Wow.. That is not a good sign. The Cap-Journal is not known for its sports section.
Agree, that it may now be necessary to check out occasionally. Jesse may make the sports section relevant.
bskeet
4171 posts
If...
...and it's a big if this team plays with the uniform intensity that they played with tonight, they will be great.
The reason that they will be great is because of the offensive balance of this team.. You can't stop just one player and hope to win. Selden and Mason had 15 and Wiggins had 22 and Ellis had 24. that's good balance at the top, but I also like the contributions off the bench by Greene and Traylor.. And Embiid will be a monster if he starts to produce offensively.
Black was kind of MIA, but that didn't seem to matter.
Grantland:
2013-14 NCAA Basketball Preview: The Big 12 ↗
Kansas looks to win its 10th straight conference championship with Andrew Wiggins
@drgnslayr I agree that the natural athleticism seems to be the thing that distinguishes Wiggins from the others in the minds of the NBA scouts.
That's something that cannot be changed with training.. It's a constant -- a foundation -- on which all his experiences will be built. And the thinking is that his skills are magnified and experience is accelerated on such an exceptional base of raw talent.
In my opinion, the interesting thing to consider is where Embiid will end up in the draft order if his skills catch up with his natural talent. He seems to have exceptional dexterity and athleticism combined with his 7ft stature.
@JayDocMD My sentiments exactly.
ESPN
Three Jayhawks -- all freshmen -- on the Wooden Award list ↗
For the first time, the John R. Wooden Award preseason watch list can include freshmen and transfers, so it's no surprise that in this -- "The Year of the Freshman" -- the list is loaded with first-year players.
Nine of the top 50 spots on the list released Tuesday are filled by freshmen, with Kansas and Kentucky accounting for three each.
Top recruit Andrew Wiggins, along with teammates Wayne Selden Jr., and Joel Embiid represent the Jayhawks.
Great story!
Would love to see a pic of your prized basketball if you are so inclined.
@Wishawk --sorry about that. There was an accidental post there where it copied part of another thread I had been reading.
Just enjoying the quality of analysis. Input by everyone here is top notch!
Great analysis here..
For those that think we should have more titles given all the great teams from Roy and Bill.. It's hard to deny, especially given the fact that we have the winningest program in Div 1 in the past 10 years.
Maybe the payday is around the corner. I think Duke was in the same boat in the 80s-- dominant yet short on Championships. Then, in the second decade, they figured out how to win the titles. They also had some early exits and disappointments, but perhaps this is a path we can take.... starting this year ;-)
I'm watching at home with a friend who's a Duke Med School alumnus. The good news is he's a good guy and won't rub it in (too much) if the game goes the wrong way.
I sure like to think it's our turn to win a Champions Classic game, but I don't know how we'll do it tonight.
@Blown No worries-- I've added the link you posted here:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24219791/three-of-nations-topfive-prospects-to-announce-decisions-friday ↗
And I deleted your post so the conversation can congregate here ;-)
Kansas' Bill Self: 'We need to win this one' ↗
Tonight’s early-season Kansas University-Duke basketball game is for Jayhawk pride as much as anything else.
“We’re the only team that has not won a game in the Champions Classic...
Opinion: Fab freshmen highlight Classic battle ↗
Jabari Parker was the greatest prospect since LeBron James before Andrew Wiggins became the same. Both hyperbolic evaluations conveniently bypassed Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Parker also beat Wiggins to his first Sports Illustrated cover by a good 61⁄2 months...
A look back at Kansas-Duke history ↗
Tradition-rich basketball programs Kansas University and Duke, who rank second and fourth all-time in victories, have met just nine times throughout history.
The Blue Devils, who trail KU by 100 games (2102 victories to 2002), do happen to hold a 7-2 advantage over the Jayhawks in head-to-head meetings...
Wiggins, Jayhawks eager for Devils ↗
Kansas University freshman Andrew Wiggins on Tuesday will play his second game in the United Center, home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls...
Keegan: Little guy Naadir Tharpe has big role Tuesday ↗
In basketball, as on the big screen, tall men always seem to look down to the little guy to show them the way. It’s no different with Kansas University’s fifth-ranked basketball squad, a tight group already, according to one of its many talented newcomers...
KU coach Bill Self talks before his team's game against Duke ↗ - mp3
Kansas coach Bill Self talks on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, two days before his team's game against Duke.
