🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Also see today's News Digest, February 1, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 31, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 31

Our Daily Threads for February 1:

Please add today's threads here.

Yesterday's threads:

Jan 31: UNICAST Uniform Forecast for UT Game - @jaybate

UNICAST, formerly known as Basketball Uniform Forecasts, Inc., of Netherland Antilles, now of Lichtenstein, has announced its expectation for the uniforms KU will likely wear in Austin, Texas, against the University of Texas Longhorns.

Jan 31: Why I could root for Texas - @HighEliteMajor

Some images are burned into our memories ... Hook 'em Horns!

Jan 31: We the People Gov. web site - @JRyman

So I saw a news story where someone went on to this web site and started a petition to have Justin Bieber deported and they already had over 120,000 signatures in about 10 days, it only takes 100,000 for the Presidents staff to have them look at it and make a statement.

So with that in mind can we start one to get Doug Gottlieb off of TV, radio and internet?

Jan 31: Is soft start paying hard dividends? - @jaybate

Self started the season with a shorter boot camp and less heavy workload. He said he did this to compensate for the longer season. Is KU's use current uptick due to the fact that many other teams did not do what self did, and so are hitting the midseason wall sooner than KU? Will KU miss the wall, or just hit it a few weeks later?

Jan 31: Carrot in Front, Bullwhip in Back... - @drgnslayr

Motivation VS Competitiveness

There is a difference between motivation and competitiveness. Motivation is the fuel for energy, focus and execution leading up to and during the big event. Most of motivation isn't experienced by the fans because it is in use before the event... in the gym, video room, team room, etc. Motivation helps babysit players, keeps them directed away from bad avenues outside of their sport and focused on the big picture of winning.

Jan 31: Compilation of Stats Sites - @bskeet

Will you all please help assemble a collection of sites that provide stats that are interesting/useful? It would be most helpful if when you list a site, give its name, URL and what it's significance is or what it uniquely excels at.

I think this would be a useful reference for all the members of the site as the season matures.

Jan 30: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs ISU - Jan 29 - @drgnslayr

Now THAT was some exciting basketball played last night in AFH! A supercharged explosion out of the blocks for Kansas, that set the tone for the entire night; big time energy for 40 minutes! These teams like to play each other because they create a powerful synergy when they go after it.

There were many things to consider this time, when picking the winner of the FLOOR BURN AWARD. Wayne Selden had a show-stopping save in the opening minutes that might have made the Sportscenter's Play of the Day reel had Naadir not fumbled it away trying too hard to advance the ball.

Jan 30: Kansas Jayhawks... meet Oklahoma City Thunder! - @drgnslayr

My wife must really love me. There is no other possible reason why she would tolerate me during basketball season. During this time of year, basketball rules our DVR hard drive. All other content eventually gets tossed away to make room for more game footage. Anything "basketball" gets targeted for recording; talk basketball shows, some NBA, all college ball, sometimes HS ball, documentaries about basketball, movies about basketball, vintage old games being rebroadcast, etc. etc. etc.

Often I get ideas by putting miscellaneous games side-by-side for my viewing pleasure. Last night, I caught the Oklahoma City Thunder's total beat down on the Miami Heat and then went directly to the tip-off of Kansas and Iowa State.

Jan 30: KU Player's Studio: Video Interviews with KU Greats - @jaybate

A few minutes ago I was writing to slayr about what a good selection Perry Ellis was for slayr's Floor Burn Award this week. At the end, I commented that Perry seemed to me to have moved beyond trying to be aggressive and finally became aggressive. He went from acting a role to being a role. This reminded me of the Actor's Studio TV show hosted by former Actor's Studio Dean James Lipton, in which he interviews former students agh the Actor's Studio that have gone on to fine careers.

Then it hit me.

Jan 29: Extra Pass Makes Selden Crucial and Other Things - @jaybate

JNew's story about Embiid and doubling has triggered some opining.

How much doubling KU sees depends a lot on whether Embiid is good to go, or a gimp being used as an early decoy.

If Lucas/Black play a lot of 5, ISU is quite likely NOT to double either, until one of them proves a threat in the paint.

Jan 29: Landen Lucas - @drgnslayr

Landen is quickly becoming a Jayhawk favorite because of his patience, positivity and performance. He must be the best post 5th-man in college basketball.

Could he be the difference in a league game this year? Yes, he could be, and the game he could impact most will be played tonight in AFH.

Jan 28: One Inch - @HighEliteMajor

One inch.

One inch decides so many things in life. Vince Lombardi famously said that "Life's a game of inches." And every sport is decided by inches. Against TCU, our season may have been decided by one inch. The extra one inch that Joel Embiid's knee did not bend backwards. One more inch, Embiid’s ACL was done.

Jan 28: 300,000,000 Hoopahs or Cha-Ching! -@jaybate

Some times board rats wonder how Andrew Wiggins can be rumored to be awaiting some kind of mega endorsement deal.

Think about this number: 300,000,000.

That is the estimated number of human beings that play basketball on planet earth presently, according to the ever suspect Wikipedia.

Jan 28: What if... What if... What if... -@drgnslayr

What if Dr. James Naismith was in Springfield, Virginia instead of Springfield, Massachusetts and didn't have peach baskets, only apple crates?

Would we be playing basketball today on a square rim?

Jan 28: Some Ways to Get in Iowa State Fans Heads Before the Game - @jaybate

~Insist on mis-spelling their school's name as follows: Eyeowa Steight Psiklonz.

~Tell them that Self-Stalking is caused by GMO corn.

~Remind them that corn-based E-85 has less energy density than 87 Regular.

Jan 28: Does the best freshman PG play in Kansas? - @TheDrunkenJhawk

For the entire college basketball season it has been said that the best freshman point guard in the nation plays for Syracuse. Tyler Ennis was a five star recruit, and a McDonald's All American, with offers from prominent colleges such as UCLA, Memphis, Illinois, Cincinnati, and defending national champion Louisville.

Ennis has helped the Orange to an undefeated start to the season, while starting at arguably the most important position on the floor he has averaged 12.0 ppg, 5.4 apg against only 1.4 topg, and 2.5 spg...

Jan 28: It's #1 Seed Or Bust: The Path To The Title - @HighEliteMajor

Kansas now seems back in the mix for a #1 seed. Seemed improbable three plus weeks ago. But here we are. Back in the discussion. This fact may be the most important development in our pursuit of a national title.

However, with four losses and a challenging conference road ahead, a #1 seed seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Right now, there are two undefeated teams that look like locks for a #1 seed: Arizona and Syracuse. Then there’s Wichita St., who might run the table; and a host of others -- San Diego St., Kentucky, Florida, Michigan St., or Michigan -- for that last spot. Lots of competition with two that have beaten us head to head.

Jan 27: 1-1-1-2/Say What! Or Out of the Cradle Endlessly Masking - @jaybate

Though it flew under radar, as in almost no one seemed to comment, Self deployed that rarest of rare zone presses, yes, a 3/4 court 1-1-1-2.

SAY WHAT?!

Yep the one and only time I saw it was against Arizona State a few years back, when that little known Okie Baller was interim head coach and was assisted by some connoisseur of weird defenses. Both names I now forget. They ran the 1-1-1-2 and it gave KU some problems beyond simple surprise and recognition. Why?

Jan 27: SOME POSSIBLE UNDERHANDED HOIBERG STRATEGIES FOR THE LAWRENCE REMATCH - @jaybate

Hoiberg sends ISU stalker fan down to follow Bill around until Bill can't sleep the night before the big game.

Jan 26: Three Cheers for Welsh and Shroff! - @drgnslayr

The TCU game was not the most-exciting game in Jayhawk history, but it also wasn't the most-offensive commentated game we've had to tolerate either! In fact, the commentators did an excellent job!

How about a big Jayhawk shout out to Tim Welsh and Anish Shroff for doing the best commentating of a Jayhawk game in years... maybe decades!

Jan 26: Night Hawks Waiting for Another Title - @jaybate

Not for rebroadcast, reproduction, re-transmission or re-distribution in any form. Not intended for commercial exploitation of any kind.

Jan 26: StubHub General Admission tickets? -@JayhawkFan1954

StubHub is allowing people selling General Admission seats to post actual row and seat numbers and also state that "your seats will be together" even if a person buys 8 or 10 tickets....

Jan 25: THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN - @jaybate

~Try to visit all 1,000 natural gas wells tapping the Barnett Shale formation under Fort Worth. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2-5 acres in size. City ordinances permit them in all zoning categories. Some wells are secured by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.

~Skip the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and go straight to the adjacent National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Women already in the hall of fame include Georgia O'Keefe, Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, Dale Evans, Enid Justin, Temple Grandin, and Sandra Day O'Connor. As you view the honor to Sandra Day O'Connor recall It was reputedly at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress at 529 14th Street NW in Washington D.C. that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up Sandy baby" because she was "too tight" when the two reputedly met at dinner.[29] Riggins then reputedly fell asleep under the table.[30] The incident created a national stir.[citation needed] The next time Ms O'Connor and John Riggins reputedly met at a function years later, she reputedly gave Riggo a dozen roses.[31] {The above was found at John Riggins wiki page.}

Jan 25: tough losses by coach @lighthawk

Thinking of the TCU game last year as a heavy surprise it wasn't a tough loss, rather it made a point and chance for coach to bring lofty team to reality, get ready for the rest of season and March in March.

Tough loss by coach: Ted Owens, Wichita State and Texas Western. Larry Brown, Oklahoma AFH & Duke Final Four Dallas Roy Williams, Arizona Elite Eight & Syracuse Bill Self, maybe it was Bill's 5th loss against Missouri, oops my bad, played MU 19 times and only lost 4 of them, sweet!

