stoptheflop said:

I'm not a believer in predictions, but I am concerned about our level of play against OSU, especially after the half-hearted effort in the second half of the Texas game. I hope it's important to Devonte and Svi to keep their streak of no sweeps by any Big 12 team during their KU careers. But Vick and Newman may very well take the game off. My hope is for offensive and defensive intensity to build momentum for the upcoming tournaments.

That's sad to see players at an elite program to not be in the game mentally every time. Very disappointing

Hawk8086 said:

THAT is a big reason why we have reason to think we will be better next year. (Of course, if we're being honest...........there are a lot of guys that our team can't guard) :)

"Don't guard"

It seemed like Vick played much more engaged for a few games but his effort trailed off against Tech and Texas. He is sort of an enigma but hopefully he will come through when we need him.

@JayHawkFanToo I love how much Garrett is looking to attack. Frankly, I'm excited how much the guards in general are aggressively attacking the rim.

Man gonna miss Devonte

BShark said:

@HawkChamp nah

They played with more energy and iq ocerall

Texas wants it more

Lol. Texas playing much smarter

Pretty meh focus tonight. Lots of dumb errors.

Too many dumb errors to extend the lead. When you're margin of error is thin like us, just have to play smart and make the easy plays.

Kind of a poor game. Kind of expected after Saturday though

Seems like they make plays you can't coach and other times it looks like they've never been coached.

@BShark yeah zero rim protection otherwise. They have nothing else practically.

JayHawkFanToo said:

@mayjay

I am not sure we will ever see a season when a team goes undefeated anymore, way too much parity and quality players all over for that to happen. Even the best team money can buy could not do it at UK.

I see what you did there!

mayjay said:

@KUSTEVE Did it go down after OU, or just after both games combined? It could be that the OU game had little influence but TT alone was the reason. Acc to sports-reference.com, the only thing besides off rebs that was noticeably different between the two was TT's off rtg of 112 compared to 102 for OU. 112 with the 13 off rebs by TTU may have been enough to drop us.

By comparison, UVA's last 4 games have held opponents' off rtgs to 100, 87, 100, and 67 (Pitt on Sat). We have not held a team below 102 since TCU on Feb 6 (95).

Some of the bottom feeder ACC teams are not very good. Tech and West Virginia are much better than Pitt and its not even close.

Yes, I have noticed improvement defensively, and I normally don't put much stock into advanced metrics. The eye test reveals improvement, so that is what I am going with.

Agreed. Our guys were much better in the second half at rebounding. That has to be a point of emphasis each and every half from here on out. Can't give up so many free points after playing really good defense.

A rematch with Tech in a week and a half would be interesting. If we play with the same energy as the first half, I think we beat them again.

kjayhawks said:

Well, I said after the Tech home loss that if Self could win with this bunch, he is the best regular season coach in history. Bill Self is the best regular season coach in NCAA basketball history! Now let’s start start expanding that to simply The Best!

their fans are convinced our guys won because of the "refs" and all sorts of excuses. Haters gonna hate.

wissox said:

1 seed nearing reality?

I think if we win the next two and a game or two in the Big 12 tournament, the one seed is a good probability.

I honestly have no idea why someone would say that this team is not winning a title, that it has "no chance". What?!?! Right, just like south Carolina last year, Syracuse in 2016, and Butler in 2010 and 2011 had "no chance" to get to the final four. It seems like some people have no concept of how random the tournament can be. Just ridiculous.

@Texas-Hawk-10 the change of team demeanor and spirit is surprising. Looking much tougher now.

BShark said:

Self just said if Graham doesn't win Big12 POTY they are giving him a trophy anyway. :goat:

He should be. He's a champion and true team player who willed his team to the title. What has Deuce Young won?

Graham with a similar to Elijah at Iowa State. Big play after big play.

Need to be tough. Refs aren't giving us anything so our guys will need to keep that in mind.

We rebound, we win. Tech seldom scored on our first shot d and our ball movement has been great. Got to rebound!!!!!

@jayballer73 knowing that the refs keep an eye on him, HE HAS TO LEARN to be careful and not commit silly fouls. He's too valuable to be on the bench.

HighEliteMajor said:

Sean Miller supposedly caught on wire tap talking about $100,000 payment to land Deandre Ayton.

If it's on tape, Miller is screwed.

@HighEliteMajor I agree about the final four. I think tourney chokes have caused many to be defensive and give in to lowered expectations from Self, citing that the tournament is a "crapshoot". We are a blue blood school, so final fours and titles are expected. Thats not being spoiled or selfish -- its just a fact of reality that people have to accept.

Texas Hawk 10 said:

@jayballer73 All I'll say is that while you're laughing at the PAC 12, KU went 1-2 against tye mid level teams in tge Pac 12 including 0-2 in home games. Perhaps the Pac 12 isn't as weak as you think they are

I think our guys made them look good. Those two games were pretty pathetic performances.

jayballer73 said:

JayHawkFanToo said:

jayballer73 said:

well I know one for sure that's not good. - - Washington is not a good team - you consider Washington a good team ? - if you do you need to grab a websters and look up the definition of good. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

So, what is your definition of a good team? Would you say a team that is in the top third of all Division I is good? How about 70 percentile? Washington is there and currently a bubble team for the Tournament. It might not be a title contender but as teams go, it is not a bad team...didn’t it beat KU after all?

