Don't quote me on this, but I think he has contracted the Mayor to come to Lawrence for a weekend to teach offense.
(bad joke...)
drgnslayr
11251 posts
Is this a case of Brannen having some passive aggressiveness because he is seeing the writing on the wall for this year?
I'm still busy with the Royals.
I continue to review Game 5 several times a week! It has really helped me stay sane through the unusual start to Kansas basketball.
I like to watch the top of the 9th.... then skip over to the top of the 12th and watch it to the end.
This is my "life line." I need to experience at least one little taste of execution in my life. This is it. Proof that execution can actually occur in this world.
November 20, 2015
Cheick Diallo has been cleared to play for Chaminade. In what appears to be a very strange ruling, the NCAA has decided Cheick Diallo is better suited (academically) to play for Chaminade, in Hawaii.
Diallo will face off against his former team (Kansas) on Monday, 8pm CST.
It was later discovered that the NCAA also gave Diallo and option to transfer and play immediately at Kentucky or Duke.
A spokesman for the NCAA was questioned about this strange ruling and reluctantly commented. Spokesman Joe Blukowski said, "I know it looks like we have it in for Kansas, but we really don't show any favoritism to any particular school." In the same breath, Blukowski also said, "we recently decided to make an example out of schools who don't emphasize academic excellence before everything else."
Many believe Blukowski was making a statement about the judgment recently released by the NCAA to penalize UNC for mass academic fraud by taking away one scholarship for the 2017 season, while others believe his comment was directed at Kansas for being too strict with their African Studies program.
I hope all of this serves a purpose.... that we end up with at least ONE primo big.
And now is the time to snag the next Frank Mason... We need at least one perimeter ball handler that is a true PG. A 4-year player that will give us continuity in leadership (ha... did I really say leadership?). A guy who can learn a lot by being a fill in during Frank's senior year.
Let's face it... all the elite players got their big reputations by putting up offensive numbers.
Is it possible that we are losing out on recruits because recruits ask our coaches, "what offense are you running?" ...and we can't really answer that question?
Thanks, guys... for making me change my shirt this morning. I even had to clean coffee off my shoes...
Sounds like it to me.
But... would everything be fixed if we replaced Howard with a real recruiter?
Is it possible that we really started losing our edge after we lost Danny Manning as an assistant?
"Or maybe Self’s hang ups with creativity on offense and the three ball are just that painfully obvious?"
I have family members from other big schools, including Duke. Our offensive struggles have been known for quite some time. I get to hear about it every Christmas.
Your post was painful to read... but that doesn't mean you didn't spell out the truth.
It really hit home with me when you played the "Chiefs' card." Gosh that hurt. But oh so true... going on for decades.
When Schottenheimer was coaching I had to drive a lot in western Kansas. I would listen to the Chiefs games on my car radio. I would call out their plays with 90+% accuracy before the ball was hiked. I didn't even have to watch them to predict what they were going to do.
1st down: Run off-tackle
2nd down: Run off-tackle
3rd down: Screen Pass
4th down: Punt
That was the Chiefs... 9 years of Schottenheimer. It was painful.
This is the right story for certain fans to read... the fans that are afraid Self is going to jump to the NBA.
Self is a great coach. But he simply isn't a NBA coach. It is not his style to change and be opportunistic. This is the reason why his phone isn't ringing off the hook from NBA management.
Every year in the NBA they set records for shooting more 3s. Here is why:
"A great coach can out-coach most other coaches... but a great coach can never out-coach math."
That is mine. I'm not quoting anyone.
Stats are never the complete story, but they are extremely telling and are a breakdown of the actual final score. So... there is plenty of reality in stats, regardless if we want to believe them or not, or even weigh them heavily in our opinions.
Self is trying to out-coach math and it isn't going to work.
Perimeter shot is worth 3... inside the line is worth 2. You can afford to fail at a higher percentage from the perimeter and still outscore the strategy of shooting inside.
What makes it worse is having a poor post team that seems to not be capable of scoring at a high rate inside.
The tables have turned.... and the real "fool's gold" is relying on getting your points inside... especially with this Jayhawk team that has poor post scoring and one of the best perimeter shooting gang in D1! Math doesn't lie and seldom does it deceive... and the one thing you can count on from NBA management is their ability to count beans.
I am purely speculating here...
But it seems like something is wrong from within our staff.
It just doesn't add up that we can't sign players.
Hard to believe we lost out on 42 of the 50 top recruits, ESPECIALLY if these guys are our target guys (which surely most all of these guys were).
