🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@icthawkfan316

I agree with everything you say... except the part that he is incapable of playing good defense. Tharpe is fast and has decent lateral movement.

All of Tharpe's issues are mental. That becomes apparent with all his unforced TOs.

Tharpe needs zen. He needs to get a grip on his mind before he takes the court for a game. His head is spinning.... and usually his head spins most right at the beginning of a game because he needs to calm down a bit. If you look back over the season you will find that he almost always commits a cluster of TOs right at the beginning of a game. Those are mental TOs.

His defense stinks because he can't shut his mind down while guarding. So his guy makes a drive and before Tharpe can respond, his mind has to give him the go ahead. No way that will work... he lags behind. Those reactions need to come from instincts without the mind having to signal ahead.

The right kind of sports trainer could help him with that.

Then he needs zen to visualize ahead and get his mind and body in sync, working at the right speed where he will be most productive. Right now, his anxiety/nerves get the best of him and keep him running at an unproductive pace. His mind is speeding ahead, not allowing instincts to make any decisions... so he appears to be both too sped up and too slow, both at the same time!

I really don't understand why the coaching isn't on to this and helping him out. This isn't rocket science.

If they could work this out with him... we will easily win a national championship.... and he would be in the running for MVP. Yes... you heard me right... MVP! Because the guy is capable of playing phenomenal ball and being a dead-eye from 3.

But instead.. we sputter... we all get mad at Tharpe.... and his confidence drops and he (and everyone) is frustrated because of his play.

Sometimes this feels like we are watching a train wreck in slow motion! We can stop it... so why don't we?

Excellent content in your post!

What about a 1-2-2? With Wiggins out on point? Then we always keep 2 bigs in the game, and Wiggins sinks in when they make a pass to the interior around the FT line. Also... this is one of the better defensive rebounding sets, and once in a while we could send Wiggins down court for a breakaway. If we can get a few of those, suddenly our opponents guards have a harder time focusing on hitting 3s when they know they have to be ready for a Wiggins breakaway. One more thing... when working right, this defense gives decent coverage against the long ball.

I like the 1-3-1, but it is easy to attack on the baseline. It may be the best way to protect Black from fouls, however.

I like the triangle-and-two but it seems vulnerable to the long ball, and we often get beat by the long ball in March. It would be a nice D to throw at teams here and there, just to keep them guessing.

@JRyman

A+!

@wissoxfan83

I thought I was the lone dummy in Lawrence!

In your opinion... who will step up?

!lambeau+steps.jpg ↗

@nuleafjhawk

I feel exactly the same. All I want to see is that we give it our best shot, and we don't leave our best shot in the locker room. I have felt that way before in March (we didn't come prepared to fight)... and that is what frustrates me after our March loss.

That is my expectation every year. I don't expect a national championship. I am hopeful of a national championship. But what I expect is we gave it our best shot. Then, I can go through my summer not wondering what would have happened if we came ready to play.

There will always be some luck involved. I can't expect us to get lucky. If we play the same team 10 times in a row, I don't care who it is, we will win some and lose some. My hope is we get lucky and line up 6 winners in a row. I'm not saying skill and hustle aren't determining factors. For that part of it, I have expectations. We certainly can reduce the "margin of error" as Self calls it.

Maybe we have some loose karma out there in the galaxy that will bring us the luck we need. Seems that we still have some good karma left after our 2012 loss to Kentucky... with our team that endured so much that season with the loss of TRob's mother. I still want the next big trophy to be dedicated to her.

@wissoxfan83

Seriously? Man.. Marshall was an earlier version of BRush!

@JRyman - "We're not in Kansas anymore... but as soon as this tourney is finished, we will gladly return!"

;)

We all know one thing... we have an outstanding coach who knows tactics. It will be interesting from here on out (not like it wasn't anyways) and we know we won't go down without a fight.

All I want to see is these guys play hungry. I don't see how we can lose when we really get after it... like the Texas game.

@icthawkfan316

I could see us going small. Then... maybe... we would finally do what I asked for long ago, and push tempo.

