🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@JayhawkRock78 Yes, I agree with you about comparing the players after they've spend time in the program. I was looking at @drgnslayr 's graph, then did some manipulation on my own. And it surprised me that Frank Mason actually had the second highest assists at 5.1 per 40 minutes while Conner was 4th at only 2.67. It might be because Conner played primarily at 2 spot.
!assists per 40.JPG ↗

2013 Average assists where Wayne averaged twice the number of minutes as Frank, and Frank averaged twice the number of Conner.
!2013 KU high avg by assists2.JPG ↗

I prefer Conner over Frank even though Conner appeared slower. Conner appeared to be in control most of the time, making good decision and have very low turn over rate. If Devonte has the speed of Frank, I think Frank may become a surplus especially he was mostly one dimensional. If Frank develops into a solid distributor over the summer and maintains his speed demon drive to the basket, Conner may have to sit.

Start: Conner Frankamp, Wayne Selden, Kelly Oubre, Perry Eliis, Cliff Alexander.
Subs: Devonte Graham, Brannen Greene, Jamari Traylor, Hunter Mickelson.

Not getting meaningful minutes: Frank Mason, Andrew White, Landen Lucas.

The starting 5 are Rivals 36, 12, 6, 24, 4, and 4 subs: 36, 29, 141, 100. The unfortunate: 76, 51, not ranked.

I'm not good at basketball strategies or analysis, so it's really great to read of the basketball discussions here. After reading @konkeyDong, HEM and all the other knowledgeable posters, the only conclusion I got was that we didn't have the right personnel to execute Coach Self's game plans. It really exposed the short coming of having to rely on mostly Freshmen to carry the load, and that is not Self ball. In Coach Self's system, it really takes more than 1, probably 2 years to get close to the full potential. Hopefully next season or the year following we will have the right combination of experience and youthfulness, we will have better results. I think having 1 OAD may augment an experienced team, but 3 definitely dummy down the team's sophistication and is not a good thing.

@RockChalkinTexas Loved it!

Wouldn't that be grand?! Hey, we may have 2 Jayhawks land in Wisconsin this year. Embiid, ya' coming?

Football looms: KU senior Tarik Black hasn’t ruled out playing NFL football. The 6-foot-9, 260-pounder recently spoke with a Green Bay Packers scout after receiving the scout’s number from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who liked what he saw of Black at a KU game last winter.

Black, who has no football experience, has heard from three NFL teams as the draft approaches, Yahoo Sports said Thursday. It’s unlikely he will be taken in the draft, but he could attend a team’s minicamp. One problem is he’d like to be a second-round NBA Draft pick.

“Basketball is my love,” Black told Yahoo. “I’m definitely going to put effort into making basketball my life. But an opportunity presented itself and I want that opportunity to hold.”

Black joked that no matter what happens, he at least has Rodgers’ cell phone number. For the story go to http://ljw.bz/1kuCEuC ↗ ↗.

@wissoxfan83 Enjoy the ride!

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Great read and analysis, @jaybate_1.0 . And I admit I'm a wuss. I could hardly pick up my 5 kilo dumb bell before my cortisone shot in the elbow, but had no trouble shoveling the heavy snow on the driveway after it. It was amazing how the level of pain messes one's mind.

If a player's scholarship is pulled and he becomes eligible to play at another school immediately, it'd solve the problem for anyone who is willing to transfer from KU. I don't think it works this way, otherwise we won't see any kid sitting out after transferring. Or if any kid does not get the deal of having the scholarship pulled and is not eligible immediately at the new school, he must have really pissed his old coach off.

@JRyman Sorry, but I didn't mean to use such strong language. Tharpe made his choices, but we can choose not to talk about it. I just find it embarrassing to be discussing it. Sorry again.

It's kind of funny that "shame" is in the conversation. Tharpe is an adult and he has the right to have a child born by a woman he is not marrying, and have pictures taken with a woman who might be about the age of his mother. He has rights and we should all respect.

@icthawkfan316 Regarding playing 8 players, I agree and disagree. Agree is because what you illustrated while disagree is because what happened to Selden, Embiid, etc. When a player is hurt, the coach should rest him until he is recovered. While the hurt player is rested, it is time for the next bench player to come on board and learn the ropes. So we still have 8 players in the rotation. I think it is beneficial to the team, the hurt player, and the bench player to rotate. If the recovered player comes back and proves better than the bench player, the bench player goes back to the bench. We gain a healthy player, and an experienced bench player. What's there to lose? I think without a developed bench, it leaves holes in March. And we leave our fate to chances that all the rotational players are healthy at the end of the season. What if Embiid were rested a month earlier and were available for March? Or Selden in December? I think we'd have much better chance of having Greene, White and Lucas developed as reliable backups for March. And we might go a little further than we did.

