🏀 KuBuckets Archive

This is another one of those losses... where the basketball intelligentsia of the world can't come up with a real explanation.

Yes... we played bad. Yes... we missed shots. Yes... we didn't get key stops. Yes, yes, yes... but none of those replies is an answer to why we lost.

We may not have had the kind of season we all wanted... but on these boards, we smoked 'em! Everyone in here has contributed to make this a total team effort! I don't know if we need to watch less Jayhawk basketball, but Jayhawk basketball players need to watch more of us. We've come in here all year and brought everything we had, each and every day.... and we never gave up the fight... and we've done nothing more than come together as a team, through all the disagreements and hotly contested battles. Bravo KUBuckets Nation!

Last Thursday, before the weekend basketball battles, my wife and I had a nice couple from Phoenix over for dinner. My wife is a Kansas grad, and though she has tolerated me having possession of the TV remote control, she really doesn't want to have anything to do with Wichita State. Kudos to her for tolerating me watching all those games while watching it herself!

In the middle of our conversation with our guests, we were asked about KU and WSU basketball. To my surprise, my wife actually defended Marshall. I thought I was going to need CPR. Much to my surprise, she made a comment that will stick in me for quite some time. She said, "Marshall is a better communicator than Self. That is obvious from watching any game. Marshall is always occupied talking to his players, while Self spends half the time sulking and turning purple before belting out on his players."

Most of why this made such an impression on me is who made the comment.

My wife listens to my rants all year... she snickers over my X and Y-axis analysis. And now when it is time to explain why our season ended, I can write for hours, but it will be for not.

Sometimes I wonder who has the basketball brains in my family. Clearly... it isn't me.

I was once told by someone a heck of a lot wiser than me:

"All the problems in the world have the best answer in less than one-hundred letters."

I can't answer this in less than one-hundred letters. My wife can.

@ParisHawk

My bad! ;)

@truehawk93

I'm watching that game and by halftime I'm questioning myself if I want Kansas to advance.

Playing like that is disrespectful for the game itself. I hope Naismith wasn't watching.

You know... I don't care if we win it all every year. All I care about is that we go out there, ready to play and we give it our all... including the coaches. It seemed like our stuff wasn't working so we spend almost the entire game doing it anyways.... and in the process WE made Stanford believe they could win.

Why did it take almost the entire game to attack their post? Why did it take most of the game to realize we should press? A team without a point guard? Are you kidding me?

It seems that we just thought our basketball name was all that had to show up today. Guess that was false.

Kudos to Black Death, Conner, Frank and Bam Bam for keeping it close. At least we didn't get blown out! We certainly could have.

@bskeet

It's the funny thing about basketball.... sometimes you just have to show up to win!

I don't know... I still can't seem to get this site to come up on my cellphone...

!motorola.jpg ↗

This game is built for us....

We need to win the foul war... pound the ball inside and take no prisoners. Andrew drive the paint, draw fouls.

Everyone needs to try a head fake for the first time this year! Try it, you might like it!

If Naa cracks we have Conner.

We need to keep the ball moving... don't play sped up but push the ball up the court and tire out this thin-benched team. Maybe push some open-court finishes... Andrew?

Come on, Bam Bam... make it two in a row! Show us that Friday's game wasn't a fluke!

Rock Chalk!

@wissoxfan83

Congrats!

Goooooo Badgers!

I'm sad... because I wanted to play SeriousXcuse! They were a fraud all year. They had an easy schedule and won a few close games with lucky shots. Then their perfect record went away and they went 3-6 down the stretch, when it counted... that wouldn't happen to the real deal.

Bring Boeheim's stupid zone our way any day! It's over-rated!

night!

Game ova, for nova!

Vill is dead. Good guards won't give away a game at the end. UCONN is a guards school.

Hey Villa, whats the deala? Thought you ate-a Hawk?

Maybe you choked on a feather?!

