🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@HighEliteMajor Dammit, HEM. I count on you to talk me off the ledge...

Hate to say I told you so. I knew this game was a loss 2 weeks ago. Last night make the losses at West Virginia and OKST more difficult to swallow because those were games where we were doing our thing. We could have shot more against WV, but our weaknesses weren't blinding the way they were last night.

Credit where credit is due. K-State played well. It's sad that it took them until almost March to play like a team. If they had played like this throughout the season their coach wouldn't be getting fired in a few weeks and they wouldn't be taking a trip to the NIT. But this isn't about K-State.

Last night made me miss Darnell Jackson. Made me miss the Morris twins. This team is so soft it's unbearable. I don't really have much to add that other posters haven't said, but last night reminded me of the VCU game. Where we have to rely on desperation three pointers to save us in a game where we refused to try to make them our strength. Don't know what to say. Sad loss, but it wasn't as bad as last week. I think we're seeing Self develop some really ugly tendencies this year. Refusal to adapt to changing circumstances will inevitably lead to failure. Oh well, better be out recruiting centers today because it seems pretty pointless to act like we're anything other than a low post team. We've shot the average that Self was talking about a few weeks ago, and now we sit here at 3-3 in the last three weeks. And watching Self get out-coached by the likes of Travis Ford and Bruce Weber is just too much to take...

@nuleafjhawk I know! I'm so sorry! But if I can't cry on the shoulders of my fellow KU fans here, where else can I go???

@BeddieKU23 I'd be willing to bet you a boatload of cash that if we did play UK again, Self would STILL go with his standard offense. Because if he's willing to change when facing UK, why in the world wouldn't he do so against Baylor? Or West Virginia? Even more perplexing, why was he willing to do it against ISU? It's a very confusing situation. We shot over 50% against WV. Let me ask you, do you think if we shoot twenty we win that game? I do. I think we win by double digits. We should've won the game anyway, but that's neither here nor there.

I am absolutely dreading tonight's game. I hate to admit this to my Jayhawk brethren, but I think this is a close game throughout (with us leading most of the way), and we end up losing in the last 5 minutes. And when we look at the stat sheet, we'll see that we only shot 12 three pointers, making over 50% again in a loss. Self's "Fool's Gold" comment is starting to make him look bad.

Great comments by everyone, and I agree with pretty much all of it. At some point during the game someone on twitter asked, "why won't Self play Cliff?" To which someone else responded "Oh today? Probably because he has three fouls in 8 minutes." That pretty much sums it up. Cliff has turned into quite the project it seems. His ability to give up and-ones is pretty bad.

But all that being said, there was a point in the game when I thought, "wow, this could turn out really badly for Cliff." What I meant by that is, KU is the leader for Thon Maker and Chiek Diello in the recruiting game, and in my opinion, Maker would make this team a national championship favorite. And since Self obviously won't adjust his system, Maker would be an Embiid-like get. Also with Bragg coming in next year, Cliff may get lost in the shuffle. It's a good problem to have for us as fans, but Cliff's lack of development, particularly of basketball acumen, seems to be one of most troubling things. He obviously never learned much about the system and strategy of the game of basketball in high school. Cliff is clearly, clearly not ready for the NBA, but with potentially 3 top recruits coming in to play his position, where does that really leave us with Cliff?

I think the sad thing about Cliff is that someone ever projected him as a lottery pick. He's a 6-8 forward who is really going to have to find his niche in the NBA. It seems unlikely at this point. But it creates a lot of problems for everyone.

@Hawk8086 @BeddieKU23 I hear you guys, but my point is not as much of a Cliff vs. Jamari argument. It's that Traylor just isn't a good option. The quick hook argument against Cliff is so weak though. You mean to tell you haven't seen Selden get blown by? Same with Jamari? And as far as West Virginia's pressure, they didn't use it as much in the second half. It's just a weak argument altogether in my opinion, and when you're getting killed on the boards the way we were, it would've been nice to have seen a more strategic approach from Self.

@wrwlumpy Ok, here's my problem with not playing Cliff in favor of Jamari. Before I get into it, I will acknowledge that Cliff has had his problems on defense especially this year.

