🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@DoubleDD

I see this as a huge tarnish on K. Coaches should become wiser over time, not more ridiculous.

It is a case where someone (K) is backing a lunatic. That makes K a lunatic, too.

Maybe he is suffering with "mid-life crisis?"

@approxinfinity

Especially with a new baby...

@HawkChamp

Doke can actually make more of a positive impact now, pushing his teammates, than if he was in uniform playing.

It sure worked that way for Kevin Ware and Louisville back a few years ago. I seriously doubt they would have won the NC without raising to a higher level after Ware had his leg go out.

""He said 'Don't worry about me, I'm good, I'll have my surgery tonight,'" Behanan said. "'Go win it for me.'""

Kevin Ware breaks bone in leg ↗

Or.... how about a story a little closer to home?

KU's Championship Run ↗

"When Marshall was injured, Manning committed the rest of the season to his teammate and friend and the wins started coming."

Who is to say we would have won that NC without Archie's hardship?

This team is bound to develop a 7-foot, 265 lb chip on their shoulders moving forward.

The last time we carried a sizeable chip was with TRob and his losses. We didn't have a single McDs AA on that team and made it to the Finals.

!chips-tattoo-on-shoulder.jpg ↗

I'm curious what others in here think about "the chip" as our season progresses?

@Ralph

"How long is Indefinite"

I haven't got the inside scoop from family members yet.... but I am feeling like Duke and K have cordially invited the ACC into this decision-making process. The idea is to SHARE accountability with their conference.

I feel certain that the ACC leveled a major threat on Duke and one more mistake by Allen will involve a punishment for the Duke program.

Allen will now face constant monitoring and evaluation on a psychological level. His actions and ability to control himself will decide when he can return. K has to bite the bullet on this one because the situation has extended to beyond winning games.

Even Duke faithfuls have had enough.

I despise this creep just like everyone else does. But I also realize he needs psychological help. He has shown a very harmful pattern over his playing days. Destruction not only to himself but to other players. Most likely, his big mistake was years ago... when he should have been admitted into military school. The perfect environment to break someone down for a startover. Now.... at this stage in his life... it is going to be hard for him to change into something else.

I wouldn't trade to be in his shoes. I wouldn't swap for his youth and talent and potential future. Because what I see coming for him is hardship. Extreme hardship.

@HighEliteMajor

Welcome back, Coach!

I could be wrong, but the way I currently see this situation is that the ACC has come down on K.

The threat now goes beyond punishing Allen. The punishment moving forward will be against Duke. One more trip up by boy wonder and Duke will face serious consequences.

Unfortunately, the Duke side of my family won't be attending our Christmas festivities this year... so I won't get the entire scoop.

@jaybate-1.0

Love is more than an emotion.

Love is time, and the subsequent challenges and tests along the way.

Love is knowledge.... understanding.... coming to terms.... appreciation... respect... honor.

The big step forward in a marriage, concerning love, is to get to the point where you can digest it beyond the emotions, connecting souls to a higher level.

At least, this is what I have discovered in my life.

@jaybate-1.0

I think I have every live sporting event set to record on my DVR over the holidays.

I will be working that FOREPLAY button on the remote constantly.

Foreplay? check....

I recall an interview with Svi right after he picked Kansas. His dream is to play in the league. Period.

I know he is embracing his college days at Kansas. I hope he earns himself a degree and feel certain that he will.

He looks like he has already made half the leap up in play to make it in the NBA. When you consider that he is still just the age of a freshman, that is a great sign.

I fully expect him to return for his senior year. His game is still advancing rapidly while at Kansas and he is still very young. I don't expect him to jump to lotto status this year, but you never know and there is a lot of season left. With Doke going down, it just opens up the possibility that much more of a guy like Svi getting even more minutes as we will be playing more 4-guard offense moving forward.

I want our remaining bigs to start playing like they have Doke's size. Carry his spirit onto the court.

