🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Let's put it this way.... when you can already question the Love trade, just a few months into the season... chances are... you made a royal F@%# up!

The question will continue this year... next year... and the year after that.

It was a high price to pay to go for what was felt like more immediate help to make a quick run for LeBron's twilight years. Is that sound judgment? It was sort of shortsighted in the first place to think... "yes...let's build a franchise around a guy with just a few good years left."

Their entire premise was wrong. I'm glad Wigs is gone from Cleveland. It's not his kind of town anyways. He is in the right place, and the trade gave him plenty of motivation to prove himself. So the trade worked out great for Wigs, and I'm guessing bad for Cleveland... but time will tell, and maybe they win a crown or two.

@KUSTEVE

" I might have to run a weekly Jethro Top 3 Jayhawks,"

Please, please, please do!

You are right on the button. Devonte may be the most popular guy on campus, and has a young "boyish" appearance.... but the guy can flat out ball and he grew up on a playground somewhere, because he has plenty of swagger!

Imagine him in 4 years? Gosh... what a pick up!

@Shanghai_RCJH

"Since our last meeting, McKay has improved the most on the roster."

Yes. McKay is definitely coming along. He is very active and dangerous. They definitely have a new weapon, and that is scary.

But if we move our feet quickly, we will neutralize their offense and we should control this game.

I don't see us losing this game. I'm more afraid of WVU. They represent a totally different approach than we have seen this year.

@wrwlumpy

Great work!

Wow.... look at BG's form. We have to get this guy his shot. That should be a priority. Our offense is spotty. We don't always know where it will come from. Our best chance at racking up big points is to use BG and build offense around him.

Here is something else about BG.... he has been talking a lot on defense. That is exactly what we need. Our guys need to be talking to each other out there. Focusing in as one. I've noticed him doing this since the Texas game (maybe sooner).

Sherron.... welcome home, my friend! Stay here and take a job somewhere in the athletic department so when the time is right, you'll work your way up through the basketball program. He is most valuable to us and there is no other job he could have where he could be more valuable. He is every bit the legend Mario is.

Devonte.... I hope we don't get the payback for your outburst in Manhattan. Weber is going to replay and replay that when they prep for us next time.

Perry is more assertive and when he asserts himself he usually leads us to victory. He's been showing us some different finishes... finishes with as much polish as his usual stuff. Love the photo... He looks like a matured man. Looks like he can lead this team.

Bruce.... why did you do that? Your team was unraveling so you call a timeout and prove you are more unraveled than your guys.

I love me some Royals!

Wayne, Wayne, Wayne!

Imagine if he gets hot! If he starts penetrating and feeding or scoring! If he blocks a bunch of shots every game. Pulls some rebounds. Goes down on the floor for some 50/50s....

This team could really kick it up a notch if Wayne kicks it up.

Self has choices at the 2 and he's sticking with Wayne. He usually knows his guys and has a feel for who will bring on their game later.

We'll see how this plays out.

Brannen is definitely pushing on the heels of Wayne.

This is all good for Kansas basketball.

We have a bunch of talented guards. Hard to guess just how far they might take us in March. Even though we lack a big shot blocker, I feel more confident this year that we won't suffer the early exit in March. But does it translate to FF? With the right luck, we can get there!

Here is Brannen... Natural Born World-Shaker!

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Here is a big shout out to Wayne Selden!

Glad to see him hit double-digits. Welcome back, Wayne!

@nuleafjhawk

I'm glad you and I are the same.... we never ever exaggerate!

I've recently posted what I believe is the difference between college coaches and NBA coaches. College coaches are partially about winning, and partially about teaching their philosophy. I know that sounds wrong.... I know we are all thinking college coaches are ALL about winning, but you will see a difference if you compare them to NBA coaches.

Self's philosophy is built around defense. So much so that he'd rather limit the minutes of his best offensive player just to gain a tiny bit of defensive improvement with another player. Self really is about the grind games. It is what he strives for. He is fundamentally a very different coach than his predecessor, Roy Williams. Self never wants a game to be a points race.... never!

