"Well Monte they proved they were in fact-better than you last night"
I've always hated the guys that talk smack AFTER getting beat. The time to prove it was last night.
drgnslayr
11251 posts
I watched about half of that game... what I saw was ISU getting smacked in the post.
I'm thinking ISU is most missing McKay. He offered some low post resistance and decent rebounding.
We could really brutalize them, even in the Hilton, if our post can come together by then.
"Having said this, I disagree he is still a kid, he is a week away from turning 21; a grown man, in my opinion."
True... but many of these players have had lopsided upbringings. Many of the lessons they should have received often didn't happen because sports overshadowed many key moments that should have been learning experiences.
It is that way for most young prodigies.
And then there are those cases where players grew up too fast, having to face issues that even few adults ever face.
I think it best to not generalize age and maturity in this case.
Good point... but I doubt the police came to his dorm and pulled him out of bed. However... could have.
You are right, not to judge yet. The facts aren't all in.
I don't see this as an "end of the world" scenario. Quite the opposite. It may end up exposing some issues that were also bleeding onto the court.
I would define Coach Self as a hybrid.
And I think that is the best position to be in as a head coach in D1. I would also say that I think Bill used to lean more on being a system guy.
Bill's system and discipline has brought him a large percentage of those 600 wins. But a few years ago, Bill realized he would have to make more adjustments in order to stand much of a chance in March. Much of the criticism leveled on him related to being too predictable. And when something wasn't working, he would stick with it to the dire end.
His defensive philosophy is largely system (as it should be).
Over recent years, Bill's offense has become more fluid and adjusted somewhat to the players he has had. I think it was a big thing having Wigs. I don't think we utilized him correctly, but the overall impact was that Bill had to keep trying different things to make that year work out. Had JoJo stayed healthy... there was a decent chance we would have come home with the big trophy.
So I'm thinking that the OAD situation has played a big role in pushing Bill to offer more than a rigid system. OADs are NOT looking for rigid play.
Just look at our current offense. We are (so far) a perimeter shooting team. The ball isn't sticking either. So guys are whipping the ball around until we have the wide open trey and our guys are knocking it down because they have made their offense into a game of H-O-R-S-E from the trey line. Think back many years ago and our rigid hi/lo offense wasn't about having motion in the offense. It was just about spacing and passing quickly, trying to catch a seam in the defense on either the perimeter or in the post. Remember some of that stale offense where we had 3 perimeter guys standing on the trey line whipping the ball back and forth and nothing happening? So someone like Sherron or whomever would have to force a last second shot on the shot clock.
Those days are over. Bill has learned to turn his hi/lo into a hybrid hi/lo, really becoming a motion offense. Heck... half the time it looks a lot more like a dribble-drive offense instead of the hi/lo.
When we had players like Jamari... I really loved what Bill schemed for Jamari to slash through the post and receive the pass while in motion and then just an easy continuation finish for him at the rim. Wish we would have seen more of that, but what we did see I loved.
Bill is in a conundrum right now over his post offense. He wants to get some back to the basket offense going, and maybe he will. But I think his end goal is to challenge his post players so they struggle. Struggle leads to major development (usually). I expect we will see some new twists from our post over the next months. One thing is for sure... we need to see more "post to post" scoring (passing from a post player to a post player).
Yep.. I'm most looking forward to our game in Morgantown.
That is the game I have circled on my calendar. It is the gauntlet test for these boys. Are they just going to try to hold on and win? Do they even have that much fortitude? Or... will they realize they have the tools to really SMASH Huggybear and they go in there and silence the crowd with a complete arsekicking?
If we go into Morgantown and spank Huggy, I will be buying Final Four tickets.
I think we all have different definitions of what "volume scorer" means.
I define "volume scorer" as a guy who will keep shooting when he's on (and sometimes when he's off), where the focus is on scoring, not just being a "team player." That can mean a volume scorer can go out and drop 60 in the right circumstances. A volume scorer is definitely willing to take over a game.
Frank has had some good games this year, but I believe he is just on the edge of showing his volume scorer side. It would be easier to see Frank meeting my definition if we didn't have other prolific scorers on this team, especially Josh Jackson. I see Josh as being very able of fitting the role of a volume scorer, too.
