🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@wissoxfan83 I live in Chicago. Somehow I can keep from physically threatening people. But hey, we can't all be cool and calm.

I like Mari and Cliff for their emotions and drive. Just need to point that aggression in the right direction!

@wissoxfan83 I hated that entire scenario too. I guess the problem is these are not grown men. They are certainly not kids but they are not men either. They are 18-20 year olds who are still at a point in their life where bad decisions come quite frequently. That said, Kevin Garnett is a grown man and he head butts Dwight Howard and then punches his hand while staring at him. Perhaps some of these guys never mature.

@wissoxfan83 We certainly did play some D. They scored 57 points. That is pretty abysmal. Too bad we only scored 67.

@JayHawkFanToo Exactly! Lucas has the more buttery fingers of the two of them. I lost count of how many times Lucas got the ball in the post and either lost the ball, made a bad pass out of the post, or simply missed an easy shot. I truly hate when he is in the game. Gray hairs are coming in at a rapid rate when he is on the floor.

I don't get it with Perry. It seems like both Perry and Selden feed off of how they start the game. If they hit a few shots early you can expect great things. If they have bad starts (Perry and his 4 TO's in first few minutes last night) you can assume they will bad games. There are of course exceptions (Selden against Baylor) but this seems to be how they play the majority of the time.

I love how Mason is playing. I love how Oubre is playing. Cliff seems to be a huge force when he is not fouling and Jamari has been playing better ball if you don't count last night. All that said if Perry and his butter fingers and Selden and his inability to make layups continue we are in huge trouble come March. Those guys NEED to be playing at a high level for us to have any chance at making a run. Can they both play well 5-7 games in a row which is what we will need in March? I hope so...but we have not seen that yet.

This is a bit long but it is nice to see that we are supposedly this involved on so many recruits.

Kansas finally got on the board in the 2015 class on Thursday, when five-star forward Carlton Bragg announced his commitment to the Jayhawks (after initially saying Kentucky).

There probably wasn’t any real concern in Lawrence about the lack of commitments in the senior class, but there is a segment of the Jayhawks fan base that breathed a slight sigh of relief late last week.

Now, where does Kansas go from here?

The Jayhawks have the No. 36-ranked recruiting class in the country, but expect that number to improve dramatically over the next few months. There is still plenty left to be decided in the 2015 class, with seven of the top 10 players still uncommitted, along with three other five-star players.

And Kansas just happens to be involved with at least six of those remaining five-star prospects, as well as another top-35 prospect. So how might the Jayhawks go about finalizing this class?

Jaylen Brown (No. 2): This one is expected to drag out until after the high school season is finished. Brown isn’t tipping his hand one way or another, but Kansas is in very good shape after getting an official visit in the fall. UCLA, Kentucky and North Carolina are also in strong spots, while in-state options Georgia and Georgia Tech aren’t going anywhere.

Malik Newman (No. 3): The Jayhawks have picked up momentum in this one, especially after Kentucky landed a commitment in November from Isaiah Briscoe (No. 13) -- on top of the Wildcats likely returning at least two of their four current guards. Kentucky is far from giving up, though. In-state schools Mississippi and Mississippi State are also in the mix.

Ivan Rabb (No. 5): Kansas might be playing catch-up for Rabb, as local school California has done a terrific job so far with the 6-foot-10 power forward. Rabb also visited Kentucky, and Arizona is still there despite losing some of the momentum it had early in the recruitment.

Cheick Diallo (No. 7): Kansas has been in the driver’s seat or the co-driver’s seat in Diallo’s recruitment for most of the past year, along with Iowa State. Kentucky has made a push, too. Diallo is another player who won’t make a decision in the near future, likely waiting to see what happens with the other dominoes.

Stephen Zimmerman (No. 10): This recruitment has changed so much, but Kansas is the pick on RecruitingNation's Hot Board. He’s also visited Kentucky, UCLA and Arizona, while UNLV gets a boost because of proximity. Zimmerman’s recruitment will continue to take twists and turns.

Brandon Ingram (No. 12): The prevailing thought for much of Ingram’s recruitment was that he would stay in the state of North Carolina, either at North Carolina or Duke. Since visiting Kansas in the fall, though, the Jayhawks have really made up some ground on the in-state options.