Well, if we haven't done well with the first 42 guys, why do we think we will do well with the final 8? Just because all the other elite schools have signed truckloads of talent, it still doesn't mean Kansas scores any of these 8. I mean, come on... if you were one of these 8 would you sign with Kansas? I know I would be asking myself... "there must be something wrong with Kansas because no one else is signing."
Most people in our society are followers and basketball players are no different. We haven't signed any elite players... there is no one to follow!
Maybe we just have to be the renegade team. We kiss the butt of Maker and then say we've had a banner recruiting year.
I don't want to be negative, but I also don't want to remain silent.
I am under the opinion that all our assistant coaches are here because they are all supposed to be such great recruiters. So where are the recruits?
Imagine receiving a fat salary every year to do something, and then you don't even do it?
I can point a finger but I have to be honest and say I don't know what is going on. I'm not on those recruiting trips. I don't personally know any of Bill's staff.
It just seems apparent that something is going on and none of us know what it is... and chances are, it isn't good news.
It could be something as simple as one or more coaches drinking too much alcohol. Or it could be something else.
Am I the only one that just FEELS like something isn't right here?
I know we are all upset over not signing top talent. But set that aside for a second and analyze the situation and be as unbiased as possible.
It is hard for me to buy into the ShoeCo boycott as the only reason for our failure.
I'm having a hard time figuring out what our identity is. Who are we? Are we trying to be an elite school that runs a puppy mill of top elites for a year on their way to the NBA? If so... we don't get the big haul like UK or Duke... so at the very end we take whoever else we can get to use up our scholarships and fill spots?
So much for the luxury suites helping recruit. Gosh... now they are embarrassing! We can't sign decent talent even if we put them up in the Taj Mahal?
Something just doesn't add up.
Welcome back, amigo!
Good one!
I was very curious what you would write about this topic.
I don't see Self as being insane by your first definitions.... but I do definitely see him meeting the Einstein criteria... but then... which one of us doesn't sometimes match Einstein's definition?
We do live in a very conservative part of the country. I think people (as a whole) in Kansas DON'T embrace change like people do in other parts of the country. We tend to focus more on keeping the status quo.
I wonder how much of this with Bill keeping to his guns is related to KU being in Kansas? And he is an Oklahoma boy... (or as we used to like to say "Southern Kansas"... which was a spin-off from catching an Okie call Kansas "Northern Oklahoma").
I think it also gets tougher for some coaches to change after they have had some success. That success is what defines them. So they tend to feel like they are risking a lot to turn away from how they are defined (and why they are paid millions of dollars).
I know we all think Self doesn't change... but is that the truth or is that just our perception?
I haven't really seen us play his old hi/lo this year. I've seen a hybrid of his hi/lo.
I have a bone to pick with most coaches. I think most coaches have "their way" where they stress defense or offense. Self definitely stresses defense. Coaches that stress one side of the ball (IMHO) typically want to MAKE SURE the other side of the ball doesn't outperform the side they stress as what identifies themselves.
Why don't we want our offense to be the best it can be, and our defense to be the best it can be? Have you ever asked yourself that question? It seemed for a while last year, when we were hot behind the arc, that our offense "got ahead" of our defense. Is it possible that Self's "fool's gold" is less about the delusion he sees out of his players that they won't buckle down on defense as long as the trey is falling... and more about Self's own delusion that his teams must LEAD WITH DEFENSE?
If my assumption is true... then Self has issues with stubbornness, ego, and is to some degree, delusional. I think he has all 3 of those traits, but I also think so does MOST coaches, including very successful coaches.
I do believe we need to bring our basketball up to more contemporary concepts. That doesn't mean we shouldn't emphasize defense first. I believe in defense first. But we have to get out of this mindset that we can't play well on both sides of the ball. It will be really really hard to win another NC just focusing on one side of the ball.
I didn't recognize what offense we were trying to run the other night. I mostly saw guys standing around, spectating instead of playing. I saw very few screens and energy spent away from the ball. It really looked almost identical to the "playground ball" @jaybate-1.0 and I always reminisce about. Sure... we passed it more than on the playground, but the passes didn't do anything. We weren't passing for assists... we were passing just to make it seem like we were running offense.
I think some of the frustration that is being vented after this loss relates to Self. He made comments during and after WUG that indicated how much he learned from playing in WUG. Now the season starts and we seem to be right back to square one. Self is the "Riverboat Gambler" and that name isn't about being a risk taker or trying lots of changes. It is about Self's verbalized bluffs. How he wants other teams to prepare for things we really have no intention of running.
