@BeddieKU23 Well it won't happen until March at the earliest. So I think less has to happen than you're assuming. I mean it is Bill's Spring specialty to bring in a stud in March, April or June. And we did definitely just land JJ even with Svi on the roster. Just saying. I know Newman complicates things, but if the 4 guard is successful this year, Bill won't hesitate to implement it next year with the right pieces. Another 6'9 uber wing would almost guarantee another 4 guard lineup next season.
Kcmatt7
11050 posts
@BShark One of those posts was interesting. Washington could definitely fire Lorenzo Romar if the ship doesn't get turned around. Two losses to TCU, a blowout by Gonzaga and a close win against Long Beach State have them trending WAY down.
So if their coach gets canned, does Michael Porter become available again??? And can JJ show just what type of role MPJ could have? We need JJ to keep putting numbers up!
@wissox I did that because that was how many we lost last year. And I don't see us losing anymore than 3 this year.
I definitely don't think that we lose more than 3 games in the conference this season. In fact, I'm not sure we lose 3, because I have to think Bill knows how important that 1 seed and landing in KC is. If we are going to win it all, we need to land that region. So it will be ballz to the wallz during conference season so that way we can have an elite 8 game in East Allen. I mean this is it. The difference between 3 losses and 4 during conference play could literally be us in California instead of Kansas City. We don't want that to happen and need to make sure it doesn't.
@BeddieKU23 If Underwood is the real deal, he will have OSU rolling a little in conference play. If they can hold serve at home they are definitely a contender.
KState is going to be a tough game in Manhattan this year. For all Big XII teams. But I don't expect much from them anywhere else. I feel like they finish 6th or 7th.
Texas could literally finish last the way they are playing right now.
TCU and Tech both had solid hires by guys that WANT to be there. It isn't a stepping stone for either coach. So both of those teams are playing some passionate basketball right now.
If I were to make a prediction on where each team finished right now, this is where mine would be:
- Kansas (15-3)
- Baylor (13-5)
- WVU (12-6)
- OSU (11-7)
- ISU (11-7)
- TCU (8-10)
- KSU (6-12)
- TTU (6-12)
- OU (5-13)
- UT (3-15)
But it is also so hard to tell who has actually played anyone worth a damn and who hasn't at this point in the season. Either wya, 3-10 is going to be pretty messy this year. I hope we can find a way to squeeze 6 teams into the tourney.
@globaljaybird This is obviously just me spitballing. I think Dozier starts in AAA again this season and Merrifield starts at 2B. BUT, if Dozier continues to crush, we will have to make the move. And you can't keep Cuthbert's bat out of the lineup. So the only logical move is to take Merrifield out and just make him play the utility role. He should still play about every other day. Whit will be 28 next season, so he's at his ceiling. And we saw it last year. A hot start and a quick cool down. He did hit .280 through about 80 games. So its still not a bad play a 2B. But if there is a better option, a .280 hitter is an exceptional utility guy. And we can keep everyone fresh that way.
Unless you see it a different way maybe? Would you keep Cain and Dyson? Dyson is 32 and will be 33 before the end of the season. He is one nagging injury from being a very below average player. Wouldn't it be best to trade him? Cain will be 31 when the season gets going and he has had multiple years with injuries already. Wouldn't it be best to trade him now if we can land a decent prospect?
If we can't land anything of value for Cain, he is the type of guy you just have to make sure stays healthy all season. Fowler is going to get a deal over the Qualified offer amount. So Cain probably would too. So holding on to Cain makes much more sense if you can't find a decent trade. But Dyson, well it is time to let him go. Especially with us having a crowded outfield now with the Soler trade.
@globaljaybird Unless I have the wrong Hunter Dozier, he hit .296 between NWA and Omaha and also cracked 23 HR. He is a good Spring training away from being ready to go.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=dozier000hun ↗
As far as Cuthbert goes, he makes the routine plays. Nothing flashy, but he was just fine in the field. And as far as a move to 2B...http://kingsofkauffman.com/2016/11/21/cuthbert-playing-second-winter-ball/ ↗
The move makes sense to me. Beef up the middle of the order. I do like Whit, but he is the utility guy we need. That's it. He isn't a great hitter and has shown that.
