Everything about Tar spells N-B-A.
His build, his attitude and his style of play. He's a perfect fit, but he also needed the perfect fit with the right team and situation to hang in the league. If he can secure himself for a few years he should become a long-term journeyman player because every additional year adds experience, and experience counts big!
Go, Tar!
"I take @drgnslayr's quote and modify it just a bit, "I desire another NC. I want it bad! We are due! And I am going to expect it.""
HEM... you are a NBC (Natural Born Coach)! You have what it takes!
I like Tubby!
As a fan, this is what I try NOT to do.
Things are going to happen during the year, and hopefully we will be in a good position at the end. Injuries, ineligibility, etc., all impact what happens.
I never want to go into a year with EXACT expectations. Sure, I have expectations, but those will adjust as the year plays out.
I set my expectation bar low by many Jayhawk fan expectations. I expect us to make the Sweet 16, and I think that is still a very high expectation. Expectations and desires are not the same thing. What if Cliff and Wayne go down to injuries, Kelly commits a crime and is booted from the team? Then what? To be honest, I'd still hope we could reach my base expectation with what we have left.
I desire another NC. I want it bad! We are due! But I'm not going to expect that or anything close to it.
The more I think about this 20,000 number, the more I think of the consequences that would come from such a level of activity.
I know that Wilt tried to keep it to unmarried women. But wouldn't many women lie? And how many of those single women had boyfriends or possessive guys wanting to be boyfriends?
If Wilt had 20,000 situations he would likely have had 2k to 4k jealous male counterparts to deal with. He would have been stalked and hunted down and you can be sure several from the jealous bunch would have murderous intent.
Wilt was imposing... imposing to everyone who wasn't brandishing a firearm!
Self is talking a lot in hopes to inspire his young guys to all hustle for PT.
"Self is toying around with Selden or Oubre at the 4 because he wants to have his best 5 on the floor as much as possible."
Very believable and a play directly out of the Mayor's book.
"The benefits are that we add another shooter to the mix."
That is exactly right and Self has already admitted he is worried about where we will get enough points this year. He's just not seeing it with probably the most-obvious lineup combinations.
Whatever the number, he had to battle disease, regardless how safe he played it.
"Dribbling is for slobbers!"
My 14-month old is an excellent dribbler... right off his chin!
He can also dribble a mini KU ball pretty well on a mini table.
I don't think he is ready to battle Kentucky this early in the season, but give him another couple of years.
I believe there is some exaggeration going on. But the point is Wilt was a tremendous athlete.
I don't believe these other websites either that claim these vertical records, having a football player out-leaping all basketball players by 8 inches (Gerald Sensabaugh). I doubt Wilt competed for those records and they only have on the books who they have on the books (documented) so I wouldn't give those records anymore reliability than the folklore except that they accurately portray the very limited (documented) records that they possess.
Spud Webb could dunk in HS when he was only 5'3". I believe his reach to be around 6'8". He easily matched up with Kenny Gregory in a running vertical. The proof is in what he did with the ball, not going through a documented test.
Spud grew to a whopping 5'7" when he won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
When you think about it, what greater urban legend story is out there over leaping ability and crazy dunks? Rural legend is about fishing... not many bass in NYC!
I'm sure if Wilt said he removed quarters off the top of backboard he did it. If he didn't do it we would definitely be hearing from his critics because Wilt had a zillion critics. He was a God in Lawrence and around Kansas, but he was a guy that attracted plenty of haters, mostly because of jealousy, sometimes over race.
Wow... Here are some links, take them for what they are worth... but...
"Wilt was a world-class athlete, who came out of college a 440 Champion track star as well as a basketball Phenom."
"Wilt’s leaping ability was incomparable. His “Sergeant” or vertical leap was higher than Michael Jordan’s at 48”."
"However, as Chamberlain himself once said about all these claims, "I defy anyone to say they took change off the top of the backboard. I could. Someone would put a quarter up and I'd snatch it down. I've heard stories about Jackie Jackson doing it, but I've never seen anyone (but himself) come close.""
If that is true... add another 8" to my guestimate.