I won't be surprised this year to see a game or two where Frank really takes over because the rest of our guys are having a bad night or Frank is completely unstoppable in a big game and we really need his volume offense.
The first question I have is what was Carlton doing being out at 6am?
Nothing good happens late at night. I'd like to know the team policy... team curfew in constant effect?
What family members does Carlton have in Lawrence? A sibling or mother? I doubt his mother was up at 6am...
I know this is a distraction to the team, but this may be the best circumstances for Carlton and the team. It exposes that he has "stuff" going on outside of basketball that doesn't appear to be positive for his basketball future. It has been clear this season that Carlton has not been really plugged in to basketball. His focus hasn't been 100% basketball.
The young man needs some counseling on priorities (as do pretty much every young man and woman).
I hope this results in sobering thought for young Carlton. I remain optimistic that Carlton/coaches/team will turn this into something positive. Struggle tends to stimulate growth.
I have to admit I've only seen a few minutes of Baylor so far. I knew Motley would be back and would become a huge threat.
From what I am imagining, Baylor does have the guns this year to challenge anyone. That doesn't mean they will be at the top of the Big 12 by year end. There is so many "intangibles" involved around putting together a big conference season. Sometimes teams catch a few breaks to help them out. But to systematically pick apart the rest of the conference to end up on top... guess I have the same doubts many have... I'm not sure Drew is prepared to have that kind of performance.
I don't think most people realize just how valuable the head coach is in winning conference play, especially a conference like the Big 12. Don't devalue Bill's personal history in this league going back to his playing days in Stillwater (Big 8 back then). Don't devalue his days at Kansas helping Larry Brown.
Richard Jefferson... one of the bigger drama queens in the league.
He better cool it or next time he will catch a world-changing elbow to the face.
@jayballer54 said:
tell me HOW MANY OF US thought Frank would be near as offensive productive as he has been at this point? - -Be Honest?
I've been hollering out for months that Frank is a volume scorer and needs to be less of a PG and more of a scorer. I've been saying that Devonte is better equipped to play more of a PG role.
I'm not surprised at all that Frank is carrying the biggest scoring role on this team.
But I have been pleasantly surprised just how much he has improved from last year. Really, most of it is his conditioning. He has always been in good shape, but he took it to another level by working his butt off this past summer.
I think he is improving his future career prospects big time. As of last year, I didn't see him as having any chance in the league. Now, I think he will get tryouts and I'm pretty sure he will play in d-league next summer with a real shot of making a team. Because of his size, he will have to prove himself far more than other players with more size. What the GMs want to see is can he be effective against talented size. In the very least, I believe he will have very lucrative options abroad.
I do worry about Doke's FT %. He is a guy that could become such a weapon by March, but if he can't hit FTs we could be drawn into games of hack-a-shaq.
He really is starting at zero from the line. Really completely undeveloped shot form, sort of like someone who has never played the game and then asked to shoot a FT. I'm guessing here... but I don't know if we can get him beyond mid-60s %. Maybe even less. What % would it take for other teams to intentionally foul him every play? I believe the strategy against Doke now is to never give him an easy basket by fouling him hard.
I see the rest of our guys settling down at the line.
There is a good chance that our FT shooting is being negatively impacted by our increased game speed.
We have a long ways to go, and I see better days ahead for us on the line.
Really enjoyed your read!
Makes sense. My biggest fear is injuries because of fatigued players.
There was an earlier war tax (American Civil War), started in 1861 but was repealed in 1872.... it became constitutionally supported when ratified in 1913.
I'm not up on my history, but read up a bit after your post. I didn't realize the original tax was repealed before later becoming a constitutional amendment.
I was thinking we are still paying off the Civil War!
I think one of the bigger issue with our bigs is forcing them to produce from their backs to the basket.
NONE of our bigs are true back to the basket players.
I think this is an area where we are messing with fool's gold. We waste so much effort and focus on developing them for that, but what we get from all that effort doesn't pay off like it should. I just don't see any of these guys becoming great at that part of the game.
