🏀 KuBuckets Archive

I wonder where we will land in POTUS's bracket this year?

Bill: "Hey, Mr. President... I don't know if you have any pull with the NCAA selection committee... but we could really use a little seeding help this year. It would be great if you could get us bumped up to the same unbiased pull Duke has, even if it is just for one year!"

Prez: "I'll see what I can do. Duke has the east coast media behind them and can sway more voters than Kansas can."

Bill: "You should think of the future. The Midwest has a high count of Latino voters!"

Prez: "Good point. I'll see what I can do. I'll let you know by contacting Snacks through the Chi-town grapevine."

(humor attempted)

I think we have to realize that Texas has lost to both Oklahoma schools... and they were smashed at home against OU. Neither school has size.

Pull up the stats from the OU game. They had balanced scoring, a good sign showing Texas can be beat all over the floor. OU beat UT in every category except blocks. What sticks out big is the Longhorn's bad FG% from 2 and 3... and also that OU had 8 steals, and I'm guessing a lot of those turned into run outs.

It sounds like OU used high ball pressure to disrupt the Texas flow. It created steals and kept Texas from running good offense by speeding them up.

I didn't see this game, but the stats do tell a story. It would be helpful to hear from those who saw the game.

Now is the time to beat Texas, because they are a team that is bound to improve over the next month (if they stay healthy).

If we can beat them in Austin and in AFH we now have a friend for helping us with #11 because they are going to take down some other top teams in our league before it is over.

I hope Self isn't still thinking of beating his hi/lo strategy into this game. Perry/Cliff/BamBam/Landen won't be effective with their backs to the basket. We need to focus on motion, creating gaps in the Texas zone, or if they want to go M2M than we need to run effective screens.

Let's all hope we have the hot hand from 3! Maybe we try some small ball with heavy high ball pressure and Perry in the post. Perry will force Ridley out high or Perry knocks down 3s from the top of the key. Make Texas play to a plan we brought instead of us always being predictable and letting Texas do as they will.

This is a game we can really use Kelly's talents... if he is ready to export his game on the road!

@KUSTEVE

Remember when we were desperate during the championship game with Memphis and we put BRush out on point on defense?

"Hi, Thon. We'd love to have you at Kansas! We'll stick you in the weight room and within 4 years you will be able to run our hi/lo offense with your new 'back to the basket' skill set! Never mind that you won't be a low post 5 in the NBA.... trivial..."

Thon Maker ↗

Or will it be the "new" Bill Self:

"Hi, Thon. Wow, we love your skill set! Come to Kansas and we'll plug you in to where you will be in the NBA soon. Where do you see yourself? A 3? Shooting guard? Just because you are 7' doesn't mean you have to play in the low post..."

Any guesses how he is playing this?

@jayhawk-007

I think you have valid points. And the main point is that Self should do what he has to do to get guys to speed up... however... was it necessary to sit Cliff down for an entire half in a crucial B12 battle just to prove a point or to motivate for the next game? Why not sit him and as he is sitting grab his jersey and let him know why he is getting some pine time? It seems like that might have not only worked to get him pumped up for OU, it might have worked to get him pumped for the rest of the game in Ames, which, btw, we should have won!

I think you hit on a broader point, and that is about Coach Self's game coaching technique. He seems to communicate little to individual players except on timeouts or while the player is on the floor, rarely (or never) while that individual player is on the pine. Sometimes we see assistants talking to players on the pine. I'm not sure why Self won't take a few seconds and go down the bench and say a few words to guys when they need it! This could have been the difference between a "L" and a "W."

@JhawkAlum

Exactly right and you explained it better than I did. We were a big part of Andrew's situation. He could never make us fans happy, so we just added on to the pressure for him every game. We expected him to finish strong at the rim and slam it down right through defenders. He should have hit a higher % of 3s, he should have done this and he should have done that....

It's easier for all of us to accept Kelly for what he is. He came with some hype, but nothing like Andrew and his SI cover. Kelly has the freedom to make a few mistakes and not get smacked down by media and fans. I'm glad for him, and I'm glad for our team and us fans. We all benefit by having the bar set at a reasonable height.

@benshawks08

In transition defense EVERYONE takes responsibility. A driving PG has a big disadvantage in getting back, but there are 4 other guys that should be able to stop a transition finish at the rim. If there is anything a driving guard can do it is usually try to prevent a bullet in-bounds pass and then run back and try to prevent secondary break baskets.

