🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@nuleafjhawk

lol! Comment of the day!

HERE IS MY GUESS AS TO WHAT WENT DOWN -

I had just recently mentioned how Self looked so good... he was pacing the sidelines and barking out instructions with great energy!

This game... it was that other Self from the past. Just sitting almost the entire game and small talk with assistant coaches.

This game was used as a lesson.

My bet... the boys were getting a little too top heavy in the head. Thought a little too high of themselves. Self needed this moment to educate them... including Hunter. So he basically kicked back and watched the game, leaving them on their own, knowing full well they were going to get their butts handed to them.

And now the criticisms pour in! Not only in fan base groups. Podcasts, and other media... lambasting... mostly Hunter! There are always a few reserved for KJ and Juan.

It's all fuel for the fire!

Boy, I remember the fuel truck that pulled into the big campfire lit when we got smoked by UK on our own court in 2022. That fire blazed all the way through April and finally ended at our National Championship parade on Mass Street!

KUSPORTS basically bailed out Hunter, saying it was all because they sunk in on him. Funny... because only ONE KU player had a positive +/-... Zach! He was the only player that brought energy!

"So… maybe it’s time we start snorting down Hunter’s neck? lol

I guarantee everyone in here… the dude has another gear he isn’t giving us yet. I bet he doesn’t even know it’s there. If the guy can reach down deep in that huge frame and pull out another 10% of hustle, this team will become a National Champion again!"

I stand corrected.... two gears!

@SlimShaddy54

I heard he's supposed to go limited minutes. Might be a bluff.

This is college basketball... not the old NBA days where every team had a monster in the paint and those gladiators would battle for every square inch of turf.

Hunter has 20+ ppg every single game if he's willing to armor up and bash bodies down low. Unfortunately, I think he prefers a finesse game.

Tomorrow will be a great test when he battles Kalkbrenner in the paint. We will see if he's ready for a battle.

I'm now giving a big "pat on the back" to all the posters in here that are often critical of everything KU basketball. Me included.

Somehow the wind of our stench has blown all the way back to our coaches and players... probably via some of the sports media helping carry the scent beyond our small, humble webspot.

Juan and KJ have turned it up a big notch! Maybe it's a case of senioritis... or just maybe, they woke up to the criticism leveled by many.

If those two stay turned up, we will be a very tough out against all D1 opponents.

So... maybe it's time we start snorting down Hunter's neck? lol

I guarantee everyone in here... the dude has another gear he isn't giving us yet. I bet he doesn't even know it's there. If the guy can reach down deep in that huge frame and pull out another 10% of hustle, this team will become a National Champion again!

So Hunter... you out there? I'm coming for you! I'm coming for that extra 10%! Your at the crossroads... this is where you turn left and get lost in the Jayhawk annals into nothingness... or you go right and bludgeon every opponent from here on out and retire a champion at KU basketball and become a LEGEND! Let me tell you what that is like... no wait.. give a call to Chalmers or Manning and ask them what its like to be a legend!

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I just feel grateful to still be around... been a tough couple of years. Lost 6 close people and still have a few circling the airport with terminal illnesses. I really feel like we have a "war on cancer." It's made me humble and thankful at the same time.

If you watched UCONN take it's third loss in a row last night against Dayton... you experienced Karaban make the same undercut that happened to Hunter. He was called for a flagrant 1. In our case, we have our big ejected for reacting off being targeted to be injured. This was a crime!!

@wissox Are you sure about that? I only saw 3.0 go to 2.9. I'll rerun it and check.

Coit wasn't effective because of the height and athleticism. But he will be valuable in other situations. I'm thrilled how our guys did against the height!

We seem to have plenty of SPARK on this team! Some of that energy has to be from running in so many players so everyone gets some rest. I hope we get Shak back soon!

I'm still on a buzz after yesterday's game. Why shouldn't I buzz like a beehive? We scored a big win against a stable of lottery picks and the tallest team in the country!

