🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@drgnslayr

Coach Self and most every other coach I have heard on the subject (I posted links before to several of them) have always indicated that by the time the main portion of the schedule comes, they like to have a rotation of 7-8 players. Of course they will play more than that but the bulk of the rotation will be 7-8. Calipari had a deep bench lasts season and tried the platoon system which did not work well and indicated afterwards that he will never use it again and will go back to the more traditional 7-8 player rotation. So, even with a faster pace, I expect to see Coach Self settle with an 8 player rotation taking the bulk of the minutes.

Now, with the shorter clock, there might be more possessions, although the average time of possession for all Division I is only around 18 seconds so I am not expecting to see a huge change going from 35 to 30 seconds.

@BeddieKU23

I will have to disagree with you on the part that there are not too many players quicker than him. Just about every players in the NBA is a superior athlete and most were All-American or a least All-Conference in college and all the PGs in the League are as fast or faster than Mason. In college Mason is well above average speed-wise, in the NBA he is average. Tyshawn is faster than Mason and he is no longer in the League. Players entering pro sports, particularly the NBA and the NFL. will tell you that the main difference from college is speed. I posted an interview with Jeff Withey where he talks specifically about this issue and indicates that the games was so much faster in the NBA that it took a while before the game "slowed down" for him and only then he became more effective.

I also posted that if any undersized guard can make it to the NBA, Mason would be the one I pick. In addition to his ball handling he has the rebounding skill which will not be nearly as effective with other world class players guarding and blocking him, and his outside shooting, although the 3-point line is 3 farther out in the NBA. The only shorter active player in the NBA would be Isaiah Thomas of the Celtics; Nate Robinson is also shorter but it is currently not playing since he was cut by the Clippers last season.

@Crimsonorblue22

Calipari coached the Dominican Republic Team in 2011-2012 and a couple of year Dominican top ranked player Karl-Anthony Towns lands at Kentucky. Puerto Rico has a number of good players playing Division I and no question that coaching the National Team would give Pitino the inside track on any top ranked player from there since he would likely be playing for the national team.

While discussing politically incorrect food, anyone that has or knows children that have tried the new school lunch know what an abysmal failure its has been. Kids now refuse to eat the food and the majority of it ends up in the trash; my own grand kids now bring their lunch to school instead of getting what is offered by the school cafeteria. Many School District are dropping out of the program ↗ and risk losing federal aid because participation has plummeted, waste has increased and more importantly, disadvantaged student for whom the school lunch was the main meal of the day stopped eating food that no one likes.

I am personally curious as to why Michelle Obama has the authority to do this since she holds no government position that would giver the authority to do it and she was not elected to any public office either. If you think this was bad, get ready folks, it gets worse. Apparently Mrs. Obama now believes she has the authority to decide what our fighting men can or cannot eat and now the US Navy is under the dietary whims of the first lady ↗...you really can't make this stuff up... :(

@hawkmoon2020 @drgnslayr

I used to consider myself a solid Republican/conservative way back when, but over the years I have become more fiscally conservative and socially moderate.,,although to the younger generation I am still an old fashion prude.

While in the overall balance I am more conservative when it comes to parties I have grown disenchanted with both which I consider not too different and now I am beginning to lean Libertarian, particularly in view of the massive intrusion of the Federal Government in our private lives, a process that has increase dramatically in the last few years.

Because of the work I do and access to information not readily available to the average person, I am frankly floored by how much the government intrudes in our lives and privacy is non-existent. If the citizens of this country knew how much information the government collects on all of us and how much control it has, I believe we would have a second Tea Party. What we have learned from Snowden is only the tip of the iceberg. If you want your digital information private, you need to keep it in a computer not connected to the outside world; once you connect to the internet and even when you don't send the data out, you can be sure that sooner or later it will be compromised.

@Lulufulu

My post had a link and it has been all over social media.

@jaybate-1.0

Rebounding is all about position and position depends heavily on predicting where the ball will end up. Mason has mastered the art of being at the right place at the right time. Some of the greater rebounders in the game were not particularly tall, although height obviously helps. Frank has managed to be one heck of a rebounder at under 6 feet. AMAZING!

@BeddieKU23

Most HS kids come to college with inflated opinion of themselves and quickly learn that playing a the next level, even if you are an McDonald's All American, is a lot more difficult than dominating HS players that work at McDonald's. At KU, just about every scholarship player was the best in his team, conference and even his state and go from being the proverbial big fish in the small pond to the little fish in the big pond.Some can cope with this and others...not so much.