Tyler Dorsey (No. 33): In the fall, it looked as if Dorsey would decide early -- but he chose to prolong his recruitment. Kansas had the early buzz after Dorsey’s decommitment from Arizona, but California picked up plenty of momentum in the fall and has made him a priority moving forward. The Jayhawks are behind in this one.

There are a couple of other storylines to watch in relation to Kansas’ recruiting. The Jayhawks have made an effort to get back in the mix for Thomas Bryant (No. 16), who was down to Missouri, Indiana and Syracuse before adding Kentucky to his list recently. Kansas would obviously be playing catch-up for the 6-foot-10 big man. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks are also one of the two schools -- along with Kentucky -- thought to be in good shape for 2016 stud Thon Maker. There has been talk of Maker reclassifying; should that happen, expect Kansas to be in play for his services.

Kansas -- and the prospects it is pursuing -- might have to wait and see how many spots the Jayhawks do have for next season. Kelly Oubre, Cliff Alexander and Wayne Selden are all early-entry NBA candidates. An inconsistent couple of months from each player has left their immediate future up in the air. The common thought is still that Oubre and Alexander will leave, meaning Bill Self could reel in up to three more players.

Of course, there’s the risk of putting so many eggs in the spring recruiting basket -- and the very slim chance that Kansas strikes out on all of its primary targets and has to settle for lesser players to fill spots out of desperation. If three players leave Lawrence early and the Jayhawks miss most of its remaining recruiting targets, that would be a disaster scenario. It’s extremely unlikely, though.

Will Bragg’s commitment create any dominoes for the other big men on Kansas’ wish list? He’s capable of playing alongside most post players because of his ability to step outside and knock down 3-pointers, so it might not make a difference just yet. Should the Jayhawks bring in another big man, though, that likely forces the other remaining power forwards and centers to go elsewhere.

When all the dust settles, Kansas will likely have one of the best recruiting classes in the country, the third-straight season Self has brought in a top-10 group.

Shortly after Bragg made his announcement, a reporter at his news conference asked him whether other big-time recruits would join him in a Jayhawks uniform.

His answer: “I hope so.”

All signs point to Bragg being correct.

@Crimsonorblue22 It will be a completely different feel with Marcus Smart and Markel Brown gone. They are a 2 man team. Forte and Nash. Both guys can score a lot of points but I think it will be hard as they are both going to be the entire focus of the KU defense. I am not brimming with confidence because we beat Texas Tech...I just don't think OSU is very good. They don't play great D and if Nash or Forte get in foul trouble it is going to be a very long day for them. I see KU winning this game by 15.

I was ready to type "Why the hell is he playing JV" when I spotted that it is some sort of eligibility issue from transferring. Should be interesting to see how big he gets. I went to high school with a friend who was 7 ft tall our freshman year and was about 7'6 by the time we graduated. I assume since Manute was 7'7 that Bol Bol is not nearly done growing.

@Kip_McSmithers Agreed. Morris Twins leaving may have surprised Self but I remember having a pretty good year in 2012 after they left.

@drgnslayr Lucas and Mickelson?

@drgnslayr That would have been wonderful.

In all seriousness, this should be a great pick up. Super athletic big. Probably not a OAD. Perry is back, Mari is back. If Cliff comes back this will be a pretty deep frontcourt.

@drgnslayr And then Cliff said, "Make sure you say the wrong team. I already did the pick up the wrong hat trick".

For any of you guys who don't have ESPN Insider.

ESPN Analyst
Updated 10/02/2014

Strengths:
Bragg is an ultra-athletic specimen who can impact the game in a variety of ways. He attacks the offensive glass, finishes in transition, and is an explosive around the rim. He has a lengthy frame with long arms and he has great feet. He plays with tenacity at both ends and his hands are terrific. Bragg has extended his range out to the arc. He runs the floor on the break where he spots up waiting for the advance or kick out pass.

Weaknesses:
Bragg is coming on strong and has improved from a season ago, but his skill set is still a bit raw. He needs to improve his ability to score with his left hand and continue to add to his face-up game. Utilizing the triple threat game (jab step, up fake, etc.) while facing up his defender will enhance his overall game. Bragg will need to play with more energy and urgency and compete throughout the game which will lead to increased production.

