🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Fightsongwriter said:

Seriously, how do these morons get (and keep) jobs? He is horrible.

Dakich was Knight’s player, assistant and an HC for awhile. This is conclusive evidence KU BASKETBALL culture is superior to most of Indiana basketball culture. Their average is far lower than our average. 😇

@Blown and @Crimsonorblue22

I don't like the sound of this even a little.

No public admission of it seems odd if its innocuous.

Cross fingers.

@wissox

Whew! Dakich was out of his depth.

@nwhawkfan

JUST AN AWESOME ASSIST. THANKS FOR WEIGHING IN.

@wissox

He played poorly, but...

Would a committee of Garrett, Cunliffe, Lightfoot and Young have given us a better chance to win?

Remember, it was a last shot win with Newman. Thus any fall off at all from Newman’s play would almost surely have triggered a loss.

Garrett goose egged the game in the minutes he played, so probably no advantage there and someone else would have had to cover his backup minutes. Who would have done as well as he did backing up? Not sure.

Lightfoot played pretty well, but how would he have done as a wingman, and who would have replaced Lightfoot’s back up production in front court. I doubt anyone could have.

Self seemed to have little confidence in Cunliffe, which kind of disappointed me, but the old coach was probably protecting Cunliffe from taking blame for a potential loss also. Cunliffe shouldn’t be thrown to the dogs, just because of an emergency, when developing him slowly could make him a contributor for the long haul of the second semester.

6-4 walkon Clay Young for 31 hotly contested minutes seems the only other possibility. But Young might have gotten eaten alive on defense. But surely he would have kept the ball from sticking and made a good assist or three.

We may see a committee of Garrett, Cunliffe and Young the rest of the way, with Malik either subbed for a minute just to take a trey, or given a med red shirt. Why?

Hypothesis: Maybe Self offered Newman a med red to come back next year and Malik and advisors declined, because they want him to go pro end of season and don’t want to give up marketing him with PT this season. Perhaps Self said if you decline the med red, then you start and play. Up to you.

Who knows?

I hate this hypothetical scenario, but Newman is apparently not a minor and has to decide who he trusts and takes advice from—Self or his own advisors. Apparently the doctors signed off?

I am, however, at a loss to understand why both his and Team doctors signed off on him playing so soon, if they did.

Maybe we will learn more later?

@JayHawkFanToo

Forgot to say thanks for the assist. Noteworthy about article timing at 1936.

Thanks!

@5yardfuller

Thanks for the assist!!!

This is getting interesting as the info accrues!

@mayjay

I have to say I am skeptical of this Indiana historian's take AND of Naismith's opinion, and I apologize if that sounds presumptuous, or arrogant. I will try to explain.

As Solzhenitsyn said, we never understand our own experiences until long afterwards if ever. I suspect Naismith had a great deal of trouble making sense of what exactly he had done and why his game had gone off in so many directions that he could neither control, nor approve of, given his professional standing over time.

The game developed fastest on the east coast.

Professional basketball arguably outstripped amateur basketball in development and popularity during the first 30 years after 1891.

I suspect amateur highschool basketball probably reach an early ubiquity in Indiana, ahead of other places, but I have never read anything documenting that.

And it likely galled Naismith that professional basketball staged by vaudeville, prize fighting and gambling promoters outstripped the popularity of amateur basketball almost immediately. Naismith was an academician, a scholar, an osteopathic doctor, an amateur athletic administrator and a minister. It was likely that Naismith wanted to view Indiana as being the origin of the kind of basketball that his game ought to be. But that is quite different than how and where most of the sport originated.

The game flourished most and soonest in the big cities of the east. as a professional sport promoted to be gambled on. Some players were making livings at the game by the late 1890s. By the 19TEENs professional basketball was very popular in most of the big cities of the north east and Great Lakes regions.

Its second greatest early popularity centered in the YMCA and club teams of the East.The Buffalo Germans were the greatest amateur team of the early era and formed at the Buffalo, NY, YMCA in 1895. The won the Pan American Games in 1901 and the Olympics in 1904.

Indiana state high school basketball did not even have a state championship until 1911.It was early for high school basketball, but it was late coming in comparison to professional and club basketball.

Now I want to inject my speculation about Naismith's take on the game. It got away from him immediately. He favored amateur sports and could not shape either its club amateurism, or its professional development. A minister and an academician, it did not look respectable being the father of a professional sport run for gambling. He always distanced himself from the pro and club sides of the game and tried to help it flourish in college amateurism and apparently from this quote tried to call attention high school amateurism, too.

