Experts?
Seriously?
You can walk into any bar and find conversation that competes with all of these guys. I think many in here could carry their weight against these guys.
Come on... really... Calipari "Coach of the Year" because he can manage egos? Great... we'll name him "psychologist of the year." How many coaches would like to have a team full of 1st round picks and the problem Cal has?
You've got a future as our next Oakville!
" I think we should ship Zenger's side show off to the Little Apple before he strikes out on another FB coach."
I put in my 2-cents with Zenger. Saw him 2 weeks ago and gave him my opinion as a KU alumni.
I told him how much I like Bowen and his energy. We aren't going to get some expensive outsider to turn Kansas football around. Those types of candidates are more concerned with their checks clearing than Kansas succeeding. Bowen will be happy to take the job at a fair price, giving him incentive (like he needs more) to make Kansas successful to further his career. I'm convinced he will be a better recruiter, too. He is a guy who would like to make Kansas his destination in coaching. If we really want to build a program, we need a guy like Bowen who will make Kansas successful, then stick around to make it permanent!
Bowen cares about KU... when was the last time we had a coach who gave a rat's ass about KU?
Who knows.... maybe he will become to us what Snyder is to the purple kitties!
I remember attending a game at Pepperdine in Malibu a long time ago. The Pepperdine Wave! What a campus!
I seem to recall they were big in women's diving and water polo.
All I could remember is how bad I wanted to attend Pepperdine!
Or how about the shirts that said "striving for perfection?"
I saw those on a rack for $2.49 and I just couldn't force myself to buy one, even though the humor value would have been priceless!
Yeah... a first round KO would be great, and to experience the shake-up in Lexington. Contrary to what everyone believes, that Calipari is a God there for bringing back winning basketball and recruiting the elite players, there are still many hard-and-true Kentucky fans that really know basketball and absolutely hate Calipari. They have the same discussions we have where we struggle with having a revolving door team every year (or the possibility of) and how they miss the experience of quality 4 and 5 year players who develop along the way. And they know X's and O's are not Calipari's strength.
Or even better, a cheap suitcase! Their bags will already be packed for home!
"The feeds of Svi playing back in Eurasian ball indicated that he was the quintessential volume shooter. Volume shooters are streaky shooters that can go 1-7 and 6-7, so you have to give them their 1-7s to get their 6-7s. "
Exactly. And now you know why Conner left his dream school. Conner was a volume shooter but he wasn't going to be developed as a volume shooter at Kansas. My guess is Svi will be developed to get up more shots and approach the status of "volume shooter."
I'm sure it took a complete slap in the face for Conner to leave Kansas.
@DoubleDD - thank you for your post! I'm glad I'm not the only one willing to defend the concept that the fight in the dog is most important! Calipari isn't counting on teams to think this way. He intends to intimidate teams with their size so they will take the wrong approach to playing them, and will basically hand Calipari a freebie win by focusing on playing "tall ball" when they should focus on their advantages at "small ball."
Christian Brothers?
I thought that was a clothing store for men? No wait... Brooks Brothers... sorry.
The fizzle has left Josh's career. I remember when he was an "up-comer."
Thanks for the link.
Two things really put a shutdown on city courts; gang activity and violence coming from various sources, and video games.
The playgrounds represented community. It was an area that most wanted to keep it safe and most respected rules. Police showed their lack of caring by not participating in playgrounds. They should have guarded the grounds up til around dark and then closed the grounds at night. If they would have done that, more grounds would still be active today. It was a major police blunder... not willing to sacrifice a couple of cops in order to keep crime down because more kids had constant legal activity. And people want to know why police are hated in inner cities....
But now it isn't worth messing with because young kids would rather play video games on their phones. They'd rather stay indoors and find a soft place to sit or lay.
It's all sad. "City ball" was a big part of my upbringing and I wouldn't trade it for anything. My first step off asphalt or concrete was Y-ball. Y's started running programs to build leagues and also provide a place for broke kids to go play ball, without paying. That represented my first step into organized basketball even though I had the funds to pay. There was an adjustment period. The Y had tougher rules! Bad language and fighting were not allowed, and many kids coming right off the streets were kicked out. Some were allowed back in after they made adjustments, others were banned permanently. You would constantly see police at the Ys...
ICE BALL - The Y became popular around December because of the ice and cold. But basketball was still played on playgrounds all year. Someone would be labeled "grounds keeper" and would bring a snow shovel. If no one brought a shovel, we'd use our feet and scrape the court clean. It took a while, but you would be amazed at how fast a full court would be scraped with shoes. By fall time everyone had saved some bad shoes to get them through a season of ice ball. I call it "ice ball" because the snow would be removed, but often there was a layer of ice on the court. Asphalt courts were more popular in winter because the black surface would warm up quicker, melting the ice. Concrete courts were more popular in summer because not so hot and you would stay clean. A long day of asphalt summer ball meant acquiring black asphalt hands and leaving your shoes outside when you returned home.
Sometimes I think about writing a book on city ball but I feel like there were plenty of personalities capable of doing the same thing and creating a far more entertaining read. It's culture that should be remembered.
"Academic fraud" amongst students is one thing.... when it is allegedly conducted through the university it is something totally different.
