🏀 KuBuckets Archive

I think the backlash against Perry has more to do with expectation than skill, which is more the fault of fans than it is of Perry. If Perry Ellis had been a four star recruit that wasn't the leading scorer in Kansas HS history upon graduation that was brought in hoping he would contribute as a four year player, everyone would be singing his praises.

Honestly, I think it was the McD's game that caused this. Looking back at his ranking, he was ranked just ahead of Rico Gaithers of Baylor. Gaithers is a rebounding machine (12 per game), but not much of a skilled scorer, shooting just 45% overall, even though most of his offense comes at the rim. Perry is a much more skilled player, as evidenced by his three point shooting and passing (Gaithers has less than 30 assists in his entire three year career - Perry has 35 this year). Gaithers is a one dimensional player (rebounding). Perry is a more skilled player, but without one standout quality.

Because he was a McD's AA, we think he should have become a top NBA prospect and miss completely the fact that Perry is what he always would have become - a very, very good college player.

If Perry stays healthy, he will likely finish his KU career between 1550 and 1600 points, which will put him in the company of Calvin Thompson, Kenny Gregory, Jeff Boschee, Tyshawn Taylor and Wayne Simien. With a little bit of a scoring push, he could pass Mark Randall on the scoring chart and wind up 12th in KU history at around 1630 career points.

Good health will also land him close to 850 rebounds, which would put him in the top 10 in KU history.

Simply put, Perry Ellis will probably have one of the 30 greatest careers in KU history, both by the numbers and just in games. Add to that the fact that he's done that this far without any issues, either academically or off the court.

Perry should be praised for who he is and what he's accomplished, instead of wishing that he was something more. Let him be great for who he is.

The shot clock violation earlier in the game should have been reviewed and reversed. The layup by Staten was not reviewable. To be honest, I did not see the walk initially because I was looking at our (lack of) defensive help on the play.

Giving up an uncontested layup is unforgivable, regardless of whether he traveled or not. We did not deserve to have that call reversed even if it could be because we didn't make the right basketball play to rotate over and help.

I would even bet that the fact that we did not rotate may have influenced the no call. Without the defense coming over, the referee sees an uncontested layup off a spin move. Since Staten didn't stumble or bobble the ball, there's really nothing to see there, and the referee may have incorrectly been fooled into thinking there was no violation. If we rotate over and Staten has to take that extra step while maneuvering around a defender, now we probably get a call.

I don't blame the refs. I blame our defense.

@joeloveshawks

Agreed. The difference between Kentucky and every other good team is large enough that being away from them is a huge benefit.

To beat UK, somebody is going to have to play the game of their collective lives. Because of that, and because so many of the next group are close together, that means that if you have to play out of your mind just to get by Kentucky there may not be enough left in the tank to win it all. You will effectively have cleared the door for someone else to step through and hoist your trophy.

I don't want KU to be that team. Play UK in the title game, or not at all.

The thing the schedule may do is keep us from being the last 2 seed, and that is critical.

The lowest 2 seed gets slated across from Kentucky. Everyone knows this. The highest 3 will also likely get sent to the UK region, with geography being accepted as a possible reason to shift things around.

Kentucky will be going to the Midwest regional in Cleveland, with their opening round games in Louisville. We will probably be going to Omaha for our opening games, but we want to go to either Houston or LA for the regionals (South or West). Assuming the ACC gets both a 1 and 2 seed, the ACC 1 seed will go to the East regional (Syracuse). We do not want to get swapped with the second ACC team and get sent to Cleveland because that makes life much more difficult.

@drgnslayr

I agree with you that the defensive breakdown was the real reason for the loss. I also think Self should have gone with Cliff for that last defensive possession. Landen isn's a shot blocker. Expecting him to protect the rim is a bit unfair. Park Cliff in the lane and let him do his thing.

I follow the Royals quite a bit.

They should be okay this year. The big thing here is that they have to stay healthy. Guys like Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez, Hosmer, Cain, etc. have to be able to go every night because the Royals don't have enough depth either in the big leagues or in the minors if their top players are banged up.

They are also really leaning on Ventura and Duffy to be big time pitchers this season. A lot of the season rides on some of the less experienced or less established players this season, but I think they will be fine.

This game was about rebounding, plain and simple.

We got bullied on the boards and that just can't happen.

This was the nightmare scenario that I saw coming into this game. It's why I was so fearful of this game as soon as the schedule came out. Since WVU joined the Big 12, we have not played well in Morgantown. We are 1-2 out there and we have gone in ranked in the top 10 every time. It's just a bad trip for us.

That said, this game exposed some flaws for us.

One, we do not have a closer. Down the stretch, Frank wants the ball, but isn't quite dynamic enough as a scorer to just let him freelance when things break down. Kelly and Wayne are both better as shooters than break you down off the dribble scorers. We have broken down Perry to the point I actually think his offensive game may be underrated on this site. But the point is, we need someone that can just go get a bucket when we really need a bucket.

The rebounding was atrocious. Our two best rebounders are Cliff and Jamari, but in a game like last night, we can't play them together, even when we are getting destroyed on the glass. That's a killer. Perry did a great job on the windows last night, but this is the type of game where you need someone like Cliff that's going to grab 15 boards and just dominate the backboard. We didn't get that.

The final play, we really have to see that finished with a dunk. Coming straight down the middle at full speed, that layup is missed more often than not. That has to be a dunk.

There's a break even point with three point shooting. At some point, being a poor shooting team taking threes is like turning the ball over unless you are also a strong offensive rebounding team.