@BeddieKU23

There is clear trend in the NBA away from labeling a player Center. If you look at the NBA rosters, you will see a small number of players listed as Centers and most of the players that we think of as being Centers are now called Power Forwards or better yet "Stretch 4" if they have any kind of outside shot. It is not surprising that prospect with NBA aspirations are following the trend.

@Crimsonorblue22

Many players, particularly those that have changed schools often have to wait longer to cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse; not every player is a Valedictorian like Ellis. Having said that, the school he attended, Our Savior New American School in Centereach, New York, like most faith based schools is considered to be very good academically, and if he graduated from there, he will likely qualify academically

UK recruit Skal Labissiere has not been cleared either, although his situation is related to his "guardian/handler" asking for money. He might end up taking Mudiay's place in a Chinese team.

@drgnslayr

Can't even watch that. As I mentioned on a previous thread/post, Zenger sold the broadcast right to the WUG to the island of Nauru local access channel whose 3 viewers can see KU’s Tiddlywinks team in action.... :D

@Crimsonorblue22

It does not bother me as much as it does others although I can see why it would bother some. It is what his fan base wants to hear and he is just following their lead. It is called "pandering" and maybe I am jaded because I see politician do it so often that it no longer has meaning and it is SOP for them. When you have younger siblings you learn to ignore them when they call you names because if you react they go to mom and you end up in trouble. WSU is the kid brother that we just roll up our eyes and ignore when he throws a hissy fit.

@jaybate-1.0

Since peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are now consider to be racists ↗ can calling players a "stack," as in pancakes, also be considered racist?

I am just kidding, of course...although many wacko liberals might actually take offense with the term...just sayin'

Here is an interesting article ↗ that talks about Ayton and Thon Maker. A I mention a few days ago, looks like Maker has improved dramatically in the off-season and might be back in the good graces of analysts. When he decided to go back to HS, he had KU at the top of his list but this article appears to indicate that KU is no longer in the running; obviously if Ayton is a serious KU lean, I can understand why he would not want to be in the same team...although the idea of a twin towers based hi-lo is tantalizing.

@drgnslayr

I don't hate WSU; I just don't see them as competition so I really do not even dislike them. As a Kansas team, I follow them some and hope they win every game they play, except when they play KU; the hatred is just not there. I don't even hate KSU, much like WSU I wish them well when they play everybody else; however, I hate MU and I hate Zenger. I don't even dislike Marshall, He is a very good coach, no question about that, and has done extremely well by the program and I even understand why he says the things he does...much like a politician, he has to say the things that his supporters want to hear.

I would guess that many WSU fans see KU as arrogant and resent that It will not play their school; the WSU fans with whom I have talked about this issue will grudgingly admit that the upside for a KU-WSU series is heavily tilted towards WSU and understand why KU will not agree to it. If you poll members of this forum, which we both can agree is almost uniquely hard core Jayhawk fans, I would be surprised if you find many that hate WSU; my guess...and it is just a guess, is that most don't hate WSU and like me are mostly indifferent about little brother WSU. IMHO, the hatred to make it a real rivalry is just not there. On the other hand, I can see a real rivalry develop with ISU provided they can stay at a high level; no question the fan bases do not like each other much.

Thanks for the link. That would be and awesome class. Ayton would have the position pretty wide open and plenty of playing time but the two SGs might have competition form returning players Graham, Vick, Green and maybe even Svi.

@Kcmatt7

I agree. Some of the "intangibles" that Nic brought to the table, such as leadership, are not something that can be measured with statistics; his defense was pretty decent, he hit some super timely shots and he took a lot of "bumps" from the bigger opponents and stayed calm and kept his cool...until the Germany game when the Geman player got in his face and he stood his ground. I believe he was a great influence on the team, particularly Frank.

@Crimsonorblue22

You really, really didn't have to...

The KUSA team played 11 games, 2 against Canada, 1 against China in Korea and 8WUG games.

I tuned to ABC which is supposed to be broadcasting the ESPYs and ...I think my cable provider has the Bravo channel instead...For the last 15 minutes they have documentaries on transgender people and a long, long documentary on Jenner and now he/she is presenting an award fully dressed as a woman.*

Interesting how the media has changed over the years...Jenner is glorified and held as hero for turning into a woman and "being true to himself"; however, when TimTebow kneels after a TD he is told to keep his feelings to himself...go figure...maybe I am just too old for this?

