DeSousa announcement in T-minus 37 minutes, 48 seconds....
drgnslayr
11251 posts
Concerning DeSousa's eligibility.... I am of the opinion that we have been discussing his case with the NCAA so we can get him cleared ASAP, once he provides qualifying academics. So... we just need to be able to tick off the boxes today before 4pm CST. And DeSousa has it worked out with IMG to release his grades today, before 4pm CST.
Something could go wrong... but we have choreographed this to have the best chance of working today!
I think we just expect too much out of Mitch. He hustles probably more than anyone else on our team, and that counts for a lot. But it also exposes weaknesses in his game because he is involved on so many plays. He is still "green wood" and has plenty to learn about the game. His biggest flaw right now is making boneheaded plays.... something that happens with all green wood, but in his case, more often because he hustles and is involved in so many plays.
Wow... he sure is swatting a lot of balls away from the rim! Bravo, Mitch!
Self has said, many times, that they don't change their defense for anyone. I have always found that to be the most odd statement a coach could make. Maybe it is just Self being the "Riverboat Gambler" and trying to get other teams to bite his bluff.
But in reality, I do believe him.
I zero in on Sam on defense. I noticed, last night, he was beat by his man off the dribble, and he recovered by a short cut to where the driver was going and then created a hedge, stopping the driver's drive. I can't recall ever seeing that since Travis Releford!
I am impressed with Sam's defense. Consider that he has only been in a few games now. Practice and real games are simply not the same speed.
I've already noticed Sam using a bit of hedging to stop the drive. Something the rest of our team should take note of!
Now... if we can get our coaches on board to scout teams to develop defensive strategy, especially on hedging. Take away all of the gifted offense we hand over to our opponents... especially the ones with driving limitations to one side of the basket. For Pete's sake... this has been driving me berserk for years!
You want to know why every team we play gives us their best shot? This is largely why. We don't take away their telegraphed offense.
We should have notes on every single player in the Big 12. What are their offensive tendencies? Drive to the left or right? Shot fakes? Crossover capable? Very few D1 players are truly gifted all the way around on offense.
Trae Young is a different story. The best way to prepare for him is to go to church first and pray for the best! He is now my favorite player in college basketball. Man.. can that guy ball!
I hope Malik can find his way. I'm confused on whether he is feeling low esteem or not. He is still pumping up the shots... seemingly to shoot his way out of his funk.
I hope he doesn't become our next EJ. I hope he isn't "overthinking" his game and will always have to face that hurdle like EJ did.
His game needs to flow, within himself and his shot, and within our team concept. Some of his play is really clashing with our team concept. He isn't a ball hog... just not seeing the entire game enough to know when to pull the trigger and when not to. So often, he takes his shot with zero Jayhawks in or near the paint.
I do applaud him for a finish he had last night... driving in the paint and he pulled off the throttle at the end. And, recently, I've seen him pull up in the paint several times and take the baby jumper. That is all a good sign. I hope someone is helping him learn how to finish, whether it be at the rim or just in the paint.
Malik should think about his game more like Sam and Marcus... put his emphasis on defense and let his offense come around natural. Otherwise... he will degrade. Because if he isn't doing it on defense and he isn't doing it on offense he will start thinking he has to force his offense to show his contribution. That usually means bad results on offense, and then he is also focusing away from defense, so his defense falls, too.
I'm anxious as all get-out to see Doke face Bamba! Doke just has to keep his cool and not become anxious.
Every game, Doke seems to improve his game, considerably. I know... Stanford wasn't a good opponent to judge him, but he made moves he simply couldn't make two weeks ago.
Doke's footwork is transforming from PeeWee Herman to Fred Astaire, right before our eyes!
I will be extremely surprised if we don't know something today. And I will be even more surprised if he doesn't become eligible.
I have a hard time always believing the exhaustion excuse, too, especially since these kids recover so quickly.
But there are many factors that must go into this. It isn't just all the court time they play. Their schedules are stuffed, between academics, practices, games and, of course, travel. Those road games are a bear!
I think we are using this "lack of depth" topic as a crutch.
I seem to remember several National Champions that only ran 7 players, including one UCONN team that would have LOVED to have our single Doke in their post as their post option.
Trae is proof what a single freshman can bring to a team.
I believe he is much better than Steph Curry in his freshman year. Not even close.
And at OU, all they can say now is... "Buddy who?"
If we don't approach our games with OU correctly, and really put in side work to tweak our strategy to Trae, we are dead meat. Trae will cut through our guards like butter, drawing fouls all the way through to the rim.
