🏀 KuBuckets Archive

It is really tough winning on the road, especially in the B12, and especially with a young team.

But we shouldn't cop out to that. We have a team stocked with talent. And though they are young, we have guys capable of bringing big performances, even on the road!

All they need is support for the talent that they have! Enough of the forcing a structure that doesn't focus on their strength first, then take the other parts with the success of their strength. That is real Hoiberg ball. He has carefully focused on his strength first (Niang) and from that, he has built out his team. Niang doesn't really have to carry his team on his back any longer. Any of their guys can score offense, and they are doing it... 6 guys averaging in double figures. Why? Because Hoiberg focused on his strength first... then found ways to incorporate the other pieces.

We have effective perimeter shooters.... Brannen, Kelly, Wayne, Frank and Devonte. All of those guys are dangerous from 3.

We have one effective post player.... Perry. On offense, Jamari and Landen are often liabilities. Cliff... he is only a slam dunk artist who fouls a lot.

So where is our strength? Force it into Perry? Can his 20+ a night carry this team? Doubtful.

The thing is... if we did this right, and focused on our strength, Perry wouldn't have to score on double teams any longer. The defense would be spread and he could attack through an isolation. Real Mayor ball.

I really thought we would get there this year. I really thought the light bulb would go off in Self, and he finally learned to appreciate high-octane offense. I was wrong. His way is the low-scoring struggle games. The games he deems as being "character building."

If you watch NBA you will see how offense has overtaken the world of "character building." Teams do step up and start playing some d in the playoffs. But teams that run high-octane offense wins championships, too. The 3 ball is absolutely vital in the NBA. Players make hundreds of millions of dollars playing the game of "fool's gold!"

@JhawkAlum

I hear what you are saying. Frank had a horrible game.

The answer really isn't just to hoist more 3s. The answer is to run the right offense that utilizes our strengths. I can't say 100% that Frank would have had a great game if we had done that... but chances are, he would have been more in sync. I thought his play was a big part of our loss, just because he is the guy that typically comes through when others don't. It just isn't fair throwing him under the bus. He can't always be the one guy that brings game when others don't. Perry was our guy in this game. It just wasn't enough.

Frank is a tank. And he typically isn't a cry baby about things. I really appreciate that in him. But you could really see the frustration in him during this game. Was it just because he missed a few bunnies? Or made a few bad plays? Or was it because we aren't playing an offense that comes natural to these guys?

I tend to think the later.

I don't think we have to live by the three. We just have to respect it for what it is... a very big opportunity, especially for this team! We are so gifted at hitting the trey.

I will puke if Self says something about how great KSU played perimeter defense. Bull snit! We aren't running perimeter offense. I can't review the game without getting sick... but if you do, you will see Perry get the ball in the post and suck over the double team. That should have been expected and we should have played for the long ball. It's about practicing for the 3. Making it a priority. Instead... Perry would hold the ball, then get rescued with a pass out, only to turn right around and have them throw the ball back in the post. We were forcing the post shot. Perry really had a spectacular game. We should have lost by 20. Easily. Had he not played a great game, that would have been the result.

Brannen is the guy to focus on. He's easily one of the best perimeter shooters in the country. We should be running plenty of offense directly designed to free him up for flowing catch-and-shoot opportunities. Look what he did? Air ball? That's because he forced his play. Frank was also forcing his play. Nothing was coming natural.

The big cop out is to credit KSU's defense. This team lost 6 of it's last 7. But you could see their energy grow as it was apparent what we were doing and how close they stayed. We baited their energy to remain in the game.

There is no guarantee we will hit a high percentage of 3s every game. Unlikely to happen. However... we don't really have to burn the nets to be effective at 3. We just need to run perimeter offense. When the shot is there, take it. And when we are able to spread the defense, attack in the post. Make offense that has a flow, instead of forced. We are playing a forced offense. You can see it in the guys. IMHO, that is why Frank was off. Even on the easy bunny misses. Being out of sync destroys all areas of the game, including easy bunnies.

