🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Can we please stop trying to compare Sherron in any season to Dejuan Harris? Their games have very little in common.

Sherron was always a score/shoot first PG that only played PG because of his height, otherwise he'd have been a 2. Sherron's game was to drive and use his size to initiate contact and try to draw fouls which was a consistent source of frustration with him over the years.

Harris is not someone who drives looking to score or initiate contact. Harris shot 24 FT's all season in about 1150 minutes. Harris also has a much different body type that Sherron did which has a huge influence on the differences in their games.

Would I love to have a Sherron type PG this upcoming season that could go get a bucket whenever he wanted? Absolutely because this team next season will very likely be on that's prone to having some long scoring droughts, but we have Harris who is much better at protecting the ball and facilitating offense than Sherron was.

None of that is knocking either player, they just play very different styles of PG that each have/had their own strengths and weaknesses.

@DanR said in Reasons to believe in next year’s team:

Gradey/Zach/Harris trio can put up plenty of points. Need a high jumping big to do nothing but flush lobs and set screens and one wild dog like KJ to rebound. Gold

That'll be Ernest Udeh early on. He's going to be the guy that plays 10-15 minutes a game amd has a few foul outs because he's a very aggressive defender and won't have to worry about playing extended minutes. Maybe not as physically imposing as Doke, but similar mindset and style of defense when Doke was playing behind Landen Lucas.

@drgnslayr said in Imagine!:

@Texas-Hawk-10

I'm concerned with outside shooting, too. But I also see what McCullar brings in known areas and I'm not convinced he won't shoot a respectable % from trey in our lineup.

I don't think we need such a high-power offense as we had this year if we have elite defense. He's a huge step forward with our defense.

I don't disagree that the defense should be improved next season, but at the same time, the offense is shaping up like one of those offenses that tends to have long stretches of struggling to score and underachieving in March when they run up against another top defensive team.

@drgnslayr The concern about outside shooting with this team is a legitimate issue. The players likely to start at the 3 and 5 spots appear to best shooters among the projected starters, Yesufu could be in the mix too depending on how crafts the line up. If the starting line up ends up being Harris, McCullar, Dick, Wilson/Rice/Adams, and Clemence, I'd expect defenses to guard the way they did Harris last season by sagging off and taking away the driving lanes amd forcing KU to shoot outside shots.

Imagine if Phog Allen wasn't forced to retire and allowed to coach until he chose to retire. How more titles would KU have at that point because of what Allen could've achieved with Wilt?

We know one opponent for next season now. KU will host Seton Hall in the Big 12/Big East Challenge.

@Jethro said in KU/Big 12 NBA draft decisions thread:

@tis4tim said in KU/Big 12 NBA draft decisions thread:

@Jethro said in KU/Big 12 NBA draft decisions thread:

Speaking of Matthews, it appears Matthew Mayer is going to UNC. Going to take the Brady Manek role.

But is he going to take the mullet?

I think he already has one. I always thought Mayer was better than Manek- UNC is going to be STOUT next year.

UNC should be preseason #1 and the title favorites going into next season. Hubert Davis seemed to figure it out after the Duke loss. UNC went 13-3 after that game and genuinely looked like a top 10 team for most of that stretch of games too. Bacot and Davis will likely be on the short list of NPOY candidates next season and if Caleb Love can become more consistent, they very well could cut the nets down next season.

@drgnslayr Winning 5 titles in the modern era of the NCAA Tournament (1985 when the field expanded to 64) could definitely be argued as more impressive than what Wooden had to do when only conference champs made the tournament. Some of those USC teams from that era finished in the top 5 and missed the NCAA Tournament because of that rule. Winning 6/7 games in Coach K's era vs. winning 4 games in Woodens era.

@approxinfinity said in Everything Bill Self:

@Texas-Hawk-10 good butterfly effect theory. Does seem like some recruitments could have anowballed from there. Though its hard to imagine Illinois as a nike flagship. Illinois brand wouldnt sell like Duke or Kentucky?

Kentucky was way down prior to Cal showing up and was struggling in recruiting big time. In the 4 years prior to Calipari, Kentucky had lost 12+ games each season amd had lost 10+ games in 5 of their previous 9 seasons. Once Pitino's players filtered out, UK struggled in recruiting and wasn't until Calipari and Worldwide Wes showed up that they returned as a flagship program. The end of Tubby Smith's time at Kentucky and 2 seasons of Billy Gillespie at UK had them trending the wrong way in regards ro relevance.

In a different timeline where Self stayed at Illinois, I could definitely see them becoming a flagship program for Nike and the Jordan Brand due to the proximity to Chicago.

