🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@JayHawkFanToo They need a "not bad" coach like Weber?

@BeddieKU23 Regarding Coleby graduating, I think that was possible since January -- meaning he would just have to pass his final credits he enrolled in to be eligible to leave. The planets just have kind of aligned a bit since the end of the season - 1) Svi announced for the combine on April 12 and 2) Whitman committed to Kansas on May 3. I had heard nothing about Coleby possibly leaving until those two both happened. Of course, the latter item did two things -- it brought in a guy to play where Coleby might (as the third big) and it pushed us to 14 scholarships (one too many).

It could all just be coincidence. But we've just seen some of those coincidences over the years.

But I'm speculating too.

@jaybate-1-0 Hmmmm. Once someone admits that KU would do better with Nike, that solidifies that they, by consequence, would do worse with Adidas. Am I reading that correctly? And if they would do worse with Adidas, does that not essentially help prove your underlying and longstanding theory? Nice play.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Bingo. Go with Under Armour. It's the strong future move.

Seriously. Now we don't know. I get that. However, 14 scholarship players. 13 scholarships. Svi in limbo. Now we hear that Coleby will be making a decision in the coming days about whether to stay? Funny, Svi will be making a decision in the coming days too. How obvious is this?

Let me guess. Svi stays, Coleby goes. Svi goes, Coleby stays.

Here's the article LINK ↗

I work very hard not to engage in political talk here. My wife is proud of me.

@JayHawkFanToo
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You said , "I believe we all agree that Coach Weber is not a good recruiter, but he is not a bad coach either. Here is his complete coaching record:"

Pretty simple. "Not a good recruiter" and "Not a bad coach."

How can there be disagreement there?

I'm sorry, but anyone that actually understands the game would have to agree that Weber is "Not a bad coach." @mayjay agrees. Anyone really disagree? I might have to reconsider my understanding of the game.

Now, I think he's actually a good coach. That is different. But I do think he is. But that voice .....

14 players, 13 scholarships.

@BeddieKU23 Weber has been to a Final Four and in the entire history of the University of Missouri, the Tigers have not. They always seem to shoot themselves in the foot.

@BShark Folks continue to want to demean his final four by saying he did it with Self's players. The fact is, he did it. He made it to the final four and to the title game. That is a simple undeniable fact that stands alone, and puts him in some pretty exclusive company.

The recruiting narrative is a relevant discussion point, but that has no connection to (thus is irrelevant to) his success with the 2004-05 team.

So Weber went to a Final Four before coach Self?

The concept and idea that he did it with Self's players is really irrelevant. They weren't Self's players. They were his players. He did it his second season at Illinois. The rationalization that he did it with Self's players serves two purposes -- 1) to further demean Weber, and 2) to do what is always done, to try to boost coach Self due to his tourney failures. As if that should have been Self's final four.

Let me add one more Weber dig, that is always self serving to KU fans -- Weber was just lucky. The NCAA tourney is a "crap-shoot" and involves a high amount of luck (the rationalization of the loser).

All that said, he has to be one of the most irritating and annoying individuals I've seen on a bench, or anywhere. All for the reasons set out in other posts. Much different than his abilities as a coach. Quite frankly, can you imagine playing for a guy with that voice? Amazing he can do what he does with all of his handicaps.

So we need some scholarship shenanigans to keep Svi on the roster? The only player who could get "cut" is Coleby. And would that happen now? Maybe. But that leaves us only with 4 bigs.
I don't know. This all seems to add up that Svi is gone, whether NBA or playing for a Russian team, or whatever. I saw Matt Tait's scholarship scenarios, and I'm sure taking a guy like Justin Wesley off scholarship is no big deal, but the guys that are here now are big deals.

@KUSTEVE When I saw the title of of your post, I literally had just read an article where the Big 12 had the lowest number of players drafted from the Power 5 conferences in the NFL draft, and less than the AAC too (yes, the AAC).

Only the most hard core of deniers will deny that Big 12 basketball is nothing more than KU and the pretenders.

KU should be working hard to get into the Big 10. This conference realignment stuff will come up again to be sure.

We tabled expansion last fall. Of course, the Big 12 was a step behind and lost out on very attractive additions like Louisville. Huge miss.

The Big 12 dying is a matter of time - unless there is some major shifting that allows a rebirth.

