@ZIG said:
Coach Self says yesterday that's hes 100% and that he'll play.
When did he say that? What I read was, he had no pain Wednesday and if he has no pain Thursday he'll play. So he had pain and he's sitting.
Can you back up what you're saying with a quote?
Joel Embiiiiiiid.
Given how he has done on Twitter, he would probably have the most upvotes per post of anyone.
@JayHawkFanToo said:
The clear implication was that Memphis knew Rose was ineligible early on but played him anyway.
Ah, didn't know that. Thanks.
@drgnslayr Suppose Cliff is ineligible because of what happened in August. Why would he be ineligible starting now? Why wouldn't he be ineligible starting in August, especially if he knew of, or was a party to, whatever was done?
Derrick Rose was declared ineligible retroactively and Memphis had its season vacated.
Why couldn't this happen to KU? Isn't there a chance, however slight, that our Conference title streak might be in danger?
If that is the case, there is more at stake than Cliff's eligibility going forward, and the lawyer could be doing our past a favor by stonewalling.
Remember back when we were giving nicknames to the players?
After "Goner" Frankamp, we have "Off the" Cliff.
Self has said if Cliff doesn't get cleared for the NCAAs he probably won't get cleared for the first exhibition game either. To me, that's SelfSpeak for "do what it takes to play in the NCAAs or move on down the road."
Now he adds "We're basically moving on." Translation: because Cliff is.
Personally, I think the lawyer hired by the family may be right: damage control. If there is a real problem, why help the NCAA prove it? Stonewall and prevent NCAA sanctions.
Self must give lip service to full cooperation with the NCAA, whether he means it or not. I think he does, both on principle and as someone who doesn't give up easily.
@KUSTEVE International women's day is SO over...
I wish the NCAA would stop pretending to be powerless concerning OADs.
Make a rule that any scholarship given to an incoming freshman is locked up for two years.
The guy's an OAD? Fine, good luck, but his school can't use that scholarship on anyone else for the following year.
Coaches don't like that? Then wish the presumptive OADs luck in China.
The NBA doesn't like the presumptive OADs disappearing from American TV screens? Then raise the draft age to 20. Problem solved...
UK averages 7-8 scholarship players per year. Problem solved...
@REHawk said:
I think our 2 seed would still hold up for the Big Tourney.
I like www.bracketmatrix.com ↗ at this time of year. They show dozens of brackets and rank their performance based on prior years' results.
What's interesting this year is that all the brackets agree on the 1 seeds and the 2 seeds. Right now, KU has an average of 2.00, which means every single bracket puts us at 2. If we lose our next game, we will probably still stay a 2.
What is at stake is the region: will we be with Duke or Virginia? I prefer Duke. The better we do this week, the more chance we have to avoid Virginia.
@jayhawk-007 Since Cal's "0" refers to the number of losses, not scruples, he has to get some consideration. Ouch, that hurt!
Team that won the Big 12 (mostly on defense) without any "of the year" winners, without anyone on the All-Defensive team and with few players on the other "All" teams -- tell me again how KU won #11?
Home Court Advantage.
That's why we tend to disappoint in March: expectations do not factor in how much better we play at home.
If we want to prepare for the NCAAs, we should lobby to move the Big 12 Tournament from KC. Too much semi-home cooking...
In the meantime, I'm just hoping KU survives the first weekend.
The team might have a better time peaking if its two best bigs could play and if our 3s started falling.
Excuses made, I too am doing more hoping and less expecting than other years.
The idea that "not having an identity" makes it harder for the other coaches may be true, but it also makes it harder on our coaches...
@drgnslayr said:
OU is playing for a better draw in the conference tourney and definitely for a higher seed in March. We are set for the conference tourney, and pretty much set as a 2 seed in March.
If you look at bracketmatrix.com ↗, there is an unusually strong consensus on the #1 seeds and the #2 seeds, but after that not so much.
We are practically a lock for #2 going to Omaha, but in which region? The more we win the later we meet Kentucky.