I think Jalen Wilsin leads the team in scoring in the 14-15 ppg range. I think we see three others averaging double figures and I think those other three in no particular order will be Zach Clemence, Gradey Dick, and Joseph Yesufu.

@approxinfinity said in Everything Bill Self:

@Texas-Hawk-10 ah. Good point. But i dont think the Duke guys and Kentucky guys go there.

If Self wins the 2005 title at Illinois, does Derrick Rose end up at Illinois or does WWW still get him to Cal at Memphis? If Rose ended up with Self at Illinois, does Calipari ever do enough at Memphis to get the Kentucky job? The Derrick Rose question in that scenario is probably the biggest impact on Self and Cal in an alternate universe.

@approxinfinity said in Everything Bill Self:

@wissox The shoeco train couldn’t be stopped. I seriously doubt most of the guys you mentioned play for Self at Illinois. Im sure he saw he’d have much more consistent access to higher pedigree of talent going to Kansas.

Illinois is a Nike school and Self is a much better recruiter than Weber ever was so I wouldn't be surprised if Self could've landed quite a few of those guys. I think he probably could've cleaned up pretty well on St. Louis too

@Crimsonorblue22 said in Everything Bill Self:

How many times did Roy beat Self?

At least once. KU beat Illinois in the 2002 Sweet 16.

@BigBad said in Next Year's Team Thread:

🐦 View Tweet

How bad are the rest of this draft class at defense that CB is considered one of the top defenders in this class?

Jalen Wilson will be a 3 at the next level and if he can show progress in that area in his game, specifically being able to take players 1 on 1 and shooting the 3 better, he'll end up playing his way into being a draft pick.

Not an NBA Draft decision, but former Texas Tech forward Marcus Santos-Silva signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns to try and make their team as a TE.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in Next Year's Team Thread:

@BShark not enough schollies.

How is it not enough scholarships to bring in two transfers? KU is losing Remy, JCL, and Mitch to eligibility, Ocahi and Dave appear set to pursue professional careers, and Braun is most likely gone which puts KU at 6 openings. As of now, KU only has 4 incoming players if everything else holds which means 2 more spots available for transfers.

@jayballer67 He had 10 defensive rebounds in about 180 minutes. His defensive rebounding rate was 6%. He was sub 10% in total rebounding for the season. Bobby Pettiford outrebounded KJ on the defensive glass in 60 fewer minutes on the season.

To be a decent rebounder, those numbers should be around 20% on the defensive end and 15% total rebounding. I'm not asking for him to turn into T-Rob on glass. I'm not even asking for him to be freshman Silvio DeSousa on glass. BTW, KJ and Silvio played almost the exact same number of minutes (178 for KJ to 175 for Silvio) as freshmen and Silvio grabbed 74 total rebounds (24%) and 41 defensive rebounds (25%). Those were elite level numbers.

Perry Ellis as a senior was a bad rebounder at 11% total rebounding and 14.5% defensive rebounding rates. I'll be fine if KJ is better than that at rebounding, but 4 defensive rebounds in 90 minutes is simply not good enough in the Big 12 for someone who plays the 4 or 5 spot as their primary position.

@jayballer67 And if he never becomes a multidimensional player, his role will never evolve beyond what it was last season while he's at KU. You can't be a 4 or 5 at KU and expect extended minutes when you can't rebound. His rebounding is why he didn't get more opportunities against good teams because despite his defense, he was a net negative on the floor because he couldn't end other teams possessions and gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds and extra possessions to other teams.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in Next Year's Team Thread:

If he can play D like Self wants, he can figure out the rebounding. He's a kid the really loves and is happy at KU!

It doesn't matter how good a defender he ends up being if he can't get a defensive rebound and end a possession because eventually the other team will score a basket. To give exact numbers, KJ Adams had 10 defensive rebounds in 178 minutes played. Only 4 of those defensive rebounds came against P5 teams. This is something that he specifically needs to spend time working on and focusing on this off-season because it's not something that's just going to come naturally to him.

Kyron Johnson taken in the 6th round at 181 by the Philadelphia Eagles.

KJ has to learn how to rebound to really add any value beyond spot minutes at KU. I know others have talked about him needing to develop his shooting, but for as much time as he spent at the 5 last season, he is far and away the worst rebounder I have ever seen. That skill to me is more important to KJ's future minutes than scoring is. Bobby Pettiford had more defensive rebounds than Adams did this season despite playing the 1 or 2 spot and playing 60 fewer minutes this season.

@BShark said in 2022 Transfer Portal Thread:

@tis4tim The same reason most of these kids go to most schools. Exposure and well you know the rest.

Have you ever been to Lubbock? I believe it is the most isolated P5 school in the country, even more so than Washington St. I can't think of any other P5 schools that are a 4+ hour drive to a major metropolitan area (1 million+ residents) and Lubbock is about 5 hours from the D/FW area.

