@Zabudda Yeah that was rough- I’m not sure if this is league wide, but refs are letting players get away with murder. Basketball should not devolve into cage fighting.
Elmarko got fouled at half court - no call. He also got fouled on that awesome critical scoop shot. And early, flory’s shot was blocked but replay showed it was a goaltend.
Jamari McDowell played great defense… He looks a lot like Marcus Garrett because he never stops moving his feet… overall I really love the defensive effort by the team. Self got these guys to play hard, not soft.
We got us some athletes this year… fun to watch!
(Not missing juando and Hunter )
Will this win get us into top 25?
Yeah Maryland so far a very good fit for diggy
@rockchalkjayhawk Whoops … I was very excited and nearsighted apparently
At least we have athletes this year. Scrappy bunch. I’m honestly looking forward to watching this team all year win or not The starters were all above 20 pts , and Dawson with 24
Storr is current high scorer so far for Ole Miss - well he is a starter
This is such a different look from the Juan -Dickinson years… lotta athletes ! Is this Kansas?
It would be hard for me to think that his historic penchant for playing his personal favorites could be completely turned around. It always felt to me it was because of who he is as a person. Could he actually be an every-year-is-a-new-team kind of coach?
Man those Houston bigs are tough, super athletic, and have scoring touch. We need bigs just like that
Are we still in contact with Rodney rice? I watched every Maryland game this year- he was a scoring stud.
He’s a specimen, a great athlete, but can he develop scoring touch around the basket is my only concern
Remember how excited most of us were at the start of last season? … all looked good, especially our scoring potential.
I know there were other prominent teams with marquee transfers who had a bust season, but it feels like we were the leader in that catagory.
@Kcmatt7 Totally agree… Self’s coaching style, pulling guys when they make a mistake, KILLS confidence… Rylan and A.J were both playing with trepidation because of that. He needs to have a MUCH longer leash, and let’s these guys play thru some errors, and it will pay off towards the end of the season. They will grow into studs.
I watched pretty much every game of Rice and Gillespie at Maryland, both guards, and both of whom are in the portal.
They were fantastic and explosive.
This is a good thread by all you top tier bucketeers in the know about who we should get and who would be a good fit.
Im not in the know, but I agree that
I’ve been watching Maryland basketball for years ( daughter went there ) and they, like others, have had fabulous luck with their transfers this season. They are super athletic, supremely confident, and not afraid to drive and shoot, and coach Willard does NOT pull guys right away when they f up.
In the portal, We need ATHLETIC studs who can score, and Self needs to keep them on the floor to build their confidence. Calimari got very good athletes for Arkansas, and they are gelling now.
A lot of teams on the rise right now in the B12. Houston has taken over the spot Kansas held for years as the dominant team. We have to really figure out the recruiting/ transfer game real soon. Maybe time to re-evaluate the staff around Self?
I was at the game… lotta Arizona fans there… I sat next to many… always great to see the awe in their faces about the whole Allen fieldhouse vibe and insane energy. Also it was great to see the crowd erupt for Mayo Harris and Adams… not so much Hunter. After the game, for the senior introductions, Self spoke about all the ups and downs, and I think he mentioned a murder… was that in reference to Jaun’s past?
kJ’s flying dunk over Zac is my favorite slam of the year…
So , as you are not a true fan of KU , you need to put yourself in the penalty box for one week …
( I’m putting myself in it too, because my wife and I have turned off the recent games before the half… it’s PAINFUL to watch for sure )
There may be other threads on who the next coach will be, but after reading Mike Vernon’s recent take on Self’s future, I Apparently it looks like self could be gone in 2-3 years… So as Kuballin10 recently posted , who would be the best fit for us as a coach? We all know the good news is that this is still a primo coaching gig…
Good point… how does this rank on the list of most painful home losses?
We all know KJ plays great d, boxes out religiously. and helps move the ball around on O… he is an energizer bunny, but we all know he not a real natural scorer and we all know he will get plenty of minutes… so what does he need to do better? Rebounding?
Believe me im absolutely hoping they get some chemistry and swagger. Many games still to play. I am a 100% fan. Just not deceiving myself anymore.