This is a case for the justice department because the level of crime creates victims widespread. Potentially every graduate of UNC will have their diploma potentially discredited to some degree, and the damage could extend beyond that because it raises general academic integrity issues on a broader scale.
In the example above I listed a lawsuit brought from Memphis ticket holders who were suing Calipari and Rose for a loss in value... imagine the student body of UNC over 18 years bringing a class action suit because of a loss in value of their diplomas? I know if I was a UNC grad I would almost feel an obligation to be a part of that suit.
I think someone needs to go to prison!
"Overall, there were more positives than negatives."
It didn't bother me too much that we came out slow in the first half. That points to the fact that their practice sessions are tough with learning concepts. It was clear guys were thinking too much. They seemed a lot more relaxed and focused in the second half.
It is always a good sign when a team plays the second half better than the first. It shows they can absorb the halftime coaching and come out a different team.
Glad to see Perry start to assert himself. Lots of good things... Devonte starting to go forward. And Frank seems to be a constant plus now (in both exhibition games).
Most of our bigs committed lots of fouls, they better work on that!
Friday will be a step up in competition. I get the feeling we need to be pushed harder in order to really see where these guys are. That might take the UK game to expose.
Svi is clearly an alpha-dog when it comes to getting his shots up. He wasn't shy even after missing many. I'm sure he will have streaks this year, and maybe he'll get sidelined down the stretch of close games if he isn't hot, because he seems like he'll up it even if he missed his first 10+ shots!
"@drgnslayr depends on match ups, presses, defensive schemes etc. I'd love to see a 4 guard lineup w/Mari at the 5, pressing and running the floor."
I like that idea, too!
"For example, had the Arthur thing turned out differently, and he been declared ineligible due to his grades being changed in high school, KU would have used an ineligible player and may have had to forfeit all games in which he participated."
I agree with that. But would Kansas have also received 3 years probation? Unlikely. That penalty was a reflection of the university's involvement, most likely for more than loaning Reggie a few bucks. That involvement could be flavored many ways... including just a lack of responsibility for some area of this situation.
"Also, KU has accepted players on the academic fence."
True. And I hope their classwork at Kansas is legit! Perhaps with BMac there could be a risk/reward where something could have been questionable. I can't believe we would take any risk with Jamari. Like I said, I don't put Kansas on a pedestal. I am HOPEFUL we are not involved in anything questionable for any level of reward!
"Ultimately, the eligibility that we are talking about here (i.e. whether a student qualifies to compete in college) is different than the eligibility dealt with at UNC (whether there is fraud going on at the university level)."
Exactly. I implied Calipari and Kentucky have something going on within the university to keep athletes qualified. It is just my opinion. And I believe it will eventually be revealed. Just my opinion... it isn't anything about being a fair statement... it is just my opinion that I'm sharing here.
I have a hard time accepting Calipari's settlement. If there was nothing to hide why not make it another opportunity to clear his name? Preventing court is also a way to prevent possible perjury charges later if you are hiding something. I took the settlement as a silent acknowledgement. That is also just my opinion.
None of us know what the NCAA knew and why they leveled Memphis' season, but you know they didn't do it for the heck of it. They had a connection between Rose's fraudulent SAT, whether it is connected to the benefits Reggie Rose received is not known publicly.
The NCAA punishment reflected their knowledge of some guilt by the university.... especially leveling probation on Memphis. If the university was a mere victim of the SAT fraud you can bet they would have challenged the NCAA. It is clear the university had some level of involvement, most likely connected to Calipari.
This is comparing apples to oranges when looking at Rush and Arthur... neither of these cases had connections to Kansas.
Kanter was paid as a professional, voiding his eligibility. We are talking about academics, in particular, cases where athletes may or may not be legally qualified.
Showing me how few cases of top recruits are found academically ineligible seems to prove my point more than yours. I'm saying... if top recruits are sitting on the academic fence, they go to Kentucky! (IMHO)
I don't believe players that are at the top in basketball are almost all truly qualified. Chances are, many put their studies on hold while they perfected their game. To think of all of these guys as being heavily disciplined in the classroom isn't realistic.
I believe history is a long path... it will always exist in the future... and at some point we will discover something going on at Kentucky. That is just my opinion.
And I'm not putting Kansas on a pedestal. I am HOPEFUL we are playing by the rules and we are focused on recruiting true student/athletes!
As far as Kansas "pulling offers" that can happen in a phone conversation and can be private information. In most cases, I venture to say that Self doesn't like to publicly pull offers off the table because it reflects negatively on the athletes, something Self doesn't want to do, regardless if there is question to their academics.
I'm willing to bet big bucks that we could have landed several top players over the past few years if we had no conscious towards academics. Examine our academics profile and we are always near the top. Many of our players even finish their degrees while playing pro ball. Those aren't paper classes.
I'm also willing to bet several other schools have the same policy.... like Duke!
Memphis had to vacate their season because there was enough substantial evidence showing Rose had someone else sit in on his SAT.
The NCAA (to public knowledge) didn't have enough evidence to connect the dots to Calipari. However....
