🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@JayHawkFanToo

I would fear KU if I were an opposing team because if they are hot from three, you can't beat them. KU has shown that they can hit 15+ threes in a game. If they do that, you're probably sunk, regardless of how well you play offensively because you're most likely trading threes for twos. So I agree that KU is a nightmare matchup in that respect. You don't want to catch them on their one hot night, because your season is probably over.

On the opposite side, though, as a KU fan, I worry about that one cold night. As KU fans, we aren't worrying about just one game. We have to worry about each step along the journey. That's what makes it harder. KU will almost certainly shoot someone out of this tournament before everything is said and done. But they likely won't win it, because they will probably have one cold game that ends their season.

Same reason as an opponent, I would worry about playing Arizona with Ayton (what do you do if he goes for 30 and 18?), Alabama and Sexton, or Mizzou with a healthy Porter. Those teams likely won't win it because they have flaws, but their one lottery pick could carry them on a given night to end your season. But if I were a fan of those teams, I would worry that the ride will be short because I can't imagine those guys carrying a team past the Sweet 16.

Remember how KU just dismantled Purdue last year in the Sweet 16? How great they looked? I certainly do. But I also remember what happened two days later. That cold shooting night is lurking. If KU can keep it at bay (and get some good slashing games from Newman) they might be able to survive it this year. But it is lurking.

@Crimsonorblue22

If you have a guy that can dunk in 1A, and he gets a steal, he will probably get a dunk out of it. The smaller classes typically have more blowouts, too, just because of the mismatch in talent. A 6A team may have more guys that can dunk, but might only get one or two chances in a game because the defense will be back and set, fewer fast breaks, etc.

The kid that got pushed in this game had at least two other dunks in that game from what I understand, including one on a play just a minute or so before this one.

I was at the 5A tournament last year and only saw a couple of breakaways in the game I went to (both teams had a couple of high flyers that I was hoping to see throw it down). Just not a lot of opportunities because guys were able to get back and stop run outs.

I would actually sit Doke against Penn, then have him ready for Round of 32. An extra couple of days to get right can't hurt.

North Carolina has more sites that host, so its more likely that Duke and UNC will stay close to home.

Greensboro (53 miles), Raleigh (26 miles), Winston-Salem (80 miles), and Charlotte (143 miles) all host. Greenville, SC (240 miles) also hosts, so its guaranteed that one of those sites hosts each year. For KU, the closest sites are Wichita (162 miles), Omaha (211 miles) and KC (41 miles), then OKC (316 miles), Tulsa (220 miles) and STL (286 miles). After that, there's quite a bit of distance to cover.

As you see, there are 3 sites that are frequently used that are within 80 miles of Durham, and five within 240 miles. There is one site within 80 miles of Lawrence, and only four within 240 miles (and two of those are still 200+ miles away).

There just aren't enough sites close to Lawrence to compare the travel distances. Unless Topeka (31 miles) and Lincoln (194 miles) start hosting regularly (doubtful), that will continue to be the case because there aren't other sites closer to Lawrence than that.

@BeddieKU23

Nashville is about the best that Xavier could have done. It's less than 300 miles from Cincinnati. Detroit is slightly closer (about 15 miles difference), but not decidedly so. As the fourth 1, and with all three 1's east of the Rockies, somebody was going to LA. The other three sites were taken by schools that were closer, so Xavier got the leftovers there. They benefit from not having any powerhouse schools out west. They won't have to play Arizona in LA, for instance. That's not a bad tradeoff.

This is a good pair of signings. Watkins is a big play threat that can compliment Hill nicely and let Mahomes show of that arm strength (if Watkins is ever healthy).

The furthest I have ever seen someone dunk without a run up was from just inside the circle (probably 8-10 feet from the basket). I've heard rumors of guys getting out to maybe 11 feet with just a step or two, since you have to start from inside the arc in order to shoot a FT. Obviously, guys have dunked from the FT line before (Jordan, Dr. J, I think David Thompson, etc.), but that was generally with a pretty good run up (40+ feet).

