@icthawkfan316 I promise I won't take your Frank comments as nitpicking. Don't take my nitpicking Devonte on his last game as I'm down on Devonte. I think he's still getting it together, and by tournament time, he'll be able to run the team in his sleep. He's very, very close now.
KUSTEVE
6008 posts
We're fans, but we are also a bunch of worry warts. I predicted 14-4, and I probably shot too low. So, we win conference, and pull down a 1 seed. We make it to the national championship game, where we beat 'Tucky. I keep hearing how we should be terrified of size, but we beat several large teams already. And we have guards that penetrate, and dish that open that middle right up. We have long range bombers that make the big'ens have to stretch. We look more and more like 2008 every game, imho. The best part is getting almost the whole team back next year. Not bad for a OAD school, eh?
I liked watching the half time show of OU/WVU. First, they lead off with KU's win against the Clones, discuss Mason, Greene, and Selden, talk about our consecutive conf title streak...etc. It was like a commercial for KU.
@approxinfinity Loved Milt Newton. The greatest crime of that era was Ron, Calvin, and the gang losing that heartbreaker against Dook in the semis. We should've had two national titles from that crew...
@JayHawkFanToo Go back and listen to Kenwrong's interview with Jesse- Kenwrong is an old bullshitter, a used car salesman stuck in college basketball, selling his weird science hocus pocus to all gullible enough to buy in. I've heard better pitches from door to door vacuum cleaner salesmen.
@JayHawkFanToo Real good point about Devonte. I saw some freshmen mistakes this last game i haven't seen from Devonte, so not sure he is 100% ready to run the team w/o Frank just yet. He's close, but still has a ways to go. Of course, one could say Wayne looked like a high school sophomore the first part of the game- I was cussing him, praising him, cussing him, and then the praises took over with every shot. I wonder if Wayne is related to Tyshawn.
A thought struck me watching the team last night - we're going to have Frank, Devonte, Wayne, Perry, Jamari, Cliff!??, Landen, Svi, Hunter??? and the 2016 national player of the year ( Mr Greene ) BACK next year. Add in Bragg, and another big or two, and we're stronger than horseradish ...WITH experience. So, we're a OAD team with loads of rugged veterans at every position. National championship either this year, or next year...OR BOTH YEARS.
Really nice win for the good guys. Very glad to see Wayne get untracked offensively. We're simply a better team than the Clones, and we should've won in Ames. I am predicting OU beats the Hillbillies tonight, leaving us 2 games ahead in the standings, with the biggest trap game of the year in Stillwater ( Eskimo Joes ) on Saturday.Hope the guys don't read the press clippings ...we have half a season left. RCJHGKU.
@wrwlumpy "*We sure looked like bully's after this video. Beautiful wife, Crying boy, EJ became a national villain for making this young man feel this way. I like the kid. If you really care about winning, then tears should be there when you lose. Hell, Roy used to cry after every tournament loss."
We became villains for winning the game. Oh, ok...maybe we should throw the game, and let them win then...we wouldn't want to look bad, would we? I hope they bring the kid to the game, and he cries like a little girl, and we look like the biggest bullies on the block, as we stomp their ass.
@drgnslayr I've been saying the same thing, slayer. WVU will help us to get ready for the tourney like few other teams in the conference. Hopefully, they will pick up a loss or two before we have to play them.
@wrwlumpy His little boy is going to be crying again.
@wrwlumpy Welcome to the Phog, Clones. Welcome to the ass whupping, Fred.
@truehawk93 There's no excuse, but we don't know what Foster was mouthing either and to whom he may have been mouthing. The refs only see what they want. I think Graham got enough that late in the game and decided to let it out. I think Foster is a balling punk on the court. I think he's obviously talented, but a cocky punk.
What I love is that everybody thinks that Devonte is a little angel. In reality, he is a highly trained assassin with a very big smile. He was baiting Foster...getting under his skin...etc. Devonte moved up as my 2nd favorite player for his actions yesterday, right behind Mr. "when the popcorns poppin"... I might have to run a weekly Jethro Top 3 Jayhawks, as my favorites change from game to game. I would have to give Frank props for one of the best drives of the year, as he literally broke the entire Mildcats team's ankles with his beautiful drive to the basket ...it was truly one of the best plays of the season, imho.
@wrwlumpy I watched several of Graham's tapes after he signed with us, and there were several occasions where he was agitating opponents. I absolutely love him for ripping on Foster.
@JayHawkFanToo I thought Wayne looked a lot more comfortable out there, and a lot less frustrated. His stroke with his shot was great. I was very excited about his game.
