🏀 KuBuckets Archive

When I played for Dutch and Belgian teams it always meant the world to these guys when we played German teams. The Germans were always very nice and respectful towards me because they had big respect for American basketball. So I didn't have an issue with them. But players from other European countries did.

A common comment shouted to the Germans after games we won.... "Give us back our bikes!"

It goes back to WWII and the German occupation. Bicycles were one of the main forms of transit for the people back then (and until very recently) and the Germans stole all their bikes.

In one particular game, one of our guys screamed it near a TV microphone and we received a big time cuss out from it. Rumors passed around later that the news had reached "the Queen B" (Queen Beatrix). A lower whisper rumor claimed she got a chuckle from it.

I was always amazed at how much hatred still exists over the war.

I think Jamari has just been out-smarted in this tournament. All of these teams will make you pay for making poor decisions or for lacking the proper anticipation.

I hope this is a wake-up call for Jamari to work on his basketball IQ. I'm not really sure what the best methods would be for him to try to improve his, but this is now (by far) his biggest weakness in the game (IMHO).

Hunter is a pretty smart guy and has adjusted the fastest and most of any of our big men. Landen is starting to come around. He is starting to address his frustration level because the first step in him becoming effective is to play with the wits he possesses when not too emotional.

Jamari isn't on the right page. The game is moving too fast for him. Everything he does appears to be slow and telegraphed. And since his game is slow here, he doesn't match up well against all of these guys that are 5+ inches taller than him.

@globaljaybird

It might be a decade since I've had a bloody mary... but darned if I don't feel like having one now!

I would like to see us change the theme this year from "Boot Camp" to "Survival Training."

Our guys aren't going to show up with big guts and soft legs this year. So we could help them a lot more by spending a weekend and a few days in nature and tents. Talk about a bonding opportunity...

Push some physical training on them with their feet on earth instead of just adding more pounding to their joints on paved surfaces or floors.

Bring in some experts to train them on a progressive sports diet. That will do plenty to help prevent injuries, fatigue and cramps. Put down the Gatorade and start drinking real fruit juices (like watermelon) for electrolytes and low-glycemic load. Proper sports nutrition would be something every bit as equal to helping our team as Hudy is strength and conditioning.

We could easily be the freshest team every March if we made a few changes in their diets alone.

@ZIG

I always used V8... just so my mind could rationalize drinking in the morning... Celery salt is key.

@KUSTEVE

Looks like Round 1 to me...

@jayballer54

Be even a bigger win tomorrow... not only because it is for the gold, but our big weapon is conditioning and our main guys are plum tuckered out. They are going to have to really suck it in and put their boot on Germany's throat.

I wonder if Putin was watching this game and had Obama's number on speed dial, waiting to rub it in?!

@Statmachine

If you like root beer... time to try the alcohol version. It is sweet, like it's non-alcohol version, but very nice...

!beers-yearround2x.jpg ↗

Small Town Brewery ↗

@brooksmd

You have to try it with pepper vodka. Nothing like it. Clears the sinuses while remaining smooth and effective.

They have all kinds of flavored vodka... nothing like the cheap cherry vodka we drank when we were under-aged.

@Crimsonorblue22

One day away from picking between pepper vodka and just a premium one.

@HighEliteMajor

"Perry Ellis, after a rough start, just kept plugging away against bigger guys. Personally, I thought his persistence inside was a big deal in this game."

That may be Perry's one big improvement this coming year. In the past, when he started slow or cold he would just disappear. This game should show him how important it is to stick with the plan. He had to persist often against a guy 7 inches taller than him... There should be a lesson in this that he can carry with him throughout our upcoming season. Might end up being one of the most important learning experiences from WUG.

@nuleafjhawk

What is really scary is that her lips and b's WON'T fall, but the rest of her anatomy will.

"Watch out what you wish for, it may come true!"