This Indiana historian did not even understand Naismith enough to know that Naismith was an athletic director for many years and lent his reputation and influence to promoting college amateur basketball on many occasions. Naismith definitely was NOT indifferent to the development of the game he invented. His problem was that after having lost control of it and having seen it become a fairly sleazy activity on many levels, he had to protect his professional standing be being very selective about how much and in what ways he promoted his affiliation with the game.

@HighEliteMajor

Great follow up and analysis. After expressing my initial concerns, I’ve been trying to see this glass half full and pay due respect for his apparent sacrifice and risk. But bottom line, I am very concerned about this situation, especially going forward, because there is no undoing what has already been done. VERY.

I hope he is okay, or else sits.

But then there are those that still think football is okay. Many, if not most, football players play through “getting their bells wrung” in a fashion comparable to what your supplied quotes appear to describe as Malik’s case.

Being a layman, and an old one at that, I just don’t know what to think about here, except my own long ago experience. And it suggests erring on the side of caution.

KUSTEVE said:

@jaybate-1.0 He had to get his room and meal comped. He couldn't go to the Indiana yokels and say Kansas was best, so he had to give them some fluff.

Yesssssssss! I like your hypothesis.

But it still needs some backup! 😀

(Note: a Ka-Bar is a combat knife carried by US Marines starting back in WWII. My father carried one. He claimed to have had the handle replaced with wind shield glass from a downed Japanese Zero after his small portion of Bougainville was secured. He carried that Ka-Bar with him the rest of the war and lived to show it to his son.)

There is nothing like a coach picking on a struggling player, when he is down, to make teammates rally to him.

There is nothing like a player taking a risk of further injury to help them all turn the tide to make his teammates rally to him.

There is nothing like a leader telling his besieged followers I will get you what you need soon , but it’s up to us now—we ARE the cavalry, to make a group get serious about finding a way to win.

Self is telling his troops replacements are coming, but it’s up to them to hang on now.

But, just among us virtual swab jockeys, it looks more like he is buying his troops time and belief they need to figure out how to win by themselves on the rock they are stuck on, , than that two new aircraft carriers—the USS Preston and USS DeSouza—are really steaming out of the ship yards back home and coming to the rescue.

Look at what Self has scrounged up so far for the sake of morale: a.) a 6-7 260 football player named Sosinski he says cryptic things about and then cryo-ices; and b.) a a transfer that would be exactly the depth outside needed if he were capable that gets 2 minutes and shows nothing.

And except for wanting to believe in Santa Claus, who has ever heard of a college basketball reputedly found by police to have car he and his family did not buy that the NCAA ever said: “sure, you’ve set out a few games, go play now”?

DeSousa?

Outside of some tweets under alias, who knows if DeSousa even exists? Self could have made him up out of thin air based on some guy he read about on a scout sheet Bob Hill gave him last summer about Eurasian players!

Who has taken a college admissions test that thinks they could dramatically improve on in a retake shortly after without taking one of the long preparatory courses?

And even if DeSousa exists, as someone that wants to come, improves his score sufficiently, and joins the team, how long would it take for a newbie from Catalon, or wherever, to do more than take up more cryo-ice?

Admiral William “Bull” Self seems to be buying time for his beleaguered Marines to find a way themselves.

Get out the Ka-Bars, men; this could get hand-to-hand!

@wissox

Thank you sooooooo much.

Now is there any possible way to find out anymore about what he said and his reasoning. If James Naismith said it, he must have meant it. If he meant it, I want to to understand this crucial piece of basketball history. We all know Indiana has long been one of the greatest hotbeds of the game at every age category. But I never knew that Naismith thought Indiana decisively determined the game’s early evolution. This is hugely important to understand, if true.

The greatest heroism is showing up and doing one’s duty, when seemingly hopelessly outnumbered. It is not going to one’s death without hope. It is searching for the path to victory that no one including one’s self can see. This is belief. Belief is the heroism of showing up hoping to find a way.

I am in awe of this team.

Heroism sometimes goes on under our noses without our notice.

Sometimes for awhile.

But then someone does something that we ourselves might not have been willing, or able, to do ourselves, and we notice!

It ignites not just our hope, but our will to persevere and make the journey no one should have to take, but that must be taken to prevail.

With a concussion, Malik Newman voted with his feet. He laced them up. He played 31 the hard way.

He was 0 for 9, but the team could not have won without him. They would not have been close enough for Svi to have made the last shot. Malik Newman gave Svi and his team the greatest assist it could have been give.

The tide of defeat was stemmed by Malik’s assist that does not even show up in the line score.

Rock Chalk, Malik Newman. You are a Jayhawk now. More than that. You made us all remember what being Jayhawks means.

