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The thing that sticks out to me is that he runs really well for a guy with his size and strength. He's very similar to some of the recent big men at Baylor. Maybe not a star offensively (although he has some tools that could get him there), but he is a threat to switch out on a PnR on defense, disrupt the passing lane, recover into the lane to challenge the shot, then sprint the floor in transition for a secondary break dunk in traffic. He has the ability to do all of that right now.

Offensively, his handle is not nearly as tight as it needs to be for him to be a threat away from the basket on anything other than catch and shoot opportunities. He's strictly a one bounce guy right now at the college level. He seems like he can improve that, but he needs some time in that aspect. But he is stronger than his body would suggest (and he's solidly built). He just shrugs off contact. It doesn't disrupt his ability to jump or run. That will obviously change as he encounters stronger opposition, but he's already a load, and hasn't even hit a college training program yet.

His shooting stroke is clean, which is important. I'm not sure how comfortable he is with that shot on a volume basis, but he can shoot it. His shooting motion isn't broken, choppy, or excessively long. He doesn't have the quickest release, but the mechanics are solid. A summer of work on that could make him a real stretch 4 type.

If he tightens his handle or develops a decent shot out to 20, he's an all-conference player in two years. If he does both of those things, he could be an All-American. If he does neither, he's still a starting caliber player in a couple of years, but will be limited to more of a role player without the ability to create on his own or stretch the floor consistently.

Big XII games are going to be ugly because most of the teams in conference don't have the firepower to trade buckets with KU. That means for any other team to have a chance to beat KU, they need the game played in the 60s moreso than the 80s. Pace requires both teams, so if one team wants to walk it up and bog down the possessions, it will be tough for KU to make it an up and down game, especially since this team is not an elite defensive unit, although I don't think they are as bad as some believe.

KU is limited defensively because they play four guys that really can't interchange very well. McCormack and Lightfoot have to guard interior post players. Harris and Martin need to guard smaller guards. Any other matchup for any of those four guys is a mismatch either because of footspeed in the case of the bigs, or size in the case of the guards. You're playing at least one, but usually two or three mismatch players at all times. That limits how good your defense can be since you can get caught in bad matchups.

But the benefit is that KU should be able to score when they need to. They should be able to get baskets down the stretch. Agbaji and Braun should be able to keep the offense rolling because either guy can get a good shot against a set defense. That's the key. This is an offensive team, not a defensive one.

Och had a bad game, bothered by his wrist most likely, and was protecting himself for a long time in that game. But he had 10 in the final five minutes, plus the assist that helped seal the deal. That's what All-Americans do.

Braun stepped up, too. He made plays to help steady the ship, and of course hit the big one at the end.

Every conference game is going to be difficult, particularly if Remy Martin doesn't give KU an additional scoring threat. When one of KU's scorers goes to the bench right now, they are severely limited offensively, and with the defense in the league as strong as @Kcmatt7 lays out in his comment, lacking options will lead to a lot of slumps.

There are really only four guys on this team that can get their own shot - Agbaji, Braun, Wilson and Martin. With Martin out, we're down to three. If any of those three aren't playing well, down to two. I thought Yesufu could be that type of player off the bench, but he is not in the rotation at this point (2 minutes last night, has only played double figure minutes in blowouts).

This team seemed like it would be deep, but its really just Agbaji, Braun, Wilson, Martin (when healthy), Harris, McCormack, Lightfoot, and either Pettiford or JCL. Self has tightened the rotation to just 8 already, which is where he generally settles. Once Martin is able to go, my guess is Pettiford's minutes more or less disappear and JCL gets a handful of minutes to show he's going to hit threes (or not).

Self likes the idea of depth, but he prefers to coach with a pretty strict rotation, so having 10 or 11 guys makes no difference because only 8 are going to get minutes unless the guys in front of them are screwing up.

Bottom line, be prepared for tough games played in the 60s for the next six weeks because that's how things are going to go. Teams will pack it in and defend rather than getting out to run.

I saw that last night and initially thought that guy may have thrown something, but didn't see anything on the court.

Weird thing about that run, OU didn't really do anything wrong. No live ball turnovers. No bad shots. A pass out of bounds on a good read/bad execution play, a missed shot and giving up a couple threes, 2 point lead to 10.