There is no beating the time clock.... (unless we are talking about Kansas and a 24-second shot clock)

Quarters 1 - 3: Lots of movement, quick pace, keep the opponent in the game so they'll stay excited and burn more energy.

Quarter 4: Come out with twice the intensity and crush our opponents. Speed up the game while stirring a pot of tomato sauce to eat with our opponents' spaghetti legs. Garlic optional.

I smell GOLD!

@wissoxfan83

"I don’t know anything about Russian basketball."

Basketball in one hand... bottle of vodka in the other. And if you taste how smooth it is, you will understand why. A Russian friend always brings me the real deal on his visits and it lives in my freezer, under strict rationing for special occasions.

I've been critical about Wayne's year last year. His numbers weren't there. For whatever reason, be it injury or for some other reason.

But I never gave up hope in Wayne. I felt like he could turn the corner at any time, the question was "if" and then "when?"

We should be hopeful of Wayne's coming year, but I'm still cautious. WUG has many quality teams, but it isn't USA D1. We play a tough schedule and Wayne will continue to have to prove himself and step up.

I hope he does... not only for the team's sake, but also because of my like for Wayne!

Go, Wayne!

I bet Wigs will be a great Jayhawk moving forward. First... he is legit... the real deal. Second... his parents raised him right and the young man has plenty of character. He will be involved with Kansas basketball in the future. You can count on that!

@RockChalkinTexas

Big time thanks for putting up the remaining schedule! I knew about tonight, but nothing more so I was hoping someone put it up in here.

The first step in defeating Lithium is to understand what it is:

"Lithium (from Greek: λίθος lithos, "stone") is a chemical element with symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silver-white metal belonging to the alkali metal group of chemical elements. Under standard conditions it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable. For this reason, it is typically stored in mineral oil. When cut open, it exhibits a metallic luster, but contact with moist air corrodes the surface quickly to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. Because of its high reactivity, lithium never occurs freely in nature, and instead, only appears in compounds, which are usually ionic. Lithium occurs in a number of pegmatitic minerals, but due to its solubility as an ion, is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines and clays. On a commercial scale, lithium is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride."

~ Wikipedia

Lithium is the lightest metal. This team is light, but with adequate height. Their physical properties are known and constant.

"Like the other alkali metals, lithium has a single valence electron that is easily given up to form a cation.[5] Because of this, it is a good conductor of heat and electricity as well as a highly reactive element, though the least reactive of the alkali metals."

This team plays effective ball because most of the players have played together through their early teens until now. This game means a lot to them because for many, this will be their last big Int'l tournament of their lives. WUG is a big deal in Lithium. Most everyone in Lithium will get up early in the morning to watch Lithium play.

"Trace amounts of lithium are present in all organisms. The element serves no apparent vital biological function, since animals and plants survive in good health without it."

Lithium plays with commonality. Dribbling, screening, passing and shooting.. all the "biological functions" of basketball. Nothing special, nothing to create maximum health. But they function to a decent level of accuracy, their saving grace and competitive advantage.. all because these players have played together for the last 10 years.

"The nuclei of lithium verge on instability, since the two stable lithium isotopes found in nature have among the lowest binding energies per nucleon of all stable nuclides."

The way to beat Lithium is to push them out of their safe space and into an atomic free space, where their isotopic players can't connect any longer and remain stable. This means transition basketball. This means pushing the pace. This means running offense before they can set their defense. We've never been a Roy William's team, but we need to act like one, and when we don't get points off a primary break, we need all our guys on that end working for a secondary break.

Spread out Lithium, and they become very unstable. These guys are not great athletes. Running isolations will exploit our athletic advantage and there is nothing they can do to stop it.
They can't prepare to play a more athletic team.

Be prepared for their zone... We have to create separation to take advantage of our athleticism.

@DoubleDD

NO!

No, you are not wrong! :-)

Self must have been a psychology major at OSU.

