🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@JayHawkFanToo

Self is savvy. He likely sees what most see in tournament engineering; this I believe is why he gears the team above all to win conference, where the engineering is either neutral or in his favor, plus a title and a good RPI serve seeding criteria. Were there less apparent tournament engineering and less apparent recruiting engineering on top PGs and top Bigs, then he likely would have schemed his team's development curves since 2008 for the tournament more.

I also think he started with a statistical philosophy of the tournament that even in an unengineered tourney the structure and size of the tournament made going to the trouble of developing a team that plays it any way they want make sense to Self. Is who he was. What he cannot anticipate, he prefers to hedge on . Gambling is a tactic for self. Hedging is a strategy

Self appeared naively to expect (as many of us did) that winning a ring would enable him to start getting a fair share of the OAD and 5 star talent at 1 and 5. It didn't. The apparently deep asymmetries of tournament and recruiting engineering appeared to spike sharply and blatantly. So he apparently started to fall back even farther into peaking for conference and building teams that were so neutrally balanced they could play the teams apparently seeded to exploit his worst match ups. Increasingly Self's players rarely had their peak performances in the March Carney, which is a dead giveaway of how Self was approaching the tourney. Other elite teams had their OADs and 5 stars giving some of their peak performances in the tourney. Over this many years it seems not a coincidence.

@JayHawkFanToo

Not only makes sense, but it makes one wonder If big shoe, big gaming, and big TV won't eventually take over regular-season scheduling, same as postseason , so they can achieve the same engineering effects they apparently do in postseason. Seems like kind of a no-brainer waiting for the right time and conditions to happen.

@HawkInMizery

If he can just hang on long enough, he could still grow out of his inconsistency. One's neural nets aren't fully grown in till 25. 1-2 more years might end it.

@HawkInMizery

Now they know how good he can be on his dialed in nights!!! Way to go big Wayne!!!

@mayjay

That's the spirit! You brought yourself around! Rock Chalk!

@approxinfinity

Thx. That's an explanation I can live with, tho I wish it weren't so.

@JayHawkFanToo

Clearly scheduling cannot be entirely about RPI, or an elite team would likely schedule 6 elite opponents home AND away so as to assure its opponents generate RPI's also.

Nor can it be entirely about the gate at home or one would schedule ALL home games.

Apparently there are tradeoffs between quality of opponent, margin of victory, and where the margin is biggest (road, home, and neutral) that encourage playing tough opponents on neutral sites, where cash splits can be 50/50?

Clearly risk of loss rises with quality of opponent, and you'd rather lose on the road than at home to keep the fans reinforced for coming to AFH.

It's a fascinating system that seems to generate inflated RPIs for those that aptly game the system, as the elites seem to do.

@JayHawkFanToo

Allen Iverson was reputedly another punk that some suspect got away with murder. I still wonder what the dynamic is that drives this positive spin from MSM of such players? What do you think it is?

P.S.: Some may wonder why there will be no M Law crack down in the face of all the reputed corruption? That is easy. Because we the people of these United States of America understand that our system is imperfect and that it does from time to time get exploited and manipulated by the worst kind of weasels, and so instead of threatening (or engaging in) senseless acts of rebellion, we tolerate occasional egregiously corrupt elections, and roll our sleeves up afterwards and seek the necessary reforms needed to force the weasels out and back under the rocks from whence they crawled. FWIW, I grew up in Kansas City but 30 short years after it had been one of the most thoroughly corrupted towns in these United States, and I was fortunate to meet some of the persons that helped clean it up some, and when I lived there it was hardly pristine but it was better. This country, this America that I so deeply love will one day again be above this level of. corruption, too. But it will only happen by the slow, arduous work of changing by rule of law about that which afflicts us now.

@JayHawkFanToo

I think I understand what you mean, but… I am the biggest optimist in the world; that is why I am able to take things as they appear and work with them . Optimism is central to all effective inquiry and analysis. Inquiry is optimism itself. It is premised on an asumption that things might be understood and for the better . Reduction is pessimism .

@JayHawkFanToo

Distilled: it may be easier to engineer Ten CST TEAMS than 12, 14, or 16 CST teams, from dampening ad revenues for season and post season audiences.😉

And fewer bet balancing dynamics to deal with?