We could defend with a 1-2-2 with Wiggins up on the ball and sinking into the paint, a Syracuse-style 3-2, and a junk triangle and two. Keep rotating those defenses, along with rotating our lineup, and keep a constant variation in our look, making it harder to attack and also harder to scout us in preparation for the game.

Then, sometimes, send Wiggins off the defensive rebound for a fast break attack. He can easily take on our opponent's PG or SG in the open court!

@JRyman

And they are all flying over WSU... the saga continues...

"Wig-guns and the Big-guns!"

@JayHawkFanToo

A big reason why I stay on this site and post is because of the interactions with posters like yourself! I'm not looking only for a fan base. My goal is to expand my own knowledge of Jayhawk basketball while developing quality relationships with other members of the Jayhawk Nation. It all starts with mutual respect. And from there it goes towards opening our minds to different ideas and expanding our personal growth in the general and as Jayhawks.

When you disagree with me you push me to think about my own position further, and then I can either defend my existing position (usually requiring me to develop it further) or change my mind and go with your view (and develop a new path of thought). It's all good... but it starts with our mutual respect and then on to challenging each other.

I'm really thrilled with kubuckets! It takes a step beyond where we were at kusports. I'm not slamming that website as it remains a great source for Jayhawk news. But this site survives only on our input!

Three cheers to everyone for making this whole thing rock!

@JayHawkFanToo

You should preserve your last comment on the quotes thread. We all need to read it again, from time to time!

@Virgil_Caine

"I hope we can avoid quick, penetrating guards in our region, as they seem to be our biggest killer of late. Blowing past Naadir, and then easily scoring on Perry is becoming way too common, and it's the obvious way to beat KU right now. The two of them need to really dedicate themselves to the defensive end to keep our title chances alive. They are Self's two most experienced players, and key offensive weapons, so it really puts the team in a tough position when the coach has to decide whether we can afford to have them give up easy points, or if benching them is the better option. Commit to defense, and the rest will come."

Sorry... but that bears repeating!

@HawkInMizery

Man.... I wish we had Kirk on our team right now! We would be Final Four bound for sure!

@Wishawk

True... but it is best to play up to the media hype.

Remember "The Kinks?"

"Give the people what they want!"

@HawkInMizery

I remember that UCONN team. They had 7 of their players eventually going on to the NBA... 6 in the first round!

Year Round Pick Player NBA Club

2004 1 2 Emeka Okafor Charlotte Bobcats

2004 1 3 Ben Gordon Chicago Bulls

2005 1 7 Charlie Villanueva Toronto Raptors

2006 1 12 Hilton Armstrong New Orleans Hornets

2006 1 22 Marcus Williams New Jersey Nets

2006 1 23 Josh Boone New Jersey Nets

2006 2 40 Denham Brown Seattle SuperSonics

Gordon was the only player to receive the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award as a rookie, and is second in career three point field goals for the Chicago Bulls, behind Kirk Hinrich. Hinrich... hmmmm... where have I heard that name before?!

"Andrew and the OADs!" (joking... there is always room for humor!)

For some of us that go back a ways in Kansas basketball, we've been in this situation before.

We lost a very special player in Archie Marshall.

We were well on our way to having a disappointing season with a big pile of losses and expectations dashed.

But we still had Danny Manning. And we had a team full of players who weren't ready to hang up their gear early. Danny stepped up and wasn't going to accept another loss again. His teammates jumped on board with him. They didn't lose another game!

Here is your chance Andrew. Here is your chance to earn the SI cover that put you down as the next Danny Manning. Here is your chance to earn the title "alpha-dog" by taking the leadership role on this team. Here is your chance to inform your teammates that you are done losing. Here is your chance to up your draft stock by showing NBA teams what you are made of.

You said you were ready for the big stage. Well, here it is!

The motto for this team moving forward:

"Refuse to Lose!"

@globaljaybird

Totally agree! So what they are saying is they are willing to totally discount the body of work a team fought hard for all year because of an injury.

Then... on top of that... how are they suddenly experts in accessing the level of play a team can do without one player? Look what Louisville did last year without Ware!

I'm so sick of that fascist regime!

