🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@drgnslayr Nova looked terrible in that game. That was an ugly game in which Nova was outrebounded, turned the ball over 14 times and was 8-26 from 3. It was also a one possession game for basically the final 10 minutes. Nova won because of the home whistle. Nova shot 26 FT's (18-26) to DePaul's 6-7 from from the FT line. That was the difference in the game.

@BeddieKU23 I don't think it's fair to compare the energy level of Villanova playing at against a top 10 team to how KU looked against TCU. That was a marquee game for Villanova and one they likely had circled as a key win to give themselves a better shot at winning the Big East just like we have the games in Waco and Morgantown circled as key games for KU to win to boost the odds of winning #13.

A more comparable game would be their Big East opener a couple of nights before against DePaul. Villanova only won that one by 3 and trailed for quite a bit in that game. If that had been the only game somebody watched of Villanova, there's no way anybody thinks they're the #1 team or a real title threat, just like KU didn't look like a title threat against TCU, but we all know that both KU and Villanova are both on the shortlist of teams people expect to see win the title this year along with Kentucky, UNC, UCLA, and Louisville.

@wissox Jay Wright has outcoached Self on at least 3 occasions. During the 2004-05 season when KU was playing about as well as possible, #2 in the country, still undefeated at 14-0 in late January, and KU makes the trek out to Philly and Villanova blasted KU by 21 points. I believe Bill Self is only 1-3 against Jay Wright at KU with that lone win coming in the 2008 NCAA tournament.

It may just be a case of Wright having Self's number in a similar way Tom Izzo seems to have Self's number.

@drgnslayr Even if Preston never gets cleared an Evan took that mindset, he'd still be the 5th big at best next year behind UA, Bragg, Coleby, and Lightfoot. Maxwell's best case scenario was a starter in 2018-19, but that's only if KU whiffed on every big man recruit between now and then. Simialr to Justin Wesley being KU's 4th big in 2011-12 because there was literally nobody else on the team.

Realistically, 4th big in 2018-19 was probably the best case for Maxwell which would mean 7-8 mpg. Since playing time appears to be a priority, who can blame him, and KU didn't have much to offer, he can now move down to the mid or low majors and play good minutes somewhere while getting a solid education.

@KUSTEVE Indiana is one of the, if the best rebounding team in the country. KU's not likely to run into other elite rebounding teams with the talent to beat KU until deep in the tournament.

@BeddieKU23 I'm not necessarily saying OSU is going to pull the upset, just capable of it with their shooting prowess. They're just a mid level Big 12 with enough shooting to take down a tip tier team if that top tier team has an off night. If Baylor plays well, then Baylor likely handles OSU like WVU and UNC did, but we also know Scott Drew's track record of dropping games Baylor shouldn't lose.

@BeddieKU23 OSU does have some shooters. Evans has hit 52% from 3 this year. They've got a kid named Thomas Dziagwa who only plays about 10 mpg, but shoots 50% from 3 and is averaging 3.5 attempts from 3 per game and making almost 2 per game. Carroll is making 4o% from 3 and they still have Forte who can off at anytime.

They've got the shooters to win games from deep on any given day.

@KUSTEVE Baylor has played more man this year than in the past few years. I think that might be the best game in the Big 12 this week, but I don't see OSU pulling it off.

@Bwag You talking about 20 years ago when Coach K missed about 40% of the season?

Coach K might hang on long enough to have every part of his body replaced and become the first cyborg HC and never retire.

Seriously though, I do think we're in the final 2-3 years of both Coach K and Roy as college head coaches. At this point, I think would put Coach K ahead of Wooden for greatest men's college basketball coach of all time. His 5 titles in the 64+ team era of the NCAA tournament (having to win 6 games) to me is more impressive than Wooden's 10 in the era where only conference champs made the NCAA tournament and only had to win 4 games for a title in UCLA's case.

I said last year that Bragg simply wasn't strong enough to be a good rebounder and his numbers last year backed that up. He was a terrible rebounder relative to his size last season. This year, he's added muscle and he no longer gets rag dolled in the paint and he's become a good rebounder.

On offense, he's still playing like a 6-8, 220 lb. player who's afraid of contact and short arms a lot of his bunnies instead of the 6-10, 240 lb. player he is today that's more than strong enough to play through contact and finish strong. Whenever that starts happening for Bragg, that's when he'll start becoming a potential lottery pick.