Jan 24: HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Jan 24: Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Also see today's News Digest, January 30, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 29, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 29

Also see today's News Digest, February 1, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 31, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 31

Also see our Daily Threads, February 1, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 31, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 31

! ↗

Please add stories here

Young, overachieving UT awaits KU ↗

Austin, Texas — Texas, which had some stellar basketball teams during Rick Barnes’ first 15 years at the Lone Star State school, was expected to be in all-out rebuilding mode for the 2013-14 season.

KU basketball prepares for battle of bigs against Texas ↗

AUSTIN, Texas — Through seven games in Big 12 play, Kansas has spent most of its time trying to chase down the smaller lineups like Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Iowa State.

Keegan: 'Horns will be fired up for KU ↗

White hash marks painted on green turf don’t decorate all huge sporting events in Texas. Sometimes, the distance of the playing surface stretches 94 feet, not 100 yards.

For the 25th-ranked Texas Longhorns’ basketball team, this is one of those times. They’re on fire, but the way the Big 12 shakes out this season, defeating Kansas University is the only way for anyone to gain serious credibility.

Smith: Getting to know the Longhorns ↗

Maybe we should have known Rick Barnes would have his Texas Longhorns right back in the thick of the Big 12 hunt this year.

But after the Horns went 16-18 last season and lost in the first round of the CBI Tournament (yes, that is a thing; it's a rung below the postseason NIT) it seemed easy to think Texas would spend 2013-14 rebuilding.

Skretta: After rough start, Jayhawks flying high ↗

Nonconference losses virtually forgotten due to dominant play in Big 12.

Brown: Weekend Homework: A Texas-sized test ↗

Texas is the anti-Kansas.

Its roster is no longer led by uber-talented players labeled as can’t-miss NBA prospects. And the Longhorns have been better off this season for it.

Also see our Daily Threads, February 1, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 31, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 31

@RockChalkinTexas Haha, that's awesome! Love the shout out to everyone. Cheers to all you guys! (beer) (beer) (beer) Will look out for you tomorrow.

@KUSTEVE My favorite was Selden skying in front of the rim out of a full sprint to snatch away a lob pass.

Also see today's News Digest, January 31, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 30, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 30

Our Daily Threads for January 31:

UNICAST Uniform Forecast for UT Game - @jaybate

UNICAST, formerly known as Basketball Uniform Forecasts, Inc., of Netherland Antilles, now of Lichtenstein, has announced its expectation for the uniforms KU will likely wear in Austin, Texas, against the University of Texas Longhorns.

Why I could root for Texas - @HighEliteMajor

Some images are burned into our memories ... Hook 'em Horns!

We the People Gov. web site - @JRyman

So I saw a news story where someone went on to this web site and started a petition to have Justin Bieber deported and they already had over 120,000 signatures in about 10 days, it only takes 100,000 for the Presidents staff to have them look at it and make a statement.

So with that in mind can we start one to get Doug Gottlieb off of TV, radio and internet?

Is soft start paying hard dividends? - @jaybate

Self started the season with a shorter boot camp and less heavy workload. He said he did this to compensate for the longer season. Is KU's use current uptick due to the fact that many other teams did not do what self did, and so are hitting the midseason wall sooner than KU? Will KU miss the wall, or just hit it a few weeks later?

Carrot in Front, Bullwhip in Back... - @drgnslayr

Motivation VS Competitiveness

There is a difference between motivation and competitiveness. Motivation is the fuel for energy, focus and execution leading up to and during the big event. Most of motivation isn't experienced by the fans because it is in use before the event... in the gym, video room, team room, etc. Motivation helps babysit players, keeps them directed away from bad avenues outside of their sport and focused on the big picture of winning.

Compilation of Stats Sites - @bskeet

Will you all please help assemble a collection of sites that provide stats that are interesting/useful? It would be most helpful if when you list a site, give its name, URL and what it's significance is or what it uniquely excels at.

I think this would be a useful reference for all the members of the site as the season matures.

Jan 30: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs ISU - Jan 29 - @drgnslayr

Now THAT was some exciting basketball played last night in AFH! A supercharged explosion out of the blocks for Kansas, that set the tone for the entire night; big time energy for 40 minutes! These teams like to play each other because they create a powerful synergy when they go after it.

There were many things to consider this time, when picking the winner of the FLOOR BURN AWARD. Wayne Selden had a show-stopping save in the opening minutes that might have made the Sportscenter's Play of the Day reel had Naadir not fumbled it away trying too hard to advance the ball.

Jan 30: Kansas Jayhawks... meet Oklahoma City Thunder! - @drgnslayr

My wife must really love me. There is no other possible reason why she would tolerate me during basketball season. During this time of year, basketball rules our DVR hard drive. All other content eventually gets tossed away to make room for more game footage. Anything "basketball" gets targeted for recording; talk basketball shows, some NBA, all college ball, sometimes HS ball, documentaries about basketball, movies about basketball, vintage old games being rebroadcast, etc. etc. etc.

Often I get ideas by putting miscellaneous games side-by-side for my viewing pleasure. Last night, I caught the Oklahoma City Thunder's total beat down on the Miami Heat and then went directly to the tip-off of Kansas and Iowa State.

Jan 30: KU Player's Studio: Video Interviews with KU Greats - @jaybate

A few minutes ago I was writing to slayr about what a good selection Perry Ellis was for slayr's Floor Burn Award this week. At the end, I commented that Perry seemed to me to have moved beyond trying to be aggressive and finally became aggressive. He went from acting a role to being a role. This reminded me of the Actor's Studio TV show hosted by former Actor's Studio Dean James Lipton, in which he interviews former students agh the Actor's Studio that have gone on to fine careers.

Then it hit me.

Jan 29: Extra Pass Makes Selden Crucial and Other Things - @jaybate

JNew's story about Embiid and doubling has triggered some opining.

How much doubling KU sees depends a lot on whether Embiid is good to go, or a gimp being used as an early decoy.

If Lucas/Black play a lot of 5, ISU is quite likely NOT to double either, until one of them proves a threat in the paint.

Jan 29: Landen Lucas - @drgnslayr

Landen is quickly becoming a Jayhawk favorite because of his patience, positivity and performance. He must be the best post 5th-man in college basketball.

Could he be the difference in a league game this year? Yes, he could be, and the game he could impact most will be played tonight in AFH.

Jan 28: One Inch - @HighEliteMajor

One inch.

One inch decides so many things in life. Vince Lombardi famously said that "Life's a game of inches." And every sport is decided by inches. Against TCU, our season may have been decided by one inch. The extra one inch that Joel Embiid's knee did not bend backwards. One more inch, Embiid’s ACL was done.

Jan 28: 300,000,000 Hoopahs or Cha-Ching! -@jaybate

Some times board rats wonder how Andrew Wiggins can be rumored to be awaiting some kind of mega endorsement deal.

Think about this number: 300,000,000.

That is the estimated number of human beings that play basketball on planet earth presently, according to the ever suspect Wikipedia.

Jan 28: What if... What if... What if... -@drgnslayr

What if Dr. James Naismith was in Springfield, Virginia instead of Springfield, Massachusetts and didn't have peach baskets, only apple crates?

Would we be playing basketball today on a square rim?

Jan 28: Some Ways to Get in Iowa State Fans Heads Before the Game - @jaybate

~Insist on mis-spelling their school's name as follows: Eyeowa Steight Psiklonz.

~Tell them that Self-Stalking is caused by GMO corn.

~Remind them that corn-based E-85 has less energy density than 87 Regular.

Jan 28: Does the best freshman PG play in Kansas? - @TheDrunkenJhawk

For the entire college basketball season it has been said that the best freshman point guard in the nation plays for Syracuse. Tyler Ennis was a five star recruit, and a McDonald's All American, with offers from prominent colleges such as UCLA, Memphis, Illinois, Cincinnati, and defending national champion Louisville.

Ennis has helped the Orange to an undefeated start to the season, while starting at arguably the most important position on the floor he has averaged 12.0 ppg, 5.4 apg against only 1.4 topg, and 2.5 spg...

Jan 28: It's #1 Seed Or Bust: The Path To The Title - @HighEliteMajor

Kansas now seems back in the mix for a #1 seed. Seemed improbable three plus weeks ago. But here we are. Back in the discussion. This fact may be the most important development in our pursuit of a national title.

However, with four losses and a challenging conference road ahead, a #1 seed seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Right now, there are two undefeated teams that look like locks for a #1 seed: Arizona and Syracuse. Then there’s Wichita St., who might run the table; and a host of others -- San Diego St., Kentucky, Florida, Michigan St., or Michigan -- for that last spot. Lots of competition with two that have beaten us head to head.

Jan 27: 1-1-1-2/Say What! Or Out of the Cradle Endlessly Masking - @jaybate

Though it flew under radar, as in almost no one seemed to comment, Self deployed that rarest of rare zone presses, yes, a 3/4 court 1-1-1-2.

SAY WHAT?!

Yep the one and only time I saw it was against Arizona State a few years back, when that little known Okie Baller was interim head coach and was assisted by some connoisseur of weird defenses. Both names I now forget. They ran the 1-1-1-2 and it gave KU some problems beyond simple surprise and recognition. Why?

Jan 27: SOME POSSIBLE UNDERHANDED HOIBERG STRATEGIES FOR THE LAWRENCE REMATCH - @jaybate

Hoiberg sends ISU stalker fan down to follow Bill around until Bill can't sleep the night before the big game.