And why do we need them to do that? It works so much better to have these guys receiving the ball WHILE IN MOTION!
We learned how Jamari could be very effective in the post, by darting him around a screen while IN MOTION catching the ball and basically finishing a layup.
We do need all our bigs to quickly learn the post "gimme" scoring shot... which is to be on either side of the goal, a few feet out, and use the backboard to bank the shot. It is a high percentage shot and is almost impossible to defend because they use their bodies and the angulation on the shot to protect the ball.
Beyond that, I would have my bigs in constant motion on offense. Setting high ball screens, setting run-through screens in the low and middle post areas. Pick and rolls, pick and pops, post players passing to post players, backdoor alley oops, darting through the post on curls. There is endless stuff they can run and score on, but they require MOTION.
I do believe that conditioning is a bit of an issue in our post. I don't think our post guys are showing enough energy to stay in constant motion. Their energy level is a huge part of what has been causing problems. Many of their fouls are from being out of position, not moving their feet well enough.
I have the feeling like we will be pushed into a 4-guard offense often this year. It won't strictly be because of foul problems from our bigs. Until they can keep up with the pace our guards want to run, they will be lagging behind, and issues like fouling will be there, but also bringing us stagnant play.
I think we will see some differences between now and January.
Coach has the Christmas break to sort things out.
He is aware of the minutes issue with our guards, especially Frank.
Because of his aggression to the rim, Frank is our biggest risk player for getting worn down or injured by March.
Frank did ease up last year on some of his finishes to protect his body. It seems like his elbows have been perhaps his spots of biggest concern.
One option is to limit Frank's aggression so he can go 38 mpg. Do we really want to do that? Frank is in his prime on finishing at the rim. He is unstoppable, and the only real comparison on our team when saying "unstoppable" is Josh and his mid-range or rim shots.
What we need to realize is that changing lineups has a definite impact on the pace of the game. What Coach needs to do is determine what pace is best for our efficiency. Determining that will largely help decide how to parse PT minutes.
Right now, our bigs aren't keeping up with the pace of the game, even when we go with two bigs on the court. This will largely be dealt with over Christmas break. This is an obvious situation when you see things like Udoka fouling 30 feet from the basket. He gets spun up and makes a freshman mistake. Even 5th-year senior Landen is vulnerable to mistakes from being spun up. Carlton often looks lost out there.
I think the team synergy needs some tweaking. There are some imbalances and sometimes small changes can have a huge impact on results. Once we get our bigs plugged in our play is going to explode! I don't think Coach was expecting some of these issues to have to deal with, but it was hard to assume our guards were going to be so frenetic right from the getgo.
I do like (for a change) having our perimeter guys carrying the load. This is completely different than the situation of "fool's gold" where Bill didn't want to rely on trey shooting, even though we had BG.
Compare these two teams. Our opponents knew that a guy like BG could be conquered easily by just contesting his spot up shot and we weren't enough of a driving threat to force the isolations and sagging defense that opens up the trey line.
Just look at our recent games and how open our treys have been. As long as we can create that, I don't see Bill calling it "fool's gold" again. He has been wanting us to increase the speed of our pace for many years now. Running a two PG offense is a huge help, and then add in Josh to the equation and possibly a 4th guard on the floor.
Some things not likely heard from Jayhawk lips:
"Wish I could get some of that same grease Calipari puts in his hair!"
"How cute, the official drug of MU is crystal meth!"
"The refs really handed us that win against Duke."
"I wish we would join the SEC."
"Marsha is a better coach than Bill."
"I'd rather watch the Kansas Chess Club instead of another dumb Jayhawk basketball game."
"I was stupid not to pick K-State and an animal husbandry degree over a medical degree from KU!"
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The real question... who didn't make their own rendition of "Kansas City?"
And if I recall... weren't federal taxes started basically as a war tax that was supposed to be temporary?
I'd like to see that, too.
I think the problem is our bigs. Look at the foul trouble we are having in the post. The fouls represent just how out-of-step our post is with our perimeter. I think a lot of that has to do with pace. Our bigs are a step slow.