I would guess a guy like Lebron James could probably dunk from 12 feet max with two steps. Prime Dwight Howard would probably be about the same (similar measurements to Wilt, though Wilt was slightly taller, similar athleticism). But that's still well short of 15 feet. It sounds more like urban legend than fact to me. Maybe they saw Wilt drop step and dunk from 8 or 9 feet and thought with one more step he could in fact get out to 15, or saw him dunk with a run up from 13 or 14 feet. All of that is conceivable, even likely. But that still doesn't cover the extra foot or two he would need, and the condensed space he would have to generate momentum.

I wouldn't say this is a small HS thing. It's more a HS thing when you have really good athletes playing against kids that aren't good athletes, combined with a coach telling a player to never give up an easy layup. While the coach may intend for them to contest shots safely, the kid only hears "never give up an easy layup" and reacts accordingly. The kid had no play, but rather than conceding the dunk, he make contact with the player.

That kid should have been ejected. The fact that he not only wasn't ejected, but also played the next day (didn't start, but did play) just shows that the coach didn't put enough enforcement on this. That's an incredibly dangerous play that could have resulted in a very serious injury. If his leg had been extended straight out, that could have resulted in a horrible break. If he swings out, he could land on his neck or head. The number one thing an official has to do is protect player safety. If Hanover decides to retaliate on that kid, things could have gotten out of hand. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, but that was as dangerous a play as you can make.

And if that had happened to one of my teammates in HS, that kid definitely would have had to answer to me personally.

Duke and Michigan State are bad matchups for KU with their size and depth inside. If KU plays anyone else from that side of the bracket, I love their chances. Against either of those teams, I give KU a puncher's chance because of their shooting, but also acknowledge it could end up like the OSU game at the end of the regular season if KU isn't hitting.

@BeddieKU23

Virginia is the most consistently good team in the country. They just don't play poorly. I agree that they are a better team than the other teams in their bracket. That's why they are #1 overall.

But when I look at upsets, I look at either style, matchups or overall talent. Virginia is better than UK and Arizona, no doubt. But if UK or Arizona plays to their talent, UVA will be hard pressed to win that game because UK and Arizona both have more talent. Of course, either UK or Arizona could get bounced in their first round game because they are both inconsistent. But they could be a nightmare because they have so much talent.

Mizzou is a dangerous team because if Porter is fully healthy, he will give Mizzou the best player on the floor every night. That doesn't mean Mizzou wins, but if Porter can randomly toss up a 25 point, 12 rebound, 6 assist, 4 block, 2 steal night, that's a tough hill to climb for any opponent. Again, they can get bounced in the first round, but they can also give people a lot of problems because they are solid without Porter, but can play up to elite with him.

This is the tournament. They only have to win one game against these teams. Arizona, Kentucky and Missouri all have that type of talent.

@JayHawkFanToo

I absolutely agree with you that the modern college basketball game didn't start until at least 1979 (Bird/Magic title game), and didn't really start in earnest until the 1985 tournament (ending with Villanova knocking off Georgetown in the title game). I would argue the modern college basketball landscape didn't start until 1990 or 1991 when the big time recruiting wars first started gaining steam.

If we limit it to the "modern" blue bloods (1985 forward), we are talking about Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, UNC, and UConn. Michigan State and Arizona narrowly miss out (only one title each). Villanova is a step behind (too many lean years in between the title years).

UVA got absolutely screwed as the #1 overall seed. They put two of the seven most talented (based on raw talent) teams in the country in their draw. I can't see a way for UVA to get to the Elite Eight without going through either Arizona or Kentucky, and whichever one of those teams they face gets a few days to prepare for the packline, and they have NBA talent at their disposal. They will likely see a good shooting Creighton team in the Round of 32, followed by either UK or Zona, then possibly Cincinnati (think Virginia, but more physical with less technique) in the regional final. That is a brutal stretch of games.