DUKE CALLS: YES. The phenomenon lives on! We can no longer say it's favoritism towards K. I will start with the obvious... no punishment for undercutting Hunter! Anyone who has ever dribbled a basketball knows that was a complete cheap shot and warranted a severe call. Hunter retaliated... and I know everyone will jump on Hunter for doing what he did. I thought that way, too, at the time. Having a night to sleep on it... Hunter did the right thing! Only Hunter can stick up for his protection on the court because big guys are always targeted for cheap shots that can put them out of commission. I wish he had blooded his face. Might as well since he received the death penalty.

Now for the Duke call no one is talking about. "The game is won by inches and tenths of seconds!" This is what I was taught playing ball in my youth. Duke advanced the ball to half-court only using .1 second. That is absolutely impossible! It is not possible to catch a ball and call time out using .1 second. Usually, the standard of minimum time to run off a clock on an inbounds play is .3 seconds. This is the minimum. Having one player both catch the ball and call timeout should be a good .5 seconds. This had me screaming every bit as much as the Hunter call!

BILL SELF IS ALIVE AND WELL! Am I the only one who noticed how good Bill looks this season (concerning his health)? He was running the sidelines and coaching throughout the game but especially down the stretch. I recall entire seasons where he sat on the bench and whispered to an assistant during games.

KJ's BEST GAME AS A JAYHAWK! I'm going along with that! He made many key plays and baskets, and mostly, he shutdown Cooper for most of the game. But he did have help, and I had mentioned before Self might pull something out of his bag... and he did... with constant double-teams and it worked very well!

JUAN LOOKING TO SCORE! Finally! I said earlier that we can't go too far if Juan leads us in scoring. I'm not so sure now. For one reason, we have balanced scoring coming from everyone on the team! They are all a threat and contribute and it happens often when not expected... but appreciated! Juan has turned his game up a notch and we will be hard to beat in March if we stay healthy and Juan keeps his pedal to the metal!

HUMILITY AND PERSPECTIVE HAVE TO BE MAINTAINED! Okay, we've beaten some good teams early on and remain undefeated and #1, but come on, this team has a long way to go before we proclaim their greatness. We were lucky on Duke's second-to-last play that Kon didn't see a wide-open Cooper on the trey line! That would have done wonders for the kid's short college stint legacy!

DUKE REMAINS AMERICA'S TEAM TO HATE! They have become a recruiting monster that gets about all the players they want. That Kon kid is almost as good as Cooper. All I can say is the pressure is on Scheyer to turn lottery picks into titles. If he can't soon, he'll end up another Calipari... selling dreams and bragging rights for a big goose egg in March! I hope he fails miserably!

SUDDENLY WE LEARNED TO SHOOT FTS?! 91.7% from the line? Look how important that was in this game! Had we shot 70% we probably would have lost this game! Can we expect this every game? Of course not! But we shouldn't be a mediocre FT shooting team. We have a team full of shooters and we should maintain one of the higher percentages in the country! Come on, fellas, take pride in this stat and focus on it!

LOVING OUR DEPTH! I still have PTSD from last year! But I will get over it... and quickly... because we now have a bench capable of keeping up with our starters and sometimes sparking a fire in our play!

RCJH!

Cooper is a baller. No doubt. But he's 17 and he's already choked twice now! He will no doubt choke in March, too, because he's a friggin' kid.

He's "fool's gold" for Duke. Everything rides on him. I prefer our team full of experienced players and a 5-year PG who already has a ring.

Scheyer is Calipari2. Speaking of Calipari... I've heard the first "buyer's remorse" is going down in Hogtown! I'm shocked! lol

@Texas-Hawk-10 I'm glad you experienced that game in person!

And I'm glad ratface was in attendance to see them lose again!

Tonight's game brought back a lot of old memories for me about Duke.

I have tried. I have tried, over the years, to soften my view of the world and that includes Duke.

F - PUKE!

They go out and play dirty then whine for every little call. Scheyer is a p*ssy! They can buy the best recruits. They can own the refs. But they remain the team America hates.

Hunter's foot tap was wrong. He didn't deserve to be ejected. And what about the guy who undercut him? Talk about a REAL RISK OF INJURY!

F - PUKE!

This is a game that will be won by who controls the style... the tempo. That and rebounds. Total possessions.

