If we can defend (also defensive rebound)... we probably win this game. It's that simple.
drgnslayr
11251 posts
@FarmerJayhawk stealing that one. Thanks!
We are alive!
We need Juan to step up and lead. Run offense... make a few steals... assists... control tempo
Some guy named Harris scored. lol
I'm amazed we aren't down by 20. Bad turnovers, invisible Juan, defensive meltdowns, few defensive rebounds...
If we can play 10 minutes of defense, we might win this game.
Question for you all:
What is a better motivator... love to win... or... hate to lose?
It's all about defense. Offense will come around on it's own if we play D.
Just how bad do we want to win?
Offense will come around if we start playing defense.
That's the worst defense we've played all year. And when we finally picked it up just a little bit, we went on an 11-0 run.
Many in here still don't realize.... we get our offense rolling by playing good defense. It creates TOs which turn into easy points, which also helps our guys get into an offensive groove.
We are being exposed in the Big 12 for being a team that doesn't want it as bad as other teams. It's not like we have a bunch of narcissists... we just don't have the hunger level enough to win against teams at a certain skill level.
That all changes if we suddenly get hungry.
I know our bench is slim... but our starting 5 can beat any team in the country if they want it bad enough.
Maybe that comes after a few more beatdowns. Maybe.
Personally, I think our starting 5 has the DNA to step up and start kicking arse again. Question is... WHEN?
Right on!
We only played about 8 minutes of amped basketball and we cut their lead in half. The rest of the game they killed us.
Why we didn't keep up the better energy? My guess is we are a tired team. But just getting rest won't make us a contender. We have to play with a chip.
JWil is our only guy who brought a chip with him this year. It's why he told Self he is ready to lead this team.
I don't think it will take too much to get Kevin on that thought level, but he has to defeat his low confidence.
I'm not sure what is up with Juan. Maybe just tired.
KJ is awesome... but is still really like a freshman with his experience. Gradey is a freshman!
The rest of the team... not sure where their heads are at.
This is the perfect time of year to suffer... with time to heal and kick butt! Just like last year!
Tired team. No motivation. This is what I saw for about 32 minutes of this game -
!stay_puft_marshmallow_man.jpg ↗
No chip. Will this blowout make one? Perhaps. But I fear we still have more to suffer through first.
You all should know from my posts.... my wisdom teeth are long gone! lol
Spot on!
Better games ahead, even though we will truly be challenged by tough competition... right off... I'm thinking of TCU. Very capable team. A tough out.
Our tough schedule will definitely prepare us for March. I just hope we don't get banged up too much and can be rested enough for the big tourney.
You are right on mentioning our guys need to be rested more. It's a tough call for Self... trying to win games without damaging our guys moving forward.
Caught that, too. It was spot on. Everything except him trying to take a punch for the team by blaming himself for the timeout. At the time he started to signal the TO Jalen wasn't shooting yet and at that moment our team needed the structure of a play. Had JWil missed the shot, everyone would have been saying "thank God" Self called it.
I've been vibing in for quite a while that MJ isn't whole. Think it's back spasms that come and go and will be with him through the remaining part of the season.
Spot on about Kevin remembering shots. Kevin is thinking too much instead of just playing with a free consciousness. The perfect example of who to mimic is JWil. He's as good as any Jayhawk we have ever had about playing in the moment and being free. Really love that about him and we are getting a plus on our results because of that.
I think we need to consider Harris' minutes down the stretch of this season and try (whenever possible) to give him rest, both in games and other times.
I'm really bummed about MJ and hope I'm wrong. I viewed him as our "late Remy surprise" going down the stretch of this season and into March.
Would be a big help if one big started "getting it"... not sure if it will happen. First... they are all so different from KJ and the other 4 players are used to KJ exploiting his speed and strength. Guess that says more about how valuable KJ has become over the season so far.
I still think this team has another gear to hit. Just not sure if we will be fresh enough down the stretch to kick into it. Some things we just don't know until we are there. What happens if we drop several upcoming games, including maybe a blowout? Suddenly the Jayhawk Nation questions the quality of this team... suddenly we have a chip! How will they react?
So if the press is calling it a "dumb chant"... doesn't it infer the chanters are dumb?
Apologies. MJ showed some spark in one game. It was enough to get the attention that we could use him regularly in the lineup as a big guard. Then he disappeared.
It has been reported that he's gone through several medical issues this year, including more recently something that would continue to be reoccurring.
If he was healthy, he would quickly become a force. Here is Self's words: “The key to having our team have a great season in my opinion is MJ coming through and one of those bigs coming through.”
I'm talking about Artificial Intelligence. It is something we will all hear about more soon as it is starting to impact us in many ways.