Xavier has the possibility of Mizzou and Michael Porter lurking in the second round. Porter will have a full week of practices, plus a couple games under his belt by then, so he could be ready to turn things upside down. Porter will be the most talented player on the floor, and that could be enough to carry a fiesty Mizzou team to the second weekend.

Villanova drew a tough matchup as well. If they run into Collin Sexton and a healthy Alabama team, they will also not have the best player on the floor. That's not a good combination in a single elimination tournament. Should they win that, either West Virginia or Wichita State is waiting. That's not going to be fun for Nova.

Honestly, I was shocked at how good KU got it. No Arizona. No Kentucky. No Mizzou. No Wichita State. The four is Auburn. The five is Clemson. The 8/9 is NC State and Seton Hall. All solid teams, but all teams that are similar to Big 12 teams that KU has handled this year. Now, the Elite Eight possibility of Duke or Michigan State is scary because they can both demolish KU inside, but if KU can get to that point and then hit 15+ threes in that game, they could win even while giving up 40 points in the paint.

The potential for this KU season went up quite a bit over the weekend with how Newman and De Sousa played. It got a little more help yesterday with the draw. I'm not dreaming of a Final Four (still too much of a chance that KU gets ground to dust in the paint), but I do think KU could legitimately get to the Elite Eight again, and at that point, its one game, and for a team that can get hot from distance, that's the kind of game where maybe a crapshoot is the best chance for an otherwise flawed team.

@JayHawkFanToo

I excluded Duke because although they had some good seasons prior to Coach K, they don't have any real history as a national power prior to that. I think they went to three final fours in the 60's, but that was it (just double checked, it was three in the 60's, one in the 70's). If Duke is a blue blood based on that, you have to give a hard look to Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, UConn and Ohio State, as well as both Michigan and Michigan State. All six of those programs have quite a bit of history from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. They don't have the history of championships that Duke has (outside of UConn, which does have four titles in the last 20 years), but they all have titles and a run of success.

Cincinnati has been to six final fours, (five straight in the late 50's and early 60's), but has also been to the Elite Eight a couple other times, has two titles (and another championship appearance). They have also been ranked #1 in the country for the 7th most weeks all time. And that's under several different coaches.

Ohio State has been to 11 final fours, won a title, and has 15 elite eights, all under several different coaches. They don't have the titles that other programs have, but Ohio State's history is very long.

UConn's history isn't quite as storied, but they get more bang for their buck than most. They only have five Final Fours in their history, but they have four titles. Most of that history was under Jim Calhoun, but Kevin Ollie nabbed a title while he was there, and UConn had an Elite Eight appearance before Calhoun came on the scene back in the 60's.

Oklahoma State has a pair of titles under Henry Iba (that's why the building has his name on it), plus two more final four under Iba, and another pair under Eddie Sutton. Under Iba, it could be argued that Oklahoma State was the best program in the Missouri Valley (precursor to the Big Six, Seven and Eight). The results have been lean since Sutton left, but again, they have strong results under two different coaches.

Michigan has a lot of history as well. Only one title, but five runner ups (under four different coaches), and another final four besides that.

And finally Michigan State, with a pair of titles (under two different coaches), nine final fours (under three different coaches). Most of the success has been under Izzo, but they have had success under other coaches as well.

Coach K is a legend, but he accounts for so much of Duke's history that it's hard to consider Duke a true blue blood without also including at least a couple of the schools I mentioned here as well.

I would not want to see Arizona, Kentucky or Mizzou.

Those teams have the raw talent to play one or two lines above their seed (i.e., Mizzou with Porter is probably more of a 6 or 7 than an 8 ). I doubt all of them end up in the same region because the committee is aware that they can play above where they will get seeded.

Obviously, all of those teams could certainly lose the first weekend because they haven't always played to their talent for various reasons, but they could all each make a deep run as well.

He would not be draft eligible this summer. He could leave and go to the G League, but he would have to stay in the G League all next season because his graduating class is 2018, not 2017 because he didn't reclassify in time (as far as I understand).

