🏀 KuBuckets Archive

I think we may actually switch to the ASU game this year instead. Turn it into a golf/bball trip... None of us have a real desire to go to Indianapolis. Or rather, none of us have a desire to spend 3 days of PTO to go to Indianapolis. If the game was on a weekend, we'd be there.

I do love going to the games though. Tbh, if you're a Williams Fund Member, or know one that isn't going, the tickets are $80-$90 for two amazing games. Worth every penny imo. Add in that you get free food and beer before the game if you RSVP for the pregame party. It is just such a fun event. I highly suggest everyone try to make it to at least one of the Classics because it is hard to find another time you will ever see 4 passionate fanbases all under the same roof.

Haha me and some buddies have gone to the last 2 Classics. They are a ton of fun.

@KUSTEVE Chicago-Sun stood by that story time after time. Legal action never was brought on them though... Funny how a lot of times after legal threats, nothing comes out of it.

If a paper really did make a fake story about you, wouldn't you sue them knowing it was easy money? I mean, of course, providing you had nothing to hide...

Lakers won the draft I think. I'd sure love to see Svi crack that rotation. It will be tough though, with LBJ, Ingram, Stephenson, Caldwell-Pope and Hart taking up minutes.

I almost think that maybe Magic talked LBJ into making the move to Point-Forward and defending the 4 man...

@BeddieKU23 Part of the problem is definitely his development, or rather who is responsible for his lack their of. Either the Jackson's are too stubborn to change his shot or the Suns are too stupid to give him the time needed and the coaching to change the shot.

@justanotherfan that is exactly what I had in mind. I think the Suns need to move him to play a point-forward position.

@BeddieKU23 I honestly don't know what model he follows. My closest comp for him, and what I would find to be his greatest path to success, would be trying to become Shaun Livingston.

He was never going to be a star in the NBA without fixing his jumper.

At this point, the Suns would be best served to just sit him for a year and completely rework him. I'd be interested to see him in a Point/Forward role, or even just making the move completely to PG.

Robinson would have been fun to watch in the Crimson and Blue this season. Would have been a great place for him to train and come along slowly next to Doke. In an offense that I think would have really prepped him for the NBA.

He always needed to be given this season. Personally I’d give him the entire year to coach. I hate mid season firings, but I’d start talking to other coaches agents starting as soon as I knew I was firing Beaty. We need to be the first in line holding the biggest check for our number one candidate.

Semantics, but Nike bid $1B over 8 years to sponsor the NBA. For comparison, Adidas' deal was 11 years for $400M. Using the definition of the word "voluntarily" that Adidas is using, I also voluntarily give up things. All the time! Private jets, mansions, dating super models, etc.

I will say, I'm starting to come around on the Charlie train a little bit... Just watching some of his tape today does have me more optimistic than before. I think his only downfall could be his natural instinct to try to score. He needs to be a distributor for this team more than a scorer. He will need to pass up on some shots that he took at Cal. He will need to avoid driving the lane against his man, just because he can, because he gets blocked a lot. That is what caused his high turnover number. He would drive the lane and then get in trouble. He can't do that here.

However, I did note a few things. His stroke looks pretty dang good. I think in a situation where he is the 5th option and only shooting wide open 3s, we will see him hit them at a .400 clip. He also has an uncanny ability to shake his man and get a great look at the mid-range floater. Something that I think is pretty hard to teach or even execute. Defensively, I still find him to be a bit of a liability. But he was the leading ball swiper his lone season at Cal. If he can hound opposing guards and create some havoc, I really like how he fits on this team.

I'd still prefer he come off the bench because, to me, he fits better with the 2nd unit where he would be more free to create and shoot. I think running him with 4 other guys that can score is a disservice to his natural scoring instincts. My real hope though, is that him and Dotson are basically splitting hairs and that we can run them both about 20 min a game, allowing them to both play all out on both ends of the floor.

@Woodrow I think we must feel good about landing other guards.

@BigBad I'm sure there are ways around that tax. He could set up an Incomplete Non-Grantor Trust and pay no State Taxes on it, if I'm not mistaken. Providing, of course, Svi claims residence somewhere other than California.

@approxinfinity I don't think Self gave it an honest chance.

