🏀 KuBuckets Archive

This is the perfect timing to win our next 13 games!

But we need to keep the urgency of a falling sky. Truth is... we need to come with urgency every single game, even if it is the conference tourney. Taking a night off now will do nothing but kill our momentum.

Really... the timing couldn't be better! We win-out and take home #14... another conference tourney championship... and another national championship!

They should put up a big board somewhere listing each remaining game with a checkbox beside it. Stress the urgency of a win-out!

DONE LOSIN'!

@Barney

Great idea! If Devonte can light it up in the first half it would help us tremendously. Then our opposition will try to counter for the second half and that should open up other shooters and DG can build his assist stats!

So many bright aspects of our game last night! Granted... ISU just doesn't have the horses this year, especially on defense... but they are always dangerous on their home court.

Vick - amazing how many positive plays he was in on last night! He put his athleticism on display. Fabulous effort!

Doke - he had hit a "flat spot" the last few games (by that I mean he wasn't showing us huge improvements every game)... but he showed us plenty of improvements last night, including the ability to stay on the floor while in foul trouble. His FT shooting is improving. All he has to do is focus on his form and he should shoot at least 60% (which is HUGE for us!) because of his incredible soft touch.

Malik - Wow! Look at his stat line! He contributes all over the place and not just playing in the role of "volume scorer" now. Rebounds... steals... assists... Who says he's not a "team player?"

Devonte - Had an off-game for his standards... but we couldn't have won this without him. He has stepped up as our leader in a HUGE way this year! That was something I always questioned, especially his ability for consistency. Crean gets it... loved how he commented on Devonte being one of the most consistent guards in D1. He's spot on. Devonte is a bit tired and banged up... but he maintains high energy, directs the team, controls the ball well (few TOs this game) and though his shot wasn't dropping it didn't stop him from helping in other areas.... 6 boards... 5 assists. He had the crucial rebound swipe late in the game to ice it for us. No surprise there!

Svi - had an off-night, especially shooting the rock. His first TO where he missed catching a pass right in his hands indicates his vision still may be off. We know we can count on him getting back on track soon.

The rest of the guys all helped, too. It may not show up on the stat sheet, but they all gave valuable minutes that helped keep us in the game.

This was definitely a TOTAL TEAM EFFORT! Our overall energy level and attitude is much improved!

It has been a long time since I've given high marks like this!

I SMELL A RUN!

Rock Chalk!

It is NOW that we must step up and be Kansas! We are used to controlling our own destiny. There is no reason why we shouldn't win-out.

It's time to make a statement in 2018 to the rest of the league, which sees us as vulnerable and anxious to knock us off... FORGET IT! We've been here before... 13 in a row... and we know what we have to do.

Our goal is in sight!

@Blown

Vick really needs the book I posted in here recently. A little zen to help him clear out the chaos in his mind.

If he would do this, he can instantly become one of the top players in college basketball. Period.

Let's pound these clowns....

1. The NCAA formally communicates that Billy Preston is eligible, then an hour later, announces he is ineligible for playing abroad.

2. We will receive a commitment from 5'4" PG from Chicago who has already guaranteed we will win the NC for 4 consecutive years. I think his last name is "Capone."

3. Bill Self is announcing his retirement because he is running to be the next Governor of Kansas. Claims he can beat all the teenagers running and the dog trying to run, too.

4. Kansas finally agrees to play WSU every year, calling their bluff (because they declined our offer) so we can start calling them "Chickenshocks!"

5. The 2018 Big 12 Conference Title Champion will be cancelled this year because of pandemic influenza virus.

6. AFH has been sold at an auction for $900 million and was purchased by a wealthy Duke lawyer who plans to move it to Duke thinking they can buy their way into basketball history.

7. Mizzou is returning to the Big 12 and has dropped their tiger mascot for a new Quantrill's Raiders logo.

8. Gregg Popovich announces his retirement from SA because he will join Bill Self as an assistant coach at Kansas.

I give up!

