I just don't expect to see many changes on anything until I see players applying some of the basics... like box outs, shot fakes, and hedging.
Here is one loss we can chalk up to poor hedging...
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A few seconds left in the game, and Frank doesn't know where the basket is he is supposed to defend. So he bites on the fake to the outside (which is where he should be hedging him to and guarding the rim instead).
HEDGE ERROR = LOSS
Svi? Hunter? We have players by those names?
We have inlaws visiting from Georgia to see our newborn.... They have to observe Jayhawk law and either watch or leave me alone for a couple of hours.
Fortunately, my family all likes ball and understands.
A big part of winning today will be about rebounding. Texas is tall and wide.
Since our team won't listen to blog hacks like me.... perhaps they are willing to learn from youth ball. We win if they listen, follow and then execute.
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Notice how the first coach, who is coaching 7th graders, talks about closing the gate outside, and not right under the basket. Remember the WVU loss?
"Do you think guys sometimes just come out with staged responses? Or just mimic what Self says to them? "
I'm pretty sure they worry about maintaining their PT. They don't respond like it is THEIR team. They respond like it is SELF'S team.
Spot on, post!
Devonte and sometimes Frank can create their own shot. Kelly can penetrate, but is just figuring it out that he can.
Brannen and Wayne are spot up shooters. They have to be on the spot and pump it.
Compare us to ISU. I think you have to go 8 or 9 deep on their bench to find a player that CAN'T create his own shot. All of those guys can do it.
Is it because the Mayor knows how to teach offense? Partially. He also knows how to recruit offense.
I don't think Self has much of a clue in that area. Yes we landed Wigs and JoJo last year. Neither were real scorers. And now we have Cliff, who just 6 months ago was considered neck and neck with Okafor. Are you kidding me? We were all hot on Cliff because we saw his big body and heard he was a top recruit. But us fans didn't recruit him. The guy has NO OFFENSE! NONE! I had more offense than Cliff in the 3rd grade.
I question Self's ability to recruit offense. It's a hit and miss thing with him because I don't think he gets it.
Wigs is transforming to a real offensive player. But we recruited him because he was a God.
How many great scorers has Kansas had in the Self era? Where are all these guys in the league with their high averages?
He's just not an offense-minded coach. I wish he was better balanced. He has been able to mask his weakness with the hi/lo. Recruit big guys, have Danny coach them up, and feed the post. Not really a sophisticated offense.
But I like the idea of him and the Mayor coaching our next Olympic team. Have the Mayor run offense... Self run defense (if he can learn how to teach "hedge defense" ). The only guy at Kansas I can ever recall using hedges was Releford.
It will be a friggin' tragedy if Brannen leaves Kansas as only a spot up shooter. There is no room for a guy so singularly talented in the league. You have to be able to create for yourself, at least to some degree. I think he screwed up. He should have begged to sign on at ISU. Maybe the Mayor (or his assistants) could teach him how to score off the dribble. Teach him some moves. Create enough space to score and be confident. Stuff that really matters.
Like I have been ranting lately.... Kansas needs coaches that can teach. None of our guys even know a simple shot fake. The development stinks. These guys are improving a little just from getting older. I'm thinking the last guy to develop at Kansas was Withey... mostly on defense. TRob also developed. TT made vast improvements.
Look at our current crew. I think Frank has made probably the most improvement this year. Perry brought all those moves with him. His main improvement over 3 years is in his confidence and coming out of his shell. Wayne... big question mark. Brannen is the same guy, just getting more minutes and somewhat of a green light.
Sorry for the rant. I keep thinking of Kobe and his comment about AAU ball and I think it is valid all the way through college. I get frustrated seeing our guys go out there and get their shots blocked and never reach the FT line because they never learned a shot fake. There is no excuse for that, or the lack of other very basic skills.
All of the money, effort, focus.... jobs... entertainment for the masses... TV broadcast all over the country... and we watch guys 20 years old that are supposed to be McDs AAs and they don't even incorporate a shot fake on occasion. In basketball heaven, that would be considered a sin!
Rant over....
Haven't heard of a player that ever felt like he reached his potential. There is just so much to the game and only so much time and energy to develop. And even within that understanding, we all waste so much time in our lives on things that don't matter... especially when we are young.
