🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@mayjay Judging by the direction Fairchild was running...I think it's safe to assume

@Texas-Hawk-10 Are you talking about the catch where Fairchild had to turn the other way to catch the ball?

If so, Daniels threw that bad ball. Not Bean.

@Kcmatt7 I genuinely don't think anyone is putting unfair expectations on this team. I certainly don't think the staff is. And the best thing about this team is, and I think they would tell you, "YES. We go into every game expecting to be in a position to win."

Some KU fans act like by being hopeful we're dragging the team down. I would argue the exact opposite is true. Subdued expectations lead to apathy. I can tell you from everything I've read and heard (and I consume A LOT of KU football content), this team does not feel that way and neither should we.

Hey, maybe we do go 3-6 in conference. Maybe we go 6-3. Let's stop trying to put a number on it and enjoy the ride. KU IS GOOD.

@nuleafjhawk Ya, if I was betting on the OSU or Texas game, I wouldn't bet on KU to win. I'm just saying...hey, it could happen. Nobody expected us to beat TX on the road last year, and we played our best game of the season. Who knows...maybe?

@mayjay I understand where you're coming from. And if our RB room was as thin as it was last year, I'd share your concern. But Devin Neal is the real deal, as is Daniel Hishaw. JD is our leading rusher because he ran for 158 yards last week. Devin Neal could easily run for 200 yards against Duke. JD being able to run the ball is a nice element. But our offense isn't dependent on him rushing for 150 yards a game. And man, our offensive line is opening holes that you could drive a semi-truck through.

Some of the points I'm reading on this page are exactly what I'm talking about. Don't get greedy? We're not talking about betting our life savings on winning the conference. I'm just trying to get people to realize that KU is a good team and that there are probably more winnable games on the schedule than people realize. The Big 12 is not exactly lighting the world on fire, and I just don't see KU starting the season 4-0, then going 1-7 or 2-6 the rest of the way. Stop thinking the wheels will come off based on the past.

But that's why they play the games, right? We'll see what happens. This should be a fun season.

@DanR I will be in attendance! Hope some of you guys are able to make it as well

Hey everyone! Long time no talk.

I think the media that covers this team have their brains pickled by the last 13 years. Either that or they’re just flat out terrible at their jobs.

Going into the first game of the season, it was understandable to be a little cautious about what to expect. I personally found all of those predictions of 2-3 wins to be quite low, but I could at least understand the perspective.

Going into WVU, I could understand expecting a loss. After watching KU take control of that game to win by double digits, albeit due to a pick 6 in OT that was pretty unlikely, those cautious expectations became less understandable.

Going into the game against Houston, I understood thinking it would be difficult to win that game. But here’s where I started to think that there was some abject cognitive dissonance going on in the KU media. To those that expected a 48-31 KU loss I ask this…did you watch Houston at all prior to the game on 9/17? I did. I was at least curious to know what our upcoming competition looked like. Houston mustered about 350 yards of total offense, in a game that went into double overtime mind you, against a Texas Tech team that gained around 500 yards in total offense. TTU’s backup QB threw for over 350 yards alone against Houston. Their backfield also had a respectable day against Houston.

Now, I don’t write for the LJW, or host a radio show on WKLN, but wasn’t TTU one of the games most people circled as a possible win for KU? Houston probably should’ve won that game, to be fair. But I don’t understand how we think that TTU was a possible win but Houston was a certain loss. Is it because it was on the road? Houston averages 25k fans a game. That would be good enough for dead last among P5 schools (that’s lower than KU!). KU players said after the game that it felt like they were playing at home. Chalk me up as genuinely confused why that game was considered an automatic loss.