If I was Self, Tharpe would be my bubblegum. I'd chew his ass in the morning, noon and night! I'd pull a Bobby Knight... chew him up and spit him out... send the kid in shock and see if he can play like a wounded animal. Something has to change in Tharpe to put him in a higher state of mind.

I'd like to see North Carolina stick it to Michigan State. They can do it... didn't they already do it to them a few months ago?

We play well against Roy!

So everyone root for Roy.... he's a free advance for us!

@truehawk93

And the ball slips out of his hands...

@Wishawk

We stand up great on paper... for whatever that is worth. We looked great on paper against VCU and UNI, too.

It's March...... we just need players playing hard and not over-thinking. Tharpe better get his act together because when he is screwing up itt makes all our guys think instead of play. It's called anxiety... minds stumbling and the game unravels.

Imagine how hard it is to stay focused. Seems every human on the planet is watching you play a game. The guys that win are guys that have their heads in tunnelvision... ffocusing only on the game, playing in a rhythm, mind on basketball autopilot. So imagine that and then imagine your PG melting down in front of you. What comes natural is to leave your tunnelvision and address the struggle. Before you know it, the entire team is out of whack!

@truehawk93

He needs to lower his dribble and get a better grip on the ball!

Down to just the UCONN / VILL game.

If I was God of earth, I'd schedule NIT games in the middle of the night for us hardcore bball nuts!

@truehawk93

Even more than that.... teams scout us and realize ball/head/shoulder fakes get'em to the FT line!

@JayhawkRock78

We all hate the woulda/coulda/shoulda chatter... especially when it comes from us!

This is a crazy year. The team that comes ready and wants it more wins....

I'm counting on that tomorrow for the shockers. Hoping they spank Cal!

@Crimsonorblue22

Wiggins said he needs to come on harder. He usually doesn't make those statements so I'm betting he comes alpha dog!

Wiggins family will be there, including Nick... He's going to come ready to play! The key is we need a PG who will protect the ball and feed it to him.

Come on, Harvard!

@Wishawk

Right on.... one atta time!

@Hawk8086

We often have trouble with those low seeds.... like VCU... UNI...

We could have problems with Dayton from the outside and penetration. If they get our bigs in foul trouble that takes away our inside advantage.

If we can get more stellar play from Bam Bam and Black Death... no problemo!

I wouldn't mind seeing the Gators go down now so we can skip them, too!

@JayhawkRock78

I still feel the sting, too... that's why I wanted them. I had no doubt we would slaughter the Orange this year.

Dumb Duck run amuck.

Badgers move on... one step closer to a game of beat down on Zona!

This has been a crazy year! Been enjoying it so far. I'm surprised the refs haven't screwed up more.

Wow... Harvard!

Go Badgers!

I'm pissed off... I wanted Syracuse. We were going to be the team that exposed how over-rated they were all year.

I'm more worried about playing Dayton.

You have to be careful when these teams come from nowhere and challenge everyone. They are hungry and playing well.

I hope JoJo is back by then... but first things first... I hope we advance that far!

@Crimsonorblue22

From that info I'd say we do what we should do against most of the teams in this tournament... try to win the foul war!

This Stanford team is prone to foul trouble and has really no depth. We need to pound the ball inside, and Andrew needs to become alpha-dog again and drive the ball. When he drives, he gets fouled.

We need to be more cognizant of the foul wars from here on out. Most of the teams we will play have very little depth. Without depth, one or more guys in foul trouble spells doom.

Plus... when we don't get a team in foul trouble, there is a better chance they get us in foul trouble! It is hard for players to play physical and try to draw fouls when they are in foul trouble themselves.

I'm begging our team... begging... PLEASE USE FAKES! BALL FAKES, HEAD FAKES, BODY FAKES... get your defender in the air and then push the contact and draw the foul. It's as easy as taking a Yorkshire terrier for a walk!

And while you are at it, quit falling for fakes. Keep your feet on the ground until the shooter leaves his feet.

