I just wish we would give all the seats right near the floor to the students. That would have a huge impact and would help support the TV announcers who boast about AFH while the camera person zooms in on a big donor section sleeping.
We can make up any excuses we want... but I don't think we would have beat OSU on Saturday even if we had Wilt at the height of his career. Our team completely sleepwalked through that game!
We will really get a better taste of who this team is when we know the streak is on the line in a game. Now we are tied again at the top. Will we blink first and fall to the second line?
These guys play pretty well on the road, when they are challenged. They just play like the 300th-ranked team in the nation when in AFH... plushland... minutes from their posh dorms....
This team seems to only stand up when there is real friction. Hey... maybe March is just what they need!!! (or maybe not)
Gosh.... I don't know. Maybe they need to stay out all night partying... no sleep.
Doesn't sound logical... but something needs to get these guys to kick in some adrenaline. I fell asleep in the OSU game because it was as fun to watch as watching milk curdle.
Maybe our guys are just too coddled. They had 5 days without a game, and mostly resting, and we see what that did for them. Yet... they go on the road, sleeping in weird beds, eating weird food and dealing with some long hours and they look awake!
There is a reason why most boxers intentionally punch their own faces before stepping in the ring.
We need some way of pushing these guys' adrenaline buttons, and I'm not talking about one of those kombaya circle dances. Maybe they should all bring boxing gloves and punch each other in the locker room! Sounds silly... but I bet it would help!
I'm curious if his whining has always been a part of his personality, or if he is just gearing up for the NBA.
Whining is REQUIRED in the league! Trae will fit right in. There has been talk that Lebron is pushing to play with Trae. Stereo whining! lol
But heck... Trae can ball so I will just focus on his play. OU almost pulled it off last night with a very sick Young.
I totally agree. Heck, I'd love to win another NC like everyone else. But to use the hunt for a NC to overshadow the merits of this streak is just nuts!
The streak is mentioned so often on TV and will continue to be mentioned probably long after it is broken. NCs get mentioned, too, but unless it sticks out, like back-to-back titles, they fade away so much quicker.
Very impressive response! Looks like you did some work for that one!
I think showing the other big teams and their conference titles says everything! I just hope we can get this one last conference title to put us above UCLA... period!
Self will really have to earn this one. I hope he has some magic up his sleeve because we have to find a way to get better results.
Actually... this may be the team others have wanted for a long long time!
This should be the team that doesn't do well in conference play but does well in March!
All of those March games are away games.... right up our alley!
By the way... the "tired excuse" doesn't fly in this game. They hadn't played a game in 5 days.
Oh wait... the "too much time off" excuse going on into shooting woes and bad timing...
lol
Always a possibility. The coaches know they need their guys rested... but also relaxed. I think they give thumbs up to being on phones a lot, just not all night! Keep these young guys doing what makes them feel comfortable.
But being too comfortable may be the problem! They need some tension to spark adrenaline.
Thanks for the clarification!
I will not concede the tag "rebuild year" yet. I'll save that possibility for after our last game and only if it matches our final results.
For perspective, consider our 1988 team.... which lost 11 games before cutting down the nets!
I think the biggest hurdle is to just learn to accept the premise. Once you can do that, you can start monitoring yourself to control those little voices inside.
Once I made the connection to sports performance I was able to review my own history in sports. I can think of so many times where I took my own thoughts and emotions into games and didn't let loose of them during the games. I probably thought I had. But in reality, I still played with voices in my head and actually a heightened mental backup trying to keep up with the game and "help" my performance. I was feeling that carrying this heightened thought process into game play would help me. It actually sped the game up for me because I had so much more to analyze. And then I couldn't "react" until my mental process told me what to do.
We have so much of this on display with our team. Just look at our more-extreme case of a player playing through his mentality instead of instincts; Silvio De Sousa. There is little doubt that he has a lot to learn in order to be successful at the D1 level. But he is also hindering himself because he is trying to "play careful." I don't think he will become an all-star right now if he is able to "execute in the present" because he also needs to learn more about the college game. But if you look at his high school play, he looks completely different. This is more than just the higher standard of play in D1. We see his hesitation; he is using a mental filter in front of his execution. He's thinking about what to do. It is not my intent to come down on Silvio. I'm just using him as an extreme example of a player not playing "in now."
The verdict is out. This current Jayhawk team plays better on the road than in AFH. In the 50+ years I have followed Jayhawk basketball I have never wished our remaining schedule would have more away games than home games. Until now.
This season is growing more frustrating for Jayhawk fans all the time. We have a lot at stake in this year's results. This is the year where Bill Self and Kansas can eclipse a record many thought could never be reached; Wooden's 13 consecutive conference titles. This is huge, and one more factor of historic importance that helps build the legacy of Kansas basketball.
I want to move forward with addressing our inconsistent play. In order to do this, we need to clear the air first.
