🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@REHawk said:

Never expect the independent nation of Texas to act with an eye or ear to what transpires in northern states. Set foot in Texas, and you will soon understand that you have crossed into ANOTHER COUNTRY.

That is definitely true. But I respect individuality, even if it is on a statewide level.

When I lived abroad and would visit Kansas, I usually didn't enter America through Texas, but then once I did I was in for a shock.

Once you land in America you go through immigration and customs. Typically, you hear and see, "Welcome to the United States of America. You will now pass through US Customs and Immigration."

But in Texas, I heard and saw, "Welcome to Texas. You will now pass through Texas Customs and Immigration." The officers all had cowboy hats on.

I used to take offense to all the uniqueness of Texas and their desire to be unique. I've definitely loosened up on that and have come to appreciate the uniqueness of places in America.

It is about diversity. And I think our country has used that word only for one side of the political fence, when it is something necessary and healthy for BOTH sides of the aisle.

Texans are proud people. I don't agree with everything down there, but sometimes I think we could use just a bit more pride in our state. But there is a balance to everything.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I agree. How can everyone's sensitivities be addressed with a policy one way or the other?

My fear is that by bringing it to the political forefront, it puts organizations like the NCAA and Big 12 on the hot seat.

In case the North Carolina toilet political situation wasn't enough.... Texas not prepared to learn from it.

!toilet.jpg ↗

This is an example of why I don't like the Big 12 having so many interests in Texas.

Kansas, along with all Big 12 schools, will take a hit from this if it becomes real.

Texas bathroom bill on the radar of the NCAA, Big 12 ↗

@mayjay

I thought the kid's name was "Syrup Allen?"

Say it slowly with a bit of an accent and it turns out he is from Alaska and goes by the handle "momma bear."

@JayHawkFanToo

Hahahe... "The babes are back!"

I had no idea that women were so attracted to scalp paint!

@HawkChamp

"you know, we have been pretty soft all year and have been pretty lackadaisical in numerous areas."

As an overall statement, I agree with you. Some of our big wins may have had less to do with us playing outstanding defense and more about just getting the opposition to play out of sync, (sped up). Some of that relates to tempo on our offense earlier being quicker.

But we did play at least one half of OUTSTANDING DEFENSE. I think it was the Davidson game in the second half... but my memory stinks. We really had 5 guys who locked down, fought hard through screens, switching was fast and decisive, good weakside help, and even a little bit of hedging to cut off driving lanes. So we are CAPABLE right now of playing good defense. I don't think our guys lack motivation. I just think we have a tempo issue (which I covered in a unique thread).

@stoptheflop

I think the problem is vernacular.

I'm not suggesting we become the next Duke.

Let's just call it "expressive."

"Landen was expressive on that play." (versus) "Landen flopped on that play."

If we overdo it, it backfires. And we are not really trying to change the game and trick refs.

Being "expressive" is not exaggerated enough to turn an obvious defensive foul (or no-call) into an offensive foul.

All we want to do is be treated fairly, and basketball officiating today is not fair. We can "boo-hoo" about calls or we can step up and adjust to how the game is being called.

The game-calling today is based around "sensitivity." It is like the refs are prepping for a game by watching a Jay Bilas video demanding that no players ever have contact. Powder-puff basketball.

Calling technical fouls on flops is interesting and may be a bit helpful. But it also opens up a new can of worms. Then we will have big time controversy because the level of flopping has to be standardized to punish like that. We never want the refs to have rules that totally decide games. Just imagine our game with KSU, and some purple kitty stepping in front of Svi on the game-winning drive.... Was it a flop, or not? Technical? Warning? I think there will be quite a few problems with this, but hey, maybe I am over-hyping this and players would stop it.

I'm not sure players CAN stop flopping. You have to look at the entire game and what has changed. The safety circle under the basket is also baiting players into more flops.

So, let's be "expressive" like an artist and let Duke "flop" like a con artist... we can't afford to give away calls because we aren't willing to play with expression.

@Ralph

We could end up being the #1 seed for the entire tournament and NOT play in the Midwest bracket... I don't care what anyone says. It is possible because that is the way it works.

This game isn't a trap game only because most people in the know realize we could lose this game because of how soft we are playing since starting Big 12 play.