I have some startling statistics for you though. What absolutely killed us against WV? Rebounds, right? You wanna know who's rebounding statistics Jamari Traylor is closest to in the entire conference? Baylor's Kenny Cherry and Phil Forte. Woof. Those are two guards under 6-feet. That's appalling. He's a terrible rebounder. I'm getting extremely tired of Self's favoritism. Why does Traylor have such a long leash and other players don't? What has Traylor done to earn that trust? He understands they system better, I'm sure. But he's terrible at executing it. So what does it matter? Our two most recent losses have been hard to watch, and I think poor coaching decisions have had a lot to do with them.

I could honestly see ISU winning out. UT might help us out since they're fighting for their tournament lives, but back-to-back road games are always tough in the Big 12 though. And ISU won't lose to OU at home. I just don't see it happening.

And given the way we've played lately, I just don't see us winning at K-State. That will be their Super Bowl, World Series, and Kentucky Derby all rolled into one. That could be another really bad loss for us. I just see the game at OU as being the one that will decide the conference championship...and I'm not very confident about that one either.

Forget that. I can deal with a close missed call compared to Staten's blatant travel. Now we get to listen to how great this kid is all day even though it was a clear violation. He didn't dribble once from the three point line to the rim. Did the refs seriously buy that?

THIS PLAY BY STANTEN is a flat out embarrassment. Seriously, watch this video.

I was absolutely disgusted with last night's game. Still pissed off. KU did not play well. There's no denying that. But for four points (and I think there was another close shot clock violation call) to be just gift wrapped to West Virginia is criminal. Hard to tell which loss pisses me off more, OKST, or WV. And for God's sake, Perry, dunk the ball! How do you miss that?

This isn't about the Big 12. This is about seeding. About getting a path to the title. We're starting to slip from the 2-seed line despite playing the toughest schedule and playing in the toughest conference. This season is infuriating.

I'm in desperate need for someone to make me feel better '(

I keep amending my post. I'm trying like hell to pay attention in this class, but I'm so GD pissed off. This game reminded of the Michigan game from a 2013. We were clearly the better team and gave one away in such a critical situation. Again, THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE BIG 12. This is about the tournament. This is about seeding. And giving away wins like last night on the road are a cancer. When Frank was trapped on our last possession, I was screaming at the TV to call a timeout. Thank god we did, but what the hell was with the play call. Just letting Frank run at the rim. I guess it's not the worst, but you mean to tell me we couldn't draw up a shot for pretty much anyone on our team (with the way we're shooting) when the shot clock is at 1 second? That way we either get points, create a long rebound and time keeps running. Instead, we ran at the rack, created a short rebounding situation for a team that had dominated us on the glass all night, the ball goes out of bounds, and WV has an eternity to drive (travel) and score. I think we can do better than that. JMO. And of course this is all with the benefit of hindsight.

@drgnslayr Self said they've prepared for the West Virginia press 8 out of the last 11 practices, along with a ton of film preparation... Don't take a "what we did on Sunday" answer as representative of KU's preparation for WV tonight.

Pretty sure we signed a four-star LB last year. It's not as uncommon as you might think.

@wrwlumpy One of the most beautiful states I've ever been to.

Who said this team doesn't have a rim-protector?

Well, my Jayhawk brethren. Our prayers have been answered. Brother Bill has seen the light.

@JayHawkFanToo Please don't compare a guy that's been playing in the NBA for over a decade to Jamari Traylor. I understand your point. But Kirk Heinrich can produce, and produce well! Forget intangibles, what Heinrich has are tangibles.

Giving Self a pass on this sort of thing on the basis of speculation is just not good enough. This isn't the first time this has happened. Jamari Traylor is not a better option. Period. Like others have said, you mean to tell me that you haven't seen Traylor get blown by on defense? Mess up a play? Bounce pass to a double-teamed man?? I can't stand hearing about Self's resume in this sort of situation. I know he's a great coach. I'd argue that he's the best in the game. But as we've seen this year, Self is being forced into a position where he has a team that doesn't fit his traditional mold and he's been dragged absolutely kicking and screaming like a three year old into adjusting it. It's like trying to convince a girl she's wrong. Traylor shouldn't have been in the game over anyone with under 3 minutes left. I would've taken anyone over Traylor at that point. People get so wrapped in this "energy" nonsense that they seem to forget that he is not that great of a technical basketball player; he's only been playing organized ball for a few years. I don't want to be rude about this, but I can't stand the Bill Self cheerleader fans that see nothing wrong with the decisions that are made in games (Trey Burke says hi) because he's Bill Self.