I think 35% is roughly where the diminishing returns start, and 30% is where it gets ugly. You just can't give away possessions if you are a poor shooting team. You have to get inside, draw fouls, do something to get points.

If you have poor shooters, you have to be selective, but you can't put up a ton of threes hoping you can offset the low percentage with pure volume. I don't think the math would work.

@globaljaybird

He's at a point in his career where he has more of his college career behind him than in front. There's just not much projection left for him. I think he could improve some, but it's limited because he's only got two years left and he's a fringe rotation guy right now.

I don't think Landon has the physical package to be anything more than a poor man's Withey. Withey was very light on his feet and tremendous at high pointing the ball. I haven't seen those skills from Lucas, and he's already been in the program for three years.

I think solid backup is his ceiling.

Larry Brown made a very interesting point when asked about the problems with college basketball. He said that one of the issues is that college programs aren't doing enough teaching - that the assistants and head coach are so consumed in either game preparation or recruiting that they don't have the time to really teach the players. I think that's a good point.

I think it would be useful to a lot of programs to have the opportunity to really get to work with the players that they have in the preseason on a limited basis. In-season time is limited because there are almost always games, but in the preseason you could really get some things done.

I know that this would put an extra burden on the players, but it's not like these guys aren't going to be in the gym, anyway. Every basketball player I knew was in the gym whether they were required or not. Might as well make that time a little bit more productive.

@joeloveshawks

I think they both got recognition for two reasons.

One, they are both outstanding defensive players, which is part of what makes Kentucky so good.

Two, Kentucky still has a chance to go undefeated, and if they do, you can't have the player of the year list not include at least a couple guys on a team that dominant.

Not saying either should win (I'd pick Kaminsky now that he's healthy), but just the fact that Towns and Cauley Stein play for a potentially historic team means that they will get recognition.

@wrwlumpy

Two coaches that are viewed much differently, but who both had a huge impact on the game. RIP to both.

You don't bank on making 50% of threes. That is fool's gold.

But this team doesn't have to do that. This is a good shooting team, though, so you can expect to make 38%-44% of threes. There is enough shooting talent here to do that on a regular basis, as evidenced by the fact the team is shooting in that range on the season.

The final step is to use that shooting to get to the rim, especially for Wayne and Kelly. The threes should open up some driving lanes to get into the lane. Now that Cliff is in the lineup, we can use those drives for passes, like the one Wayne left for Cliff for the dunk in the second half.

@jaybate-1.0

The trouble for Cliff is that a lot of college teams don't have size, so he's forced to cover some random 6-7 guy that plays out on the wing. That is not his strength. The NBA would allow him to play more inside where his strengths - rim protection, rebounding, dunking - would be on full display.

If OU hadn't given that game away to K-State earlier in the season, this would be a very complicated race right now because we still have a trip to Norman coming up.

Right now, I have the Big 12 getting 7 teams into the dance (everyone but KSU, Tech and TCU). TCU makes the NIT to give them a little postseason action.

The strength of the Big 12 will help everyone get a +1 when it comes to seeding. No league is tougher top to bottom, night in and night out. I could see 5 Big 12 teams getting top 5 seeds.

There's Kentucky's region and there's every other region.

You want to be opposite UK as much as possible. Best case scenario, we don't see them until the national final. There's just so much distance between UK and the field, I don't really see them losing prior to the Elite Eight. That means it's just not likely there's an upset to clear the path if you're in their region.

None of the other potential 1's scare me. Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke, Wisconsin, etc. are all very good, but also all very beatable. We are really under pressure to avoid being on the 2/3 border because that puts us in UK's region (lowest 2, highest 3). I'd rather we be on the 1/2 border, or the 3/4 border.

I would definitely go the juco route first.

Make sure that whoever is your daughter's academic advisor for the first two years knows that she intends to transfer to KU and what her major is when she transfers. That will help assure that all of her classes transfer appropriately.

Going into a huge amount of debt for college is just not practical with the way starting salaries have dropped over the last several years. Your daughter (and you) will be exceptionally more satisfied ten years from now if you are not paying several hundred dollars a month in student loans.

Coach Self needs to adhere to the Papa John's philosophy - Better Players = Better Basketball.

Starting Jamari at the beginning of the season was probably prudent as Cliff got acclimated to college ball. However, Cliff is the better player, so he should be playing more, whether he is starting or not at this point. If you are giving Jam Tray more minutes than Cliff at this point, you're literally costing yourself points.

Right now, our best six players are Mason, Selden, Oubre, Greene, Ellis and Alexander. Those six should be playing 75% of the minutes. Graham needs to get more minutes just to take some of the load off Frank. Traylor should be our third big because he's so active.

I'd say 20 minutes each for Graham and Traylor, with the other six splitting up the remaining 160 minutes (25-30 each). That's the ideal rotation right now, with maybe Svi or Lucas grabbing 5-10 minutes here and there.

I've said before that I think we need the Mizzou rivalry in at least basketball and football, just to give KU a major game that matters to people outside the state of Kansas.

UK-Louisville matters nationally in basketball. Duke-UNC does, too. KU-K-State doesn't matter nationally most years because KSU just isn't good enough, and the rivalry doesn't resonate outside Kansas.

KU-Mizzou was a rivlary that mattered. When I traveled and said I was from Kansas, people asked me about KU-Mizzou. The only time I have ever been asked about KU-KSU is when someone asked me if it was a rivalry.