We are playing a team full of freshmen... and a coach who is basically a freshman. This would be a great time for Self to pull something out of the bag of tricks. I'll never forget what he did to Memphis in '08, putting Rush out at point to disrupt the flow. Pure brilliance!

Disrupt this group of freshmen and lets not only win, but embarrass them in the process!

There is only ONE major factor in this game... Duke's Achilles heel... FRESHMEN!

@Texas-Hawk-10 Enjoy yourself! 10 years ago I would be jealous. Now, I'm old and will settle for bbq and a big screen TV! lol

@Zabudda

We better not think we can go toe-to-toe in a game based on height.

I'm hoping we try what we did in our last game and get out and run. We should be willing to try several things to see what works. This Duke team is crazy talented and tall. Not sure their weaknesses. I would think our best shot is to try to control the tempo and find a tempo we do well at and they struggle.

Our on-ball and ball screen defense has to be energetic and pesky to disrupt their offense.

I know one thing.... Self better have stressed rebounding this past week. It's the key to controlling tempo and possessions. KJ! Come on, brother! Get in there and fight!

I have no idea if this is a championship-caliber team yet. But what I do know is this is a team with a plethora of fun pieces! I'm going to have a ball watching regardless of April expectations!

Surely we will have other games where our guys tie their laces extra tight and go out there and run like stallions!

@ImmunoHawk @kuballin10

I'm excited for this team. Guys like David come in with so much energy. Zeke has a lot of that same energy, but on a bigger frame. Yes, guys like Kevin Young made big impacts, probably more on the rest of the team than on any given play.

Self mentioned that we are seeing a "turned up" Juan this year. He mentioned part might be because he's a senior and seniors play more all out. He also mentioned the reduction of Juan's minutes. Juan played 29 minutes. That will make a big difference, not only in that particular game but will mean less wear-and-tear on Juan as the season progresses.

@BShark

I'm pretty sure it won't be long before teams stop doing that. Juan has led us in scoring at least twice now in our 4 games (4 games, right?). Juan hasn't always "taken what the defense gives" but I think he will this year. I'm not sure how he calculates when to shoot and when to pass. It's part of his basketball IQ, something obviously supported by Self.

@wissox

Buddy.. you better get with the program! lol It's going to be an exciting year of basketball for us! We have some new league challenges and it will be fun to watch this team progress. I believe this team will show us regular progress as the year goes on. It's not always been that way with our teams, but I think this team has enough depth and guys with multiple skill sets to continually show us new opportunities. I'm positive this is not a year where you want to sleep through any games!

Instead of adding to the gameday post... thought it was worth it to start a more in-depth discussion on last night's game.

In my 60-year experience with Jayhawk basketball I can't recall another game where we came out so fast! We would even put Roy's teams to shame with the open-court speed. It never took us more than a few seconds to get a shot up.

We also showed some full court pressure! Bravo!

I know it is pre-conference play and my guess is that Self is just mixing things up to see what happens. However... it excited me to see our boys run! How many teams have we had in the past that was deep and full of speed but we never used it? How often have we all mentioned not ever using a press? How many times have we started games slow... falling behind teams, especially low-rated teams, where we have to fight and claw to make a late comeback?

More than anything else... one huge criticism of Bill Self, throughout the years is his unwillingness to specifically strategize a unique game execution based on the other team. Bill has always just run KU's game and all our opponents always knew exactly what to expect.

X-AXIS BALL - The dream lives on!

I'm not so sure our MVP on this team by year's end won't be David Coit! He brings hustle. He brings speed. I wonder if our tempo increase is being influenced by David. What are practices like? Also, I give a lot of credit to Zeke. He definitely could be my MVP this year!

Between Harris, Coit, and Mayo, they dropped in 40 pts! Basically half our scoring from 3 small guys. Granted Mayo is 6'4"... but he moves like a small guy and is the epitome of x-axis ball. For those unfamiliar with "x-axis basketball" it is a term I've used in here for years. It is the focus on playing a horizontal game more than a vertical game. Less height and more on speed and using the court to it's maximum potential.

Team Basketball and a fun year!