I got to hand it to "the Big O" for being a kidney donor. He saved his sister's life while still being a player in the league.
That article implies that Brannen is in a shooting slump. Why? Because he has recently gone 2-12?
He isn't getting his shot, at least, not wide open. He's often forcing it, or taking it off the dribble. He does need to work on his offense to become more proficient than just being a spot up shooter (or "catch-and-shoot" shooter, as I like to say). So far, on offense, he really isn't anything more than a spot up shooter. He hasn't been effective off the dribble, or even if he has to deform on the catch-and-shoot too much. It is showing us how hard he has worked to perfect his spot up shot. That's great. And he is a deadly weapon. But if he could learn to become a complete scorer, then he will have a better chance of making it at the next level. That is a tall order to complete. His other scoring skills look minimal. That is a lot of ground to cover in just a few years.
He should be working on scoring off the dribble, working on his dribbling skills, shot fakes, spin moves, and a plethora of unique scoring situations.
Meanwhile... we should run plays to free him up for the wide open J. He's the best offensive weapon we have under those conditions. Anything else and he becomes marginalized.
That is the mindset of someone who coaches to opportunities. Our coach coaches on philosophy instead and often it contradicts the former.... like... how we are using Brannen.
"Perry called the meeting..."
Didn't know that. I thought it was Frank. Might Perry now be stepping up in more of a leadership role? He definitely isn't the same player since he missed the layup at the end of the WVU game.
Sometimes bad things lead to good things.
"Don't care for the long waistbands. Get rid of them or at a minimum keep them waistband (1" [;)] length."
Reminds me of a story going back to my big balling days. I believe it was about 1983. I was boxing and balling. Didn't have clean shorts for basketball practice so I wore my boxing shorts. They had a 3" waistband (to help keep them up and raise the line for low blows), with a baggy body (to house the protective cup). All the guys at ball practice thought they were cool.
NOTHING CLICKED IN MY HEAD! Man... I was such a dope.
A year or so later, Michael Jordan started wearing baggy shorts because of his superstitions. He always wore his UNC shorts under his Bulls shorts. That was the beginning of the trend towards baggy shorts.
I always felt I blew it by not seeing this oppotunity so I never made a red cent on it.
I wasn't even smart enough to continue to wear baggy boxing shorts to basketball practice again.
I think back about how dumb I was... it makes me appreciate our Jayhawk players a lot more. I know I am one of the fans in here that constantly whine about players and their actions. They are light years ahead of where I was at that age.
Can anyone else in here relate?
Excellent post! Glad to read your perspective, and you have brought many new treasures to everyone here. Please continue to post, as you feel comfortable.
This site will only continue and grow if more people contribute. A few of us post the majority of the content, but most of the time we are rehashing our thoughts because most readers know where we stand. It is really a pleasure when someone new comes on here to post because we all get to grow through their offerings.
Thanks, and hope we hear from you more often!
"We are going to beat these Shorthorns."
I hope Self and staff show these guys the Shorthorn loss we suffered in AFH right after TRob lost his mom.
That is a clear example to us that other teams aren't interested in OUR destiny, they are focused on THEIR OWN destinies. That was a painful loss. It crushed our home winning streak and we were just not in the mood for anything negative to happen. It felt like being down already and having someone kick you.
We shouldn't have to focus on that... but it is best we do. Because players and fans get lost in their own focus and need to realize that others don't share the same dream... for Kansas to 11-peat!
Destiny is self-determined. Baylor didn't create our destiny to 11-peat on Wednesday. They helped open the door, but we still have to walk through it. No one can take those steps for us, in fact, other teams are there to keep us from walking through that door.
That can't be illustrated enough... hence... get out the file footage and show these kids!
So the rumors are true!!!
Hey.... I played 5 years in the Busch League. It was awesome (for that period in my life when I liked to drink free beer). A softball league sponsored by the beer companies. A free keg of beer provided after every game for both teams to share.
This was before the big push on DUIs. Just imagine a Busch League today? Everyone driving home (or to a bar) drunk after softball... sponsored by the beer distributors. Those days are gone, and rightly so.
