🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@Statmachine

Devonte is capable of stopping a big chunk of Trae's game... especially if DG goes into the film room first and learns his tendencies.

Here is a clue: he should hedge his drives and hedge him tough off-the-ball to deny him the ball.

All we really need to do is WEAR HIM DOWN! Keep fresh legs on Trae and make him fight to get open. Wear him down and watch us fly by OU in the second half!

Another key is to make Trae deal with ball screens on defense. Make Trae fight through screens..... very tiring task!

I think two key factors will help us deal with Trae...

1. He has played enough games now so his tendencies have been figured out and opponents are starting to take advantage.

2. He is showing signs of wearing down. That should be big, especially down the stretch in his games... and also in his season.

I'm not trying to be critical of Trae. He is an amazing player and he has my total respect and admiration!

@RockkChalkk

!0_1516309072666_jayhawk_large.jpg ↗

She does... Wonder what "Rock shot" means?

Man..... what do you all think about Diarra? Clearly he is still greenwood... but mannnnn is that guy athletic! If he develops his game and reaches most of his potential, I could see him in the league someday.

@mayjay

Thanks for the link!

Yeah, I understand how almost any behavior can draw a T... but just looking at a player from a distance while backing up? I would like to hear an explanation for that T.

I'm starting to second-guess myself. Maybe Doke said something and it wasn't visible on TV.

Anyone know?

@Jayballer54

I"m hearing that Trae is wearing down. We know what that is like. I remember Frank being worn down by March. Heck, Frank was built to push it harder than Trae, too.

I try to watch OU when I have the chance. Trae is showing signs of wear.

BShark said:

Nothing like a nice soft weak Drew zone for Self to carve like a turkey on Thanksgiving.

Ha....Let's hope so! Loved the comment!

What we have to realize is that we have NO margin for error this year when facing ANY team!

The very nature of our team.... short on post depth that has lead us to being short on perimeter depth because we are forced into a 4-1... relying on perimeter offense.... soft on defense...

As long as our team has these weaknesses, especially the lack of aggressive defense, we will not be able to get ice cold on offense, or play at the wrong tempo, or have a game where Devonte isn't locked in, or have a game where Doke gets into extreme foul trouble, or have a player go down with an injury.

The good news is we are working on most of these areas and we are improving! The biggest factor is our defensive intensity... and it is starting to show signs of improvement. We need to be more consistent, for sure. Good defense leads to easy offense.

Gosh... when was the last time we had a breakaway slam? I'm sure we must have a few, but since starting Big 12 play, we sure haven't seen it enough. Usually those happen off a defensive TO.

In a typical year, we outscore our opposition in the area of "points off of TOs." I haven't seen the stats so far, but I bet we are not doing so well in this area... up to now.

@mayjay

Yikes.... I see what you mean!

@DCHawker

Yes... Sam has experience. But sitting on the bench has given him some rust.

If he had received all the PT that Mitch has received, we would see a different player.

By the way, I don't really have a great feel for Sam's game yet. I know I like his attitude.... a lot!

@JayHawkFanToo

Agreed... but it was a bigger factor in the south.

@BShark

I look at it like this... Mitch was heavily criticized just one month ago. I recall reading, "if we are counting on any minutes from Mitch, we are in for a long season."

Now we are seeing a pretty nice payoff from Mitch's play. No.. he's not probably going to become a future NBA lottery pick. But he easily saved us one conference game already. If we are able to win #14 then it wasn't going to happen without Mitch. Period.

Sam has a ways to go. We just have to give him his space to become the player he can become. We still are not experiencing most of his athleticism. He is still not quite up to speed with the pace of play. He is better than we have experienced so far.

@JayHawkFanToo

I think what you are leaving out is the year 1966. America was going through a racial battle. I even mentioned my memory today was not so much on the game but the reaction afterwards. This game brought attention to schools who refused to recruit black athletes. The gruff and grumpy Adolph Rupp reacted harshly to media pressures asking why he didn't recruit black players. And the SEC suddenly was in the spotlight for not recruiting black players.