But that's what good teams should do.

@tis4tim

Marketability is important if you are a star. It doesn't matter as much for role players. They more or less want those guys to stay out of trouble, which I believe Agbaji would (Braun, too). But you don't really market non-stars, so unless a guy is a serious behavior issue, that doesn't factor in as much as skillset.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in The reality of this team is:

@justanotherfan do you think, or anybody here, think JCL was fitting in at the 5? I know he can shoot anywhere, but we were doing pretty good w/him in. Or was Adam's at the 5 w/him? Wilson out? Wilson was out quite awhile in the 2nd half.

I think Adams was the "5" in that lineup, with everything else just spaced around him. JCL was more of a floater in that lineup. Because his gravity as a shooter commands attention regardless of where he is, he can lurk on the baseline or pop up to the wing and he brings a defender with him. Even in a zone, he has to be accounted for.

This KU team is not designed to get into grind it out type games. That's not how this team is built. They need to stretch the floor and get out in transition. Those options are severely limited when Remy Martin is not available. Once he is back and healthy, we can evaluate where this team is, but right now, it's hard to know what this team is, or can be, because he is too important to the makeup of the team.

We do need to adjust expectations on what the interior guys will contribute. We need 10 points and 15 rebounds from Datch Lightmack each game. That is the stat line that I will be watching closely over the next few weeks. If Datch Lightmack exceeds that, we are probably winning fairly consistently. If they are below that, unless we shoot very well from three, a loss is likely.

KU isn't a super athletic team. Looking at the roster, other than Agbaji, there aren't any guys that are just incredible athletes.

Braun is more athletic than he gets credit for, but he's not an elite athlete. Even Agbaji is probably more along the lines of above average rather than elite.

Wilson is average or so. McCormack is average. Lightfoot is average or maybe even slightly below. Martin is average or slightly below. Harris is average or maybe slightly above. JCL is average. Yesufu is probably above average. On and on down the roster and its average, slightly above average, slightly below average.

This is a good team, but not a team that can blow you away with athletes. That's why shooting is at a premium for this team. They have to shoot it well because they can't just press and trap to turn the tide. But this team can still win. I don't love the matchups with Baylor and others, but they can still get it done. In the tournament, they will have to find a way to win in a game where their shooting deserts them, but that's where Agbaji and Braun have to take a hard hat approach to offensive rebounding when they aren't shooting well. Six total offensive rebounds won't cut it when Braun, JCL and Martin combined to shoot 6-19. You have to offensive rebound if that's what it takes to get involved offensively.

Also, 4 points, 6 rebounds in 24 combined minutes for Mitch and Dave is not good enough. If that's all you're getting productionwise, that 24 minutes needs to drop to 17 or 18. This team is better with the floor spread. Let's give Yesufu more run.

Braun has a nice NBA skillset. He can shoot with range, rebounds his position, can defend wings adequately (not a great defender, but good enough) and can handle the ball fairly well. He has the length and athleticism to do fine at the next level. If he continues to play at this level, there's no reason to think he returns to KU because he will be able to play in the NBA next year.

@Marco

The best way out of a shooting slump is to not worry about shooting during games. Don't hunt shots. Don't worry about makes and misses. Pound the glass. Defend your tail off. Set solid screens. When you do that, weird things happen.

You get an easy putback. You get a steal and dunk. You hit an open three in transition. Seven quick points without even looking for your own offense. Suddenly that zero isn't haunting you. You get another putback. Get a layup off a drive after a pump fake. Now you have 11 and you're feeling good.

You start thinking shots are going to go in. Step back three. Baseline turnaround. Midrange jumper.

Sometimes you don't find your offense. Sometimes it finds you.

The best coaches in any sport are stubborn, but also flexible. Stubborn because they know what works, but flexible enough to make necessary adjustments to fit their situation, personnel and style.

Self has proven that he is stubborn. Now he has to show some flexibility.

The best players on this team are perimeter guys. That means interior guys are on the floor to play hard, grab rebounds and dunk lobs. That's it. They get few or no post touches because that's not the strength of this team. Last night, Big Dave got going because he was pursuing every rebound. That has to continue. He has to understand that most of his offense will come from putbacks, so he better get on the glass on both ends. Same for Mitch. Same for whoever else gets minutes at the 5.

