🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@Kip_McSmithers

That's interesting. I knew you didn't pull that out of a hat.

The word "Kansas" can not be protected as a word. A "Kansas" design can be protect. So that means as long as your design isn't confused with the patent holder of the design, you are okay. I'm pretty sure almost every person living in Kansas, and definitely every business owner, is in violation of using the word "Kansas"... including, to make revenue. That's like taking out a patent on "United States of America."

However, having said that... if you make a design that uses the word "Kansas" and it can easily be confused with licensed Kansas merchandise, they can come after you.

Here is an example of something out there for sale that says "Kansas". It is even in our colors. This piece approaches the line of legality because it can be confused, but it is still legal. if it said "Kansas Basketball" in our colors... I'm not sure that would fly, because it starts to resemble officially licensed university designs.

!kansasvintage_sticker.jpg ↗

SOURCE: Cafepress ↗

I don't see how a shirt that says "kubuckets.com" on it can in any way be confused with officially licensed merchandise. It would be a tough argument to say that these shirts would dilute the shirt market for the university. If we have the right to own and use the domain name "www.kubuckets.com" then we have the right to promote the domain, especially for non-commercial use.

@jaybate-1.0

I think I would rather have the "Knuckle Up" trademark.

@jaybate-1.0

I've always wanted to connect the dots between Mayan Mesoamerican ball, modern basketball, and a futuristic game that will meld Meso and modern basketball together to form a futuristic lethal game, with the game results falling back in line with Meso ball and the losers would be decapitated.

I've walked through this ball court and I could feel a weird energy when standing where all these ball players played (and died).

That was the first time I understood what a close friend once told me, "it isn't a sport unless you can die from playing it."

!1920px-Chichen-Itza-Ballcourt-Panorama-2010.jpg ↗

SOURCE: Wiki ↗

Notice the ring on the wall. The ball had to pass through it. Strange similarities to modern basketball.

@Jesse-Newell

Dig the photo... especially how Bill is in focus, but the ball isn't. I'm guessing your daily assignment was to focus on the man, more so than the game.

@Kip_McSmithers

"Here's the list of verbiage that is trademarked:

The University of Kansas ® (Use "THE" when possible)
KU ®
Kansas Jayhawks ®
Jayhawks ®
The Crimson and the Blue™
Kansas ®
Beak 'Em Hawks
Rock Chalk Jayhawk®
Allen Fieldhouse ®
Kivisto Field ®

"

Did Paul send you this list?

I've looked up all of these terms on the government trademark site. Some are trademarked, while others are not.

I got a kick out of the following expired trademark:

!ImageAgentProxy.jpg ↗

And no.... it wasn't a registration from John Riggins back in his college days. It was from a company called "Knuckle Up." The University of Kansas does not make a claim for KU. In the goods area of computers an Israeli corporation owns "KU." A Chicago corporation owns "KU" in the area of consulting services in the fields of retail meat marketing and merchandising. Yes... meat! They appear to be into meat carving knives.

Kansas is not trademarked. It really wouldn't do much good to trademark something so general that you could never defend it. For example.... "Kansas State University" would then be in violation for using the word "Kansas". "Kansas Jayhawks" is not trademarked (and doesn't need to be) because "Jayhawks" is trademarked.

There is no trademark under "beak'em Hawks" either. I kind of expected one to be there, but it isn't. Most likely, it is impossible for anyone to claim ownership unless they can prove first use. "The crimson and the blue" is not trademarked. It is specific enough but no one has registered it,

"The University of Kansas" is not trademarked. Funny... because "The University of Western Kansas" is. SICILLUM UNIVERSITATIS KANSIENSIS is trademarked. That is the official seal of The University of Kansas.

I'm having a hard time dealing with this situation at UNC. I don't know what to think of Roy in this mess. I've had a past sore spot for Roy when he left and when he wouldn't recruit back east. But that has long since past, and I remember many fond moments at Kansas with Roy at the helm. And Roy made up a lot of ground with me when he supported Kansas in the '08 finals. I still accept Roy as a Jayhawk, and always will. So I'm pulling for him, and I hope he is clean.

I don't harbor ill thoughts towards UNC either. We have too many ties with them, weaved back through history.

I know this situation makes me wonder about our program. All I can say is that I'm hopeful we are running everything on the up and up.

I'm pro human being, which means I support everyone equally, including feminists. I didn't mean for my Friday antics to be taken as negative towards feminists, or Ashley Judd. I was just poking fun and open myself up to being poked equally or harder than I did to her. I think we've all become a bit too sensitive to everything these days. We'll get to the point where we are all completely isolated from human contact because we don't want to offend or be offended.