The old idea that one guy can't beat us better not be our strategy. Why is that? Because Trae gets his points... while also getting his assists.
Good post.
I heard this morning that the NCAA won't take any time at all to qualify DeSousa. It's a straight forward deal and he has the same process all incoming scholarship athletes have. It should be a "rubber stamp" moment.
Billy is a different story. My faith is in our compliance department. They know that "time is of the essence" so their info gathering and forms will be gone over carefully to prevent getting held up by the NCAA by having them request additional info. One of those request moments could cost him another month of play.
"Self is trying to shorten games with Devonte walking it as much as possible until the last 10"
Correctimundo!
Evidently, DeSousa passed his ACT or we wouldn't be waiting for the next step to be completed. Self did everything but say he would become eligible.
Billy... I think will become eligible, too, but faces a short restriction from game action, and most of what he has already done will count. So he should be eligible probably right after Texas or the game after that. They will need to watch that kid the entire time he is in Lawrence. He's been in trouble TWICE now, without even playing a game. He is a good kid, but just needs constant guidance.
I agree with your three steps needed for Silvio.
But I fear the following response from the NCAA -
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Their "5 mins" can be "5 months." We like to think we have their attention now, after some of our recent issues with their lack of speed. But the reality is... we have NO power over the speed they operate at.
Thank you, for mentioning the split screen.
That is one of my gripes about all sports. If sports editors want to run split screens then whatever topic creates that extra screen should be every bit as valuable as the sporting event it is going to limit. Not sure I can think of anything that valuable. I guess if a terrorist just blew up half the arena, that would be reason to split the screen and show smoke and fire.
But these stupid split screen scenes, where they show a coach or announcer yapping his/her yap... WHO FRIGGIN' CARES?! Why is it important to watch someone talk?! Meanwhile... the game goes on, in a mini-box.
Damn good post!
I'm glad to see someone else focus on pace.
The main positive of a 4-guard offense is to better control pace, especially towards speeding up the game while maintaining composure.
We have some strange things going on. After our second loss, Self said he was going to change our strategy so we go towards valuing defense. Nothing wrong with that. However... if it is about installing another push for BAD BALL, grind'em games... then that means slowing down the ball and TAKING AWAY our one big advantage of a 4-guard offense.
Even though we have seen our team shift out of an open court, fast paced game to essentially our old offensive, half-court emphasis, I'm not sure we are going to stay like this.
I'm hopeful we are just getting our guys on the same page. Dessert will come after we eat our beans. At least, that is what I am hoping.
In reality, maybe, just maybe, Self knows more about coaching than all of us. Maybe, by flipping over the cart, going back to BAD BALL, he not only refocuses our guys on defense, but he resets the offense. And though the reset involves slowing down, maybe it also focuses on doing a better job of taking care of the basketball and then letting the pace come back organically to a natural effective speed.
I'm just FULL of wishful thinking! lol
I yank on Walton's chain sometimes, but I have a soft spot for the big redhead. Back in the early 70s, Walton and Wooden helped me focus on something besides being potentially drafted for Vietnam.
I am pretty sure you could cut off one of Frank's arms and he would still make an NBA roster.
Wow... that Stanford tree is one horny tree! I didn't know trees had tongues?
Makes me wonder... is Stanford the only D1 school that doesn't have an official mascot?
Thanks for the link. Really enjoyed the split window showing Lucas vs Doke and how Lucas cleared more space early. Doke has a lot to learn.
At this point, he can make huge gains by just learning more fundamentals. Lucas was the master of fundamentals. I can't really recall a better KU center strictly at fundamentals. Lucas made his "living" with it.
Sports media outlets need to update their mentalities. They are still living back in the 70's with Howard Cosell. They think they can force "color" into "color commentary" by just making it absurd.
At least Cosell was a walking sports encyclopedia.
I don't know WHY sports media companies feel like fans want to watch a game but hear all other kinds of complete bull snit. Dakich likes to "go Walton" on his audience by taking them away from the game to focus on other trivial nonsense.
If a color commentator can't keep his/her "color" directly related to the game, then they are doing a disservice to the game. I'm not watching KU basketball so I can learn that B12 refs make more money than some other conferences and maybe (or maybe not) they show some kind of allegiance to Big 12 coaches. What a load of cr@p!
Thanks for the perspective. Dan was a bit annoying, but at least he doesn't have an agenda like Fran has.
Welcome to the Land of Jayhawks!
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It was great to see two Jayhawks get their first minutes in AFH last night! I'm sure they were both a bit nervous.
How did they do?
Good point.