The same sort of brain dead lazy takes appear to be rearing their ugly heads again for the game against Duke this upcoming Saturday. I can’t tell you how many 31-28, 37-31, 34-31 predictions I’ve heard coming into this game. Just like with Houston, I ask, WHY? Duke is easily the second worst team on KU’s schedule. They have played the third easiest schedule in college football against some truly, truly terrible competition. Temple may be the worst team in all of FBS football, Northwestern might be right there with them, and NC A&T, for as terrible as they are, ran for 217 yards against Duke! That’s over 5 yards a carry! KU on the other hand is averaging 7 yards per carry against much tougher defenses (at least I thought, right?). This is where I think the “JD is due for some regression” talk to be absurd. KU is successful because they don’t need JD to throw the ball 60 times to win. They have a mobile QB (who’s leading the team in rushing, I might add), along with 2 solid RB’s in Hishaw and Devin Neal. When JD has had to throw he’s been incredibly efficient. But I’ll just offer those rushing statistics as a freebee. That should be an obvious one for you guys and I’m not sure you even bothered to look. Oh, also, NC A&T converted 8/14 on third downs. That’s really bad for a Duke defense that I’ve been told is good against a winless opponent...KU is converting on 69 (nice) percent of their third downs.

That’s just one of Duke’s opponent’s too! They easily could’ve lost to Northwestern, or at a minimum gone to OT before Northwestern fumbled the ball at the goal line with an opportunity to tie the game! The same Northwestern team that just lost at home to Southern Illinois, I might add.

To your credit, most of you are picking KU to win against Duke. But even from there, I don’t really understand where the predictions for the rest of the season are coming from. I’ve heard Scott Chasen say, “I have this team finishing the season at 5-7 or 6-6 [after beating Duke 31-28].” Uh….what? You have KU going 1-7 down the stretch? Why? I know the Big 12 is good, it’s one of the reasons why KU has struggled to get the program back on its feet—because the Big 12 is such a bear; there is no Vanderbilt, Boston College, or Colorado to pick up free wins...but come on! Oklahoma is the best team in the Big 12, I think we'd all agree. But after that...? KU has probably looked the second best, and they've even played a tougher schedule than OU! I was told that Houston was a really good team that’s gonna win 8-9 games? I also think WVU is a better team than people realize.

The issue here, in my opinion, is this unwillingness to accept that KU is a good football team. I honestly think 8 wins is possible. I have no idea why in the world KU can’t beat Iowa State or TCU. I have no idea why KU can’t beat Texas, K-State, or Oklahoma St. And hey, who knows, maybe KU surprises us like they did last year against Oklahoma and Texas and picks one up on the road that nobody sees coming.

There was an account on Twitter that caught a ton of flack for saying that Matt Tait’s writing about KU football is overly pessimistic and lazy. I not only agree with him, I also think that it applies to the media around KU football broadly. Even some fans! Matt Tait famously said “1 win is more likely than 4, and 2 wins is more likely than 3.” Dear god what a bad take. Basing your entire analysis of this team and this season on the fact that KU has been bad since 2010 is just downright bad. Trust what you see.

I implore KU fans… “dare yourselves to be optimistic. Disenthrall yourselves from the notion that because KU has been bad over the last several years means they are bad now, and bound to return to their losing ways."

I look forward to hearing the talking heads ask next Monday, for the third week in a row, "is it time to take this KU team seriously now?"

KU beats Duke 45-17.

Jefferson's is a great restaurant. Most of the restaurants/bars on Massachusetts street are great. Free State is very well known and always reliable. The campus itself is just beautiful. I always enjoy just walking around there.

From what I've seen Dave didn't throw any punches. I thought he tried to stomp the K-State guy who rushed in, but I don't think so. Silvio threw 2 or 3 punches from what I could tell. Marcus ran over to the K-State guy when he was one the ground and was shouting at him, but... Just a real bad look. I was cool with everything Silvio did up until he was standing over that guy. His stuff was a great response, but man, you've got to be smarter than that. I would think he'll receive a pretty punitive response from Self.

@HighEliteMajor I'd just like to add to this. Has anyone listened to Sherron Collin's interview on the Ain't No Seats podcast? There's a part where he talks about what it was like to play with Xavier Henry. Sherron struggled to make it "his" team even though he had clearly earned it: "I didn't come back to win the Big 12; I came back to win a title. I wanted to be the first player to win 2 in their time at KU."

