@jaybate-1.0 Martin "somehow" signed Jaylen Brown. Man, is that ever a curious SOMEHOW! And Cuonzo? I watched his progress at MO State. Also mighty curious, his trek from there to TN to the West Coast. The world of collegiate hoops must stay tuned to this theater.
REHawk
1583 posts
I am deeply disgruntled anytime a former or current KU hoops insider wallows in negative publicity. Whether Giddens, Giles, Larry Brown or the Morrii, misjudgments or criminal activity tend to curb my surging enthusiasms for the overall program. Brown is a guy who has stayed somewhat in the limelight of Kansas Basketball. Not only was (is) he a mentor to our current head coach, but this past summer he sent an SMU player to help Kansas win the WUG. Can't the man come to terms with his needs for firmer self control and a cleaner reputation? His malfeasance appears to be deeprooted and constant. Concurrently, he sullies those who respect and adhere to his more positive talents.
That 3 position is just so loaded this season. How to manage minutes for Brannen to stay warm and comfortable when Wayne and Svi are in the mix? Only opportunity: spot insertions. If Brannen should prove to be consistent in coming in cold to display a hot hand, then Hey, Hey!
@ParisHawk I might have to bite my tongue if BG does, indeed, pop off the bench to hit clutch threes in the closing seconds of crucial endings to key contests, esp. Final Four or Championship games. If that does occur I will be the first to bow my head in humble apology, both to Brannen and Buckets contributors. However, at this distance, such vignettes sound like Hollywood glamour. An earnest but not multi-dimensional performer who averages five minutes per game surges off the chilly pine to hit a 3 which wins a national title? In reality, difficult for me to envision. I do admit to being a ceaseless skeptic. Gotta agree with HEM, in that if I were Brannen and family, in May I would have waved Sayonara.
I adhere to my stance that this is the season for a Brannen Greene red shirt. Already suspect of not fitting well with Bill Self Basketball, this is the year that Brannen does not fit well with a 9 player lineup. Maybe, just maybe, an extra season of work on his driving/passing deficiencies will propel him into meaningful minutes his final two seasons. Granted, his 3 ball is lethal, but current deficiencies counterbalance the exciting potential pluses. Big question: could he red shirt and keep his determination on target to improve as a well rounded contributor?
That little chunk of SelfSpeak was more than a gentle boost to the fannies of Bragg, Vick, Diallo. Those fellers must be sensing a loaded 18-wheeler churning toward their backsides.
I'd like for Bill Self to climb out of bed some October morning after a restful night's sleep and declare, "Okay, my mind is made up. Frank Mason plays a maximum average of 30 minutes per game this season. I must save those legs while I force myself to depend on coaching change-ups, installing other strong talents into my lineups." Barring injury, this squad is loaded with talent, and no player should have to bear the weary burden that did Miles and Co. back during Bill's second year at the helm.
@JayHawkFanToo The thing is, Cheick Diallo was the MVP of two spring high school classics. It does seem to me that his situation should garner top priority attention from a governing body which luxuriates in dollars gleaned from hoops performers in traditionally Top 10 programs. Cheick's paperwork must be really something of a complex mess.
@jaybate-1.0 Yeah, tho most loyal Jayhawk supporters are snarling like guard dogs, it might be best to let the big bad sleeping dog lie. If riled prematurely, sleepy ol' pit bull might just choose to pounce on the program. He will yawn and arise to his dutiful business when the mood occurs.
BUT...if it should be true, dawggone right it is cause for a press conference! Bill Self usually holds back on kudos to freshmen; but the Diallo Situation is essential and vital to fan hopes, dreams and expectations for this season. I feel absolutely certain that this recruit is the real deal. If he does get cleared, but then bombs, I will crawl into a dark corner with my hands over my ears!
@jaybate-1.0 If your thesis holds true, young Svi must age quickly, grab the brass ring. Speaking of brass, without Diallo and with a seasonlong hobbled Selden, no gold or silver appears in the forecast. I've already written Greene's contribution as a huge MAYBE for this season.
No Diallo; Selden out, with a "tweak," Greene at half mast.
@JhawkAlum As I understand the rule, yes, he can help tutor them...but ONLY off the court, even the practice court.