At my age, if I had the same cleavage Ashley has, it would have flown even further south! There... I've insulted myself even more. I'm sure it will attack someone's sensibilities because I've insulted myself.

Okay... how far can I shove my foot in my mouth? Perhaps enough to where I create a black hole in the universe!

Dang it... this thread will be tied to me forever. I guess I'll never become President of the USA, or even of my local 4-H club! My life is doomed now that I've insulted someone online. Please... no one bother. I'm spending the rest of my weekend throwing myself under a bus!

------u-n-d-e-r-----t-h-e-----b-u-s-----------------

Wow... it isn't too bad down here. I recognize a lot of people down here. Politicians... Mel Gibson... "hey, man, can I have your autograph?!"

I'm serious here... No malice intended and hope I didn't offend anyone or everyone!

@HighEliteMajor

I'll address the corruption of the NCAA. Their level of responsibility is immense. Thousands and thousands of young lives are impacted by their actions. Probably millions of older adults are impacted by their actions. So they should be held accountable up and beyond most institutions.

Who monitors the NCAA? Right... no one! They are "self monitored" so even if they know they have issues within their own ranks, it goes unreported to the public. It's all buried within their own house.

At the level they operate, even the inability to execute can be considered a level of corruption. Why are some teams (and situations) focused on and not others? When broke Baylor recruits arrive on campus and suddenly drive a big shiny ride, why isn't that investigated? It seems that there is only an investigation when an institution or personnel are targeted. That is corruption. I'm not saying the NCAA staff receive kickbacks or anything like that. But they clearly don't have a grasp on what is going on in any institution. Their policies are unrealistic and often force legitimate institutions to try and mask issues because they just don't have the ability to control it.

So many rules are unrealistic and impossible to monitor. That creates additional power held by the NCAA because every university realizes that if the NCAA wanted to, they could put that school in the doghouse and impact them in many ways, including financially. That is corruption. That is an aspect of fascism. Too much unregulated power in one institution.

Fortunately, there are finally some court decisions that are not falling on the side of the NCAA. It has taken a complete level of commitment just to put them on trial.

@jaybate-1.0

I like your vision... and I think we'll create a more-popular vision than Kentucky's celebrity photo shoot:

!ashleyjuddp.jpg ↗

Source: Ashley Judd Bails on Kentucky Senate Race ↗

I never realized she had mule teeth! Heard her next film is titled: "When The Crows Fly South (Along With Everything Else)!"

Ha... (No Malice, Just A Friday Afternoon Giggle)

@jaybate-1.0

It's my fault because of what I wrote about how we shouldn't copy/paste full text articles any longer in here because we violate copyright law, so @Crimsonorblue22 asked me to fix it but I'm not able to remove the ghosting.

I hope I didn't upset anyone... that definitely was not my intent. Since we've been focusing on legalities recently I thought it was best that we try to limit infractions within our site. We may never have legal issues pop up, but it should help the prestige of this site to play by the rules.

@Lulufulu

I dig your enthusiasm! I feel the same way.

Is it just me... I get a feeling that these guys sort of break the mold from what we've been experiencing the last few years. I get a feeling they have a super toughness to them and have potential to get extremely fired up for games.

I'm more excited for this season even over last year!

@Jesse-Newell

Awesome link! I thought it was interesting that he points out the "pot luck" aspect... sometimes guys are just hot and sometimes their cold from the perimeter.

I'm sure that is the case, but I'm also guessing more factors will be plugged into statistical analysis every year going forward.

Here's one I'd like to know:

Is there a relationship between a guard's height and what shooting % he gives up from the perimeter? The sample size is huge, so the conclusions should be statistically sound. Answering this one question will have a big impact on how coaches think moving forward. I know it seems like an obvious answer for many, but we all know where blind assumptions lead...

Gather other stats around the height factor. Do tall guards give up fewer outside shots? More steals?

Then focus on outliers. What commonalities do these players have in common, especially relating to performance results.

Then... what about comparing differing varieties of zones and M2M defenses.

@wrwlumpy

Someone needs to tell those recruits that KD went to Texas!

@JayHawkFanToo

I agree. Bam-Bam is defined. The point may be that Cliff's overall size is bigger. Cliff is one big dude! I can't wait to see these two on the floor at the same time.

