🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@KUinLA said:

To make the Final Four, it would take something we simply haven't seen this team do all season--play 4 good games (and win them) in a row. I don't think they've played 4 good halves in a row this year.

Our formula for success is to play one good half and one half ugly. Many a time have we wrecked a second half so neither team played well with our bad ball© technique.. We've even shown that -- sometimes -- we can win with two wrecked halves, which is a pretty impressive feat.

Asking for two good halves in a row is just plain greedy... :-)

@drgnslayr said:

If any of you caught Self's interview yesterday, he mentioned how frustrated he is because it appears that attorneys have clogged the process.

Doesn't help that Cliff is the crown jewel recruit from Snacks. Everything surrounding this is getting more tarnished. I agree with @REHawk that the Karma from the Cap incident is catching up.

The only glimmer I see on the horizon is that the hope that none of these rules apply to the World Games and Cliff might be eligible for that.

@Shanghai_RCJH said:

Looking at the numbers, our LUCK against the Top 25 on the List is Off the Chart!

The Final Four, according to LUCK:

• KU
• Duke
• Virginia
• Kentucky

If you match them up:

• KU vs Kentucky --> KU

• Duke vs Virginia --> Duke

• KU vs Duke --> KU

Ahh March, when we can still dream the improbable dream

@Hawk8086 said:

you wouldn't realistically pick one in your bracket

Except for KU. Because I always pick KU :-P

Now watch what happens this year... In an unprecedented showing of power, three teams from the B12 end up in the Final Four. And the talking heads fall all over themselves saying they should have seen it coming because it was the strongest conference.. blah blah blah.

We've heard that three-pointers are fools gold when we relied on them too much and won.

We've heard that free-throws are fools gold when we relied on them too much.

After WVU, I think some might say that toughness is fools gold... Don't get so far behind and believe you will always make a comeback. But it worked in that game.

So, what's the pattern? What IS gold?

Maybe it's taking what the opponent will give you. And maybe that's what this team does best.

Look, KenPom's rankings this year are a head-scratcher. But the silver-lining is that we're not in the cross-hairs they way we have been in the past.

The experts and their rankings are confused, the media are confused, our opponents are confused. the fan base is confused.. maybe even some of the coaching staff.

What does that mean?

Stay tuned. Nobody knows.

I think he should try some Euroball.. get Svi out there as a guard, mix things up.. I absolutely would like to see a little experimentation.

@wissoxfan83 Hey, isn't that our strategy? I think ISU stole it from us.

@oldhwkfan said:

"do you think Kansas can go deep in the tournament?" And Greenbergs response was "No way" Also, a week ago, they had Joe Lunardi on during the game talking about seeding, and he was asked if Kansas might move up to a 1 seed if they won out. His answer was "No, they just don't pass the eye test"

This is a good thing for this team. They can operate under the radar a bit.

We have many characteristics you need to go deep in the tournament.

• Good coach
• tournament experience
• solid guards
• 3pt shooting
• not dependent on one superstar (scoring threats at every position)
• free throw shooting
• deep enough bench
• legitimate athleticism
• toughness

We struggle with:

• consistency
• blow-out wins
• rebounding
• passing
• scoring at the rim

We could get booted early, but more likely we'll get to the Elite 8, plus or minus one game.

When this team plays loose and free they do much better. For example, the pass that Selden made to Traylor in OT for the emphatic Jam. And what to make of Frank's drives to rim repeatedly in OT... Suddenly they played with some freedom and the ball started to drop.

I think @jaybate-1.0 is trying to make the point that Bad Ball™ is something you can hang your hat on... That we're the Rembrandt of Bad Ball... and that that counts for something.

@Gunman said:

At Kansas, you could go undefeated every year until the NCAA tourney, lose the first game, go 34-1 and the year would be a disappointment, right?

Technically that would be a disappointment at any school, :-p but I know what you mean about our expectations...

My hope is either to take out UK or take out the team that takes out UK.

Turned out to be not as bad as originally reported.. Still serious condition, but not critical.