@Buster-1926

I think that's why KC made some of the moves they did (Jon Jay, Tyler Collins) to make sure they had enough outfield depth for the first half (with a chance to deal some of those guys once Bonifacio is ready around the All Star break.

If Indiana and UCLA aren't blue bloods, the only true blue bloods are KU, UNC and UK. Duke can't really be called a blue blood because they didn't have much tradition pre-Coach K, so if UCLA is out, Duke isn't a blue blood until they do it without Coach K.

There's really no other schools that have a long history of consistent success.

Grimes will not be coming off the bench. He's much more talented than I think most people realize. Grimes will start, probably from day one.

@mayjay and @JayHawkFanToo

Oklahoma State is a solid team, but they are wildly inconsistent. They have some really good wins, but also some inexplicable losses. That's why they are on the bubble now. With the wins they have, if they were more consistent, they would probably be a top 5 seed. They are on the bubble because they lost games they had no business losing. If they were in the Big 10, that would probably still happen.

Two notes.

1. Apparently Malik Newman is a spot up shooter.

2. Silvio just made the leap.

@JayHawkFanToo

Oklahoma State has a wide gap between their ceiling and their floor. They are the same team that swept KU, yes, but they also were swept by Baylor, TCU and Kansas State.

I doubt they go 12-6 in the Big 10.

If we give them Ohio State's Big 10 schedule, here's how I think it plays out:

at Wisconsin - loss (0-1)

vs. Michigan - win (1-1)

at Iowa - loss (1-2)

vs. Michigan State - win (2-2)

vs. Maryland - win (3-2)

at Rutgers - win (4-2)

at Northwestern - win (5-2)

vs. Minnesota - win (6-2)

vs. Nebraska - loss (6-3)

vs. Penn State - loss (6-4)

vs. Indiana - loss (6-5)

vs. Illinois - win (7-5)

at Purdue - loss (7-6)

vs. Iowa - win (8-6)

at Penn State - loss (8-7)

at Michigan - loss (8-8)

vs. Rutgers - win (9-8)

at Indiana - loss (9-9)

You could say they might win against Indiana and Nebraska, but would they hold the home court against Michigan State? Do they avoid blowing winnable road games like Rutgers and Northwestern? That's OSU's problem. They have the ability to knock off good teams, but will also completely collapse against a lesser team for no apparent reason.

@JayHawkFanToo

Would they? Oklahoma State has losses to both Texas A&M and Arkansas, both middle of the pack teams in the SEC. They lost four home games in the Big 12 (K-State, Baylor, West Virginia and TCU). Sure, the Big 12 lacks any bad teams, and sure, Oklahoma State probably feasts on the lower part of their schedule in a different conference, but Oklahoma State's non-conference SOS is 311 in the country. They lost to three of the four decent non-con teams they played (Arkansas, A&M and Wichita State, beat Florida State by 1).

Their conference record tells us what we already kind of know - Oklahoma State isn't bad, but they are fairly average. They are good enough to beat a really good team on the right night, but night in and night out, they are no better than okay.

The Rams have a clear plan and are sticking to it. The Eagles had a clear plan last year and stuck to it. The Patriots and Steelers always have a plan and stick to it.

The question is, do the Chiefs have a clear plan, or are they just making moves?

It doesn't hurt you to be aggressive at the corner spot in today's NFL. Since you can't get physical downfield, gambling is better than just letting the better QBs (Rogers, Brady, Roethlisberger, etc) just pick you apart a piece at a time. Maybe you give up some plays, but if you get two picks that your offense turns into points, you still win. You can't just hope for three and outs. You have to be able to either pressure the QB and get sacks, or force turnovers with aggressive DB play. The Rams have chosen aggressive DB play. The Eagles are going for QB pressure. I don't know which one will work, but I am curious to find out.

True, but if you couldn't win half your conference games, you don't have much of an argument that you are one of the best teams in the country.