@JayHawkFanToo But how well does the Big 12 really do? March exposes the Big 12 over and over -- and over time, when every other conference seems to succeed somehow and the Big 12 flounders, that's strong evidence. Non-con wins in November, while nice do discuss, simply mean exactly what they are -- wins in November. Anyway, it is what we have. At least for now.

@wrwlumpy Sucker punching a guy is the true mark of wimp. Abdul-Jabbar was always the whiner. This clip is a great insight into Abdul-Jabbar and is a reinforcement to the opinion I've held on him for a long time now.

Regarding Oubre, further evidence (the suspension) that he's the fool in the entire deal.

Bill Laimbeer was a dirty player. Part of his m.o. was to try to induce idiocy.

Oubre just learned a lesson.

@Texas-Hawk-10 You're right, the only thing that can cause a blow up is a coaching change.

mayjay said:

Kelly O vs Kelly O! Who could predict that co-ink-eedink?

Has there ever even been another Kelly O in the league other than these two?

Oubre acted the part of the fool.

@Texas-Hawk-10 That's kind of my point. Something "blew up" and two players are gone. We do not know the future. I'm sure Memphis was quite comfortable with them, too. When you put more eggs in one basket, the risk increases.

I'll toss this out .. I first mentioned it with the Morris twins. I generally don't like the idea of family members as being key pieces. If something goes wrong, we could be left with some big holes. You have a family that already transferred once. It certainly is a cautionary consideration.

Who is better, Juiston or Whitman? If the difference is arguable, then the route we went (Lawsons + Whitman) seems the best path. Because as mentioned above, the only way get Juiston is if we don't get the Lawsons.

The way it is now, we're national title contenders both years.

@Fightsongwriter Sikma had that weird little pivot back .. when you mentioned the step back, that reminded me of it. And here it is [Step Back](

@drgnslayr Your question is a good one. You have been right on top of our sloppy play inside for quite some time now -- basic, fundamental stuff. And it's not here and there. It seems systemic in that much of it is not second nature.

@Blown I kid around as I get older that the most important thing to protect in my advancing age is the teeth -- gotta wear a mouthpiece. Back in the day, the cup was the most important accessory of protection. My life's work is done, so the teeth take priority.

@Fightsongwriter A "poor man's" Jack Sikma, to anticipate a Bill Self qualifier to your very interesting comparison.

@brooksmd My high school basketball coach hammered on our big guys to keep the ball higher than the heads of the "runts." Solid advice.

@mayjay @JayHawkFanToo Not an exact science to be sure. Lucas is a great example of a guy whose productivity in limited time ended up translating with more playing time. Traylor is an example where more playing time meant less production.

The fact that a player may never play 40 minutes because of fouls is irrelevant. Most players don't may 40 minutes anyway. The choice of 40 minutes is a semi-random static number. Remember that. It could be per 30. Or per 48. It's just chosen because that's the length of a game, and most players never play 40 anyway, as mentioned (fouls or no fouls).

The per 40 is really a "per minute" stat. That's how I always tried to break it down. Per minute. But, of course, it's the same issue in determining what it means.

The ultimate key is to find the point of max productivity. With Traylor, it really was about 10 minutes per game. We saw that over his entire career. We could get bursts of good play.

With Diallo and Cliff, the more experience they could get, would likely lead to more productivity over longer stretches of PT. That's because of their talent level. The limited PT gave us glimpse of what could be. We've seen that with multiple players at Kansas where they progressed and became more productive.

Whitman looks better than Coleby. Obviously more athletic. All based solely on the video and the numbers/stats. Is he really better than Coleby?

@Kcmatt7 I like per 40 analysis ... posted a lot of that stuff over the years. It was particularly insightful with Diallo and Alexander. Others reacted quite negatively to the comparisons.

@Kcmatt7 Those "per 40" lines are dangerous extrapolations, or so I've been told/scolded. But sometimes depth -- even D-II or D-III depth -- like Justin Wesley, is the difference between a Final Four and something less.

Here's his Game Log ↗ from last season. Scored 13 vs. Duke. Wesley wasn't doing that.

@mayjay "Hardened stereotyped views of gender" -- what a joke.

As an assist here (@DoubleDD) I did not say that a woman "can't" hurt a man. Of course they can. Just re-read my post -- as I said, "Really, there are very few women that are really physical threats to the average man." --- very few to the average man.