Jan 26: Three Cheers for Welsh and Shroff! - @drgnslayr

The TCU game was not the most-exciting game in Jayhawk history, but it also wasn't the most-offensive commentated game we've had to tolerate either! In fact, the commentators did an excellent job!

How about a big Jayhawk shout out to Tim Welsh and Anish Shroff for doing the best commentating of a Jayhawk game in years... maybe decades!

Jan 26: Night Hawks Waiting for Another Title - @jaybate

Not for rebroadcast, reproduction, re-transmission or re-distribution in any form. Not intended for commercial exploitation of any kind.

Jan 26: StubHub General Admission tickets? -@JayhawkFan1954

StubHub is allowing people selling General Admission seats to post actual row and seat numbers and also state that "your seats will be together" even if a person buys 8 or 10 tickets....

Jan 25: THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN - @jaybate

~Try to visit all 1,000 natural gas wells tapping the Barnett Shale formation under Fort Worth. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2-5 acres in size. City ordinances permit them in all zoning categories. Some wells are secured by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.

~Skip the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and go straight to the adjacent National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Women already in the hall of fame include Georgia O'Keefe, Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, Dale Evans, Enid Justin, Temple Grandin, and Sandra Day O'Connor. As you view the honor to Sandra Day O'Connor recall It was reputedly at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress at 529 14th Street NW in Washington D.C. that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up Sandy baby" because she was "too tight" when the two reputedly met at dinner.[29] Riggins then reputedly fell asleep under the table.[30] The incident created a national stir.[citation needed] The next time Ms O'Connor and John Riggins reputedly met at a function years later, she reputedly gave Riggo a dozen roses.[31] {The above was found at John Riggins wiki page.}

Jan 25: tough losses by coach @lighthawk

Thinking of the TCU game last year as a heavy surprise it wasn't a tough loss, rather it made a point and chance for coach to bring lofty team to reality, get ready for the rest of season and March in March.

Tough loss by coach: Ted Owens, Wichita State and Texas Western. Larry Brown, Oklahoma AFH & Duke Final Four Dallas Roy Williams, Arizona Elite Eight & Syracuse Bill Self, maybe it was Bill's 5th loss against Missouri, oops my bad, played MU 19 times and only lost 4 of them, sweet!

Jan 24: HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Jan 24: Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Also see today's News Digest, January 30, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 29, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 29

Also see today's News Digest, January 31, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 30, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 30

Also see our Daily Threads, January 31, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 30, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 30

!Jayhawks ↗

Newell: A rarity for Bill Self, KU basketball turning into a team of extremes ↗

KU's offense is playing at an amazingly high level. The Jayhawks posted 1.22 points per possession against an Iowa State defense that isn't big but has been effective; the Cyclones entered the game with a top-25 ranked defense according to Ken Pomeroy's adjusted measures and also hadn't allowed more than 1.14 PPP all year.

CBS: Scouting Title Contenders: Kansas Jayhawks ↗

When watching a game or looking at statistical trends, we might figure out one or two ways to slow down Wisconsin's half-court offense or score against Florida's multiple defenses. But that's obviously not the whole story. But what about the guys who get paid to break down that stuff; what are they thinking?

Over the next eight weeks, I will go through each of the national championship contenders and attempt to address the key preparation points when facing each team. I will talk to four or five coaches who played those teams this season, and get in-depth insight into each team. How do you score on Arizona? How can you stop Syracuse in transition? What's Michigan State's biggest weakness? We'll find answers to each of those questions, and much more.

Up next is Kansas, winners of seven in a row and perhaps the most talented team in the country.

Artist Trey Songz shows up to support pal Frank Mason ↗

Singer, songwriter, rapper and actor Trey Songz, who is used to performing under pressure, had some words of advice for buddy Frank Mason before Wednesday’s Kansas University-Iowa State basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse.

** Kansas and its freshmen are hot topics (as usual) in world of college hoops ↗**

It's time once again to catch the vibe of the national media's perception of Kansas basketball, by hopping around the Internet and the Twitterverse to see what's out there on the No. 6 Jayhawks — now 16-4 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the Big 12.

Haskin: With offense clicking, table set for Jayhawks ↗

One of the most telling observations following the seventh Big 12 victory in as many starts by Kansas was offered from Fred Hoiberg.

The Iowa State coach was asked if the Jayhawks can run the table.

Notebook: Cliff Alexander, Kelly Oubre both chosen as McDonald’s All-Americans ↗

Kansas University basketball signees Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre will play in the 2014 McDonald’s All-America game on April 2 in Chicago’s United Center.

Also see our Daily Threads, January 31, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 30, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 30

@drgnslayr Love the Perry selection. During the game, I watched him snatch boards, and then score a basket that was a line drive off the glass which rattled around on the rim. He was running the other direction while anyone else watching probably thought there was a chance it was not going in, and it occurred to me....

Perry knows exactly what a made shot looks like and feels like. He know exactly what his body has to do to score a shot, below the rim, above the rim... he can do both. He's efficient. Whatever it takes to go in.

I don't think it's too much of a stretch for that to apply directly to rebounding. He probably knows exactly how a missed shot comes off the rim way better than most, and I think we're seeing him apply his knack for positioning himself without the ball to his advantage much as he has always done with it.

I think we might be amazed at how good a rebounder Perry can end up becoming.

@KirkIsMyHinrich

EDIT: removed pic. Could not look at Beetlejuice three times in a row.

Also see today's News Digest, January 30, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 29, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 29

Our Daily Threads for January 30:

FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs ISU - Jan 29 - @drgnslayr

Now THAT was some exciting basketball played last night in AFH! A supercharged explosion out of the blocks for Kansas, that set the tone for the entire night; big time energy for 40 minutes! These teams like to play each other because they create a powerful synergy when they go after it.

There were many things to consider this time, when picking the winner of the FLOOR BURN AWARD. Wayne Selden had a show-stopping save in the opening minutes that might have made the Sportscenter's Play of the Day reel had Naadir not fumbled it away trying too hard to advance the ball.

Kansas Jayhawks... meet Oklahoma City Thunder! - @drgnslayr

My wife must really love me. There is no other possible reason why she would tolerate me during basketball season. During this time of year, basketball rules our DVR hard drive. All other content eventually gets tossed away to make room for more game footage. Anything "basketball" gets targeted for recording; talk basketball shows, some NBA, all college ball, sometimes HS ball, documentaries about basketball, movies about basketball, vintage old games being rebroadcast, etc. etc. etc.

Often I get ideas by putting miscellaneous games side-by-side for my viewing pleasure. Last night, I caught the Oklahoma City Thunder's total beat down on the Miami Heat and then went directly to the tip-off of Kansas and Iowa State.

KU Player's Studio: Video Interviews with KU Greats - @jaybate

A few minutes ago I was writing to slayr about what a good selection Perry Ellis was for slayr's Floor Burn Award this week. At the end, I commented that Perry seemed to me to have moved beyond trying to be aggressive and finally became aggressive. He went from acting a role to being a role. This reminded me of the Actor's Studio TV show hosted by former Actor's Studio Dean James Lipton, in which he interviews former students agh the Actor's Studio that have gone on to fine careers.

Then it hit me.

Jan 29: Extra Pass Makes Selden Crucial and Other Things - @jaybate

JNew's story about Embiid and doubling has triggered some opining.

How much doubling KU sees depends a lot on whether Embiid is good to go, or a gimp being used as an early decoy.

If Lucas/Black play a lot of 5, ISU is quite likely NOT to double either, until one of them proves a threat in the paint.

Jan 29: Landen Lucas - @drgnslayr

Landen is quickly becoming a Jayhawk favorite because of his patience, positivity and performance. He must be the best post 5th-man in college basketball.

Could he be the difference in a league game this year? Yes, he could be, and the game he could impact most will be played tonight in AFH.

Jan 28: One Inch - @HighEliteMajor

One inch.

One inch decides so many things in life. Vince Lombardi famously said that "Life's a game of inches." And every sport is decided by inches. Against TCU, our season may have been decided by one inch. The extra one inch that Joel Embiid's knee did not bend backwards. One more inch, Embiid’s ACL was done.

Jan 28: 300,000,000 Hoopahs or Cha-Ching! -@jaybate

Some times board rats wonder how Andrew Wiggins can be rumored to be awaiting some kind of mega endorsement deal.

Think about this number: 300,000,000.

That is the estimated number of human beings that play basketball on planet earth presently, according to the ever suspect Wikipedia.

Jan 28: What if... What if... What if... -@drgnslayr

What if Dr. James Naismith was in Springfield, Virginia instead of Springfield, Massachusetts and didn't have peach baskets, only apple crates?

Would we be playing basketball today on a square rim?

Jan 28: Some Ways to Get in Iowa State Fans Heads Before the Game - @jaybate

~Insist on mis-spelling their school's name as follows: Eyeowa Steight Psiklonz.

~Tell them that Self-Stalking is caused by GMO corn.

~Remind them that corn-based E-85 has less energy density than 87 Regular.

Jan 28: Does the best freshman PG play in Kansas? - @TheDrunkenJhawk

For the entire college basketball season it has been said that the best freshman point guard in the nation plays for Syracuse. Tyler Ennis was a five star recruit, and a McDonald's All American, with offers from prominent colleges such as UCLA, Memphis, Illinois, Cincinnati, and defending national champion Louisville.

Ennis has helped the Orange to an undefeated start to the season, while starting at arguably the most important position on the floor he has averaged 12.0 ppg, 5.4 apg against only 1.4 topg, and 2.5 spg...