He seems to be so nonchalant most of the time... during games. Sometimes you have to look over at him on the bench closely to see if he is still awake.

Yeah... he appears to let opponents do what they want to. He seems to make his own team run repetitive offensive sets that a blind mule (in the dark) can anticipate. Sometimes, it seems like he is intentionally trying to blow games.

But Self knows that only the last few minutes of the game (typically) count. It is the FINAL score that determines the winner. He just has to get his guys to finish well to win a bunch of games. And it only takes a few minutes to turn all the optimism our opponents have into deep depressing pessimism... because they all know our record. We win games! So when we are down by 6 with a minute and change left... and then suddenly we turn up the intensity and get a quick 3, our opponents are falling into a deep psychological "black hole."

I would pay money to take a psychology course from Self.

"Bringing BAD BALL to WUG!"

Self is already building the hype around Diallo:

"I can’t wait to get back and see him because if our fans find out anything about that kid is that some of the hardest playing guys that we’ve ever had, Chieck may play harder than any of them. He’s going to be a fun guy to watch. He’s got an unbelievable motor.”

He is already stating that this kid hustles more than any player he has previously coached at Kansas.

O A D !

Diallo only wanted to go to a school where he would get plenty of PT. That's the sound kids make when they want to jump to the league quickly.

Unless he gets hurt or screws up off the court or something else unforeseen, it is very unlikely he will be back as a sophomore.

I'd love to have this kid for several years.... but seriously... he'll put up a stat line at least equaling Oubre. Oubre was one player down from being a lottery pick and he is guaranteed a contract.

O A D !

@sfbahawk

They really don't like players reaching in and slapping at the ball. We've had fouls called against us when our guys put a hand in directly on the ball and are called for the foul.

I used to be very good at timing my pokes at dribbles. I could often get my hand in on a ball that was just coming up off the floor on a dribble. I wouldn't even be poking at the player or touching him at all. I got whistled for so many fouls I had to stop doing that. My poking hand would never get within 6 inches from the player. Didn't matter. I would get whistled for the foul. Int'l refs don't like guys poking or slapping.

I know part of the reason why. Because teams have 4 free fouls every quarter before sending someone to the line so they use those fouls intentionally... like to stop a fast break run out or a guy driving to the goal with nothing stopping him. Int'l refs have it in their heads that a poke or slap is only done to intentionally foul. The intentional fouls are always reach in fouls... slapping or poking or just reaching in and grabbing.

Our struggle against zone defense is bothering me. This is going to be THE ISSUE moving forward in the medal rounds. We'll face more teams tall and capable.

I hope our day off today is spent adding in more ripples to our offense.

Where did our high ball screens go to?

What we have now is two guards up top... we pass the ball from side to side, wasting time on the short clock, and then get stuck at the end with one of our guards having to use a one-on-one move to penetrate and create opportunities. This works fine against teams like Switzerland. Not so fine against the better teams.

We need more going on to create spacing opportunities in the defense. I know many of these Int'l teams are better prepared to handle high ball screens... and the fact is that we aren't skilled in that area. But we have to do more than the typical 3 guards sitting on the trey line throwing the ball back and forth. This isn't D1 where defenses can't quickly hang with the perimeter ball movement.

The back door play we run is great and will be there now and then. But we need more happening on offense. We are extremely predictable. And it is a shame, because we are far more athletically gifted and capable than all other teams in this tournament.

I have liked that we wear teams down by the fourth quarter... but moving forward, it may be us that is tired down the stretch. Our perimeter players are starting to show their exhaustion.

Perhaps from here on out we get a day of rest between games. That would be a big help.

What I would really like to see is an increase in pace. We turn our half court offense into a "secondary break" offense. We need to push the ball up the court quicker and with better timing. Have our PG attacking the basket at the same time the rest of our players are setting up on offense. Don't let the defenses set. This is the way to really beat the cr@p out of Int'l teams. They aren't so good on defense if they aren't allowed to set. We could easily run more low post offense if we did it quickly up the court. Back door screens... alley oops...