If you applied the .500 conference record requirement, the following bubble teams would be out

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Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Syracuse, Baylor.

That means, according to Mr. Lunardi at least, Middle Tennessee State would have one of the last four byes (taking Texas' spot), and Marquette, Penn State and Nebraska would be the last four in along with Louisville.

It would make the bubble a lot cleaner around this time because teams would know what they needed to do by now. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas all would have known they were playing for their tournament lives this weekend in KC. Same for Arizona State. Alabama would be the last team with a chance to still grab a spot since they are still alive in the SEC tournament. How big would Collin Sexton's game winner be if Alabama's whole season was riding not just on winning that game, but needing to win the entire tournament?

Malik has been building towards a game like this for a while. If he stays consistently aggressive getting into the paint, that could change KU's tournament trajectory. Newman is not a spot up jump shooter. I don't understand why he tries to be, when he's so dynamic getting to the rim.

What's amazing about the percentages is that there are clear dropoffs at different points.

There's a clear gap between 1's and 2's, and between 2's and 3's. It also reflects the quality difference between 16's and 14's.

It also shows just how close the distance between 5's and 12's is (and the fact that seeds five through twelve are all nearly equal. This is why I would argue for a .500 record in conference as a benchmark to make the tournament, as many of the 7, 8 and 9 seeded teams aren't any better than the top teams in most mid major conferences. Is Oklahoma (likely headed for a lower seed) any better than South Dakota (finished second in the Summit League, lost to South Dakota State in the conference tournament final)? Doesn't it make more sense for a team with only 8 losses that finished second in its league to go to the NCAA tournament over a team with more than a dozen losses and finished second-to-last in its conference?

If someone in the regular workplace asked either of those questions in an interview, that business would be fined, or that individual would be fired, end of story.

Embarrassing is the only word for it.

Tough to know how friendships affect recruiting decisions. Grimes and Langford likely talk and text back and forth every day now while living in different states. Once they get to the NBA, that will likely continue. Maybe they decide to go to the same school to hang out together for one year, but its also possible that they just keep doing what they are doing while Grimes is in Lawrence and Langford is in (select destination).

With AAU the way it is, these kids meet each other when they are fairly young. My gut wonders if they had an agreement to go to the same place, why hasn't Langford committed yet?

Cost of living is weighted fairly heavily in these "best places to live" studies.

Cost of living in popular areas is always going to be very high. Land values in bigger cities like NY, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, LA, SF, etc. are going to far outpace property values in places like Kansas or Iowa.

While cost of living in Kansas is fairly low, and Iowa is fairly similar in that regard, the flip side of that is that higher paying professional jobs are more limited. College graduates in the midwest still tend to leave the midwest and move to other places because upward professional mobility just isn't there if you are a young professional in the midwest because there aren't a ton of professional jobs to get in this part of the country.

If you are a HS graduate, or someone with some college or a bachelor's degree, the midwest is a great place to live. If you have a graduate degree, though, it gets tough to find suitable jobs. I've experienced this myself. The last time I looked for a job (several years ago) I only found three jobs that were open and looking for someone with my level of experience and education. And of course, each of those jobs was highly competitive during the interview process (though I did land one of those gigs). If you look at jobs in this part of the country looking for graduate level education, you may see a handful at a time. Go to California or Texas, or any of those higher cost big cities and you will see dozens upon dozens.

It's a double edged sword. It's cheaper to live here, and it's a great place to live, raise a family, etc., but professional opportunities are much more limited.

Trae's argument is somewhat true. If your argument that he shouldn't be CPOY because his team didn't win enough games, the best player on KU's team should have been CPOY for the last 14 years. If anything, he's giving KU props by saying if the rationale for not naming him player of the year is winning, KU has won, so their guys should get the award.

I take it as a compliment more than disrespect.

@BeddieKU23

The SWAC is made up of traditionally black colleges (HBCU). Along with the MEAC, that is most of the HBCUs in the country. While these schools have great history, they have been generally underfunded for a long time (most are state schools in the south...).

