I think our chances against UNM relate more to which team wants this more. I think all March games are like that.
If we cruise in there looking ahead to the next round we won't have a next round!
From here on out it is all about focusing inwards... letting the circus go by while maintaining everything right inside the team.
http://zagsblog.com/articles/calipari-questions-kentuckys-seed-seeding-committees-criteria/ ↗ ↗
Cry me a river! Poor John has to play the purple kitties then maybe the shockers.... awe....
"I'm personally pretty scared of Syracuse..."
Please... please... stop that!
Open your arms for that game... Andrew Wiggins might score 50 that night slashing through around the FT line in the big hole created after we nail a couple of 3s.
Syracuse zone works great against under-skilled teams and bad coaches.
We are going to avenge 2003 this year! Whether or not we win a national championship.. if we just beat the s#it out of the Orangemen then we've had a pretty dang good year! (along with B12 #10)
I'm betting that Langford will be present for that game and he'll let the boys know how important this win is... these young guns will LOVE Langford!
Me, too! Now I hope they realize this tourney is a one shot deal.
And for these B12 teams we lost to... just more fodder for next year! We'll be hungry to avenge some of these losses.
But the teams we face going forward are strangers in the dark. We might not get another crack at them for years, decades... never!
That's why I'm psyched to play Syracuse! Self has to show these guys our loss in 2003... in case some of you were not around to capture the orange vomitis event:
Thanks!
Excerpts:
"On Feb. 1, Wiggins played poorly in a loss to Texas and, afterward, an opponent called him scared.
Wiggins heard it, and remembered.
Three weeks later at Allen Fieldhouse against the same Texas team, he unleashed a highlight reel – blocking shots, nailing three-pointers, throwing down thunderous dunks, sending the blue-clad Kansas faithful into a frenzy. With three minutes left in the first half, the Jayhawks led 35-14, with Wiggins’s 15 points alone outscoring the visitors on the way to a decisive triumph."
Okay... that's the way it has to be... let's all call him scared!
Lets call the entire team scared!
All we have to do is call all these kids scared 6 times in a row!
@jaybate 1.0
I don't think Self likes playing through the B12 tourney to the championship game. By losing to ISU we got to save some miles on these guys and reserve it for the big tourney. It reduces risk of a big injury on someone or several bad nicks.
Plus... with the late loss it gets the attention of the players to step up.
That is what I'm hoping is going on....
"Notice I say Self-D. It IS BigDance time, either play D like your life depends on it...or go home and watch the rest of the Tourney on TV."
Yes sirreee!
It is time to walk the walk. We can't hide performances behind the talk about playing the toughest SOS now. We either win or go home.
" I wish our players could see all of our own fans that doubt them. I think it would motivate them."
Anything to get them cranked up!
Mannnnnn... I was Syracuse this year!
If we can just get to 'Cuse and give them a good pounding, I will be thrilled with our entire year!
I'd hate to be in Izzo's bracket. I'm going along with mainstream media on this one.... Izzo's team looks like the toughest out! Better than Florida if they stay healthy.
But... everything changes in a millisecond in March...
I'm gonna BOUNCE @VailHawk !
;)
"A BIG dang chip."
Helllll yes!
I want everyone to diss us...... We need all the help we can get to juice this team like they were juiced when they played Texas at AFH. I want that team back.... for 6 games!
Mushburger is at it again!
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/musburger-narrates-selfie-webb/ ↗
I'm happy with UNM for the second game when considering who WSU has in their second game.
Kentucky would annihilate us without JoJo.
Come on, people.... you aren't excited to have a shot at Syracuse? Really?
I'm praying for that game!
"And we do look predictable. Why? Because Self runs what he always runs. Does what he always does. It's his system, and players must adapt."
Thing is... as games go by it seems like we run less plays. The only thing sticking in my head is the alley oop... which I think we could run variations of the same play every game probably 10 times. And recently, we've been running the weave. I'm not a huge fan of the weave, with the exception of Mario's shot heard around the world came off a broken weave.
I think we could look at ISU's offense and pick up lots of ideas... like effective high ball screens and pulling out 4 guys around the perimeter to isolate an inside scorer.
But none of it works without confidence and execution.
We should be scoring out of those low post double-teams. Instead... we just try to survive them by safely getting the ball out of the post. We have to attack what people are throwing at us or they just keep doing it and limiting what we do.