Speaking of swagger, I am a Maryland basketball fan because my daughter went there recently. I just watched them beat Indiana on the road… They’re playing fearlessly and they’re playing with absolute confidence and belief. They also beat a ranked team on the road a few days ago. I’m not saying that they will go real far in the tourney, but I’m frankly jealous of their fearlessness and wide open play. Their coach, Kevin Willard, seems to let his guys just play through bonehead mistakes and rushed shots, and missed defensive assignments. They sure as hell believe in themselves… Can Kansas get to a point to believe in themselves?
Yes all good points, but a senior who is ostensibly a team leader just CANNOT miss both. I’m not sure I ever saw Juan clank one off the front rim. Clearly nerves maybe combined with fatigue. He absolutely needed to make that second one.
Btw who is the leader of this team? KJ? Jaun is not a born leader, I think Hunter may be on the spectrum, his affect is weird, plus there is always the feeling that he is here really for the money. and as one poster commented, he is soft as baby s—t. Good bigs neutralize him because he is slow. Zeke is trying hard to be our stud god bless him, but it puts him in a position to force shots which look desperate at times.
I think my KU colored glasses are finally coming off. I can see them for what they are, including the coach.
I will root for them of course, but as they are, not what I (and most of us) hoped they would be.
Can Self afford one more year of another highly touted but ultimately under-performing team?
I’ve always suspected that his coaching style kills confidence in many of his players. He plays his favorites to a fault, and yanks the guys off the bench when they make mistakes, which makes for a non-chemistry team. Keep playing our bench, let them play thru mistakes, and it will pay off come March.
I have defended Juan for 4 years … if a senior and a decent foul shooter can’t make just one out two to ice the game at home, then good god WTF. He choked. Houston made their clutch free throws. They are clearly a better team than us right now. I’m done defending Juando. The three of Hunter KJ and Jaun whom I have rooted for and defended are not good enough to lead a top ten team. I love KJ but it’s a fact.
Next year will an interesting season for Self. The bloom is fading rapidly.
A conference win is a win. By 30 or by 1. We all know this after watching decades of KU ball. B12 is gonna be a dogfight as per usual.
I have decided to stop worrying about why we’re not a dominant team… it has been well laid out by many posters here what is wrong the program when seen thru the lens of super high expectations. We are what we are. Let’s just hope that they can jell and play as tough as possible. They are my team win or lose.
@Texas-Hawk-10 Didn’t know that… that explains his selfish play
The team isn’t jelling. Storr is in desperation mode. Kinda sad to watch. I’m not sure this is Selfs fault. Hunter looks slow. Kj plays his heart out but can’t really score, and now this team is struggling. Mayo is a nice surprise.
I remember before the season, the consensus was that this team was going to suck on D. Actually their D is pretty damn good at times.
Would be hard to see this squad be a potential nat champion, but I’ve decided to chuck expectations and try to enjoy them as they are
@wissox Concerning that exact move by Juan … From an article about the game from The Athletic-
“Harris had a name for the move where he jumps over the baseline — “the Juando drill” — explaining that the Jayhawks practice it and he knows exactly where he’s going with the ball when he leaves his feet.”
Yes - great observations Slayer…
And it appears Self is actually playing his bench a lot more this year early on rather than riding his starting 5 to exhaustion come March.
The more the bench gets meaningful minutes, the better we will be. Let them play through mistakes and not bench them immediately as Self has done in the past.
From a New York Times article about the game last night, focusing on KJ
“I think KJ showed a lot of people tonight that you can be an elite player at this level and not be a prolific scorer,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Because he did it all.”
An Elite player who does not score all that much, and doesn’t really rebound… but does a lot of great, tough things that coaches adore. Going to be an interesting senior night March 8th. Self absolutely LOVES his KJ.
Did one of the announcers (Fran I think) state that Self has said “KJ is one of the best players we’ve ever had”? Ever.
Like it or not, KJ is going to get huge minutes all season as we all know. Personally I love the guy, and love watching him play d.