"Meanwhile, Calipari should have learned more about Rose’s eligibility and confirmed if he was acceptable academically. As investigators unmasked facts of Rose’s alleged sneaky habits to cheat on exams, his brother received $1,713.85 in forbidden benefits from the University of Memphis.
Though the school said Reggie Rose had been billed, they have not yet received a dime.
It’s tough to pull one over on the NCAA, particularly when suddenly Rose was granted college eligibility to take the SAT in Detroit.
That’s strange, and hard to affirm after he repeatedly (three times) failed the easier ACT. It’s obvious he wasn’t a genius at test-taking, but a floor general who qualified to play might have shamed himself simply to fulfill a lifelong dream.
Calipari could’ve and should've known, avoiding the ramifications that were involved.
Instead of standing up to wrongdoings, he rather ignored the potential infractions and refused to worry about past.
Then again, maybe he had no indications that fraud was smudging the program, though this is highly unlikely."
So just because Self recruited Rose... are you implying that Self would have followed the same path as Calipari? Are you sure you want to go that way?
This isn't about taking the path of recruiting OADs... it is about what a coach/school does when they potentially have the services of a top tier recruit with academic issues and looks for ways to "qualify" him and keep him "qualified."
I didn't slander Calipari and Kentucky. I just stated my curiosity for their ability to land and successfully play every AA they can get their hands on. Kansas, on the other hand, has definitely turned away talent based on academic issues.
Every top recruit gets recruited by just about everyone. Some have academic issues and shouldn't qualify to play anywhere. I'm not even leveling an accusation on any recent UK AA. Just looking at the high numbers of top recruits they land and the fact that most or all make it over the academic bar at UK.
And many recruiting issues we never hear the details about. It is possible that many of those UK recruits we might have signed, but pulled the offers because of potential academic issues.
IMO, part of Calipari's ability to recruit so well is his ability to keep athletes qualified throughout their college experience. That is just my opinion. I'm not one of these people that just believe he has a great ability to talk them all into playing at Kentucky. Just look at their roster today and tell me why half of those guys would go to a school where they will sit on the bench most games? That makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever. Cal is more than a salesman, IMO.
Here is just a bit more to this story...
Rose & Calipari settle with Memphis Fans ↗
I'm sorry. But there is no way I can ever put Self and Calipari in a comparison where they are anywhere equal. Imagine Self doing this? This settlement is their obvious desire to sweep it all under the rug, perhaps for many reasons, including the possibility that they could later be nailed for perjury.
Through Calipari's cries of innocence, here was one more avenue he could have gone to help clear his reputation. Yes, it would have been a tough path to go, but upstanding people realize there is nothing more valuable on this earth than their reputation.
"Man, I hate to see Roy put on the hotseat like this."
Me, too. But if there is any chance of Roy saving his reputation, it will come from sitting on the hotseat for as long as necessary and for Roy to be straightforward.
I haven't always enjoyed confidence with Roy and his ability to handle his comments and actions publicly. He has often faced unnecessary criticism because of his actions or comments. This is an area I give a huge advantage to Self and how he handles himself publicly.
"Does a university have a fiduciary responsibililty to provide hard classes instead of easy classes?"
No. The university has a moral obligation to offer classes that provide some qualitative form of education through various forms of academic structure. The goals can vary, from methods directed towards information immersion to a pathway for sparking creativity.
As far as making classwork "easy" or "hard" the goal should be to make the methodology as easy as possible to obtain the objectives of the particular class. The goal is to make a class "successful"... meaning... finding the most effective methods for advancing the students within the objectives.
I'm 30+ years away from my college education and I have retained (and used) more information from my easier classes. I believe if a class has plenty of content and is easy, I retain more of the content because it is easier to retain the content.
Many of my harder classes seemed to make no sense, and became a futile exercise in memorization that largely ended up being short-term memorization. Cramming for finals and then vomiting the material out of my consciousness the second I walked out of the classroom after my finals. If the goal is to just make it hard, then I guess that has some merits, too, in proving students' abilities to be disciplined and grind through grunt. But advancements in our society (today) seem to often come from accomplishing through paths of least resistance, and we are reaping big rewards from this approach!
I think we are solid at the 4 when you consider that Cliff is a 4. Considering that, we have Perry, Cliff and Jamari... probably the most depth at the 4 of anyone in college basketball. It is the 5 where we are hurting. It is the 5 where we traditionally have our shot blocking monster and a guy who will be as tall as any opposing 5 we will face. We don't have that this year.
So do we use our tallest players to shore up the 5? Or do we spread our wealth from the 4 spot into the 5? Or do we extend our height dilution and bring one of our big guards down into the 4 and then either use Perry, Cliff and Jamari at the 5 or Landen and Hunter?
It should be an fascinating season to what Self in action. My biggest concern is foul trouble from our post.
It all makes me wonder about Kentucky and Calipari.
Here are my reasons why:
Calipari has been at a program with academic issues before (Memphis). He either knew about it, or he didn't but should have.
The level of recruiting success at Kentucky comes to question. When I say "success" it goes beyond just recruiting top tier players, but also that they all make it through the system without a problem.
Many in here wonder why we haven't been getting the number of high level recruits that Kentucky gets. This may be the reason why. Maybe Self (and Kansas) have a higher bar set for recruits (academically). Maybe Kansas doesn't have a "system" for getting non-academic players through without a hitch. Further... maybe Kentucky does!