Why Wilt Chamberlain Was the Greatest NBA Player Ever ↗
More on the great one:
"At Kansas, he shot-putted 56 feet, triple-jumped more than 50 feet, and won the Big Eight Conference high jump championship three straight years."
Scoring 100 points was just one of Wilt Chamberlain's amazing feats ↗
"Wilt's bench press was reportedly almost up to 500 pounds..."
Wilt Chamberlain - Athletic Freak ↗
I'm sure there is even more out there. I found all of this in just a few minutes.
Lore or Legend? You decide... I cast my one vote for Legend!
All I can say is "YIKES!"
Worth noting is the fact that Wilt was a freakish athlete, not just by the standards of his day, but by today's standards. He was also a Big 8 high jump champ. You won't find any other footer in the league doing that... or even coming close. Wilt had to be able to go super high if he was a high jump champ. His height didn't give him the same advantage in high jump that it did in basketball. His entire body had to clear the bar, and Wilt came before the "Pilsbury Flop" (Fosbury Flop).
Few footers can jump. I'm willing to bet that few footers can vertical over 30". I don't think anyone knows Wilt's vertical, but I would guestimate it to be around 40"... about 10" above all the other footers playing in the league today.
If Wilt could go 40" then (roughly) we can add 3 1/2' to his standing reach. His standing reach was probably around 9'10". Doing the math that comes out to 13'4".
It is too bad we didn't have more focus on overall athleticism back in Wilt's day because if he was at his prime now, we would know how high he could jump and what height his fingers could reach. He might just own the world record!
I'm going off Self's lead...
But if Conner is learning defense and stepping it up, he may end up helping coach our other guards on defense.
Sometimes the best coaching comes from other players because their lives are intertwined and they communicate eyeball-to-eyeball.
I know Conner wants to be a major contributor and he'll fight and claw for floor minutes, and that means compensating for his size issue. But I also see him as an unselfish player and his big mission is to contribute however he can and one way would be to focus on his defense then turn right around and help his perimeter teammates with what he learns.
This is an opportunity for Conner (RIGHT NOW!) to start the groundwork for a coaching career! I know he has his eyes on the prize of playing beyond KU, and he can still do that first. But if he starts gaining a reputation for helping players now he will be beginning the process of opening doors for coaching later.
Interesting post about Wilt.
I think if I was a player in the right time period and didn't know who my dad was I might just claim Wilt if for no other reason than the cred!
Gosh... I could dunk in my day with very little room for error and I never could jump to 11'. Wish I could!
I'm guessing my all-time best jump would get me to about 10'8". I wish I could have dunked like DHoward! But my dunks were about clearing the rim and having just enough control on the ball to slam it down at the back of the rim. The only time I dunked in a game was on a rebound putback where the ball stuck perfectly in my hand and I slammed it down hard! I never wanted to embarrass myself with a blooper rimmy... I would have never heard the end of it from teammates. My classic move was a finger roll over the front of the rim. I think I only ever missed that once, and the ball was wet with sweat so it departed from my hand early and bricked on the lower part of the front iron. Glad no one had that on tape so I didn't have to live with a replay!
I always wished I had a few more inches of vertical but my game was x-axis.
Tough news. All we can do is give a shout out to Joel and let him know he will always be a Jayhawk and in our thoughts and prayers.
So nice to read. Thank you!
HEM.... please... please... please... come on board as a Professor in teaching "X-axis Fundamentals 101?"
You have micro-processed a perfect example for how all the Davids can slay the Goliaths.
I wish you and I could sit in a film room looking at UK footage and scout a victory plan for our game. They've got more holes in their game than a hunk of Swiss cheese... but many already feel defeated because of their height.
I have to hand it to Cal, since he can't out-coach anyone he'll just let teams out-coach themselves.
One good ball handler ends any potential threat from a press, from traps (also in the half court), and opens up attacking the rim, either to finish or to feed a big.
I've never been totally impressed with our big national stat of how many of our baskets come from an assist. It is nice to have a high number but when it is too high it indicates a lack of ability to drive the ball. We'll never win another NC by just having a zillion team assists. Standing around, passing quickly and looking for openings isn't a bad strategy until it is the only thing you can do! Over recent years, it is the only thing we can do, and when we get into March, teams are playing their best and have scouted us, and they know how to shift off our passes and limit openings.
