🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@DinarHawk Yeah, thats huge. Baylor stole one from ISU. Race aint over yet peeps but KU is in pole position with a win tonight.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Because of a devastating knee injury in 2012, Golden State Warriors wing Brandon Rush had been robbed of an NBA career -- or so it seemed. On a night when the Warriors soundly beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-108, we were reminded of how Rush was resurrected, as he scored 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

After three seasons in the NBA wilderness, he suddenly has claimed a rotation spot among stars, suddenly joined in on the fun.

Rush stood in the locker room hallway -- for years he often has exited this space sans request for interviews -- and reflected on the grimmer past. "The lowest was getting inactives," he said. "There was a couple games last year I got inactives. A lot of DNPs, so that was pretty much the low of my career."

Last season, Rush played in 33 NBA games and scored only 30 points. After seasons spent as a three-point marksmen, Rush was 3-of-27 from beyond the arc. On Friday night, he made more treys (four) than he did all of last season. So much of what has changed can be credited to a confidence that he was forced to grow. Last season, opportunities were sparse, and rhythm was elusive. This season, after Harrison Barnes went down because of a sprained ankle, Rush got extra time, easing into the easier looks Stephen Curry provides.

Of last season's Rush, interim coach Luke Walton said, "We knew what Brandon was capable of because he had lost confidence in his game, in the real games. In practice, that's what we [saw] from him."

Brandon Rush contributed to the Warriors' latest win with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Craig Mitchelldyer/USA TODAY Sports
Walton went on, "There's no way to ever know if a player's going to gain his confidence back or not, but we obviously, as a staff and as an organization, they love Brandon. So to see him get this opportunity and to continue to play at such a level and see him have fun out there and gain that confidence back has been great."

After the game, Curry spoke of Rush's progression. "He came in and worked and obviously tried to shake off a rough two years basically. We knew he was going to get an opportunity." The reigning MVP said of Rush's development, "This year he stayed ready. I remember in the summer, seeing him in the gym three weeks after the season."

Last season's Rush couldn't hit a shot but remained a positive force in other ways. He's the originator of Golden State's "Get what you neeeed" slogan, a musically uttered ode to solo training. Rush saw the benefits of lone labor after last season's rocky beginning.

"I just wasn't mentally ready last year," Rush said. "I was out of shape, I was kind of heavy. So I came into training camp in shape, back at my playing weight before the injury. And pretty much worked on my game, and everything's going the right way."

Indeed it is. Rush is shooting 48 percent beyond the arc after shooting 11.1 percent on 3-pointers last season. He's getting plenty of open looks, but still, this is a staggering development considering where he was. Soon, as Walton has indicated, Barnes will reclaim the starting spot. Walton also said Rush is making that process "a lot more difficult." That's a massive shift from last season, where the Warriors struggled to justify time for a popular player.

Of course, Rush's Friday performance was flanked by spectacular play from Golden State's stars. Klay Thompson continued his recent scorched universe shooting, helping to end the game before it began with 19 first-quarter points (36 total, on 22 shots). Draymond Green had yet another triple-double (11 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists), his eighth on the season, and played brilliant defense. Green had six third-quarter assists, and felt as if he was in a passing rhythm similar to Thompson's shooting streaks.

"I just had it going," Green said. "You see somebody cutting and it's not about the decision you make, it's more so you feel like every pass is on point. And I felt like that tonight. Every pass is on point and in a good spot."

Curry "merely" claimed 26 points and nine assists, one of which was a blind over-the-head lob to Andrew Bogut that would have been too absurd for a Harlem Globetrotters game.

The Warriors continue to roll, and while they aren't making opponents look quite like the Washington Generals, victories come with uncommon ease. The victories open opportunities, as players work to be part of the good times. Months ago, Warriors defensive guru and coaching assistant Ron Adams said of this phenomenon, "That's what winning does. It fine-tunes people. It opens possibilities for them. They feed off of that momentum."

Currently, Rush and the Warriors are feeding off the momentum, perpetuating their success. If a man can go from three made 3-pointers in a season to shooting 48 percent beyond the arc, perhaps anything is possible.

@wrwlumpy Great pic! I didnt get the sense that Frank was about to go off though. Now, Coach Self on the other hand? I dont think Ive seen him more pisst off!! I mean he went absolutely Mount Vesuvius on that ref. Omg!

