Itās funny that there was a bunch of chatter about Yesufu playing more before the game.
Turned out to be more Rice and Udeh and it was great to see. Either way the bench has to continue to get minutes like they did tonight to have a chance in March
@dylans kind of? Got a decent return for MAT.
@BeddieKU23 said in KU-UK Game Chat:
Tons of contact on that KJ bucket and them minimal contact on consecutive fouls. Makes sense
The KJ play was either a charge or a flop. And we know it wasnāt a chargeā¦ should have had a free throw for that
@benshawks08 said in KU-UK Game Chat:
Ugh. Iām afraid KSU is just like legit good and it annoys me.
Havenāt hit that wall yetā¦
@BShark said in KU-UK Game Chat:
Gradey guarding Wheeler isn't something I wanna see more of (aware it was off a switch).
If wheeler isnāt playing thatās good for us. Doesnāt matter who is guarding him
Good things happen when you play guys through mistakes. Udeh and Rice playing with confidence!
So now we just need Kev to get back to normal and we may be back?
The pick and roll game with KJ has been scouted. And apparently we donāt have anything else to run on O
@Crimsonorblue22 said in KU-UK Game Chat:
Suits vs cancer?
Iām sure he did it to match Cal. And I think Cal dressed down to match what Self usually wears š
@BeddieKU23 said in KU-UK Game Chat:
This team is legit broken
Whoever said something about the Monstars taking our guys talent was right
@BeddieKU23 said in Stop the streak:
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Stop the streak:
@BeddieKU23 he has fouled out several times. š
Bout our only hope.
I'm honestly more worried about the Toppin matchup. Oscar will get his. But what can we do to stop Toppin just going over the top of guys? That is what killed us last year. Toppin and Brooks just Kareem'd us to death in the paint. Didn't have anyone who could get up enough to bother them.
@benshawks08 I agree it is probably unlikely it happens.
But I don't know what else they can do to crank up the defense without significant changes in minutes. Opponent turnovers are WAY down since B12 play started. Switching everything has been scouted.
The stretch from Tennessee to Harvard we forced 18.8 turnovers per game and 12.6 steals per game.
In Conference play we are only forcing 12 turnovers a game and are only stealing 7.5 balls a game.
I will say that almost all of those steals came from the starters... So the bench is an issue regardless. But we have to change our game a bit because teams are running whatever action they want against the switch everything D as it is so predictable. And they are getting the looks they want. KSU did it with Sills. TCU got everything they could ever have wanted with everyone on that team. And Baylor just did it with Flagler and Cryer.
We need to start going 10 deep for real, and pressing for 40 minutes.
It allows Kevin, Juan, Bobby and Yes to do what they do best and pester ball handlers. I would imagine between the four of them we could force 4-5 easy turnovers for buckets a game.
I also love the idea of pressuring the ball with the little guys and then you have to try to make a pass over KJ or Dick or McCullar on the trap. We have length, athleticism and smarts on the court. But it isn't necessarily being used to its maximum potential.
My final point - we are asking Bobby, Yes and Rice to play in the structure of a half court game. We HAVE to up the tempo (at least when they are in the game) to get something out of them. Asking these 3 to play half court defense for 25 seconds and then go down and play half court offense when none of them are really scorers is not going to work. You need to force the action. Ask them to make plays vs. try to run plays. They are all good players in transition. So create more transition opportunities.
Just my two cents. What we are doing isn't working and has been full scouted. We need a new wrinkle. Jalen isn't going for 30 every game, and if he does it is more of an indictment on the rest of the team than a good thing.
@justanotherfan I posted on another thread, but adding through the transfer portal should be a top priority for LL and Co.
There is probably a "nicer" way of saying it, but "trapping" kids here and getting them after they used their free transfer already is going to be important for "getting old and staying old."
If you can land ~8-10 multi-year guys through the portal every year, that is likely to mean you have at least 30 players on your roster every single season who have 2+ years of D1 college football experience. Throw in a minimum of 40 "home grown" guys (just 10 each class), and you'll never see the scholarships dip below 75 ever again... And you'd be a VERY old team. It feels like the staff understands this.
It just makes so much sense for a team like KU to go after dudes in the transfer portal who are Freshman and Sophomores. Get them in with that first transfer under their belt and you can solidify the roster knowing you will keep the majority of those guys 3-4 seasons.
