Looks like we will have a much improved (and experiences) receiving corps.
JayHawkFanToo
13427 posts
My knowledge of football is not nearly what it should or I would like it to be, but aren't the X and S basically the same thing and used interchangeably (as WRs) anymore?
I agree that Millweard can run but Cummins can pass too; however, it was my impression that one favored the pass while the other favored the run, not to say that they cannot do both.
I am sure some East-European site will stream the games just like they stream KU games that are blacked out...
Nice find and fixed link....
What LeBron did to Cleveland 4 years ago, Cleveland is doing to Wiggins now...
Right now I am a solid 3 but it could easily move up or down depending how the team performs...obviously.
Interesting that coach Weiss said that KU could make a big statement with a road win at Duke. Duke finished last season ranked 22 and has the bulk of players coming back and has garnered top 25 votes in many pre-season polls, while KU is at the other end of the spectrum. Yes, a win ta Duke would be huge but I just don't see it happening; I surely hope I am wrong.
I believe you covered the salient points nicely. The video, while impressive does not tell me much as he seems to be a good 6 inches taller than most of the players in the opposing team, and highlight videos are exactly that, "highlight" videos that show the very best plays but not the average/norm or boneheaded plays.
More importantly, why is it that Oregon has denied him admission when its team is in desperate need for players and have several scholarships available? This story indicates that he did not meet academic standards...
Kasongo denied admission to Oregon... ↗
According to this source he has qualified academically:
...but he claims he does not know why he was denied admission, which sounds disingenuous to me. So what is the real reason? Are KU admission standards that much lower than Oregon that would allow him admission to KU and not Oregon? I certainly hope not. How about Conference standards? Didn't McLemore (and Canadian big man Braeden Anderson) met KU standards but not Conference standards and had to sit one year? Because of the many school he attended, are we looking at a similar situation? There certainly seems to be more to the story than we know.
I wonder what happened to Nick Harwell; he was supposed to be the top WR KU needed and now Justin McCay and Rodriguez Coleman are listed at that position ahead of him.
Interesting on how the backup QB race is shaping up, Cumming the runner versus Millweard the passer. I guess who is chosen as the backup will be a hint on the offensive mentality of the team.
Like I said before, if you Google it you will see lots of places reporting on the issue and it not relegated to just one site. Please don't shoot the messenger. Again, as indicated I thought he said something else, but then my audience is restricted to this forum, while the other reporting sites, right or wrong, have a much, much bigger (and not KU friendly) audiences.
There are two rules in marriage:
Rule 1 - The wife is always right.
Rule 2 - When the wife is wrong, see Rule 1.
Now, look at how Wiggins and Embiid are dealing withe the exposure. Wiggins, although a year younger, is saying and doing the right things and it is obvious that he knew what was coming and was prepared for it; this is not really surprising since he had had the spot light on him for while now and his parents (and agent) have guided him masterfully. Embiid is a year older than Wiggins and, IMHO, definitely not quite ready for the attention he is getting. If you follow him on twitter (I just read some yesterday for the first time) he comes across as a very naive and playful...16 year old...and not as the professional player earning millions that he is. While most of us KU fans don't see the harm, I will guess that many GMs see it as sign of immaturity, an image that as a professional you do not want to project.
Again, I am not bagging on Embiid, I really like him and as a Jayhawk he will always be a favorite. I am simply saying look at how Wiggins and Embiid are being guided/handled and draw your own conclusions. That's all.
Greg Popovich has been coaching the Spurs for 18 years. In that time the Spurs finished with less than 50 wins twice, his first year and the '88-'89 strike shortened season (they won the Title that year); they have finished first in their conference 11 times and won the NBA Title 5 times.. To me, this is what solid, successful and self-sustaining program is all about.
It is all about the audience you can reach. Duke and UNC have been powerhouse basketball programs and now they are both borderline top 25 in football as well where the KU football programs at the very bottom. More importantly, they are on the East Coast with an audience considerably larger than KU.