@Crimsonorblue22

I totally didn't get this... no call... and then I don't think Fran even commented on it. If the KSU guy was flopping... well... usually in today's game flopping works. So it seems it is quite inconsistent.

I think what most people want is consistent calls. With consistent calls players can adjust to how the game is being called.

But as @KansasComet said... Johnson got away with murder the entire game. He should have fouled out within 10 minutes of PT.

I think Landen and Carlton need to take acting lessons. They need to show a bit more drama to win more of those calls because their opponent bigs just get more and more empowered by smacking them around and not getting called for it.

Unfortunately... the way the game is called today you either become a bit of a flopper or you get abused in the game.

I really DISLIKE the new way refs are calling games.

@justanotherfan

I like your vision, but I'm just not sure it is possible to speed the guys up or slow them down during a game, especially several times back and forth (when Landen is in our out).

I think Bill has trouble keeping his players playing at a tempo he likes anyways.

I'm amazed at the final score being so many points on both sides. Sometimes the game seemed to be so so slow.... with guards walking the ball up the court, sometimes moving at a snail's pace.

I think Bill was measuring his team in that KSU game. He wanted to know how they perform at a slower pace, and the purple kitties where more than happy to run a slower game, too.

@HighEliteMajor

"“As untenable as a 90-88 score may seem to Self, it counts the same as the 65-60 score he seems to enjoy.”"

I question if any of us really know what goes on in Bill's head.

I think most of us (myself included) has always viewed Bill as a "defensive coach," meaning... defense first, everything else (including offense) second.

Now we see him as someone who is opening his mind and changing. Maybe he really isn't changing but we just didn't know him that well in the first place?

I think of things Bill has said over the years. One thing that stands out now in my memory is, "margin of error."

Perhaps all along Bill's main focus is on creating a situation where we have the largest margin to screw up and still win. This idea seems to work with everything he has said historically.

If we don't buckle down on defense now, we reduce our margin of error considerably. We can't afford to have a bad shooting night, or high TOs, or low rebounding, or bad FT%, or extreme foul trouble...

With no defense we can't hardly afford to have a bad night in any other area and still hope to win.

If we play good defense, we can win almost any situation. This was the lesson from BAD BALL. We didn't win all the time, but we won a lot of games with a bad offense.

@Blown

What I am referring to is the energy level on both sides of the ball. Now we have guys kind of standing around watching the game. A few games ago, guys were running their tails off.... running through screens, setting screens, finding gaps... the movement was fast.

Now the movement is slower... it helps players like Landen and eventually, Carlton. But at what cost? Our offense is so capable that we can do anything and still have decent success on offense. We can slack off on offense, and then let someone like Frank or Josh drive the ball and score. The stat sheet doesn't show you what is happening. But those guys keep the stat sheet looking healthy when in fact, it isn't as healthy as it should be.

We had lots of bad possessions against KSU. More than we should have. Their defense was extremely average.

No, I'm not going into details about Svi's game-winning travel that covered so much distance had he been running east he could have been sitting at his mother's dinner table for a bowl of borsch.

I want to discuss what happened last night. Why did we eek out a victory at home against a team with ZERO McDs AAs (more like Burger King AAs).

The first thing that pops into my head; how did these animal husbands score 88 points in our building?

!a2038216f723f5539cc494f6daf78652.gif ↗

What I see as our biggest current issue is tempo. You may want to call it "pace" or "speed."

Bill Self is the conductor of our twelve-piece orchestra. We should mount a pedestal in the bench area and give him a conductor's baton.

This IS the area where we need help... first, finding the right tempo to win today. But what is most-important is DEVELOPING the tempo that will win for us in the future!

Adjusting game tempo is no easy feat. Not only is it hard to speed up players and the game, but to have them EXECUTE well at a changing speed is beyond difficult. And how does a coach know what tempo will work best for his team?

We have had examples of good "tempo-master" coaches in the Big 12. El Mayor from ISU understood tempo very well and did his best to tune his team's tempo. Huggybear has a bit of a different method for obtaining his fast pace; pushing intensity and his pressing style of play.

So WHY is tempo an issue for Kansas?

