🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Sorry, I couldn't find the quote thread.

"I don't think the discus will ever attract any interest until they let us start throwing them at each other."--Al Oerter

@drgnslayr: this is the essence of it.

@approxinfinity: a more feasible undertaking would be to database a set of attributes of objective "accomplishment" for head coaches by conference. Use categories like I mentioned, plus whatever else you like. Aggregate the coaches by conference. Add up the cumulative accomplishments of the coaches by conference. Rank the quality of conference by magnitude of aggregate coaching accomplishment. Boom! That would make the rounds in the blogosphere and become recurring resource among pro journos to refer to when hyping and reporting on inter conference play and post season play. :-)

@approxinfinity: no, my book, alas, is not about basketball. :-)

@approxinfinity: fecal house mouse! That would be a great idea. I don't have the huevos to do it, but here is the way I would think would be the best to do it.

I forget what the proper term for the sort of map I am about to describe is, but it is a relational map of head coach names with lines connecting each head coach and his disciples in one color line and another color line connecting each head coach and his mentors. You type in a name you want to research and out comes a map with the coach entered in bold letters and disciples and mentors scattered around him at varying distances. The varying distances of the lines indicate the length of time the two worked together. The longer they worked together, the shorter the line. This puts the strongest connected names (those that worked together longest) closest together. Those that worked short periods together have longer lines. Again, color with an arrow indicates mentor/disciple relationship. The arrow points from head coaches to disciples. These sorts of relational database maps really cut to the chase on such things. Alas, with the rate of change in coaching, it might be a full time job to maintain it. The coolest relationship map of all would be one that mapped all head coaches and their mentors and disciples on a single map and so showed the relative gravitation of the various coaches in one gander; then enter a specific head coach's name and have the program map just his relationships alone.

I thought best case we would have lost four by now; then four more before our last loss in the tourney, if there were one.

I thought worst case we would be at .500 by now; then then end with a total of ten losses.

WTF do I know? :-)

Nevertheless, I will hazard an answer.

The Big 12 is definitionally underrated, because of Eastern Time Zone reporting bias that hypes conferences with large EST footprints to capture maximum eye balls and clicks, plus stimulate maximum betting in the apparent symbiotic relationship of sports media and the gaming industry.

Just look at the head coaches of the Big 12.

Self/KU: winningest coach the last decade; one of the winningest coaches of all time to this point of his career; has a ring; took a mid major to the Elite Eight; been to the Elite Eight, or farther six times; has had has lingo, defense first philosophy, and offensive system widely emulated; popularized "getting better" now used by most coaches and D1 players when describing their philosophy about what they are trying to do; Larry Brown/Leonard Hamilton/Eddie Sutton disciple.

Lon Kruger: former NBA, B1G, and SEC coach; lead Florida to the Final Four, lead KSU to the Elite Eight; one of five coaches to take four different teams to the NCAA tournament; 514 college head coaching wins; Jack Hartman disciple.

Hoiberg/ISU: former NBA Vice President of Basketball Operations for Minnesota Timberwolves; mentored by Johnny Orr, Tim Floyd, Larry Brown, Larry Bird, and Kevin McHale; winning 65% of his games while rebuilding moribund ISU program.

Barnes/Texas: one NCAA Final Four, and two Elite Eight finishes; 556 wins, 3 time Big 12 Coach of the Year; taken three different schools to the NCAA tournament.

Huggins/West Virginia: 730 wins; one of five active coaches with more than 700 wins; future hall of famer; taken there schools to the NCAA; three Sweet Sixteens; two Elite Eights;

Drew/Baylor: arguably the worst coach in the conference still has two Elite Eight finishes while rebuilding a moribund Baylor program to national prominence; Homer Drew disciple.

Ford/OSU: arguably the other worst coach in the conference has taken two teams to the NCAA tournament and has finally rebuilt OSU into the team predicted to win the conference this season; Pitino disciple.