Look at the K-State program that has been consistently top 20 in football for while now, and they have decent basketball program to boot, and yet they cannot get the contracts lesser programs do. Their audience is tiny compared to other less successful programs and hence they have no big offers. They are competing in very limited market against two other states schools which lessens the market share even further. MU, on the other hand, is located in a state with over twice the population of Kansas and they are the only major school in the state and has the lion's share of the audience, and thus have a huge advantage.
Adidas is huge in soccer (although Nike is gaining) and soccer is the most popular sports most everywhere not called the USA, so a lot of foreign players have a much greater exposure and brand awareness to Adidas than they do Nike. I grew up playing soccer and back then, the Adidas cleats were what every player aspired to get. Its is not really surprising that foreign players favor Adidas.
Notice I said "could" and later further qualified by saying ...*"I am hoping that in the off-season he has improved his defensive and polished his offensive skills and we will see a much improved player." * However, I do agree that his lateral quickness, or lack thereof, is the major issue for Perry.
@justanotherfan, @Crimsonorblue22
It is all over the Internet so it is not just that one writer that is commenting on it. At first I thought he said "girls" (the wife keeps telling me I need hearing aids) but with his thick accent it is hard to tell. If you read the different stories on the subject, there was quite a stir recently because he twitted repeatedly about women not being "loyal," and maybe this is what prompted the misinterpretation. Also, he apparently was hitting on Kim Kardashian without realizing she was married, and then moved on to Rhianna (that is a whole lot of potential trouble).
I understand that Joel is playful and quite naive, but he is now a professional athlete and the image he projects becomes very important; look at how careful and tactful Wiggins is.
Several KU players and many professional athletes have gotten in trouble because of twitter; you would think the rest would learn.
I believe Perry has solid fundamentals at both ends of the court but so far has developed only the offensive part. I am not sure if he is big enough to defend the 4 but he certainly could defend the 3 in college. However, if he is going to to make it to the NBA, it will as a 3 and he is not fast enough, at least not yet, to defend the 3 in the League. I am hoping that in the off-season he has improved his defensive and polished his offensive skills and we will see a much improved player. It would be nice to have a player from the state of Kansas in the NBA; The last native Kansan that I can think is Wayne Simien, and he did not stay in the NBA that long.
When Embiid signed with KU in November he was not in the ESPN top 100 either; he entered that list the following January.
On a related note, sounds like Embiid is having a difficult time quitting twitter...
Joel trying to quit twitter... ↗
And he probably should. His agent should also have a talk with him about what to and what not to say in an interview...
WOW! Interesting news. Does KU have any scholarships left? I though Graham and Svi took the last ones. If he did not qualify at Oregon, chances are he will not qualify at KU either and might have to come on a financial id package and sit one year, like McLemore did.
In all fairness, the sports apparel companies will go where they believe they can derive the greatest return for their money. Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky have been powerhouse basketball programs and they play, particularly the two ACC teams in the viewer rich East Coast. Their football programs are much better than KU and both Duke and UNC are getting pre-season top 25 votes. Kentucky might not have a top football program but they play in the football crazy SEC and its huge audience.
KU, on the other hand, sits in one of the smaller markets and the football team is a net minus. I Imagine Adidas derives very little benefit from KU's football program and the bulk of the contract is based on the excellence of the basketball program. Nike has Oklahoma and Texas with big football programs (where the money really is) that provide huge exposure in the south and mid-west. So, KU is in a catch-22, being in a small market and having a well below average football program. It is amazing that the basketball program has almost single-handedly generated the income that KU has seen.
I keep hearing that it would be great to have LeBron mentor and guide Wiggins; however, where is the precedent? I don't remember that much about his previous stint with the Cavaliers, but if you look at the Heat, who did he exactly mentor? The majority of the players were his age or older and it certainly did not look like he wanted to mentor Mario, unless screaming at him while the world watched is considered mentoring. No question that LeBron is the proverbial alpha-dog/leader; however, being an alpha-dog/leader is not quite the same as a mentor. A leader will push you to up your game, a mentor will show you how to do it. Big difference.