Eventually, we will be able to program our TV's commentators with the voice style we want and we can have it tinted toward our team. It is so powerful it can do it in real-time and comment on play as it happens.
I'm pretty sure within a few years we will be able to design our own commentators for sports events with the help of Ai.
Tang Update:
I found out from a KSU alumni... Tang isn't just a brave soul out there by himself. The administrative body at KSU is letting Tang handle it his way for now and if he can't stomp it out entirely they will put teeth into a ban. Other schools have stepped up and done this before.
Two corrections to Tang's statement:
"I really wanted them to understand that we don't have to degrade the other team."
Well.... the entire world sees this differently. The chant self-denigrates KSU!
"We can dislike them..."
How about showing respect? You want to be on our level... show some respect and start earning "mutual respect!"
Okay.... that's 2 nos and 1 wishful thinking... lol
Caught this on KUSports:
"Wilson also showed his poise and perspective in the postgame presser by answering every question in a thoughtful and pensive manner and without so much as a hint of a scowl on his face. '
I look at JWil and I see a man, not a kid in college. He's got such a winning attitude. A+!
@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Shut up Fran. Nice Game Jaylen. Shut up Fran:
The most concerning thing to me from last night was Gradey Dick. Most of his misses were short which is indicative of tired legs. Was it just a bad game, or are we seeing him hit the freshman wall and getting into territory he isn’t physically used to?
Solid post...
Is it possible that Gradey just isn't in D1 shape yet?
The pace of D1 is exhausting and he's being asked to go 30+ a game. Maybe his legs are tired.
We just listened to Self mention cutting down on practice to rest his squad. That sounds more like he is admitting we don't have enough bench.
I've been counting on MJ coming on this year... but I'm starting to doubt this. Just my opinion... but maybe he's not 100% healthy.
I confess that my time at KU was often spent retaliating against KSU students. It was a looooong time ago.
I know exactly what you are talking about. I'm curious if Tang can help them turn the corner on their inferiority complex. I thought it was huge when he called them out for giving us way too much free space in their consciousness. That took some big balls for him to do it and it pissed off some of their base. Tang is a spiritual-based guy who operates in the clouds. I am curious if it works!
Can Tang kill the "F KU" chant?
Because I am based in spirit and optimism I vote "yes."
How about all of you? Faith in another part of our state? Let's hear it...
YES or NO
lol.... come on!
ha....
I used to date a Mizzou girl.
I'm surrounded by Wildcats.
I hate no one. Luckily...
Would I like to kick KSU's ass on the court when we meet in AFH? What do you think?
It's easy for us to focus on how bad the kitty crowd is... you can always find negative stuff online. I don't have the option nor the desire to live in a bubble.
I like having KSU become competitive again... especially with a guy like this that brings class to a program that was void of it with Weber.
If he can't sell his message to KSU fans then he'll be gone to another school who will, and will build a winning program there. I love how he put their fanbase on notice. Let's see if the purple kitties can rise to the occasion!
Go to the 2:30 mark in this -
Tang speaks of converting KSU fanbase to love KSU instead of hating us and other teams.
He's a first class man and I appreciate him and his bold effort. Hope it works because the world needs to start thinking this way about everything.
Postgame... he kept up the love...
@cragarhawk said in Shut up Fran. Nice Game Jaylen. Shut up Fran:
Interest on the “shake up” @drgnslayr
Kevin goes to the bench? We’ve been needing a 6th man spark. Yesefu to the lineup? I’d try it.
I'm thinking I would send him to the Comedy Club this weekend for a laugh. He's given us one helluva year so far and I think he just started bearing down too hard on himself. Last night he was out of character.
Personally.... I wish we had been shellacked last night. We haven't been playing well during the B12 season except for WV. We need to be pushed and I'm not sure this one-point loss is going to kick us in the backside.
This team isn't playing anywhere near their potential.
What stuck out in this game was Kevin. The worst game as a Jayhawk and I saw this coming. HIs body language has been bad for a while. He's playing way too seriously. Needs to chill out. Needs to smile! His seriousness is part of his overthinking his game and we know what happens to players when they overthink... they play sluggishly, telegraph their moves, and play slowly.
Notice his body language versus JWil in this same game.... at the end when JWil was called for the bogus foul where he reached in. He smiled! He wasn't buying the call but he grinned.
Juan hasn't really been on his game lately, too. Not sure why.
It's frustrating watching sluggish games like this but that is how it goes, especially at this time of year. Glad we aren't peaking now anyways. Hopefully, we will peak at the right time like we did last year.
Fran drove me crazy. Tang is the real deal and I'm glad we can't sleep through anymore KSU games.