Smith/Texas Tech: 511 wins, one NCAA ring, taken four schools to the NCAA; five Sweet Sixteens; three Elite Eights; assistant Olympic coach; on the NABC Board of Directors; Rick Pitino disciple.

Johnson/TCU: 237 wins; taken two three schools to the NCAA; two Sweet 16s; Pac Ten COY; Mike Montgomery disciple.

Weber/KSU: 348 wins; taken three schools to the NCAA; one NCAA runner up; two Sweet Sixteens, Gene Keady disciple.

The conference arguably has the greatest coach of his generation in Self. I can't think of another conference top to bottom with better coaching bonafides.

Hell yes, its underrated again. :-)

@nuleafjhawk: saw it late last night, but a worthwhile link to post, nonetheless. Thanks. And no, you're not from Rockville. :-)

@Lulufulu85: I will. But it could be quite awhile. I am slower and it felt like Mt. Everest even before my issues. But what the heck! I found it, so I gotta go for it. Walk the talk and climb the rhyme, you know. :-)

It is 3am and I am old and I am still in awe of Christmas. I swear I hear the sleigh bells jingling. Joy to the world, a child is born...

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/nba-pacers-nets-paul-pierce-george-hill-flagrant/ ↗

@drgnslayr: I would have to know what the other player and other players on the other team had done before this to know, whether it was justified pay back, or not. It appears to me from this footage that Pierce did not try to maim the player the way the guy on Georgetown appeared to try to maim Perry Ellis, when the Georgetown thug dropped the Freddy Williamson "HAMMER" on Ellis. Hell, they outlawed The Hammer in the NFL a year or so after Freddy got famous for fracturing a few bones with it. Paul gave this guy what I would call a soft necktie. If Paul had wanted to hurt the guy he would have snapped him down. He just seemed to be making sure there was no three point play. Having said that, Pierce made a nevertheless dangerous foul that he should have been given at least a technical for.

To answer your real question, no, I don't think this means Pierce has been at it too long. I think Paul probably should have quit a couple season ago from a playing stand pointy. But once you define yourself as a professional, the only time to quit is when you have salted enough money away to ice your retirement and inheritance plans. I don't know what Paul's current financial status is. If he lost his shirt in the Great Stagflation like a lot of folks did, he may be hanging on to rebuild his stake.

All the above being said, I am really glad you brought the clip to our attention. You have asked the right question about Pierce. The answers from others will be interesting. If Paul were to have no history with this player, or the rest of the team that would suggest payback, then it appears Pierce might need to burn the jock and hang up the tennies.

@justanotherfan--You are right about the best four. But my point is that when it is time for Selden to take a blow, and go to his backup, which is better: going to one among the young, inexperience Greene/White/Frankamp, or swinging Perry for those minutes. I'm talking about finding ways to keep Perry on the floor for 35-38 minutes by giving him some easier minutes (a rest from banging) at the 3.

@Hawk8086: that is the $64M question--could he guard a 3. From zone he could easily do it. In M2M, he would have to get a lot of practice reps during "the time of getting better"between now and the conference opener to have a chance of doing it adequately. But I think everyone is underrating Perry's athleticism. The guy has to be a helluva an athlete to survive this long playing out of position at the 4. I think he is one of those guys that could do pretty much whatever you asked, if you gave him the time to work through it.

@KUSTEVE: He talked about it often with Marcus, but barely tried it. Marcus easily could have, but Self never had anyone better at the four than these guys were. Besides lack of better 4, I think the reason he never did it with any of those guys was that each of them were, by the time they were in the rotation, strong enough and bad enough to take guys up with them, when they weren't forearm smashing them. :-)

@globaljaybird: copy and paste on Brannen. He has the goods, but its late December and conference is soon to start. If he wants to separate from AW3 and Conner he needs to do it pretty quick. I'm not sure Self can keep throwing Greene, White and Frankamp against the wall hoping one sticks during conference. If he has to fish or cut bait, swinging Perry may be the safest option he has. Great to read you, as always.