I'm not sure we would have won today without Brannen. It seemed like every time KSU mounted a comeback, Brannen was there to reverse the momentum with a single shot. He did that a few times, and who knows what would have happened if our mini-droughts would have extended longer. Frank did not have his typical game, and only got going late.

This team relies on momentum. It feeds on momentum. And when fueled with momentum, this team plays with energy, and when this team has energy they are almost unbeatable!

But as we know... a basketball game resembles a dramatic play. Circumstances are constantly changing and the narrative shifts to new paths, not all of them positive for our Jayhawks. Brannen has been one of those guys that can turn the direction of our team back on course. Just how valuable is he? It really goes far far beyond the points he puts up.

Brannen is a game changer! And all we have to do to let him shoot us onto the right path is give him minutes and work enough motion on offense to free him up for his shot! That isn't a lot to ask from this team.... and if we do it, more times than not, Brannen is going to find success! We have to go back a few decades to find a Jayhawk with his sharpshooting talent!

@DoubleDD

"Listened to a lot of Bruce Weber interviews and the dude has no respect for KU or HCBS."

I know exactly where you are coming from on this. It is in his personality... part of his defensive reaction trying to mask his own inferiority complex. I wish he could see himself from a third-person perspective. He really isn't a bad coach, but his over-compensations are one of his biggest problems.

Did you see him today in the first half on his time-out?

Coaches do need to scream at guys often... but he was out of control, and that projected on to his team and they played out of control. Obviously, Weber must have collected himself by halftime because they came out and executed much better the second half.

I think he'd be a fairly decent coach if he could tweak his behavior and realize his body language and actions often are not helping his cause.

I'm hopeful that the purple kitties continue to improve. I want to get the rivalry back more... we need it!

I've seen lots of shots that looked like goal tending this year not get the call. And with D1 scoring averages on the brink of all time low... being soft on these calls isn't exactly going in the direction the NCAA (and their refs) want it to.

Here is an interesting read on the subject.

Slow pace, low scores damage college hoops' watchability, visibility ↗

I'm afraid the dimwits at the NCAA will continue jacking the game in attempts to make it "watchable" again. Evidently... the game is ONLY ABOUT OFFENSE! So, once again, it is time to highjack the sport and punish defense in order to attract viewers that will only watch the game if the scores are high.

Their earlier efforts to "Bilas-ize" the game into sterility failed miserably as the hand checks have returned and now only get called on enough occasions to create inconsistency in calls. The entire effort actually encouraged defenders to flop more, a negative side-effect happening naturally after the initial imbalance of power shifted over to the offense.

I'm really surprised that refs have gone soft on the goal tending calls. I figure this is just one more area where they can flip the advantage back to the offense..... even though, from an action point fans really love to see blocks!

I wish these numbskulls would quit listening to marketing goons and leave the game alone. The game straightens itself out with time. If scoring is down, then kids start working harder to improve their offense.

The real truth is that too much of the talent leaves early for the NBA. Imagine if all that talent stayed in school for 4 years? Look at us. What if we still had Wigs and JoJo? It's rare now to see a veteran team of seniors with super high skill levels. There is where you get your scoring.

Self said it right... defense is easier to teach than offense. The quality level of college ball has dropped with all the early exits. So work with the NBA and fix the rules and keep kids in school (where they belong). Do this instead of rig up the game to favor more offense. If anything... the 3-pt line should be moved back to the NBA line.

Rockin' in the Fieldhouse!

@JayHawkFanToo

Seems like it would be easy to create more spring with some of those air sole designs. Make the sides with stretching rubber that would push out on compression and bounce back harder. That wouldn't require a spring.

I'm trying to imagine some silly willy NBA staffer running scientific tests on shoe materials....

I lovvvveeeee watching Weber in AFH. He always feels the need to overreact on everything. It is his knee-jerk reaction to something deep inside.... his feeling of being the lessor with Self and with AFH. I'd love to play high stakes poker with this guy because he telegraphs everything you ever want to know.

