🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Yeah, Self has to be supremely ticked off at our bigs not named Coleby after last nights game. He is the only one who came to play and did so with a wrapped knee. To me, it says a lot when he keeps Coleby out there for 20 minutes, lets him play through fouls, fouls out even, doesnt score much but gives us good defensive production and some rebounds and blocks, Self doesnt trust his other bigs right now. Thats painfully clear. Buike has our best upside, our highest ceiling but Self said it himself, he didnt play him cuz Buike doesnt know zone. He just doesnt. Moving forward, if our bigs dont step up, we are going to have to play more zone and Self will Have to bring Doke up to speed. Man to man is the KU way but playing zone like we did last night will help us win games in March. Playing zone with Buike FAMILIAR with zone offense and defense will help us win games in March.

Its supremely impossible to put Frank, DG,JJ, Vick and SVI out there on the court at the same time. Those guys are good, but not that good...and then, who backs them up? Nobody.

@BShark said:

I feel decent about Self getting the bigs to be serviceable. We are missing Danny though.

Oh man you are so right. We are absolutely missing Danny.

The only thing keeping this team from reaching its full potential, imo, is our bigs. Streaky free throws and trey shooting? yeah sure. But mainly, we dont have a low post presence.

Our guards, all 5 of them are playing like men. Frank, DG, JJ, SVI, Vick, all men among boys.

All 5 can run the point, all 5 can create for each other, all 5 have the potential for excellent scoring nights.

We cannot say that about any of our bigs.

Although, I have to give Mega props to Coleby right now. I mean he Showed up against Georgia. Without Coleby, we lose that game. I hope that Coleby has turned a corner, has seen the light go on. He played like a man last night even though he fouled out.
Maybe he will be our starter by mid season, like Lando was for us last year.

@BShark Various KU sites? You mean there are others beside this one?

Im kidding. But, I really dont read the posts from members at the other sites.

@Jesse-Newell wrote a really killer post about Josh Jackson.

Holy crap! I just saw the box score. Glad we won but...Where have all our Bigs gone!?! This doesnt bode well for the future.

@jayballer54 Yep, its like our bigs regressed instead of improved.

@sfbahawk Yeah, I live on the east coast. Thanks for the reminder. I gotta be up at 630 too so Im gonna have to watch the game tmoro on replay.

Rock Chalk Go KU!

@JayHawkFanToo I sure as crap hope so because Lando and Carl need to put their big boy pants on and rebound the heck out of the ball. Its becoming an achilles for us. That and free throws.

@kjayhawks Nah, I dont think Okie st can beat UNC. Roy's boys are too good, too talented. Neither team has played anyone worth mentioning so far so it should be a good game. UNC wins by single digits.

@BeddieKU23 OMG! That is literally stupid.

@JayHawkFanToo Yeah, and a lot of the guards are trying to be like Kevin Young. I love it.

@jaybate-1.0 Josh can do those things too, once he keeps his head in the game and his emotions in check. Vick and JJ on the floor together with DG and Frank? Deadly by seasons end.

@Statmachine JoJo is a shoe in for Rookie of the Year. At this point, they should just give it to him. No other rookie is even coming close.

@Crimsonorblue22 Haha, he sucks.

@jaybate-1.0 For real! NFW!!!

@jaybate-1.0 I cannot believe KU actually won a conference game!!! I was shocked! Heck, I thought we had shifted dimensions! I mean, did a certain lower plane of existence get a bit cooler yesterday? OMG! And, we hadnt beat Texas since the 30's!?

We didnt beat them back in 08? Our Orange bowl season?

@Kubie Well crap, Ive got it on my ESPN replay... of course Im in Vermont so... But you might want to try Sling TV. The Indiana game wasnt available on my ESPN and I got Sling TV moments before the game and it was right there. Totally worth it.

@BShark Yeah, cool article.

@stoptheflop Read ESPN's scout on him. See that Preston is quite skilled with the ball in his hands. Point Forward is the label that was used. Sounds pretty promising to me.

We just need to get another guard or two and KU will be set again next year. No biggy.