This team is facing great adversity and is bending but not breaking. It is scrambling. It just stole a win. There are no reinforcements coming. They must do it themselves. They are in their gallant hours.

Blown said:

The team is just not that good. I have been saying it since the Kentucky game. The part that puzzles hme is that they seem to be less than the sum of all of their parts. Unusual for a Self team. Still love watching and maybe they will surprise us all.

You are onto something with less than the sum of their parts.

One of the things Self does with a normal roster is search for the combination of guys that ball best together. Some rotation of guys’s skills and personalities fit together best. That group becomes “who we are.”

This group has not yet meshed. But Self has so few parts he cannot juggle and find a combo that works. Instead, he has to let them labor and work to change themselves to fit better together. That’s a tall order.

I don't see how Self can call these guys soft, when the starters are playing 31 mpg to Full Montes every game and they are 8-2 having faced a good mix of elites, majors and and decent mid majors.

That said, KU was one late miss from losing three straight to majors that will be be mid pack in their conferences. Gulp!

But the team did rally and Doke and Devonte played terrific games and Vick and Svi played solidly

Lightfoot played productively.

Garrett goose egged and prove he is not three point shooter again, but didn't foul or bake pop tarts.

The gaping hole was Malik Newman. 31 minutes of Zeroes. Did he still have double vision, or was it triple?

Malik is getting the "play through" treatment.

This is something Self does to very few guys. He has to believe you are tough as nails AND better hurt than anything else he has healthy.

It is a great honor to join this club that no one in his right mind wants to be a member of.

Malik is joining the ranks of Self's play through club.

Cue the lead in to Fan Fare for the Common Man by Aaron Copeland.

Roll call...

Sasha Kaun--played through one entire season with out ligaments OR tendons in either knee.

Brandon Rush--played through knee rehab.

Mario Little--played through missing one knee entirely.

Tyrel Reed--played operable 2/3s of a season on a foot needing surgery.

Joel Embiid--played through no back, until he just couldn't play through no mo'.

Josh Selby--played through a stress fracture wearing a boot.

Jamari Traylor--Went from being one of the Self's most explosive leapers to playing a season in which he he had zero elasticity in either knee.

The above players endured more pain in their seasons playing through than most persons endure in a life time.

But to my knowledge none of Self's players have played games 10 through 35 or so with head trauma.

Malik Newman--the player Self has chastised for not keeping focused on the present--is suddenly trying to bare pain like no one of us can really imagine--like no one on Self's play through club has borne--like Zach Peters could not bear and he had had his bell rung in football before he ever got to KU and got it wrung again. Malik Newman is trying to do something my doctor didn't let me do 45 years ago. Malik is doing something that I frankly cannot believe a doctor is letting him do now. I don't care if the doctor's claim it was just a mild concussion, or not. It hurt like hell. And I suspect it hurts like hell from time to time still. And whether it is smart, or dumb, to do, it takes incredible courage and manning up to go out and lace'em up and go for 31 minutes of D1 action when your brain is saying it doesn't like swinging in the suspension fibers inside the brain case. Not one flipping little bit. Even if it were a mild concussion that afflicted him the last game, to go out so soon and play 31 minutes is astonishing to me, as someone that had a few concussions myself. My prayers are said for you, Malik.

Vaya con dios.

KUSTEVE said:

My winning percent is down a little bit so far this year. I am 7-2 in picking the winner of KU games so far. I'm going to predict we will win tonight, thus pushing my record to 8-2 ( 80% ). A little bit lower than normal, but I feel like I will make it up in conference.

PHOF!

I didn't think it could get worse than losing two straight at AFH and Sprint.

But. I. Was. WRONG!

I just searched for inspirational quotes from James Naismith and found the following.

"Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport."
--James Naismith, as cited on AZ Quotes
http://www.azquotes.com/quote/803188 ↗

WTF!!!!

Was Jimmy trying to get a pay increase and a new job at IU?

I don't believe this quote.

When and where and why did he say this?

Help me, help me, help me, I think I am going insane.

This Has to be some KU-hating degenerate's idea of a joke.

I don't believe anyone in Indiana would ever be capable of doing such a thing. Yes they think they play better basketball and that is their right. But this quote above is blaspheming.

Who are the blasphemers?

Round up the usual suspects.

Fizzourah.

Silo Tech.

KENSUCKY.

Dick Vitale.

Fran Whazzzihiz Name since Self turned down his son for a walk-on.

The PetroShoeCo-Agency Complex.

Who is it?

Not even Steve Bannon, nor John Podesta, would stoop to this.