NEGATIVE IDEAS: First, we need to get rid of some negative ideas. These always come about from negative emotions after a loss or losses. Many of us look to blame someone for a bad outcome. Many of us must rationalize our bad outcomes and the desire to be able to explain it can override our common sense or logic. This often goes negative; our guys aren't motivated, they didn't come prepared, they are lazy, they are not hustling enough. Let's just nip that in the arse right now. Unless someone has substantial proof that any of our guys have a bad attitude or ulterior motives... let's look for other understandings.
!0_1517768839197_41WIbflfG2L.jpg ↗
A friend of mine recently turned me on to a book titled, "The Power Of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. I'm almost finished with this read, but felt I couldn't wait to post on this after our huge disappointing home loss yesterday. This is not a book directed towards sports, but life in general. My own focus on sports allowed me to connect the dots; finally I found a solid tool to address the mental state of players during games! This book is a tool that should be on the desk of every coach everywhere. It addresses how players can shackle their performances by being stuck in the past or future, avoiding them the huge potential of 'staying in the now' where the game is being executed.
One of the main premises of this book is to help us live in the now and to execute our existence in the now. It shows many examples of how it will help us all. It shows how we live in pain when we stray from the now, focusing on either the past or the future. Pain is a result of living in the past or the future, the same can be said of disfunction.
Yesterday, we saw a team executing in pain. Where was our energy? Where did our ability to execute go? Is it possible our players are shackled in thoughts from both the past and future, instead of executing in the moment?
Why does our team play better on the road than in AFH? When they go on the road, there is a sense of urgency and a survival mechanism opens up in our guys. That encourages them to bond tighter and it promotes their inner selves to STAY IN THE PRESENT! Think back in your life, in moments of perceived survival risk. Notice the heightened adrenaline. Notice your ability to execute at a much higher level than in normal times. Aren't you more "in the moment" during these times?
I feel sure this has always been an issue with our teams. I only have to think back to EJ as the ultimate example of a player who was hampered by playing in too much thought.
What can we expect to gain by helping our players execute in the now? Our guys will no longer play slower because their physical actions are actually reactions to their own thoughts. Players that execute to their fullest are not shackled in their thoughts, they play at full speed, relying on their instincts. Just imagine how many of our players could play at a higher level, at a higher speed because the game would slow down considerably within them once they are free from the chaos of thoughts about the past or panic/fear about what the future will bring? Our guys know they are on the "hot seat" concerning our conference streak. They do not want to be the team that loses the streak. That is a clear case of being stuck in the thoughts of the future.
March games are played in big venues... often HUGE venues.
I've always thought it is harder to get hot from trey in these bigger venues. Sure... it happens. But it seems to be harder. The goal seems further away and smaller.
I bet there is stats out there on this. If you know of a good link, please post it.
I'm trying to think.... are we better off or worse off... playing in huge venues?
What do you think?
Thousands of words have been written in here about Bill Self's relationship with the 3-point shot. There has always been something about the trey that has turned off Self. We've heard him complain that our guys go soft on defense because they are focusing too much on living (and dying) by the trey.
Jesse Newell posted a fascinating article that exposes how fortunate Kansas has been in Big 12 play because our opponents are not hitting wide open treys at the same rate they do against other Big 12 opponents. Some like to call this "luck" and therefore Kansas has been "lucky."
Jesse mentions that we shouldn't take our opponent's "trey coldness" for granted moving forward. The warning flags are out. But I'm not sure this trend will change during Big 12 play, though I easily see us losing another game or two by facing a "hot team" in conference play.
I believe, what is carrying Kansas through another challenging Big 12 season on top is our reputation. Go back and watch the early part of our victory at the "Sherronagon." We got out fast and the Wildcats seemed to get called out by Fran Fraschilla. He commented that KSU actually "wanted it too badly." Fran called this one right. And WHY would KSU want it too badly? Is it just because we are rivals? I don't think so. I think our record-breaking conference streak not only impacts the way Kansas plays, but also the way our opponents play. Let's face it.... Bruce Weber has a bit of an inferiority complex against Kansas and Bill Self. He has followed in Bill's shadows for a big part of his career and his results against Bill is not good. When seeing it throughout the history of KU vs KSU during the Self-era it appears that our reputation precedes us. Not only do the Wildcats feel like they are going to lose to us in every game, they bring an added stress to their games, especially their home games, because they fear defeat and looking bad, especially in Manhattan.
When I think of the Big 12 in this light, I feel like certain teams seem to help us stretch our conference streak to the point where they should be recognized for all the help they give us. Top of this list are two teams; KSU and Baylor... while other teams are close behind... ISU and Texas. We do pretty well against other Texas teams, but I just don't see our relationship being as tight with these other schools. Oklahoma has Lon Kruger. He's stomached many losses to us, going back to his days as a player at KSU, but he's crossed over this hurdle. OSU seems to get a bump from it being Bill's old alma mater.