I'm not giving any of our guys a free pass on anything. But I don't think it is right that we dump on any one player in this game. Frank is a tough fighter. He wasn't even a McDs AA... and he's come to Kansas and done nothing but produce. I'd take a team full of Franks!

It will be interesting to see if this team responds now... or folds tent. Perry has been playing on the uptick since being verbally beat down after WVU. Will the team respond in a similar fashion? Can they respond? Can we do enough to win playing the unnatural hi/lo?

This is, yet another, example of why Weber rubs people wrong:

"“I apologized to Bill and his staff and to their administration,” Weber said. “It’s a cool thing to be a part of, but you also have to make sure nobody gets hurt. I’ve had some pretty good teams through the years and I’ve had it happen to me where they rushed the court and I got bopped and hit and it’s no fun, especially when you lose.”"

Most of his comments were on the mark about court rushing... but he still has one renegade statement..."It's a cool thing to be a part of..." No... it really isn't! And what his fans take from his statement is to keep doing it. They remember his statement how cool it is. It is Weber talking out the side of his mouth.

It is just a matter of time before something really horrible happens at one of these. Some idiot sneaks in a firearm or a knife. Or just someone comes "loaded" and delusional.

I can't believe many of our players just leisurely strolled away after the court rush. I know I would have got the heck out of there quickly.

I mention words about FFs... but I've stayed focus on winning #11. My pain is there. I feel it slipping away. I never counted on this team going far in March, but thought if we can win #11 and make a decent showing in March, I would be satisfied. This is really right there in our reach. The frustration is in feeling it slip away.

@tis4tim

Yes... sometimes losing conference gets teams fired up with a chip on their shoulders to win in March.

I just don't see it this year happening that way for us. Our defense has potential to play good, but not outstanding. And for that reason, we have to play pretty good ball on offense. Not sure we ever had an identity this year, but we were close to being "a skilled perimeter-shooting team." I have a hard time seeing us reestablish that now. We could get lucky from 3 and luck is what it would be because we aren't taking time to nurture the long ball, we are too entrenched in practice on building the hi/lo. That is already proven a lost cause. We are suddenly an average .500 team now. That is exactly our record, 2-2, since Self labeled the long ball "fool's gold." And we clearly experience a team lost and forced to turn away from their natural being.

Okay.... I'm done being down. We are going to win it all this year! Jamari is going to score 33 points in the championship game against Kentucky! I'm "all in" for the hi/lo! :-)

I'm back (as a delusional fan)!

Gosh... I almost feel like I could support Mizzou now! (barf)

Late Season Dissection

I'll dissect the later part of our conference season and point to key factors.

Let's start it when our season really started to matter. The OU game at home. We were up by 19 at half, and fell behind in the second half, only to come on late and win 85-78 in a gun fest. Self hates these kinds of games because you just can't ever seem to score enough to win safely. It always comes down to getting a stop on defense at some point. But we survived.

Next game was at Texas. Self had plenty of ammo to get his guys pumped up for this game, and he brought a team ready for Texas. In my opinion, this was the high point of our season. We won that game with plenty of control and poise. We shot 18 3s and only hit 6, and we still won and never seemed really threatened. The key to this game was ball possession. We only turned the ball over 3 times. And we only gave up 2 extra boards to a tall Texas team. Self seemed happy. And the guys didn't face his angst from only shooting 33% from 3. Our post shot only 43%.

Then we went to TCU for our trap game, and held on. We only shot 8 3s that game, but hit 3 of them. This was a vital game for Self. We didn't count on the 3 and we won on the road by playing tough defense. Or you could look at it through more realistic eyes and just admit that TCU stunk.

Next, a home game with the Purple Kitties. This game was decided by our superiority in the paint over the Kitties post play, even though the stats say we should have just hoisted up more 3s.

Next, the revenge match with ISU at home. We torched the nets from 3.... 47% and earned ourselves 30 points from beyond the arc. That was the biggest difference in the game.