I don't think anyone envisioned the potential power of sports. For one, even if sports became "professional", I doubt that they thought careers would last long enough to give an individual an opportunity to generate substantial wealth.

I think there were people that knew athletics could make people rich. Even in the era of gladiators in the Roman empire, the best gladiators were rich. But riches do not make wealth. Riches last a lifetime. Wealth can be passed down throughout generations.

Up until very recently, sports could make you rich, but the frailty of the human body, and, necessarily, the career of the athlete, meant that an athlete could not sustain his earning potential long enough to cross the gap between riches and wealth.

Muhammad Ali laid out the blueprint by being able to cross into pop culture and become an icon. However, the violence of boxing and the pounding that he took meant that he could not enjoy the best wine from the fruits of the vineyard he planted. In truth, every athlete of today owes a large degree of their earning power to the path that Muhammad Ali blazed. But Ali showed that you can be an icon as an athlete in a way that was previously reserved for only politicians, world leaders and religious figures. That's why they call him "The Greatest."

Jordan took the prototype that Ali built and weaponized it. He refined the craft, going from just icon to a business unto himself. First it was the shoes, then it was the tongue, then the Gatorade. Now he is his own billion dollar brand, and he owns his own team.

And with that, the cycle is ready to be renewed. From athlete, to icon, to entrepreneur, to owner. The Ali-Jordan model is ready for its next upgrade.

Bruce Weber isn't much of a coach in my opinion. He had the same sort of issues at Illinois. This is about what I expected from Weber. One good year, one so-so year and then a series of poor years with player problems that are blamed on guys acting out, followed by him being fired and the program being left in shambles. Apparently the process has accelerated a bit.

An interesting question. I think we are closing in on a day when it's possible that the players will be able to run their own professional league.

Think about it this way.

Track any of the big stars that came in the league since 1995.

Kevin Garnett has made over $300m in his career, just playing basketball. He has probably made another couple hundred million through various advertising avenues.

Kobe Bryant had made close to $280m in his career before this season. He's owed $25m for next season.

Tim Duncan is at $225m before this year.

Chris Webber is worth about $350m (estimated) and has expressed interest in buying an NBA team. The guys I listed above could certainly put together an ownership group. Michael Jordan owns a team. By the end of their careers, Lebron and Carmelo will be in the same career earnings bracket, and both have developed the business skills to own a team.

This is an important fact because the NBA has, of late, been the league with the most unsettled player-owner relationship. This is in large part due to the fact that the owners have battled to keep player salaries down, all while continuing to rake in profits. That is all coming back to roost now with the new TV deal blowing the old one out of the water.

It's not out of the question that some of those late 1990's and early 2000's stars don't start taking their talents into the board room as opposed to just being broadcasters. I think that is a fear of NBA owners. Basketball careers can last long enough now, particularly with OADs, that you can play for 15-18 years and earn a very high salary for 12 or 13 of those years, meaning that when you retire you will have banked close to $300m and be in a very good position (if you were smart with your money) to be worth quite a bit of money - not just comfortable money, but ownership type money.

And if players can own NBA teams, that means they also have the money to start their own league. Most NBA teams no longer own their arenas. The arenas are rented from the localities where they are located. The Lakers and Clippers are just tenants at Staples Center. The cheapness of many owners in not wanting to build their own arenas could come back to haunt them all.

It's April 6, 2015. We are in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium set for a rematch of the 2012 title game - Kansas vs. Kentucky.

The Wildcats are still undefeated and have looked like a machine for the last month. No one has played them within a dozen points since late February. Kansas has smoothed out the hiccups of late and has won 13 in a row leading up to the national title game. The stage is set.

The game starts off with Kentucky out of the gates quickly, turning defense to offense off a couple blocked shots and jumping out to a very early 14-4 lead. The Cats think this will be a repeat of the massacre that occurred just a few blocks over nearly 140 days earlier. But this KU team is different.

At the TV timeout, Brannen Greene, who has emerged as the sixth man on this team, checks in and promptly finds airspace to bury a three. The Hawks grab a defensive board and Greene finds some space again. Another three. After an inside bucket from the Cats, the defense gets muddied up and Kelly Oubre finds space for a three of his own. Just like that, what was a 10 point lead is now a 16-13 game. Crisis averted. It's time to watch a national championship game.

With the hot three point shooting, KU has now spaced the floor with their newly adopted 4 out look. This is forcing Kentucky to guard on the perimeter without the luxury of several shotblockers in the lane. That's paying dividends on both ends, as UK isn't getting fast break baskets and KU isn't shooting 19%.

It also helps that Brannen Greene has shifted into NBA Jam mode. He is practically glowing from the heat emanating from his right hand. 4-4 from three in the first half for 12 points. Perry Ellis has 6. Kelly Oubre has 8, including a couple triples of his own. Cats and Hawks tied at 34. UK with only four blocked shots in the first half, none after the first 8 minutes.

Calipari is livid with the perimeter defense and starts making some changes. Devin Booker, UK's best bench scorer, has found himself a comfortable spot at the end of the bench thanks to losing sight of Brannen Greene one too many times. Without the benefit of the blocked shots, UK goes away from some of their bigger lineups. Towns and Cauley-Stein are playing well, but Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee and Trey Lyles are all seeing their minutes cut in this game. On top of that, neither Harrison twin can get it going from the perimeter. Wayne Selden has done a great job locking up Aaron Harrison, holding him to 2-6 from the field in the first half.