Even though Jesse has the warning flags out, I'm not sure we will see a big difference moving forward in Big 12 play. What worries me is March. In March, we play teams that simply don't know us. Some may get caught up in the "Kansas is so great" history of our program, while other teams have a mindset focused on playing the kind of basketball that got them into the tournament in the first place. These teams pose the biggest threat of sending us home too early by an upset loss.
Kenpom writes about trey efficiency... and his conclusion is that most of the time, defense is not the driving factor on "trey hotness" as much as the offense just executing a high percentage. There are a few teams that seem to have an impact on their opponent's trey results. Teams like Kentucky, Arizona and Baylor.
I see college basketball as being driven almost entirely by the "trey hotness" of each team. Look at the Shockers last overtime loss at Temple. The Shocks missed 14 of their last 15 trey shots. Look at how we pulled away from KSU on Monday. We pulled away with our trey heat in the beginning and created enough buffer that KSU couldn't put long enough streaks together to really come back. And we did this while turning the ball over at a high percentage.
So moving forward, most of our development is based around the idea of making us execute better on defense and offense. Both help our overall chances of winning games. But this developmental strategy doesn't address possible games where we face a hot trey team and are fighting to keep up with them on the scoreboard. Shouldn't we put some focus strictly on how we can better prevent that from happening?
Even though Kenpom implies that defenses don't impact trey hotness like we think they do, I'm not buying into the idea that we can't develop strategies to deal with teams that get hot behind the line against us.
All of this better helps me understand Self's frustration with the trey shot (in general). The trey puts a factor in games which is hard to control, regardless how good our team is and how we are playing.
http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article197965879.html ↗
https://kenpom.com/blog/offense-vs-defense-3point-percentage/ ↗
I'm not sure it is a bad thing to have our opponents have to practice against a zone to prepare for us. Yes, it may mean we don't quite see such a big shift in play when going to the zone... but on the other hand, we may be weakening our opponents' play against our M2M because they have to spend time practicing against the zone.
We also have to look at our side of the fence. How much time do we spend practicing our zone? All that practice takes something away from our focus on M2M.
It's all a bit of a risk and I don't think we would be doing it if we had more depth. Self seems to look at all defenses that are not straight up M2M as "gimmick" (including zone defense). This goes back to his roots at Ok State.
Self is looking for ways to gain advantages. If he can give our guys another legit tool without having to change our identity or shift very far away from our M2M (our identity) then adding zone is mostly helpful. I don't think we are spending a crazy amount of time working on zone in practice. For one reason, we have been limiting our on-court practice time. We do need a zone in our tool chest because of our limited depth. But I think Self analyzes carefully how much time he has our guys focus on zone over M2M. He knows there is a risk to taking away focus from our M2M to give towards zone.
The problem is that once we pull DG from a game, we immediately start giving up ground to our opponents. We can't really afford for any Big 12 team to start a huge run on us.
Giving DG one minute off here and there doesn't really benefit him much. Not as much as the risk it poses on helping our opponents start a long run.
Self is doing a great deal to try to limit DG's wear (as well as all our guys). He is looking beyond games and instead viewing the complete energy spent throughout every week and he is limiting practice times and focusing on doing whatever he can to bring his guys into a game with fresh legs.
Self has never put this much effort into preserving the energy of his players. He continues to expand his coaching abilities by facing new challenges. If we ever win another NC under Self, it will happen because Self has never stopped learning himself and expanding his coaching capabilities.
I don't think I have ever felt more that "trey hotness" is what this game has become today. Any team can get hot or cold and produce unexpected results.
I caught WSU's OT loss at Temple. The Shocks missed 14 of their last 15 treys. That is all anyone has to know.
We really throttled the purple kitties when we came out hot from trey. We put them in a deep hole and they just couldn't put together long enough runs to catch us.
I know Self HATES relying on hitting treys to win games. He realizes how "trey hotness" has more impact on winning games than defense, rebounding, post play.... Of course, defense impacts trey hotness, but not always. Many games are decided by a player hitting a trey from deep while guarded.
Concerning a game against the Shocks... even though they have plenty of depth and we don't, I just don't think we match up well for them. Some of that relates to personnel, some relates to the style of play. I do think we have a bigger window keeping our flow through different paces than the Shocks. If we hook up in March, I suspect Self will react quickly to Shocker runs to stomp them out from being long runs. I could see him doing that with use of the zone to disrupt their flow and I'm not sure the Shocks can recover.
Two months ago... I would heavily favor WSU in a game with us. Today, I tilt the advantage to us.
But hey... one team gets hot from trey while the other team isn't.... game over!
Just a month ago I challenged DG's ability to lead this team.
I don't do that any longer because DG has stepped up big to lead this team. Watch him on the court. Notice how often he talks to his players... claps at his guys (encouragement), and points to positions where he wants his guys. He has definitely stepped up his game as a floor general.