Instead, they had to focus on getting Xavier his shots because he had to go the NBA. Because it wasn't just about Xavier, it was about the direction recruiting was going and Self trying to send a message that, "you can be a OAD and play at Kansas." There was also Xavier's dad hanging around the team causing drama. Sherron said once when Xavier had a bad half, his dad chewed his ass in the tunnel. He came into the locker room with tears in his eyes. It all came home to roost against UNI.

That right there? That, my friends, is poison. An absolute cancer. Not saying all OADs bring that sort of drama, but that is the kind of thing you want to avoid altogether.

You think Devonte or Frank Mason's parents pulled some shit like that? No, they were just happy to be there. THAT is what KU needs to go back to.

@HighEliteMajor I seriously got giddy reading that number of national championships in that timeframe. Yes, that hypothetical has to be a no brainer...right?

I can't believe what I just watched...

@mayjay by all means, not trying to get into the program comparison--I wish KU had as much success in the same time. THAT BEING SAID, aesthetically speaking, that's a real lame feature... Much more prefer all that AFH has to offer.

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211692333 ↗

Call me crazy, I think this is this really lame.

Now, just imagine if you took away those two dumb ass false starts and the pick 6 on that horrendous throw...

This is why KU football can't be good.

@DoubleDD Absolutely he should do the same thing! That should've always been the case. It's not as if Central Michigan and Ohio are world beaters, but they're pretty steady programs by comparison. We should be playing Directional School of Technology State in all three non-con games that will get us halfway to bowl eligibility. This should be obvious to Beaty...

While I guess this whole "let's put politics on a sports site" idea was done with good intentions, I have to say this idea is a cancer on an otherwise good forum. To say the least that site is laughably untrustworthy. Please seek new, and better, information.

The technical foul on Vick. That is my contribution to this discussion.

This is Kansas. Anything short of a NC is a disappointment.

I am having the same issue... I can't wait for it to start!

Not a fan of this one. Possibly playing a perennial Final Four team in the second round, or a team that's beat UNC, Duke, and Florida State. Then the possibility of playing ISU in KC...

@drgnslayr I'll agree with you for the most part. Only difference is Josh Jackson was not the same player he was then. He only played 18 minutes in that game and scored 15 points. Imagine what he could do now that he isn't regularly fouling out...

I can't believe some of the hysteria about this loss. I get pissed when KU loses. Punching the couch; walking away from the TV so I don't have to see the loss, etc. They lost that game yesterday and I didn't even react.

Say it with me now: "The Big 12 Tournament means nothing." This, I would argue is a good thing. You mean to tell me you'd rather have KU get in a shootout tonight with Iowa State who is red hot, then likely play West Virginia who KU had to pull a draining miracle OT comeback in AFH to win...rather than having 8 days of rest?

People keep saying things like "I think they they needed to get refocused and shown that they're not invincible." I don't entirely disagree. But I think what is more true than that...KU doesn't lose that game without Josh Jackson. So, it's not as if that game exposed KU or something. Teams are different when their most talented player doesn't play. Self was burning timeouts because guys like Frank and Landen were sucking wind yesterday. I've never seen that before. Then Devonte goes back to the locker room with a turned ankle? Please, KU fans, put your pride aside, focus on the prize (which, let's be clear is the National Championship), take off your crimson and blue glasses and look at this rationally. If KU loses Landen Lucas, our season is over. If KU loses Frank Mason, our season is over. If KU loses Josh Jackson, our season is over. If KU loses Svi, Graham, or Vick, Our starting backcourt is playing all 40 minutes with each player staving off foul trouble, and our season is over. Risking our guys in these games that are about as valuable as a preseason game at this point is just too much.

I'm sorry. I know it's counterintuitive, but I thought this was a good thing. I positively hate the Big 12 tournament. And throwing the consolation scraps to the little brother teams of the Big 12 is perfectly fine with me.

Rest up. Focus. And get ready for the most exciting ride of the year.

Did I miss something? This idea of being the number one "overall" seed is ridiculous. I have seen KU be the highest seed in the tournament and be handed murderers row. If KU is still in line to be the 1 seed in the midwest, it makes no difference.