@Crimsonorblue22

Caucasian American athlete AG appears to be getting a similar, apparently undeservedly sympathetic spin from MSM on inappropriate behavior that a number of other Caucasian American and African American athletes appear to get. Not surprisingly, it appears African Americans get more of this sort of spin, since more play college basketball right now.

But IMHO, the key question is: why does MSM give BOTH Caucasian American and African American athletes this apparently underserved positive spin on inappropriate behavior, apparently usually after some cooling off interval?

Could it be that these players sell more soap and encourage more betting, when their tarnished images are burnished with spin awhile after the storm of criticism?

Or is it reporters/editors doing favors to agents in a quid pro quo for access?

Or is it just MSM being nice and giving young men a chance at redemption?

I lack sufficient knowledge to decide on this yet, but I'm glad you posted it..

After a concerted effort of three self-addressed stamped envelopes sent to the Clinton and Trump campaigns and to the reputed UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEEP GOVERNMENT (USADG?) campaign headquarters (if USADG exists and has one) addressed to ANYWHERE, USA, (since USADG address and phone numbers are unlisted and with the remote possibility USADG might be located off planet, or not even exist) said letters asking KU write-in candidate @RedRooster be granted a lecturn on tonight's stage at Big Gaming Central (aka Las Vegas, aka as Adelsonville, for the reputed daddy warbucks of DTrump's campaign), not one single SASE has been acknowledged, or returned.

IMAGINE THAT!

Thus the grass-roots ground-swell for write-in candidate @Red Rooster must persevere without debate exposure, despite George Soros, HClint's reputed daddy warbucks, reputedly owning a bunch of the electronic voting machines through some investment, and the usual gang of Republicans reputedly owning the rest. Note: Neither batch of voting machines reputedly leaves a paper trail and some at least reputedly still have backdoors dating to 2000 reputedly so as to be hacker friendly. Well wouldn't THAT be being campaign considerate and asymmetrically equal opportunity between the Neocons and Neolibs?!

Some biased pundits (aka presstitutes) and other cynics forecast more fraudulent votes being counted than legitimate votes being cast and Prez O reputedly stepping in to declare M Law and so becoming our first three term President since FDR, as per USADG directive.NOT!

Not. Gonna. Hap.

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER!

Not in these duly constituted United States of America...land that We love!

We here at jSPN FLATLY REJECT THAT LUDICROUSLY IMPROBABLE SCENARIO. WE believe instead that the loser will support the winner, as usual, and that tragic events, or false flags, which ever may come first, after the election, will heal and quickly unite Americans, as occurred with remarkable routinization after the Maine, after the Lusitania, after Pearl Harbor, after Tonkin, and after 9/11, and that another OIL-SOAKED country with water resources IN AN ARID REGION at a strategic pipeline pinchpoint not already possessing a Rothschild-owned bank will be invaded to increase the security of the private western central banking system that our income taxes remain pledged to feed (said taxes having been an ultimate form of OPM since, oh, 1914).

Note: The @RedRooster write in campaign refuses ALL donations, has no organization, and is utterly peaceful, law abiding and patriotic. It's only hidden agenda is KU BASKETBALL!

Rock Chalk!

(Note: all satiric fiction for KUBuckets.com aliases' amusements. No malice.)

@wissoxfan83

PHOF.

Among your best posts.

I don't know enough to compare conferences.

But you bring out the corrosiveness to the game of placing profit from it higher than playing the game itself.

A sport where we never play home and home with the best is not a sport to find out who is best at all, but rather a contrivance for maximizing gate receipts and minimizing losses for national ranking.

Not playing good teams on the road is just one side of the same greedy coin (and cowardly urge) that makes Elite teams fill their home games with cupcakes.

It's disgraceful.

I just cannot thank you enough for calling this to attention.

I'm sick of engineered elections, engineered tournaments, and engineered home and away pre conference schedules.

@jaybate-1.0

Amplifier?

Reverb chamber?

@JayHawkFanToo

Megaphone?

@JayHawkFanToo

Loudspeaker?

How shall I put this diplomatically?

Dick appears to be a garrulous megaphone?