As others have said, DG is wearing down. A big part of that is he is nicked up. There is a lot revealed when DG drives the ball to the rim and attempts to finish. Most of the time now, he isn't making the basket. He used to be really good at making the basket, even when getting fouled. What is really telling is some of his shots seem quite wild and their only purpose is to prove he is shooting so he can get two automatic FTs if the whistle blows.
I think the reason why he is reacting this way could be a couple of things. First... his stamina may be fading and he has already spent most of his fuel on his drive, leaving him short on fuel to cross the "finish line" at the rim. Second.... he is attempting to guard his body from additional risky contact. He is banged up and his thoughts are on preventing more damage versus going full-focus on scoring 2 points. I tend to think the latter is more likely, but I think both are playing a part in this.
Devonte may need to look at some game tape. Look at ways to save some energy without costing us. Watch game footage and compare Devonte and Svi's movements. Granted... Devonte is constantly under attack facing high ball screens. But even without that.... Devonte tends to move more quickly, attempting to put more pressure on the ball. I do think most of it is vital for us turning up our defense. We need to disrupt other teams' flows. Nothing can help more than attack their PGs. Devonte accomplishes disruption often by his aggression. That means our opponents' PG might have to start their moves from a place on the floor they would rather not start. That means high ball screens can even help us by creating more disruption when Devonte fights through them. Devonte's defensive pressure is as responsible for us showing a high plus on points when Devonte is on the floor than what Devonte does for our offense, by leading and posing a huge threat to drive or bomb the trey. Offensive action is usually more obvious to fans, but Devonte's defense has been a HUGE FACTOR in Kansas leading the Big 12 conference race!
I've been on Devonte's case for his entire play while at Kansas. I am, by far, most satisfied with his level of play now than at anything before! He's playing a bit hurt and he's tired, and he's busting out 40 minutes every game while leading us to what we all hope for, another Big 12 conference title and then a respectable run in March!
My recent grade on Devonte's play: A+
If he stays away from a serious injury, I expect him to find a bit of rest between conference play and March..... helping us immensely in March!
I can only think of three ways to try to stop Trae. Either wear him down so he is less likely to come through in the final 5 minutes.... or run offense at him and try to get him in foul trouble.... or run offense at him to the point of trying to disrupt his game flow.
I watched a bit of Steph Curry back in 06. Trae is far far beyond Steph as a freshman. I think Trae even passes Steph's soph and junior years.... not as a deep shooter, but his overall game is better. He sees the court better than Steph did and he makes sick drives, much better than Steph did.
If Trae can avoid major injuries I think he will become every bit of what Steph is now in the league. Just imagine him vastly improving from where he is now. He still has a boy's body. Imagine Trae with strength, not just speed.
Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?! lol
I think we can expect to see the zone quite a bit moving forward, especially if it is effective. In the old days, a zone used to save your players' legs. Forget that today. With the trey threat more floor has to be covered and those responsible for defending the trey line end up usually expending more energy than a M2M. Kind of depends on how hard your players are willing to play. But I think our main reason for going zone is to protect Doke from foul trouble. Not sure if it does that well or not. Doke's fouls are often off the ball and make little sense.
I've been away for a week so only caught a few minutes of the purple kitty pounding. Hope to watch the game in entirety tonight. Can't recall if it looked more like a 3-2 or a 2-3. Our positioning really depending on where KSU setup.
I really hope Bill continues to explore zone defense potential. He's a clever coach and within the framework of a zone, he can create some interesting possibilities. With our limited bench this year, we need another big weapon to use in games.
Fortunately for us, no other teams will scout this game to realize we are handing over a great tool for them to win. ha
What we can't do is go negative on Doke. Hey... as I've been saying... he has improved more than any other big man we have ever had in such a short time. IMHO, more so than JoJo because JoJo brought more tools with him to Lawrence.
Believe me.... one or two more losses from "poke a Doke" and we'll see changes... if not immediately after this loss.
I'm thinking Doke is already asking Self to find a way to help him with his FTs. Our staff can't just let him go off on himself and do this. He needs help from others.
Not sure if we are best to switch off Trae. Trae can totally exploit most defenders so we may want to keep our selected guard to stick on him.
What we have to watch out for is Trae's dangerous passes. Getting caught up in ball screens can easily create just enough of a gap where Trae may be able to get an easy assist.
What makes Trae so dangerous is that he has so many tools. It's hard to defend everything he can do.
If Trae discovers an effective offensive move against us we just need to find ways to disrupt that specific flow and make him do something else.
I think I would prepare several unique defensive strategies thinking we may use many of them... even for just a play or two. Anything to disrupt his flow.
At this point in the season... not sure I see our zone working. Maybe a 3-2 where our two strongside guards try to pinch him. But... Trae has crushed those pinches this year. So many of the effective defensive strategies teams try to use on him fails and is actually what Trae wants to face. Many double teams he slices through like butter, leaving 2 defenders in the dust (and behind the play)! That means Trae is open for a shot/drive, or one of his teammates is open for the trey/drive, or both.