Kentucky didn't have a black player in their lineup until 1970. Tom Payne was the first black basketball player to play for Kentucky under scholarship. Payne was the ONLY black player ever recruited by the gruff Adolph Rupp.

June 11, 1963, George Wallace, the Dixiecrat Governor of Alabama, attempted to symbolically block black students from attending the University of Alabama. This event was called, "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door." I remember watching this event on a distorted black&white TV.

The SEC was slow to accept recruiting black athletes. While it seemed like Kentucky was late to opening up athletics to black athletes, they were actually more like the doorway for black athletes to entering southern schools.

Some day we will have to have a mock wake for Bruce... a party to celebrate all the help he has given us over the year!

Again.... THANK YOU, BRUCE!

Jo Jo made the historic step "out of bounds" that put black basketball players "in bounds" in college basketball.

In 1966, Kansas was in the Elite Eight game against Texas Western. In a key moment in the game, Jo Jo was called for stepping out of bounds. A crucial call leading to Kansas going down in defeat, 81-80.

!0_1516164117086_19662.jpg ↗

!0_1516164141622_jojo_white_3.jpg ↗

As most of you know, Texas Western went on to win the National Championship. A historic game in more ways than one. Texas Western brought the first all-black starting five to the championship game and faced off against an all-white Kentucky team. In 1966, racial issues were tense in America. This game took on a different flavor than past championship games.

The Texas Western victory in the 1966 NCAA Championship game represented the final hurdle for college coaches all through America to come to an understanding that black players could be a huge benefit to their teams and worth the "risks" associated at that time for recruiting black players.

College basketball has never been the same since 1966, and Jo Jo White made the most-famous out-of-bounds play that changed the tint of college basketball all through America.

I remember that championship game. Not so much the game, but the firestorm that came afterwards. Racism was on full display during this period and there were many outlandish racial events occurring on a constant basis. Lynchings and police brutality were still common.

While our nation focused on these events and the uprising of black leaders, like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., sports became the conduit for bringing black and white people together.

We shouldn't forget our past. Jo Jo White was a true soldier for humanity. He represented himself with tremendous dignity and was rewarded with earned respect wherever he went, including his playing days in Boston, which was infamous for race intolerance at that time. Jo Jo has always been a part of my connection to the University of Kansas.

Rest In Peace, Jo Jo White. You will be missed by many and you will never be forgotten!

Hey everyone.... Svi deserves more credit than he is getting. Svi is nailing some guarded treys. Huggy mentions him being open... but not WIDE open. That one trey he hit with a guy in his grill. The only way they were going to stop Svi was to deny him the pass.

I'm smiling right now... watching the purple kitties crush OU. I tip my hat to Bruce. No way we have this conference streak without the help of our purple friends. Thanks, Bruce! (lol) Let's face it... purple is just a puke version of crimson/blue... mixed in a blender or spewing out someone's mouth. But we all know pizza tastes best the first time! (sorry for my crude post)

@jaybate-1.0

Great post on Doke! Yes... Doke has some gifts better than JoJo. He definitely has a softer touch close to the rim. And some of his footwork looks every bit as good as JoJo's. I expect we will continue to see huge improvements, almost on a game-to-game basis. When a player advances this fast, it not only shows his ability to learn quickly, but it also shows his upside is much higher.

I think Doke's defense is also coming along, it just doesn't always show itself like a flashy offensive move. First off... he isn't fouling at such a high rate yet his defense is tightening up. His weakside help is still pretty bad but I think that is also being tampered down by our coaches... who are still just trying to keep him out of foul trouble. Just notice what happens when Doke makes a bad foul. Typically, he gets pulled and lectured to.

Doke is definitely doing a better job sealing off for boards. He isn't getting pushed around like he was in November.