Will do.
From here on out, I'm practicing "reverse jinxing." It worked in Ames on Wednesday. I have to be careful talking about it, or I will commit a double-reverse jinx.
I have to follow the rules of the "Pierce the Ploughman's Crede"
West Virginia... the one place on earth that even the tooth fairy declared bankruptcy!
Man... brings back memories. I think I heard that one first in 1965 as a pup.
My whole take on it was that Weber reinforces this stuff. He said it was wrong, but how "cool it is."
Court storming is not cool. It reminds me of "stage storming" and a bad incident back in the 70s I had sitting at the front of a Rolling Stones concert. That was terrifying.
Out of control crowds will never be "cool."
Weber is a d-bag.
"We’ve got to get our spacing right. Guys are on top of each other,” he said. "
There is definitely a lot of that going on. Also under the boards. Our guys amass as one collective octopus under the basket lately.
If guys are clumping up together... look at the psychology... they are hiding under the tent of "team play." That means they aren't taking personal responsibility for their own actions. Hiding en masse.
It reminds me of my one big gripe about Kansas.... Kansas drivers like to drive all bunched up, too.
I'm not going to predict anything. I don't want this game to fall into a "jinx trap game" for me.
I'm throwing salt over my shoulder as I write this.
It's time.
It's time for the call of duty.
All brave soldiers, step forward.
This time, it better be more than Frank Mason being the only one not to take a step back.
It's time all of these guys stand in a line, at attention, and commit themselves to bringing war to every game.
This is no longer a drill. A practice. This is the real thing.
Here is the theater of operation:
!length-of-college-basketball-court.png ↗
Master it. Study film, practice through the night. Strategize, visualize, execute.
ATTENTION!
I thought we were getting the uniforms with the huge Jayhawk that consumed almost the entire uniform?
Where are those? In an Adidas trashcan on top of the camo unis?
The bright side of this is that KSU only has 4 or 5 more games left until their season is over.
From that point on their only option is to watch us play basketball on tv, or watch chickens reproduce. Knowing how much they like to husband and midwife animals, I'm guessing they will be doing the latter.
This may be the best league play I've ever seen around these parts. We can all harp about Self or a player or this or that... but none of us can say we didn't get our money's worth out of the B12 this year. As @JayHawkFanToo said... it's the expected and unexpected, both expected and unexpected. If I take it to another level it will be in the 4th dimension.
So far, for us, the real unexpected game was KSU away. We usually own them in their own house.
ISU fans must all have the stomach flu today. I know if I was one of their fans, that is how I would feel. I recall back just a week or two ago when I replied to their entire fan base by instructing them to stop worrying about ever beating us in our house, just focus on games like TT. Guess I should have extended that into their need to focus at home, too.
Even though we stand an excellent chance of winning out in AFH this year... does it really feel like "the B12 conference championship goes through Lawrence?"
We aren't even done playing and we have dropped 4 games away... enough for other teams to win our conference or tie and without having to win in Lawrence.
For us... we've been down this championship path so many times before that we know we just have to win the games we are supposed to win, and let nature take it's course with the rest of the league.
So far, really just our loss at KSU was unexpected. If we had won there, we would now own a 2 game lead with 3 games left.
I'm already going to start planting this seed now. Next year, we better have a damn good team, because ISU is going to be fierce!
These usually help. I thought they should have done this a long time ago. Like after the OU game in AFH. Or definitely after the WVU game.
Yeah.... I also thought ISU played cocky. They weren't as disciplined as they have been most of the season. I think they were feeling too confident of a home win and sharing the lead in the B12.
It is also a burden to lead the pack. Arrogance is something that usually isn't tested until the situation puts you at the top. This was finally their chance.... and the blew it!
"So long as Wayne stays in his present role, we need Wayne to shoot treys and protect and ONLY go baseline, not over the top. "
This made me think of what my strategy is to use Brannen properly now down the stretch of the year.
Brannen should be our baseline king. It is easiest to spring catch-and-shoot shooters in the corners. Brannen should be cutting from side to side, via the baseline.
