Don't spend too much time worrying about Silvio. From what I have heard, he has a GREAT character to him. Silvio is legit!
drgnslayr
11251 posts
This is only my humble opinion...
I feel like we will get a judgment on Silvio this week. The reason Self said we would have answers today is because our Athletic Dept or Compliance Dept will inquire today for an update. My gut says we will receive a small sign concerning Silvio that there has been advancement on his clearance. Read through the fog on this and I interpret it to mean we will get a decision by the end of the week.
Concerning Billy... I don't expect we will hear much yet. I think his timeline will stretch out because it has more involvement in the investigation process. Those always take a long time. On a positive note... if they ever do resolve his issue, and their determination will include a penalty, more than likely they will allow his current suspension count against his penalty, which will probably mean he will be cleared. That is only if things go right for us.
RockkChalkk said:
Key words, "with effort." They aren't putting forth the effort needed to win. Being out rebounded, out hustled, can't defend, those are effort issues. Nobody who watched that game last night said "wow, KU really played hard but the other team just made so many tough shots, nothing they could have done."
Bingo!
Is it possible that somehow we have our players brainwashed into thinking "conserve energy" all the time? It sure looks like it.
Let's not forget this is more than just saving energy to get through a game. It's also about preventing injuries from happening, or getting worse once they happen. Doke is the perfect example. It is clear he is playing through some pain. It would be great if we could rest him more, just to heal quicker.
This last game was pathetic. Super soft play. But we've been playing soft all season. Our numbers point that out... shooting the LEAST FTs of any other team in the Big 12! That is an obvious stat that says it all!
Or maybe... this will all work out because we have no place to go but up! Maybe this year will play out where we go on a big winning streak at the end! We usually peak out before March. Maybe this year we won't!
True. At least, it sells for a while.
I think the general public will become EXTREMELY SICK of most drama this year. Our political dramas have become overwhelming for everyone, and people are suffering from drama fatigue.
If you want to look at drama that can have long lasting positive impact... look at JoJo's personality! Look at how he is becoming a superstar and a chunk of that is his personality.
I think eventually we will get away from being a society where one can claim, "ALL publicity is GOOD publicity!"
At least... I hope so! lol
justanotherfan said:
If Ball falls out of the NBA, it will have more to do with his production than his dad's mouth.
Sure... but you can't say his father's actions have no impact. You can't say that if there are two equal players, management wouldn't rather take the one without drama.
RIght now... all pro sports teams are focusing on viewership. Winning games is still the major factor in that. But it isn't everything. I watch some NBA. Ball's dad is a big turnoff for me and definitely doesn't inspire me to follow Lakers ball.
Self sees huge upside in Malik. So Self is investing in Malik. Malik is a bit fragile and needs more confidence (and other improvements). So Self is trying to get the most out of Malik. It's just hard to say how much improvement we will see out of Malik this year. He has improved slightly, but just not at the level high enough to help the team where we need help.
I think Self thinks that there will be a moment where Malik just "gets it." Sometimes that happens. Sometimes the light goes on.
None of us sitting in on practices. So we don't see Malik's potential beyond game footage. We all really need to see both practices and games to properly assess the potential of our players.
Kind of makes me wonder that Self still thinks Billy will regain status soon. So he doesn't want to change the PT structure yet because Billy will be the one to add to the main mix.
True... but Ball is an ongoing story. We will see how that plays out in the long run. If it goes bad, I think more NBA front offices will look to stay away from drama.
Some drama is actually needed in sports. We only have to think back to the Magic/Bird era and their controversies. That was "good drama." Fans loved it!
But Ball's dad is just an arse. I always try to put the game ahead of the drama... but it is hard to watch Lonzo with approval while his dad may be killing viewership of the game.
Pretty much all pro sports are facing viewership issues. I don't think "Ball-like" drama is going to rescue them. Eventually, marketing wonks will come out of the woods and point fingers at Ball's dad, regardless of whether he did so much damage or not. It is about blaming someone else.
We need to FORMALIZE the training of recruits/players in staying between the lines.
It should be done with forms of media, like short films. And then Q&As afterwards to make sure it soaks in, while we document that our players are in full knowledge.
These are educational items that should be organized and designed through our compliance program.
There is NO REASON why Kansas should go down for mistakes our players make as long as our coaches and administration play fair ball.
Document, document, document.
Sorry I was a bit harsh on Billy and his mother. But I'm sick of these guys coming in here with their families and turning our athletic department (and reputation) into a Jerry Springer show.
These kids and parents should realize they are only damaging themselves. No NBA team hunts out drama as a positive factor when picking players.
