Or, how to destroy the good parts of a team by trying to fix the bad parts. We have looked terrible ever since we inserted Lightfoot into the lineup. When you start Garrett and Lightfoot, you're playing 3 against 5 on offense. And all the changes seems to have thrown the whole team off. Most teams get better as the year goes along, and we seem to have gotten much worse.
KUSTEVE
6008 posts
Drugs derailed his career at KU, so I'm not surprised. Maybe this will be the wake up call he needs to grow up.
I wonder if starting Lightfoot changed our offense enough to really hurt Svi's production. How so? I wonder if the ball didn't "stick" to the point that Svi didn't get the same looks as the 4 out. I could certainly be wrong, but I am very curious to see how many looks Svi gets today. Maybe it was simply a one game anomaly, maybe not.
@wissox Oh Chi. Or, OHCHI.
He has a certain old man style of play I enjoy. I like the mid-range jumpers, I like seeing him dunk off a lob. I think it's going to take him some time to be able to play at the college level, but I like getting a good potential 4 year guy who will develop as he goes along. He might be Sam's replacement.
This is how our offense looks without Svi. I'd like to see 15 shots from him next game.
@Kcmatt7 I think they would be insane if they traded Merrifield. That 2nd half was a breakout on the level of Altuve the last 3 months. He brings that intangible of passionate desire to win that is so priceless, and so very hard to find in today's sports world. Here is his last 3 months:
355 Abs: .296 BA ... 13 HRS ...54 RUNS ... 48 RBIs ...24 D & T ...26 SBs.
Altuve last 3 mos : I'll cede the BA ...13 HRS ...60 RUNS ...41 RBIS ...18 D &T ... 18 SBS.
It's essentially the same player, numbers wise. One could make the argument the exodus of Moose and company will affect the rbi and run totals, which is a possibility, but when you add in the additional at bats ( lead pipe cinch for 650+ at bats ), I think he'll still be 160 rbis+runs easily. The HR totals will give people pause, as he has never come close to hitting 19 before ( 11 was his highest minor league total ), and that drives automated projections systems batty. The projections all have him falling back to 13-15 hrs, which is poppicock in my books. The key with Merrifield is found in the different approach where he has quit trying to kill worms, and started hitting the ball in the air. Now, he lost a bit on his hard hit percent ( from 33% down to 30% ), but his fb/gb percent went through the roof, dropping from 1.5 gbs to fbs down to 1 for 1. And that's what we're looking for. His HR/FB, EVEN WITH THE CAREER HIGH IN HRS sat at a measley 9.4 last year. League average is normally somewhere from 14.5 to 17 %. His ex-HR/FB is an understated 10.4, which means he deserved a higher %. If he gets even close to 14%, we're talking 25 HR + potential. He has changed that swing. The ball is getting into the gaps, and going over the wall. His off-season weight training really has allowed him to drive the ball. On a personal note, we also see a dedicated employee working harder than he ever has before to make his MLB dream come true. If they traded Merrifield, it would be a simple tragedy for the franchise, one they would regret for a long time.
@Jayballer54 We're 18-5. We're tied for the lead in the B12, and will still be ranked in the Top 12. It's as close to a rebuilding year as we have had. Last year, one of our fans suggested that we fire Self, and hire Mark Turgeon. So, it's not like they have an IQ test to become a fan.
@DoubleDD I thought they looked bored. Lazy, inattentive, disinterested. I think they thot they could show up and not have much effort, and still win. Teams do it all the time. Every year, we seem to have a game or two where we cake walk, and get our asses handed to us. This team last played on Monday, so I don't think they're tired. Hopefully, they'll want to show up and play next game.
@dylans Whoa, Nelly! Lets win today, and worry about that in a month...
@drgnslayr I read the article. It doesn't bode well for my Final Four dream.
@BeddieKU23 They don't have to lose for her to get snoggled.
@Jayballer54 It's the big boy beer. 8% alcohol.
@JayHawkFanToo Selden's usage in a tournament I'm playing on Draft Kings is 41% tonight. That means the cats out of the bag. I've been using him and Markieff the last few days and have been doing real well.
@BeddieKU23 I prefer Natty Daddy.
@JayHawkFanToo I prefer to call it " the freak".