Oklahoma could be a #4 at worst, at best a #3. I don't know if "better" 3s get a better draw in the tournament. Anyone?
@drgnslayr If only we had Pitino too!
@Kip_McSmithers said:
Was she referencing the conference SOS only? Or the entire schedule?
Excellent point.
The fact is the non-conference schedule is, to some extent, about money. KU schedules mostly home games, and top teams will only do home and away or tournaments. Every year we have several sacrificial lambs who come to get beat for the money while we fill Allen and shore up our budget.
Our non-conf schedule has been tougher recently for several reasons: the Champions Classic; a few more home and away deals with significant teams; and non-conference "tournaments" that let us play a few more games. What helps is playing better teams and playing away from Allen.
As you say, all of that is beside the point! The streak is exclusively about the conference season. The rebuttal would be to look at the SOS of the Big 12, not KU's SOS.
We won despite Durant, Griffin and Beasley playing for rival teams in our conference.
Who were the best players against UCLA during their streak? Who were the best players against Gonzaga?
I'm going to go cool off now...
@Blown @Jesse-Newell Or how about this:
"Bill, in past years you've taken crap from the KU fan base for not playing zone, so you recently played zone for two possessions in one game.
This year, you're taking crap for not running plays to create open 3 point looks. Does that mean that next year you'll run two of those plays?"
@HighEliteMajor Ellis wasn't the only one getting fouled and making free throws. Wasn't that a team effort to get to the bonus and score at the line? Bilas seemed to think it was a strategy that was working.
@wissoxfan83 I see us winning title 11, getting a 2 seed thanks to our incredible home court advantage and getting past the first weekend in the NCAAs. Anything else is really gravy.
According to Lunardi, as a 2 we will not be in UKs region, so we can always hope for lots of gravy.
@jaybate-1.0 said:
Travis Releford's old man's game.
Great and positive post! Just one thing, no way can Selden ever approach TR's game: the man was money at the rim from day one, plus he never lost his springs. His last two years he managed angles and caroms as well as Willie Moscone.
HEM is my favorite poster on "how" but not "what for". Why euthanize a season where we can win our 11th freaking title in a row? Self is approaching Wooden territory and we're supposed to remove life support?
IF the regular season is just a long qualifier for THE TOURNAMENT then why watch?
I do realize that the true subject of the post is Cliff vs. Traylor and that the D word is a rhetorical device. Behind the word is a value judgement though. Maybe Self cares more about #11 than investing in Cliff for March.
@KUinLA said:
ALWAYS root for the local sports team!
The Lakers?
My local sports team is not allowed to touch the ball with their hands: what can I do?
@icthawkfan316 In others words, shoot the 3 when you're open but we're not gonna do anything special to get you open?
@KUSTEVE While I generally respect Gary Bedore as a hard worker, I remember he was a vocal opponent of anonymous posting. Hey, Gary, the posters have become much more civilized now that they are on Facebook, right?
Assuming their coach would accept, they stay good and they don't go on probation for the next decade, what about UNC? Lots of connections there, lots of stories to tell.
Personally, I'd like to meet and beat VCU every year, preferably in the NCAA Tournament.
@icthawkfan316 Actually Stewart was 9th man and didn't really play - except when Rush was rehabbing from his torn ACL and Stewart started several games! He went from basically unused to starting to being unused again - then injured himself the day before our FF game against UCN. He celebrated our Championship on crutches...
@icthawkfan316 You guys have good memories! I forgot all about that team. Do they still play basketball somewhere?
@icthawkfan316 said:
@jaybate-1.0 I would think Mrs. HEM would know better than to call him "Tiger" :)
Maybe he shot an 82 his last round.
Let's make that a catchword: 10 over par is a "Tiger". 20 over is a "double Tiger", and so on...
@drgnslayr I cannot believe the quality and intensity of posts from the "starters" on this site this year. I am singling you out but I include HEM and others in my awe (jaybate is different, he has simply remained his unique, analytical and psychedelic self).
I love analysis and insight. No better place for them than here.