True... even if he didn't get the call, it would just show toughness. This team needs leadership showing toughness!
I have to hand it to ISU... even though several of those guys are floppers... they still show a bunch of individual toughness and it rubs off on the rest of the team! They definitely ate up Niang's bloody face!
This team goes as Tharpe goes... when he plays sheepish and has no confidence, it sets an example for the team, especially this young freshman team being lead by a junior PG.
"Summary: How does a coach change/cajole/rebuild? a player's personality or confidence level?"
I don't have a clue... I think the key is to be more cautious during recruiting and look for the right guys in the first place.
Most of the guys I played beside maybe had too much confidence! Seems it was more a problem to get guys to play more under control and stop gunning because their FG% stunk!
How do we find all these sheepish players? Or are they sheepish? Maybe they BECOME sheepish after arriving in Lawrence!
Maybe there are issues within our system that plays a part in knocking down their confidence. Self is a sharp guy, we know that... and maybe he is working against other factors. For one... does our historic significance in college basketball help us or hurt us? It seems like these guys are constantly compared to past players and teams.
I don't know. I'm not a psychologist... I continue to ask others in here who may have a background in this area to speak up and post their thoughts.
It does seem like players arrive here and then are in awe of what they stepped in. Seems we have to do a better job of instilling their confidence versus just pitting them against imaginary players from the past. I said "imaginary" because that is what the are to most of these players we recruit from all over the country.
These comparisons of Wiggins to Manning and Chamberlain are a joke!
This is a good read on the weird pressures applied to Wiggins. Manning didn't face any of this in his days as a Jayhawk:
Look back to our second game of the year.. against Duke. With the big lights on and a bunch of freshmen who didn't know which direction was up. The sure looked better than the same team months later (sometimes). They definitely played with more of a spark!
That game is our barometer on this season. That game set the standard base to build from. That game showed what these players brought with them from HS, including their personality traits. We've seen individual improvements... especially with Andrew, Wayne and JoJo... but as a team, is our energy better? I'm not sure about that. I thought the Texas home game was a match of the energy we had with Duke. Why don't we have that energy on a regular basis?
Thanks for putting in the effort to search out Tharpe's background. My point was only based on something I read a long time ago... so I didn't overstate my reference and it is open to scrutiny.
What really counts for me is what I think is important from the PG position.
First... from a personality perspective, a good PG will have a big time drive to lead. Good PGs are part coach, part player, part babysitter, part psychologist, part arbitrator... anything where they can get some level of control, because these guys want to control things, especially what happens on the court!
Good PGs hold themselves accountable for team results. Tharpe has done some of it this year and I commend him for doing it!
Good PGs have the highest basketball IQ on the team. They see what defenses are pulling and they know how to attack. They are free to call plays and sets themselves because coaches trust their PG and what he sees on the court. Good PGs direct their players. They tell them things to do in order to be more productive as individuals and for the team. Good PGs are paying attention while being out at the top of the key, making mental notes of what they are seeing and how to attack it better. When necessary, good PGs have plenty of their own weapons and when need be are willing to take over for short periods to try to get others going and keep the team in the game. Tharpe has done some of that this year, especially on the games where he ripped off a load of points!
Good PGs have a feel for what is the best pace to run their team. Good PGs impact that pace by pushing or slowing down tempo. At times, we've been stuck on both sides the wrong tempo. A good PG will feel the wrong pace and work towards changing it. The coach shouldn't have to call a time-out every time the team has a minute or two of bad play. The leader on the court should be involved with settling the team down during the game, or pushing the team when everyone slows down too much.
Tharpe has the ability to be a good PG. But his downside habits have to be addressed. He can't be inconsistent in his play. He can't step into a game mentally unprepared to be efficient. He can't decide to disappear in games that aren't going his way. He can't decide that the mountain is too high to climb so he goes on cruise control.... when the mountain is high he needs to take a deep breath and start tackling that mountain!
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" Yes... it is a sports cliche.. but it is also the dead on truth!
I don't know if Tharpe has everything it takes to become a great PG... but he clearly does have what it takes to be a good PG! And sometimes we see a good PG... it is the other times that totally deflate his value on this team. For example... if he doesn't show up for a game now, we are done for the year and we will be very very unhappy!