Trae is such a gifted guard that he really exposes how we don't know a dang thing about hedging against the drive. I would have loved to see TRele try to guard him. TRele may not have had the leg speed to keep up with him, but at least he knew something about hedging against the drive!
The top brass at Texas have always approached athletics wrong. They seem to have this generic concept that "producing a winner" is the only factor in building support, so they need to get that done now, at any cost. That probably works for raising money. But for fan support... Texas is still a football state. Drive around in every populated place and you will see huge football stadiums and you will wonder where all these universities came from. They aren't universities... but high schools!
So, on paper, Texas is a winner when they sign a big player or two. Or hire a coach with some momentum behind his name. None of this addresses the culture in Austin. None of this is a well-rounded concept for developing a winning strategy that will carry forward year after year.
This same strategy of attempting to be the "biggest and best" was used in the formation of the Longhorn Network... which has been, by far, the biggest negative towards the Big 12 overall.
I bet every single Texas fan would trade the Longhorn Network to be back in our original Big 12. Texas fans miss that battle with A&M... as well as quality games with Nebraska and Mizzou. And then... what about the lost prestige of Big 12 football!
Texas was only thinking about themselves when they participated in destroying the REAL landmark game of all college football: Nebraska vs Oklahoma. But their vision was shortsighted because they have been hurt as much as anyone else with the loss of this game. Neb vs Okla brought STATUS to the Big 12!
Look at where the Big 12 is positioned versus the SEC in football. That is all I need to say.
Another example of a player that changed his shooting form is TT, between his junior and senior year. He went down to Houston and worked with John Lucas on his shot form and other details of his game, like finishing at the rim.
TTs stats climbed dramatically in his senior year.
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Good luck stopping Trae! Our best bet is that he just has an off night.
But I'm not saying we can't impact his performance tonight. I am convinced we can!
Different theories include:
STOPPING TRAE DIRECTLY - I think every team attempts this. Hey... someone has to go out and at least try to guard him. But has anyone really been able to stop Trae? I would say... no. The only player to stop Trae has been Trae himself.
STOPPING TRAE INDIRECTLY - I wish we could have had TRele travel to Norman with the team. He was so so good at denying the players he guarded from ever receiving the ball. His defense was pro-active, meaning, he hedged his defense into the passing space as well as guarded quite close with his guy not even having the ball. Travis usually didn't have to face some of the problems of off-ball screens because he was so close to his man that he could follow him right off his trailing line through screens.
STOPPING EVERYONE NOT NAMED TRAE - To some degree, we have to be careful with this idea because if it means we lay off Trae, he might just put up 100 points against us! He wouldn't care. He wants to win.
Traditional thoughts are around the 3 areas above.
Why not think about Trae in a non-traditional way?
What if we basically just FORGET his effectiveness all together and just focus on a 40-minute strategy? What does this mean? It means we use a strategy to WEAR DOWN Trae so he becomes ineffective down the stretch of the game, when the game outcome is decided.
Just look at how OU uses Trae now. They usually run ISOs for Trae instead of setting him up with high ball screens. I recently heard Fran talk about how he thinks they need to run more high ball screens for him in order to better integrate Trae's game with a "team ball" concept... utilizing other players better.
What Fran misses from this, and why Fran is talking about basketball while Lon is coaching it... Lon knows that high ball screens create an opportunity for the defense to wear down the ball handler. Teams, like Kansas, can use high ball screens as a kind of trap against the ball handler. Any player-to-player contact creates wear and tear on the players in contact.
Let's think about different ways to wear down Trae tonight. Typically, double-teaming is a great way to do that, but isn't necessarily effective against Trae because he so easily shreds double-teams with his handles.
USE AN AGGRESSIVE DEFENDER - In our case, that would mean Devonte. But just how much of Devonte's total game are we willing to sacrifice to also wear down Devonte on Trae? And might Devonte get into foul trouble? It seems like we can use Devonte on Trae for large parts of the game, but several shifts to other players will help reduce the wear (and fouls) on Devonte. Garrett could be a very good second option. He has been one of our best defenders working ball denial.
OFFER AGGRESSIVE WEAKSIDE HELP - Sometimes this means delivering a hard foul. Hard fouls do a lot to wear down players. But another very useful aggressive defensive play by the weakside is to set to draw a charge. THIS IS OUR VERY BEST SINGLE MOVE TO HOBBLE TRAE! Mitch is, by far, our best defender at drawing charges. It's not even close!
BALL DENIAL TO HIS TEAMMATES - Another key strategy against Trae. Our defenders need to make sure they are not caught in "no-man's land" between Trae and the teammate he passes to for the easy trey. Our guys need to COMMIT EARLY on Trae's drives, and they need to weigh their defense towards the guys not named Trae.
GUARD THE RIM - We need our 5 to guard the rim, and not the player. Since the rest of our help defense is mostly trying to stop Trae from passing out off his drives, our post guy needs to be our last friction against an easy layup.