With Booker banished to the bench and the UK rotation discarded, Calipari sends out Ulis, the Harrisons, Cauley-Stein and Towns, which Self counters with Mason, Selden, Oubre, Ellis and Traylor for the early part of the second half. When Greene checks back in, he promptly heat checks a three, which he drains. He's now 5-5. KU overall is 8-12 from three, which has powered them to a 6 point lead at 48-42 with 11 minutes to play.

The Wildcats aren't done though. Harrison shakes away from Greene to hit a triple, cutting the lead in half. Towns gets inside for a bucket and the lead is now one. After another KU miss, Andrew Harrison goes coast to coast for a score and Bill Self is now the one beside himself. He lifts Greene for Selden to get some more defense on the floor. He also puts Cliff Alexander into the game for some physicality underneath. Cliff responds by pounding the glass. He can't get inside for scoring, but he is owning the backboards. In just 18 minutes on the night, he will finish with just 4 points, but 13 rebounds, a key contribution to the win.

Wayne Selden has also gotten involved offensively, first hitting a stepback jumper, then finding Perry Ellis with a nifty pass for another deuce. The game has been back and forth, now with KU nudging back ahead 57-56 with just five minutes to go.

Up to this point, the hero for KU has been Brannen Greene, who will lead all scorers with 20 points on 7-8 shooting, including six threes. But to take it home, KU needs two guys to step forward - the two that have answered the bell for the last six weeks - Frank Mason and Kelly Oubre.

Mason has been in facilitator mode most of the game. He has only 2 points and has only taken 3 shots all night, though he has 7 assists. Oubre has a quiet 10 points. Off a deflection, Oubre gathers it in and goes to the rack for a very loud fast break dunk. Hawks up three, 59-56. Lucas Oil Stadium is rocking. Andrew Harrison, usually the one to assist on the big buckets, instead bangs home a long two to cut the lead back to one. Off an Oubre three point miss, Cliff Alexander claws down the rebound and finds an open Frank Mason, who drains a big triple to push the lead back to four.

Karl Anthony Towns hits a jumper to cut it back to two with about three minutes left, 62-60. Frank Mason responds by driving into the lane and banking in a runner to push it back to four.

Back and forth it goes, but the Cats can't cut it under 2. The lead now stands at 68-64, UK ball with just 1:08 left. Aaron Harrison gets inside on the drive and draws a foul as he hits a wild shot. Kentucky with a chance to cut it to one. Harrison misses the FT and in the ensuing scramble the smallest player on the floor, Frank Mason, secures the rebound and is fouled. He hits both freebies to stretch the lead back to four with 55 seconds left, but UK isn't done. Harrison hits a three with Selden draped all over him to cut the lead to one with 44 seconds left. UK elects to foul quickly again and Mason goes back to the line. He hits the first, but misses the second. However, Kelly Oubre claims the board and alertly dribbles away from the paint, eating up a couple extra seconds before he is fouled. Oubre hits both FTs to push the lead to 73-69 with just 27 seconds remaining. That gives him 16 on the night. UK comes down and elects to go for the quick two, with Towns getting a bucket with 19 seconds left to cut it to 73-71. KU gets the ball in to Frank Mason and UK immediately fouls. Frank steps to the line and casually hits both to push it back to a four point lead. UK rushes down and puts up a desperation three that doesn't go. Oubre secures the rebound to give him a double double and UK fouls with just 11 seconds left. Oubre hits both, pushing the lead to 77-71.

UK comes back down and puts up a three that misses. The Cats secure the rebound and hit a three as time expires, but the confetti cannons are already raining down by the time the ball hits the floor.

Rock Chalk Championship

@globaljaybird

Agreed, especially with two teams already in town. OKC is a one team town, so it doesn't split the fanbase up. If KC were to get a pro basketball or hockey team, that would be a third team in a smaller metro. That would be tough.

@jaybate-1.0

Brannen is turning into an NBA 2 guard very quickly. His stroke has come together and is textbook quality. He wants to get fouled at the end of games because he knows he will make them.

The only thing that will keep him in college this year is his defense. If he was a better defender, he would be a first round pick this summer. If he improves his defense, he is gone after next year.

Brannen will be a pro. He will have to constantly work on his defense, but if he has paid attention to Danny Green's career, he should follow the template and can put together a nice, long career.

Pro sports is a superior product to the college game. In the pro game, you will always see talented players on both teams. That's not necessarily the case in college.

Pro teams tend to be in the larger cities (New York, Chicago, LA, Houston, Dallas, etc), while most of the strongest college programs are not in large metro areas (Lawrence, Durham, Lexington, Chapel Hill, etc.). No one would put a pro team anywhere in Kansas, so the only question would be whether a team would land in KC. I don't think it would hurt KU as much because I think a lot of KU fans come from other parts of Kansas and would not necessarily go to KC for a pro team, whereas OSU and OU both draw from OKC and the surrounding area for their fan base, so it hurts them.

A KC pro team would draw from the KC metro area and surrounding. Some of those people would absolutely be KU fans, but there would also be a lot of K-State and Mizzou fans in that market, so KU attendance wouldn't fall. The wait list may shrink a bit, but it wouldn't change the fact that there would be sellouts at AFH. Maybe some of the KC people would give up their season tickets, but there would be people in Topeka or other places that would gobble those tickets up rather than getting tickets to a team in KC.

OU's schedule was pretty tough.

Non-con against Wisconsin, UCLA and Washington, plus Butler and Tulsa. That compares pretty favorably to KU's slate. The big advantage for KU is that Kentucky is rated so much better than anyone else by every metric that having them on the schedule skews it because UK is so strong. OU has definitely played one of the 5 or 6 toughest schedules in the country.