ISU opened up the court. We could have also paid them back on their transitions by turning around and running transitions back. Sometimes they would have 3 or 4 guys run all the way through their rim while we had 3 or 4 guys still at half court.

It all illustrates our low energy, which also explains why we didn't make it to the FT line.

I agree that we'll receive a benefit from Andrew far into the future. We may also receive benefits in the future from Kelly, too... only time will tell. Gosh... that has played out recently with Durant and his impact on keeping Myles Turner a Longhorn. Not sure it was what made his decision, but it certainly helped. Myles idle is Kevin Durant.

@HighEliteMajor

Are you saying hardwood floors instead of carpet?

@benshawks08

Great idea of mixing up the Ds!

Yeah, it wouldn't have worked in Ames if we weren't getting back. That's why I'm thinking it might have worked, because if we had come in ready to use it, perhaps our guys would have been more energized and not given up all the easy run outs. When they have a week of working on full court pressure, they know they have to go into action immediately after a made basket. This might have helped prevent the run outs. I'm saying "maybe." I believe running this stuff helps keep the guys motivated and in motion. When they run nothing, then they don't stay motivated to get into position after a made basket, and they start jogging back on defense.

Part of what makes the full court pressure work is your post players need to get back and also stick close enough to the opposition to deny the ball. That was a big part of our problem with ISU. They weren't edging up on ISU players so it allowed for the long passes and easy 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 situations.

I wonder how many more years Longhorn Girl will be posted on our blogs when we play Texas?

Just curious and not complaining!

If I have to look at '70s burnt orange, it might as well be her hair!

@icthawkfan316

"A much talked about rule change might guarantee 2 years. What do the elite college coaches of the future focus on then?"

Getting them to stay 3 years! Or how about staying 4 and getting a diploma?

Look at a player like Kelly. He might jump after one year. He won't be ready for several years.

@KUSTEVE

"I love high pressure defense. Trap the crap out of them."

Remember about a month ago? When we were running traps, stealing balls and disrupting other team's offenses?

It seems that we could do a much better job now with Kelly getting major minutes and hustling on defense. Devonte is showing signs of fading toe pain and moving better. Don't we have the right personnel to do this?

Perhaps this is the right strategy in Austin. Disrupt their offense and force some steals. We might get a few more run outs.

Probably the biggest factor is you ramp up the speed of our defense. Keep the guys moving at a faster pace. Keep the energy alive! We play great when our guys have energy. This might have worked in Ames, too.

What I would really like to see Self do:

Maybe not focus on a backcourt press. Instead... let's focus on high ball traps! Let teams bring the ball up to half court. Now they can't go backwards. Once they cross the line they can be trapped. Have a couple of guards (like Mason and Graham) pushing heavy traps. This all keys towards our new defensive monster... yes... Kelly! If we do this Kelly may just break the NCAA record for single season steals!

This is a strategy that has to be practiced over and over. Everyone plays a key role, not just our 1 and 2 guards. Our bigs have to play tight... it's called "ball denial" defense, even though they are part of a zone trap scheme. The key to this strategy is everyone plays tight. In a trap it creates an opening for one player, and that player should be the guy furthest from the ball. You force the long ball throws. A player like Kelly, with his instincts and long arms, is the guy that will run down long balls, and he'll leave a bit of space from his man, but ready to pounce on the steals.

The 1 and 2 has to have lightning speed, and be ready for the open court run out at all times. We play a bit more like "Roy ball."

We might as well do it. We don't have the traditional shot blocker to play typical Self M2M half court basketball.

A turbo-fused defense like this is a better fit with the type of team we have. But it takes commitment and practice. Lots of practice. No one, and I mean no one, is expecting us to try something like this. The rest of our league isn't ready for this.

If this is done right, we may never have to really fall back into our standard M2M or zone defense. If we can continue to attack the ball out top. The idea is to keep the ball from entering the center (top of the key or down the lane). You are always trying to push the ball out towards the edges, where the court lines help play the trap.

This is a great way to get steals, and maybe even more important, to speed teams up and keep them out of sync and not running their offense. No coach in college basketball is prepared to fight this properly.

I remember we received a taste of this in Nassau against Villanova. Self's statement after the game was "we had no rhythm!" True.... Villanova had a lot to do with that!

We were doing some of this early on and creating problems for people. I wish Self would trust that we can make this work now, especially with Kelly coming on!

Really nice round of posts. Tough were needed, but not just on the attack. Lots of good material and insight into this team and the pros and cons of last year with the #1 and #3 draft picks.