I believe that a coach with experience developing younger players might be a better option for Wiggins. Can you imagine how good Wiggins could be if could have Popovich as his coach?
Svi will not be 18 by the time of the next draft so he cannot get drafted; 2016 is the earliest he can go to the NBA. It is true that he can at any time go back to Europe, but with his potential, two years of training at KU under Coach Self and Huddy is the best path to a future in professional basketball, be it the NBA or the Euro Leagues.
I guess we just agree to disagree. Soccer is one of the few sports that has not had a decline in participation in the last 10 years, due to, in my opinion, the increasing number of kids playing video games instead of real sports. Nationally, there are more kids playing soccer now than baseball or football and only basketball has a bigger participation, and that is because it is played year around where soccer is only played a few months out of the year.
In the KC area, the growth is unbelievable. In Johnson County we have soccer fields sprouting all over the place and on weekends, games start at 6:00 AM and go well into the night with lights..Perhaps our area is not typical since we have now the League Champions Sporting KC professional soccer team that sells out every game and tickets are not cheap. I looked into tickets for the August 16th game and GA tickets (behind the goals), if you can find them start at $50, and tickets on the side stands start at $150 and go to well over $200, again if you can find them. A couple of years ago you were able to get Groupon packages but those have not been available for while now. The soccer complex at the Legends is a state of the art facility, the Sporting KC attendance averages above the stated capacity of 18,500 for the stadium, compare this to the Royals that average 21,000 to a stadium with capacity of almost 40,000. Now we have the U.S. Soccer National Training Center heading to Kansas City to an area next to the stadium and it is expected to bring a lot of money to the local economy.
You saw the audiences for the games played by European teams here. Once we develop that level of game domestically, the audiences will be there. With bigger audiences come higher salaries and with higher salaries, better athletes will opt for soccer.
P.S. I don't believe Jamari has the build to be a soccer player; too big and too heavy and he would drop after 15 minutes..
Maybe we should, but I believe the administrator has to do it; I don't seem to find the tools to do it.
Having said that, the discussion is not that unrelated to basketball since the development of soccer in the US mirrors the development of basketball in Germany, and in many ways it also has similarities with the NBA and the "buy vs. build" philosophy we have discussed. In other words, you can buy short term success, but to ensure long term success, you have to build it from the ground up and yes, it takes longer, but the results also have a longer term effect as well.
Yes, but these are really European players, playing in Europe and who would not have a chance to make their national teams and use the loophole to play in the USA team. Maybe they raise the level of the national team some and by extension exposure; however, they really do not advance the level of soccer here and maybe deprive local players from acquiring valuable international exposure. I believe we are at the point of using local players and not relying in loopholes. Look at what happened to German basketball, they relied in a similar loophole and development suffered, but not that they are not emphasizing this, their younger teams (and even their pro teams) are getting a lot better.
I do understand that the majority of top players in the world play in Europe, look at the teams from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and many others and you will see that 80% of their national team players play in Europe, but at least those players were born, grew up and were developed in their own countries. I don't mind if our better players end up playing in the top European Leagues like Tim Howard and others, but at least, it gives hopes to the current generation of local players that they can make it to the national team and the big time European Leagues, much like top European basketball players dream of playing in the NBA. I think the Jürgen Klinsmann's approach is a band-aid that will work in the short time, but not a viable long term solution. Just my opinion.
Notice I said to "watch." I used to play softball with friends, but the keg by home plate is what made it bearable; I am not sure if we ever completed a full game since the end of the keg was usually the end of the game. I have lots of friends that love playing golf...and they also are the only one that enjoy watching it. I have tried golf and I did OK, but I never really enjoyed it; I need a lot more action in my sports. My brother and friends used to fish a lot and he would tell me that fishing is a good excuse to do nothing; likewise, golf is a good excuse to pay lot of money to take a long walk...albeit in a very nice and safe setting with a few (or many) drinks along the way.