@jayballer I don't even know what you're saying. Again, try re-reading my post. I never said something was "not possible." Do you see the word "impossible"? And, of course any person with a weapon is a different deal. I didn't even refer to a situation with a weapon. Good grief. "I got news for ya" -- you need to read before throwing out a reply like that. Just take time and read. What baffles me more is an up vote on your post. Double good grief.

@JayHawkFanToo I agree with @mayjay -- great perspective. We are very, very lucky to have had Roy Williams. We likely would not have Bill Self without having had Roy Williams. We've had over 30 years of elite basketball.

But I do want national titles. No doubt.

@Kcmatt7 @BeddieKU23 I guess I'm very confident that our lineup is set -- Graham, Newman, Vick, Preston, Udoka. That's just how I see it. If Svi comes back, I do think that Vick starts. Vick's better. Of course, Preston could end up being a Diallo or Bragg to Self. Barring that, it's hard for me to imagine Preston not starting. Maybe not game 1 or 2 (where Self might start Coleby), but pretty quickly.

I'll also add that Mario and Russell had Sherron in the mix, as well. I viewed Russell's biggest attribute to be his defense. In ranking all the players, I'd go 1) Frank, 2) Sherron, 3) Mario, 4) Russell, 5) Devonte -- but Devonte is the only one with another season of eligibility and the margins are slim. Could you imagine Frank and Sherron together? Geez.

Just as long as Josh doesn't go to Sacramento …

I'd take Frank and Mario.

@JayHawkFanToo Ok, I see what you mean there … generally, high academics means he would be one of the best players/more likely to start. I'm a little slow sometimes …

@JayHawkFanToo Or to a lower academic profile school where he could start, possibly?

@doubleDD I guess I don't see it that way .. meaning your paragraph that begins with "second."

Really, there are very few women that are really physical threats to the average man. This woman was not a physical threat to Mixon at all. I don't care if she spit on him or slapped him or called any name. She's a small (and likely weak -- and certainly relatively weak) woman. Restrain her, keep her at arm's length, push her back if needed. There is absolutely zero reason to drill her with a right cross.

Of all the women I associate with in business, and personally, there is not one that I would think fits in the "exception to the rule" category. Just being blunt, all of the bigger women are just fat and all of the "fit" women are still not size and strength wise an issue. We all know that there are some very athletic and strong women out there that the rules may not apply to. So we know there might be exceptions. But I would say 99/100 women are simply not threats. There are many other viable solutions to a right cross.

@kjayhawks The equal rights really has nothing to do with it in my eyes, but always presents an interesting hypocrisy. I don't care how politically correct the world becomes, women are women and men are men, no matter what else you might hear. I'm old school just as you are. You just don't do it.

I don't think that's a real consideration for him. K won two titles back in the 90s and one in 2001 … Roy should have had two at KU. 1997 and 2002. That time has passed. Roy's proven he's on par or better than K since joining the ACC. He's got nothing more really to prove.

I would be interested in the number of seniors who tested the waters last time, and then didn't get invites this year. Not aware of any. One theory I have heard is that once scouts and GMs form opinions, it's hard to change them after workouts. A supposed reason not to test the waters -- in contrast to the "there's no harm in declaring without an agent."

I do.

@JayHawkFanToo Commie …

Just so we're clear, I personally don't think he's the "victim of unfair press". He did what he did. I have no empathy for him. I think he's a punk, personally (that's my maybe unfair judgment from afar). My issue is that me, as viewer, has sensationalistic stuff put in my face all the time. That's my issue. I just get tired of the rehash of old news, and then to @jayballer54's point, they show the video again and again. If they simply mention the incident, discuss how that impacted his draft status, and move on, that seems reasonable. They show the video because it's shocking.

It's interesting that the "outrage" ESPN is worried about in Cincinnati will be generated in significantly large measure by the press. Were the Chiefs deluged with objections to Tyreek Hill by paying customers? They weren't. It was a continued issue for the KC Star and other news outlets. They create the story, they go find some person working at woman's shelter who doesn't know anything about football to comment as an "expert" on domestic violence and express their outrage.