@JayHawkFanToo Thats a pretty darn good idea. I like it. I mean, you do have a point. If Vermont University was to join the Big 12, TCU would beat them both times by like 30 or 40.

So, in a 32 team tourney, it would have to expand the season even longer for those teams if they played each other in a best of 3 series.

@JRyman I'll give it a shot. I dont think I know the game well enough yet but here it goes anyways.

Kids got size thats for sure. NBA size. Stats are looking pretty good too but how are the shooting percentages? Assist to TO rates?

Hard to quantify Basketball IQ but knowledge of the game is important to me as a recruiter. Id also want to know if I could trust this kid to work hard and earn playing time. Nothing is free in life. No easy rides. If the kid wants to be even better than his stats, he's gotta put the work in.

Offensive schemes for this kid depend on how his ball handling is. If he can play some point guard in certain situations...Can he create his own shot and or create for others? If so then we could run screen offenses to get him open for good looks and or passes into the paint for his team mates. Can he be selfish when needed and unselfish when needed?

Defense is a major priority. You dont play defense, you better learn cuz thats how you get more minutes. No possessions off. Mostly man to man defense with the occasional press and trap schemes and various zone looks. Kids got the height to be a great help defender. Better have the chops for it.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

@drgnslayr Heild is killing it in the NCAA right now. He stands to be an excellent NBA player but I really dont see him being an All Star caliber player. Maybe he can though, I mean I felt that Steph Curry would be excellent in the big leagues but I didnt see him being as good as he is now. I mean, the guy is just unconscious. He absolutely can break some of MJ's records.

Wiggins #1 pick in the draft for a reason. Kid is the next great NBA talent out of KU. I would still take Wiggins over Buddy.

@JayHawkFanToo Ahh, but its also a thing of beauty. The field of 68. March Madness. There's too many good teams out there in Div 1 to have an NBA style tournament

@Crimsonorblue22 Nic Moore is a stud! Id be happy to have him at KU. In a sense, he kinda is a Jayhawk. I mean, being coached by Larry Brown and having played with KU overseas. I think it qualifies. Maybe after SMU's season ends this year, Coach Self can add him as a walk on?

@ajvan Yeah, like in the OU game, he got basically clothes lined on the play right before the end of regulation, right before Lucas fouled on a rebound attempt.

Its not " Where's the beef?" Its Where's the whistle?"

@ralster Thats good stuff man!!

I have a question for everyone.

Which team other than OU could beat KU in an elite 8 or Final Four match up?

Per Kenpom, no team in the last decade has won the championship without a top 15 offense and defense...that I could find anyways.

KU, OU, 'Nova and Michigan St are the only teams right now with that sort of balance.

@BeddieKU23 Yep, trap games. Its inevitable that KU will lose at some point. No way they run the table this season with the conference being even tougher this year. I think we win on saturday and get beat by WVU

@drgnslayr I completely understand your reasoning. All Im saying is that OU and KU are the best teams in Div 1. I dont think Id trade rosters at all but wouldnt it be fun to have Mason, Frank, Buddy and Selden?

@MoonwalkMafia Solid post. I dont think anyone disagrees that Bragg and Diallo should get more minutes so as to give them opportunity to be more ready for March. We need that.

I am also wondering why we havent seen Perry at the 5, stretching the floor with Brannen, Selden, Frank and Devonte. That could be killer. Did we see that against OU? I forget.

Here's hoping that Bragg and Diallo get more minutes in the games against the lower half of the Big 12 and that the Light comes on for both of them very soon.

One thing I really like about our C5 rotation...well ok more than one; I like that we have major depth at that spot and it nightly gives us a double double. We didnt have that last year.
I also like that if one guy gets his weaknesses exposed, another one steps into his place, just like a shark tooth in a Great Whites jaws. I think that Coach Self is going to ride the C5 all the way to the Final Four and hopefully by that time Bragg and Diallo can become major contributors.

@jaybate-1.0 50% trey balling team and 5 guys that can knock it down like that. Bonkers!

@jaybate-1.0 Yep, its inevitable that KU will experience a funk of some sort the next couple of months. They wont run the table in the Big 12. But KU bounces back very well.