I want to see Tharpe, from here on out, arrive to a game prepared and confident to play. I want to see Tharpe prepare his troops to play, too. No more dead starts. No more starts where he immediately creates a few unforced TOs at the beginning of the game. Then... I want to always know that Tharpe is on the court. I shouldn't have to study the game closely just to realize if he is on the court or not. Then... I want him running offense. I want him talking to his guys. I want to see his leadership. I want to see him shut his man down and stop giving away the lane. I want to see him exploit open court opportunities when they are there... no more getting out on a 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 and then pulling back and running offense. When we have opportunities like that we force it to the hole on the drive. We'll either get the foul or the bucket or both!
I want to see an aggressive Tharpe from here on out! That isn't asking too much from our starting PG!
Solid point... but let's hide your post or otherwise it is used as a cop out. None of us are forgetting how tough of a SOS we played... but none of that matters now. We've been beat 9 times this year and we are one loss away from ending the season.
If we are thinking we are a Final Four team then the path to get there (and path after arriving there) will include some of these top teams. We've shown how capable we are of losing to any of those teams... that is what we have to focus on.
Once again, you support the reason why I like to call you "coach." I'm right there with you on your thoughts. You don't candy coat junk that should be exposed and dealt with. You have an understanding of the game... from the mechanics to match-ups to just knowing the reality of the situation. I feel most people have the hardest time with the latter one... knowing the reality we are in.
Our defense just plain stinks. Of course it doesn't match what we are used to from Self... but in this case, it doesn't even match the bar of average D1 defense.
You called it right.. it is too late to overhaul our defense and do a 180 on our philosophy. But we can make changes that can make a huge impact on our outcomes.
I totally agree with increasing the tempo, for no other reason than making our guys play with more energy. I can't believe Self used the excuse that playing in consecutive days zapped this team's energy. That was a cop out.
Let's look at our perceived limitations:
We are young
We are inexperienced
We lack confidence
We lack energy
We have execution issues
When you look hard at all 5 of these, it becomes clear that our youth is the spearhead of all our problems. We can't overcome age. We can't make these guys 23 by taking a pill. But we can treat these other issues. It is a big spoonful of medicine. Boys become men.
This is a tough mountain to climb. If there was a sure-fire way to fix all of these issues in a short time, the problem-solver could probably take over the entire world! So... let's break it down to real tweaks that may improve our situation. The best tweak would have been a zone months ago... but as you stated.... it is too late to become effective at a zone, though throwing it in the mix sometimes can be effective because our opponents may not adjust immediately.
Our biggest tweak will be to get JoJo back. And in order to do that, we must reach the 3rd round of the tourney. So our first goal is to survive our first tourney weekend. Later today we will know the match ups we will face.
Goal 1# - Making it through the first weekend of the tourney.
In order to make it through, we first have to work harder than we ever have this year scouting our potential opponents. Our assistant coaches will have to step up and take assignments for helping our players know who they are playing, and more important, HOW to play them. We have to inject the right hedges in the defense to try to limit teams (players) from attacking us with their strongest methods.
Most teams have one big strength. ISU is not the typical team we should be faced with on our first weekend. They had great 3-pt shooting and deadly post scoring and everyone on that team can drive the ball successfully. They (easily) may have the most lethal offense in the tourney coming up (when running well). Other teams have a specific strength... maybe it is 3s, maybe it is post scoring, maybe it is mid range scoring.... drives? Ball movements? We need proper scouting and have to play them against their strength. If it is perimeter shooting, we have to give up on much of our weak side help because (to be quite frankly) it sucks anyways. All it does is put our weak side defenders in lala land, positioned between the ball handler and their man, which is now wide open from 3. If we can't play good weak side help and pinch drivers and passers off, forget helping! This is how our defense is breaking down half of the time.
If an opposing player drives into the paint, we need a post player there to help, not a perimeter player. Most teams don't have post players who are dead eyes from the 3 line.
In the coming week off, our coaches need to take these kiddies into the film room and show them how bad they got schooled by ISU. Pick and pops, pick and rolls, off the dribble, ball screens... every single thing ISU ran worked against these kids. It's time they went to school. It is pathetic that they have been playing D1 ball for several months now and can't stop a single gimmick.
We need to have something we can threaten opposition with. Something to make them think and take them out of their game. An occasional fast break opportunity might help.