I really dislike our offense when it goes flat, and we have 3 guards standing still on the perimeter, passing it back and fourth... quicker each time thinking the defense won't quite make it back into position next time. Then, with 5 seconds left on the shot clock we make a desperate attempt at a shot.
If we want to take a lesson on team offense we should be watching the Spurs playoff games this past season. They moved the ball quickly, but not back and forth on a half circle. They had players cutting, screening, pick and rolls... and often they would take advantage of match-ups.
I'd have to say that they ran the best team offense I have ever watched in the NBA. They definitely do not have the most talent of any team to play, but the way they played, they could have beat probably any past NBA team.
I know this is college ball, and young guys will only execute to a certain level. But come on... we should be able to do a lot more on offense than what we've been showing the last few years. The rigidity has been horrible. We don't ever even look like we are having fun out there. The guys look more relieved than having fun when we do execute.
The way to utilize Wayne is to move him around in a game and look for match-ups he can exploit. If he stays healthy this year he should be able to exploit just about anyone. Invite teams to bring their zones... those are perfect for this scenario because Wayne can pick who he wants to attack just by hanging out in that player's zone area. One super killer offensive player can destroy zones all by himself. This is college ball, not pro, so teams won't know how to fix the situation when Wayne explodes for 30+. I can see him having some big number games a lot more than I can see Perry doing it.
This could be a team where we have a hard time finding scorers.
I believe I'd make Wayne our #1 "go to" guy.
Ollie followed some of Calhoun's focus on guard play. Everyone knows UCONN is a guard school, just like Kansas is "Big Man U."
I believe if Self takes something from Ollie it is the overwhelming need to have better execution from our perimeter.
After March, Self did one of those "look at yourself in the mirror" assessments and realized how bad the direction is going for Kansas. Sure we are landing big recruits and we've had years of dominant post play. But we haven't had legitimate contender guard play since '08. Let's face it, we didn't win that title because of Shady and D-block.
Self's recent education on March play includes our loss to Kentucky; proof that a team full of freshmen can beat a seasoned team of lower tier players. He also gets the UCONN reminder... over and over again. How many titles do they have to win before coaches take a hard look at what they are doing?
Even though we look tremendous on paper, stats don't win you titles. Our dominant post play always keeps us highly positioned in team offense, rebounds, blocked shots...
But look where we fail.... perimeter shooting, perimeter shooting defense, TOs, lack of creating TOs.
We need better perimeter play to improve these stats and also to improve areas that don't directly show up on the stat sheet.
When was the last time Kansas controlled the tempo of a game?
When was the last time we had at least 5 run outs in a half?
When was the last time we forced an opponent into 20+ TOs?
When was the last time we dominated a team on the perimeter?
I loved Withey and Embiid. Those guys were awesome. But they also maybe did more harm than good. They allowed us to hide the poor play on the perimeter. Yeah, it is easy to lead the country in blocks when your guards play as soft as soggy toilet paper and invite opponents into the paint to try to score on our bigs.
I've always been amazed how CS focuses his coaching on the big guys when he (himself) was a guard in his playing days.
I'd give just about anything for CS to bring in a guard coach. How about John Lucas!
I have to admit I like Tubby and probably over-valued his abilities.
And I'm not a big Huggie fan so I may have under-valued him.
I believe Self is preparing to throw a mixture of combinations at teams, with the minimal intent to disrupt their ability to scout us.
We can't just expect players like Perry to have a banner year because Perry doesn't provide a punch. He's a finesse player that our league has familiarity with so if we don't mix it up every team will be able to be prepared for Perry and will limit his output.
Now let's mix it up. Let's throw the kitchen sink at the 4-spot. Let's start Perry and 5 minutes into the game let's run Hunter. 5 minutes later let's shove Wayne in the 4.
The point Self is making is that one of our key talents this year is diversity within our players.
