfan83 Your mention of the late night run to Joe's brought back some of my best memories at KU!

While being charged with anything, obviously, is not good, I agree that this charge may be very minor....it could involve any number of things. I am sure that when the Athletic Dept. has the facts they will act appropriately. Once again, I can't believe some of the comments on the other site....sheesh.

@Kong Actually, I think that the rationale for playing Colorado to allow our Western Kansas and Denver area alums to attend the game is valid.

Cliff...12 and 10 in 19 minutes...what a great 2nd half. Obviously, we won the game at the FT line. Devonte and Cliff....great! Wayne has shown that he is capable of this type of game. We just need him to play at, say even 80% of that production more often.
Interesting how the guys that play down the stretch changed a bit from game to game......that could be the case for awhile.

I'll admit. At halftime, I did not think we were going to win. The thought of some of our past comebacks did cross my mind. I was at least hoping that we could make a game of it.
Once we got to 49-41.....then I felt we were going to do it.

@JayHawkFanToo You make good points about how we guess about things. I wouldn't call them all wild conjectures.....but I get your point.
As previously replied.........that is part of the fun.
One thing you pointed out that I have mentioned, and always think about is that we don't see what goes on in practice. As an example, I assumed (again to your point) that Oubre had played well in practice prior to the UK game. We'll never know for sure.

@icthawkfan316 If Self believed they were going to foul (they could have chosen to play defense and get one last chance for a tie) then it makes sense to have Traylor in there. I would rather have him at the line than Alexander. He has proven to be effective at the line (though has had periods of "coldness" there). Although Ideally, you would want either Selden or Mason to handle the ball and shoot the FTs.

@HighEliteMajor The bad shots down the stretch had me tied up in knots. Fortunately our team defense bailed us out.

That was the type of game you would expect between KU and MSU.
Great, Great, win.
I was also questioning why Jamari was in at the end. Glad he was in to make those 2 FT though. Probably because of his experience. Worked out nicely.
While Oubre may not have done much.....I don't think he did anything negative. I think Greene will continue to be inconsistent....opening the door for Oubre.
Great team defense in the last minute.

@HighEliteMajor Your points on Svi are valid. But, I could see Oubre take some of Greene's minutes.....or a combination of Greene and other players.

@icthawkfan316 I agree that it is difficult to see whom Oubre is going to beat out. But I think he does have an advantage over Greene and Svi. While he may not have the basketball IQ that Svi does or the pure shooting stroke that either one has, I think he is an overall better athlete. I think he is quicker, faster, stronger than they are.........that is why he was a McDonald's AA and a success on the AAU circuit. He hasn't shown much of those skills because he is "thinking rather than playing". He has shown a couple of flashes of talent.......a couple of drives to the basket that looked very quick and smooth to me.
His time could come out of a combination of Greene/ Svi/ Graham minutes. This would result in more guys in the rotation than Self usually employs......and you would be justified in saying that won't happen.
But, I think one way or the other Oubre's natural talent, and Self's desire to get playing time for a McDonald's AA will result in Oubre playing more as the season progresses.

@ralster We would all like to see Oubre stay longer than one year. Based on the development so far that would seem to be a good possibility. But......he could demonstrate his potential, play a lot and go on a mini scoring binge for, say, 3 games in the post season......that could be enough for him to be guaranteed a high draft pick in today's world. So, you never know.

@KUSTEVE I just made similar comments on the other thread. They also have Forbes, who is a transfer and a very good shooter. They also have some other experienced guys (Costell, Schilling) I agree, they are further along than we are at this point in the season due to their experience.

MSU is going to be tough. Valentine has improved his shooting the last couple of year. Forbes, the transfer, is a very good shooter. Trice has always been a good shooter. 3 guys that can fill it up. Dawson is an excellent athlete, obviously. The rest of their guys, I think, are either good solid players or good role players. Not quite the talent up front that they have had in recent years (although Costello was state player of the year his Sr. year). Of course.....there is Izzo.
Their big advantage, in my opinion, is that they are more experienced, and therefore, further along than we are this early in the season.

@hawkster88 Totally agree on both points. Makes you feel good about the prospects for this year.