We haven't had a good fast break team in years... We've had the personnel but we haven't been running open court basketball because it breaks all of Self's rules. He will have to realize that we need a tool that will become a diversion, and in being one will help create chaos for our opposition. Anything to challenge our oppositions' offensive flow, because right now, we haven't proven we can stop anyone.
We are a team with more weapons than any other team in the country... but few weapons have we executed properly. Something needs to be drawn up to pop open more weapons and then use and execute them during games.
Currently, we look extremely predictable. For a team with so many possible weapons, it is amazing how predictable we are. And right now, we aren't even running our predictable stuff well. Self's hi/lo has always been a predictable set, but we ran it so well that teams couldn't stop it. Now we don't seem to execute it well. We get stumped the second our opposition figures out how to double-team the ball when fed into the post. When they do that, it should trigger off several scoring options to run, but instead we have 4 guys mostly standing there observing our post player getting pressured by two defenders.
Are these guys capable of running plays? I think so...
I believe @HighEliteMajor is exactly spot on in his post... and the weakness may not be our players and their youth. It may be our coaching staff and their inability to take what we have and make the most of it.
Just look at Greene.... in the past month I think he has regressed. For one... we don't run anything to open up his 3 and with the right kind of pass for a flowing catch-and-shoot. The same for Conner. We don't utilize these weapons... we run them as afterthoughts, and it shows. Both of these guys have gone through an entire season now and had some PT... they should be more comfortable to nail the 3s. Conner is shooting 1/3 of his HS effective %. That says something is wrong.
For one thing... take Greene and Frankamp into the video room and show them tape of Heslip. Heslip is not some kind of athletic freak... he is average in athleticism. But Heslip knows how to fight through crowds and get himself open for catch-and-shoots.
Here is a novel idea... spend an entire day teaching every player on our team how to use a head/shoulder fake! How about a ball fake, while we are at it! How about showing them how to start masking their passes with a look-away! This is HS stuff.... but it is stuff we don't use and it is stuff we get burned with on defense every single time! How about an entire day on how to maximize use of the pivot!
These kids needed John Wooden's approach... start the year by showing them how to put on their socks and shoes. And if our coaching staff doesn't have the patience or understanding of how important the basics are, then stop loading up a team full of freshmen. Recruit more juco transfer players!
"Embiid smooths over so many of those rough areas for this team"
Good way to put it.... and right on!
I was hoping for more with JoJo out. I was hoping to see this team fight back harder, especially against the critics that say we can't play without JoJo. I wanted to see them play their most-inspired d all year and prove everyone wrong!
Then... make it to the 3rd round and we get JoJo back and he just adds icing to the cake of an already great defense!
That is what I was hoping for. Instead... we gave up 92 and 94... a bit better against OSU, who really played out of sync. 94... isn't that a record for most points given up during the Self era?
I grant that ISU was hot and enthused.. two typical factors that you can expect to face in March. But come on... so many of their shots from the outside were totally uncontested. And we just couldn't get a stop in the second half. We fell for every single gimmick they ran!
Let's face the facts... ISU has plenty of seasoned players. They schooled our rookies... big time. I remember one play with 4 Jayhawks (under their basket) all left their feet from a head/shoulder fake. It was almost comical!
School is out.... we need execution from here on out!
What we have to think about now is that one loss ends our season. We can't flutter now from game to game.
Hey... I finally found an article I like on Wiggins:
I think Tharpe has potential to be a really good 3-pt shooter... especially if he doesn't have to think about running the team. He should get quality minutes at the 2 and backup minutes at the 1.
What if we sign Lyle? He's a big kid, so everyone gives him the thumbs up at KU. But is he an alpha-dog? Huntington Prep lists him as a guard. They don't specify who runs point. Was it Lyle or Perkins running their team this year? Does he know what is expected at PG?
Ha... I think we want want want... no doubt we have grand expectations, even this year, when we replaced our entire starting lineup!
I hope we don't lose in the first weekend of the tourney... but if we do, we've still had a pretty good year considering we have almost a completely new team!
I also hope Tharpe proves me wrong and drills the next 6 games!
I think TT and Naadir were recruited here to be PGs. Perhaps even EJ. But I recall reading on all of these guys that their main position coming up through HS was the 2 spot... including Naadir. I especially recall that with Naadir because I was shocked he wasn't a PG all through HS.