!link text ↗

I heard he had a 1 in 38 chance of landing successfully...

jk

@jaybate-1.0 Sorry if I inappropriately associated your Bad Ball™ concept with Seth Davis' assessment of the state of basketball... I think I understand now that Seth is making a very different point than you are.

[link text](

@JhawkAlum said:

Toughness transcends time. Being tough will always mask some of the flaws in a team.

Toughness is fools gold!

hah.. just kidding.

It appears that @jaybate-1.0 and Seth Davis are sitting in a tree, k - i - s - s - i - n - g

In the latest Sports Illustrated, there's an article called "Foul Ball". On SI.com it's titled:

The history of college basketball's offensive decline—and how to fix it ↗

by Seth Davis

College basketball is slower, more grinding, more physical and more, well, offensive than it has been in a long, long time. The 2014-15 season is shaping up to be the worst offensive season in modern history. Through Feb. 22, teams were averaging 67.1 points per game. That is the lowest average since 1952. The previous low for that span was set just two years ago. This more than reverses the gains that were made last season, after the rules committee made adjustments to clamp down on physical defense and make it harder to draw a charge. Thanks to lax enforcement by officials and a foolish decision to reverse the block/charge modification, scoring declined by 3.79 points per game. That is the steepest single-season drop on record.
!2015-03-04_21-41-23.png ↗ !2015-03-04_21-43-39.png ↗

Eleven

by Dr. Seuss

Say! Look at his fingers!

One, two, three ...

How many fingers do I see?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

eight, nine, ten. He has eleven!

Eleven! This is something new.

I wish I had eleven, too!

!link text ↗

(a true KU fan lives in a Base 11 world)

True Grit: How unlikely was KU's comeback? ↗

by @Jesse-Newell

Jesse has done it again. By crunching the numbers on six years of KU comebacks, he's taken me on a dopamine-inducing walk down memory lane of the nine least likely victories by the numbers.

They're all there: The Sweet16 Purdue game... The final KU vs Mizzou game in AFH... Elijah's heroics vs Iowa State and Weatherwax...

*Make no mistake about it, this team likes playing with fire. *

On that list of nine games that span six years, there are three games from this season. But this is the crown-jewel:

March 3, 2015 vs. West Virginia

KU trails 57-49 without possession and 2:32 left in second half

(2.6 percent chance of winning)

!KU wins ↗

Compile all the numbers, and Tuesday's 76-69 overtime victory ends up being the most unlikely of comeback of all.

The odds of hitting one number on a roulette wheel is 1 in 38. KU's odds against WVU were almost exactly that: 1 in 38.4.

The two streaks I'm most glad are continuing after tonight:

1. 32nd straight final home game victory (dating back to 1983)
2. Self still never swept by a B12 team

CBS is saying B12 is overrated.. Wally S saying no one wanted to win the game tonight.. KU didn't want to win.. That WVU gave the game to KU.

They just shat all over KU and the B12.. and said the only team that looks like it can make it to the FF is ISU.

Booo.

....there was just no reason to believe that we would win, after witnessing the first 35 minutes.

Of games that we have eventually won, I think that was the most resigned I've been in the final 2 minutes of regulation since the NC in 08

@Blown That's a good point. I guess this was a good game.. It didn't really feel like one, but I guess it was good.. not bad. [I'm trying to convince myself. I want to believe.]

@brooksmd Yes! That too! Team is pretty banged up. Wish we could skip the game in Norman. Ugh.

Calls were very inconsistent, but at least in the OT they kept calling fouls.

And there's something to be said for a team that hits their FTs when everything else is going wrong.

BTW, when Oubre went out, I was pretty sure the game was over. Somehow, we survived with Perry and Cliff out of the game. Not sure I would have believed it was possible.

We're all out of breath! Still getting my pulse down.

What an incredible game! Not sure whether to be happy or worried... The team really knows how to play with fire.

Insane.

@truehawk93 haha!

New Season.

it is u g l y.

sickening. I don't want to believe it is over.

what's the update on perry?

