🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@drgnslayr teams can almost score at will inside against them. Our defense, while rated in the thirties, is not nearly as bad as theirs.

In my opinion, margin of victory means nothing come March. We have had super dominant teams that bowed out early (97, 10 and 11) and a team with a super thin bench that went to the title game. There is no way to know for sure whether or not the number of blowouts indicates future success in March - the tournament is too unpredictable and one game where a team plays tight could be their last.

@jayballer54 Jekyll and Hyde team that relies on the three way too much.

There was a great tweet from Luke Cooper about Frank's work ethic. Frank deserves player of the year and the ever elusive final four appearance - he says his goal is to bring the title to Lawrence.

@kjayhawks my favorite play from last night. Glad to see Landen aggressive

Saw where Bruce said "we kicked their butts again". Lol, yeah coach, you kicked our butts so bad that you lost. Honestly, would we expect anything else from him?

@wrwlumpy big boy game. Good toughness on display

@Crimsonorblue22 didn't he have like 8 rebounds?

@BeddieKU23 I agree. This bodes well for this team's future. Great tough and gritty W

@BeddieKU23 dribble drive right now. Hasn't worked well this game

@stoptheflop I wish he would not force the issue

Im done with this game. Tired of the fatigue excuses, poor defense and bad decision making. This is not a veteran team

Another shooter open

@DCHawker coaching?

@Texas-Hawk-10 I agree. Right now they need to slow down

Bad at both ends. Someone AGAIN over helped and left Wade open. Can't leave their shooters. Just cant

Great d to start

Jay doesn't think this would be an upset

@RockChalkinTexas amen!!!

I have Frank for hawk to rock but I would like to see Devonte step up. He has been pretty loose with the ball and we need his shooting tonight.

@joeloveshawks amen

@ralster johnson

@Blown watch the better defensive teams around the country. They do an excellent job of moving their feet and keeping their man in front of them. I don't believe that the refs are so picky that teams can't play decent defense. To me, that's just an excuse for guys being out of position or not moving their feet.

@Blown they have to learn to play without fouling. Arms straight up and move feet laterally. If anything, there is already help in the lane because of the bigs, so a wing leaving his man is illogical.

@Crimsonorblue22 it isn't a rotation - it is a matter of just not leaving shooters and it happens every game and they get burned because of it. I think he teaches it.

@justanotherfan no, he over helps on drives. Apparently, Self teaches that you need two or three guys on one in the lane. So, instead of giving up a hard two we give up a wide open three. I just don't see the logic behind it.

@Blown that's certainly possible

@Blown sounds like excuses to me.

@drgnslayr very true. I think that is Bills ultimate problem to solve: how to consistently beat teams you are better than in the tourney. This has been discussed for years and I think the answer is tempo. Pressing and getting out in transition I think are the answer. We saw that at the beginning of the second half against Baylor. They couldn't keep up with our guards. I think your idea of tempo being the most important element is absolutely correct.

@mayjay who is it?

@BShark me too, but I hope that doesnt happen. Question: If they wouldn't have lost yesterday, would everyone be feeling more confident going into tomorrow?

@Crimsonorblue22 I agree - man first, then zone.

@Hawk8086 that would explain it. So far, I have not heard or seen anything to indicate that our present team has similar issues. I think they like playing together - Josh has said that he likes playing with Frank and Devonte.

KSU has several capable three point shooters, so I'm not sure if zone would be a good option. Shouldn't throw out the possibility of using it, though. Can't let DJ Johnson have his way in the paint, which means that our guards will have to control dribble penetration in the paint so that DJ can't score off of dishes from the guards. On offense, we need to move the ball and attack the paint. Also need to get out in transition and get some easy points. That helped us last year.

@kjayhawks I agree - tomorrow's game will be the indicator for how this team will end up.

@KUSTEVE I hope youre right about tomorrow's game - I think it will be our second toughest test to date after WVU. I mentioned on another thread that the 2009 UNC that won the title lost their first conference game at home to Boston College. Losses just happen and I am sure the guys want to redeem themselves after that pathetic second half.

@Lulufulu "But still. Those guys didnt come out to play the second half..".

You hit the nail on the head. Since many of us are lifelong Jayhawk fans, we have seen the difference in how KU teams perform between when they are ready and when they decide to coast and not put much energy into playing. Even the 08 team did that numerous times. Yesterday was a great example of that. Isnt it amazing how all of their "deficiencies" seem to go away when they play with energy?

I understand about the highs and lows of trying to guess how far this team will go in March. I think the key is that all teams have losses they shouldnt have. In 2009, that great UNC team lost their first two conference games, with one of those being at home. It just happens but it never gets less frustrating. Just have to hope they respond well on Monday night.

You could be right about five losses, but that would really hurt our one seed chances. Our guys need to step up and simply beat the teams they are better than.

@Crimsonorblue22 I didn't have many questions. Again, we committed TEN more turnovers than they did and lost by three. That is the difference in the game, regardless of how well ISU shot the ball.

@Crimsonorblue22 yes. Why?

