🏀 KuBuckets Archive

They look so fresh!

Hunter is asleep

I wanna see that Naismith commercial again! 😂

M2M… guys guarding… this is Self’s calling card he brought from OSU

2nd wind?

Passmore coming in soon

WTF… a Capital One credit card commercial with Naismith? Do we get a royalty?

Maybe Flory can be a spark!

We look a little tired

We TO… they score

This team is impossible to predict. One game we play stellar defense and shut them down to 50…. Next game high TOs and blow it at the end…. Next game zero defense… Next game?

I was shocked last night by how well we played but still required OT to win! TOs and giving up the trey line! Two bad habits for March!

AZ will be intimidated like they were in AFH! Newbies in the league!

AJ…. feel free to knock down 20!

Where you at, @wissox ! 😎

I hate Duke… but I’m bummed out on their loss of Brown and Flagg. Hate to see guys go down anytime but especially in March. Can’t wait for Flagg to go pro so I can become a big fan!

@benshawks08

Great post!

I've always considered it a curse when we are ranked high ... especially in the fall.

I'm an old boomer. I was coached by both... + and -. Both ways worked with me, but the times were different then. Youth were used to facing negativity, too. I think the youth today, most have little or none of that. So if it hits them in the mouth in college, I can't see it being helpful. Just my two cents.

I think we need another recruiting prerequisite: either be willing to FIGHT for a win, or go somewhere else! I'm sick of recruiting players that look good on paper, but blow away in the breeze like toilet paper.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Peterson:

For me, keeping Clemence is bigger than basketball. It’s about helping him get his degree and setting him up for his post basketball life. I’m fine with him being the last scholarship players on the bench because he’s shown he can playa few minutes and be fine. If he feels he can keep himself out of trouble and wants to play more, then a transfer to another program is fine. I don’t want to keep him because of his basketball ability, just to help him personally stay on the right path in life.

I like the sound of this!

I'm anxious to see him play again! I hope he shows some of that esteem he had in high school, before he had his swagger neutered in college. Maybe it's just playing against tougher competition. I wish we would build kids up instead of tear them down.

@kjayhawks thanks for the stats. He just doesn’t look composed this year!

I can’t believe we beat Duke early on. I know they play in a bad conference but I wouldn’t want to play them now. They were talking about how positive it is having a GM and I’m down with that. I’ve been critical about Self but it’s more about the environment surrounding him. If you want KU bringing home hardware, we’ve got to keep up with other programs. We’ve got facilities… McCarthy Hall, etc…. But now it’s about building a winning environment around the head coach. Scheyer is building a winning structure around him and we are falling behind.

Juan looks bad when you play him beside guys who aren’t scoring. He’s an assist guy. I could be wrong but isn’t he averaging double-digit scoring this year? His whole stat package would lift considerably if he was on a better team. He’s just the wrong PG on this team. We’d be better with a Frank Mason type PG. But with a better team, Juan suddenly looks right… like in 2022.

This sums it up for me this year:

I love our players, but I hate our team!

What's the over/under on us hitting 20 wins this season?

The Captain Obvious people have pointed to Mayo for this loss. He did have probably his worst game ever as a Jayhawk. But to point blame?

First... fan send him threatening messages... Really? If you can't smell a purple kitty or mizzou tig doing this, then you haven't been a Hawk fan long enough to know the stunts pulled.

Throw out Mayo's 5 TOs, and add a few more makes on his stats... we still would have lost because we never adjusted to what they were doing. Our on-ball screen defense is easily the worst I've ever seen under Self. Anyone remember what he used to teach? Heck.. they used to never switch and our guys fought through screens so hard opponents gave up running them because their arms would get beat down so hard. And now? I watched this game and I could see our screen defenders getting beat on screens a full two seconds before the screen. They were never setup to beat screens. So we switched... and our switch defense was horrific. Hunter continually got slaughtered.

To make all of our woes intensified our weakside defensive help is horrendous. Basically, we have 4 guys playing most the game in "no mans' land" not guarding anyone, then get murdered on the trey. Even worse... these same teams drive right past our interior with 4 to 5 players like they aren't even there, and make a layup or get fouled.

This is so painful to watch. I can't wait for this season to be over. I'm thinking of having a frontal lobotomy to try to remove my memory bank from this year. It's challenging everything I ever thought of Self and his KU teams.

Do I blame Self? I know many of you disagree... but yes, I blame Self more than players.

This is easily the most anemic team I’ve experienced at KU. Even before Self. But I will give a huge shoutout for KJ today. This loss wasn’t on him.

It didn’t look like we felt like playing today. Anyone else sense that? I watched a lot of college ball today and all those teams were more excited than our guys. I don’t think we were going to beat anyone today.

We still haven’t learned that Hunter belongs in the low post.

So much for our new season…

This will be a real test. Hope our guys come ready to play. I’ve never experienced a KU team where it means so much to come ready because this team doesn’t seem like big fighters.