These are fighting words.

These are bring down fire and fury words.

If Naismith really said this, then why, oh why did Daddy say that?!!!!!!

Board rats, this has to be researched and either debunked, or understood for the sake of basketball history and THE LEGACY.

ROCK CHALK!!!!!!

~We have heard Billy may have gotten locked inside a malfunctioning Tesla S and accidentally activated the driverless software function...since he enrolled at Kansas. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~We are looking into possibilities that some engineering students over at Larned Hall projected a holographic image of a car complete with fake registration and license plates and that law enforcement officers mistook the holographic image for a real car and arrested Billy. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~Compliance officers are running down a wikileaks that former CIA Director John Brennan was trying to entrap President Trump into operating a car improperly in his possession with Billy Bush, but the private contractor misunderstood him and thought he heard Billy Preston instead. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~Compliance officials now have reason to believe that interdimensional lizard men posing as Rosicrucians decided to stop Bill Self and KU from winning a 14th straight conference title by framing Billy Preston for a car that he has never seen before. The intention was to permanently stop KU's title run on the unlucky number 13 and so jinx KU eternal bad luck. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination about Billy's car. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone...where there are no players with cars and Billy Preston was never stopped by law enforcement! We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~We are all want to get to the bottom of this quickly. I would put in a call to Fox Mulder and Dana Scully if I still knew their numbers. The truth is out there. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

Its all fake news. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~Its the Russians. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~Its the Clintons. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

~We are just grateful there were no allegations of sexual improprieties, sexual harassment, sex trafficking, hebephilia, pedophilia, necrophilia, Luciferian blood sacrifices, money laundering, pay for play, suiciding, judicial murder, extra judicial assassination, torture, treason, pay for play, foundation misuse, biased investigations, whistle blowing or any of the other things reputedly going on in our nation's capital. We are hoping Billy will rejoin the team shortly.

(Note: all fiction. No malice.)

@BeddieKU23

Terrific game day take in the face of two straight stink up the field house games.

Gotta think we will go get a W in corn town, but I understand your doubts

@kjayhawks

Xavier goes on the All Lavar Team.

@Fightsongwriter

He goes on the All Lavar Team!

Blown said:

JR “the samurai” Giddens and Josh S(h)elby belong in there somewhere.

Omg yes. Forgot Giddens.

@HighEliteMajor
PHOF

@kjayhawks

We need an all Lavar Team. You’ve started it!

Baggage is slang for problems that plague a player, prevent him from being all that he should have been, and causes Bill Self headaches.

Starters
1 Nadiir Tharpe--the selfie

2 Ben Mac--financial "need"; the world's most circuitous high school transcript; his parents and him reputedly flying with an "advisor" to a seminar

3 Merv Lindsay--Merv had no baggage, rather Merv himself was baggage that came along with Kevin Young

4 Cliff Alexander--his mother and her mortgage

5 C.J.Giles--his reputed unpaid serial child support

Back Ups

Brannen Greene--baggage between his ears

Billy Preston--his car; and whatever is yet to come might move him into a
starting role

Cheick Diallo--his ego, his absence of basketball skills, and his transcript

(Note: just kidding around here.)

Malik Newman--Tylenol.

Billy Preston--a prayer and a name tag, so teammates will remember who he is.

Devonte Graham--a hair stylist and a back up.

LaGerald Vick--a smile and a back up.

Svi Mychailiuk--defensive footwork, shooting consistency.

Udoka Azuibuke--a back up; another back up.

Mitch Lightfoot--backups for Azuibuke, so Mitch can swing 3-4, instead of all 5.

Marcus Garrett--a J.

Clay Young--6 inches of vertical.

Bill Self--a blood pressure cuff and a baggage carousel for his high ranking recruits.

Norm Roberts--a head coaching offer.

Kurtis Townsend--another head coaching offer.

Snacks--a diet snack.

Fred Quartelbaum--some of Self's hair plugs.

Rock Chalk!

Malik Newman needs to do two things after his head quits hurting:

Hand out some assists.

Jump higher.

The first is doable.

The second may take another off season with Hudy.

Crimsonorblue22 said:

@jaybate-1.0 did you know embiid's sister goes to KU?

That is GREAT news!!!!

I will take that to mean we still have a warm spot in his heart the way he has a warm spot in our hearts.

Rock Chalk!

Lavar has not yet spit on a little girl, as Barkley inexplicably did.

But otherwise I am ok with ignoring Lavar.