Look at their roster every year since Calipari has arrived. It is hard to believe they wouldn't have run into academic issues with at least a few of these guys. I'm not saying top recruits have more academic issues... I'm just saying x amount of recruits have academic issues, some of them top tier. I have a hard time believing Kentucky is weeding through top recruits. With their high success rate it appears they "process" all the top recruits they want to become Wildcats.
I think Self's mindset is wrapped around size.
When he talks about playing "small ball" this year, he's talking about how he uses his bench. Does he give minutes off the bench more to guards or to post players? Does he put in Devonte or Landen?
I hope he plays it more like Hoiberg would... focus on match-ups. We build a game plan based on our scouting who matches up best with who... and then during the game we may mix it up to test out other options (if need be). Wayne is a real jewel in this concept because he can play anywhere from point to the 4 and he knows he has to take on the role of alpha-dog.
Brannen has size going for him. I'm not sure if he can hold his own at the 4, but he should be able to play 2 and 3. His issues are defense and whether or not he can be an alpha-dog. Gunning up bad shots doesn't make him an alpha-dog. Fighting for position and putting up high % shots is the role of an alpha-dog.
The Hoiberg system only works with alpha-dog players. That's why Fred always recruits several alpha-dogs that realize their role to attack when they have mismatches.
I would like to see us work out of the hi/lo, but I'd like to see us play it with several players in an alpha-dog mindset, which is to do more than just pump up the shot when they are wide open.
What we have really lacked recently is having a few alpha-dogs on the team.
I think Svi is fascinating because he can shoot well, has several developed tools, and seems to show symptoms of being an alpha-dog, maybe even more so than Wayne. Cliff should become our post alpha-dog as he learns how to use his physicality without drawing fouls.
If developed right, we may have several alpha-dogs on this team:
Frank, Kelly, Svi, Cliff come to mind, and others may pick up the spirit, too.
"This was like day following night."
Conner would have to fight for minutes at WSU, too. They like to play with more perimeter defensive pressure.
What Conner has to realize is that the best thing for him is to be at a school where he has to fight ridiculously hard to earn minutes. That's the only way he will be pushed enough to develop his game to another level. He has some tools in his toolbox, but he needs quite a bit more to play at the next level, even if it is making a decent living with euroball. Europe has plenty of good shooters, most are quite a bit bigger than Conner. Svi is pretty much the prototypical euro player.
"My recollection is that when students cheat the way you describe, i.e., turning in copies of papers they did not write, that the student would be considered to be violating some kind of school ethic and would be, if found out, disciplined by the school. But I don't recall a situation where the school, or the instructor, would be found to have violated a student's rights by not catching them doing it."
I believe the way to fix this is to investigate the entire university. Dig deep into every aspect of education. In the end, hopefully to the benefit of UNC, they discover no other misconduct at the university. This is the only way to restore the academic reputation of the school.
The entire process (in itself) would be a form of discipline on the university and enough to send a message all through the nation that this type of behavior is unacceptable.
You can look at two ways:
Glass half empty - this is a stain on the reputation of academics at UNC and may extend further into other schools. It should be dealt with promptly, and for the most part shoved under the rug.
Glass half full - this is an opportunity to investigate further into UNC (and maybe other schools) to make sure academics are taught at a high standard, and moving forward, there will be some kind of structure in place to monitor these standards. This will be a plus because it will help the reputation of college programs throughout America.
We are all looking at this only through sports glasses. There are definitely questions in other areas of studies, for example, grant studies.
This is an opportunity to bring academics up a notch in reputation. And while we are at it, maybe we can use the same "academic police" to monitor private science-based firms, which are largely unregulated and producing bogus science. What most people don't realize is the shift in focus to private conducted science over university-based science. The entire field of science is suffering from reputation issues, and rightly so.
It has taken a while... but I finally feel like more people in here are gaining enthusiasm to play Kentucky!
It's nice to be underdog for a change. We aren't supposed to win this one and if we do the entire basketball world will take notice!
Maybe it is better we lose, build our chip, and go quietly to practices until March.
Naaaa...... let's just kick their azzes! It's friggin' Kentucky and Calipari!
ROCK CHALK!
Another solid post.
Svi has a big toolbox. He's the only one I see really dribbling, cutting and faking to get open in mid range. It seems like most guys either want to hit the trey (which he can also do) or take it to the rim. It would be nice to see someone exploit mid range.
I think Svi will contribute quite a bit this year, and next year he will be a beast in D1. I hope he sticks around for at least 3 years. I can hardly imagine where he will be in 3 years!
We scored big with this find, but it did cost us. I'm sure it was the last straw for Conner. I saw the Shockers opener and Conner and dad were in attendance. I caught one of the Shocker games last year and bumped into Conner at that one. Not sure if he fits in the high-speed Shocker team, but I know his parents are both grads from WSU.
I guess I wasn't the only one to notice Conner...
Conner Frankamp makes recruiting visit during Wichita State’s exhibition victory ↗
I'm certain we would have been a better team, and we probably would have handled Stanford. Beyond that, I'm not so sure we would have continued to advance. Embiid rescued the statistical line on our defense, but he didn't make us a team playing team ball. I didn't see us as a FF team.