@JayDocMD: your concerns are why Perry plays where he does, not doubt. But Self has to be struck by Perry's inability to finish strong under physical challenge, or to stay on spots against physically strong players. Really, watching Perry play against any guys, short or tall, that are powerfully built and willing to get physical, shows that he is a finesse scorer. On a good night, he can score a lot of points, usually outscore his man, but he does not dominate. And when they really start doubling and roughing him up, he isn't strong enough yet to take people up with him. Up to now the much more strict foul calling has really favored Perry. But in any game, where the refs allowed physical play in the paint--losses to Nova, Georgetown, Colorado, and Florida, even in his fine performance win the New Mexico wins, he was finessing points, not establishing position and taking bodies with hm to the iron. And he while his help defense is good for his partner inside, and his hedging is good and getting better, he really doesn't pick up blow byes and stop them very well. And this is no knock on Perry Ellis at all. Andrew Wiggins would be having the exact same kinds of problems as Perry, if he and not Perry were being asked to play out of position at the 4. Perry would really have to add 20 pounds to become the kind of physical force KU requires inside to go with long bigs like Embiid and Landen. Or he would have to become as explosive out of his position as Jamari is, at the same weight. I also think board rats are underrating Perry's foot speed and over estimating that you have to be able to play the three like Wiggins, Releford and Rush played it. Self can string the bow many ways to accommodate many different kinds of threes. Morningstar played it like a nimble guard. Perry can't do that. But recall that Ratso Izzo has often played threes that have Perry's kind of heft and foot speed and that have been much worse shooters than Perry. Perry most definitely could play the three, if Self could put a long help defender at the two, like Selden, or Wiggins, to sag to him and a lightening fast PG like Mason that could switch with him on certain kinds of screens. Contrary to majority view, Perry most definitely could play the 3 in college. Self would just have to string the bow more the way Izzo does for his big, strong 3s. And Perry would be an overpoweringly strong 3 right now against almost all other college 3s. And whenever Perry ran into a 3 that really gave his defense trouble, well, then, voila, Self can switch to zone, or round up the usual green wing suspects, and rotate Perry back to the 4. Oppposing teams would probably not view Perry's trey shooting potential with more doubt than the usual green suspects Self is shuttling in an out with out success. Frankly, they would have to worry more about Perry's trey, just as they have to worry about AWigs trey. A 6-8 wing can really relax and concentrate on his stroke against most D1 wings that are 6-4 to 6-6. Perry would be much more relaxed and having to jump much less hard and high to get his shot off at the trey stripe than any of the usual green suspects Self is now using. Now, all of what I am saying hinges not so much on Perry, who is a proven commodity as a D1 player already, but on the CONTINUED development of Embiid AND Black. And the jury will be out for at least another game on Black. He could easily sink back into two quick fouls and sit. But Self did not mention the prospect of playing Embiid and Black together just to blow smoke. Self has said if Embiid continues to improve that he is going to be playing 30mpg. And all signs are that Self views Embiid as a scoring threat just as much as a defender and shot blocker. Self clearly gets that for Wiggins and Selden to ever really get untracked, he has to have a pair of bigs that can keep scoring even when the defenses sag and the forearm smashes and shoving get hot and heavy. Scorers through thick and thin in the paint are what force defenses to sag and so open up the likes of Wiggins and Selden to cut their hearts out outside both on open looks and on slashes to iron. So: if Embiid and Black stay untracked, Perry becomes very feasible to swing some at the 3. I can't even imagine how much damage AWigs and Perry could cause on opposite wings, shooting open set shots from the stripe, and every third or fourth possession overloading a side with Embiid and Black, bring the back side wing--either Perry, or Wiggins, down on the low block, a quick reversal, voila, a 6-8 wing shooting five footers over 6-4 to 6-5 wings. The game would be over in six minutes, or the other team's wings would be fouled up, or both. Self has to do something like this, or he has to ride out Perry's weakness against strong bigs, and put either Greene, or AWIII in the corner, a la Jabbar and Lefty Lynn Shackleford once up on a time in a game long, long ago, and let Greene, or White, shoot treys from the corner until the cows come home. Self has to do one or the other with a big man like Embiid. One or the other. If you're footer is going to be one of your scorers inside, then he's got to kick it out when doubled and tripled to a wing, who's got to whip it to the corner and let it fly. Its like a law of the basketball universe. Self wants desperately to find a wing gunner like Ben was last year. But he's not going to find it in this bunch. Ben was a rare, rare shooter. Frankly, if Self were to go ahead and take the corner shooting plunge as Wooden did once upon a time, a plunge that the conservative in Self every wants desperately to avoid, AW3 is this team's Lefty Lynn Shackleford. AW3 is not an emotional shooter like Greene. He is a machine shooter. Same way every time. He is a spot shooter. Give him the corner and tell him to practice it for a month and he will shoot 50% from that spot by late January. Greene is the imitation Ben Mac for gunning on the wing, but he isn't far enough along mentally and physically this season to shoot it like Ben Mac after he had taken a freshman season to practice. Conner? Reputedly the best shooter of the bunch. But Conner is too short to consistently get the corner shot off. So Conner prevails, only if Self insists on wing shooting, AW3 proves a little too mechanical to get the looks off curls on the wings, and Greene is to flightily and inconsistent. Whatever, as I've said on JNew's game blog a time or two already, Self has some very difficult decisions to make during the period that was formerly known as "the week of getting better." It is now more like "the two weeks of getting better." Go to the corner with AW3, or swing Perry 3/4, or hope Greene, or Conner finally figure out the back up 2 guard spot and start shooting the rock like Tyrel did his junior season (46%). Self is a prisoner of his own experience. He wants Greene, or Conner, or maybe White3 to be his Tyrel. He thinks it is not too much to ask. Tyrel didn't have lightening feet. Tyrel was bulked out yet his junior season. Tyrell wasn't as tall as Greene and White. And he wasn't as quick as Conner. Self is at this moment standing beside his fireplace on Christmas eve and hoping that Santa brings him his new Tyrel. I just don't know if it can happen that way this season. My hunch is that he's got to go with AW3,the machine in the corner, or he's got to swing Perry at the 3-4 to really make this team the best it can be. But then Self almost always sees some angle I don't. :-)

