🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Great camera work on that replay.

They've been letting WVU do that push off all game...

Ick

@BShark This is the way

Nice to have Wilson and Harris leading this team...

@Jethro I saw that but figured it was a joke.

I don't think it's wildly unreasonable to think Joe goes for anywhere from 15-30 points today. We've never really seen what he would do with starter minutes. He's shown he can score in bunches and with a head full of confidence and a hunger to prove himself, this could go well!

@Crimsonorblue22 I agree he's a wuss and a dweeb but do think he should get a little credit for developing that "best backcourt in America." The guards he's had come through there all get better over time and develop skills that make them hard to guard. Some of that has to be coaching and the system.

I think about it like this, Harris would probably never make it off the bench there in 4 years but a guy like Elijah Johnson or Malik Newman would have been an absolute STAR. Obviously those guys had success at KU as well but would have been HUGE at Baylor. Just my two cents.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I agree he's surely looking for scoring wings in the 6-5 to 6-8 range but I think a lot of people overestimate Self's commitment to any one system. His greatness and consistency has come not from getting the best guys to fit his system but instead adapting his system to fit his best guys.

KJ is scoring 10 points a game as a sophomore who, if you've listened to Self talk, is playing out of his natural position. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see KJ slide into a Kevin McCullar type role next year of being the defend everyone wing. I think KJ will be a better rebounder when he's allowed to attack the glass with his athleticism rather than having to get position on a guy 5 inches taller than he is. He's shown some ability to drive, pass, and even started looking more confident in taking some jumpers (not out to the 3 line for sure).

I'd just be baffled if Self doesn't believe KJ and Udeh are two of KU's best 5 players next year. He will put the 5 best players on the floor and figure out a system to make that work. That's why he's the best in the business.

@Kcmatt7 I don't think Udeh gets less than 25 minutes a game next year. KJ will be playing Post and wing 3. I would be SHOCKED if we don't see KJ playing alongside Udeh for extended minutes.

This is what makes me nervous about keeping Rice in general. If we pull in a high caliber, experienced transfer, they will be in direct competition with Rice and Elmarko for starting spots. Based on what I've read, it seems likely Elmarko will start. Self Starters generally get 30-35 Minutes a game with the exception being big post players who may not have the conditioning to do so. Zuby is going to get some run next year for sure.

I think it's more likely we go after 2 big-time transfers. They should be on the lookout for a big versatile defender and another who can fill it up. Maybe we find one who can do both?

@dylans I knew they had wrestling. OSU is usually a pretty solid program nationally. Self mentions it from time to time as part of his upbringing talking about those guys as what real toughness is all about. Apparently, Mizzou rejoined the big 12 in 2021. Wish they hadn't... Not sure KU has a wrestling team to even compete against them.

Came across some highly unsettling news.

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Did not realize we’d let them back in the door even if just for wrestling.

Context is definitely king but I’d love to hear the context where it is appropriate for a white coach to use such a verse.

Pop Isaac’s come on down? Obannor as a senior grad transfer? Think I’d take either of those next year.

@Jethro read they were in the locker room for a long time before they came out for post game press conference. I’m hoping this game got their attention like TCU did last year.

Realistically the tournament is all match ups and a little good fortune. We’ve been missing so many 3s I’m hoping there is a law of averages adjustment coming. I still think we are a one seed and even a b- game gets us by an 8/9 team. Then it’s all about whether we catch a break with some upsets I. The bracket or bring the a game for the rest of the tournament. The A game is certainly good enough. Should be fun to watch and find out.

@stoptheflop the line around here about the arena is “they close the upper sections to make it feel more intimate. You know, like Allen field house.” They are always shocked and confused when I tell them Allen holds 16300. They say, “but that’s bigger than the Erwin center” and I say yes it is.

They have these weird panels that they lower to block out the upper levels and maybe they bounce the sound back? I haven’t been and unfortunately won’t be going today. The Texas fans I know love it because they say it’s louder and more fun than the old Erwin center (pretty low bar).

@Crimsonorblue22 said in Big12 strength:

I can't stand texass but I love beating them. It won't be the same. Winning a big 12 and not playing Baylor or tech? Not excited if that's how it plays out. We play in the north?

We should still play Baylor and tech in basketball at least. Just maybe not twice every year.

@approxinfinity said in Other games:

@mayjay thanks for the tip. Golf is a hard sell to the wife though, so maybe sometime on my own.

My partner hates soccer but loved the super league: war for football doc on Apple TV+

Did y’all see Lonnie Phelps’s 40 time? I did not realize he could move THAT fast. He’s surely helped himself with all of his work and effort since the season has ended.

Anyone know where he’s projected in the draft? I thought I saw somewhere the chiefs might be interested.