I miss both of those guys... but I'm glad the media circus has picked up tent and is now setup in Lexington and Durham. Let those guys deal with the daily soap operas and frenzies. Lose a game and it's the end of the world. If Calipari drops a game this year they'll have his head on a block.

Self can afford to be Self this year, without mainstream scrutiny (I mean... east coast scrutiny).

We may be an untypical Jayhawk team, but at least it feels like we have some of our identity back. I know the focus is on becoming a team full of top preps. Does any of us really think those deluxe dorms are being built for 3 and 4-star players? Ha.... They might as well put a revolving door on the dorms.

The smart elite college coach of the future will have the ability to recruit big name talent and keep most of them staying for two years. That's the key... two years! And another key is to go for the best short PG out there, because a guy like that will never go at the top of the lottery. We are blessed to have 4 years of Frank, and also 4 years of Devonte! I believe we are all realizing how key these guys are going to be in our future. Frank is easily our most solid player and he's only a sophomore!

I think Self is on the right track. I think the first move was just to start landing higher elites. From there he can focus more on specific talent and attitudes to get the right top tier guys here, along with a mix of players staying longer and some staying 4 years who receive big time PT.

Fans vs Fans

I think Kansas fans have improved this year. I think many were a bit delusional last year, but we all learned some lessons having to deal with the media circus and the final result in March. Fans are more grounded again and starting to wise up on x-axis. Self is coming around on that, too. Miami whipping up on Duke in Cameron and breaking their home court streak should be a huge wake up to those who don't get it yet (even though the UCONN victory over monster Kentucky for the NC should have already done it). Have a couple of guards, 1 and 2, with legs and you have a team that can beat anyone if they are willing to play defense and attack on offense.

I don't want to beat up on any players from this team... but our '08 NC team was driven by Mario, RRob, and Sherron... 3 quick guards that could deal the pressure!

We should stop focusing on our lack of post presences and start focusing on having our 1 and 2 guards playing like Miami or last year's UCONN. That's where our opportunities are, and it doesn't really get any better than that! We could bring down a Kentucky, just like UCONN if we can understand that nothing (and I mean NOTHING) beats high ball pressure! This isn't the NBA... it's a bunch of kids playing medium basketball with largely unrefined skills. Attack at the head and the biggest of beasts will fall!

Kentucky is prime for a beat down! Yes.... Kentucky!

@benshawks08

Good replies. You need to post more often in here!

I'm on board with your posts.

Last comparison:

Self vs Self

@wrwlumpy - I take that as a + for Self this year over last? It is kind of hard to compare situations. Wigs brought such monster media baggage with him. That had to impact how Self treated him over any other player. When Wigs farted, it was broadcast coast-to-coast, America-to-China.... Booooom! :-)

@Kip_McSmithers

I'm definitely favoring Kelly over Andrew... and I was the Head Wig of Wiggymania!

Kelly doesn't bring all the media baggage. And Kelly represents just another option. Andrew was representing THE option. I think we play more as a team now. Guys don't just stand around when the pass goes to Kelly.

I like Kelly's energy more, too. Andrew was about Andrew. He wanted to be a team player, but his world forced his focus on himself. Kelly is definitely a team guy. He makes a good basket and his hands flop up and down to get the crowd and his teammates excited. He is definitely a better cheerleader for the cause.

Defensively. Andrew was a better lock-down defender. But Kelly has better movement and an attack on the ball, hence his ability to create TOs... that advantage goes to Kelly, perhaps enough to make the defense a wash between these great players.

@jaybate-1.0

Final touches -

!jayhawk3.gif ↗

@jaybate-1.0

Better play it safe -

!jayhawk2.gif ↗

@jaybate-1.0

IT'S OURS TO OWN, MY FRIEND!

Maybe it takes a bit of massaging to get the big wigs to grasp this.

May I suggest we start with pink shoes to promote cancer month. We can even give the old bird a new necklace. Kind of a subliminal message...

!jayhawk.gif ↗

@benshawks08

Both posts are solid!

How do you compare JoJo with Cliff?

@jaybate-1.0

S H O E S !

The tread that keeps the world in motion. It's all about S H O E S !

We can live on little food, and sips of polluted waters. But we can't live without our tread!

N I K E !

Imagine aliens landing on this planet in a million years. By then even our bones will turn to ash. So what will remain? Tread! That's what will remain and that's what they will find.

Perhaps they recreate our past, but we are no longer a player. They have determined that our tread remains were actually the living organism, and the remaining tread was our "bone structure" that survived a million years. They make some mock-ups and we are basically viewed as being only 4 inches tall, unless our lineage was from hightops!

