🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@HighEliteMajor

"When it comes to academic issues, a head coach should know what he is getting into..."

I'm starting to ask... CAN a head coach know what he is getting into?

There is definitely a uniqueness with every recruit. Their history is slightly different and I believe the qualification issues are often in the details.

So CAN Self know what he is getting into? I do believe he somehow performs some risk assessment on recruits as we get into a closer relationship.

I'm still uncertain on Cheick... is the unsolved mystery about his education in Mali? Or is it with his education at Our Savior? Or is it both? I think if it is Mali... how can any coach have a clue as to whether or not he will be eligible? And there is some vagueness even if the issue is Our Savior.

The problem is everything is moving backwards. These kids should know where they stand (eligibility wise) BEFORE they go to a university. Most players could be cleared in their senior year of school, as long as they finish out their educational year correctly.

If somehow Cheick was found ineligible for the entire season, his recruitment cost us dearly. We probably would have gone after two more post players that could play this coming year... and not Cheick and Coleby. If Cheick doesn't qualify we end up with last year's post team, plus Carlton. Not exactly a fix to our woes. We could have gambled on a couple of bigs that were eligible and also had some potential. That would have added to our depth and the hopes that at least one of these guys could be put in for some quality PT.

@jaybate-1.0

Music by Blood, Sweat & Tears...

@jaybate-1.0

I got one for you. If Cheick does not qualify can our entire team take a medical red shirt since all our guys are going to be sick?

I think coaches are sort of stuck in a "catch 22" scenario.

If a coach wants to thoroughly check out prospects they will have to spend much of their time and energy playing detective. They'd rather play recruiter. And when they find somethings that could put up a red flag, they still need to keep pursuing the athlete. Backing off of every kid that COULD have a problem will quickly limit a coaches choices and probable success.

It's not like Self and his assistants are slugs. They don't want to sign a kid and then lose him. But they have to take some gambles. All the elite schools take these gambles. We may have to take more because we don't get to skim off the top cream like UK and Duke do.

@JayHawkFanToo

"Again, I will try to find the link to the story that indicates that the issue with Diallo is his overseas transcript and not the Our Savior transcript."

That raises even more fear in me!

A friend of mine's dad married an African woman and she has never been able to adopt his nationality because she has no valid birth certificate. It doesn't exist in the area she came from and there is no solution for her. From a record keeping perspective... she was not born on this planet! Very frustrating situation that can not be resolved.

I wrote a sarcastic post on here last week about Cheick's educational records being discovered under a tree in Mali. It was meant to be sarcasm but actually addresses my fears.

@RockkChalkk

"I will never miss out on Late Night,”

I'm a "read between the tea leaves" kind of guy... looking for any possible coded messages.

In my understanding of the English language... saying "I will never miss out on Late Night” infers FUTURE and doesn't specify just a single event. Meaning... TF dropped a HUGE CLUE that he is going to be a Jayhawk!

In his own words, he will never miss a future Late Night. How would that be true if he goes to Alabama?

Think about it. Why would TF declare early? So he could have a good senior year without all the hassles? No... There is no advantage for him declaring early at Alabama because there is no other player at his playing level and position considering Alabama. Kansas is a different story. The advantage for TF signing with Kansas is he chisels his name on his position. There are other elites at his position considering Kansas. This will scare them off because why would they want to go to Kansas and compete against PT with TF?

All the tea leaves point Kansas... just hope he isn't a coffee drinker!!! ;-)

@justanotherfan

I'm just thinking... why would I want to play anywhere where they are fencing any elite school out?

I could see it would be a natural if I didn't like Kansas in the first place.

@jaybate-1.0

BIA?

Are you talking Business Impact Analysis or Bureau of Indian Affairs?

@justanotherfan

Interesting post.

Let's say Self wasn't as open with MoKan as he was Pump... and now MoKan is getting some top recruits and not open to Self and Kansas. I know we look at it from our perspective... it is hurting us because we are missing out on some key talent. But wouldn't it still hurt MoKan? Are they now a higher "elite" than Kansas? It seems like some talented players may not want to play with them if it sort of guarantees they won't be going to Kansas.