Then came our heartbreak loss at OSU. This was the game that broke the camel's back. Not really the camel, but Self's allowance for us to finally declare our identity as a perimeter shooting team. We shot 50% from 3 and we lost. How can that happen? Maybe because we had 18 TOs, many leading to easy baskets. Or the fact that we shot only 52% from the line and gave up too much charity. This is when Self mentally started changing his mind on the season concerning his focus AWAY from the 3.

From here we went to TT. We smoked the nets from 3 at 55%. Self disapproved and labeled our success from the perimeter as "fool's gold."

Ever since that declaration of "fool's gold" this team has started their descent.

Next game was Baylor at home. We were back to shooting 33% from 3. And we shot 46% from 2. Baylor played pretty good d.

Then the loss at WVU. We shot 54% from 3 but only put up 11. We were already undergoing Self's push away from the 3. There were plenty of open look 3s this team didn't take.

Next... our alarming win at home against TCU. A game that shouldn't have been close. We only shot 10 3s and hit 4. We relied on our post, and we did shoot 58% from 2. This home win was a struggle, We gave up 72 points from an inferior TCU team on our home court. I became nervous after this game because I could see the wheels coming off.

Last, the Kitties yesterday. We only shot 13 3s, and really, we only took about 3 or 4 good look 3s. The rest were forced after running ineffective offense trying to force the hi/lo. I'm afraid this just further pushes Self into his delusion that 3s are "fool's gold." It was clear that he forced our guys into complete hi/lo basketball. Perry had a monster game and we lost. Do we all believe the "fool's gold" that Perry can always bring 20+ points to a game? And even if he can, we can still lose to a sub-500 team.

He really sacrificed this team out to prove his point.

I look at it like he was the trainer of Carl Lewis a year before the Olympics and he spent this year training Carl to run backwards. Even if he figured out a month before the games that was wrong and started training him to run forwards, it is too late. I feel like we are in that position now.

There is no way to go backwards (I mean forwards) and reset the identity of this team to it's natural being (a perimeter shooting team). It's too late.

We don't have the defensive quality to salvage subpar offense. Our only choice this year was to play to our strengths and get every ounce of offense out of this team and turn them into overachievers. You know... like the Mayor is doing over at ISU. Be willing to accept some high scoring races to the finish line. Even though we all about stroked out in that OU game... it was the beginning of a 5-game winning streak!

I really feel like this season's tone changed after Self started talking about "fool's gold." It seems to be supported when analyzing what has happened since that time. This isn't the same team that won 5 in a row and won at Texas. That comment started our trajectory downwards. Our natural identity was shattered.

I'm not expecting any more break out games from Brannen Greene this year. Might as well put him on ice for next year. And from the way we are playing now, that won't be very much longer.

I want to give a pat on the back to all our guys for fighting hard last night. They brought effort and they tried to execute Self's plan, and they almost won a game they had almost no chance of winning. Perry... tremendous game!

Bill Self's "Day After" Schedule

8am - 8:30am Review Game Footage

8:30am - 12pm Team Practice (hi/lo)

12pm - 1pm Attend The Mayor's Acceptance of the B12 Key in Lawrence

1pm - 2pm Attend Own Firing Squad

2pm - 5pm Team Practice (hi/lo)

5pm - 6pm Lock Office Door and Watch Bonanza ReRun

6pm - 7pm Round up Assistant Coaches and Start Drinking

7pm - 12am Continue Drinking

We don't value the 3, so we don't build offense around it. What you saw tonight was like old Bill Self teams. A bunch of guys that come out of HS with a rep of hitting the long ball only to be mediocre in D1. Why? For the reason you saw tonight.

When Brannen Greene shoots an air ball you know you aren't running the right stuff.

We ran the hi/lo as good as we could ever hope to run it this year. Perry was tremendous. It just didn't get the job done. The "fool's gold" was to go for the 2 point shots when on average we shoot a higher percentage from the 3, and we get the extra point. Of course, that only happened because we played an offense that freed up the 3 and Self let them take it.