Saw somewhere on the Wild Wild Web recently that some early co founders of Face Book forced out early by Zuck say they think FACEBook, may be partly responsible for destabilizing America. Research allegedly indicate its use releases certain types of endorphins that break down human beings long evolved sense of social boundaries. They supposedly advocated giving it up, like giving up a drug. They believe it was destroying our social fabric. Of course that unsourced, undocumented allegation came on the eve of voting to repeal net neutrality!!! Howling!

I think it will be easier to just give up Lavar for now, till we get more evidence on FB. 😎

Conspicuous absense of mention of Self, or KU, for such a loooooong story.

He is now the player I thought he could be from the first feed of him I saw of him in high school. He is far and away the greatest post talent since Wilt and Jabbar.

@Blown

Players with cars they are not supposed to have and apparently sustained recruiting embargoes can drive a man to high cholesterol foods and drinks with too much high fructose corn syrup!

HighEliteMajor said:

@Fightsongwriter Just in comparison to other programs, since Self has been here - UNC 5 Final Fours [EASYGATE, DUMP TRUCKS, ALWAYS MORE TALENT THAN KU], Duke 3 FFs [MEDIUM AND LONG STACKS, ALWAYS MORE TALENT THAN KU ], UK 4 FFs [ALL LONG STACKS, ALWAYS MORE TALENT THAN KU], MSU 4 FFs [LEGITIMATE], Louisville 3 FFs [PROSTITUTION-ASSISTED RECRUITING] UConn 3 FFs [CORRUPTION DEFINED ON FIRST TWO], Florida 3 FFs [HELLUVA COACH THAT GAVE UP ON RECRUITING CORRUPTION AND WENT TO THE PROS TO CASH OUT], Butler 2 FFs GREAT COACH THAT GOT SCREWED OUT OF RINGS, GAVE UP AND WENT TO THE PROS]], Wisconsin 2 FFs [GREAT COACH THAT GOT SCREWED OUT OF TWO RINGS, SAID SO, THEN GOT SMEARED INTO RETIREMENT LIKELY FOR SAYING SO] , Ohio St. 2 FFs [A GUY WHO COULDNT GET IT DONE WITH DUMP TRUCKS], Syracuse 2 FFs [CORRUPTION, FAB MELO, STAFF PEDO ALLEGATIONS].

This was an excellent list to work with.

Self is NOT super human. Ratso, Donovan, and Bo likely were all as good, or better.

But Self is way the heck better than the rest for the period considered.

@BShark

Watched the feed.

Devin is smooth, shifty, good body control in the air, and has a nice touch inside and out, but he releases his J low and he has no left hand.

I’m not sure even Self can mask no left hand on a point guard.

He will struggle in D1 unless/until he gets one.

Some guys can learn to dribble and lay up off hand, but others not.

Hope he is one that can.

DoubleDD said:

All kidding aside concussions are a bad deal. Once you have one its so much easier to have another.

Well, said. I'm wishing Malik Newman all the best and a safe recovery. He has a great future at KU, if he will let himself heal from this and come back. He was going through the kind of growing pains lots of players do that enroll in Bill Self's Center for Advanced Basketball Studies. Nothing was wrong with his game that a little more neural net growth would not remedy. Here's hoping the head ache eases and he can get back when ever the doctors say its safe.

Buffer 1

Puerto Rico and Cuba are the next really huge development opps in the Caribbean Basin: Puerto Rico because of the 'cane damage, and Cuba because of the communism damage. I would really like to see some KU alumni build an arena in Cuba, or Puerto Rico, and tie it to a huge casino/hotel/resort complex called the Crimson Resort. Puerto Rico would be very cool, since it is a part of USA and so they could apply for an NBA franchise for the arena. NBA leadership would love a gambling operation, er, um, franchise in a great climate and its about time KU got a cut of all the gambling revenues off the top that Big Gaming is making off our Birds. Let's open our own casino!!!! Man, could we fund the minor sports with gambling revenues, or what!!!!! This resort/arena/gaming complex could be owned by another KU spin off--a Panama, or Netherland Antilles corporation that banks in the Caymans. Call it KUED aka KU Entertaiment Department. This baby could be churning out beau coup bucks 365 days a year for the minor sports. Why, in no time at all, we can have all the minor sports locker rooms and playing facilities 24K gold plated. The minor sports could wear all Tom Ford designer outfits. And there would still be enough left over for another KU spin off called KUPSC aka KU PetroShoeCo to go into business making KU brand basketball shoes in a factory we would get a big Trump tax break for opening up on Puerto Rico. Imagine KU with its own shoe brand and with the revenues from a really booming casino able to run may 10 power summer game teams!!!!! Every year KU would have a long stack of 13 scholarship OADS. Every year KU would win the NCAA March Carney no matter how much they shafted us with seeding. This dog hunts!!!!!