@drgnslayr Cal is a slime ball, made only worse by not congratulating a great player. What a clown shoe. I shouldnt be surprised I guess. Ah well, Karma will be heading Kentucky's way on the 30th in the form of an epic beating!!

@KUSTEVE I'll gladly pick on UK in your honor. KU will demolish them. It wont be close. It will be louder than the OU game. And I will laugh at Kentucky the whole time. It will be great.

@bskeet Nope! The polls should stand pat. KU #1 AP OU #1 Coachs. Imo, KU and OU are the two best teams in the country right now. If March was tomorrow both OU and KU should be 1 seeds

@jaybate-1.0 Basketball prose at its best. Love it!

@Mikey-P Perry impressed the hell out of me. I mean, Ive said earlier this season that I wanted him to step it up. Quit being soft and Make an impact. Show some emotion for crying out loud!

Well, you know what? He ripped the dammed knob off!!

@wissoxfan83 Im gonna have to go re watch that game again to pick more out. And, hell, it was probly the best game of the season.

@BeddieKU23 well said!

@wissoxfan83 Copy paste that wont you please? Site wont let me see it for free.

@DoubleDD 25 more days until Judgement Day for UK

@jaybate-1.0 OMFG KU won that game of historic proportions between two teams that can both contend for a National Title in March. It is a huge win for KU. Huge!! This win has conference implications written all over it and its just two games into the season. The second season as Coach Self calls it.

C5 tallied 17 & 17. Traylor played with 'em hangin out. Why did Mick get short leashed?

Even though Devonte' and Frank are undersized, they both played lights out. Yah, Woodard netting 27 was big but Devonte' netted 22 of his own and Frank did a hell of a job against Buddy, I thought.

It been since Kevin Durant or Beasley or Griffin since we have had to fight through that kind of offensive production. Buddy is a pro and Mason was in his jock the whole friggin way.

Honestly, I havent read anyone elses posts here yet cuz its taken me this long to digest the game. But I truly believe if KU can win a game against a team like OU that can win it all, that KU can also cut down the nets in April.

Its almost game time. Its almost very Big game time.

Its time for Coach Self to amp his players for 40 more minutes!

Its all hands on deck time! Its man up time!! KU takes no prisoners in this battle.

Lets get this W! Bring it! YAH!

@JayHawkFanToo Okie state seems to always have our number at their place. Most likely it wont be that way this time around but still.

@DoubleDD Omg this game is going to be HUGE! To beat OU tonight KU absolutely HAS to take away any drives into the lane from Heild and Cousins. They also have to guard that trey line line a pack of animals. Two very separate and difficult tasks.

BUT in order for OU to upset KU, and it would be an upset, they have to do the same to us.

The best defense wins in this game even though I think it will be an offensive showcase.

@drgnslayr HA!

@jaybate-1.0 said:

Why do you suppose they build up the B12 each year only to see it fold?

Hypothesis: Betting.

Cha-ching! Vegas odds baby.

@jaybate-1.0 Yep. Absolute legendary status if he wins #12 with KU this year and makes it to, at the very least, another final four. I just mentioned in another post that the biggest threats to KU in the post season this year are not Kentucky or Duke or UNC or AZ with their Nike stacked programs. They are teams like Michigan St and Nova ( I still hate Jay Wright ) Virginia and OU.

KU can handle each of those teams come March, especially KU improves over the season.

@drgnslayr What I find interesting in Div 1 right now is this question. Who are the best teams right now that give KU the biggest threat to potentially face in March? Villanova, Michigan St, Xavier, OU, Purdue, Virginia. NOT Duke or UNC or Kentucky. A lot has changed from last year.

KU playing tough and improving throughout the season can beat any of those teams above. No question.

@JayHawkFanToo Credit to Bill Self for keeping the I.B. , Inglourious Basterds, the C5 going. Its working. He has to know its working. It is a balancing act though. I mean, we cant give the other team 25 fouls down low. He is using our secret weapon in a masterful way so far.
GO BILL GO!

@jayballer54 If we were headed to Norman then I would be worried. Even still, it will be a tough and hard fought game. AFH gives us a 5 point lead from the tip. Our guys will be juiced, OUs guys will be juiced. Our guys just have to take advantage of their superior depth and home court, then they can pull out the W. I expect it to be a tight game the whole way.