We may give up #11, but dang it, we are going to prove that we are a hi/lo team!

Like I said in my thread earlier today... any time you don't play towards your strength you are playing "fool's gold" basketball.

Oh well.... we are on the down swing, ISU is on the up. Now we are tied. Let's see where this goes. Let's see if Self can figure out how to win this year.

That game was a gift to the Kitties.

@KUSTEVE

Hey... Kim took the Central Missouri Mules to back-to-back MIAA championships, earning him the hot seat in Columbia. So we better watch out! The Tigs are hot on our trail!

@DoubleDD

This game matters to us ONLY because if we lose we have to hear whimpering bragging "meows" until the next time we play them. Otherwise... it is just another game.

Might as well stick a fork in the Kitties this year... their done!

That doesn't mean we win tonight. Until we can put our foot on their throats and cut off their windpipe, you have to put a question mark beside the outcome.

I don't care enough about Weber to even dislike him. But I feel pity for the guy. He's just kind of pathetic. He's the uncle-n-law guy that you forget to invite over for Thanksgiving.

I was entertained when it was Frank Martin screaming. Bruce screaming is kind of pathetic.

@JayHawkFanToo

Thanks for the Spanish lesson!

@HighEliteMajor

I think Jamari plays a key role moving forward... just not in the way Self uses him.

Jamari should be "energy off the bench."

Our other post player for most of the time moving forward should either be Cliff or be another guard. 4 out 1 in. But make that guard someone who can slash through the paint and score in the post. Or feed Perry in the paint to score. Or feed the ball back out for an uncontested 3.

I think Cliff's biggest down side right now is his passing. It's hard to make him a piece if he can't pass effectively. Obviously, his defense is totally hit or miss, too.

@HighEliteMajor

I've sort of given up on seeing more development out of Cliff this year. It ain't gonna happen.

But how about what he currently has to offer? His stat line clearly shows him as the choice in the post.

What scares me now is rust. Guys that are so inexperienced and undeveloped (like Cliff) can rust up in a single half of sitting on the bench. He totally needs game minutes just to establish any kind of flow. And in March?

I see a guy like Cliff making Self mad in the first half of a game in March so he only plays 4 minutes. Then the second half comes along and Self turns to Cliff and he goes in and plays horrible. He's a guy that can rust quicker than paint can dry.

This is my biggest fear around Cliff from here on out. It's too late to see much development in him now. But that doesn't mean he can't be a vital part of this team moving forward.

Here's where I take one from the master:

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@Crimsonorblue22

Bravo in knowing how to type "niño!" I had to copy/paste it to do it! Yeah... he is no slouch. And I appreciate his game, He's built like I was and he likes to use his body. He gets my "thumbs up."

@Kip_McSmithers

Finally someone called me out. Ha. I know not everyone in here agrees with me... but I remain a diehard Knight fan forever. Not that he needed to seal the deal, but when he blasted Calipari a few years ago it did add frosting to the cake. I'm curious as all heck what words will come out of his mouth if Calipari wins it all this year and goes undefeated. Let's see.... when was the last time that happened? Ha... Then Calipari will be merged with Knight forever in the history books. I know Knight will puke his guts out on that one!

I have no idea why our kids are not taught about shot fakes. It would be an easy way for us to pick up a 10 point advantage on every game from here on out. If they know them then they are less likely to fall for them and foul, and they can also use them to draw fouls. This is the one tweak that could make a huge difference in the win column from here on out!

If we, by chance, get stuck playing Kentucky again, the shot fake is our ONLY salvation! And that would be the time to use them. Kentucky would think they are going to get a record high shot blocks in March Madness history, and they will, unless we use the fake. Then we could even get Kentucky in foul trouble!

@wrwlumpy

Ha! A closet piano player!

@tis4tim

That was some hilarious visions!