It is impossible to make heads or tails on JoJo's condition or healing potential. Labeling something as a "stress fracture" is about a vague as you can be. Most athletes who have played with any kind of impact, at some point, have a stress fracture. Often, stress fractures actually help athletes build stronger bones. Some stress fractures can easily lead to a larger fracture, while others pose very little risk.

Since it is in JoJo's back, it seems likely that we can't be too cautious. It appears that he may have already had his stress fracture and it wasn't caught on his first set of scans a couple of weeks ago. No conspiracy here... that happens frequently.

Here is another area where Self really earns his paycheck. He is stuck in a tight situation. He needs to get his team ready without JoJo. He also needs to position the NCAA to his advantage. And he will need to play a big poker hand with our potential foes to come. He will want to make sure these teams see JoJo as a 50/50 to play so they have to scout and practice for two separate scenarios... with or without JoJo on the court.

Unless the NCAA hammers down hard on Self, I'm pretty certain we will hear from Self that we are taking JoJo's progress minute-by-minute on if he will play in a coming game. Self will want to do that even if he knows JoJo is out for the season.

Poker at its best!

"On back injuries, in general: A doctor at KU Hospital was featured in a YouTube video on Tuesday, discussing lower back stress fractures in general. The video was no longer on the hospital's public YouTube feed as of early Wednesday morning. "

• Taken from KUSports.com

That was a smart thing to do. I'm sure the video would allow the viewers the ability to spin it into any kind of conclusion, because the possibilities of what can happen next are endless... especially when it concerns athletes who want to go right back out there and bang their bodies on hard surfaces.

Before JoJo went out I had us at about a 7.0. With JoJo out and not knowing if this team will stand up and fight, I'm keeping us at a 7.0 only with my hope and faith. They could easily be a 4.0 (or a 10.0).

Until I see how these guys react off of the JoJo loss the reality of this situation says they are 1/64 chance in the dance. Obviously, my hope and faith put them at a much higher chance.... the ultimate of bringing home the hardware!

Before JoJo went out I'd probably have given us a 1/10 shot at the big prize. I didn't see enough consistency, ability to close out games, leadership or chip to put them higher. I'm not saying they were an Elite 8 team... they could lose their first-round game or any to follow because they didn't bring consistency with them.

I see all of this now as an opportunity to take up the slack and start playing big time ball if these guys can get their heads on right.

@jaybate 1.0

What we need is a complete team that stands up and fights.

No one can do it alone. Wiggins proved that last game.

Tar will foul out if our guards can't stay in front of their men. We have now gone from having the most depth of any team in America in the post, to just having enough and some vulnerabilities.

Tar ran plenty of offense on Texas and Ridley. He turned Ridley into a boy. Keep remembering that.

The light is on Tar now to pick up the slack in the post. He's gone from "role player" to "our man in the post."

We have to play now as if JoJo will not return for anymore games.

Landen has the tools, just needs more time on the court. He's like a musician who knows the notes, but isn't ready to play a mastered concert yet. It is different playing on the stage than in a practice hall. Still... I expect we will get some quality music out of him in the coming weeks.

I know I keep saying it... but the players that need to stand up and lead this team are all the players who are not freshmen. Naadir, Perry, Tarik... maybe some minutes from AW3, the guy that has disappeared on this team. It is difficult for freshmen (I don't care how much talent they have) to play over the level of upperclassmen.

From here on out we have to all be about... LEADERSHIP... MOTIVATION... FOCUS... EXECUTION.

@truehawk93 - THANKS!

@globaljaybird

"When I watched Joel go down this last time, my assumption going forward was that he's gone for the year...& he likely will & should be."

I'm totally with you on that. We shouldn't take any chances with his future. I'm like many others that wonder if we've already seen the last of JoJo in a Jayhawk uniform. Though... situations like this often bring a player back because of the question mark it puts on him in the draft. I'm not going to speculate or even think about that stuff. I just want JoJo to recover fully and do the best thing for JoJo.

@MoonwalkMafia

How did they shoot that hot unless they could play motivated basketball? So players like Aaron Craft, Big 10 Defender of the Year, couldn't stop a lowly walk-on PG from a mid-major? Just a bunch of luck, I guess?

@jaybate 1.0

Always like the connection to military... the ultimate "competition" of life or death.