@KUSTEVE

"the NCAA is a completely corrupt organization"

Funny you should mention it like that... the NCAA has admitted to lowering penalties sometimes because of the net cost it will have on them and the penalized universities, implying that they practice a policy of "money talks, and penalties walk."

@wrwlumpy - African American Studies can be legitimate. I took a few minority studies classes back in my day and they were at the same difficulty level as other typical classes I took. I actually learned a great deal of information in those classes.

I'm loving me some Royals!

@jaybate-1.0

And I'm staking my claim to UBUF. This public notice illustrates my intent to use and own this mark for all clothing items, plumbing supplies, hackberry tree rooting products, and underwater violins and bows.

I stand against all the big organizations. They all end up becoming fascist regimes.

And with our political structure openly accepting bribes noted as contributions, money goes a long ways to giving these entities powers beyond anything fair and just.

Read on the t-shirt blog. The University seems to imply they have ownership of "Naismith" in some capacity without even filing legal marks. Hogwash. They own Naismith just as much as they own my name for attending the university.

@jaybate-1.0

They've already cloned your DNA and infused it into sperm blanks. It's a simple process where they basically load all the swimmers with DNA backpacks.

You can buy your own material back:

The Science of Possible ↗

Heck, I thought A+ was your school grades. Turned out to be your blood type!

@JayhawkRock78

Interesting read.

I just visited the government trademark site. You can go search out trademarks.

uspto.gov

Search under "Naismith" found exactly 2 live marks:

1. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame - the registrant is Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Inc. CORPORATION MASSACHUSETTS 1000 West Columbus Avenue Springfield MASSACHUSETTS 01105

2. Naismith Awards - the registrant is ATLANTA TIP OFF CLUB, INC. CORPORATION GEORGIA 235 Andrew Young International Blvd. Atlanta GEORGIA 30303

The University of Kansas has absolutely NO CLAIM to anything regarding the term "Naismith" and they are putting themselves at risk of a legal issue if they claim to (if they claim ownership that infringes on other entities' rights).

Here is a "Naismith" product for sale... and Homeland Security won't be beating down this guy's door anytime soon:

Original Naismith Baller ↗

I don't believe we have an issue with KU in our URL, especially if we don't use this website for commercial purposes.

It would be a good idea if this site had a legal section where it clearly stated that this website has absolutely no affiliation with the University of Kansas.

This website has honorable intent. We aren't pushing pornography or anything offensive, and we do not have the intent to defame the university in any way.

I wonder if we could get Adidas to sponsor Jesse writing stories on our site?

I would certainly consider buying some Adidas stuff if they did.

Thanks for posting this information.

Since we've recently been talking about copyright infringement we should be respectful on all aspects of that topic.

We shouldn't copy/paste complete journalism stories in our forum because it does violate copyright law.

The typical way around this is to maybe take a paragraph from the story, and then give a direct link to it. Few news organizations have an issue with that because we are promoting their website.

Here is a good method of offering up this story:

"Rick Pitino wasn't at SEC Media Day, but in a way, he kind of was.

A few weeks ago, the Louisville coach was quite vocfierous in sharing his feelings about the ways in which shoe companies meddle in recruiting affairs."

Source: Shoe company affiliations the heart and sole of recruiting affairs... ↗

Yikes.... guys...

Let's keep laser-focused on these shirts and possible other products, like ball caps. I think many of us are thrilled with @DanR artwork.

I would be happy to build this into a mini shop on Cafepress if we finalize artwork with @DanR .

Cafepress has millions (and I do mean millions) of shopowners and their artwork online and they are the first ones hit with a cease and desist on anything that potentially violates infringement. It is safe for us to do this, and even at the miniscule chance someone at Kansas has an issue with it, the most that will happen is Cafepress will take our shop down. I'm not worried about it, and I would be the one dealing with it and Cafepress.

Mind you, Cafepress approves all artwork prior to sale and they red-flag potential violators. If they think there might be an issue, they will red-flag and require more information before letting it go up for sale.

Our situation is in no way like Joe College.

With Cafepress, we can have several different garments.... short-sleeve Ts... long-sleeve Ts.... sweatshirts... ballcaps.... polos... mugs.... even pet clothing!

I'd be happy to donate my time and I'd run the shop at cost, so there would be no profit involved.

I own a bunch of their products and the quality is good!

Anyways.... that is my 2 cents.

@JayHawkFanToo

"Turner will have a 7"-8" height advantage"

True... but that doesn't mean he can score. I haven't seen any of his mechanics concerning back-to-the-basket scoring in the post. He's light, and light guys typically don't do well at scoring in the low post. Selden could be the best defender on him in the low post if he knows how to body up without fouling.

