🏀 KuBuckets Archive

I assumed we were getting Florida since that's the second highest profile game possible behind KU/UK. I really hope this means KU will be at Reed Arena in 2019 so I can day trip it to College Station.

If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. Not every top recruit is influenced and some do legitimately go places for reasons other than what logo is on the shoes, there's absolutely shadiness going on with everyone, including KU and Self.

Hell yeah, time for a repeat performance of the last time the Final Four was in San Antonio! #BIDG #BISM

@HighEliteMajor Spurs already have multiple PG's. Tony Parker still has probably another 2-3 years left and his likely successor is Dejounte Murray who stepped up big time once Parker got hurt. The Spurs biggest need is a 2 because Manu is the next one to retire and even that's not a huge need with Jonathan Simmons emerging. Spurs are probably picking an international player to stash like they frequently do.

Spurs have their PG of the future already, they aren't drafting Mason.

@drgnslayr We do potentially have the personnel to run the traditional high-low with Azubuike down low and Preston and Whitman up high. A 4 with shooting range is a big key in the high-low to keep the low post guy from being doubled.

Honestly, I'm surprised we didn't see it more last year with Josh and Landen. Josh was good enough from deep to force teams to respect that part of his game and Landen never required a double team so it easily could've been part of the offense last year.

As long as the personnel is capable of running the high-low, I'd love to see it return because it is difficult to defend.

Holly is the best. One of my favorite memories of my time as a student was Holly interacting with the students and getting to have a couple of conversations with her during warm ups. She is by far my favorite sideline reporter in any sport because of that.

Hope you kick cancer's ass again Holly!

@jaybate-1.0 Under Armour is paying UCLA $280 million over 15 years. Name a school that's realistically turning a deal like that down?.

True 5's are rare commodities. KU will in better shape next season than this past season in the paint even with Coleby leaving. UA, Whitman, and Preston are all capable of playing and defending in the low post.

KU has the depth to play a more traditional 2 big line up next year than this past year.

@JhwkSqdn The games that I think are winnable are all in the first 8 games.

I think all 8 are winnable (SeMo, CMU, @Ohio, WVU, Texas, Tech, @ISU, @TCU, and KSU) because KU had more talent than the 3 non-conference teams, WVU will be down, Tech will fighting for Kingsbury's job, ISU is always assumed a potential win, KU and TCU just play close games, and KSU's style of play will gove KU a chance.

I don't see KU being very competitive in the last 4 games against some good teams.

QB play and health will be the two biggest factors for KU next season, but the pieces are at least in place for a breakout season this year and to end several streaks including the road losing streak that goes back to UTEP in 2009, and KU might actually win multiple Big 12 games for the first time since 2008.

@HighEliteMajor Rumors started about Coleby leaving a couple of weeks ago. Then Self brings in Whitman which to me was the writing on the wall with Coleby. Coleby was a solid plater abd would've been a good fit off the bench for Self next year, but Whitman seems like a better fit for the high-low which seems like what KU is going back to next year without any great drivers on the team.

Should still be a great shooting team, just may not see many FT's from the guards this upcoming season.

I'm of two minds on this issue. My first issue would be where would KU be in the pecking order for Nike?

My second issue would be are we talking short term or long term here? Short term, Nike would be preferable even if KU is 4th or 5th in the Nike chain. Long term, I think Under Armour might be a better option. American company who's putting emphasis on basketball right now. There's also much room to grow and KU would likely be the face of UA college basketball with UCLA. KU would be 4th at best with Nike behind UK, Duke, UNC, and possibly Oregon for funneling players.

I don't like Adidas long term because soccer will always be their top priority with them being a German based company. I'm fine with Adidas short term because KU is their flagship program.

If Nike would bump up KU to #2 after Coach K abd Roy retire, I would jump to Nike ASAP, otherwise I think Under Armour is the better long term option for KU to become their top program.

Weber belongs in the mid majors. His lack of recruiting ability is much less of an issue at that level than it is at a P5 school. The guy is an exceptional X's and O's coach as we've all seen what he's capable of when he has talented players.

KU should beat SeMo and then Ohio will be the litmus test for KU. Win that and 6 is a possibility. Lose close and 4-5 is likely. Lose badly and 2-3 is the likely ceiling.

@jaybate-1.0 Preston spent 3 years at API which used to be Prime Prep which has produced such NCAA superstars as Emanuel Mudiay amd Terrance Ferguson.

Hopefully Preston has made up enough credits at Oak Hill this year to ve eligible, but we know how the NCAA is with KU and academic issue players.

@Crimsonorblue22 It is, but with 13 scholarships accounted for and Svi undecided and being advised to return, there has to be room for him somehow.

The other option is is Svi is graduating this weekend and could be a graduate transfer, but I think we would've heard that by now.

Preston not being cleared is a realistic possibility based on what's going on with the scholarships right now.

This situation really has me questioning Billy Preston's eligibility. Bringing in Whitman late to put KU at 13 scholarships before Svi's decision is finalized.