Everyone who isn't a Jayhawk thinks it is easy to be a Jayhawk fan, player and coach.

It isn't easy.

Our expectations and twisted view on reality makes it very hard to be satisfied as a Jayhawk.

Our expectations are huge... and our winning record stands behind us, more as a hurdle in front of us. We are expected to win. We have nothing to build "underdog" on!

This is our year! This is our opportunity to take misfortune and turn it into fortune! This is our year when people will start discounting our potential now.

This is a massive opportunity! ...especially for us, because we are always the target at the top.

I hope we drop a big turd on this B12 tourney. Kick us down more. Then all the hateful critics will pop up to shoot us down. That is exactly what we need... to be shot down! Then there is the crowd that "piles on."

It didn't take long... here comes the pile on:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2014/03/11/bracket-briefing-why-kansas-could-suffer-an-early-ncaa-tourney-exit/6283857/ ↗

Let's get it all out. Let's absorb everyone's punch. Bring it.

Then, let's pick ourselves off the ground and kick some ass!

I remember when we lost Archie Marshall. It was the end for us that year, too!

@DinarHawk

I like our chances better now than if we had a healthy Embiid. Winning in March is about playing inspired basketball. Teams needs something to drive them. We were not playing inspired basketball (except for a couple of games).

I'm not saying we are going to win a national championship now. I am saying we have an opportunity to find a higher level of existence. WE CAN be this year's Louisville.

Of all people, Naadir needs to recognize the situation and lead this team. If he can't find the motivation now... forget about him coming through next year, too, because he'll never find a better situation to dig deep and become motivated. This is it for Naadir... here is his chance!

Here is our opportunity to grab a chip and put it on our shoulders. Louisville did it last year when they lost Ware.

This "chip" thing is something I've tried to sell in here ever since I started posting, long ago on KUSports... and few people understand it, because Kansas is always a favorite.

To realize just how far off many Kansas people are from understanding it, read Keegan's article today... he refers to it as "spin."

The term "spin" is a negative... and there is no "faith" in "spin."

It takes faith to develop a chip.

I know people are tired of references to WSU. But they made the FF last year (and should have won that game)... and they did it on faith and the development of a chip. They had 2 starting players that were walk-ons! 2 starting players (including their PG) that were walk-ons on a mid-major. They had no 5 or 4 star recruits... I doubt they even had a 3-star recruit on that team.

I know it bruises some egos to think of our team as not being favorites and that we are underdogs... instead of denying reality, start excepting it. It also means we have the opportunity to advance beyond our expectations, and actually develop some true appreciation for our guys... instead of only criticism if we don't win another expected national championship.

Losing Embiid is a great opportunity for this team. If you understand how this CAN work, and if you truly have FAITH, you will realize this as an opportunity. We have lost our cushion. We have lost our enabler. The rest of the team can no longer play on cruise control. They'll have to fight for their lives if they want to go somewhere in the tournament. Now the reality may sink in. That is the opportunity we have... that reality may sink in because I find it highly unlikely we were going to win out with a healthy Embiid. We counted on him too much. Our guards don't play defense... at all!

Now the eyes need to look around at our players... who (on this team) is ready to stand up and fight? We need this entire team to stand up and fight because that is the requirement in March ALWAYS! We didn't have a team standing up and fighting at West Virginia. Wiggins was ready... alone.

We should be able to make it to the FF starting 2 walk-ons. Instead... we've lost our premiere big man and only have a team full of McDs all americans. And we look at our season like it is over. Truth be... it already was.

The light bulb should come on now. We need FAITH and we need to be driven by a CHIP! Anything less means failure. It is the same formula... if you start 2 walk-ons, or a team of all americans with a beasty 7-footer in the paint. It is the formula for everyone and every circumstance... just ask any of the players from that old Houston "Phi Slama Jama" or that OU team "Danny and the Miracles" beat down!

@jaybate 1.0

Someone needs to tell Tarik he is no longer a "role player."

Tarik is very capable to lift his game, but he needs a shift in mindset. He needs the same sense of urgency he had on senior night.