Do we remember a young Jeff Withey and how he got pushed around in the low post?

Good match-ups don't always seem to be logical. Often, the mistake is to go same-for-same on match-ups when the right thing is to consider specific aspects that make a difference. In this case, maybe Selden can just edge Myles out of the paint with his lower body... Or put just enough body on him during his post move to make him brick the shot.

@Jesse-Newell - Welcome back!

Count me in the boat that wishes Perry's defense was as good as his offense!

He has a new year ahead, clean slate... hope he has a tougher attitude to play more aggressive ball.

I don't see a potential infringement on anything @DanR has made as long as the image of Naismith is public domain.

"KUBUCKETS.COM" should not be an infringement. If it is, then we'll have to move this website to a new name.

The university does not own the rights to kubuckets.

That would be like saying the university owns all words starting with ku.... like kudos!

Imagine this battle:

KU KLUX KLAN

@Crimsonorblue22

What does a small possible copyright infringement have to do with homeland security?

Sounds like some bozos with fake IDs wanted some free Xmas gifts for their girlfriends.

The "KC' image does look like the Royals logo.

@JayhawkRock78

"With all you've done with this site you should never apologize to anyone here for anything. RCJH"

Amen on that!

Is it just me or is Frank standing on his tiptoes?

@KUSTEVE

All good points, including adding Devonte to the mix.

Bam-Bam and Cliff will get minutes, and both pose foul potential... might as well get them out there in the beginning and try to build some momentum, even if they foul, though they will both need to learn to play hard without hacking.

From what I've seen of Myles, he isn't a post-up scorer.

@JayHawkFanToo

"You have Wayne playing in the post? Maybe you meant Cliff?"

I'm just making the point that I think Wayne could stop Myles in the post.

@DanR

"If we can all come up with a decent idea and legal design, I'd be happy to prepare the print-ready artwork."

I'm on board with all of your designs... but especially love the one about Naismith and Wilt! Maybe you could tweak it to make "kubuckets.com" a bit larger because we should promote this site!

It is no problem to say kubuckets.com on our shirts.... that does not infringe on university rights, plus... kubuckets.com has the right to promote their name. If they didn't have that right, they would already be potentially breaking copyright law by having a website, especially if there is any related commercial aspects.

@JayHawkFanToo

I've worked with Cafepress before and they void out any obvious copyrighted material unless you have approval to show them.

@DanR - RIght on! I'd buy those! Just make it a darker blue! If those images are in the public domain then there will be no issues with those designs! Great job!

Turner is light as a feather. Wayne can shut him down in the post. He isn't really a "back to the basket" player and prefers to bomb from the perimeter. He wants to be the next Durant. He is a mega-talent, but he'll need several years to really be effective in D1 and he'll probably already be gone.

I'm not sure we really gave up anything by not signing him. If he was 50 lbs heavier and a real post player (like Embiid was) then we would have really lost a needed asset.

I kind of have the feeling signing Turner would have just created a big mess for our offense because we always need to keep the OADs happy, even when they don't fit into Self's system. We would have twisted our offense around, similar to what we did last year for Wigs, and just created a big, chaotic blob offense.

Then consider a player like Cliff, who fits directly into Self's offense.

I know I'm glad we got him more than if we would have signed Turner, just because he is a better fit and he already has a body built for D1 (and even NBA). He should be a positive impact player from Day 1.

I'm looking forward to watching Myles in Texas... let's see what Barnes comes up with to make him happy.

Texas is loaded with talent, but I'm skeptical they will be able to put it together into something cohesive. Players are pieces, and pieces need to fit properly to make a puzzle complete. I sort of just see a big unfinished puzzle at Texas, and I'm not optimistic that Barnes will put the pieces together.

If you want an easy way for people to order, plus have it done "one off" then companies like Cafepress do a pretty good job.

They aren't as cheap as doing a run, but shirts/caps/everything is only made per individual order. Plus... they have a shopping cart system so people can pay by cc.

cafepress.com

I've had them do several things before and the quality is pretty good. I don't believe shirts are screenprinted, but they use a high quality transfer system that isn't like the old way where the designs start peeling off.

@JayHawkFanToo - Yes... you described it right, and I don't think there are any exceptions around paying licensing fees.

But you can avoid fees when you make it vague. I'm not sure you have a problem with a basketball image and the word "Kansas" written over it. At least, that is the way it used to be. Univ of Kansas owns rights on material using their name and mascot, but they don't own our State name, even when combining it with a basketball word or image.