We have everything we need... it is just convincing these guys between the ears.

All of our post players are bigger than Sir Charles Barkley, who dominated the NBA in rebounding, so I don't want to hear any excuses why any of our guys can't step it up and dominate.

@approxinfinity

"I think this puts very positive pressure on Lucas and Bragg."

That's what I think, too.

I recall a Louisville team that lost one of their key players during March Madness and then went on to win it all.

We still have all the tools we need to win it all. It is just about getting these guys to focus and be motivated up and beyond everyone they play.

I just posted about Allen. It's time someone cheap shots him back. Not to permanently hurt him, but to teach him respect. Allen is a spoiled punk. Having him nose dive on the hardwoods and smash his nose flat to his face is about the only way to get his attention. He believes he is above rules and doesn't give a rat's ass about the health of other players.

I'm not for playing dirty. A cheap shot retaliation at this point isn't dirty play, it is self-preservation. Duke or the ACC isn't going to do diddly. And for that reason they merely empower Allen even more to keep doing this.

Gosh... did you see this wimp melt down on the bench? He reacted like a 3-yr old. Actually, my 3-yr old doesn't act near that bad, but then, he isn't spoiled rotten like Allen is.

Doke is gone for the year.

Sorry, guess that was revealed in the link above.

It all just shows how Kansas takes it in the rear from the rest of the world.

I say we ban the game of basketball back to Lawrence and we just play the game amongst ourselves. Everyone over the Kansas state line is cut off.

We own the rules, and the name.

The rest of the world can make up their own game and call it something else. How about the "game of chicken snit?"

!tallguy.jpg ↗

Basketball is a game of inches? (or feet?)

!pamplona-running-of-the-bulls.jpg ↗

Mid-life crisis? Or just CRISIS?!

!rodman-rebound.jpg ↗

Keeping your eye on the ball is a lifetime necessity....

!tumblr_n5jy9shjVh1qdwo7go1_1280.jpg ↗

Where did Naismith come up with his ideas?

@BeddieKU23

I think Svi gets high marks for driving the ball. I'm surprised more people aren't commenting on our 4-out/1-in being a motion, dribble-drive offense. That is what it is.

Our offense comes to a dead halt if we stop driving the ball.

@jayballer54

The only winning strategy I see for Louisville is to have a pipeline of KFC aimed at the Kentucky bench. Get all those AAs stuffed with the colonel's deep-fried sick chicken parts. YUM! I mean.... YUM! Center.

@Crimsonorblue22

!Screen Shot 2016-12-21 at 11.37.25 AM.png ↗

Geico Emergency Claims - 1 800 OHH $HIT

@COHawk

Was that 2012 and our low spot before we went all the way to the Finals?

@Crimsonorblue22

Thanks for the Christmas gift! Sure beats cufflinks!

I'm thinking we may want to consider adding certain regular themes in here. Spruce up the place a bit.

Here are a few ideas -

"Caption That!" - Posting unique images and creating fruitful (and sometimes comical) captions to thrill the crowd.

"The Stat Pack" - Post-game analysis of stats after every game.

"One-on-One" - We invite guests for a blog interview.

"KUBucket Upcoming Events" - An ongoing schedule of events coming up for this site and it's patrons.

Does this make sense? I bet some of you have ideas, too, for helping build KUBuckets into a worldwide brand.

@wrwlumpy has been providing us all with spectacular background visuals from our upcoming opponents. I think it makes sense to start other repeating themes to give more meat to our site.

-------------------------------- S A M P L E ----------------------------------------

!23043d2c-de7f-4c6d-b203-14239d3d5a80.jpg ↗

"I'll grab HEM's arms, you take his legs. He'll thank us later for saving him from political hell!"

@MoonwalkMafia

Oh my.... It makes me think he may come back here eventually. Going so deep into politics tends to wear down the soul.... unless there is money to be made (joke).

@MoonwalkMafia

It might be surprising to some, but there are many old dogs on this site (like me) that don't tweet. Can you give us a clue? Politics?