It was fun reading the stat sheet this morning. Every player made a contribution! I'm feeling this team is on the path of really coming together well! I think AJ might take a little more patience because he appears to be the "thinker" on the team and he'll be punished most by a faster tempo.

We are all worried about the defensive potential with this team. Can they pick up the Self philosophy? I saw some pretty good indications in this game that say YES! We had more players just playing and not over-thinking. All our guys brought energy! It was a joy watching us disrupt this opponent's offense. Our weakside help is starting to show improvement. Everything works better when a team has energy.

Love that offensive play with 14 minutes left in the game. Our 3 veterans... Harris pass to KJ pass to Hunter for the slam! We are starting to see other players figuring out offense, too.

This is so much NOT a typical Self team! I'm very excited to see this year play out!

RCJH!

I think we are experiencing the beginning of higher recruits coming in again. Gone is the NCAA threat. Here is the good NIL revenue stream and a HOFr coach sitting at the top of college basketball right now!

I just hope we limit being an OAD farm. It really doesn't make sense now to go after most of these players unless it is a guy who definitely makes us a contender in that one year.

The portal should remain our main recruiting focus. Sprinkle in a few outstanding HS recruits.

@kjayhawks

I grew up playing center because I had early height. By the time I reached junior high the other boys had caught me. By high school I had guard size but with big man skills. I tried.... really tried to become a distance shooter, but never panned out. So my later ball all was based on big man skills... mostly defending and rebounding. My last team before my days ended on an injury was on a team with a 7'1" center. I always had to play him in practice and for the most part I dominated him. Height is a great thing. If all other things are equal, added height is a huge help. Otherwise... executing your game is by far #1.

I'm taking bets right now on Zeke vs KJ on RPM (rebs per minute).

@dylans

I relate exactly to your last post. I could see the ball right after it left the hand where it was going about 80% of the time... so I would hustle to get the right positioning.

Some of positioning you can be taught without seeing the ball. Like if a ball is shot from the corner... most rebounds will go towards the other corner (opposite direction from shooter). If someone is shooting from out front, most boards stay in front of the goal. Pretty basic stuff.

Sometimes I knew someone was going to shoot and before it left his hand I was already headed to a spot where it was a good chance the board was going there.

College basketball has become a pretty darn wimpy sport. I can't think of the last time I really saw a guy battle for position, or seal off his spot well.

BASKETBALL TIP-OF-THE-DAY: If you are a college player and want more minutes and attention... learn how to rebound. No one else is doing it. You may not make the league some day, but I guarantee if you are snagging 10+ boards a game you will get your playing time!

I think we all love KJ... and we feel the pain of seeing such a physical specimen and great athlete... not quite reaching a high enough platform to take it to the league next year. He's such a great person and while here has become a man. I know he's one of Self's favorites, too.

Monster kudos to the fellas! Great win!

We would have had a perfect season if we had scored 3 more points against the purple kitties! lol

This will turn out to be a toughening year. The real education goes to Coach L.

@bskeet said in KJ Rebounding:

These are two of the most experienced and successful coaches in their sports. I gotta believe they know more than those of us in the stands.

100%! But it's good for fans not just to praise emperors. It then becomes a kingdom, with the emperor wearing no clothes. I criticize aspects of KU basketball... doesn't mean I don't have the highest respect and admiration for Self and company.

KJ drives me crazy! I have to admit that. I'd like to borrow him from KU basketball for just one week. Take him into the streets for some reality ball where you can use a pipe wrench and not be called for a foul. I agree with Self's defense about one thing with KJ... I know he's tough. He can lose a loved one and jump on a plane and go fight hard for his team. He just needs the experience of Jaybate's meso ball... with the threat of being decapitated if he loses. For those fairly new to KUBuckets... here is a better explanation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_ballgame ↗

Of course... the above description lacks the color and character when described by Jaybate... our long-lost resident Jayhawk philosophical writer. Can't believe I described him in so few words! lol

BACK TO SELF: I am very happy with Bill and the state of affairs surrounding Kansas basketball! In my book, he has really accomplished 3 NCs (one was without the trophy ceremony). We have consistent winning basketball, a classy coach who knows how to talk to the public and has a deep-felt respect for his players, and we always stand a chance of winning another title! That's all we can ask for. Can he do better at winning more trophies? I'm sure all of us can do better with our lives. I am always going to bark my vision from my official position as couch potato. It may be valuable enough to earn me a stick of butter to melt on top!

