truehawk: I don't see Tharpe flopping .. I have been accused of being a bit too giddy on Tharpe. But I just see a guy who has done what we want. Work, learn, and improve.
And on the comment above about Greene, I would have to agree. He is going to be real good. Seeing him in person Saturday, his shooting, his fluidity .. the dude is the real deal.
The reports of AW3's demise now seem a bit premature ... now, is there are redshirt?
Greene or Frankamp?
And I'm excited for White as well. Great opportunity. We'll see if he runs with it.
From a coaching standpoint, when I hear that a coach does not watch the tape of the year end loss, I think "arrogance." I think of a coach that believes that he doesn't need to improve, and that the failings in the last game of the season lie everywhere except at his doorstep. It's like a CEO failing to review financials after a bad quarter. Or a doctor failing to review surgical procedure after a failed operation. Whatever.
But that "thought" may not be "fact."
When I made this comment a few months ago, a number of folks pulled out the tried and true .. "Self knows more than you do ..", "You're not the coach of a top college team ..", "Self is God .." -- ok, I made the last one up, kind of a paraphrase.
That being said, simply because Self doesn't watch the tape doesn't mean he fails to critique himself. I bet he critiques everything. And I bet he loses a lot of sleep over his decisions. All good coaches are arrogant in the sense that they believe in what they do, and think that it is the "right" way.
Would I prefer Self to say, "yea, I watch the tape". Sure. But the most important thing is Self critiquing his decisions and being open minded enough to try to improve. Because he ain't God .... and I'm quite sure he knows that.
drunkenjayhawk .. Just an observation, but there is not such thing as an 11-man rotation, except in YMCA ball. And thus you have identified the dilemma of your 11-man rotation; and as you pointed out, it doesn't even include two top 50 guys (Frankamp/Greene).
With what we have, I'd pass on Jones -- if Tharpe flops and Mason underwhelms, I'm like a woman -- I can change my mind.
Traylor looks more polished .. maybe. But when do you see him? Or pay attention. At the scrimmage, he caught my eye a couple of times on D. But I had a hard time watching him with the more interesting subjects on the court.
But he's a hard hat guy, blue collar. His job will be to spell our top 3 bigs and not hurt us in the process. He can bring energy, effort, athleticism, and the big block following a play.
I've never been a fan of Traylor-like recruits. But I'm a big fan of Traylor's story, and a big fan of Traylor-like recruits being the 4th big. That said, I thought Lucas looked decent around the basket .. something Traylor never has. But Lucas is clearly behind Traylor. Despite some speculative poster enthusiasm for Lucas, he remains a project. Not a "monster." Not a "load." Again, which is ok. He's a red-shirt freshman.
Traylor and Lucas might be very able players by their junior seasons respectively. And Self, through their development, will have some nice insurance if the stud big men of 2014-15 and/or 2015-16 pass on KU.
Okafer is deciding in early November apparently; Alexander on Nov. 16; and Turner might commit but said he definitely wouldn't sign until late.
News is coming soon.
Oubre plus any one of the bigs is a home run following up on what we got last season.
At first glance, I don't see Jones fitting, and I don't think he's coming here. We have Oubre, White, Greene, Frankamp, and Tharpe to man our perimeter spots. That's assuming Selden is OAD.
However, as with everything KU related, it's Self's thinking that matters. We just try to estimate his thought process. Maybe Self would sit Tharpe his senior season and play Jones. Maybe he'd start Jones at the 2 over White/Greene/Frankamp.
While Self is recruiting him, I didn't see Self really interact with him during the scrimmage. He did with Okafer though. Jones was disinterred from my vantage point. My hunch .. just a hunch .. is that he's hard after Okafer and is hoping that Okafer would come without Jones, and that the 2 for 1 isn't reality.
The anonymous posting deal at the LJW is a complete smokescreen. The policy is all about money, and about Facebook. A little research will show that a nice chunk of FB's revenue comes from Google, our survey friends, through the sale of information. Facebook enters agreements with companies as part of "Facebook Exchange" .. they then publish ads directly to your Facebook screen, your email page, etc., or to your LJW page, based on preferences gathered through your Facebook activity, through your internet activity, through purchases made with your email address, etc.