Self demands accountability, which is great. He also has to know which guys need more space to play. Remy Martin did zero for most of the game, then iced the game with a couple big time buckets down the stretch. He should be that type of threat from the opening bucket. Agbaji started hot, then disappeared due to foul trouble and cold shooting for almost 20 minutes. Where's a play drawn up to get him a good look? Same for Braun. Why aren't plays getting drawn up to keep your two All American level wings involved offensively?

Those are the adjustments necessary because the defenses are going to get better. They have film to review now. They know what's coming. So now you have to show some schemes to get Agbaji and Braun loose on offense with something other than stepback threes. Why aren't we seeing some Agbaji/Braun fade screen action? Why don't we see them iso'd for a little two man game. Both can handle, pass, and shoot. Why aren't we combining that? We need that creativity because they can carry us to and through March.

I feel like Oklahoma State and West Virginia are the two road venues where KU just does not play well, regardless of how good or bad the individual teams are. I'm not even sure its an issue of being prepared. Maybe this year is different because its the conference opener, but with this season lacking a real rhythm so far, anything is possible. Literally any outcome is possible.

Here's the thing. Jalen Wilson cannot possibly continue to shoot this badly. He is not this bad a shooter. He is 2-22 from three. I would have expected a 5-22 start, but 2-22 is worse than even the most down projections would have had. He will have some positive reversion to the mean soon. He's not a great shooter (probably only low to mid 30s) but that still means a 10-20 stretch is probably coming soon.

The bigger issue is that he has not been active this season until recently. He is starting to rebound more in line with expectations (17 in the last two games). He just needs to play with some more energy. He is actually the guy that benefits most from a 5 out lineup because there isn't a center in the country that wants to try and guard him 20 feet from the basket. If we spread the floor more, Jalen probably ticks up a bit. And even if he doesn't, playing 5 out opens up driving lanes for Braun, Ochai, Martin, etc. Since that's where the bulk of our offense is going to come from, opening up the lane helps. Plus, with Braun, Ochai and Martin all being decent rebounders as guards, KU can get by with smaller lineups if Wilson hits the glass, too.

Point being, yeah, I'd love to see Adams get more minutes, but I doubt that is going to happen, so we have to hope for the alternative - that Wilson gets going offensively, or at least starts pounding the glass like he is capable of to make up for the times when we don't have a true 5 in the game.

@rockchalkjayhawk

Fair questions.

The best fit for the 5 spot for this team is a hyper rebounding lob catcher that doesn't call for any post touches. The shot profile for this team should be heavily tilted towards Agbaji/Braun/Wilson/Martin and the other perimeter players. This team isn't built to throw the ball into the post and play with a guy with his back to the basket. It's built to slash and shoot. So a 5 that can catch lobs off help and rebounds everything would be a perfect fit. I don't really have a good current college comp, but Clint Capela with the Hawks is the best pro comparison. He does basically 3 things - screen, rebound and dunk. That's the type of big KU needs here. A guy that runs the floor, screens, rebounds and dunks. If he blocks shots, that's a bonus, but screening, rebounding and finishing are the keys.

McCormack has a nice touch out to 15-17 feet. He is an improving shot blocker and an average rebounder. He has some post moves, though I don't think he is a primary post scorer. He's also an underrated passer, getting the ball out on time and on target when necessary. For a collegiate big man, that's pretty good. That's an all conference player if he's at probably 325 different D1 programs. That's a good player.

He just isn't an ideal fit on this team.

I used to be a frequent poster on this website. It was really fun.

Around mid 2018 some of the politics and race stuff started getting pretty intense, and I ended up in some pretty heated exchanges with other posters. I realized that I was becoming something I didn't want to be and took a step back for a while. Blocked some of the more problematic posters (the right decision for me personally).

I know I post less as a result of that. But it isn't just that. I also have had a lot of things in my life change (many of them positive, but some negative) that have taken my time away from this board. I wouldn't change that now.

I used to never miss a KU basketball game. Now I miss two or three a season easily. I haven't watched every game since probably the 2017-18 season. Life just kind of evolved along the way.