*Correction: Jenner was "receiving" the Courage Award.

@Crimsonorblue22

Maybe this link ↗ will help. Scroll down and play the video...

@Crimsonorblue22

You would think that the Athletic Department would be able to stream the event...even I can do that from my home. Zenger probably sold the broadcast rights to the public access station in Tonga...great recruiting grounds for KU wrestling team...which we don't have. I still hate Zenger.

Bus on Iowa Street and headed for the ballpark...

This link works on desktops...Link ↗

The previous link is for mobile devices, notice the mobile at the end of the URL.

@bskeet

No sound on my feed either... :(

@Crimsonorblue22

Thanks for the link. Waiting for the start of the ceremony...:)

@Lulufulu

Yes and no. Yes, he could have kicked butt...but he would have been playing likely the same position as Selden and that would have not been good. Self idea was to help the team get extra practice and More and Debose was all that was needed to replace the injured players and have 12 players suit up.

@RockChalkinTexas

Wow! Thanks for the link, loaded and waiting for the broadcast... :)

@wrwlumpy

Good news for Cole. He has as true role with the Clippers and gets to play with fellow Jayhawk Paul Pierce.

Here is the tornado as viewed from a drone...

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@drgnslayr

Keep in mind that this are the World "UNIVERSITY" games and players have to be attending college or taking at lest one class. plus they have to be under 25 years old. McLemore was likely eligible but the twins and Mario were way too old and too far removed from college to be eligible, the same way that many top Euro player were.

BTW, the international organization that runs the games (and not the host country) determine the pools and schedule and it is loosely based on rankings. Germany...and Korea...were lucky to end up in the pool with 5 teams, but I don't believe it was by design, most likely a late scratch.

Dang @drgnslayr this is the second disagreement today...beer summit?

@Crimsonorblue22

Behavior observation? Gay-dar? Nothing closer than that.

@Crimsonorblue22

I try not to notice male flight attendants but having dated a couple of female flight attendants and my own observations, the majority of male flight attendants are...gay...no political correctness or incorrectness implied or intended.

From a pure basketball skills perspective, Devonte can and will replace Nic. From a leadership performance? Not at this time; he does not have nearly the experience Nic has, but in time, I am hopeful Devonte will develop into a true leader

@drgnslayr

I respectfully disagree. While KU's record an reputation is comparable or close to that of UK, WSU does not even come close to having a comparable record or reputation as Louisville. UK-Louisville has a national audience; KU-WSU would have a state (very small) or at best a regional audience and not even in the same planet as that of the UK-UL game.

More importantly, to play WSU, KU would have to give up a home game every other year to play in Wichita. Coach Self has indicated in the past that every home game nets KU $600K (probably more now), instead, KU can schedule another home game with a name team or a patsy for a fraction of the cost. From the financial aspect, a no brainer, really. This is why every time the issue is brought up in the Kansas Legislature , it is dismissed quickly once the numbers are calculated, since there is no way to compensate KU for the loss...and the KU basketball program supports most of the other sports at KU...we all now the football progarnm has not done much lately.

@wrwlumpy

Thank you for posting. Will was/is a great competitor, nice individual and fellow Kansan and as such, he deserves our help. I remember Coach Frank Martin donating to the fund for TRob's little sister, no reason why we cannot help.

@drgnslayr

Yes and no.

UK and Louisville are both elite programs that are constantly at or near the to and both have recent national titles. WSU seems to go on spurts when the have some good years and the fade back into mediocrity. No question that they have had a perfect storm in the last few years as a result of some unheralded players that turned out to be very good; credit Marshall for this. They have one more season left with these players, namely Baker, VanVleet and Wessel and after that they will drop quite a bit.

In my opinion, at this time there is little upside to play them, If KU wins the talk will be that it was supposed to anyway and it it loses, then it is a big upset, like last season at the NCAA. I say wait a year or two and if Marshal is still there and they are still relevant then by all means play WSU and if there are not, they will not want to play KU anyway.

@drgnslayr

Lucas had a very good game against Germany...so there is hope for him. Maybe he needs to trade mass for muscle to gain strength and explosiveness but I am sure Hudy has already done as much as she can, and if he has not changed by now, it is probably genes and it will not change before the season. There is always next season...