I think the Kitties play the "wack a hawk" game, and try to turn the game into a wrestling match. KU 68 Mildcats 61. My picks to click today are Frank and Perry, which is like saying I expect the sun to go down tonight. Going out on a limb here...
@JayHawkFanToo Hey...no cropping allowed... :grinning: :grinning: :grinning:
I'm thinking objects in the picture look massive and bodacious.
@JayHawkFanToo not really a lot of hills in that part of the state so you do what you must.
There are hills in Kansas?
@wrwlumpy Upvote for the Liberace photo...
@jaybate-1.0 Moooving right along...ok, I admit that was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad ( hide the sheep - the Grapes are invading)....
@wrwlumpy We're actually still a 2 seed on Lunardi's bracket right now. Jerry "Rosey" Palms has us as a 1 seed on CBS. Speaking of cupcakes, look at Lunardi's projected West Region, with Dook having the easiest path of any team known to man. It's a freaking conspiracy, I tell ya. One day, the truth will come out how they stack the deck in Dook's favor.
@jayhawk-007 This is a poor coaching decision and the KU fans and our press corps needs to challenge our head coach on this point - big time!
A bridge too far for me. I want Cliff to get 35 minutes, but I am willing to trust that Coach Self has a plan, knows what he is doing, and will stretch his playing time out when Cliff is ready. We're 17-3. we're leading the conference. it doesn't mean that every decision he makes is right- but there has to be perspective associated with criticism.
Nice to hear some well measured comments on speculation why we almost blew an 11 point lead with 3 minutes left. I think we let down our guard. If we had run what we had run at Texas, we would've won by 30. Maybe he is trying to motivate the team not to coast, and he made the game closer to keep them on their toes. The one thing I do know is he didn't employ his strategy because he was stupid, or can't coach. I think this is the game Jaybate would say he held the team back, and I agree.
This was a survival game - we survived. 6-1 in conference...yeah, buddy...
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BASKETBALL?
[
@JayHawkFanToo He's a book cooker. He has as much sway as a dart board to me.
@JayHawkFanToo Kenpom is bordering on fraud, imo. I started noticing lots of inconsistencies over the past two years in his "rankings" that couldn't be explained, so i started tracking his team movements. I have concluded he will move any team up after they win, The key word is after they win. I think Kenpom cooks the books, so to speak. His "results" tell us nothing - the way he manipulated moving up UCONN and Kentucky would make a pretzelmaker proud last year. If we keep winning, our defensive ratings will magically improve, even if our defense doesn't.
This is a very tough, mentally strong team. I think the Cliffie breakout isn't one game, but a series of double/doubles that become an integral part of our offense. Teams can no longer cut off the head of the snake by pressuring our guards like last year. Frank and Devonte bring amazing stability to our offense, and they both play good defense. Greene's 3 ball is a lethal weapon, and that attitude he brings is infectious. Perry is working as hard as anyone to be an offensive force, and I am seeing a great player emerge. Wayne has scuffled somewhat - I look for his hard work to pay off at some point. Kelly night be our most talented player- I think we've only seen a preview of what will unfold with him. Jamari has played his heart out - his hustle has been amazing.
All the parts are in place for a national title run. I think we beat Kentucky in our rematch in the championship game. We finally have guards that won't screw the pooch.
Best line on the KU sports board comment thread on Francamp:
**Robert Brock 16 hours, 56 minutes ago
His Dad is trying to get Conner to transfer to another jail.**
Ok...that was funny, folks ...
@wrwlumpy Wayne played well against Texas. With continued growth with the new shot, he'll be over 40% in no time. I feel like at some point in the season, he will win a huge game for us with his shot.
@icthawkfan316 Well, you're more mature than me...lol. The Clones are my mortal enemies....lmao...when I get trolled by Clone fans, I pull out the picture of Hoiberg's kid crying...
I don't think its a step for a stepper. We're 1,200 lbs of screaming steel, and sex appeal. We have guards...tough, hard nosed lads that suck the life out of other teams. We have the best 3 point shooter this side of Ron Kellog ( NOBODY ever shot a prettier shot ),
and a thunderous monster down low who can't wait to tear the rim off with a thunderous dunk...did I mention Perry the great...how about the guy with 8 foot arms with the smooth lefty shot? What about a man named Wayne, who will put it all together at some point, and will be a hero ...
Mere mortals would pause at running the gauntlet of TCU, the Grapes, and the Clones, but we're going 3-0 ... because we're that good...