And as for the rest of the team... time to wake up, boys. Awake from your dreams and start playing basketball. There are a bunch of boys 180 miles south of you that don't have the talent to make your team, but have outplayed you all season.

@ParisHawk

I can't speak for Hudy... but I doubt she is a nutritionist. Strength training people typically don't understand nutrition. It is a different science, like a different language, so they don't put all the study into nutrition as they do strength conditioning. I made some gigantic mistakes in my day when I listened to strength people and they were putting my on protein powders and other isolated substances, like amino acids. And it really messed with my mind. Definitely not a healthy way.

It takes some level of discipline and ability to change to accomplish good nutrition. It won't come easy... like by taking a pill or vitamin. Most (if not all) of those substances are harmful. That has (finally) been coming out recently, especially concerning multi-vitamins.

Thinking back to my days at KU... it would have been really tough for me to eat the right kind of diet, and I knew how to cook... even in my late teens. Nowadays, Lawrence has several good places to buy organic produce. That is a start.

I'm amazed at how much improved I feel, and I believe it would make a big difference with these kids. When I was their age, I still had issues with inflammation, energy fluctuations, mood swings, inability to focus... And I seemed to train train train and improvements came too slow.

@JayhawkRock78

You don't have to go cold turkey... just start adding in some of the right things. It really isn't about living some kind of perfect lifestyle. You can always eat some chocolate cake! Just make sure you get the right things and cut back on some of the bad stuff. It won't be long before you start having an urge to eat better.

It is better to start gradual, and keep moving in the right direction. Then it is a lifestyle change instead of a quick trendy type of change (that never lasts).

Don't worry until after March Madness... especially if you have something that brings us good luck. A friend of mine used to always bring pizza to our gatherings because it brought us luck. It did! We were very lucky to eat lots of awesome pizza every game! ;)

Sports nutrition is the next big wave to come to sports. Superior forms of training are reaching close to its potential. So competitive advantages will have to come from somewhere else. Nutrition is where it is at.

I'm trying to remember the name of one of our past guards that lived on candy and ate too much and got sick before one of our games. I heard that and couldn't believe it.

Maybe Tharpe lives on processed sugar? Wow... Does the coaching staff monitor what these guys eat? I seriously doubt if they do.

Imagine trying to play a March Madness game on empty calories? Or... imagine a summer of Hudy workouts and you aren't eating the right proteins? Might as well forget all those dead lifts... because all you are doing is tearing down muscle and not giving them the fuel to rebuild.

Most athletes still think Gatorade is the right drink during a game! These kids should be eating the right meal before games, and if they need an uplift try a banana during a game along with some watermelon juice.

It blows my mind... all this energy, work, money, focus, effort... all to put a ball in a hole and no one thinks about their diets playing a part. It's a crime, and a pity.

I'd bet anything I own that if I could have control of the diets of our team starting today and running through the big tourney.. we would be a Final Four team. The impact makes that much of a difference.

All these sports medicine guys around the team don't understand nutrition. They understand muscle strains and injuries. Nutrition helps eliminate those problems, too. In the case of JoJo... it would most-likely ease his pain considerably.

@JRyman

I'm not bagging on Andrew and I applaud his 40+ point game. It was everyone else stinking that created the loss. Andrew put out lots of energy to score that much. He worked hard for his points.

It is a good thing that he can have a game like this. Imagine if he did this and had some help from teammates?

I'm sure Andrew would rather have 5 points and a win. His teammates should have lifted up to his level of play. They should have been encouraged by what he was doing. Typically, teams just have one big scorer... so other guys just play a role and they watch their star score. We have plenty of big scorers and they should have taken part in the scoring frenzy.

Everything I blame is on our PG play. Someone has to orchestrate. We didn't run a real offense and this is what we get. We are lucky it was this close. Very lucky.

@jaybate 1.0

"I am confident Wigs could have had this kind of game several times from the beginning had he been allowed to, if he had similar circumstances. "

He could have... and we probably would have lost those games, too. Basketball is a team sport. Our team offensive FG% is around 50%. Doubtful Wiggins could do that every game (his own stats) especially if we started counting on him for 40 ppg. Teams would be after him and he would be lucky to shoot 45% on the year. How many losses would we have this year if we dropped our team FG% to 45%?