It is a case of the "same 'ol, same 'ol!"
Beeeeeep.... beeeeeeep!
K U S T E V E.... are you out there?
I think we have a dilemma on who will run this team out at point.
I really thought this was addressed last year. But obviously not.
We aren't going to find any more success this year over last year without having someone OWN this team.
Valentine OWNS MSU... and many think that relationship will mean yet another Final Four appearance by MSU.
This idea of keeping both Frank and Devonte in the game at the same time is flawed. It is part of the flaw in Self's coaching style that was supported by winning in '08. That was the rare departure from what 99.9% of winning teams do. Essentially, we had 3 PGs on that team that mixed into play and SHARED responsibilities.
And if you really want to examine '08 closely.. you could argue we underachieved. I know that sounds crazy since we won it all. But it took a miracle to come back in that championship game and we were, by far, the better team. Talent, experience and depth can mask areas of weakness. Our 3 PGs was a strength and a weakness at the same time. We couldn't focus squarely on one guy to be "the man."
Valentine is clearly "the man" for MSU. So they will flourish or fade away by his play. He knows this... and Tuesday night he stepped up and took charge of HIS TEAM!
If MSU gets healthy and has the year they should have... I would hate to play them in March because they have championship written all over them!
We need either Frank or Devonte to OWN THIS TEAM! ONE of these guys has to step up and take ownership. That means responsibility and that means accountability.
Well stated!
Maybe the game has come a bit TOO natural for these guys. Natural in the sense of putting them in a comfort zone they can't escape!
Maybe... just maybe... Cheick!
He has the background to maybe be a real killer.
His stat line is impressive because of his hustle, not his skill set. Well... actually his hustle is a big part of his skill set because few hustle like he does.
I think he might be a difference maker.
But he has to be freed first. And then others on the team have to jump on and ride his desire. They have to adopt his psyche.
We just got a big nasty taste of what can happen from just having ONE guy step up!
I view complacency as the root evil for many things in life.
Basketball is a subset of life in general.
Complacency and comfort are "bed fellows." It takes some kind of discomfort to keep people on edge... doing whatever has to be done to find comfort. In college basketball, comfort comes with winning... especially winning it all (where expectations are with elite programs).
How many more bad March performances is it going to take to get this coaching staff (and players) uncomfortable? I know we hear chatter about being uncomfortable... but it is all about levels. You want to see these guys perform? Put a gun to their heads and tell them they are dead if they lose. That won't guarantee a win... but it will probably guarantee we see EVERY ATTEMPT POSSIBLE to win! Guys would be emotional during play.
That scenario isn't a scenario we will see... but it creates an example about differing levels of discomfort.
The Royals were in a state of total discomfort after ending their season 90-feet away from potentially the big prize. If you listen to Yost and others... time went by and they were still "bothered" by that loss. The discomfort never went away. You could see it finally melt away after the 12-inning in Game 5!
"But that’s the problem. Self doesn’t exploit matchups."
I agree with that. I really thought he would pick up a lot of that style of coaching from the Mayor. The Mayor was able to take a bunch of juco players and play right with Kansas. Isn't that enough proof?
"How are our top notch perimeter guys disappearing with regularity against inferior opponents in March."
Spot on! Heck... we don't even have to wait until March to see that... this MSU was a big game. It was nationally telecasted and we had players choke.
I think this happens for a few reasons.
First... our guys are not prepared for big games. We always come out stiff, and often we never leave a stiff form of play.
Second... we don't make enough in-game adjustments. So our star scorer is being guarded tighter... we have to adjust and exploit what the defense gives us.
Third... part of that responsibility has to fall back on the players for not using basketball IQ to spot opportunities. Maybe they aren't being taught what to look for? Or is it that they suddenly have amnesia when we go into a big game?
Where did I say Hunter was our best rebounder? If I did say that, I was wrong. I don't think I did. It doesn't mean he couldn't become our best rebounder. If he learned to seal off better, he could be our best rebounder. He has the best timing between him and Landen and Jamari. That is the biggest reason why he is our best shot blocker.
My question mark concerning Self's coaching is all based on whether or not he can develop a chip for himself.
What do you think?
I think a huge part of what won us a NC in '08 (his only NC) was HIS hunger to do so. We were treading water in that championship game... and it looked like we were beat. I know the players stepped up... but also... didn't Self step up? We tried several things to turn the tide, and what helped was putting BRush at the top of the key. Something I wouldn't expect us to even try today!
