Frank is slightly bumping upwards..... He is up to 25.6 when I voted this morning!
Keep up the good work!
drgnslayr
11251 posts
Hey... I hope Duke doesn't win and it will be tough without a true PG. But... they have so much firepower with sneaky players like Kennard and Allen.
Their Achilles heel has always been defense, and their defense is looking better with their big freshmen playing well.
They will be dangerous because they have a very different team from everyone else. Same can be said of WSU. I'm just thankful both of these teams have a tough road ahead of them before we could meet.
From what I've seen of Tremont... he is a much better pick than Trae Young. The one area Trae has over him is his long ball shot. But everything else I give to Tremont; handles, passing, driving and finishing with either hand, court vision....
I would rather have Tremont's skill set and have 4 years to polish my trey. I'm willing to bet his trey will come along and pass Trae's trey because Tremont's defender has to back off because of his threat to drive more.
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Tremont is that "hidden gem" Bill always like to get.
I have to worry about my powers to jinx this team so I can't comment.
I can say it's been a fun ride up until now.
Duke propelled themselves into the limelight by winning 4 games in 4 days, including a win against UNC.
Plus... they are now healthy and a couple of their star freshman are coming on.
This is not the same team we beat early on.
Ha.... I'm loving it.
WSU vs Kentucky.
I am psyched for this potential game.
Also Gonzaga potentially facing WVU? Are you kidding me? Ha! Brilliant!
Purple Kitties vs Danny Manning? Danny gets another shot at the kitties. Awesome!
Duke vs Nova? Ha. So one of these teams goes home before the FF, guaranteed!
I like most of the teams in the Big 12. But a couple of the teams (Clones and Mildcats) have ridiculous fan bases. Too many crack pipes makes a fan base crazy. They start thinking outrageous thoughts just because they win a game or two.
This is like a WET DREAM for me!
We probably get MSU in game 2? Maybe the Clones in game 3? Maybe Oregon or Louisville in game 4?
I'm cool with all of it! Can we really complain about that?
And Syracuse out?!
Hahahahaeeee.... probably because I was thinking about them!
Dickie V freaking out on Syracuse... PRICELESS!
Ha.... IT WORKED!
I jinxed both Duke and WSU!
Yeeeeeehaw!
Something to think about.... suddenly Kansas has more leverage with the NCAA.
Coach Self is about to become a HOFr. That will help us, big time... not only with recruiting, but with our reputation within the east coast media and the wonks at the NCAA.
Can someone help me out when that becomes finalized? June, maybe?
I watched them early in the year and the looked average and uninspired.
That isn't the way they look now. Even Conner is playing pretty good ball. Many other people are noticing, too. I heard Jay Bilas saying how good they are now.
I don't want to play them because they can go 12 deep. That would be their plan.... run... run... run....
Yeah... I hadn't decided if I thought Trier was selfish... or that Stumpy just told him to go off as much as possible. Whatever.... the kid can ball!
Amen to that!
I'm going to puke....
Not because Kansas was denied a #1 seed. I feel like that is going to happen.
I'm going to puke because of what will happen out west.
Gonzaga... a team that should be ranked 20th in the country, will snag the #1 seed out west.
I'm still not going to puke from that.
Duke is playing better ball and their worshippers want the world to forget their 8 losses and finishing fifth in the ACC and give them a #1 seed.
I'm still not going to puke from that.
Duke will be rewarded by getting the #2 seed out west! They will have the best placement of ALL teams! (as usual)
My other pukey moment is with WSU. I pray they aren't in our bracket. Wherever they go they will be under-seeded and the top teams in that bracket are getting ripped off!
Great post.
Yeah... we just need someone else to stand up besides Frank. It feels like Frank is our plow horse and everyone else is riding on the back of the plow.
Here is something to think about.... I think everyone in here considers Josh to be more of an alpha-dog player than Wigs was. Yet.... name a game where Josh really took over the game? Never. He hasn't done that. Wigs did on several games. I do realize that it isn't a fair comparison because Josh is surrounded by experienced players.