Lubbock is also an ugly city and area. People make jokes about Kansas being flat, that area of Texas flat and has minimal diversity of vegetation. There'd have to be some very special reason for me to ever want to make that drive to Lubbock. I know several Tech alums who have never been back to Lubbock because of how isolated and boring of a city it is for anyone not in school there.

@drgnslayr How do you figure Duke being a clown show right now? They're coming off a Final Four appearance, first regular season ACC title in 10+ years, and have the #1 recruiting class coming in despite the transition to Scheyer. Scheyer will definitely be under pressure from the get go, but I don't see anything about what's going on there this off-season during the transition to make me think it's a clown show in Durham at the moment. Duke will at worst be a preseason top 10 team next year.

@wissox My personal philosophy is that I generally only buy shirts for regular season championships, Final Four appearances, and national titles. Occasionally, I'll buy the March Madness short if I like the design of it.

@drgnslayr Adams was a huge reason for Beard's success at Tech.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in 2022 Recruiting Thread:

@Texas-Hawk-10 so is he a big KU guy? How many bought those?

No connection to KU. He just runs promotions like that several times a year and places huge bets as way to recoup money if the outcome results in a lot people getting free furniture. He's been doing this for years now, but Gaines national attention in 2017 when the Astros won their first World Series and he had to go to multiple sports books to bet millions on the Astros because of how much money was going to lose in giving away free furniture.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in 2022 Recruiting Thread:

🐦 View Tweet?s=21&t=ZTJ6KqfVvJq8Jw-dpWOqCg

Who's this guy? Why is Self in Houston visiting him?

That is Mattress Mack, the guy who bet millions on KU winning the title. He owns a furniture store here and ran a promotion where if someone bought a $3000 or more mattress and KU won, you got it for free. He invited Self to Houston to meet the people who got free mattresses because of the promotion.

@wissox Each Teahan also redshirted while at KU and made a Final Four in their first and last seasons at KU so just like Lebron needs a Jayhawk to win an NBA title, Self needs a Teahan to make a Final Four.

Perhaps the least surprising announcement in regards to a players future, Ochai Agbaji officially declared for the draft today.

@drgnslayr said in KU/Big 12 NBA draft decisions thread:

@Texas-Hawk-10

Where do you see these guys going in the draft?

Wilson isn't getting drafted and should come back, Braun's best case scenario is he kills it at the combine and workouts and is a late 1st round pick. More likely, Braun grades out as an early to mid 2nd round pick amd his decision likely comes down to how much coming back and improving his consistency helps his draft stock next season. I think more than likely, Braun has played his last game for KU.

@drgnslayr said in What no one wants to mention Jay Wright retiring?:

@BeddieKU23

Gradey? I don't think so.

Yes, MJ Rice and Gradey Dick are on enough 2023 mock drafts to where both of them should be considered potential OAD players. Neither are surefire OAD, but both have the potential to be that type of good next season.

@BShark said in Next Year's Team Thread:

I think sucks is a reach given his output his SO year. He was a solid starter that turned into a great one this year.

His output as a sophomore was 38% from the field and 34% from three while being a massive liability on defense and being a non factor way too frequently. He scored 5 or fewer points 10 times as a sophomore. He wasn't solid as a sophomore, he was bad. Braun's play was a big reason why Self said KU needed to get more athletic because he was a huge factor in KU losing 9 games and dropping out of the top 25 for the first time in over 10 years.

@BShark said in Next Year's Team Thread:

@Jethro Remember the posters on 247 that were saying CB sucked after the 20-21 season? Good times...

To be fair, Braun did suck during the 20-21 season and why a lot of people including me didn't think he should be a starter last off-season. There was merit to the line of thinking this time last year because Braun was a black hole on both ends of the floor way too frequently thar year. Obviously Braun improved enough to where he might be an NBA player next season when that was unthinkable 12 months ago.

@drgnslayr said in KU/Big 12 NBA draft decisions thread:

Guys like CB and JWil need to get NBA feedback... this is a must! Realistically... they both should realize how much they improved this past 12 months, think about how much they can improve in the next 12 months, and make a decision. From my perspective, they should both return and use Och as the example of why it pays to have patience and continue to work hard.

Wilson really didn't improve very much this season and probably actually hurt his stock this year with his drop off in outside shooting. Jalen is projected as a 3 at the NBA level and has to show that he consistently make an outside shot and be able to take a player off the dribble which isn't very good at either. His rebounding and transition game are pluses, but I honestly don't ever see Jalen catching on in the NBA. He doesn't shoot well enough to be a stretch 4 and not athletic enough to be a 3 at the NBA level.