Imagine what we could do with 5 guards on the floor? All of our guards can bomb the trey. We would force opposing teams into going small or else. Most teams aren't accustomed to such a lineup and would have problems with it. Imagine having 5 quick players in motion, none camping out in the low post, but keeping it open for drives?
One of the real advantages this team has is we have 2 guards that are 6'8" who can shoot the lights out, drive the ball and finish, crash the boards, or whatever we need. There are only maybe a couple teams in the country that can match-up with that.
I'd like to see Bill create a secret weapon. A 5-guard offense moving at frenetic speed. A 5-guard full-court press far more capable than Huggy's ever was. This death squad should be able to squelch any opposing team momentum.
I'd like to see us pull this on Kentucky in January. We really need that win. Two in a row against the squid. Great recruiting tool, especially when beating them on their home court. And to do it in a real squashing fashion, like they did to us a few years ago with all their shot blockers. There is no way for Cal to prepare for something like that with a bunch of freshmen. They would just have to take their lumps, as we did a few years ago.
"I think Self is saying, very politely, that Frank is what Sherron could have been had Sherron been able to control his weight."
True... as was the rest of your post.
Extremely insightful post. Well done!
Excellent topic!
The Big 12 is currently evaluating that situation. I'm sure of that because all severe flagrant calls get evaluated. I hate to say this... but if that same play had happened in Big 12 play, you would have definitely seen a suspension by the Big 12.
I haven't heard if Virginia filed a formal complaint with the Big 12, but they should have if they didn't. No way this kind of play can be tolerated. If this punk came to Lawrence and tried that, he would be hanging from a tree within 2 or 3 minutes. Fans would storm the court and take him outside.
The one issue with running a 4-guard offense all year is that we will have to play Frank and Devonte a ton of minutes. I would hate to see us worn out in February... just before the March Dance.
At this time, it is best we keep developing our bigs, and they have so much potential to improve. Once we get more production from the post, it will also help free up our perimeter shot. But in order to develop we will have to show more patience.
I am expecting a gigantic leap in play happening over our Christmas break. Bill's strategy for Big 12 play is to fly out of the blocks to a lead. This works well, and should really work well this year since we not only have some a great team of guys, we have plenty of experience in the key positions.
When March comes, we will do whatever we have to do to win. If our bigs are dogging out, we will go to a 4-guard offense. In the meantime, we need our guards to have limited minutes and save those legs for later.
Also... so often... when a player plays most of the minutes of a game he increases the chances of an injury. Playing tired always helps put players in riskier situations.
Ha... you mentioned Travis Ford... I caught his St. Louis game with KSU. Now he doesn't even seem qualified at St. Louis.
Anyone know how he fast-tracked his way into the Big 12? Gosh... my neighbor's lawn boy wants a new career, might as well be a head coach in the Big 12... if Ford was able to get in.
I do think you are right and all of these factors are what is giving him his slow start.
I wasn't aware of his high expectation level until recently. I definitely am aware of how players slow down considerably when they overthink the game. Players' minds have to be in "pass through" mode... which basically means letting their bodies respond to stimulus instantly in an instinctual mode. Otherwise... all of their body movements must first pass through the brain's decision making process. Way, way too slow of a process.
Coach Self is aware of all of this. I'm sure he is actually enjoying this moment in time where he can poke a hard challenge to his bigs to step up their performance, and he has their past game performances on his side to help get these guys motivated on a higher level. I know I'm psyched over this situation. It is a perfect situation for our bigs to really take a huge leap forward in development... including Landen.
If I could rewrite the start of this season to be the perfect scenario for us, I don't think I would change anything that has happened. My biggest concern is Landen's bad wheel, which may just need time to heel up.
Okay... I think we can finally put to rest WHAT is the problem with Landen....
I'm sure his slow wheel isn't helping him, but not the reason for his lackluster performances.
I'm sure the game is moving faster, and he has to catch up to it... still not the ultimate reason for his issues.
I'm sure he has to still get used to a different lineup, but so does everyone else.
What IS his biggest hurdle to get over:
"He traced that to, “High expectations for myself going into this season. I’ve got to make sure I manage that because as a senior on this team I can’t do that. I need to get better at that.”"