Political party? Yeah... N I K E !

Give or take 6+ feet, my assessment is pretty accurate!

Imagine these aliens uncover AFH? What then? What's this bird? He's stomping all over the people. He must have his tread inside those clawed feet!

@truehawk93

RIGHT ON! Yes... we could be fouling out every team in the league, if we put just a little focus on it.

The only thing missing from your post was the shot fake. We refuse to use it like we think it must be illegal! And since we don't use it, we don't practice it, we don't study it... and guess what team in the B12 always fouls on a shot fake? Right.... KU! If we incorporated it we would also be practicing against it and wouldn't fall for every single fake a guy puts on us. Every single time Kansas players fall for shot fakes. If I was playing Kansas I'd tell my guys to use shot fakes every single time before a shot and by halftime we'd be playing the scrubs.

It is absolutely amazing to think of just some small tweaks we could incorporate that would total change our results for the better! We have 4 McD's AAs and we struggle to beat B12 teams without a single super stud. We make games so much harder for ourselves by not using some of the very basic elements of the game that were taught in junior high. It's friggin' amazing!

This is a great time to open up the conversation.

Let's compare this team with last year's team and let's make sure to focus on where both teams were at as of January 21.

I recall JoJo starting to make big waves, Andrew trying to find himself, and we didn't really know what to expect out of Tharpe.

Please go into details. Match-up players, and have at it! Kelly vs Andrew?! Insane to think about!

Can't wait to read your responses!

@benshawks08

I like your optimism!

I hope the new Cliff and Kelly show up in Austin... if they do, we'll be a handful for Texas.

I want Perry on Ridley for some of the game. He needs to know what he'll face every night at the next level. It's a reality check for Perry. It might even help him play tougher ball the rest of the year. I can't remember which game it was, but it worked that way with Withey. He was getting beat up and at one point he got sick and tired of it and started fighting back. He was a real trooper by the end of his KU days.

Yes... we need to get Ridley out top. I think we might be better by having a short team. Have Perry be our big and that's it. Keep the ball in motion, focus on some offense and see if Texas can keep up. If we went for a 3-pt game and get hot, what other team is going to keep up with us? Right.... none!

Playing small works for many teams including teams in our league. ISU is right at the top and they are small. No muscle in the post.

I want Cliff to get some minutes because I want to see what he does against another bruiser. It's good experience for him. Can he handle Ridley? Yes, he can. I recall Ridley getting totally shut down in AFH last year.

It isn't the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!

@BeddieKU23

"Starting Traylor or Ellis on him just sounds painful."

Yes it does... but....

I'd start Perry on him and I'll tell you why. Perry needs to be roughed up and face the muscle. It's good for him.

And for whatever damage Ridley does to Perry, Perry needs to pay him back on offense. Think about Ridley guarding Perry? Perry might just go out and hit 4 3s in a row! Give it a chance! We need offense and Perry/Ridley should give us some of that.

Another thing... if we can get Perry to take the ball right into Ridley he should draw fouls. Ridley isn't used to going against bigs with footwork.

What Perry really needs to do is use shot fakes in this game. The right fake at the right time will draw Ridley off his feet for a foul. It certainly works against us! We fell for every shot fake in that ISU game.

If this fails. If Perry can't hit the 3 from the top of the key, we can always change. But this gives Perry a chance to get out of the gate well, and when that happens, good chance he will continue on to have a good game. We aren't going to win this game if Perry doesn't do well. Period.

@JayhawkRock78

RCJH!

@icthawkfan316

I think you have a valid point of giving Graham more minutes, too.

I think we all need to consider.... does Self focus on Graham or Greene, sort of one at a time where there is a heavy emphasis? Or does he rotate those guys based on how they are performing in the game? I prefer the later, but I'm completely based on everything being a competition. I know Self likes to put some faith in a guy and see if he can hold up his end of the bargain. I'm more of a match-up guy and I'd be rotating in more players to mix and match to see who is hot in a game and who plays best against the player they face on the other side of the ball.

My discouragement with Wayne isn't based on his offensive slump. He's been falling apart on defense and giving up huge stuff to opponents that damage us far more than missing a few shots. It's to the point that I don't even like to review games anymore on my DVR because he is pissing me off! If some of you would review games and look specifically at Wayne, you will know what I'm talking about and you wouldn't be boasting about how great a defender he is. He no where deserves the comparison to Releford. Not on the same planet. He has had Releford type games in the past. Just a few where he was coached on shutting down someone. But game-to-game he is slow fighting through screens, constantly caught off guard and completely abandons his man. He doesn't practice "denial defense" where he closes the gap to deny the pass. He lets the other team's offense flow without a disruption. In that sense, on a game-to-game basis he is nothing like Releford.