!ZimmermannTelegram.jpg ↗

@icthawkfan316

Gosh... I'm so bad at this. I think my record of picking the Hawk to Rock is something like 10%. I must be a jinx... a curse to the unfortunate guy I pick.

So my Hawk to Rock is Tyler Self! He is long overdue to hit another layup and force overtime and propel us into another classic KU-KSU battle win.

Now THAT is confidence!

@JayHawkFanToo

You are a knowledgeable basketball fan..... is there a rule on how much rubber can exist between the floor and the bottoms of players' feet?

We are going to kick their rears all the way back to Manhattan!

Er... oh... forgot about the jinx factor.... sorry....

Okay... let's edit that.

We are going to play a game of basketball with the purple kitties today!

@wissoxfan83

I got those shoes off of Google Image Search... where all great photos come from!

That photo makes me wonder.... what are the restrictions for shoe height in D1 and the NBA?

I'm thinking I have a new career as the next great shot blocker in the NBA, with my 4-ft platforms!

I wonder if this has anything to do with the height discrepancies?

!jayhawkshoes.jpg ↗

@JayHawkFanToo

"and a big rear end like Barkley have a bigger effect."

Player size formula:

Height + Wingspan + Butt Protrusion = Player Size

I wonder if we can patent that formula? If it gets famous and used, we get a royalty each time!

Turns out that Charles Barkley's actual player size equals Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

I'll never forget Barkley in the low post, back to the basket, and how he would protrude his butt out and that would push back a defender a few more inches.... creating enough scoring space for his fade away jumper!

I really miss the "golden years" of the NBA.... no one had a skyhook like Jabbar!

@wissoxfan83

Here is a strange one.... I was walking around in Spencer's.... you know.. the gag gift place in every mall, and I turned a corner and there stand Patrick Ewing. Man..... he was big! He had a full length black leather jacket on and I swear it must have taken two cows to make his coat!

The whole situation caught me off guard, so I was almost speechless... so I played the typical silly fan role and just gave him some compliments for giving me years of quality basketball viewing. I kind of left off the part about him not ever winning a NBA championship. Man.... the dude was every bit a footer!

@jaybate-1.0

"Luck is fracking real. "

Luck is fracking real! But you should do everything in your powers to get in that position for luck to come your way.

Mario was in position to have his shot go down. It could have rimmed out, or a Memphis big could have been standing there to contest it and make it harder.

Lots of "ifs." We get those same "ifs" when things don't go our way... like our loss to Michigan or others in March.

Luck is a component, but it is never the only reason for a win or loss. Everything leading up to that moment is part of it, too.

I'm curious what would have happened if Mario had clanked that shot?

Let's see.... maybe Calipari is still at Memphis?

Maybe Self moved on because he couldn't lift the same curse Roy had?

Or maybe Self has 2 NCs at Kansas now instead of one? The miss made him push that much harder.

Anything is possible... and all of this big news... big money going different.... success of programs... it was all in the balance of one shot. Mario's shot.

Life is the same way. When you stepped off the curb and the semi truck just missed you by a hair. Turns out the driver was eating a ham sandwich, but just happened to look over just in time to swerve away...

Who we are as people.... defined when one swimmer sperm made it to the finish line a millisecond before another.

Why it is important to understand how "luck" or "fate" works is that we should all remain humble and be thankful for how life has turned out... even if our chips are down. It could always be worse!

I've had to endure some tough medical issues with my father. Through it all he carries a smile and just keeps saying, "things could be worse! It is better than the alternative!" We all know what the alternative is... most of all... him!

@RockChalkinTexas

"P.S. About 30 some tomato seedlings have sprouted this past week with the temps up in the high 70's."

Oh my goodness.... My wife is due in 3 weeks and I need to get my seedlings started! What's a feller to do?

@globaljaybird

"Or maybe we could just send them the KSU cheerleading squad instead !!"

I'm glad I'm not the only one that didn't give a thumbs up to the girls in purple. Now TCU's cheerleaders (on the other hand) maintain the Big 12 standard of excellence!