Remember when Lucas would "set" himself in the post? He did so much better when he learned he was a much more dangerous target while in motion.
But Doke is a different breed. He has already surpassed Lucas in low post weaponry, even when catching the ball flat-footed.
It won't be long before Doke surpasses other areas that Landen mastered. Doke is starting to look like a future NBA player. I just hope he will see he needs one more year before departing.
The TV announcers mentioned we are still waiting for his scores. But who knows if they are just talking BS or not. The announcers for the Nebraska game really sucked. And they were pro-Nebraska and made that obvious throughout the game.
I recall that one guy going on and on... saying he hasn't been to a game like that for years... where the crowd gets so involved and so enthusiastic. It was showing pans of the crowd while he said that and no one was clapping, some fans looked like they were going to fall asleep. I think fans showed up because they found out their new football coach was going to be there. Ha... did you see that? Their football coach showed up and "stole the show" away from their basketball program?
The biggest impact we need should come from our guards. We wouldn't have won either of those two loss games by having Billy or Silvio. The problems we had were guard related.
Having one or both of these players should only help us. There will be times when we play tough post players and we need to be deeper.
For sure! And he is developing a super soft touch. I just hope he can figure out how to shoot a respectable % from the FT line.
Also... notice his footwork. His footwork is improving dramatically!
I can't recall EVER seeing a player improve so dramatically in such a short time. He went from being an overweight soft bodied big to being built rock solid. His aerobic conditioning is something he will battle with for a while. Few people can make a huge impact with that but it seems like he is capable of doing anything!
If I'm a coach at KU then I am recording every little advancement by Doke. You think you can recruit on that? Ha...
I'm a hugeeeeee Wentz fan.
This just points to the fact that Naismith eventually found the need to inject some politics into the game. the game had grown and spread across America and no one was better leveraged to make political comments than Naismith.
The survival of the game was at stake. It just makes me wonder if Naismith said the same thing about other states...
A quick method to get Malik out of his funk should come from Devonte.
He could setup some tweaks to have a few plays where him and Malik play a little 2-on-2 ball to help Malik. Like a high ball screen drive which leads into a pick and pop for Malik.
Work on a few of these tweaks and it will help Malik in a big way. First... it gives him the green light to take the trey, so he knows several seconds ahead of time that he is about to get his shot. This puts some structure into his scoring.
Right now, Malik looks a bit lost on knowing WHEN he should shoot. You can often see some hesitation in his shot, and that is NEVER good for a player's shooting percentage!
wrwlumpy said:
Self - "To be candid, Doke didn't like me much this week, but he was great tonight."
Thanks for posting this!
It points to Doke "buying in" to the Self system. All players have to earn there way into this process. Self isn't just going to give a player a free pass through his system without being pushed to his limits. That always brings friction from the players.
In order for players to improve at the highest clip, they have to be taken out of their "comfort zone" of play. That comes from being pushed... pushed hard! Players THINK they are putting "full effort" into play, and then our coaches continue to push them to higher plateaus.
Ask any Jayhawk ballplayer who has graduated through the Self system. They will talk about the level in which they improved their game. Most of those gains didn't come easy.
Doke was a beast yesterday. If you can, replay many of his finishes yesterday and then have a split screen showing old youtube videos of Doke in high school. He is not the player he was two years ago, or even close. He is on his way to becoming a future quality NBA player. Contrary to what everyone thinks, just because he has his size doesn't guarantee him a contract in the league.
All we have to do is look at OU. Here is a team in complete rebuild mode without many of the great pieces we have. They went into Wichita and toyed with the Shockers, like they were playing a D2 team.
If OU continues to improve this year, they could be a final four team. They might end our conference streak.
We have no one that can come close to stopping Young. No one.
We don't have a Young on this team. But we don't have to have a Young. However... we do need to have someone who can pose all the threats Young can. Devonte is capable of coming close to Young, and he should be using his experience to give him an advantage to compensate.
Most of our surges yesterday came through Devonte's leadership. If we can get him to lead 100% of the time in a game, we will be a real threat in March and the favorite to win yet another Big 12 conference title!
Thank you for keeping the mentality about Jayhawk basketball more than just receiving a "participation ribbon!"
These guys need their arses jumped and pushed and pulled on until they decide to go "all in" for 40 minutes every single game.
The Nebraska game was a perfect example. We played hard and we continually started pulling away. Then, we took plays off, allowing the Cornhuskers to close the gap.
We were lucky as heck to come out of there with a win. Lucky.
Luck is a great thing to have, and it is one of the elements needed in March. But it isn't anything we can count on having. We need to be able to win without luck, even having bad luck.