@stoptheflop

We wore them down. Their second half was a disaster caused mostly by our defense stepping up. But all that KU energy caught up with the Mildcats. After a while you could see their spirit leave. They didn't give up, but they definitely backed down. Trey shots really looked bad that second half, too.

Our pace got to them. Pushing pace can take a toll on good trey shooting teams that aren't used to the fast pace.

Davidson is a solid team and they are going to make some noise this year. Glad to see them bringing in good talent again... proof they are more than just the ghost of Steph Curry.

@jessejayhawk

"Somrone needs to tell ESPN that KU is in Kansas, not mizzery"

I don't know.... the way we dominated Mizzou... I think lots of Tigs question if KU is in Missouri.

I miss the Tark.... Jerry Tarkanian. He left his mark on D1.... challenging the NCAA when very few others would.... using high pressure presses and M2M defenses combined with a run-and-gun offense. He definitely had his style of everything, including sucking on towels during games. I imagined him having a spittoon in his office.

@bskeet

Cheers, my friend!

@DanR

I see what you are doing.... trying to motivate him from the other side of the fence. Well done!

We won't give up on HEM... he will return.

Maybe someone can try to contact him directly. It worked for me last year when I was recouping from an illness.

@BShark

Sherman works the refs better than any other defensive back in the league. Makes me think he used to play basketball at Duke.

@KUSTEVE

I think we may be in the driver's seat for another repeat in conference play.... but there are no guarantees. The main reason I give us an edge is because of the known difficulty for other conference teams to win in AFH.

I have watched very little footage of the other teams in our conference so far.... but if I am guessing, I put WVU as a major threat. This would seem to be the year that our guys might be able to go to Morgantown and win one (or at least not get embarrassed).... we shall see. I'm not holding my breath but I think Frank and Devonte are sick of looking bad in that game. I circled this game for many reasons including being the real test for us in preparation for March. If we can handle WVU away, we should be able to handle anyone.

Baylor could be a challenge, too, but I see a stronger likelihood that Baylor may be the team that helps KU ice another conference championship by being a spoiler. I still have my doubts that Drew knows how to win the conference.

I definitely believe that the purple kitties will help us again.

OU.... wow. They look horrible so far but I have a lot of faith in Lon turning those guys around. Doubtful they will do anything this year and doubtful they make the big dance, but they may still surprise a team or two on the right night.

I know ISU has some good players but I'm not thinking they will be near the threat they were last year. I don't think they have much of a post except for Burton. Looks like an opponent that might help produce a big night for Doke if he can stay out of foul trouble. Who do they have that can keep him away from the rim?

I'd like to hear more people chime in on what they think about our league this year.... people who have seen many of these teams play.

@Kcmatt7

Nice work!

I think we have a lot more going on than we all know about. There are lots of holes in recruiting information when going forward more than the current upcoming class.

Some of these recruits Bill and staff have been following for several years now.

@HawkChamp

Yeah... I have my doubts about their defense. I don't think they have the defensive capability to win it all. But the season is still early and they do have how many McDs AA? 11?

I think a guy like Kennard may end up costing Duke a chance. He is playing extremely well right now, but I think he has reached his ceiling and he isn't a good defender. Will he still be able to hold on to all those minutes now that their freshmen stars are getting healthy? Will he still continue to play the alpha role after Allen gets his health back, too?

What does return of Duke's star freshmen mean for Luke Kennard, starting lineup? ↗

Funny photo of Grayson Allen. Yet another one of his hacks that he got away with.

He's a dirty player that gets away with murder. And he will continue to do so until someone playing against him gives him a dose of his own medicine. I loved playing against dirty players like him. Cheap shot him back and he becomes a pussycat. All those guys are the same. Their dirty aggressive play is an overcompensation for the fear of being played with dirty aggression. The dirty aggression is all about power. And when you show you have more power than him, he backs down.