Let's not forget, our PG had a meltdown.
"This seems to be the ultimate test of Self's adaptability. Who we have been under Self is "let them set tempo and we beat them playing it their way.""
True. We don't take advantage of this aspect of the game. There are so many games where we could make it an easy win just by controlling tempo and instead we grind them out. I don't understand why.
When I hear Self talk down the full court press saying that good teams will beat a press tells me he doesn't understand the real benefits of a press. Most teams will beat a press, even bad teams (if they just get the ball to a good ball handler). One of the goals is to wear down a team, and eventually, even the best teams will give us some TOs when they are tired. Also, as the game progresses, teams tire more just within their offensive possessions, hence (most likely) dropping their offensive effectiveness.
Another vital benefit of running the press is to control tempo. Forcing teams to speed up their offense usually brings rewards. If you can cut out a few seconds of the shot clock on every possession you are making an impact especially with teams that like to use the entire shot clock. Another benefit is changing the starting position of the other team's possessions. Since you pressed them you make positions a bit different to the start of every possession. That sounds like a little thing, but it actually is huge. You are removing a key piece of structure and rhythm out of their offense.
We never have to make a steal with our press and we should still reap big rewards.
We don't have to run the press on every possession, just mixing in a hard press is enough to do the job, and sometimes it works better that way because it catches teams a little bit off guard and mixing it up makes possessions differ from each other.
"I will point this out again though, we don't have a good chance if Ellis and Selden don't take the Alpha dog roles in this game and put up big numbers."
I totally agree with that. I know it was just an exhibition game, but Perry didn't exactly impress the crowd with his first impression for the coming season. I thought Wayne intentionally backed off the throttle a bit to focus on getting our new guys involved.
I'm sure you are right that their height will bother us at every position. It shouldn't be that way unless they can keep their foot speed up with ours. I loved to have bigger guys guarding me in M2M back in my days because of my foot speed. I could always create scoring space and I'd become more alpha dog because I knew I had them beat. I hated the little guys that were fast and sticking to me like glue.
We should have lateral speed over Kentucky. Right, nothing is proven until the game is played... but little guys should be have quicker lateral movement over bigger guys. Granted, Kentucky is stuffed with McDs AAs... we also have highly ranked players. I can't really see either of the twins being able to match foot speed with Frank.
Great thread, guys!
HEM, I'm with you on Svi. He is the x-factor. There is no question that he will eventually be a gigantic contributor, but will it be this year or next? There is talk that he needs to strengthen up. He missed all the summer Hudy stuff.
I think he can compensate somewhat for having a boyish body with his toughness. He is a tough kid.
He can do things none of our other guys can do well. He easily can create his own shot. He can shoot off the dribble in mid-range. He has good court awareness and can make good passes. He can also win us some steals by seeing more of the game on the defensive end.
Lots of pluses. But he has his minuses, too. His youth at the top of the list. He is a little green for "western ball", very green for "self ball", lacks strength, lacks discipline (especially on his shot), has language issues.
Even with all those negatives, I just have a feeling he is a kid who can learn quickly, even though his English is rough. This guy is a long way from home, and he surely wants to make a life for himself over here. No one has more riding on their play than Svi.
There is the chance his game kicks up a turbo-notch during the year. If that happens, we'll become a very tough out in March!
I hear you.
I don't look at our challenge with Kentucky as if we can win because Self out-coaches Calipari.
I just look at their roster, packed full of trees.
The question is... how do you beat a bunch of trees?
What is your strategy to beat Kentucky?
I posted my version of how to beat Kentucky. There are plenty of great basketball minds in this forum, and I'm hoping you and others will lay out your ideas of how to succeed.
I think half of the struggle is related to attitude. If we don't think we can beat Kentucky, we can't. That is an attitude Calipari is hoping teams bring to their games.
The only part of the game I'm willing to concede to Kentucky is the 10% of the game played with the ball up high, where the trees can dominate. Should the trees also dominate the action when the ball is in play from about 6'3" to the floor? I really believe we should win that part of the game.
"all those things are a great "if" we can."
So true. But that will be left to us, and Kentucky won't be able to stop us if we execute this.
"We are clearly the underdog is almost every situation in this game."
We are clearly the faster team. We clearly have better lateral movement. That is an advantage, and that is our major advantage. That is the advantage necessary in accomplishing my list above. I already give Kentucky the 10% around the rim. We won't be able to challenge them on that and their advantage is mostly owning the 10%. This idea that all you need is height to win doesn't hold water. We've lost many games to teams much shorter than us. Most of the players on Kentucky are ranked high because of their height, and they have a relative amount of skill for their height. None of these guys would be Top 50 players without their height.
If you need motivation for grasping this, replay last year's championship game. And though most of Kentucky's team is back, I think they will have even bigger challenges this year because their true alpha dogs (Young and Randle) are gone.
The first thing we have to do is develop a strategy to win. The second thing is we practice in order to be able to execute it. The third thing is we execute during the game.
If we don't follow that path, we have already lost. We aren't just going to get lucky and be hot from the perimeter.