Self recruited these guys to play as PGs. That isn't the same as a guy growing up his whole life playing PG and sticking with it in HS. That is what my point is in my post.
I would like to know Self's TO rate for all his teams at KU. We are never known as a team that takes care of the ball. Sure, all players can be careless, but it starts with the PG.
I remember all of these guys we are talking about... and when they signed. The only one I thought might be a true PG is Tharpe. Then I read that he is converting to PG.
Tharpe is no Aaron Miles.
Sorry... I just don't see a National Championship in our future again until we secure a real PG. We'll continue to have these teams with beasty post players and athletic wings.... but no titles until we get a floor general. I'd rather have a real floor general and the rest of the team average...
Okay... it worked to change Perry's identity to "The Impaler." So I brought back his graphic one more time!
I feel bad for Perry Ellis, The Impaler. When a guy goes 11-12 from the field and hangs 30 points on the stat sheet, you expect him to be the player of the game on the winning team. Perry was the player of the game for both teams, unfortunately he didn't get to celebrate on the winning team.
Perry also snagged 7 rebounds and had an assist.
I guess the only question is... why didn't Perry shoot more? Why didn't we run plays and sets specifically to take better advantage of his hot hand? I felt like Perry could have easily gone for 40+. ISU's weakness is they can't guard bigs. They did do a better job of trapping Perry in the second half.
Our biggest issue in this game was perimeter defense. ISU shot 57.9% from 3. It is almost impossible to beat a team owning that stat!
Perry will just have to go out and put another performance in like this one next time... and hopefully we can celebrate a victory to go along with his awesome play!
Conference Season Tally:
Andrew Wiggins 8
Wayne Selden 7
Joel Embiid 6
Tarik Black 5
Perry Ellis 5
Naadir Tharpe 4
Frank Mason 2
Brannen Greene 1
Landen Lucas 1
Conner Frankamp 1
Jamari Traylor 1
Andrew White III 1
Justin Wesley 1
Evan Manning 1
Niko Roberts 1
Christian Garrett 1
From what I read... all 3 of these guys were 2s in HS... EJ was forced into some 1 in his senior year.
I think Self thinks the same way... what is the difference between a 1 and a 2? Ball skills?
The real difference is leadership. Not many players out there who are capable leaders. The real PGs are guys who were always PGs.... usually because they were short and grew up playing ball, they had to endure plenty and probably most had "Napoleon complexes." I'm guessing Frank has always been a PG. He has that toughness. He looks like he had to endure plenty growing up so learned to compensate with other skills. But I'm not sure he has leadership abilities. Time will tell.
Here is a story you want to read about our next PG:
That kid is tough, he carries more than his weight. I want to read some tough story about our next PG. It makes all the difference in the world. These recruits are out there, but harder to find, but worth finding.
I'm sick and tired of having to wonder if our guys are ready to play. That's friggin' pathetic. The right kind of PG will get his troops ready and will lead by example.
This idea that as long as we put height and athleticism at the PG spot we will be good, is utter nonsense. Put the tall athlete at the 2. Get the tough guy who has something to prove at the 1 and let him be your floor general.
@REHawk -
"Seems as though most of the key bigtime losses in the Bill Self era involve opponents' fortunate 3 pt. percentages. I suppose that speaks to our sometimes weak m2m perimeter defense...."
Perhaps... but do we solve that with height and athleticism? It doesn't hurt.. but why is short and slow Aaron Craft Defensive Player of the Year for the last 2 years in the Big 10? He's 6'2" in OSU inches (I've heard he is right at 6' ) and the guy will never win a track race.
What is worse is to sacrifice a huge chunk of offensive proficiency by not having the right PG. We may have lost several March games off a 3-pt buzzer beater or a hot team shooting from 3, but couldn't we have made a few points difference by running a better offense? Like... for starts... how about we knock our TOs down to 4 or 5 per game? It must help having an extra 10 scoring opportunities every game! And how many points do we give up when we have a TO and the other team completes a run out?
I truly believe we are in for a long long long drought from NC trophies if we don't wise up on what the role is of the PG position. I can think of a few times when we should have won it all (and would have) if we had the right PG (within the Self era).