I honestly don't care what return we get for Cain or Dyson. We just need to bulk up our younger players in the farm system. Preferably I'd like to see us get pitching prospects that our inept staff hasn't touched yet.
@kjayhawks I just don't think that there will ever be a fair way in college football. Too many teams to make happy. And we can't turn these seasons into 16-17 games. At what point do you cut it off? Is 16 teams enough? Well then you are going to put in a 4 loss Auburn instead of a Virginia Tech team that lost a close game in their conference championship to the #2 team in the country and because they lost that game they dropped 4 spots in the polls? When they should have been in the tournament... I like 4 teams because it only adds one extra game. The 4 teams in it all earned it. It is much better than the BCS was. I just don't see how you solve the problem unless you cut out non-con games. If you shorten the regular season to 9 games maybe it could work.
@Crimsonorblue22 There are always more good looking guys out there to play CF :wink:
@BShark Trade Cain and Dyson if we can. Both are aging guys that hang their hat on their defensive abilities. Same reason we should have let Gordo walk. At a certain point, you just lose a step. And I'd rather be the team that lets them go and gives up a good year but gets something in return than is stuck with a bad year and nothing in return.
Opening day roster if we traded Dyson and Cain:
C- Salvy
1B - Hos
2B - Cuthbert
3B/DH - Moose
SS - Esky
LF - Gordo
CF - Paulo
RF- Soler
DH/3B - Dozier
Batting Order with projected numbers (except on Dozier, best I could do):
- Esky - .250 - 2 HR - 50 RBI
- Cuthbert - .270 - 15 HR - 62 RBI
- Hosmer - .280 - 22 HR - 90 RBI
- Soler - .250 - 28 HR - 95 RBI
- Moose - .240 - 25 HR - 75 RBI
- Gordo - .260 - 15 HR - 72 RBI
- Salvy - .270 - 18 HR - 75 RBI
- Dozier - .240 - 13 HR - 50 RBI
- Paulo - .280 - 6 HR - 45 RBI
That is a team with some solid pop 2-7. If Dozier or someone else can surprise us and Paulo hits even close to what he did last season, well we are contenders again. Problem is and will continue to be pitching.
Rotaton:
1. Duffy - Solid
2. Kennedy - Solid
3. Ventura - Still waiting for him to grow up and be the player he was billed to be
4. Vargas - Huge question mark
5. Minor/Strahm - No idea how either could do for a full 162 game season.
I just don't know what to think about that rotation.
@drgnslayr Well this year in particular, what you are saying makes a lot of sense to do. Our bigs have no business trying to score unless they are wide open or it's an easy layup. If we need to develop a rotation where we are rotating fresh bigs in every 3 or 4 minutes and having them move non-stop to tire out a defender, we should.
I do wish we had a guy with some back to the basket ability though. We have been blessed with a ton of post depth, and been able to play back to the basket to pick up fouls on the opponents best big guys. It has nothing to do with scoring in reality, just forcing physical play and contact with the other teams post players. Then you get to take advantage of teams that can't compete with our depth.
Think about some of the post players Bill has been able to stack.
All-American Cole (Jr), Very good Morris x 2 (So) , and Energy T-Rob (Fr) . You had 3 studs and then a 4th guy that was basically Jamari Traylor at the time.
Jackson, Kaun, Arthur, Cole. I mean we all know what happened there...
All - American Moriss X 2 (Jr), T-Rob (So), Withey (So)
The one time Bill was really short-handed and still played B2B effectively was with All-American T-Rob, Withey and KY. But when you have a NPOY and a footer, you can do that.
Bill, the master of subtle adjustments that the average fan can't notice needs to come up with something to force other teams bigs into foul trouble. This is my suggestion. Since our bigs are so bad at back to the basket offense, you can defend without fouling them all day long. What we need to do is develop the nastiest screening frontcourt. With Doke and Lucas, we should be setting some hard football type screens for our guards. Make other teams guards fear them and force other teams bigs to hedge HARD on screens and get blocking fouls or easy layups. Getting other teams bigs in foul trouble will only make our 4 guard more effective. If JJ or Svi only have to guard a space eater with no offensive skill, we can be much more aggressive with our perimeter defense. And then we feast. But it still starts with getting the other teams bigs in foul trouble and at the very least, not playing near as aggressively as they should be.