Self may have had a short-sighted past with MoKan, but it sounds like MoKan is having the short-sightedness now. And if they aren't working with Self, should Self even give offers to their players?

Just thoughts...

@ParisHawk

"As I said earlier, maybe playing Hunter a lot and Traylor very little has to do with who can (sort of) fill Diallo’s shoes in case he is cleared late."

I like how he mentioned WUG as Hunter's "coming-out party" (similar to Cole in the UNC FF game). I know it is just words, and Bill is known to deflect attention away from his real game plans, but we all have to take notice of what he said.

Still... you said it right... it is all about what he DOES not what he SAYS.

Why don't we look at half court offense this way?

There are 3 areas for scoring:

1. Perimeter treys

2. Mid range jumpers

3. Low post scoring

These are the 3 areas where scoring comes from. We should have an offense that can focus on all three scoring areas. No team we face will be able to adequately take all 3 of these away from us.

And what about those times when teams sag in and give us the trey and we don't hit them? It just isn't very common to be given wide-open treys and continue to miss them. We have several good shooters to give it a try. Usually we miss a bunch of consecutive treys because the defense is guarding them "well enough"... getting a hand in the face of the shooter, or disrupting the pass to the shooter so he has to make an awkward motion with his shot, or we have to take the trey out of desperation because of the shot clock. If you are running effective offense then you should be able to get some wide-open treys.

Perimeter weapons - we have many perimeter weapons. Frank, BG, Devonte, Wayne, Svi, Perry, Carlton and Vick (perhaps). We could easily run 5 of these guys on the court at the same time, if need be.

Penetration weapons - we are good here, too. Frank, Devonte, Wayne, Vick, Perry... there are others that can get the job done here, too.

Mid range weapons - Frank, Devonte, Vick, Perry, Svi, Carlton, Wayne, Cheick.. let's add in Hunter, too!

Low post weapons - Cheick, Perry, Hunter, Carlton, maybe sometimes Wayne. This is our weakest area, but with the right offense, we could mask this weakness and get some good offense out of our low post.

We can argue about who fits where as a weapon, but we can't argue how many weapons we have available to us. We have an arsenal of good weapons. Focusing all of that potential on a hi/lo is tunnel vision. Without a dominant, low post, back-to-the-basket scorer opponents can put just enough defense on the low post to thwart are low post scoring, while focusing on the pass out.

I think the only thing certain is change.

Someone moved our dinner plates 6 inches and if we don't adjust, we will starve to death.

A season of BAD BALL could really do us harm. What if we had an experienced, skilled team (like we have now) but we drop 12+ games this coming year? A team averaging 65-points with the reduced shot clock.

With or without Cheick... where have we turned the corner on back-to-the-basket scoring? Hunter? Landen? Jamari? Carlton? Perry? Cheick?

It is one thing to get an occasional basket (or attempt) through a back-to-the-basket scheme. It's another thing to count on it and run it as your primary offense. Back-to-the-basket is a skill set, not just a quick scoring concept. After we dedicated back to it last year, who suddenly became proficient at doing it? Right. No one. And who would suddenly become a dominant back-to-the-basket D1 scorer this year? Right. No one.

Dropping 5 off the shot clock only makes it a tougher option.

We have a team full of great athletes, most with very good speed... and scoring potential in every spot on the floor. We should be running some type of motion offense... a progressive Princeton, with more high ball screens often developing into pick and pop and pick and rolls because we have the guns to do it... especially with Perry and Carlton. Carlton is absolutely tailor-made for pick and pops. He will be a huge weapon for us this year (even as a freshman) if we utilize his ability to nail the mid range. Here is the tall mid range scorer, who can shoot it over about anyone, that we've been looking for.

We may have had an extra short season on everyone else this year... but we can't waste most of the year trying to beat a square peg in a round hole.