I'm glad he's no longer a softie on defense, but I'll be even happier once he's no longer a softie on offense and starts playing like the biggest kid on the court which he'll be most of the time he's on the floor.

@drgnslayr Don't assume Preston plays for KU yet. He may very well end up like Terrance Ferguson and Emanuel Mudiay and have to head overseas based on API's track record of kids getting eligible who spent significant time at the school which Preston did.

@BeddieKU23 UA's minutes were increasing as the season went along. He was averaging 17 mpg in the 5 games before Davidson and probably would've ended up averaging 20 or so by the end of the regular season. KU's defensive prowess was getting better as UA's minutes were increasing as well.

@BeddieKU23 This was their second game without Azubuike behind them. Having to adjust to no longer having a true rim protector will take a few games to adjust to.

@dylans Buddy Hield is a two guard that will evolve into a 3 point specialist in the NBA. Graham is going to be a PG in the NBA so their roles and necessary skill sets at the NBA level will be very different. Graham is also likely never going to a lottery pick even if he stays for his senior year.

Graham also has up to 27 more games to fix his shooting. His PPG is probably not going to change much from the just under 13 he's averaging now. It's still too early to determine what Graham's future beyond this season holds.

@dylans We're a 1/3 of the way the season, it's way too early to make a final call on Graham's future. It's still not out of the question that Graham leaves after this year.

@dylans I did mention Newman and Garrett and they're why I think the 2/3 spot along with a returning Vick next year is in good shape even if Svi goes. Neither are lead guards though which is why I think a PG is the top priority at this point because of the likelihood of Graham going.

@dylans PG is the biggest need. KU needs at least a freshman PG and possibly a graduate PG as well if Graham leaves early. KU is set at the 2/3 spots next year even if Svi goes with Garrett, Newman, and Vick. Newman is a good secondary ball handler in the role Graham plays this year, but I wasn't impressed with him running the show at MSU last year. If Graham stays, then a freshman PG would be ideal to develop, but if Graham leaves, a graduate PG who will have a little bit of a learning curve with terminology and specifics of Self's system, but still knows how run a team is what's needed.

Beyond that, another big because I'm still not convinced Billy Preston ever plays a game for KU because of his academics, but I think KU would still be in solid shape in the front court even without Preston next year.. I haven't been able to follow recruiting very closely in the past few months so I honestly don't know who the realistic targets are for KU at this point. Darien Jackson is someone that I"m pretty sure is a strong KSU lean though so I wouldn't count on that even as a developmental guy.

KU already has a combo and big signed out of the now 5 for sure 2017 openings. With the other 3, I would like to see a HS PG, a transfer PG (regular transfer if Graham stays, graduate if he goes), and another big. If Graham goes, then a 3rd big in case Preston doesn't get cleared, and if Svi also goes, then a guard (doesn't matter which guard spot) or keep it open for late transfers/decommits/unexpected available players.

@dylans Maxwell leaving guarantees KU has 5 open scholarships with the currently open one, Mason and Lucas graduating, and Jackson being OAD. We'll see about Graham and Svi as one, both, or neither are still potential early departure candidates. That puts KU anywhere between 5 and 7 scholarships this year. We've got two committs although one (Preston) may very be following several other Prime Prep/API players forced overseas because of academics. We'll say 1.5 verbals at this point. Look for a graduate transfer as a possibility to come here next year along with at least 2 more HS kids and possibly a normal transfer if Graham and/or Svi depart early

@Lulufulu He was at best going to be the 4th big at KU in 2 years. There just wasn't going to be any significant minutes projected for him. He's not a future pro at any level, so playing time is probably a priority for him and going to a mid or low major gives him that opportunity.

Heard that a little bit ago. He was mostly brought in for potential depth issues next season and because his younger brother was projected to be a good recruit at the time (4 star good). Brother didn't pan out and KU can get better players than Maxwell to develop next year since it appears Lucas will be the only loss in the front court after this year.

@Hawk8086 They have played together some this year, but not last night. Those two subbed for each other all night.

TCU's floor this year appears to be NIT and they could be a team that sneaks in the NCAA tournament this year. If they get to 8-10 in conference play with a win or two over KU, Baylor, or WVU, and win a Big 12 tournament game, and beat Auburn at home at the end of January, that would put them in the 20-21 range and in consideration for an at-large bid.