Basic basketball...

@JayHawkFanToo

True... and we've seen Naadir have horrible games then follow it up with a stellar performance. Let's hope it happens now. And if it doesn't... if he starts out bad again we have to pull him quickly.

The big mistake is to let him go on for too long on the court. After about the 10 minute mark of the first half, the game has taken on it's own rhythm that gets hard to shake.

I'd give Naa the first 5 minutes of the game to prove himself. Maybe even less like if he already has 4 TOs in the first 5 or 6 possessions. That is just friggin' ridiculous from any PG in D1... even the worst teams in the country wouldn't allow a PG to play that bad!

You know... Einstein was no dummy... especially when he said: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

We are riding that edge and may have falling over it already!

@Crimsonorblue22

There is everything to love about Bam Bam. He has truly won the heart of Coach Self. Self said he wasn't going to let him leave Lawrence until Jamari knows enough to earn a good living at basketball. There is no way Self is going to let Jamari slip back into being homeless.

@REHawk

"Next season, the starting point guard position will be wide open for determination; and Tharpe, most probably, becomes a reserve player."

If Tharpe can't cut it now, why will he next March? We can't keep sacrificing entire teams because Self plays a hunch that a guy is going to figure it all out. Last year was a prime example. That team was primed to take home the trophy and came up short... mostly because of PG play. I am a big fan of EJ... but he should have been put in a minor role last year because he already showed us several times he wasn't ready to carry the torch. We should have prepared someone else for March. We are sitting in that same situation this year, but we have several choices of players that hopefully will come to the rescue.

I think we should make it extremely hard (almost impossible) for Tharpe next year to win the starting job. He should have to prove himself far beyond what someone else has to because he has already shown us how bad he can choke. So give the guy a chance, but make him earn it and go beyond.

I still hope Tharpe can figure things out... but I'm done sacrificing our entire year and the efforts of the entire team because one guy can't execute... and it is, by far, the most important position on the team!

@Hawk8086

He may have been outplayed, or maybe he even started having an attitude Self didn't like.

But, without doubt, he could have been a great piece of depth for this team... and for whatever reason, he was let go. He also has experience, at least some, more than half of this team. We knew we were going to need some experienced players in March, and he was let go. Maybe we don't know all the fact.

I remember when Self started running with the two PG configuration. It was supposed to help us pick up the pace. I think he was just trying to do what he could to keep giving mega minutes to Tharpe. He did so at the cost of a nice piece of depth.

I'm not going to back on Selden. He's had a great year, but he is just a freshman, and we don't know if he can be Mr. Consistency throughout March. It would have been nice to keep AW3 in the mix for many reasons.

I just think it would also have helped Selden... knowing he has someone to get his back and also to push him to compete for minutes.

@Wishawk

Conner is going to be a big contributor during his 4 year stay.

I caught plenty of his HS game, and what we don't really see yet in his D1 game is his tough level of competitiveness. Conner is a scrappy competitor. That is the best definition of him in HS... more so than just being a long ball shooter. Up until now, Conner has played reserved while he figures out D1.

We will see a different Conner soon enough. He has methodically adjusted his game to make it work on the D1 level, and he will continue to develop to become a bigger contributor.

@Hawk8086

After reading Keegan's article it made sense to continue to start Naa, but have Conner know he may be coming right in.

It seemed to help Conner to watch a bit of the game first from the bench so he could formulate his game plan when entering.

I'm done with the symbolism. I used to think it meant something, but not any more.

I'm not giving up on Naa... just want to kick him in his azz to make him play reasonable. And if he doesn't then he can watch the game. I guess it also kicks him in the azz if he starts the game and is pulled within a few minutes. Works for me... meanwhile Conner has made his game plan.

@DinarHawk

With one second left in the first half... did you think about our conversation here on fakes?

It's what popped into my head when Bam Bam fouled the EKU guy behind the 3-pt line and gave up two made FTs.