Before Wayne leaves Kansas he will totally redefine words like "combo" and "utility" from the 2. He'll play some point, he'll play some 3 and he'll play some 4. He may even get a couple of minutes at the 5! With a body like Wayne has (and his athleticism) he is a guy who can do anything on the court.
None of this means Wayne will start at the 4 and get most of his minutes there.
Self is talking like the Mayor. He's going to focus on match-ups this year. Gosh... I hope he actually DOES!
He should think a bit more like a NBA coach, especially if he wants to constantly recruit top tier talent in the future. If he doesn't break the tide of playing typical college structure ball, he'll start losing recruits to the Mayor within a few years. Yes.... I did REALLY say that!
I don't think top tier recruits focus in only on PT minutes. I think they are starting to ask questions on how they will be utilized. I know if I was a big time scorer I would want a coach to tell me he will use me in any situation where he can match me up against a player we think I can score on.
It is really hard to say right now, but it is possible that Wayne is our most potent scorer at the 4! It won't be the first time I've seen a little shorter (more stocky) athlete dominate at the 4.
"Much like Ellis, Releford is what the NBA calls tweeners"
I agree Releford is a tweener... but I see Perry as a clear 3 in the league (size wise). No way is he a 4 or even close. Perry should start thinking of what he will need to be at the next level now, while he has time to improve his outside game and penetration capabilities.
"Do you really think Wayne would get drafted with a 32% trey ball?"
I think we all admit he needs to increase his % to increase his draft stock.
Am I the only one that thinks he'll bump his trey % up this year? He played hurt last year and I've never known a player who played hurt and shot a decent % from trey.
Maybe CS is playing poker and tossing out bluff verbiage... but if he is not and he intends to give Wayne some minutes at the 4 then we should read between the lines to know that Wayne is back to 100% health, because there is no way he gets minutes at the 4 on a bum leg.
I totally agree with you. We will never be able to match UK with a strategy of playing big.
You said it right... beat them with speed and scrappy play. An aggressive short Frank may not be able to stop the high feed into the post, but he should know that so he should put heavy pressure on Aaron to keep him from being in a good floor position to feed the post. We should learn to play Kentucky's height as their disadvantage. If we think we should battle them with "big ball" we are just feeding into Cal's idea to intimidate opponents because of their height. Hey... doesn't matter if they are 12' tall, they still have to dribble the ball, handle the ball, pass and shoot. They only gain an advantage on 4% of the game, unless we use an inferior strategy and fight them for that 4% when we should be focused on dominating 96% of the game!
Not sure I agree with zoning Kentucky. We can apply more pressure with a M2M and our key is to get them out of their rhythm and deny them an easy feed into the post. That happens best with M2M. Self is a M2M kind of guy, and he should come to learn that x-axis basketball is the glove that fits around the hand of M2M defense.
The cool thing of this strategy is that we should be using this on every team, not just Kentucky! Now we can have one strategy that will be a winning strategy on every team!
Welcome to x-axis basketball!
Wow... there is a lot of juicy tidbits in those reads.
Here is what my biased perception takes from it:
The Mayor has not only brought better competition to our league, he has also influenced Self. CS is going to take a page out of Fred's playbook this year and start looking for match-up advantages. It all starts with scouting, then brings a plan into practice, then it follows through the game for execution. The Mayor proved it already... small guys can dominate scoring in the post. A player like Wayne, who has some muscle, may become one of our better post scorers and should get some minutes at the 4.
CS is starting to grasp x-axis basketball. He definitely sounds like he wants to have small ball available as a definite tool to be used in certain situations. I wonder if he has circled the Kentucky game yet.
CS and his returning players realized they weren't tough last year. Hustle is the name of the game and their new practice strategy of giving hustle points is going to pay gigantic dividends in real play this year. Go... Jamari!
CF is becoming a good defender! I've been preaching this for quite some time. Don't judge him by his physical package, Conner is a competitor and a smart guy and will not leave Kansas until he has become a constant big-time contributor. Just imagine he is 6'6" so you can start accepting that he is going to earn plenty of PT.
Frank is starting to earn his role as "the mole."
Height and athleticism are definite pluses for becoming a good defender, but they are not requirements and usually they prevent guys from actually learning to play real defense, because they've always fallen back on their attributes to rescue them.