I'd say, KU, Baylor, and WVU are tournament locks for the Big 12 with ISU, OSU, Tech, TCU, and KSU having the ability to make the tournament this year. I do believe ISU and OSU will get in and that KSU, TCU and, Tech will probably come down to the end of the season for possibly 1, maybe 2 tournament bids.

@drgnslayr I don't know how much we actually see of Coleby or Lightfoot in meaningful minutes. Foul issues will probably be their biggest source of minutes, but even last night, Self never played two bigs together. It Lucas or Bragg all night, never both of them together. That's a pretty strong indicator to me that Self is going with a 7 man rotation in the post UA part of the season with Lightfoot and Coleby getting spot monutes at best.

@jaybate-1.0 Graham banged knees, he'll be fine considering he never checked out of the game after it happened. JJ's injury is his ego right now with a side case of officiating because that was his absolute worst game as a Jayhawk despite the total BS call that led to his technical and sat him for most of the second half.

That was a bad foul by Josh. No reason to challenge that far away from the basket.

That was a bullshit call on Josh. Not the best reaction by him, but a terrible call.

Officiating has been pretty inconsistent so far. Calling everything for TCU early, then KU, then inconsistent both ways.

Also nice to see KU finish 17 of 27 from the field after that 1/9 start. Pick up the defense like they did from about the 1o minute to 5 minute mark and KU wins this one comfortably.

Thank god Shepherd didn't come here. He has been our best player tonight.

@Bwag You ever notice how in the NBA, teams ratchet up the defense a few levels when the playoffs start? You also ever notice how Bill Self tends to dig into his bag of tricks in the tournament by actually playing different defenses that we almost never see in the regualr season? I would say that in Self's tournament losses, maybe 3 of them were because the defense was subpar and not the offense. This year, KU's two biggest weaknesses will be FT shooting and rebounding because that 4 guard line up will be vulnerable to elite rebounding opponents.

Nobody should have any concerns about the defense come tournament time.

FT shooting is the single biggest weakness this team has. The defense will be just fine. Graham, Lucas, and Mason are a year older and understand more when they can slack a little to conserve energy. You simply can't play with the intensity KU did in the second half against Davidson for 40 minutes a game for 40 games and make it through the season without wearing down and/or incurring injuries. KU even without UA is a better defensive team than last year's team. This team can flip the switch when necessary on defense and we've seen them do that several times this year.

KU's FT shooting is the key to KU winning a national title this year.

@JayHawkFanToo said:

Also, KU indeed recruited Buddy Hield heavily and along with OU they were his two final schools and he chose OU. ↗

Your quote. I don't see you adding any qualifiers about Hield being recruited heavily for a borderline top 100 player. All I've said about Hield is that he played HS ball in Wichita, KU's coaches saw him quite a bit because he played AAU ball with Perry, he was not heavily recruited by KU, and his offer was a token offer.

You've somehow managed to spin that into me saying that KU spent a lot of time recruiting Hield, then spun that into spent a lot of time recruiting Hield relative to him being a fringe top 100 recruit.

@jayballer54 Walton went full homer mode at the end.

@JayHawkFanToo KU was recruiting Perry Ellis at the same time so coaches were already going to Wichita to watch Ellis play. That's why they were spending so much time in Wichita. Hield and Ellis were also AAU teammates so KU coaches saw plenty of Hield while recruiting Ellis. Bill Self made Hield a low priority target even with plenty of access to him.

You claimed KU heavily recruited Hield, but haven't provided any evidence to support that claim, just a bunch of stuff that Self didn't know what Hield would become. Yes, KU did offer Hield, but they didn't spend much time recruiting him considering how much time the coaching staff spent in Wichita watching Ellis play HS and AAU ball. KU easily could've checked out Hield as much as they checked out Ellis, but chose not to do which means they did not heavily recruit Hield like youre claiming KU did.

@JayHawkFanToo You claimed KU heavily recruited Hield. Bill Self's own words contradict that statement and the two sources you just provided also contradict any notion KU seriously recruited Hield. KU recruited him to the level of someone they expected to be an 11th, 12th, or 13th scholarship guy. OU made Hield a much higher priority than KU did because can't recruit to the level KU does. Hield was a guy 3 hours away from them they expected to be a significant contributor by the end of his career, not to the extent he became, but still a top guy for them.