@Buster-1926

Thanks for posting that. I didn't know Mitch was involved with volleyball.

I'm thinking we need to focus a little recruiting on HS volleyball players!

@HighEliteMajor

I'm exactly with your last post. Exactly.

That has brought me to several conclusions...

The most-obvious conclusion is that we have carried this concept of being undermanned all year. And now we have picked up a couple extra players that aren't exactly burning up the court, but they do give us some emergency backup.

So isn't it possible we have brainwashed ourselves into feeling like we are an inferior team this year? We've been leaning on this "undermanned" crutch all year and maybe we finally put too much weight on it and snapped the crutch!

That is one idea. Hence, my solution for this is that we do NOT accept any excuses (crutches) moving forward.

Okay... so if that isn't the biggest issue... let's start looking at some excuses (reasons) why we are playing so poorly. In this thread, we have played two new reasons:

1. Team feuding
2. Pot use

It doesn't seem like we can totally substantiate either of these reasons. But we are seeing WHY we are losing so many games; lack of hustle! Most of our guys seem to be more interested in watching the game instead of playing it. Just watch tonight. Shots will go up and watch what our players are doing. They are just watching the game, not fighting for rebounding position.

Maybe our guys are just too busy NOT being in the present. I covered that in another thread... not too many people seem to buy into that one. The book I mentioned really describes how performance in our lives is optimized by keeping our consciousness in the now.

Consider how much pressure is on these guys to extend the streak. That pressure only exists when our guys are NOT engaging in the present. If they aren't in the present, they are in the past or in the future. In the past thought probably goes like, "oh man, our last 13 teams have won our conference and we really have to win it, too!" This is stressful and induces our guys to watch the game more than play it.

Then they think of the future... "oh man, we are going to be the team that blows the streak! We will go down in KU history as the team that blew it! Yikes!" This is stressful and can either help to develop a chip or it can freeze our guys because of the fear. Obviously, it looks like the later!

I've been busy trying to apply this book to my life. Trying to live more in the present. It isn't easy to do because it means retraining the brain and requires killing that constant voice running in my head. It requires a kind of zen approach to removing all the chaos in the mind and focusing on just one thing. So far, I have been able to do it in spurts. Those spurts are excellent! Wish I could have applied it back in my own basketball playing days!

mayjay said:

@justanotherfan @HighEliteMajor

The biggest difference between this team and 2012 is thst virtually everybody who played in 2012 had been on the team played together for two or more years. Tyshawn and Conner (RS/5th yr) were seniors, and Withey (RS/3rd yr), TRob, EJ, and Travis (RS/4th yr) were all juniors. So the core 6 players were all upperclassmen with 22 years in the program.

Great comment!

Scares me for next year with all that freshman talent coming and wanting to play.

@justanotherfan

Our best defensive stopper is Lightfoot.... and he continues to improve his shot blocking capability!

@kjayhawks

This is the perfect game for a bounce back! We've played our best ball on the road this year and the crowd at Hilton is always loud and obnoxious to our players. Perfect for our guys coming together. And our backs are up against the wall.

If we can win in Morgantown... we can win in Ames.

Let's stop making excuses and be responsible for bringing everything we got. Ultimately, as fans, can we expect anything more than that?

I don't mind watching us lose games... as long as we bring our best effort.

justanotherfan said:

2012 corrected their flaws. This team is finding new flaws seemingly each week.

That right there... says it all.

According to the paperwork, our current team is more talented. The reason you can question that is because the way our 2012 team stepped up. That team didn't have a single McDs AA on it!

Our current situation is one of finding excuses for not "bringing it" to games. I can't handle that. Period.

Our team has NO VALID EXCUSES for playing like this. NONE!

I saw that game live. Isiah's ankle was the size of a large grapefruit.

He deserved the title "Warrior!"