I'm still very excited about this year... especially excited if we achieve some tiny level of defensive efficiency!

Yikes! Some of us are going to H - E - Double hockey sticks because we think KJ is hugely underperforming in rebounds. I guess now Self is defending KJ and others from fan challenges:

https://fanrecap.com/jayhawks-coach-defends-star-forward-amidst-growing-criticism/?utm_source=kansas-jayhawks&utm_medium=RP&utm_campaign=ncaaf-mk&utm_content=1452028995114192&fbclid=IwY2xjawGmTqRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHfQm0eB5GvLYiRch2lrrhgMUc62RJuz5IMRW2Dvj_vwTAEztLFbycNQAIQ_aem_J90WHxdy0VszFlwmp6RwEA ↗

I don't see how anyone can defend a guy his size getting so few rebounds. In a certain sense... KJs poor rebound counters the rest of the optimism he gives the team with his dunks. I'll take Ws over dunks any day of the week. At some point we will face a more challenging stretch of the season and I'll bet the ranch we will be right back here screaming about lack of rebounds, though I will compliment some of our new guys for really going after balls... Zeke comes to mind first!

@FarmerJayhawk said in Other games 2024-2025:

It’s really annoying how early in the year the refs call EVERYTHING then in 2 months Hunter will get all but assaulted and no call

He doesn't help himself. He reacts to all those hacks with a look of shock, going to the refs and saying things, and gesturing with his hands/arms he was hacked.

Instead... he should do more of putting on an injury show after he gets hacked. That's a lot more effective at earning calls. Let Self impose ref pressure. Players, especially big men, just don't get respect and whining to refs only makes it worse!

@kuballin10

I like the first part of your post. Yes... he has consistency! He screams consistency!

Realistically... he most likely would have had a third championship in the Covid close-down year.

I will quickly put this in perspective... name a better performing team west of Kentucky for the last 20 years?

NEWS FLASH: Right now, most of our guys can't individually guard, and they also don't know how to play weakside defense. All we are doing is seeing if we can put up more points than the other team. This is going to backfire, big time, if we don't get our act together!

Yes! I'm hoping Nickens will bring toughness to the squad. It can only help!

@Bosthawk

I totally respect Dr. Bill. But that dog can't hunt. How many games has KJ been a Jayhawk? His rebounding numbers are low. We all know he has the muscle to fight for balls.

He does do other things. He's a unique player in D1 that is hard, if not impossible, to prepare for playing against. His little midrange floaters and jumpers have worked out well.

When he gets a monster slam it definitely juices the troops.

Why doesn't he put up decent rebound numbers? It's not like we are just comparing a few games here.

I have quickly become a total "Zeke freak!" I love that kid! He's quicker than KJ... but more than anything, he hungers for the ball.

If we can figure out KJ and get his rebound numbers up, we should be able to bank 7 - 10 extra points per game. It can easily be the difference between an early exit of late March run.

For all we know... Dr. Bill is addressing this with KJ.

Zeke snagged 10 because he hustles... little guy... 10!

Muscular KJ, and with more height, 3!

I'm going to stay on his arse all year. He just refuses to go after it. Sorry, but that is pathetic! And I love KJ... but he needs tough love!

Self even mentioned rebounding being an issue with this team.

Seems we just mimic the Chiefs... staying atop, undefeated, with ugliness.

Juan was our second-highest scorer. That's a bad sign.

Hunger, hustle, physicality, and skill. All play a part. The skill is about post placement. Some guys can see a ball on the way and know where to go before it makes contact with the goal. Timing your jump is a skill. Knowing how to clear space (or hold space) without fouling is a skill. Then it is all about FIGHT!

KJ has a good body to go fight... but just looking at the paragraph above, he's pretty weak in all of those areas.

