🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@Texas-Hawk-10 ok thanks

@BeddieKU23 i just want us to have a team that has the potential similar to Kentucky so we dont get out talented. Mixing it with experience and chemistry are of course important. So Cunliffe is eligible mid season?

@Ralph thanks

@BeddieKU23 I would love for us to have a monster recruiting class like Duke or Kentucky and combine about four or five high school all Americans with our (hopefully) returning veterans Devonte, Dok, Svi, Lagerald and Carlton. I would love to see what Bill can do when he is on equal footing with Calimari

@JayHawkFanToo I also think we should add another big. Who is available?

@Texas-Hawk-10 yeah, WSU has not looked good against real competition. They got blown out by Michigan State, Louisville and Oklahoma State. A lot of teams can look good against sub rpi 200 schools like South Carolina State. Thinking you are good just by blowing out cupcakes is pure fool's gold.

@Hawk8086 my theory is they are saving it for later on. Recall that our perimeter D was really good at stopping penetration against Duke, specifically in our big second half run when they couldnt score on us. If Landen doesnt have a sore foot, Josh is more comfortable like he is now, and Devonte doesnt have cramps the whole game, we dont lose to Indiana. That is not a coincidence since Devonte did not have any cramps like he did against Indiana and struggled to play through them. We are not any shorter than last year's team as Mick and Diallo didn't really play in our elite eight run. Our defensive prowess is solely predicated on our guards regardless of what anyone says. I have seen too many small ball teams excel in March to believe otherwise.

@ralster you're right. Unless there is an attitude change and they start taking things seriously, the game at Kentucky could make the 2014 blowout look like a nail biter.

@wissox that's what I've heard, so it would be KC this year if we get a one seed

@drgnslayr you know, we have been pretty soft all year and have been pretty lackadaisical in numerous areas. Landen's sore foot didn't help, but as a team we have underperformed.

@drgnslayr I think the one seeds get to choose the closest location.

@jessejayhawk KU scoring a lot of points is no mystery - this is one of the best offensive teams in the country behind Kentucky and UCLA.

I watched the first half and a bit of the second half and was surprised at how well the cryclones packed in the paint and defended the paint in spite of their size disadvantage. Their ball movement was good and they shot 45% from 3 to stay in the game which is something I think we could ŕeplicate.

As someone else said, Baylors offense did not look impressive and their defense was good at times but not as good as I thought it would be.

I agree about Dok and I wish we had him. But we dont and there is little sense in wishing he could play because he cant. However, Dok would not have solved our problems. That has been a myth perpetuated by the media who are not reporting the actual issues going on and instead attempt to pinpoint the problems on our seemingly slim inside play. The real issue, obviously, is our perimeter defense. Just like the Dark Knight in 2008, Dok is what we want but not necessarily what we need. We all want a 7 foot stud patrolling the lane. What we need is ball pressure on the perimeter and guards that contain dribble penetration. UConn didnt need a Joel Embiid when they won the title in 2011 and 2014. Butler didnt need one in back to back title game appearances. Illinois really didnt have one in 2005 but just had solid rebounders and finishers like we have and like Duke in 2010.

After watching the game, we can definitely beat Baylor, as long as the guys have more pride defensively. I dont believe for one second that we are going to play defense this poorly the rest of the season. In fact, besides theories, there is no reason to think that things wont get better. All I know is our guys are in terrific shape. Other guys over the years have endured similar depth issues, such as the three Illinois guards in 2005 that had one loss going into the title game. They had to play a lot of minutes but were still playing well at the end. Same thing with Napier and Boatright.

My point is that I think we will be fine as we have gone through tough times in the past yet made it through it.

@Blown that would be something to check if someone knows where to find it. I think part of it is we havent really been able to score in transition but we have done a good job of scoring in a half court game. That is correlated to Self's idea of "take what the defense gives us". If the opponent wants to slow it down, we have to be able to execute.

@KUSTEVE I concur

@kjayhawks need Iowa state to hang on!

Yes I'm watching. Iowa State needs to keep packing in the paint and hope Baylor has a below average three point shooting night. They have missed two fairly open layups that would have put them up three at the half. It will be tough for them to sustain this.

@BeddieKU23 great points about the teams Bill has come across and the influence they had on him. I recall Hoiberg even stopped by his office one time and talked with him about playing 4 out 1 in.

@BShark everyone's defense was a bit of an issue - wasn't just Carlton. You can't really stop a jump hook when a guy gets that kind of position.