Now, let me tell you what I really think... :)
The projections for the 2015 draft are starting and here is Chad Ford's list:
KU is the only school with 2 top 10 and 3 top 20 picks. Of course this is very premature as more guys from Kentucky (Harrison twins) and maybe Duke will likely also go.
Here is another one from NBA Draft
2 top 5, 3 top 10 and 4 top 30 picks.
Looking at several mock drafts, Alexander and Oubre are generally rated top 10 and in many top 5. Selden is generally top 15 and I have seen him as high as 5. All three are potential lottery picks. Ellis is generally ranked as late first round or early second round, but a good showing in the upcoming season could up raise his standing into a borderline lottery pick.
Simien averaged double figure rebounds only in his senior year. Like you, I don't believe Alexander will average double rebounds; sure, he will have games with double- doubles, but averaging double rebounds over the course of an entire season is very difficult. Averaging double points AND rebounds is very rare indeed.
Reebok has been a subsidiary of Adidas for while now and they are no longer a player in college sports; in fact, I cannot think of single school that is sponsored by them. Under Armor, on the other hand, has made some inroads in college sports and now they sponsor Maryland, Texas Tech. and Notre Dame among others.
I agree that affiliation with a brand does not seem to help or hurt in recruiting as much as some would think. KU has done very well recruiting (in basketball) and so has Louisville, both Adidas schools. I believe that Kentucky's recruiting success is more related to Calipari than Nike.
Baseball and golf are the two most boring sports to "watch." What I find interesting is what is supposed to be the most exiting baseball game, two pitchers pitching no-hitters, is also the most boring game...nothing happens. Just my opinion.
Watching golf is right up there with watching grass grow.
"Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps." - Tiger Woods
As you know, in Germany soccer is king and everything else a very distant second. In the past. the Senior German Team has depended heavily on foreign players with dual nationalities such as Kaman and Bradley and the one superstar Dirk Nowitski. As basketball becomes more popular the younger players are becoming better (Germans are generally good athletes) and it is is likely that when the current U18 team and U20 players get to join the senior team, it will be much better that it currently is.
The same is true for soccer in America, where the younger generations have gotten consistently better due to the increased exposure of the sport to the younger generation and in the future we will have more world class soccer players.
By the way, Mesut Özil had a very good World Cup.; he is a real classy player.
Trust thySelf - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I am not impresses with Rustin Dodd's writing, even if he is a KU graduate. The level of writing at the Star has gone down considerably since Joe Posnanski, a truly superior sports writer, left; even Jason Whitlock occasionally had decent columns. Not much influential writing coming from the Star nowadays. Now doubt that much better KU related coverage comes from the LJW and Jesse Newell in Topeka.
I agree, Wiggins said all the right things; amazing that James has not yet talked to him.
While trying to re-build his image, LeBron has lost a lot of friends and fans and has shown that everything he does is based on what is good for him personally and he is just a gun for hire; although in all fairness most professional athletes are. I wonder what would happen if he leaves Cleveland after a year or two and leaves them at the altar once again...
Wow! Nice call.
P.S. Interesting thread. I was right about "the" Ohio State...and I still want to give Zenger an atomic wedgie; come basketball (and football) season, I think a lot of people will want to join me when we are unable to watch the Jayhawks on TV.
@Crimsonorblue22 Me too...:)
Are we trying to convince ourselves that something is true here?
It looks more like you are trying to convince us that something that is true...isn't
There is no question that KU is overall a better program than UConn, national titles notwithstanding. Conference titles and overall record are indicators of overall and consistent excellence, while national titles are simply the result of a favorable seeding and a 6 game run. Can you honestly say that UConn was the best team last season? I think not, it was ranked 18 and 19 in the two main polls before the tournament.
Likewise, do you honestly think KU was the best team in 1988? No way; if that tournament is replayed 100 times KU probably does not win any of them.