As for road venues, Wisconsin is definitely one of the toughest places to play in the country. Tops in the Big 10, and up there nationally with AFH, Cameron, Rupp, and Arizona. Those would be my top 5 as far as toughest venues in college basketball.

@nuleafjhawk

I don't know that KU even recruited Niang. We had already signed Perry Ellis in that class. I'm not sure if KU was ever in the hunt for Niang. He was ranked 56 coming out of HS, which isn't bad, but not where we are usually recruiting. It looks like his final choices were Iowa State, Iowa, UMass, Providence and Siena. Looking at that group, I completely understand the Iowa State choice.

@JayHawkFanToo

I think Louisville in 2013 was the #1 overall seed. I could be wrong, but I think they were.

I think this season ends with a tough loss in the Elite Eight. I think we can go further than we have the last couple of years, but I don't think we win it all.

For one, I think Kentucky is winning it all, and I don't think there is really much anybody can do about it. UK is so good defensively that it just puts them head and shoulders above everyone else.

Two, I think KU is very even with a lot of teams, but that parity means that the S16 game will be very tough and so will the E8 game and the national semifinal. Between KU, Arizona, Duke, Virginia, Gonzaga, Villanova, Wisconsin and Louisville, only 7 of those teams could even possibly make it to the E8 (assuming UK is the other team). Add in teams like Iowa State, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Utah, Michigan State, Wichita State and Maryland, plus a couple of surprises (maybe SDSU or Temple) and its pretty clear that there are plenty of teams that have the E8 in their sights. Plus, any slip ups by KU and they end up with a 3 seed instead of a 2, which could mean playing a team like SMU or VCU in the Round of 32.

Just a tough overall path. And let's not forget that you want to avoid being in the region with UK because getting by the Cats will be a huge task.

@Crimsonorblue22

I think Wiggins will improve his scoring and decrease his turnovers with Rubio. I don't think his assists will go up, or that it will improve his rebounding or change his defense overall. I could see his scoring bumping up to 21 or 22 a game and his FG% getting closer to 50%. But his scoring isn't his main issue. It's the rest of his game. He doesn't rebound at a high rate. Even if his turnover rate drops, unless his assist rate jumps, he's still going to be close to a 1 to 1 ratio. And that combination makes him a higher scoring Kevin Martin. He's not a Kevin Durant or Carmelo Anthony type of scorer, so he has to round out his game. It should be noted that both Durant and Anthony have rounded out their games even though they were both superior scorers to what Wiggins is at similar points in their careers (Anthony averaged 21 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists as a rookie, Durant averaged 20.3/4.4/2.4). Wiggins is at 15.5/4.2/1.8. His best month still lags behind those guys full rookie year.

@DoubleDD

Trades are always dangerous. You are giving up something to get something. Unless you hoodwink someone, you have to give up value to get value back. Yes, Cleveland could be left holding the bag, but that also assumes that if they had kept Wiggins they would have been better positioned. I think that oversells Wiggins value at this point in his career. Wiggins is basically Kevin Martin right now, maybe a little bit more. I don't think a Kevin Martin type player pushes Cleveland to where they are right now. And remember, Wiggins was basically Kevin Martin only since about Christmas! Before that, Wiggins was playing very inefficiently. Fivethirtyeight.com ↗ did a very good piece on his struggles to that point.

@DoubleDD

I watch a lot of NBA basketball. I am primarily an NBA fan that also roots for KU as my college team. I said that we don't know if Wiggins will top out to be a multiple all star. We do know that he will be a good or even very good player. But he has not yet demonstrated that he will be a dominant player.

His January numbers are strong. Averaged 19.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.4 spg on 47% shooting. That's good, but as I said before, those numbers aren't perennial all star numbers because he isn't doing enough quite yet. He's scoring, but he isn't an above average rebounder or passer at this stage. And that was his best month by far. I fully expect Wiggins to continue to develop. By the way, those numbers are only slightly better than what Kevin Martin (Wiggins' teammate in Minnesota) has put up this season, and I don't think there's anyone clamoring to put him on any all star teams (Martin is at 19.8/3.8/1.9/0.7 on 44% shooting).

But while Wiggins has been on his hot stretch, the Cavs have won 11 straight. A lot of people were burying them when they lost 6 straight while Lebron was hurt, but it's telling that he's gotten healthy and they have ripped off 11 in a row, including wins over contenders like the Clippers, Bulls, and Blazers.

My position has always been that Lebron is absolutely the best player in the world right now. I don't know that Wiggins will ever be that good. He will be good, but when you have the best player in the world you do what you can to maximize the opportunity.

Cleveland's best chance for a title are over the next three seasons while Lebron is 30, 31 and 32. As we have seen with Kobe Bryant, once you pass that mark, the wear and tear starts to really catch up. So the question for Cleveland was simple - Can Andrew Wiggins help us be better than Kevin Love can over the next 3 years.

Wiggins has basically only played above average basketball since Christmas, and until he cleans up his turnovers (right now he has 87 assists to 95 turnovers) he's going to continue to be limited. Again, I am not saying he won't be good. All I am saying is that he hasn't played well enough to say that Cleveland was wrong. I still think the Cavs made the right move. Kevin Love gives them a better shot at getting past Atlanta, Chicago and Washington than Wiggins would have.