My belief... we are not on the NCAA's favored list.
Schools like UNC, Syracuse and others are. If our federal Justice Department was functional, you would see UNC in deep, deep sh#t for their obvious academic fraud, that could do nothing but devalue EVERY UNC student's education status. Truly, a case for federal authorities.
But we are living in new times. I don't agree with all our recruiting moves... but I am glad we built THE best compliance department in the country! It is a model being used by many other universities. That is a real game-changer. I don't see a future now where we could possibly face 3 years probation and the threat of the death penalty because we helped a recruit buy a plane ticket to visit his sick grandmother.
Pretty amazing to consider how bad that hurt us... even now... we've been digging out from this ever since.
Now we have a top-rate compliance office and the atmosphere has changed with a weakening NCAA. Schools are more aggressive to challenge the NCAA in court. And the financial stakes now are MUCH HIGHER than 20 years ago. With the potential of creating massive financial losses over NCAA actions, you can see how the NCAA has had to adopt a less-aggressive stance.
All our players have to do is learn a new mantra, and keep it and say it and feel it every single day from now until the beginning of April -
"Today we are going to become better than we were yesterday!"
Then... go make it happen! One goal. Nothing else. Go become better every day. We shouldn't panic. We shouldn't fail to see the wood for the trees. Momentum comes much easier when we keep it simple. Don't make this overwhelming.
Character is never tested without facing struggles. We should know who we are and we should take it day-to-day... getting better every day!
I spoke with Zenger a couple of months ago... just before our first game. I asked him what he thought of this team. He told me, "WE are excited! Devonte is an original. A unique player." He gave me a bit of an odd expression. I think "WE" meant himself and Bill.
That short moment with Zenger has puzzled me all this time. I've been the guy who always felt like Devonte was capable of being everything Trae Young is showing the world now... but better. Experienced. I still think that. I remember when he stepped up in Norman against Buddy.
I still think Devonte has just one more thing to conquer; himself. He needs to find a way to stay focused during games... with the right kind of focus. It really is a mystery watching him play. He still is a streaky player. Hot and cold shooting... hot and cold in a leadership role.
Everyone loves Devonte. Players, fans, students. He's extremely personable. He has that "people person" charm that can really help a team leader lead. I've come to not understand this part of what I am seeing, anymore than understanding Devonte's streaky game.
I really thought he was going to bring us a refreshing look different from Frank. And we have seen some of that. But many of the leadership aspects I expected from him are still missing. I expected he would be the most vocal/animated leader we have ever had in the Self era. I felt like Zenger's coded message to me was about Devonte being a great leader for this team.
This one area is the area that will turn this team around. Devonte is the key. For example... where was Vick in this last game? That should have been asked with 15 minutes left in the first half. And the one asking should have been Devonte. "Hey man... we need YOU! Come on!"
Someone needs to step up and rally our troops. Someone needs to bring them together when they aren't playing like a team. Getting a couple more post players wasn't the answer for this loss. Anyone believing that Silvio and Billy will be our big remedy will be in for a shock.
Our biggest weakness isn't our post depth. Our biggest weakness is the ineffectiveness of our guard play. We can make any opposition's offense look like Golden State! We aren't controlling pace... nothing. You could see this last loss within the first 2 minutes of play.
Maybe our guys are handcuffed by their own thoughts... more... FEARS about losing the streak! Look back at that Texas game. The only reason we won was because we couldn't miss from trey. To shoot that well from trey an eek out a victory should have been a sign. I feel bad for Self. He must feel stumped on how to get these guys motivated. Maybe the problem isn't motivation. Maybe the problem is just an execution problem. From my experience, defensive softness is an attitude problem. You can't just make players hungry. I think our guys feel like they are stuffed with steak and shrimp.
We need chemistry. We need synergy. We need life. We need optimism. We need hustle. We need team play. We need leadership.
I'm not giving up on these guys. At any moment in this season the light bulb might come on. And if it does... we are going to go on a streak!
Get both of them outta here.
Maybe Billy is Jesus... but he is not Wilt!
Our guards were completely outplayed. No defense. None. Zero. Nada.
That may have been the softest game I have ever seen from a Jayhawk team... especially in AFH!
Almost swallowed my Jolly Rancher when reading your post! Hilarious!
BeddieKU23 said:
FYI Fran is calling the game tonight. Over under is set at 25 times he mentions KU losing to Washington
Is that over or under how many times he mentions Trae Young and the potential of OU?
jaybate 1.0 said:
This team is kind of one big statistical anomaly.
That might be the understatement of the year for 2018!