@JhawkAlum No on-court coaching allowed, but he can talk to players off-court.
I read through lumpy's article carefully, keeping an eye open for expectations regarding Cal and Alabama, two Division 1 programs who have recently drawn interest and commitments from top tier recruits. What is drawing those kids to these two schools? Fair weather environments?
...and run and run and hide from his coach, probably, whenever he could manage to get out of sight of the general.
@joeloveshawks Regarding the 33+ minutes of Collins and TT, I would assume that body structure (and weight distribution) worked adversely against Sherron, much more so than against TT in the second semesters of their senior campaigns. I tend to view athletes from the perspective of a longtime distance runner and coach of runners. Sherron's determination on the basketball court punished his thicker and more muscular body immensely. Tyshawn was built to run and run and run.
My son, a professor of music, points out a major irony in this current KSU marching band calamity. Last season KSU was recognized by some publication or other as the #1 collegiate marching band in the nation. Now this!
I'm betting that if Brannen comes out shooting a dependable 46-50% trey ball this season (or next), Bill Self will fall victim to several demonstrable occasions of WILD HAIR SYNDROME.
Via@Fancaster...Olivia said to have eloped
Via@Fancaster...Ashley Judd also said to have eloped
Via@Fancaster...'bate 1.0 and B Rush missing from customary actions
Via@Fancaster...John C cries on Rick P's shoulder
Via@Fancaster...Big shoe offers a major new line: Adidas Olivia 1.0
@jaybate-1.0 No "easy inn." Merely "halfway inn."
I really have not thought about Vick very much since the WUGs. However, after seeing him step to the plate fearlessly in international play in S. Korea, I am confident that he can rise to the occasion for major minutes in case Frank or Devonte should get hurt. If all 3 of them return a year from now, Vick is bound to see considerable playing time. Bill Self could possess a 2016-17 squad very similar to the group he donated to Bruce Weber when Self left Illinois. 3 outstanding quick guards, a banger, and a smooth gunner at power forward.
If we can play Diallo even for second semester I envision a Final 4 outcome. Without him, Elite 8 and homeward bound.
@drgnslayr After agonizing over past recruiting dilemmas, BIll Self surely did not step blindly into the Diallo eligibility issue. Pessimist that I normally am, I predict that this signing will eventually work out gloriously for the Jayhawk program. This kid is a jewel, well worth waiting on, if that should become the case. If he is forced to sit out a semester or even a full year I'm figuring that Cheick will be humble and thankful enough to Jayhawk support that he will pay dividends, in time. Of course, huge offers of money could interfere with his commitment; but he is still so raw in refined skills that it would serve him well to spend time in Lawrence. Even among lottery picks, there is a substantial financial and security difference between entering the League as a top 5 selection rather than a 12 or 13. If he is forced to go the McLemore route, just imagine how far his game would develop, 2 years into the program.
@REHawk Maybe all that ink distorted the Morrii grey matter...or chained them in tandem, similar to cycle mamas leashed to their big daddies.
@nuleafjhawk Shucks, the Morris twins probably spent a quarter million dollars on body ink while at KU. Must have raffled off the contents of their closets monthly, Adidas wear filtered all the way from Lawrence to Philadelphia!
Regardless of the slow paper shuffling of the NCAA I wonder how the Big 12 will rule on Diallo's transcripts. The league did not rule in favor of incoming freshmen McLemore, Anderson and Traylor.
That 20-0 record could have lots to do with the eligibility of Diallo. and, if eligible from the get-go, how fast he and Bragg adjust to the speed of the college game. Bragg's summer games as a Jayhawk were a substantial ingredient in his development. Was good to see him handling the broken nose so well, playing tough soon after the injury. We now know that Mickelson can play with speed. If Svi makes the giant sophomore leap we should take a shining record into that Kentucky contest. I am confident that Mason and Graham will play well together.
In stark contrast to my own undergrad and graduate university experience, financially strapped and shuffling along on low paying campus employments while participating in "equivalency sports," current full scholarship athletes are eating quite high on the proverbial hog. Granted, they are bringing in millions of dollars to top level programs and are deserving of a comfortable slice of that pie. But for some of them, public exposure and university stardom becomes a springboard to almost instant humongous wealth when they depart Div One. If I held a chair on the current National Labor Relations Board I most probably would have concurred with their recent rulings.