I don't want to get too far into all of that and away from basketball because the politics is complicated.

That said, the following conferences make up the leagues that are generally 14, 15, or 16 seeds:

America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, MAAC, MEAC, Northeast, Patriot, Southland, Southern, SWAC

Every now and then, one of those schools will make a run, or push a team to the brink, but generally, they lose.

The thing is, those schools and leagues allow Power 5 schools to have only one or two true road games. If there are schools that have only one or two true road games, there have to be others on the opposite end of that spectrum. Remove these schools from D1, and KU is playing a lot more non-con road games because teams in the American, or WAC, or Mountain West are going to want either a home and home or at least a 2 for 1.

The only way to do that is to give those schools a piece of the pie for the big dance. Otherwise, KU is away from AFH for at least three or four true road games every year.

The European model of development is what the NBA is looking at. In European soccer academies, the players do their academics during the day, but then train with the same staff and in the same system as the professional team. The players literally go to school (something like a prep school) during the day, then train at night.

Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have two of the oldest and most well established soccer youth academies in the world. They use the same strategies, tactics and facilities as the pro teams they are associated with. That is the idea that the NBA is considering.

The NBA has started this development with the G-League. Currently, the G League has 26 teams, with the 4 teams without a G League affiliate planning to start one in the next few years. That's the first step. Once they have that established, the next step will be to build a development center around that. Houston used their G League affiliate to test out their aggressive three point shooting strategy. Other teams are using the G League to develop front office and coaching talent.

That's only going to expand. The Euro model already shows how to do it, with a facility dedicated to education, and a separate facility for sports. The Euro model also adds an element to the education side of things. In the US right now, athletes are discouraged from challenging academics because HS and college coaches don't want guys struggling in classes. At academies, that's not an issue because they have all of the facilities right there for the kid. If a kid is struggling academically, maybe they take a few weeks off from games (no HS coach worried about what that will do to his playoff chances because the focus is on development) while they work on their studies. You don't have to build your class schedule around athletics because that's already done for you. That means if you have an interest in science and want to also play at the academy, you can do both.

The Euro model already lays out the architecture. Its just a question of when it goes into place.

@BShark

Agbaji is actually playing on the Missouri side of the state line. Their season is over after losing last week to Park Hill. Oak Park played a pretty solid schedule, so his games were fairly challenging, though not up to the level of prep school or some of the bigger states.

If this helps de-stigmatize mental health, that can only help society as a whole. I'm glad he was able to talk about it.

@Kcmatt7

Those would be some good pickups. I don't know if OSU is on the radar for any of those guys. They often end up going to one of their other finalists in those situations. If OSU lost out on a recruit to a school that cans its coach, Boynton should keep an eye on any of those guys because they could certainly help quite a bit from day one.

@KUSTEVE

I mentioned a few months ago that this was the direction things were headed. Some said that the NBA would have no interest in it. I told people it was coming (I heard from some pretty well connected people in pro basketball, as well as from news reports trickling out).

This is coming, and its not just going to be for OADs. This is a change to the system as a whole. AAU. NCAA. Even the prep school landscape that is in HS right now. The NBA is talking about changing all of it.

While people have been focused in on other things, the NBA has become one of the most stable and most profitable leagues in the world. The NFL has issues with head trauma and a huge drop in youth participation. The MLB is still struggling with pace of play and how to market its game. The NBA adapted. The NBA has a better online presence than any other sport. You can queue up highlights from an NBA game on Youtube the same night of the game. The NBA was on top of that before other leagues. As a result, most younger kids are familiar with NBA stars in a way the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NCAA just can't match.

The other thing people haven't noticed is how much money the NBA is rolling in. The NFL is popular here in the US, and to some degree in Europe, but has very little presence in China or South America. Baseball is popular in the US, Latin America and specific parts of Asia (Japan, South Korea), but very little elsewhere. Basketball is popular everywhere. It's just behind soccer in terms of world popularity, and has the advantage of being popular in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Asia (NBA is HUGE in China), and Africa.