Wayne needs a simple approach to getting out of his slump. Anything too complicated makes him "think" more and that just digs him in a deeper hole. He isn't responsive, and his lag is caused by over-thinking. He needs some simple changes to just open up opportunities for him to score or pass out of. Simple motion and drives just to clear enough space to get off his shot with confidence. He's often trying to do too much in his drives, then his stuff gets shut down because he drove right by the open space he needed to score to go right into the defense and then be contested. That's why he should be focusing more on pull ups. There right there... and he has enough size and hops to get off those shots with confidence.

Self should work him in more pick and rolls and pick and pops. The focus now is on Perry using those. What about Wayne? Wayne could do well with some pick and rolls that get him in motion to find the gap to pop easy midrange jumpers.

The problem is no one in college basketball focuses on midrange. The stats all say focus on the 3 or low post. I guess none of the college coaches ever watched players like Kobe Bryant. I'd like to know how many points that guy scored in his career around the FT line?

All of this has rubbed off on Wayne, telling him to either hoist up the 3 or take it all the way to the rim. That's just wrong! The guy could easily be hitting 55% from some sweet, open midrange spots on the floor. That may not win us many games by itself, but it offers another option and it helps open up more 3s and other scoring opportunities.

@JayHawkFanToo

"Hoiberg is not going to the NBA, he has a heart condition that forced him to move to college."

Forgot about that. I have to admit after rereading that post I was mostly jamming a dig on Self and his inflexibility.

Hoiberg beats us with less talent because he forms a game plan to beat us every single time. Self runs his stuff basically the same at everyone, sometimes throwing in tiny changes, but believes you win by keeping to your "identity."

That's why the future will probably see Hoiberg in the pros and Self staying in college. College basketball is about "teaching players philosophy" while the NBA is strictly about winning.

I thought we got ripped at ISU, too. I always feel like it's home-cookin' refs in Ames.

Kelly picked up a few last night that seemed soft calls, but he was hand-checking and those always put a player at risk.

We are always going to see it biased though. I'm constantly screaming at the refs and I'm sure I'm not always right!

The really bad call was in the Duke/Miami game when Winslow cheap-shotted the Miami guard ahead of him on the breakaway, sending him flying and injured and they didn't even get the intentional foul call. That has to be the worst call I've seen in college basketball this year... but then... when do the calls ever go against Duke? That's why most of America hates them... because the system is clearly rigged.

@JayHawkFanToo

"IMHO, the players that pound their chests are the ones that don't have a lot of big plays and half of the time they get beaten on the next play...while they pound their chests."

There seems to be a time and place for chest pounding. As you said, it often backfires because the prancer isn't getting back on defense. And sometimes they sort of aim it at their opponent, another bad idea because it gets them fired up more than your own side.

@jaybate-1.0

Ha... I don't know... he's still posting on twitter:

Ivan Renko ↗

:-)

@Crimsonorblue22

Wow! He's 6'11" now! Wish he was that tall when he was here!

@JayHawkFanToo

I like your read on WVU.

I think Texas is a team that will be next to impossible to beat towards the end of the Big 12 schedule. Glad we get them at their place next! I think our hope in beating them is they are a bit like us and play inconsistent. I'd like to see us try to get some run outs sort of like what ISU did to us. We need to play their size against them and run, run, run.

Barnes is not the best game coach in our league. He doesn't do well with halftime adjustments.

I've always respected Kruger's abilities as a game coach. He really helped his team pull it together at half and he made a few well-timed timeouts. I was impressed with OU. I can easily see them reaching the Sweet 16. They have more capable talent than a team like ISU.

I hate to crystal ball this, because I stink at predictions and always feel like I'm the jinx factor. But from the games listed, I like our chances best at KSU and WVU. We always get a tough game from OSU in Stillwater, and they are going to be pumped to beat us this year.

I think we'll need two victories out of this bunch and a sweep of our home games to win the title outright. It may even matter which two teams we beat.

We really can't sleepwalk through any game this year. One flub up on a lower team or a home loss and we have an uphill battle.

Like I said before, I thought beating ISU at Ames was one of our better shots and helping secure #11. That didn't happen, so we have to suck it up and earn a win somewhere else.