But at this time of year, the only thing that counts is winning. If Josh needs to be the guy that steps up, why shouldn't he?
I've been on Devonte's butt for more than a month. He just wasn't putting in the extra hustle.
I think all our guys can bring more hustle to the game. It has been a while since we've seen one of our guys diving on the court.
Do we really want to win-out in March? What is more important.... do we really NEED to win-out in March?
Maybe we just weren't challenged enough during the year. Maybe we have a hard time getting motivated for lessor opponents. But in March, we all know, if we don't come motivated for a game there is an excellent chance we lose that game.
I don't either. Just that someone puts them on the top line is ridiculous. 8 losses. Fifth in their conference.
Yeah... as much as I hate to say it... Arizona is playing pretty good ball. Trier is a freak! He is "all out" and he is a tricky guy. He definitely has some Marcus Smart in his game. He likes to flop to the point of being fraudulent. But he is a great player with a lot of talent. He has made Arizona a much better team. They are on the rise.
God... that is sick. Yeah... give a team that finished 5th in their conference a #1 seed. What a crock of snit.
I will say that Duke is dangerous, more now than anytime this season. But so what? So is WSU. I know I don't want us to see the Shockers this time. That doesn't mean I make the Shocks a #1 seed.
I was upset during that TCU game. I recall TCU shooting the ball and the only guy we had moving his feet was LL trying to get in position for a rebound. All 4 of our other players simply watched the shot, like an observer instead of a player.
I've said this before and for many years. If guys have to be pushed to hustle, then eventually they will just give up. Hustle is in someone's DNA. I'm sure of it. I see it off the court, too. Some people just hustle, while other's don't.
I actually enjoyed watching KSU play in the tourney this weekend. They hustled on defense and almost beat WVU.
When a KU fan has to watch a KSU game in order to enjoy defense.... doesn't that say it all?!
Thanks. I always pick up some fear this time of year because I'm watching more games of other teams and see how good they are.
This is the time of year.... right now.... where teams step up and play a lot better basketball. We will have to do the same if we expect to do anything in the tourney.
First.... this may be the worst defensive team Bill has had in Lawrence. I can't think of a worse defensive team. Can anyone else?
We do just enough down the stretch to win most games. Not sure that strategy works in March... but I doubt we change the nature of this team now. Obviously, it is a super plus to play well in the last couple minutes of games.
This time of year, I watch a lot of basketball. I check up on everyone. It helps give me a perspective on where Kansas basketball is because I am not wearing blinders now.
I have to admit I haven't been feeling great about us after watching all of this basketball. I was thinking this was kind of a down year for college basketball, but I've changed my mind. Lots of good teams out there.
I feel good for us as long as we go out and hustle every game. But now I feel strange about a few things. When we come out and start hot, we seem to blow it at the end. So... we are supposed to hope we are behind at half?
When was the last game we put 40 minutes together? Uh... um.....uh... have we done it this season?
The good news is we have miles and miles of upside. The question is whether or not we will start grasping it.
Improving our defense is #1. I don't even think we have a Top 100 defense this year. Just playing a little bit of tough defense is bound to reward us with a lot of free offense. But will we do it?
I don't question our toughness. I question our defensive prowess. We simply ARE NOT HUNGRY on defense. This has been a gradual decline throughout our season where we got a little bit softer every single game.
Winning has actually hurt our development. Winning has been our crutch for going soft on defense.
Another crutch... this idea that we can't win with 7 players. Many of the top teams only have 7 players. It is enough. But we constantly focus on how tired we are. I don't hear other teams talking that way or focusing on it. I appreciate a certain level of focusing on conserving energy, but not to the point where we use it as an excuse for screwing off.
Yeah.... Duke is finally healthy. And some of their all star freshmen are coming on. And Allen is finding his stroke. This is not the same team we played months ago. But we are the same team, basically... just without Doke.
I don't care who is on our bracket except for WSU. They are the worst possible match up for us with our small bench.
I'm going out on a limb here....
If we didn't have Bill.... I'm thinking we would have offered Bobby a job years ago.
Everyone knows I'm old school and a Knight fan, well, most of what Knight stands for.