Was the politics stuff messy? Yeah. Did it take me away from the board? For a time, yes. But the bigger thing is that my life changed over that span of time just as much, maybe even more. I miss enough games these days that my analysis isn't very in depth anymore. I used to know all the recruits, all the players, all the matchups. Now I barely know anyone that isn't on KU's team, and don't even know every guy on the team that well. I used to know each guys high school highlights and could compare them easily. Now I see guys once they get into games at KU. It's just different now, but I am getting some more time freed up and will probably be on here more, though you won't see me posting about politics anytime soon.

Adams should get more minutes in small lineups for KU. He is an athletic guy that can switch on the perimeter against other teams that play small. He's a decent rebounder and he doesn't need the ball on offense, which is good because he will be the sixth or seventh option in almost any lineup he's in.

I don't know what he could become. He could end up being Mario Little. He could end up being Jamari Traylor. He could end up being something more. He could also end up being Quintrell Thomas and succeeding elsewhere. Hard to tell right now with him getting so few opportunities.

Unless Martin is a full go in practice today, I doubt he plays tomorrow.

I think this is the beginning of seeing more 5 out lineups for KU. Lightfoot is not going to play a ton of minutes and McCormack, as I have said often, just isn't an ideal fit with this team. I feel bad for him because he's a good player and a hard worker. But the team around him is just not the type of team that his game matches well with.

This KU team is just better when they go small, even though that goes against Self's general philosophy.

@Kubie said in Nervous Christmas... Yin Yang Perspective:

@justanotherfan said in Nervous Christmas... Yin Yang Perspective:

Ochai was due a game like this. He has been playing so well (so far above his previous level) that he was due a bit of regression. Thankfully, we know that Wilson, McCormack and Martin all have more than they have shown so far this year. I hate to see that KJ Adams has fallen out of the rotation, but it is a numbers game and there just aren't enough minutes to go around to everyone that probably could get minutes.

I'm not worried at this point. I think this team will be fine, and if they continue to play at this level offensively, they will be hard to beat.

I am worried about Dave’s game picking up like he did last year. The faster pace is causing him issues and it is not the getting up and down the floor. He is struggling keeping up with the movement of the ball. I rewatched a couple of games and while he obviously has been missing entrance passes it seems like a good share of that is due to not being where he should be and ready for the pass when it arrives. I am concerned that he is at his top end speed wise while the speed around him has increased. I hope I am wrong and his ability to handle the faster ball movement improves soon.

This is what I am talking about when I say that McCormack doesn't fit with the rest of the personnel on the roster. It's not that he's a bad player. It's that the style that benefits everyone else is not the style that best suits him.

That makes it tough because Dave is a good player that has very real attributes and skills. But how do you take advantage of his talent when you benefit more from having a style that plays to the strengths of Agbaji, Braun, Martin, Wilson, Yesufu, etc? That's a challenge.

With so many going on the covid list, other AFC contenders may get rocked soon. Chiefs are on the short end this week, but Pats, Titans, Bills, Ravens could all get hit and lose key players for a game.

This could even affect playoff availability.

With Omicron being so contagious, I think that's why we are seeing the level of outbreaks that we are. This could change the season and the playoffs.

That Southern Illinois loss looks very out of place with everything else on their schedule. They haven't blown teams out, but they have held teams off. This will probably be a close game.

It's moving faster than I expected. I figured we would see a huge spike after Christmas. To see this even before Christmas makes me worry about populations that still aren't vaxxed. Extreme risk their. Stay safe everyone. Mask up if you aren't doing so. Be careful and avoid big gatherings.

Ochai was due a game like this. He has been playing so well (so far above his previous level) that he was due a bit of regression. Thankfully, we know that Wilson, McCormack and Martin all have more than they have shown so far this year. I hate to see that KJ Adams has fallen out of the rotation, but it is a numbers game and there just aren't enough minutes to go around to everyone that probably could get minutes.

I'm not worried at this point. I think this team will be fine, and if they continue to play at this level offensively, they will be hard to beat.

Agbaji and Braun are playing at All-American levels right now. If they both keep this up and KU gets contributions from everyone else, this is a Final Four team. Those two can take a team deep into March, possibly to a stage on the first Monday in April.