@Wishawk: Your question about Conner Frankamp is a good and timely one. The more Embiid develops as a dominant shot blocker and a scoring 5, and the more Tarick can play along side Embiid to complement Embiid, with offensive rebounding, the more KU can afford Conner and his lack of height, even with Naa, or Mason on point. And interior defense with the range of shot blocking that Embiid and Black offer, means Conner can overplay up and under defense on taller wingmen and not worry when they blow by. And on the offensive end, the more Embiid and Black play together productively, the more the opponents HAVE to sag to double the ball side big and the more the opposite side wing has to sag to help with the back side big positioning for a dish off by the ball side big. All of this sagging means a quick ball reversal ensures even a short wing like Conner Frankamp would be getting open looks almost every time down the floor on reversal. Conner is definitely NOT out of the picture yet. The spot is going to go to the first guy that can feed the post, not turn it over and make shots. Andrew White seemed to have the spot iced, but wasn't feeding the post much and wasn't making many shots. Conner got a look and couldn't make shots. Brannen Greene seemed to come out of his funk and have the spot iced after some good energy, some protection, and making a few shots. But then Brannen Greene did not sustain his virtues, and AW3 was injured, so Self gave Conner another sniff. Conner guarded and kept it moving but did not feed the post particularly well, and didn't pot the triceratop. So Self just said screw it and played Selden more minutes, and returned to playing Mason and Tharpe together. I don't think Mason and Tharpe together are viable long run, unless either one of them suddenly discovers how to make the trey. Bottom line Self is looking for one of Brannen, AW3, or Conner to play a game the way they each apparently practice. First guy to do it gets lots of PT in backup. Not saying Conner will be the one. Just saying that Conner becomes more and more feasible as the bigs become more and more dominant and in shot blocking to cover up perimeter mistakes.