Ron Artest? PHOF!

Is he still over playing for the Sichuan Blue Whales in China? Exhibiting some of that "Metta World Peace?" Did anyone ever tell him it's not always safe to be a Buddhist in China?!

This should be a game where we see Alexander and Gipson mix it up hard in the paint. My fear is that Gipson will quickly get Alexander in foul trouble because all teams that scout us know we don't practice fakes, and for that reason, we are the easiest team to draw fouls on using any kind of fake.

I feel like this is the key match up. The Kitties won't have anything if Gipson isn't productive and playing most of this game.

If it doesn't end up being a match up between Alexander and Gipson, it will be Lucas and Gipson.

I'm as positive that Lucas could have a break out game as much as Alexander could. Sometimes Lucas can be effective. He does the best job of any of our bigs when it comes to sealing off in the post area.

@jaybate-1.0

I promise to wear an Alfred E. Newman head to the Texas game if Self lets them shoot 30 3s tonight. I'll even flash my man breasts to the crowd!

@ralster

I have to admit my man-crush on the Mayor this year. Man... the way they shredded Texas a couple of days ago was really impressive. All of his starters and a few deep on his bench... all of these guys can not only score, but they can take their man in match ups. Many of our guys are limited in how they score. And how many of those ISU guys were McDs AAs? Any of them?

Ralster... maybe you know. Does the Mayor recruit guys most based on their offensive capabilities or does he develop it in them when they come to ISU?

I know part of the ISU game is around his offense and the sets he runs. But he has the guys seeing things during the game. One or two of their guys see something and they exploit it, either by themselves or together by using pick and rolls, etc. They seem to be taught less exact plays and more direct theories on how to score and what to look for. Their offense seems light years ahead of ours. I don't think we can run offense like that even when all of these guys are seniors.

My only break from "over-populating the world" this weekend was to see the ISU-Texas game and KU-TCU. Seeing both of those games together put me in a funk about Kansas moving forward.

I'm looking at development... a while back we experienced Kelly "breaking out"... Brannen learning to D a little and rebound. We noticed progress. But now it looks like the guys are sort of spinning their wheels. Some moving backwards. We can't seem to count on any of our bigs to be consistent. Perry is our most-consistent big. Wayne... oh man. Wayne.... I recall he had a wide open drive to the bucket with a defender playing right under the bucket and Wayne took it all the way to the rim and forced the shot and missed. He was lucky he didn't get the charge call. I'm watching that and I'm saying to myself... "Wayne... dude... pull up from 8 feet and bank it in. It's a shot a 3rd grader would make. But you had to force the action. Why?"

Excellent thread going on here. There is so much to pick through....

What has caught my eye the most is "does good offense help create good defense?"

@jaybate-1.0 has some good points about that.

Let me flip it another direction. I know that bad offense can lead to bad defense. How many times have we seen players blow a dunk or bunny and turn right around and make a dumb foul on the other end? That almost seems to be automatic. Anytime a Jayhawk is in foul trouble and blows a bunny I scream at the TV.. "don't foul, don't foul!" Many times they foul!

In my day, I was a defensive specialist and a rebounder. Period. I had offense but never to the caliber of many players on my teams. It still weighs down my preference for defense. I'd much rather own a guy by smoking his shot than stuffing over him.

I also felt like games that are "off to the races" (like many of Roy William's games) were frustrating games to watch (and play in). Your team's offense is pounding the heck out of another team's defense and you have a 3 point lead?

I tilt towards defense and I get tired of watching teams score, score, score. I like seeing teams struggle to score.

But I started this thread because I see real trouble with this team moving forward. And if we get our offense shut down I don't think we have the quality of defense to pull very many of these games out.

Enough theory... right now we need to win games! In some games moving forward we may have our best shot by making it more of a race than a stand off.

I don't want to blast Self because he focuses on defense. I question him for not giving enough focus to our offense. Many of the problems this team faces relates more to their youth than anything else. We need everything we can to help us create a margin of safety. Putting more focus on offense right now seems like our best bet in creating margin today, and also tomorrow.