@RockChalkinTexas

Very, very nice photo! ...and not too bad with Frank Jr. Sr., too!

@HawkInMizery

"I love the format change it will make for an exciting day of basketball."

I like that aspect, but not sure I like it happening right in the middle of Big 12 conference play.

It seems like a big distraction from our conference battles. It matters less in the SEC. Most of the teams don't challenge for a conference title.

@benshawks08

Once again... great post!

You seem to have a lot more experience with this issue in a broader context.

I'm guessing people react most to what they are used to. I was brought up with strict discipline and experienced my fair share of the "end of a stick" kind of discipline.

I'm a very competitive person, but only when I see something as being a competition. In other areas of my life I'm very relaxed and not trying to outperform people on everything. Sports... I'm all in! Driving a fancy car? Naaaa.... I'm thrilled that my friends drive nicer cars, some even into the classics. I think it is great that I can experience what they like with them, and not turn it into a competition!

@benshawks08

It has been great having you post regularly in here. Very good content!

Self did give them some compliments after Texas. And other times he gives criticism. So he is a coach that mixes in both sides.

I have a hard time understanding why he can't get his guys motivated for every game. He seems to be doing the right things. Maybe it's who he recruits? I don't even pretend to understand what is going on with that.

Some guys just have great motors. It didn't take much to get Kevin Young or TRob to spend a bunch of energy. Those guys were only equipped with "on" and "off."

I'm kind of starting to wonder if motivation is something hardwired into people. And maybe it will always be a battle for some of these guys to stay motivated. Gosh... being a star basketball player soon to have the potential to make millions sounds like plenty of carrot on the stick!

I'm motivated just by having another human being standing across from me ready to challenge. That's all I need to run until I drop.

@nuleafjhawk

"Them boys knows their cows."

KSU has a department titled, "Department of Animal Husbandry."

I thought that was illegal in most States? Maybe it's allowed in Utah and Manhattan, Kansas?

@jaybate-1.0

We all should stay on a "height alert" on any posted heights of Jayhawks, because we've all been hoodwinked before.

Having said that... I've learned to discount things like photos as an indication of height. Some guys slouch, or lean forward... and camera angles often create distortions.

It would be great if someday at a public interview event someone would bring something to measure our guys and then ask if they would do it. My guess... it would be prohibited from occurring.

I am of the belief that actual player heights are a big time secret.

BTW: the only accurate method is SHOES OFF!

@sfbahawk

"When players don't perform according to his metrics they sit. He does this with all players."

I'm not sure it is that robotic. I think there are other factors.

Wayne is a good example of that. Wayne hasn't played near up to snuff this year in almost every category, yet he still receives a big share of minutes. I think Self feels like he's making an investment. It is hope that Wayne comes through later in the year and definitely in March.

This idea will be completely tested when we go to Morgantown. If I was coaching that game I'd prepare Devonte ahead of time and tell him this is his shining moment. We need him to work closely with Frank ahead of this game and he will start. If we expect to have a prayer of winning that game, we need a strategy, and that strategy should be putting the ball skills and basketball IQ of Devonte in the starting rotation, perhaps just for that game.

This gives Devonte time to not only work on beating the press, but also getting totally pumped up for this challenge. He is the guy that can beat WVU, almost single-handed, by beating the press and creating easy baskets in the process.

Devonte having a great game here and clearly helping us secure a victory just adds more motivation for Wayne to step up after that. Devonte has a great attitude, and he just wants to help his team. He won't get all ruffled if he has to slide back in the rotation after this game.

If we don't see this... we see Self back to being stubborn and "not changing who we are for an opponent." You would never ever ever hear that from a NBA coach. Their game is about changing who they are to give the best shot at beating each team. They often recruit a player in just to have a good match up against one of the better teams in their division.

I'm curious if any of the computer models adjust for outliers? Does anyone know?

@Jesse-Newell ... this is a question for you.

@jayhawk-007

I think Self would love to play Cliff for 35 mpg... if he was hustling and listening to his coaches.