And as far as hitting treys... we have to not consider them fools gold and integrate some offense to take advantage of them. We have some of the league's better trey shooters and it will be a crime if we don't finish the year with a high % from trey. The only reason that could happen is because we don't consider it a real weapon.... fools gold.

@JayHawkFanToo

No question, the players are getting more. But without mentioning the difference from inflated times is like saying it is the same. A lot has gone into player agency and union representation since Bird's day... and it shows!

@Kcmatt7

The money is relative to the time period, not bringing forward to today for comparison. How much was a gallon of gas when Bird played at ISU? Maybe 40-cents?

I'm not arguing with you... but to compare the times involves a lengthy consideration. There are many factors involved. I'm thinking it may have been riskier back in Bird's day concerning injuries. I know there is a big difference in what doctors can do today versus back then. Sports medicine (and medicine in general) has come along ways in the last few decades. And what about the advancement of training methods? Athletes are not only stronger today, but they bounce back quicker through advancements in rehab.

A big factor was the trends at that time where few players left college early for the pros. Many kids today have a disease... "can't wait -itis." Instant gratification rules the day. How many people today would trade receiving $10 mil in 3 years for an instant $ mil now? I bet MOST people would.

I'm not sure of this, and maybe someone here can help me... but back in Bird's day, was the entire 1st round picks guaranteed a guaranteed contract (with salary minimums)? I'm thinking the answer is no.

@rocketdog

Sorry I didn't respond. I didn't respond because I really don't know much about all of this. I knew others would give a more realistic response... and they did!

@Lulufulu

I don't know what to believe in the news....

But... I believe YOU! He is going to qualify!

@wissoxfan83

I look at it this way...

Which "troops" do you want leading the charge?

Veterans?

!veterans_Ready_for_Patrol.jpg ↗

Or buck privates?

!images-2.jpg ↗

@Lulufulu

I thought so, too. I think it addresses the usually-overlooked "intangibles" of what makes a player great. It is easy to look at stats and some highlight tape and judge a player's greatness by those tangible items. But what drives a player to win? How can slow guys that can't jump (Bird) dominate a game of high flyers possessing the very best athleticism available on our planet?

I would love to see just one little "bird" come to Lawrence... just one... just once. A guy who will make everyone else much better and also has a burning desire to win. Someone to leave his legacy, a legacy that future players look up to and try to mimic.

@ParisHawk

I had the bleeding nose... up in the clouds. Can't recall where I stored all my World Series memorabilia....

@HighEliteMajor

I have a hard time accepting anything you write as "random." Well done... again.

1. It seems Duke has less of a problem with this because they get first pick on the cream. Look how Duke and UK rebuilt after losing all those players a few months ago. Talk about "reloading"... I know.. I know.. it was just two years ago we had JoJo... but it does feel like "Big Man U" has become "Big Man Pew." I say this because we have been spoiled with some great post players in the recent past.

2. I was thinking the same about Leaf. He sounds like a disruptive force. If he's looking for flexibility, why is he considering Kansas? I consider him a 1 and 1000 odds future Jayhawk.

3. I'm with you on Bolden. It seems like he is getting washed away because both him and Kansas are busy "dating around." When you think about it... recruiting is pretty much like dating. If you focus on one recruit, you stand a better chance of getting him, just like you do with a date. But if you play the field, good chance you lose the same recruit (or date) but you've also broadened your possibilities. If you play the field you appear to be more popular. We all know how important perceptions are. I don't think Self has been the same since he lost out on Tarc. He made some bold statements after that and he had been starting to get in a rut. He definitely said he wouldn't wait on any player again. I'm glad he did that.

4. You nailed it on this. At 21-4, we had a strong identity... soon to be lost because of "fools gold" attitudes and clinging to the past. I do think we don't know exactly what happened with BG. He was quietly hurt and went into a slump. Coaches didn't know of his injury? Really? And if they did know that did they make the change away from the trey because of it? I'm pretty sure Self knew about Brannen's injury but kept quiet to protect BG's future and also to keep running his "Riverboat Gambler" bluff.