It appears a possible effect of what he is to shape bettor expectations and that appears the function of an element of the mainstream sports media.

Bet balancing is hard work, across 4 time zones of highly asymmetrically distributed bettors, unless the bettors have the "right" expectations that makes it easier.

Or so it appears.

@Lulufulu

Yes.

@justanotherfan

That just begs the question of why they were not proactive? All the evidence is they know everything the other conferences know and always have throughout the years. All the evidence is they have been trying to be proactive all through the years, but have been getting constrained in their actions by something. And even if one argues they were slow on the draw in the early years, then logic dictates learning would have occurred and they would've been more effectively proactive recently. The obvious constraint is that billion dollar budget organizations cannot jump Willy Nilly for small amounts of sports revenue monies relative to the really big revenue streams their billion dollar budgets require. Fit with the constraints of regional political economy remains the most logical constraint to realignment. Well at least you are not arguing for "football TV revenues" being the major driver; that is progress IMHO.

@BeddieKU23

Conference expansion/realignment apparently only considers tv revenues and tv markets AFTER the political economy constraint of state voting and pork barreling alliance needs are met.

Board rats keep forgetting that university sports revenues are a drop in a bucket compared to a major university's annual operating budget of over a $1 Billion dollars. A University has to keep getting massive Federal and state subsidy to stay alive year to year. Chancellors probably spend 50% to 90% of their time "developing" I.e., making pork rain through Federal and state legislatures and through foundations controlled mostly by a handful of private oligarchs. The Rockefeller's, though listed laughably low on Forbes, still reputedly control the cornerstone foundations and have the lobbyists required to change the tax and foundation laws within a few years to punish rogue private oligarchs foundations threatening the status quo.

IMHO NO UNIVERSITY CAN JOIN ANY CONFERENCE THAT THE DOMINANT PRIVATE OLIGARCHY DOES NOT WANT THEM TO JOIN JUST BECAUSE OF SOME PIDDLING ANNUAL SPORTS REVENUES.

Military and University subsidies are REPUTEDLY the primary conduit for distributing pork to sustain regional voting blocks of states necessary for maintenance of our private oligarchy's vice like hold on our republic and the way they assure the votes, or lack thereof, to do anything they want including operating unconstitutionally.

Rutgers and Maryland did not apparently join the Big Ten for Football TV revenues FIRST. Nor did the Big Ten court them to JOIN for same FIRST. They apparently joined to become part of a voting block that could take tolls on oil and LNG , and to stop, or take tolls on any super corridor extension up the Ohio Valley to New Jersey and to the Chesapeake Bay. West Virginia U, from the state that Senator Jay Rockefeller represented, apparently made the apparently counter intuitive leap to the Big 12, instead of the Big Ten, for anything but football TV revenues! It apparently joined the conference of states that would have voted for that extension up the Ohio Valley sooner or later. Fizzouri apparently trying to protect itself from the kind of resource colonialism imposed on Kansas that that super corridor terminus was bringing, fled to the protection of the SEC.

Forget tv revenues and tv markets as strong indicators of realignment. They have historically been at most secondary indicators. State and private oligarchy interests in enabling pork flow in regional political economy issues appear by far the most reliable indicators of conference realignment.

@kjayhawks

Imagine my complete lack of surprise.

No Republican admin, no Big 12 Oil and Gas Junta expansion.

@Lulufulu

With even talent and symmetric whistle? YES!

But Nike rarely lets the talent be equal and whistles in THE MARCH CARNEY are never symmetric.

I haven't studied Dook. Are we equal in talent in the first 9?

@KansasComet

If I could change anything about our great coach it would only be to add that 3/4 court zone to the mix

"i, I, I, I think this season we will try to wear clown masks at the point, so that some game we can play Malik without anyone knowing it. That, that, that, that would give us a bit more depth at the point."

"The, the, the, the 3-2 has not been quite as successful as we would have liked during our tenure here at KU, so, so,, so, so I think we, we, we, we, we might try some I, I, I, I formation."

"We, we, we, we have to explore the possibilities of some transgender screening, and some transsexual picks, to go along with our basic asexual, bi-sexual and heterosexual spacing and ball movement.."