I've been tapping into some quality gossip. Heard Doke has quite the personality, and it is starting to show in his game. He is just now starting to really feel comfortable in his role as a player at Kansas.

@Texas-Hawk-10

He did. He just didn't make a big deal about it.

I can't recall ever seeing a T like that in college basketball... ever. A player gets called for a T for just looking at someone from many feet away?

Heck.. Ts can be called on almost every play then.

Unless I missed something... like Doke making a comment. But it sure looked like he was just looking at Konate while walking backwards away from the dunk.

Did you understand the T?

Got to love Doke's emotions! He will learn to harness those emotions to work for him instead of against him... but I'm not worried about that. He is learning everything so so quickly!

Doke is taking OWNERSHIP of our games! He FEELS responsible and KNOWS he must be held accountable. It is a real honor to have a player who is wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Very transparent and showing he is truly a Jayhawk!

Hard to believe this kid was in HS a few weeks ago. And now, suddenly, he is playing in front of monster crowds and national TV! Wow!

When Silvio wanted to he moved Konate out of the way like Konate was light as a feather! Loved watching Konate whine to the refs about the physicality of Silvio.

I don't think we have realized just how physical Silvio is. He is truly a low post beast! In some areas of his unrefined game he is actually more imposing than Doke. Of course, not all areas... but in some areas and you can see it.

I'm taking nothing away from Doke though. I can't think of any player that has advanced as fast as Doke! The guy is unreal!

I have to confess... that I have high admiration for Huggy Bear. He is one helluva coach. True HOFr!

But we had this same turnaround last year in AFH. Actually, more extreme.

I'm starting to think Bob needs to work on his body language. He sure could use some "Riverboat Gambler" theatrics. When WVU starts their big falls, Bob must be telegraphing something that his players vibe in on and they continue to fall. You can see he is taking those moments and trying to teach out of them when they really need to be COACHED through those bad periods.

@JayHawkFanToo

I give two thumbs up, just like you and HEM! More drives means our guys are finally playing more aggressive. Not afraid to "mix it up" concerning physicality.

And this should be a START of more aggressive play. We still have a ways to go. We caught a tired Mountaineer team who returned home exhausted after their road loss, and then we had them spend all their energy early. It truly was rope-a-dope, either by plan or just by good fortune.

But our guys deserve a lot of credit for buckling down and focusing after a rough start. It is impressive when teams can REGAIN their composure. In this case, we didn't have composure until the second half. Devonte and Svi were KEY stabilizers and they showed plenty of leadership by their actions in the second half. Bravo!

I think we have a pretty scrappy road team. My worry is at home. It seems like #14 pressure increases in AFH. These guys are terrified of losing the streak. TERRIFIED! And anyone thinking our guys don't care enough just don't know our guys. If anything... we need our guys to stop thinking about the streak and stay focused on playing their best.

Huggy Bear is a true HOFr. Man, that guy can coach. He brings us everything we can handle and he does it without a single McDs AA and from a football school.

Really thought that was one of the better coach post-game interview I've seen in a long, long time. Very straightforward.

Loved how Huggy talked about hedge defending. He is really the only coach in the Big 12 that teaches it. We are all being screwed out of experiencing better defense because of this. All the talented offensive players who drive the ball get a free pass to the rim. They don't get challenged on the beginning of the drive, so they can continue playing to their strengths without even learning a decent crossover, no fakes or stutters on drives, no forcing to their weakside... nothing. We just have to follow these players to the league to see them finally learn to fill their toolboxes on driving. This is one area where I really prefer watching pro ball over college.

I liked how Williams pointed out our high school dunk moves on defense. Someone, besides me, needed to do that. Very humiliating amateurish play that does nothing but spark our opponents.

In this case... I think it worked in our favor since we played a great game of "rope a dope." But, in general, we need to start playing like D1 players when it comes to finishing at the rim.