No need to take my comments so personally, they are just comments. I thought you were going to try being less thin skinned.:smile:

and when I comment back I have - - -and I didn't take it personal. - -not really sure how I can make people understand I'm not. guess it's my twisted approach boy if some REALLY knew me - they would faint lol.

Ya your right they did beat KU - -and that is a BAD loss -a team that's what in 5th in a weak conference ya - -BAD BAD loss. - The Pac 12 sucks - -Arizona is really the only legit team they got. - -Arizona State fell back to earth they really ain't squat and it's proven it'self out. - - Hell who isn't a bubble team - -lol --and their bubble is pretty weak.

I'm not taking anything you say personal my friend this is just how I am- not meaning to sound insulting to you - love your thoughts - love the site. - -See someone has to kind of be a rebel I guess keep things stirred up -Everyone should have their comments. - -hope were good. - -wish I knew how to use all the little emoji's can't even find them here anymore - whoops their is my computer stupidity showing again lol. - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

I think Arizona State had one of their best shooting nights against us. I saw them miss open shot after open shot at Arizona, shots they made against us, and lost. They were just hot for a few games and we had an uninspired outing. All there is to it.

jayballer73 said:

JayHawkFanToo said:

@jayballer73

I don't agree. This team is just too good to lose to #16 seed. All the loses have been to very good or good teams, a #16 seed would likely be ranked outside the top 100 and would have had to be in a play-in game. The parity in college basketball is in the top 20-40 teams not between a top 10 and a below 100 team. No way, no how, no ma'am.

well I know one for sure that's not good. - - Washington is not a good team - you consider Washington a good team ? - if you do you need to grab a websters and look up the definition of good. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Yes Washington is a decent team and quite a bit better than a sixteen seed.

Silvio and Vick are the x factors. When they play well, we can play with anyone.

Boy if Silvio can keep playing like this....

Nice butt whoopin. Tech is the next victim.

@Texas-Hawk-10 yes but no Dok really hurts us. Seems like he is automatic for two fouls every first half.

Dok with more silly fouls.

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Hey Deuce! That's what it feels like to play pt guard at KU! They never want to leave!

He doesn't have the faintest idea of what being a team player means or how to be one.

@KUSTEVE indeed. I think the lack of consistency is the most frustrating part. Sometimes they play tough, defend and rebound well and play somewhat smart, then we see clunker games like Arizona State and Washington where they don't look like they care that much. This week would be an ideal time to string together two good games in a row.

HighEliteMajor said:

And yes, we CAN make the FF. Who can’t we beat?

They are currently getting beat by themselves, so I'd say the University of Kansas can beat the University of Kansas. Outside of that, we can hang with anyone.

@Crimsonorblue22 he regularly hurts the team with his silly fouls. His second foul in the first half was just a head scratcher. Hopefully it will be better at that next season.

I agree and I think part of that is Self's fault for getting people's hopes up, at least until the end. Once it kept dragging on for over a month, the writing was on the wall. Maybe it has affected them, maybe it hasnt. Wouldnt surprise me if it has.

Buster, that is exactly what I said on another thread. No sense of urgency, hustle or smart play. Basically zero. No excuses for getting outhustled and out rebounded. Just pathetic to have that happen game after game. Like I said before, I'm ready for a new batch of players, ones that will hopefully see how important rebounding and playing defense are, because the current bunch doesn't give a crap about fundamentals it seems.

@Gunman yes him too. None of them look like they have a reason to play. I'm not talking about "I like to play so I play" sort of thing. I'm talking about real intrinsic motivation and competitiveness that gives you a reason to keep going when you're down. Les Brown talks about this a bit. When you dont, you may look soft and unfocused. Dragonslayer refers to this as a "chip", and he's exactly right when he says our guys don't have one. The eye test confirms his suspicion. Maybe they'll surprise us in March, but I doubt it.

Man Texas completely blew it.

DoubleDD said:

@BShark

I'm sorry we are going to have to disagree. KU didn't when this game because Kstate missed a few open shots. KU won this game because they have the balls and back bone to go into a hostile environment and win.

They do it every year. It's why they have so many conference championships in a row.

Hey if you want to blame the KU win on Kstate on missing open shots. Knock yourself out.

Not me. I watched a KU team refused to lose.

I agree 100%. The WVU game seems to be the time at which the team looked tough and competitive. Our defensive effort has looked much better lately and, along with rebounding, is the key to a deep March run.

@JayHawkFanToo its not surprising either. The guy went from playing in high school to playing in big time D1 games against WVU and Oklahoma in three weeks. Thats a pretty big difference.

@BShark Mitch has really upped his game lately. Very impressed with the progress he has made in recent weeks.

As others have said, yesterday was a preview of what will happen a month and a half from now. Every team in the Big 12 gets up to play us but as we have seen, each is more than capable of laying an egg. OU from yesterday is a great example.

All I really care about though is how well KU does. If Tech flops in the first round, I dont really care that much.

Glad to see coach take Dok at the end. Shows he learned from last Tuesday. Actually probably a good thing it happened before the tournament.

It wasnt me. I promise.