Decent chance that KU is #1 on Monday.
KirkIsMyHinrich
6165 posts
@HighEliteMajor The issue here isn't the accuracy or crudeness of the fans' comment made to Pitino, it's the way that Pitino reacted to the comment. I have to think he's heard much worse than "you suck" in his coaching career considering he's coached for a long time and in a lot of different places. I mean, "you suck" is almost a compliment at a Knicks game. His reaction was totally immature and inappropriate and he should be better than that.
Then again, I don't know what other things may have been irking Pitino at that particular moment. He was trailing a Williams-coached team at halftime, so maybe he was having flashbacks of 150-95.
@BShark It's him or Josh Hart.
I'd go with Mason. And I rarely have I wanted a Kansas team to win a national championship as much as I want this team to. Because I think Mason deserves it.
@BShark Nobody looks like the clear title favorite to me. Nova has weaknesses like every other team. They have no depth and they are a bad rebounding team.
13 is a lock. Kansas would have to lose all 4 of their remaining Big 12 games and Baylor or WVU would have to win out in order for it not happen (sorry for large text).
@BShark His team plays football and he whines about free throws. Give me a break.
@BShark Your ability to post comments while being not alive is still less miraculous than the W tonight.
The KU "fans" who left the game early are a disgrace and should not be allowed back into AFH. What a joke. We are not Kentucky.
Josh Jackson is a beast. The Kevin Love outlet pass by Jackson to DG and the subsequent pass and jam by Vick might have been the prettiest play I've seen all season.
@globaljaybird 31, 11, and 4 plus good defense for a freshman playing a road game. What a stud.
Considering how floppy Tech was today, I'm not sure Lucas set THAT hard of a screen. It was a solid screen, though.
@BShark Also only 9 turnovers.
One positive to the officials calling ticky tack fouls against the front runner for National Player of the year is that Mason only had to play 26 minutes. Jayhawks have a quick turnaround playing WVU on Monday, so hopefully Mason is ready to go for that game.
@BShark He's always way way less objectionable than Weber or Drew.
@Texas-Hawk-10 Road wins in the Big 12 are always tough. Don't care if it's ugly, just win.
THANK YOU JOSH JACKSON
Congratulations, officials. You've taken KU's most important player out of the game with mostly garbage fouls.
Knock them down, JJ.
This is trash. They call nothing on Tech and we get whistled for ticky-tack fouls.
Well, the game is definitely in Lubbock.
His left to right crossover is really nice.
I mute Miles Simon because I still hate the 97 Arizona team. See you all after the game.
@KUSTEVE It could be worse. He could be saying super scintillating sensational 50 times.
@globaljaybird Not mad at him or anything, just happy to be up by 7 with Frank not feeling his best. He's only taken 3 shots, so he hasn't really been forcing anything. He deserves a game off, honestly.
Up 7 on the road and Mason hasn't made a basket yet. I'll take it.
That actually looks surprisingly decent.
I vote for Bill Walton.
Recently I've been reading a lot of comments (mostly on NBA draft articles or videos) about how Josh Jackson is Andrew Wiggins 2.0. It's easy for people who don't follow KU basketball as closely as we do to assume they are the same player because they are similar in a lot of ways. Both Jackson and Wiggins are athletic 6'8 SF/SG who went to Kansas and who were at the top of their recruiting classes coming out of high school. Wiggins was the 1st pick in the draft, and Jackson has a good chance to be the 1st pick in the draft. I, however, (and I'm sure many of you as well) have noticed a lot of differences in their games and what they are able to do on the court. So let's break it down:
Scoring -- I give a slight edge to Wiggins here. Wiggins averaged 17.1 ppg during his freshman season at Kansas. JJ is currently averaging 16.0. Jackson has been more efficient than Wiggins, though. Jackson shoots the 3-ball at 35.5% (he's really improved in this area since the season started), and Wiggins shot 34.1% when he was at Kansas. Jackson also shoots 50% from the field (which is pretty spectacular for a freshman guard/small forward), and Wiggins shot 44.1% from the field. Jackson has had the luxury of playing with better guards (Senior Frank Mason, Junior Devonte Graham) than the guards who played with Wiggins (Freshman Frank Mason, Freshman Wayne Selden, Junior Naadir Tharpe).
Free Throw Shooting -- Wiggins. Wiggins shot 77.5% from the line at KU. Wiggins is also very good at getting to the line (6.4 FTA per game on the Wolves). Josh Jackson shoots 54.3% from the line. This is, without a doubt, the one area in which Jackson can and needs to improve.