NC, Michigan st and now Duke this early in the season Pretty good so far
All good points. I know, in the past, HCBS has played guys that are scorers, but couldn’t play defense (Perry Ellis, Dedric Lawson come to mind and I’m sure you guys could come up with a bunch more past players that fit this catagory). Or guys that could rebound and be a defensive force in the paint but really poor scorers ( Landen Lucas, etc) The reasoning is that Self had really no choice I suppose… but I still think that KJ’s lack of rebounding doesn’t bug Self enough, because if it did, he would limit his minutes or, because KJ will do whatever the coaches ask him to do, really try hard to get under the basket a lot more than he is now. As we all know , rebounding is a HUGE part of basketball and can be the difference between winning and losing.
And speaking of working on important things, is it just me, or does it seem that every dam team we play can shoot free throws better than us??
Just so I understand, the argument here is: Our hall of fame coach, a guy that is considered to be one of the best ever, is giving huge minutes to a favored veteran player even though he is limited offensively and can’t or won’t rebound? Is he that blind? Or is there more to the picture?
He plays GREAT DEFENSE, and he boxes out extremely well, pushing his man away from the basket, which puts him in a poor rebounding position, but clears the way for his teammates to rebound.
And the only thing I can think of on offense, where he does stand around and gets easily boxed out, is that the coaches WANT HIM TO DO THAT. Perhaps to be able to get back on D quickly is my only guess. Remember, the reason why Self and the staff like him so much is that he is highly coachable. If they wanted KJ to rebound, he would be fighting to get under the basket .
@BShark That is some fine photoshopping !!
So - in light of the comments about KJ on this thread, I re-watched the game and paid extremly close attention to what KJ did on both offense and defense.
Defense- KJ was excellent. When his man looked to drive and score, he never gave up, moving his feet constantly. He looked a lot like Marcus Garrett in my opinion. He communicated well with his teammates as a good veteran should about switching and helping his teammates get to the right opponent quickly. His boxing out in fact was fantastic. He always had his man in sight, and made sure there was no chance his opponent would get near the basket, except for when a teammate got beat and he had to shift in the paint to try and stop the opponents drive to the hoop. This of course put KJ away from the basket almost every time, thus never was he in a good position to rebound.
Offense - he mostly is a role player here, setting picks, moving pretty well away from the ball. Obviously he is not a prime target, but when he had the ball in open space he shot well in the first half. But when other KU players shot the ball he was passive, standing around really, and got easily boxed out virtually every time. Thus he had no offensive rebounds (he had one in the first half but I think that was it) Because of all the minutes he got, he was tired in the second half, and perhaps hurting a bit.
We all know Self has always had his “glue guys” and his favorites and we all know KJ is one of them. Self loves guys who play hard defensively and do what they are coached to do. kJ does both. And if Self and the coaching staff wanted KJ to become a rebounder, his playing style would be different. And if they wanted KJ to shoot more, he would be shooting more. Apparently they love what KJ is doing and has been doing the last several years.
As far as his scoring ability (and Juans ) after all these years, it is what it is. He will never improve all that much at this stage. He and Dajuan at least know this, and don’t force up too many bad looks.
Now if we can get the transfers to buy in to playing consistent high effort defense, (we know they can score) I think this team will be real contender.
Thanks all… next question - how many games can one play and still redshirt?
@RockChalkinTexas I missed it - was there official word on Jamari Mredshirting?
It is raining threes - sure fun to watch
let us hope these guys can hit em later in the season like in conference play
He’s def going in the 2nd round
Just read it too!
INTERESTING
I had a complete quad tear in my early 60’s - it took a full year, but did get back to normal, and still playing sports. Patellar tear may be a different animal tho.
Actually, I looked up both, and looks like they have the same outcomes. With the right rehab regimen, Elmarko should recover well.
As I remember, his announcing gigs were sporadic. So you knew he was going to say off-the-wall stuff. I found him highly entertaining personally because I never expected him to be a “real announcer”. He was a goofball really, but smart!
I remember once he was asked over and over and over again , almost badgered, by his announcing partner to pick which team was going to do well in the ncaa tournament, and he steadfastly repeated that it’s all about who plays well that given day. He stood his ground and of course he was dead correct.
I’m going to miss the big fella.