Since he has size, he also poses a threat at the rim. Imagine him running back and forth on the baseline all game? He would shred zones this way. And in a M2M, he can quickly learn how to exploit his defender by also making sudden stops for post lobs and scores at the rim.
That would be a great way to get Brannen many good looks every game. He is a scorer, and he needs to be scoring!
A guy with his touch could shoot 60% of corner treys!
Good post to shake out all the theories in here.
I watched that game in it's entirety.
I'm not sure I'm blaming Niang and his missed 3s as much as I'm giving credit to Baylor for suddenly, out of the blue, getting red hot from 3. I know at one point they hit 4 or 5 in a row on consecutive possessions.
The other area I give credit is for Baylor's defense. They did several things to keep challenging ISU from just getting easy offense, and for most of the game, ISU was getting easy offense. But Baylor players shot gaps and stole a lot of passes, and they actually sped the game up more than ISU liked to play at, even at home. Got to hand it to Chery for constantly pushing the ball up the court. It helped keep ISU defense from completely setting up in the half court.
Gathers coming out also helped when he threw his temper tantrum on the sidelines, kicking chairs and screaming. That seemed to be the point when they turned up the effort.
If the game had gone another 10 minutes, ISU might have won by 10 or so. Hard to say. A lot of what happened was just a timing thing. Baylor stuck around, and down the stretch they had that 5 minute (or so) stretch where they lit it up from 3!
I kept saying to my wife... "yeah, but they are Baylor, and they will blow it in the last minute." After all, Baylor was 0 - 12 from Hilton. So they kept pushing up the lead and running down the clock, so I would state... "if they can just get a few more points, they stand a chance." Ha! I think I was able to use my powers of jinxing against ISU! I have got to keep trying that more often!
I'll tell you guys something I've kept inside of me for a long, long time.
Besides winning a national championship, the situation I enjoy just a small notch down from that was when Missouri helped us win the conference by beating someone who needed to lose to help us.
The distance between these two great events is not that far apart!
Big shout out to Drew.... Maybe we can give a big shout out to Weber here soon when they throttle ISU!
"Time to get our MOJO back!"
NO! I mean.... almost!
Let's not go back to what we were. Let's go somewhere better!
I like the feel of this thread. Less analytical and more enthusiasm!
Kind of funny... we all diss on Perry for being too "designer"... too much thinking and not enough playing. But we are the same way. We analyze every crayon in the box when we should do more coloring!
Yeepee kiyoo, madre focolo!
I changed my diapers several times. I'm good again!
Many roads lead to Rome.
Self could regain consciousness and install the "KUBuckets offense."
The team could just realize that playing with their guts on their sleeves will produce wins regardless of our strategy.
Both 1 and 2, and roll in another NC!
Actually, all we really need is #2 to go a long, long ways!
Slowly, but surely, the Jayhawk faithful regain composure and raise heads once again!
I have to admit... one of the biggest aids for me was seeing that KSU NIT banner!
I'd rather be a Jayhawk on our worst day than a Wildcat on their best day!
RCJH, everyone!
NIT banners? Seriously? That would be something we would bury under the field house.
I googled it and came across this read. Thought it was worth sharing...
I think we need to reboot. Seems a bit late in the season to install any new system software. Our hard drive became fragmented and our performance dropped off.
In here... we can only bang our heads against the wall so many times.
Many of us have referenced Einstein's definition of insanity and applied it to Self. But as we move forward, we can apply the same reference to ourselves. If we continue to beat our heads on the wall and harp about running perimeter offense over and over again... if it doesn't make a difference, then we are insane, too.
I give up. I am surrendering to the hi/lo. It is our reality. So I'm living with it, and I'm wrapping my mind back on running offense through the post.
That doesn't mean I'm not going to scream when we aren't getting open trey shot attempts. Even with our small post, we should be able to draw in defenders and get open treys. Perry's recent performances are going to demand teams double him up. Great. Then instead of us all focusing on why we aren't running perimeter set, motion offense, let's keep the focus on playing through the middle and kicking for the trey. Let's surrender to the concept of post shot first, trey shot second. It is what it is, it is what we have been dealt.
So our focus is on getting these guys motivated and energized to get the right spacing, passing and motion to lift our trey shot attempts at QUALITY 3-PT SHOTS!