"The thing about last year's game with Michigan is that they were a couple brain farts away from winning that game. "
To be honest.. we should have won a national championship last year. We had a veteran club that played well together... except for our inconsistent PG play. I don't want to go back and rant on EJ. He never was cut out to shift over and play PG.. and the fact that he did tells me how big a heart that guy had for Jayhawk basketball. EJ..... R.I.P.!
I just don't understand Self on this one. Maybe someone can help me out here... I know Self was a guard at OSU. Was he a PG? I've always wanted to know. He does well with big men, but we so often have issues at PG. And it doesn't seem like we recruit top notch PGs either. I've posted plenty about the importance of PGs to success.... and it seems like we can't nail that spot down (recently). EJ was a 2. Heck... TT was a 2, too. Naadir is a 2.
But when I read up on the recruiting trail, Self is always out pitching more big men.
BTW: I don't want to bag on Tharpe. The guy is playing far above his skill level from HS. He wasn't a top notch recruit... and once again... he was a 2 and asked to become a PG!
At this point... I'm feeling pretty lost... it feels like we should have ran Mason at PG from Day 1 of this season. Then slide Tharpe over to his natural position (the 2) and have him play backup PG to Mason. Then... have Selden also play the 2, and give him some backup at the 3, with Wiggins.
Mason makes plenty of freshman mistakes... because... he is a freshman! But he would have worked out many of those mistakes by now if he had been our starting PG from Day 1. Imagine if he had the confidence, and played solid, what he would be bringing to this team right now? First.. he would have penetration capabilities. Second... he might be outperforming Tharpe on defense by now. I said might because so far he hasn't proven himself on d. Third... then Tharpe's role is to score at the 2! He has been our best 3-pt shooter this year, and he should be out there popping 3s instead of focusing on how to run the team.
I could just as easy put Frankamp all year as our PG. But... we need at least one of our guys at the 1 or 2 position driving the ball. Remember back to 2012. We had TRob... and we had TT... That combination was good enough to get us to the championship game! TT had finally figured out how to finish those drives, and if he wasn't driving we had the hi/lo and TRob. That wasn't a star-studed team. We went a long ways with the manpower we had.
Now... when the hi/lo isn't working we sort of just play mystery offense. Maybe a weave and then someone shoots a contested shot.
I wish we had a PG that could drive with leadership skills... a 2 that can bomb the 3... a 3 that can drive or bomb the 3... and a 4 and 5 capable of scoring with the hi/lo. We aren't far off from having that.
But instead... we have ZERO leadership from the point. No driving. So our offense is fragmented and often not running anything specific. Tonight we had several possessions where guys gunned the 3 on the 2nd or 3rd pass to start the possession. In the old days that would get you bench time. Now... Self doesn't even react. We had a lot of really horrible offensive possessions.
I'm ranting about our offense since I've sort of given up on our defense. It looks like we are just going to have to play games and try to outscore our opponents by playing a little better on offense.
Guess I have to admit the obvious.... our defense IS Joel Embiid!
JoJo.... get the heck well ASAP!
Yes... our post defense couldn't handle Niang and company. But then... those guys are tough and not many defenses out there are able to shut them down. The game would have been different with JoJo... it still would have been a tough game to win.
It was clear ISU wanted this game more.
I'm not looking ahead in the big tourney beyond our first game. We have to win 4 straight to make it to the FF... and that will be tough with or without JoJo... because we need solid, aggressive PG play... something that seems to have disappeared.
Look at this game... who was our leader? I can't pinpoint anyone. How can you win-out in March without a leader.
I know the score was fairly close in this game... but I look at it and I ask myself, "what was that?" Like... "what was that offense?" I know we racked up a decent total, but what was that offense? Where was the hi/lo? I mostly recall us running the perimeter weave... over and over and over....
I'm having a hard time identifying who this team is in the past couple of weeks. I don't think it is because Embiid is out. Even Self said we are running everything just like normal. Does their play look "normal?"
All of that puts me into shock. It also kills my confidence in a March drive. I'm definitely not critical about Andrew's alpha-dog coming out! That is a welcome sight... but I don't see that carrying us to a national title. He can't score 40 every night... tonight was an example of that.
And when Self is interviewed he doesn't talk about the real issue with this team. It certainly isn't whether or not JoJo is playing. The real issue we have is PG play. We can't go far without someone quarterbacking this team.
This is starting to feel like deja-vue. Last year's season rolling into March and questions arising about consistent PG play.