@wissox Here is another thought. A bit off topic but sort of relevant.

Our record is tied for last in the Big 12 BUT,

I just browsed the records of our fellow schools in the Big 12. Noone had a game won against anybody without a directional state university except for Baylors win over Oregon and FGCU.

Noone except KU had two games versus top 10 opponents.

We kind of jumped right into the fire here, in terms of elite level competition this early. We came away 1-1 in those games, which Im happy about.

Our young Freshies got some big time testing.

I hope Coach Self lets them play through mistakes a bit more, Especially Doke. If he misses a defensive switch or gets fouled up, take him out and use it as a teaching moment. Put him back in at first opportunity and let him learn In Game!

7 minutes last night against a mid major team is not acceptable to me.

@stoptheflop I know. I was totally wondering why Buike wasnt in the game mid way thru the second half

@drgnslayr Yeah, I saw that. He was just Sticky! there for a while. Sticky!

@jaybate-1.0 @Jesse-Newell @stupidmichael Im looking at you guys too

@jaybate-1.0 @HighEliteMajor @Red_Rooster

Solid point!

Where are our peeps at??

@kjayhawks HA!

@BeddieKU23 Every time Vick shoots it, I think its going in. Its just a little bit too short or a little b too long. Wont take long and most of those shots will fall.

@jaybate-1.0 Before I finish your 500+ word essay on Elmers. I want to say that Trav Releford is my definition of a KU glue guy. And, yes that term stuck with me ( pun intended ) after Coach Self mentioned it.

@Kcmatt7 Yep, Steph Curry

@kjayhawks WHAT!? Your a freeking prophet!

@Kcmatt7 Yep, and Sherron couldnt stick in the big leagues. Frank can stick, if he gets the right situation.

Side note: I wasnt worried about Preston. Thats not to say I was predicting anything. i just dont worry about recruiting. Why? Because, its Kansas. Sure, we dont have the "dump trucks" lining up like at Duke and Kentucky but still, KU is KU and always will be.

We havent started a season 0-2 since 40+ years ago.

We have the longest streak in the NCAA with conference titles and NCAA tourney appearances.

We have the 2nd most wins.

We have the best head coach.

We have decades of tradition that nearly all the other programs not named UNC or Kentucky can compare with. Yes, I left Duke out purposely because Duke is secondary on the food chain. Duke came after KU, UNC, and all the basketball coaching, playing trees that sprouted from KU.
Heck even Indiana and UCLA are second class to KU.

@approxinfinity I agree, we shouldnt point fingers here. We are ALL a part of this embarrassment.

But I really feel like it is up to Gen X ( my generation ) and younger to turn this around.

@justanotherfan He wont change. He is incapable of it. He's proven that to me already.

I hate posting on this stuff. I really do. But, this is by far the worst direction this country could have taken. Its truly a sad and dark time.

That being said, I give him one year, maybe two at most, at the most, until he gets booted from the White House.

@Ralph Omg! this is awesome! This is hilarious! Why do people have to knock it? Its Joel. If they were KU fans, they would know this is only JoJo being JoJo. He's not doing this for the $$$.

@BShark They still suck

@FarSideHawk Yeah where is the old coger anyhow?!

@approxinfinity Yeah, DG had a great game. I literally could not tell he was cramping til I read about it. Strong stuff that is.

We may only have two smaller guards for PG duties but Svi and JJ have shown in the first two games that they are capable of initiating the Offense and creating for others. I have faith in them

@BeddieKU23 At first glance, I was like," No way" But now I believe you have a very solid theory here.

Still though, this is the first game at home in AFH for the season. Our guys should be jacked up for it. Especially our Freshies who havent done this yet.

20 point game and Coach should give Frank and DG some time off the court. Lando too.

@DoubleDD Naw, I think Self has to play more small ball this season simply cuz of the roster. Maybe other stuff too but mostly roster. Loaded back court. LL and Bookie and Bragg for our front court.

Heck, its not even the first time Coach has used small ball. Granted, he has to rely on it much more heavily this season but back in 08 one of my favorite rotations was Sherron, RussRob, Chalmers, Rush and Shady at the 5. I believe he called it is 5 man game. Those guys could pour in the points like mad!