It is enough for us to win most games moving forward. Definitely enough to win our conference. We will never beat Kentucky with that strategy... but we can harp about that if we even get the opportunity for a rematch. If we get to that point... mainstream media will be laser-beam focused on Self and what he is going to do different this time, because no one wants to watch a FF game where a team gets blown out by 30+ points.
Great, great call!
We need to get our current team over here to look at that. Just study the speed, energy and determination of that Jayhawk team. These young pups need to know where the bar is set for wearing the Kansas uniform.
We would be undefeated this year if our guys brought that kind of intensity to every game. Including a solid victory over Kentucky.
Man... I loved that team!
All logic says go for the BEARS.
However... this is an illogical season.
This year is playing out more like a chess game than a basketball season.
It's just hard to say what is best for us moving forward.
It is possible that a Baylor win helps us seal #11. However... maybe the best scenario is we are up against the wall from here on out.
I'm starting to think the worst thing that happened to us was this 2 or 3 game cushion we have enjoyed most of conference play. It seems we didn't get pushed into improving.
We can all blame Self for statements like "fool's gold" (and I have been one pointing the finger at him)..... but nothing has stopped these guys from winning, regardless if we are running the best concept offense or not.
We haven't been blown out by anyone in our conference. A few plays changed in our history and we would still be undefeated in league play.
No one was thinking the struggle we suffered after TRob lost his mom would help our team. The loss we suffered from the Longhorns in AFH... that felt horrible. It seemed totally illogical that our team could rebound and make it to the championship game that year.
We just sacrificed our queen to take a rook on Monday night. That doesn't mean we don't go on to checkmate our opponents from here on out. The panoramic perspective might show that struggles now help us later.
We should all get discouraged and we should complain and show our disapproval for situations like Monday in Manhattan. It is part of the overall world of college basketball. Our players and coaches need to know that we are NOT SATISFIED with that outcome! It is part of the process of pushing them to work harder and lift their level of play in the immediate future.
This team needs to get back on track. We've lost 2 of our last 3. That just IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!
Right now is the most important time to be a Kansas Jayhawk fan and show your disapproval. This is the time where our voice matters most. Players and coaches tend to step up after facing the wrath of fans. Perry stepped up after missing his layup bunny in Morgantown and was crucified for it.
It is good to show a path of possible optimism. But we have to continue to keep our snit-kickers on and kick these guys right through to another B12 title and quality March performances.
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We've had better teams than this who underachieved. I've always screamed we didn't have a chip on our shoulders.
Maybe this year things have worked out to give us a chip we can use! Last time we had a chip was when we lost TRob's mom, and we saw what that brought us.
Is it possible to let everyone push their like button as many times as they want on a post... just for one day?
Let's get this site turbo-charged.... bring back the troops in Royal Command!
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Let's journey back...
One of those 10 conference championships was with a team where we counted on a huge chunk of our offense from our PG Sherron Collins. It wasn't a thing of beauty, but we managed to continue the streak.
We can win this running backwards!
Maybe I'm in the denial stage...
Everyone stop thinking about March.... Let's first kick arse a few more games and at least tie for another conference championship.
Are we going to allow the possibility that a bunch of Mountaineer rednecks might get a piece of the B12 title? Really?
First things first!
I AM NOT WILLING TO LET THE B12 TROPHY GO TO A PLACE WHERE BASKETBALL IS A SPORT SECOND TO MOONSHINING! NO FRIGGIN' WAY!
"BrokeArse Mountaineers, DEAD!"
"Clones, DEAD!"
"Schooners, DEAD!"
"Shorthorns, DEAD!"
"What happened to the KUBuckets I used to know?
Where's the spirit?
Where's the guts, huh?
This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you are going to let it be the worst!"
This is the classic time to pull this clip out.
I've gotten goose bumps from this since 1978.
"Neidermeyer, DEAD!"
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We can easily win out! Earlier in the year the players were getting the reputation for responding when things got tough. We won a bunch of close games back then.
Now their backs are against the wall. This is good for them. Make them come out and fight. They either do it or they don't, and they will always know they are the team that blew the conference streak.
This is a great way to pick up momentum right before March! Win out and take the momentum into March Madness!