If you want to really experience how we got to where we are as of last night, go back through your DVRs and watch some of our earlier games. Granted, some of those opponents were not as challenging as our Big 12 opponents, but you will see it for yourself. Since starting Big 12 play, we have SLOWED down our tempo. By slowing down the tempo we have weaponized our big men. They are now empowered. Especially Landen, mostly because of his 5 years of experience knowing "Self ball."

Did you really think Landen just started "getting it?" Landen (and Carlton) were struggling with our tempo. Our guys ran a sped up offense. Perhaps a side effect of the fast tempo offense was our fast tempo defense.

Bill now has a couple of Big 12 games to study and compare with some earlier games. What tempo will give us the best results? Is there a range, a frequency band, that we can play almost our best basketball? Or are we going to be a finicky team that must always keep a specific pace in order to win?

Our offense looks like it can handle some pretty big shifts in tempo. We scored 90 points last night at a slower tempo. We played a tempo tailor-made for KSU.... and... for Landen Lucas.

The major problem we faced last night was the lack of intensity on the defensive end. This seems to be very tempo-related. We can't really run a slow, deliberate offense (comparative to how fast we were playing) then a few seconds later turn up the intensity on defense. Humans don't work that way.

The focus now needs to be clearly on our defense. We all know our post defense is struggling to defend. The TV analysts put up past stats of our opponent's big men and their numbers were huge. We may be able to tweak Landen and Carlton... but I wouldn't expect miracles to change on their post defense. Where we can help them IMMENSELY is to turn up the intensity of our perimeter players on defense. Last night, there was ZERO friction from our perimeter defense to stop their interior passes.

So the problem is... how do we speed up our perimeter players on defense while keeping them slowed down on offense?

We only had 2 steals in this game. And from a team that has already proven it can steal the ball with the best of them.

A faster tempo probably fixes this. It isn't just about getting our guys to play faster. It is also about getting our opponents to play faster. Push them into a quicker pace than they are used to playing at and they will turn the ball over. Turnovers lead to run outs. Run outs help support and intensify a quicker tempo.

Funny... but we finally got the "grind game" Bill always used to enjoy being in. But this time it lacked defense on both sides.

Prepare yourself for some unpredictable results. The past two games were not a fluke. Half our team isn't down with the flu bug. Until Bill figures out how to get these guys stabilized on a proper tempo, we are in for some strange results.

All I can say is that Bill is aware of the tempo issue. I'm certain of that. Bill has ALWAYS been aware of tempo and tempo-related issues. But in past years he has not always been able to properly tweak the tempo.

This year we have 3 alpha-dog, tough guards out there at all times. We should be able to control game tempo... at least, we should be able to control OUR tempo to some degree.

The conundrum is; do we speed up the game and help our guards or do we slow down the game and help our bigs?

We've had some games in both directions now. I feel like we are lucky that our first game wasn't at Baylor and our second game wasn't in the Sherronagon!

@justanotherfan

"I am even more convinced that we should go with a five guard lineup. "

That's how I feel. But we have to get our guys to totally buy in to this because we have to speed up our defense and really hustle in order to keep other bigs from getting easy passes into the low post.

I am liking how Landen is playing... and Carlton is starting to come around. But how much pace do we have to kill to keep those guys effective?

@JayHawkFanToo

"…and the obvious question is…maintain control of what?"

That is exactly what I was saying during the game.

@justanotherfan

I have to admit that I covered my eyes right after he made that shot. One ref was so busy performing a dramatic arm smackdown gesture, indicating it counted, and I just knew that one of the other refs was going to step in to wave it off. The only word from my lips, "overtime!"

I'm still in shock on that call. It was so "Duke-esque."

Wow....

We are now being called, "Walk Chalk!"

Kansas beats Kansas State after getting away with blatant travel on game-winner ↗

I now know a bit what it is like to be a Duke fan. But there is a big difference between our true gift call and the gift calls Duke gets every single game; Coach K lobbies for gift calls.

This may end up helping us down the road. Anything to help our guys develop a chip.

@BeddieKU23

Excellent post!

!SVIAIRLINES.jpg ↗

The only way to travel...

@JayHawkFanToo

Same with me. I have extreme talent in that area.

@jayballer54

I guarantee that this Kansas team does NOT want to be the team to lose the streak and they have what they need to win it again.

And they are not taking the B12 for granted.