Cleveland didn't give away the house. They kept Kyrie Irving (all star). They kept Tristan Thompson (top 5 pick). They kept (now injured) Anderson Varejao. They had Lebron. They got Love. Cleveland had the foundation of a good team regardless. Now they are healthy and they are starting to roll.

I think making this a comparison between Love and Wiggins gets it all wrong.

Remember, Cleveland already had a perimeter scorer in Kyrie Irving, plus a high pick in Dion Waiters and the return of Lebron. Before the trade, Cleveland was a very perimeter oriented team with no real inside threats given that neither Thompson or Bennett had developed as hoped. That meant Cleveland had a lot of perimeter guys, but not much inside. They were very unbalanced once Lebron returned. They needed an inside guy so Lebron didn't have to exert himself by playing the other team's PF every night.

To get Love, they were going to have to give up something significant. Minnesota was not going to get fleeced in this deal. Knowing that James was back, Minnesota was not interested in future first round picks, because those would almost certainly be non-lottery selections. Bennett alone wouldn't be enough and they weren't interested in veterans because if they dealt Love, that meant a rebuild. I think (rightly) that they weren't interested in a Bennett/ Waiters package, either, because that's not as good a return as Bennett-Wiggins. Love was always going to cost Wiggins because either Wiggins or Waiters had to go, and Minnesota wasn't doing the deal without Wiggins.

You couldn't play Irving, Waiters, Wiggins, James and either Bennett or Thompson together without ending up being too small. If a good package had been out there for another strong inside player that would have moved Waiters and either Bennett or Thompson, I think Cleveland would have happily made that trade, but everybody in the NBA was going to ask for Wiggins in return because he was the best asset they could offer. They ended up having to move Waiters anyway, but Waiters would not have brought back the return that Wiggins did, as we saw from the later trade.

This is the team we have been waiting on.

This is the team that @HighEliteMajor, @jaybate-1.0, @drgnslayr and others have been talking about.

This is the team I envisioned at the beginning of the season.

And we finally capitalized on it. The only downer was that Svi was not involved. Other than that, I don't have a single complaint.

@HighEliteMajor is absolutely right - spacing the floor opens it up for everyone. Most teams don't have a 4 or 5 man that can move out to the perimeter and guard Perry. Just by shifting Perry to the perimeter and having him face up you can probably add 5 points to his FG% because the help defenders don't dare leave Brannen Greene right now.

Speaking of which, if you are a Big 12 coach right now, Brannen Greene is on a get off the bus alert. He must be guarded from the time he shows up at the arena until the time he leaves the building. He is insanely hot right now. There was a play in the first half where Devonte was pushing the ball up the floor and Brannen was trailing out on the wing. Devonte barreled into the lane and just kind of scooped it back out to Brannen, who had about 7 feet of open space. The result was a foregone conclusion. Right now, Brannen is the hottest shooter in America. He's on a Kyle Korver level right now.

The only minor concern from this game is that Frank is really starting to look and play worn down. We have to get him some rest because his legs are starting to wear out and we still have two months of basketball left.

@JayHawkFanToo

Wiggins is a lock both from performance and attrition. Look at the top 15 picks in last years draft.

1. Wiggins - playing well. 48 games total
2. Parker - out for the year with an ACL injury after just 25 games total
3. Embiid - out for the year with foot injury (0 games)
4. Gordon - has missed 31 games this year with a foot injury (19 games total)
5. Exum - playing very sparingly for Utah (47 games total)
6. Smart - missed 10 games with an ankle injury, up and down so far productionwise (32 games total)
7. Randle - broke his leg in his first NBA game. Out for the year (1 game)
8. Stauskas - playing sparingly for Sacramento (44 games total)
9. Vonleh - missed the start of the season with a sports hernia (10 games total)
10. Payton - has played (starting) most of the year, but isn't even averaging double figure points. Shooting very poorly. 51 games total
11. McDermott - played in the first 19 games, then had knee surgery. Probably done for the year. 19 games total
12. Saric - still playing in Europe. 0 games
13. LaVine - Wiggins teammate has been solid, but not as strong as Wiggins so far. Currently out with an ankle injury (44 games)
14. Warren - broke a bone in his hand in the preseason. Missed a few games. Has been back and forth between the D-League trying to get healthy and to get consistent minutes. 15 games
15. Payne - didn't debut until December 26 due to injury. Has been back and forth between the D-League getting healthy (3 games)

Considering that every team has played over 45 games, that means Parker, Embiid, Gordon, Randle, Vonleh, McDermott, Saric, Warren and Payne are all guaranteed to have missed at least one third of the season overall. Smart probably won't play in 70 games this season. Only Payton, Wiggins, Exum, LaVine and Stauskas have a shot at playing in 90% of the games this year. For everyone else, this season is basically a lost year due to injury. Sad, and really bizarre that so many guys got hurt this year.

@Lulufulu

I think those that thought Wiggins would be a journeyman were speaking from a position of disliking OADs rather than from a true basketball perspective. Wiggins has elite athleticism coupled with solid basketball skills. His size means he can play either wing spot, and his physical tools allow him to be a potentially elite defender.

I haven't quite locked in on multiple all star yet because I want to see him develop a little more of a well rounded game - he's neither an especially good rebounder (4 a game) or passer (2 assists per game). Right now he's a good starter. If he improves his rebounding to about 6 a game and bumps the assist number to between 3 and 4, now we have a potential all star because I think he will be a 20 ppg scorer. A 20 point, 4 rebound, 2 assist guy probably isn't a perennial all star because he will be passed over by more well rounded players a lot of years.