The NBA is global, and that means more money for teams. Because of that, the NBA has the money to spend on player salaries and change the development structure, and they are going to do it. What that means for D1 basketball is still up in the air, but the NCAA is in a race where their opponent is already sprinting, and they just realized they were supposed to run.

@Kcmatt7

As @BeddieKU23 mentioned, OSU already has a guy in there that transferred. The benefit of the grad transfer is that they are eligible immediately. There's no sitting out a year. OSU will need help next year. While Weathers is a nice piece, and they have two lower recruits coming in, they need immediate help as well. That's why I was suggesting grad transfers - they need a guy or two for the 2018-19 season. Maybe they take on one additional transfer that will help in 2019-20, but they need some guys to bridge the gap between the two seasons.

Beard could help himself by doing the same, honestly. He needs one or two guys that could help out next year, regardless of the following year. It would certainly help to follow up the best year in Tech history with a solid year rather than finishing 9th or 10th in the conference next season.

@BeddieKU23

The SWAC is a league operating at an enormous disadvantage in basketball. Grambling played 13 non conference games. All but one was a true road game. They went 4-9 in non-con. Prairie View played 14 non-con games. They actually had three home games, with the rest being true road games. They went 3-0 at home, 0-11 on the road. The conference as a whole uses their basketball schedule as a chance to generate income by traveling for most of their non-con schedule, often with several trips to Power 5 conference opponents. As a result, nearly every SWAC team is underwater recordwise every year by the time conference play starts.

Here's the rest of the conference:

Texas Southern, 13 true road games (including a trip to Lawrence), out of 13 non-con games. 0-13

Arkansas Pine Bluff, 13 of 14 non con games were true road games. 0-14

Southern, 9 of 13 non con games as true road games, 4-9 (4-0 at home, 0-9 on the road)

Jackson State, 9 of 13 non con games as true road games, 3-10 (3-1 at home, 0-9 on the road).

Alabama State, 7 of 12 non con games as true road games, 0-12

Alcorn State, 8 of 13 non con games as true road games, 4-9 (4-1 at home, 0-8 on the road)

Mississippi Valley State, 13 of 13 non con games as true road games, 0-13

Alabama A&M, 12 of 13 non con games as true road games, 0-13.

That's 24 non-conference home games total in the 10 team league. That's a tough way to grind through.

@BeddieKU23

The grad transfer market is actually the best place to build for a new coach. Coming in with just a year under his belt, its tough to compete with other schools that have established a long term relationship with a player. That makes it tough to get Power 5 type players. But if you can land one or two grad transfers to tide the program over while you are establishing those relationships, you can survive without a huge dropoff.

@BeddieKU23

Most of the guys at OSU are still from Travis Ford. Underwood was only there a year, so he didn't do much from a recruiting standpoint. I thought OSU would be a mess this year, but they aren't awful. A couple of wins in the Big 12 tournament and they could legitimately get into the dance because they would own three wins against KU. The Big 12 continues to have really strong coaches, which will continue to make the league competitive, but they need more top end talent to make deeper runs in March.

@BeddieKU23

For OU, does that include Trae Young leaving, or does that not count him?

The tough thing about athletic careers is that they are fairly short, and that your best earning years are before you reach the age of 30. Every year you spend playing for free before 30 is a year you are missing out on earnings. I have posted this before, but wanted to post again just for fun.

In 1995 Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace were selected with back to back picks (Wallace #4, Garnett #5). Wallace was coming off an All American season at UNC. Garnett was straight from HS.

During their first three years, Wallace made a little bit more (about half a million) by virtue of being the higher pick. Both ended up signing big deals at the end of their third season, and by virtue of being the better player, Garnett made more money.

But a funny thing happened towards the end of their careers.

In 2008-09, Rasheed Wallace finished his age 34 season (and the end of his contract). He made less than $14M the rest of his career, and never signed another multi year deal.