So if we do put more focus on offense, shouldn't we play to our strength first (perimeter shooting) and then spin off some interior scoring by spreading the defense?

@icthawkfan316

"I'm just saying Phil is more like how you describe college coaches - had a rigid system identity, "recruited" (in his case signed players and assembled a team) to fit that system, etc."

Could be. And this is just my perspective and nothing more.

Another pro coach I would put at the top who does it his way only is Coach Pop at SA. He does it his way but the guys he counts on most have been with him a decade or so.

@icthawkfan316

I think he had 11 championships!

I think his triangle worked because he had a couple of the best shooting guards to ever play the game... Jordan and Bryant.

Bryant had a problem with that offense and started ignoring it and playing one-on-one... it took quite a while before LA got back to winning titles again.

@wrwlumpy

What I'm noticing about Brannen is he is only effective with a catch-and-shoot play. The second he puts the ball down for a dribble, he kills his chances of scoring. There is so many ways we could use him, yet we don't.

Here is Brannen's worth to this team.

He is shooting 49.3% from 3. That is an effective shooting % of 73.9% from 2. No Bill Self team ever shot 73% in the post! There is nothing "fool's gold" about that!

I get the feeling like he doesn't want his team to score a lot because it takes away from his philosophy about defense. The game should be won from the defensive side of the ball. Pro coaches have a better understanding of the game. The game is won by the team that outscores the other team, whether it be from good defense, good offense, or both.

@wrwlumpy

"Bill Self is not going to change his philosophy, so what should we do?"

We play one of his strategies... we just keep grinding on him!

Gosh... this team is so close to being a FF caliber team. There is no way we'll get there by just relying on our defense, while playing a sputtering offense.

You can already see the writing on the wall. A March loss where we score 62 points.

I'm not saying we become a Roy team. Roy is too much the inverse of Bill. He gave up way too much on the defensive side of the ball, pushing his team for run outs.

I think we keep the focus on becoming a well-rounded team. It would be a gigantic suicidal leap to throw defensive focus under the bus. That isn't what I'm trying to express in this thread. I'm just trying to stress balance.

This Kansas team scoring 72 at home against TCU after a tough road loss is telling me we left offense in the locker room.

It isn't too late to get this team turning towards momentum again. Ultimately... this is what it is all about.

Man... when Brannen goes out there and nails 3 or 4 long balls, you see the guys get fired up!

"When can you remember ever during Bill's tenure losing a game on the defensive end with 8 seconds left?"

Michigan. Sometimes we are just going to lose. In our Michigan loss we scored 85 points... granted that was an OT game. That was the most points we scored in a loss in the tourney under Self... toss that game out of my calculations and our average point production in those losses was 62.5.

@wrwlumpy

"Forget history, and think of a cornered wild animal."

Outstanding sentence that pinpoints tonight's battle!

I never thought I'd be writing a thread like this.... where I'm questioning the focus on playing hard defense as a losing strategy.

Well.. I'm not! I'm never going to diss playing solid defense. It is the focus of our head coach, and it has worked out pretty well for us during his years as a Jayhawk.

But can we question the AMOUNT of focus we place on defense? Can we question if playing sound defense is working the game enough to be successful? What about in March?

I did a little calculation. I added up all of our NCAA tournament losses final score and found an average. In the 11 years of NCAA tournament losses under Bill Self our average points were 64.5. I'm not sure this kind of information helps make a point, because in loss games we are bound to score fewer points. On the other hand, maybe there is a reason for this low number.

I've been preaching for several months now my theory that college coaches think differently than NBA coaches. My overall theory is that NBA coaches just play to win. They'll mimic whatever style they need to win a game, their conference or a World Championship. College basketball coaches have their specific identity, and they recruit to their identity, and they coach games expressing their identity, and they expect their players to follow through with their identity.