Sam will probably get most of his minutes at the 2 and 3. Maybe more 2 right now if Malik needs more recovery time. As Malik gets back into the main rotation, I expect to see Sam mostly at the 3. And if we keep a 4-guard offense, he will get minutes at the 4.
With our 4-guard, motion offense, kind of hard to separate our 2 and 3 positions. Recall back when we had several 5-star players at the 3. They had a very specific set of expectations... largely driving the ball. That strategy worked pretty well and even won us a National Championship with BRush!
We may just have PERFECT TIMING this year!
Yes... we are in a funk. A defensive funk. I'm so glad it is happening now, before our big Christmas development period, and before our Big 12 conference season. Contrary to what many people think, I believe we will be challenged for the Big 12 Conf Title this year!
I recall other years when we had our "funk" right in the middle of Big 12 play.
We have so many fluid things happening with this team, all at the same time. We don't even know who is going to be eligible for conference play. But my biggest concern is about Devonte learning how to bring a consistent level of play every game. This is the biggest factor to success for us this year, IMHO.
Devonte needs to put on his thinking cap. He needs to be able to assess games during play. Expose our oppositions' weaknesses and attack those weaknesses! THAT is one of the keys for Devonte bringing consistency. Without that, we have what we experienced in the last two games where Devonte became, largely, a no-factor.
Of the three players that we all hope become eligible, Sam may end up being the most important. I know.... but we need depth in the post! That depth is vital! So is cutting down the minutes for our guards. We can do some of that by flipping to a 3-guard offense... potentially giving our ability to control pace away. I said "potentially" because it could work the other way if we play a post player who has speed, good rebounding, hustles and has the ability to make fast outlet passes!
Sam is 6'6" and athletic on the level of Vick. He's our utility player who can go at positions 2 through 4!
Crimsonorblue22 said:
Pretty sure all athletes have to attend a class or lecture on this kind of thing. Requirement!
That's what I think. But if that is the case, and he did something breaking the rules from that lecture, shouldn't he be booted off the team?
I'm a big fan of Billy and want to see him on the court, but my line in the sand is when players go rogue from our program and get our entire team in trouble!
I don't get the feeling that Malik is a selfish player. I just think the game is still moving a little fast for him and he isn't seeing as much of the court as he needs to. And it also seems like his reflexes are a bit slow because he is overthinking his game.
Malik is very different from our past, beloved EJ.... but for some reason, he reminds me of EJ.
I'm curious what team will show up. Watching for 15 minutes will probably tell me what the outcome will be.
Someone told me a unique description of Sam...
"He's Klay without the trey!" (meaning Klay Thompson)
But I've heard he has improved his trey shot in a big way since coming to Kansas. It also sounds like his defense is much better. He is definitely very athletic!
For sure on what you said.
But Smith also lost his accuracy. He was dead on during those first 5 games. Yep, guys were wide open... but since then, he has totally thrown waffle balls to guys that were wide open.
I do love Andy's creative offensive play designs. He may not be the best head coach in the NFL, but he is one of the top coaches and definitely one of the best at designing unique offense. Just wish he would save some of this stuff and trickle it out slowly during the year.
I like your concept of falling asleep because of our high ball switches.
It allows our guys to play soft. It also allows our opponents to play harder because we aren't getting physical with them.
In both the last two games, we were outplayed. Totally.
We will have to learn to ADAPT DURING games. We can bash Duke and Coach K all we want, but hard to bash them about in-game changes. You see them call time out and then you see them try something else. Typically, we don't do that at Kansas. We have a kind of "elitist" attitude that we should never have to change our tactics... just keep grinding away at them and they will eventually work. This isn't just a Self issue. This is a Kansas issue.
Spot on concerning too many minutes for some of our guys.
I think Sam will be a big help in relief of some guard minutes.
ASU guards looked a million times faster than our guards. But that is just this situation, this game. I don't like to give our guys any excuses, but too many minutes can give these guys rubber legs. And then what motivation did our guys have to play well against ASU? But ASU had plenty of motivation to play hard against us.
The real problem we had in this game, which resulted in making the ASU guards look must faster than ours, was caused by our guards defending horribly. Very poor technique. Spacing was horrible and no hedging against the obvious right side drives. We allowed their guards to pick up big driving speed and then SWOOSH they were past our guards!
Yeah... there is no reason why we should be playing defense this lousy. We have enough team speed and should be showing high energy on d. We should be a Top 10 defensive team, especially concerning steals.
The energy just isn't there. And the spacing and hedging has been extremely horrible!