The million dollar question now becomes, will Cliff start over Traylor against Tech? How bout Baylor? How bout at any point in the season?

@tundrahok I understand. And it is what it is. This is nothing new, because you're right. Self does value hustle. But hustle, obviously in this case, does not equal production. And when you're willing to swallow six bad turnovers for "hustle," something is critically wrong with your (Self's) philosophy.

@tundrahok I don't buy that one single bit.

From the article, "Self is right in saying Alexander isn't perfect. He's not great scoring with his back to the basket. He sometimes messes up plays. He can get lost defensively. From a big-picture perspective, though, all that shouldn't matter. KU has been a better team when Alexander is on the court, especially when he is in there alongside Perry Ellis. It's time for Self to give his freshman big a longer leash — both for his team now and also to help its potential ceiling in postseason play."

Clearly, the entire point of the article is pondering why has Cliff not played more. In yesterday's game, "In the first half, Traylor played 13 minutes had four points on 1-for-4 shooting with five rebounds and three turnovers in 13 minutes. Alexander, meanwhile, had eight points on 4-for-4 shooting with four rebounds and one turnover in 12 minutes. Alexander, clearly, was KU's better player in the first half as the Jayhawks built an 11-point lead. In the second half, Self played Traylor 10 minutes and Alexander four. Traylor also was in during the game's most important minutes, surrendering a turnover — his sixth of the game — that turned into an Anthony Hickey layup and doubled OSU's lead from two to four with 2:32 left."

Jamari's play cost us dearly; and while I don't want to throw that loss on him, it's hard not to put it on Jamari's for the turnovers, and Self for letting him do so. This is not that hard. You put your best players on the floor. Cliff is young. He needs to play through adversity. I won't argue that Cliff has had some low points, but I'm also not willing to surrender offensive capability with the game on the line for intermittent "energy" and perpetual turnovers from Jamari Traylor. Like I pointed out yesterday, if having a motor is of such vital importance, what do you call a bounce pass while running the weave? That was hard to watch. Also, you don't feed the post with a bounce pass from the top of the key.

This whole "energy" thing is the definition of a red herring. I saw Traylor's hustle plays. I'm aware of what they mean and what they say about Traylor. But they mean very little in the grand scheme of things. They're important in that instance, but when you look at the stat line from a game (like the one against UT) and Traylor has 2 points and 3 rebounds with 3 turnovers, I just don't wanna hear it. Those kind of plays are great and characteristic of a six man. That's what Traylor is. I just can't help but think of how much better this team would be if Cliff and Traylor's roles were flipped.

I just wanted to make sure that everyone saw this great article ↗ by @Jesse-Newell.

It is astonishing how infatuated Bill Self is with Jamari Traylor while seemingly shunning Cliff Alexander for some unknown reason. It's getting to the point where it is a detriment (along with many others) to this team reaching its ceiling.

@icthawkfan316 Haha fair point. What can I say. I'm pissed off...

It's games like these that really try my patience with this team.

People have been very quick to throw around the "this game was as bad as the Kentucky/Temple game" at various points in the season. To me, this game really was that bad.

We had this game. It was ours to lose and that's exactly what we did. I don't think anyone played particularly well, but I also don't think that we lost because one person didn't contribute per se...except for Jamari Traylor.