I will say one thing though. Cheick had an ego that De Sousa did not. When Diallo was on the court it felt more like he was auditioning for the NBA. De Sousa felt more like he knew his role was to just be a defender and a rebounder.

That key personality difference definitely could have been something that changed their development path at KU. And why Self let one play through mistakes over the other.

@justanotherfan I expect one of them to be solid, but just not an AA. Probably not even 1st team all conference.

I'm just saying they don't necessarily need to light up the stat sheet in order for this team to be good.

@Crimsonorblue22 @BShark Yea he has just said he understood and that he came in late. Wasn't Self's fault, and KU did spend a pretty penny to get him eligible while the NCAA drug their feet.

Just calm down my dude. You CLEARLY meant to troll everyone. The title of the thread is "THIS OUGHT TO GET YOU HATERS SOME FIRE"

I'm just trying to point out, we don't appreciate it. I know it's summer and you're probably bored, but this isn't the place to come troll. This is a place for discussion and debate and self policing.

I would have liked to discuss whether or not I think the Yankees should or shouldn't trade for Machado. Interesting topic of discussion. Or what they do with their roster if the do indeed trade for him. Where does everyone move to?

But that isn't what you did. You came onto a KU website to kick a bunch of Royals fans while they are WAY down. Full well knowing that you were trying to get a rise out of people.

The biggest evidence that Self messed up with Diallo was proving that he could take a very raw player directly out of HS and turn him into an adequate player and major contributor to a FF run in 3 and a half months.

Another piece of evidence that even Self felt he messed up the Diallo situation was starting Doke, an overweight player that had even less BBIQ than Diallo, over Lucas two seasons ago. Doke would have finished the year starting if he didn't get hurt.

Self knows he screwed up. It's ok. The important thing is that he clearly learned from it and got us to another FF.

I'm really interested in the rotation for sure. I actually think Vick's addition changes everyone's minutes except Dotson and Grimes.

Vick's addition means that there will be direct minutes taken away from Garrett and KJ at the 3.

There will also be indirect minutes taken from the post play, as well as an advantage gained, imo. Vick's addition indirectly adds more depth to our post play by letting KJ get minutes at the 4. More depth means more aggression from our post players. More aggression means fewer, but more impactful minutes from Dedric and Doke. Below is my guess for the rotation and stats for players.

PG:
- Dotson: 28 MPG, 9 PPG, 3.8 AST, 3 TOV, 1.2 STL, 3 RBD
- Moore: 12 MPG, 3 PPG, 2 AST, 1 TOV, .5 STL, .5 RBD

SG:

• Grimes: 32 MPG, 14 PPG, 2.5 AST, 3 TOV, 1.2 STL, .5 BLK, 3 RBD
• Garrett: 8 MPG, 3 PPG, 1 AST, .2 TOV, 1 STL, .5 BLK, 3 RBD

SF:
- KJ: 20 MPG, 5 PPG, 1.2 AST, 1 TOV, 1 STL, .5 BLK, 4 RBD
- Vick: 20 MPG, 9 PPG, 1.2 AST, 1 TOV, 1 STL, .5 BLK, 2 RBD

PF:
- Dedric: 28 MPG, 14 PPG, 2 AST, 1.5 TOV, .8 STL, 2.5 BLK, 7 RBD
- KJ: 8 MPG, 4 PPG, .5 AST, .5 TOV, .2 STL, .3 BLK, 3 RBD
- Mitch: 4 MPG, 2 PPG, .1 AST, .1 TOV, .2 STL, 1 BLK, 3 RBD

C:
- Doke: 20 MPG, 11 PPG, .8 AST, 1.5 TOV, .5 STL, 2.5 BLK, 7 RBD
- De Sousa: 15 MPG, 5 PPG, .1 AST, 1.5 TOV, .3 STL, 1 BLK, 6 RBD
- Big Dave: 5 MPG, 2 PPG, .1 AST, .2 TOV, .2 STL, .5 BLK, 3 RBD

Team Line:

81 PPG, 15.3 AST, 14.5 TOV, 8.1 STL, 9.8 BLK, 44.5 RBD

Comparison to last season, for perspective:

I have us scoring roughly the same points as last season. While we may not be AS talented scoring the ball, this team will not go through those same periods of stalling with Devonte walking the ball up the court slowly. I also expect twice as many blocked shots and about 9 more rebounds per game. I expect a few more turnovers per game as well, with a rookie running point. I expect a 30% increase in steals, topping off what I consider to be a superior defensive team to last seasons. Perhaps, a superior defensive team to the rest of the country.