And the fans would be able to travel down to 1 pre conference holiday tournament and maybe a couple of other non conference games to get out of the cold weather in Kansas this time of year.

Oh, what the hell!!!!! KU could rent out the Crimson Resort to other D1 teams that wanted to schedule some of their home games in a resort setting for their fans! There are 300 plus D1 teams. I've got to think at least a hundred of them would be willing to schedule at least one of their home games down at the Crimson Resort in Puerto Rico.

This is a classic win-win.

Americans helping fellow Americans in Puerto Rico.

Jayhawk faithful getting some of Puerto Rico's balmy climate.

Rock Chalk!

:-)

Buffer 1

Thanks for the pictorial as usual. Bang up job.

I am always fascinated by that state capital building which so elegantly expresses architecturally the unicameral state government Nebraska operates with. I always wonder if the unicameral form of government is responsible for how lousy Nebraska basketball is, or how good their football used to be? Probably not responsible for either, right, lest NU would still be good in football.

I know a lot of persons blame Fizzourah for leaving the B12. I am not one of them. I congratulate them on their leaving. I praise them for reuniting with their true spiritual legacy in the Southeast. I am grateful they left, so KU is free of them at last.

Alas, I remain ambivalent about Nebraska's departure. I had some family with ties to Nebraska--some Hunkies, and some Germans. I know what good people Nebraskans are. Kansans and Nebraskans were borne of the same crucible of Bloody Kansas, really. The Kansas-Nebraska territory might never have been separated were it not for the ambitions of western Missourians to cut off and absorb Kansas, and the Crown-schilling idiots of Charleston,
SC stupidly trying to pry Kansas away from western Misssourians to make a free standing slave state that would add 2 more slaver senators for votes regarding Jefferson Davis' and Judah Benjamin's ambitions to build a southern railroad of their own, or worst case for the Crown. Add in the Oklahomans and the North Texans and folks in the Dakotas and you had decent bunch to build an American spine with that the East and West coasts could not have played divide and conquer with as much as they have subsequently.

Without Nebraska leaving, I doubt the Tigers would have left, so I am grateful to Nebraska for causing the cascade that lead to MU leaving.

On the other hand, I am pretty confident that the Big 12 would have avoided many of its problems that have nearly sunk it, and continue to haunt it, still, had Warren Buffett not reputedly meddled and moved NU to the Big Corn and Car Conference. Though who can say for sure, if Warren really did weigh in, he appeared not to have been thinking about what was best for NU football, the Big 12, or even the Big Ten. Look at the miserable football and basketball teams Nebraska now fields as an also ran in the Big Ten. Nebraska was 4-8 this season in head injury ball. How the mighty have fallen for a little bigger check in a meaningless western division of the Big Ten that no one even cares about the existence of. Pitiful.

It appears in retrospect that Buffet may have been heady from association with Bill Gates and with the Boeing and Crown ties that implies, and on an incredible investment role from our phony stock market being migrated from diversified producer firms to oligopolies floated up with untraceable bailouts and defense contracts, and so may have been appearing to have felt his oats and locked horns with the Kochs. Love'em or hate'em, the Kochs aren't to be trifled with. In retrospect, it appears he was maybe trying to stop the Koch's from punching their bitumen slurry tube through his beloved Nebraska, and weighing in to cement the northward expansion of the Super Corridor, and while I haven't looked lately, I'm not sure he, or anyone else, really succeeded in stopping the bitumen slurry tube. Now with President Trump in power enabling what only he could call "beautiful, clean coal," there will be plenty of coal to frack the pipeline slurry, too.

Woe is Nebraska, when a private oligarch reputedly leaned the direction that conference realignment of Nebraska actually went.

Woe is the Big 12--teetering some as a 5th wheel in the 4 wheel football play off, without Nebraska.

Really, KU is about the only winner by getting rid of MU.

I know some are excited about KU jumping into the corn and car conference. Not me.

But KU could really benefit from a stronger Big 12.

If KU eventually has to go to the western division of the Big Ten--the Siberia of the Big Ten, the way Nebraska did, I shudder to think what will become of KU basketball.

But maybe KU will get some Geico gecko stickers if we make the jump, eh?

Kcmatt7 said:

Well I hope he can help. I'm worried that he will be so far behind that he might not be any better than Mitch. But if he is a quick learner, and the upperclassmen utilize that gym in the dorm to run through the playbook with him whenever they can, there is definitely some upside.

