🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Calling Self a liar and a cheater is a bit extreme unless you are one of those people who always drives at or below the speed limit, etc. etc. and so on.

The game of basketball, and of America it seems, is to play the edges. There's the saying -- if you don't have a foul, you didn't play hard enough... People adapt to norms. The norms are ever adjusting... being pushed by those that are more assertive. I'm not saying it is right or wrong. It is what it is.

I guess what I am saying is that I don't see Self as a liar or a cheater in the context of the environment of college basketball. I might take it a step further to say that such a statement is either naive or calculated to provoke.

@HighEliteMajor said in WSU grudge:

So we, KU ... you know, history, blue blood, top program ... worries about recruiting competition from WSU?

Yeah, cause you never know who might say something to convince a kid to be wary of KU or of Self. Anyone can plant seeds of doubt.

Like saying that Self spews misinformation and suggesting that what he says shouldn't be trusted.

While you are talking political advertising.. this was interesting to me...
https://www.wired.com/story/right-left-news-site-ad-tracking/ ↗

Conservative News Sites Track You Lots More Than Left-Leaning Ones

One analysis of news outlets found that the median popular right-wing site planted 73 percent more cookies than its left-wing counterpart.

NH is Bernie's backyard. For Pete to come into New England and nearly match him is saying something. But yes -- it is a predominately white state and things may change in other states.

Miles is right in there... Hell, I think I could make a case for Langford. Both shouldn't be overlooked if they take it down a notch. From a sportsmanship perspective, the Morri played with fire and occasionally got burned (ahem VCU).

Wasn't Cole Aldrich an academic All-American? Also had a triple-double with blocks, if I'm not mistaken.

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Senator Shelley Capito (http://R-W.Va.) ↗ takes time during a Senate subcommittee meeting on potential student-athlete Name, Image, Likeness legislation to directly ask Big 12 commish Bob Bowlsby why Wednesday's KU-WVU basketball game is only on ESPN+ and not cable.

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Senator Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) is in the middle of chiding NCAA president Mark Emmert during today's Senate Subcommittee meeting when she sees KU chancellor Douglas Girod nodding. She then asks if he'd like to make a comment. Girod then addresses KU's notice of allegations.

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I think he'll fit into the Warriors offense well. He's definitely like a young Iguodala.

i know it's not strength and conditioning... but I like how Doke's FT shooting looks thus far. It's not like I want him at the line down by 2 with 2 seconds left, but he's been closer to 50% than 25% and that's significant.

Whoever helped him with that, I stand and applaud.

Curious if a moderate like Klobuchar or Pete could pick up votes if they repositioned themselves as a 'progressive that isn't a socialist' and push Bernie and Warren further into a fringe space.

@kjayhawks said in Texas Christian Horned Frogs - Saturday - 11 am - ESPN2:

Home of the ugliest floor in CBB, I honestly feel like it hurts my eyes

Oregon's floor is strong competition.

@kjayhawks not as much about inflation as it is the growing gap in wealth and the hollowing of the middle class. There is a market for $2500 tickets and to that audience, it's like a $20 ticket to everybody else. Welcome to the era of plutocracy.

Go Chiefs!

Nepotism is a bad practice and unethical. Coercion is a duress crime. Bribery is a crime.

I find it a bit disingenuous for anyone in the Trump family to be casting stones about nepotism. But they are. And it seems far too many people are blind to the irony.

Nepotism is not illegal. Coercion is.

I still fail to understand why a potentially nepotistic act could be considered so corrupt that it was worthy of withholding funds from a country -- essentially justifying coercion.

But that seems to be what the verdict was: Coercion -- a crime -- was justified because of the concern over nepotism (by a political rival).

I call bulls--t on the whole process, all the players and especially our completely self-absorbed, corrupt 2-party system.

In this environment, we should be concerned for the future of democracy.

@BShark Funny-- I was leaning the opposite direction.. but I would concede that both are fair -- NEITHER Manning or Lightfoot are truly local -- born and raised in KS or KC Metro area.

This would make Braun and Agbaji a rarity..

There might have been a game or two in 1993-94 when Steve Woodberry (SR) and Greg Gurley (JR) started... That's the closest I can think of.

Manning and Piper?

I can’t think of another squad with two locals that started.

Did Releford and Ellis start together?

Looking at that list again..

If you are a Pac12 team, damn.....

Anyway, there is serious imbalance in the NCAA M Basketball championships.
20 years:
* Big 10 + Big 12 + Pac 12 = 2 championships.
* SEC + Big East + ACC = 17 championships
* All other conferences combined = 1

It doesn't get much better if you go back 30, 40 years, until you get just a few years past the UCLA era. Really from 1982 on, it's an ACC vs Big East challenge.

Has this been good for college basketball? Does this list of champions accurately depict the nature of college basketball over the past 2 decades?