@drgnslayr I agree our team looked like one with the deepest bench at the beginning of the season, but somehow we couldn't find enough players to step up starting January. It may be they were banged up or maybe Coach Self's philosophy of not allowing players to learn on the job really hurt what he tries to accomplish. He needs to manage the personnel better and maximize all available resources. It's probably not a comparable situation to professional soccer. Look at Ozil of Arsenal. Arsenal had many stars, but the manager didn't rest his star player early during the season and got him burned out. Now Arsenal is struggling to make top four in the Premier League. Had he managed his players better, Arsenal might be strong toward the end of the season and challenging for the title in England. I think there is some parallel between Arsenal and KU. Both have great coaches and great players, both have very consistent performance and great regular seasons, but somehow both under perform at the end of the seasons.

@drgnslayr

I don't think it is good to give all these freshmen 30+ mpg in their first year of D1. It is such a big jump from HS in physicality... even big football stock players like Selden get banged up too much.

Maybe Wiggins got advice from his dad to cruise most of the time, but make enough effort and still be the top performer on any given night. Had he put out the maximum effort every game, he'd have burned out by January. I think most of the college players don't have the luxury of having professional advisers like Wiggins or Embiid. So they must rely on the coaching staff. And ultimately the coaches should be like the mom and dad at school. The kids may be 18, but they are no adults, or most of them.

@HighEliteMajor Excellent point!

Self rushed Embiid back from the knee injury vs. TCU, remember? We had a tough stretch of games. Bad, bad decision. We said it then. Then after that stretch, he sat him for a bit. Damage was done.

Focusing on winning during the season, perhaps the focus on the oh so important conference title, cost us Embiid in March. And a chance for bigger things

@JayHawkFanToo I watched the first half of the Summit game, Kelly was active and had at least 2 steals and 2 rebounds. He actually played some defense. I'm not sure if his shot selection was bad. He appeared to be the designated shooter and shot when he was open.

It's interesting looking at the measurements. Even though Cliff is 3 inches shorter than Myles, but the wingspan and reach are almost the same.

Cliff Alexander
Weight: 251 lbs.
Height (w/ shoes): 6'8"
Wingspan: 7'3.5"
Standing Reach: 9'0”

-Cliff Alexander doesn't have elite size for a power forward prospect, but he has good length and outstanding strength for a player still months away from playing in his first college game. As a point of reference on just how strong Alexander is, his measurements match up exceptionally with Ike Diogu who stood 6'8” in shoes with a 7'3.5” wingspan weighing 255 when he entered the draft in 2005.

Myles Turner
Weight: 242 lbs.
Height (w/shoes): 6'11.5"
Wingspan: 7'3.75"
Standing Reach: 9'1.5”

-Standing just a shade under 7-feet tall with shoes on, Myles Turner measures similarly to LaMarcus Aldridge who stood 6'11.25” with a 7'4.75” wingspan weighing 234 pounds back in 2006. Though Turner doesn't move as well as Aldridge, he has NBA size and a frame that has come a long way since he emerged on the recruiting radar. It will be interesting to see how much more weight his frame can carry.

Kelly Oubre
Weight: 204 lbs.
Height (w/shoes): 6'6.5"
Wingspan: 7'2"
Standing Reach: 8'8”

-Kelly Oubre has length akin to that of Kawhi Leonard, who stood 6'7” in shoes with a 7'3” wingspan coming into the 2011 draft. Leonard had a more mature frame weighing 227 pounds, but Oubre has the same type of unique wingspan.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2ysq4kAy2 ↗ ↗

@Lulufulu85 You don't mean to tie a couple sand bags on his ankles or a dumb bell on his waist, I hope. :-) I hope he gains more muscle, but I just don't see Conner will ever get to the body shape of Frank.

@dylans Maybe one Gram is better than Nada?

By the way, I hope Conner won't gain 15-20 pounds. It will kill any athletic ability he has. Yes, more muscles, but not weight. He will never be a post up guard and may do quite well being a feather weight. Speed and agility training probably will do him more good.

@JayHawkFanToo Thanks for the link to the interview.

I really like how Oubre expressed and presented himself. He looks like a winner. Sure hope he will be like Ben McLemore, one of my recent favorites. Ben looked to me, truly enjoyed his stay at KU and always had a infectious smile.