@lincase

I'm not saying they are... but my final result had me from Kansas... however, after each question it showed the hot/cold map and most of my answers didn't flow with being from Kansas.

It was fun to take!

@Hawk8086

I think the team loses more confidence if the coach doesn't hold his players accountable.

How much confidence does this team have if we go down by 10 to a nobody and have double-digit TOs in the first half?

We can't let this team sink because of Tharpe. We have to let Tharpe sink.

This is competition... and in competition you either step up or you sit down (on the pine).

Hold on a second...

I just read this from Keegan's article:

"Starting the game on the bench, Frankamp locked in on how the Colonels defended and knew what he had to do to keep from spitting up the ball."

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2014/mar/21/column-mistake-free-conner-frankamp-just-what-ku-n/?mens_basketball ↗

Maybe it works best to have him come in off the bench... before we get down by 10!

"One of the more remarkable statistics from any lead guard, starter or reserve, in the NCAA tournament belongs to Frankamp: He has played 122 consecutive minutes without a turnover. Kansas needs more of that sort of ball security."

Keegan has it right... Kansas needs more of that sort of ball security!

@nuleafjhawk

I would start him. For two reasons.

First... it may inspire him to step up and have a phenomenal game. And if that happens, and suddenly we have a trey shooter knocking out the bottom of the nets with consistency, we are now a different team with huge potential! Imagine what it will be like next weekend if we have JoJo back and the threat of the 3ball from Conner? And if he can give us solid play with few TOs....

Second... I'm not counting Tharpe out. I want him to fight for his PT. When he decides he HAS TO step up (instead of SHOULD) he has proven to be a big weapon (in the past).

Now imagine we have steady PG play with a big time threat of the 3 ball, and a PG backup building his juice inside to prove himself again by having a big game soon.

So we go from not having quality play at the PG position, to having solid play and a monster building on the bench ready to come back and have a monster game again soon.

In between, we have Frank available to mix up our play style by offering a PG who can drive.

WE DEFINITELY NEED TO START CONNER! Enough talk from Naadir. Make him prove himself again!

@VailHawk

"diddukewin.com.

The inter web at its finest"

Should be followed by:

whenisdukesnextgame.com

"November 3rd"

@Crimsonorblue22

We'd be watching tomorrow's game in St. Louis back home in Lawrence!

No one likes a backseat driver. Same can be said for those who hang their rep on second guessing. You can't go wrong in retrospect. But you can't be taken completely serious either. So I'm throwing this out there, for what it is worth... just a couple of cents.

I'm going back in time here to second guess Coach Self on a decision he made this year that may cost us now. I'm not calling him out in error... if he had known the future, I'm pretty sure he would be with me on this decision.

Early on this year, when it became apparent that Tharpe would need help running this team, Self chose to give minutes to Tharpe at the 2 and put Mason as our PG. This seemed to help us over the bubble with a few games, but did little more than that.

Now, looking back, I think he should have given Tharpe more pine time instead and dished those extra minutes at the 2 spot over to AW3, the guy who worked his tail off last summer building his body and came into this year with hopes to earn serious PT. If I recall, he was one of the best players in boot camp and early on.

Tharpe may have played the 2 in his earlier years of basketball, but he isn't what a blue blood D1 school should have in that spot. And to be honest, if he can't work out his personal issues at the PG spot, why do we think he'll figure it out at the 2. His potential future in this game (beyond KU) will be as a PG, so why not keep him there fighting for PT as motivation?

I'm pointing this out now not because Tharpe has started out bad in the tourney (not completely). I'm pointing this out because Selden didn't have one of his best games either. If AW3 had been earning PT all year, he could have easily helped Selden out yesterday to make more productive minutes at the 2.

By not playing AW3 this year we gave away a nice chunk of our depth. He's a guy that was very capable at the 2 and even at the 3.