"'I believe that Alexander and Oubre fit that bill, OAD or not. And to that end, I think we are two steps ahead of last season already."
I think this not only nails it on the head, this will be the statement we will all come back to in March. I'm not saying we win it all this year, I just believe we stand an excellent chance of performing better in March this year over last. I know we can all blame it on Embiid's injury... but I think that is largely a cop out. That team didn't play like a FF team even with Embiid. Part of it was the youth. Part of it was players (like Wiggins) who really didn't fit in and often created the need for more attention being spent away from Self-ball. Part of it was our lack of leadership at point. Part of it was the fact that we really weren't a team, playing team ball.
We should be better in all of these areas this year. Kelly and Cliff seem like they are tailor-made for Self-ball, and the more we hear them speak (and watch them play), the more apparent it becomes.
Our date with Kentucky is coming up fast.
How do we beat Kentucky?
Self has been talking about Kentucky's size. He has been informing the world that Kentucky has 6 guys taller than our tallest player.
I scratched my head when I heard him say it. Is he expressing the fear of playing all that height (the very goal Calipari had in mind when recruiting this team)? Or is he laying the groundwork for supporting his strategy of small ball? Maybe Bill doesn't give enough credit to the Jayhawk Nation for understanding the game and how our only chance of beating Kentucky is to beat them in other areas besides height. We will not win by playing our tallest players. Period. We will be completely overpowered by their size and talent if we attempt to play tall ball with the tallest college team of all times. Kentucky may even be the tallest team in history of both the college game and the NBA. I'd like to know a taller team.
So how do we beat Kentucky?
This is 100% x-axis basketball. It's the same game UCONN played to win the title. We should be able to even play a better game of small ball than UCONN played.
Win the TO battle - First thing we have to do is take care of the basketball. We can't turn the ball over in high frequency (like we have been doing over the past several years) and expect to win this game. And we have to put pressure on Kentucky to force some TOs... something that should not be that hard to do against a team of such height.
Compete for rebounds - Height helps rebound, no question, but it is not what counts most. Contrary to what many people think, the #1 factor on owning rebounds is position, not height. There are a lot of factors involved in getting position, but the biggest factor is hustle. Good rebounders move their feet laterally more than vertically. Good rebounders have a knack for seeing a shot going up and predicting where it will go and they get the right position for the ball coming off where they predicted it to go. Few college players know anything about getting rebounding position and even fewer put in the hustle to get position. It's a game of using your hips and your arms to screen off the competition.
Control the tempo - We need to own the tempo. This will expose Kentucky's biggest weakness; their height. Chances are slim that Kentucky will be able to have an offense that is adaptable when things change. We have to have an offense that can adapt. Our offense has to be able to try different strategies and then exploit the right tempo for the situation. Maybe what works against Kentucky is to get off a quick shot, or maybe it works best to run lots of offense and get the shot up towards the end of the shot clock.
Win the foul contest - Like all games played, fouling usually becomes a factor. We have to keep our guys out of foul trouble. They have to settle down and not get intimidated by the height, just play sound basketball. Sound basketball against Kentucky is to defend, challenge their shots, but not to the point of fouling. Kentucky will still have to hit shots, and they will not bring a great shooting team into this contest.
On the other side of the ball, we can do many things to force Kentucky into fouling.
Win on the free throw line - We won't win if we can't hit a free throw. If we play this game right, we'll be shooting big numbers at the line. If we keep our points-per-possession number respectable, and we have more possessions than Kentucky, we should win this game, perhaps by a wide margin!
So how will we succeed at accomplishing all of this?
TOs - We take care of the ball by, first, not being intimidated by their size and realize it is to our advantage. Kentucky has length, they also have long arms. So we have to adjust to their size. Our passers have to make crisp passes, and our guys receiving passes will have to make sure they have enough distance from their defenders to maintain possession. And they have to sometimes go get the passes.
Rebounding - We can control the boards if we hustle, and we get good position. Use our butts, hips and arms to possess turf and screen them off. Very basic basketball that literally NO ONE does anymore in college basketball. Watch the ball being shot and know ahead where it most likely will go. For the most part, rebounds either go directly back to the angle they came in on, or just the opposite. When the ball is shot from an angle, it is often like shooting pool off the cushions... the ball rebounds inversely on the other side of a 90-degree angle from the backboard. If we actually fight for position, Kentucky bigs will foul going over our backs... especially after being chewed out for not rebounding.
Tempo - We have to have a strategy on both sides of the ball when it comes to tempo. On the defensive side, we can impact Kentucky's offense with perimeter pressure. That may even include back court pressure, which enough of it can rob seconds off their shot clock and also force them out of perimeter position while starting their offense. When we have the ball, we have to find a speed where we can develop a groove. Even though Kentucky has a deep bench, they can't use their bench in the middle of a possession. Big guys often tire within the 35-second clock, especially if you run them through off-ball screens. Tired defenders often foul.