As far as the conference not being strong, that is just not true. Perhaps it seems that way because no one else has won the conference title in 10 years, but year in and year out, the conference has sent at least half of its teams to the tournaments; just last year the Big 12 was ranked number one, had 7 teams (70%) ranked in the top 25 at one time or another and sent 7 teams (70%) to the tournament, that is the largest percentage ever. Yes. other conferences such as the Big East have sent more teams but they also had almost twice as many teams than the Big 12. As a percentage of teams I doubt any conference has sent a greater percentage than the Big 12.
A quick Google search for best college basket ball programs yielded a large number of answers. Here is a sample of only the articles writen in the last year or so:
Here is one from Bleacher report:
And Sports Illustrated....
And the Wall Street...
And College Spun...
And Rant Sports...
And USA Today...
...you get the point. What do all of these articles have in common? None ranks UConn ahead of KU; in fact many don't rank UConn that high. You can look at older articles and the result is exactly the same. The clear message is that while a national title makes you popular for a short time, it does not represent how good the programs is. KU has won ONE title in 25 years and yet it is consistently ranked in the top 5 and, if you look at the last dozen years or so, in the top 2 or 3, if not as the very top.
If you take away those 10 conference titles and add 1 additional national title, KU would be not be ranked as high as it is now and probably not even top 10.
What is the difference between a good player and a great player? CONSISTENCY. Think about it. There have been lots of players that were unbelievable for a couple of years and then faded, and now nobody remembers them and they are not at the top of any list of great players. Now, think of all the players that are considered great and you will see that what they have in common is that they all performed "consistently well" throughout their careers. The same is true for basketball programs. In the 70s KU was considered a good but not a great program. Only after it started winning consistently starting with Larry Brown and followed by coaches Williams and Self, KU moved to the category of great programs, while winning a national title only twice in those 30 years, one of them ('88) a fluke.
Really, who ever mentions UCLA's conference streak other than us now? Or national commentators when covering a KU game? Their national title streak is what matters. It's what is shown during the tourney .. UCLA 13 (or whatever), Kentucky 8 .... Kansas 3.
Honestly? Are you serious? The UCLA conference and title streak happened over 40 years ago!!! Most college basketball fans were not even born then (and college basketball was not nearly as big as it is today or game broadcasts as available), while the KU conference title streak is current and most true basketball fans are aware of it. Just about every broadcast that I have seen/heard, be that local, regional or national (including the broadcasts during the National Tournament) always mention KU"s conference title streak, and it is always referred as an amazing achievement. Perhaps you don't see it as such but the rest of the basketball world seem to see it that way.
As I said above, it looks more like you are trying to convince us that something that is true...isn't.
My pleasure. I wish I had not seen the play that resulted in the injury to Paul George, it is the worst I have seen in a long time.
I would say hat the current setup is working fine. I usually click on "Unread" which display topics from all the sections anyway, so to me it is not a big deal.
By the way, the new format/font is a lot easier to read and also to write posts.
Absolutely horrible to watch it live. ESPN would not even show a replay during the broadcast. George was almost certainly going to be a starter; big loss for Team USA, the Pacers and basketball at large. Hopefully he can recover fully.
Nothing else other than reruns so might as well watch the USA team on ESPN.
Look how much talk there was about Wichita State unbeaten streak last season. If KU goes on to win a 14th straight title (good chance) and break UCLA's record, it would likely be the most talked about sports story of the year and one of the greatest accomplishment of all times in all sports. Here is a article that compares KU streak with other sports streaks.
Note that the UCLA streak was accomplished a while back when UCLA and a few other schools dominated the sports and there were very few teams that could play with them; today there is a lot more parity so the accomplishment is greater. Gonzaga has 11 consecutive titles but they are in a minor conference that throughout the years has sent one or two teams to the NCAA tournament and Gonzaga, much like WSU in the Missouri Valley Conference, has very little competition. KU, on the other hand plays in a conference that year in and year out is ranked in the top 3 and routinely sends at least half of its teams to the tournament. Just saying'...