My thought... If this March, we get back to that exact same situation, this time we DON'T make the big comeback because Self just doesn't have a chip on his shoulders to pull out all the stops. He'll play to NOT LOSE instead of play TO WIN.
Where I think we failed in this last game is Self had the perfect opportunity to PROVE TO HIS TROOPS how important it is for him to win. He didn't prove that. But look a few feet over and Izzo... he was begging, pleading... screaming.... making faces... being totally animated and full of energy towards his players. Izzo is not only driven... he carries a chip always. That is why we should all expect MSU to be in many Final Fours in the coming years, regardless who they recruit.
"News flash…the better team doesn’t always win every game …and if winning 82% of your games over the past 12 seasons isn’t good enough, winning 90% of them won’t be either."
Brilliant statement! Really!
But viewing sports from the fan perspective is totally not based on any form of reality. Your statement makes sense... too much sense. The desire to win becomes an insatiable desire. You just can't win enough, regardless of your percentage! And if we had a perfect season, it would quickly be diminished by the following season where we lost 1 game. That 1 game loss would suddenly mean more than anything else, including the NC game from the prior year where we went home with the gold!
Look at Alabama football fans. They have to be the most-arrogant bunch of jerks on the planet. They have been spoiled because they are the football version of Kentucky in basketball; they literally take whatever recruits they want. It is a team full of elite players and no one should come close to beating them.
It really isn't healthy for a team to win and dominate too much. Fans get spoiled... they get arrogant... they get unrealistic... and in the end, their spoils spoil the entire game. Eventually, these spoiled fans are miserable. You know the saying... "too much of a good thing..."
Even drinking water can kill you if you go overboard.
I like where we are (on winning percentage) but just wish we could win a NC about once in every 5-7 years. To me, that is dominance. And there is enough losing in there to keep people realistic.
I don't assume Hunter is a better rebounder than Landen. I do think he is a better defender, very capable of blocking shots.
No... I've always said that Landen is our ONLY post player that plays fundamentally sound ball in the paint. He is the ONLY player we have that knows how to seal off for rebounds. He is CLEARLY our best rebounder.
I actually defended both Landen and Jamari above -
"We’ve all been blasting Jamari and Landen (and they can use some pushing from fans), however, the deficiency in rebounds does not come from the performances of these two. In fact, these two led us in rebounds, and without even playing a half of basketball! "
These guys have become an easy target for a few specific plays. Landen.... he missed something like 4 bunnies. There is the difference in the game. He is old enough and big enough (compared to MSU bigs)... he should have been stuffing the basketball. That is my main criticism of Landen's game. But to be real... if other players wouldn't have "gone invisible" in this game it wouldn't have fallen back on Landen's shoulders... or Jamari.
Hunter didn't get a chance to put up stats in this game... not with his 3 minutes of play.
I have to side with others on here that he could use more minutes. He has never been given enough chance to produce. And it should all be about competition, even within the team. Maybe reducing some player's minutes will force them to step up. There is just way too much complacency on this team.
"What is wrong with thinking positive?"
I'm still looking forward to a great season from this team! I don't know about a Final Four appearance, but that isn't the only thing I care about. And if it was, then most years I would hate basketball because we don't get there. I'm not that way.
What I fear is complacency on this team. What does it take to push these guys into playing like a Final Four team? My answer is for them to carry a chip, and I don't see how they do that without a big personal tragedy or something taking them out of their comfort zone (like fans showing some negativity).
I wish it would work to just all say everything is going to be alright, but I've never experienced that as a way to motivate young men.
I'm for anything that works.
I'm a little ticked at situations like Lucas missing bunnies... but players like Landen and Jamari were never recruited to be anything more than role players... support cast.
I do think our season is going to follow the performance of Wayne. He is probably the only guy given full reign of doing anything he wants on offense. The 3 spot is the position most free to roam and expose weaknesses in the defense. In our system, it is truly the one position requiring a healthy dose of opportunism.
So when Wayne has a bad night, more times than none our team will have a bad night.
I don't think that will change if we ever get Cheick. I think he just gives us a tiny bit of extra margin for victory and not enough to make us unbeatable to almost any team on the right night (or wrong night depending on perspective).