Bottom Line:
Once his offensive game matures, he has all the physical intangibles to be an elite high-major and has the potential to play after college. Bragg has to improve his motor but all all the other tools to be a special player with continued skill develop. He has the motor, bounce, and length to be a McDonald's All-American-he's that talented.

I think that was more awkward than Cliff's blunder last year!

Hawks!!

This is ludicrous.

I remember when I announced I was going to KU...to my parents...in our living room...with no TV cameras.

I posted earlier that I don't lose any sleep over recruiting. This is true but I certainly have spent the entire day today in anticipation for 1:45 pm CST and feel quite nervous. Not as nervous as I was last night after Frank missed his free throw...but still nervous.

@KUSTEVE Great post. Exact thoughts. Perry is not in this game but he will be later. Mari was big. Greene was showing what he can do. Selden was patiently waiting to show what he can do. Love our depth.

@KUSTEVE That is not you thinking. It is you knowing.

Who on this site said we win by putting up 56 points? Just realizing what a horrific offensive game it was as it was so exciting.

Nice use of that last possession by Coach Drew. What a f"cking joke. How many times do they practice this exact situation? God, I love it. Not even a reason to worry as there is not a shot in the air.

@jaybate-1.0 Perry leads the team in scoring and shots that are put in the stands by the other team. You give and you take...

@wissoxfan83 How many times was Perry blocked?

Wow. Great game by Jamari and Greene. Love seeing that. Perry pulled another disapearing act but hey a Win is a Win. Nice Win on the road. I predicted a loss. We will take it.

Frank Mason is the man. That missed free throw was a shock but he did so much. Love this guy.

@JhawkAlum Honestly is the best policy. I think we lose tonight 75-70 in a game where Frank Mason plays incredible along with Oubre and Perry and Selden disappear again. Just my opinion. I see this as one of our 4-5 conference losses on the year.

@justanotherfan Good post. Hell of a memory for that 1991 tourney!

@justanotherfan Good points. If UK is playing at their best they are unbeatable. That is just a fact this year as they have the most talent and the most depth in the entire country.

I am not sure that UK will come out and play flat in March. I agree. But they could play tight. We have unfortunately seen that with many KU teams in the past that have had elite talent. They come out and play "not to lose" or appear pretty frazzled late in the game when they are someone still losing to an inferior team.

What do you guys think? Is it actually best case scenario for UK to come into the NCAA undefeated, that way they are playing for history? That could potentially cause them to be extremely tight / nervous as more is on the line. That is kind of my hope. That they waltz into March 35-0 and get nervous that they are going to be a team that went undefeated in the regular season and then gets bounced. It has happened before. UNLV in 1991. That team was "unbeatable".

@Blown First chink in their armor is right. This Ole Miss team is not a great team. They are now 9-5 and this game was played at Rupp. It basically set the blueprint. We have already speculated on this but the only way you are going to beat UK is to play up tempo basketball and shoot tons of 3's and pray that a lot of them go in. This is what Ole Miss was able to do and they were a bucket away from the biggest upset of the year.

Just yesterday I posted on this site that I thought KU was playing for a Final 4 and not a National Title as UK is unbeatable. It feels nice to have egg on my face this morning. UK is beatable and it only took one game at home against a bad team to realize that this is the case.

@wrwlumpy Agreed. I think our chances at getting to the Final 4 are greatly tied to the healthy return of Graham.

@drgnslayr Absolutely. Texas has a couple of losses including a blowout at home and we all come back to our senses and back to reality. The reality where KU wins the Big 12 and the other teams in the conference have to hope that "next year is their year".

@HighEliteMajor I am 100% with you that if Coach Self is flexible and allows this team to play to its strengths that we will go far in March. But to win a National Title someone is going to have to beat UK. Will it be us? Personally I think we have a better shot at winning the title if another team beats UK before we get to them. A team that only shoots 3's and has an insane night shooting...like ISU for instance. I just don't think we match up well with UK in any way and I am not just basing that off of the 40 point blowout that we suffered at their hands.