I hate to say it... but I'm with you... it may be necessary to go for BAD BALL and grind games.
Giving up 95 points at home to ASU?
What a friggin' joke!
I knew he was a much better baller than Frankamp, but I thought it would just start to show at the end of this season. What I see out of him now is what I expected at the end. Frightening to think what he might be like in March!
I didn't think we had to worry about OU until next year. Huh... I should have known that Lon would get more out of his guys.
If De Sousa comes in, I wonder what offense we will run.
Self just mentioned "making changes" and it sounds like he wants to slow down the pace and go back to "BAD BALL." Did anyone else catch this?
I get it. Our guards are playing ZERO defense! We've been putting all our emphasis on offense. So.... kill the offense!
If I squint my eyes and replay our last two games, it looks like we have 4 or 5 BGreenes out there!
This isn't my biggest worry (even though it is horrible). My biggest worry is about what I saw from Devonte for the past 3 years. Consistency was an issue. He can't be inconsistent and lead this team. It seems like he had a couple of hot games, then he let off the gas. Hot and cold will always be there... hustle is a constant! Using your head... is a constant!
Devonte, alone, needed to step up in these games and put the team on his back. He could have shredded both of these teams with his drive, which might have helped our guys get motivated on both sides of the court.
Yeah... Young is having an excellent senior year!
Oh... uh... wait a minute... freshman year!
Man, that kid can play! I could see OU trashing us big if we don't get our snit together.
Good post on concussions. Truth is, we don't know how that concussion is going to impact Malik's play for a while.
Look at the NFL... specifically, the KC Chiefs. They were 5-0 and their offense was outrageous. Since then, they have gone... 2-6! A complete flip and a big part of that has to do with the accuracy of Smith. He doesn't even look like the same player today. I wonder if he took a hit to his head since the 5-0 mark. His judgment, passing accuracy, ability to read defenses, ability to scramble... all of his game declined. He clearly is having mental issues.
I hope Malik's game comes around. He does need a lot of work, especially on his defense. He also gets caught being a spectator on defense. Also, his ability to finish on his drives needs a ton of work. He often plays like a freshman. Either he isn't able to absorb enough of the coaching or the coaching just isn't there for helping him with his individual issues.
Players accept coaching at various levels.
Look at Doke. I think we all now realize that Doke is a very rough diamond. But he is transforming in front of our eyes and he is doing so RAPIDLY! I've never seen a ball player change his body this fast. Truly impressive! And he is learning the basics of the game right now. We should continue to see huge improvements this year!
Concerning Malik... I don't know. He may just need more time to "get it!"
I'd like to know if our coaches actually talk to our players about not screwing up.
Is there the conversation, "so when you arrive in Lawrence, you shouldn't stick out. You, suddenly, shouldn't be driving fancy cars or wearing fancy Rolex watches. You should realize you will be under a microscope. If you mess up you mess up for our entire team and you put a negative mark down on your future. And, you will be booted from the team."
Is that being said? If it is, and if Billy did something really boneheaded, like driving around in a vehicle provided for by an agent or old coach, shouldn't he be booted off this team?
This all sounds like a player making the biggest sin possible. If this is what happened, boot him off this team. We don't need trouble and the best way to deal with trouble is to terminate it.
I'm not so sure in this story being spread. I hope it is something else and Billy will be back on the court soon!
I'm just against anyone calling the Sprint Center a KU home game. Bull snit! It's about the same distance from AFH as Columbia, Mizzou. Would a game at Mizzou also be considered a home game?
How about we hold our own annual classic? How about in Maui? Right at Christmas every single year!
How many recruits want to spend their Christmas joy in Maui? And fans?
I'm still perplexed by Malik's game.
I know one thing... next summer he needs to go down to Houston and learn from John Lucas. Tyshawn Taylor made that wise decision before his senior year. He went there to have John work with his jump shot. And make no mistake about it... his trey shot was much better in his senior year. But the biggest breakthrough in his game came from John teaching him how to finish at the rim.
Few people know how great of a finisher Lucas was in the NBA. At 6'3" he had no problem finishing on anyone. His key was to slow down at the end and to understand spacing... spacing of him with the defender and spacing of the ball from the defender. He also understood timing and using the glass to angle his shots around the swats. Lucas was definitely the MASTER of finishing at the rim. No huge vertical!
Malik is a less-polished Tyshawn in his junior year. Both thought the way to finish drives was to turn on the athleticism; high speed! Tyshawn learned from Lucas and had a killer senior campaign where he finished his drives as good as any Jayhawk ever!
Malik has the potential. I hope he finds the right coaching so he can maximize his skill set!