That was the worst game I've seen him play all season. If Cliff Alexander gets benched for not having his "motor" running, what's Traylor's excuse? How long is his leash? Think about it. Brannon Greene has gotten a longer leash from Self, sure. But he's also arguably the best three point shooter in college basketball. His leash should be long. Back to the motor thing... If having a motor is of such vital importance, what do you call a bounce pass while running the weave? That was hard to watch. Also, you don't feed the post with a bounce pass from the top of the key. Bill Self's infatuation with Jamari Tralyor is beyond logic. I'm beginning to ponder conspiracies it's so bad. People crucified Tharpe and Tyshawn for turnovers. I understood that. That's not what you want from your point guards. But that's the thing, they were point guards! They handled the ball every play! Traylor should hardly touch the ball except on occasion. Six turnovers!? What are we even doing anymore? One last thing I'd like to point out on Traylor. When asked about who KU should look to for energy, Self said, "I think we should look to Jamari & obviously that didn't work today…" I could hit Self for saying something so GD stupid. Then why did you play him 23 minutes, coach??? You weren't willing to give Graham, Alexander, or Oubre (or SVI!!!) another look, but you were willing to stick with someone who gives you little more than "energy"? Yup. Got it. Can't win, don't try.

KU runs an 8 man rotation primarily, right? That rotation consists of Mason, Graham, Greene, Selden, Oubre, Alexander, Ellis, and Traylor (and sometimes Lucas). Who is the worst player in that rotation? Please, tell me. Since when did Jamari Traylor turn into such a great option? His offensive efficiency is appalling. It is sickening.

One last thing, I'm not gonna complain about officials (although I agree, and I'm biased along with everyone else), but to hear that Mason got a T for saying "everyone chill out," makes me wanna throw up. Shameful.

Absolutely astonishing loss. Don't let one loss against a bad team turn into two now...

Bill Self's infatuation with Jamari Traylor and his "energy" is costing us games.

@JayHawkFanToo No I didn't see that. It seems like some comments got deleted. And you're probably right about the face of the Big 12 in certain sports. But from a monetary standpoint, I don't think there's any denying Texas as the face. And as a current Ohio State student I will definitely agree with you.

@JayHawkFanToo Ya, but one could easily turn around and say, "ok. Their football program isn't so great either." And as far as competing with Baylor for players, the obvious first point to make is that Texas just landed the second best basketball player in the country. And with the amount of upperclassmen, they should be good (not to mention they have one of the best point guards in the Big 12). That team is talented. Too talented to be playing the way they are. All of this second fiddle stuff is secondary to the fact that Texas has a good team. They're not facing the gaps in talent that TCU does. They have the talent. At what point does the coach start shouldering the blame? Football is not irrelevant to this point, but it does not explain why Texas is as bad as they are. They are one of the only teams in the Big 12 to have multiple 5 star recruits. I mean, this is fairly easy to explain.

After KU beat Texas down in Austin, I pointed out that Barnes was willing to give Turner what he wanted rather than what he needed. Myles Turner is 7 foot (almost), and has no post game. Ridley faces similar problems. Personally I think this is why Turner committed to UT over KU. I don't think he wanted to be thrown into the post. He wanted to play the perimeter like Durant. A square peg does not fit into a round hole no matter how bright and shiny that peg is. Again, if the blame doesn't fall on Barnes for the way they're playing, who does it fall on?

I agree with what other posters have said too. For better or worse, Texas is the face of our conference. BUT I HAVE NO PROBLEM REMINDING THEIR FANS THAT THEY TRIED THEIR BEST TO STAB US IN THE BACK. Texas only stayed because the Pac 12 turned them and Oklahoma down. Texas needs to perform, and if that means getting rid of Barnes, so be it. I like the article that @RockChalkinTexas posted. My parents live in Austin too, and they're constantly telling me how Texas basketball is ridiculed in the media. Calling the Erwin Center the "Erwin Library." The days of Kevin Durant are gone. Long gone. If UT can't right the ship fast, Barnes will be done at the end of the season.

@Kubie Landen. Not like Lando Calrisian.

If the jury is still out, I'm wondering what else you're waiting on. Texas still has games @KU, @OU, @WV, and @KSU. Texas is showing that they can't win. They don't know how to win. I think @drgnslayr made a great argument about the likelihood that KU wins the league because they know how. I see the exact opposite with Texas.

Also, I don't want to bemoan Myles Turner's decision. It is what it is. I like this KU team too much to be upset about a player we didn't get (although I'm still upset about Caleb Tarzcewski). I think barring a nice little run to the Elite 8, Barnes is done at the end of the season. If he can't win with this squad, what can he do? I like Barnes. I actually ran into him at a gas station in the middle of South Carolina, if you can believe that. Had my Rock Chalk Jayhawk shirt on and everything :) But he's a standup guy, and I know Coach Self likes him. But I just think his time may have passed.