@wissoxfan83: I haven't laughed that hard in three weeks! PHOF!
Now, make that "one of the most knowledgeable fans". Period.

@HighEliteMajor : thx for reposting and apologies for not attributing. Your post was the entire trigger for my take. I meant to and forgot. Lots of rust to knock off.

For OIAEU

@wissoxfan83 : great to hear from the most knowledgeable fan on the bayou!

@JayHawkFanToo PHOF!

Rules distribute cost and benefit and so determine choice.

Choice determines outcome.

Rule changes redistribute cost and benefit.

Change the rules, or just their enforcement, and choices change.

Change rules in complex environments and unforeseen choices and unforeseen outcomes follow.

Basketball games manifest emerging complexity.

Foul rules are changed and enforcement has been sharply changed to clean up the game.

Initially all we noticed was disrupted flow and frequent stoppage.

Now we appear to begin to see a move to more inside shooting pursuing a 2pt basket and a FT.

This could lead to more slashing from the perimeter and less PT for non slashing trey gunners on the wing.

The 55% 2pt basket close in with the 70-80% FT could be the new trifecta.

But downstream, one might see so much dense packing that the average distance of true trey attempts outside shrinks to almost on the trey stripe, which could raise true trifecta percentages.

Grasp the difficult to foresee ripple effects of rule interventions in basketball--a big money child's game.

Imagine the hubris of those that want to make war preemptively and reconstitute whole societies in order to deny some competitors some oil and gas, or some game board positions.

Unforeseen consequences are us.

@REHawk: Coach, man am I glad to hear from you!!!! Don't u dare stop sharing your knowledge and experience. U R THE REAL DEAL.

@HighEliteMajor: I wonder, if increased foul calling will reduce the number of 3pt shots taken, increase the number of 2pt shots with a FT, reduce the significance of trey shooting. Self already seems to be redistributing attempts this way. The good FT shooting big, or slasher, is the new trifectate.

@nuleafjhawk Great to hear from you, nu.

If Selden's 3PT% > 40%, then maybe, else no.

Selden has to play as well as Ben Mac.

Playing as well as Travis won't cut it.

He is not as productive as either so far.

Therefore Selden turning pro is very unlikely.

Is it time to swing Perry Ellis 3/4?

One big objective of coaching is to get your best players on the floor, even if they have to play out of position to do so.

Perry Ellis looks strong against small 4s and weak against big ones. He can guard and hedge, but he cannot bang on either end. He is not getting taller. He is already cut and buff. It's no knock on Perry to say it may be time to play our longer and/or stronger bigs against big 4s and move Perry's gift for scoring to a wing, when opposing 4s get bruisingly big, or long.

We can afford to swing Perry outside some, because Jo and Tarick and Jamari seem to be getting the hang of scoring some, Jamari can chase and Landen can keep us long.

Perry swinging to a wing also helps solve our defense, scoring and depth problems on the perimeter. Wiggins can easily swing 2/3 and play 2 when Perry is at the 3. Selden keeps playing the minutes he plays at 2. We just slide Wiggins to 2 instead of bringing the crapshoot committee of Greene/White/Frankamp, or super shrinking with Naa and Mason at 2 and 1.

I am ready to take a chance on Perry's J with his Adidas at the trey stripe and the defense collapsed on Joel and Tarick for 10-20 mpg. At the Designer's height, he could, like Wiggins, practically take set shots some of the time on open looks.

Further, 6-8 Wiggins, 6-8 Ellis, 6-9 Black, and 7-0 Embiid could zone and glass vac phenomenally well with Tharpe or Mason at point. And with this line up on offense, Wiggins and Ellis could take turns posting their wing men up and make 2s with a FT--the new 3 under the new rules.