I agree that he could be no better than Lightfoot. But he will help enormously simply because he is another body that is actually a basketball player. KU needs at least a three man rotation inside to let KU's bigs play aggressively for 40 minutes in a 4-1 set, go with two bigs for short stretches as MUs require, and help us bridge through inevitable injuries and flu.

mayjay said:

@jayballer54 Well, if he is behind in proper understanding of how to master the HCBS system, then perhaps he will come in pretty much even with the rest of the team. So, I say immediate help.

PHOF

Buffer 1

JayHawkFanToo said:

KU schedules at least 1 game per season at the Sprint Center solely for the benefit of fans in the KC Metro area which holds the largest alumni base in the country. Financially, the game benefits KC MO and not Kansas at all; too bad there is not a large arena at the Legends and Wichita is out of the question.

The NCAA has limits on the trips a team can take overseas and I believe also on tournaments such as those in Hawaii. Why would KU want to play yearly in Puerto Rico escapes me.

Your response escapes me.

Why would it matter how many games KU schedules at Sprint? The relevance of that escapes me.

Next, it appears silly for KU to schedule 1 game at the Sprint for our alumni base in KC, when AFH is a 20-30 minute drive from the bulk of our alumni base in Kansas City, the majority of whom probably live on the Kansas side. Its quite possible that AFH would be an easier trip for most KU fans in KC than would be Sprint given big city traffic congestion in KC. Concluding playing in Sprint does a service for KU fans escapes me.

Mastering the obvious of NCAA limits on trips overseas escapes me.

Mastering the obvious of NCAA limits on tournaments like those in Hawaii escapes me.

Not understanding that Puerto Rico, or Florida, games would give KU fans a reason to make their winter trips to these balmy resort destinations, well, THAT ESCAPES ME.

HOWLING!

Come on, let's find a venue in the EST at a resort destination with great weather and both brand manage and give our fans a fun vacation trip!!!

Blown said:

Self:

“I think if (Newman) would just worry about things that have an impact on us winning or not, I think he’d be better off,” Self said after that game. “Missed Devonte’ a couple times wide open in transition.”

What is it that he is NOT SAYING that we should infer? If he's not worrying about having an impact on winning, or not then what is he worrying about?

Whoa!!!!! Great dot pick up!!!!!

Lots of Selfian ambiguity--phrasing that could be interpreted many ways, but that appears to imply something significant beyond what was explicitly noted.

I wouldn't be surprised, if Self were sometimes thinking: why didn't I just retire LAST season?

This season has perfect storm written all over it.

Maybe he just wanted to see how well he could coach in a perfect storm.

@BigBad and @HawkChamp

Perhaps "youth" was the wrong word. Perhaps "inexperience" was what I should have used.

Doke has never started and played a full season of D1 before. He also came to the sport late. He was characterized as a recruit that was still learning the game.

Vick has never started a season of D1 before. Vick is still new to being one of the top three scoring options.

Malik played poorly one season at Mississippi State, sat out a year, and has never started a season at KU before this one. He's at least rusty, and from the looks of it, still trying to find his game inside the KU system.

Svi has never started an entire season for KU before this one, has he? I'm kind of fuzzy about him last season. Did he start, or not? My recall is he was a first backup. In any case, has he started at the 4 for a season before this one, right? Svi has definitely been here a lot years, and played a lot of rotation minutes, but he has not been a starter until this season, if I recall correctly.

And even Devonte has never been given the keys to the team and told to run it for a season prior to this, has he? No.

My point here is that all five of the starting players are guys new to their roles and that is a big step in D1.

To me, inexperience in new roles is one of the top two things that have lead this team to struggle some. The other obviously is inadequate back ups inside and out.

blackmild33 said:

Not going to happen

You sound certain, as if you know the actual, underlying reasons why the games are scheduled at Sprint Center. I'm not doubting you. But if you know why it cannot happen, I would like to know the reason. Thanks in advance.

Call me dementedly old fashioned, but a reputed gifted car appears a reputed gifted car, regardless of who reputedly bought/leased it for him--other than his mother, right?

I mean how can KU and the NCAA rationalize this as anything but improper compensation?

Can't you just hear KU in-house counsel and some compliance guy kicking this around?

Well, uh, how about calling it "a complimentary motorized pair of shoes"?

No, I don't think that'll hunt.

Well, how about calling it "a complimentary wheeled running suit"?

Erm, that's possible, but we better come up with a Plan B just in case.

Got it. How about calling it an "Uber rental that he kept a really long time"?

(Note: all fiction. No malice.)

I just don't see how this is going to work, but, of course, as usual, we don't know all (any?) of the facts.

@drgnslayr

I'm definitely for MAUI, because I am already infrastructured in Hawaii.