The key for LL and co. is to take a page from Bill Self. "Get old and stay old." 2023 we should be a pretty old team...
Hated the Mondesi trade. I'd have rather gambled he plays well the first half of the season and risk getting literally nothing in return.
Dozier I don't think they could get much more than an even more washed up relief pitcher than they got for Mondesi. He's 3 seasons removed from his .800 season at age 30. He's a poor defender as well. If the NL hadn't implemented the DH, I do think Dozier would have had some trade value. Perfect late inning pinch hitter because he has HR potential and can play four positions.
At this point, just Designate him for assignment and cut your losses.
Just rewatched highlights of this class coming in. I cannot wait to add 3 dudes who can play above the rim... McDowell has a lot of Vick in him. I do think Johnson is going to struggle to score naturally. But Elmarko could be 18 ppg as a freshman so effortlessly. Has the handles and athleticism to dominate at the college level.
The hope I still have for this team is that we have 50 days left to have something click for a couple of guys. There are really only two options left on the table for this team to make a deep run in the tournament.
or
This team IS good enough to beat anyone in the country, but the margin for error is just so, so small with how poorly the bench is playing. It has really been a big disappointment to watch pretty much zero improvement from Bobby or Yes. What's worse, is that even with how poorly those two have played we can't hardly see minutes from MJ who might be the only guy on the bench who can actually make a difference in March.
In Bill I trust, but my expectations for this team are essentially nothing more than a sweet 16 at the moment. And I'm pretty sure we will all be holding our breath in the 2nd round...
Bill has no levers to pull this year
Juan with so many uncharacteristic turnovers the last 3 games. KJ lost his touch. McCullar canāt make a layup.
At least Dick has his swagger back.
Wtf happened to this team?
@drgnslayr said in Baylor Game Tonight:
good lesson for us playing a team this deadly from trey. Exposes how bad our trey d is.
Has to improve. Has been one of Billās Achilles heelās for years
Frustrating when you canāt guard the 3 playing small. Pacing to give up 80+ again when you play defensive first guards like Kev and Juando is frustrating.
Lucky we are only down 7
@drgnslayr said in Baylor Game Tonight:
It's all about defense. Offense will come around on it's own if we play D.
Just how bad do we want to win?
I agree, but it is a lot harder to be motivated on D when the ball isn't going in on O... Gradey and Kev struggling on O is likely causing mental issues on the other end.
So in my opinion it is a compounding issue, especially when the bench is as thin as it is.
The unfortunate reality is that this is a pretty unathletic and flawed roster. I said from the get that we should have gone after a different player than McCullar who is just not that good and causes a lot of issues for this team offensively. He is a Bill Self pet who can't shoot and can't create his own shot. We essentially are starting 4 role players and Jalen. And what we really needed was another guard/wing who could go get his own shot. There were plenty of options - Ricky Council, Tyrese Hunter, Kendric Davis, Terrence Shannon, Jahmir Young, Grant Sherfield, etc. We needed a guy who had "it," and that was just not Kev.
Top that off with the mess that is the 5 spot and you see just how flawed this team really is. KJ has been a great player there, but against size he is just going to struggle and we have NOTHING to throw at teams who do have size. I don't actually fault the staff for this issue. I feel like they felt the position had been addressed and that the transfer market was not great. HOWEVER, had I known Zach was THIS bad I would have begged Dave to stay. 20/20 hindsight for sure. And there is always the possibility that Dave was never coming back even if the coaches tried their best to convince him. I probably would have booted Cam and tried to bring in another big myself, but I can see why they were okay with the 13th scholarship being Cam.
Finally - we lack that bench piece difference maker. Bobby ain't it. Joe ain't it. I still am of the belief that MJ COULD be it if they just let him loose, but still not exactly a guarantee.
I'm not writing the season off, or even winning the league. But the sad reality is that this is a team with a VERY small margin for error, and they just used up a large percentage of that margin losing at home Saturday. They are in the midst of a backbreaking stretch of games. It feels like the season could go off the rails pretty quickly if they don't win 2 of the next 3. There are easily 8 losses left on the schedule if things don't start trending the other way.
I just can't remember the last time we were playing this poorly during such a brutal stretch of games. Need a gutsy performance out of the guys tonight to get us back on track.