Braun needs to stay in the draft to me. I don't think he can boost his stock into the lottery the Agbaji did because Braun is an average defender whereas Agbaji is an above average defender that can guard 1-4.

@wissox said in Ochai Agbaji:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Thanks for the fact check, had never heard that aspect of it.

They both played basketball for the Panthers.

@BShark said in What no one wants to mention Jay Wright retiring?:

@BigBad said in What no one wants to mention Jay Wright retiring?:

"Lost the edge" yet still makes a final four. He was at the top of his game for sure.

He was one of the best. We didn't "solve" Nova. They played a great game, basically shot similar to 2018. We shot OUT OF OUR MINDS thank god lol.

That 2018 Villanova team is probably the best team I've seen in person and probably a top 3 team I've seen period.

Bill Self and Jay Wright coached against each other 4 times in the NCAA tour tournament and the winner always went on to win the NCAA championship. They are the two best coaches of this era to me.

@Gorilla72 The firm he's using has an NCAA certified agent so Jalen can still come back if he chooses to.

@wissox said in Ochai Agbaji:

@drgnslayr His parents are Wisconsin grads and he was thought to be headed to Wisconsin at one point if my memory is correct.

His parents are UW-Milwaukee grads.

@jayballer67 said in EMPEROR OF BASKETBALL:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in EMPEROR OF BASKETBALL:

Bill Self is currently the only active D1 men's basketball head coach with multiple national championships, at least according to official NCAA records since nobody officially won the 2013 title.

No it was mentioned yesterday, I think it was off an ESPN article it's now Him & Rick Pitino as the only one's

Read the section after the comma.

Bill Self is currently the only active D1 men's basketball head coach with multiple national championships, at least according to official NCAA records since nobody officially won the 2013 title.

Former West Virginia Mountaineer and current Kentucky Wildcat Oscar Tshiebwe announced he is returning to Kentucky today. That's big time for UK and should make them even more attractive to transfers.

@Gorilla72 said in 2022 Transfer Portal Thread:

Didn’t see this anywhere else, but saw where K’s grandson entered the Portal. He was at Duke last year.

He's dropping down in competition for more playing time. Only appeared in 13 games for 29 total minutes in his 3 years. He's supposed to graduate this spring/summer and should have 2 years to play somewhere as a grad transfer.

@wissox said in Maui 2023:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Wisconsin might struggle next year.

Wisconsin wasn't one of the 4 teams I was referring to. KU obviously, Tennessee and Dayton are on just about every Way Too Early Top 25 list out there and USC is the 4th team that's currently hovering in the 26-30 range in a lot of those rankings.

Baylor forward Jeremy Sochan declared for the draft today.

@tis4tim said in Maui 2023:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Maui 2023:

Battle 4 Atlantis is a pretty stacked field as well. Not as strong as Maui in 2023, but still pretty good. KU, Tennessee, Dayton, Wisconsin, USC, NC State, Butler, and BYU.

4 of those teams could easily be ranked for the tournament.

Too bad we wouldn’t still have Remy. His line drive shots would be simpatico with the extra low ceiling at B4A.

Dejuan Harris should shoot great in that environment.

@justanotherfan said in Next Year's Team Thread:

@BeddieKU23 said in Next Year's Team Thread:

Keep seeing Tshiebwe may return to UK for a multi-million dollar NIL deal. Any truth to this? Wild

Tshiebwe isn't a great fit at the NBA level. Too small to play as a center, not a good enough shooter to play the 4. He's a great college player, but may not find a role as a pro.

Aas great a rebounder as he is, Tshiebwe will find a role in the NBA. He also has a 7-4 wingspan so he won't have an issue playing the 5. I wouldn't expect him to be a superstar but he's definitely someone I could see as a role player for 10+ years in the league based on his rebounding alone.

Battle 4 Atlantis is a pretty stacked field as well. Not as strong as Maui in 2023, but still pretty good. KU, Tennessee, Dayton, Wisconsin, USC, NC State, Butler, and BYU.

4 of those teams could easily be ranked for the tournament.

Has anyone from KU announced anything official yet or is that still coming over the next couple of weeks now that the title celebration events are mostly over?

@Jethro said in Next Year's Team Thread:

@jayballer67 I think the only way he leaves for the draft is if the NCAA hammers us b4 the draft. If I'm wrong, I assure you I will be the first to admit it. I say he declares for the draft with the option to come back, and he takes that option and comes back. I could be wrong- I was wrong about Embiid. But I don't think so...lol.

I'd love CB to be back, but if the feedback he gets is that he'll be a late first-early second round pick, he's likely gone because he won't improve his draft stock very much coming back.