Not worried about this loss in the least. It helps KU if anything. I've never seen Self call a timeout when we're a stoppage-of-play away from the TV TO just to get guys rest.

Now, rest up. Throw away the garbage alternate uniforms, don't drive anywhere and focus.

Wins like these are what makes me think that this team can win a national title.

I've been keeping up with what the bracket might look at too, and it's gone from a nightmare to not being so dreadful. At this moment I don't care about teams in the bottom half of our projected bracket. We're going to have play good teams in the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8, so I'm not too concerned about the 2 or 3 seed on the other side of the bracket. The 4 seed on our side is Virginia. I will take that all day long. What I flat out don't want is playing Wichita St. in the round of 32. That would just be a flat out injustice. Putting a 4 loss team as an 8-9 playing, 2 hours from home would be ridiculous.

As of now, according to Lunardi, we would play either South Carolina or Michigan in the round of 32. Michigan is not very impressive, although I'm steel leery given our epic collapse to them in 2013. South Carolina seems to be the team to be concerned about. Couple of nice wins over Syracuse, Florida, and Georgia. It's important to remember that Lunardi is not the end all be all to bracket projections. He usually gets the 1, 2 and sometimes 3 seeds right--I could do that.

So did everyone enjoy listening to how great the Pac 12 is last night?

Matt Scott changed his prediction to OU. It's over.

As happens every year that we lose a recruit, let's get back to focusing on how KU will likely lock up another conference title, likely get a 1 seed in the KC regional, and has a legitimate chance to win the national title. Meanwhile, in Norman, 9-16 Oklahoma is looking forward to the....CBI?

With things like this I just don't care, I have all the faith in Self. Pick any top ranked PG over the last 4 years. Would you take him over Frank Mason? I wouldn't give you anything over Frank. That was a guy on absolutely nobody's radar except for KU. We'll be ok.

It's all a matter of opinion I suppose. All the comebacks that people mentioned were incredible, and took some miraculous plays to make them happen.

That was a hell of a comeback. That's all I can say.

@truehawk93 Lol, when he said Liberal, Kansas was near Lawrence! I couldn't believe that.

And I'll agree with what everyone else has said. That was probably a moving screen set by Landen.

And @truehawk93, I'll add to your list. The TT flop with 2:17 left was Marcus Smart levels of pathetic.

The guy's been at KU for 5 years now. His name is LandEn.

@drgnslayr https://twitter.com/HighEliteMajor ↗

Short answer, yes.

@DoubleDD I definitely wasn't going in that direction. HEM is pretty much the reason I came to this discussion board. But if you take a look at what he's doing now on Twitter (and elsewhere apparently) I don't think his mind is on KU hoops right now...

Fighting battles elsewhere indeed....on twitter.

Does anyone know where to see some highlights from the game? I'm in Japan and didn't get to see any of it.

@wissoxfan83 Yes, I would suggest we avoid turning into that (although I think we're far from it still), because that place has turned into an absolute cesspool.

@justanotherfan Great post.

@DinarHawk Quite frankly, at this point, any NBA team that hired Bill Self would be making a bad hire. He has proven that he is a very unimaginative coach unwilling to go away from the tried and true. Basketball has gone in a new direction and it seems to be leaving guys like Self behind.

I want to make one thing clear here. I think Bill Self is a great coach. A phenomenal coach. But for everyone that wants to put him in the same sentence with Wooden because of his conference streak I say, Bill is just not there. He has to make that big adjustment where he goes away from his traditional way of thinking. Coach K did it last year. Wooden did it at UCLA. Can Self do it at KU?

@drgnslayr Oh, you mean like when we got blown out by WSU when Self did the same thing when we had the lead?