@drgnslayr

Absolutely agree that Frank never backs down. That's what I really love about his game. He will not shy away from the moment. That's also why he needs the rest because Frank will naturally take on the extra burden. We need to get a couple blowouts so he can rest and not take on the extra load because if he's out there, that's what he will do because that's just how he is.

@drgnslayr

But Frank's style is slashing. As someone who had that same style, I know that he can't just turn that off and stay on the perimeter. It's against his basketball personality. Less minutes would make it easier because then he's not up on his feet having to work defensively, etc. He's going to keep going to the basket because that's how he has played since he was probably 9 or 10 years old.

@benshawks08 and @nuleafjhawk

I am worried about Mason's minutes, plus the wear and tear. Remember, he played through some ankle issues while Graham was out, so he is probably not going to be anywhere near 100% the rest of the way. That could also explain his shooting slump as his legs may be a bit more worn right now. We really need to find a way to give him a couple 22 minute games so he can get refreshed.

@KJD

Northwestern is a high academic school, but Vanderbilt and Stanford are also strong academic institutions and they have not only been to the tournament, but done well on occasion. The fact that they haven't finished with a winning conference record in almost 50 years makes it much easier to believe they haven't been to the dance, but it's still shocking.

This trade was good for both teams. It's good for Cleveland now because Love is a very good player that will make them better for the next 2-3 years (their primary title window). It's good for Minnesota later because they are trying to rebuild and it helps to rebuild with a lot of young talent.

@truehawk93

Love averaged 11 points, 9 rebounds per game as a rookie, shooting 46% from the field and 79% from the line.

James averaged 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists as a rookie, shooting 42% from the field and 75% from the line.

Wiggins is currently at 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 43% shooting and 73% from the line.

I'd say he's basically on par with Love as a rookie, maybe slightly ahead because of defense, but you also have to consider that Love has averaged over 10 rebounds every year except his rookie season, and has averaged 17 points every year after his first two campaigns. Love was an elite player his third season in the league. We don't know yet if Wiggins will be an elite player that quickly or not. Love is having his worst season since his second year this year and he's averaging 17/10/2 assists.

Wiggins is nowhere close to where Lebron was as a rookie.

Lebron averaged 5.4 more points, 1.3 more rebounds, 4.1 more assists, 0.5 more steals. Wiggins is shooting a higher percentage from three (36% vs. 29%), but Lebron was higher from the line (75% to 72%), while getting to the line more. Lebron's assist to turnover ratio was nearly 2-1. Wiggins currently has more turnovers than assists.

I love Wiggins and think he will be a tremendous pro, but Lebron was pretty clearly an all timer even as a rookie. Wiggins is not on the level that Lebron was on, even as a rookie. We also have to remember that Lebron was an elite player his second year in the league, averaging 27 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in his second year, while jumping from 42% to 47% shooting. Wiggins would basically have to double his productivity from this season to next to match that. That's a tall order.

Hoiberg is the type of coach that gives Self problems.

Self prefers to play a system style. Hoiberg is about mismatches. As Self has often said, he wants to "run his stuff." Hoiberg doesn't have stuff to run. He's looking to exploit mismatches, which turns everything on its head for Coach Self, because that short circuits the system.

But there is a way to beat this - Change the system.

KU should play 4 or even 5 out today. I would love to see a lineup of Mason, Selden, Greene, Oubre and Svi at some point tonight. That would dare ISU to go into the post instead of spreading the floor. ISU is much more designed to spread the floor than pound it inside. This lineup would also negate McKay's speed advantage on our bigs, while making him come out away from the basket on defense.

KU has to turn the matchups on their ear and make ISU uncomfortable tonight.

The knock in Vaughn in the NBA is that he hasn't really put any creative sets in on either offense or defense to free up his players. He has some solid pieces on that roster (Oladipo, Harris and Vucevic are all nice players), but hasn't done much to show that he can be the guy as the team improves.

@jaybate-1.0 is right that there are always several caretaker coaches in the NBA. The key for those guys is to show that they can work with a poor roster and show some creative wrinkles to get their best 2 or 3 players involved to show that once the roster improves, they should be retained. JV has not done that. For example, Orlando has a very young, very athletic roster, but opened the season playing at a slow pace. Management had to push him to start playing at a faster pace to take advantage of the athleticism of the roster and hide the fact that he doesn't have a lot of offensive talent to use in the half court. He tried to play like he was the Spurs without the Spurs roster. Why not push the pace with quick, athletic players?

The most important skill for an NBA coach is the ability to adapt to the talent he has. You can't decide to run up and down the court if you have Shaq, just like you shouldn't slow it down if you have vintage Steve Nash.

I think he will get another chance because he has gotten his feet wet now and has dealt with a roster that was not top notch. Hopefully he has learned to adapt to his players' strengths and will have more success in his second shot. He may need to take a try in the D-League to get some more game management experience.

@JayHawkFanToo said:

And...drum roll...

• No. 1 / longest active basketball program without a Final Four appearance. Ba-dum-TSH!!!

Probably the most fascinating stat that I have ever come across is that Northwestern is the only Power 5 conference member that has never been to the NCAA tournament. Not only that, Northwestern was one of only a handful of D1 schools to have never won 20 games in a season until 2009. I am baffled by how poorly Northwestern has done in basketball in their history. You would figure that just by dumb luck they would stumble into the tournament once every 15-20 years. Heck, the last time Northwestern finished the conference season above .500 man hadn't yet walked on the moon.