Jan 28: It's #1 Seed Or Bust: The Path To The Title - @HighEliteMajor

Kansas now seems back in the mix for a #1 seed. Seemed improbable three plus weeks ago. But here we are. Back in the discussion. This fact may be the most important development in our pursuit of a national title.

However, with four losses and a challenging conference road ahead, a #1 seed seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Right now, there are two undefeated teams that look like locks for a #1 seed: Arizona and Syracuse. Then there’s Wichita St., who might run the table; and a host of others -- San Diego St., Kentucky, Florida, Michigan St., or Michigan -- for that last spot. Lots of competition with two that have beaten us head to head.

Jan 27: 1-1-1-2/Say What! Or Out of the Cradle Endlessly Masking - @jaybate

Though it flew under radar, as in almost no one seemed to comment, Self deployed that rarest of rare zone presses, yes, a 3/4 court 1-1-1-2.

SAY WHAT?!

Yep the one and only time I saw it was against Arizona State a few years back, when that little known Okie Baller was interim head coach and was assisted by some connoisseur of weird defenses. Both names I now forget. They ran the 1-1-1-2 and it gave KU some problems beyond simple surprise and recognition. Why?

Jan 27: SOME POSSIBLE UNDERHANDED HOIBERG STRATEGIES FOR THE LAWRENCE REMATCH - @jaybate

Hoiberg sends ISU stalker fan down to follow Bill around until Bill can't sleep the night before the big game.

Jan 26: Three Cheers for Welsh and Shroff! - @drgnslayr

The TCU game was not the most-exciting game in Jayhawk history, but it also wasn't the most-offensive commentated game we've had to tolerate either! In fact, the commentators did an excellent job!

How about a big Jayhawk shout out to Tim Welsh and Anish Shroff for doing the best commentating of a Jayhawk game in years... maybe decades!

Jan 26: Night Hawks Waiting for Another Title - @jaybate

Not for rebroadcast, reproduction, re-transmission or re-distribution in any form. Not intended for commercial exploitation of any kind.

Jan 26: StubHub General Admission tickets? -@JayhawkFan1954

StubHub is allowing people selling General Admission seats to post actual row and seat numbers and also state that "your seats will be together" even if a person buys 8 or 10 tickets....

Jan 25: THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN - @jaybate

~Try to visit all 1,000 natural gas wells tapping the Barnett Shale formation under Fort Worth. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2-5 acres in size. City ordinances permit them in all zoning categories. Some wells are secured by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.

~Skip the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and go straight to the adjacent National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Women already in the hall of fame include Georgia O'Keefe, Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, Dale Evans, Enid Justin, Temple Grandin, and Sandra Day O'Connor. As you view the honor to Sandra Day O'Connor recall It was reputedly at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress at 529 14th Street NW in Washington D.C. that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up Sandy baby" because she was "too tight" when the two reputedly met at dinner.[29] Riggins then reputedly fell asleep under the table.[30] The incident created a national stir.[citation needed] The next time Ms O'Connor and John Riggins reputedly met at a function years later, she reputedly gave Riggo a dozen roses.[31] {The above was found at John Riggins wiki page.}

Jan 25: tough losses by coach @lighthawk

Thinking of the TCU game last year as a heavy surprise it wasn't a tough loss, rather it made a point and chance for coach to bring lofty team to reality, get ready for the rest of season and March in March.

Tough loss by coach: Ted Owens, Wichita State and Texas Western. Larry Brown, Oklahoma AFH & Duke Final Four Dallas Roy Williams, Arizona Elite Eight & Syracuse Bill Self, maybe it was Bill's 5th loss against Missouri, oops my bad, played MU 19 times and only lost 4 of them, sweet!

Jan 24: HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Jan 24: Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Also see today's News Digest, January 30, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 29, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 29

Also see our Daily Threads, January 30, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 29, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 29
! ↗

Nick Krug's photo gallery ↗

Newell: Andrew Wiggins scores career-high 29 as KU basketball takes down Iowa State, 92-81 ↗

LAWRENCE — Welcome to the new life of Bill Self.

For the better part of the last decade, the Kansas coach has dominated Big 12 teams with a smothering defense. The Jayhawks would win when they played well, and they’d win when they didn’t, simply because Self’s teams were going to hunker down and not let the opponent score on either occasion.

Dodd: No. 6 Kansas beats No. 16 Iowa State 92-81 ↗

LAWRENCE — Bill Self kept saying he wanted more from Andrew Wiggins, his freshman star. Others wanted more, too. Outside observers wanted domination. They couldn’t just settle for just good. They wanted transcendence.

“He leaves me wanting more,” Self has said.

Tait: FINAL: Kansas 92, Iowa State 81 ↗

In the beginning, it looked like it might be easy, as the Jayhawks built a 16-point lead 10 minutes into the game and had everything clicking.

In the end, though, Iowa State refused to go away and made Kansas fight for a 92-81 victory at Allen Fieldhouse.

Peterson: Cyclone men rally from big deficits only to fall at Kansas Again ↗

LAWRENCE, KAN. — Last season, it was a 3-point bank shot that everyone talked about after Kansas beat Iowa State in overtime at historic Allen Fieldhouse.

ESPN Boxscore ↗

MP3: Bill Self discusses KU's home win over Iowa State ↗

MP3: Andrew Wiggins, Naadir Tharpe and Perry Ellis discuss home win vs. ISU ↗

Also see our Daily Threads, January 30, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 29, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 29

This is a very temporary placeholder to generate the post.

You're not kidding, HEM. Felt like a gut punch when it happened. Here's a good sign:

"Just saw that nasty replay of my knee..... I'm glad I'm ok" - @jojo_embiid

Also see today's News Digest, January 29, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 28, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 28

Our Daily Threads for January 29:

Extra Pass Makes Selden Crucial and Other Things - @jaybate

JNew's story about Embiid and doubling has triggered some opining.

How much doubling KU sees depends a lot on whether Embiid is good to go, or a gimp being used as an early decoy.

If Lucas/Black play a lot of 5, ISU is quite likely NOT to double either, until one of them proves a threat in the paint.

Landen Lucas - @drgnslayr

Landen is quickly becoming a Jayhawk favorite because of his patience, positivity and performance. He must be the best post 5th-man in college basketball.

Could he be the difference in a league game this year? Yes, he could be, and the game he could impact most will be played tonight in AFH.

**Jan 28: One Inch - @HighEliteMajor **

One inch.

One inch decides so many things in life. Vince Lombardi famously said that "Life's a game of inches." And every sport is decided by inches. Against TCU, our season may have been decided by one inch. The extra one inch that Joel Embiid's knee did not bend backwards. One more inch, Embiid’s ACL was done.

Jan 28: 300,000,000 Hoopahs or Cha-Ching! -@jaybate

Some times board rats wonder how Andrew Wiggins can be rumored to be awaiting some kind of mega endorsement deal.

Think about this number: 300,000,000.

That is the estimated number of human beings that play basketball on planet earth presently, according to the ever suspect Wikipedia.

Jan 28: What if... What if... What if... -@drgnslayr

What if Dr. James Naismith was in Springfield, Virginia instead of Springfield, Massachusetts and didn't have peach baskets, only apple crates?

Would we be playing basketball today on a square rim?

Jan 28: Some Ways to Get in Iowa State Fans Heads Before the Game - @jaybate

~Insist on mis-spelling their school's name as follows: Eyeowa Steight Psiklonz.

~Tell them that Self-Stalking is caused by GMO corn.

~Remind them that corn-based E-85 has less energy density than 87 Regular.

Jan 28: Does the best freshman PG play in Kansas? - @TheDrunkenJhawk

For the entire college basketball season it has been said that the best freshman point guard in the nation plays for Syracuse. Tyler Ennis was a five star recruit, and a McDonald's All American, with offers from prominent colleges such as UCLA, Memphis, Illinois, Cincinnati, and defending national champion Louisville.

Ennis has helped the Orange to an undefeated start to the season, while starting at arguably the most important position on the floor he has averaged 12.0 ppg, 5.4 apg against only 1.4 topg, and 2.5 spg...

Jan 28: It's #1 Seed Or Bust: The Path To The Title - @HighEliteMajor

Kansas now seems back in the mix for a #1 seed. Seemed improbable three plus weeks ago. But here we are. Back in the discussion. This fact may be the most important development in our pursuit of a national title.

However, with four losses and a challenging conference road ahead, a #1 seed seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Right now, there are two undefeated teams that look like locks for a #1 seed: Arizona and Syracuse. Then there’s Wichita St., who might run the table; and a host of others -- San Diego St., Kentucky, Florida, Michigan St., or Michigan -- for that last spot. Lots of competition with two that have beaten us head to head.

Jan 27: 1-1-1-2/Say What! Or Out of the Cradle Endlessly Masking - @jaybate

Though it flew under radar, as in almost no one seemed to comment, Self deployed that rarest of rare zone presses, yes, a 3/4 court 1-1-1-2.

SAY WHAT?!

Yep the one and only time I saw it was against Arizona State a few years back, when that little known Okie Baller was interim head coach and was assisted by some connoisseur of weird defenses. Both names I now forget. They ran the 1-1-1-2 and it gave KU some problems beyond simple surprise and recognition. Why?

Jan 27: SOME POSSIBLE UNDERHANDED HOIBERG STRATEGIES FOR THE LAWRENCE REMATCH - @jaybate

Hoiberg sends ISU stalker fan down to follow Bill around until Bill can't sleep the night before the big game.

Jan 26: Three Cheers for Welsh and Shroff! - @drgnslayr

The TCU game was not the most-exciting game in Jayhawk history, but it also wasn't the most-offensive commentated game we've had to tolerate either! In fact, the commentators did an excellent job!