But yes, I am also very worried that we may be reverting to bad ball and this is last year all over again. Similar post problem too. We had a better alternative than Jamari Traylor in Cliff Alexander who just didn't play. Yet, there we were. In Stillwater. With a chance to win the game and Jamari Traylor turns it over because he is just not very good and made a lazy handoff to sink the game. I remember it vividly. Lucas and Traylor can only set screens. That's their entire purpose. That's sad. And they do it poorly a lot of times. It's getting hard to watch. I don't want to bash these kids. They're Jayhawks just like us. And I love them for that. But it's getting difficult to watch teams flat out ignore Landen Lucas and Jamari Traylor on the offensive end because they just don't pose a threat. It makes us play 4 on 5 and it makes us easy to defend.

I wrote about this already, but I still think there is a divide in the fan base between fans willing to question what's going on and those that are not. Last night was a manifestation of all the things we've been discussing over the past 2 years and it's looking more and more like these questions are proving to be the rightful indicators of we have failed: The unwillingness to develop younger and more talented players that give you the best chance to win over time; and then, if what you say is true, which it most definitely is possible, the dreaded Fool's Gold Dilemma. If we revert back to what we did last year, expect similar results.

@Bwag Well, it seems these two big problems have manifested themselves in a very predictable way. Great. Has to make you wonder where we go from here. I'm sorry, but I'm not content to sit back and hope for a Big 12 title at best. This team is good enough to win a national championship. It seems that Self may be putting us right back in the same precarious position he did last year.

@Blown Maybe he shouldn't have been playing 35+ in blowouts during the non-con?

@Blown He had a double-double against Texas Tech and was our best player.

@jayballer54 Having been on the KUSports message board the past few days, please don't turn this awesome site for KU fans into a petulant pissing contest with backhanded comments and condescending tones. The entire conversation on KUSports is dominated by people who get seriously offended by people that disagree with them, so much so that there will be 90 comments on a page of people just bickering with each other on topics that have lost their entire meaning to begin with. HEM provides pretty deep analysis, as do so many other posters (especially on this page--good stuff, everyone). That's what makes this site great. If you can't support your argument it is likely going to be deflated.

@wrwlumpy I absolutely love these posts. Thanks so much for doing them!

@Bosthawk I appreciate that suggestion. I've started doing the same as well. I think it's an extremely worthwhile practice for sure. It's taught me much more about the game as well. It causes you to reevaluate what you see in the heat of the moment. For example, when we beat SDSU, everyone was saying that we played so well, and that it was such a convincing win. I didn't see that when I rewatched the game. I'll avoid going into the details of that game, but I agree with your suggestion and assure you that I have been doing the same this year. Again, it's part of the reason that I felt compelled to write this. The Harvard game may have been one of the more difficult games to watch and then rewatch and find what Self said about Landen Lucas to be true. It simply was not. Rematching the games has likely been the biggest reason that has led me to think that we have better options on this team than how we have been playing in some of our games up to now.

@Kong To be sure, this not a mythical group. I can pretty much identify them by name. The "you weren't interviewed for the job, so how dare you question coach Self" crowd. I assure you they're out there. Go to KUSports.com to get a heavy dose of them. Your explanation about supporting someone despite their mistakes is the point. It's the point I think many of us have made. I love Coach Self. Wouldn't trade him for the world. But I don't agree with everything he's done. I think we've had some pretty horrendous losses that rest squarely on his shoulders (the loss to Michigan more than anything comes to mind). That doesn't mean I want him fired. That doesn't mean I want him to be replaced by anyone.

@wrwlumpy If Landen Lucas plays 25 minutes and scores 4 points while getting housed by Diamond Stone or Skal Labisierre, yes, I will say I told you so. But to be sure, you are right. Diallo did play better. It blows my mind that Diallo and Bragg think mid-range jumpers (i.e. the worst shot in the game) are ways to stay on the floor. They're not. With Lucas and Traylor that is something that Self just doesn't have to worry about because they don't have that in their repertoire. But you are right, he make some nice plays and is seeming to get more comfortable. At the same time, if Coach Self values defense so much, why not give a guy that can erase plays on the defensive end? I subscribe to the notion that many other posters have pointed out that you gain experience from getting experience. You have to play to get experience though.