Bill Self is known as a defensive-minded coach. We all know his focus is on defense. He's said it many times how much he appreciates grind games and winning them. He has been taught well from his Oklahoma background. He played as a guard at OSU and was a 4-year letterman. Did he score any points in those 4 years? I ask that because I have not been able to locate how much offense he had as a player. That would seem to be a factor in how he developed into the coach he is today.

So is there an example of when focusing too much on defense becomes "fool's gold?"

I believe there is.

Even though it is well-known that it is easier to teach young players defense than offense.

Even though it is well-known that it is easier to bring consistent solid defense with you on the road versus consistent solid offense.

Even though it is hard to win the close games without being able to execute needed defensive stops at key points of the game.

Here are examples when I believe focusing too much on defense becomes "fool's gold" -

1. When putting the same effort into creating more offense instead of putting the same effort into playing tougher defense will create more points than deny them. For every point difference on this calculation we leave a point difference gain in our games. Is it better to win 85-75 or 64-60? Self would tell you he prefers the lower score because his team plays tougher defense. I'd prefer the bigger score because we won by 10 instead of 4. I'd prefer to have some margin at the end of a game.

2. When you don't have enough execution balance on both sides of the ball to keep your guys playing with energy. Regardless how a coach thinks or gets his guys to play, if players can't execute well on offense, it is a matter of time before they soften up on defense. The risk of losing the momentum tide of the game is increased if you can't be effective on either side of the ball. If you can't be effective on offense, you are building the momentum of your opposition because they gain confidence by stopping your offense, just like you gain confidence from stopping their offense. Creating a basic tie is not a strategy that will produce the most wins.

3. When you give up obvious opportunities because your focus isn't in those areas. We have seen what perimeter shooting is possible from this team. But there is no way we will maintain that in the crunch part of the season unless we have offense structured to take advantage of it. But in order for us to structure offense to make the most of it, we'll have to dedicate large amounts of our practice time in order to do that. At this point, Self has to give up time away from his defensive focus and put it towards offense. Part of this is a learning curve for him and his coaching staff. His offensive focus has always been around the hi/lo, a strategy that simply will not give enough return to focus there now.

4. When the season moves towards the end and you still haven't defined your team identity on the defensive end, time to focus more on offense. This is where we are. We play respectable defense, though we aren't really a great rebounding team. But is it strong enough to succeed in March? I'm not sure it is strong enough to win #11.

What counts at this time of year is momentum. We had momentum in our corner after we won in Texas. Since that time, we seem to have lost that edge on a consistent basis. It seems that we still have an identity crisis. We aren't known as a heavy pressure defensive team, and we don't play any certain strategy that is labeling us on offense either.

It seems that we are trying to FORCE an inside offensive game. This is something that will come NATURAL if we don't FORCE it. If we could run a little more offense that helps spread the floor and help us where are strength is (perimeter shooting) the post scoring will follow as a consequence of teams having to stretch their defense. This becomes all about running plays and sets that open up every scoring possibility we have.

What scares me is I see our momentum fading. I see ISU's momentum gaining. I watched both our game and theirs this weekend and they looked a heck of a lot better than us. Their offense was in high gear, and it helped energize their defense. They had a much easier time winning in Austin than we did, and that Texas team is much improved over when we played them last.

I'm back to looking at our offense and not knowing what to call it. There is complete flatness in our offense, and the way we are playing right now, the long ball IS "fool's gold" because we are using it to bail out our offense. When Frank hits a 3 with 2-seconds left on the shot clock and he forces the shot... that is "fool's gold." When we run real offense that opens up Brannen on a flowing catch-and-shoot shot, there is nothing "fool's gold" about that.

When we aren't playing to our strengths (the long ball) we are playing "fool's gold" basketball... thinking our medium-quality defense is going to salvage games for us.