I don't expect us to go undefeated in league play this year. But I feel like we may win at places like OSU and ISU this year but may lose in places we don't typically lose... like at Baylor and maybe somewhere else.

I don't know why, but I think the purple kitties are going to make some static in the league this year... question is whether they help us (like they usually do) or hurt us.

Maybe we pick up some clues tonight.

@wrwlumpy

Super congrats to Landen Lucas for becoming B12 Player of the Week.

Glad to see him turn his game around. I think most of us knew he would.

@HighEliteMajor

Sometimes I think it is all about semantics.

If we have two guards that are 6'8".... and we go up against a team with two post players 6'8".... aren't they the same height, and approximate size?

I know the skill sets are different, and maybe their physicality differs.

And if it is a mismatch on one side of the floor, isn't it also a mismatch on the other side, too?

Shouldn't we evaluate the "net impact" to decide if it is worth running?

That's how I view it. There is the obvious focus on match-ups... but we have to consider the overall impact it has in other areas... team areas.... like pace.

Concerning Self being more offensive minded.... I think he is seeing things differently than in previous years. I haven't heard him mention wanting a grind game in a while. Even though his philosophy on that is solid, it doesn't rub the political side of his job right. When we have one of the most-prolific trey shooters in the country mostly riding the bench and no offense to free him up for his shot, fans start talking.

I think Self is starting to see the game with different eyes. He isn't rejecting his excellent upbringing in the game. But he is starting to open his mind and accept new ideas. If we fail to take advantage of easy offense we are, essentially, denying "low hanging fruit." It is hard to look at that and not bring in Bill's phrase "fool's gold."

I see it all as "the path of least resistance." If we can outscore a team, fine. Not only did we take a different approach to get the victory we also added a layer of unpredictability.

I think a big chunk of Bill's changes on the game have been brought to him through recruiting OADs. These players are not only looking for PT minutes in a school, they also want to see a turbo-charged offense that will showcase their talents. When was the last time we heard about a player being OAD material because of his defense? We have to be geared towards big offense if we want to jump deeper into that world or even maintain where we are now.

What I am curious about is how Bill will look at March this year. Will we continue to be one of the most-predictable teams in the tournament?

I do really believe in the tag I gave Bill, "Riverboat Gambler." It isn't a slam on Bill, but actually a compliment on his intelligence and how he attempts to deflect and confuse the world outside of Lawrence. I'm thinking he is ready to mix it up a bit in March. Not sure we will see a zone unless we have severe foul trouble... but there are many things he can throw at our opponents.

@dylans

In my first week of classes I went jogging through campus, up and down the hills. I had always trained on flat ground before my Lawrence days. My calf muscles were ablaze for days.

[link text](

Guess not...

@JayHawkFanToo

That was my real situation at KU... walking or biking up Naismith Drive from 23rd street every day. Had a mean set of quads.

I'm wondering....

Can we win a national championship with a strong interior?

I'm thinking.... what team won the NC last that had a dominant post? I'm thinking UK in 2012... the unibrow.

In '08 we had a solid post. But would I say it was our post play that dominated and won us the title? I think Cole had a big night against UNC. But it was our guard play that really took us to the big prize.

Post presence is important, but not to the point where you have to give up who you are as a team. When you have to slow the pace, or run a mucked up offense to accommodate an interior game. NO.

I'm not against size. I'm against clumsiness. I'm against slow play. I'm against awkward movement.

I want to see speed. I want to see pace. I want to see teams use the entire court.

I get excited when I see a big man that doesn't play like a big man. Kevin Durant. The guy might be 6' tall. He plays like it. Or... if a guy wants to play big, then I'm looking at JoJo. I'm looking at the unibrow. Players that really impact games. The NBA is littered with horrible skyscrapers. Horrible. That is probably the main reason there are only a handful of decent teams in the league now.

Look at teams like Golden State. They utilize size like Green. He's marginal in many areas, creates lots of issues both on and off court... but he fits their system. He gets that girthy frame hauling ass down the court.

Just my opinion.

@JayHawkFanToo

I know he has that bratty Duke look... but I have to admit I dig his hunger on offense. He has cred with me.

@jaybate-1.0

Youz gigglen my tenders.

@jaybate-1.0

"Big and fast beats small and fast most times."

It is a question of relativity.