The answer has to be no. KU is most definitely underrepresented based on their record and accomplishments in conference. Compare this to say the number of players entered into the NBA by conference and I think the disparity is more evident. That's not to say the Big12 would have 8 championships in 20 years.. but they would have more than 1 based on records and talent.

I went to the Santa Clara v Gonzaga game last night. Santa Clara is young, athletic with good size and played with a lot of spirit. (They'll be a truly competitive team in the next 2 years as the freshmen mature.)

SCU trailed most of the game, but kept closing the gap. They lost by 15 in the end, but it was a game where they were pesky and Gonzaga had to keep reasserting itself in spurts to push the lead from one possession to three or four. Gonzaga also lost one of their starters about 10 min into the game.

Even so, it looked like Gonzaga could score in the paint most any time they wanted. Serious size inside that allowed for rebounds and tips-ins. Guards are pretty opportunistic. Lots of offensive sets that can create an easy basket opportunity. They have size, experience, and are well coached.

KU v Gonzaga would be a pretty interesting game. I would like our chances, but Gonzaga certainly looks like a sweet 16 team. They took everything SCU could give them including a good crowd, some timely 3pt shooting, numerous turnovers and lost a starter -- and still controlled the game.

@approxinfinity That last one might be a west coast team -- SDSU or Gonzaga.

Also- I might take a Big 10 team that gets hot down the stretch over Louisville.

Although Baylor and KU both look strong, chances of both getting there are slim.

It would be unusual if there were only 1 team representing the Big East, SEC and ACC in the FF. That has happened 5 times in 20 years (20%).

It would be even more unusual if the National Champion came from a conference other than these three. That has happened only 3 times in 20 years.

Most unusual, however, would be a FF without any of those 3 conferences. This has never happened in the last 20 years.

(Note to self: If the final four has only one team from these three conferences, put your money on that team as the champion -- 85% chance.)

I like to think about it this way: statistically speaking, we are due for a NC.

Obviously, not every power 5 team that wins a conference championship wins a national championship. But the majority of national champions have been power 5 teams and also won their conference championship. So it would seem like, the more conference championships we win, the better our chances of winning a National Championship.

However, this correlation hasn't held up for KU, yet.

!ab667ad4-67d4-4100-b3cf-6e6bf8c2ada4-image.png ↗

Best thing about this win tonight was.....

A: Braun breakout

B: A decisive win in Stillwater, finally.

C: Undeniable evidence supporting 4 guard.

D : Balanced team win.

E: _____

benshawks08 said:

Can some folks read or listen to this piece please about the word “thug”? It’s a solid academic take on language and race and how those things work together and against each other. It’s not very long nor do I think it’s political in nature. Words matter.

https://www.npr.org/2015/04/30/403362626/the-racially-charged-meaning-behind-the-word-thug ↗

Good find.

I used the term 'punks' as well as 'thugs' because I think they describe similar behavior but have acquired racially-specific connotations over time.

Too bad there isn't a word like 'pungs' or 'thunks' that could neutralize the racial aspects and allow us to focus on the behavior.

Tragic.

@jayballer73 Yeah. I had the same thought as I watched them totally dismantle Florida.

I suspect some of the skepticism on the board is that the coach this year is the same one as in previous years. Therefore results are expected to be the same.

@Crimsonorblue22 Do they televise KState games?

Great! Who wouldn't want to watch the sun set over an ocean... of native grasses.

@cragarhawk lol.. ok. 👍

Really bummed that TT lost because you always learn more from a failure than a success... there was a lot for TT to learn from this game.

They will be better when we play them.

@HighEliteMajor A bit of a transition from the fairly broad category of thug behavior to gun violence... I get that one is a subset of the other, but not necessarily apples to apples.

Anyhoo.. I hear you. And the first step toward any kind of solution is for people to listen to each other, so here's hoping folks will listen, find the common ground and take the small steps to help those around them. Eventually a wave of respect could find its way to those who feel marginalized in the sticks or the inner cities and change the culture.

Quietly rooting for Texas Tech..

Just fyi, Silvio was wielding a photographer's stool, not that that makes it any better...

@Marco Were you at the game and see it in person?

The context from viewing it on TV (multiple angles) made it easier for me to have a balanced perspective than when I saw the still photos.

That was a solid win against a talented Tennessee team. They will have some success late in the season.

Looked like a great atmosphere today. Classic AFH victory!

Step one in removing the cloud: Win with class. (check!)

From Sports Illustrated: "Forde graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1987 and lives in Louisville."

Need I say more.

approxinfinity said:

I think for me, my hate for K State starts with their coach being an a-hole, just like Wichita State, and that feeling isn't abated since they have no discernable face on the roster that I appreciate at the moment, either as a player or as a person.

Lots of good points in your post..