If you want to take him out of a game, cheap shot him. Not something to really hurt him. Just to get his attention and then he will back off and become submissive.

@jayballer54

Here is a good link on your thread topic -

Duke’s Grayson Allen drew an egregious phantom foul call after missing a layup ↗

Grayson wouldn't last 5 seconds in the neighborhood I grew up in. Everything about him relates to an elite mentality. And he gets away with it at Duke. Knowing that, he pretty much HAD to play at Duke or he would have been beat up in school parking lots, etc.

But hey.... let Duke face another cream puff on their home court with their uncles doing the officiating. That doesn't help them develop and only creates a false sense of security.

They won't (and can't) win another National Championship without having rigged the refs... just like their last "victory" against Wisconsin. Without rigging the second half they would have been toast.

I realize HEM posted with a level of aggression. He definitely didn't follow laws of PC.

I come from an upbringing where there were a lot of people around me that would parse communications in rough ways and usually you could never win a disagreement or whatever. I learned early to have a filter and not take many things personally. I try to dig through everything and pick out the gems. HEM offered plenty of gems and he spent the time and energy to develop his ideas well. And he does know a lot about the game including things that are not picked up without playing or coaching.

What makes this site magic is the level of diversity. HEM was/is a definite piece of that diversity, like him or not. I miss his long threads that were packed with interesting info and would spark very long, in-depth conversations.

HEM is committed to his participation. He would write extremely long posts that required plenty of thinking, typing, etc. Because of that, he might stop posting if he feels like no one is getting anything out of his posts.

I know I vote for tolerance. I even like to read @elpoyo and his/her "slap in the face" posts. Bring it on!

Enjoying the military deflections.

Concerning post rotation... all our bigs deserve minutes and will have to be maintained to some degree all year to keep them from rusting and to keep the intensity building in the post all year. I'm afraid the biggest "victim" in the rotation will be Lightfoot. In a perfect world, he would deserve more minutes this year to help him develop for the future.

Landen looks like he is turning the corner on his early season funk. He had a solid game against Davidson, and was starting to really settle into his role during Nebraska.

But I don't see this as one of our best rebounding post teams. Rebounding will be a job by committee all year, and I'm not talking about "board members" only being post players. We have too good (and athletic) of guards to have them take plays off on the rebounding side. Everyone is going to have to step up and rebound. This may be our best rebounding guard squad since Bill came to Kansas. I don't think we can stress how important this area is going to be for us all year, and may actually be the area of our game that makes the difference in March.

Defense and rebounding are driven by synergy. Either we get together as a squad on hustle and focus or we melt away into mediocrity as a team because even though our offense is good and fun to watch, our offense alone doesn't stand a chance to go far in March and would be hard pressed to even win #13 in conference play.

I'm optimistic about this team NOT because they are so fun to watch (but enjoying that aspect). My optimism is high because I think we have a great group of guys who GET IT! I think this squad understands that it will be defense and rebounding that will make us unstoppable.

That second half against Davidson.... I haven't seen that kind of defensive intensity in a KU uniform since 2008! No one in college basketball is going to keep up with us as long as we bring that kind of defense. And the rebounding was much improved, too.

@Fightsongwriter

BG didn't seem to realize that he could impact his team as much by giving up on a defensive play (in a negative way) as he could impact his team by hitting a trey (in a positive way).

He just didn't value defense enough. That mentality will never play well for Bill Self.

@jaybate-1.0

I thought the slogan was "We are all winners!"

@elpoyo

I don't know if you intend to be sarcastic... but I apply sarcasm to your posts and get a real kick out of them!

Love your Wiggins addition!

@jaybate-1.0

"“Maybe we just get away from finishing the tournament”

Inspired insight."

So all Final Four teams are winners! And we take that back retro, too....

Which sounds better?

Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball - 3-time NCAA Tournament Champions

or

Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball - 14-time NCAA Final Four Champions

Hey.... Now even The Big Dipper becomes a winner at KU!