@DoubleDD Probably the haircut.

@icthawkfan316 I think this is a great idea. I always read @Jesse-Newell Quick Scout reports before every game (it's crazy how accurate he's been this year), and I've been thinking it would be fun to do something like this on our site. Great idea!

Prediction: I think this game goes with the same trend that we usually see when KU plays KSU, BUT it will be a little different. I think we come out and punch K-State right in the nose. Go up by 20+ before letting the game get closer than it should be before Greene helps us pull away, and KU gets the W 72-58.

Hawk to Rock: I think Greene is going to have a great game, but I think statistically, Big Cliff stuffs the stat sheet.

RCJH everyone!

@Crimsonorblue22 Yes. Bill let Wiggins put up stupid shots and make the mistakes that normally draws a hook. You weren't aware of that?

@drgnslayr Your words are proving prophetic.

I agree with some of your points about ISU. I do think they rely on gimmicks, and are an extremely one-dimensional team that can't play defense. It's upsetting losing to them. But they're not overrated. They're a good team. The thing is, they're an average team on the road. Texas Tech played pretty well, and ISU looked very content to let them shoot 3's. How ironic.

Wins on the road against Texas and Baylor make them our best buddies now. And Texas can become a little closer to us with a win in Ames on Monday.

As for Turner. Turner didn't want to play in Self's system. It's not that he didn't fit, it's that he wants to play on the perimeter. Whereas Self would say 'Myles, you're seven foot. I'm putting you in the post.' What did Rick Barnes say after the game yesterday? "Myles needs to learn how to play in the post." Barnes was willing to give Turner the Wiggins treatment, while Self was not going to let a seven-foot center with that skill set play shooting guard. But slayr, you're right, this will all play out in March. If KU doesn't do anything in the tournament, the rest of this doesn't mean anything, and who cares where Turner chose to play his one year in college.

Their season is boring enough as it is. Look at how exciting the Big 12 is this season. Granted not many conferences can say that, WSU won't have played a ranked opponent since playing Utah at the beginning of December, while they have two ranked teams on their entire schedule. KU has played four different ranked teams in a row (going 3-1). If this WSU series is as boring as their schedule is, I pity whoever watches it.

@wrwlumpy My god that girl is hot.

@HighEliteMajor I agree. I think KU wins this one handily. It's the one on Saturday I'm pretty concerned about...

@BeddieKU23 Really good post.

Cliff didn't play because he couldn't guard the perimeter. Sure. I knew that. But in the second half, I would have been willing to trade defense for offensive production. It's not like Lucas was doing anything defensively and he's nothing more than an glorified telephone pole on offense. I can't really say anything about Cliff that everyone else already hasn't. Self's stubbornness is hurting this team's chances to win games. Enough said.

I will disagree with you on self being out-coached. Self was most definitely not out-coached because that implies that Hoiberg out-coached Self. He did not. ISU didn't do anything other than what we expected them to do. They ran out in transition and shot the three. We knew they were gonna do that. If Self was out-coached, it was Self out-coaching himself.

I don't like complaining about officials... But I'll say this, ISU fans are notorious for crying about officiating. They did the same thing last year in Ames when they shot double the amount of free throws than we did, and they're a 3-point shooting team. Last night, to not get a free throw for the first 30 minutes of the game was appalling. As you pointed out, the play where Lucas got pulled down from behind and was called for the foul pretty much sums it all up.

You're right about ISU though. This is their Super Bowl. Biggest game of the year for them. God I hate their fans though. They were booing travel calls for god's sake! Their stadium just looks like a McDonald's rally. In the last two minutes, we weren't gonna get a call. You knew they weren't gonna call a block on Niang after 2013. It might as well have been written on the officials.

Tough loss. But we can't let it affect us long, because we have a big game on Monday.

@DCHawker Ya, but I think my biggest problem is that we could've gone into halftime with the lead. ISU wasn't doing anything special. They hurried to inbound the ball and run. That's something I'd like to see KU do. We should've been much better prepared for that, although I don't know what more you can do besides yell at your team to get back. I would be interested to see what could've happened if we had been ahead at half.