5. I'm glad for the new shot clock. It sort of forces us to play different and actually play to our strengths. Our strengths should be speed, depth and defense. We certainly could use more steals and run outs. We will definitely play most of the time with Frank and Devonte on the floor at the same time (if Devonte regains his health). I'm all for that. Up the tempo. Let's force teams to play our tempo for a change. Why do we always seem to concede tempo to how the other team likes to play?

6. Frank is awesome. He still needs some PG polishing... but he has improved considerably every year and no reason to suspect that he won't reach a higher level this year, too.

7. I'm so glad WUG turned out the way it did... not just winning it, but giving such a good experience to our guys and only getting Devonte banged up. Of course... we never know if any other guys suffered a lingering injury because those seem to often be held in confidence.

8. I'm going to my first Royals game next weekend since my last game in 1985 at the World Series!!! I know I could be classified as a "fair weather" baseball fan... but I can't watch that game if it isn't played well. Royals have been playing like a championship team all year. I've caught most of their games this year on the tube. Nothing is for sure, but I like their confidence and team glue. And now we have been trading away a bit of future for quality, experienced players NOW! We are definitely focused on winning it all this year and for a few years ahead.

@rocketdog

My guess is that the longer we went Adidas, the harder it has become to go Nike. We have probably made much better connections in the AAU circuit with Adidas teams/coaches. I know we seem to have angered a lot of AAU people in our own State.

@ParisHawk

"Now this year, Self expects / hopes that Diallo will be available to play this year, but maybe not right away. In case there is a delay in clearing Diallo, how can Self avoid having to prepare two different teams: the one with Diallo and the one without?"

Great insight!

The good news for Mickelson is that every minute of PT he gets, it helps build his stat line. He really needs to pen in some numbers on the stat line for his attempt to jump to the next level after Kansas... Int'l ball.

I think he definitely opened up some doors after his performance in WUG. Foreign players and coaches will remember him, and he has some prime footage for helping him get noticed in other countries.

And who is to say that he couldn't be a positive if Cheick never qualifies?

I like the personal story here and how he developed his own chip.

How can a guy NOT develop a chip coming from a town with the name "French Lick?"

@JayHawkFanToo

Its a team game and "chemistry is king"... not a single player. He had a magic moment in Toronto, but that doesn't mean his shot drops next March or if he connects with all the other newbies.

"Any player can have a big game... elite players go do it every night!"

I'm not conceding anything to a freshman, anywhere. He's got to prove himself. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. There will be a lot of talented teams out there, and we have no idea if this young Kentucky squad will play like a team or a bunch of stars on their own.

@blackmild33

No real reason to come to LN if he isn't still in the mix. It shouldn't be too tough for Self to ask him if he will wait until then, just to be sure he makes the right choice.

But... kids are kids and who knows?!

Bird... the teacher!

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@jaybate-1.0

"Let me hear an AMEN!"

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@blackmild33

Just wait until Late Night. TF will realize that he better try out for Alabama football if he wants the same kind of crowd energy we get in AFH. They don't get nearly the crowd support in basketball.

I expect it to be the difference.

@JayHawkFanToo

You should know me by now... any time I can take a pot shot at Kentucky I usually take it! :-)

But yes... good call on it being human nature. Since we are talking about grass... I put a lot of energy into my lawn. I never considered mine to be as nice as some other lawns on our street. But one evening I had my family out for a walk and looked closer at some of those lawns and I have nothing to be ashamed of.

@justanotherfan

That is the interpretation I have... between 'bama and us.

@RockkChalkk

Players like to use up their available visits and get treated. Guess this one was an unofficial visit, so he had to take care of his own travel expense.

I think it is a good thing, especially if he chooses Kansas. You want him to be 100% on board as a Jayhawk with no second guessing.

Murray is a monster... will that translate in March? Time will tell. He'll have a tough job because he will be surrounded with other OADs.