Cliff's issue is largely hustle and execution. I'm mixed on this but I'm going with Self on this one. That he needs Cliff to kick it up a notch and keep it there.

I remember when Perry went through this with Self. He still is sometimes. Perry gets pulled for not hustling.

It is crystal clear that Self is trying to get these guys motivated, and for whatever reason, he is having one heck of a time achieving it!

Gosh... I look at that game with TCU.... Self calling timeout, and ripping the guys as they came over to the bench. Self's face is almost KSU purple!

How do these guys not get motivated from that?

I think we either need to replace Snacks with a southern baptist minister, or send Snacks to one of those southern churches for lessons. Someone needs to be able to keep these guys motivated.

I am willing to bet that Self would trade some of his knowledge for the ability to better motivate his guys. Maybe Bobby Knight can give him some pointers!

@Crimsonorblue22

Bummer. I like Nino's game and wanted to see the kitties at full strength. I hope he recovers and maybe we see him when we play in Manhattan.

The one major downfall to Kentucky basketball.... they play in a dud conference!

They may go on to another NC this year (or not)... regardless... most of their season was boring basketball. I was hard up to watch hoops tonight and I quit watching the UK/MU game. Boring!

While I was watching... before a commercial break it showed MU fans all excited to be on TV. One fan had the nerve to hold up his index finger and shake it. I guess he isn't a good math student. #1? Seriously? #1 at what? Missouri basketball has definitely fallen off the planet since leaving the Big 12. Poor little tigers!

If I was Self, I'd print that photo of Huggy Bear with his shiner and mount it in our locker room the days leading up to Morgantown. Give the guys plenty to think about.

I've been watching blah-basketball tonight. Kentucky vs Mizzou. Kentucky plays some defense but their offense look horrible.

I'm thinking to myself, I kind of think WVU might be a good test for Kentucky. I hope those two get paired in March. Huggy gets to turn Calipari's world upside down for 40 minutes. The game starts with 3 rough WVU fouls in the first minute, undercutting players and pushing hard. Test the manhood of all those Kentucky trees.

My last thought on the TCU game. A couple of years ago we played bad and we LOST down there. I'm just glad we WON! Sometimes the toughest games to win are against your worst opponents, if for no reason than having problems getting up to play them.

We had just enough in the tank to inch by.

I'm expecting to see the other team we can be on Saturday. This is a bad time to be a purple kitty!

Then we will want to avenge a loss in Ames. I think our guys hold a grudge. I HOPE our guys hold a grudge!

We are in for a couple of nice Jayhawk wins!

@benshawks08

I think Self has the desire for Brannen to get some looks every game. The problem with Brannen is he doesn't really create for himself. He relies of the offense running enough motion to get him open. When we have energy and run lots of motion, Brannen gets open and is capable of torching the nets.

I think we got a glimpse of what Self is up against in the ISU game. ISU came ready to play... lots of energy, and the crowd frantically screaming behind them. Self said that his guys never did what he asked. He was trying to get them to run plays and offense, even right after a timeout and the guys just didn't do it.

We all get angry when we see the end result... like the shot clock running down and a forced shot. Self already has a purple face because he knows how they didn't execute running up to the point where we see it on a bad result.

I think there is something to your post (and @jaybate-1.0 long record) on Self amping up or down. I don't know how much of it is about preserving energy and how much of it is about him playing chess and thinking ahead and knowing it is usually best to take your team into the next game NOT riding the big victory of successful execution.

We were experiencing ups and downs all in one game... like in halves. Remember the OU game?

And then we bring 40 minutes of basketball to Austin. Then we dud out for 40 minutes in Fort Worth. So to some degree it seems like Self may be gaming his team to play upbeat for big games, and because of that, he can't get them amped for the smaller opponents.

This part of strategy is way, way beyond me. My background playing was all about coming amped every single game, regardless of who we played. Some coaches have the ability to really get their guys going every single time they are on the floor. Self is not one of those guys. So I'm guessing he picks his moments to try to spur his players on. Getting guys amped is a real skill. There aren't so many coaches that have that capacity to do it every single game. In my books, this is the one area where Self could improve. But he sure has other aspects of the game mastered... enough to be one of most-winning coaches.