No more one-armed dunk attempts on defense! Time to use two hands and stop telegraphing the path of the dunk. Go at the rim with strength and draw the foul while half the time finishing the dunk, too. This current method of pretending our guys are on an open-court highlights slamfest has got to STOP! Enough with the humiliation!

This is Basketball 101.

@StLJhawk

Vick has started receiving some heat for turning passive. It's about time! A big reason for our mediocre play so far in Big 12 play has related to Vick going invisible.

However... struggle often leads to gains. With Vick struggling, it put even more pressure on Malik to find his game. Malik still has a long ways to go, but he is consistently hustling more while on the floor.

This team is making gains! Doke improves every game, we are getting our depth lined out, and our guards are starting to take on more responsibility (but still need much better defense), and Devonte is starting to really show leadership.

Devonte took ownership last night! He became very vocal and demonstrative with his troops last night... and that was HUGE!

So many good signs from last night's game... we have a long ways to go, but it was great to see improvements!

Bilas sure didn't give us any love last night. He was on the big Mountaineer train to "beat Kansas."

Imagine that stupid technical on Doke happening to a Duke player? Bilas would have demanded an investigation, and probably would have been involved right there on the floor, questioning the officials and then would have had the technical removed. That is what Duke and Coach K can do and also Bilas. I don't think most fans realize how much love Bilas gets in games. I've watched him question calls directly with refs during games.

He barely mentioned it in the game, and he had to say it was a bad call, under his breath.

Doke is now suffering from some bad calls like most big men face. Big men have to earn their reputations before refs start calling them fair. It's just the way it is... and it has been that way all of my life. Big men don't get calls until they get established at a higher status. This is one of the secret rules of basketball... probably written on the back of Naismith's Rules of Basketball!

October 30, 1974

Kinshasa, Zaire

The Rumble in the Jungle - Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman

Foreman was 40-0 going into that fight. He looked unstoppable. 37 KOs. This was the fight when all the Ali-haters came out of the woodwork and loudly proclaimed that Ali was finally going to receive his "come up-ens."

I was at the fight. No... not in Zaire. In an arena watching on closed-circuit TV. The crowd was loud and aggressive. It was a pro-Ali crowd. The fans were amazing. They saw Ali getting killed on the ropes and it looked like doom and gloom for Ali. No one understood Ali's sneaky strategy; lay on the ropes and block most of Foreman's shots; wear him down, and then step on his throat later. It worked perfectly, and in Round 8 Foreman had nothing left in his tank. He was first hit with his own exhaustion and then it was followed up with Ali combinations.

!0_1516118778234_Rope-a-dope2.jpg ↗

We played a perfect "rope-a-dope" game last night. I still wonder if all of those really stupid dunk attempts were just part of the Riverboat Gambler's game plan. In the end... I believe those SportsCenter blocked shots by Konate actually worked to our favor by turning up the emotional juices with all the WVU players! I've watched the game twice now and paid attention to all the Mountaineer excitement! Man... did they buy in or what? They had a lot to prove last night. This is supposed to be THEIR year to knock Kansas off the throne. They are still feeling the pain of their blown win in AFH last year.

With 6 minutes left in the game, WVU was far more exhausted than Kansas. All their guys were holding their knees. It reminded me of Foreman, when Ali started to turn the corner by nailing George with a monster counter punch in the 7th round. George took a huge breath of air... like he couldn't breath. That was the sign Ali was looking for.

Go back and watch this game again. Look at the body language on both sides. We looked beat until the game was close to the end... then suddenly, WVU looked beat. Even Huggins gave off bad body language. He knew he was going to lose at that point, or at least, he could feel something coming.

This was a great win! We needed it to increase our chances at #14. And we are starting to look like a unique Kansas team that plays better on the road than at home. It seems like we have too much pressure on us at home.

Congrats to our troops! This was the first time our guys really stepped up at the end and started playing more like men than boys. Watching this team transform, and watching the individual players transform, is quite a thrill! Thank you, men.... and thank you, Muhammad Ali!