Thanks to the BucketMasters and to you awesome posters for a reason to log on every day.
A few of you out there need to post a leetle more often. You know who you are...
P.S. I think part of the reason for the great posts is this year's team and coaching. There is a lot going on in the heads and hearts and 'nads of everyone.
@Crimsonorblue22 "Brady had to sit the rest of the semester."
Brady was arrested on the highway, right after Boot Camp and when the players had just been warned to toe the line after another incident (I think it was the fight with the football players, but not sure). Self had to come down hard.
On the other hand, Brady was legal and Frankamp isn't.
@JayHawkFanToo Thanks a lot. I thought that was how it worked. I was just wondering if there were enough amateur pro-KU bettors to move the line significantly. Since you say we beat the line the last 3 games, I guess not.
@JayHawkFanToo I would be interested in an analysis of the Vegas line for our games:
I suspect that KU fans, being numerous and passionate, would tend to bet on KU more than a purely rational bettor would. That bias would move the line in such a way as to make it harder for KU to win against the line. It would also make folks who bet on KU lose money in the long run.
Whenever I read about the line, it always seems to move the same way. I wouldn't be surprised to see ISU favored by less than 4 before game time.
Thoughts?
@drgnslayr said:
It seems like we have lots of depth on the perimeter, but really we don't.
Bingo! At the beginning of the season, Self always talks about wanting "separation". He knows that it's better to have 7 really good players than any number of OK players.
Where is our separation now? Cliff, Perry, Jamari and Frank, Kelly, Devonte, Wayne. Others can contribute but not really replace.
Name the last guy you want to see injured and you name our MVP.
Now name the guy of those 7 who could most easily be replaced: now that Devonte is back, isn't it Wayne??
@jaybate-1.0 Yeah, but what if you got picked on the other team? No fun at all...
@cragarhawk said:
Any other team in the conference wins a game(thats a half) we lose a game(thats a half) yet we we would still be tied for the lead.
I don't follow you. We are 3-0 and WVU is 3-1. If we lose and they win it's 3-1 vs. 4-1 and they are half a game ahead, right?
Maybe we weren't looking at the standings the same day?
@cragarhawk said:
a full game lead
I like the way baseball handles standings: if two teams at .500 play each other, the winner becomes one game ahead, not two. We are 1/2 game ahead of WV and KSU, and "one game ahead in the loss column".
Toward the end of the season, that way of calculating makes it easier to see how close we are to clinching the Conference title.
@HighEliteMajor said:
Others do find a way to rebound (Mason).
I wanted to say this for some time, so this is as good a place as any:
Doesn't Mason guard the other team's PG most of the time? And the PG is probably the last guy who is free to hit the offensive boards: he has to be ready to get back on D. So maybe Mason is on to something: his guy can never try to block him out, so he is a free agent to go unhindered for the defensive rebound.
Maybe this is not just a Mason thing, but a new wrinkle for any PG on defense - provided he is tough as nails and has no fear.
@jayhawk-007 Right on!
kenpom.com has 6 Big 12 basketball teams ranked from 10 through 16:
10 Oklahoma
11 Texas
12 Baylor
(13 VCU)
14 West Virginia
15 Kansas
16 Iowa St.
On paper, there is some very stiff competition at the top!
@drgnslayr said:
... Hudy's regiment.
She's not an Army officer. You mean regimen.
I'm sure you all hate grammar policemen, but this isn't grammar. I hate losing good words and conflation does that. Compliment <> complement, affect <> effect.
On Hudy, I frankly agree with jaybate: if she's so great at getting player's bodies ready, why do we have so many injuries? Why do some players seem to lose athleticism during their careers here?
Maybe protecting the merchandise isn't such a bad idea.
@JayHawkFanToo said:
...I believe that by and large we still don't appreciate how much Withey really contributed to the team.
I think some people appreciated Withey a lot. Before Embiid, I never saw a player who changed the dynamic of a Self team so much. When he was on the floor and when he was on the bench were two completely different games. I'm speaking of his junior and senior seasons of course.