@MNJayhawk It changed practically every possession. 2/3, 3/2, 2/2/1, etc. One time DG forgot we were playing zone, and started playing man, and then backed off when he realized it. Certainly you could call it an amoeba defense.
@JayHawkFanToo i kept waiting to hear their song, and it never came...lol.
@mayjay I took a break from here. I was finding that people that hated our team's guts from other fan bases were more positive about our team than some of our own fans...lol.
Nice win over Silo Tech. Now we need those 5-3 teams to start losing, and get some room for number 14.
@Jayballer54 I hear you, but then I watch Dook and Virginia, and I think the same thing about those two teams. And I watch Purdew, and I think the same thing. Nova looks better, but I don't see some unbeatable team. UNC ? No. Yes, we could get popped the first two rounds, or we could put together a nice run with this weak field this year. The three teams that looked the best in the SEC/B12 challenge other than us were Florida, Tenn, and Tucky, imo. And no one has any of those jokers on the national radar. So, it could wind up a good surprise like 2012 instead of a bad surprise like 2013.
@HighEliteMajor I didn't want to take the time to explain my post. It's pretty obvious you didn't have a grasp of what my meaning was, but wanted to challenge it anyway. It's not that i don't mind battling with you, challenging you, or at times, flattening you, so to speak. It's just so much work, though. To deal with a person whose end sum game is to literally find fault in everything the coach does, and many of the players could actually turn into almost a full time job. Nothing personal, but I don't think you're worth it. If you think Bill is some diabolical creature from the Black Lagoon, then knock yourself out. Hopefully, we'll go on a winning streak, and it will shut you up for a while, as our winning has silenced you before in the past. Remember the litter of kittens you had when Landen was named starter over Diallo, then we win 17 games in a row? I guess you went into hiding and we thankfully didn't hear from you for a long time. So, there is always hope. All we have to do is win, and it seems to shut you up. So, RCJHGU. Cya- wouldn't want to be ya...
@HighEliteMajor I think we'd both be better served if you would simply skip my posts, and I will be glad to skip all of yours. I think what you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you're trying to sell.
@HighEliteMajor I'm unencumbered with an agenda that is designed to run down the team and the coach, so it allows me to see things differently than you.
@Jayballer54 One of the weirdest people on another board I go on is a Pitt fan. Makes sense.
@Ralster I think you may have missed my point. The goal was to win by exerting as little effort as possible, and we accomplished that. With the right effort, we would've won by 30. That wasn't our goal. Every year, we win ugly conference games where the team looks bad. The players look bad. The effort looks bad. But we win. With a bench as short as it is, we have to pick our battles carefully. This was a lackadaisical effort designed to help us rest while still winning. Why leave it all on the table against an inferior opponent? I'm just saying that last night's game was not a game to draw conclusions from. I think our next game will be more of the same. We'll do just enough to win the game, and that's it. If we're behind, Devonte will start bombing 3s. If we are behind, Doke will start dunking. Otherwise, we'll beat Silo Tech in a closer than what we like fashion. With the exhaustion the team is feeling from overplaying minutes, they might even short hop the WVU game to save themselves for other battles.
I am not concerned about the number of 3s we shot. I am not concerned about the rebound disadvantage. I am not concerned about our team defense. This game was an R & R ( rest and relaxation for those of you in Garden City ) break, much like a corporation will throw together a "company meeting" at Las Vegas ... wink, wink, nudge, nudge. This was a no grinder game, designed to give our exhausted players much needed rest, while beating a team without breaking a sweat. 3 ball it, baby.
Save Doke for the big boys, and let him shrink his game down where max effort is not required except for a few plays when we really need a basket. Give our 40 minute point guard some badly needed rest (while playing) by running the offense through Svi in the first half, and Malik in the 2nd. Get Malik and Vick recharged, and get them going. No reason to turn up the volume- keep it on a 3 out of 10. Defensive intensity???? Against the Clones???? Why would we waste the energy? We want Devonte to be able to walk next game, right? Svi is begging the coach to cut his minutes back to 27. Vick looks like he is 42 on the last legs of a 20 year NBA career. They're on Survivor Island, man.
This is simply classic Bill Self basketball, by deamping the team playing against the cellar rats, so we'll be able to amp up against the big boys. It's how you win 13 conference titles in a row. We're smarter than they are.