By the time Conner Frankamp graduates from Kansas, he will be the living real-time proof about x-axis basketball. He's starting to get it. 96% of the game is played between the ground and his out-stretched hand over his head. He's going to own that 96% before he leaves Kansas!
Wow.... this should be a good thread when fans start weighing in.
I think my list goes like this:
Thanks! I'll check it out.
Wait... let's go back to one of Self's earliest comments about this team.
He said he didn't want to have a true designated PG system. He said most (or all) his perimeter guys had a decent degree of ball handling skills and we were not going to have one guy designated to bring the ball up.
If that is true, even Wayne could get minutes at PG. And if he has limitations, the 2 and maybe even the 3 will rescue him to safely get the ball running in our half court.
I'm still not convinced Wayne should move to point... but I'm flexible to the idea and especially for situational purposes.
It seems like this is a way to give Brannen some minutes at the 2, but I'm not certain he has ball handling skills good enough to bail out Wayne on heavy full court pressure.
"@drgnslayr based solely on late pm, Svi just wants to shoot! And miss!"
And if you watched him play Int'l tournament ball you'd say the same thing. Svi's first major improvement will come from Self disciplining him out of that habit!
Gosh... I love ball, and I love to theorize. But I'm not a coach. I don't feel like I have the solution for Wayne... run him at PG or 2.
I think we give something up if he isn't at the 2, and then someone would have to be able to produce at the 2. The 2 position should be our #1 producer on the perimeter. The 3 should swing in and out. So if Wayne can't hit the trey... maybe he should be at the point.
I remember hearing so much about him before his freshman year. I only heard more about Wiggins. So... I'm thinking he will have a quicker first step this year as long as he stays healthy.
If that be the case, maybe he can hang against a top notch PG. He'll have to do that or he'll quickly get into foul trouble.
I really want Svi to get some minutes at the point in hopes they groom him for the future. He may be the best passer on the team, can handle the ball and should be able to create defensive havoc at the top of the key.
I'm guessing you are thinking of putting Wayne at point and Brannen at the 2? Doesn't seem like we would want to lose more size at the 2 when moving Wayne to point.
I believe it is quit possible he could do it from a run.... less likely from standing.
Why do you think a player needs to reach 13' to dunk on a 12' rim?
Your comparisons are correct about Conner.
I think it mostly points to him being a volume scorer in HS. I've watched a lot of those guys play and many of them can't hit the broad side of a barn until they get up 10 or so shots.
Maybe Conner needs to put in more reps before a game. They need someone to spot him so he can get up more shots in rapid fire during warmups.
He may also suffer from depth perception issues. A lot of these guys shoot well in HS but take time to adjust to D1 because the venues are so much larger. Turns out their ability to gauge depth relates to more than focusing in on a target (the rim), but some guys also use the peripheral space around the target to assess depth, too. Playing in a bigger venue means the rims are buffered with a lot more air space. When you play in most HS gyms, there are physical objects directly behind the goal... seating decks, walls, etc. It is known that many shooter's minds use all that information (even if just on a subtle level) in their computer-like mind to make instantaneous judgments on depth.
I'd make sure Conner gets unlimited practice reps in a big venue. He should be shooting in AFH most of the time and not practice gyms that have structure close by to the goal.
"I believe that this particular story belongs to the category of the 20,000 different women with whom he claimed he slept."
Here is something to think about...
If Wilt did sleep with that many women, even if he used a condom, he would definitely have some accidents and he'd have a minimum of 20 or so kids out there... probably a lot more.
Surely some of those women were tall, too.
Wouldn't there be an increase of footers in college now playing ball?
And... wouldn't those players be letting everyone know they were sons from Wilt? Even if they were illegitimate... the publicity would be monstrous and those kids would have the attention of every scout on the planet!
I once had a summer of playing basketball with Xavier McDaniel, the forward from WSU who led the country in scoring and rebounding. He was only 6'7".
I watched him jump from a flat-footed position and grab an 11-foot support beam.
X didn't have a freakish wingspan. I'm guessing on a standing reach that Wilt had about a foot of height clearance over the X-man.