How about a big Jayhawk shout out to Tim Welsh and Anish Shroff for doing the best commentating of a Jayhawk game in years... maybe decades!

Jan 26: Night Hawks Waiting for Another Title - @jaybate

Not for rebroadcast, reproduction, re-transmission or re-distribution in any form. Not intended for commercial exploitation of any kind.

Jan 26: StubHub General Admission tickets? -@JayhawkFan1954

StubHub is allowing people selling General Admission seats to post actual row and seat numbers and also state that "your seats will be together" even if a person buys 8 or 10 tickets....

** Jan 25: THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN - @jaybate**

~Try to visit all 1,000 natural gas wells tapping the Barnett Shale formation under Fort Worth. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2-5 acres in size. City ordinances permit them in all zoning categories. Some wells are secured by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.

~Skip the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and go straight to the adjacent National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Women already in the hall of fame include Georgia O'Keefe, Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, Dale Evans, Enid Justin, Temple Grandin, and Sandra Day O'Connor. As you view the honor to Sandra Day O'Connor recall It was reputedly at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress at 529 14th Street NW in Washington D.C. that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up Sandy baby" because she was "too tight" when the two reputedly met at dinner.[29] Riggins then reputedly fell asleep under the table.[30] The incident created a national stir.[citation needed] The next time Ms O'Connor and John Riggins reputedly met at a function years later, she reputedly gave Riggo a dozen roses.[31] {The above was found at John Riggins wiki page.}

** Jan 25: tough losses by coach @lighthawk **

Thinking of the TCU game last year as a heavy surprise it wasn't a tough loss, rather it made a point and chance for coach to bring lofty team to reality, get ready for the rest of season and March in March.

Tough loss by coach: Ted Owens, Wichita State and Texas Western. Larry Brown, Oklahoma AFH & Duke Final Four Dallas Roy Williams, Arizona Elite Eight & Syracuse Bill Self, maybe it was Bill's 5th loss against Missouri, oops my bad, played MU 19 times and only lost 4 of them, sweet!

** Jan 24: HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate**

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Jan 24: Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Also see today's News Digest, January 29, and News Digest for Yesterday, January 28, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 28

Also see our Daily Threads, January 29, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 28, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 28

! ↗

Newell: Double trouble? KU basketball, Joel Embiid still learning how to deal with trapping defenses ↗

LAWRENCE — The double-teams in the post are coming. Kansas saw them last time against Iowa State, and besides that, the Jayhawks have seen them from nearly every Big 12 opponent.

That means KU coach Bill Self has been preaching a simple message to his big men in practice before Wednesday’s 8 p.m. home contest against 16th-ranked ISU.

Dodd: Frontcourt depth is a strength for Kansas ↗

LAWRENCE — It’s Tuesday afternoon inside Allen Fieldhouse, one day before No. 6 Kansas will play host to No. 16 Iowa State, and KU coach Bill Self is telling you that Landen Lucas is the best fifth big man on any team in America.

“There’s nobody else that has a fifth guy like Landen,” Self says.

Newell: Tarik Black 'questionable' for Iowa State game; Andrew Wiggins wins national award ↗

LAWRENCE — KU forward Tarik Black is still being held back by a sprained right ankle suffered in Jan. 20's home game against Baylor.

“He’s made progress, but it’s still not great. We’ve got to see today,”Self said Tuesday. “Yesterday he practiced and went through everything, but he was still probably only 50, 60 percent. We’re hopeful that he’s available to us Wednesday, but as of right now, he’s still questionable for the game."

Bedore: Jayhawks move focus to next slice of Big 12 schedule ↗

Off to a 6-0 start in Big 12 Conference play for the third straight season and sixth time in the 11-year Bill Self era, Kansas University’s basketball team now moves on to the next portion of the 18-game schedule....

Help your children fulfill their Embiid potential ↗

Also see our Daily Threads, January 29, and the News Digest for Yesterday, January 28, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, January 28

This is a very temporary placeholder to generate the post.

Also see today's News Digest,January 28, and News Digest for Yesterday (January 27) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 27)
!kubuckets.jpg ↗

OUR DAILY THREADS FOR January 28:

**One Inch - @HighEliteMajor **

One inch.

One inch decides so many things in life. Vince Lombardi famously said that "Life's a game of inches." And every sport is decided by inches. Against TCU, our season may have been decided by one inch. The extra one inch that Joel Embiid's knee did not bend backwards. One more inch, Embiid’s ACL was done.

** 300,000,000 Hoopahs or Cha-Ching! -@jaybate**

Some times board rats wonder how Andrew Wiggins can be rumored to be awaiting some kind of mega endorsement deal.

Think about this number: 300,000,000.

That is the estimated number of human beings that play basketball on planet earth presently, according to the ever suspect Wikipedia.

What if... What if... What if... -@drgnslayr

What if Dr. James Naismith was in Springfield, Virginia instead of Springfield, Massachusetts and didn't have peach baskets, only apple crates?

Would we be playing basketball today on a square rim?

Some Ways to Get in Iowa State Fans Heads Before the Game - @jaybate

~Insist on mis-spelling their school's name as follows: Eyeowa Steight Psiklonz.

~Tell them that Self-Stalking is caused by GMO corn.

~Remind them that corn-based E-85 has less energy density than 87 Regular.

Does the best freshman PG play in Kansas? - @TheDrunkenJhawk

For the entire college basketball season it has been said that the best freshman point guard in the nation plays for Syracuse. Tyler Ennis was a five star recruit, and a McDonald's All American, with offers from prominent colleges such as UCLA, Memphis, Illinois, Cincinnati, and defending national champion Louisville.

Ennis has helped the Orange to an undefeated start to the season, while starting at arguably the most important position on the floor he has averaged 12.0 ppg, 5.4 apg against only 1.4 topg, and 2.5 spg...

It's #1 Seed Or Bust: The Path To The Title - @HighEliteMajor

Kansas now seems back in the mix for a #1 seed. Seemed improbable three plus weeks ago. But here we are. Back in the discussion. This fact may be the most important development in our pursuit of a national title.

However, with four losses and a challenging conference road ahead, a #1 seed seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Right now, there are two undefeated teams that look like locks for a #1 seed: Arizona and Syracuse. Then there’s Wichita St., who might run the table; and a host of others -- San Diego St., Kentucky, Florida, Michigan St., or Michigan -- for that last spot. Lots of competition with two that have beaten us head to head.

Previous days:

Jan 27: 1-1-1-2/Say What! Or Out of the Cradle Endlessly Masking - @jaybate

Though it flew under radar, as in almost no one seemed to comment, Self deployed that rarest of rare zone presses, yes, a 3/4 court 1-1-1-2.

SAY WHAT?!

Yep the one and only time I saw it was against Arizona State a few years back, when that little known Okie Baller was interim head coach and was assisted by some connoisseur of weird defenses. Both names I now forget. They ran the 1-1-1-2 and it gave KU some problems beyond simple surprise and recognition. Why?

Jan 27: SOME POSSIBLE UNDERHANDED HOIBERG STRATEGIES FOR THE LAWRENCE REMATCH - @jaybate

Hoiberg sends ISU stalker fan down to follow Bill around until Bill can't sleep the night before the big game.

Jan 26: Three Cheers for Welsh and Shroff! - @drgnslayr

The TCU game was not the most-exciting game in Jayhawk history, but it also wasn't the most-offensive commentated game we've had to tolerate either! In fact, the commentators did an excellent job!

How about a big Jayhawk shout out to Tim Welsh and Anish Shroff for doing the best commentating of a Jayhawk game in years... maybe decades!

Jan 26: Night Hawks Waiting for Another Title - @jaybate

Not for rebroadcast, reproduction, re-transmission or re-distribution in any form. Not intended for commercial exploitation of any kind.

Jan 26: StubHub General Admission tickets? -@JayhawkFan1954

StubHub is allowing people selling General Admission seats to post actual row and seat numbers and also state that "your seats will be together" even if a person buys 8 or 10 tickets....

** Jan 25: THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN - @jaybate**

~Try to visit all 1,000 natural gas wells tapping the Barnett Shale formation under Fort Worth. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2-5 acres in size. City ordinances permit them in all zoning categories. Some wells are secured by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.

~Skip the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and go straight to the adjacent National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Women already in the hall of fame include Georgia O'Keefe, Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, Dale Evans, Enid Justin, Temple Grandin, and Sandra Day O'Connor. As you view the honor to Sandra Day O'Connor recall It was reputedly at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress at 529 14th Street NW in Washington D.C. that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up Sandy baby" because she was "too tight" when the two reputedly met at dinner.[29] Riggins then reputedly fell asleep under the table.[30] The incident created a national stir.[citation needed] The next time Ms O'Connor and John Riggins reputedly met at a function years later, she reputedly gave Riggo a dozen roses.[31] {The above was found at John Riggins wiki page.}

** Jan 25: tough losses by coach @lighthawk **

Thinking of the TCU game last year as a heavy surprise it wasn't a tough loss, rather it made a point and chance for coach to bring lofty team to reality, get ready for the rest of season and March in March.

Tough loss by coach: Ted Owens, Wichita State and Texas Western. Larry Brown, Oklahoma AFH & Duke Final Four Dallas Roy Williams, Arizona Elite Eight & Syracuse Bill Self, maybe it was Bill's 5th loss against Missouri, oops my bad, played MU 19 times and only lost 4 of them, sweet!