Agbaji and Braun are playing about as well as two perimeter guys can possibly play. They are playing great.

Here's the thing about being a great defender but a subpar offensive player - you take away as much as you give, even if you don't take many shots.

Think about it this way. Let's say Harris is guarding the other team's PG, who is also a good scorer. Harris makes life tough on that guy, forces him to shoot under 45% from the field, three or four turnovers, etc. That's a pretty good game from Harris on the defensive end.

But offensively, that PG gets to guard Harris and rest on that end of the floor. Maybe that means that PG has more energy down the stretch because Harris is a non threat when he is on the floor, so you don't have to work to close out to him, and can just play off for the drive. So yes, Harris may not get credit for his defense, but he is also not penalized for not taking shots (no misses) and he doesn't turn the ball over much, but he is still a liability on offense because he can't shoot.

Offensively, you can't be a non-entity. Aaron Miles was effective because he was a very good defender and also a great passer.

Marcus Garrett was successful because he could rebound pretty well, and was a more versatile defender. But if Marcus Garrett had been even a little bit worse defensively, he probably becomes unplayable early in his career, and is only a spot player as a junior and senior. Essentially, if Garrett was anything less than a top 5 defender in the nation, he is not a starter at KU, probably ever. His offense was just too bad for that, unless he was an elite defender.

Offense is important because a bad offensive player doesn't have to be guarded, thereby turning their opponent into an elite defender with little effort. Put this way, Harris is an elite defender, and could certainly give a guy like Remy Martin tons of problems on defense. But Remy Martin wouldn't have to do much of anything to produce a similar result guarding Harris on the other end. So Harris is, at best, a net zero in the trade off, potentially less if his assignment doesn't turn the ball over and doesn't have a terrible shooting night. We're talking about the difference between his guy going 2-11 from the field and 4-11. Both are bad, but if his guy goes 4-11 and hits a couple FTs, that's still double figures and if turnovers are minimized, that's a win considering Harris may not score at all, and allows his man to sag off him when he's on the perimeter.

An inability to score is a huge drawback, and I think PER captures that, even if it isn't perfect when capturing good disruptive pressure defense.

@wrwlumpy

Impossible to see from that angle where his heel landed (and if it even touched the floor). He could be out. He could be in. The referee trailing the play is in perfect position to see the call. If he made the call, he was positioned well enough to get it right.

It's a tough call that today would have almost certainly gone to replay. The shadow makes it look like his heel isn't on the floor, but with his left foot rounding into shooting position, he may have caught the line. Or he may have missed it. No definitive angle exists that I have ever seen.

@Crimsonorblue22

Typically overextending while twisting. Most abdominal strains happen during a twisting motion, which is why golfers and baseball players tend to get them so often. And once you get it, it's just a slow process to heal because you're fine, you can go run with no pain, then you reach down to pick up your shoes and are back at square one.

@BShark

Your point about Agbaji and Braun being efficient is a two edged sword. It's doubtful that both will continue to be this efficient. Braun is shooting 61%. Agbaji is at 55%. Even Martin is at 55%. There's just no way for guards to continue to shoot that well over the course of a full season.

Regression is coming.

The good news is that even though they will regress, the way they have played so far, and the shots that they are taking, is repeatable. If they do that, even when their shooting drops back, they will still be very productive.

And hopefully, right around that same time, Wilson will regress in a positive way. He's shooting 31% right now. He cannot stay that bad, or his minutes will disappear on a team this deep.

PG is the one area where this team has a lot of depth, so it doesn't so much hurt this year. It does hurt from the development standpoint because he also can't go in practice. Abdominal strains are funny. You can do a lot of stuff no problem, but then you twist to get out of bed and re-aggravate it. Just a hard injury to recover from that almost never hits the timeline.

@jayballer67

I don't think Big Dave costs this team games. I don't even have a problem with him as a player. He's a good player with a defined skill set that can be effective at the D1 level.

My issue is the way he fits with this team, and the way that Bill Self wants to use him.