Well, other than the period of time when we allowed them to come from 13 down in the 2nd half (our "Michigan Moment"...ugh), I thought we played well. The perimeter defense, I thought, could be better. I thought they got past our perimeter guys too often......does anyone agree?
Interesting that he had Greene in the game for the entire crunch time....I thought Svi might see some more minutes.
Jamari had a bad game. Oubre continues to look lost.
I did like the way Self put him in the game earlier in the 2nd half when we had a lead. He didn't respond, though.....passed up a shot and threw the ball away. Couple of silly fouls. But there was a big difference in how we played when those 5 guys at the end were in.....no question.
We'll take all wins this early in the season.
Not sure how good Tennessee will turn out to be this season, though.

@KUSTEVE By the way, did you see McConnell make a kissing motion (several times) to the crowd as he was taken out of the game for foul trouble? Would like to know how hard he was being harassed.

@KUSTEVE As I recall, at one point, we recruited him....correct?

@HighEliteMajor That will be a dilemma. I think Oubre will still play....maybe the minutes come out of a combination of Greene / Mason / Graham. The result is more "rotation" minutes. I know.....8-9 is usually it for Self.
I just can't see Oubre not playing....one way or the other. At some point he'll be given more leeway than most....not as much as Wigs, but some.

@KUSTEVE I agree. The contrast is there.

@HighEliteMajor I think Oubre will play...one way or the other. 1) He's so talented.2) To a lesser degree, over the long run, he needs to play a McDonald's AA. I think the playing time comes at Greene's expense.I think he will be inconsistent enough that his performance will not demand 20 mins. per game. Svi's performance, I think, will demand 20 mins. (or so) per game.

I forgot....Rhode Island. E.C. Matthews. Tall, slender, guard. Went for 20-something last week, I think. I saw him play several times in high school. He and Wes Clark, Mizzou guard, led their team to the State Championship. Very good at getting to the basket. Will be interesting to see him play against our Jayhawks.

@JayHawkFanToo I agree that it is too early to read too much into the issue. But.....the other top players are at highly ranked, nationally prominent teams, and for the most part, competing against other good players. They seem to be fitting in just fine....again for the most part.

I can't think of Rhode Island without having nightmares about 1998......

@HighEliteMajor Well, I thought the tutoring reference was Traylor.....he had been starting before and Lucas was kind of out of the blue....but we don't know what has been going on in practice.
I like Traylor as a back up also.
Clearly, Oubre is behind Greene and Svi in terms of being in the right spot. But Self said, and it appears to be so.....he is still trying to figure out who our best players are. I thought Mason was OK.....did some good things....got in the lane......the one fast break layup was vintage Mason....but still needs to improve a lot. I do believe that Self will stick with him for a long time....Self seems to like what Mason brings to the table and will do everything he can to give the guy a chance to learn the position.....unless Graham becomes the guy...Self has said that Frank is a scoring point....aka the 2nd ball handler.

@joeloveshawks Me neither. I would have started Oubre (even though I thought Svi looked good against UK....all relative) to avoid the revolving door.
But....what we don't know is what has been happening at practice. Clearly rewarding who has been the best at practice.

@joeloveshawks I agree they will be a threat to our streak. It may depend on how long Taylor is out. If he is back for the bulk of the conference season they will be right there with us, ISU, and OU, I think. Head to head, I worry how we will do against their height.

@HighEliteMajor Yes, it is Self's job and I think he was admitting that. He seldom, that I can remember, states that fact as explicitly as some coaches do. He also pointed out, appropriately, that Kentucky has had more practices. Some would say that is an excuse.....maybe, but it is also a statement of fact.

Actually, I felt if we had started the 2nd half better.....it could have been a competitive game. I think we just got down on ourselves after that.