All of our guys need to realize that they are playing slower, smarter guys. They use their brains and they make up lots on their inferior speed by knowing how to hedge. They can't perfect their hedging when they don't get time to set. So even if we are slow setting up our offense and the defense is set.. the key for our guys is to have ZERO hesitation on their moves, and if possible, to be in motion when receiving the ball. Our typical 3 guards on the perimeter and quick passes back and forth feed directly into every team we will play. It does nothing but chew off valuable seconds on the shot clock. All of these teams understand proper spacing, as long as they are allowed to set.

Notice how well we are defended... then suddenly, one of our guards makes a drive past his guy and the defense often collapses. Once you are able to break them out of their set positions, the game becomes a race and the race is won by the superior athletes.

We will leave Korea with a championship trophy if we can push the pace and make all our games a race.

I thought Landen looked horrible in our last game.

He hasn't figured out how to play Int'l ball so he plays with lots of frustration and he gives up on plays. Pretty poor attitude. Jamari hasn't figured out Int'l ball but at least he keeps his attitude up.

I remember how hard it was to flip into playing Int'l ball. It looks much easier than it is. You feel like you are being picked on because you come from the basketball powerhouse, USA.

I think Lucas isn't quite strong enough (or heavy enough) to mask some of his contact when trying to screen off the boards or stop his man from penetrating the paint when having the ball. He's not strong enough and too light. So his aggression gets whistled for fouls and seem quite touchy when the rest of the game (for the most part) is called loosely and hacking is allowed. He feels like he is being singled out. Been there...

This should be a good toughening lesson for him. His poor performance in WUG (not all bad) should help him by providing a chip before the real season starts.

Int'l ball... even though the players are not extremely athletic.. is a very skilled game. Players know how to use their bodies. They know what leverage is and what a low center of gravity will get you. Landen could do better in this tournament just by bending his knees more and bringing down his center of gravity. D1 doesn't really test the need to win contact battles near at the same level Int'l ball does. I wish we could leave players like Landen over there for seasoning right up until our real season starts. He could learn a ton about how to stop getting pushed around.

@Statmachine

Good point... and his energy level would stay higher, too. Losing a few pounds should not only help his hops, but also give him a quicker first step. Even just 5 lbs can make a difference, 10 lbs can make a big difference.

@sfbahawk

I played Int'l ball. "No harm, no foul" is the general mantra. Players have to show just a bit of a flop drama in order to draw fouls. So... all those hard fouls we received around the goal... none are called if players don't show the damage.

I'm starting to think this team is going to have quite a few resemblances to the 2008 team. Lots of experienced, gifted players mixed with talented younger players... and enough depth all the way around.

@HighEliteMajor doesn't get all jacked up over many players. One big outing might catch his attention... but he isn't going "all in" on a few performances. No... HEM sees what some of us see. Wayne turning a corner on his game.

Maybe it has helped him to move to the 3. Maybe he's now being defended by less swift feet from the 3 instead of the 2, and it is just enough to let Wayne slow down his drives enough so he can maintain his control. Maybe... Maybe Self has had a long talk with him about his role. Maybe before WUG he zipped off to someone like John Lucas for some help on his drive and finishing at the hole. TT did, and it made all the difference in the world. Old John taught TT how to adjust his speed on his drives so he could maintain his control and also be able to adjust how he finishes... taking what the defense gives. Selden did this last night. He took it into the paint and he adjusted his direction and finish. He had never done that once last year or the year before.

This is a new Wayne Selden.

This is a guy who might become a lottery pick next summer.

This is a guy who is playing with lots of confidence.