@BShark said in How we feelin’ about March:

I need to see the bracket first. There are S16 opponents based on current bracketology that we would not be favored against if the bracket went chalk.

That's why I said S16 was my expectation. We should beat a 16 seed and pretty much all of the 8/9s. After that, it's all match ups, hot and cold shooting, injuries, refs, etc.

I wonder how many champions have had to play close to chalk in their brackets? I know KU has had some breaks on the last two title runs. Feels like our elite 8 losing streak for a while was just facing 2/3 seeds over and over again.

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Tough break for one of the teams that really scared me. Still think they could be a tough out but Barnes would have to outperform his reputation.

@BeddieKU23 Saw a thing that we are still within the Kenpom Rankings that match all of the most recent champions. Something about top 27 D and top 37 O I think.

@kuballin10 I feel like barring injury, sweet 16 is my expectation now for this team, with some confidence they could make the final four and like always a hope they can win the whole thing.

The fact they've been winning these last few games with defense has me more optimistic. They clearly know how to win when shots don't fall, which makes them incredibly resilient to bad shooting anomalies and weird stuff that tends to happen in the tournament.

Match Ups will always rule March Madness but I also think this team has shown itself capable of beating a wide variety of teams and styles, in a myriad of ways.

I'm a little scared by how reliant this team is on each and every starter. Like if one of them goes down, it's a significant drop off. We don't have a sherron or a remy who could legit start and the team be comparable or even better. You could argue Udeh for Adams maybe, but even that is not really a contest in my opinion.

In the end, (I think @kuballin10 will agree) this team will go as far as Dejuan Harris can take them.

@BeddieKU23 said in Meat Necklace Game Thread:

@jayballer67

Very interesting

Besides last night's game that had a lot of pressure (Senior Night thrown on top of winning a Championship) I think it points out this KU team knows when to turn it on when the games count the most.

Definitely hoping this is the case. They've shown that they have a different gear they can ascend to. I just hope they've found exactly where that switch is because it would suck to be waiting on it and all of the sudden it just isn't there anymore.

@BShark I always think the reds are better in theory than in reality. Like, they look good on the hanger but something about red in the field house feels wrong. Feel like they should be a non con away/neutral court game in November/December thing.

@BShark said in 2023 Recruiting:

@Kcmatt7 Self's best teams tend to be ones that are very good inside the arc on both ends. I just worry about that line-up offensively.

KJ has shown that he can score and pass when given space. Heck, I could even see Kj and Udeh running pick n roll for lobs on occasion. I think Kj will be the 4 next year and Udeh and Zuby will hold down the 5. Juan, is obviously the point guard, which leaves 2 spots for scoring 2/3 guard wings. I'd bet a freshman fills one of those and we look for a transfer to fill the other. There's an outside chance that Joe or Bobby fill in at the two but that would not be ideal. They are not Graham/Mason or Robinson/Chalmers level guards. Maybe Kev comes back and fills that 3 spot but I'm not sure that's what is best for Kansas. He's a great defender but I don't think he will develop into a 35% or better 3 gun which we will definitely need with Harris, Udeh, and KJ all on the floor.

@BeddieKU23 Hadn’t seen the pat down intro… do they have a PR team at Bama? Good god.

@dylans The PER is a season-long stat. So it combines all of his minutes played all year.

@Gorilla72 said in Bill Self for COY:

Has anyone else noticed that HCBS has a pregame habit of blowing into his cupped hands when he comes out of the tunnel? Every time I see him emerge, he does it. Ritual or superstition?

Definitely both. It’s always been there.

@drgnslayr said in Chips Ahoy!:

Are we wearing down? Or are we doing what we can to not wear down?

In my heart we are waiting to flip the switch until we HAVE to. The UT loss had to be mentally relaxing and I wonder how much the players see all of this Self 39-0 in the last two games at Allen stuff and maybe assuming Allen will win the game for them. I don’t know.

They found the switch against Baylor. I hope they find it again in the tournament. I honestly don’t really care if they flip it again until then.

Game over. Juan has 4

What is going on on the video board? Pretty creepy sounding as background noise.

@Crimsonorblue22 If I lived in KC or Lawrence I might go broke. I’m so mad the austin folks actually go to games this year. $400 a ticket right now for the game down here. Not sure I can justify that at the moment.

@BShark said in 2023 Recruiting:

@BeddieKU23 said in 2023 Recruiting:

I hope we can find 2 wing scorers, that's what this team will need unless Kev returns.

I was going to edit again and comment on this more.

I think it's likely the staff is pretty happy with our post situation. If Zach goes you probably portal for a guy but KJ/Udeh/Zuby is a nice group. The big thing is Jalen and Gradey are leaving so we need shot takers. With the scholarship reduction down to 12 it really is hard to find room for a developmental big. Plus Evans might want to play immediately as well. The primary focus has to be the starting 4.