We need a shake-up on this team. Maybe drop several in a row and then have a team meeting. These guys are playing on cruise control. Spotty defense in this game and sometimes just horrible. Playing tough defense is the catalyst for this team!
Game key: Juan not getting in early foul trouble!
Tang reminds me of the class of Jack Hartman. I loved those rival days. The rivalry was about the games, not the jackass fans. Keep it to basketball.
I agree it would be a game about who controls tempo. We haven't been focused enough on tempo lately!
Imagine a game with Purdue?
Valid question!
I feel like Bill has prioritized getting our starting 5 humming before anything else. It seems like we had that (a few games ago) then we started conference play and it's a tough conference against teams that know our habits and we are winning by closer margins only (except at WV).
I think our focus now is adjust to conference play with our starters. That means giving them probably more minutes than they should have. This subject is an ongoing debate in here.
In past years I would have challenged Self on this... but I've tried to just go with the flow now and accept what he does with the idea there is good purpose behind it. And let's look at the results... KJ is a product of giving him 30+ or so minutes a game! He's starting to look like he may become our most consistent offense moving forward. Who would have thought this possible? Maybe Self? Is he as surprised as us?
Surely we will continue to develop our bench... though we simply don't have a guy with Remy's experience and punch on the bench this year. Imagine if we did?!
You know... we have 5 starters who are all capable of sparking this team out of dips and slow play. It's just going to have to happen from them and not counted on from the bench.
My biggest concern is our lack of having a chip. We won it last year and perhaps still feeling a little "fat" from that fact.
I do love how this team has composure and doesn't give up in games and always feels like they will pull it out. Will that always work? I'm doubtful. We've been outrageously lucky in some of these wins... like with OU and ISU at home. Games we should have won by a bigger margin and largely stayed in control for 40 minutes.
Maybe we will be rescued again by Kentucky! They've been under the gun, including Calipari, then look what that chip produced? They took it to Tennessee at Tennessee!
All that said... I feel good about our game at Kittyland tomorrow... largely because it is there and not AFH! The tendency is there... we play tough on the road! Now... if we can just play tougher at home!
Looks like we lead Kentucky in another category:!Screenshot 2023-01-13 at 6.46.27 PM.jpg ↗
I just like the tough rivalry.
It's not much of a rivalry smacking down KSU every single game.
Kind of like college football dominance in the SEC... it becomes a big ZERO after a while.
Blue blood bleed out:
I laughed at the notion that Texas wants Calipari. Says everything.
I always thought the answer for Cal was to somehow name Drake an assistant coach. lol
I'm psyched to see a quality KSU team again! They pretty much sucked under Weber and I'm glad he is gone! Tang is capable and welcome to help bring the Big 12 to a higher place. It's good for all of us to have a legit purple kitty team!
@BShark said in Other games:
@Kcmatt7 said in Other games:
Just want to mention that Tennessee so far is having the best rated D in the Kenpom era and it isn’t even close. Might not finish that way, but wow…
That’s an all time defense. Looked like it when we played them too, lol.
I dislike that loss, but I'm a big fan of Barnes... mostly because he's a top-notch quality human being.
Right on! Remember that championship game with UNC. And Davis was about to explode with emotion in that first half while his team spent all their energy in that half... helping us for a monumental comeback. Meanwhile... Self and Company just kept their cool and brought it when it counts!
Interesting post!
Yes... I remember those Jaybate discussions. I've never really bought into the idea that Self wants our guys low amped for a game... but I do believe he could give off weird energy he isn't familiar with that keeps the team down a bit. Like anytime we play OSU, his alma mater.
Could have a point about Gradey's conditioning. Even Steph has issues though. They very carefully monitor his minutes so he can go full tilt in the right time during a game. Maybe it is something for us to consider. Maybe Gradey tends to hang the most points in the first half not just because other teams figure out how to guard him at half... maybe he gets tired! I do think his big thing to work on in this coming off-season is his strength and conditioning. He doesn't look anywhere near ready for the NBA with his current body.
I think our biggest plus is we are a team that doesn't give up! It's a trait we learned last year and it sure kept us alive in March! I think this team has the same DNA, largely because of Juan and JWil coming back... but I get a huge taste of it with Kevin... and also now KJ and even Gradey. Gradey pulled a few important rebounds late for us in this game!
That "coolheadedness" this team carries surely has something to do with Self, too.
That OU game exposed us in some areas. Teams that are willing to be physical and really guard our guys tight put a stop to our current easy-flow, fast passing, assist-building offense.
It is crucial that our guys start learning how to free themselves up. Run through other players creating your own off-ball screens. This is how players like Steph Curry do it. Everyone in the NBA would love to just be able to put a guy on him and shut him down. They try... and they fail. Why? Because Steph runs around using sharp cuts off of other players standing there. He exhausts guys trying to guard him because they have to try to fight through every screen, usually through at least two players (one from each team).