Dave McCormack is not Udoka Azubuike. He is not Wayne Simien. He is not Markieff Morris. He is not Thomas Robinson. He is not Perry Ellis. He is probably most similar to Cole Aldrich, with less defensive acumen.

So let's think about Cole Aldrich. He was most successful on the 2008-09 team, which revolved primarily around him and Sherron Collins, with Collins averaging about 19 a game and Cole about 15. In his junior season, Aldrich's numbers fell back down to under 12 points a game. The big difference was that as a sophomore, Aldrich needed to be the focus inside because the freshman scorers (Taylor, Morris Twins) were not ready to step forward just yet, so Aldrich was a focal point. The team had very little wing scoring (Reed and Morningstar averaged under 7 ppg).

That is not this team. Two of the best players on this team are wing scorers (Braun, Agbaji). The best players are slashing guards (add Martin, Yesufu, Harris to the prior list). McCormack is not the second best player on this team. He's probably the 5th best behind Agbaji, Martin, Braun, and Wilson.

This team was also built to run. Every guy in the rotation except McCormack and Lightfoot is a guy that is better in an uptempo transition game. That doesn't fit McCormack's style as well.

So we have a guy that is talented. I just compared him to a player that was an NBA lottery pick. But we have a team that doesn't fit his style, and in fact goes against his style.

So Dave is in a bit of a bind. He's a fish out of water trying to run with thoroughbreds. He can still be effective, but he's a guy that really can't play with Harris because Dave needs to be on the floor with other shooters, so if Harris plays a lot (and he has so far) Dave has to play less. He isn't a great post up guy, so he needs to be out away from the basket screening, but that goes against Self's tendency to run almost exclusively PnR with a four out set.

Dave can be effective. We just have to find a fit for his skills within the construct of the rest of the team.

@BeddieKU23

Great post. I think you hit on all off the issues with this team so far.

I will start with the good and go in reverse of how you went.

Braun (along with Agbaji) was very good scoring from the perimeter. Having both of those guys emerge as legitimate threats to score 15+ every night will make KU very hard to guard because you cannot leave either from three, which opens up so many passing and cutting lanes everywhere else. Over time, this will open up the lane for Martin, Yesufu (we'll get to both of them in a second) and others. If Wilson rediscovers his stroke, that's potentially five guys at crunch time that can handle, shoot, or drive.

Part of the good shooting is having good shooters. Part of it is having space to operate. This team should never have more than one big man on the floor at a time. McCormack will be better than he has been. He is at his best either at the top of the key shooting his face up jumper, rolling to the rim for a lob, or getting his offense off rebounds and stick backs. Those are the ways Big Dave should score. Force feeding him in the post is sub optimal, especially when he can punish defenses that help to shooters and drives with dunks and putbacks.

Because KU needs to play small to maximize their personnel, they are going to need guards that rebound. Martin is very good as a rebounder (constantly working back to get boards), and Braun plays bigger than he is on the glass. Agbaji should rebound more, and I would actually challenge him to either rebound at a higher rate, or take on key defensive assignments. But this team has to play small. Wilson is most effective facing up bigger players, where his quickness can exploit that mismatch. When he moves to the perimeter as a wing, his quickness advantage is negated and his productivity drops. I would like to see KU run some 1-4 to 4-5 PnR action. Basically, Wilson screening for the PG (preferably with a PG that can shoot), then if Wilson catches on the pick and pop, immediately getting a screen from the 5. Since KU is going to have shooters on the floor all the time, that double PnR action could catch a team in slow rotations, which should open up either a lob or a three.

This team might be able to be average defensively, but they can't do that if they switch everything up top. They have a few guys (Harris, Yesufu, Agbaji sometimes, Braun at times) that can get after it defensively. McCormack and Lightfoot are solid around the rim. But they have to be able to keep their assignments rather than switching on every action because size and quickness disadvantages can be exploited if they know switches are coming. That's a tactical adjustment that should be made in conference play.

And finally, how to close games. The Dayton loss can be blamed on a bad closing strategy. First, KU may have had the wrong group on the floor. Second, they may have had the ball in the wrong guys hands.

