@justanotherfan I went back, and researched this, and I was relying on faulty information. Didn't realize there had been a correction issued on it. Here is more on it:
"**Earlier that spring, Hall of Fame Coach Bob Knight disparaged the academic achievements of so-called one-and-done players. He mistakenly said that UK's five starters in the 2010 NCAA Tournament did not attend a class in the spring semester. He later apologized."
**
I never got the memo...lol.
CBS has the good guys favored by 2.5. not saying that is right, or whether or not that will be the actual line, but it's a good omen.
Tue, November 18, 9:00 pm ET
TV: ESPN
away team logo
Kentucky
Wildcats
vs
home team logo
Kansas
Jayhawks
Odds:
KANSAS -2.5
@jaybate-1.0 I don't think your theory is improbable at all. The blow back is we're doing essentially the same thing, only with Adidas instead of Nike. Pitino bitches about the shoe companies corrupting college basketball, yet if he could sign 3 Mickey D's all stars, he'd push his mistress off the dinner table at his favorite restaurant to do so.
****JRyman:
@drgnslayr "hey go to class for the first semester, then go to the NBA, no classes needed second semester."
Or something like that?****
Like Kentucky did in 2012, when they all quit school January 1st?
@Hawk8086 Skal's guardian was going around soliciting financial bids for Labissiere - he was looking for 100k-250k. Skal has been to three different high schools in the past several years. The NCAA will be all over it- no way he ever gets cleared to play.
@wrwlumpy Ou has an upcoming game against Creighton, so we'll see how they look. OU could be a darkhorse, for sure.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/live/NCAAB_20141116_BUFF ↗@UK
It's not the size of the dog in a fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog that determines who wins. RCJHGKU.
@Hawk8086 Labissiere won't play a minute of college basketball - his guardian made sure of that.
@jaybate-1.0 No.
@jaybate-1.0 BOOYAH! I knew you'd come around...lol.
@HighEliteMajor Well, you're trying to be practical and realistic; I'm not...lol. I am terrified of Frank vs. Kentucky. If he takes off to the basket, he's going to get his clock cleaned. I wonder how many turnovers he will have when Kentucky traps with two 6'6" guards
( he had 4 against UCSB ). I think we'd be wise to keep the ball in Devonte's hands, as pressure really throws Frank off. I think Coach spoke volumes when he re-inserted Devonte into the game with 2 fouls in the first half, while Frank sat on the bench with 2 fouls during the first half.
@REHawk Sherron had the ability to be clutch. Frank seems to falls apart at the slightest hint of pressure. The turnover with a minute left? That was straight out of Eastern Kentucky. Frank doesn't play smart at times, doesn't look to set his teammates up, and forces all kinds of shots up. 4 Turnovers in 24 minutes. Not good. That's the bad, and he drives me crazy. The good is, he is an excellent defender, his perimeter shot is getting better and better, and I have no doubt he is giving every ounce of energy he has to help us win. So, I grumped when Sherron had bad games when he was a senior, Tyshawn for all but half a year of his career, EJ's senior year, Naadir...oh did I complain about Naadir, and now Frank. Maybe i'm just grumpy...lol.
@HighEliteMajor Nice analysis. Glad to see Devonte show everybody what he can do, because he can do a lot. I probably shouldn't mention my Frank grumbles, other than I do grumble about Frank. Not real happy over Oubre's 4 minutes, but I don't have an 82% winning as coach, so I will defer that to those that do have a 82% winning percent. Highly agree that Cliff and Devonte should be in the starting lineup. If it was up to me (which it's not) my starting 5 would be Devonte, Svi, Selden, Perry, and Cliff.
Devonte changes our team. And, at certain times tonight, Frank reminded us why it needed to be changed.
@Lulufulu I wasn't aware of any ill feelings towards Pastner, either. I was pointing out his team got drilled by a Div 2 team, which is hilarious to most that follow the sport.
@HighEliteMajor Actually, I just wanted an excuse to make fun of Memphis...lol. Losing to ... the Christian Brothers....say what?
@JayhawkRock78 that, too...lol.
@drgnslayr Eye Candy University. Hubba, hubba...
@JayhawkRock78 One more item from the trip: I get a call from Alamo Rental cars about a month after my trip, wanting to know WHEN I was going to return the rental car. I told them I had brought it back about 4 weeks before, right on schedule, right on time, with the gas tank full. They murmured around, placed me on hold, came back on and said, "Oh, we see it did get returned. Thank you for using Alamo", and hung up...lol.