@RockChalkinTexas

So do you think the winner of the Big 12 conference will have 6 losses?

I've mentioned before that other teams in this league just don't know how to win it. But if we lose 6 games I believe another team will stumble in to the crown.

@JayHawkFanToo

I think you should be focusing on the direction both players are going.

Wayne is going backwards. Brannen is going forwards. I believe Brannen played better defense last night than Wayne. I saw him challenge several guys' shots.

Look at the stats. Stats don't always tell a story, but it certainly does this time.

Wayne had 29 minutes to build his line: 5 pts, 3 rebs, 4 assists, 2 fouls, 1 steal, 2 TOs.

Brannen had 15 minutes (about half of Wayne's): 12 pts, 2 rebs, 1 assist, 0 fouls, 1 steal, 1 TO.

Brannen also reached the FT line, where Wayne didn't. Shooting FTs is usually an indication of hustle.

The key is we need more production out of Wayne. How are we going to help push him into more productive games? Usually it seems like bench time is a good motivator. It certainly seemed to help with Cliff.

Imagine if we bring Wayne off the bench against Texas? Might he be encouraged to do what we need him to do (which is to drive the seams of the Texas zone)?

Time to examine our remaining schedule closely.

We lost a huge opportunity by losing in Ames, because ISU is a team we should beat on any court. Enough said about that.

Here is our remaining tough away games (in order):

Texas

Oklahoma State

West Virginia

Kansas State

Oklahoma

That's 5 tough away games and there is no way we win #11 if we lose all these games.

So what is the low hanging fruit in this bunch? KSU and OSU? I wouldn't take either of those games lightly.

Where will we win... and why?

We've only played OSU in this bunch so far, so we don't really know how we will match up against the other 4 teams yet. After last night, as I was afraid of, I think winning at OU will not be impossible, but next to impossible!

Post your predictions and strategies you believe we should have moving forward.

@Crimsonorblue22

"be interesting to see what we do against Texas zone."

This should be a game for Wayne to get back on track.

Wayne should be a force in this game because he has the tools to drive through their zone seams and either hit the pull up or draw the defense and earn another assist. Once in a while he can even take it to the rim, but that would only be on occasion. If he does this effectively, then Texas will start to sag their zone, opening up the 3-pt line for Wayne and company!

Come on, Wayne!

@justanotherfan

Yeah!

And the way to play Perry is to have him moving in and out... he now is a threat from 3... but also, his best post offense in the half court is one where he stays in motion. He definitely is not a "back to the basket" threat, and should only be in that position occasionally just to show complete versatility. Perry cutting through the post makes him a big scoring threat! We saw that in both the ISU and OU games.

@HighEliteMajor

I totally agree with your post. Nothing against Wayne... but he needs to be stirred up to advance. He's been lagging behind the advancement of other players.

Brannen has been improving his defense. His remaining issue he needs to resolve to consistently get more PT is that he needs to bring consistent energy on defense. He is learning. The carrot has been firmly planted in front of his face, and the carrot has been removed when he doesn't bring intensity.

Wayne's biggest issue right now is consistent defense, too. Sure, he gets a SportsCenter block here and there, but his defensive energy has been impacted by his struggle on the other side of the ball. That will get him bench time. It has to. We can't play effective defense if one guy falls far behind. Everyone in here should look through their file footage of our Big 12 games this year and focus in on Wayne's defense. Not good! Remove the SportsCenter blocks and give a fair assessment.

One other issue with Wayne... he's been forcing his offensive impact, and it often creates really horrible results that kill our momentum and jack the momentum of our opponents. What we should learn from last night is how sensitive our team flow is relating to our momentum. This team is Jekyll and Hyde... and it relates to momentum and energy.

HEM, your idea of removing the "entitlement factor" is completely legit. This has always been an issue I've had with Self not pushing his veteran players more and giving an opening to guys riding the pine to play a bigger role. This creates a positive competition amongst the team, something we need to push EVERYONE into improvements.

@Crimsonorblue22

I totally agree with the generality, especially when it comes to equal pay for equal work.

My comments were geared towards personality generalizations that exist in our society.

Feel free to "protrude your chest" and prance proudly! We need more "female" roosters in this world!

Or should I have worded it... female "roosters?"

I've confused myself!

@justanotherfan

"Those performances allowed Perry to shine in a more complimentary role"

Right on! We keep trying to force Perry into a leadership role and to carry this team on his back. That doesn't appear to be the right approach.