Running a hybrid chop-motion offense is helpful sometimes, but isn't the answer by itself. We will have to adapt our offense for more aggressive defense coming up in our league and later in March.
A great example is Gradey. Granted... he is a freshman, but he's a quick learner. Standing out there on the perimeter making it a 4-on-4 game was not our best strategy. He is one of our most-lethal scoring threats but was almost completely neutralized in this game.
And our defense was not good! We let every player on OU drive with ease! We need to do a better job scouting... knowing player tendencies, like driving preferences. And then apply the right hedging. Hustle harder and draw charges! It's never been this easy in college basketball to get the charge call! Come on, fellas... get after it!
I have hope that Self and Company will get this figured out!
@stoptheflop said in OU Game:
@AsadZ said in OU Game:
It will be beneficial for this KU team to lose couple of games, prefer on the road, blowouts, for coaches to use as teaching moments and get players grounded a bit.
Bite your tongue; saw off your fingers. KU never needs to lose a game to improve. I say win them all and win them by double digits. My heart just can’t take 10 minutes of game time with no points.
I would love to believe you.... but I don't.
There is no way in hell we won that Nattie last year without the Kentucky beatdown in our own building. Even Self recognized it and has mentioned it numerous times.
It's sports psychology (actually LIFE psychology!). Players/teams need a chip to reach the next level.
Heck... watch the interviews with Kirby Smart on what it took to repeat as National Champions in football. Kirby and his staff put in big effort to build a chip with his team this year and it worked! Yes... you can go undefeated with a chip, but it ain't easy! Self doesn't go in that direction with his coaching style... so consequently, we need to be punched in the nose sometimes to dig deeper.
The purple kitties are playing legit like a ranked team. I don't know where they belong in rankings... but I know this isn't the team we can bulldoze like other past years.
I'm GLAD they are lifting up! I want KSU to challenge us! And that means sometimes we drop one. So be it. Let's hope not now!
When our energy turned up the last 5 minutes it broke their comfort zone that they had the entire game. Then they made mistakes leading to bad shots early in the clock and TOs.
We started to even put a tiny pressure on them in the back court. Makes me think we need to work harder on a full court press... it puts pressure to get them out of their comfort zone and it gets our guys juiced up!
One of the coolest aspects of basketball is watching the momentum shift!
All we needed was 5 minutes of keeping our heads up and hustling to blow past them.
For whatever reason our heads were hanging low until the end. Bad body language. It was really bad during that period where we didn't score field goals.
It didn't have to send us all into cardiac arrest if they would have just figured out to lift their heads earlier than the final 5 minutes! lol
There are lessons to be learned here and I think we have the perfect professor to teach them!
I think it says a lot that we were able to win while playing so poorly. We stepped up at the end and I feel like we are one of the best teams in America in the final minutes.
What I didn't like seeing.... was our body language was bad until the final 5 minutes. We changed our perspective the last 5 minutes and that is why we won.... why didn't we make this easier for ourselves and lift our heads earlier? I'm just glad we finally pulled out of this. We showed more energy on defense and shut them down then even increased the offensive tempo, scoring on a couple of secondary fast break points!
This was a loss without KJ! He had some rough moments missing bunnies, but he kept after it!
I hope we don't have too many more of these loathing games!
@rockchalkjayhawk said in OU Game:
@drgnslayr said in OU Game:
Hope it isn’t the case but we better be ready for a trap game. We just come off the road with two big victories and we didn’t look good in our home opener against OSU.
We shot the lights out in WV… could it trigger a cold game at home?
I hope I’m off base!Dragon, don’t buy into this trap game nonsense. we simply will not be overlooking Oklahoma. thats silly. no game in the league will be overlooked. if guys aren’t motivated when on the floor, i hope they find a quick seat on the bench, next to Brady.
We were lucky to get past this one. We looked flat, low energy, and we were cold, going most of the second half without a field goal.
We finally showed a little energy in the last 5 minutes and blew by them. This game fit the definition of trap game except we finally pulled it out. No way OU matches up to our talent. We were unmotivated and this is a common situation in college basketball.
Exactly!
In that horrible national championship game last night the Georgia coach explained how it was necessary to build a chip with this team since they were coming off the nattie from last year.
He said his guys were criticized with many non-believers saying they couldn't repeat.
Maybe we need this!
Hope it isn't the case but we better be ready for a trap game. We just come off the road with two big victories and we didn't look good in our home opener against OSU.
We shot the lights out in WV... could it trigger a cold game at home?
I hope I'm off base!