@HawkChamp Wooden finalist for sure.

@BShark Like maybe to Stanford? wink

Im kidding. I dont think Stanford will beat KU this season. I like Jerod Haase and all, Jayhawk for life, but its not happening.

@jayballer54 Well crapola! One of these days the lid needs to come off for KU about getting top flight PG talent to sign! Wish Duval would be in the bag.

@jaybate-1.0 Ben Mac had a killer season for KU his second year. I dont think we can put him on this list tho cuz all the others stayed and affected KU for longer than the 4 years they were here. Not a knock on Ben Mac, love the kid, has a sweet shot, was great at KU. But he's not worthy imo

@jayballer54 Frank is easily as good or better than Sherron, who is absolutely top 5 at KU.

@jaybate-1.0 RIght!? Here I was thinking pre game that Self couldnt out small ball the small baller Coach K. But he did it. Should have known.
Umm, Coach Self better get into the Hall before too much longer. I wanna see that live!

Why does it skip from post 21 to post 80? Wierd!

@BeddieKU23 Excellent post! Better than most of the sports journalists out there.

Im gonna start with the bad.

Lando has got to be hurting. I just dont believe he has lost motivation. We are playing a lot of 4 out 1 in, defenses cant sag off our other guys, they can shoot it and drive at will. ( I'll get to the shooting in a sec ). Lando was a beast on the boards last year, how is it possible for him to regress like he has while healthy? I just dont see it.

Our shooting from 3 and the FT line has been dismal the last two games. It will progress back to the mean %. No way this is a trend but merely a statistical anomaly. Our boys will get a nice break on friday, our first home game of the season. Watch the lid come off. It will happen.

Now the good!

Frank is better than Sherron. There, I said it. Ive been thinking that the two were very similarly made up since Frank's first season. Now we have proof! Mason is a Pit Bull out there! Defenses cant stay in front on him, they have to foul him or let him make shots. I absolutely agree this is HIS team. We live and die by Frank's strength, physically and mentally. Not different at all from how Sherron led KU his Senior season. The thing is, I dont think he will have a game like Sherron did against UNI.

JJ, he'll be a stud. He is a stud. He is better than Oubre, already. He is better than Xav. He isnt as good as Wiggs was, at this point, on offense but he is easily as good defensively. He just needs to calm the F&^% down when he gets nicked with a cheap foul call.
That last one that fouled him out...that was no foul. The other player sold that one big time. It was BS.

Doke! Bookie! Udunka if you will. I said it earlier. He is better than Cliff and better than Diallo. Once he figures out how to play and not foul, AND make his FT's. Other teams got nothing on him. He is huge, massive even! He runs the floor really good and sucks up rebounds better than a giant Hoover. 12 boards!? 4 of them offensive!? All in 18 minutes.
Count on him to start averaging double doubles by mid season or so.

Other guys looked great. I didnt notice DG was cramping. Electrolyte imbalances can be tricky to correct. But He played all 40 and didnt have to get stretched out by the trainers during the game. I think thats progress. Hydration and electrolyte tabs for DG until the problem resolves. He'll be fine.

Our Defense, I thought, Was a stellar improvement from Indiana. That Allen kid, I hate him, but he is real good and we held him to what, 4-17? something like that? sticky defense does that. It was a great team effort.

Now we have a stretch of games that should be cake walks compared to our first two games. It'll give our youngins a chance to settle in a little bit. Kind of jump out of the fire so to speak. Theyre gonna light it up at home this year.
They havent ran out of the tunnel pre game yet!!

Sienna on friday will get them amped for sure.

Bill Self just out Small balled Coach K.

KU just out hustled Duke and beat them on the glass.

Udoka is easily better than Cliff and Diallo. Easily, and this is just his second game!

@BShark I did. I totally thought they would lose this game too but I figured it would be a very close game

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Super Super impressed with our Freshmen right now!!! Doke is messin with a double double. JJ is feelin it, hes on fire!