@BeddieKU23 I am not trying to stir it up or anything but Cliff and Oubre are as good as gone? I really don't see that. At the moment Oubre seems like a fringe Lottery pick and Alexander seems like a guy who can't even get in the starting lineup. Not sure that his lack of height, lack of shooting, lack of post moves and lack of ability to stay out of foul trouble have NBA scouts thinking he is a Lottery pick this year.

I will never believe anything the "experts" say. Randle was for sure going to KU. Wiggins was for sure not going to KU. The Harrison twins were going to Maryland. Darrel Arthur was not going to KU (until he had a dream). Cliff Alexander was going to Illinois (even picked up the hat!). I just don't lose much sleep over this stuff. I wish and I hope for the best and I like the idea of getting an OAD guy along with some 3-4 year guys in the same class. It is what it is. Can't worry too much as half the time I don't think these 18 year old kids even know until they are signing a letter with the school that they finally decided on.

@Hawk8086 Wow. 10-8? Let's say we do what we ALWAYS do and only drop 0-2 games at AFH. That means we are going to lose 6 of our 9 road games? Give me a break.

Is he for sure supposed to be an OAD? I see him ranked 10-15 spots behind where Cliff was last year.

@Crimsonorblue22 I see a guy that was more "in the zone" than almost any KU player I can ever remember. Hitting guarded 3's from like 30 feet was unreal. I still love his dunk as the exclamation point on that performance.

@BeddieKU23 You are 100% right but I don't think that is an isolated issue with just ISU. We are KU and have dominated the Big 12 and before that we dominated the Big 8. We are the only pure basketball school in the conference and we get every teams best shot. Every team has the KU game circled on their schedule and guys are up to play us in a way they are not up to play the likes of OSU, KSU, etc. It makes our decade of dominance even more impressive knowing that teams play their best when they play KU.

@KUSTEVE I like that attitude. Cliff is going to do it sometime...why not today? Oubre has shown he can be the man, Mason is having a great season. Hard to believe that Selden and Ellis seem to be the two guys in the starting lineup I am the most concerned about. Never thought I would be saying that before the year started.

@wrwlumpy Absolutely. 13 seems pretty aggressive since we have not exactly been blowing teams out and UNLV beat Arizona. If we win this game by 13 I will be not only excited but surprised. I see us winning this game but by 5-7 points in a hard fought contest.

RCJH.

Texas pulled a bit of a KU yesterday in Lubbock and let a 20 point lead down to 6 in the second half. It is nice seeing that our main rival this year (so we think) can also go to sleep for 15 minutes and struggle to put a game away. That lack of focus may actually result in a loss or two against teams that are not the high school team that is Texas Tech.

In other Big 12 action I was pretty impressed with OU yesterday. Baylor is a very solid squad as well and it was a pretty fun game to watch.

Pretty simple what will win or lost games for ISU. They go down yesterday hitting 1-18 for 3. Not sure how that even happens but it is a reminder that as great as Hoiberg is and as scared as we are of that team they are essentially 1 dimensional.

WVU and TCU both look like far improved teams.

KSU and OSU was a battle of two pretty bad teams in my opinion. OSU took advantage of being at home. Nash who was once and OAD is in his 4th year and looks solid as does Forte. Not much else surrounding them though and the coaching is sub par as it has been for years.

Big 12 title still goes through Lawrence. That is my take on watching a few games from my couch.

@drgnslayr As far as "Big Man U" is concerned I think it is hard to compare our past success with what Cliff is going to do this year. The Morris Twins, TRob, D. Arthur, D. Jackson, Cole, Jeff Withey...all of these guys took years to develop. I think only Arthur was a huge impact player in even his sophomore year. The Twins were very good as sophomores but it was really their junior year that it all came together. Same with Withey and the same with TRob. Maybe those days are over but KU has been "Big Man U" based on actually developing players and not just getting top 10 recruits and letting them do their thing.

Is Danny Manning no longer on the bench a problem? Yes, of course. But we still have Bill Self and JoJo last year was the quickest development of a big man I have personally ever seen.

@Crimsonorblue22 Great pic! EJ's performance in that ISU game was one of the greatest in KU regular season history.