If you define "fast" and it's relationship is apples to apples. But if you relate "fast" as a definition based on size... then I don't agree with your premise. Otherwise... all things being equal, yes, big and fast wins most times. I just find it rare to equate "big and fast" to "small and fast."

Other factors... coordination, for example. How does that fit into your definition of "fast?" Little guys can pivot like Barry Sanders did as a running back. Straight line speed in basketball is most relative to open court ball.

What I'm most referring to is pace. Our 4-guard offense, at times, moves quicker than any team we've had on the floor in a long while. Increasing pace makes a huge impact on the game, including how we use our bigs. What has helped Landen adjust isn't just Landen stepping up with the pace. Our team has slightly slowed down our half court offense to accommodate our big guys.

I'm most curious of what would happen if we ran a 5-guard offense. I wish we had one more star guard... Having two or so guards around 6'7"-6'8" doesn't really mean we are playing that small. It is all in relationship to what else we can run. That lineup might hurt us slightly on post defense, but we should be more than able to adjust rebounding and probably outperform where we are now.

I'm just dreaming of a 5-guard team. Not gonna happen here at Kansas.

@JayHawkFanToo

Definitely. I just feel like K has something else going on.

Kennard has been an amazing offensive player. Does he offer them enough defense to make it to the Final Four? And now with Allen having troubles and booted off as a captain... how will K give them a shot in March?

Is Giles still injured?

Bolden... I bet he has second thoughts for picking Duke.

@Crimsonorblue22

I think he wants an "X-factor" this year. He has a barn full of McDs AAs... and I think he wants to use them in unpredictable ways.

I don't think his team has found their identity yet. And I believe he has become skeptical that they will find their identity this year. So he wants their identity to change throughout the season.

Might sound weird. But I think this is one of his most-challenging years he's ever coached. And I don't think he currently sees a path for his team reaching the Final Four... not without developing an alternative plan to try to catch opposing teams off-guard.

I could be way off base. But I get the feeling like he is going to be very sneaky this year. Just my gut speaking to me.... just like it does before a bowel movement!

@JayHawkFanToo

"Graham has an opportunity to show what he can do against better competition and there will be plenty of it ahead."

Indeed. And Bill Self is no dummy. He knows Devonte isn't really performing his most-effective ball right now. Devonte is his ace in the hole and when we really need him to have a big game, Bill will challenge him.

I don't think coaches usually want all their players performing at peak at the same time in the middle of the year. Sounds illogical, but since players play in performance cycles, you just want to have enough performance to chalk up wins, and then you want to try to peak as many players together as possible in March.

It also helps provide some unpredictability among our competition. Keep them guessing which player or players we have that will knock them out. It could be about any of our top 7 players.

Read what Dixon (TCU) said... how he was unprepared to have Vick dominate like he did.

@jaybate-1.0

Interesting post.

"Small ball still appears just what you do till you can get big again."

That's what I am afraid of. I'd rather stay fast.

@approxinfinity

Will do.

Actually, I think we match up well with Duke... at least, the old Duke without their star freshmen. Not sure how it will go if their lineup changes considerably between our first meeting and March.

Duke has a bit of turbulence, now and in their immediate future. But they could become a frightening team by March. Could. Didn't say "should" or "would."

Their lineup may shift several times this season and along with that, so will there sets and schemes. If they can execute with all the changes, they may become next to impossible to scout and prepare for in March.

Is it possible that K uses their chaos to his advantage?

@kjayhawks

What is that old poem on the wood chip chipper?

@Texas-Hawk-10

Thanks for the info.

How do you see Nova in March this year?

Who do you think will be the biggest threats in the big dance?

@Crimsonorblue22

Wish I could like this 1-million times!

I miss Frank Martin.

He is a true one-of-a-kind and added spice to our conference. He respected KU, too.

In some ways he reminds me of Huggybear. You had to look past the rough outer shell to see the quality person inside.

@jaybate-1.0

"My hunch is: if Bragg could do it for 35 mpg, that this team would already be a 3-2 hi-lo team that mixed in some 4-1."

Yikes! Do you really think Bill would have ditched our current hybrid motion offense?

I get the feeling like he will never go back to his original hi/lo set. It is just way way way too limiting and basically kills any chances we have of recruiting the best guards. Times have changed... even since 2008.