If this game was a couple weeks ago, I would state that I think Mitch needs to get most of our minutes at the 5. Not so sure now since Doke continually shows positive improvements in his game with every new game.
But I will go out on a limb and say... if Mitch has a good game (where he is dialed in) he might easily be our most-important player in this game. He has tremendous shot blocking ability for a guy his size. He is also pretty darn quick. If he can stay out of foul trouble, he could be the shadow defender that creates FITS for Trae!
Using our "wear down" approach... we just need to stay close to OU until the last 5 minutes of the game clock. We already seem to have a knack this year for transforming games in the final minutes.
Very compelling post... Bravo!
I'm not sure we can just nest Doke in a straight comparison to Shaq. Every player is different from each other.
From what I have seen of Doke, I think he has outrageous upside just from watching how fast his game has come along. You can almost watch every game's performance from him and compare to his game before it and you can make a good guess of what he worked on in between. I don't think I can recall a single player, ever, who has made these leaps of gains so quickly. JoJo was amazing to watch, but he had so much of a lead on Doke when he started at Kansas.
I still don't think most people give Doke the credit he deserves for how fast he has developed his game. Just consider the physical side. He has gone through a complete body transformation, replacing baby fat with muscle. And now... if you really want to see something freaky... go back and watch his first games this year and compare to now. His stamina has come an amazing distance! This is definitely the biggest area where Doke can make gains to help us. If you notice... when he gets tired he is more likely to screw up on bad fouls and his game goes soft. Note that part of the stamina issue relates directly to genetics. His lung size, oxygen retention, and other factors are largely decided through genetics. It takes a remarkable amount of work to be able to battle through genetic bumps in the road.
I'm outrageously anxious now to see just how far he comes along this year. Let me put it to you like this.... imagine Doke's stat sheet DOUBLING between now and the beginning of April! Yep.... I said "April!"
So... through my optimistic eyes focused on Doke, I will be shocked if he can't learn how to shoot a decent % from the line. He just hasn't settled on ONE FORM and then start building on that. With the practice (and some success in games) his confidence will grow from the line and he'll probably jump 10% by just being more confident. You can clearly see how he lacks confidence at the line. His facial expression looks like he's having a tooth pulled at the dentist. (lol)
JayHawkFanToo said:
Honest question: Do you really think the staff has not been working withe Doke on the FT issue? Do you really think it is that incompetent that would say forget FTs let's work on something else? Do you really think you know more than they do when it comes to Doke's issues at the FT line? do you really think they don't see the poke-a-Doke looming ahead as a serious strategy by opposing teams?
I think most of your questions have already been answered from previous years. This isn't the first Jayhawk to struggle at the line.
My memory sucks... but if I recall correctly, Self has shocked us before with his comments on practicing FTs. Previously, he basically detached himself from that area. He sort of skirted the issue by not addressing what is practice protocol.
It would be great if someone in here can dig up old Self comments on this. I'm having a hard time remembering what player or players it was addressing.
I know Self is careful about NOT trying to make mechanical changes on players' stroke during the season. I definitely recall him talking about this in the past. I don't understand why that should matter concerning Doke. He hasn't taken a single straight-up jump shot on the goal all year. Adjusting his shot form on FTs shouldn't impact his baby hook, dunk or layup form. In fact, it may help him get started on his mid-range game... something he will need to develop for the league.
"Foul the opposition on purpose with the lead. Is that a crazy strategy? If Baylor had done that starting at the 2:30 mark, you think they win?"
Sure seems crazy... doesn't it? Imagine a coach with a lead suddenly kicking in a very different strategy. Almost unheard of. That coach would face huge criticism if it backfires... but would also be praised if it works.
What chance do you think we have of facing "poke a Doke" moving forward? I find it highly likely... maybe 80% or higher.
Thanks a million for creating this thread!
I wanted to do it... but figured I had already been such a nag in here.
Eventually, we are going to pay a price for Doke's FTs. My guess, if nothing changes it will happen in March.
Tournament teams are not going to give away games. It's the end of the season when you lose... who wants to lose in March? No one. In fact, if we don't face several "poke a Doke" situations I will be shocked. I will then realize just how bad many D1 coaches are.
What happens if Doke remains at 40-ish percent going into March and then we face "poke a Doke?"
Most likely, Self will let it go for a while. He'll want to see if Doke can hit enough FTs. If Doke can't, and we start giving away a lead, or worse, if a team is ahead of us and started this to put the "icing on the cake" then Self is forced to bench Doke down the stretch.
What we are realizing now is just how important Doke's minutes are to our success. He continually improves and we depend on him more and more. I don't realistically see it that Silvio is going to change that fact dramatically in the next couple months.
And who is to say that an opposing team won't try "poke a Doke" in the middle of game? Even in the first half?
Let's say Kansas goes on a 12-0 run and up by 16 with 6 minutes left in the first half. Why wouldn't our opposition try it then? In the least, it changes the flow of the game, which will most likely kill our momentum.