@jaybate-1.0

So if we do that now... we agonize the public for a few years.

Then we bring back the actual Final Four playoff weekend.

Supply/Demand... it would be like bringing Liberace out of retirement!

@jaybate-1.0

I'm thinking big business has other plans for D1 basketball.

Here is what I think....

I believe big marketing wonks have put something else ahead of crowning a National Champion. National Championship is NOT the pinnacle of D1 basketball.

So what is?

The "Final Four." It is the branded monster in the room.

The idea is to promote (and financially exploit) the Final Four event, hence the four final teams.

Maybe we just get away from finishing the tournament. We crown four winners every year instead of one. Four times more than marketing territory!

@jaybate-1.0

Isn't big money interests already colliding with competitiveness in D1?

Absolutely! The fall of all those amazing rivalries is proof of that.

@jaybate-1.0

grotesque? Yes.... But probable or possible? My guess, possible and probable.

Look at toddler sports. The PC crowd has pushed to remove "winners and losers" so "everyone is a winner" when, in fact, everyone is a loser because the competitive nature has been removed.

Not everyone deserves a trophy. I know it hurts many kids to not receive a big award. But failing is what drives them to improve. Trophies are special ONLY because not everyone is supposed to get one. It is a "special occasion" recognition product.

How long before that PC attitude crawls up the spine of mainstream America adulthood? It is definitely a product of leftwing philosophy pushing to end capitalism and start communism. Step one is to remove competitive drive. It all starts with sports.

I will not allow my children to participate in non-competitive sports.... FAKE SPORTS.

Anyone else notice how we are improving our abilities to set picks? Wow... i've been loving all our pick and rolls with our big guys, especially young Doke. Now I'm waiting for Carlton to start "pickin' and poppin'."

That isn't an accident. We are spending more team practice time developing offense than in past years.

Bill's perspective is about balance now... not old school BAD BALL! Sure... he still wants us to have some grind games if for no other reason than to check the toughness of his team, but producing grind games is not his goal now.

@jayhawk-007

Nice read.

I believe Bill changed his overall perspective just a few years ago. Before then, it was all about defense for Bill. His breaking point was the "fool's gold" period where he forced his team to go inside for points versus bombing the trey with shooters like BG.

In perspective, I think there was more to the "fool's gold" story than any of us understood at that time. Part of the fool's gold was that Bill didn't focus enough on running an offense and he didn't invest in scoring from the trey line. Just having good spot up shooters like BG wasn't enough. Hence, the "fool's gold" mentality. It was bound for failure. And put that with Bill not laying the groundwork for years to instruct his team that creating easy offense shouldn't change the hard work attitude on defense.

Bill is still mostly a "system" guy. He knows that he has to work his guys for a long time to get them to actually execute a plan during a game, especially in March.

Back in the "good ol days" Bill's focus was on defense, and to have a system offense where he didn't have to spend more time than necessary working on offense. Back then, Bill was still on board with the "offense wins games, defense wins championships" mentality. That philosophy has now converted to a hybrid (just like our offense is a hybrid now).... "good balance wins championships" is Bill's new mantra.

I am very impressed with Bill's current direction. He has gone from being a totally rigid "system" guy to becoming a flexible hybrid guy. We are just starting to see what our current team can do (on both sides of the ball).

Matt was correct in focusing on how we have opened up the middle by sticking 4 players on the perimeter, and then Bill's insistence that we drive the ball. In some ways, we are still running the hi/lo... but instead of facilitating it through the pass we facilitate it through the drive.

@jaybate-1.0

D1 Basketball Political Wedge Issues (ranked by importance)

1. John Calipari

2. Petroshoeco's control

3. Jay Bilas "Sanitation of the Game" Policies

4. OAD culture

5. Duke attitude

6. Tournament bracket-rigging

7. Mizzou meth usage

8. NCAA gestapo tactics

9. Flopping

10. TV blackout policies