Self used to have some pretty amazing low post schemes. He got his early fame on the hi/lo.

@MR11

I wonder how he is being coached? Self doesn't seem to rip his ass during games. Maybe Self is instructing him to play away from the basket. Those high ball screens look like part of the plan. Why don't we just use KJ for that?

For the most part I don’t have a problem with our individual players this year. Some call it “bad chemistry” but I call it not being coached well. By now, these guys should understand spacing, timing, ball screen offense, how to drive and score/feed. We don’t even feed the shooters well. If you want to see our trey shooting % bump up considerably you’d teach these guys to target passes into the chest. Our shooters usually have to rescue the pass to them then make unnatural moves to gather for their shot, which, by then, usually has defense closing quicker. All the sloppiness of this team drives me crazy! Coaching!

Except for a few plays (thinking he was playing volleyball), Hunter played like a first-team All-American last night! Excellent!

And though KJ didn't rebound well, he was the other glue for this team, especially with his energy on both sides of the ball! Great job!

I'm liking David's shot, he just needs to make sure he's squared up to the basket and not force them.

Rylan is playing more aggressively and sometimes driving... something all our guards need to do. Really... outside of KJ, none of our guys like to play through contact. They all try to keep space away from the defender in midrange and low post. NOT GOOD!

@stoptheflop said in Man is KU is really going to stomp Colorado tonight!:

So, was the game plan to play through Hunter or did the guards just take the night off? Only 12 3s even attempted by our guards and they only made 3. Altitude, lateness of game or they just don’t care? Or they suck? 16/28 FTs, Jeez. If NIL estimates are correct and Storr was paid $800,000, that means he’s been paid $4,762 per point. 0 pts last night in 8 minutes. And while I’m being negative, KU not being ranked means 3 more clicks on ESPN to get the score. Oh woe is me.

I thought Juan had a bad night and he is a big part of feeding perimeter game, along with KJ and Hunter. A big part of this was how Colorado played us. They didn't want us to beat them with treys so their spacing shut us down.

I could be wrong about this... but isn't the $800k with Storr strictly the valuation of his NIL contract? Players are actually paid by their names, images, and likeness. But I also think schools have organized NIL groups to play lump sums. Anyone in here know... did AJ get paid a lump sum?

@nuleafjhawk

ha... maybe it's just me.. but they seem to know how to recruit very athletic players that fit into their system. For us, it often feels like we get a few magic pieces then we fill the roster with whatever we can get.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I hope you are right about Elmarko!

It's a win. Once again, "Hated Hunter" leads the way with about half our stats.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Bill Self on potentially hiring a GM…:

Zach Clemence, Elmarko Jackson, and Jamari McDowell

We are putting next year's team with these 3 as leaders?

Now I'm worried.

I was watching Houston tonight. Every one of their guys are athletic and want the rock down the stretch. Until we can fill a team with guys like this, we are going to get beat down in games against teams like Houston.

@BeddieKU23

Perfect! That should motivate them!

I think Self has it figured out. If we come out of the blocks slow... we are toast because this team is not good at responding in the middle of a game.

The key is to come out with big energy!

I refuse to predict anything because I've always jinxed this team with my predictions.

So I guess Hunter is the current active cumulative scoring leader in D1 basketball!

That guy who is constantly criticized. My only criticism is that he's not constantly playing in the low block. I'm not expecting him to suddenly have quicker feet or whatever.

I'm responding now after the game.

Very happy to nail down a big win!

My happiness is buffered by the reality that we looked better, but part of it was playing OSU... but part of it was a show of life again!

We had a few pass-around half-court plays that were spectacular!

Our turnovers really held us back from really thumping them and cause for alarm.

I liked how minutes were distributed in this game. Flory played 20 and he didn't dominate with points, but he definitely dominated on rebounds and blocks! 16 rebounds in 20 minutes!

Shoutout to KJ, for showing good energy! His minutes were cut, and wisely so, but had he played more he could have put up a double-double.

That horrible Hunter guy... once again, led us in points. Put up a double-double and did it just playing 21 minutes. People just have to live with the fact that he isn't a graceful player but he puts up big numbers, usually points and rebounds... the two categories we need desperately!

David... where have you been hiding? lol

Juan... silently filled a stat sheet... 14 pts, 5 assists, 6 steals, 2 rebs, 1 block... in 27 minutes!

I thought our defense was okay. I know the stats say good... but OSU missed some wide open shots.

Anyways... this is a start. Let's look forward and I hope we see improvements every game!

@kjayhawks said in Hunter Dickinson, :speak-no-evil_monkey::

Watch the last 12 minutes of the Dook game without Hunt

Respectfully... we are not that same team. Look at current footage and tell me how much ground we make up when Hnnter is on the bench.

@StLJhawk Finally!

@MR11 said in Hunter Dickinson, :speak-no-evil_monkey::

Maybe Bill is trying to hide Bidunga cause he is already punting on this season and doesn’t want him to get NBA buzz and be tempted to leave??