Joe College wasn't in any position to take on the university. And i'm positive they gave him a chance to bow out gracefully without a lawsuit. If he would have ceased his operation of anything relating directly to the university, they would have pulled the suit.

Here are some links to Cafepress that has some Kansas things that I'm talking about:

link text ↗

link text ↗

link text ↗

link text ↗

They probably have a couple of hundred things on there that hint about the university.

@jaybate-1.0

I have to admit I don't really know what we ran most of the time last year. It definitely didn't seem like the hi/lo.

I think back to other years and constantly remember the ball going in and out of the post on every possession. I just don't remember it that way last year.

I just recall chaos, disorganized offense. Guys standing around watching and hoping Wigs would do something.

Except for a few highlight dunks, last year's offense seemed the least entertaining in many years, maybe the worst during the Self era.

I know it was just over half a year ago, and my memory stinks... but am I wrong with how I remember it?

Can others weigh in on this?

"I still cannot see Bill Self watching the small ballers getting out rebounded +5"

There is no reason why we should get out-rebounded playing small ball, especially with some of the muscle-bound smalls we have. They should be trained on how to get position, and all our guys are athletic and quick jumpers.

When I search "Tarik Black" I went through several pages and never found kubuckets.

I don't know if that is good or bad. For publicity it's bad, but remaining hidden from opposing school's scouts may be a good thing. I'm not sure if they would ever read forums in their research.

If we were really clever we would create a dummy site, find the IP range for direct areas surrounding our upcoming competition, and then send all hits from those IPs to our dummy site. It would be fun creating the misdirection!

@JayhawkRock78

I'm not sure... but you always need a catchy phrase on the front if you will wear our shirts to a game. Who knows... we might get on the tube!

I'm not sure about printing the Jayhawk. It may be hard to find someone to do it without authorization, especially since our logo is unique, identifiable, and known to be protected.

But if we can I think a short quick run could be done without issues, and not for profit. I wouldn't keep them on this site and show them for sale. Just describe the designs, maybe show some of it, people place orders, then they just mysteriously arrive in the mail.

I think we can also go through the front door on this one and find contact info on the university site and ask for permission.

"Kansas Athletics earns about $2 million a year in licensing revenues, received through the sale of products that contain Jayhawks, KU logos, Kansas team names and other related items, said Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director."

There used to be a tricky way around this.

In my examples above... saying... "University of Kansas, Jayhawk Basketball" would probably be as wrong as printing the Jayhawk.

I thought it used to be okay to say "Kansas Basketball" because what exactly does that mean? It could mean anything... but from reading that article it wouldn't surprise me if the courts see otherwise because it is always tough for the little man to win in court.

I remember that shop down on Mass but never went in. Did any of you go in and know what he printed on his shirts?

I remember Cal's "We're chasing perfection" t-shirts ended up on the 50-cent rack.

How about a spin off slogan...

"Perfection keeps chasing us"

University of Kansas

Jayhawk Basketball

University of Kansas

Jayhawk Basketball

We found it!

University of Kansas

Jayhawk Basketball

Since 1898

Our first parking lot was a horse stable!

University of Kansas

Jayhawk Basketball

116-year winning streak!

University of Kansas

Jayhawk Basketball

Playing Naismith Ball since 1898!

Naismith invented it...

Wilt perfected it...

Kansas Basketball

@jaybate-1.0

"dragonslayr autographed crimson and blue gardening gloves made of old practice jersey remnants."

*with authentic poison ivy urushiol remnants. The gift that keeps on giving!

@JayHawkFanToo

I hear you.

Last year Self changed quite a bit. We rarely ran the hi/lo. I recall about half the time we were trying to get the ball to Wigs and just left him alone to do whatever (drive and get fouled or lose the ball out of bounds). It didn't seem to be an effective offense and definitely didn't have the flow of his old hi/lo.

I'm expecting we will see some hi/lo this year, but also other things. A lot will depend on Perry and Cliff and how well they can execute the hi/lo. Perry seems like he would rather step out and hit the J. He's studying all the tape from the twins and how they created diverse scoring options, especially Marcus.

Exploiting other teams via matchups shouldn't be viewed as a gimmick... but I'm not sure that he won't see it like that. I think Self paid close attention to ISU last year (and a bit from OSU) and it is giving him some ideas. Maybe.... or maybe not!

@globaljaybird

Ha.... right.... that was so absurd that I forgot about it!

@HighEliteMajor

"Mason has a little Allen Iverson in him."