Kelly Oubre per Draftexpress.com,

Height w/shoes, Weight, Wingspan, Standing Reach

6'6.5", 204, 7'2", 8'8"

That's a huge wingspan, comparing to McLemore and Rush.

Ben McLemore, as a Sophomore,

Height w/shoes, Weight, Wingspan, Standing Reach

6'4.75", 189, 6'7.75", 8'4.5"

Brandon Rush, as a Junior,

Height w/shoes, Weight, Wingspan, Standing Reach

6'6.5", 211, 6'11.25", 8'8.5"

I like Frankamp's game a lot. He may not have the speed of Mason, but he demonstrated much better decision making abilities than Tharpe. He was not speedy, and the dribble was kind of awkward, but he protected the ball well, rarely stuck or got trapped like Tharpe did. And I think it showed his understanding of the game, and he anticipated the plays before they happened. I agree with other posters and think Tharpe was very careless handling the ball and threw the ball away at some very opportune times. More than once, I noticed Coach Self sat him down for making a bad play, such as launching a ill timed three pointer, then as soon as he came back on the court, he launched a three pointer right away, as if telling Coach Self, "I can make the 3 and will shoot when I want to." His recent twittergate further demonstrated his poor decision making. I think it's time to switch horses, and run with Conner and Frank, or/and someone else.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2014/apr/12/kansas-hoops-signees-reach-summit/?mens_basketball ↗ ↗

Phillip, who according to WVSports.com and West Virginia Metro News (wvmetronews.com), averaged 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season. Phillip — he hit 55 percent of his floor shots including 38 percent from three — orally committed to South Carolina in 2012 but failed to qualify academically. After sitting out his senior year at Brooklyn (N.Y.) Academy, Phillips averaged 26 points and seven assists a game his postgraduate season at Queen City Prep in Charlotte, N.C.

I think he has the potential to take over Tharpe's minutes and may even lead the team as the starting PG. I don't know if he has good enough handle, but his assist numbers are pretty good for the point. He will be a junior, but I have feeling he is 22 already after sitting out and spending time at the juco. He should have the mental toughness to play for Coach Self after all he committed to Frank Martin at South Carolina.

@drgnslayr Great thought!

@bskeet Thanks for putting the picture here. It belongs to the permanent archive on this site.

@JRyman Thanks for the link.

[Blazer promotion](

@truehawk93 Hairspray Oubre?

By the way, Joel if you read this site.

If you ever land in Milwaukee, come up sometimes and I will introduce some Cameroonian friends of mine to you. :)

Congratulations to Embiid!

Guess you are taking your lions share somewhere else next season. All the best to you!

@truehawk93 That's a great a job!

@truehawk93 Have been thinking hard.

Hard to rhyme Oubre with anything

Ondele Oubre??? Then again I haven't heard his last name spoken so I don't know

Me gusto, me gusta, Oubre, Ooubrah! :)

@drgnslayr President Reagan, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

That was the end of an era. And the following year, we won the Championship!

@ralster I don't know the Wiggins, but here might be a play Justin Wesley is directing.

Mrs: Hi, Coach. It's really good to see you again and we are considering handing you the number one recruit.

Coach: Great!

Mr: Well, we trust you to be the right man to prepare him for the next step. Teach him as much as he can learn, push him as much as he can take, but please don't get him beat up. I know how physical it is at this level.

Coach: Oh, sure. Don't worry. I will take really good care of him.

Mrs: We know Kansas is a hotbed for getting the players ready for the league, and KU has really good national exposure. He is the number one recruit this class, and is projected to be the number one pick next June. And we'd love to keep it that way.

Coach: Certainly! We are on TV all the time and I don't see anyone on the team having the level of talent as Andrew. So he will have the spotlight no doubt.

Mrs: We will take your words for that. [smiles]

Coach: Sure, you bet. [shake hands]

@wissoxfan83 Great memories!

I bought my wife a Championship T, but now only have the picture of it and the memory of the crazy celebration. It was wonderful and thanks for the reminder.

Nice!

@drgnslayr

I felt if Embiid was over emphasizing his injury to skip March games it was because he was afraid to turn pro soon. By sitting out it helped pull the light off of him for a bit and perhaps eased pressure to go pro. I still highly doubt that happened. But that was what my gut felt concerning even the possibility of such a thing.

