🏀 KuBuckets Archive

A lot of expectations really depends on whether or not Braun and Wilson are back. They both should be which along with Harris will give KU a ptlretty experienced core group. Outside of those three, the rotation is going to be hurting for quality experience. I think we see Yesufu become a much larger factor in the rotation which should help some in that department. I don't think Dave returns which will leave the 5 spot wide open. Clemence, Adams, Udeh, or possibly Wilson could all end up starting at the 5 next year, but I think Self wants Clemence in that spot. I think Self views Adams as a 4 and we're starting to see Adams play some 4 now.

I agree with others that think this team could potentially struggle to score next season. I'm also not sure about what the defense will look like next season. I'm also wondering if either Dick or Rice even starts next year because would either of them start over Braun or Wilson even with a higher ceiling than either of those guys.

KU could have 2 potential OAD's in the 2022 class. Looking at various 2023 mock drafts, I've seen both Gradey Dick and MJ Rice's names as potential first round picks.

That's also crazy to think about to me because it's almost a certainty that at least one of those two comes off the bench next year.

@jayballer67 said in So where is the easy win in this league this year:

Just an absolute war every time out. Just ask Teas Tech today against K/State - -Ask Baylor losing gsme on home turf to Okie State. No matter who you are you best bring your A game night in - - night out. thee are no gimme's in this league

A big part of Texas Tech's issue today was that this was their 5th game in 10 days. Watching a little bit of that game today and it was obvious Tech had dead legs.

KU is now a 1/2 game up on TCU for 1st place in the Big 12 and Baylor is the first ever AP #1 to lose two home games in a week.

@Marco said in Post WV game thoughts:

@Texas-Hawk-10 okay, CB... What about everyone else?

I actually forgot to factor in the GMU game to Braun's stats where he was 3-12 from the field which would actually put him at 35.7% FG overall and 30% from 3.

Conference scoring average does usually take a little dip, but KU's scoring average dropped off a cliff since conferenceplay began. In non-confernce, KU averaged 85.1 ppg in non-confernce including the GMU game without Remy, 86 ppg in games Remy played. In Big 12 play where Remy has played 12 minutes total, KU has averaged 72 ppg (72.8 when adding the GMU ge Remy didn't play) and only scored 75+ once and that was today.

Was it ever realistic to expect KU to average 86 ppg in Big 12 play? No, but a 14 ppg drop in scoring average is also much more than expected as well. KU would probably be averaging in the upper 70's at 78-79 ppg in conference play with a fully healthy Remy. KU's scoring defense though has improved from 66.9 ppg allowed with Remy to 65 ppg allowed without Remy.

Bottom line is KU is much more higher scoring team with Remy than without him and only marginally better defensively without him than with him. A healthy Remy Martin makes KU a better overall team than without him.

@Marco said in Post WV game thoughts:

@Jethro yes, I'm serious. Why do we need Remy?

Remy makes everyone else better on offense, especially Christian Braun. Since Remy got hurt, Braun is only averaging 11.5 ppg, shooting 38.6% from the field, and 28.5% from 3 over tge last 4 games. KU isn't going to win anything of significance if Braun looks like he did last season on offense which he has since Remy was injured.

Even when Remy isn't scoring, everyone knows what he's capable of so you can't leave him alone to help double others because Remy can go off in a hurry. Remy forces many more 1 on 1 match ups and creates a lot more open perimeter shots because of his driving ability forcing defenses to collapse on him and leaving shooters open in the perimeter.

If KU has any hopes of reaching New Orleans this year, they have to have a healthy Remy back. And considering Self's post game conference today, I don't think Remy is going anywhere.

TCU beat OU by 1 in OT in an abomination of an offensive performance by both teams.

TCU blew a coverage on an in-bounds under the OU basket to give OU an uncontested basket to tie the game with 0.2 left to send the game to OT tied at 50.

TCU and OU are setting basketball back a few decades. 50-48 TCU with 13 seconds left.

@jessejayhawk said in WVU Game Thread:

@BShark Bobby had his problems today. Hope that he can shake the rust off. I really like his speed but it was sorely missing today

Pettiford's problems today were the same as ISU. He can't handle high major D1 level pressure defense yet. Yesufu is probably the better play against teams that pressure more than Pettiford is, but Yesufu is also still an inconsistent player as we saw with his shooting today.