Blown said:

hasn’t this team shot less free throws than most of the league ?

Yeah... but that isn't because of the refs. It's because our guys lack hustle. It is very clear to many that we don't like to push contact.

Zero aggression = less FTs

This topic is always going to be there. I do believe certain teams tend to get more calls going their way. Part of it may be based on team reputation... I know most of it relates to the coach's reputation. No one has a "better rep" with D1 refs than Coach K. He definitely gets the calls, especially when he pushes. His chew out of the refs during the NC halftime was the difference in bringing his team back against the Badgers. A few of those second half calls were really killers....

If anyone can complain it would be Bruce at KSU. In his particular case, I don't think it is so much the rep of Kansas and Self that gives us the edge... it is Bruce's bad rep with refs that helps sink the purple kitties. He should feel lucky he isn't T'd up a lot more! But, in the end, he can't expect to receive many generous calls.

That Svi travel last year was unreal.

Pot use impacts ever person differently. But I just can't see the argument for it helping (or not impacting) where I can easily see how it could be detrimental to performance.

And the bad thing with pot... it stays in your system for at least a month. The effects will be in place that long (to some degree). And if there is continual use, the effects will probably become more intense over time because of the buildup in THC in the bloodstream.

@BeddieKU23

I started following Kansas basketball in the 60s. We have had a few bad teams in there over the years.

I've never seen one of our teams play with such poor intensity (in all those years) than what this team has shown us lately.

Most games now, we don't even have a situation where one of our players dives on the court for a ball.

In the past few games, I started falling asleep during the games and I finally started to just skip to the end of games (DVR), just to see the outcome. I just can't watch it.

@BigBad

You have a tough job on your hands. I'm not talking about your swim upstream, telling others what they don't want to hear because they don't believe it supports our team...

Your comment is the seed for growing a chip. This has been my subject more than any other in here (throughout the years). I've always felt like few fans understand this.

Chips usually need to happen through an organic process. A "synthetic" development (like a sudden push by some going negative when it is uncalled for) will usually backfire and kill what little motivation is there. But if it happens over time where players learn a healthy knowledge of feeling support from the fan base while questioning their commitment to reach the top can move teams that extra bit to actually reach it.

Notice the comments from teams right after they win the National Championship, "no one believed in us!"

@justanotherfan

Don't forget how flawed our 2012 was... and they were one unibrow away from winning another NC.

I've been for extending the streak above anything else for years. And with every year it grows even more important.

Of course, I'd like to win another NC, too.

I definitely don't want to give the impression I believe some of our guys are regular pot users. That makes it a witch hunt. I kept off mentioning this until there was at least one other idea out there examining something else of equal "theory value." I'm comparing my idea to the idea that our guys have a feud going on.

Most of my comments were addressing the general world we live in. I don't have a problem with people using pot. Our country seems to "grow greener" every year, not only in politics (laws) but in our general culture, cutting across just about every cultural area. But I do have a problem with anyone not meeting their responsibilities. Our players are representatives of the university through their athletic endeavors. Pot use is currently illegal in Kansas. Players shouldn't be breaking the law while representing the university. And Coach Self should clearly let recruits know that Kansas will not tolerate illegal drug use of any kind.

@jaybate-1.0

Actually... I am hopeful it is just a pot problem. That can be a much easier fix than most problems. It doesn't have the same addiction characteristics like most drugs so we have a better chance of cleaning this up.

How do we explain such a loss in drive? I've never seen a Kansas team with such little drive. Currently... pull out Devonte and Mitch and we wouldn't see any drive.

I can't see how player fights would cause players to stop performing and going for their NBA goals. Pot will do that while keeping the players while in the illusion they still have drive.

I just don't see the logic in this. If players are feuding, why would they shut down their play and kill their NBA potential? Vick was appearing on the radar screens of every single NBA team before conference play started. Now.. he has faded into mediocrity.