Edit: Add Coleby to that list of linebackers we should have blowing up opposing guards. We have the bodies to do it for sure...
@JayHawkFanToo Yea I wouldn't count out Ohio State or Clemson. While Bama's whole roster is the most talented by far, both of those teams have some special guys that could flip a game on its head
@dylans In my eyes, really it was to make sure the 2nd and 3rd best teams got a shot. 99% of the time there is a clear #1. It is that murky thing where you can have one or two great teams with one loss or an undefeated with a weak schedule. This just gives everyone a fair shake.
My last name could make one of those...
@KUSTEVE Such a tease
Tradition is for suckers.
Nike is good, but we're happy with Adidas.
Bill Self sucks at closing on Spring recruits.
Tyler is going to be more successful than his dad.
Naadir Tharpe was the best PG Bill has coached.
No, EMAW isn't dumb. Its a very well thought out acronym that doesn't make me think of the noise a donkey makes. And the Wabash definitely doesn't look like a group of people performing fellatio.
@JayHawkFanToo How many fouls Travis had called on him is irrelevant.
We are a perimeter oriented team so less opportunities for him to foul. None of our bigs have back to the basket post moves so they are also very easy to defend without fouling.
You can even look historically at Travis. He doesn't foul. His previous stats show that. He also doesn't attempt to block shots, as he hasn't blocked a single one all season. All he does is get in good position and force offensively challenged posts to shoot over him. He has adjusted to the game. Maybe our bigs need to take a few notes...
@BeddieKU23 Played tougher opponents in those neutral court games. Good talent makes you foul more. Look at the Stanford game. We fouled a ton because they had competitive talent.
His nickname is THUGgins for a reason. Do you remember his years at Cincy? Dirtiest team in CBB.
@wissox Its what the royals did and it got them a World Series.
If you aren't ready to win, get the biggest package you can for a guy that you'd otherwise pay $25m a year. Which, personally, I don't think anyone is worth that amount of money. Not with the risk of injury and easy risk of underperformance due to lack of motivation at that point. If you can get a huge package from Sale, do it. But as a Royals fan, I hope you don't trade him and use the rest of his good years with an average team.
@kjayhawks Creighton was a bad draw. A VERY good team. Like I said before, came in winning 21 in a row and had only been blanked one time all season. Giving up that 2nd set was all the momentum they needed. Gutsy last set by both teams. Sad for the seniors, but they should take some great pride in being the start to building something that hopefully continues.
I'm having an anxiety attack
@KUSTEVE Seriously, at what point is enough enough with the debt. USA shouldn't have debt or worry about having a financial crisis. Looking at the federal budget makes me sick.
6% of our budget goes to the interest on our debt. Or $230 Billion
Medicare is almost $1 Trillion dollars a year. It needs to be cut down some. I'm all for keeping people healthy, but we need to cut it back.
Social security is $1.3 trillion. It needs to get phased out slowly starting right now. And it needs to be announced and broadcasted far and wide so people have time to save for retirement.
We should cut military by $100B and offer an incentive for private businesses to hire former military members. If we subsidized their salaries for 4 years, we would still save billions.
International affairs cost us $50B. How are we spending that much on international affairs? It isn't like that includes military bases. That's too much. Cut it back by at least 75%.
At some point. a generation is going to have to suck it up for 20-25 years. And we can either do it sooner and keep it from lasting forever or we can keep passing it on like it is roulette and hope that we aren't the ones who take the bullet.
If we got back into the positive, we could do some great, great things for the entire world. But until we realize that, we will just continue to hurt ourselves.
Creighton is going to be tough. They are coming in on a 21 game win streak. They have won a set in every match this season except for one. So expect them to come ready to fight.
@Crimsonorblue22 Frank Martin seems like a great guy off of the court. He is tough and verbal with his players, but he seems like the type of guy you can tell isn't yelling at the person, he is yelling at the player. If that makes sense?