So what is the magic % number Doke must get to so we can avoid "poke a Doke?"
I'm thinking he needs to reach the low 60s. Even then.... just because Doke puts up 64% for the final month or so, who is to say he can do that in front of the big lights in March? It's worth a try for a struggling team... definitely!
Look at all those mountain men holding down their knees. Man... that is a tired bunch .
Basketball is a strange game. That is part of the attraction for all of us. What appears to be a simple game of trying to put a ball through a ring, but all the complexions make it totally fascinating. Case in point...
Is it possible... that we should be hoping for a WVU win? I know... we want to clinch #14 as soon as possible... or do we?
If the race for the Big 12 crown keeps going like this, the air will be let out of the conference balloon soon, only to leave a bunch of games that don't mean anything. Okay... we can rest our guys. That is a good thing. But beyond that, how do we go from playing the end of our conference in totally uninspired fashion and then be expected to just flip a switch to "on" in March?
Many of my personal decisions when I was a teenager in contrast would make him "Saint Billy!" lol
Thanks for keeping it positive! A big part of our team improving is for all of us to stay positive! At a certain point in time, the Billy situation started going negative, and I am 100% positive that was reaching all the way to our players, truly creating more chaos and negativity.
I am of the belief that our coaching staff hasn't really stepped in to work on Doke's FT stroke. It appears obvious, just from watching Doke at the line.
I couldn't describe his technique if I had to. He bends his wrist at an angle under the ball, much like youth players do before taught some technique. And then... if he misses a FT and has a second FT, he usually tries a different stroke.
We have read before that our coaching staff usually doesn't like to get in there and address player's shot technique. This is more of a Bill Self concept where he wants those major changes to happen in the off season.
In this particular case... we simply can't wait until summer. We could easily go down in March because of Doke's FT faults. We haven't really seen many intentional fouls on Doke supporting a strategy of "hack a Doke"... but you know, and I know, that is going to change in March. Tournament teams step up a notch in competitiveness.... they are going to use it to their advantage, and why wouldn't they? I know I would be screaming at our coaches and players if we have to deal with a situation like a Doke that can't even make half his FTs but we failed to take advantage of it!
Let's not waste time going negatively on Billy. For whatever damage he caused our team, he multiplied that damage to his own career. That will be exposed this summer in the NBA draft.
I believe, as others do, that having finalized this can do nothing but help our team! Now we have no more question marks hanging over this team. No more practicing awkwardly to make sure Billy continues to develop with the rest of the team.
We lost plenty of potential help from Billy, but now we can focus a big chunk of that extra PT Billy would have got over to Silvio... advancing his development quicker.
Good luck, Billy! Now... let's get down to business and start defending and dominating every single team we play!
Rock Chalk!
No one in here has argued more for changing the seating situation in AFH. It has always been my belief that the seats closest to the court, all the way around, should be filled with students.
It is extremely embarrassing sometimes when TV sportscasters brag about how enthusiastic the AFH crowd is and then they show a sleepy old section where there is clearly little enthusiasm.
As good as we are at home, we could VASTLY improve our advantage by rearranging the seating. But money is talking here.
Yes, this team is having an issue with focus in AFH. I don't think our guys want to win any less here versus on the road. But the pressure is much higher. There is always a high pressure on playing well at home. It is EXPECTED from our guys. Then add in this conference streak. Our guys know the old phrase, "the Big 12 title goes through Lawrence." But in reality, it is our cumulative Big 12 record that decides it. There is no weight placed on game home or away.
KU doesn't own this streak by merely winning most games at home. The most glaring reason why we own this streak is our conference road record... over 500! No other team even comes close to us on travel performance.
So WHY is this the way it is? We play well on the road because we aren't expected to win at the same level we are at home. So the pressure is lower and our guys can just get out there and play their game. Our guys get motivated by the friction of the opposing crowd.
What really shows in our winning road records is the DOMINANCE Kansas has in recruiting. We do have superior players (cumulatively) than all the other teams in the conference. That shows up in season records showing our performance in many games. Where we get in trouble is in any single game. We always have the potential to lose to anyone... even the purple kitties!
I look at the game in segments. We started off hot... hitting treys and flowing out well. We rattled Baylor early. Then, over the span of about three possessions we went soft. Guys standing around and having lanes to attack but pulling the ball out. No aggression.
The only thing that saved us this game was Baylor's disjointed offense.
If our guys are smart, they will treat this game like a loss. Because it was. It showed us we aren't where we need to be to compete against a better team, or just a team that can run a bit better offense. That would include MOST of the other Big 12 teams!
It's time to think about finishing the Big 12 strong and riding that peak right into March. NOW, is the time to bear down and really get after our weak spots.
Doke is going to cost us a game or two somewhere with his FTs. He just has to decide on ONE traditional form of lining up his elbow with the ball and he immediately becomes a 60% shooter. It's all up from there. Garrett is another one that has to focus on his shot, including his FTs. Between these two, we may expect to lose 4 to 10 points a game. That is HUGE!