WUG has been awesome so far. We've won some games, and Wayne and Hunter must be super psyched to get into this coming season (along with our entire team!). Our freshmen look like they have something to offer this year... and

@Barney

They just wanted an open shot to take. They couldn't count on getting it in the post, or at mid range. Actually, the safest bet was to attempt 3s. They get us spread out and an open shot. Plus the rebounds tend to be long and give them another chance. They did have 3 chances at it...

@KUSTEVE

A big reason why we don't get more fouls called against our opponents is because we don't know how to "mini flop."

Int'l ball has a bit of a feel like soccer. Continuity of play is very important. So... for the most part... "no harm, no foul." We need to express that there was harm. And it can't be over-exaggerated.

@JayHawkFanToo

Totally agree. The problem is we have only a short time to prepare and we typically have players that have never played Int'l ball. All things considered, I think we are doing pretty well at this for being so green to their ways.

I think we are starting to figure out how Int'l teams like to play and how they like to feed their 3-pt shooters. What we need to do is learn how to conduct our contact. Slapping and poking at balls will usually draw a foul,, especially if the offensive player puts in a tiny "mini flop" to express that contact was there. This is where we get caught the most... half of which there may not even be any contact.

Most Int'l players aren't quick enough to poke balls away... so most Int'l refs... when they see someone poking or slapping they consider it an intentional attempt to foul. Notice how many intentional fouls are committed by our opponents? Anytime we get the chance at running a break, they know how to grab and have it be considered a plain foul.

Some of the calls last night were just plain awful... like the call against Frank... think it was his 4th foul. Where the guy with the ball totally instigated contact with Frank. and the foul went against Frank. That was sickening.

I think in the medal rounds, Self needs to step it up a bit and start working the refs. He hasn't even shown a presence in this and he needs to do it. He needs to work the refs. It will also be a good sign for his team, that just because we are foreign to foreign ball, that doesn't mean we have to take a backseat to anyone.

3 wins away (in the final round) and Self will have succeeded where K failed... to win at WUG!

I have to admit... I want this championship in a big way!

@JayHawkFanToo

If they had seen many of our games last year, they would have realized that fouling was the wrong thing to do. They had no idea that we do pretty well at BAD BALL, so handing any kind of lead to us in the final moments was a big mistake.

But hey... they had 3 shots in the final seconds, two were decent shot attempts.

@wrwlumpy

"How did we lose that game?

Welcome to Self's "BAD BALL!" So one more opponent felt like they would win because they shut down our offense... but they still have to score, too!

Self, "It's the defense, stupid!"

@JayHawkFanToo

You are right... flopping in soccer has been reduced. At least... the flopping that was extreme and killing the game because of the loss of continuity. Soccer is a game designed around continuity of play.

What hasn't stopped happening in soccer is all the fake injuries. Those are used to convince refs of fouls and does a much better job than players whining. It is also a big part of Int'l basketball... and I'm grateful Serbia didn't use it much in this game, though for the most part, we played exceptionally clean basketball (but still got the foul calls against us).

Int'l ball is full of flops... though they are less exaggerated than the way we flop over here. So they tend to be more convincing. There were several flops in this game that helped Serbia draw fouls.

Marcus Smart could get a lesson in how to flop from these guys. They flop every bit as much as Marcus did (does) but they still maintain their credibility by not being so exaggerated.

I hope we come back from this tournament with some basketball IQ education. Some of our guys are a bit slow to catch on to it... Jamari and Landen need to pay attention more to how this game is played and just try to be effective. Hunter is a sponge and is starting to really play it right, hence his excellent results.

This is all about basketball IQ. Wayne... if we minus out his spike, has figured it out well. He has slowed down his drives enough to maintain control and has figured out he is more physical and athletic than anyone he has gone up against. So he is taking advantage... great for Wayne... great for us!

@jayballer54

"BUT why would you foul..."