Here's the trash the KC Star ran on the day Kansas City played Pittsburg in the playoffs.
KC Star - Tyreek Hill. ↗

It's not that it should be ignored as an issue. It's timing, the nature of the "reporting", and clear intent to sensationalize a topic. There is absolutely nothing new, but in a paper that can barely muster a reasonable sports page, this took up multiple column inches. ESPN does the same thing. Yes ESPN will glorify a player like Kaepernick on a topic that really does drive away paying customers.

And in considering the issue, if I were an NFL GM, I would not have drafted Hill or Mixon, and I would not have sought to sign Ray Rice. I would not be interested in bringing that to my team.

My point is more how the sports press deals with this topic and others.

It's as Jason Whitlock has said, ESPN has moved to the strict politically correct side of things, and anything that is race-baiting, or gender invoking is worthy of sensationalism at ESPN. Showing the video on draft night is just that. Of course, they also did a special with Ray Rice and his wife right at draft time. A pathetic spectacle to be sure -- but that's what ESPN does. It is also interesting how news outlets bring in folks that have nothing to do with sports to comment and express outrage. Here's the best solution. Watch NFL Network.

When you don't have a single top recruit from the East, that is very strong circumstantial evidence. Folks are in jail for life based on strong circumstantial evidence -- a crime being proven beyond a reasonable doubt. With that strong evidence, it appears the onus is on the doubters to prove otherwise.

Remember, too, Roy may not have gotten the job without the promise. Glad he made it.

If Mason goes at #29 that will be incredible. Very hopeful that occurs.

@justanotherfan I would not suggest that what Clay Travis mentioned is the only reason. But I can tell you it is exactly why I don't watch ESPN unless I absolutely need to -- KU game, NFL -- and I DVR to avoid their commercials -- or sportscenter here and there. Kaepernick is a worthless, ungrateful punk that is not standing on any principle. That only my opinion. Others view him as a hero. Others perhaps something in between. All opinions ripe for debate.

But that's not the issue. The point is that ESPN chooses sides very strongly. It is now much like the rest of the media. They have tossed aside any objectivity in favor a strong bent to the left, and attack and spin on every topic. Like most of the media, they don't even give reasonable time to the other view point. They clearly try to inflame and sensationalize anything related to race, gender, etc. They use words and phrases to denigrate one side of the aisle, and to twist meanings, statements, and intentions. As an example, ESPN ran some story a while back on some "immigrant" I sports -- and much like the rest of the media, they are so dishonest, they can't even differentiate between "illegal aliens" and "legal immigrants", which is the real discussion point that is always ignored. They don't challenge anything related to disparaging of conservative views, or our president, and they don't challenge the failing logic of many of their championed causes. They are horribly biased and push their social agenda. I saw one segment where the presumption was that black athletes are opposed to the president and why aren't they more vocal -- not once pausing for moment to contemplate that perhaps some black athletes actually might think differently than there assumption, and maybe aren't vocal because they aren't in disagreement. They just treat it like fact. Just like the vast majority of the media on nearly every topic of debate.

My point here is not to engage in political debate. I don't want to bring that here in detail. My point is why I think many have said screw ESPN. I cancelled my insider subscription. I deleted my apps. When I want sports, I don't need to have the same garbage I have spewed at me from nearly every other non-sports outlet, when the topic is sports. That simple.

Clay Travis was spot on with this --
!0_1493286939754_IMG_5411.PNG ↗

ESPN has moved to the dark (sensationalistic) side. Much like the KC Star. Today at lunch, there were segments on the (supposed) "racial divide in the NFL" -- head sensationalist Bob Ley "reporting"; and another on the never will die domestic abuse topic with NFL players -- all a day ahead of the draft.

Complete garbage.

Billy Donovan.

@drgnslayr You could. And it is a good point. The last 13 seasons, it's Roy in a knockout over everyone though. Not just Self.

With that, Roy took over a program that was on probation. Roy went to four final fours. Self took over a program in perfect shape and has only managed two. My point though, of course, is not to bash Self at all. I just think Roy is the undisputed best coach in CBB since he left KU. Self is probably 3rd behind coach K.

But really, using a more clean chronological cut off, Roy is the best CBB coach of this century -- which adds in two more final fours to his impressive record.

We can certainly say that, and also say that we would not trade coach Self right now for any other coach. I would rather have Self's next 10 seasons than any other coach in CBB (hope we get those 10 seasons).

Roy is a Jayhawk, and we can take great pride in his accomplishments.