I appreciate Bill Self and what he has done for Kansas basketball. I just wish he had scored a few more points in his day to better appreciate both sides of the ball. "Fool's gold" exists any time when you don't play to your strengths because you are then counting on other areas to win games that are not your biggest strength. It seems like we are playing a game of "fool's gold" every time we step on the hardwoods these days.

Biggest Wildcat Joke?

I'd say that it is right now... the present-day Wildcat basketball situation. It's a humiliating joke of where their program is going. Weber is proving once again that he can coach other coach's players, but when he has to build his own team, the problems appear. He doesn't seem to have a solid grasp of his own identity. Teams should match the identity of their coach.

I miss Jack Hartman. I miss those days in the B8 when you could count on every game between the Kitties and the Jayhawks being monster games. We were often fighting it out for the top of the league. In 1981, Hartman was National Coach of the Year. He brought class and tough teams to AFH. He helped build respect for our conference. He was a guy that was true B8 stock... having played at OSU under Iba, a well-respected HOFer.

Hartman was respected, and he gave respect back.

"Wildcat" Weber... he seems full of spite. He gives backhanded compliments. You can sense a self-esteem issue. Doesn't seem head coach material.

How long until he drives Kitty basketball down to the bottom? He coasted in here and shared the crown a couple of years ago with a solid Frank Martin team. When will he replicate that again? My guess, is never!

I hope the Kitties bring game tonight. I want their best shot. I want our team to have to fight and scratch for #11. We seem to be coasting in to another league title, and that is exactly what I DON'T want to see (in preparation for March).

Thanks, Jayhawk Nation! You all, rock!

7 lbs, 14 oz... our bundle of joy is here and one of her first introductions was to the Jayhawk logo. She took one look and then let out a hiccup! Little party girl partied all night last night, slept through the day today, missing her first game. Kind of glad that she did. I have just a minute before returning to the hospital for our last night there.

or smell!

I'm off to bed. 3 hours of sleep, have a baby, then finish my day as normal... well.. maybe not!

@JayhawkRock78

Here is a little sketch of my clodhoppers...

!Dali museum 5.jpg ↗

I wasn't too far off from this....

Somewhere I have a photo of me eating raw herring. If I find it I'll post it.

Actually traveled in Spain and visited Dali's beach house. I startled a woman standing by the door and she had to be caught from collapsing.

It took me months to develop my own mustache wax that actually worked right.

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@Crimsonorblue22

That's definitely @brooksmd and not me. I tried a beard once. Way too itchy! So I settled for a Dali moustache with extreme handle bars. That wasn't even in my youth... but middle age!

Would be cool if others posted pics of everyone in here... it would give me something nice to chuckle about tomorrow in between changing diapers.

Good God... all you people are embarrassing me. I better keep jogging for a few more years!

@JayhawkRock78

Okay... you don't have to remove your shirt... but still rockin' on to us!

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@JayhawkRock78

I've been fairly fit most of my life, but I'm as pregnant as my wife right now. Can't wait until we both deliver!

Hey... I think I just found your photo on the net... hold on...

@approxinfinity

Okay Wizard.... we've seen behind the curtain!

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@Blown

Better slow down man!

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@globaljaybird

France? Really? Does everyone on your phone know everyone else?

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@JayHawkFanToo

Can't hide forever.....

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Any guesses? Yes... this is actually Jethro Bodine after graduating from the Beverly Hillbillies...

@KUSTEVE

Suave glasses, my man!

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@Crimsonorblue22

He's happy because he runs a tight ship!

@icthawkfan316

!Jeremy-Scott-NPC-Prolab-Sponsored-Athlete.jpg ↗

Dude...... what do you eat?

@HighEliteMajor

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Found him!

@jaybate-1.0

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@Crimsonorblue22

yes....

Hmmm..... I'm looking for @jaybate-1.0 now....

Can you post some of the crew in here?

@Crimsonorblue22

It's you!

@Crimsonorblue22

Baby in a few hours... we check into the hospital at 3am for a 5:30am delivery! Will let you know how it goes...

@Crimsonorblue22 .... just what I expected!

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