"I, I, I, I like how well we are defending man 2 man, and that will remain our bread and butter, but I think we will try to work in some 1-3-1 zone with tactical flashlights. There, there, there, there's just no question that there are things this year's guys can do with tactical flashlights that last years team was not very good at."

"You, you, you, you may see us stay on our spots a little more inside, and play through some point post with Frank Mason, because we know we have to make use of Frank's ability to rebound from the point."

"We, we, we, we, we are going to change a little who we are this season, by quitting playing so much defense part of the time and instead, we, we, we, we, will keep two guys on the offensive end of the floor full time for cherry picking. I'd like to do more cherry picking."

(Note: all fic....oh never mind.)

The point remains, opposing coaches without much film of this team to look at the first few weeks of the season, are forehead palming and saying, "Okay, we have to prepare for 4-1, TOO!!!!!"

@KUSTEVE said:

Why not take some of them from the 4?

The answer to your question depends largely on how good Bragg turns out to be this year.

If Bragg becomes a 15/10 guy, or even a 10/10 guy, giving up more than 5 minutes per half really eats into a very productive guy, who is likely to be an efficient scorer, a solid inside defender, and a guy that can consistently prevent second shots by grabbing rebounds. Going with Vick and Svi at the 4 mean guys like Frank or Devonte likely cannot be released because they have to go in and board. Remember Frank's freakish 10 rebound games at the point last season, when Perry was playing on the perimeter and hoisting treys?

Self proved last year that you can play that way; that you can use your perimeter to rebound more to make up for going short at the 4, but...

Coaches really love backboard control. Self's closest thing to a mantra is offense starts with defense. And good defense without good rebounding is a hateful thing to Self. Rebounding is the defensive equivalent of finishing on offense. You finish on the defensive end with a rebound (or a steal).

Unless Svi, or Vick, turn out to be freakishly good rebounders at the 4, Self would likely rather have Lucas and Bragg grabbing 10 boards apiece than have a few extra treys and drives from Svi and Vick and 6-8 fewer rebounds and 6-8 more second shots by the opponent.

You see, the beautiful thing about a rebound is that it means the other team is stopped, and you get to go make them pay with a long trey, or a short trey.

A big time rebounder at the 4 is like a licensed concealed EDC. It just changes the balance of every defensive discussion EVERY TIME! It takes you from the defensive to the offensive. It makes your attacker turn and run at 45 degree angles to jump back over the mid court tense and hopefully find cover to stop you from shooting him in the back. It takes the game into his back yard and out of yours.

This is as nearly a moral good to a coach like Self as there is. Sliding defense is manhood in motion. But a rebound is finishing the act of stopping.

Self liked 4-1 ball. He medalled at the WUGs, won 30+ in D1, and got to an Elite Eight. That is pudding with proof that it can work. But...

Self's 4-1 sensies ran into some trouble in an alley with Jay Wrong's mugs from Rockyville. The refs gave the edge to Nova, whenever KU was defending; that appears undebatable (and despicable). But once the refs hamstrung KU's sliding manhood with the asymmetric March Carney whistle, well, a manly man bunch of Jayhawks with an EDC at the 4, and not just Lucas, working the boards, likely would have grabbed enough rebounds and delivered enough hurt inside to have let KU's great perimeter players overcome Nova and its homeboy refs. Not for certain, but a much better probability than 4-1 sensie ball.

Self will never forget that Nova game EVER. Its stuck in his craw along with that loss to Shacka. And those couple of minutes in the second half of the 2012 Finals game against UK, when things might have gone differently and he might have pulled the upset of the century. But the Nova game is particularly bitter, because it was Jay Wrong--Self's true arch nemesis. And Jay did it with muscle. Jay stripped 4-1 sensie naked in a big spotlight.

Self wants to be big again! Self NEEDS to be big again!

Self wants the EDC, when has to have it.

He knows there IS NO guaranty in this world.

Sometimes you lose no matter what.

But with two true bigs, with some brawn, with an EDC at the 4, well, you can take a bunch of them with you when you go down, and given how Self keeps getting a leeeeeetle better each season, with an EDC at the 4, well, he figures he can find a way to handle the Jay Wrongs of the world.