Absolutely beautiful campus, great school, and a town that is only second to Lawrence in my mind...

However, they simply have the dumbest fans I've ever seen. They take stupidity to a special level. It's as if they've never lost a game, only been screwed over by the referees. Despite they're ranking, and the very respectable success they've had in the past few years, there will be a court storming if they win.

@KUSTEVE I sure hope you're right. But I'm thinking today could get ugly for us... If I had to give a prediction, I'd say... KU 62 ISU 75

@drgnslayr said:

Perry has absolutely no swagger. I've never seen a player with no swagger before. None.

Pretty much. He looks bored out there. It doesn't seem like he enjoys playing the game. Particularly strange for a post player, he's just as plain as it gets. He makes Jeff Withey look like Lawrence Taylor.

Perry has absolutely no swagger. I've never seen a player with no swagger before. None.

Pretty much.

Don't have much time so here's my quick take.

That game was a chore to watch. It was so slow, boring, a foul-fest, etc. Jamari Traylor may not have played well, but I really like the way he's played lately. A big reason for that is because I think Perry Ellis is an empty uniform. Seriously, ponder this question: Does Perry Ellis even like playing basketball anymore? He was a better player as a freshman. He's soft. He looks like he's just going through the motions.

Thought we did a nice job of shutting down Forte. Graham and Selden played well defensively, and Frank was Frank. I'm falling in love. Landen Lucas must have vaseline on his hands at all times; he's also soft under the basket. Thought Cliff was ok; vicious dunk. If Bill's trying to prove a point to him by sitting him almost the whole second half, his point is getting tired. A slop-fest for sure, but a win nonetheless. RCJH! Have a good day everyone!

I'd like to think it's because we don't post grade A troll-feed. Most of the stuff we discuss is deeper than your average "KU is the greatest thing ever and if you have a negative word to say, you're not a real fan" sort of talk.

@benshawks08 Very good point. And I do believe we had zero turnovers in the second half.

@KansasComet I'm starting to think some people have amnesia about Tharpe. The bad performances stick out and the good ones are easily forgotten. I'm not saying anything more than he was better last year than a lot of people may realize. He had some poor performances, sure. There were issues, and he was an awful defender. But just take a look at some of his numbers last year in the Big 12.

@ OU: 17 pts., 3 : 3 (A : TO), 2-3 from 3pt.
@ ISU: 23 pts., 4 : 4, 3-4 from 3pt
OSU: 21 pts., 6 : 6, 3-4 from 3pt
ISU: 12 pts., 12 : 1, 2-5 from 3pt
@ Baylor: 22pts., 2 : 0, 4-6 from 3pt
@ KSU 13 pts, 10 : 3, 1-5 from 3pt
OU: 19 pts., 5 : 1, 1-1 from 3pt (6-7 from field)
TTU: 16 pts., 3 : 1, 3-6 from 3 pt.

I know I'm gonna get killed for this. But all I'm saying is, to remember Tharpe as some scrub player who was regularly outplayed by his backups is factually incorrect. It's like KU fans think Conner Frankamp was the next Oscar Robinson because of the tournament last year. And not only that, but beating up on a kid after he's gone is the antithesis of what KU fans are all about.

I'm sorry, but I liked Tharpe. One of my favorite KU memories is in 2013 when he made the game winning shot, down by one in Stillwater, in double over time and collapsed into Self's arms on the sideline, absolutely exhausted, as the buzzer sounded and the Big 12 was once again ours for the taking. Don't be so quick to forget what players did for this program because of a mistake.

This is an Ole Miss team that was beat pretty comfortably at home by TCU. Just FYI. Any team, any night can pull off a big win. In Kentucky's case, hopefully that night comes during the tournament.

@konkeyDong Thanks for jarring that memory. I remember being at Johnny's Tavern across the river the night before he announced, and (drunkenly) saying (loudly) "It just makes sense! There's no reason NOT to come to KU." I was very upset the next morning.... Same applies to 23 year olds by the way :(

@HighEliteMajor Good stuff as always.