He is over-thinking the game. He put his expectation level through the roof, and so he is playing through his mental filter. This slows players down more than anything else. Landen just needs to play, without complicating the game, without every move he makes first passing through his mental filter.
This is the reason for him playing slow... falling well behind the live action of the ball.
Once he gets this sorted out... look out! This is all just helping him build his own personal chip!
I see us as a diamond in the rough. The games now are after that diamond has had just one side or two cut, showing the potential.
This team really needs the Christmas break to finish cutting the stone. They don't quite play as one unit yet. When that comes, all areas of our team will improve, on both sides of the court.
I guess the ultimate question is: "Which Sherron?" He was a different player when he kept the weight off.
I'm sorry for opening that wound. Yeah... it hasn't healed up in me, either. I'm sure I'm not the level of Wisconsin fan you are, but I sure have been a fan for quite a while.
It should have been that storybook ending.... robbed by a rat face who wanted one more trophy for his cabinet.
"Self expects his players to play and win the right way..."
Today, I don't have a problem with players trying to sway a call. The game mimics a bit of general life... and persuading people is a part of life.
Devonte didn't deserve that call. He had every right to go for that ball. He was punished for hustling after a loose ball. This was a definite "NO CALL" back a few years ago (as it should have been called). Especially when you consider that a call can sway the outcome of a game leading to crowning a NC.
The "right way" for this call was a no call. And if there had to be a call, it should have gone our way. Something that could have been impacted with a little theatrics.
Look.... all we want is a game to be fair in both directions. We often go against teams that use plenty of theatrics. All we need is enough theatrics to even out the game. That is the "right way" in today's game.... to at least get a game where the calls go both ways, about equal.
I think Shaka is a medium-level coach. And it is up to him to prove people like me wrong.
I think he lost some of his persona advantage he had earlier in his career. He always had his teams carrying a chip because they were huge underdogs once they left their conference to face the real world.
Another thing... he was young back then. The youth factor was part of his persona of being "outside mainstream"... just more chip material for him and his players.
Now Shaka is mainstream. He can't play the underdog card any longer. He isn't young anymore. He is in the middle of the pack. So he has a tougher road ahead of him. And he is coaching at a school where basketball isn't considered anywhere near the universe of football.
If he can bring Texas to the top, he will earn respect from me and admiration as a great coach. I'm not holding my breath....
Yeah... I was super pissed off two years ago when Duke won the NC, which was largely due to the refs changing how they called the game in the second half. He had manipulated them over halftime. Whether we like that or not, it is a part of coaching... working the refs. He is one of the best, and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with his stardom.
Had the game been called in the second half like it was in the first half, Wisconsin would have taken the championship.
Flopping is the best term for taking those charges... but there is other uses for theatrics... like at the 4-minute mark of the following video. This was the real turning point in our loss to Villanova. All Devonte had to do was grab his head in pain... theatrics to get the call. You know many refs would bite the bait and call it the other way.
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Theatrics matter. I believe it quite easily might have cost us a NC last year.
I know the subject matter on this was a combination about racism and flopping. I don't know that there is a relationship and I'm not just out to play the race card.
But in my thoughts, it seems that there is more white players flopping than black players. I hadn't ever thought about that before until yesterday. I know the first thing some people will point to is racism. And though I am of color, I'm not one of those people that always look to play the race card. In my heart, I don't feel like racism is a part or much or a part of the game. I can't really say I experienced racism directly in the game and when I played in the Midwest USA, we played in a lot of small towns. A lot of small town refs. I do think there was favoritism regarding home officiating, but not relating to race.
I mention it here because some will think it right away. I believe there are other reasons, as I mentioned above. There are many cultural differences on a level where we can carefully generalize and state it as just a generalization.
Just watched this documentary on Paul Pierce. I think it is a good reference for how things are different. Paul grew up in Oakland, played in Inglewood inner city leagues, and he brought his cultural differences all the way to Boston... it almost cost him his life being stabbed 8 times in a club.
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Yikes... I just had him stuck in my head, and he played like a Dukey to me! Thanks! I will at least go back and reference that above.
Held up for a while....
Does Racism Exist On The Court?