And if he can find a way to play 4-1 sensie ball with Bragg on the offensive end, while still getting brags defensive rebounding on the business end of the floor, well, then that is Bill Self coaching orgasm time.

I just don't think Self will ever willingly give up that licensed concealed EDC that Bragg could be. If Bragg can defensive rebound, then he is the difference maker Self has been needing at the 4 in this regard. Lucas is overt rebounding piece, the hog leg the opponent knows you are going to claw for when the ball comes off the iron. Bragg is the concealed EDC. He is the guy you can pull out down on the blocks so you've got two rebounding weapons, or he is the guy that you can keep pocketed awhile, let float out and chase, and then pow! Withdraw him and crash him on the glass so you just dominate the whole backboard!!!!!

Self loves rebounding, because he loves stops.

Vick and Svi can play some 4-1 sensie on one end, but The Vapor and the Crimean Kid are not what I would call capable of being licensed concealed EDCs on the boards for Self the way Bragg can be if he develops quickly.

@drgnslayr said:

I already miss Perry!

Me, too.

And thx.

@jayballer54

LOL!!!!

Missed this in all the site reload dry washing.

Whew!!!

Picking KSU to lead the conference in anything but manure testing seems laughable.

Saying KSU might finish ahead of KU is about like saying a three toed sloth might outrun Secretariat!

Whew!!!

Talk about no respect!

KSU beating KU would be as likely as Queen Latiffah backing Lebron down and dunking on him.

As likely as Charlie Sheen saying no to Chivas 18YO offered by naked twins in a tub on Necker Island..

As likely as Dr. Phil admitting he's all out of ideas about how to help desperate persons.

As likely as Melissa McCarthy playing the life story of Sophia Loren.

As likely as Blake Shelton refusing to sing Ol'Red for Gwen, when she says "Pretty Please, Blake," while wearing a Brent Black Montechristi Panama and stilettos and nothing else.

Well, not very likely.

@Crimsonorblue22

Ah, thx for the re-think.

That's one less variable to ponder.

Rock Chalk.

@drgnslayr

Its both! :smiley:

Self is always both.

Self does have a problem with all his bigs being largely unproven behind Lucas, and Lucas has never really been focused on as the guy to stop before either.

So: Self has to anticipate the significant possibility that Bragg takes a full season to develop and won't really be a cornerstone weapon till next season. And know also that he might make one of those few nonlinear leaps big men make their third seasons earlier...say in Bragg's second season this year. He has to be ready for either contingency.

And the further down you go in the depth chart in the bigs, the more risky it becomes that one of them will become a rotation guy capable of playing rotation minutes in big games.

Coleby is coming off a nasty injury and has never played ball at the level of intensity that KU players have to be ready to play at. When you play at Miss State, everyone on your schedule is not gunning for you the way they do KU, and the pre conference schedule is not one of the toughest in the country the way it tends to be at KU. Thus, Coleby is a huge question mark even as a back up.

And with a huge guy like Udoka, the odds are 1 in a 100 that he will be able to do all the things a big has to do to play rotation minutes against a top opponent. I doubt Vegas would even give odds that Udoka will be able to hedge defend on pick and rolls 20 feet from the basket this season. Udoka will contribute some each game, I reckon, but it likely will be a tiny, narrowly scoped role.

This means that though Self has a lot of big men to rotate a lot of them may not be street legal this season when we face the top opponents.

So: Self will have to do some of this and some of that.

I would not be at all surprised that at crunch time, the line up is Lucas, Bragg, Jackson, Graham and Mason. Call that 10 minutes of each half.

But because our useable depth at big men will likely only be useable against the lesser opponents, figure that Self will have to look at the other 2ompg as varying considerably from opponent to opponent.

Against weak opponents, I suspect Self will play 3-2 75% and 4-1 25% of those "other" 20 minutes.

But against the really good opponents, unless our bigs develop unusually fast, I reckon we will see 4-1 being played 75% against good opponents and 3-2 played 25% of the "other" 20 minutes against good opponents.

Player development and opponent will dictate the mix of styles to be played in the "other" 20 minutes.

In the crunch time 20 minutes (the decisive 10 each half), I believe the Lucas, Bragg, Jackson, Graham, Mason quintet is the best we can field and allows the strongest rotations to rest them.