TESTING....123
@BeddieKU23 The rebounds were flat sensational. I saw far fewer bone head plays out of him as well. Some good shots mingled with some bad shots for sure. He has a warrior personality in there somewhere that he flashed at times last night. The big question is will he survive the test on the road against the Hillbillies? Knocking off number 2 on the road would be a huge boost for this team.
@Crimsonorblue22 Your positive vibes saved him. He was drowning.
Nice win over a scrappy Clone team. The Clones offensive style sets up isolations all over the court, which is a great strategy to use against a team like ours with a short bench ...chase, chase, chase the whole game. Great to see Newman back amongst the living, and Legerald's sterling play in the last few minutes sealed the deal. I'm sure the team is gassed...we live to fight another day. 3-1 in conference now. RCJHGKU.
@mayjay OMG>> I just broke out laughing on a phone call reading that ..LOLOLOL....Now, THAT was funny...
@BShark Still making predictions? You've been right 3 times this year, and wrong 12 times. I've been right 12 times this year, and wrong 3 times this year. See the trend? We'll win both games this week.
uhhh...no, let's don't do that.
@mayjay PHOF.....LOLOL...
You all are a little touchy today. It's like the weather - we can't do alot about it, so we might as well enjoy ourselves as we ride the waves...
Just wanted to let everybody know I have been cleared to make comments about the upcoming game with the Clones tomorrow. In case you were wondering. My attorney, the honorable Jaybate, presented a strong prima facie case where he put the system on trial. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the judge was Mayjay...
@jaybate-1.0 LOLOLOL....You should've buffered that one. Jed fell into the cement pond from laughing on that one.
It was a GREAT weekend. Sparty gets drilled. Dook gets hammered. UNC loses. Xavier gets beat. Arizona loses, and Stubby crys like a little girl.
@Blown I assume he is referring to De Sousa. In his other post, he was referencing him with the same meme. I find it hard to believe that our Compliance Dept sat on anything. As for Bill "stringing people along" , I assume he was relaying what he had been told. The truth is, we have no idea what the hold up has been, so to simply start blaming Bill or the Compliance Dept seems pretty knee jerk to me.
@BeddieKU23 There are some real ignorant fan responses on that link. Like this one:
"KU’s Compliance Department dragged its feet and didn’t send the requested information until nearly Christmas.
But, no matter. According to Self, we know sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon."**
The problem with this post is that De Sousa didn't graduate until December 24th, so the KU Compliance Dept couldn't submit anything until that happened. That is that poster's 2nd ignorant post on the matter in the past several days.
@Jayballer54 I'd trade Carter for Newman...lol.
@Jayballer54 He's going to be a star in the NBA, man. He is amazing. He got fouled everytime he touched the ball. They fouled him 50 times, at least.
@BShark We have issues. We also have help coming in at some point. I think we have a real chance to be 10-3 in conference going into our 3 game monty beginning Feb. 17th where we play WVU and OU at home, and then we play at TT. If either one of our guys clears, I think we're looking at number 14 in a row. It's not going to be easy, but we aren't going to be a skeleton crew the whole year.
@BShark I'm going to smack you for saying that. Bite your tongue, Debbie Downer..lol.
@wrwlumpy I was so proud of the way they played. Great effort by Svi and Devonte. Doke played really good, except for the fouls. Mitch was on another level, and that block with a few seconds left won the game for us. Vick was largely M.I.A. for a large portion of the game again- his on court personality resembles his off court personality at times - quiet and reserved. The skeleton crew found a way to grind out a win against a very good ranked team on the road.
@DoubleDD I've done my share of ragging on Mitch. He shut me up tonight. He played like Cole Aldrich did against UNC. He was spectacular. I thought Devonte shut up his critics tonight as well. What do you think?
@jaybate-1.0 That was weird. I logged on to talk about how Mitch's play was essential to our win tonight, and I see this. Wow, talk about calling it right on the nose. Mitch did it all tonight, and I loved the way he played. 6 blocks. Unbelievable. We don't win without Mitch tonight, period. I saw a different player tonight. The block near the end of the game sealed the victory.
KC would be crazy to trade Smith. Trade Mahomes to Cleveland for the first pick in the draft.
@HighEliteMajor Since you seem to live in the land of perpetual offense, I'm glad I could oblige you. To say I love my favorite BB team...oh, the horrors...