Comparison to 2008 team:

The 2008 team shared the ball amazingly well. Much better than my projections, although my first round saw us having close to the 18 per game the 2008 team had. Both teams should have similar defensive prowess, although I believe that this year's team will block more shots than the 2008 bunch. I may have overprojected this season's rebound numbers, but I also think this is a better rebounding team than 2008. KJ is a better rebounder than Rush, Dedric is the best rebounder out of both teams. The 2008 team was far from turnover prone, but they did take care of the ball better.

All in all, this team looks as good as any in the Self Era, at least on paper. What I expect is an elite defensive team that is able to play through the post, score consistently and still have the versatility to run and gun if needed. As long as everyone stays healthy, this is a FF or bust year imo.

Also note that my projections do not expect a crazy season from Dotson, and that if he develops into a player better than what I have projected here, this team is absolutely insane.

This is a stupid topic that gets brought up every offseason. This isn't the place to bring this and all you want to do is gloat and troll. If you want to talk about how good the Yankees are I can only imagine how many other boards exist on the internet to talk about that.

Odour has a special place in my heart after he socked Joey Bats.

Would love to see the Yankees make a dumb trade and then lose in the WC game. It'd be poetic.

@justanotherfan I mean, I think they will be marginally better. I predict them to have 8 losses instead of 11.

I just think it will be hard to believe that their shooting will improve that much. They shot .357 from 3pt last season. Odds are that number is around .370 this season.

Now their D, it was pretty mediocre last season. And I see no significant additions that will help change that. If anything, I look at this team and think their D may actually be worse.... Washington and Travis next to each other is basically a free run at the rim.

UK should have honestly lost at least 1 more game than they did (Vanderbilt game), but realistically could have just of easily been a 15 loss team. They weren't very good basically all last season.

Again, I realize they will be good compared to the rest of CBB. I just think they are still overhyped. More likely a team in the 10-15 range than top 5.

Lakers may have hit on both of their picks. Wagner has looked awesome as well.

But congrats to Svi for sticking it out another year and putting in the work. I think we all know it wasn't his original plan, but good things happen when you make smart decisions.

Do we know why Syracuse has so many alums that make their way to KC? I find it strange so many local personalities went to Syracuse. Petro, Nick Wright, Danny Parkins, Passan.

It's just weird to me. I know they have a good journalism school, but KU and MU also have decent programs.

"Document Expert" is apparently a new credential you can receive.

Only Yahoo sports would make news out of receiving standard responses lol.

Bill saying definitively that he believes De Sousa will play continues to give me a piece of mind.

Give us your Social Security Number Jeff.

Oh wait. You aren't going to share that info with me because you aren't required to? I'm now pissed and I'm going to throw a fit about it.

Same UK as last season. An overrated group that will struggle to defend. Was UK not "Loaded" and "Experienced" last season?

• PG: Alexander, Green
• SG: Diallo, Baker
• SF: Knox
• PF: Washington, Vanderbilt, Gabriel, SKJ
• C: Richards

They went into the season 10 deep, sprinkling in a few Sophomores or Juniors. They only lost Baker for the season, who was unlikely to see much time anyways. Still lost 11 games and didn't win their conference.

• PG: Hagans, Green
• SG: Quickley, Baker
• SF: Johnson, Herro
• PF: Washington, Montgomery
• C: Travis, Richards

Green, Travis and Washington all have major defensive limitations. The only way I think they finish in the top 5 is if either Johnson, Hagans or Quickley is unguardable.

I just fail to see where they got much better from last season to this season, other than they will probably be able to shoot slightly better.

@JayHawkFanToo I never once said that I think that the Lakers will make the finals. I simply stated you hate LeBron so much your head would explode if it happened.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Nobody on here is dumb. I know all of this. I have my opinion on the situation.

@BShark Exactly. The growth of Tatum and Brown could be dramatically different on a team with Hayward. Especially defensively, considering that Hayward is an awful defender.

Same for Rozier.