Something doesn't add up.
Going off of what Self said... that Mitch probably won't lose PT... WHERE will his minutes come from?
Self also mentioned running the 4-1 offense half of the time.
It doesn't add up that Mitch will get all his PT as a stretch 4. Not enough minutes there if Silvio is playing the 4, too, while we only use a post player at the 4 for half of a game.
I posted earlier that Mitch could start getting PT at the 3. That flew in here like a lead balloon... and that may have been the proper response.
Can we give Mitch minutes at the 3? Not sure we could...
I'm not sure Mitch will maintain his minutes if he doesn't pick up other skills to help his range in other positions besides the stretch 4. His hustle is praised and extremely useful, but he has to provide more than just hustle.
Shaka was supposed to be a young coach who brought in frenetic energy that his players would pick up from him.
I just don't see that these days. I see a mediocre coach who has one of the premiere athletic departments in the country and at the largest school in a huge state oozing with talent... and he can barely create a marginal Top 20 to Top 30 team.
Put Self down there in Austin and he will have a Top 10 team in a year. No wait.... DON'T put Self down there! lol
We really need Billy. He knows the system, has had more time practicing with this group, and he has a skill set that should really mesh with this team for what we need RIGHT NOW.
I'm not trying to be negative about Silvio. He will be a huge help... eventually. But if he is all the extra help we are going to get, we will at least get a lift by having another thick big. From what I hear and read, Silvio should be a very fast learner, sort of like Doke has been. I will be shocked if he isn't a big help by the end of this year. The problem is we are in conference play NOW!
I share the same optimism as you!
You and I have been two of Self's biggest critics throughout the years... and he has done a great job of advancing his coaching craft over the years. I think that is what impresses me most about Self.
It almost seems like he is even more flexible for change as he has aged. Not many people go that way.
With the move from the 4-1 to 3-2 we essentially are trading the corner trey for the possibility of more inside/mid-range scoring, and hopefully more rebounding and post defense. What I remain worried about is what it will do for our ability to drive the ball. It sure is nice spreading teams out with those 4 guards!
I still hope we keep a 4-1 for WVU. And... I hope Bill keeps it around for a healthy portion of time in every game.
We absolutely need to keep focus on TEMPO as our biggest weapon moving forward. I've always felt we have never had the tools like we do now for controlling tempo during the Self era. I know the Texas press was not up to snuff... but just look how we thrashed that press and moved the ball from one end to the other in a split second.
Wouldn't it be something to FINALLY see our boys CRUSH the WVU press?! We just have to stay loose and not fold to the crowd pressure and the full court pressure.
Also, very spiteful... Bravo! lol
That is a rather treacherous idea. I like it! lol
When Shaka beat us he was known as a young, high-energy coach that demanded high-energy out of his team.
Where is that Shaka Smart? Bamba is a beast... without him, we would have smoked Texas by 30. Their guard defense is possibly the worst perimeter defense in the Big 12. Pathetic!
Obviously, I want #14 this year... but I also want and expect higher levels of play from some of the teams in our league, starting with Texas.
Blessings to our friends from the south, OU! I hope they win us all a National Championship in football! And I hope their Trae and company make a serious run, but come up just short of a conference title. They might do some serious damage in March.
Huggy Bear always has my respect. Just wish he would clean up his language from the bench. We don't need that language representing the Big 12. Otherwise... he is top notch and completely loved and respected by his players. One of the most-popular coaches from the players in all of college basketball.
I can tell you right now that Coach Self is not happy with our play. He isn't happy with our defense, mostly. He isn't happy with our overall hustle. He isn't happy that players take plays off.
Part of that relates to not having depth.
He is going to use our newly acquired depth to help rest players but also to help keep them motivated by rewarding hustle.
I've been impressed with how Bill has handled this team. He clearly wants to continue the streak and he is hungry for another National Championship!
I thought there were a few bad calls, but I didn't really stay too focused on the refs, which I think is how games should be called, when you don't notice them.
Bilas said some nice things about Kansas and Self. But he always finds ways to rub me wrong. He slipped in a slam on Devonte that was totally uncalled for. It happened when Devonte had his pass stolen and he said something about him always making soft passes. Rubbish.
Also, I didn't like his comment about the ref following Shaka back to his bench while conversing. He wasn't trying to fight with Shaka, but he obviously had something to communicate and if officials aren't allowed to communicate to teams and coaches, who the hell is? Bilas really went off on him, making statements that were just flat wrong.
BShark said:
Self isn't even playing Cunliffe.
Yeah, I noticed that.