What is forgotten about Bobby... he ran a clean program. We could have done a lot worse. Unfortunately, no one could tame the mighty beast!
Walton drove me crazy the past days.
But... thumbs up for Walton calling out Lunardi on Gonzaga. They are a fraud in a crummy conference. I hope they get stuck playing WSU.... The Shocks would shred this team.
The USA Today rag still has us as a #1 seed -
USA TODAY Sports bracketology: Kentucky in the mix for No. 1 seed ↗
Okay... I couldn't wait until April Fool's Day. I bet I had a few people in here freaking out.
Bobby Knight will NOT be returning to Assembly Hall in his lifetime.
In fact, he still holds enough animosity towards the university staff that he wishes them death!
When I was abroad I also was a rep for one of the big sports uniform companies. All these companies build custom very fast. Not sure about shoes... but I doubt we are having custom injection-molds built just for us. And when I was in this we are talking 15 years ago.
As I said.... I'm not even sure we benefit by being a 1-seed with home court advantage.
I don't think this team plays well when it has everything going it's way.
Look at half of our losses this year.... ISU and yesterday. We came out hot and built a lead, only to slough off and get beat.
Face it... we just don't do well once we get a big lead. But man can we come back from a deficit!
This team has to get punched in the face first. We are like the winning boxer... who probably takes the hardest shots to the head before entering the ring. Boxers need to get hit several times just to wake up. We are the same. Our adrenaline doesn't exists until we get punched in the face.
In the past, I was always under the opinion that it was necessary to (at least) win the first game of the conference tourney to guarantee seeding at the same spot we would be seeded before the conf tourney.
But the talk this year was different. Kansas is still... wait... a 4-loss team? And with some killer victories this year, like Duke and at Kentucky... and then our conference.
I don' t know if it is weighed in that Josh didn't play, or not. That fact doesn't erase a loss... but it helps explain what happened.
Even Bill said he thought we should be a 1-seed after the OSU game. And to say that, he had to discount any impact from our conf tourney. Even though Bill won't say it in public now (perhaps), I still think he thinks we are going to remain a 1-seed.
From the way I understand it.... we were basically guaranteed a 1-seed after our victory in Stillwater.
If that is true, playing in the Big 12 tourney was a complete waste of time and risks a possible catastrophic injury to any of our first 7 players. Plus... our guys are beat up. We wanted to rest Frank this year but we couldn't. Same for other guys.
So we risked everything for no possible gain by trying to win the Big 12 tourney.
And if we did lose our #1 seed over this loss? I know many will freak out thinking we lost our home court advantage in the tourney. That could be. But does this team really play better at home than away? Does this team play better against weaker opponents?
Examine our losses this season prior to yesterday. Indiana doesn't count because we were fresh out of the gate on a new season. But we still played them to overtime and they were better gelled at that point. The only tough game we didn't step up for was WVU. The ISU loss at home was a fluke.
We played some tough ball away from home.... winning at ISU, Baylor, OSU, KSU, Texas, TT, TCU, and OU.
I'm not sure we gain an advantage by "gaining an advantage" typical of being a #1 seed. This team likes to be shoved up against a wall.
Of course we have no guarantee of winning the NC this year, but I like our chances this year because we have a great group of guys that are capable of playing really good ball. And we have Frank Mason. I just don't think he is going to disappear in close games down the stretch. He is "the closer" we usually don't have in March.
I'm not going to point a finger at Bill and say he intentionally lost this game. That would probably be considered a crime. I know it would if it was tied it to any kind of gambling scheme. But Bill clearly is in March Madness mode. Many of us have slammed him in previous years for not targeting his team to March until it was too late.
If you have this game on DVR, please go back and look at it again.
When we went up by double digit numbers in the first half, our offense was as smooth as it has been all year. It looked effortless. Eventually, our play helped motivate TCU to step up and play at a higher level. After that, we didn't make that next step. That is a step we have usually made throughout this year. But it was clear this game had no meaning for our guys because it didn't have meaning for Bill except to use it and try out a few things.