I did really like how we got a win and went very deep in our bench.

Who knows what will come from this?

Landen and Hunter did make valuable contributions, and we do really need to keep the rust off of these guys the remainder of the year. One or both of them will be counted on again to step up and help us secure a win or two. Who knows... it could even be in March!

Self has plenty of ammo to hammer on this guys and get them amped up for the purple kitties on Saturday and follow it up on Monday with the clones.

Young players have short memories.... but they surely can't forget how bad they sucked last night between now and Monday night.

I think I would be more concerned if we had an easy time last night and all our guys were feeling "confident."

I'm afraid he is going to be hampered with this the remainder of the year.

We can think it would have helped to rest him longer... but that isn't necessarily the way it works with turf toe. Those take a long time to heal and be pain-free. He may easily be challenged with this next year, too.

I've never experienced turf toe by I've watched some big tough guys have to sit out seasons over this. Part of it does relate to how well a player can play with pain, but there is a limit to this. The other part relates to just how much pain is involved. There is big time pain in this kind of injury. He is bound to suffer some loss in his potential because of it. He surely can't pivot and cut like he could if he was healthy.

Hopefully he'll at least be able to continue making some contributions. A big part of what we need from him is his basketball IQ. This guy is really going to be something by the time he is a senior (if he can be healthy). I am every bit as impressed with his potential upside as I am with Kelly and Cliff.

@benshawks08

Interesting post.

Yes, there is a "law of averages" involved. However... when we attempt to play our game not with our opponent but instead choose to play a game with the law of averages we are giving in to superstitions. The law of averages can't really big predicted. It's like the coin flip principle. You can flip it 10 times and come up heads every time. If you are playing a game with the averages, you start wagering on tails for flip #11. But that flip still remains a 50/50 proposition. This is where many amateur gamblers get into hot water. They have a streak of bad luck and they compound it by "doubling down" and over-stressing a bet where the odds remain the same and are not part of a universal scheme that it is time for their luck to change.

We definitely rely more on 3 this year than any other year during the Bill Self era. I don't mind that. Yes, we can be bitten by averages and over time have a cold night or two or three. I don't mind it because we still have other weapons we can turn to. Frank can drive! And sometimes our post guys show up to score.

Another element I like is that Bill instills some level of discipline in our guys to take the 3 when it's right, and not force it. Once in a while they still force it or take an ill-advised attempt, but for the most part, we remain fairly disciplined on when we take 3s.

As much as we all often complain about some of Bill's strategy, he does actually know quite a bit about basketball. Concerning the 3s... he knows it relates most to energy. When we run good motion in our offense, guys will be open for 3s. And the more space they have to score, the better chance we have of having a good shooting night from 3.

There are no guarantees... If you watched KSU two nights ago you may come to realize that a team can even get cold at bunnies! There is always the chance we bring energy to a game, execute on both sides of the ball, but still can't hit the 3. In those games, I'm hoping we still win most of them because our defense buckles down and keeps us in the game. Frank takes some driving liberties. Our bigs find some way to add points in the low post or mid range. Maybe we create some open court baskets. We do still maintain enough dimensionality to provide scoring somewhere besides the 3 pt line. In as bad as we played last night, we still did win on the road without counting on 3s. If Perry had stayed out of foul trouble, we may have even posted a big win and still not hit the 3.

Our ultimate key will be to find ways to win every single game. Sometimes it will come from playing tough defense. Other times, we'll be in a scoring race. We are all starting to see players develop and have more to offer us on offense. We are starting to see more scoring possibilities, and we know the potential is wrapped around ENERGY. When we have a lot of motion in our offense, great scoring opportunities exist. Whether or not we capitalize is another story.

@wrwlumpy

The last thing I want to do is stroke these guys for that performance. But a part of greatness is winning the dud games, too. Glad we didn't fold tent and give one away!