An interesting wild card in this is Self's comment that he anticipates playing Josh Jackson at 1, 2, 3, and 4, since he played all those positions in high school.

This could again be smoke. Self has often talked about using guys many places and then has done so very sparingly, or not at all.

Thus, this is for sure an statement made to give opposing coaches more to prepare for early regardless if he intends to do it, or not. Strategic logic is that you never signal an opponent what you are actually going to do, so this is another reason we will not likely see josh at four positions in a game anytime soon. At most we will see him in a couple positions early on. Most likely we will see him at one position and Self trying figure out if he can protect, guard, help, feed the post, and make a trey, so he knows just how much of the FGAs he can afford to give him over the long season.

On the other hand, if player development of the Bigs inside, or of Svi and Vick outside, lags behind normal expectations, well, then it would be crazy not to play Josh anywhere and everywhere to keep the opposition from scheming to stop him at one spot, while also adding to flexibility of resting the other starters.

The game down the stretch of the season is to find a scheme that results in the best five starters at playing together, with the least drop off, when substituting, based on the players stages of development at that point of the season.

Barring major injuries to the top rotation players, I keep coming back to the probability of Lucas, Bragg, Jackson, Graham, Mason with Coleby backing up the two in the paint, and Vic and Svi backing up the perimeter. This means a lot of 3-2 and only occasional 4-1. when we need to trey shoot our way back into a game, or into a quick lead, that we can then defend 3-2.

Really, we will be doing much the same that we did last year, but with legitimate big men to resort to. Whether those big men can score as much as Perry, I doubt. But they will get a lot more rebounds, and reduce the opponent's inside scoring efficiency significantly,, and trigger a lot more outlets for breaks by a potentially awesome transition threesome in Mason, Graham and Jackson.

I don't look for a running team per se.

KU will walk it up the floor on made baskets, whenever its in the lead.

But I look for a sharp in crease in transition baskets from more rebounds and more regular release of three perimeter guys from rebounding duties. And with Lucas and Bragg being able to run the floor pretty well after the rebound and release, I look for Self use the secondary break 4 times a half.

All the issue of steals and run outs that you have raised I think remains to be seen in how much gambling on defense Self decides is optimal for this bunch.

Devonte and Frank are great strengths, but they still have never impressed me as usually gifted thieves the way Chalmers and RR were. On the other hand, roster talents their previous seasons have dictated that it was best for them to play defense very conservatively since they lacked much rim protection behind them. They could surprise me with more ability to steal than we have seen, and so fulfill your expectations. But a lot depends on whether Lucas and Bragg have that ownership mentality in the paint and the springs, want to, and timing to get up and become human drones loitering around the rim as shots approach. Both could become rim protectors, neither necessarily is that type naturally. So: i have to beg off and say "wait and see" on the steals and runouts.

@Lulufulu said:

JJ might have a 36% trey gun up his sleeve.

That's the kind I'm afraid of. That was what Wigs had, wasn't it?

36% is just high enough to let him shoot some in hopes of getting the defense to guard him close enough to let him get around them on drives.

But that turns out to be a borrowing from Peter to pay Paul game, and keeps more of the 3ptas from being taken by our 40 percenters.

@Crimsonorblue22

Lucas is thinner?

This will be an interesting experiment in morphology engineering.

Riley is an interesting guy.

Father was a CFL and OSU coach.

Amazing list of coaches he has played for or assisted with.

A no stick type able to coach at places like Alabama and USC where the players were hired without getting tarnished.

And able to last at OSU despite never being much better than 9-4.

A little over .500 in a long 42 year career.

Fired as an NFLHC.

5-7 at OSU when The Albino's cronies hired him.

62 looking for one last shot at redemption like Pike in The Wild Bunch at a program long willing to cut corners in ways that do not earn it the wrath of the good old boy network of coaching; I.e., there is a right way and a wrong way to cheat in football and Devaney and Osborne believed in cheating the right way. No rogue program stuff. But coaches that always knew how to exploit where the rules weren't yet. Reputed systematized steroid use before outlawed. Always seeking the next unfair advantage before it was made illegal. A football culture so fanatical that look the other way was second nature. Then a long run of coaches that just couldn't find the next unfair advantage. But now one in Riley who learned the unfair advantage from two masters of it--Bear Bryant and John Robinson. Robinson reputedly coached some of the most highly paid teams in college football history at USC, but did it with a smile and a wink and was ahead of the chippy rules that get coaches fried most of the time.