It is ridiculous for anyone to throw this team or coach totally under the bus and give up on basketball. But I don't see that happening. That is merely fans venting their frustrations and they need to do that. It is a healthy thing to "let it go" and not hold the angst inside. Unfortunately... we have been in this position before, and even worse! The only thing that saved us last year in March was the fact that after we were tattooed by WSU our season was over. Fans were in a state of total rage.. and it was good we took a break before WUG.
I think they tweaked their game. After their cold start, they made sure Valentine was a big part of every possession. We never found a way to stop him, and he continually built more confidence as the game went on because of that.
I think MSU started this game, as a team, with low confidence. As the game went on and we weren't pulling away, they (as a team) started to feel like they could play with us. Eventually, they thought even more... that they could beat us.
Izzo played a smart game. He went into "mini chip mode" before this game as he talked down his team. Basically admitting they were big underdogs.
And then the game started and he let them sputter for a while before he went into turbo mode and pushed these guys to step up.
Izzo must be one of the best coaches in the country at getting his guys motivated. That is the difference in March. So while Kansas teams are freaking out about the bright lights, Izzo's boys are stepping up and taking charge!
Izzo is one helluva coach.
For one... I think the WUG was kind of a false panacea. I think American D1 ball is a lot more competitive than WUG was. Turns out, we have a long ways to go to match that dominance in D1.
I really don't have a clue why Hunter didn't get more minutes. Kind of makes me think Hunter will be placed in the "deep freeze" this season... his final season playing college basketball. That should be considered a crime!
"Where did Selden go?"
First... WUG created a kind of delusion for us fans. I know I am guilty. We want (so badly) for our guys to raise to another level. So when we saw them do it in Korea we applied wishful thinking to the point of making it an expectation for how our upcoming season would go.
Gosh... we lose a tough game to MSU in the early season and some people feel like they want to fold tent? I understand everyone's frustrations... I was ready to crawl out of my skin last night! But the real season is yet to be played.
I say that but I also am right there with many in here that get that feeling like we are "the same ol' team" from last year. Unable to close and capable of going completely soft. I feel that, too... kind of hard not to feel it!
But I'm still holding on to hope. I am still hoping we get Cheick for at least the second semester. And I am hopeful these guys will get pushed harder... enough to where they start reaching some of their potential.
I praise Perry Ellis. I know he isn't the Type A, "beat on his chest" kinda guy. But he obviously worked his a$s off this past summer. He lost more body fat and got stronger. It is noticeable and he plays faster. To make the kinds of improvements that stick out in just 4 to 6 months it takes a ridiculous amount of effort. Perry is a workaholic!
I haven't been as brutal on Self after this loss as I have been on other losses.
But... he can be downright hardheaded!
"Why would he play inferior players for a season, if they really were inferior?"
I guess because he believes his blind support will help lift those players to play to their abilities. Wayne was almost a complete dud last year and he stayed in the starting lineup. He should have been pulled, even for no other reason than to create a "reset opportunity" for him. Sometimes sitting a player creates that. It is just enough of a shocking moment to make them focus on what they are doing. Bill just forced Wayne to play through it. At a certain point, I just didn't think it was fair, not only to the team but to Wayne. When Wayne was bad he didn't look like he wanted to be out there. But yet... he still played a ton of minutes and started.
At a certain point... that became completely illogical.
Well... you know (as well as I) that FT% is going to be crucial for us this year! We are going to get to the line a bunch.
Sometimes they just don't fall. There are plenty of great NBA stars that have choked on late game free throws.
My biggest concern on the line is Wayne Selden. He tends to freak out on the line. If he starts producing like he is capable of producing, he will be at the stripe a bunch. I'm just not sure he can be consistent at the line.
I think Devonte is our only real hope to have a leader on this team. Wayne... completely disappears in games and Izzo tagged him right as "streaky."
This wasn't Devonte's team from Day 1. It was Frank's.
No matter what, the PG needs to share in leadership because plays start at the point.
I don't see any of the guys you mentioned as leaders. They were quality players but none of those guys were directing traffic on their teams.... well... I'm talking about the Jayhawks you mentioned. Nic Moore definitely has leadership skills.... he is also more experienced than Devonte.
Someone is going to have to do it and it is between Frank and Devonte.
Devonte is the only PG on this team. Period.
Thanks for reminding me of that!
I saw that number and right away it made me panic about playing Kentucky in AFH.
Are they going to humiliate us again? This time, on our home court?
If MSU (with their lineup) is able to block us 8 times, just imagine what Kentucky will do to us? Let's see... Marcus Lee... 18 blocks...