I'm glad what we have. I'd rather have tried and tested, experienced guys out on our perimeter.

@JayHawkFanToo

"…because the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence…or over the septic tank."

Could you be talking about the State of Kentucky... it is the BLUEgrass State! Big Blue Nation can keep their blue grass... I'll take green grass any day! ;-)

@jaybate-1.0

Yeah... it would be REAL... REAL BAD! Might make you forget about BAD BALL!

@JayHawkFanToo

I didn't know that... thanks for the info!

@JayHawkFanToo

I'm thinking it is the Kansas Board of Regents that determine admission guidelines for all State-funded universities.. of which Kansas is a member.

http://www.kansasregents.org/academic_affairs/qualified_admissions ↗

@Crimsonorblue22

Not going to happen... I'm not exactly proud of my current physical condition and it wouldn't visually improve just by adding glitzy old 60s/70s attire. I run from cameras today! Yikes!

@Crimsonorblue22

I think Ridley will be a good barometer for how well veteran Texas players accept Shaka's style and philosophy of coaching.

Ridley lost some weight last year and was in better shape. Will he continue to improve his conditioning? He better if he hopes to make it at the next level. He has pro potential if he can continue to slim down, speed up while maintaining (or building more) strength. If he buys into Shaka's mantra, he could have a big year. He will have to speed up to play in Shaka's system, so he is at a point where he sinks or swims. If he can't speed up his game (foot work) then he may end up on the bench.

@HighEliteMajor

I didn't relate to the BeeGees back then. I was more of a hard rock kid. Sometimes it takes aging to recognize that other people have talent, whether it is your style or not. Plus... as you age you tend to soften up on everything that comes from your prime time youth!

I remember cleaning out my closet several decades ago... throwing out my bell bottom pants, flaming suits and platform shoes. Wish I hadn't done that! And what I couldn't wear today (because of added pounds), I could always sell online or to a vintage store. That stuff is worth premium dollars today!

@Crimsonorblue22

I caught that. Let's hope he can get himself together. These kinds of struggles usually help Izzo players because his entire coaching philosophy starts with struggle.

There is a good chance Harris finds his way, and along with it a new higher performance platform after he fights through the struggle and builds his character to a higher level.

@justanotherfan

Great post!

"In some ways, I anticipate that Texas will resemble the Iowa State teams that have given us trouble the last few years - lots of speed, threes and interchangeable parts."

Let's hope so. Let's hope Shaka can make Texas a contender. It is good for the B12 and good for us. The way to bring success to Texas is to push x-axis basketball; foot speed and the ability to press is a plus. This is the direction basketball (as a whole) is going, from HS to the NBA.

Adding one more team that focuses on utilizing foot speed is one more push on Self bringing his game into modern times. He is already starting to see the huge advantage by having both Mason and Graham on the floor at the same time. The days of having a single skilled ball handler on the floor at a time is quickly vanishing. It should vanish. The next step for Self to learn is to "be on the offense on defense"... meaning... start using full court pressure and half court traps to create TOs and disrupt the timing of our opponents on offense. This may still be many years away for Self... but a few thumpings in league play may speed up the process for him.

I hope Shaka brings his "A game" and pushes Self into the modern age of basketball. We may get there soon, especially if the shorter shot clock helps, too.

I think Shaka brings an interesting premise to the Big 12...

Can the coaching style fitting a mid-major program work in an elite conference?

Shaka always had available to him the same bag of tricks Marsha has at WSU... play the underdog role and build a big chip. How does that work at Texas, a team full of highly-touted players? I can see that Shaka may be able to play Barnes recent performance woes into a chip. But what happens after they have one decent year under Shaka? What happens when Texas starts getting some media love? Let's see him carry the burden of being ranked Top 5 in preseason polls. Let's see how he performs against the 'curse of death' (high early rankings).

Shaka is running on a fast clock. He will never get the love Barnes received from Texas donors because Barnes was a "good ol' boy" and in the "good ol' boy network." Tick-tock, tick-tock...