It will be interesting to see how it goes at NU with Riley in an era when so many young coaches don't observe the old decorums of cheating the right way.

@kjayhawks

Thx 4 NU update.

6-0 ?

Barely beat Oregon and INDIANA.

Couldn't dominate Northworstern.

Starting tuff part of schedule.

They appear ready to finish second or lower.

Even with break of not having to face UM.

But maybe they have turned a corner.

But only maybe.

17 years since a title though.

Not remotely the NU of old though.

@DoubleDD

Historically, Self will say anything to make other coaches wonder, and prepare for something extra.

He has talked about being a pressing team and not pressed.

He has talked about shooting more treys and shot more one year and not others.

Every year he says we will run more and we don't.

Here is my prediction: HE IS BLOWING SMOKE on 4 out one in.

Unless injuries have hit his bigs, expect 3-2 75% of the time and 4-1 25% of the time.

He learned 4-1 works, so he will use it situationally.

Next.

@kjayhawks

If Nebraska is having trouble in the Big Ten, and we are getting beaten 42-0 in the first half of Baylor, maybe we ought to think twice about jumping to the Big Ten.😱

This makes a lot of sense from a TV dollars and sense POV.

Big TV/Big Gaming/Big Shoe want to keep the odds minimized of a Big 12 team (read CST) going all the way, and of Big 12 teams (read CST) bargaining for too much air time.

Gotta keep the right and left coasts on top of the content, especially for Big Gaming.

Letting the Big 12 grow could definitely cut into betting volumes.

And anything that makes bet balancing more difficult on the coasts is going to get a thumbs down.

Look at that beautiful smile on his face.

Damn.

In a just world, he would be able to still be playing college ball and going to college parties and falling love with young women in class.

But we require early grow up to collect the big checks before an injury.

Still, so glad he is getting the big checks and thinking of old KU.

@Crimsonorblue22

Love me some Kelly!!!!!

If only they could read in Kentucky, so they knew what his jacket said.

A tough decision may be looming for KU Basketball.

Brexit, EU destabilization, Russian natural gas supply, infrastructure unification of Asia, and Elements within Germany appear to be pushing Germany toward the Russia/China/India alliance and a United Eurasia..

adidas remains headquartered in Germany and its core business is still Europe/Africa/Latin America.

If growing tensions breakout into USA war with Eurasia, or Cold War containment, should KU stay with adidas, or change shoes?

@HawkChamp

Assuming he is not a 40% Trey baller. If he were, that could tip the balance toward mostly 4 out , one in.

@Crimsonorblue22

Thx for posting.

Sickening but necessary.

If these allegations prove true, I hope those responsible get a day in court and fitting jail time. I hate persons giving other persons drugs without informed consent.

Further, it appears bitterly ironic that a fraternity allegedly shouting racial slurs from its windows is apparently copy-catting African-American Bill Cosby's alleged drugging women without their knowledge and copulating with them?

What were these apparently depraved dolts at DU thinking?

Without putting too fine point on it, in today's America, you can't expose US citizens to harmful, mind altering substances without their informed consent, and violate their legal rights, and get away with it, unless you are the US government, corporations, or deep pocket celebrities/power brokers with effective lawyers.

Racism, sexism, sadism, national security-ism, imperialism and cultural engineering-ism never quit twisting some of us.

All these -isms make one group, or individual, or organization, think it has the right to suspend kindness, decency and rule of law at whim and mistreat and violate fellow human beings based on moral, or immoral agenda, rather than respecting the law, due process, and human rights.

Freedom...but don't tread on me.

It's so simple.

Maybe DU needs to frame it and hang it on their wall.

Racists, sexists, sadists, national securityists, imperialists, and cultural engineerists need to get it through their thick, heads...don't tread on us.

If it were my daughter, they would never be done with me till the law were applied.

Interesting idea on another thread: Will KU Play Small Ball despite 4 bigs?