I think the issue is likely pot, if there is an issue off the court. All our systems point to pot: lack of energy, lack of focus, lack of drive. In fact... I'm having a hard time imagining anything else (at this point). By the way... if some guys are using while others aren't (but know about it) this can create a heck of a lot of dissension on a team.

I've been wondering this for a while. The BG story adds yet another possibility... that he may have been on his way back to Lawrence after a pot run to Colorado.

I'm not accusing anyone here. It's just an idea that can compete with the dissension idea.

Pot is absolutely everywhere these days. Hard to imagine any D1 team not having some users on their team.

@Big-Clyde52

Gosh... I don't know. If there is something going on, I think I would first consider an issue with pot use over a "family feud."

Over the last years, pot is absolutely everywhere. I was in church this morning and overheard two elder ladies talking about it.

Pot produces all of the side effects we are suffering from right now.

I started thinking more about it after the BG story informing us he was popped with a vehicle with a certain amount above what a user typically would have. Made me wonder if he was returning from Colorado to go back to Lawrence and distribute it. Made sense that he may still be connected to our team. But then... I'm sure the guys on our team have access to pot everywhere.

@KUSTEVE

Interesting concept.

I still believe our guys are just not inspired enough. That kills every part of our game, and our team isn't passing the eye test in any part of our game now.

As long as we are playing like this, I don't see us beating many teams in the league. They are all "chomping at the bit" to play us now just to finally score wins against us!

It wasn't too long ago when we had one of the best offenses in college basketball. What happened to that? Even back then, our offense wasn't lead by our defense... so we can't use the excuse that it is because our defense has failed. We also can't use the excuse that it is because we were playing bad teams back then because most elite teams play a soft early schedule but we were still whipping them on the offensive stat line.

HawkChamp said:

Dragonslayer refers to this as a “chip”, and he’s exactly right when he says our guys don’t have one.

For sure.

Every game moving forward will prove that. All we have to do now is win-out in our conference to (at least) share the title and continue the streak.

Talk about "chip material!"

We will see what we do. No team in our league has as much talent as we have, or even close. It really wouldn't take much of a chip to whip the rest of our league. Contrary to what the sports media says... I still believe our league is weak. March will give us the answer to that.

Fightsongwriter said:

Several of the fouls on Dok and Mitch were absurd.

For sure... I have always believed what other coaches have been saying for decades... that post players have to earn a positive reputation with the refs before many of those calls go away.

Until then.. there is no way around this until our post guys back off a bit more. It will reduce the calls and keep them in the game and it will help build their reputation quicker.

Doke's reputation with refs is that he is a big hacker.

I know this sounds like some kind of basketball conspiracy... but this idea has been around for decades and if you follow enough basketball, you can start believing it.

I am a partial believer. I don't think refs have this idea and put all post players on probation at the beginning of their college careers. But I don't see how refs can step out of being human. Doke has a bad foul reputation. All the refs know it. He isn't going to get many of those calls.

@jaybate-1.0

"Picture this: a basketball genius and professional coach clearing something like $10M/year is reading and laughing about fan posts in the middle of a bid for a fourteenth straight conference title after his recently restructured first place team loses to a near .500 team in February. Now that is quite a hoot."

...in his office with the door locked and with a nervous leg twitch.

lol

@jaybate-1.0

Kind of surprised we haven't seen more of the football player in action.

Sorry... couldn't resist. Humor is a great tool to even out the bumps.

@KUSTEVE

Just curious... are you looking out a window over a lake? lol

TTech has been playing solid all year. They deserve being on top. I'm surprised they only lead us by 1 game.

I just feel bad that a talented student-athlete seemed to just waste such an incredible opportunity for himself. You must wonder at what point in his life will the light bulb go on and he realizes he really blew it. From here on out, his opportunities will be fewer. It seems to be a sort of "organic way" of offering to fix a person's attitude. Sometimes it works, sometimes the person keeps spiraling down.

