🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@HighEliteMajor I think you nailed some good Georgetown specific points. Here's a couple others.

1) Turnovers - When KU has been sloppy with the ball, they have lost. When they take care of it, they have so much pure offensive talent that wins are pretty likely. They have struggled to take care of the basketball against the zone at times. If Georgetown plays zone, can KU take care of it and not surrender easy transition baskets off turnovers.

2) Transition - KU has so much speed and athleticism, they should dominate in the open floor, and, for the most part, they do. However, sometimes they don't get into transition. Can KU get out in transition? It is especially important for tomorrow's game that the KU big men get out in transition. Smith is very solid in the low post. Making him change ends may wear him down a bit. He only plays about 20 minutes a game, so if he can't keep up with the pace, he may not put up his usual numbers.

3) Markel Starks - second on the team in scoring (15.7) first in assists (4.8). This will probably be a tough assignment for Naadir and Frank, as he has some decent size at 6-2. Containing him will be a huge key. You can't move Selden over to guard him because he will be guarding Smith-Rivera (the leading scorer). How KU does on Markel Starks will probably determine how this game winds up.

4) Toughness - Georgetown always plays a tough brand of basketball. I expect tomorrow will be no different. KU needs to match their toughness and intensity, or it will be a long afternoon.

I have always been firmly in the NO bandwagon for playing WSU. There is simply no positive to it.

Look north to Nebraska. Nebraska and Creighton have long played an annual game. Creighton has controlled that series for the last decade or so. That really cuts into the Huskers recruiting, especially with in-state players. Granted, the KU program is miles ahead of NU, but WSU and Creighton were both members of the Valley for a long time. Creighton used their consistent dominance over NU to help build them up regionally, as they always had a win against a major conference team on their resume. That makes a difference.

The other challenge is simply avoiding making WSU a national program. Right now, WSU is a regional program that had a good run. They can't compete for top national recruits because it's a waste of their resources. But play KU every year and you give them a marquee game. That game is on national TV (or at least broadcast to a large regional audience. They get highlights in the main portion of SportsCenter. That means a kid in California, or New York, or Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, etc. that has never heard of Wichita State can now be introduced to them. And if a kid is going to leave a place like Philly, NYC, LA, Atlanta, etc to come to Kansas, the difference between Lawrence and Wichita isn't that distinct.

If we see them in the tourney, go at them. If not, no reason to put them on the national stage.

Here's a nice piece on Xavier Henry over at Grantland.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10120670/the-resurrection-lakers-forward-xavier-henry ↗ ↗

Glad to see that Xavier is finally healthy and playing. It seems like a lot of former KU players have dealt with injuries since going to the NBA - Rush, Henry, Selby, Arthur. It's nice to see that Henry has been able to come back from that.

@tundrahok Potential is an important factor in readiness. I have long argued that the improvement of players in college is limited because the level of competition is not consistently high enough to push them to develop, the coaching is too limited (weekly limits in season and during the summer) and they are not forced to expand their game.

I used Julian Wright before, so I will go back to him. At his size, he was going to be an NBA small forward. The average small forward in the NBA is 6-7. The average power forward is 6-9. However, in college, the average small forward is closer to 6-4 or 6-5. The average power forward is around 6-7. Therefore, Wright's size and athleticism made him a mismatch sizewise for not only small forwards in college, but also power forwards. And that's before we start talking about skill level.

Look at this year's schedule for KU. It's a tough schedule. One of the toughest in the nation. Andrew Wiggins will be an NBA small forward, same as Wright would have been. He's playing on the perimeter as he should be. And yet he has had exactly one game this year where he has faced a guy that was both his size AND close to his skill (vs. Duke with Hood and Parker). Every other game has been against guys that were either too small or not skilled enough from an NBA perspective. One season of that is fine because it transitions him from dunking over 6-4 centers in high school to playing against some more size in college, but the skill will really ramp up in the NBA. But two seasons of that could cause him to start developing bad habits like forcing jump shots over defenders that are 2-3 inches shorter, or gambling on defense and depending on athleticism rather than positioning to recover.

For the most elite players, they need to move to higher levels of competition quickly to avoid developing bad habits by facing inferior competition.