Like it is nothing personal with him. He loves his players. But when they are on the court it is 110% - 110% of the time.
I can't believe KState let him go. Huge mistake. South Carolina got a great coach. And he is only 50. So he could be around for quite some time. Which is good. Glad to see someone besides Kentucky running an actual program.
@KUSTEVE Wow. And I just bought an Xbox one... Hard to believe the struggles other countries have.
If we could have news thread like this going on the daily that would be great I think. At least for me. I try to read the news some every day, but sometimes I have a hard time finding anything worth reading. A good story like this posted every day would be something I think a lot of us could benefit from.
@jaybate-1.0 We wouldn't want either guy.
Strong was able to build up a Louisville program to top 10 levels. But then he moved to Texas and lost all of his previous recruiting pipelines. He can recruit in the right situation. Texas should probably just never hire a football coach outside of Texas or the Big XII. The main reason I wouldn't want him though is because I would say I wouldn't trade Bowen for anyone at this point. We finally have a system in place on the defensive side that players are comfortable in. Give Bowen a raise and keep him happy to be a Jayhawk.
Helfrich, he can be a good OC. But only for a West Coast school where he can bring a few recruits with him. Chip Kelly didn't land every recruit. He was just the face that his assistants could sell. I'd think Helfrich could do the same again.
What we want is a guy like Kingsbury to have a rough year and get the boot. Bring in his offense, QB skills and his good looks to recruit with. Oh and his Texas pipeline. That is the type of hire that takes us from below average to average. And maybe slightly above average.
@justanotherfan True, I am just trying to say that I get the feeling all he wants is attention. When push comes to shove and he has to decide, it wouldn't surprise me to see him come back to KS... Just my thoughts because we will have the PT to offer him and what should be most important to him, the best strength coach to help get his body to where it needs to be in order to compete at the D1 and NBA level.
I think we need to just completely back off of him for awhile though. Let him wonder where KU went. Let him get a little jealous. And then I think he comes running back into our arms.
Just my thoughts.
@kjayhawks This is just my opinion, but lets do what we did this year for one more year. Let's keep our entire staff if we can and get a little bit of stability. If we do add anything, let's bring on a freaking special teams coordinator that can get our return game up to par.
The reason I say this is a year from now, if we have a 4-5 win season and we are showing momentum, KU becomes a very attractive job. A job you can go and resurrect your career instead of settling. A 4-5 win team that looks like they could be a 7-8 win team the next season is a great career move that makes you look really good if you are the OC for that team. So, if we can suck it up one more season and sneak in a couple more wins and play some tight ball games, i think that we will have a lot better coaching options than we do right now.
@BShark He has another year to mature. He still could just as easily come around. He is just a 16 year old looking for attention right now. And I'm sure him and his family think that he should be able to choose from Duke, UK, UNC, KU and UCLA because he is a Bol. But realistically he is a twig that doesn't seem to play overly aggressive basketball. And he is a 7-footer that can only shoot a jump shot. He will more likely than not be a below average rebounder, below average scorer in the paint, and a below average post defender. All he has going for him is that he is a slight mismatch on offense because of his shooting ability. He isn't a top 15 recruit and he shouldn't be. So, if he wants to go play somewhere else he is more than welcome. But KU is, more likely than not, going to be the best school to be knocking on his door.
@BeddieKU23 @BShark In a weird patch where I think we are a NC contender this year and next, but then we will have to land some uber frosh to stay on top.
We could really use Wooten and Young out of this class and to fill our last two guaranteed open scholarships.
@jayballer54 Why wouldn't they? Imagine the TV ratings of game 2 if game 1 was an OT classic or something like that. I could see it happening. I hope it does actually.
But you guys are probably right, they won't do that. It could make for some damn good basketball though.
@justanotherfan Strong will get another job IMO. As you stated before, he was set up for failure before he ever stepped on the field.
He will show what he can really do at a smaller school and then come back to a major job at some point. I really do think he is a good coach put in a bad position.