@JayHawkFanToo Olathe or OP, whatever, they're 5 minutes apart.

And no, KU did not heavily recruit Buddy Hield. Bill Self himself has said in the past Hield is the one guy he regrets not recruiting harder so I'll take Self's word about the recruitment of Hield over any other source.

@Kcmatt7 Define foreign players? Guys like Svi and Enes Kanter who played Euroball and never played American HS or AAU ball or guys like Embiid and Azubuike who grew up in Africa, showed some ability at camp and were brought over to the US to play HS and AAU ball?

The recruitments of Joel Embiid and Udoka Azubuike were no different than how Self and staff recruited Josh Jackson, Frank Mason, or Devonte Graham.

Svi is the only true international recruit Self has brought in that did not play HS ball in the US, did not play AAU ball in the US. He played pro ball in Ukraine for a local club team and made his name in international tournaments.

Everyone else Self has recruited to KU played HS and/or AAU ball in the US and went through the traditional recruitment process.

@BeddieKU23 Even though I won't see any of the games other than ours since I'll be driving up to Ft. Worth for the game, I'm most interested in the WVU/OSU and Tech/ISU games. How much progress has OSU made already with Underwood and how good is Tech really?

@drgnslayr He's got until the new arena opens probably and even then, UT held onto Barnes a lot longer than they should have. UT just doesn't care enough about basketball to go through coaches like they do in football.

KU's toughest games in Big 12 play will be @Iowa St. on 1/16 because that's a short turnaround game on Big Monday after a Saturday game. The 3 game stretch of @West Virginia (1/24), @Kentucky (1/28), and Baylor (2/1) could easily see KU drop 2 of 3 or possibly all 3. The good thing about this stretch is KU has 3 days leading into the WVU game, and 4 days to prep for UK and Baylor. @KSU on 2/6 is a Big Monday game after Iowa St. on Saturday.

KU may drop one or two others, but tgese are the remaining games I would have circled as potential losses remaining.

@JayHawkFanToo Not the point and I'm well aware of MoKan's history because I've probably posted about them more than anyone else here.

@JayHawkFanToo There have been kids from Kansas/KC recently that KU never recruited that went to major programs. Willie Cauley-Stein was from Overland Park and Tum Tum Nairn at Michigan St. played at Sunrise in Wichita. There was also Semi Ojeleye who committed to Duke before busting out who was from Ottawa 10 minutes south of KU. I almost forgot about Buddy Hield who played in Wichita as well.

Thise are four guys in recent years from Kansas/KC who KU never went after despite all 4 being pursued by other major programs.

@JayHawkFanToo I know WVU won that game. It's their second best win and Illinois probably isn't a tournament team this year, or a bubble team at best.

@HawkInMizery Here's an idea for an article for you. What are the odds of Billy Preston ever playing a game for KU. Given the horrible academic track records of Prime Prep and API, an article about the odds of Preston playing for KU given his academic background would be interesting, albeit possibly disappointing for KU.

I wouldn't even count Toronto area kids among the foreign born because they've pretty much all come up through the AAU system like Americans have as well.

So ESPN has WVU as the 3rd best team? Not buying it. The UVA road win is probably the second best win any Big 12 team has this year behind our neutral court win over Duke. Beyond their UVA game, they haven't played another really good team this year. They lost to a Temple team who's a bubble team at best and an Illinois team who hasn't beaten a good team yet. We don't know if that UVA win is a fluke or not.

As of today, I would pick Baylor as our biggest competition because they've been really impressive so far. Neutral court wins over Michigan St. and Louisville on consecutive nights is really impressive. Oregon and Xavier are solid top 25 teams. Baylor has looked really good this year and they look different as far as confidence goes.

I'm also surprised ESPN has Texas Tech as the 5th best team in the Big 12. Auburn is tge only team Tech has played that's going to sniff the NCAA tournament as an at large and Tech lost to them. Tech will finish bottom 1/3 of the Big 12 this year.

@rocketdog It'll be more than 2 years until the Big 12 dies. It'll happen when the TV contract is out in about 8 years or so.

@Lulufulu Are you comparing Jackson's defense to Rush as a freshman or junior? Junior Rush was better than Jackson is, but Jackson is a better defender than freshman Rush was though.

@RockChalkinTexas That was one of the conference titles we probably shouldn't have won.

@RockChalkinTexas Is that the Gameday game that KU lost by about 25?