** Jan 24: HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate**

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Jan 24: Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Also see today's News Digest, January 28, and News Digest for yesterday (January 27) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 27)

Also see Our Daily Threads (January 28 ) and the News Digest for Yesterday (January 27) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 27)

!Self and Greene ↗

Jayhawks move focus to next slice of Big 12 schedule ↗

Off to a 6-0 start in Big 12 Conference play for the third straight season and sixth time in the 11-year Bill Self era, Kansas University’s basketball team now moves on to the next portion of the 18-game schedule.

“Our next three games are what we are focusing on,” Self said of Wednesday’s 8 p.m. home game against Iowa State, followed by Saturday’s 3 p.m. contest at Texas and Tuesday’s 6 p.m. battle at Baylor.

Joel Embiid sprained knee against TCU; KU football picks up top-rated juco RB De'Andre Mann ↗

Kansas coach Bill Self provided injury updates on a pair of his big men during his Hawk Talk radio show on Monday night.

That included freshman center Joel Embiid, whose knee injury from Saturday’s 91-69 victory at TCU was more severe than previously thought.

Gasaway: Ranking the top six National Title Contenders ↗

During his tenure in Lawrence, Bill Self has reliably churned out a series of dominant defenses. That tradition has undergone a slight revision this season, however, as the Jayhawks have been merely very good and not great on D. Then again, with an offense that's rung up an incredible ("Creighton-like"?) 1.20 points per possession in conference play, maybe Self can afford a normal defense once per decade. Andrew Wiggins draws fouls, Joel Embiid converts looks at the rim and Perry Ellis does whatever is necessary for an offense that already has excelled against the best competition the Big 12 has to offer.

The only cause for concern here if you're a Jayhawks fan is turnovers, as KU has given away the ball on 22 percent of its Big 12 possessions. If Self can fix that one leak, it's awfully tough to envision how this team can be stopped. In fact, with any luck we'll see this offense face the Arizona defense come April. That would be one epic collision.

Also see Our Daily Threads (January 28 ) and the News Digest for yesterday (January 27) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 27)

@DinarHawk Good point. And Skylar Spencer, who averages 5 ppg, scored 13 against us, and Naadir, Selden, and Ellis combined for 15 points That still worries me a little, considering we avg .510 FG% and we weren't far off that % prior to the SDSU game either, and we shot .298 against them.

@Crimsonorblue22 I guess Self does have a pretty good track record of revenge games. But in the case of the Florida and SDSt teams, I don't get the fuzzies that we will have either team "solved". At least not until our turnover problem is convicingly behind us.

@Crimsonorblue22 Enjoying the OU game too. Go, Lon, go!

@HighEliteMajor If we're not a 1 seed, which team above us would you prefer to see as the 1 seed in our bracket?

And regarding aiming for the 4 seed (not that we'd likely be able to plan for it, but it's interesting), do you think it would be advantageous to see the one early as the 4 seed, rather than at the end of the bracket as the 2, thereby "becoming" the one seed by knocking them off (say facing Wichita St in the Midwest bracket in the Sweet 16)?

• 1 Arizona (63) 20-0
• 2 Syracuse (2) 19-0
• 3 Florida 17-2
• 4 Wichita State 21-0
• 5 San Diego State 18-1

Personally, I don't want to see San Diego State or Florida again, and not interested in playing Boeheim. I think my preference would be Wichita State and then Arizona.

New thread for message of the day quotes. Give us your best quotes... KU ball, sports, or otherwise of interest...

@parishawk definitely. It's a bear getting to the end. Let's lock this thread and move on.

@Lulufulu85 check this post out. Has explanation in it. /topic/387

@drgnslayr can we get an honorable mention to Jamari for stumbling out of the lane, falling and spinning on his back like a turtle, then getting right up and setting a screen in one motion?

@wissoxfan83 i'm not sure, but that's troublesome. @jayhawkfantoo's response asking what browser is the right question - I'm not having the same problem with my android phone on wifi using chrome, or at home with chrome on windows.

@Hawk8086 gotta give Perry credit for going after the boards though the last two games.

Also see today's News Digest (January 26) and News Digest for yesterday (January 25) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 25)
!kubuckets.jpg ↗

OUR DAILY THREADS FOR January 26:

Three Cheers for Welsh and Shroff! - @drgnslayr

The TCU game was not the most-exciting game in Jayhawk history, but it also wasn't the most-offensive commentated game we've had to tolerate either! In fact, the commentators did an excellent job!

How about a big Jayhawk shout out to Tim Welsh and Anish Shroff for doing the best commentating of a Jayhawk game in years... maybe decades!

Night Hawks Waiting for Another Title - @jaybate##

Not for rebroadcast, reproduction, re-transmission or re-distribution in any form. Not intended for commercial exploitation of any kind.

StubHub General Admission tickets? -@JayhawkFan1954

StubHub is allowing people selling General Admission seats to post actual row and seat numbers and also state that "your seats will be together" even if a person buys 8 or 10 tickets....

Previous days:

** Jan 25: THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN - @jaybate**

THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN

~Try to visit all 1,000 natural gas wells tapping the Barnett Shale formation under Fort Worth. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2-5 acres in size. City ordinances permit them in all zoning categories. Some wells are secured by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.

~Skip the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and go straight to the adjacent National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Women already in the hall of fame include Georgia O'Keefe, Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, Dale Evans, Enid Justin, Temple Grandin, and Sandra Day O'Connor. As you view the honor to Sandra Day O'Connor recall It was reputedly at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress at 529 14th Street NW in Washington D.C. that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up Sandy baby" because she was "too tight" when the two reputedly met at dinner.[29] Riggins then reputedly fell asleep under the table.[30] The incident created a national stir.[citation needed] The next time Ms O'Connor and John Riggins reputedly met at a function years later, she reputedly gave Riggo a dozen roses.[31] {The above was found at John Riggins wiki page.}

** Jan 25: tough losses by coach @lighthawk **

Thinking of the TCU game last year as a heavy surprise it wasn't a tough loss, rather it made a point and chance for coach to bring lofty team to reality, get ready for the rest of season and March in March.

Tough loss by coach: Ted Owens, Wichita State and Texas Western. Larry Brown, Oklahoma AFH & Duke Final Four Dallas Roy Williams, Arizona Elite Eight & Syracuse Bill Self, maybe it was Bill's 5th loss against Missouri, oops my bad, played MU 19 times and only lost 4 of them, sweet!

** Jan 24: HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate**

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Jan 24: Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Self said FTs probably decided the game. Why?

First, KU achieved its apparent defensive objectives. It took away the rim game by guarding hard inside the arc and fouling shots taken there, especially off offensive rebounds, while at the same time giving short jumpers to a team that did not shoot those short jumpers very well. Essentially, KU took away one of BU's two strengths--inside scoring.

BU's other strength, trey shooting first went red hot the first half, then cold the second half to shoot back to its usual still decent trey average by end of the game.

Jan 21: Andrew's New Mentor; Kobe Bryant - @drgnslayr

I caught the following post today and want to offer up some new ideas:

@Blown - "Wiggins is just a Gorillas Grip on the ball away from finishing those drives. Here to hoping Hudy has a hand strengthener in her fantastic arsenal"

I think Andrew needs to reexamine his game. I'd like to sit in a video room with him and go over file footage of Kobe Bryant's NBA career. This is the player that Andrew needs to model his game after.

Jan 21: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs BU - Jan 20 - @drgnslayr

I think we can make this FLOOR BURN AWARD short and sweet...

Jan 21: Self Supports Shockers Potential #1 Seeding... - @drgnslayr

Jan 21: Some worst case scenarios for college basketball - @jaybate

Also see today's News Digest (January 26) and News Digest for yesterday (January 25) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 25)

**Also see today's Daily Threads (January 26) and the News Digest for yesterday (January 25) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 25) **

! ↗

Bedore: Not This Time - Kansas Dominates TCU ↗

Fort Worth, Texas — Fans in TCU’s student section brought signs reminding Kansas University’s basketball players of last year’s famous flop in Fort Worth.

“Welcome back,” was Saturday’s greeting from one purple-clad spectator seated a stone’s throw from the KU bench.

Newell: Andrew Wiggins scores career-high 27 as KU routs TCU, 91-69 ↗

FORT WORTH, Texas — The timing couldn’t have been worse.

No, this wasn’t the right night for TCU students to hold up a sign that said, “You’re not even the best Wiggins in Kansas.” Or the correct time to chant, “O-ver-ra-ted” during a first-half Andrew Wiggins free throw.

Dodd: No doubt this time: No. 8 Kansas routs TCU ↗

FORT WORTH — It may be oversimplified to say that the roots of Kansas’ 91-69 victory over TCU on Saturday night began in a small, non-descript room that sits just off the main concourse at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

But inside this little room, adorned with plain walls and a Coke machine, is where Kansas coach Bill Self once went off. On a late February night last year, Self watched his team play worse than any team he’d ever coached. So in the moments after a stunning loss at TCU, Self offered up some biting, sarcastic humor.

Newell: KU basketball displays rim dominance in win over TCU ↗

Here's what KU's offense can look like when it's not crippled by turnovers.

The Jayhawks' 1.359 points per possession was their best offensive mark of the year, and not surprisingly, it came on a day when KU had its fifth-best performance as far as turnovers go (14.9 percent).

Keegan: Andrew Wiggins satisfies expectations at TCU ↗

Wiggins didn’t leave anybody in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on the TCU campus Saturday night wanting more from his ever-so-smooth first half, especially the purple-clad ones hoping to experience a titanic upset for the second year in a row.

TCU coach lauds Kansas and its ‘six pros’ ↗

CU coach Trent Johnson was impressed with Kansas University’s basketball team long before Saturday night’s center jump took place at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

Dixon: TCUs upset hopes dashed Early ↗

FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU coach Trent Johnson didn't see a Kansas team fired up about making amends for a miserable night in Fort Worth a year ago.