This one about Weber, I thought I would comment on because I've never felt any ill-will toward Weber. I thought he was a pretty decent coach as he has had a good number of timely wins against B12 contenders that helped us win conference championships. And he's rarely thwarted our path to the championship.

But my opinion is changing because calling a press with 2 minutes left after we put our bench in turned out to be the first step toward the catastrophe.

I hope he thinks long and hard about that move.

In that way, he is directly accountable for this mess, but there is little mention of that and he has been circumspect in the aftermath.

Iowa State v Auburn ended with a respectable 4-point loss for the Cyclones.

WV's scrimmage went well against the yellow team.

Did this game show how bad Mizzou is, or how much improved WV is?

tundrahok said:

@bskeet I meant I disagree with Bilas. He said it was unnecessary. I thought it was awesome. At least, if had ended there.

Oh! I had not heard Bilas say that. I thought in his column earlier in the week, he was not critical of the block..

Anyway, I will give him credit for being very level-headed, thoughtful and balanced on this topic. But I will agree with you that the block itself was not the problem. I might even go so far as to say it was appropriate given the steal.

Anyone criticizing the block should remember this simple equation: No steal = No block.

Crimsonorblue22 said:

Lil fella!🤣 so great that we are grown up and wise now.

It's hard to refrain from a dig on a guard challenging a 6'10" guy.

I mean, it's kind of classic: the guard can steal the ball, but can't get the shot off over the big man, so it's a stalemate.

HighEliteMajor said:

But where we see the pervasive violence and disregard for life is in the inner city.

I'm no scholar on this but I would speculate this could be because of the density of population in those locations, (which is more people to commit crimes and more people to report crimes) combined with the ratio of law enforcement to 'beat area'.. plus media access which provides amplification to injustices.

Again, just speculation, but if these factors could be normalized, the per capita difference might not be as dramatic a difference as we perceive it to be. (There's a lot that goes on out in the sticks that is never reported.)

My perspective is simply anecdotal based on the abundance of punks that I encountered growing up in rural Kansas (a place I still love, but not that part of it.)

@tundrahok I think you are saying the block was fair game, which is what @benshawks08 and I are also saying.

The block was a basketball play and, given the steal, completely legit.

The taunt was not a basketball play and was not ok. If only he had blocked it and walked away.

benshawks08 said:

@bskeet If your saying call the game the same from start to finish I agree on that. But I don’t think blowouts and dribbling out the clock should have anything special or different from regular play. But I’m honestly not that upset about the steal or the block. Clock is running, game on. Does it make the KState player look foolish, sure but that’s for him to deal with.

I totally agree about the steal and the block and the impact on the KState player.

Regarding officiating, the reality is that the game is not called the same from start to finish, so I'm not actually saying that.

It is already standard practice to have so called "points of emphasis'. Likewise, it is standard practice to vary how strictly to enforce the rules throughout the game.

For instance, if there is an event where officials think things are getting chippy.. they will tend to be less tolerant and call 'touch' fouls to maintain control of the game. Other times, the rules are less strictly enforced and they 'let them play'. (some say the officials 'swallow their whistle')

It would be consistent with current practices if NCAA officiating crews formally institute the practice of strictly enforcing any contact on steals -- specifically at the end of blowouts.

HEM, I grew up with a bunch of punks in rural Kansas. They were thugs and had no contact to inner cities.

Sure, environment matters - but by no means is the inner city the source of the virus and it spread from there. Punks and thugs abound. I've seen them in all walks of life and from a very diverse set of backgrounds.

There is no one factor you can point to that is a determining factor. Divorced or not, number of parents, one or two employed or not, education level... etc. all of these things are non-deterministic of behavior. The individual alone has the power to make their own choices about behavior.

The environment that probably matters most is family. Is respect and accountability valued? If so, probably no villains coming from that family, no matter where they live.

The Empire Strikes Back

That was entertaining. Yes he did. And then when asked who would win and by how much between Tenn and KU he picked Kentucky.

A bit off his game today.

Total toss up this year including us after the incident and subsequent distractions. A split would be a good outcome.

@benshawks08 To be clear, it is not a rule change. A point of emphasis is an effort to enforce an existing rule to encourage behavior changes in the game.

(They've done this for flops, moving screens, etc. in the past)

I think it would be wise for the officials to watch closely. On replay, it's not clear that the steal was clean.

dylans said:

First, when the clock is running out in a blowout, let the clock run out. Don't try for a steal. It is unnecessary. And, while the officials did a great job overall in dealing with the fight and did not make a mistake in this, I would consider calling a foul on the defender going for the steal. The offensive team was clearly trying to run out the clock. If you call the foul, you avoid a potential bad situation and discourage the same thing in the future.

This should be a point of emphasis for officials going forward.

It's a good team with some great attributes over-shadowed by the ugly headlines.