Because they felt way too confident they could score when they got the ball back. They knew there was a good chance we wouldn't hit both FTs... and they are (typically) very capable to hit their FTs. They probably thought since one of the refs was a cousin of their head coach, they'd get a foul call at the end to match some of the other horrible calls during the game. (joke, and not)

Am I the only one that thought the officiating sucked? Gosh... we were getting hammered and no calls while they called all contact we had on them. Players like Wayne, Hunter and Perry got hammered without a call.

One thing we need to understand about Int'l ball.... they do their version of flopping. It isn't as exaggerated as the flopping we see back home... but they add in a lot of whining to the refs. Both their players and coaches constantly whined to the refs in this game, even after they committed monster hacks... horrible officiating.

@HighEliteMajor

"Anything else stand out?"

You know what stands out.... the comparison of Jamari with Landen and Hunter. It is clear that Hunter and Landen are finding more ways to contribute than Jamari. Jamari seems to be lost in the quicker pace of this game. Funny... since he is an energy guy... My first inclination is to hope Hunter and Landen get more minutes... especially Hunter. But if we aren't going to keep to this in the regular season and we go back to Jamari, then Jamari needs to still get the minutes here in order (hope) that he starts executing better in a quicker game.

I'm starting to become doubtful that Jamari will figure this out. His biggest negative is his lack of basketball IQ, and that shows up big when games speed up. Wow, 2 pts, 2 rebs and 4 TOs against a real patsy team says quite a bit.

This is one of those areas of Kansas basketball where many of us go against Self's tactics. We tend to want to make changes quicker and go with a guy who seems to have earned more minutes, whereas Self likes to be a "player's coach" and put trust that by keeping a guy in the lineup, it will pay off later. A big time conflict with his typical strategy of yanking freshmen after their first mistake.

At this point, the blog community in here typically starts splitting up... those who "trust in Self" and those who believe their own strategy is better. I have to admit I bounce on both sides of this fence.

@ajvan

You are getting a taste of Bill Self... the Riverboat Gambler.

He should be meeting many players, coaches and handlers from all over the world right now in Korea. We already have a good track record with recruiting foreign players and helping advance their careers. Self is on an island right now... with no other American coaches to compete against. The floor is ALL his. He sure as heck better be taking advantage of this!

The comments about it helping us recruit US players playing right now is a bluff.... a distraction from where he better be focused. Those guys aren't impressed with WUG. How many were we able to land so they could get in some extra team ball this summer before having their one D1 year? Right... none. So it won't help us looking ahead either. Most will have no idea that it is going on.

The real "gold" in having us over there is for Self to connect to foreign basketball players and structures. There are many quality players, some have very polished skills that are hard to find over here in our lands. These should be prime hunting grounds for future PGs... and SGs.... and perhaps some decent Cs....

IMHO, KU needs a 1 and 2 who can dribble upside down, in the dark in a hail storm without losing the ball. It's just necessary.

If I have to go with just one ball handler, my preference is Devonte because he has more PG skills. But I really like having 1 1/2 PGs out there for most of every game. Devonte removes much of the pressure on Frank to run the team so Frank can also do more of what Frank does well... drive and score from all over the floor. With these two on the floor, there aren't many D1 teams with that kind of ability on the perimeter. Kind of reminds me of a different version of UCONN when the slayed the hot-aired Kentucky dragon two years ago.

If we can get everyone on the same page.... there should be no team out there that can stop our offense.

I am starting to believe that this coming year's team will be infinitely better than last year's team. If Wayne keeps up his dominance at the 3, we've now patched the biggest weakness (in theory) that we had moving into this season... the non-recruited 3 spot... Wayne may have found his home!

I still have a question mark over BG and Svi. They both have something to offer... but will there be enough PT space for these two? It seems that one might get a short stick.... though I'd like to see Self keep moving towards a broader playing time pallet. For the first time in his career, he is using and seeing it work... the strategy of employing game attrition to win games. We don't have perfect depth at every spot, but we have adequate depth to keep our guys fresh all year and push pace. We should run ALL b12 teams right out of the gym.