Got to go with Devonte in this game. He turned the corner on his bad start and took the team along with him.

Doke probably would have won JYD had he stayed on the floor. That technical foul was a rip off and someone should bring a formal complaint to the NCAA. Opening up calling T's on guys who just stare at someone from 25 feet away means blowing the whistle every single play.

Meanwhile... a WVU player jammed the ball and put his face right back into one of our guys face.... no call.

The officiating was marginal...

Sure am enjoying Doke's progress. He has something new to show us in every game. And now we are seeing him with big time emotions... emotions is what we need from our guys! Doke just has to turn his emotions into positive results instead of getting flagged for bogus technicals or where he makes a bad foul out of anger. Doke will learn. He seems to learn everything quickly!

Nice to see Svi get back into the game after he had several consecutive bad plays. He's a guy who just keeps bringing game even after a few bad moments. Vick should learn something from Svi on that. Play through mistakes and missed shots.

Malik didn't have a great game, but he was often our biggest fighter on 50/50 balls and rebounds. His game has come along nicely, he just didn't have a great game.

Silvio showed some bright spots. I still can't believe this guy is only out of high school for a couple of weeks and he made an impact in Morgantown! Wow, is he going to be a big Jayhawk asset! Did you all see him drive in the post and just stiff arm Konate out of the way (while drawing a foul on Konate)? He moved Konate out like he was a praying mantis... It was fun watching Konate whine to the refs about physical play! Ha!

ALL of our guys need to learn how to dunk on defense. That was pathetic. Kudos to Jay Williams for talking about how KU gifts over blocked shots to other teams. Heck... anyone could have blocked those shots.. blindfolded! Very amateurish play, more like high school. And all it did was stoke the passion for WVU. Maybe that was the plan....

Speaking of fouls... another piece of gossip...

WVU will become the first team to use "hack-a-Doke" if necessary.

I think it is our defense... lack of it... that has brought us down to equal with the pack.

If we can start playing hard defense, it will not only slow down our opponents' scoring, it will help our scoring because we always get plenty of easy offense from our defense when it clicks.

We really have to fight for our offense now because we don't get the freebies from our defense.

@BeddieKU23

Devonte can be a bit sneaky... I hope he plays sneaky tonight... and draws fouls on Carter. That is our clearest path to victory.

Get Carter in foul trouble!

This game is a real test to see if our guys are ready to step up. We shouldn't let them control tempo. Period. And we shouldn't turn the ball over with 4 capable guards on the floor.

Winning this game would give us our best shot of earning #14. Losing creates more of an uphill battle.

In some ways... I see this team as being a team that might end up playing better away from AFH than at home. There is more pressure at home to "hold down the fort" while playing on the road creates an opportunity for us.

Think I would go for a tie... Devonte and Doke! They have both come to play a different game over their game last year.

Maybe just a rumor... but I heard the entire WVU team ate bird for dinner tonight. Pheasant, perhaps? The symbolism was definitely a Jayhawk.

I hope we are somewhat ready for tomorrow night... but I know we have never been ready to play in Morgantown.

@jaybate-1.0

I have all my eggs in one basket today... having predicted by the end of today we would hear something about Silvio.

Hope I don't have to clean up a basket of broken eggs...

I'm pretty sure we "called it in" for an update and received absolutely no additional information.

Since we can't DEMAND they speed it up, these call-in's for updates is an attempt to prod them. I've been hopeful that it would work and we would get an answer on Silvio sometime this week. 26-hour window left in my hopes...

Also.... thoughts and prayers to Andrew. Most forms of leukemia today are treated successfully.... so let's hope Andrew's will work out.

@BeddieKU23

I'm with you!

Malik Newman.... he really came through last night!

This wasn't just a single game where he stepped up. He had been working hard to help his team for quite some time. For example... he has been perhaps our best sealer for the boards in several games.

He is feeling more comfortable. And you can see it in so many ways. In his first few games this year, he was totally out of control on his drives and he couldn't finish at the rim.