I realize this is a political topic. But it would be great if responses could stay directly related to college hoops and how the game is called by officials.
I don't lounge around thinking about racism in basketball every day. This question came to mind from another thread where the discussion moved towards Duke's famous flop ploy. Some day, when Coach K retires and they create a statue of him to be placed in front of Cameron, I suggest they pose him laying down on his back with a theatrical look on his face, begging for a flop call from the refs. That would definitely be a piece of art properly expressing who he was in college basketball. Okay.. he may be just a tad bit more than that, but who can argue there has ever been a better D1 coach who knew how to work the refs.
GREAT DUKE FLOPPERS (by rank):
- Tyler Hansbrough (played like a Dukey but was at UNC) - Easily the #1 flopper Duke has ever had. His specialty was throwing his body backwards as he shifted his body into a driving ball-handler at the last possible second. Another thing Tyler liked to pull was to flop on his own drives. When he was in a situation where he was charging into a defensive player, he would often try to dramatize the impact, sometimes even trying to flop backwards, in hopes of not picking up a charge but going to the FT line instead. Here was a player who literally was led by his nose. Did he suffer from injuries? Yes, but because of his own rugged style of play. If you consider the impact of him getting those calls, it ended up being a double-whammy on opposing teams.
!Duke+v+North+Carolina+ToCSBCmILS8l.jpg ↗
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Shane Battier - He's the guy that got all this rolling. His play at Duke was, shall we say, controversial most of the time he was on the court.
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JJ Redick - Probably the best technician at drawing offensive fouls. If he could have learned the theatrics that some of these other players on this list had mastered, he would have become the #1 flopper of all times.
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Greg Paulus - Definitely the most outlandish flopper in the bunch. Don't take my word for it, watch the clip below.
[2000s: Top 10 Flops](
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Christian Laettner - No.. we didn't forget Christian. He loved to flop on the high ball screens he would set, with his arms crossed and extended away from his body at his elbows, he looked like a football offensive lineman blocking the pass rush.
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Grayson Allen - The "newcomer" to flopping greatness. A player well known for dirty play, including cheapshotting and tripping opposing players behind officials' backs. He will definitely become a coach someday because he knows how to work the refs during the game to get calls later.
*I should put a Plumlee on this list... but I'm tired of typing Duke players.
This list of players would fit appropriately at the top of a list of all college basketball floppers, with just a few exceptions added in. Duke's reputation for flopping put them at the top of the list by Sports Illustrated -
Do you really think Coach K could use such a dirty successful tactic if his teams were predominantly black?
Marcus Smart is at the top of the list for flopping among black players, and deserves to be somewhere at the top of all players ever to play in college.
[2000s Top 10 Flops](
But with the college game becoming 64% black by 2013, it seems that black players are completely under-represented in the college basketball flopping world. Why is that? Could it be that there exists a subtle racism with officials to "trust" white players more than black players? Marcus Smart was a distorted enigma when in college. Some of his flops were so ridiculous one could only laugh at his antics. But if he was white, would he have been discounted so highly for his theatrical performances?
This topic glares bright in my mind that there could be favoritism by officials as pertaining to the color of players' skin. However, I have a counter thought to all of this, and it leads me back to my roots on the playground.
Could black players be under-represented in the flopping world because of cultural differences? I played for 10-15 years on an inner-city playground, dominated by black players. In the entire period, I NEVER saw a player flop. Granted, we didn't have officials, we had to call out our own fouls and you had to get mugged in order to remain respected for calling a foul. You were basically considered a "snitch" for calling anything where blood wasn't involved in the end result.
Playground ball is all about the reputation you carried. That reputation was always built around masculinity. Flopping was considered to be feminine in nature. So could that cultural background carry forward to the hardwood of college basketball? Yes and No!
First, the "no." I don't believe there are many college players today that received their basketball knowledge on the playground.
And the "yes." Even though modern players don't have the playground experience to draw from, that doesn't mean they still don't have cultural pressures to always appear masculine. I know for a fact, that many players would never take a flop, regardless of what is at stake, and of these players, black players are fairly represented in numbers equal to their numbers as a whole playing basketball.