I continue to be dumbfounded by Coach Self's incessant belief that Jamari is a starter, or at least a serviceable starter. It seems clear as day that Cliff should be starting. Although Jamari has some good qualities, you have to take the good with the bad. And the bad comes with turnovers (really bad turnovers), and the good is like when he goes coast to coast for a nasty dunk. And another thing, I think Jamari Traylor would be the worst baseball player ever. He always lets the last play get to him. The bad sometimes can be a floodgate for Jamari. I'm not sure if Jamari's reached his ceiling, or if he's just making incremental increases towards getting there. The long and short is that there is not much more there than what we see now.

As far as Coach Self being dragged kicking and screaming... Seems somewhat apparent that he's finally coming around. There was one play where the ball was thrown into Perry, he waited for the other defender to come over, just for a second, and passed it right back out for an open three. Seems almost too easy. Perry wasn't looking to score. He was looking to draw the defender to free up the shooter. This is fundamentals, sure. But it's nice to finally see a move towards embracing our most potent attributes. As you said, just think if we could average about 20-25 trey attempts a game.

And quite Frankly, Mason is just fun to watch. Sorry. Had to get that in there.

@HighEliteMajor Thanks HEM. Maybe I should rephrase: given this season's circumstances, I miss Tharpe. Of course this is hindsight. But again, it's my issue of the carryover from the past that makes me a little more sympathetic to Tharpe. He was our lone bridge to the past. That was more or less my point with the 'I don't hate Tharpe' sentiment.

@JhawkAlum Oh, of course not. My point wasn't that. It's just like the Big 12 titles. They're great, but they're not National Championships. I used the Morris twins repeatedly in my points. They embodied the swagger and psyche that I was trying to highlight. Zero Final Fours though.

The point is Perry is our best player. But if all he's good for is putting up 30 against some nobody team, all to be held scoreless against Texas, he's not doing what we need him to do. I truly understand your point though.

@BeddieKU23 Thanks for the reply!

Embiid didn't stay another year though. End of discussion. He perpetuates the problem.

I miss Tharpe because he would be so helpful this year. I don't care about his mistake. It was the most ill-advised selfie ever, but I've made too many mistakes to cast stones.

Ellis is what he is. He's not going to change and if he does it's only for a game or two. Remember how in the UK game, Perry was terrorized for ALWAYS trying to lay the ball up? Then in the next few games, you saw Perry throw it down with authority. That was learning. That was a positive sign. Where is that now? Perry will be a senior next year and will still take orders from underclassmen. Do you ever remember the Morris twins doing that? He's a good player. But he is what he is. He's not going to be barking orders ever at KU. He'll finish with good numbers, sure. But numbers and record books mean very little to me when they don't get you to the Final Four.

I wasn't saying that they were replaceable. As you said, they're damn near impossible to replace. The problem is their replacements were recruiting-focused hiers. Not X's and O's. Self needs those kind of coaches. Not ones that will help him catch up to UK.

I've been wanting to make this post for a long time. This is what I've noticed from reading Jason King's "Beyond the Phog" and the "Top 100 things every KU fan should know before they die." And now that I have a break in school, here it is.

What's made KU so special during Bill Self's tenure has been Coach Self's remarkable coaching staff, and quite simply, the bond and swagger that has developed amongst his players that carried over for the first 9 seasons or so of his tenure.

We have had so much turnover since the end of the 2013 (and even 2012) season that it's been hard to get back to where we've always been. That hardened spirit you saw from Tyshawn Taylor, Thomas Robinson, Elijah Johnson, and Travis Releford (the list goes on), that was carryover from Sherron Collins, Mario Chalmers, and Darnell Jackson. That 2008 team embodied the KU spirit. Darnell Jackson said before the Final Four game against UNC, "just let your nuts hang." That, my friends, is swagger. That's confidence. Tell me last time you saw a KU team in the past two years play that way, especially away from AFH. Because National Championships are not won in AFH, unfortunately, they're won on neutral floors. That carryover, that swagger, came from the first Self team with Aaron Miles and Keith Langford. They instilled it into the players that would go on to win the national championship, who in turn instilled it in the Morris twins, T-Rob, even Tyrel Reed (I'm thinking the Mizzou game when I say this). With Self's recruiting tactics in the last couple of seasons, we've lost that swagger. We no longer have that continuation of passing this passion from one crop of players to the next. We're not Kentucky. We never will be, nor would I want us to be. On the front of UK's jerseys, it might as well say Calipari. They don't embody anything. It doesn't mean as much. I don't discount their success or what Cal has been able to do, it's commendable. But it's not us.