@drgnslayr said in Just Beat the TCU Horned Lizards, Please:
Right on!
We only played about 8 minutes of amped basketball and we cut their lead in half. The rest of the game they killed us.
Why we didn't keep up the better energy? My guess is we are a tired team. But just getting rest won't make us a contender. We have to play with a chip.
JWil is our only guy who brought a chip with him this year. It's why he told Self he is ready to lead this team.
I don't think it will take too much to get Kevin on that thought level, but he has to defeat his low confidence.
I'm not sure what is up with Juan. Maybe just tired.
KJ is awesome... but is still really like a freshman with his experience. Gradey is a freshman!
The rest of the team... not sure where their heads are at.
This is the perfect time of year to suffer... with time to heal and kick butt! Just like last year!
Bill said basically that we canāt play without a lead because we basically arenāt talented enough offensively or deep enough to chase.
Also said Juan is tired playing 40 but we donāt have a bench option performing well enough to not play him 40
Self in post game was pretty blunt that we donāt have the horses to win games playing poor defense.
I think heās pretty much seeing what fans are. We need to become a top 5 defense to become an actual contender for the league or in March. Not sure where the pressure heavy great transition team went that we had in November and December went. Need to find it again.
@DanR trying to give up 100 points to them though is the real problem
@BeddieKU23 was always unsustainable. But this is the stretch if the schedule we canāt have this
Go small and press full court
And it canāt just all be Jalen. Someone else has to make a damn shot
Have to make a move now or this game is out of reach
KJ didnāt take advantage of his mismatch well enough 1st half either. Expecting 10 from him this half.
@BeddieKU23 if Dick or Juando hit their open looks this half too.
This team likes to make things hard on themselves š
Feels like we come out and blow them away, especially if Lampkin canāt come back.
Jalen playing himself into POY favorite?
@FarmerJayhawk said in K-St Game Thread:
Self wanted the TO before Wilson even had it. Maybe not a big screw up š¦ View Tweet?s=46&t=1KWV82X8eajxy0QxTZyeeg
It is the right decision probably 99% of the time. Youāve floundered for 23 seconds and the ball is still 40 feet from the basket.
Bill is usually one of the best play callers in-game.
The timeout was smart from a coach. Really not worth criticizing him over imo.
@cragarhawk said in K-St Game Thread:
J Will was mad man tonight. That could be exactly what we needed
Nice to see he has that in him for sure. I think weāll need it in March
@Jethro I mean even without that he is entitled to they occasional off night. Everyone has themā¦
He had made 8 consecutive three balls before this. Iām not ādownā on him or anything. Heāll bounce back.
I personally think it is time to revisit the Udeh experimentā¦
Zuby and Zach aināt it so far.
Also I think Bill needs to let MJ get some run. We do need more from the benchā¦
@kuballin10 said in K-St Game Thread:
@Kcmatt7 said in K-St Game Thread:
One thing is certain: We need more from Kevin going forward if weāre winning the conference.
This and Juan scoring is the key. Everything else can be fixed but these two not looking to score we become very beatable by anyone
Juan looked to score tonight in a way. He took 6 threesā¦. He just canāt turn the ball over in crunch time 3 times like he did tonight.
He had a bad night for sure. But I think he makes good plays to end games more often than he doesnāt.
Oh man Cal was HOT in that halftime interview š
One thing is certain: We need more from Kevin going forward if weāre winning the conference.
@Jethro said in K-St Game Thread:
I think JW should've defended Johnson more. He just ate him up when he defended him. I understand we can't afford to lose JW, but we end up fouling out Kev, Gradey and KJ trying to handle him. 10 more minutes on Johnson from JW, and we win this game by 10.
We could have won this game 20 different ways. Free throws. Threes. Finish a layup. Defend Johnson better. Not call timeouts in a panic. Not turn the ball over to close out the last two periods.
We really found a way to lose this one imo.
Well maybe I can find joy out of watching UK lose.
So funny they win without wheeler but Cal doesnāt realize thatās why they suck š
Bright side is that we just played tight with a top 10 team in the country on the road playing our D+ game
Bill got tight at the end for sureā¦
Lmao he is 100% out of bounds
Are we not checking the monitor to see if theyāre out of bounds?
That was a hell of a play holy shit.
Okay just get a stop without fouling. No big deal