@JayHawkFanToo Appreciate your thoughtful sharing of knowledge and research. I grow edgy when former Jayhawk stars drift into ugliness and mayhem. I really do hope that TRob keeps his nose clean and finds the right niche with a team which thrives on his good motor. Sad thing, X's multiple injuries. I remember fondly his near tearful premature departure from Lawrence, worrited and chivied by family and big bucks to zoom off and away to professional contracts. Man O Man, did Roy Wms. ever do a fine job toward the end of his KU tenure, bringing in Hinrich, Collison, Miles, Langford and Simien. Of course, he also left Bill Self strapped with the peregrinations of Giddens. Or rather, GIDDINGS. Which commentator referred to J.R. as Giddings? Knight? I wish for Withey the very best. He, too, deserves just the right niche in order to hang on for several more seasons in the League. And yeah, the twins will probably buy their way out of their current legal troubles. I imagine that Angel will take each by an ear and negotiate a settlement. I never was very comfortable with that FOE braying. And Taylor...well, he never ever was a guy I would trust alone with my granddaughters, or that I could envision loaning $20 to; but his senior year in Lawrence finally became a joy to watch, esp. his last semester when he pressed the pedal to the metal, striving to win an NBA contract in spite of his checkered and mercurial past. If he had possessed, all along, the intensity and determination of Collins or Reed or TRob, O MY!
I hope to see Pierce finish his career in a veritable Playoffs Blaze of Glory. Good fit, probably, him and Doc.
Dog Days, Halcyon Days, Dead Days. Very little to read but for the criminal charges vs. former Jayhawks Taylor and the Morrii. FOE.
Any recent word on Withey? Is he still a Pelican? I read that Wiggins earned attention as one of top 5 young NBA players (3 years pro or less) to be considered as future dominant stars of the game, riding the wake of LBJ. Tyshawn feels that NBA should again come knocking. TRob mutters that the League has not yet found the right fit for his game. The Morrii...geez! Paul P. a Clipper? Collison and Hinrich stayed put? Just imagine the dollars that those 3 and Gooden have clocked since departing Lawrence! Xavier still in the League? How about Kaun? Did Cavs pick him up or deal his paperwork? Idle mind meanderings in the Dead Days of August. Perhaps I should check on Iowa State to see if they have yet won a game in their overseas tour.
@jaybate-1.0 Hey, jb, ya gotta purchase a stronger repellant. That guy can shinny all the way from yer ankle to your groin like a fast moving wood tick.
@wrwlumpy Oh NO! Joe, Joe, Joe! You have forgotten MIZZOU! And Nebraska. And Colorado.
@jaybate-1.0 Okay, here's my counter: Triple the money, guarantee the Colas and, oh yeah, stipulate a Max contract, five years. I'll sign on the dotted line...or an undotted line or a bold red line or whatever. I possess a wealth of bountiful connections. I know a former legend named Bliss, and my nephew dates a gal who used to sell neckties and matching dress socks to Bruce Weber before he moved up the employment ladder to K State from Illinois. I can read Rorschacks and will pledge to increase the Agency's efficiency 3.4 pts. on the Richter. And, I almost forgot, before he ran short of wind my neighbor clocked substantial tips and saw every state in the union, following Coach Brown from job to job, shining Larry's brogans. So....
@jaybate-1.0 Jayhawks to lead nation, 3 pt. attempts. One trey per 12 seconds!
@HighEliteMajor I have read nothing to indicate that Diallo is whining. If he is, bully for your clear advice.
This Diallo Eligibility Issue once again calls to account the crass manner in which the governing body deals with pawns on its chessboard. In this case an aspiring student athlete comes to the USA, is somehow funneled to an institution under investigation, spends 3 years of upwardly mobile effort, then is left dangling in the wind by the "system." So now, this kid might have to pay a heavy price for the shortcomings of his school? And the subjective longwinded decision making of a high dollar organization which, historically, turns a blind eye to iniquities perpetrated by some of its toplevel member institutions of sport and higher learning? Diallo is a teenager who evidently was lured down a thorny path, and now finds himself dangling for months over a steep precipice.