On the positive side.... we got a win, and we have another example of issues where Self can hammer down on these guys in practice to become a better team. A lopsided win would have just built our egos higher and take the focus away from improving at a high rate.

We will eventually look back at this and snicker.

@nuleafjhawk

I've never made an exaggeration my entire life!

:-)

@HighEliteMajor

I don't know if you DVR'd this game and also the Texas game.... but if you have them on a hard drive and replay minutes of both, side-by-side, you will see a difference. We had plenty of motion in our offense against Texas. We didn't have that motion against TCU. Guys stood still and watched the ball. They weren't creating. We couldn't even free up Brannen for the long ball.

This is a momentum thing and it works for and against us, and also for and against our opponents. First... everyone in our league would love to hang a loss on us. So when we come out flat, no motion, we just encourage them to play harder. I saw some of that last night.

We spent some energy last night, but it was in the wrong places.

All the key signs were there telling us how bad our energy was. We shot few FTs (when you remove the end game intentional fouls). We were killed on the boards, especially giving up offensive rebounds to this small team. We established really no offensive flow because we had no motion. We seemed to lose every 50/50 ball.

There were spots of high energy... mostly Frank, taking on TCU by himself. BamBam had the very intense defensive play. We sometimes showed defensive energy, often trying to make up ground on a shooter and step up to defend a post shot after they had another offensive rebound.

Why Oh Why?

In the early minutes of this game, Kansas started to assert itself inside. Perry had a couple of easy buckets and it looked like he was off to the races. This was the perfect game for Perry to put up 20+ points and lead this team to an easy victory.

Then it came. Perry was called for a reach 223 miles away from his own goal and captured his second foul and an invitation to watch the remaining 1st half on the sidelines.

Come on... everyone in here be honest. How many of you screamed at your TV? Did you really think Perry could hear you? What adjectives did you use? I think I yelled so loud at my big screen TV that I voided it's warranty. My TV will start psychological counseling today. I'm sorry, dear Samsung.

Why Oh Why?

Why do Bill Self teams always have big guys two time zones away from the basket playing tight hedges against quick guards? We do this on both sides of the ball. Our bigs try to set high ball screens on offense, too. I understand the concept. I understand the theory that we don't want our bigs stuck on a mismatch, and on offense we hope to create mismatches. I know it is a big part of the game of basketball.

How effective are we with this? I better understand the offensive side of the ball, even though we pick up a ton of fouls on our bigs for moving screens. How hard is it to learn how to stand still? I do realize that part of this relates to timing and spacing of the ball handler.

Flipping back to defense now... what was Perry thinking? We often get calls on our bigs trying to hedge a guard's play out in never-never land. Do we really get something out of that? Does Perry and the rest of our bigs realize that they are ripe cherries waiting to be picked by any guard in the country if the guard chooses to drive right into them. It is the most automatic call in college basketball. Buddhist monks can make that call.

This game illustrates just how important every single play on the floor can be. It doesn't take too much imagination to see the possibility that this one dumb foul Perry made could have cost us #11. TCU was given a chance when Perry had to sit. We all know how hard it is for a guy to get back on track in a game when having to sit for half of it. TCU had no answer for a hot Perry Ellis. This was the turning point in the game.

Once again, Kansas basketball remains at the top because no other team in this league knows how to win our league, many don't know how to win a single game.

I'm on board with those saying "a win is a win" because we always have some dud games like this that we hold on to win. These games are as important as the big wins in Austin because "a win is a win."

I'm frustrated like many others, but thankful we know how to win. The frustration comes from the aftertaste from a game like this. It so closely resembles the aftertaste in March after our national contender team drops one to a Mo Valley team. Nothing against the Mo Valley, but... come on!

Why Oh Why?

@HighEliteMajor

"How in the world does your team take eight three point attempts in the entire game? "

It's the same reason why we shot so few FTs... making the stat line look better down the stretch when they put us on the line to extend the game.

Throw every single detail about this team out the window except one...... ENERGY!

I'm glad Self knows this. He commented on how bad our energy was.