@drgnslayr Absolutely agree. The one thing I will always and forever love about EJ is that he played an enormous role on our way to the 2012 title game. He hit a bunch of big shots in March and his somewhat disastrous senior season can never take away from that. I hope we can say Wayne helped us get to a title game when his KU career is all said and done.

@HighEliteMajor I have asked this question myself. Why does Wayne just keep getting 30 minutes a game when other guys ride the pine for playing essentially at the same level if not better than Wayne? I think you answer it, though. Svi and Greene are really the only other options at the 2 and it does not seem that Self has the confidence in either guy that he does in Selden.

Your point about Graham is great. If Graham does not go down at this part of the season Bill may have gone to a small lineup and Wayne's minutes may have been far under what he is currently playing.

I guess my assumption is that Bill feels that Wayne has the highest ceiling and as you say Bill wants his best guy in March to play the most minutes now. Wayne does have the highest ceiling of the three options. At least this year. Greene just can't play enough D and Svi just can't pull it all together. Wayne's game against Florida is a glimpse at what Selden could offer. To me it seems like if Wayne hits his first couple of shots he is going to have a great game. If he misses his first couple of attempts he never recovers.

My last thought on this is that Wayne has never fully recovered and lacks bounce which lowers his confidence. He has missed at least 5 dunks this year and has missed tons of layups and floaters within feet of the rim. His high school highlight reel showed him dunking these kind of shots with his eyes at the rim. Seems like he is the EJ of this year who got hurt and then played through it and will never have the same vertical ever again.

@jaybate-1.0 I like seeing UT at full strength. It will allow KU to play a top 10 team twice and see what we are really made of. I think we beat UT at AFH and lose at their place regardless of who is in the starting lineups.

Bill is 10-20 years younger than Boeheim, Coach K, Roy and Pitino so I certainly don't think he is burned out. He has plenty left in the tank if those guys are still coaching and currently still recruiting at the highest level. Bill, Izzo and Coach Cal are all similar ages and I see them being around for another 10 years are their respective schools. The first 4 coaches I mentioned will probably be gone by then although who knows with Coach K. He may never quit.

Greene. I read a number of posts about him above. Most of which refer to him leaving after this year. I doubt this. I think he is still a sophomore and will be a huge part of our team his junior and senior years. The guy is a 6'8 pure scorer. Just needs to figure out how to play defense and stay out of Self's doghouse. I think us KU fans are a bit too quick to say "this guy is gone next year" as it has happened a couple of times recently with AW3 and CF. Both of those guys had similar strengths to Greene in that they are 3 point shooters. I feel there is more the Greene than just 3's though. He can score in other ways and is obviously money from the FT line. His family has Kansas ties (not that this stopped CF) and I just feel he is still a year away from making it all come together. Remember when juniors and seniors were the guys getting time while freshman and sophomores had to sit and watch and learn? It was not that long ago. Releford, T Rob, Darnell Jackson, etc, etc, etc. Some guys just need a bit of time to figure it all out. Obviously I am in the minority but I still see Greene being a KU Jayhawk for 2 more years.

03 is a pretty easy one to put #1 on the list since we were actually in the title game and playing well. The 2011 VCU loss to me is obviously #2. We were amazing all year for starters. Then we get a f*cking play-in game winner in the Elite 8 to go to the Final 4. A Final 4 that was maybe the weakest since 2000 and we blow it. That was the dream scenario and it didn't work out. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the VCU game often. Even though the Michigan loss in 2013 was far worse feeling in the moment the VCU game hurts more for me as time goes on as I was 100% sure we were going to cut down the nets.

@BeddieKU23 My thought is that come Selection Sunday we will all be happy with KU being in talks for another 1, 2 or 3 seed after another Big 12 regular season championship. 3-5 losses. Bill Self wins Big 12 titles. It is what he does and this year won't be an exception no matter how deep the conference is. This is not hubris. It is just what I expect from KU every year and I will continue to until there is a reason not to.

@nuleafjhawk Exactly. That is what I am saying. Those guys waited until they were legitimately ready for the NBA and were basically 100% going in the lottery. Oubre and Alexander are lottery picks...but not this year.