That is some major hype! Wigs didn't even get that.

I'm curious about the defensive skills of our perimeter guys. Who will be up for some d?

@JayHawkFanToo - I'm almost certain Devonte would push over to the two. But what would be nice is to shove Frank over to the 2 on O and have him play PG on D. We may be treating our 1 and 2 about the same anyways.... sort of like the 4 and 5... or should we just call them "left" and "right"?

I'm always game for Hawkwear!

@JayHawkFanToo

I hear you... but that really isn't the way we need to play. We will be limited by refs from our conference and then March refs later.

I don't mean we should become hack monsters. But we will have so much muscle on the court, mixed with speed and athleticism. Certain areas should show some finesse while in other areas we should be scrappy as all hell. We can identify how refs call games, and they let plenty of areas of the game go because they (basically) focus in on silly tick-tack armbar checks, etc.

I'm talking about play 100% legal ball, but using strength and hustle as our main attributes. Done right we should be drawing a lot more fouls than dishing out.

@jaybate-1.0

"In order to squirt, one must also ooze."

I like that one!

Why not have more than one strategy in a game? Why do we have to view 40 minutes of basketball through one single lens?

My idea of SMASH BALL is a strategy to get us started in the right direction in both halves... but after that first 5 minutes, we might go right into small ball, hi/lo, match-up "Mayor ball", or whatever else gets the job done.

We experienced starting problems a lot this past year. It really showed how inexperienced we were and how we lacked leadership. We should be a bit better in both of those areas this year, but why not take the most-aggressive attitude towards the game? Start the group that is going to fight the hardest which should help prevent us from having slow starts.

Last year, you could see many of our losses coming from just the first few minutes of ball.

This year... let's go out and start every game by punching our competition in the face. While they are adjusting to that, we can start injecting fresh talented legs off the bench to continue the beating.

I think our motto for this year should be:

"POUND, POUND, POUND!"

Relentless pounding for 40 minutes. Turn the tide from recent years of playing soft ball.

I see huge potential in starting Cliff with Bam-Bam.... the new "Bruise Brothers."

We really haven't set the tone in most games since '08. We've let our opposition set the tone and we always try to adjust to it to win.

There is no other team out there than can put such a bruising team on the court. Not Kentucky... no one...

One comment has continued to ring through my head ever since it flowed from Self's mouth:

"It will be hard to keep Devonte out of this lineup, especially as the year progresses."

I'm guessing Self is talking about the PG position, but who knows... can Devonte swing on the perimeter?

Two key definitions about Devonte will propel him into big time minutes this year:

1. Leadership Skills
2. Playmaking Abilities

It would be great to add "Treyslayer" and "Solid Defender" to that list... but really the first 2 definitions will count the most to nail down serious PG minutes.

The player I worry about the most is Frank. He is extremely gifted and can really become a factor for x-axis basketball... but I just don't know if I see Self ever putting him at the 2. Maybe he will sometimes run Devonte and Frank together but shift Devonte over to the 2...

@HighEliteMajor

"@jaybate-1.0 I thought a better title to the post might have been, "Three point shooting is NOT for suckers." But what do I know ... "

This forum has definitely become a virtual locker room.... and I'm loving every second of it!

What's next, power push-ups? ;)

We've all been reading about Coach Self considering a game of "small ball" this year. I've applauded the concept for offering something new to run at teams and to focus on true x-axis basketball.

But if we are going to consider playing small ball, might we also consider other themed lineup strategies, too?

What if we run SMASH BALL?

My concept is to run our roughest, toughest, scrappiest group of players at the start of each half so we set the tempo of playing aggressive ball throughout the game. Our other key players will come off the bench and still get plenty of minutes, but they will do so in a game where we have already set the atmosphere of aggression.

Here is my starting 5 for SMASH BALL:

Frank Mason

Wayne Selden

Kelly Oubre

Bam-Bam Traylor

Cliff Alexander

This is a group of tough, muscle-bound players that know how to hustle and can hold their own.

Imagine a player like Perry coming off the bench, capturing minutes perhaps at the 3 and the 4, but now with extra drive as he steps onto a tougher court?

I can exchange all our talented guys on the bench and ask the same question.

The start of each half will be a big factor with this young team. It will impact their confidence and playing style for all 20 minutes.

Let's treat every game like a street fight. Bring the heavy blows right from the start, then never look back while we stay on the gas!

Self mentioned wanting a tougher team this year. This is a strategy to push toughness from the tip-off until the final buzzer!