@JayHawkFanToo said:

Jeff Sagarin is the pioneer in the filed and he along with Kenneth Massey are now the standard in the field.

Honestly, I don't think any of those models actually work when it comes to ranking. The numbers are great for ranking offense, defense and schedule strength. However, I am always cautious when those numbers are combined in order to reach an overarching conclusion.

The problem with all of these is weighting. For example, West Virginia and Louisville both have top notch defenses according to Ken Pom (top 15), but offenses ranked in the 40's. Massey rates Louisville's defense very well (top 15) but comes out middling on WVU (80). However, he rates WVU's offense as a top 15 unit. Why the drastic change? Well, Ken Pom's model rewards turnovers very generously, which pressing teams generate by the bushel. However, that pace hurts their offense because it gives them more possessions, and since neither WVU or Louisville is very efficient in the half court, their offensive ranking suffers in Ken Pom. I am not as familiar with Massey, so I don't know how he weights offense and defense based on pace, but that's a big issue.

Like I said though, I use Ken Pom not for the overall, but for the offense and defense because he normalizes the pace in much the same way that they do for the NBA, which makes it much easier to compare, especially since there are so many different styles in CBB.

I'm not quite clear on how a team that has been blown out twice is more impressive than the last two undefeated teams in the country, especially since one of those teams blew them out.

I appreciate the love, but the premise is a little ridiculous. If the situation were reversed (i.e. we had hammered UK and were undefeated) and someone was claimed that UK was more impressive, we would be sharpening pitchforks and lighting torches, talking about how crazy that was and how that writer has a bias.

I just can't understand how we are more impressive than the two teams that have, to this point, demonstrated that they are the best two teams in the country.

The KenPom rankings aren't necessarily for the rankings of the best teams. I use them more for the ranking of schedule strength and efficiency on both ends. The points per 100 possessions gives you a really good feel for how strong a defense or offense actually is because it evens out the playing field for teams that play at a slow pace and teams that play at a fast pace.

For example, KU's defense is not as stout this year as it usually has been under Self. This has been a 2 year phenomenon borne out in the numbers. Under Self, KU was routinely in the top 10 or 15. This year we are 36. Our offense is very good, but not spectacular, which is also shown in the numbers, as we rank 16 in offense.

I like the Adjusted offense and defense because it shows why a team like Wisconsin is so good. Wisconsin averages 73 points a game, good for 50th in the country.

However, they play at a slower pace than most. Their average per 100 possessions is 123.5. The best offenses in the NBA average slightly better than 110 points per 100. That Wisconsin mark is really eye popping, which is why I won't be surprised if they get to the Final Four even though their defense isn't quite as stout as it has been.

It also gives you a good feel for why Kentucky is so scary. They have faced the #13 schedule as far as offense is concerned, with their opponents averaging 105 points per 100 possessions. If that were an actual team, that mark would be a top 100 offense in D1. However, UK is only surrendering 80 points per 100 possessions. That's almost 4 points better than Virginia's defense, which is also pretty fierce.

Do I think that makes Utah the 5th best team in the country? No. Ken Pom's rankings don't do a good job of telling me that.

But they do tell me that Utah's defense is elite (5th in the country), which will make them very tough going forward. On the other hand, Notre Dame may not be as tough because their elite offense is paired with a fairly average defense. That means a bad shooting night will almost always sink the Irish, while a tough shooting night for the Utes doesn't mean much because they can get stops.

@jaybate-1.0

Basketball is definitely a business, but that is why it is important for those in the business to have strong people around them, especially when they are young.

Wiggins was able to move to the pro game because his dad was a pro and his mom was an athlete, too. That smoothed the transition for Wiggins big time. That's similar in a lot of ways to how Kobe Bryant grew. His dad was a pro, so Kobe didn't need the time in college to learn things like good practice habits, how to take care of himself, etc. He grew up watching that.

For a lot of players, though, they don't grow up watching that, but they are also too skilled for it to matter before they become a pro. That's where the talent and business overlap. At the collegiate level, talent matters more than business, because there are some players that have so much talent, they can't really develop at the college level because there isn't enough resistance to cause real growth. Kelly Oubre needed that resistance to grow, but there is almost no way he's at KU more than a couple of years because the game will get too easy for him at the college level if he stays beyond that.

@wrwlumpy

Having a stroke while driving (if you don't have a history of strokes) isn't criminal. Intentionally drinking (with all of the information that we have that shows that compromises your ability to react) and driving is a very serious act.

Yes, alcoholism is a disease. But if you are a sober alcoholic, there is nothing that should prevent you from driving. However, if you are intoxicated, you should not be driving, period.

DUI is a terrible thing that, unfortunately, is not treated as such in the US. In some countries, DUI is punishable by a year in jail for the first offense. In those countries, DUI's are rare because no amount of money or connections can get you out of a DUI conviction and the mandatory year in jail. Here in the US, if you know the right people and have enough money, you can get out of a DUI without much in the way of punishment.

I hope Conner moves on because I don't want to see a young man like him ruin his life. But I also hope he learned not to drink and drive so that he doesn't ruin someone else's life.

@Shanghai_RCJH

The problem with not playing as a sophomore if you are a guy like Conner Frankamp is that your primary competition for minutes is Brannen Greene (another sophomore), Frank Mason (soph), and Devonte Graham (fresh). If you can't find time this year, how are you ever going to find time?

I hope he learns from this DUI and understands that he can't put lives (including his own) at risk like that. Basketball is a game. DUI is not.