@Bwag The 'fool's gold' comment has spooked the whole team.

thank you Bill Self for the fools gold comment. yeeesh

For the KU Buckets Analytics Geeks:

An Analysis of the Basketball Endgame: When to Foul When Trailing and Leading

Read full poster paper from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference ↗

Abstract: A common tactic near the end of a basketball game is for the trailing team to foul in order to gain an advantage by forcing the opponent to shoot free throws. While this tactic is widely used at almost all levels of play, deeper investigation into if and when a team should foul is nearly absent. In this paper, we model basketball as a combinatorial game to provide, for the first time, a well-supported quantitative description of when to foul. The results are surprising: not only should trailing teams foul earlier and more often than they actually do, but also, the leading team should foul more often than the trailing team. Using play-by-play data from NBA games, we illustrate the potential impact of this model.

@VailHawk I think that's going to have to be our definition of 'perfection' this year... In contrast to UK's 'perfection'

@Crimsonorblue22 Great minds.... :-)

Texas got the call back tonight. Same situation at the end of overtime. Chery for Baylor drove into the Texas Trees and there was contact and no call. Game over. Texas wins.

[link text](

@VailHawk the # (hash) at the beginning of a line controls the font size

Now we know who the Lord of the Rings really is... HC Bill Self!

Collection is still growing with our toe ring.

It's great being able to celebrate #11 with all of you! I'm enjoying a little Cabernet Sav

Rock Chalk!

@Shanghai_RCJH oh the irony!

Amazing! History is made thanks to the rest of the B12! They all have to hate the fact that they gave it to us.

@Crimsonorblue22 said:

@KUSTEVE I can't handle another 3 pt game! How 'bout a clear the bench game?🙏

It would be nice to win by the 3 rather than win by 3.

That said, maybe I shouldn't get picky: A win by 3 is a win, and that's the key.

I should do a little research before I post... Here's the info (from KUSports.com ↗).

Guidelines: Here are jersey retirement guidelines as stated in KU’s 2012-13 media guide:

“The concept of retiring the jerseys of outstanding Jayhawk basketball players was initiated prior to the 1991-92 season, when banners honoring Clyde Lovellette, Danny Manning, B.H. Born, Charlie Black, Paul Endacott, Wilt Chamberlain and Charlie Black were unveiled in the south end of Allen Fieldhouse.

The original criteria for a retired jersey included KU players named college basketball player of the year, most valuable player of the NCAA Tournament or being named a four-time All-American. The list was expanded in 1997 to include Ray Evans, who holds the distinction of being an All-American in both football and basketball.

“The criteria were expanded prior to the 2002-03 season to include consensus first-team All-Americans, two-time first-team All-America selections and Academic All-Americans of the Year.”

KU officials said Thursday that the athletic director has the authority to adjust the criteria in special circumstances. In other words, a Jayhawk great can have his jersey retired without meeting one of the above guidelines.

@wrwlumpy "I feel your pain"

@wrwlumpy I think the only way Wiggins' jersey will hang is if he becomes MVP of a NBA title team. (Not sure about that.. maybe it's impossible for Wiggin's jersey to hang.. and that would be a shame.)

Perry still has a few other criteria he could possibly meet. I don't recall all of the criteria... but one is to be a first team All-America or a first team NCAA tourney team.. etc.

@HighEliteMajor said:

this season died on that date. It is over.

If this is true, at least when we die, we do it like royalty -- Challenging for the crown and threatening to take the gold and jewels into the afterlife.

There are, after all, so many ways to die.

Will Perry's Jersey Hang in the AFH Rafters Someday?

WVU will not sneak up on this team. That is not to say that it will be a cake-walk.

Mason is pretty banged up. We don't know the status of Alexander. And WVU still has a lot to play for, $25k not withstanding. Huggins' is a proven and worthy nemesis.

But we have a lot to play for too. B12 Title #11 and some serious NCAABB History. 32nd straight senior night victories. 18th undefeated season at home, and 5th under Self... The need to get the T-E-A-M executing as a unit.

There's a lot riding on Tuesday. It's like a NCAA S16 or possibly Elite 8 level game, in the nurturing confines of AFH.

Let's go 'Hawks!

@wrwlumpy (re: pic of Mason) Great caption!