Garnett, being two years younger, signed a multi-year deal that paid him over $50M, then in 2012 signed another multi-year deal that paid him another $30M plus before winding down his career with a couple of years on smaller contracts (another $16M).

Kevin Garnett made over $185M more in his career than Rasheed Wallace, and while a lot of that was because Garnett was the better player, about $80M of that is because Garnett was just younger and able to sign a couple more contracts than Wallace was, and was able to play longer.

That's the top side of things.

The other side of things is a situation like Jonathan Bender. Most people remember him only as a bust, but he actually washed out of the league due to a degenerative medical condition in his knee. Had he gone to college, he likely doesn't make a single dime in the NBA. Instead, he made about $30M, fell out of the league, and then invented a medical device to help with physical therapy.

If Jonathan Bender goes to college, he likely never plays in the NBA, and, without that money, maybe he never even has the opportunity to invest in his own business.

That's why I don't mind the OAD rule, but would prefer no requirement for college. The physical nature of the game means that the body may give out fairly quickly. I bet Brandon Roy wishes he hadn't spent four years at Washington (all star in three of his first four seasons before injuries basically wiped out his career).

@Fightsongwriter

That Bamba picture explains why everyone in the NBA is excited about his potential. He almost has his shoulder above the rim, and his arm is at least two feet above the rim. He's blocked shots this year I didn't think any human could actually get to. With a little bit of work on timing, footwork and positioning, he has the physical potential to be the best shot blocker in history.

@jayballer73

FGCU made a great run to come back in that game. Got the lead down to 5 or 6 a couple of times, but couldn't quite finish it off.

@Kcmatt7

Good call. Apparently my ability to read conference standings has completely eroded in the last few weeks. I couldn't read the Big 10 standings a couple weeks ago, now apparently can't read the Big East.

I guess the lesson here is to not trust anything I say about conference standings. lol.

KU did win the Big 12 though, right? j/k

Don't forget that KU has something neither Duke or Xavier can get, a regular season conference title.

That could matter in the final equation.

A quick Zach Harvey update.

Hayden has completed the toughest portion of its schedule. Because 4A split into two divisions a few years ago, and Hayden is in the lower division, they are no longer in the same class with Bishop Miege, McPherson and others. Rock Creek, Wichita Collegiate and Wichita Trinity are probably the best teams besides Hayden, and Hayden won't see them until state.

Hayden likely won't really be tested this weekend during substate. Harvey was sounding pretty confident about this weekend. His biggest concern is just staying on the floor since so much of what his team does runs through him. I think he's been biding his time a little bit this season, saving himself for a big three game run next week. Judging from some of what he said, I think he tries to keep his teammates involved this weekend, then takes over if necessary at state next week.

I don't have a lot of expectations, either. The NCAA schedule will make it tough for this team because of their depth issues. They have specific matchup issues that aren't just going to magically go away (vulnerable on the boards, struggles with bigger wing scorers, potential for a cold shooting half or game). They also have specific strengths (can play in transition with anybody, incredibly efficient offensively). However, I don't know that a team with very clear weaknesses can win six games in a row. Maybe they can win 2 or 3, depending on the matchups, maybe even make a Final Four run if their bracket breaks right, but it gets dicey because again, we are talking about specific matchups that KU can exploit with their strengths, or that leave them very vulnerable because of their weaknesses.

Maybe that team comes along in the Round of 32. Maybe its the Elite Eight. We won't know until they play the games, but it certainly tempers expectations for me because I already know what the vulnerabilities are. The best bet is that we avoid teams that can exploit them (Villanova, Virginia, Michigan State, Purdue, Duke, Arizona, etc.) for as long as possible.

The big difference between KU and Iowa State is potential NBA talent. From last year's ISU squad, you had Monte Morris. That was it from an NBA talent standpoint. So even though the numbers suggest similarities, KU has Doke, Graham, Svi and, depending on the day, Vick and Newman. That means when KU needs to close out games, they can lean on some big time players that ISU just didn't have last year.