@Statmachine Yeah, I remember reading those comments by Bragg. And somewhere during the WUGs I saw him standing alongside Perry, and he looked much taller. If he does, indeed, reach 6'11" before departing Lawrence, he should be in line for a major pro contract, esp. if his midrange and long jumpers fall for us. Gotta hope he stays two years. If Perry stays healthy, and if Diallo qualifies, Carlton won't have to play so many minutes this season. Then, hopefully, will get his chance to start and star as a sophomore.
Before JoJo is allowed back on the African continent he'll probably have to notarize a commitment not to obliterate the lion population; wear shoes and restrain his activities to heavily populated areas and civilized sports facilities.
Man O man, if we should lose Diallo, then Andrea Hudy must refine her grocery list and procure a stretching rack for Bragg. Boost him up to an authentic 6' 10 1/2" by January!
@BeddieKU23 I'm certainly hoping not to find steep steps with no handrail to that basement!
@jaybate-1.0 HA! "He might even know the Kochs." You think?
@Kcmatt7 With your imagined implications and hapless presumptions you have shot off another two toes on this particular thread. You keep firing away haphazardly, how you gonna walk steadily into your next know it all diatribe?
@Kcmatt7 You leap in with an aggressive know-it-all attitude and you are bound to get picked apart on this site. I will start with this: how about Frank K's success shooting 3s his freshman year?
Until 4 or 5 years ago I enjoyed Fran's work in announcing Kansas games. He seems to have changed disposition toward Bill Self and KU Hoops recently. Does he feel, perhaps, that our coaches gave his kid short shrift on the recruiting trail?
@bskeet I gotta concur with you. Those KU victories in the WUG were fantastic. Maybe unusual, at least considering the way that Selden was playing 6 months ago, and the fact that Self had buried Mickelson in the seasonlong fridge. Toss the 4 missing KU players into the 2015-16 mix, and this could be one really fine season for the Jayhawks. I can't envision WSU winning that WUG series, even if Frankamp shoots 45% from beyond the arc. That said, I think that KU could have won the WUG with Baker and VanFleet as our two extra additions...esp. if VanFleet could have blended with our troops and coaching staff (perhaps a big IF). His blow to Perry in the Tournament probably still rankles with our team and mentor.
@jaybate-1.0 My vote: PUNK!
@Kcmatt7 "Why has he (Marshall) never gotten a job at a major program?" He appears to be comfortable with the Koch backing in Wichita. And a top level Div. 1 program has not yet come calling. Those half dozen top jobs seem rarely to open for mid major coaches; and the guy is happy enough where he is, not to risk his reputation on a gamble for moving to a second tier major Div. 1 program. So, he is more than somewhat stranded...but probably not unhappily so. Will be interesting to follow his Tournament play once VanFleet and Baker are gone.
@jaybate-1.0 Well, I'm not savvy enough about other coaches to feel comfortable in selecting someone who could have taken last year's Jayhawk squad to .500 or better down the stretch. But if there IS a coach out there who could have done so, I'm wagering that he would have leaned much more than did BIll Self on Hunter Mickelson, esp. after Perry's leg injury. I think that Self might really have missed the presence of D. Manning and J Dooley after midFeb. last season, heady guys to help him untangle the scramble. As for other coaches, I tend to admire the work of Bo Ryan and Gregg Marshall. I know that I am opening myself up for a heavy barrage of opposing fire, but at this very moment, if Self should depart, I would opt for Marshall to become a finalist for the search committee to consider. The guy is a work horse, and I like the way his kids play. He probably would never garner the fan love and admiration that Roy and Bill have earned. But he would win.
@drgnslayr Hypothetically, if WSU is playing neck and neck with the Jayhawks going down the stretch, I would look to see Conner enter the game with both VanFleet and Baker. So, Mason/Graham/Selden vs. VanFleet/Frankamp/Baker. Tough call, but I would give the Jayhawks the edge, as Graham can do so many different things. If the back court should become a tie-up, then we have Perry and the "Five Committee" to make the difference. Diallo must learn how to avoid foul troubles, and Mickelson+Lucas must keep-a comin'. (...and I must not forget Bragg!)