With all the talk of how to fit Svi in if he returns and who would walk on, I haven't seen much, if any, mention of Billy Preston. This well could be a situation where Self is anticipating Preston not being eligible next year.

That still seems like a plausible scenario at this point to me.

@Statmachine Shaka Smart will not be gone if UT struggles next year. Their level of care is pretty low which is why they've been trying to build a new arena for about 4 years now and still haven't found a site last I was aware.

With Tom Herman, UT is all in on restoring their football program and really could not care less about the basketball program right now.

@BeddieKU23 Basketball recruiting is just such a different game than football recruiting because of prep schools and the AAU circuit. Kids move around so much for basketball that where they're originally from frequently has minimal impact on recruiting. Most of these prep schools are located along the coasts so the EST and PST programs tend to have advantages in recruiting those kids because they can see those kids play in season more frequently. There's not a lot of prep schools in the CST and the most prolific one is one that rarely has players make it through the Eligibility Center.

Texas Longhorns football is the key for Big 12 athletics. The decline of UT football has coincided with the overall decline of the Big 12. It has spilled over into other spirts as well.

I don't care what anyone's feelings about UT are, the reality is the conference goes as the UT football program goes.

Oubre didn't hit Olynyk hard enough. I've watched a lot of that series and Olynyk had it coming. Oubre is lucky he hasn't gotten a concussion from Olynyk in the series with all the blows to the head he's taken courtesy of Olynyk. Olynyk is without a doubt a top 3 dirty player in the NBA today and had it coming.

@HighEliteMajor The situation blew up because of a coaching change. Do you forsee a coaching change in the next few years because I don't see anything that indicates Self is retiring or dealing with any serious health risks.

@HighEliteMajor The Memphis situation blew up because of a coaching change. If Pastner was still at Memphis, so are the Lawson's. Don't think there's much risk of the situation turning south here.

I would say this could add some fuel to the Dwight Coleby being a grad transfer rumor.

@DoubleDD There's multiple stories out there of Mixon losing his cool and not just the video. He's someone who already has multiple cases against him so this isn't a second chance, this is 4th or 5th right now for him.

And when you use the phrase, "If I was a young back man," you are making about race.

@DoubleDD What does race have to do with this? There have been examples all over the sports world of men from every different background imaginable that gave been guilty of domestic violence.

Mixon hitting that woman had nothing to do with him being a 19 year old black man. It had everything to with him not understanding how to handle the situations and he made the wrong choice in the moment.

@truehawk93 Based on Haase's comments when Stanford came into town last season, I think Haase still bleeds Crimson and Blue and would take the KU job in a heartbeat if he's ever offered the job, even if he's coaching at UNC at the time.

@BShark Who's out there that's a better fit for KU right now than Coleby? Unless Self has been hearing that Preston likely won't be cleared, there's not a starting spot available in the post anyway. Coleby will be a 5th year player that has been through a lot and his leadership is going to be huge for UA, Preston, and Lightfoot next year.

He's in Cincinnati. This is a team that signed Pacman Jones after all his BS and then drafted Burfict. The clearly don't give a crap about a player's off field issues. I read that supposedly only 4 teams even have Mixon on their draft board because of that video. In his interviews, he sounded sincere and was reportedly telling teams that he understood if they didn't want to draft him, but hearing all this other stuff that's coming out about him makes me believe that his agent or lawyer coached him up about how to approach those interviews to make himself draftable.

Does Hill have multiple domestic violence issues or is it just the one case? If it's just the one case, then I can understand drafting a guy and having him on a tight leash with zero tolerance clause that lets the team cut a guy and void the rest of the contract if another incident happens, but with Mixon, there's a pattern of that kind of behavior instead of it being an isolated incident.

@Kcmatt7 Hope that's not the case with Coleby. He's in line for some pretty good minutes this year and possibly starting if Preston doesn't come here. He'd at worst be the 1st big off the bench which is still usually good for 20-25 minutes.

If he leaves and Preston doesn't get cleared, and Tilmon (who I don't think is that great to begin with) doesn't commit, we're left with UA and Lightfoot in the paint.

KU's already still going to be pretty thin up front this year, but Coleby possibly leaving almost forces KU back into the 4 guard line up just because of depth. I hope that one's not true at all.

@KUSTEVE When you claim a position on an issue and only mention the failures to justify your stance, I will call you out every single time because of the flawed nature of the argument.

No program is above a legacy hire.

@KUSTEVE North Carolina wanted Roy Williams specifically because of his ties to North Carolina. Bill Self was KU's top choice to replace Roy Williams because of his previous ties to KU.

Yes, they were successful elsewhere, but those previous ties to UNC and KU are the primary reason Roy is at UNC and Self is at KU today.

Sounds like they were legacy hires to me.

I still think Haase is currently in tge best path to be Self's successor.

Self received his masters from KU so technically, he is an alum which would make him a legacy hire.