@Marco said in Post WV game thoughts:

I think that we are better without Remy - more flow, more everything. Yesufu and Adams need to get more playing time, Bobby too in increments.

Yesufu gave us alot in the game, shot still not falling but perhaps turned the game with his passing and d when he came in. Adams played well also, in a more limited role.
Dave was huge, ditto Wilson and Agbaji. Braun contributed - which is what Braun can do for you (pun intended) - though in ways other than scoring alot.

Hard disagree about KU being better without Remy. With a healthy Remy, this was one of, if not, the best offenses in the nation. Getting Remy healthy for the NCAA tournament should be a top priority because this team isn't good enough defensively to shut good offenses down.

Dave also looks like he's moving a lot better than he was a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully he's over whatever hip/leg issue he was dealing with.

@wissox said in Non-KU Games:

Darn was hoping to go Tuesday to nw-Wisconsin. Tickets are kind of high and probably going to shoot up higher after they beat msu today

Doubt it spikes prices much, if at all.

@BShark said in Non-KU Games:

Hard disagree.

The game is in AFH and Kentucky was playing on emotion today because of Joe B. Hall's death. KU should be able to beat Kentucky. UK is good, but not good enough to beat Kansas in AFH as long as the AFH version of KU shows up.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in Pre West Virginia Notes:

I saw on fox sports that remy wasn't playing, unknown reason. Hmmm

I assume it's still his knee.

KU women seem to have finally turned a corner this season. Back to back road wins including tonight in Austin in OT over a top 15 Texas team.

@justanotherfan said in BIG week ahead:

KU isn't a super athletic team. Looking at the roster, other than Agbaji, there aren't any guys that are just incredible athletes.

Braun is more athletic than he gets credit for, but he's not an elite athlete. Even Agbaji is probably more along the lines of above average rather than elite.

Wilson is average or so. McCormack is average. Lightfoot is average or maybe even slightly below. Martin is average or slightly below. Harris is average or maybe slightly above. JCL is average. Yesufu is probably above average. On and on down the roster and its average, slightly above average, slightly below average.

This is a good team, but not a team that can blow you away with athletes. That's why shooting is at a premium for this team. They have to shoot it well because they can't just press and trap to turn the tide. But this team can still win. I don't love the matchups with Baylor and others, but they can still get it done. In the tournament, they will have to find a way to win in a game where their shooting deserts them, but that's where Agbaji and Braun have to take a hard hat approach to offensive rebounding when they aren't shooting well. Six total offensive rebounds won't cut it when Braun, JCL and Martin combined to shoot 6-19. You have to offensive rebound if that's what it takes to get involved offensively.

Also, 4 points, 6 rebounds in 24 combined minutes for Mitch and Dave is not good enough. If that's all you're getting productionwise, that 24 minutes needs to drop to 17 or 18. This team is better with the floor spread. Let's give Yesufu more run.

This is what I said over the summer when talking about the overall make up of the team. Self didn't necessarily improve the athleticism because KU brought back 6 of their top 7 rotation players from last year and only replaced Garrett with Remy which is a basically a push because as good as Garrett was defensively, that's how good offensively Martin can be. This is why many of the same issues from last season still exist because it's essentially the same rotation of players.

The freshman and young transfers brought in are the upgrade in athleticism, but they're also not ready for extended minutes yet. As tge competition has stepped up, we've seen Clemence get exposed for his inexperience, we've seen KJ's lack of skill on display, we've seen Yesufu's inconsistencies come through. Pettiford's been the most consistent of tge freshmen, but we'll see what happens with him once he's healthy and how much his injury hurt his development. Kyle Cuffe is a complete wildcard with what KU has in him going forward.

Combine this group with what KU has in the 2022 class, and we'll see a much more athletic team on the floor next season, but there will also be growing pains as they develop and gain experience.

Bad officiating or not, KU didn't deserve to win today. 4 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists combined from the 5 spot today with zero production from Mitch.

Also why did Remy only play 12 minutes today? Injury or something else?

@approxinfinity said in Bill Self "growth stunter":

And Xavier and oubre I think were on lesser teams to JJ but were close

Xavier was on the team that lost to Northern Iowa in the tournament and was a team that should've won the title as well as they were #1 most of the season and never ranked lower than 3rd at any point. For my money, Xavier Henry is by far the most underrated OAD to come through KU.