I still really think KJ starts at the 4 next year even if he doesn’t develop a 3 ball.

We could win games 38-25 with Juan, Kev, KJ, and Udeh plus a freshman.

@drgnslayr said in Other games:

@benshawks08

Lots of discussion in here about the lack of bench minutes in games. I think @Texas-Hawk-10 believed/believes our bench needs more PT. So do I. But I also understood why Self pushed his main 5 so hard... so they would gel into something special.

Hard to blame bench when they don't get minutes to grow into roles.

I feel like we are peaking at the right time... Still some games to lift up even higher.

Still wish we would get more out of our bench. Not sure about Rice. I know injuries hampered him this year. He shows very short sparks of hope. He definitely has some strength behind him which has been shown when he fights opponents for the ball on rebounds and loose balls. But he still seems out of rhythm out there and I think he just needs more PT to establish his game.

Ernest is becoming a beast! His arms are long and his hands are quick and strong... and his mind sees things and anticipates. It wouldn't surprise me if he saved us from a loss moving forward this year! Love how he changes the game when replacing KJ.

I think our guys now realize the way to change a game positively is to focus hardest on defense and then our defense will help our offense... specifically on run outs. Rebounding is important, too, and I just lump that into our defense because we don't have defensive success without getting stops.

Agree on the defense. My favorite nugget was hearing that Jalen has taken to telling the guys “THEY DONT SCORE AGAIN” in pivotal moments.

Listening to the Mitch and teahan podcast where they brought on ochai was cool. Ochai talked about how that team would get into the mindset that “not even God could score on us” for a few key possessions.

With Kev, Juan and KJ, this team could still get there.

@drgnslayr said in Other games:

Happy we are going this deep into something.... it's been tough to go deep when we have such a good team that responds well to coaching, has a great attitude, and for most of the year has good energy on the court. Self nailed it by calling this team overachievers.

Think back on years when we had so much to complain about and discuss deeply!

Good point. And honestly I think Gradey and Kevin are the biggest reasons for this. They are the newcomers. They are the ones supposed to be having adjustment issues. Supposed to be struggling to figure out what exactly it takes to be successful within a bill self coached team. But they seemed to just “get it” right away.

Our only real gripe early was the 5 position vacancy. But KJ stepped up SO big rattling of a dozen straight double digit scoring games that it was hard to complain about that anymore.

The bench has been suspect, but Ernest seems to have figured it out enough to give us 10-15 a game.

I thought Rice would be a talking point all year but he’s never really showed enough for anyone to think he needs to be getting big minutes.

Every issue that pops up seems to be solved relatively quickly. Seems like a good group of coachable guys. Credit to all of them but big props to Wilson and Harris for leading this team down the right path. They’ve walked it before so maybe it’s just easier this time…

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Thoughts on these? I kinda like em.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Other games:

@drgnslayr said in Other games:

Even without my selfish thoughts about getting him back...

Maybe I'm just really KU and most of the players just see it as an opportunity to go pro.

When I was at KU I had access to the floor at AFH most mornings and I took it. There wasn't enough NBA money worth what I would have experienced wearing the uniform and having that experience.

It's all about the $$$ now. That is all you can say. An extra year to possibly make more. Puke!

You are projecting your priorities onto Gradey when you're not in his position. It's easy for all of us who are alums and weren't high level athletes with pro sports level potential to tell someone to hang around and enjoy the college experience because none of us were HS POY's, none of us were McDonald's All-Americans, none of us were 5 star recruits, none of were projected lottery picks.

Basketball is a business and these players make business decisions about their futures. So Gradey Dick is going to make a business decision after this season that getting a guaranteed $20-30 million on a rookie contract is life changing money, even for someone who comes from a financially stable background.

Christian Braun grew up a die hard Jayhawk fan too and that still wasn't enough to get him to come back for his senior season once he was developed enough to be an NBA prospect, and he was never a potential lottery pick. I use Braun as the example because he grew up a die hard KU fan like Gradey and came from a financially stable background like Gradey amd still made a business decision.

Just to be clear, you are ALSO projecting your priorities onto Gradey when you are not in his position. You don’t know if the business and money are graders priorities any more than @drgnslayr knows his commitment to having a legacy as a jayhawk. If anything, @drgnslayr has more of an idea based on everything we’ve heard Gradey himself say. He’s talked about wanting to win a championship, wanting to leave his mark on the program. We’ve never heard him talk about finances or business as a motivating factor in any of his decision making.

You naught be right about making a business decision at the end of the year but he could just as easily make a decision based on other factors.

@kjayhawks I’ve never heard or seen someone mad or denying athletic or wealth privilege unless in was an excuse to ignore race. All types of privilege exist and are always working in concert. One can be privileged in one area and disadvantaged in another.