He is starting to learn how to finish right. He slowed down enough so he can have more options on his drives. Wow... that one drive where he changed directions at the end was really sweet!

Once again... Self is proving his decision to be correct. He has had lots of patience with Malik and extremely supportive. We are starting to see the payoff there!

Malik still has a long ways to go. But that is a good thing! He has so far to go because he has so much upside! We have only just begun to see what he can do!

Sam is our new guard depth. He gets better and better, with each minute on the floor! He has his mind right about defense. He takes defense personal!

Right now... I see our team anchor players as Mitch and Sam is coming up. These guys have made "hustle" their calling card.

I've been wondering what is up with Vick. In my head, he shouldn't be worn out at his age and his condition. But I said this long ago... that NONE of us have played at the intensity these guys have. Their athleticism is at another level than most of us. And that means it carries it's own drain when put to the test. I learned that when playing at the highest level I played at.... far, far below D1! And a million miles away from Kansas basketball! I learned what exhaustion was when I did that. But these guys are at a different level.... and I don't know the level of exhaustion they go through. It surely must be extreme even though they make it look easy out there.

I hope we see more and more of Sam. He already does some things better than all of our other guys. He's probably the only player we have that has used a hedge against the drive.

When we decide we want to get serious about winning.... we will scout our opponents well, and we will use tools (like hedging) to DISRUPT the strengths of our opponents. That means... hedging and playing tight on players we want to deny the ball... hedging against left or right side drives of driving threats (related to which side they primarily use)....

This may sound like I'm being critical about Self and his coaching. No. He can't teach these things if our players aren't up to that level yet. Until we get our guys really focused on defense... forgetaboutit!

Mitch Lightfoot was the clear winner last game. You could forget that win without Mitch! His game was H U G E !

!0_1515532553733_junkyarddog.jpg ↗

I think we need to recognize hustle on this team. One player should earn the Junkyard Dog Award for each game, unless no one steps up.

@BeddieKU23

I think we just get twisted up in too much "logic."

We have no post depth because WE decided we don't.

Svi is considered a guard... but he is 6'8" and should have plenty of strength to play the 4. Gosh... young Lightfoot gets criticized for working in the post and he is the same size or smaller in girth than Svi.

Our team philosophy is wrong. And I mentioned this before... this is part of most legend basketball programs... until they figure this out and heal to become a much better team (and future teams).

We play the "codependency" game. We chuck players into roles... and usually that means taking a backseat until they are seniors. Devonte is a perfect example. Finally... this is HIS team. So he carries all the burden and the other guys just go along for the ride.

Last year, Devonte was going along for the ride when it was Frank's team.

We look for opportunities to have crutches. We don't put RESPONSIBILITY on every player! We just don't. We mumble some bologna that we do.... but we don't!

This year... if we lose the streak... it will be Devonte's fault. Not Vick's. Not Svi's. Etc etc etc.

Right now we are sputtering along for many reasons... a big reason is Vick has just gone invisible. Might as well. It isn't HIS team!

This philosophy isn't and wasn't Self's. He inherited it with our program. It has been conditioned into everyone... because this is the way it always was with legacy programs. They ran JV squads and you EARNED your way up to varsity.

Did you watch Alabama/Georgia last night? The National Championship completely really decided by freshmen. Alabama got wise and went with the freshman Hawaiian in the second half and made it a totally different game!

One more reason for us to NOT land a player like Trae Young. The guy really needed to step right in and run things. He wouldn't have been given this much leash at Kansas. No way. He can't! We can't disrespect all our returning players who have fought to earn their spots... blah blah blah.

We have codependent situations all over the place. We could easily experience this season in a full-blown collapse. Since we have decided all the weight of our success is on Devonte.. he may just MELTDOWN! Devonte is NOT Frank! And I love Frank, but I see a lot more potential with Devonte! But now we need Devonte to just step up and score most of the points now because this is HIS team! He has to do whatever...