I don't know Embiid's family, so here is just my pure speculation. I think Embiid's NBA connection/adviser alerted the family of the risks of playing hurt, so the family asked Coach Self to hold Jo Jo out. The family/adviser might have given Coach Self a date they'd allow Jo Jo to compete again in the tournament. He is after all the family enterprise now, so it is just proper to take all the precautions and protect their investment.

On the other hand, it might also be possible that Coach Self wanted Wiggins to shine without Embiid taking the spotlight, which could also be a request from Wiggins' family to help maintain Andrew's draft stock. So he was gladly obliged to adhere Embiid's family's request, and kept his promises to both families.

Hindsight of Embiid's missing out on participating in the tournament, Jo Jo (maybe not his family) may be regretting sitting out the Stanford game. That could have been his one chance of experiencing the most important and exciting tournament in college. Could that be a motivation for him to come back? I wish.

Maybe Embiid is waiting for his parents to come to the States. If there is no news of his dad coming, it may indeed be good news. It might be the young man's decision, but it will not be made without the presence of his parents.

@FarSideHawk That is a very good observation. Maybe the receipe for success with a group of OADs is giving the OADs complete freedom to do what they were doing in high school and let their natural talent take over. So you either get beat in the first round of NIT or get to Final 4.

Maybe that is Naadir's girlfriend though I don't know. Below is Naadir's daughter and she has lighter skin than Naadir.

!Naardir Tharpe's daughter ↗

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/oct/29/kus-naadir-tharpe-enamored-his-little-girl/ ↗ ↗

@JayHawkFanToo If Embiid were still playing soccer, I'd say he has the potential to become a taller version of Peter Crouch. But the second coming of the Dream is pretty cool too.

By the way, I enjoyed the ride even with all the distractions of media hype, but I'd enjoy the ride a lot more if we advance past my base expectation. I like the meat and potato, but having a little gravy would be better.

@KUSTEVE Based on your stats of the past 8 seasons, next year we are due for a Elite 8 or better appearance. So will it be at least Elite 8 without Embiid or as least Final 4 with Embiid?

I'd like to think our big men are the anchor of the team and they don't do that well in one year in Coach Self's system because it is difficult to learn for the big men.

I'd like Coach Self review the last loss of the season and learn from the mistakes and makes adjustments in the future. Coach mentioned in the past that he does not watch the last game of the season, and I 't think that is the right attitude.

@icthawkfan316 "cancer" may be too strong a word, but I remember his sideline antics. There was enough sarcasm in his cheers that gave me the feeling that he was all about himself. No, I don't know him personally, but I recognize the type of person he was. Not someone I want to be around.

@HighEliteMajor I'd keep Tharpe. Tharpe has limitations, but he also had a few outstanding games. I don't remember who said it, but I agree that a less talented player can play at a higher level, but he will have to maintain his level with much more effort than the more talented players. This season we've seen Wiggins cruise plenty of times, but he was still the high scorer out of those games. Had Wiggins put out his maximum effort every game, he would not have to wait until the last a few games to score 40+. Back to Tharpe, I always believe the higher class men are more valuable than the freshmen. Imagine we had 2 players of TRob's quality against Kentucky's freshmen or TRob with Withey last year. Who can say we wouldn't have won the NC in 2012 or 2013? Tharpe has limitations, but he has 3 years of experience under Coach Self. I'd start Frankamp with Mason backup, then Tharpe in the same role as Frankamp was this season. He will give us some good games sometimes next season, but I agree and don't see him as the focus of the team.

@dylans Way to carry the torch! Thanks.

@bskeet My friend, I wish him come back, but I wish him the best whatever he chooses. The kid doesn't owe anyone, but himself and his family. I'm a huge fan of Embiid and thought he played hard and played himself into stardom. No doubt he had a lot of natural talent, but there is also little doubt that his hard work put him in this position. I will miss him if he leaves.

I can't believe what I'm reading here. You guys are hypocrites. Joel Embiid might be leaving and now suddenly he is the bad guy. And some of you came out saying he didn't bring anything to KU. What a group of fair weather fans. Make me sick!

@Crimsonorblue22 By the way, Ben was not a Freshman. Even if he were, he left as man who took his responsibilities with him. TRob was man who left early to take care of his responsibilities. I'm not a fan of proclaimed OADs, but I'm not against all OADs because they are all different.

@Crimsonorblue22 I can't advice others' kids, but I told mine to put all his effort into what he thinks are his goals. Now I know he doesn't hear me as well as he should, but I made sure he heard me enough times. He is no athlete, but I hope he achieves more than I did.