I believe our entire season success will come down to health. We have to stay healthy.

Vick is starting to look like a super catch and will definitely be a huge factor in some games this year. It will be awesome to have another high energy guy on the bench, ready to give solid energy minutes on the floor. That is extremely valuable... especially if we play smart and push pace and try to win through attrition. Bragg also will help us with his energy in the post.

Finally, we aren't one of the youngest teams in college basketball.... we have many experienced players that should keep us floating in every game. No more "green" Perry, Wayne or Frank. I also put Devonte in that group.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I'm counting on Wiki here because my memory stinks... but it says he coached FIBA back in 1990.. also coached the Goodwill Games team in 1990. I kind of remember that. He coached WUG in 1987 and scored a silver medal.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I remember hearing K whine a lot about how he is sacrificing Duke basketball for the USA. But he won 5 National Championships since 1991. I'd like to see us do that and have our coach whine about how he hurts our team by coaching International ball.

In other interviews, K finally let it out that Duke has benefited from his coaching abroad.

@HighEliteMajor

Fortunately for Devonte, he doesn't have to win minutes over a guy like TRele. BG and SVI have height, but I haven't seen either of these guys guard any better than Devonte.

I'm thinking Vick might become the young man who starts putting pressure on our starters for minutes. He has a ways to go, but I like his athleticism and he is the only perimeter defender we have that knows a proper defensive stance. He bends his knees and spreads his stance well and knows how to move laterally while maintaining his control. The only one!

That guy is going to be a real stud!

@Statmachine

It has been a real treat to watch Wayne play in WUG.

I never thought he would be given a chance at the 3... but it is obviously working for him. Maybe he feels more comfortable not having to be one of our two ball handlers from up top.

I'm curious what Self has told him this summer? There must have been a discussion or two about his role for this coming year. Perhaps what is expected from him.

Whatever happened... I just hope he keeps it up! The real test will be Big 12 play, where he will face tough competition that already has played against him in past years.

@Texas-Hawk-10

Right... we do need two competent ball handlers on the floor at the same time, and these two need to drive the ball often. Drive and feed, or drive and score. I like BG... but think about how much better we are with Frank and Devonte on the floor at the same time. Maybe BG can also get some minutes at the 3 this year... like when Wayne takes a blow.

@RockChalkinTexas

Not sure if Landen is in the doghouse or Self is just liking Hunter's play that much more. Hunter seems more offensive-capable and we have needed to find a way to score more points and not count on just 2 or 3 scorers.

Plus... big men in International ball muscle much harder in the low post and I think Hunter has been handling that better than Landen, who plays more finesse.

Gosh... we could use a guy like Coleby in this tournament! (and of course, Diallo!)

I know we won't really understand what our new freshmen will offer us this year.... but so far... I really like Vick and Bragg! Bragg will also improve dramatically when he can lose the mask.

Both of these guys have very good energy and seem to already be buying in to Self ball... YOU HAVE TO BRING DEFENSE IF YOU WANT TO STAY ON THE FLOOR! (especially freshmen)

We are running a few pick and rolls and pick and pops. But mostly... it is the preferred offense of EVERY WUG team! I finally feel like we are catching on to defending it. In that Turkey game, it seems like we were getting beat more by it compared to the Brazil game... and Brazil had a very good post player to score off the picks.

We are starting to realize how well teams drive the ball and then quick pass for an open 3. Gosh... imagine if we could master this in our own offense and throw the ball out to one of our wide open spot-up shooters like BG? Actually... what works the best is the second pass off the drive. The driver kicks it out to a semi open shooter who draws a defender to make up the gap by running totally out from the basket and then the pass is made to another shooter on the 3 line for the wide open spot up.

Bill Self can act like WUG is no big deal. He can make it look like it is just a warm-up for our upcoming 2015-16 season. He likes to talk about playing every single player and making this thing less about competition and more about team development.