I'm not against Devonte shooting... man... he really needs to get a lot of open treys up. And he needs to drive and create opportunities. But he will never be a Frank Mason, who treated his PG position like a running back in football.

If you want to know WHY we almost won a National Championship in 2012 without a single McDs AA.... it is because TRob's situation created a reset. Our guys came together as ONE! Because of that... there were no more status levels. EVERY player became responsible.... not just the seniors or point guards.

@cragarhawk

Interesting post!

Most late-game strategy is usually to get the ball in the hands of your best scorer and then clear out. Sometimes it is made more difficult with ball screens. I'm not a fan of that, most of the time because ball screens can fail easier at the end, when defense knows it has to stand up. In the least, the screener better have good offense himself, opening for a potential pick and pop/roll or otherwise you just invite a double-team on your #1 scorer.

And then there are the "twists." Those are the secondary options. So your big scorer is being doubled in his iso and is fighting to drive for shooting space.... then he feeds another open shooter to take the winning shot.

I love to see this happen. I love to see unexpected heroes!

@BeddieKU23

I want the distractions gone, too. But I want the struggle to count for something. I want this to be a mountain we climbed as a team, and as a fan base. Let's all struggle together and get stronger from it!

What this team needs to learn is we are a great team even WITHOUT post depth! We need a positive image and identity NOW! Adding two rookie post players isn't going to make us a great team. They just won't. We need to be a great team that just adds another piece or two to help.

Our players/coaches/fans need to realize that this is only a distraction because we have CHOSEN to make it a distraction!

Come on.... let's get real. This is a walk in the park compared to 2012 and the losses of Thomas Robinson. You want to talk about a distraction! That was it! Yet... our guys found a way to focus... found a way to feed off of it... found a way to come together as a team!

We didn't have a single McD's AA on that team and we almost beat a team full of them, and would have if they didn't have their freak unibrow in the post!

We have oodles more talent now than in 2012. It isn't even close... yet we choose to make this a distraction and make this a crutch. And we have chosen our identity as a team without post depth, instead of what we really are... a team STUFFED with talent!

@nuleafjhawk

So far... we are using the two missing post players as a crutch... and we have made our team identity as "the Jayhawks missing two crucial bigs."

The first thing we need to do is STOP using this situation as a crutch. It's just an excuse to let our guards off the hook for not guarding.

For those fans that think we will suddenly become the best team in America because we have post depth.... you are in for a HUGE letdown!

I know, I know... if we had more depth... blah blah blah.

I know our fans largely hate WSU, for several reasons. I try to catch their games when possible because I love basketball. And I love their hustle. They don't have McD's AAs. They don't need them. Their defense is starting to turn it up and they look like a pack of hyenas ripping apart a large animal in the Serengeti.

To get a proper perspective.... take a watch or your smartphone and TIME the gap of time between when Shocker players skid on the floor, diving for a ball. Then do it for Kansas. Let me know what you find. I already know the answer. Maybe our guys just don't want to risk getting hurt because it might kill their NBA hopes.... I don't know. Or maybe they just have an elitist attitude. One thing I know for sure.... if we play at this intensity level in Morgantown, they will beat us by 30 or so. And this year, WVU won't let down in AFH.

Unless we have some guys step up, just go ahead and count both games with WVU as losses.

BTW: I hope we don't have either of these two new bigs in the games against WVU. We will need at least 4 guards in that game all the time!

HighEliteMajor said:

If there are 10 donuts lined up. They all look really good. But you know one is poison and will kill you. And two others will make you throw up, do you take the chance and just grab one and eat it? Sure, you have 70% odds of being right, but the risk/reward isn't there.

Nice analogy. And to finish it... @chriz just stated that he has reached starvation and is ready to take the risk because otherwise, he'll die anyways. That is how he feels at this moment.

And the many posts from others challenging @chriz show those fans do not quite feel as starved.