Defenses will quickly get fouled up trying to deal with this team, then swing Perry back to 4 and it's off to the races.

@drgnslayr: I hope board rats here appreciate what you have been giving especially the last few weeks. There have been times recently, when you seemed to pick this web site up on your back and carry it for days at a time. Talk about manning up. As I told HEM above, you and he are the starters now. I am just a reserve. For everyone else that reads this, I want everyone to know far slayr has come as a writer. He always knew the game better than most everyone else, because he played it here,and lived it overseas, but he was for a long time hesitant to go ahead and find his voice. Work obligations and a touch of doubt about whether finding his own writing voice was worth the inevitable struggle it required to find it made him deliberate early on. But it has been a particular and remarkable joy to to watch his tenacity and success in finding it. Like HEM, slayr's become a writer here. Its been great fun watching him become a ripping good read. Rock Chalk, slayr. You did it.

@AsadZ: Good to hear from you. I don't know if I will be able to resume paintographing, or not.

@wrwlumpy: same to you, wrw, and that is one awesome jpeg!!!

@HighEliteMajor: I agree we have a problem with trey shooting for sure. But the convergence of all the bigs into guys capable of producing to one degree or another, rather than having still-born line scores, especially, Embiid, means Self really can start taking it inside and making them stop KU inside. This development means that Self's long list of trifectates are increasingly going to be shooting open looks right at the line. Self apparently believes Selden, Wiggins, Greene, White and Frankamp can all make shots from the Planet Trinitron and that shooters come around whenever they come around. He apparently thinks the best thing he can do for them is to go to a power game, where none of them feel like they have to make shots to win; they just have to take wide open looks without even really jumping very hard. This will likely allow the shooters to grow their juevos back. Or so it seems to me.

@nwhawkfan: I shall keep a stiff upper for us both, then, when ever I partake in irreverent doggerel about the Madame Chancellor, nee CBernie, sir! Good day. :-)

@lighthawk: light, great, great, grrrrrrrrreat recollection. If we sat together then you had to know me, and if you knew me, then I have to ask you to keep the secret of what a mischievous scoundrel I loved being in those days. :-)

@RockChalkinTexas: RockChalkin' you are so very kind. Thank you. Make it a Louise's Schooner. 32oz we used to claim.

@ParisHawk: you have always been able to edit me down to essence. :-)

@FarSideHawk: Thanks for remembering the chalice. I am not able to locate either my original, or my replacement, jpeg right now, but everything turns up eventually. :-) Have a great holiday.

@globaljaybird: of all the aliases here that express themselves regularly here, you and I seem to be from the closest to hailing from the same time capsule in The Legacy. There are insights you have about what I trying to say that are at times a nearly telepathic. It pained me greatly not to respond to you when you reached out to me in concern for my well being. I regret not having responded to you, and to some others. But at the time, I made a decision based on my health and my relative unfamiliarity with all of the goings on about change in community rules to be silent to all inquiries. It was a very complicated time for me. I had lost a number of persons in my life recently. I was struggling with ill health. And it was all I could do at times to make it day to day. It isn't really an excuse. It is just the facts. Please forgive me.

@Jesse Newell: I have made myself pretty clear over on your live blog, but I will repeat it here. What you live in enabling not only smooth exchanges, but also weaving in data, and interesting observations of what goes on around you has seemed to me one of the high points of early internet journalism. Your introduction of statistics into sports journalism has been nothing short of pioneering and sensational. The highest compliment I can pay you is this: you are the first truly interactive journalist I have had the pleasure to watch develop the medium in the way I foresaw connectivity to work. Thank you.

@JayDocMD: Thx. You are among the posters that the recent changes have brought out the best in. Keep it up.

@tis4tim: you are one of those folks that I go back with. Thx for the warm welcome.