I am a definite believer that Wilt did it. He wouldn't have to be able to touch a 13' height to dunk on a 12' rim. I'd say he'd have to go a minimum of about 12'6" to get down a minimal dunk...
I'm less sure if he could do it from a flat-footed position... but with Wilt, who knows?
You would think there would be film or photos of him doing it if he did... though back then, people didn't think of capturing things like they do now.
This idea of putting Wayne at the point pulls on all our heart strings because it brings back memories of Self utilizing BRush out on point (defense) to disrupt the flow for Rose and company (which it did).
I think the one person you would have to commit to this idea is Wayne.
Wayne is the guy who needs to plot his future path in his basketball career. I'm not sure he has the speed and lateral movement to be a premiere PG in the league. It will take a monumental effort for Wayne to flip positions now. I'm not saying it is impossible, but Wayne would invest a huge amount of "opportunity costs" to become a respectable PG, even just on the college level. That "opportunity cost" is all the time and effort he would have to put in to learning and practicing the position, when he could be putting that time towards improving his shot and staying at the 2.
One thing is for sure.... Wayne needs to "settle in" to a few of his favorite perimeter spots on the floor and then practice thousands of reps if he wants to become a premiere shooter. It really isn't different for any other guy wanting to do the same, including one Conner Frankamp.
All of us need to revisit that one NBA site where you can look up the plot on every player and where they score their buckets. It is an amazing graphical representation that supports how the world's top players focus on their own "sweet spots" to raise their averages, hence, raising their salaries.
I think I'd rather have Svi start working on his PG skills. At that position he can hide his physical weakness in D1, while taking advantage of his size. The guy is very clever, sees the court well, and may easily end up being our best passer this year! From what I see it looks like he has good ball-handling skills, too. Everyone says he can hit the long ball, but also he's a guy who can shoot well from all over, including mid-range. We know he is going to be at Kansas for at least a few years, why shouldn't he invest now into being a PG? Imagine his talent in a few years and how he could develop into a top PG in the league some day.
"Regarding other Self quotes in the last few days: CFrankamp will NOT be PG. Basically, Self said CF "could play a little PG", but he wants more dynamic play-making & ballhandling out of the PG position"
I think Self wants Conner to focus on hitting the long ball. Yeah... he was a volume scorer in HS, and that means getting the shot up every so many seconds. You are right, CF can't be a volume scorer at Kansas so he has to learn to hit a higher percentage when taking fewer shots.
Conner at point not only requires Conner to focus on developing his PG skills, it also limits his ability to score. His best chance of being a contributor is to hit the long ball. That is going to take a lot of work, because if he does start nailing the long ball, teams will quickly take it away from him and make him earn it. Since he's short, he has to be really open to hit his shot and eventually that will probably take him coming off screens to get open. I don't think people realize how much skill it takes to be really good at creating the open shot off of screens. Typically, you have to successfully fake the defender before running through the screen, or catch him asleep or caught up somewhere or timing it right for your screen man to "close the door." There really aren't many skilled players that can constantly create an open shot off the screen. Ray Allen is one of those guys that can do it well.
Conner will have to learn a lot of technique in several areas to become an impact player for Kansas, but I feel sure he will succeed.
When Self made the comment about running 9 he clearly mentioned that the 9 could change from game-to-game.
I think he will rotate a couple of guys out to give at least some PT to Greene, Svi and Lucas on a per-game basis.
He mentioned that he made a mistake last year by not planning PT better so guys would pick up more experience and increase the depth chart of the team.
Another thing.... that scrimmage didn't decide anything for who will play when the season starts. PT will be decided from now until then from practice session performances, and then will add real game experience to seeing who stays in what spot for what amount of time. This scrimmage was really just for fan and recruits benefit only... and it's a fun thing to run for the players.
Go, Tar!
He's the real deal, and the rest of the world is about to learn that!
We live in a different world today compared to the world in my youth and many of you in here.
I'm going to spell this out in generalities as I'm not saying all the kids are like this today... but I speak of the majority.