Fouls - If we end up fouling more than them, it is only because we were intimidated and we let Kentucky control this game. If we play good x-axis basketball, we will be busy running Kentucky all over the court. We put their players out of position by running off-ball screens, high motion offense, fast passes and no ball stick. You get these guys moving then when someone is open for the shot that guy needs a shot fake... whether with the ball, shoulders, body, or how about all of the above? We should draw at least a dozen fouls this way. Another way we draw fouls is with guys like Frank, driving the ball, and when a Kentucky player tries to cut him off, instead of Frank allowing it he needs to take the contact to draw the foul. This Kentucky team should be hack city. They have super long arms, perfect for fouling! If that doesn't make sense to you, grab a broom and swing it around as an extension of your arm. Yeah... that's what they are dealing with.
FTs - We have to hit FTs. This is where we can play a great game and lose because we leave 20 points behind by missing FTs.
While Kentucky will own that top 10% of the game, we should dominate the lower 90%. Even though the ball goes through the goal in that upper 10%, it takes a lot of mechanics to get to that place for the 10% game to happen. We can't lose if we own that part of the game... the lower 90%!
Bowen is working on changing that graphic.
I hope he gets the job.
Neidermeyer? - Dead!
Bluto's right!
Let's Do It!
Question: Did Nike have to pay the ownership of Animal House millions and millions of dollars to use "Let's Do it!"?
UK will be a good test for us... even better... a good test for Self.
He is talking now about UK's height... they have 6 players taller than our tallest player.
So does he take the bait and just try to run our tallest guys and play "tall ball" against a team full of footers?
Or does he take his first dip in the x-axis pool, and realize he can win 90% of the game, lose the 10% (which surrounds the rim), and still win the game?
Amazing how we all forget what happened in the championship game last year. And how a small UCONN team really stuck it to Kentucky.
Yes.... look at Kentucky.
Imagine if Calipari had to rely on developing players and without a single McDs AA (like when they slipped by us a couple of years ago)?
There is no way Calipari could take a team to the FF unless it is super stocked with talent because he doesn't have the ability to do it any other way.
So what happens when Self gets close to the level of recruiting that UK gets?
It seems like we should be a shoe-in over Cal. But it may not work that way.
@JayHawkFanToo raises a good point about players having to learn "Self ball." Can an OAD get it WITHIN one year (so he can perform good in March)?
Even tougher question; can a team stock with OADs learn "Self ball" within the short scope of a season and pull it off in March?
I think not. But I think Self knows that, too.... and we will see him shift his focus to address the situation he is in. At least, we better see him adjust or we'll have many frustrating March performances with all those OADs.
I'm on board with many who think there must be a happy balance in there somewhere. It seems like we could at least always try to have a point man able to lead who isn't a freshman.
I'm certain there are other celebs that attend a game now and then and go incognito.
Just like there are KU fans that mask being a Jayhawk in their daily lives.
"Why would you put them at a National Park?"
Because bull snit makes the best compost!
"He could have averaged 5 more ppg easily."
Yes... he easily could have added 5+ to his points. Maybe his shooting % would have dropped. I'm pretty sure Rele had the green light all the time, especially given the fact that he was so disciplined and maintained a high FG%. So if he had the green light, and he didn't take the shot, he must not have felt comfortable. If he didn't feel comfortable, chances are it would be reflected in his FG%.
I think we have to sort of look at Perry in that same light. We all want him to bring his offense every game, but maybe he just won't. But what he does bring is a high FG% because he only shoots when he feels comfortable. In my books, if Perry can finally bring his defense (and rebounding) every game, we'll take whatever offense he brings and be satisfied.
This is a pendulum where one side is discipline and the other side is assertiveness. Unfortunately, the points swing back and forth.
"Releford to me was great from 3 but did not look like he had the go ahead from Bill to fire it up whenever he wanted."
Releford was a good shooter, not a great shooter. But what made his stats sparkle from 3 was his discipline to not force up shots he wasn't comfortable shooting. There aren't many players with his discipline. Add that into his exceptional effort on defense and you've got a guy who had a great player attitude. He must have been a joy to coach.
Man... I miss Rele!
"@Crimsonorblue22 I want to beat them so freaking bad, I can taste it."
Amen, brother.... Amen!
Calipari -
What a tool. He turned his defense into being a nice guy only there to help kids and their families. Really? He turned the entire thing into a recruiting sales pitch.
He spoke like he was Santa Claus to half the world. What about the reputations of the institutions UMass and Memphis? Why didn't he try to stay and fight the fight? The only thing any of us really have is our character and reputations. Money is printed paper.
What I found funny about this interview was Seth. In the beginning he seemed to want to defend Cal, but by the end of the interview he couldn't hold back the laughter from interviewing a clown.
So Cal creates $300 billion that he sprinkles out over the heads of humanity, to help all the hungry children of the world. Why doesn't he just feed Africa with that $300 billion? And HE graduated 80 kids. Really... well... maybe so. Maybe while the Justice Department is investigating UNC they need to follow the paper class trail to Calipari. Maybe he did actually graduate 80 (personally).
And the answer is a resounding "NO!" Bill Self didn't get Wiggins to the NBA. Bill Self and Kansas had just a little more impact of taking Wiggins to the NBA as United Airlines did in flying him there. I mean a little, tiny, weensy bit!
"Self says we are still playing inside-out. That's the real news. Which is really status quo, and which means that guys can't just come down and gun, regardless of "green light", right? The key will be how he reacts to threes that otherwise would cause implosion -- when the bullets start flying a week from tomorrow."