Wabaunsee County on I-70. A possible "wild guess" would be he was returning from Colorado with a supply and headed west.... to KC? Or.... I really hate to say this, but wasn't he (most likely) on his way back to Lawrence?

And if that be the case... well...

I just had a daydream we won our 14th consecutive National Championship... the game was called by Bilas and Fran. They both took personal credit for predicting this amazing streak... then suddenly Self came up from behind and called them out.

"Weeding?" lol

We all need to step away from our expectations, anger and negativity with our team and realize our guys may finish as a "mediocre team" or could suddenly explode into another National Championship team. Yes, it still can happen!

A very motivating example (currently) is the St. John's basketball team. They went from an 0-11 Big East conference record and 11-13 overall record to beating #4-ranked Duke on Saturday, followed 4-days later with a victory over #1-ranked Villanova on Wednesday.

Can't we pick up some inspiration from this story?

Someone forgot to tell St. John's they weren't allowed to do this!

@dylans

The amazing Superdome.... wow!

New Orleans is an amazing cultural city.... but the governmental corruption has handcuffed that city for decades. The Superdome is a perfect example. After the initial construction, I guess money appeared missing and required a formal investigation which didn't resolve anything. I'm pretty sure the investigation itself was tainted in corruption. All I know is it went from being NEW in 1975 to a troubled facility within one decade. I recall visiting the SD back in the 80s and have a photo of myself standing on a burned up automobile directly in front of the SD.

But then... what can you expect of anything being built over a cemetary.... there are stories of ghost/demon sightings, even during Saints games!

!0_1518192268274_Girod_Cemetery_Vaults_New_Orleans_1885.jpg ↗

The Katrina disaster turned out to be a blessing for the Superdome... finally making officials punch through a very needed $320 million update, of which only part of that was direct damage from the storm.

The Superdome has undergone several updates since Katrina... finally raising the standards up high enough to earn them a nice extra funding source by branding the Superdome over to Mercedes in a 10-yr contract in 2011.

Actual branding vision:

!0_1518193156481_louisiana-superdome.jpg ↗

!0_1518193173253_PVED01_122-00001.jpg ↗

Better ideas:

!0_1518193239105_MercedeBenzSuperdome.jpg ↗

Or... how about the entire roof become a lit Mercedes logo... visible from Musk's Tesla roadster, floating in space! LOL

@JayHawkFanToo

Thank you for reeling me in!

I'm still hopeful for this team. Especially in March! We tend to play gutsy ball on the road, and March Madness will be one big road game!

If we do lose the streak, these guys should have a monster chip on their shoulders in March.

@RockChalkinTexas

I'm thinking we need to extend our Texas streak throughout this season if we want to stand a chance at #14.

Wow.... Phog... what is that KC sweater he is wearing? Do you know, or anyone know? It looks like baseball.

I'm already getting excited for MLB! I love spring ball!

I am super excited on landing Ochai! He's a development player with huge upside. Appears to be a 3-4 year player.

I think these kind of players are growing rare. It seems like we either score 5-star OADs or guys that can only help us to a certain level.

When players don't come into college highly-touted, they are more-likely going to stick around for a while, even if they are really gifted. Players like Ochai end up being every bit as valuable to our program as an OAD because they stick around to build a good career stat sheet in college.

Welcome aboard, Ochai!

@Lulufulu

You're awesome!

Yes... maybe Wilt would since Devonte would be feeding him the ball. Someone would have to feed the Big Dipper!

@JayHawkFanToo

Great post!

I'm curious what your thoughts are about your statement, "any team can be any other team this year?"

It definitely seems so.

I've been hearing lots of gossip, mostly negative. Not specifically about Kansas, just D1 in general. Here is what I'm hearing:

1. "Millennials just do not have the hunger or hustle!" We've all heard this for a while now and not just about basketball. This has not been my personal experiences. I know some very scrappy younguns!