@JRyman One of the gravest injustices done to me last year was UK's tournament resurrection. They were done. They were a joke. They lost their fannies, and like a phoenix, they were re-born. i think sucking helped them take the pressure off for their tournament run, so I hope everyone tells them how good they are, and that pressure makes them fold like a cheap tent.
@JayhawkRock78 Funny. I had a similar experience one time. I had flown in to KC from Houston to watch KU/Misery, and it was about 50 degrees cooler, and I didn't have a coat with me. I ended up going to a store in Lawrence and buying long sleeved shirts, and a coat...lol. That was a sucky trip anyway, as Roy's boys lost the Big 8 title to Misery. On the way home, in the KC airport, I had that huge, bulky coat on, and i bought a cup of coffee, and tried to sit down. The scalding hot coffee hit the arm of the chair ( no, I didn't have a lid on it) as I plopped down, sending the coffee airborne, and soaked directly into my sock right on my ankle. I hurt terribly, but I went ahead and boarded the plane. By the time I landed in Houston, the ambulance was waiting for me because by that time, I had a 5 inch long blister that was about 2 inches tall, and I was in extreme pain. I could barely walk for a week. Oh, those fond memories...lol.
@Statmachine Thanks for the link, stats.
@drgnslayr Hilarious. I get giddy over Div 2 losses, especially when Pastner is involved.
Why would they ever leave the sports complex? Are they out of their minds? I looked up the temp in Lawrence, and it is 28 degrees.
The Gauchos will hit the airport, and as they are walking through the tunnel to the gate, I predict half their team will want to turn around, and come back home when that cold air hits them.
When they do something like this :
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/11868462/memphis-tigers-fall-division-ii-christian-brothers-exhibition ↗ ↗
Now, what was everybody saying about our "struggles" in our latest 50 point win?
@jaybate-1.0 "But they tell us how short and slight we are inside, unless Alexander and Lucas are in."
I have a solution: LEAVE THEM IN!!!!!!!!!!!
LOLOLOL....
@JayHawkFanToo I thought Lucas looked exceptional. His demeanor shouted poise, confidence, and determination. He has really grown up, hasn't he?
@HighEliteMajor I don't think Wayne or Perry tried very hard. When they did try, they scored at will. I still think this is Wayne's team, imo.
@DinarHawk I loved the perimeter pressure. Devonte and Frank looked very good. Devonte is going to be a big star for us sometime in the next 4 years.
@jaybate-1.0 I don't want to say our team wasn't trying very hard, but I think they weren't trying very hard. My conclusion is there is no definitive conclusions to be drawn yet. Are we weak in the middle? I don't believe we are weak. I think we'll prove that Friday night.
@Crimsonorblue22 I did my "baby shoes" good luck cry. I don't know what happened. It always works.
I'll add:
Devonte was spectacular. Great defensive pressure, several steals, created an over and back, fed the ball exceptionally well, and made several nice shots.
Our most electric player is Cliff. He instantly takes over the game when he's in there. Not sure why we had to wait 10 minutes to see him, but when his number was finally called, he delivered.
Reporting in from ESPN3 land- the game has closely resembled a Cahrlie Chaplin movie, as ESPN3 is profusely dragging.
SWEE!!!!!!!
Calling out great luck for Swee to just dominate tonight. Come on, BABY SHOES!!!!
@REHawk Very good points. Selden at the 3 ... very interesting.
@HighEliteMajor i would like to see less fouls from Jamari this game. He won't stay in the starting lineup for long piling up fouls like he did last game.
@HighEliteMajor **I try to avoid "giddy" best I can. But I have to admit, after watching him play last Monday, I'm giddy. Svi has tools, skills, and physical attributes that are impressive. Do we have a Euro-phenom on our hands? The eye test, at least initially, says yes. **
I read somewhere that if he had been ranked in the 2014 recruits, he would've been top 5-10, so giddy is justified.
If this makes anyone feel better, if the Mildcats were in the NBA, they would have the 2nd largest team in the NBA. I wish the tallest team always won in many of our NCAA games.... Northern Iowa and VCU come to mind.