@jaybate-1.0 said:
"Dave? Dave?
"Daisy, Daisy, send me your answer please."
Are you suggesting that the real robot is @stupidmichael ? "I'm afraid, Dave..."
Come to think of it, HAL might not be a very good recruit:
"I'm sorry, Coach, I'm afraid I can't do that."
@JayHawkFanToo You're not disagreeing, you're talking about something else. HEM specifically limited his remarks to college ball; you are thinking NBA.
Most of your arguments are not that Perry is a 3, but rather that he isn't a 4. What does Perry bring to the table that makes you think he could be a 3, even in college?
@KUSTEVE said:
...We hired coaches based on their recruiting ability - lets get back to teaching basketball. I miss Danny and Joe, even though Norm and Jerrace are probably better recruiters.
Norm did recruit and coach Embiid, by far my favorite player per minute played and per tweet. Embiid learned the game at lightning speed: it can't all be due to a tape of Akeem.
Joel was the most pleasant and continuous surprise I have ever seen on a basketball court (not counting Wilt, whom I saw as a kid without realizing what I was looking at).
So which posters are robots already? Instinctively, my thoughts turn to those with version numbers in their handles...
In fairness, it wasn't an ordinary 1-3-1, at least according to the loser:
"It's an unusual defense. You don't see it every day," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "It's kind of a 1-3-1, but they really go all the way to half court." ESPN
Does @HighEliteMajor or anyone else know more about what GW does differently?
Just one thing: Self said Manning would play point. When? Just before a week of practice without games.
Who has played point in practice for a week, on the second team previously led by Devonte? Manning.
Maybe sometimes Self talks about practice (where the team spends a lot more time than games), whereas we think he's only talking about games?
I also think it's decent of Self to praise players for practicing well during a "get better" week, even if it doesn't translate to minutes in games. These guys are contributing!
I met the father of a Roy walkon a few years ago: the guy gave 6 hours a day to the team, every day, without expecting anything back. If he wanted to get taped before a game, he had to show up an hour before everybody else so they'd have time for him.
@jaybate-1.0 "the best way to introduce persons to tasks is to orchestrate the introduction so that there are only positive experiences"
Sometimes your posts are gold mines: we have to dig and process to get the precious metal. This time I think it's pure, 24-karat gold.
You have revealed Cal's secret! Everything from recruiting to practice to Xs and Os is set up to maximize immediate positive reinforcement. Come to UK where success is not only expected but assumed and proclaimed. Be part of a team that is anointed champion six months before April. Learn offensive and defensive schemes that you can "get" quickly and that make you look good fast. Dominate media fawning and mock drafts.
Don't go to KU where they concentrate on what's missing or try desperately to hold on to their streaks (NCAA appearances and conference championships). All you can do is lose what others won. Come to UK where nobody cares about losing in the first round of the NIT (we're still champs) or having a bad regular season (our deep NCAA run was all the more noteworthy). Go for highlights, not consistency: we'll edit out the bad stuff!
Go to UK where OADs are worshipped, not KU where they are disdained. Be embraced, not grumpily tolerated.
Am I free to wish for more talk about basketball and less about one another?
@jaybate-1.0 Very nice writeup on Devonte, although the comparison to You-Know-Who (not Voldemort this time) may cause HEM's eyes to melt the screen and his fingers to gouge the keyboard.
You helped me understand why, when Devonte was in, he didn't necessarily look all that good but the team did.
This site is so great that I try to tolerate some things:
But I draw the line with Jeff Koons.
Write whatever you wish with my admiration and blessing, but expect me to keep my eyes a Koons-free zone as far as possible.
@jaybate-1.0 I wonder whether Hunter can transfer. He has already transferred once so his redshirt year is behind him.
If he transfers after his junior year, he won't be able to play his senior year but his eligibility clock continues to tick, so he will never play.
I suppose he could play somewhere else next year if he graduates this spring, assuming that option is open to players who have already transferred once.