He is giving up HUGE next-level draft potential because of this one area. This bleeds over into defense, too.

I go nuts watching him play... and leaving so much game in the locker room. Has anyone told him yet?

@dylans

@BShark lol I completely forgot Nick Timberlake exists.

Hey, I kind of like "Can't Stop The Feeling!" Ooops... it was Justin.

My first comment since UNC/KU.

Fun to watch our offense start to make things happen.

But what stuck in my head was our bad defense. It almost has to improve.

UNC was an obvious perimeter team... why did our guys think they need to sink in like they would be weakside help when they end up guarding no one? We have a footer in the paint. These guys need to be out there on the perimeter, sticking to their own man only, let our bigs guard off the drive. On most plays we had 3 guards guarding no one!

If we learn some level of defense... and also rebounding... we should develop into a damn good team! I'm already starting to like a lot of the new pieces!

Predictions on UNC vs Kansas?

Pound it inside first. Then sink the defense in and net treys.

Get back on defense because they like to run.

Rebound, guard, win!

@approxinfinity

Good for them, too.

But we get a better net gain because it may even be easier to recruit better shooters. I know if I was a high school hot-shot I wouldn't be signing up to a school with dim gym lights!

@kjayhawks

Didn't we also get brighter overhead lights? It looks like it.

If that is the case... I think people under-appreciate that improvement. Not only is it more pleasant for us, the fans, to watch both there and on TV... it is my personal opinion that our shooters will shoot a higher percentage over the span of the year because it's easier to focus on the basket!

@FarmerJayhawk

Cool! It would be a real crime to take away from the magic at AFH!

I apologize to everyone on this board. We all seem to be in a panic and it started in October. I lead that charge with my PTSD.

As is typical in D1 basketball... the year will play out, and the real concern will come later because of possible injuries. Except for Elmarko, we still look like a healthy team.

I'm building back optimism... one little step at a time!

Areas of disappointment and approval...

I know it's only October. However some things stand out as big question marks.

Zach Clemence... monster nothing burger. What did he do on his year off? 0 points and 4 fouls... really?

Rebounding... we only outrebounded this D2 school by 10 on our home court.

Rebounding again... KJ! The first number I look for on the stat sheet is KJ's rebounds... or lack of them. His rebounding numbers will end up reflecting how far this team goes this year. I will stand by this comment!

Defense... not a fair game to assess anything about our defense. From what I see, it looks like we are starting from scratch.

Coit.... easy MVP in this game! His energy is electric! He filled the stat sheet with his 24 minutes. 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, on top of his team-leading points!

Bidunga... of course I see his potential! Granted, we played a D2 team but hey... 4 blocks counts! 7 rebounds count (3 offensive), and 3 assists!

Rylan.... valuable! It is the one word that fits here. He will be a vital piece on this team!

Storr... I see some challenges in his game. Hope he absorbs Self ball!

It's probably healthy if Juan gets challenged for his minutes.

I'll give you an idea where Juan fits in Self's system.

After Juan's dominant scoring at Arkansas... probably the most points he's had in a game at KU, I seriously doubt after that game Self came up to Juan and patted him on the back and said, "now that's what we want to see out of you from now on!"

I'm sure Self likes to see Juan go get some points, but it's not a good sign anytime Juan leads us in points, especially more points than any 2 other players combined.

Last night's game helped me a bit with my PTSD since we hit some treys. I thought we would have made more treys at Arkansas if our guys shot with their eyes closed.

I do not believe we will be in the cellar of the Big12 this year in made treys!

Now... how about some defense!

Looks like some pretty nice improvements but I haven't experienced it yet. Would like to hear from more fans that have.

JUAN RECALL:

Here is my take on Juan. At times, he looked horrible in this scrimmage and was played by a freshman, who ate his lunch. Yes... we saw what we saw. So here it comes... all the Juan naysayers.

Juan is not an NBA prospect. Never will be. But he is typically a solid defender and solid point guard. His first job is to be the mechanism for bringing Self's game out on the floor. We all know, if Self isn't happy, it is going to show because he's screaming at someone, making faces and turning bright red himself, and benching someone. He usually doesn't lose his cool with Juan because Juan is accomplishing his #1 priority.