@jaybate-1.0 The last one is my favorite ;) LOL

@pa_grape I think the officiating oversight committee needs to have a mid season refresher course for every active div 1 coach, right now.

@HighEliteMajor Nice!

I absolutely agree on," But I do know now that this team’s engine is the Mason/Graham duo. This is special. It is my favorite composite perimeter group I can recall at Kansas."
Chalmers, RussRob and Collins are tied for first Imo.

WVU at their place should be a big test for KU in terms of ball movement and pace. I saw WVU play Kstate yesterday and was not surprized to see WVU grind out a win against a surprisingly good Kstate team. I have to admit I thought Kstate would be a doormat.

Texas tech is legit from what I saw yesterday too. They were good. They gave the havoc defense right back to Texas and Shaka. Not really of course, but they trapped and pressured TX into a load of errors.

The thing is, KU's guards will eat up any pressure thrown at them. They have all progressed to the point that they relish that. They say to the other team, you want to pressure us? Ok great, now watch us make you look silly as we break it down.

OU is going to be a very tough game tomorrow. Both teams strengths and weaknesses match up almost identically. KUs starting 5 is nearly identical to OU's starting 5. KU has the advantage though being at home and being a much much deeper team.

@wissoxfan83 KU's dominance in the Big 12 is approaching legendary status. John Wooden legendary.

@cragarhawk IF KU guards them tough, which they will, then they will settle for jump shots quite a bit. Heild is a pro, that kid can straight up ball. He can make the game very interesting if Selden can't contain him fully.

@Bwag Dude, i cant wait til we get to play Shaka and Texas. Even though none of the players now were on the team that VCU beat in 11, its going to be so much fun beating up on those guys. I wonder if Self will subtly let his team know that we owe them a nice big blow out. I mean, if KU can beat a very good Baylor team by nearly 30, what are they going to do to an undermanned and shell shocked Texas team? I expect AFH will be rabid for payback against Shaka.

@drgnslayr Post game thoughts;

We held that big guy up there to 12 and 9 while our IB ( Inglourious Basterds) , our C5 totaled 19 & 13 and 5 blocks. First rather big conference game of the season and Coach Self didnt deviate from C5. I thought both Bragg and Diallo played well in the minutes they saw. MIckelson was our best big in the game. Stud!

I thought that we would beat BU at home. We always do. But I did not think we would hang a century on them and beat them by nearly 30!! Omg you guys, KU hasnt even reached their peak yet and they are beating top 25 teams like this. Its bonkers!

Selden had his best game of the season last night. Look for him to repeat it on monday.

OU on monday will not be such a blow out. It will be tough and tight the whole game.

Watch out for Selden vs Heild.

I just want to take this opportunity to welcome Shaka Smart to the Big 12 conference!!
You are getting beat by a perennial lower half of the Big 12 team.
Congratulations and welcome to hell.

@Crimsonorblue22 Nice!!

@Crimsonorblue22 No key yet. Gotta wait til monday, hit the honda dealership. Ah well, now I have a good excuse to just sit by the tv and watch College Basketball all day long, and watch KU beat Baylor in about 4 hours! Rock Chalk!

@wissoxfan83 I couldnt agree more with your theory!! Its like clockwork. Every 4 years KU has an absolute beast of a season.

@Crimsonorblue22 Yes! No skunk spraying for me. LoL hehehe

@pa_grape Im not a bball player but I do run quite a bit. There are Shoals inserts for sports, I recommend those personally.

@globaljaybird Right on man. Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out!! happy New Year!

@Crimsonorblue22 Oh yah, that would suck too. I made sure to leave that in my car, where i probly should have left my keys. SMH. oh well.

@wissoxfan83 Here is my limited understanding of Player Efficiency Rating. Its basically just like it sounds. How efficient is the player in question. shot attempts vs makes, rebounds on both sides, turn overs, free throws, any type of stat that is quantifiable goes into a players PER.

Take Wigs for example, this year, in the NBA. Last time I checked, his PER was sitting 15.6 which is about average I think. Yet he scores 20 points per game. His shot percentages are keeping him from elevating that score as are his lower assists and lower rebounds.

Thats all i got. I bet someone else a bit more versed in stats like this can explain it with greater detail.