@JayhawkRock78

You pretty much have to stay away from all processed foods. You have to become the processor! That means... there are only a few parts of the grocery store you should shop in. Start with the fruits and veggies. Some people say eating meat produces acid. I never stopped eating meat, but made sure it was hormone free and "happy animals" if possible. Happy, meaning... free range.

Soda... gone! Breads... gone!

I eat lots of produce. Veggies and fruit. I buy and grow organic.

And I supplement my diet with some "super foods." Lots of avocado. The fat in avocados is helpful for your heart and for mineral absorption. Other super foods I do include a shot of wheatgrass. At least an ounce a week. I also grow sprouts and micro-greens. Here is an excellent source on the net:

http://sproutpeople.org/ ↗

Forget all this nonsense you read about sprouts being risky. For one thing... grow your own instead of buying sprouts. Most of the sprouts that are sold are not the most-nutritious sprouts anyways.

I go overboard and get into fermented foods. I make kefir, kombucha and kim chi and other things. It's just my drive for total health. I also have a huge home garden, and I can, dry and pickle everything. This last paragraph is awesome, but I already had my good results before adding fermented foods.

There are plenty of great resources out there. Some of my better reads include:

Nourishing Traditions

Wild Fermentation

You'll need a good reading source for veggie nutrition, too. There is an adjustment period for changing your life. Once you get through that you will feel like a teen again! And then it is really simple to keep with the program because there is nothing in the world better than being at retirement age and jumping out of bed every morning (after a great night of sleep) with springs under your feet!

At your age, if you do the right thing now you will most-likely avoid many of the dangers that are coming your way within a couple of decades... like colon cancer, arthritis, loss of hair and vitality, loss of sexual appetite, forgetfulness, failing eyes... the list goes on and on.

My vision has improved., along with everything else!

Other advice: sleep with the window open or cracked. Get natural exercise.. like working in the yard, etc. I also juice now and then. In the warm months I buy lots of watermelon and I juice them. That is my natural Gatorade! It actually does what Gatorade claims to do! Only drink distilled water. You don't want naturally mineralized water. Water needs to be H2O... then it is "hungry water".. meaning... it is a solvent. It looks for other molecules to attach to and it cleanses your body.

Avoid processed sugars, too. Processed sugars = pure acid

I don't buy any packaged foods. No mac and cheese... pretty much nothing from the middle of the grocery store!

My hands haven't worked this well since junior high school. By the time I was in high school, I played too much ball and had constant finger smashes!

@HighEliteMajor

"I personally keep coming back to the knee injury as the root cause here. As @drgnslayr noted in his situation, a knee problem led to his back issues. In athletic movements, it can be a simple as trying not to land on the hurt leg, or even slightly protecting it in repetitive movements. "

In my case, I wasn't even doing anything athletic except my PT during that first year. What caused my back problem was the adjustment I had in walking. I didn't walk the same and needed at least 2 years of heavy PT to get to the point where I could walk without creating issues for my back.

Now imagine what kind of abnormal stress Embiid was putting on his back playing basketball!

@JayHawkFanToo

I think Barnes had his best year as a Longhorn!

Great person with character... good coach, too. I wouldn't put him in Self's league, but still a good coach.

This snip is from KUSports.com:

"“We’ve had a couple people reading different things (test results),” Self said, including the L.A. specialist in that group."

If you go to 7 specialists on back issues... you will receive 7 different sets of results.

I have personal experience to back that up.

I'm not a doctor... but I had back problems after I suffered a complete detachment of my patella. Back then, I had to keep my leg straight for 4 months. I had to learn how to walk again and needed two years of PT just to become a healthy non-athletic person. In my second year of recovery I suffered back issues. My injury happened in a game and ended my playing days... skiing days... tennis days...

Today, half of my health maintenance is focused on diet. I wish what I knew now I had known back then.

If Joel is having an issue with inflammation (good chance that he does), he can adjust his diet and make gigantic gains towards reducing inflammation. I'm guessing to what his injury is... but I bet inflammation is a big part of creating the pain in his back. It is a natural warning system. The body is telling him to take it easy so he doesn't do additional damage and he gives his body time to heal.