I don't know what fuels this team, but I do know when they are out of fuel and riding on fumes. You would have thought all our guys ran 3 Boston marathons just before tip-off.

If you squinted your eyes last night, and watched the game as blurry colored blobs, you would see what our offense was. Nothing. Our blue blobs hardly moved on offense. It's like someone staked our shoes to one spot on the court. TCU's defense does not deserve credit for shutting down our 3s and offense. It was all entirely self-administered.

So our guys are not ready to bring energy to every game. That is a big warning sign. Especially with some big games coming our way, like WVU in Morgantown. If we bring the same energy we had last night to Morgantown we will be humiliated every bit as much as the Kentucky and Temple games.

Our only real saving grace in this game was the fact that TCU stunk so bad.

Frank, for the most part, played his usual solid. We would have lost by 20 without him. A few other guys contributed some nice plays and effort. Landen and Hunter come most to mind. Brannen could have been more effective if his team would have ran actual offense. You could see his itchy trigger fingers that created a few forced ill-advised shots, but at least he wanted to take control. Brannen isn't really a big threat of scoring off the dribble. He is the proverbial "catch and shoot" scorer.

@Lulufulu

Absolutely! And he was the master of offense!

@Kip_McSmithers

"The Jayhawks’ issue isn’t as big of a deal, but it’s a bit peculiar. Their opponents’ block percentage is 14.2 percent, which ranks the Jayhawks 342nd in the country. This is despite the fact that they’re 54th in average height. That difference between height and block percentage is the worst in the country."

I relate this to our inability to use the shot fake. The shot fake not only helps prevent some blocks because the shooter can time his shot around the up and down of the defender.. but it also helps keep the defense honest.

Every game I see defenders against us taking huge lunging (risky) extensions trying to block. They have learned from their scouting that Kansas players do not use shot fakes. They have been told to make the gamble. It is obvious. I don't see any other games where the defenders take such over-the-top gambles because every single one of those should end in a foul call off a fake, or the defender flips upside down and lands on his head after contacting his lower body with a squat shot fake.

Another aspect of all of this... since we don't use shot fakes (in practice, too) then our guys aren't used to defending the fakes. We often commit dumb fouls because we fall for every single shot fake pulled on us.

This is an area with a little effort, we could make a monstrous improvement on and influence games towards the "win" column.

We've been called out on this several times from the media... and if they say it, it must be insanely obvious to the entire world.

We didn't need many shot fakes in Austin, because our feet did the talking. Our movement was so good that Texas had fewer opportunities for blocks, even though they still had several.

Combine energy and foot speed, with a few shot fakes, and these block numbers will shrink, we will get more opposing players in foul trouble, shoot more FTs, and win more games.

This is a tweak I hope we make by March. Perry seems to be using the shot fake once in a while now... kudos to him!

@Kip_McSmithers

I agree.... but they should have had the game already won.

"a game that would have given Jay Bilas a heart attack."

I'm pretty sure Jay would have been so upset he would be demanding the charge circle be moved out to the top of the key.

Dirty fouls, arguing obvious calls, swagger and players throwing verbal smack... this game resembled playground ball.

I'm glad to throw all our guys into a game like this, especially Perry and our young freshmen. It's an experience they need to have and get beyond and it should make them stronger.

The officiating in this game should be reviewed and all these refs need to be put on notice. There were moments (in the beginning) that the game could have quickly got out of hand. If it had been played in West Virginia, it may have reached that point. There were plenty of rough fouls committed and also lots of dirty play. Weber did the right thing in getting T'd. His guys were being held on sides the officials couldn't see (nor were they expecting).

If KSU gets Nino back for the rematch, I see a possibility that KSU will win the game in WVU. They really handed this game away with their atrocious response to the press and poor FT shooting. It really hurt to have Nino out, too.

I like our chances for two reasons... and I'm not even going to get into how we played at Texas and the development of our players.

1. In close games we finish well.

2. In close games TCU finishes poorly. I still don't know how they blew that game at WVU.

Those two factors alone give me all the optimism I need without even digging further.