I know a few things. I know this game was absolutely CRUCIAL for us. A big part of why we have won 13 conference titles in a row relates to us getting out of the blocks fast. This Jayhawk team is not the right team to put in a huge hole and see if they can come back. We still refuse to play aggressive defense. Giving up 86 points to this Longhorn team should be a real eye-opener for us. If we give up 86 to the horrific offense of Texas, what will we give up to OU?! 130 points?!
So Self realized he needed to step up with some specific strategy to deal with Texas. He planned for us to attack from the perimeter. A big part of why we hit such a high % of treys last night related to limiting substitutions. We couldn't risk changing the flow of the game. Notice that we didn't have monster shifts in hot and cold last night. And we only had 8 TOs! Most of this relates to Texas playing really horrid guard defense. Wow, that was bad!
This was a game where Self out-coached the h3ll out of Smart! That was a big part of the frustration from Shaka. He knew he was out-coached.
I noticed that, too. I think Malik is starting to realize he needs to find other ways to help the team. It is going to be a process getting him to become more effective in the obvious areas, like driving and passing... and most, just seeing more of the court.
A while back, I heard some people call him a ball hog. I never thought that. Self pushes him to contribute, but he just hasn't figured it out yet and how to mesh with his teammates. So he has taken some ill-advised shots.... just wanting to contribute.
He learned a lesson or two last night, along with several of our players... on NOT what to do against a defender with a 7'9" reach.
I hope Doke watches that tape over and over. His shot was exposed for sticking it right out there to get blocked, instead of keeping his big body between the ball and defender. Those low post moves... he needs to stop turning his upper body directly towards the goal. He should practice a baby hook and a few other moves. In the second half, he scored directly on Bamba by just taking the ball behind his head to make more space away from Bamba and his release.
Now I'm curious for the Texas game in AFH. What changes will Doke make between now and then? He really has been impressive concerning advancing his game. He focuses well, has lots of emotion, his heart is in the right place (for his team), he is intelligent, has a solid athletic base and he works his tail off. Can't wait to see his game by March!
Oh yeah..... I forgot.
I read the story that Bill called the NCAA and got a computer response that they were closed until January 2nd.
I had predicted that we were working with the NCAA already to make his clearance quickly, but that didn't happen.
The problem is that we don't really work on the fine details of basketball. We don't work on fakes, hedging, deception....
We have to win games by overwhelming other teams with our base talent.
I think it would be smart to give Silvio a couple of minutes in the Texas game. Just to give him a taste of the speed of a real Big 12 game. It will help expose to Silvio just how much improvement he needs to make.
Stick him in sometime in the first half.... far ahead of crunch time.
We need Silvio to get up to speed as quickly as possible. Putting him in for 2 minutes in the first half won't blow a game for us. But it will help push him along faster. Teach him a couple of sets and a few plays, and then Devonte just keep to the script. It's 2 friggin' minutes!
Stevens has done a remarkable job with Boston. I watched that game. I sensed the outcome when it got back to an even game. Putting the world's biggest flopper on one of the most aggressive driving guards in the league... yes. Smart flopped. But he deserved BOTH of those calls. And the fact that Harden didn't see the second call coming just shows how he lives in a bubble. The guy has really melted down recently. At this point, he is starting to hurt Houston as they pile on more talent. If he wants to ball hog that much, he should be traded to a really bad team that doesn't have much offensive talent.
I'm usually wrong on predicting players directions, so you may be right.
And it is hard to say.... some players just aren't cut for college but kick butt in the league. Maybe the league is exactly what Malik needs. Maybe he is overwhelmed with having to go to school while playing ball.
Let's see us maintain those numbers when we aren't playing high school teams. We have a false sense of security from playing poor teams.
Self and Company is on a campaign, mostly a Riverboat Gambler campaign to push his troops into becoming motivated to defend.
Tom is providing a service. Mentioning this could be the team to blow the streak. They need to hear this because as of date, our defense has been a mixed bag, and our offense has masked softness in our offense by getting lucky and hot from trey.
We don't even win our share of 50/50 balls. We should be getting 2 to 3 times the amount of steals with all of these uber-athletic guards. We should have one of the better trey ball defenses. There are several areas where we are weak when we shouldn't be because the guys haven't stayed focus.
I believe, like Bill does, that the trey ball can be a curse. It becomes an enabler for going soft on defense. No big deal, just hit more treys than our opponents.... except.... how many games will we be cold from trey? Just hand over those games to our opponents?
And the lack of depth excuse gets old fast. Yes, we need more depth, but what about the advantages of having a short bench? Our guys should come together much quickly because their high amount of PT playing together. There are many past National Championship teams that only ran 7 deep and with even less of a post presence.