Last year made this deficiency prominent to me. After a loss last season, Nadir Tharpe said, "when I got here, there were guys that wouldn't let us lose. There were guys that would cry in the locker room if we did lose." He was right. He could've pretty much said, Tyshawn and T-Rob explicitly weren't gonna let us lose, but you get the idea. Naadir Tharpe and Jamari Traylor are the only ones that carry over the longstanding pride in KU. Tharpe is gone (and while some might be fine with that, I'm not one of them), and Jamari Traylor quite simply doesn't have it. Andrew Wiggins didn't have it. Joel Embiid didn't have it. Perry Ellis clearly doesn't have it. Nobody on this year's team has it. Losing that attitude has hurt KU significantly. What happened to FOE? Too Strong? Put ya shoes on? It's gone.

Another thing that has hurt KU significantly, which has been such a strength has been KU's coaching staff. Losing Danny Manning and Joe Dooley hurt tremendously. But who have been their replacements? Jerrance Howard. A notorious recruiter of the Chicago-area. But that's it. This move certainly lends itself to Self's approach to recruiting in the past two years, but that's it. There' s very little "Snacks" brings to the table besides recruiting. Danny Manning turned average post players into giants. Into lottery picks. We no longer have that in our arsenal. Danny was arguably the best player KU has ever had. He knew that. The players knew that. That's part of instilling the KU tradition. And as for Dooley, look at games from 2007, 2008, even 2012. I watched them all summer in between classes. We ran complicated schemes. Changed our offensive sets, created plays for shooters, dare I say, ran zones. As everyone noticed (except for Bill Self) last year, we could not play man-to-man in 2014. We needed to play zone. We did not, and we lost in the second round to a mediocre team. Players' comments in the past few games about our "mechanic and robotic" scheme, are frightening. If we as fans notice it every game, don't you think opposing coaches do too? If we continue down this path this year, we will come short of our potential again. I for one see Dooley's departure as a possible explanation for the logic-defying ignorance we have seen from KU in the past two years.

My problem with Bill Self is his belief that what has worked in the past will continue to work in the future. If ain't broke, don't fix it. Pardon the historical reference, but the Japanese did not change their military tactics leading up to the Second World War, because quite simply, they worked in the past. Why bother changing them? The carnage of the Pacific War was the result. When you fail to adapt, you inevitably fail. Without so many of the pieces that have held KU together in the past, and kept KU at a high level, we are treading towards a downward spiral to minimal success. And for some, a Big 12 championship is success. Not to me it isn't. We can't win a national championship with the status quo. We have to adapt and change our ways in terms of scheme. I'm all for recruiting players that will be around for more than a year. By all means! But as someone else pointed out, what in the hell is the point in recruiting elite wings if all you want them to do is throw the ball in the post. Hey, B-Star was great at that. Just go recruit 3 of those, a really good center, and a PG and we should be set...right? It's not going to work out that way. Play to your strengths. Don't treat them as a burden. Because this is college. Not high school. You choose your players. They're not handed to you.

This much to me is obvious.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

@justanotherfan said:

Recruiting elite wing players and then having them continuously throw the ball into the post is not the best use of talent.

Phenomenal point. Seriously, great all around post. The thing that sucks after these losses is that good posts get overlooked. One thing that really sucked about this loss is that Zimmerman was talking up KU, and then we go out and lay an egg.

@drgnslayr I'm with ya buddy. I played I've played baseball for 25 years, and I only know how to play it one way. With determination.

I think the kids were just ready to go home for the break. That was a terrible loss to a miserably awful team. That game reminded me of TCU. We weren't without energy, we were lobotomized, apathetic, whatever you want to call it.

The frustrating thing is that there isn't much to gripe over from a schematic point of view. What is frustrating is that we seriously struggle make layups. Our bigs can't score at the rim. Another thing is I saw Wayne commit some of the worst fouls I've ever seen. Time running down on the shot clock, Temple throws up a prayer, and Wayne fouls the shooter. Just awful.

@RockChalkinTexas Hmmm....