While reviewing tape, look at Bill's T. Most Ts on coaches happens over a little time frame where the coach builds up anger and continually adds to his venting. In this case, Bill just had a controlled "explosion" and then he was fine. He was testing the waters. He wanted to know how his guys would respond to him getting T'd. Brilliant move.
Also... notice Bill's expressions towards the end of the game. He just didn't look like he cared.
We only have 7 top tier players. That is enough to win it all. But if we lost just one player.... not gonna happen.
I hope our guys are having light workouts with lots of coaching this weekend. This is a small window of time to actually work on team development. We don't get many windows like this in a season. We are usually just focused on our next opponent.
I believe we will find our first tournament opponent on Sunday evening. So Monday, we get right after scouting and prep for Game 1.
I look at the loss of Josh being the sign to me that we didn't really want to play 3 games in 3 days. We wanted to save our legs and any possible risk. Just having Devonte hobbling around yesterday was enough to convince me.
Josh has had several off-court incidents now, but previously, he was disciplined "in-house" so we didn't have to lose him for games. Why not this time? I'm sure if this had been a March Madness game then Josh would have played.
I'm just bummed because I wanted to enjoy two more games this weekend. Perhaps a selfish view of this whole thing. I also thought it would be two more games we could add to our cumulative win column against Kentucky for overall wins.
Otherwise.... I feel good that we don't risk anything going wrong.
Vote today... and every day!
Can't wait to see him in a Hawk uniform. He's looking more and more to be our answer at the 3 spot.
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I want Clone heads served on a platter.
I want to start the game by giving them all gifts; special-imported Sicilian neckties!
I agree. But it helps that your star all-american has to sit. It makes a perfect excuse to lose and gives the reason why.
Absolutely! And we need these tests. Like I said, it is very likely we will have to go without Josh for chunks of games in March. Time to see what this team is made of.
Say hello to all our Clone friends. I hope they win so we can get another shot at them.
Has this created the opportunity for KU to lose today and not be penalized a little bit by the selection committee?
Is there someone thinking.... "we only have 7 tournament-capable players so we don't need to risk an injury?"
Inquiring minds want to know.
The only thing I see is Frank Mason. And I believe he has taken my mantra "Done Losin'" and has run with it.
I'm looking forward to today's game. This is an awesome opportunity for Frank and Devonte to reunite as two leaders on this team. I see this as a growth opportunity for both. There is a very good chance we lose Josh in a game or two at sometime in March. Foul trouble is quite possible for Josh. He still shows signs of being a freshman and the pressure is just about to go up.
The only way is to chaperone on every player 24/7. The chaperones are usually other players, like walk-ons. And there should be one player being "the mom." There has to be a structure of accountability. Schedules in writing... etc.
This is how it worked when I played ball in Europe. And we visited many countries that had different laws, customs and language. It was a bigger deal in eastern block countries. It worked very, very well!
There is simply no excuse for what has happened this year. None.
I'm willing to bet that if we don't do something about this... we will have something very very bad happen soon!
Actually.... I bet this could really HELP our recruiting (instead of possibly hurting it because of our current press). I think a lot of parents would appreciate the focus on off-court activities!
Keep voting, people!
As I said earlier.... Chances are that the Gonzaga player's votes will mostly be thrown out after the voting stops. They will determine that just a few people hacked in votes. It is easy to do... but everyone in here just needs to vote legitimately. One time a day.
If you are caught voting multiple times a day, they will throw out all your votes.
This is the least thing we can do for a warrior that has put it on the line every time out in a Jayhawk uniform!
10 times.
What's that?
The number of times now I have thrown up a warning that our basketball program needs to have a system in place to better monitor players while off the court.
I'm already sickened by the east coast media discounting our incredible season, with incredible players... just to beat the drum of some silly issues (except the alleged rape).
Ha... never hurts to ask!
Italy is amazing and pretty safe. The biggest threat is perhaps an occasional pickpocket situation.
Ha... a cabinet bigger than him!
Congrats, Frank! You deserve all the awards this year! You are truly a warrior!
USA TODAY Sports player of the year: Kansas' Frank Mason III ↗
Where are the big screen ruins?