Where is Malik going? He is a mile and a goat away from being a NBA player. And Self has made several comments over the past months inferring Malik will be back. Vick, on the other hand...
I don't know why incoming freshmen aren't chaperoned everywhere with upperclassmen.
We put millions and millions of dollars into our program and have huge staffs. Kansas fans expect a lot, and they should.
And then we drop the ball by just setting these guys free to get in all kinds of trouble.
I appreciate that the kids coming in get lectured. But, come on... kids getting lectured remember how much of it?
This little screw up could easily cost us a national championship.
Whether or not the car is legit... the staff should have known this before the accident.
We put so so much into compliance. Our program is truly the best in D1, and is a model many universities are copying. Yet, these kids are free to screw up everything. Case in point!
Yep. I really don't mind not pushing Silvio out there too fast.
We've typically played pretty competitive basketball in Austin. Doke will be tested, big time. He'll have two quality bigs to deal with.
We need to win in Austin with our guard play. We should dominate guard play and it shouldn't come down to outplaying UT in the post.
We have plenty of time to prepare for Austin and we typically start Big 12 play with a winning streak.
I'm trying to look at this from a glass half full. If we win our games before bringing in Silvio... GREAT! We will be using our typical formula for winning the Big 12. If we lose in Austin, we will be under the gun and might even improve faster because of the motivation. No KU team wants to be the team that loses our conference streak!
I kind of like the fact that the Big 12 has lacked a little sports media respect this year. It can only help push every team in the Big 12 to improve.
The season is long. And anything can happen. We could see 3 of the top players in the ACC go down from injuries all within one week. Conferences, like teams, need a bit of good luck as the year progresses. Injuries are key, but also winning our conference share of close victories, especially outside of our conference.
Just look at Kansas. Just look at Bill Self. Where would we be today if Mario had missed that shot?
I'm thinking of Mitch's future, not just what he can do for Kansas. Even at Kansas... his window closes almost completely as we get more post depth if his only role becomes as a "stretch 4."
And his future will be tough trying to only be a stretch 4, too. I'm not thinking NBA, and I doubt Mitch is either. But... there are all kinds of pro ball opportunities out there, from Europe to Asia to South America.
There really isn't a reason why he shouldn't work on his handles. It's kind of like players that can't shoot FTs above 60%. Even if we use Mitch only as a stretch 4... there will be times he will receive the ball in a time and place where he can do some good if he can dribble well enough.
Mitch is a good athlete. His size should be used to his benefit, not his downfall (like it is now, but we really had to use him this way). His size starts working to his benefit at the 3. I'm pretty sure if he wants to maximize his future earnings, he will want to target becoming a 3. Heck... just working on his trey shot and becoming respectable will land him a career overseas.
I'm on board with many... that Mitch is currently being used out of his position, the 5. And he is, at most, a stretch 4.
But, is he really a 3? He can hit some shots from the perimeter. He seems to lack handles though, unable to drive the ball and just give us another ball handler on the court. I'm not sure what his position was in high school. He lacks size for the 4 or 5 spot in D1.
It seems like he should be spending much of his time working on his handles, jump shot, and moves with and without the ball to create space, including pivots and all kinds of fakes.
I think Mitch needs to think heavily about his life after Kansas basketball. If he wants to continue to play ball, then he needs to realistically assess his potential and where he can apply it. That should direct him to where he should spend his personal development energy.
Can't wait to see this game. Is Doke ready for this one? If he can stay out of foul trouble, I think he will have a huge game!
I am under the opinion we haven't seen the full-tilt Sam yet. He is still adjusting to being in real games. Kind of like Vick early on.
Sam and Mitch are going to pay off for us, big time. The big superstar talent will continue to briefly play for us, while players like Sam and Mitch represent the experience of Self-ball, helping the entire team stay on the same page, the Bill Self page.
KU, up by 1 with 12 seconds remaining on the game clock and the other team has the ball.... maybe Mitch would be the perfect defender at the 3?
I can see several scenarios involving Mitch on the court, even if we have Silvio and Billy.
Thanks for posting a needed "correctional" post. At times, many of us, including myself, needs a slapping to come back to reality.
All Mitch can do is put his best foot forward, and I don't think anyone has challenged that.... at least, I hope not!
Lost in all the huge eye candy of Doke, Devonte and others we have lost sight of Mitch and the improvements he has made in his game. He has improved considerably, and had to at a position he was never built for.
I like Allen and Cheeks.
Merry Christmas.... to all! RCJH!