Read this segment from the post on Wilt and about his taste for cars going back to his days in college:
""I explained how cars have always been a hobby," he said in the article. "Back in my junior year at Overbrook [High School], in '53, I bought a '49 Olds for about $700 from what I'd saved…In '54, I bought a '51 Buick for $600 and my turn-in. In '56, I bought a '53 Olds for $900 and my turn-in. I saved the money from summer jobs. I got my present car last year, and I'm still making payments on it.""
This story is a typical one from my era. When I was about 8 yrs old I visited my local bank with my parents and they helped me start my first savings account. I mowed lawns, shoveled snow, trimmed bushes, cleaned out garages and did whatever jobs I could do to make money. I'd usually make about $2 per lawn, and a huge corner lawn might earn me $5 if I had to do extra work like rake up leaves. When I turned 16 I had $3500 saved in my "car fund" and I carefully bought the car I wanted (used) and then proceeded to rebuild it the way I wanted it. Custom rims, metallic paint... hot rod engine. I had the sweetest ride at school and I cleaned and polished that car almost every single day. $3500 was a small fortune back then.
Most of the kids today have never had jobs to save money. For some reason our society thinks it is wrong for kids under 18 to do any kind of work. That is pathetic.
We live in a world of "instant gratification." Instead of working on the side of their studies, kids today play computer games. Read it in here. Our players and recruits spend their extra time playing games. What a waste.
These kids have no concept of the real world. None whatsoever. And it isn't all their fault. They have enough talent to play at KU and so they get treated like Gods. Even Wilt didn't receive 1/100th of the attention our players receive today.
So how do you get these kids interested in reading and studying? How do you get them to value an education? Many of these kids come from neighborhoods where their peers didn't make it to college. What example is there for them to follow?
I feel really sorry for most kids today because they were not given the right direction to help put them on the right path.
There are no kids mowing lawns in my neighborhood.
I know there are millions of exceptions to what I say here. Again, it's just a generalization.
I know there is not enough money in this world that could ever compensate me in trade for my education. It is an achievement that I'm most proud of. Somewhere in my last move my entire trophy collection from playing ball for about 30 years "showed up missing." I didn't even realize it until I had my first son and thought it would be a good visual to encourage him in sports. Oh well. I guess I'll send him out to mow lawns in our neighborhood... after he finishes his studies!
The real prize in life isn't hitting the financial jackpot, especially early in life. The real prize is to live a full, rich life with a healthy dose of hard work, struggle and then the rewards coming eventually. And if you proceed in that lifestyle, you are likely to find a partner that is on the same path.
I think if I was a basketball recruiter my first assessment of a player's character would come from asking this question:
"Is this recruit playing for the love of the game or playing for the gold and fame at the end of the tunnel?"
I'm not saying it is wrong for these guys to pursue a well-paid career playing ball. But what drives them most?
What really impressed me most about Wilt... he was an innovator in the game. He made unique moves and played a different brand of basketball compared to what had been played at that time.
"He once dunked a ball so hard that it went through the basket, hit an opposing player in the foot, and broke his toe."
Priceless.
"You cannot keep 10 high level guys happy."
Oh so true... but Cal has strange abilities. So maybe he does.
Even if he does, he'll have other challenges... the most being the Big Blue Nation not accepting defeat. He'll have absolutely no excuses this year for not winning EVERY SINGLE GAME! He has a majority of the top tier players, most with experience now. He really can't stack the deck any more than this year. He really has it all.
hahahaha.... or so he thinks!
If Kentucky drops some games then the BBN will challenge his x's and o's (as they should) and Cal will make an amateurish defense of what he is doing. This is where it gets to be reallll funnn... and I can see myself going over to their sites just to read it if they hit a losing streak.
I wonder if Cal is closing in on perfection yet? I think there are still plenty of those tshirts available on the sales rack.
hahahaheeee!
I'm just not sure Kentucky will have a good replacement for Young. He was the guy that saved them in so many possessions throughout the year. He was definitely their "go to" guy when things were impossible, like 5 seconds left on the shot clock. He bailed them out on hundreds of occasions. I have a feeling he will be the guy they really miss this year. Not so much Randle.