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10064928-2023-nba-mock-draft-full-2-round-predictions-post-trade-deadline.amp.html ↗

This one has him at 6.

Found this: not sure how reliable it is as a source… also, doesn’t give win percentages.

https://www.rookieroad.com/march-madness/coaches-with-the-most-march-madness-game-wins-6644016/ ↗

Guess I must be ready for March... lol

Anyone able to find a good update of top coaches performances in the NCAA Tournament? Like I found Self is 46-16 at Kansas and 55-21 overall. That's a pretty solid win percentage that has to be close to the top ever if not at least top over the span of his career.

@drgnslayr I don’t mind jalen slumping right now either. Just means he’s due for a law of averages correction and I’m hoping that happens middle of next month. I think we are about to see what our leaders are made of. I fully believe Juan and Jalen have another level of focus and determination in them after being a part of last years title. Juan has the ability to flip a game so quickly with his play at the pg spot. When we NEED a bucket, jalen gets to the rim or grabs a big rebound. Throw Kevin into that mix as an absolute killer when it counts most whether it’s making big buckets or getting big stops.

It’s funny because this team seems to have all the pieces despite actually not. Our true five man plays 10-15 minutes on a good day. But KJ has made himself such a good role player this year. A role player that can get you 10-20 points off simple pick and rolls.

I think this team has found its top gear when they crucshed Baylor in that second half. Now that they’ve done it it’s about flipping that switch at the right time. It’s not sustainable for 40 minutes for 6 straight games. That’s why I feel like this TCU win was as important if not more so for their tournament chances. This was a let down game after expending tons of energy two days earlier against a good team and this team found a way to grind out a win when they could shoot a lick. That’s a second/third round type game where you don’t have enough in the tank to get to the top gear but find a way to win in 2nd gear instead. That this team can do both has me optimistic about how things could play out in the big dance. Match ups and lick are still key factors but this team officially has the pieces and the experience to get it done.

@Eric-san I could see this as the case. But then don't say in a press conference "we've known all along about all of this" and then downplay the clearly serious situation. I just feel like it isn't that hard to NOT LIE. Tell the truth or at least as much of it as you are allowed to share/feel comfortable sharing. I mean, "I can't speak on this as it is under further investigation" is a pretty solid way to frame a situation you don't want to talk about. Or, "we are conducting our own investigation and will decide what to do when that is completed" It just isn't that hard. ChatGPT could do a better job at damage control than this.

@stoptheflop said in Alabama's Brandon Miller:

But saying Miller was at the wrong place at the wrong time, if that's what the coach said about Miller is greatly down playing the responsiblity a gun owner has when lending their gun to someone else. Maybe not criminal conduct, but Miller may be liable civilly for negligent entrustment of the gun. But, I haven't tried to follow any of the facts about this matter. I just wish people would be slower to demand criminal prosecution and other sanctions while the matter is still being investigated.

Right there with you on the criminal aspect. My thoughts are more about the basketball program and the coach. Like, if you know this heavy of a situation is being investigated, you have to get your own info and make your non-legal determinations and act on the situation. The internal investigations and actions by the coach and program are what I'm criticizing as woefully underwhelming. Star player still playing, prayer circle, "wrong place wrong time" "can't control what kids do outside of practice" "not in any trouble at all over this situation" All of that is just bad bad bad.

I'd hope our program would respond better and in my opinion we do have a better track record as we've suspended several players for off the court stuff. Jalen with the DUI comes to mind. You address the problem head on, provide a consequence, give the player an opportunity to make amends/apologize/show growth, etc. And if we are all thinking this is a tough one to do any of that apologizing stuff for, well then that tells you how serious the consequence within the program needs to be.

Let the police and the lawyers handle the criminality of an act. As a coach, just make sure your program addresses issues in as transparent and proactive way as you can. Maybe coach was prevented from doing this stuff as a result of the police investigation but that isn't what he said. If that's the case. Say so. Be honest, forthcoming, and present your program in the best light you can. This ain't it.

@Jayblaze I can never tell if that's real or just my KU blinders. I know the investigation stuff got a few folks off the bandwagon, including some of our own fans. I do see references to that and him being a cheater. He's definitely more personable than K, Cal, or Pitino ever have been. Has that ah shucks kind of demeanor that can be disarming even to those looking for a reason to hate him.

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@approxinfinity said in Dajuan Harris Cooks Lizards In Fort Worth Game Thread:

@BeddieKU23 aside from “mccullah” insanity, sure. Bless his heart.

I actually heard the “R” a few times last night. First time all year. Not sure why he changed it up midway through this game.

Curious what others think here. Does Miller get suspended? Removed from campus? Does Oats get fired? Program suspended? Big ole nothing happens? This seems HUGE but is that just me?