@KUSTEVE Legacy hires are not necessarily a bad thing. Since you bring up Missouri basketball and keep using them as the poster child of failed legacy hires, Norm Stewart played for Missouri and he was a prettt good coach.

Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams are also legacy hires, those two are pretty good coaches, wouldn't you agree?

Just like hiring any other coach, a legacy coach isn't guaranteed to be successful or a failure because of their ties to a school, but it does help them know the culture of the program and help with donors and marketing the program to recruits.

@KUSTEVE KU could very well be starting 4 guys in 2017-18 who did not begin their college careers at KU so the "Transfer U" moniker would not be without some merit.

Cal will always advise his players to declare and test the waters. That's just his personal philosophy and have no issue with that philosophy.

He became unnecessary as soon as Graham announced his return. Still need to find someone at the 4.

And to nobody's surprise, Josh Jackson will be entering the 2017 NBA Draft.

I assume he was just waiting to get all the legal stuff and then the Easter Holiday out of the way before announcing.

No shock in the decision and vest of luck to you in the NBA Josh.

The game lasted about 90 minutes total with the running clock and halftime. Each side had about half te plays it would normally run in a game. Bender's side was mostly 1st team offense so if KU can end up in the 28-31 ppg range next season, KU will be a decent team with a chance to win some games against the bottom and mid level teams in the B12.

KU landed a recruit from the spring game this weekend. WR, Tevailance Hunt from Texarkana, TX. Hunt is a 3 star WR who had offers from ISU and a bunch of C-USA and Sun Belt schools with some other random programs thrown in from non P5 leagues.

Multiple states (including Texas where future Super Bowls, Final Fours, and other major sporting events are scheduled) have a law similar to North Carolina's HB2.

That will be a primary factor in the Supreme Court making a ruling on this issue.

I don't see any way Newman tops Mason's scoring average next season. Nextbseason could be a year where nobody is over 15 because of a fairly balanced scoring attack.

I know Svi declared, I still don't think he leaves so a line up with Graham, Newman, Svi/Vick, Preston, and Azubuike could be an effective zone team in doses. We all know Self will never abandon man defense which he shouldn't, but a well timed zone defense can wreck all kinds of havoc and create offensive runs like we saw a few times last season.

@stoptheflop Tune may end up being tough to keep if he has a good senior season and the big dogs in the Big 12 and SEC come calling. Glad his parents were there which makes me a little more optimistic about KU keeping him.

@Crimsonorblue22 I saw the hit Lee had on Schadler that jarred a catch loose, didn't see him hit Quiv, but I also missed most of the 1st quarter so if the hit happened then, then I definitely missed it.

I didn't catch the beginning of the broadcast, why didn't Quiv play today?

Also, I think it's telling about the QB situation that Bender was paired up with Sims and Charlot and what appeared to be mostly the 1's on offense. I think Bender is going to be the QB next season. Bender made some great throws today that Stanley just isn't capable of making because of his arm strength. I was also impressed with the secondary.

Based on today, I really wouldn't be too shocked to see KU get to 6-6. 3-0 in nonconference which will end the road losing streak and the bottom of the Big 12 is weak enough for KU to get 3 more wins. It may not happen this year, but this team as is can get to a bowl game in 2017.

The high post in the high-low has not been the issue in recent years, it's been the low post. Azubuike is the key to the success of the high-low next year, not Preston assuming he's eligible. Preston is a good enough outside shooter that teams will have to respect his shot.

There's definitely potential for a hybrid of the offense from the past couple of seasons and the high-low.

UA and Coleby are a good low post combo. Another 4 or a PG would be my concerns at this point.

I have no problems with any player exploring his options. If Svi gets a combine invite, he can get even more detailed evaluation and make a more informed decision. I hope he stays, but I will never have an issue with a player taking advantage of the rules.

@drgnslayr I agree with this one. The Lawson's are not coming here because of their brothers and cousin. These guys who will likely start as soon as they are eligible or at the very worst, be the first wing and big off the bench. They are not occupying scholarship 12 and 13 once they are eligible in the hopes of their younger relatives coming here. That was the sole purpose I believe of bring Evan Maxwell in last spring/summer was because of the potential of his younger brother. Maxwell was never going to be more than the last big at KU, but at the time, there was speculation that his brother could develop into a top 50 player which never ended up happening. That, along with Evan not being a good player at KU's level led to him leaving to go elsewhere to finish out his career.

@JayHawkFanToo Vang and Young were not on scholarship last season.

2016-17 scholarship players were:

1. Frank Mason

2. Lagerald Vick

3. Sam Cunliffe/Evan Maxwell

4. Devonte Graham

5. Svi Mykhailiuk

6. Josh Jackson

7. Malik Newman

8. Carlton Bragg

9. Dwight Coleby

10. Landen Lucas

11. Udoka Azubuike

12. Mitch Lightfoot

Sam Cunliffe and Evan Maxwell essentially shared the same scholarship since Sam came in when Evan left. That left one open scholarship last year which was probably left unused last year since the only walk on senior last year was Tyler Self and he didn't need the scholarship.