@Crimsonorblue22

I am not sure what happened to him, he used to be a pretty fair analyst. Maybe his kid really wanted to play at KU and was told no and now, instead of coming to the Cathedral of basketball to see him play, he has to go to....well, Norman, Oklahoma...:D

@wrwlumpy

I cannot think of another tournament, other than Summer AAU, where teams are required to play 8 games in 10 days...not the conferences, not the NIT and definitely not the NCAA. I don't believe the even the NBA has that schedule during the playoffs since they have travel days off every couple of games.

@sfbahawk

We are talking apples and oranges. The teams you mentioned will likely send their senior "B" teams to the Pan American games. It is very likely that with few exceptions, most of the players in their senior teams do not qualify for the WUG anyway, since they are probably over 25 years old or have no active ties with a University; the US is probably the only country that does not send the senior team since it would be impossible to get permission form the teams to participate; top foreign players in the NBA such as Varejao, Barbosa, Splitter, Scola, Ginobile, Barrea, Arroyo...to name a few... are also likely to skip the Pan American games for the same reason, although I understand that Anthony Bennett will play for the Canadian team. Many of the better Canadian players such as Wiggins will play with the Senior "A" team in the FIBA Americas Tournament in August in Mexico City to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio; here is a link ↗. Same with other countries such as Brazil and Argentina.

The Pan American games as well as the bigger tournaments draw the better/older players; the WUG is exclusively for college players. Like I pointed out before. the different tournaments draw from different pools of players and Fraschilla is foolish to indicate that KUSA did not play the "better" players in Europe. KUSA was not supposed or expected to play the "better " players in Europe, only the better "university" players in Europe/world and it did...and it won!!! Trying to diminish what the KUSA team accomplished makes him look petty.

@DoubleDD

My pleasure.

@HawksWin @HawksWin

KU beat Canada at the Sprint Center in KC which is pretty much a home game and both games were pretty close with KU pulling away at the end. Canada lost to Russia in pool play and advanced to the top 8 round where it lost to Germany and France and beat Estonia to finish 7. Probably a marginal top 20 team.

@DoubleDD

That is not correct. No coach would be so selfish/arrogant as to select his own team...maybe the squid. KU was selected because the overall excellence of the program in recent years. Here is a link... ↗

We should ask Royal's fans to stir up the pot...they sure made everybody take notice with their voting for the All Star game. :)

@Crimsonorblue22

Me too...

@clevelandjayhawk

The Germans scoring twice as much as their average from the 3 had something to do with it. Some of the teams at the WUG were real good, Germany, Russia, Lithuania, Brazil, France, Canada, Brazil, Serbia, Turkey just to name a few would likely be NCAA top 20, some would be top 10 or even 5. Team KUSA played some really good competition and took all it had to get the gold.

@Crimsonorblue22

When i rains it pours. Having said that, TRob seems to be now ith a team that has been looking at him for a while. Hopefully recovery time will not be long. A little more info here ↗...

@HawksWin

Can't say the game at Bramledge was boring last season...they won and stormed the court...just sayin'

@brooksmd

A long time ago, you had to be an amateur athlete to compete in the Olympics but this is no longer the case and anyone can compete in the Olympics now. The US continued sending amateur team for a while and when that stooped working it assembled the Dream Team that we all know.

The WUG are limited to "university" players as the moniker indicates and the majority of pro players do not qualify due to age or no longer being linked to a school (rules have been discussed extensively in other threads) and the few that do qualify likely cannot get permission from their teams as they are contractually obligated to do...way too much money at stake...remember Paul George? He broke his leg while playing for team USA and the Pacers had to continue paying him his $15M yearly salary. You can see why many NBA teams and players do not want to be part of the Senior team as the risk of injury is great, it takes a great deal of time and they do not get paid...other than the reward of representing the country. Mark Cuban is on the record as opposing NBA player playing for team USA and he is not the only one; many of the NBA top players have declined to join the team.

The Senior USA team plays in the Olympics and the FIBA World Championship which are the top two events. The less prestigious Pan American games attract mostly college players and pros playing overseas, NBA players would not be interested or get permission to play there. Keith Langford, currently playing professionally in Russia and Ron Baker from WSU are two members of the team that is on its way to the Pan American games. In comparison, the WUG are a relatively low profile tournament (at least in the US) and Northern Iowas was selected to represent the US a few years ago which gives you a hint of its visibility here.

Hopefully this answers your question.