By reducing acid producing foods, and focusing on a healthy alkaline diet, he can reduce or eliminate most of his inflammation.

I had issues with all my joints from spending a lifetime (30+ years) of beating them on pavement and wood floors. 6 years ago I couldn't open a jar. The pain and stiffness in my fingers from three decades of ball jams and such became unbearable. Through a careful adjustment in my diet I have regained full use of my hands with ZERO pain and stiffness! I eliminated all the inflammation in my body by adjusting my diet.

I used to live a life in complete pain... back, joints, bad knee.... had problems sleeping and had a constant battle trying to avoid jumping on pain and sleeping medication for the rest of my life. That's all over now. I probably swallow two aspirin a year now, and have been like this for the last 5 years. All my friends keep adding pains to their lives and I removed mine!

Funny... but people don't want to believe that what they eat has much of an impact on their health.

Even a young Joel can improve every aspect of his life with a better diet. I know what these kids eat. I was a kid once... a long time ago!

I see Marshall sticking it out for at least another 5 in Wichita.

I don't think he wants to ramp us his recruiting to become another KU. That isn't his style and why could he get top recruits to hustle when others' can't?

He goes after players that are carrying a chip.. and Marshall has a chip. The players and coach match and they create chemistry from it.

I don't know if he would be successful with a different scenario.

@DinarHawk

"They already won the second season so why try."

You might be right. @jaybate used to talk about Self amping up a team or not with some kind of strategy. It didn't really look like he was out to win this game either, and he looked shocked at the end when it was a game. It looked like someone woke him up from a nap!

But you would think players have personal pride and a tough competitive spirit. Those kinds of players try to win anytime they are in a competition. Those are the players you want on your team... players that don't have to get amped up to bring game.

I'm on my soapbox again... sorry about that!

It has been a frustrating season because we aren't used to dropping 8+ games a year... that says more about where our expectations are. Most teams would be riding high if they were in the position we are in.

I am trying to appreciate the moment. We've won #10 and will be going to the big dance for our 25th consecutive trip (best in the land)! And we will be a high seed. And we will have a good shot at a national championship!

How many teams had that kind of year up to this point?

We need to remember how good it is to be a Jayhawk!

Our "Redemption Season" starts March 20th.

We need to makes some tweaks to several of our current players' equipment.

EQUIPMENT CHANGES CHECKLIST:

1. Remove blinders off of Naadir

2. Give Perry knee pads

3. Give Tarik a head band with "IMPACT PLAYER" written on it

4. Give JoJo a special-made padded body suit

5. Put sticky-glue on Andrew's hands

6. Leave Wayne's gear the same

7. Give Frank lighter shoes

8. Issue eyeglasses to Conner

9. Leave Jamari's gear the same

We will win March Madness if we make these equipment changes.

@Crimsonorblue22

To be honest... I was hoping Tharpe would melt down before the big tourney. Because I thought it would take a melt down to have a shot at rebuilding him for the tourney. Typically... Tharpe responds after Self gets on him... we need Self to really get on him.. enough to get him to play 6 good games!

This is the best chance we got. I wouldn't mind seeing him melt some more in the B12 tourney...

Let's not forget... Tharpe hasn't played consistent all year! So without something changing now, why would we think he could go 6 games without melting down?

I'm not saying this is going to work. I'm just saying this is the best shot we have of getting him to put his big boy pants on in the NCAA tourney.

I would also keep Embiid out of the B12 tourney. Let's play for the NCAA tourney results and not the seeding. It is best we fade away to a 3-seed.

This team needs a chip. Tharpe needs a chip. It is the only way they will play to their potential.

I hope they figure it out. It would really suck to see us not even give the big tourney a real shot. We should be able to repeat the hunger we had against Texas at home... and we should be able to maintain that hunger for 6 games!

I'm more optimistic now than I was yesterday (concerning our potential in the big tourney)... but I haven't been optimistic for this team all year. I have always been hopeful (because I'm a Jayhawk) but I never rated these guys over WARM WARM WARM because they never got past that level of play. Our recent troubles give these guys and opportunity to rethink their game... refresh their attitudes... and reconstitute their nut sacks!