@Crimsonorblue22 yes, a couple. The WVU game and at TCU. Nothing else over 30, IIRC

@ralster good points. You can definitely lose when you play great defense if you couple that with poor shooting, like Nova last year. Really, you can't have one without the other. I would say the first half today was a good balance between the two. This team can absolutely play championship level defense, but they seem to only do it when need be. Maybe they are trying to conserve energy? I really dont know.

@Crimsonorblue22 he had a couple of nice scoring games when he was here, but I will take Josh's attitude and competitiveness any day of the week over Wiggins.

Today's loss was definitely a surprise. If I would have had to guess, I would have said a loss on Monday night was much more probable than losing at home to the cryclones. We were cruising in the first half and were in control up 14. Then the second half started out with two or three straight turnovers and Landen missing a pair of free throws. That to me says our guys were not mentally in the game. They thought they were in control and could coast as usual to an easy W on a Saturday afternoon.

Iowa State easily played their best game of the year. Just like Oregon, they hit a school record number of threes which propelled them to a W. Basically, both feasted on a large helping of fool's gold. Whenever you have to hit a record number of threes to win, that to me is fool's gold.

My main issue with Self's coaching today is the lack of game plan to stop their shooters. So: what do you do to stop hot three point shooting? Jesse Newell had an article a while back that says it doesnt matter if a guy is guarded or not - the percentage of makes doesnt change. Coming from a player, this is simply nonsense and, if I may say so, foolish thinking. To combat ISU, you have to get right in their grill and MAKE them dribble and make a move. It was clear to all that they were super hot in the second half and that something should be done. You have to force them to shoot over the top in the paint. I know that ISU had a few very contested shots, but far too many were open enough that they were not rushed or forced, which means that guys like Svi and Josh did not disrupt the shooters nearly enough.

So where does that leave us moving forward? I was reading a comment on another site and it said that in 04-05, KU won at Kentucky, at Iowa State, then lost to Iowa State at home, and we all remember how that season just got worse and worse after a really good start. First off, the two teams are drastically different. Secondly, we haven't seen this year's team play amazing to start the season then taper off - their level of play has been fairly consistent. Thirdly, I think this year's squad is more dynamic because of the four guard lineup. Have we lost yet because we are "shorter" and "don't have a shot blocker"? No. Having Dok, IMO, wouldn't have won us the game today because our guards were so sloppy with the ball and ISU made their comeback with the three, not the two. We were successful when our guards, on a few possessions, forced them off the three point line.

The truth is, we aren't going to lose a single game this year because we don't have a shot blocker. To me, people have followed the media's narrative that at the University of Kansas, unless you have a rim protector, you aren't going to succeed. Of course, I have listed all of the teams that made the final four without a Joel Embiid or Karl Anthony Towns, so clearly this narrative is bull.

The game Monday is going to be, IMO, our toughest test yet. Bruce can really coach, his guys play good D, shoot the ball well and on top of that the crowd will be fired up. Personally, I think this one will be an L, but the key to winning will be 1. drive and kick every possession 2. having around 12 turnovers or fewer 3. drive their shooters off the 3 point line. So basically, do the things we need to do every game.

These situations suck, but one thing to remember is Villanova last year lost in the BE tournament to Seton Hall, North Carolina last year lost at home to Duke, Duke in 2015 lost by 20 at home to Miami, UConn in 2014 lost by 30 to Louisville a few weeks before the tourney, and Louisville in 2013 had a three game losing streak. Sometimes, tough losses just happen. But what shows the character and toughness of a team is how they play their next games after that.

I think Monday's game will decide where this team will go. Will they bounce back like the veteran, experienced team that they are? Or will they be like the 05 team and fold under the pressure. We will find out shortly.

Sometimes you lose to hot teams. Hey, at least we werent down 37 like Arizona was.

@kjayhawks well of course. I once heard someone say: March can right all wrongs. Thst is absolutely true. I dont care that we lost to Davidson in 2012. Why? Because we made it to the title game. A deep run to the final weekend causes one to forget about past failures. We are Kansas and shouldnt be satisfied with a great regular season.

Just like most years under Self, effort and energy are this team's weakness. They didnt bring it most of the second half and it showed.

Btw, does Bill teach overhelping on drives? That three Svi gave up at the end was the nail in the coffin. Has anyone heard if Bill wants to put two or three guys on guy when he drives in the lane? Seems unnecessary to me.

Yep, sleepwalking through the game finally caught up to them. When a team plays that poorly, they deserve to lose. What is puzzling is why we didnt do anything different the second half. No forcing them off the three point line, no pressure and our offense was stagnant.

I don't believe they were looking ahead to next week at all. Iowa State was hot at the right time and exploited what we all knew would come back to bite them one of these games.

Now they have to go to Manhattan on Monday night which should be a hard fight and one that will be an absolute battle. Hopefully they realize you can't afford to take possessions off or constantly make risky passes. We can win but they will have to mentally focus like they did against Kentucky and Baylor.

To say Oregon is dominating would not do it justice. Unbelievable.