But I'm not sure we will get the desired TV coverage there.

You know Europe and Euro ball pretty well.

Could KU set up any kind of tournament over there that might get us better access to the top European players?

If Malik has a true concussion, its likely he won't play very well for the rest of the season. Concussions do two things:

1.) they hurt like hell until you heel, and that can be a month or so; and

2.) they take a year or so to get to where your brain-meat does not hurt when you get jarred--that means you are protecting yourself and not going balls to the walls.

Some guys have tremendously high pain thresholds and can go 100% after they heal, because they just can tolerate the inevitable pain that comes from the jarring. Other guys with middle to low pain thresholds never really get back to 100%. They are always protecting their heads by not landing too hard, or ducking to avoid head impacts, and so on. There is a lot of subtlety to how concussions cramp one's style. For every Steve Young, 49er QB that played through serial concussions, there are a hundred guys that cannot stand the pain that goes with jarring impacts that shake the healed, post concussed brain meat in the skull hammock.

Sam Cunliffe, your ship just came it, pal.

Malik Newman was a potentially fine player that you would have had little chance to beat out, even with all his teething pains he was working through.

But you are the understudy that is about to get a break and a trial on Broadway.

Many good careers start this way.

Seize the moment.

As for Malik, I hope he is patient and does not get too discouraged, if he were to have to wait till next year to realize his potential.

If Malik protects his brain for now, and listens to Slayr and goes to see John Lucas in the off season, his transfer to KU can still turn out to be a great thing for him and for KU.

In another thread, it was mentioned that board rats were not thrilled with the fan support in Sprint Center and were doubting games should be scheduled there. However, the assumption appeared to be that these games should be scheduled at AFH instead. I am wondering if maybe there is an alternative location that might make more sense.

What if KUAD made a deal with a city in Florida, or Puerto Rico, wanting to build a new arena, or wanting to add to its event dates in an existing arena. KU would play all the games now scheduled at Sprint Center at the Florida arena, and maybe stage a summer Naismith International College Tournament there also. The Florida/Puerto Rico games would be scheduled every season. And KU fans would be able to plan their winter vacations to warm climates around these games. Maybe some KU alumni involved in real estate development could get involved in acquiring, or building, either, or both an arena and a tropical resort. Lord knows Puerto Rico is going to be open to development proposals in the coming year or two. The Florida option would be the best for basketball and football recruiting, of course. Building the KU in brand with 3-5 games each season in Florida with EST coverage all over the eastern seaboard would keep the KU brand front and center in high schoolers minds on the eastern seaboard. But Puerto Rico might be better for attracting KU fans to winter travel with the team.

Another possibility might be to stage these "away-home" games in Ixtapa, Mexico, so that KU fans could ride "Jay Trains" from KC to Ixapa, stay in the marvelous resorts there during fall and mid winter games, and train back, too, at perhaps reasonable prices (haven't really looked into this yet). The Jay Trains could have inexpensive coaches for students and young families, while sleeper cars could accommodate the more affluent. This would make use of the Super Corridor connection between Ixtapa and Kansas City that streamlines customs etc. How fun would this be at the Holiday break?!!!!

Yet another cool possibility to brand some "away-home" games in the EST television market would be to stage a Naismith Memorial World College Basketball Tournament jointly with KU and McGill Universities in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the summer, when Kansans are wanting to get out of the heat. The average temperature in Montreal in August is 70 degrees. It offers a magnificent French Canadian culture. The object of this would not be big crowds but slotting KU exposure into the EST. I see least potential benefit from this idea, but it never hurts to build marketing bridges with the British Commonwealth and its 1 billion or so common market. Jimmy Naismith and Andrew Wiggins offer Canadian and Commonwealth Marketing hooks and this sort of a relationship would almost guaranty KU getting first pick the occasional Canadian players that come along.

My point of proposing all these alternatives to get KU fans thinking about broadening the marketing of KU basketball to help overcome the constraints of the shoe contract with more branding in the EST television market, and perhaps expanding our brand into the British Commonwealth. One of the best ways to sell shoes globally is to become a recognizable brand with a recognizable endorser capable of appealing in the British Commonwealth.

Add other proposals and comments. We have to learn from this season's so far traumatic experience regarding effects of long term recruiting constraints.

@KUSTEVE

Good dot and connection.

Something seemed different with his appearance. Starting with Husky game, maybe one prior.

But he has on occasion distanced himself from losses.

Hmmm.

Two losses where the team, not just him, does not look typical in performance.

Add Preston black hole.

Add peculiar Sosinski-related comments.

We appear in unfamiliar territory.