@JayHawkFanToo

Perhaps not that bad. But it seems bad, even for us, a school in the B12. Why do we feel like our conference performance is inferior? Perhaps because we are the only team in the B12 who can nail a championship?

@BeddieKU23

But then... I look at a school like UNC... and then I understand why this must be necessary. If they were willing to create a system where athletes breeze through classes, they would surely loosen the standards for incoming freshmen athletes, too.

@wissoxfan83

I like how Michigan State fits into the basketball world. They often don't get the early love by media and it helps Izzo build a chip on his team. He likes to lose tough games before conference season, and doesn't even seem to mind losing a player or two to injuries. It all creates a scenario that is perfect for other players to STEP UP to the challenge.

I'm always leery of a Jayhawk team that gets too much early love. It creates some bad side effects; chaos and ego-building, two things that almost always STUNT the growth of a team full of kids. So we start off strong and then we peak out around the end of January while all those teams with chips just start coming around (like Izzo and MSU).

How many years have to go down with the same results before we learn the psychology of all of this?

Think back to last year... we ran out quick in our conference because we were clearly the best team, then sputtered over the conference finish line at the end, losing about half of our games down the stretch, and then falling on our a$$e$ in March...

I recall Hudy being involved in some physical performance metrics to try to get us to physically perform our best in March... how about we study some psychological performance metrics to see if we can be psyched properly for March and the development month of February leading up to it?

@BeddieKU23

I really don't understand why athletes are put to a stricter standard than normal students. If Kansas admissions have given Cheick the green light why isn't that good enough? The university evaluates all his classwork and judges each class he took against a required core necessary and if some classes are not considered "equivalent" then he will be required to take the equivalent most likely as a non-credit class at Kansas.

Perhaps the NCAA believes that schools let athletes slip through at a lower standard so they want to monitor this?

@jaybate-1.0

Holy $#&%!

I need my diaper changed.... NURSE?!

How about I blow off the dust on my old Fender Strat and you start writing more lyrics? There is already a band called "The Jayhawks" so how about....

S L A Y J A Y !

I'm psyched to put on some platform shoes again and grab a microphone!

Do you play an instrument?

Maybe our first gig can be LATE NIGHT!

@JayHawkFanToo

I don't go too much off of March performance by one team. But a conference is a different story. Any single team can have a bad game and get upset. But half a dozen teams? It's enough numbers to show a trend.. at least for that one year.

I'm just pulling this next statement out of my rear... but I'm thinking if you pull Kansas out of the equation, and examine March results for the past 20 years, the B12 (former B8) does not appear to be a powerhouse conference at all. It makes me laugh at fans at ISU (for example). I'm glad they are being discovered nationally, but until they have at least something on their resume, they remain a ghost program...

Like I said... I don't like to pass judgments on a single team in March. But a conference showing starts to show the real trend, especially if you look at the results over a broad period.

@justanotherfan @HighEliteMajor

I am not throwing either of you guys under the bus. I understand your issues were with Self. There have been others that were critical directly on Teahan and Morningstar. Self did have other options.. and I definitely don't have a problem questioning his choices for PT.

@justanotherfan

Yeah... I'm definitely not giddy thinking he is starting material. But for God's sake... he's just a walk-on! I can't believe people criticize walk-ons. The kid will be paying for his own education and basketball will add one more challenge to his educational experience.

I will never understand why people blasted players like Morningstar and Teahan... like they were supposed to dominate the game. They were friggin' walk-ons and the fact that they both saw key action is the result of them both overachieving, while maybe our coaches underachieved in recruiting scholarship players.

@wrwlumpy

I kind of shook off this read because of the way it started....

"The Big 12, which had one heck of a season in 2014-15 (it rated as the best conference overall in KenPom)..."

Proclaiming the Big 12 as having a "heck of a season" last year because it ranked high with KenPom says a lot. Nothing about the failure of the Big 12 advancing in March.