And finally, a very general comment on the OAD discussion. Self recruits OADs. So what's the debate? He chooses to do it. If he doesn't want to be forced to play them, then why recruit them? It's not as if he can't recruit top 50 players that will be around for a few years, who will take the time to learn the systems, learn from the bench, and learn from the veterans in front of them. So maybe instead of asking why should Self give the OADs the control the question should be why does he bother at all if they go against his core philosophy?

@jaybate-1.0 I'll say this much to you, I'd love to sit down and just talk history with you. I enjoy your posts and what you have to bring to the table. Keep on truckin', my friend.

@ParisHawk In my opinion, it is a divisive issue though. It is a polarizing issue. That's why I wrote this. Of course there is a gray area, but it is an issue where there are many that have difficulty seeing beyond Self's genius and those that are willing to think beyond it. These are hardly big words haha.

To your second point, I am trying to highlight the question of, "do we win without Landen on Monday?" I believe that if he and Jamari are simply not on this team and the option to play them is just not there, the outcome, in any game, is largely the same. There may be an extra win or loss, but I don't think there's a considerable difference. That is my point.

With all due respect, I think if the conference title streak is the priority of the season for you as a KU fan, then you have likely answered your own question as to what side you sit on. This is Kansas. As other posters have said, it's Thad Matta's job to win games. Bruce Pearl's job to win games, etc. Bill Self's job is to win national championships. However, I completely agree that Hunter Mickelson was never given a fair shake until this season. That seems obvious to me, as apparently it is to you. That isn't defending Self at all cost. We saw what Mickelson could do in Korea. That would be siding with the opposite side that once Self was forced to give Mickelson a chance he actually performed well. That's the point. He seemed uninterested in even attempting to give Mickelson a chance. I think that's largely what many of us are afraid of with Diallo and Bragg (much more Diallo since he will only be around for a short time).

And lastly, it isn't as if Diallo became eligible last week with only the UCI game to get him ready. So let's not act is if Self was helpless here. And do he and Bragg have lower floors? Sure. It's possible. But I'm simply willing to play the odds here. We have that luxury. That's part of my point. If Diallo picks up 3 fouls in 5 minutes, then ok, who cares? Take him out. But he can also rack up 3 blocks, 3 rebounds, and 8 points in the same time. I'm willing to play those odds. The same production, on average, is not met by Lucas or Traylor.

For quite some time there has been a schism developing amongst KU fans. It's an easy one to see both ways, but it is a divisive and polarizing issue for a reason. On the one hand you have the fans that stand behind Bill Self no matter the circumstance. Their arguments are more than understandable. Bill Self is a phenomenal coach; he has reached the mountaintop in 2008, he's brought home a record number of Big 12 championships that has put him in company with some of the game's greatest. On the other hand is the group that is trying to push our fan base in the direction that the vast majority of sports has gone. The direction that utilizes advanced statistics to determine correlated factors to reach the dependent variable that we are constantly pursuing. In our case that dependent variable is a National Championship.

This is a good post and a discussion that simply needs to be had. We're all excited about the win against Oklahoma, and to be sure this was a great win. People are already making comparisons to the OT victory over Mizery, which, to me, was the final stake being driven through the heart of that poor, sad, pathetic fanbase. Unfortunately, HOW we win is often just as important and telling about our team as anything else. On that 2012 team there is little to dissect in terms of strategy. We played a 6-man rotation. There was little room to second-guess decisions. This team--as has been stated by pretty much everyone--has 11 players that could see extensive PT on just about any team in the country. The topic of discussion here is yet again, the playing time of Landen Lucas and Jamari Traylor.

I have a strong sense of affinity for most posters on here. However, my largest problem is the contingent of fans that believe that Coach Self is infallibly right because he coaches the game and gets paid a lot to do so. I'm sorry, but this way of thinking is sadly ignorant. Again, it essentially says anyone in a position of authority is right because they are in a position of authority. That goes against the very core of what we are as Americans and people living in Democracy. I am not a highly paid professional basketball coach, this much is true, but I can tell you that mistakes have been made by those in positions of authority throughout history, and most definitely throughout the history of basketball.