Every team, with the exception of UK, and possibly, Duke who has done well in a bit of a different manner, are struggling with the OAD concept. We are all spoiled with the success that we have had. (Well, OK we haven 't been spoiled in the tourney). Look at Michigan State......haven't quite been able to get the OADs they want.....Parker, Okafor, Cliff. They haven't been as dominant as their fans want.
I just now watched the 2nd half of the UK game. I actually felt better about things. We got a lot of good looks.......just couldn't hit anything. Yes. UK had something to do with that at times........but not always.
Svi looked really smooth. Alexander looked very good at times. Selden, also, We couldn't finish. It happens.
Texas looks good. So do the Clones. OU also (although they lost at Creighton the other night).
We will be right there in the conference race. Time will tell if we win it.
We have a chance to be right there with any not called UK.
I'm going to enjoy the journey.

@HighEliteMajor Well, certainly all of these things could happen, but the perfect storm would be if all of them happened. The one that would really hurt would be if Svi decides to make $$$ overseas. Surely we can get at least one of the guys we are in on....especially if any of our guys declare.

@JayHawkFanToo I agree. I can't believe the "politics" would influence Self that much in the short run. I think there would be pressure in the long run...moot point of course if Oubre plays to expectations....which I believe he will do.

@HighEliteMajor I absolutely hope so. Either he or Svi will, I think.

@DoubleDD I had exactly the same feeling when Svi and Oubre were in there. That seemed like the only time we could do anything.....when they could get to the lane, or hit the 3. I wanted to see more of them.
It gives me confidence that we will continue to get much better (even forgetting about this game) as the season continues.

@HighEliteMajor
I almost choked when I saw that Oubre was starting after our discussion of the pressure to play a McDonald's AA. I assumed that he had performed better in recent practices.......you normally don't go from 4 min. to starting for any other reason.
That said, I thought the only time that we looked halfway decent on offense was when he and Svi showed that with their length and athletic ability they could make something happen by getting in the lane. I wanted to see more of both Oubre and Alexander based on the way they played.
I love Perry, but I am afraid he is what he is......we won't get much out of him against tall, athletic big men. Period.
We did not play well. But we will get better. I think we have the potential to be in the next group behind Kentucky. Until someone proves otherwise....I think it's UK and then everyone else.

@jaybate-1.0 Well it could be that.......
I was giving him credit for being a good salesman (although a cheesy one). Also, it does require people skills to manage all of those egos, playing time, etc. I think he is an underrated coach who gets his guys to play hard and play tough defense.
Oh heck.....your deduction is probably correct. :)

@KUSTEVE Thanks for that information. I had not heard that.

Your comments bring out a point that I keep forgetting.
While Kentucky has, maybe the most talented 10 guys that I can remember......they can only play 5 at a time. Our best 5 vs. their best 5.....Ok we can stack up to them.
They have the depth advantage vs. any other team.....but 7 guys can win any game. Plus, as you say, they have the playing time issue staring them in the face....good point.
Specifically, we are going to have to shoot well from the outside....they have too much length inside.....I think Perry may have a hard time scoring.

KUSteve,

I am not familiar with what you are referring to.....what is the deal with labissiere?

You are stacking the deck as you know that it is more than charisma and those miscellaneous other reasons could mean a lot of things.
So based on your poll.....I would say No.
But.....we all know that he has clearly adopted an effective business model to thrive in the OAD era. Dribble drive offense that allows them to showcase their skills, join all of the other talented guys, compete for a NC and then become a high draft pick, etc. It's working.
The good news for us is that we are in the mix for the other big guys, so maybe Labissiere going to UK increases the chance we will get one of the other guys.

Good observations on the defense. This seems like more of a Self team in that regard. I thought the 5 that started the 2nd half were the most effective. Traylor may start for awhile....he did some really good things. Didn't score when he had a couple of chances, though....at some point Cliff will start.
I have to believe Self will work towards getting Oubre more minutes. But, based on the way Graham and Svi played, he is going to have to work for those minutes. I would think there is some "political" pressure for Self to get minutes for a McDonald's AA. Don't you think?

I was unable to see the exhibition games, so this was my first look at the team. The 5 that started the 2nd half seemed to be the most effective.
Svi showed he has all the tools. Cliff also. Graham, Svi, and Cliff will all clearly get better as the year progresses. Graham obviously was impressive.
Oubre played 4 mins in the first half, none in the 2nd. He looked very unhappy as he headed to the hand shake line. Even given how the other guys looked, I'm surprised he didn't get more minutes.