@benshawks08 *P.S. Don't' know if anyone cares but... Conner Frankamp just got arrested for a DUI. Such a sad, sad story for that boy.*
Holy snikeys. It has to be miserable watching KU succeed, specifically our guard play with Frank and Devonte.
@icthawkfan316 I don't think I've ever disagreed with you before...but to say you'd rather see ISU win because it helps our league "profile" ...I can't get my head around that. Our number 1 RPI not good enough, eh? Our 6 or 7 wins over RPI Top 50 teams somehow won't measure up unless the Clones win too? Nonsense. Complete useless ESPN drivel, imho. Sorry, but that is a bridge too far for me.
Well, one couldn't blame Texas for feeling inferior when a world class basketball organization comes to town. I assume this will be the Horn's only sell out crowd of the year, so maybe the extra noise scared them...confused them.
@Crimsonorblue22 I wish he had stayed. I was convinced he would. I felt like the kid that finds out Santa Claus isn't real when he announced. Could you imagine a healthy Embiid in our lineup with Cliff, Kelly, and our guard play? We would be undefeated.
@JayHawkFanToo Ain't it sweet? I have not seen our offense percolate like that in years....those drives in the middle with the Frank/Devonte dump off passes to Cliffie for the slam were like a work of art.
@Crimsonorblue22 IMO, if we had better guard play last year, the loss of Embiid would not have been nearly as detrimental as it ended up being. It exposed our useless perimeter defense, and without Embiid to mop up our guard's lapses, we got flat smoked last year. Our much improved perimeter defense this year is making up for not having that big rim protector quite nicely, imo.
@JayHawkFanToo Man, I like the way you think! I keep having flashbacks from games last year...namely, last year's Florida, Nova, Colorado, Eastern Kentucky games..etc, where the slightest on ball perimeter pressure made us fold up like a cheap pup tent last year...
@Jyhwk_InTigrtwn Love your post. I absolutely agree 100% with your assessment - our guard play has been the missing link since 2008. That VCU loss hit me like a dagger. How could a team with that much frontline talent lose to the likes of VCU? and it's real simple- their guards beat our guards. Last year, UCONN's guards beat Kentucky's guards. The year before, Louie won a national championship with two great guards. This year, WE have the guards that can change a game, can hold onto a lead, can get us back into a game....
@jayhawk-007 Our guard play is the best since 2008, imo. I read somewhere that Coach said yesterday that Frank was where they would thought he would be as a senior, and they were surprised he had gotten so much better so quickly. Me too, Coach. I thought he was a project. Devonte is everything I thought he would be - he is simply a tremendous player. If we had those two guards last year with the skills they are showing now, we would've been national champs last year, imo. I think we have a very good shot at a deep, deep run. Yesterday, we played good, even though we didn't shoot particularly well. When you are blowing out a former top 5 team on their homecourt, and you didn't shoot that great ...well, we haven't seen our best game yet.
@joeloveshawks WVU is running the same type of pressure that gave us fits last year. I want to see our team beat that defense- I think Frank and Devonte will make them pay dearly for pressing us. Still, we have shown this year if opposing teams can speed us up, our youth takes over, and we start playing too fast, making dumb turnovers, wild shots, etc. WVU will be perfect for our team to get ready for the tourney - we get two intense games against a high pressure defense.
@JayHawkFanToo I agree with slayer ... they aren't that good. I fear WVU's high pressure game more than the Clones. If Iowa St played defense, it would be different. Fred's offense has to be good because his defense is so bad. It will be a brutal game for the Clones in Lawrence.
@Crimsonorblue22 I'm glad KU has never done that - makes me wonder if Francamp will drop some goodies on us. I hope not, but he'll be walking around with a camera on him for long periods of time...
Welcome back, Jamari!!!!
@VailHawk I was glad Jamari had a great game, too. I thought Devonte played exceptionally well, as the ball handling was straight out of 2008 for him and Frank. Best passing I've seen in years. Now...here's the kicker - we're going to get better.
@wrwlumpy I actually hope Jesse continues his dreamy eyed admiration for KenPom. When the hammer falls, and he learns the truth about his new love, he's going to need us to be there for him. Let him sow his youthful wild oats on wild flings with the likes of Ken ' used car " Pomeroy-like the prodigal son, he will be back, and we'll welcome him back to reality with open arms.
@wrwlumpy Upvote for the box score.
CLONE FAIL....
@JayHawkFanToo From CBS:
**That was one of the best second half performances by any team this season. After the Jayhawks started 2-11 from the field in the second stanza that saw Texas stretch out a five-point lead, they went on a 14-minute, 36-18 run where they shot 57 percent from the field and didn't turn the ball over once to end the game and pick up the win. **