Not a lot of players average a double-double over a season and even less do it as freshmen. Some biog names at KU such as Gooden, Collison, Simien and TRob finally accomplished that in the last year at KU; Aldrich did it as a sophomore but not as junior. Expecting a freshman to "average" a double-double over a season is a tall order.
In all fairness, Kobe was an unproven high school player selected with the #13 pick and Divac was a proven veteran. Cleveland is willing to trade two #1 picks and more for a proven veteran; hopefully this ends up the same way and Wiggins turns out to be as good as Kobe.
You analysis is spot on and this is why Coach Self always says that winning the conference puts in good position for run and March. Wining the conference gives you a better seed and a more favorable location in the Tournament. Think of the KU-UCLA game in San Jose (loss) and the KU-Purdue game in Omaha (win); had those two games been played in different locations, the could have been different. The location of the UCLA was travesty since KU was the #1 seed and UCLA the #2 seed and yet the game was played in UCLA"s turf; I believe that the NCAA now has provisions to avoid a situations just like that.
I agree with Coach Self. Winning the conference puts KU in a better position for a deep run in the tournament.
Interesting. It seems like Mudiay, family denials notwithstanding, would not have qualified to play at SMU in the upcoming season, according to Gary Parrish of CBS Sporst, so China (and Russia) were the only available destinations. BTW, Tysahwn is also looking to play in China next season.
I am not in favor of the trade either and I don't think it is the "no brainer" some have labeled it. You can build a team or you can buy a team; San Antonio built one and Miami bought one, which would you say is the more successful franchise?
As far as Embiid and Wiggins, I believe both will have well above average and possibly even great careers.Wiggins getting a head start gives him the initial upper hand. If Embiid ca regain his health and maintain it, the potential is huge; however, if he continues to have injuries, he could be the next Gregg Oden...I surely hope not.
I know it is fashionable to beat on Morningstar, but in this particular instance, it is not the case. On Brady's senior year EJ was only a sophomore and did not play much (13.7 MPG) at either guard position. The starting guards were Tyshawn (27.1) and Tyrel (28.7 MPG) with Brady (27.6 MPG) playing the third guard/SF. Selby ( 20.4 MPG) and Mario Little (13,7 MPG) also took turns playing guard.
I am not convinced that Morningstar took any minutes from EJ since he played mostly the 3 with Releford (10.4 MPG) also playing the 3.. If anyone took minutes from EJ at the two it was probably Tyrel and Mario who played the two, where Tysahwn and Selby played primarily the point. Given that he did not play much, it is obvious that Coach Self though the other players were in a better position to contribute, don't you think?
The Ukrainian team is very talented and deep. The starters are averaging 23 minutes or less so his number would be higher if he would be playing 30+ minutes that most starters normally play. The player that is leading the team in scoring is 1+ years older than Svi, which at that age makes a fair amount of difference.
You have done a remarkable job with conversion. Congrats and thank you. :)
I notice that the notification box keeps popping up and will not go away until you accept it (using Firefox); I will have to check my personal setting and see if there is a way to disable it..
As I posted on the old board:
"Last season KU had the players that went 1 and 3 in the past draft and 2 that are projected to go first round in the next draft, and yet it ended up with worst season in Coach Self's tenure at KU...just sayin'"
The current team will not have a prospect as hyped as Wiggins or even Embiid, but will have a lot more experience.
Coach Self (and also many other coaches) has always said that by conference time his rotation is pretty much set at around 7-8 players and the rest just get garbage time. Last year he indicated that because of the available talent he might use more players, but he ended up right he has always been. At this point, I don't see this pattern changing.
I suspect you are right. No one in his right mind would pick a fight with the most powerful player (and apparently GM as well) in the NBA. I believe that at times LeBron can be a good teammate and mentor, but other times he can be a real jerk.
I suspect it will be the same as previous years, perhaps tweaked some depending in what what shape the players show up.
Also, after I press the Submit button, the post is placed at the very top of the thread; however, if I go out and come back in, the post is now at the bottom in its customary position...