We have to figure out how to stop 3 offensive freight trains from pounding into the rim:
Ejim
Kane
Niang
This is going to be a tough challenge... even with Embiid, it was tough.
@jaybate 1.0
You have an excellent understanding of Perry.
I think "Thinker" is too much like "Designer"... we are looking for the antithesis... the personality Perry NEEDS to be!
How about... "The Impaler?"
He could use his skills of precision when driving his sharpened limbs up through the bodies of his opposition.
BTW: It is time for Perry to s#it or get off the pot!
"In every zone defense, there is exposure though. The 1-3-1 is of course exposed on the baseline more when the ball is up top as @drgnslayr pointed out. Once the ball goes to a wing, the 1-3-1 flattens and looks a lot like a 2-3, thus why that is a preferred method of attacking the 1-3-1 if you don't have time to prepare. Most teams prep against 2-3 looks. So if you move the ball to the wing initially, you start your set that way as you flatten the 1-3-1 and get the same look as you prepped against. The key there is trapping to try to take that option away."
That deserves repeating.... very solid information!
I agree... the weakness in that 1-2-2 is in the middle. That is where I am hoping Andrew (and his athleticism) can stretch cover that area a bit. At least make it impossible for someone with their back to the rim to be effective.... The key is to make it hard to feed... and with Andrew on top and two up high on the perimeter, we should make it tough.
Running any kind of zone requires defenders to not only guard space, but making passing difficult. Our guys need to have their arms extended and swinging... and know how to hedge passing lanes. We need more of that happening, regardless of what defense we are playing. We don't challenge passing lanes enough to play good, disruptive defense.
Our biggest challenge on defense is learning how to hedge. Everything on d should involve hedging, as our defenders try to force action away from certain areas of attack, whether it be driving or passing lanes. We just don't understand and use hedging properly. Hedging is one of the main tools you use after scouting a team (and players) properly.
I think Lucas just needs more PT to match pace with everyone else.
Thing is... he has the best fundamentals of all our big men. He may not be the most athletic, but he is athletic enough to make an impact.
Lucas is usually good on the boards... a symptom of fundamental play.
Perry didn't make our mercenary team. He should think about that first... and if he wants on, prove himself.
Did you notice how Smart's wuss attitude yesterday has rubbed off on his teammates? How many of those guys were limping by the end of the game? Running on the court... then the play stops and half of them started limping. Give me a friggin' break!
Our guys mask their injuries... that may not be a good thing either, but the last thing we will be called is "wussies!"
Seriously... I could put this design on cafepress.com... and we have instant shirts!
I'm not sure if I'm breaking copyright law. I kind of think the university might not be thrilled with this. I would keep "Kansas" off the shirt.
I could redesign the hawk more to separate the art from anything existing out there... then it would be totally legal.
Anyone out there have knowledge on this?
Imagine our student section in all black with an ominous hawk on their shirts with crossbones?
If I can catch a patch of time this afternoon... I'll see if I can create a really unique mascot.... maybe something half bird and half skull.
From here on out...
We drop the idea that we have something to prove.
And we instill the belief that we look forward to watching other teams trying to prove they can survive against us.
It is time... we unleash the scourge... Black Death infecting the court!
...and we will feast on their bones!
Black Death and Bam Bam are the aliases for the team of Jayhawk mercenaries I designed a while back. Black uniforms, with a small patch of crimson/blue. All players cloaked in heavy padding, prepared for battle. Our Jayhawk mascot takes on an attitude (along with the players):
Out of all the soldiers who make up this squad, "Black Death" is the overpowering force. For those who don't know their history from where I captured Tarik's new essence, reflect on this history lesson, when the world suffered its worst plague, 100+ million souls vanish from earth in just a few short years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death ↗
Tarik (aka "Black Death" ) has the power to eradicate entire teams in just a few seconds... leagues within a few minutes... tournaments within hours...
He chose the right school... it is called "the selection process."
Nature calling the shots.
Firat... thanks for continuing "Who?"... we should keep this question going from now on.
I'm going with the Bruise Brothers for tonight... Black Death and Bam Bam!
I believe we have to really come ready tonight.. more so than we did yesterday because ISU is going to be a tough game to win. With JoJo being out, this game equalizes substantially, and we have to outplay some tough players who are playing the same brand of basketball all year, while we have almost abandoned our hi/lo and are looking for identity.