Here are the stats from the game.
The first thing I'm drawn to is rebounds. We lost that battle by 7. I know we are missing Cheick... but MSU was undermanned in the post, too, perhaps more than us. This was not a big opponent.
We've all been blasting Jamari and Landen (and they can use some pushing from fans), however, the deficiency in rebounds does not come from the performances of these two. In fact, these two led us in rebounds, and without even playing a half of basketball! It is necessary to look at PT and rebounds together to calculate how effective a player was. So who was soft on rebounds? Wayne was extremely soft. Carlton had zero rebounds. Put Svi and Brannen's PT together and it is more than a half of basketball and produced only 1 rebound (together). Perry should also be pulling in more boards, though we put a lot of pressure on him to score.
The next thing I looked for was an outlier. What is glaring in these numbers? Devonte's performance sticks out most to me. 38-minutes of very limited production. He did manage to lead the team with 4 assists. But this wasn't near the effort we should expect out of him. If he can't produce more, we should consider adding size and outside shooting with BG or Svi.
Another area that really sticks out... and this is the nightmare part.... we only had 5 TOs and we lost this game! We all know to expect a lot more TOs in a game, at least twice that many. We took care of the ball that well and we lost. And.. the fact that we could take care of the ball that well doesn't exactly infer anything good about MSU's defense. It all seems to speak to us "playing not to lose" instead of "playing to win." We were NOT aggressive at all on offense! We didn't attack the basket. We didn't attack the defense. We had our guys standing around on their spots where passes could safely be made, even though it wasn't advancing an attack on the goal. I would rather have had 14 TOs and had our guys attacking on offense.
Concerning assists.... we were outperformed by +8 by MSU. That doesn't happen often. We usually have a very high number of assists because we have always pushed "team ball" and "structure" on offense. To score 73 points on only 12 assists says plenty. It spells D I S F U N C T I O N A L / O F F E N S E ! 12 assists? Frank and Devonte together should far eclipse that number every single game!
Other outliers.... how about our FG% and 3pt FG%? We can soon become the "fool's gold" team of America... If we are going to only shoot 20% from trey, we might as well fold up "trey shop" and furgetaboutit! Press all of our guys to attack the basket and use screens... all 5 guys inside the trey line. We might as well forget it. It is fool's gold if we don't run offense for it. Let's just stop shooting them all together. This is #$&% ridiculous! To have some of the best perimeter shooters in the country and we don't run offense for them. WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!
I bet we would win a lot more games ONLY shooting 3s than what we are doing now! And it just so happens that I'm not the only one that thinks this way... the real pros have realized this and are trending more 3s every year. Read this: Chasing 1,000: The NBA's 3-Point Revolution Has Only Just Begun ↗
I think Devonte is our man for Type A.
He is going to have to step up and lead this team. Frank is very gifted, but he isn't a leader. Sometimes we mistook him for a leader because he closed out a game here and there. But he doesn't have the right personality to do it. Devonte is known as "big man on campus" for a reason. He is extremely social and capable.
Maybe this loss is the first step into anointing Devonte into that role. Maybe. Plus... he is the only true PG we have!
Someone is going to have to lead or we are in for a disastrous season!
I have to admit... early in the game, the announcers mentioned how Self proclaimed this game to be a Selden breakout game. That goes way beyond jinxing him.
Wayne Selden = Elijah Johnson
I don't mean that to be a negative for either guy. What I'm talking about is psyche. Both of these guys get spooked from their own shadows. So Self "drops the hammer" on Wayne... I knew he wasn't going to have a big game after that when I thought he would have (if he had been left alone to do it).
We all remember EJ... and the potential he brought to Kansas... and was never realized.
Wayne should be pushed to perform. He has been given a kind of "special pass" since arriving at Kansas, and I'm not sure why. Maybe he was promised minutes.
But he shouldn't be pushed under the spotlight in public. This is all stuff that should be done within the walls of a practice facility.
All we really needed to win this game was to have one guy step up and lead... Valentine was the only player on either team to do so and it was enough to give an inferior team the victory.
Gosh... I think it is just too early for me to predict.
I am liking some dark horses. For example... I know I am dreaming... but I'd like to see LSU win the SEC. Simmons is going to be great, but unfortunately, I think Kentucky's Murray will counteract the effects of Simmons.
There is a lot of talk about Indiana basketball.
And can Maryland really hold up to the pressure of being a top-ranked team?