Our new season starts March 20!

Let's call it... "The Redemption Season!"

Rock Chalk!

If Andrew would stay another year he could work more on feeding others for assists.

As it is now, he needs all his focus on finishing his shots. I'm satisfied with that. He has showed steady improvement this year. You wouldn't have seen him score 41 on the road in November!

Andrew's lack of assists in this game wasn't the problem. We didn't have leadership on the road. No team without leadership is going to win this game (especially on the road). It was a miracle we were in it at the end!

Actually.... many big scorers don't rack up assists. We are spoiled at Kansas because we play team ball and usually have plenty of assists from everyone, including our big scorers.

I was amazed we came this close to winning.

This game was like the Kansas City Chiefs playing without a quarterback.

We didn't have a quarterback. Conner had a valiant effort but he is green and has no experience running this team... consequently.. no harmony. If it wasn't for Mason chipping in 10 points and 2 assists, we would have had ZERO production from the PG position!

When was the last time we had ZERO production from the PG position? Points, assists, rebounds, steals... all of it counts as production.

The fact that we laid an egg at the PG position while our superstar center is recovering... I'd say it is pretty amazing that we kept it close.

And though I'm not excited about the outcome, it is best this team dumps out before the big tourney. No more SI covers for this team unless they bring home the hardware!

My hopes were that we would step up with Embiid gone and make a statement... prove that our defense is more than just JoJo blocking shots and Andrew playing sticky. My hopes were dashed!

"Is This Team Finally Ready for 'Self-Ball'?"

Maybe... but after today's loss to WVU, it looks like we want to go into the tournament as a sleeper. So much for the "playing better defense" comments I made earlier. I was hoping we would step up with JoJo out and show some pride. Guess I shouldn't have made that assumption, but then... you know what they say about making assumptions!

Is it possible for Kansas to be a sleeper team?

@HighEliteMajor

Are you imagining our Wiggins take down Syracuse in the final?

Nice....

@ajvan

"Is Frankamp going to shock us all and start?"

I hope not... just because of the risk it puts him under. He lacks previous PT and that would put him at risk of having a devastatingly horrible tournament. Then he has to live with that dark cloud for the rest of his life!

Then he would carry a chip on his shoulders for the next 3 years!

Uh... on second thought... YES, let's start Conner! It would be great to see any Jayhawk carry a chip, especially our PG!

@HighEliteMajor

1. This is our only potential to win 6 games in a row... to, first, have Tharpe fail miserably, and then get bull-whipped to the point of him carrying his own chip for the remaining games. I haven't felt very optimistic lately... but I feel just a bit better today.

2. Without our trio of potential OADs this year we had ZERO chance of winning the league... and an excellent chance of snapping our 24 year NCAA invite string. That is a lot of pluses you should hang on these OADs! I am thrilled they came to Kansas and helped us keep these strings alive. Anything extra at the tourney is gravy, because it is very unlikely we would have gotten the invitation with some lower freshmen recruits.

3. We did get it to 4... thanks to our OAD Wiggins!

4. Conner will be fighting for the spot of starting PG next year. Forget all of Self's past history letting seniors own the court. And next year his 3pt FG% will skyrocket! And if that happens, Naadir will be a reserve at the 1 and 2.

5. Someone should have made Tarik read my post about changing his identity away from being a role player and grasp being an IMPACT player!

6. If we win out, we should still earn a 2-seed. One more loss then we deserve to be a 3-seed. If somehow we are given a 1-seed, I will walk away from college basketball because I'll know the game is rigged!

7. Now I'm going to puke! You could have chosen another player!

I can think of 41 reasons to give the FLOOR BURN AWARD to Andrew Wiggins!

Actually... I can think of a few more reasons... how about the fact that Andrew owned every stat on the sheet! 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks and (unfortunately) 4 TOs.

Now, if Andrew can convince JoJo to bring a matching set of stats with him into March Madness we can feel assured of a long run!

I think I'll give my medical advice to Naadir... try fluoxetine for your anxiety.

Conference Season Tally:

Wayne Selden 7

Andrew Wiggins 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