2. "Many players are smoking pot!" I can believe that. Not sure. I know we've had that issue before. It sure explains a lack of focus, hustle and hunger. But I don't want to point a finger at anyone.

3. "Too many players leaving early for the league!" In my book, MOST players that leave early shouldn't be leaving yet. Guess I can't blame them for wanting to secure a check as soon as possible. There is always a risk of injuries. Many of the top teams recruit OADs, and hence are always in a state of "newbies on board!"

Sometimes I think we may be overthinking things. Good chance our guys have been battling the flu, plus we have a lot of young guys and a shallow bench. Plus... the pressure of the streak.

Gosh darnit! I'm making excuses for them again!!! LOL

@BeddieKU23

Good post.

I believe exactly what Self believes in his chew out on the guys. We lack energy, focus, good attitude, etc.

That all leads to not only going soft on defense, but soft on offense, too. Guys are standing around too much on offense. Notice how almost every possession in the TCU game had us use the entire shot clock and then force up a shot, often putting Devonte in a jam.

Our lack of energy and focus prevents our offense from flowing. Flowing is the key to keeping a high FG%, especially when having a bunch of talented shooters. Nothing was right in this game. I can give a little credit to TCU, but most of it was our guys playing soft.

I'm not ready to give a name or names... but I feel like at least one of our Top 7 players will not be asked to return next year. That gets masked in a transfer or an attempt to go pro. And to be honest, I'd rather see a fresh-faced freshman to trade for even though experience should be an important plus with next year's team.

Self is EXTREMELY UNHAPPY with this team right now. I just don't see him risking some of the same funky attitude going on next year. There are probably off-court circumstances involved... and those that are involved should feel fortunate that Self has their back, even while they damage his legacy (and KU's) and the rest of the team. Self knows what is going on.

I know I feel bad for Devonte. The guy is playing 40 mpg and still producing well... and he is banged up. If we lose the streak this year, he will be blamed, too, but let's face facts, we are NOT even a 500 team without Devonte!

@Crimsonorblue22

You are always going to get my like when posting that photo of EJ.

EJ and Sherron are my Jayhawk favorites on an emotional level.

Not sure why Svi took the night off. He was being guarded, but he has already shown us all he can make his own scoring space. Is this his plan for March, when (I guarantee you) opposition guards will guard him out on the perimeter?

Someone give me a viable excuse....

I think we can just bore OU to death. Maybe their players will fall asleep like much of the Kansas fans in recent games. The TCU game was the second game in a row I couldn't stay awake through the entire game.

Trying not to be "negative Ned".... I'm just frustrated that our guys aren't stepping up yet. Hopefully they will in this season.

I'm still trying to decide if I buy the media's version of this game; that Self complained at our guys and the guys stepped up on defense. TCU hit plenty of treys and missed many wide-open treys.

I still saw a soft game. How many times did our guys dive on the floor for a ball? Had things gone bad a few more points, the world would be falling. Come on, this was TCU! ...and without their star guard.

I know Rome wasn't built in a day... but wow! How did we degenerate to this level of play?

We are doing destructive things just lowering our expectations to the point that this team is being judged as a "rebuild year".... "mediocre"... etc etc etc.

How many McDs AAs are on this team? How high were our players ranked out of HS? How did we get to the point where we have all these highly-rated players only playing even with teams that have ZERO highly-rated players, or maybe one?

I don't get it.

Is it just because we don't have post depth? Kind of like most of those UCONN teams that didn't even have a Doke, but somehow won plenty of NCs?

I'm sick of all the friggin' excuses made for this team. I've stuck behind them this entire way. I will continue to back them, but I can't say many positive things about this team.

He's right.... but we gave away our lead over the last turn and are approaching the finish line in a draw with many others in the running.

Let's hope our guys have what it takes for a late burst!

I am still hopeful.