I thought Duke looked horrible yesterday. I like Allen, and he was a total bust against size. I always considered him to be very athletic, but when watching him go up against the athletes of Kentucky, he looked slow and with little hop.
I think the biggest problem with Lucas is our lack of running any structured offense.
Thinking back over many games... when we ran real offense, Lucas actually became a possible weapon. When we set a hi/lo and he was in the right position to score, he usually did and he did it "textbook."
I'm not trying to defend Lucas... especially on all those bunny misses.
MESSAGE TO LUCAS: When you are in the low post with the ball, 90% of the time you should be stuffing the ball! For gosh sakes, you are 6'10" in KU inches... surely tall enough to stuff quickly from a flatfooted spot in the low post.
That one move alone will pretty much keep the KU faithful marginally satisfied with your performance. But when you shoot air balls 4 feet from the basket, you are going to be criticized.... heavily. And seriously, you should be!
That is what I was wondering when our second half started and I just experienced Kentucky close out Duke and they looked so much better than us.
How can Calipari take a bunch of freshmen for a few weeks and have them playing better than our juniors and seniors who played and practiced all summer long?
That is the magic question....
Perhaps you are right... and perhaps Self is pulling one from the "Izzo Book Of Hard Knocks"... Izzo seems to like to play a tough preseason and lose a bunch of games to toughen up his players for March.
I do think this loss will make us better.
Gosh... maybe we recruit the wrong kind of players? Why do we have to do so much just to get these guys excited to play basketball?
Or... is their excitement being "coached" out of them? Do they arrive excited and leave Kansas tired?
I will be keeping a careful watch on Carlton. He seems to have a great attitude. Will he still have that big smile and perk in his step come February? Guess we will find out.
One thing is for sure... and I think this is a part of the angst in here... I sure feel puzzled by last night's performance. I'm guessing it caught everyone off guard. We led the entire game and I kept thinking at any minute we would step on the gas and put a large buffer in the score. When we hit the 10 minute mark left in the second half I started to see the potential for a loss. You never want to keep an Izzo team around close enough to strike.
You know... that last 10 minutes was the perfect opportunity to try some different things on defense to try to stunt Valentine's performance. We don't get that many opportunities to play against a guy that can take on a game and carry his team over the finish line. Why didn't we try a box and one? I can think of several things we could have tried... all of changes are opportunities to grow and to teach.
I actually saw a red fox in my yard a couple of days ago.
Maybe it was a spy for Izzo?!
Seriously...
I almost posted something on Self... but wanted to think about it some more and hope others jump in first.
I would like to see some other things happen.. but I'm still not ready to grab a pitchfork!
What is wrong with Landen Lucas?
I thought Landen looked horrible last night. He missed several bunnies to the point that it looked like it took extra effort to miss them.
He needs to finish with authority at the rim. Rarely is that the spot to do anything but flush the ball. Not sure how anyone can get this far in basketball and not know that.
But I think I found part of his problem last night.
Look... if we are going to continue playing BAD BALL (meaning... almost intentionally blow it on offense to force a grind out game), then Landen is the wrong guy for the job.
Landen is our most skilled player at fundamentals in the low post. He may not always execute things well, but he knows what to do. He is the only one that knows how to seal for a rebound (for example). He actually does have a few back-to-the-basket moves.
Problem is... if we get to the point where we aren't going to run real offense, Landen needs to sit. He is a guy completely built on fundamentals, including executing offense through actually running some kind of set offense. The second we get to where we stop running offense, he becomes totally lost.
What is wrong with Jamari Traylor?
Are we really going to point fingers directly at Jamari?
I believe he was a 3-star recruit, and was actually over-rated, probably because of his physical presence.
Jamari has a limited skill set. And we have discussed his limitations in basketball IQ.
He didn't particularly have a bad game last night. He had a typical Jamari game.
Jamari's strengths:
Speed
Energy
Handles
Physicality
Jamari's weaknesses:
Basketball IQ
Shooting Ability
Rebounding
Low Post Scoring
I'm not going to claim there aren't more things to be added to this list.
But when we consider WHO Jamari is... can we expect to get anything more out of him? Sure, over time he can develop more (to some degree)... but he has been around for a long time and we haven't seen much more improvements.
His biggest POSITIVE with us is his ability to drive the ball in the lane area. He is quicker than probably all big men he will face this year. When he drives the ball in the paint area other teams are forced to collapse, and then someone is open. Jamari may not be a great passer, but I wouldn't say he is incapable in that skill. There are a lot of opportunities for us when he dribbles the ball in the paint.