The Oregon coach though, he took a program from the top and got worse. I think he would be better off taking an OC job at a major university. Recruiting is at least half of the job, and he clearly took a step back after Chip was gone.
@BShark We will have so many minutes open after next season. Svi and DG for sure gone. Vick and Newman could just as easily be gone too. That would leave just Garrett on the roster.
Going to need a BIG class in 2018.
@HawkChamp I just don't think the running hook is a move for a guy in the developmental stages. At least one his size. I'd love to see him master the the dropstep, Up and under, and the power dribble drop-step. If he can do that and pass out of double teams he will benefit himself and the team much more than throwing up a shot he shoots 20% at.
JMO.
@HawkChamp I'm going to agree with @BeddieKU23 on this one... If we are counting, he might be like 2/10 on them. Its not good. He missed one so bad last night it didn't even touch rim. Personally, I think it is a dumb move for a guy as big as him. Where is the classic dropstep? At this point in his development, any move not going directly to the rim is a bad move for him. He needs to be a bully down low. Not a finesse player. More Shaq and less Kareem, please.
@chriz Nope. BMac was THE guy that season. I realize he played with a bunch of Seniors, but he was the scorer for that team. Without BMac as a threat offensively, I think we have a huge hole. Vick is the 3rd or 4th option depending who is on the floor. He will be open just because of everyone else. I do think Vick has a lot more room for growth than BMac did though. So Vick has the potential to go and be a better NBA player than BMac.
@ralster I think we will see him cut after this season. He is only $5m in dead money. Which is well worth getting a cancer off of a team. He had a horrible 2015-2016 season and fell out of relevancy so he started this. It is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The guy is an idiot, and I feel sad that other players who followed in his footsteps weren't able to see that for what it was.
On the field though, he hasn't been awful so far this season. The team just fell apart after Harbaugh left. They had 2 Pro Bowlers retire at younger ages. Then Pro Bowler Bowman got hurt and Pro Bowler Aldon got suspended on top of that. So they lost the 4 guys that made their defense special. They let go of a solid QB, thankfully, in favor of a shiny new car. Then they hire Chip Kelly, for God only knows what reason. Essentially, the 49ers are going to be hurting for the next 5-6 years, and that is if everything is managed correctly. And they just built that brand new stadium for it to not get filled.
@BeddieKU23 He won't last. He had a couple of nice runs with a good group of guys that bought into his energy. But so far that hasn't happened in Texas. They won't make the tournament this year. All of a sudden Rick Barnes doesn't look so bad... He only missed the tournament once in his 17 years at UT.
@justanotherfan Why would a white kid want to go there now? That tension is felt on both sides. They are going to be hurting for a decade from this.
@JayHawkFanToo That early success was just proof to me the Big XII can compete against the SEC in all sports. Once Mizzou got there and lost their recruiting areas though, I knew it would be over. Hard to recruit out of Texas if you don't play anywhere near where the kid's family is at. Hard to recruit basketball to the SEC and play for a DII coach. I'm glad to watch them fail so miserably.
@BeddieKU23 I don't trust our bigs at all. I actually plan on them getting in foul trouble. But I don't really care if Landen gets 3 fouls in the first half. Just make sure we get at least one of their bigs in foul trouble at the same time.
@REHawk I'd be all for dropping Baylor and adding Houston.
I dated a girl that went to school there. Not a bad place to get to go visit.
@BeddieKU23 Going to have to get one of their bigs in foul trouble or we could be forced to play big. In fact, I assume that we will just play big against them until we get a guy in foul trouble.
@mayjay Federal loans collect interest during school and the grace period... My mom was nice enough to make 1 or 2 payments while I was in school on the interest, but other than that it will be all me.
I was also fortunate enough to only have two 8 am classes my last semester and so I started my Full-Time job in December. My employer was nice enough to let me start that early and was willing work around my school schedule. So I was lucky enough to be able to have money in the bank and even start making payments early.
I do like the hidden gem as well! I mean really really good ideas. The current incentive for parents, unfortunately, is the fact that they are cosigners on all the loans. My Uncle that married into my family is paying student loans for his son from a previous marriage. They are $800 a month and the principle is barely moving. His son got an art degree at the Art Institute in Chicago, but has been a total burn out since. So he just quit paying on his loans and because my Uncle cosigned, he has to make the payments so that his credit score doesn't get destroyed. Parents are definitely not immune to the current system either.