Should Kansas players play with more theatrics? I think in some cases, yes. But that should be used sparingly or it will backfire just as it did for Marcus Smart. We really need to play with more theatrics when playing teams like Duke. We need to try to even the playing field just a bit. If everything was equal on the court, we would smash Duke EVERY SINGLE GAME, I don't care how many McDs AAs they have.
I look at a player like Frank. The flopping issue has been addressed at Kansas a couple of years ago. Frank did add in just a touch of theatrics.... he began using a "head flop" which is nothing more than Frank jerking his head backwards. I do believe in some cases it helped him get a few more calls. I don't think Frank wants to go much deeper in theatrics because I do think he feels it attacks his masculinity. Something of which Frank has no lack of!
Yes... the flop remains a big part of college basketball. I'm thinking of a new thread on it now.
It appears the refs are going to call the game close this year, especially on post players.
When it gets on such a tick-tack whistle spree players need to consider their cosmetic appearance. I'm not talking about eyeliner. But their posture, gestures (both facial and body), and anything impacting their appearance. I know that sounds silly... but it is written right there in the famous college basketball coaching book by the rat face himself, "How To Manipulate The Refs."
After watching numerous FT misses I am capable of throwing objects in the house... including hammers.
That drives me nuts... but on the other hand, I hope that is the only issue we are dealing with all year!
I totally agree. I liked Rick Barnes. Not that he was a great coach, but he is a solid person with character.
I don't think Shaka's job is at risk this year... but the pressure is increasing on him to get results and I bet he is basically making promises now for next year.
Let the chip building begin. We need our guys psyched when they go into Rupp.... because it is a tough place to win.
And the strange factor is having this game smack down in the middle of Big 12 season. I don't get that. How do we put everything into a game that is just window dressing and something for pollsters while we are entrenched in winning #13?
Anything is possible in that game in Lexington. It may just boil down to who has the hot hand.
I'd like to see our defense turn on the pressure and get lots of steals. That would truly be an avenue for "stealing one" in Rupp.
The stat sheet is something...
Vick put up the most PT. Nice! Frank and Devonte in the 20's!
Vick went 9-9 fg, 4-4 ft....
Reminds me of a coach who once scolded one of his players for going 10-10.... "Why didn't you shoot more?!" Sometimes you just can't win as a player.
Congrats, Lagerald... on your coming out party. Prepare yourself for the first time now as future opponents are going to scout you.
It was easy to see the teammate synergy of Frank and Devonte.
Now that is competing with the teammate synergy connection of Lagerald and Josh!
Other teams talk about having a "guard duo" whereas Kansas talks about a "guard quartet." Where is the french horn?
I think the key with going after a PG... is he a play maker? Can he control a game and his players? Does he read defenses, smell out mismatches? Can he dribble through a WVU press?
Hitting the long ball is an asset, don't get me wrong... but will the guy run the show like we need him to?
Concerning Vick..
You know you got a player when he makes the game look so easy while smashing his opponents.
That's Vick.
I'm going to scout them tonight. First time this year.
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Josh is a freak. I can't recall any freshman at Kansas that has ever showed more in the first few games as a Jayhawk!
And he hustles for a youthful player, too. But I would like to meet him in the video room and show him some Kevin Young tape. There is still another gear or two left in Josh. He's not done establishing who he is yet. Imagine him "motored up" to Kevin Young hustle? That would make him the most-dominant player in all of D1... by a landslide!
I can see this happening. For as good as he looks now, you know there is some "confidence room" left in his game, where he will gain even more confidence and with more confidence it means turning up the pressure.
What an arena!
How far is it from Roswell?
One of the keys to Big 12 Basketball surviving (moving forward) has to be the quality level of coaching throughout our league. A few teams may be down a bit on talent, or young... or both... but we have a nice group of coaches and if we can keep it that way, the future looks much brighter.
From reading through this thread the first thing that came to my mind... Where is OU?
Lon is a solid coach and a respectable recruiter.
I know they are going to be down some because of losing Buddy... and perhaps another player or two.
I never see Lon as a bottom feeder in the Big 12. He will scratch and claw and get his team playing some ball. Somehow.