I am, of many things a historian. I have studied it extensively throughout my life and it is my passion. Robert E. Lee was a brilliant military strategist--much more intelligent than me. But I can tell you that Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg was a calamitous disaster. Possibly the worst decision he ever made. As a graduate student I have taken to studying economics. I'm no genius, nor will I be Chairman of the Federal Reserve anytime soon, but I can tell you that Alan Greenspan should have stuck to his guns when he said in 1995 that we should heed the warnings of Japan where overheated markets were not cooled by the Bank of Japan leading to the real estate-bubble that developed in the late 1980s and then burst in 1989. We experienced much the same in 2008 by the moves set in motion during the 1990s and then the early 2000s. I am no expert, but these disasters were obvious during their development and they're obvious now. I fear that we may be treading down a similar path this season (of course, this is basketball and as a historian comparing the deaths of brave men, or even the economic wellbeing of an entire society are simply not comparable. However, I feel that you all understand the central point towards which I am pursuing).

Landen Lucas's player efficiency rating is considerably higher than it has been in the past, yet it is still lower than other players we have on this team. As several other posters have pointed out, Bragg has reached this point, and while Diallo makes head-scratching-decisions, his mistakes are without a doubt correctable. That may be the most infuriating point of this whole conundrum. Diablo and Bragg have correctable shortcomings, whereas Lucas and Traylor have simply reached who and what they are as players and there is little that can be changed or adjusted. Jamari Traylor's PER is...pretty much the same. Bad. Did you notice that Lon Kruger did not bother guarding Lucas at all? Just left him alone. At the top of the key, near the free throw line, in the post. Anywhere. Flat out ignored him. That is my concern. Lon Kruger simply addressed what we all know to be true: Landen Lucas is not a threat. He knows he doesn't have anything close to a post move, so we have essentially conceded our offense to playing 4 on 5. This may be crass, and again, I have no problem with either of these two young men as students, people, or representatives of this university, but they are simply not good. IF they were suddenly erased from this team's lineup I DO NOT for a second think it changes the trajectory of this team, our chances of winning the Big 12, a national title, games against top-tier competition, etc. In my opinion, it just simply would have no effect, other than positives, on this team.

As many of you are well-read basketball fans, I'm sure many of you are aware who Diamond Stone is. If not, he's the 5-star center for Maryland. He, like most freshman, went through some growing pains up to this point. But Mark Turgeon hung with the young man despite his shortcomings. In a short while, Diamond Stone has become a pretty competent post player, putting up 39 points for No. 4 Maryland to erase a 10-point deficit. Can you imagine if we get a fraction of that production from Diallo or Bragg (keep in mind I said a fraction). I'm not lobbying for Bragg or Diallo to play 35 minutes a game, but having them ready by March makes us scary. Landen and Jamari's ceilings have simply been met. Landen's 8 rebounds and 5 points in 25 minutes is nice, but does little to impact or improve our chances of winning in March and April, and they are hardly a safety net (I have nightmares of double teams swarming LL and knocking the ball out of his sensitive hands). This is my concern. I want KU to win just as badly as anyone else on this sight, and I hope I'm wrong, but quite frankly the truth seems glaringly obvious to me and I fear, unlike other examples throughout history, we have ample alternatives the sad outcome that we may be sewing for ourselves.

All I ask of the old school fan base is to disenthrall yourselves with the idea that Bill Self cannot be wrong. He has been. Several times. Our season has ended in the past because he has been wrong. HE HAS ADMITTED AS SUCH. You are not being misled. These are not lies. It has happened.

I would have delved further into statistics and things of that nature, but it is my birthday, and I am going out to dinner with a very pretty young lady. Happy New Year to my fellow Jayhawks, and as always, RCJH.

@JayHawkFanToo I have no idea how anyone even takes the time to read your posts.

From the article's comments section:

"Am I mistaken, or did I not read that the Suns ownership promised the Morris brothers before they resigned with the team that they wouldn't be traded (separately or otherwise), then promptly traded one of them. And you want to know why the remaining player has issues with the team? Why didnt' this report address that issue, particularly if it's going to report Sarver 's criticism? That's called journalism 101."