@oldhwkfan: thank you for mentioning my attempts at humor. There was a stretch of the Great Stagflation, which still haunts many, when things were so grim for so many, that I committed to being funny more than doing hoops, because I knew how many were suffering. Not sure I can do humor as consistently, because of losing my fastball to some health issues. But I will give it a go, whenever I can. And you really should post. Everyone that loves the Jayhawks has stories worth recalling and analyses worth sharing.

@approxinfinity: You are an amazing person to have had the generosity of spirit to patch this board together and make it hunt. Thank you.

@VailHawk: part of the reason I worked up the gumption to come back was the warmth and playfulness you exhibited to me over on Jesse Newell's live blog. Thx.

@HighEliteMajor Thank you, HEM. As you know I have a special place for you in my heart, because we made civility a coin of the realm. FWIW, I'm just coming off the bench now. You and slayr r da men.

@Wishawk: consider the first jaybate a beta version and you have gotten 1.0 for XMAS! :-)

Self is doing it again. He is finding a team, while everyone else is looking for one. Finding is the act of creating a unity greater than the sum of the parts. Looking is the act of fitting pieces together that work the way they are supposed to. Artists find unities. Journeymen search for assemblies. Picasso said he found art, he did not look for it. Bill Self finds teams, he does not look for them.

Every player is a color for Bill Self. A roster is palette of colors. A rotation is the combination of colors he needs to paint a particular game. Each game is a composition. Each season is a new phase in his career.

There are recurring themes and form languages. Stops start offense. Sticking stops offense. Offense is inside out. Feeding bigs is crucial. Kicking out to open looks follows feeding bigs like day follows night. Making shots, not taking shots, is the goal. Shooting for three (a drive to the rim for two and a FT, or a trey, is almost always better than shooting for two. Players that can go get balls (rebounds, 50/50 balls, strips) are better than those that can't. Help is not just help, it is helping the helper help. Beauty may walk a razor's edge, but finding ways to win ugly on your off nights is the path to basketball salvation. Turnovers are resident evil. Getting better is a moral imperative. Playing out of position forces getting better. Not valuing what Self values is the equivalent of sticking your head in the muzzle of a howitzer as the lanyard is pulled. Characters are necessary to keep the drudgery of getting better from making everyone including Self quit from burnout. Being soft is worse than anything but not trying hard. Anyone can be coached up, if they supply the want to.

These are the techniques of the craft of Self's coaching that can be known and articulated. In the hands of journeymen they are used to search for and assemble serviceable teams. But as I said at the start, Self doesn't search for teams, he finds them.

When HEM writes Self has to settle on one of three candidates for Selden's backup he is logically right. When slayr writes Self has to get a PG that is good on the X coordinate he is logically correct. When I say Self ultimately has to stop playing Tharpe and Mason together so much, I am logically correct.

But Self is finding a team, not solving logical problems. Self largely agrees with each of us that in the end our suggestions are where this team will probably end up, but the process of finding a team takes precedence.

Great painters find images lessers don't.

Great coaches find teams lessers wouldn't.

An ordinary coach would build this KU team around Andrew Wiggins. It appeared to many lesser minds at first that Self was doing just that. Certainly the hype artists of national media thought so.

But Self found a great "inside" team with two exceptional perimeter players instead of a Wiggins centered team. Self found a team capable or confronting other teams with a perfect tension between inside and outside. It is taking awhile to develop, but he found it before we did, as usual.

Self isn't searching for his team. He has found it. They are going inside even if opponents do collapse on them. They are going to explode out of position on opponents inside and if that doesn't get three the hard way, then they are going to kick out and crucify them with two athletic freaks on the perimeter making plays.

When Embiid was not so advanced, when Tarick was in a funk, when Jam Tray was not yet confident, it was not clear what team Self would find. But he kept dabbing their pigments on the hardwood canvas in different mixtures until he found the team, until he found a perfect tension. Now he is developing it.