And it gets harder to find big men willing and wanting to develop back-to-the-basket. Most big men recruits think they are the next Kevin Durant. At least Doke knows his bread and butter is down low. Heck... even look back to the Morris twins. They didn't want to play back-to-the-basket. Marcus was definitely wanting to run motion offense and Kieff really liked jacking treys.

@Texas-Hawk-10

You are right... at least, I hope so.

I panicked when putting the games side-by-side.

I should do that but instead of using our TCU game maybe the Duke game. At least to compare energy levels.

Did you see their game with DePaul? Please tell me they looked like poo!

@HawkChamp

I think they have more talent this year, and 3 key seniors.

Comparing them to last year and this time of the season, they seem more polished now.

But time will tell...

Yeah... kind of hard to think they might actually be better this year.

@BeddieKU23

"Nova looks like a well-oiled machine again. Hard to notice much of a drop off from their championship squad outside of a big man that scores."

They may actually be a better team than last year's, come March. That is frightening!

@HawkChamp

Probably because our season is more like a marathon instead of a sprint.

I think we are in for a treat this year because we have the talent/experience to bring in many extra plays all throughout the year.

I believe Bill is focused on using more elements of surprise this year than in past years. Realize how tough it has been on Bill to accomplish something like this in past years.

Now with Doke gone, he really only has to coach-up Josh from an "0 to 100" path. Think about how tough it was to build a big toolbox of plays with guys like Diallo on the roster? Not trying to blast him.... but this year, we have a better base of experience and less key newbies to dominate practice time on the basics.

We will have to be far more advanced than just a team executing basics this year if we hope for any kind of run in March. There are several well-coached teams and lots of talent out there. This will definitely NOT be a cakewalk in March, even for teams like Duke who clearly get favored status in the brackets.

Check out teams like Villanova. They are already in March form and will only get better.

Sometime soon there will probably be a big upset or two in our conference. From how it looks now... Kansas, Baylor and WVU have separation in potential from the rest of the pack. That could change or remain the same.

I know Bill always wants to get out strong in the beginning of conference play. It is always an opportunity for us because we pretty much always have the highest individual talent level. Until teams develop their identity and start executing as a team, the advantage goes to the team with the overall most individual talent. That would be us.

It seems that we become vulnerable after a few weeks of B12 play. Other teams start building momentum, while we sit high on our perch... often growing a bit stale because we lack motivation to improve as much as they do.

Then the later part of the season we like to come on.... when all the chips are on the table.

Most teams move through trends, both up and down. It seems like our overall conference pattern works well... obviously it has for the past 12 seasons.

@HighEliteMajor

"I’ve always liked the idea with four guards of using a guy like Bragg as the 5 at the high spot, and posting up a big guard (with our lineup, a 6’8" Svi or Jackson). Liked that idea with Ellis at the high spot, too."

Perfect situation for pick and pops/rolls.... play that is perfect for Carlton. He should become our best pick/pop/roll guy of all times. He can nail those midrange jumpers all day, or when he gets driving to the basket he is a handful for any defender.

Right now, Bill is focused on "4 out - 1 in" advantages. He likes to have 4 guys spread on the perimeter and slash a post player in the paint either on an alley-oop or an isolation scoring attempt 1-on-1. Pretty dang effective if you ask me.

My belief is Bill is going to exploit different schemes throughout the year to keep us fresh. We need to be less predictable come March.

I expect us to see Carlton exploited in the pick/pop/roll scheme within a month. A lot of it depends on what defenses we face.

@BeddieKU23

Yes... I'm finding it hard to recall details from last year. Am I just getting too old to remember? Or is just too much stuff happening to keep memories straight?

I don't want this to veer off into politics.... but I think I watched too much politics since last March, too. I could also blame MLB. My Royals didn't make it, so I was glued on my Cubs.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I hear you.... But for Evan, he has to take it like Billy will make it to Kansas.

@Texas-Hawk-10

Yep.... he definitely needed to strengthen up his body. Now it is time to strengthen his mind. Only so much of it is body... the rest is mind... just ask Kevin Young.

Up to this point in Carlton's Kansas career his title would be "ambassador"... but what we need his title to be is "assassin!"

He just needs to do some growing up.