It won't be easy, but we can beat them. All of Kensucky's returning starters are complimentary players. The offense ran through Randle and Young last year, so there is a question who takes over the scoring. My thought is the Bobsey twins will assert themselves as the alpha scorers by launching shot after shot. That is a good thing if the skulking twins shoot anywhere as badly as they shot last year ( .423 for Thing #1, and .367 for Thing #2). The Bobseys reasons for returning another year have little to do with making the Mildcats the best- they are more interested in improving their stats for the NBA draft. In every game, in the back of their mind, they are thinking ... gotta score ... gotta put points up. Now Coach Squid will fight against their impulses, but they have the ball- he doesn't. They already know they are going to be pulled at certain times due to their need to divy out minutes to all the semi-pros, so the pressure is on to put #s up when you're in the game. We will need an outstanding defensive effort from our guards, but I think we can pressure them enough to have a poor game.
Poythress came back due to his numbers collapsing last year. He is no way a 3- can't shoot a lick. Oubre is way too quick for him. And Oubre is big enough to keep him off the boards.
Lyles is a guy that could hurt us, but the jury is out how aggressive he will be in his 2nd collegiate game. I think Perry could hold his own against him in this game.
I assume Cliff draws the task against Dakari/WCS. Cliff is going to get his, but the fouls could ring up quick. So, I'm sure we'll see Landen and company a lot.
So, where's the Alpha Dog? Who is the Alpha dog? Is he sitting on the bench, waiting to get his 5 minutes (guaranteed) each half? Or, will it be the Bobsey twins launching up shot after shot?
I like the fact that nobody thinks we can win. I relish an underdog role, which happens so rarely for KU. If we play a good game, we will beat them.
All this avalanche of doubt and dread. SMH. Well, I didn't want to pull this out until later in the season, but the non-belief has forced me to play this card:
[
@JayHawkFanToo We have UK right where we want them - fat, sassy, arrogant, thinking they are going to steamroll us... No, it will not be an upset when we win, even though the Kensucky worshipping media will spin it that way. We are Kansas - we take a backseat to no one. We never upset anyone, because we never expect to lose beforehand. When we win, we won't be rushing the court, either.
@Crimsonorblue22 Love the Beverly Hillbillies. Jethro, Ellie Mae, and cement ponds.
@Hawk8086 Oh ye of little faith...
@JayHawkFanToo Are you trying to convince me we will lose? Because it won't work...lol.
@globaljaybird I disagree. A few facts to remember: the "dynasty" known as Kensucky was considered a massive failure LAST YEAR until they got on a lucky run in the tournament. Don't forget they had 10 losses going into the tournament. So, there's a lot of yammering, delusional Mildcat fans and mindless media monkeys murmuring visions of yUcK going 40-0, putting a 1,000 lb millstone around that teams neck. Great Expectations, if you will. As ZZ Topp said, "you got me under pressure". Another hidden factor is Coach Self is worth 10 points over the Squid. Plus, our team is chock full of lean, mean defending machines, hell bent on getting their hands on that ball. It will be close, but we will beat them.
@Crimsonorblue22 I'm not saying he's my favorite player quite yet, but he IS the odds on favorite to win that coveted title.
@jaybate-1.0 Do you mean the Sgt Shultz defense?
[
@drgnslayr I used to get mad at Rele all the time for passing up shots. Most under utilized offensive player we ever had, imo. The guy could score in a variety of ways, including deadly accuracy from the nosebleed section.
@Crimsonorblue22 I want to beat them so freaking bad, I can taste it. I have several Mildcat friends, and they more full of crap than an xmas turkey. They are utterly convinced they will be undefeated this year. I mean, really? From 11 losses to perfection in a year? No way they don't get beat. When they do lose, I'm coming down on them like a hammer...
I think Devonte will surprise us with his 3 point shooting ability. I look for Oubre to hit some 3s as well. Frank will be improved from last year from the 3. Wayne? I assume he's worked on his 3 point shot over the summer, and he looked good in the RED/BLUE scrimmage from the 3. Perry is working on his 3 point shot as well. Practically the whole team can shoot from the perimeter, and I haven't even mentioned Greene or Swee yet. I don't think we'll need to look at the bench if we need a 3 with our projected lineup ( unless Coach decides to start Landen, Hunter, Cliff, and Jamari at the same time. Can you see Jamari at the 2?..he,he).
@drgnslayr Respect?
[
Hunter Michelson = Sparky McGurgle
Cliff = the Beast
Mason = Tuffy McGursky
Perry = the Designer
Oubre = Knuckles
Swee = SWEEEING ( think Wayne's World)
Wayne = the Cat
Landen =Chairman of the Board
Graham = Mr. Smooth
@jaybate-1.0 LOL..
@jaybate-1.0 We get Swee for 2 years. How good will he be by the end of next year?