Also, thank you for your service!
@mayjay Absolutely fantastic ideas!!
I couldn't disagree with a single one of those points. There needs to be an incentive to pay the loans. Small reform over time will lead to big results...
That is the big problem with Obamacare and Bernie's education ideas. You can't just snap and implement a complete overhaul on such a large scale without having major negative effects. A 20 year plan where making education affordable is the goal is something I would hope everyone would support.
Start by extending the grace period. Then add incentives to make payments. The less defaults on loans the more revenue is generated without a negative effect. As revenue increases, the money can be allocated back to universities and tuition can stay at a constant level and as salary inflation continues, education can once again be affordable.
Seriously love your ideas.
@mayjay They are "limiting minutes" just to get back into the early first round. No doubt in my mind. They need to draft another youngster I think and evaluate where they are at. Then you have Noel and Okafor as trade bait at that point. I think you have to see if Simmons really can be a "Point 4." If he can be a "second coming" of Magic Johnson, then no need to get a great PG. Just get a lockdown defender instead. I think they really do need to "trust the process" at this point. Build up a very good core and then make the big moves. And, who knows, a team of JJ, Simmons and Embiid very well could attract a big free agent to come to Philly. Especially if they have the cap room because they built through the draft.
@ralster I'm not even complaining about it as much as just trying to defend millennials.
But thank you for your kind words.
It really is a huge problem. A good start would be a reduction in interest on student loans. They are roughly 5-6%, even from the feds. What other investment would you expect to pay 5% interest on? I am a 2016 grad and could get a car loan for 1-2% right now. Maybe even 0% if I bought at the right time. With that, I'd like to see a longer grace period than 6 months, and for loans to gather no interest while in school or during the grace period. Shit happens. Clunkers kids had from high school break down. Some people have kids. Some people get married. Some people can't find a job right when they graduate. Giving everyone a solid 18 month grace period with no added interest would allow them to put real money in the bank before they started paying. Another helpful change would be for students to have their debt forgiven if they didn't finish school. While that sounds crazy, again, shit happens. I work at a Med School. And I see students drop out after 3 years of Med school who definitely took out undergrad loans as well. They are literally $175k in debt with nothing but a biology degree. They have nowhere to go. Except maybe back to school to push off the inevitable debt that they will never be able to pay back. And finally, in order to make up for the lack of funds, I would just not give out any need based grants anymore. Just hold on to that money or loan it out and collect interest on it. These changes would make it more affordable to the masses and give EVERYONE a chance a college.
But I am just a simpleton from a small town in Kansas. I could be very very wrong. I'd have to look at the financials much much closer in order to really do the math on this. I am just bringing up things that seem to be flaws in the current education system, and that would be reasonable changes.
@Crimsonorblue22 Lecomte, a Belgian transfer from Miami. sat out last season. Putting up very solid numbers. He's a little quick guy. Like 5'11 in shoes. 13 ppg and 6 apg. Only 2 turnovers per game.
The thing they have, as usual, size. Motley is an animal and Lual-Acuil seems to be the surprise of this season. He is averaging 4.2 Blocks per game.
Biggest disappointments have been Lindsey and Wainright. Wainright shooting absolutely terribly. Lindsey not getting many shots off.
@wissox As much as Drew is fun to make fun of, he is a very solid coach that has had that Baylor program in the top 25 the majority of his tenure there. And what he took over, well it was probably one of the worst gigs in CBB at the time. On probation, 7 scholarship players and recruiting restrictions.... He turned THAT into Baylor's first NCAA tournament bid since 1988. And has taken them 6 times, soon to be 7. Or, rather, more times than all other Baylor coaches combined. And he has done it in only 13 years compared to the 60 years other coaches have had.
Scott Drew IS Baylor basketball. His job should be damn near as secure as Bill's.
@BeddieKU23 Yea if he doesn't right the ship and get them into the tourney he will more likely than not be gone.