A corollary question is: will KU play mostly small ball with only 3 or 4 credible 40% Trey threats?

The 2 sure shots from Trey are Frank and DVont.

The two possibles are Vick and Svi.

Three seems to dictate big ball. With three, there are long stretches where u can only play 2 Trey dingers which means 2-3 bruisers make sense.

So does 4, except for short stretches.

Big Ball could be back!

In no particular order....and you have to figure out the often obscure connections...

Lagerald: La Gerrie, La Geraldo, Vicks Vaporub, Monofilament

Svi: The Ukrainian Devil, The Consummate Consonant, the Caspian Kid

Landen: Reckless Abandon Landen, Lucas Flamethrower, the Shanghai Sailor, The Oregon Trailer

Bragg: From Braggs to Riches, The Doorman, Special Forces, Just Fact

Devonte: Are we men? No! We are DEVO-nte!, Cinnamon, ABell,

Frank: Little Bridges, Point Rebounder, The Line

Josh: The Next Dr. J, Thriller, Escape Velocity

Coleby: Hundred Ton Dump Truck, Operation Phoenix in the Paint, Director Bill

Azubuike: AzuNUKEY, The African Earthquake,

If I forgot someone, feel free to lend help.

@KUSTEVE @MR11 et al

Word is that President Obama has left word at NSA headquarters to alter KU's record to perfect regardless of whether it is or not, and conditioned campaigning for Hillary on her signing a post-dated Executive Order two weeks ago to this effect. Put another way, KU cannot lose a game unless Trump wins. And Trump has expressed interest in making a similar deal with KU in order to assure Kansas votes for him in the election.

(Note: all fiction. No malice.)

HYPER EXCLUSIVE: Coach Bill Self--tireless in his attempts to take players out of their comfort zones to trigger more getting better--is now giving Udoka Azubuike significant reps at point guard according jSPN stringers that have penetrated campus security at the KU basketball practice facility.

Note: Azubuike has also been assigned his final KU playing height and weight. He will be listed at 7'9" tall and 693 pounds without shoes. This slight exaggeration of his height and length was decided after joint market research with the campus advertising school and the marketing department of the KU Business school indicate that this height and weight would be the scariest measurements for a point guard. Lesser heights and weights tested triggered less fear and terror. Greater heights and weights tested triggered too much disbelief.

jSPN stringers used a tunnel boaring machine to excavate their way to center court, and further under the coaches offices, where they learned the details above and to follow.

Azubuike playing point guard reportedly will be used at key moments in games to change the tempo of close games by having the largest point guard in the history of college, or pro game, deliberately bring the ball up court, cross half court, and then begin accelerating on his way to the rim. At the same time Azubuike begins the drive to iron, KU players will clear to both wings. jSPN stringers report debate within the KU Coaching Staff as to whether a kick out option will be developed for Azubuike. Presently, the staff is divided about 50/50. One half believes such an option would not be needed unless Azubuike were to stay a full four seasons and finally be stopped in his senior season by an equally large match up. The other half of the staff believes Azubuike will likely jump this season, or next, and so there is no need to develop the kick out option.

In order to prevent injury in practice to KU players guarding Azubuike, Self has procured services of a Lawrence PD Swat Team truck that is parked at center court and reversed backwards toward the rim as Azubuike drives to the rim. Despite the precaution, jSPN stringers report at least two drivers of the Swat Team vehicle have sustained injuries from Azubuike violently dunking on the truck's grille.

Developing...

The formula never changes.

As usual, guard your man, help, protect, feed the post, and don't let it stick keep you in the rotation.

Stealing possessions and making open looks get you more minutes

Vick and Svi are fighting for the same backup minutes at 2 and 3.

Self will juggle Frank and Devonte at 1 90% of the time.

The best ball handler between Vick and Svi will get trained in the 10% of pg minutes for the rainy day of injury to Frank, or Devonte.

Svi will probably be the guy if equal, because of seniority and experience.

But Vick was way young last season in age and could make a nonlinear leap in neural net grow in and steal the job because Self needs a long ball handler/defender for occasional matchups!

@approxinfinity

New site Seems to work correctly.

@approxinfinity

Way to go!!!