He just saw a "really good" bunch of Jayhawks coming off wins in four straight games against ranked opponents, the first team to do that since North Carolina in 1996-97.

CJOnline LiveBlog ↗

Boxscore ↗

• MP3: After scoring career-high 27 points vs. TCU, Andrew Wiggins talks about Bill Self motivating him ↗

• MP3: Bill Self says Andrew Wiggins can play as aggressively in every game as he did vs. TCU ↗

**Also see today's Daily Threads (January 26) and the News Digest for yesterday (January 25) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 25) **

This is a very temporary placeholder to generate the post.

This is a very temporary placeholder to generate the post.

@lighthawk Today's pirates are tomorrow's admirals.

@jaybate Loved this post. Here are some pics of the Kimbell Art Museum I found. His stuff is amazing, thanks for sharing.

! ↗

!6a00d834518cc969e201348216681b970c-800wi.jpg ↗

!http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wfINdAeEkdg/TLTIBsOq5OI/AAAAAAAAANg/qi71bLooUCQ/s1600/BBB3+042.JPG ↗ ↗

@REHawk I like to think that the more long term information your brain stores, the longer it takes to access information because it has to search the whole collection. If so, not being able to find the information quickly is a sign that you are retaining a lot of the information you encounter, which could be seen as a good thing.

A different argument you could make that also paints a positive picture is that in today's day and age it is often more important to determine where to find the information (a pointer) rather than retaining the information itself, i.e. what terms to google to get the right answer immediately. So, your brain can be freed to store other more meaningful long term memories, like the way your wife moved the day you met her, or how your your baby son's cheeks creased when he made his poop face.

@bskeet absolutely, I should have the scripts done for the shells soon and I will share them with you (they're about half way done now, guys. You might catch me setting up the stories with them, where you'll see the posts half complete before we fill out the rest). @bskeet, let's pull up so we can get you set up to execute them. Right now, kicking off those automated scripts will be manual.

I'm thinking the mining of other sites for stories will be difficult to automate, but also fun. Pulling the stories won't be hard, but determining whether there is a story to pull, and whether the story pertains to the Jayhawks I think will be a bit challenging. If you have an idea for the rules the scripts would have to follow to figure out a story is one we should pull (if theres a feed specific to Jayhawks bball for a site, it might be nice and neat, if not, it might be something like "go to [site name's sports page url].. search in the titles for the words "Jayhawk" or "KU" and "basketball", go to the story, pull the image (if that site always has a good image with their stories) etc. We could build in some conditional logic too. This might be a fun exercise for anyone else too if anyone wants to bite off a piece of this. If I have the scripts written in a user story format, I can write out the code to make it happen.

@dylans nice work man!

**Also see today's News Digest (January 25) and News Digest for yesterday (January 24) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 24) **
!kubuckets.jpg ↗

OUR DAILY THREADS FOR January 25:

** THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN - @jaybate**

THINGS TO DO IN FORT WORTH BEFORE THE TCU BEAT DOWN

~Try to visit all 1,000 natural gas wells tapping the Barnett Shale formation under Fort Worth. Each well site is a bare patch of gravel 2-5 acres in size. City ordinances permit them in all zoning categories. Some wells are secured by masonry fences, but most are secured by chain link.

~Skip the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and go straight to the adjacent National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Women already in the hall of fame include Georgia O'Keefe, Sacagawea, Annie Oakley, Dale Evans, Enid Justin, Temple Grandin, and Sandra Day O'Connor. As you view the honor to Sandra Day O'Connor recall It was reputedly at the 1985 National Press Club's Salute to Congress at 529 14th Street NW in Washington D.C. that Riggins drunkenly told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to "loosen up Sandy baby" because she was "too tight" when the two reputedly met at dinner.[29] Riggins then reputedly fell asleep under the table.[30] The incident created a national stir.[citation needed] The next time Ms O'Connor and John Riggins reputedly met at a function years later, she reputedly gave Riggo a dozen roses.[31] {The above was found at John Riggins wiki page.}

** tough losses by coach @lighthawk **

Thinking of the TCU game last year as a heavy surprise it wasn't a tough loss, rather it made a point and chance for coach to bring lofty team to reality, get ready for the rest of season and March in March.

Tough loss by coach: Ted Owens, Wichita State and Texas Western. Larry Brown, Oklahoma AFH & Duke Final Four Dallas Roy Williams, Arizona Elite Eight & Syracuse Bill Self, maybe it was Bill's 5th loss against Missouri, oops my bad, played MU 19 times and only lost 4 of them, sweet!

Previous days:

** Jan 24: HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate**

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Jan 24: Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Self said FTs probably decided the game. Why?

First, KU achieved its apparent defensive objectives. It took away the rim game by guarding hard inside the arc and fouling shots taken there, especially off offensive rebounds, while at the same time giving short jumpers to a team that did not shoot those short jumpers very well. Essentially, KU took away one of BU's two strengths--inside scoring.

BU's other strength, trey shooting first went red hot the first half, then cold the second half to shoot back to its usual still decent trey average by end of the game.

Jan 21: Andrew's New Mentor; Kobe Bryant - @drgnslayr

I caught the following post today and want to offer up some new ideas:

@Blown - "Wiggins is just a Gorillas Grip on the ball away from finishing those drives. Here to hoping Hudy has a hand strengthener in her fantastic arsenal"

I think Andrew needs to reexamine his game. I'd like to sit in a video room with him and go over file footage of Kobe Bryant's NBA career. This is the player that Andrew needs to model his game after.

Jan 21: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs BU - Jan 20 - @drgnslayr

I think we can make this FLOOR BURN AWARD short and sweet...

Jan 21: Self Supports Shockers Potential #1 Seeding... - @drgnslayr

Jan 21: Some worst case scenarios for college basketball - @jaybate

**Also see today's News Digest (January 25) and News Digest for yesterday (January 24) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 24) **

**Also see Our Daily Threads (January 25) and the News Digest for yesterday (January 24) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 24) **
! ↗

Bedore: KU men return to TCU mindful of last year’s loss ↗

Kansas University’s fifth-ranked basketball team trailed the Big 12’s last-place squad, TCU, 20-6 with four minutes left in the first half of last year’s head-scratcher of a game at sold-out Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

Odds appeared slim the Jayhawks would even hit double figures by the 20-minute mark.

Newell: Jayhawks hope to put last year's shocking road loss to TCU behind them ↗

FORT WORTH, Texas — Tarik Black was on a campus bus earlier this week when a fellow student gave him the lowdown on last year's loss at TCU.

“We were missing layups, like point-blank layups. Open threes that nobody was around the ball. It just wasn’t going in the rim at all,” the KU forward said. “They said the ball just wouldn’t go in the rim. I’m not sure how that takes place.”

Dodd: KU need only look to last season for a reminder of what can happen on the road ↗

LAWRENCE — In the days before Kansas was scheduled to board a plane for a road game at TCU, senior forward Tarik Black hopped on a bus on the KU campus.

These are the moments where college sports can feel less like a billion-dollar enterprise and more like a cozy fabric of campus life. On Wednesday, Black simply wanted to escape the biting cold like any other student. And the kid sitting next to him on the bus wanted to talk basketball — mostly about that night at TCU in early 2013.

Keegan: Column: Forward rotation good motivation for Ellis, Traylor ↗

Whenever smart coaches talk to the public through the media, they often tailor their messages to specific targets, namely their players.

Sometimes it’s easy to determine at which player Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self aims his message. At other times, he camouflages his delivery just enough to keep you guessing.

Finkelstein: Kansas Big Men: Potential vs Production ↗

The major difference between Embiid and Alexander lies in potential vs. production. There was no denying that Embiid had incredible talent last year, and the rapid rate at which his tools evolved was why he climbed the rankings more than any other prospect in the Class of 2013. At the time, however, Embiid lacked the sheer production of guys like Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle or even Andrew and Aaron Harrison, and likely wouldn’t have been capable of putting a team on his back to upset the top team in the country as Alexander just did at Hoophall.

One of the hardest parts about evaluating is not making too much of one performance, like Alexander’s on Monday, especially when your evaluations are based on long-term projections.

In Alexander’s case, he was far and away the most dominant prospect in the Hoophall field and turned in a performance that perhaps no player in the country could have duplicated, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the top prospect.

Dana O'Neil, ESPN.com Kansas' Joel Embiid a secret no more ↗

Freshman has the game for the NBA. But is he ready to take his game there?
Originally Published: January 20, 2014

I said to my wife, Cindy, the other morning, wouldn't it have been a shame if someone didn't see him over there?

--Kansas coach Bill Self

**Also see Our Daily Threads (January 25) and the News Digest for yesterday (January 24) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 24) **

@Crimsonorblue22 good deal. news articles should be added to the other thread (daily news digest). If you have thread rights try hitting the pencil icon next to the top post and copying the syntax of another story. If you don't have thread rights you can add as comment to that post. This post is for user generated stories.

Were you guys not able to edit daily threads post because it was locked? I'm unlocking to see if that was the problem. Can someone with thread admin rights try to edit the top post here and let me know if it let's you?