KU Buckets discussion: KU vs Duke
If openers any indication, Duke will spank KU ↗
If the Opening Night performances of No. 4-ranked Duke and No. 5 Kansas University mean anything — and that, of course, is debatable — the Blue Devils would have to be given the early nod entering Tuesday’s Champions Classic basketball contest in Chicago...
!KU vs Univ. Louisiana-Monroe ↗
Ugly No. 700: Jayhawks top Louisiana Monroe 80-63 for 700th victory in Allen Fieldhouse ↗
Kansas University’s 700th victory in Allen Fieldhouse will go down in history as ... a game in which the Jayhawks nudged Louisiana at Monroe, 80-63, despite using their third- and fourth-team point guards most of the first half....
Bill Self calls Andrew Wiggins ‘efficient’ in collegiate debut ↗
The first game of Andrew Wiggins’ Kansas University basketball career could best be described as “efficient,” coach Bill Self said on Friday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I thought he did some good things,” Self said after Wiggins scored 16 points off 5-of-9 shooting....
Box Score
!box score ↗
Freshman guard Mason brings determination, preparation to spot start ↗
Frank Mason reflected on the day a West Virginia University football coach attended the Petersburg (Va.) High basketball practice to see his teammate, offensive lineman Quinton Spain...
Brannen Greene OK after getting hit in abdomen at practice ↗
Player undergoes tests at hospital; coach 'anticipates he'll play' in opener Friday night
Kansas University freshman guard Brannen Greene, who was taken to the emergency room at Lawrence Memorial Hospital after getting hit in the lower abdomen at practice on Thursday, was released ...
Opening-night victory would be 700th in Allen Fieldhouse ↗
A victory over Louisiana at Monroe tonight would be Kansas University’s 700th in Allen Fieldhouse...
Statistically, KU had a 99.4% chance of winning the game against Michigan when leading by 10 with 2:30 left in the game*.
I love statistics... and sometimes improbability reigns.
Another article that's related:
ESPN: Season of Change: Instant Jayhawks ↗
... And don't miss the video of interviews with former KU players and ESPN analysts ↗
**Keegan: **
Wiggins’ preseason no cause for alarm ↗
Black sweatsuit, red headphones, the long, tall college student walked slowly across the Wagnon-Parrott Athletic Center parking lot in the cover of darkness Tuesday, destination Jayhawker Towers.
On the same day the Wall Street Journal in featuring Kansas University freshman Andrew Wiggins noted...
Jamari Traylor finds improvement through watching video of high-energy hustlers ↗
Kurtis Townsend, assistant coach to Bill Self since 2004, is such a nice guy it’s difficult for recruits to tell him no, which makes him very good at that part of his job.
The former Western Kentucky point guard...
Even if you don't buy into the "free throws cost us the 2003 championship" excuse, I don't think anyone could deny that free throws cost Memphis the 2008 championship.
@drgnslyr this is a great post and none to early. I've had the same thought watching the first two games. Embiid clearly has not practiced as much. Tarik's FT history is well documented. Perhaps he can reform that aspect of his game this year.
Anyway, you have brought up a legitimate concern. Great post.
To answer your final questions: No. and No.
I suspect Coach will have some tough decisions to make late in the game.. In a close game, you want a big guy in the lane able to take the high-percentage shot who can also be an asset on the defensive side of the floor: playing good defense, looking for a block, at least altering shots...
And we may not be able to put one in the game because of the risk of being fouled and losing a possession without points.
Will that lead us to have a small lineup late in the game? A group full of good FT shooters? Is that maybe a reason for thinking about not redshirting Connor?
I think it could be.
It might even be a better theory than the one that we need him in case everyone else fouls out.
That could lead to some very unusual game ending possessions... Ones that look a lot different from the days of Cole, T-Rob and Withey.
Imagine that final Missouri game, at the end of regulation, without T-Rob in the lane... Or so many games last year where Withey's presence led to forced jumpers rather than drives to the basket to close the game. The only team that benefited from that was Michigan. Statistically, that was a fluke because the high-percentage opportunities were not available to opponents given our seasoned bigs.
This year, the odds may not be in our favor.
Black and Embiid must improve their FTs in order for us to reach our goals.
Their performance at the line will matter sooner or later because so many decisions are predicated on it. Their FT% will determine whether they are in late-game situations. And I think we'll have our fair share of late-game situations this year.