I've wondered that.

Kansas receives way too much hype! The players are over-hyped and leave a year or two early for the NBA.

We were ranked #1 in the country a few months ago! What a joke! That kills us. That makes our players feel way overvalued. That makes us look like failures when we fall from grace, because we never belong in that seat in the first place.

There is no way in hell Bidunga should hop to the league next year. Maybe he can be the next Furphy! lol

I love Flory... but he will not be able to make up the points we lose with Hunter. And even though Hunter is a defensive liability, the math still doesn't add up.

We see in games several minutes when Hunter is out. Are we a better team when that happens?

Instead of benching him... why don't we anchor him in the paint? Make him play the entire game, both sides of the ball, in the paint, where he belongs!

In our starting lineup we have:

3 players with the experience of a Final Four (2 with a National Championship), and 1 player who is a two-time second-team All-American.

I wish people would stop vilifying our players. This is a team with plenty of talent, enough to be thought to be #1 at the beginning of the season. And it's more than just hustle or attitude. I can 100% guarantee you can pluck any of these players out of this team and stick them on another team and they will perform at the level that got them to Kansas.

It is pretty obvious these guys aren't meshing together and some may be bad fits for this team. That still doesn't explain them only going even with BYU's 3rd string.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I just looked at Dickinson's stats over his college career. He's up and down in categories over his performance at Michigan, but nothing is glaring. His rebounding #s are definitely up at KU.

I'll stick with Greenberg's opinion that he should be spending his time in the low post instead of out on the perimeter.

If we used him right his numbers would be flying off the chart. My question... who decides if he plays down low or up high? Isn't that Self? If Self designed him in the low post and he refused to do it, wouldn't Self pull him?

Blame game!

Juan - this guy receives all kinds of accolades from other coaches, including Bill. He has his strengths and weaknesses. We’ve all wished for a different Juan… scoring more. Someone correct me, but I think his scoring is slightly up and we do see him shooting more. Are we sure we want him shooting more now? Is he to blame on our meltdown? I’d say NO!

KJ - I’ve been on his case all year to rebound better. After his shoulder injury and Self coming down on him, he has shown more energy and had a few great games. Is he at fault for the meltdown? NO!

Hunter - he has hit a bad spot… missing close to the basket. And his defense is atrocious. It’s always been bad. His problem has always been (and remains) how he is used. That guy should live in the paint on both sides of the ball. He’s the same player he was last year and last fall. We’ve had all this time to mold defense around him, as well as build offense around him staying in the low post. It’s not going to happen at this point. Is Hunter the cause of our meltdown? NO!

Zeke - NO!

Flory - NO!

AJ - never really got on track and still has missed assignments, but at times he also offers small sparks, like a few key rebounds. His impact is small. Is he the cause of the meltdown? NO! He’s just not offering a real net gain.

Raylen - he’s pretty much like AJ but more a deep threat. NO!

David - NO!

Could ALL these guys perform at a higher energy? Of course. Do we know the inner workings of this team responsible for the low energy? I’d say NO! Do these guys have no ability to play together? NO! We’ve seen periods when they came together on defense so we know it’s possible for them to execute as a team. Does this team simply not like each other? There could be small issues here, but that is typical on most teams. Have we seen big problems here? NO!

My biggest complaint on Self has always been his inability to cheerlead his teams. It’s not his style. I will say I doubt there are many coaches in this country that care more for their players! Bill’s methods for teaching and controlling his teams does not seem based on him being a big, positive motivator. He’ll never be a Bruce Pearl! Might this be the biggest issue that has allowed this team to sink? I’d say… definitely YES!

I’ll put it like this. If Bruce Pearl took the helm right now to complete the season I believe we’d see an instant spark and improvement in play! Bill’s kryptonite is on full display right now! This team “got away from him” and he doesn’t have the skill set to pump them back to fight!

There is a very good chance this gets a lot uglier moving forward. I hope people don’t go venting out on any of these players. There is no way you can say a player or two caused this collapse!

There is no lineup that fixes this. The spirit of this team is broken. I don’t think it’s fair to blast a few players placing blame.

What can we expect moving forward? With my limited experience of seeing teams broken at this level I’d say expect the unexpected. But in this case, I’m not expecting these guys to have the ability to string together 40 consecutive minutes of execution. I expect everything to be very stiff and laborious.

I previously said there should be a performance clause in their NIL contracts. I guess indirectly this exists already because most, or all, their NIL values have dropped and they continue making new deals.

We could play even with their 3rd-string lineup.

It looks now like every game dips lower. If this keeps up we lay eggs the remaining games and Self declines an invitation to the NIT. At this point, I’d hope he declines an invite to March Madness. We might have the worst loss in tournament history.

It should appear clear to everyone this is more than a few bad players. Heck, Juan and KJ played big roles on our championship team.