@Kcmatt7 said in NBA draft 2022:

CB still seeming like he would be a late 2nd round pick at best from what I've looked at.

Plenty of time to move up and he's probably gotten the eye of scouts by now though. KU needs to make sure his NIL stuff is good enough he's back for next season.

If he ends up being a late second round projection, I doubt Braun would leave this year. He'd be the man next year with a good chance to make an Ochai type of jump up the draft boards to a late 1st or early 2nd round pick.

@jayballer67 said in Non-KU Games:

Wow Iowa State made just their SECOND bucket in the entire 2nd half with like 3:29 to go in the game. - - Iowa State 2-18 in the 2nd half. - Plus they got like 5 free throws in the 2nd half

Iowa State - - - - -40 to - - - -38 with 2:50 to go in the game - - NOT IN THE HALF - -Texas Tech 42 - - -Iowa State 40 left in the game

ISU pulled out a 4 point victory 51-47.

Watching the game, Dave is not 100% and it looks like his left hip is the issue. Whenever he begins running, he has an old man hitch that wasn't there last year and I think that's a big factor in his regression this year.

Last 10 minutes was about as bad as the TCU game.

@wissox said in Non-KU Games:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Yeah, he's got some issues that are kind of scary. I guess until he got dinked in the head in 2017 he really had zero issues. I feel bad making fun of him.

He supposedly had some issues going on before the Burfict hit based on what the people with the Steelers have said at the time.

@wissox said in Non-KU Games:

I guess pro football players are quitting on their teams in the middle of games now. Antonio Brown left the field at half time shirtless today and quit. Something is wrong with that guy. I wonder if it's CTE?

I would guess CTE is part of it, but I'm also guessing bipolar or something in that area of mental health issues as well.

@Marco said in Adams:

I am not a Coach doubter, you all know, but Adams needs to play some backup 5, 4 and even some spot post-up 3. He'll have a great chance to start next year as a small 5 or at 4. I want him to play and stay in Lawrence.

I don't see Adams starting next season. I'm guessing Wilson will be back which means he'll likely be starting at the 4. Udeh or Clemence probably starts at the 5 next season. Zuby Ejiofor will also be in the mix at the 4 spot as well although I think he ends up in a similar role to Adams this season. And there's also zero chance Adams ever plays a meaningful minute at the for KU. He lacks the ball handling and shooting ability to play the 3 under Self.

@wissox said in Non-KU Games:

@mayjay What do you expect from a pro football site?

And ESPN talking heads are going to rail against skipping bowl games because ESPN owns most of the mid and lower tier bowl games that players tend to skip on. ESPN has their own agenda when they criticize players for skipping out on bowl games.

@Kcmatt7 said in Mere Chat Room:

@Jethro yea he really isn’t leaning into our strengths of having nearly unlimited guard depth. Run in transition and pressure the ball. Let the threes fly and clear the lane for drivers.

This team is not riding Big Dave and Mitch to a Final Four.

There's no defensive combination good enough to take KU to a Final Four unless KU gets a favorable draw or has Covid help. This team is probably worse overall defensively than last season because Remy is the only new rotation player and he's a major downgrade from Garrett on that end of the floor. The overall improvement in the offense does negate some of the defensive struggles, but not when KU has an off day shooting.

I think someone got a lump of coal in his stocking for Christmas and didn't have anyone to kiss last night for New Year's.

@wissox said in Non-KU Games:

Is it a breach of contract? You sign a LOI to lace em up for whomever and they give you 5 years of education in exchange for playing for them. Then you tell them, sorry, I don't want to play for you anymore, even when it's a big game.

@Crimsonorblue22 Simmons played his full season. I really don't see why he's evidence that I'm wrong. Breece Hall, another piece of evidence. I understand loyalty is no big deal.

@Kcmatt7 How am I risking their financial futures? I know injuries happen, but then why play any games? I really don't get the push back on this. But somehow I've become the bad guy for suggesting a player should honor the commitment that people made to him and helped him get to the point that after today, they can go and chase their NFL dreams?

Ben Simmons didn't play the whole season for LSU. LSU was in the NIT that season and Simmons noped out of that tournament to prep for the NBA.