He can say whatever he wants to... but... this WUG Tournament is a tryout for him to take on future coaching roles representing the USA in International ball.

We all know Coach K. Whether we like it or not, Coach K has built quite an impressive resume.... both in International ball and nationally, winning 5 NCAA National Championships since 1991. We have won 1 National Championship in that same time period. He took a university that had never won a National Championship and has gotten the job done.

How much of his success could also be related to his work as a coach representing America in International ball? I would say quite a bit.

Self has a chance to surpass K's silver medal WUG performance. That would be an excellent start to Self moving in on International ball. K has owned that monopoly far too long. I can't believe no one has challenged him getting to own American International ball for more than 2 decades.

I can see Self having a chance to coach FIBA and Olympic ball. Perhaps he will have to go around Boeheim because I know he has been assisting K on some of these.

First things first.... when will K step down completely from International ball? The guy looks tired. Looks like he hasn't had a nap since the 70s....

@RockChalkinTexas

It is clear that Serbia is our only real challenge in our bracket. They always have size, know the game well, decent athleticism, and several good perimeter shooters (usually including one or two post guys that can really shoot the 3). That is my description of a typical Serbian team, but I haven't seen this team play yet. They typically play very solid defense. Sounds like a game of BAD BALL for us!

We need to rotate a lot of people in our game leading up to Serbia to make sure we are well-rested and then push the pace on Serbia and see if we can tire them out in the second half. We can really use a healthy Frank and Perry!

@HighEliteMajor

For whatever reason, Jamari gets his minutes over Landen and Hunter... My only explanation is his energy level is higher. On occasion he makes a few big plays and they help spark the team. I don't want to get all over Jamari, but it appears he will get a great deal of minutes this year and we really need better play out of him.

I think I keep hoping that at some point it is just going to "click" and he gets it.

"He seems to overrun rebounds sometimes..."

I made a huge post about this last year, even to the point of challenging one of Jesse's posts. I showed clips of Jamari overrunning the goal and was standing either directly under the goal or even more towards the baseline when the rebound came off. Not sure why he would think the ball would end up in "no-man's land"..... To be honest, it is very embarrassing when he does this.

I plan to post a lot this year on coaching up Jamari. He will be getting lots of PT and he is a resource we are not maximizing off the gifts he has... which is energy, strength, athleticism and post quickness. He may not be a big scorer... but if you consider what assets he does bring to the game, we should be very satisfied with his production. He should be a Kevin Young player on steroids! I want to see that kind of Jamari Traylor!

@HighEliteMajor

"That’s 3 rebounds by Traylor in 37 minutes vs. Turkey and Brazil, which is .081 per minute played."

He has lots of energy and he spends it in the wrong places. Here is a guy starving for lack of basketball IQ. He continues to make some really bad plays, getting caught in the air without a clear opening for a pass, dumb fouls, completely not capitalizing on scoring options he has nor using his energy to screen off boards for easy rebounds....

I watch him and I know that we don't run proper rebounding drills. He should get help from the very basic 2-on-2 drill that every team should run from 3rd grade on. You've got some shooters passing the ball around on the perimeter 3-line and one takes a shot while 2-on-2 has to fight for positioning and the rebounds. Isolation rebound training. With coaches shouting out your mistakes. It makes rebounders out of anyone very quickly. I don't think Jamari knows this common drill because with his strength, hustle and athleticism, he should be owning the boards, even if the shot is going up and he is on the outside from setting a high ball screen.

@Texas-Hawk-10

You are getting me too excited for Jayhawk basketball at 8am on Monday!

@jaybate-1.0

I do believe it is a big help when all 5 of our players are an offensive threat. Look at other teams and what they do. High ball pick and rolls, sometimes pick and pops. We need to have a 5 that is big enough to set a real high ball screen and then capable enough to roll off of it and be a real threat to score immediately, or later if he gets a mismatch and we can isolate him down low or in a place where he can score.