Defense -- Jackson. Jackson plays good individual defense and good team defense. He has good defensive instincts and is really good at playing passing lanes. Wiggins has the tools to be special defensively, but he lacks the kind of mind set that Josh Jackson has. This was the biggest knock on Wiggins at Kansas and continues to be the biggest knock on Wiggins in the NBA: that he's passive and isn't always engaged.
Rebounding -- Jackson. Jackson averages 6.8 boards per game. Wiggins averaged 5.8 boards. Again, Jackson's advantage here likely lends itself to the fact that he plays with more assertiveness and aggression than does Wiggins.
Athleticism -- Wiggins. Not a lot needs to be said here. Josh Jackson is really athletic. Wiggins is a freak. This isn't really a slight to Jackson.
Passing -- Jackson. Jackson's way ahead of Wiggins here. We've seen several examples this season of Jackson being able to create for his teammates (think 2nd half against Kentucky getting dunks for Lucas). He's also good at finding his teammates in transition (Lucas against KState, Mason against Kentucky, etc.). He's averaging more assists per game than Wiggins did at Kansas.
Ball-Handling -- Jackson. Both are actually pretty decent ball-handlers for being 6'8 and hyper athletic, but Jackson's ball-handling has really impressed me this season. Watching him bring the ball up against West Virginia's press in Morgantown took me by surprise. And we've seen several instances of JJ handling the ball well in transition.
Mindset -- Jackson. Jackson is an alpha. Wiggins is passive a lot of the time. If Wiggins had JJ's mindset I think he could be the best player in the NBA.
Overall, Wiggins is a freak athlete and a pretty good scorer, but I feel like he's still has kind of an AAU mentality. He's never been a great fundamental basketball player and has relied on being taller and more athletic than everyone else. And that has to some extent continued into the NBA where he's still more athletic than most of the other players. To Wiggins' credit, he has developed a nice post game which I think was under-utilized by Self in his time at Kansas.
Jackson is a better all-around player than Wiggins. He's more skilled, more versatile, and a better defender and rebounder. He's not as athletic and not as good a shooter. He plays with more fire than Wiggins. Because of his skill and personality I think he'll end up being a better NBA player than Wiggins.
Right, and some of them were over-the-top passes, which if successful would have resulted in a layup or dunk. So it's almost like a missed shot in that sense. At least, I can live with those turnovers a bit more than some of the others.
@BShark On the bright side, only 12 turnovers on the road against a pretty decent KState defense.
@BShark First shot defense was good. Need to finish the possession with a defensive rebound, though.
Love beating Weber and the Grapes. I've never seen a coach whine more than Bruce Weber, and his players follow suit. Rock Chalk.
Thank you, grapes.
@cragarhawk I think it might be the opposite actually. Usually when a team throws up that many 3's they don't win the game. On the season, Iowa State shoots 36.8% from the 3-point line and attempts 25 3's per game. If they shot 34 3's at around their season average then I think KU probably wins this by 8-10 points in regulation. But they were hot today.
Perimeter defense could have been better, but ISU also made some tough shots. Especially Burton. Overall ISU shot 18-34 from 3 (53%) and broke a school record for 3's made in a game. Sometimes the other teams just plays pretty well. I wish ISU would do this in the NCAA tournament, though.
High highs and low lows. You're so up and down Gyp - I mean Bshark.
24-3 free throw advantage in a game where points are at a premium? Hmm...
Nothing better than seeing Kentucky fans leaving Rupp early. Rock Chalk
@BShark Used this username on ESPN back in the day.
2-16 from 3 and 9-19 from the line in addition to a lot of missed layups and silly mistakes. If they can clean that up then they are going to be really hard to beat.
Until then, thank the lord for Frank Mason.
Yes, well, it's been a rough year for Kentucky sports fans.
Alabama lost to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, Kentucky lost to Wisconsin in the Final Four, and the Cavs lost to the Warriors in the NBA Finals.
If Selden or Ellis could throw a rock in the ocean, Kansas would have won by 20. Can't complain, though, win's a win.
Rock Chalk
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@KUSTEVE No. And Spectre does not tolerate failure...
Russia can't stop comrade Ellis; they can only hope to contain him.
Please, no moore.
@VailHawk And spring.
DRAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I am listening to the Rocky 4 soundtrack and watching the game at the same time.
Go USA!