Keegan: Like so many before him, KU point guard Mason impresses early ↗
It happens nearly every year. A freshman plays a terrific game against a Div. II team in an exhibition and I raise my expectations to the moon, conveniently forgetting that the overmatched opponent might have had something to do with it.
The best way to look at the performance ...
No knockout here: Fort Hays State coach pleased with team’s fight ↗
Every time he comes to Allen Fieldhouse, Fort Hays State coach Mark Johnson has the same fear in the back of his mind.
It goes something like this...
Wiggins wakes up, helps Kansas top Fort Hays State, 92-75 in exhibition finale ↗
Post-game interviews and press conference:
- KU men's basketball coach Bill Self says team needs to turn up the energy more ↗
- Frank Mason, Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor react to KU's win over Fort Hays State ↗
Photos from Tuesday night's exhbition basketball game between Kansas and Fort Hays State ↗
Wiggins wakes up, helps Kansas top Fort Hays State, 92-75 in exhibition finale ↗
Post-game interviews and press conference:
- KU men's basketball coach Bill Self says team needs to turn up the energy more ↗
- Frank Mason, Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor react to KU's win over Fort Hays State ↗
Photos from Tuesday night's exhbition basketball game between Kansas and Fort Hays State ↗
@globaljaybird I like the way you think!
And yes... he was 2nd team All America ↗
Just for giggles (or tears), check out that little article and the vast discussion that follows it. Scores of comments...
Another point that the announcers made: Last time these teams played, KU won 101 - 52. This year they scored 75 and shot probably pretty close to 40% for the game.
@Mr_Miyagi I think it was raw and inconsistent. Moments of spectacular athleticism mingled with poor shot selection, porous defense. Generally, unselfish.
The bench came in and made a difference by hitting 3s.
You don't want to look away because you know that something amazing could happen at any moment... but then you spend most of your time watching intently at a work in progress and wondering... will they gel? will there be a go-to guy? can they learn all that they need to learn fast enough?
I'm sure others will have more astute observations but that's what I'm thinking..
@jryman good catch that Creighton is in the Big East this year. I totally forgot about that.
Keegan's feature on Traylor Opinion: Catching up: Jamari Traylor growing into his role ↗
KU-Fort Hays State Preview: Point-guard switch in store for Kansas’ second exhibition ↗
Good point. Someone should go back and see when was the last time there was no player from the Big East, the SEC, the ACC or the Pac12 in the pre-season all-America team.
I know pre-season selection doesn't mean much... It's a popularity contest played out in the media where perception is the driver of the selections. Nevertheless, is this group of 5 evidence of a power shift in basketball?
Sorry about the duplicate posting. Approx, feel free to remove this one.
Marcus Smart was a unanimous selection. Smart was joined on the preseason All-America team by seniors Doug McDermott of Creighton and Russ Smith of Louisville, sophomore Mitch McGary of Michigan and freshman Andrew Wiggins of Kansas.
ESPN article ↗ | KU Sports article ↗
Marcus Smart was a unanimous selection. Smart was joined on the preseason All-America team by seniors Doug McDermott of Creighton and Russ Smith of Louisville, sophomore Mitch McGary of Michigan and freshman Andrew Wiggins of Kansas.
Agree, that was a great read. Thanks for sharing the link.
Just posted A BUNCH of new ESPN links on Wiggins
@wissoxfan83 I agree.
KU Sports has great reporting and solid writing and they are deserving of the award based on the merits of their journalism.
Their online capabilities are great. Their policies were great.
Jesse Newell is especially excellent at providing analysis that is unparalleled and cutting edge. I can't believe he didn't win. I would ask E&P to show me a reporter doing better sports analysis in the category.
Anyway, I'm not sure if the thriving community was part of the award because the judges may not have access to the metrics of the site. However, I'm pretty sure that if they did look at engagement and volume metrics, 2014's entry will not fare well compared to 2013.
Turns out, this is just a promo of the ESPN Magazine cover story (Wiggins gets another cover). The interview with Wiggins by Bilas is nicely done.
The national/international publicity for KU has been tremendous. Of course, the hype and pressure for Wiggins is tremendous too. He's a heck of a kid to be able to handle all this.
Actually, now that I think about it, the timing of this could be strategic. This may be a message to a couple of recruits who may want assurances that there'll be a opportunity for playing time next year...
Andrew Wiggins likely one-and-done
Seriously, this showed up as an alert on my phone.
I know you all are shocked... shocked, I say.