Our guys could win playing blindfolded if their lives depended on it. That's the kind of juice that needs to be pumping through their veins.
Really... anything can happen!
Look at last year. UCONN had dropped 8 before March. In one week they lost to Louisville twice. Few had them picked to go all the way.
Anything can happen. We've taken a hit in our confidence of good things happening, but it is possible.
It is our role to be critical during these periods. Fans should scream, vent, and be skeptical. It's our job. It is our coaches and players job to prove the skeptics wrong.
If we all remain all kumbayahish then there is no reason for the team to get motivated. The fans don't show a pulse win or lose.
Dang Self! Ha.... man.... I hope he proves me wrong!
RCJH!
My pessimism is me venting....
I always have some optimism, too.
This is college basketball... and anything can happen!
I think where Frank does well is heart. And he's not afraid to attempt to execute down the stretch. Remember back just a few years ago... EJ was a highly-touted recruit, with mega potential. But he got psyched out at the end of most games. Look at Naa.... I don't want to slam either of these guys. I shouldn't because I could never get out there an perform at crunch time. But we do stand a chance with Frank. He can't suddenly become a 5-star player. I think he's doing some major overachieving while at Kansas. And he had to learn to be a PG instead of a volume scorer.
And now we are seeing Devonte blossom. That might also be creating a few issues with Frank... feeling his control of the team slip away.
I don't want to give Frank a free pass... on anyone else.
But would we have won had he been more effective last night? I'm not certain of that. Yes... it would have helped. But should this game have even been close? Rival bologna... this KSU team would have beaten anyone at home if they open the door for them. We opened the door. We kept them within arm's reach. Teams that are close typically win at the end when on their home courts.
I don't think our answer is the same answer Cal has at Kentucky. To just sign 9 McDs AAs. Yes, the brute force method can work. It also creates very ugly basketball.
I would like to think we can take a mix of guys and get them to play solid team ball. Run a balanced attack of opportunistic offense and tough defense.
We have counted (for too long) on playing tough d and having low post monsters for the hi/lo. So this year is different, but we have easily enough team to win our conference and really the right talent to win in March. This is actually one of our better March teams (for potential). Forget the big 5 in the post... UCONN does!
We are all complaining because we don't think Self is flexible enough. Not changing to take advantage of the team he does have. Tries to force them into something else. I think that is a valid complaint. Self will admit it later.... like in April. Reflecting back. He often does. We'd like to see him be a bit more proactive. That is what coaching is really all about.
What if Chalmers never hit that shot? I always kind of thought that was both a blessing and a curse. Calipari had to live with the curse. And even if most of us don't like his style, look at what he has done since '08. Sometimes I think Bill needs the same character-building he always demands of his team.
You are right on! Greene should be one of the players we focus on for points. But we don't utilize him properly, and the most we can count on at this late stage of the season is for Self to put in one or two tweaks to help him get an open look once in a while.
We have committed to the hi/lo. It takes time to install another offense, especially with young players. I don't see that happening now. I see us having another one of our typical March upsets. A game where a team scouts us well, comes prepared with lots of energy and executes. They don't really have to do a lot to beat us. They just have to throw down a double on Perry when he is low in the post, and keep their perimeter guys within range of our shooters. Very basic defense.
Our only hope of winning with the hi/lo is if we turn Perry into more of a passer instead of a shooter. He has to get the ball in the low post and quickly bullet a pass to a wing on the trey line, directly in his sweet spot for a quick-release catch-and-shoot. That has to happen enough to open up the defense so Perry can attack.
All of those points by Perry last night became a liability. It lured us in to trading more 3s for 2s. And it was the right thing because we weren't running perimeter offense. Our guys weren't really wide open from trey. Brannen is very ineffective if he isn't flowing out in a catch-and-shoot scenario. When he dribbles, or adds motion to his flow, he's good for an air ball.
So unless Self realizes this... it's best just to put Brannen on ice the remainder of the year. I don't want to see him go out there and throw up more air balls and get humiliated. The guy doesn't deserve that. All sharp shooters require special offense for them to be effective, unless they can score off the dribble. What we are doing isn't fair for Brannen.