@bskeet cheers! (beer)

@ralster

http://www.vuhoops.com/2011/9/15/2427621/mario-chalmers-jay-wright-sherron-collins-scottie-reynolds-beyond-the-phog ↗ ↗

So when it came to the Villanova game, Coach Self called Sherron and me into his office and said, "How do you feel about this Villanova game?" I said, "Coach, this is personal to me. I don’t like Jay Wright." He was like, "I understand that, but keep it out of the media." So when the media asked if it was a personal game, we’d say, "No, it’s not personal. It’s just another game." But during the game we were talking all kinds of s--t to Jay Wright. We’d run by him and tell him, "Sit your ass down! We got this!" Another time we said to him, "This is what you get for cutting us. We’re about to dog you!" Anytime we were throwing the ball in from the sideline, when he was standing up trying to call a play, we’d tell him to shut his mouth and sit down. There was one play where I threw a lob to Shady on an inbounds pass and he dunked over Scottie Reynolds. Right before I threw it I looked at Jay Wright and said, "Watch this!" That game was definitely personal for Sherron and me.

Currently in the process of writing some automation scripts to seed our 2 daily posts. This will make the shell of the two posts have very consistent format, which should help.

**Also see today's News Digest (January 24) and News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 23) **
!kubuckets.jpg ↗

OUR DAILY THREADS FOR JAN 24:

HALF COURT ZONES: CORE VS. TACTICAL USE - @jaybate

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man."

--George Patton

George Patton was a general that spent most of his combat life invading places, not defending places. He had overwhelmed many fixed defenses. Thus it is not surprising that he would use his bold eloquence to say something pithy and pregnant with insight about attacking and scoff at fixed defenses.

Conquering Turnovers - @drgnslayr

Bill Self is talking about reducing turnovers -

http://cjonline.com/sports/2014-01-23/self-kus-offense-should-be-better ↗ ↗

A high rate of turnovers seem to be the norm for a Bill Self team. That fact seems to contradict the success Bill Self brings with him every year, or does it?

Why do Bill Self teams turn the ball over at a high rate?

Previous days:

Jan 23: Picking the Elite 8 - @lulufulu85

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

Jan 23: McDermott VS Embiid VS Wiggins - @drgnslayr

John Gasaway, over at ESPN, wrote an op ed called "Top 25 Players in College Hoops", where he ranked current players based on his own value system for how they impacted the college game instead of how NBA scouts rank players for draft status, based on their potential at the next level.

Gasaway concluded that the top player in college basketball is Doug McDermott. Joel Embiid finished 9th and Andrew Wiggins finished 21st.

I was unable to finish reading his story because I don't find enough value in the ESPN media to warrant paying to read their opinions. But... I'll go ahead and post my own ideas around this story and the rankings that came from it

Jan 22: Why Self Said FTs Probably Won the BU Game and Some Implications - @jaybate

Self said FTs probably decided the game. Why?

First, KU achieved its apparent defensive objectives. It took away the rim game by guarding hard inside the arc and fouling shots taken there, especially off offensive rebounds, while at the same time giving short jumpers to a team that did not shoot those short jumpers very well. Essentially, KU took away one of BU's two strengths--inside scoring.

BU's other strength, trey shooting first went red hot the first half, then cold the second half to shoot back to its usual still decent trey average by end of the game.

Jan 21: Andrew's New Mentor; Kobe Bryant - @drgnslayr

I caught the following post today and want to offer up some new ideas:

@Blown - "Wiggins is just a Gorillas Grip on the ball away from finishing those drives. Here to hoping Hudy has a hand strengthener in her fantastic arsenal"

I think Andrew needs to reexamine his game. I'd like to sit in a video room with him and go over file footage of Kobe Bryant's NBA career. This is the player that Andrew needs to model his game after.

Jan 21: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs BU - Jan 20 - @drgnslayr

I think we can make this FLOOR BURN AWARD short and sweet...

Jan 21: Self Supports Shockers Potential #1 Seeding... - @drgnslayr

**Also see today's News Digest (January 24) and News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for [Yesterday (January 23)]

Also see today's News Digest (January 24) and News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 23) \n!kubuckets.jpg ↗\n##OUR DAILY THREADS FOR JAN 23:##\n####\n>\n######\n>\nAlso see today's News Digest (January 24) and News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 23) \n

Also see today's News Digest (January 24) and News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 23) \n!kubuckets.jpg ↗\n##OUR DAILY THREADS FOR JAN 23:##\n####\n>\n######\n>\nAlso see today's News Digest (January 24) and News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 23) \n

**Also see Our Daily Threads (Jan 24) and the News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 23) **

!Self ↗

Newell: Self says KU's offense should be better ↗

LAWRENCE — Though his Kansas team ranks at the top of nearly every statistical measure in Big 12 play, Bill Self says there is still room for his team’s offense to grow.

“I feel like our offense hasn’t been so good,” the KU coach said during his weekly news conference Thursday. “I think our numbers have been good. Our numbers are misleading.”

Dodd: KU freshman Brannen Greene tries to remain patient ↗

LAWRENCE — During his first semester on campus, Brannen Greene’s role at Kansas basically amounted to this: Andrew Wiggins’ practice defender.

It’s not what Greene, a freshman small forward, envisioned when he signed with KU in the fall of 2012. He was one of the top 30 recruits in the country, a player with length and skill, and four-star prospects never plan on sitting on the bench.

KU’s Black feeling the love, and feeling better, after sprain ↗

Silence gripped Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night as Kansas University senior forward Tarik Black sat on the floor, wincing in pain after spraining his right ankle in a victory over Baylor. Black, who said he appreciated the love and concern from fans, was able to practice in non-contact drills on Thursday and is expected to play in Saturday’s contest at TCU.

WSJ: The 7-Footer Who Snuck Up on College Basketball ↗

Joel Embiid started playing organized basketball only in late 2011. Before that, he played volleyball and soccer in Cameroon, his native land.

Now he's projected to be the NBA draft's No. 1 pick come June.

KC Star Andrew Wiggins can't control Expectations ↗

LAWRENCE — Andrew Wiggins is a fabulously talented basketball player and the truth in there can be explained simply in one sentence. As a freshman, he is the leading scorer and best defender on a top 10 college basketball team, and a lot of people can’t stop talking about how he stinks.

**Also see Our Daily Threads (Jan 24) and the News Digest for yesterday (January 23) as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday (January 23) **

@wissoxfan83 Yeah, that color should not be allowed for away uniforms. That green is brighter than white!

@lulufulu85 - moved your thread to its own post

@lulufulu85's post, migrated:

(I moved your thread over here, so we can lock the daily threads)

I want to add a thread for today. Would anyone care to venture a very premature guess at this years elite 8 teams? I say that because IMO the field is still too wide open to pick just 4 teams out of the 20 or so teams that could possibly make it to the Final 4. But, there are some really good teams out there that have started to separate themselves from the pack. Back in November during the time KU played in the Champions classic with Dookie, Michigan St and Kenstinky, I made a guess that that line up could be the '14 Final Four. shakes head Nope, not gonna happen. And without further ado, but a lot of rambling because I work the night shift and I have been up since 6pm yesterday, I will start with my 8 teams whom I think at this point in the season will make it to Elite status.

I have to pick Arizona though I don't want to. I'm definitely not a Sean Miller fan and I think that Arizona is a bit overrated. Strength of Schedule #'s don't look too bad as per KenPom But, they are in the Pac 12 and its annually one of the weakest of the BSC conferences. That's the right acronym right, BSC? Zona has just a hand full of good wins. Their 3rd game they beat Sandiego State (boy do I want a rematch of those dirty rats), and they beat Duke & Michigan in the non conference. I personally think/hope that Zona will overlook a very good and experienced mid major team who will spank them good and hard before Elite 8. BUT, for now they are my first pick.

Second is Michigan State, They are undefeated in their conference so far and if they win or share the league title then surely they can make it to Elite 8. There is an elephant in their locker room though...getting beat by the bipolar UNC? wtf to that.

Third pick is Syracuse. Their S.o.S. is a bit weaker than Zona's but the ACC is a tougher conference I feel. and also they haven't lost yet either. Im not a fan of the bigger conferences though because Cuse wont play a home and home with Duke or UNC and whoever else. So, IMO it doesn't give a real feel for how they would do on the road against those teams. Sure, Duke and UNC are down this year but you know what I mean.

4th pick is our beloved KU. #1 S.o.S and #1 RPI have to be good for something right? There's just got to be some dividends from such a hard schedule for our team this year. They just have to figure out how to NOT turn the ball over against zone and against traps. Shouldn't be too hard to tighten that up right!? Im hoping for some positive reinforcement here people.

5th pick is Wichita State. The Shockers definitely wont surprise anyone this year but they have a seemingly tough and definitely experienced team. Everyone playing them in the tourney will not want to play them... except us right? ;) Only thing is, no losses for a team that has a middle of the road S.o.S means a loss is coming at some point. With no early losses to expose weaknesses the chances that they will get exposed by a bad match up in the dance becomes more likely. It would be pretty funny to see Creighton smoke them like they did 'Nova. Btw, Jay Wright is a sucker. Seriously haven't let go of that grudge against him for dissing Chalmers and RussRob.

6th pick is Florida, As much as I dislike Scotty Wilbeken (sp?) the guy is a baller and UF looks like a tough team this year too. But since 08, UF has had a bad habit of getting bounced early in the tourney. Although I don't sense that will happen this year. They are experienced, talented. Good combos for a deep run if they can make it.

7th is Michigan. If they can share or win their conference, then they should make it at least this far.

8th is Iowa State. We all know they are good, and personally I just want to see another Big 12 team make it this far.
Im going to add a sleeper team also. Im going to put SMU in here. Their Kenpom Offense and Defense #'s look good and plus it would be nice to see Ol' Larry Brown back in the big dance again. I hope they make it.

Yep, that's it. Im sure this will change in a week or two. Im off work for the next 10 days so I plan on watching a lot of college ball, and hopefully learn a thing or two.