The entire deal about civil discourse is a red herring. Sure, the discourse may be more civil when there isn't as much of it.
Right, Oubre's dad made some interesting comments about not even considering the OAD stuff. Oubre may be a 2 year guy. Seems like his dad is a stand up guy and has kept him well grounded.
Maybe the reluctance to run, is linked to the reluctance to make a mistake, which is linked to the reluctance to incur Self's wrath? I don't think Self has mellowed. The quick hook is his way ... and playing through mistakes is not. I'm sure the young guys know that.
But I do like his focus on running and looking for it every time. That will create more turnovers, of course, but if we get more possessions (the Roy way), it balances out. But convincing new players to do it, when they know mistakes aren't immediately forgiven, is another challenge.
Remember, Keegan said Mason would start at PG back in June. I thought that was silly, but left the door open thinking he might have some inside info. Really, he just bought what Self was selling .. chatter to motivate Tharpe.
Mason isn't a top 50 guy. But I really like what I saw from him and can understand why those that saw him would be impressed.
JD .. Blown kind of expressed my opinion. Tharpe was kind of just there. Stayed conservative. Didn't press the action. Hit a three. I actually expected a little more aggressiveness there. But all that is not a negative. Assist to TO ratio is a big deal. Tharpe just needs to avoid getting TT-itis .. thinking that he's the lead dog. Mason was clearly more aggressive deeper into the scrimmage. He is a pure point guard and looks the part. And yes, i think Selden will be on Smart .. no "beasting" this season.
On Selden, I can see why everyone's excited. He is just an explosive, solid athlete. Moves great on D (though he seemed to guard Frankamp quite a bit .. he looked massive next to Frankamp).
If I had to suggest a redshirt after watching the scrimmage today, without a doubt, it would be Frankamp. Mason looked better at the point, more sure. And Greene could fill the shooter off the bench role if White or someone else is injured or falters.
But CF is a 4 year guy. Lots of PT ahead of him.
I was at the scrimmage as well. It was a bit hard to gauge much, other than the rotation. Tharpe, Selden, Wiggins, Ellis, Black starting; Traylor, White, Embiid, with Mason getting some minutes when Tharpe might be out.
Self said post-game that Tharpe is the clear starter. Tharpe looked ok.
A few observations: White looked pretty good, more confident. Played pretty good D. it's apparent Self has him ahead of Frankamp/Greene. Frankamp is very small, looked smaller than Tharpe. And didn't appear "quick." Mason looks better than Tharpe did when Tharpe was a freshman. Perfect developmental guy. Brannen Greene will be a player. He's long, athletic, but he's playing like the proverbial freshman .. appears to be thinking a lot. I thought Lucas looked better than Traylor near the basket. But with the post guys, Lucas seems completely out of the mix. Traylor seems marginally better. On Mickelson, he did look fine .. line drive outside shot though. I could see an incredible post rotation by January as Embiid gets confident .. Black looks the part. Could see him getting a few silly fouls on screens. He moves a lot. Embiid looks good and clueless all together. As for Ellis, he relies a lot on the pivot and shot fake down low. A taller post player that holds his ground and closes on the pivot will make it very difficult for him; but Ellis did make a couple of nice passes when he got stuck. Looks like he is continuing the upward trend from late last season.
I guess the Greene was the guy that I came away thinking that once he gets it, watch out. And Frankamp was the guy I'm wondering how he will fit in.
Great to be at Allen.
Right here .. poking around a bit. Good to see the familiar faces, and appreciate the kind words above.
I don't know, I kind of think Ford is right. The hype over Wiggins is way off the charts. Just some pointed sarcasm. Seriously, do we really think that Wiggins has any business in the same ....
sentence with Chamberlain and Manning?
(see, I broke the sentence up since has no place in the same sentence)