I think we will run Self's typical hi/lo offense. But I do think there will be a twist on this year. It isn't so much that players will (or will not) be punished for shooting the long ball... This year it will be about Self not pushing these guards quite so hard to work all the way through the shot clock. He has done that before, and he even let that out in the media many times.... that guys shot too quick in the shot clock.
I think he will take a little smarter approach this time and just enforce guys to shoot when it is the right shot, without regards to the shot clock. This is the way it should be. And this will be the way we improve our long ball shooting %. No more perimeter guys over-thinking on the shot. We'll never get our moneys worth out of a guy like Svi if we put too many rules on him. He's a guy that feels it, and he only needs to be reigned in with a few rules, not where he has rules and also has to look up at the shot clock before launching.
I know Self has taken some criticism on this in the past, and rightly so.
One more thing... look at our recent recruiting and the emphasis we've now put on recruiting better guard talent. Self knows he has to change his ways to recruit better guards. It is hard to recruit top-notch shooting guards to a school that make them examine the shot clock carefully before launching.
"Look out for Ellis, he will be trying to solidify his credentials as a SF, which is the more likely position for him at the next level; He shot well from the 3 last season but not nearly enough. He will be shooting a lot more 3s and he will be a pleasant surprise."
Right on the money!
I think Perry has to create a new role for himself. He needs to become Jekyll and Hyde. He needs to be the soft, precise "designer" on many parts of his game; his perimeter shot and even his post up moves often can be soft, as long as he has the mechanics down. He needs to be the monster on other parts of his game... like on defense and fighting for rebounds, and sometimes in the post to score.
Very interesting read, JB. I really enjoyed your "angle" on playing at a 45-degree angle.
That concept brought something else into my mind. Self-defense training. When a gunman draws a weapon on you at point-blank range, if you immediately run away from him at a 45% angle, you have less than a 2% chance of being shot and killed. Less than 2% chance. I'm not sure what study was used, and how accurate it is, but the theory makes perfect sense.
So does that mean it is harder for basketball players to execute passes and other duties at a 45% angle? Makes me wonder.
A few days ago I had a very brief chat with Bill Self (about 30 seconds long). He just gave a speech and was fretting about having a short team. He was fretting... but we all know Bill now and at this time of the year he always undersells his team. I planted a seed in him, telling him to stop fretting about it and focus on the truth. And the truth is more than 90% of the game of basketball is played at the level of 6'3" to the ground. Frank Mason doesn't even have to reach up on tiptoes to be a part of over 90% of the game. This is at the very heart of x-axis basketball.
Bill paused briefly after my comment and then agreed with me.
Seed #1.... planted.
I like "FM" but not sure young people even know what it means today.
[link text](
Back when music was really music, and the performers were considered "artists."
Right on. Hudy is no dummy.
Consider Wayne as the perfect example.
Wayne is lighter, or at least, he definitely looks like a trimmer version than last year. So much so that I didn't recognize him at first in this game. Wayne is trimmer, but he is a heck of a lot stronger than he was last year. He may not have the extra weight that he can leverage his strength against, but we don't need him to block like an offensive lineman.
Wayne gets it, and he is definitely one of Hudy's prized pupils.... maybe he'll end up as good on Hudy's resume as Jeff Withey!
It is looking like Cliff gets it, too. He's already trimmed up considerably.
Hudy is not about building muscle mass. Hudy is all about building usable strength and increasing athletic performance. That has really nothing to do with muscle mass.. in fact, muscle mass usually gets in the way. That's why you will never see basketball players (in general) get huge, massive muscles. If it was to their benefit, they would already be doing it and the league would look like a bunch of Arnie's running up and down the court. The guys in the league that have some mass and play well (like LeBron) build strength over a long period of strength training and players like LeBron have the right genetics for the level of mass he has. I'm sure a guy like LeBron (with his genetics) could build big air muscles in a month or so, and he would not see improvement in his game.... it would be a liability. That is why he doesn't go that way.
@KUSTEVE - love it, man!
I think Bill has to say this. No one, including Bill, has a crystal ball on what will happen. If we are working a hi/lo offense then we will always be focused on taking interior shots if they are there. Our interior may be smaller, but Perry and Cliff should be able to score on anyone in the post as long as they aren't double and triple-teamed. So if we are a bigger threat from the perimeter, these guys will have more room to operate.
It's very similar to football. If you can hit a few good pass plays, you help open up the run.
I think it would be a big help if we can come out in games and nail a few 3s early... especially if it is enough to create a run where our opposition has to call timeout and change-up a bit.
Another reason why we may get more 3 attempts... Svi. That guy is the first guy we've had on the perimeter that really really wants to shoot the ball. He could use some discipline, and Bill has mentioned that several times now. But I expect Svi to put up quite a few shots in ratio to his PT.
I really think Svi joining KU was the last straw for Conner. I just hope he goes somewhere that will help him for a potential coaching career later (if he can think that far ahead).
Hey... thanks for going deep with me today! I definitely respect your posts and those from @Crimsonorblue22 .
I know we all respect each other and we can sometimes disagree and we can do it still liking each other and respecting each other!
Frank is "the Mole."