Well, you are right that we are giving up a lot of easy baskets. Fran last night correctly noted big guys that were having career nights against us, but erroneously correlated that to poor post defense (go figure there). How quickly everyone forgets that we were giving up easy baskets at times even with Udoka. I think everyone needs to watch replays of Nova's games this year and see the best example of small ball. UConn in '14 occasionally ran the four guard lineup, specifically at important junctures in the regional against Iowa State and Michigan St. in addition to the game against Florida in which they came back from an early deficit, but that was a smaller sample size. This year and most of last year, Nova has been dominating and winning tough road games against much bigger teams.

Again, we will go as far as Frank and Devonte take us. I agree with KUSTEVE - I just get the feeling that both of them are coasting at times and saving energy. Maybe I'm wrong, but the eye test tells me they are not giving it their all. When Devonte does give more effort, he makes poor decisions and tries to get steals and gets burned because of it. But that is easily correctable with a little coaching or an introspective evaluation, so I'm not too concerned about it.

In essence, it is all about perimeter defense. Heck, I could go out there right now and play the five for Nova and be just fine even though it has been about six years since I played organized ball and I would be giving up about seven inches to 7'2 Isaac Haas (slight exaggeration, but you get my point). That is the level of perimeter D Nova is playing. We aren't there - yet. Are we at a physical disadvantage when compared to Nova? Do they have more talent? Is Jay Wright that much better than Self? I say no to all three and I firmly believe we have the potential to play in a similar fashion.

When you think about - what has changed from last year in terms of our size? We are the same height as last year, essentially. Half the time, Perry and Jamari, each closer to 6'6 or 6'7, played in the post together. And yet, we were a couple turnovers away from the Final Four.

HEM brought up outscoring opponents. This will work against teams not named Kentucky and UCLA. But even Roy's good teams played defense when needed, specifically in March. I was rewatching UNC vs Nova and UNC vs Michigan St. in 2009 and was surprised at their effort defensively. It was '08 levels by any means but they were making a conscious effort.

@KUSTEVE you know, I kind of had that feeling also. Our returning starters know that they can get the job done in the tourney as they went to the elite eight last year. In theory, there is little use in blowing out K State and getting even more worn out. Now none of us like games like last night, but in the larger sense blowing them out last night has zero impact on how we play at Ames.

@JayHawkFanToo exactly. The theory is not matching the facts.

@jaybate-1.0 still don't agree fully with you. Compare what he is wearing last year in the Big 12 tournament to the last game against TCU. Very similar.

@jaybate-1.0 iirc, hasn't Devonte always worn various supports around his knees?

@jaybate-1.0 man, I sure hope youre right because it was a pretty horrific effort defensively and we were sloppy on offense even though we scored 90. The thing I keep going back to is last year when the team experienced a noticeable improvement starting at the beginning of February. Hopefully we will start to see a similar improvement because if we dont, this team will have no chance for a one seed.

I watched a bit of the TTU-WVU game and was surprised at how calmly and smoothly Tech handled the press. I would love to see our Hawks handle it in a similar fashion, but Im not holding my breath. One would think our performance would be better because we have upperclassmen and four guards on the court. Last year, everyone was sped up and out of control except for Perry. Here's to hoping its better this year.

@jaybate-1.0 i must remind you that Devonte had his fair share of bad games last year. From my perspective, he has not been attacking but only looking to shoot, as well as gambling on defense occassionally that puts the team in a bad position. Like I said before, I will watch him closer to see if anything is there.

@Crimsonorblue22 yeah I don't see anything wrong with his arm

@jaybate-1.0 I agree with you except for Devonte. I will watch him more on Saturday.

@DoubleDD true dat. We have had similar situations in the past but overcame them. Our guys are too good and too well coached to not eventuallyget their defense to championship levels.

@DoubleDD I agree with you

@Bwag huge win

What was tech thinking on that play?

Texas Tech getting close to pulling off the upset

@wissox I had a feeling it would be Svi

That's what happens when you don't play defense

So sloppy out there. This team does not care about defense at all. Disappointing

@Crimsonorblue22 three and a half weeks

What do they think they are going to do against Kentucky?

@Crimsonorblue22 the refs in the NBA are much better - they don't call ticky-tack stuff

@HawkInMizery reminds me of last year. They picked it up late in the year.

@JayHawkFanToo got it

@BShark they are going to get destroyed at Kentucky if they refuse to play defense

Terrible, terrible, Terrible

Terrible start to the half

Tech hanging in there against Huggy Bear

@kjayhawks that's what I 've been saying. Very little concentration on the defensive end. No urgency either

What a shot by Devonte!

Vick again leaving someone wide open in the corner. Frustrating

Better but still too many breakdowns defensively