Here is the Juan everyone wanted... he put up 26 points, and no two other players together matched his total. He is Juan thinking about getting his own points. How do we like that? In this case, he had to score because we had NOWHERE else to go for points! #1 team in the country, no alpha scorers.

Juan is a PG built perfect for a team with 4 other players with offensive skills. When he's on that team, he will only average around 6 PPG but everyone else will score big. When we have a team like the team we had in the scrimmage, Juan is also lost in space because no one is teaming with him to score.

Actually, I feel a little better about Juan after this scrimmage. Clearly, he has add a bit more physicality to his frame. And it showed up on his own personal offense. I think we will see Juan scoring more this year, I just hope it isn't because he has to (but I fear this).

The guy I'm more concerned with is KJ. I appreciate his natural athleticism. I had hoped he would develop into a real offensive savant but I'm not seeing it in this game. Some guys develop where they just explode in a year, and I thought we would get that out of KJ but I don't think so now. A big part of his production should be rebounding. I've said this on here every since KJ came to Kansas. Someone needs to sit him in a chair and have him watch Charles Barkley rebound until he gets it. He should be the next Barkley. He should have a personal trainer who knows how to teach this skill because he still doesn't get it. And from the 10+ rebounds he should easily snatch every game, he should be adding at least 6+ points off his rebounds.

I know I'm in a PTSD moment here... I see we have more depth... will it even be enough to replace McCullar? Who is going to start playing defense? Defense requires hustle, but it also requires skills. Anyone on our staff capable of teaching defense? I'm not just talking about team defense. I'm talking about (what I always talk about) teaching players how to hedge, etc.

That scrimmage restored my PTSD from last year... we start off totally over-ranked at #1, we have no perimeter shooting, we don't have enough athleticism (at least, not against Cal), but even worse this year is we have no McCullar on defense. We are going to have to average 80+ points to have a good record this year.

I know it's even before being early... I said what I said because of my PTSD.

I'm just putting my trust in Self to turn these guys into a competitive team. Isn't it the fact that we have Self the reason why we get over-ranked early in the year?

I'm for protecting our injured guys. It's always great to get one over on Cal... but this is basically just a practice scrimmage.

Okay... the temps are dropping and I've picked off all my remaining tomatoes...

Let's do this! RCJH!

We are soooo good.... soooo great that we are above being #1! We are #0! lol

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Basketball Season:

This is how I know you have no idea what you’re talking about right now. Zeke Mayo is nowhere near as athletic as Harris. Mayo isn’t quick enough to beat Summit League players off the dribble. 90% of his highlights are him doing stepback 3’s because he can’t beat his defenders off the dribble. Mayo was also a black hole on defense in the Summit League, but is suddenly going to be able to defend Big 12 guards like LJ Cryer, Caleb Love, and Jeremy Roach?
Furphy sucked on defense, Griffen is marginally better, but still below average.
AJ Storr might be a better athlete than McCullar is, but it sounds like he’s still not playing any defense and is still a ball hog who might be trying to top his 32% usage rate from last season.
Hunter is slow and unathletic which is why he’s entering year 5 of college instead of year 2 in the NBA. I agree that Dickinson was misused on defense last season and should’ve been used the same way McCormack was down the stretch in 2022. Putting 3 bad defenders in front of him doesn’t hide those weaknesses, it magnifies them and means KU has 4 terrible defenders on the court at the same time.
You’re also right that this group wouldn’t give up 89 to Samford and Gonzaga, they would’ve given up at least 110 in those games.
The offense also isn’t going to be as good as people think because this team still won’t be able to space the floor well enough due to a lack of 3 point shooting to allow Storr to do what he is best at which is drive and draw fouls.

Dammit, I wish I could disagree with you here, but I can't.

I've never seen a year where we could do better by using more zone defense. Especially since we have a footer in the paint that is slow.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I'm trying to limit my defensive expectations of this team. Praying you are wrong about the 90 ppg.

thought this blog was about basketball? Says so in the title.

How does everyone feel about this year's team? Where will our weak areas be?