Yeah... they got lucky with those haymakers. They shouldn't have even been that close late in those games.
Kentucky's offense last year looked horrible.
It would be great if several teams could beat them playing small ball this year, and then get the media focused on Kentucky's weaknesses. For most teams, that would be what they want so they can fix it in time for March. I just don't have the confidence in Cal's abilities in that area and it would be fun to watch the Big Blue Nation suffer with not being able to fix something made so obvious that even the media ran with it!
Think about it... there are many ways for Kentucky to totally implode this year!
Their real issue is Cal's inability on x's and o's. He tries to mask his weakness by over-recruiting.... putting too much height on the floor... things like that. He's doing all of it to compensate for the weakness he knows he has. If you don't believe me, search the internet for some of his interviews and listen to him defend his x's and o's.
The ultimate this year is for Kentucky's weaknesses to be exposed early, and then Cal can't fix it by March. That would create a colossal unraveling, and everyone would be blaming everyone else.
Bingo! They are soooo beatable! Teams just have to get over the intimidation factor and have the right game plan and feel confident!
"What you don't want game in and game out is to have to constantly pingpong back and forth between different kinds of games when your starting team is doing well. You want to keep whatever works going."
Please... please... shush! Cal may be reading this.
The best strategy is to have two separate teams... it's obvious... everyone knows that! ;)
I hear you... but none of those guys played him right at the end (in the games where he got lucky with the shot).
With a slight tweak in Van Fleet's game, WSU would have crushed Kentucky. Aaron is not a good shooter and he does not have solid mechanics in his shot, definitely not super quick in his release.
If the defenders were worried about fouling, they could have used an upward swipe at the ball on his shot. That works wonders and it is rare to foul. D1 refs don't even know what to think because they never see it. College players all go for that upper extension on shot defense.... the thing that usually draws fouls.
"I just don't see how Frank will be able to defend that much size."
Calipari is hoping every team they play has that mindset.
Frank should easily be able to defend either twin. He just has to focus in the x-axis.
Here is the way Frank defends against the twins:
First and foremost, stick to his guy like glue. Fight through screens. Be a mole and go low through those screens. Someone will extend a leg and they will get called for the foul. Deny his guy the ball.
When his guy does have the ball, stick to him like glue. 96% of the game is played in Frank's territory. Don't let his guy have a free path bringing the ball up to shoot. Contest that space before he gets the ball over his head and out of reach. Very few players in the world can hit shots when that space is challenged. Only a few NBA guys can do it, then you have players like Ray Allen that has mastered his mechanics of getting the shot up so quick that he beats defenders timing of challenging that space. Neither twin possesses any kind of real shooting talent and are about as far away from being gifted like Ray Allen as I am.
Hedge, hedge, hedge. Study scouting tape and learn how to hedge against the drive and also in passing lanes.
Challenge the dribble. All little guys should be excellent at challenging their opponent's dribble. Frank should be poking in and disrupting his dribble, enough to throw him off on driving, passing and shooting.
If Frank does all that, we should invite either twin to take the shot on Frank, because it is unlikely either will shoot over 30%!
"You cannot keep 10 high level guys happy. Cal has a huge challenge ahead of him."
I see it as the same challenge you see it.
I'd normally say he has no chance of making this work. Cal may not be a great x's and o's coach but he seems to be pretty good at building relationships with his players. I didn't hear a lot of screaming last year from his bench about PT. I still don't see how he was able to keep Lee on the bench almost the entire year then unleash him at the end. That kid should have been playing 35mpg somewhere else.
Cal's true talent is his ability to keep guys satisfied with the situation.
I'm still skeptical, but if there is someone who can make it work out it will be Cal.
I hope he does try it and he goes with this strategy all year long. It will be a great experimentation and will definitely play a part in Cal's future ability to fill his scholarship with all top tier talent.
I watched most of Kentucky's games last year, and they really were not a fun team to watch. Cal does have a concept of replacing vital parts of a winning strategy by over-stacking the deck with talent. I think everyone should be against this because it takes college basketball in a bad direction... only focusing on stacking the deck and losing perspective on the most important factors in the game.... team concept... etc.