We aren't used to this... looking at a stat sheet after one of our games and seeing one player score more than twice the points of our second nearest scorer. But in reality, that isn't Andrew Wiggins' fault. He would be happy to share that load with another player willing to step up on offense... but no one has.
Kind of reminds me of the humorous military skit where the troops are in line and the commanding officer asks for a volunteer and everyone steps backwards, except Andrew. That is the situation we have here.
So Andrew, once again, nails down the FLOOR BURN AWARD, but this time, I salute him for the other aspects of his game besides scoring. Andrew was second on the team in assists, having 3, had 8 rebounds, 3 steals and a block. A very well-rounded game, perhaps a little bit too well-rounded as he also managed to lead the team in TOs, at 5.
What really solidified him earning this award came late in the game when he dove for the ball and created a possession for us. Turns out, this game could have been a loss without that possession.
Several players deserve an honorable mention mention... (first time I have used mention mention together). Wayne had a consistent game and is proving he can be a freshman that plays a consistent game. Tarik managed to keep his focus, even though he had 4 fouls (at least 2 were questionable calls), and dominated the boards with 12 rebounds. Our rebound margin of 16 proved to be the winning stat for us on possessions (and the game) because we lost the TO battle by making 8 more TOs than OSU.
Naadir deserves a special mention. He didn't have an outstanding game, but he did maintain a baseline of composure. He managed to toss 7 assists against only 2 TOs. There were times when it looked like he was going to come unglued, but he managed to pull himself together and give us just enough of a performance to seal the victory. We will need him to do better as the games toughen, but at least we are advancing and having the opportunity to play another game without JoJo in hopes we can adjust with him being gone.
For the first time this year, Andrew leads the tally board. Could it be that he is finally taking possession of this team and unleashing his alpha-dog?
Conference Season Tally:
Andrew Wiggins 8
Wayne Selden 7
Joel Embiid 6
Tarik Black 5
Perry Ellis 4
Naadir Tharpe 4
Frank Mason 2
Brannen Greene 1
Landen Lucas 1
Conner Frankamp 1
Jamari Traylor 1
Andrew White III 1
Justin Wesley 1
Evan Manning 1
Niko Roberts 1
Christian Garrett 1
Maybe I should have asked who would step down?
Marcus... you're up! (I mean... down!)
I've got my 'tatoes sprouting in my kitchen right now... waiting to go in next week.
I love to hear stories like yours. Amazing stories about people's history and how they ended up in America.
So do you have your 'tatoes ready to plant? Saint Paddy is right around the corner!
Yess.... Paddy is the right word!
I'm part Welsh. No... I didn't cheat on paying a gambling debt... just some drops of Cymry blood left behind by my taffer gdad for lineage that didn't fall out on the stones from a heated conversation!
Can I have a window seat?
@jaybate 1.0
"No one's bagging on Andrew. Period. This is a case of collective hysteria."
And I thought I was the only hysterical one in here! I'm serious! I've been reading along and thinking everyone in here has it together, and I'm frantically posting out of the bleachers.
Well... I can't wish harm to anyone, but if others are hysterical, then welcome aboard the "frenzy train!"
The train will depart any minute now... it's tip-off time!
I think he could get help from some kind of arcade games where he has to reach out and react to a flashing light or something. Make him work on it until he cuts his brain off and goes off instinct. Then... get him to start translating that into his bball game.
I'm sure their are sports trainers out there that know easy ways to accomplish it. They do it all the time in boxing and probably every sport.
I have no expertise in this myself... but I can see Tharpe's problems clear as day!
I think he has plenty of quickness, too... we just don't get to see that because he has brain freeze when a player makes him move. Then Tharpe tries to recover. Too late.
Sometimes Tharpe reminds me of a miniature poodle. Head is shaking... panting breath...
That's all a mental thing. If he doesn't work it out now, he will someday... probably after his ball days are over. And he will be saddened and saying... "wish I knew then what I know now..."
But he has coaches that are older and wiser. These guys should be able to help him get his grip. So why aren't they?
There is no reason why Tharpe couldn't be one of our better defenders. He has big league speed! Look at him... and then look at Aaron Craft. I'd rather have Tharpe's physicality. But as things are right now... I'd rather have Craft's ability to play through his instincts!