We really need more offense from Vick. He started out the year shooting well and attacking. We don't really know if he is hot or cold from trey because he isn't getting up enough shots. I don't know... maybe the notch up in pressure from entering Big 12 play was just enough added pressure to take him out of his flow.
Malik just needs to keep being Malik. He is constantly showing more of a connection and he goes after rebounds. Something we are in desperate need of. Man.... did he not win this game for us down the stretch? What did he do... score the last 12 points or so? I really LOVE how Malik isn't afraid to go in there and scrap for rebounds!
Devonte is fine. He won't produce the same results every game, but he is getting after it. We should pick up several additional wins just from Devonte's hot games.
Let's just hope these guys spend a couple hours in the video room playing this tape. Lot's of weak areas to spot and address.
I'm glad to read so much conversation about PT. It will be good practice for next year, when we all surely battle over who will get the minutes!
I know we are all complaining about not having depth this year.... but at least we don't have to watch so much talent rot away at the end of the bench!
I've sat right behind the WVU bench before. Huggy had the foulest language I had ever heard coming out of a coach's mouth.
I have heard that he has toned it down. I don't know, but I think the league has had informal conversations with Huggy to "cool it."
It is smeared all over the net, how much Huggy's players love him. He's hard on his guys, but the guy has a heart the size of West Virginia. He'd take a bullet for any of his players... all the way down the bench. I deeply respect Huggy. NO ONE else could have turned WVU into a powerhouse basketball program!
Love your enthusiasm! ROCK CHALK!
My thoughts on next year mostly focus on experience. Any of our current guys sitting on the fence who later decide to come back will surely be a HUGE help to us!
I'm glad we are landing top-notch talent... but I'm not thrilled about becoming another Kentucky. We need a balance of over-the-top talent WITH experienced quality players.
Hey.... don't give up on THIS team! We have plenty of talent, and never look past Devonte!
Last night, I watched the WVU game for the third time. This time... I was overwhelmed by how much Devonte did in that game to help us win! He had some bad moments... but he didn't let those moments slow him down, and in the end, Devonte's energy level was OFF-THE-CHARTS!
Hey man... Thanks! Just found your blog and am enjoying the read.
I've got you bookmarked.
I want us to continue our conference streak. But I am always saddened when players go down to injury.... not only for the player but for the player's team. I think Chris Beard has really stepped up and he is definitely bringing up the standards of the Big 12! Great job, Chris!
I'm glad TT has become a quality team and is challenging us. My thoughts and prayers go out to Zach! He's a top-notch player and person... he is missed... and not only by TT fans!
If Billy ever gets cleared, I can see moments where we put 3 bigs on the floor. At least one of our bigs has to present a perimeter threat, and Billy is the biggest threat from trey.
Eventually... I see Mitch polishing up his trey and becoming a real threat. He will really have to have more tools in his toolbox if he wants to attempt to make a living playing basketball.
I've been waiting for an update that at least tells us what additional info the NCAA needs.
My guess... if they still haven't requested additional info and no ruling has been made, this is going to take a lot longer.
Our compliance office puts a lot of energy into investigating and reporting the facts. Every day passing now just makes it less likely Billy will get cleared.
It appears now that there is little or no chance Billy will get picked in the summer NBA draft.
Does that mean he comes back? Surely he wouldn't transfer and sit out a year.
It still looks like Doke will probably come back. Silvio will be back. Our post is looking jammed!
I'm guilty as hell of this!
I never intentionally try to BS anyone. But I confess that I will make a strong comment sometimes based on ZERO anything!
Sorry everyone!
"Winning allows you to carry a silent smile while the others are busy making excuses."
Somebody famous said that.
lol
I love all the love we are showered with from the purps. What other Big 12 teams haven't figured out yet and why they will continue to watch Kansas build this record streak.... Kansas has TWO TEAMS fighting for Kansas every year! lol
On second thought... nothing beats watching the penguin's face go from red to purple to blue after a bad call in AFH!
I have to say this... Svi's 3 1/2 step travel last year to win it has really been the "cherry on top" of our relationship with the penguin. I bet I have watched that clip 100 times now. Watching Bruce's jaw drop and his eyes looking off into space while his skin goes through the rainbow colors is simply "priceless."
That one moment in time is almost up there with Mario's shot in 2008. Almost... (lol)
Maybe you can answer me this...
The focus is on ranked opponents. But we see how teams ranking can move considerably during the season.
So... If we beat a team that is ranked #5 in November... and then that team screws up and falls out of the rankings. What counts in the selection? The early #5 ranking or non-ranking?
To me, it seems like the ranking at the time of the game is what should count. Teams level of play is going to change during the year as other teams learn their tendencies, injuries occur, etc etc etc. But what should count is our opponents' strength level at the time we play them!
Is that the way it works? I really know NOTHING about the selection process. I do know how to complain though!