We've sort of forced arguments to support this. We've been saying that when Perry plays well we win. True... but is that because Perry is leading the team? Or is that because other players are stepping up and taking some pressure off of Perry, allowing him to do what he does best (stealth scoring)?

We need to come up with a new name for Perry... and it should have the word "stealth" in it!

Perry may not lead with enthusiasm and wild dunks and blocks... we can't force him to be what he isn't. But Perry can work effectively (and invisibly) while another one of our guys (or two) steals the attention. How key is that?

What we have here is a "Yin Yang" situation. Perry is the "Yin"... the night working with the day "Yang". He's the female "Yin" working with the male "Yang."

I'm not declaring that Perry is a female. I'm stating that in our society we view men as the strong role, when in reality we know women have every bit the strength as men do (often in differing, complimentary areas), and women are better "team players" allowing men to steal the limelight while focusing their efforts more on just being effective in the relationship, accepting a stealth position. Men need to "protrude their chests" with pride, like roosters do. And women, for the most part, accept the need for men to prance proudly.

So we have "male" players like Kelly and Cliff.... ready to make a statement, and after their dunks they beat their chests while running down court. Our team needs that energy, that swagger. It's the pride of a "male" rooster. But we need more than that. Perry offers us the other side. The side that works silently that supports our roosters, not only with his stat line, but by letting the emphasis (chest beating) come from our roosters.

James Brown had it right:

"This is a man's world, this is a man's world...
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl"

@DoubleDD

I think there are a couple of issues that stick out on this one.

First... we lacked hustle at ISU. That was clear in how bad we were pounded in the open court. But also, when teams don't hustle, they don't get fouled and shoot FTs either. We didn't push the contact with ISU, and we should have because this is one of the few teams we have played where we have physical superiority. We rarely tried to score inside, and I'm not just talking about hi/lo to Perry or another post player. We rarely drove the ball in tight, where ISU is vulnerable and the potential to be fouled was high.

This sticks out as the #1 reason why we weren't shooting FTs.

Second... everyone knows that it is the Kansas games that determine the next Big 12 champion. It is ours to lose. Because of that reason, I think the refs are letting some contact slide because they don't want to be the ones tagged for swaying who the next Big 12 champion will be. They are treating every KU game like it's the championship game... where it is the norm to allow more contact.

We got away with some calls last night. There were several times the refs swallowed their whistle on calls that could have gone against us.

School is back in session...

I think it would be great if our young team could find some inspiration in a story like this, and some humble gratefulness for the opportunities they have:

Wyoming's Larry Nance Jr. grows beyond a disease's constraints ↗

I watched a friend die from Crohn's Disease back in the 90s.

Man... could his dad play ball! His NBA career averages: 17.1 ppg, 2.6 apg, 8 rpg.

I've said from day 1 this year that the key for our success this season will be your elder players.... Perry and Wayne.

I recently started shifting my focus to Kelly and Cliff. I put it on the line in the ISU game, thinking this was going to be Kelly's game to dominate and bring home the victory. He wasn't quite ready for that, but it isn't fair to lay the blame on him, Perry and Frank were our only Hawks partially ready to battle ISU.

Kelly showed us last night, not only his talent, but his heart and competitive spirit. He was clearly our leader yesterday, making key steals and diving for balls, taking it hard to the hole in crunch time, and hitting key shots when we really needed a basket.

The question: is Kelly ready to take his show on the road? There is a leadership role wide open on this team awaiting him. Is he ready to lead this team?

Cliff needs a broader skill set, but what we need out of him now is energy. Self has it right, and the focus on his effort is key to him earning PT and making an impact. He's our only enforcer. Someone has to battle Ridley (for example).

I think Wayne is going through some soul searching. He's trying to find the best role to help his team, and he hasn't found it yet. You could sense this right in the beginning of our season, when Wayne didn't go on a scoring spree when we played inferior teams... he went on an assist spree.

That was important, but what we have come to learn is this team needs scorers. We haven't been able to resolve our scoring issues in the post. That has always been the bread and butter of Bill Self's teams. You can't keep up high assist numbers when you don't have enough scorers.

I'm not saying Wayne needs to make less assists. But he has to be a consistent scorer, and he has to do it efficiently if we hope to repeat as Big 12 champs.

Wayne hasn't figured out how to score in this offense. He knows he has to score. He is getting impatient and he forces many of his shots. He'd like to be the guy who can finish at the rack, but he's having problems doing it.

This is driving him crazy. I've noticed his body language going south of recent.... especially at ISU.

I think part of this issue must be resolved by Self. I think he needs to draw up some wrinkles that better fit Wayne's skill set.