* UPDATE *
!ESPN MAG ↗
I'm adding a bunch of links from ESPN that are part of their package on Wiggins:
The best 121 days of his life ↗
His NBA future is a given, but Andrew Wiggins isn't wasting his time in Lawrence
ESPN The Magazine: Andrew Wiggins Feature ↗
Jay Bilas sits down with Kansas Guard Andrew Wiggins to find out what makes Wiggins so special on the court, why he chose Kansas and leaving for the NBA after his freshman year.
I assume everyone is doing what I'm doing-- dividing time between here and there.
If so, I hope the posting of new threads with new articles is helpful.
I think these postings give us a 'starting point' for the latest info on KU ball... We can't write the articles, but we can aggregate links to the articles from KU Sports and other sources and the discussions can ensue from there.
The postings over the past few days have been fantastic! The quality here is as good as or better than what we had before.
This is a great community because of the insights everyone is contributing!
@JayDocMD thanks for posting that...
Here's an encouraging thought -- Last year's NC was preseason #5 vs #2.
If that played out this year, it would be KU vs Michigan State.
KU Sports
Keegan's Take: Kentucky first, Kansas fifth in Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll ↗
ESPN
Cats, Spartans top preseason poll ↗
Thus- the Nov 12 Champions Classic will be #1 vs #2 and #4 vs #5.
Enjoy!
I think you both may be right: I think I read it would likely be 10+ million a year over a bunch of years.. which is how it gets over 100 million overall.
Amazing. This is for shoes. :-) It's a fascinating business.
Two new stories:
The first is on Andrew White III, his work ethic and elevation to rotation player.
White's work evident in, after win ↗
The second is an opinion piece on Andrew Wiggins and the hype he must endure.
Wiggins has the tools, but the hype’s unfair ↗
Xavier Henry leads Lakers reserves in late rally over Clippers ↗
Xavier Henry scored a career-high 22 points, Jordan Farmar added 16, and five Los Angeles Lakers reserves surged past the Los Angeles Clippers in the fourth quarter for a surprising 116-103 victory in both clubs' season opener Tuesday night.
MVP: Xavier Henry. Henry scored a career-high 22 points off the bench in his first game as a Laker, slashing and shooting for four quarters. Eleven of his 13 field-goal attempts were either threes or in the paint.
-- Love to see Xavier finally reaching his potential! He must like the City of Angels!
Gary Bedore's Recap: ↗ Andrew Wiggins’ acrobatic dunk highlights KU’s exhibition win over Pitt State
Bill Self Post-Game Interview Podcast ↗
Players Post-Game Interview Podcast ↗ Ellis, White III, Tharpe
So, Frank Mason will start the Nov 8 game. Cross one redshirt candidate off the list.
thanks approx!
!Kansas freshman forward Andrew Wiggins ↗
Wiggins Era Begins ↗
The cover of Sports Illustrated. Shirtless, hanging from a rim in GQ magazine. Jamming nasty dunks — 360, between the legs, behind the back, you name it — all over YouTube. On mock NBA drafts as the likely No. 1 pick.
Is there anywhere Andrew Wiggins hasn’t been spotted yet?
Oh, yeah, playing in an actual college basketball game.
It’s go time: Andrew Wiggins, KU to debut tonight ↗
Andrew Wiggins, who arrived on Kansas University’s campus on June 15 for the start of his one-year college adventure, has picked up plenty of pointers from his new coaches and teammates.
Asked to identify the single-most important thing he has learned heading into his KU basketball debut — today’s 7 p.m. opener against Pittsburg State — the soft-spoken Canadian said simply: “Always running the floor. Always running the floor.”
In this article, Self sounds a bit weary of all the media... And there are Canadian stations covering the exhibition game..
Also check out:
Brannen Greene knows Gorillas ↗
Includes info about Greene's father who played at Pittsburg State, redshirt possibilities, AWIII's progress and hawks in the NBA.
I agree that it's tough to follow the threads. I've been guilty of posting a new topic for each new basketball story daily... Not sure if this is a good practice to continue or not.
Opinions?
The comments on this story at KU Sports is swelling due to the constant seeding of the staff members.
While I think it's great to get their input, I find it fascinating that they didn't engage like that before..
Moreover, if part of their concern was the amount of time that it took staff to patrol the comments and remove comments in violation of policy, I think they need to take a quick calculation of their time spent on the site now and see if it has really worked out in their favor.