I'm a big fan of Selden, but he sometimes can still be a freshman and disappear. For the most part, he disappeared yesterday. What if he disappears again? Can we really expect a long run in this tournament if we have more games where our 1 and 2 play bad?

Conner Frankamp should receive a phone call this weekend from the CEO over at AndroGel to make a new television ad immediately.

It seems obvious, Conner must have bathed in this stuff yesterday, because he grew to 6'2" in height and grew several testicular inches in girth. Gee... that stuff must work!

I'm sold on our new PG for next year, and perhaps through our remaining games in this tournament!

Rock Chalk, Conner!

I bet most of you already know who I'm going to pick.

I'm going for the tandem. I'm going for the two guys who started this season as the "cruise brothers" then earned the "bruise brothers" and are now working on owning the "not gonna lose brothers!"

There was no way we were going to advance through the first weekend without one or more non-freshmen stepping up. I was hoping it would come from the leadership spot, PG, but instead we made this first victory as tough as possible by coming out in the first half having more TOs than a team should have for the entire game. We swam up stream in this one, and fortunately someone threw us a paddle for the second half, actually two. Jamari Traylor (aka "Bam Bam" ) and Tarik Black (aka "Black Death" ) decided they wanted to stick around for more than one game this weekend.

This may be the start of something special. Let's face reality, we won this game without our star center, and without quality play from our starting PG. I don't care who we were playing... we are playing in the tourney and we picked up a victory without help from these players. That is tough to do!

Bam Bam shot 7 of 8 and went for 17 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and a block. Black Death went 6 for 6 and 12 points, 5 rebounds and a JoJo-like 4 blocks. Without this duo's stellar shooting from the field our offense would have gone from 60.4% down to 48.7% from the field.

Connor Frankamp and Frank Mason deserve an honorable mention. Both of these guys helped fill the hole left by Naadir Tharpe's lack of leadership. Put these guys together and they had 8 assists against only 1 TO.

And a very quiet honorable mention goes to Perry Ellis. Perry did his best to maintain his stealth presence while making a valuable contribution to this team. Perry went for 14 points, 13 rebounds and 2 steals. We couldn't have done it without Perry and he remains our secret weapon playing below the radar.

Conference Season Tally:

Andrew Wiggins 8

Wayne Selden 7

Joel Embiid 6

Tarik Black 6

Perry Ellis 5

Naadir Tharpe 4

Frank Mason 2

Jamari Traylor 2

Brannen Greene 1

Landen Lucas 1

Conner Frankamp 1

Andrew White III 1

Justin Wesley 1

Evan Manning 1

Niko Roberts 1

Christian Garrett 1

@lincase

That was a scream... but how do you know if they are cheating? They can sniff out your IP address and know exactly where you are from and then are geniuses when the results match your IP. Granted... it works if you are taking the test from where you are from.

@Crimsonorblue22

If we lose to Stanford... OMG. They stink. But stinky teams win if they come better prepared than their opponents.

UNM... been to the tourney 12 times in the past 20 years and never once made it to the Sweet 16. I think that was a clue. I'll always remember that big Kirk dude. He was ticked off today and he was ticked off when we played him. Maybe he should have checked his breath...

@Crimsonorblue22

Insanity! Self needs to mention to our troops games like Duke's before our game. Maybe something about not taking anyone for granted!

@wissoxfan83

Gooooooo, Badgers!

Also consider eating real butter.... from cows that graze on grass instead of chemical grains and animal waste.

BTW: Margarine is plastic. Save your heart:

http://www.stop-trans-fat.com/margarine.html ↗

@wissoxfan83

I decided I wasn't going to pull out my hair this year... so I didn't even fill in a bracket.

I knew this would be a nutty year... full of upsets and bad officiating. So why bother with the stress from losing brackets?

So I'm giving up the chance to win a billion bucks... but I saved my sanity in the process of not falling into the process.

From the games played so far, I would already be out. The only thing I would have to look forward to is marketing spam from Quicken Loans.