The two best one on one scorers on this team are Martin and Agbaji, so if you're running a play at the end of the game, the ball needs to be in Martin's hands to start, and it probably should get to Agbaji eventually. The ball should not go into the post, because that is not KU's most efficient offense. Dave McCormack is not Wayne Simien, or either Morris Twin, or Perry Ellis, or Darrell Arthur. Those guys were more or less automatic one on one in the post. Because McCormack isn't automatic, asking him to make that play in that situation is unfair. He has skills that mean he can be a factor on that play if you have a PnR going that gives him a roll option, or even a pick and pop where he could also be a passer since Dave is adept at finding open teammates. But asking him to score in a back to the basket situation there, when that isn't his strongest suit, is unfair to him. Let him make a play he excels at.

But the other option is to close games with either Martin-Agbaji-Braun-Wilson-McCormack or Martin-Yesufu-Agbaji-Braun-Wilson. I'm not sure which of those lineups I prefer more, but Yesufu is another ballhandler/scorer that can make things happen. Having five guys like that down the stretch is intriguing. Obviously, the group with Yesufu is super small, but if they don't get killed on the glass, it will be difficult to turn them over and they should shoot it well. I'd lean more towards the lineup with McCormack now, surrounded by four shooters. If McCormack is a screener with any of those guys, he is well positioned to play his best ball as a lob catching rim runner that can crash the glass hard.

But it's still very early, so these things have a way of working themselves out.

Trying to decide what the minutes distribution should be on this team. There is a place for Harris. Agbaji,Wilson, Martin, and Braun all have to play big minutes, particularly in tight games. There's a place for McCormack and Lightfoot.

The struggle is that I like Pettiford. Yesufu needs minutes. Coleman-Lands has a skillset that should get him on the floor. Adams and Clements both bring energy in defined roles. There are a lot of programs where this group would be starting. Here, it's a challenge to find them minutes. But they all deserve minutes.

Daniel's needs some more playmaker at WR. KU needs to find some help in the transfer portal at WR and TE. Some help on both lines would also be nice.

The turnovers and inconsistent play are not surprising. There are a lot of new faces and not much time to get used to each other.

As for the last offensive possession, that needs to be the last time this year that a crucial possession doesn't see the ball in the hands of either Agbaji or Martin, the two best creators on this roster. If Dave gets a dump off on a drive from a guard, that's good offense. Lobbing the ball inside to him just goes against his best skillsets. That's not putting him in a position to succeed.

I think Jalen will improve once he gets into the flow. Missing those early games hurt him.

The issue is the same as last year. Big Dave just doesn't fit with the rest of the personnel on the roster. His game is not a good match for everyone else, so it breaks the flow of the team to try and get him involved offensively.

Best solution is to make him a rim runner and rebounder. He's just not good enough one on one to have that role, especially when you have three much better scorers in Agbaji, Wilson and Martin.

The big story from this season is that Jalon Daniels may have solidified the QB position. KU hasn't had a reliable QB since Reesing. We have churned through a bunch of hit and miss guys, but if Daniels finally locks down that position, KU could take a step forward next year, possibly 4 or 5 wins, outside chance at a bowl with a few lucky bounces. That's how important QB play is.

If Daniels isn't the real deal, then its another year searching for a guy that is the QB, which is another year of hoping it all finally clicks.

@nwhawkfan

@nwhawkfan said in Non-KU Games:

As I watch Butler get taken apart by Houston in Maui, I'm surprised at how far their program has fallen in just a dozen years, when they went to back-to-back National Championship games. Now they're bottom-feeders in the Big East.

Tough to keep up with strong programs when you don't recruit at that level.

Agbaji is, at least, a college superstar. I don't know how that will translate to the pros, but he's a college superstar that could average 15-20 per game this season.

McCormack is a very good college big man, so he will throw up some double doubles this year. If KU doesn't try to force feed him offensively, he should be able to be efficient offensively.

We already know Remy Martin is a star. He will probably be even more efficient with the talent KU can surround him with. He's playing with his best group of wings and his best interior players in his career.

Jalen Wilson can also be efficient and attack matchups once he comes back because there are just more scorers around him now.

I think Braun figures it out eventually. He's not going to be a star at KU, but he will help this team and likely hits some clutch shots along the way.