Sorry, but unless a school makes the CFP, it's common for schools to lose money on bowl games due to all the travel costs involved for housing players, the band, and cheerleaders in pretty nice hotels and not enough fans traveling to lower tier bowl games.

See Marcus Lattimore or Willis McGahee for why players will sit out bowl games I stead of risking injury. McGahee lost out in millions when his knee got destroyed in Miami's Fiesta Bowl game against Ohio St. when he was a guaranteed top 5 pick in the 2003 draft prior to his injury. Marcus Lattimore never played an NFL snap because of all the injuries he suffered at South Carolina.

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

Even when we do throw a good entry pass, he doesn't score. Our offense can't be built around that.

It's not built around Dave posting up though.

Okie doke

Dave is averaging less than 10 ppg and less than 7 field goal attempts per game, but you keep claiming the offense is built on Dave posting people up.

Our offense is built on passing it to the low post. Trying to get ball reversal and then throw the ball inside. Because our entry passing sucks an because Dave can't make a dunk doesn't mean that's not our strategy.

Again, Dave is averaging less than 7 field goal attempts per game, and since he's not a guy that passes much, that means he's not posting up and getting fed at the rate you think he is.

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

Even when we do throw a good entry pass, he doesn't score. Our offense can't be built around that.

It's not built around Dave posting up though.

Okie doke

Dave is averaging less than 10 ppg and less than 7 field goal attempts per game, but you keep claiming the offense is built on Dave posting people up.

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

Even when we do throw a good entry pass, he doesn't score. Our offense can't be built around that.

It's not built around Dave posting up though.

@BShark said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

I know, the point being the defense is bad regardless of who is out there.

So then why change it to the offense when the conversation was specifically about the defense still being shit.

@BShark said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@Texas-Hawk-10 Right but the offense wasn't working with Dave in. Lightfoot did have a good spurt.

I don't disagree with that right now, but you were calling out the defense and I'm saying that line up isn't much better defensively than with Mitch or Dave in right now because Jalen Wilson is the worst defender on this team.

@BShark said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

This lineup with 3 shooters and Jalen at the 5 needs to happen more

Agree. Not like our defense is any good with Lightfoot or Dave.

It's not significantly better without them either though.

@DCHawker said in Jayhawks vs. Patriots (George Mason that is):

Ochai hasn't been nearly as aggressive going to the basket recently as he was the 2-3 games of the year....

GMU has been specifically trying to clog the paint as much as possible.

Was KU in a zone on that last possession?

Sounds like the crash happened on his way back to his girlfriend's home in Topeka after they attended the KU-Nevada game. Muscadin was not wearing a seat belt according to the crash report while the girlfriend was.

Always wear a seat belt when your in a vehicle whether you're driving or not.

@jayballer67 said in Marcus Carr:

@BShark said in Marcus Carr:

Could be leaving Texas per reports.

sorry , but who is Marcus Carr

Their big transfer that came from Minnesota that was All Big 10 last season.

And the Missouri women just knocked off #1 South Carolina by 1 in OT. Missouri made the winning shot with 0.1 left in the game.

@wissox said in Surprise (Nevada) Game Thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk My computer won't play the stuff I need it to so the Chromecast thing is moot if the computer won't play it!

Roku stick or Amazon fire stick is your best bet. Don't need a computer to use either one.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in TCU cancelled?:

Sounds like an ESPN+ game.
No pushover team either. Looks like they have good all around height, but only one guy close to Big Dave's size. Four guys in double figures. balanced.
Surprised we hadn't ever faced them before. Sounded familiar.

Nevada beat George Mason by 21 Thanksgiving week. This should be another 20+ point win for KU.

Jank forced that one.

Teahan time!

Does Yesufu end up finishing his career at KU with Harris and Pettiford here?

The crowd wants Teahan!

@BShark said in Surprise (Nevada) Game Thread:

Bill playing 3 bigs!

4 bigs

Jalen isn't a good shooter or defender. Rebounding is by far his biggest strength as a player.

Remy Martin is the lowest scoring starter for KU tonight.

@wissox said in Surprise (Nevada) Game Thread:

DHarris 2-2 on 3's? With that junior high shot?

Same thing he did last year. He was over 60% last year. It works for Harris.