Personally.. I'll never feel starved from this Billy situation. He clearly messed up, even though we don't know the whole story. Even if the car was legit, it should have been transparent and known prior to his "accident." And if it was legit, tracing the background for needed documentation should be easy and quick.

It's just a bad situation right now. I hope Billy, his mom, fans and administration focus on being positive, especially towards each other. The "damage" from this is self-inflicted. Not just from Billy making a mistake, but everything happening after that if it created friction with Billy, his mom and the fans, and maybe even other players. We should use this struggle to get tighter with each other.

Struggle is an opportunity to make things better!

@BeddieKU23

I see Billy's chances of playing abroad at ZERO. It is a million times more complicated than being here in Lawrence, where he is babied on everything.

I don't see Billy wanting to give up his McDonald's fries for a boiled squid and smelly cheese. (lol)

I missed where his mom was attacked by fans. If that happened, I expect it to be some antlers still hanging around. They would do that.

I got frustrated with Billy's mom when she attacked Kansas fans. That created a wedge between the Preston's and Kansas.... a bad thing. That invited the wedge to gap further. I didn't have an impression of Billy's mom until then, and it became a negative impression.

Man.... I've been reading some pretty negative KU fan stuff recently. Fans are feeling lost with this team and they are venting aggression. It is starting to get ugly with focus becoming illogical and going negative.

Many fans are venting on our compliance department. "They screwed around and took more than a month before filing anything on Billy." What? So I guess Self lied to us. Pretty obvious it took this time because they were waiting for documentation, too.... from whatever sources it need to come from. I'm pretty sure our compliance department didn't see a benefit in slowing this down. Talk about illogical nonsense....

This team is going to make us all show some patience. Fans should be careful what they say (to some degree) because we have no idea what level of play this team is going to be at in March. It is clear we have a great chance of improving a lot all through the time period of now through March. I'm pretty sure we will pick up at least one of these bigs. And if we don't.... at least we know and we can stop using our missing bigs as a crutch and face the reality that THIS is our team!

@wissox

I never doubted you wouldn't get it. You have always been one of my favs in here.

@wissox

My niece lived near Morgantown for years, working at the VA. She gave me a window into life in WV.

I know it is easy for us to pile on WVU because, let's face it, they represent the biggest threat to us in the Big 12.

There are huge struggles happening in WV. Their economy is almost in free fall. People are hurting because of the lack of quality jobs. That has been going on for a long time. And now, their opioid situation is unreal.

I don't want to make this about politics or about basketball. I just want to make sure people realize this is a humanitarian issue.

@hawkmoon2020

Funny what a month or so makes a difference on perceptions.

I recall in November: "The Big 12 is down this year. Kansas in a runaway for #14."

And now: "The Big 12 is easily the strongest basketball conference this year. It's not even close. And the depth of quality is amazing!"

One thing is for sure.... everyone should be very happy that we are in a REAL conference. Our season schedule involves playing each team twice and at both venues. The super conferences are stupid. Their conference winners will always get an asterisk, "favorable conference schedule."

@BeddieKU23

I don't think the NCAA will be swayed by how much Kansas needs Billy. And to that, I have to agree with the position of the NCAA.

But they do have to worry about harming Billy's future excessively. The negative PR theme against the NCAA is about the perceived harm they do to student/athletes.

When this is all said and done concerning Billy's situation, it will be reviewed by everyone. The NCAA will be under a microscope. Did the NCAA punish Billy excessively over something that turned out to be nothing or quite small?

Look at what this does to Billy and us? Wow! It is hard to see Billy as an OAD after this. Hard to imagine him being on the NBA radar this spring. I think we were counting on him being OAD, hence the recruitment of plenty of bigs. But that isn't the problem for the NCAA.

The potential for future problems with the NCAA is if this slow response pushes Billy into returning for another year when it clearly showed he would have gone OAD otherwise... then Billy returns and has a career-ending injury. Billy never receives a NBA paycheck....

Then what? My guess.... litigation!