And this bench, with Harris, Coleman-Lands, Yesufu, Lightfoot, etc., they can all hurt you in different ways, and because of the depth, none of them should get exposed because of their shortcomings because there just won't be enough minutes to exploit them.

This team should be good. They should hammer most of the Big 12 competition. They should be in the top 7 all season. They should get a #1 seed. The goal should be cutting down the nets on the first Monday in April.

KSU hired a guy that was going nowhere.

Frank Martin was a much better coach, but KSU fans didn't like his attitude because they wanted someone like Bill Snyder. They got someone with that type of personality, but he can't win games, so there's a lesson in that somewhere.

On top of that, Weber can't recruit, so he's always going to be inconsistent. He will sometimes stumble into talent, like he had with Dean Wade and that group, but not consistently. He's just good enough to not get fired, but never good enough to make his team a consistent factor. He probably finished 5th in the conference, then steals a game in the NCAA tournament to save his job. Or they are as bad as the roster looks, and he gets canned 10 minutes after they lose in the Big XII tournament.

Chiefs need a second WR.

OBJ plays WR.

Mecole Hardman has not been the answer. Pringle is not the answer. Gordon is not the answer. Robinson is not the answer.

OBJ might be the answer. Sign him and find out if he can help this offense get out of this funk.

I just don't see how this setup holds up long term. Having three schools (WVU, Cincy, UCF) on EST and one (BYU) on MST will make scheduling and travel a nightmare for basketball. I would have preferred adding a school like Memphis or Tulane to BYU for that reason alone.

I give it five years before we are back at this point again.

Harris is going to start, at least at the beginning of the season. Wilson, McCormack and Agbaji are also more or less locks. Probably Remy gets the other spot.

Yesufu probably should start, but he probably won't until the conference season gets going. Braun may nudge ahead of Remy (though Remy is likely the better player) because of Self's loyalty. I'm not quite sure who the best 5 actually is. Probably still some smaller combo - perhaps Yesufu, Remy, Agbaji, Braun and Wilson? I need to see this group play together before I can say on that.

It stands out to me that two coaches that have been hailed as great leaders (Urban Meyer and Gruden) have been shown to be frauds in that capacity in the space of about a week and a half. Either we don't really understand what leadership means, or we are not good at identifying those qualities because neither of those guys should lead a round of applause, let alone an organization.

This is nothing new. And Gruden isn't the only one...

@approxinfinity

The problem for Urban Meyer is this isn't his first (or only) issue.

He had knowledge that one of his assistants at Ohio State was a domestic abuser ↗, but didn't report it (best case) or helped cover it up (worst case). That alone should have been enough to end his coaching career.

After Iowa fired Chris Doyle for racially biased behavior ↗ in June 2020, Meyer hires him to work for on his staff in Jacksonville six months later. He fires him the next day after backlash. That gives us reason to ask SERIOUS questions about his judgment, even if the Zach Smith stuff never happened.

And there's plenty of other stuff ↗ out there, too.

Urban Meyer is a good coach, but terrible about basically every other aspect of leadership, which makes him unfit to be in charge of any organization. Jacksonville should have known that. They ignored that, so whatever embarrassment they get from this, they deserve.

Urban Meyer is who he is, and that means he should not be a head football coach anymore because he lacks the judgment and leadership necessary to fill that role. Full stop.

Meyer probably wasn't the best choice for the Jacksonville job to begin with, so him being an enormous failure is no real surprise. How much of an embarrassment he becomes before he is terminated is the only real question left.

@nuleafjhawk

Mahomes was not at the top of his game last night and deserves blame for that penalty and for the horrendous interception.

But if you're the Chiefs, your best bet is still to let Mahomes make plays, not get conservative and just hope nobody screws up.

Baltimore won because they stayed aggressive and, rather than give the Chiefs another chance with a minute to go, gave the ball to Lamar Jackson and told him to go win it (and he did).

Jackson made mistakes too (pick six, interception on a pass into double coverage) but Baltimore stayed with their guy and stayed aggressive. KC got conservative, so Baltimore won.

Chiefs got too conservative at the end. Mahomes is the best player in the league. If you lose because he doesn't make a play, you live with it. If you lose because he handed the ball off, that's a failure of coaching. But that has happened before with Andy Reid teams.