I could be wrong, but I'm thinking what was good for Perry and BamBam is also good for Wayne. He needs to be in motion, and perfecting his scoring in motion. With Wayne, this may mean he needs to learn to pull up and become a threat in midrange. He looks a long ways from being a guy who will consistently finish at the rack. We should have learned that lesson last year with Wigs... a guy with a lot more speed, hops and athleticism than Wayne has.

The best scorers take what the defense gives... they don't force it. Wayne can't force his finishes and win (consistently). Wayne needs to take what the defense gives... and the defense is giving midrange jumpers consistently. The defense is standing their post players like chess pieces in the paint, waiting to draw charges on Wayne, or force him into last-second acrobatics where he bricks up a shot.

Wayne remembers his last shot. That's an issue. If he misses then he builds anxiety and it slows him down, making the game play faster in his world. He's thinking too much.

The worst part of all of this is when Wayne slows down his defense does, too, and he becomes our weak link on the floor.

This is a time in the year when Brannen should get a better look at some PT. Wayne needs to walk the Sahara desert alone for a while to focus on making an upgrade. If he does it now there is time for him to become a big impact player for the final push for #11 and March.

Christmas break is clearly over now and students have returned to Lawrence. The campus is abuzz with bodies and movement. The Jayhawk students are back in full force and screaming their heads off in AFH.

School is back in session.

The Jayhawk mens basketball team certainly learned a few lessons last night. It just isn't enough to play the best 20 minutes of basketball in your career and call it quits. The game is 40-minutes long. That was the lesson learned last night. Whatever point lead you can gain one half can be matched by your opponent in the second half.

School is back in session.

Coach Self had an extended visit with his players after the loss at Ames. His focus was on our lack of hustle. A few words to communicate that fact was not enough. It was worth trading court practice prep time for OU to emphasize his point.

School is back in session.

It appears that most of the Jayhawk players are now taking notes. Writing the words of Coach Self on their sleeves and in their souls. That's the only way they can keep his words memorized while traveling away to our enemy's dens of torture. We'll see if they can still remember in just a few days, when we play a crucial Big 12 game in Austin.

School is back in session.

Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander, two young freshmen players, seem to be focusing hard on Self's chalkboard. Same can be said of veteran player Perry Ellis and part-time students Brannen Greene and Devonte Graham.

School is back in session.

A few students appear to be slow learners. BamBam Traylor appears to know the answers, but was hobbled by an injury. Wayne Selden, nobody knows. The game appears to be moving too fast for Wayne to keep up.

Spring midterms for this team will take place this Saturday, January 24, 1pm, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Students should come prepared with two #2 pencils and their notes engraved on their souls. At stake is the Big 12 regular conference championship.

School is back in session.

@HighEliteMajor

You nailed it... either have flexibility or only recruit specific players.

My real beef is preparedness. I never feel like we come ready to play. I know everyone in here must be sick of me rambling on and on about this.

There is a reason why my focus is here. I played ball in much smaller venues, but places that we often faced even harsher crowd treatments. Small gyms means proximity of players to fans is nuts! We would rarely even have a buffer between our bench and opposing team fans. Most of those years I had a Volga-German coach who was a king-sized man, and he even had to help physically protect us more than once! And talk about home-cooking refs! I recall one of our guys getting T'd for just looking at a ref wrong!

We realized how important it was to be ready for a game... and I can honestly state that we always came ready!

My advice for him is to stay away from Buffalo Wild Wings.

I can gain 5 lbs just driving by one of their locations.

Well... I showed my gifted skills at picking winners, stating we'd have an easy time and the score would be close only because they would get a mini run at the end.

That's why I go to Vegas for the shows and food!

I thought I was the one that jinxed us!

Okay.... tonight we lose by 20!

@JayHawkFanToo

It must drive them nuts! It drives me nuts and I don't have a millionth of what they have at stake.

I'm not sure I have the control to be a good coach. There is a reason why I've always loved Bobby Knight. I see a lot of me in him.

Back in the late 70s /early 80s I recall when "Mr. October" Reggie Jackson hit a homer that sunk our Royals again. I reached out and launched a sidekick that required sheet rock repair on two walls... the one I kicked and the one on the other side!

I'm too old to kick anything now. I'd hate to tweak a muscle or something worse!

When I get out of hand my wife tells me to "cool it" and I do because I don't want to piss off the boss! :-)

@KUSTEVE

I knew the color in your posts had to be rooted in a colorful past! Keep-em coming, my friend!