@JayHawkFanToo I can tell that I know more about the NBA than you.

@Texas-Hawk-10 If I was Long, I wouldn't.

If I was the KU AD, I'd absolutely hire him. He is one of a handful of coaches out there that have proven they can win at the P5 level. Yes, he has also proven he can lose at that level. But giving it to a guy who has proven he can win isn't any worse than giving the job to an unknown like you want to do. Just because someone is a good Coordinator doesn't mean they are going to be a good HC.

If Venables was a home run hire he would have already been hired by someone.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Calm your tits.

@JayHawkFanToo Just because it went a full 7 doesn't mean they WOULD have beat them. That is flawed logic on your end.

Taking Hayward into account on a team where he only played 5 minutes the entire season and may never be the same is also flawed logic.

Venables not getting a gig is oddly similar to Turner Gil, who was never given a gig and was passed over time after time until he landed here.

I'd take Beilma in a heart beat and wouldn't complain one bit if that was who we ended up with.

But, my preference is still a MAC school head coach.

@JayHawkFanToo 8. In. A. Row.

What if LeBron wins a finals with the LAL? Your head may explode.

But more realistically, you’ll probably just try to find a way to put an asterisk next to that too.

Just note that it is (All fiction, no malice) and it's ok to post. Fwiw, it's funny and clearly a joke from my pov. If JB is going to post whackadoo posts all over the place or make claims without doing any research whatsoever than he should be ok with getting made fun of for it from time to time.

I do have to agree, there is a reason the Flexbone is all but dead. Yet the spread option run game is alive and well, and even made it's way into the NFL. It is simply a better system.

@JayHawkFanToo Your argument is like when national pundits predict that KU won't win the Big XII. Until it doesn't happen, you have to assume that LeBron makes the Finals. Unless the Celtics were missing someone that could keep LeBron from going for 33 PPG in that series, the Celtics weren't winning it.

Columbia in the 93' to stay alive. Now in 2OT. Both teams look gassed. Expect to see this go to PKs.

I'd say no chance, but Bill has won 14 Conference Titles in a row and if you asked me if that was possible I'd say not a chance in hell.

Looking at the schedule, I'd bet we lose 5. MSU, NIT (Louisville/Tennessee/Marquette) x 2, Nova, Stanford, @ASU, @UK, and the conference slate is a pretty tough road to go without piling up a few losses. That would be going 25-5 vs P5 competition before the tourney.

We need to land long-term guys now because 2021 will be a big changing of the guard. It won't be near as easy to plug holes with OAD talent. We need to get our program guys in the program now. So I won't be disappointed with landing guys ranked around 100 right now. It is the best long-term move IMO.

@Woodrow Honestly, i'm ok with it. I still like Lawson's upside and Jacobs attitude.

@JayHawkFanToo Meh. History doesn't agree with you. LeBron makes Finals coming out of the East.

But my point was simply that I wouldn't pencil the Celtics in as the De Facto team to come out of the East.

Coming from a former offensive line coach:

Run Blocking is much harder to execute, but it is much more forgiving. It is inherently harder to have your 6 or 7 guys all execute a block for a play to happen correctly. Especially when you think about trying to communicate on the line from one side to the other about who is blocking who. However, a defender can still make a bad read or a poor tackle. It also mitigates risk by giving the ball to a player that is very unlikely to turn the ball over or lose much yardage. Overall, running the ball is safer, but harder to execute well.

Pass Blocking is easier to execute, but also comes with greater risk. (I.e. QB Pressure causes turnovers). It is easier for a lot of reasons, but the main one is that the offensive player has the advantage at the beginning. They don't have to move the defender, they just have to stay in their way.

To me, your QB determines what you do more than your line. If your QB can't throw, then your line being able to pass block well is pointless.

We need to be a team that takes care of the ball and runs the clock down. We need to be the team looking to get special teams TDs and advantages through means other than outscoring our opponent. We will never win the track meet style of game.

Sixers could compete. They can grow enough internally to compete.

The Raptors could too... They did only win 59 games last season and take the 1 seed. They just ran into LeBron before the Celtics did.

@Texas-Hawk-10 It was more the repetition on the segment that I was referring to. He probably brought the incident up 10X

@Texas-Hawk-10 Everyone on this site knows this.