Sometimes he can be a POSITIVE with energy. Sometimes his energy earns us a possession, or something else positive. But we can't count on his energy always being there or if he can harness that energy into something positive.
I'm not going to drop a bunch of blame on Jamari... that would be like blaming Morningstar, a walk-on. There is plenty of blame to go around, from coaches down to players.
I'm more in line with many others that think he receives too many minutes. That isn't Jamari's fault....
This should be a good thread...
Start your post with "What is wrong with ---- -----? (fill in the blanks)
This is your opportunity to not only point fingers directly at people, strategies, etc.
The problem with Traylor?
He does actually offer us a big weapon on offense. When he commits to a low post drive, he is a threat to either score or feed for an assist. But... that requires us to actually run offense.
This ended up being a BAD BALL second half...
If we are going to run BAD BALL as a game strategy, we are better off giving minutes to Hunter and Carlton. Hunter does give us some defense and boards. Carlton... why not give a star freshman more experience minutes?
If you give a guy just a few minutes of a game, he doesn't take OWNERSHIP of that game. Carlton didn't play long enough to take ownership. We can't point a finger at his play and level the blame on him. If he had received more minutes in this game, we might have won... but more... had we lost, he would have had to carry the burden of ownership on that loss, which will typically help a freshman bear down beyond that game.
"But Self didn’t play the WUG roster…he left Mickelson on the bench all but 3 minutes."
He did play the WUG roster... for the final game against Germany!
Lucas got the big minutes in that one.
"This is not a physical team..."
Amen to that!
This is why we need to focus squarely on Udoka for next year. We need force and size in the paint.
I've always lived by...
"It isn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."
That fits here perfectly.
"FYI I am still crying."
Come on, Stat.... BOUNCE BACK!
The only reason this can hurt for too long if you had ambitions of "perfection." The same "perfection" Calipari had last year.
That isn't a healthy perspective to have.
You better prepare yourself for more losses... because they are going to come. And unless we find the missing piece it will come in March, too.
This team was over-rated. WUG built plenty of delusion of the quality of this team. I say that, but we DO have the potential for greatness.... but it isn't going to come over night. Lots of hard work and struggle to get there.
There will be a new day for battle. Jump out of the trench and run forward with all guns drawn, buddy!
This could easily be the best thing to happen to us!
"So I just checked the box score and according to ESPN Devonte had 38 minutes! 38! That means he was only not in the game for 2 minutes! The only other player on the floor that much was Valentine! And what in the world did Devonte show that game to cause Greene to sit?"
Well... you are right! Devonte had a horrible game!
But let's step backwards for a minute, and broaden our perspectives.
I'm pretty sure I have some others who also feel this way... but isn't Devonte a player that has potential to be a real game-changer?
What if Devonte can become the one to carry a chip? He seems to have a personality drawn towards wanting to be the leader and to be at the top. Maybe a game like this, having played all but 2 minutes, is what he needed to take OWNERSHIP of his failure! He can't really put the blame somewhere else. Yes... it is a team effort, but accountability breaks down to individual performances. Maybe he can bounce back from this with desire, energy, aggressiveness and start leading this team.
What bothered me the most was the performance from Frank.
I really expected him to come through...
Is this the beginning of the "changing of the guard?" Is Devonte going to step up now and lead this team instead of Frank?
We've been edging towards this for a while.
I hope CS realizes that it can be a great thing to have two PGs in a game... but there can only be ONE LEADER!
One of those guys is going to have to take possession of that team.
'08 is not the norm. We had leadership through 3 guards. That is very rare, and it took a miracle come back to win and beat an opponent that didn't have near the talent/experience we had.
I've always kind of wondered if that was the wrong message learned by CS.
Well... it might just take losing 11 games this year.
That is what it took in '88. We were the team with the most losses ever to win a National Championship!
Danny had a chip the size of China. In the '88 tournament, he REFUSED to lose!
As we see from last night... sometimes it just takes one guy with an overwhelming chip to carry his entire team to victory over another team.
Danny was the example for his teammates, and even though he was the vital piece, it was a team effort. Our guys all stepped up and were fueled by Danny and his chip. So they all ended up playing with a chip and won it all even though they were a huge underdog.
I think we all (Jayhawk fans, coaches...) have lost sight of what it takes. We just think we can sign enough talent to win it all. That isn't likely to happen, regardless who we sign. Just ask Oklahoma how that strategy worked!