Other than Wiggins, Embiid, Selden and Ellis, nobody else on KU's roster is going to be a star, or have huge performances game after game. That's just not how this roster is built.

However, there are at least eight guys on the roster that will all have "moments" by the end of the year.

There will be a game where Conner Frankamp hits four or five threes to propel us to a win. He's barely getting on the court right now, but I am almost certain that there will be one night where he will get in the game, go nuts and key a victory.

There will be a night where Landen Lucas slaps up a 12 point, 10 board night off the bench. He might not play 15 minutes the next game.

There will be a night where Tarik Black throws down a 14 and 8 with 2 or 3 blocks. Andrew White is probably gonna have a game where he gets a dozen or so points. Wouldn't be surprised if Brannen Greene goes for 20 in a game at some point this year. Naadir has already shown that he can go get around 10 assists on the right night. Frank Mason has demonstrated that there will be games where people just can't keep him out of the paint (and others where he can't keep himself off the pine). Jamari Traylor will have a game where he throws up an 8 point, 8 board, 3 block, 2 steal night in 14 minutes and we all look at the box score the next day and wonder how he pulled that off in so little court time.

But that's what happens when you have this depth of talent. Guys will have moments, but it won't be the same guy every night (other than those top 4).

@ParisHawk @drgnslayr @FarSideHawk @bskeet @HighEliteMajor @JayHawkFanToo @Hawk8086

I love the streak. I think it's something that is really cool. I think it's an awesome indicator of consistency. But to be honest, the reason I'd trade the nine conference titles for one more national title is because that's what people remember.

I will remember that 2008 title for the rest of my life. I will remember where I was, how it felt, everything about that night. I don't remember anything about KU winning conference titles. I couldn't tell you where I was when they clinched the 2009 conference title, or the 2006 title, or whatever.

I think the streak actually has a downside, though. The streak has a life of its own, and, subconsciously, I think trying to protect the streak has cost us in the past. To win a conference title, you have to make sure you have the highest possible floor (worst case scenario) on any given night. That may mean going away from the highest possible ceiling (potential) to make sure that you don't fumble away a game or two that could cost you the title.

Take 2009 for instance. The best possible ceiling for that particular team was to give the new freshman (Morris twins, Taylor, Releford) as many minutes as possible to get them ready for a potential run in March. Those four guys, plus Collins and Aldrich would have made for an interesting run. Maybe they still top out by getting knocked out by Michigan State in the Sweet 16. But maybe they go a little deeper. Hard to say. Releford wasn't the player that he eventually became, obviously. Nor were the Morris twins. But if they had become more substantial players within that season, is that an Elite 8 team? Final Four? Is the 2010 team a title team with that group, plus Xavier Henry?

But because of the streak, maybe taking three more conference losses to try and peak in March isn't really an option. As I said in a different article, we have competing priorities and interests here. Is it better for Self to try and win 10 more conference titles in a row, or for him to risk the streak in the interests of having the best six games in March he possibly can.

January and February are about high floors. March is about having a high ceiling. You can't always build for both.

@HighEliteMajor I'm right there with you. I would trade the last nine conference titles in the row for another national title.

Can anybody remember who won the Pac-12 last year? Or the Big 10? How about the ACC? SEC? Big East?

What about two years ago? Can anybody name the conference champs for any of those conferences from two seasons ago? Without looking, I would guess Washington, Ohio State, Miami, Florida and Louisville from last year and Oregon, Michigan State, Duke, Kentucky and Syracuse two years ago.

Maybe I will post the answers tomorrow if I have time to look it up.

Regardless, I could name the last couple dozen national champs without looking (probably more) - Louisville, Kentucky, UConn, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Florida, Florida, North Carolina, UConn, Syracuse, Maryland, Duke, Michigan State, UConn, Kentucky, Arizona, Kentucky, UCLA, Arkansas, North Carolina, Duke, Duke, UNLV, Michigan, Kansas, Indiana, Louisville (I could keep going, but you get the point).

I'm torn on the OAD rule. As a fan of KU, I like the rule because it pushes talented players to college. But I'm an NBA fan, too, and I think it would be fun to see how guys develop in the NBA as opposed to playing in college systems that may not expand their game.

Julian Wright is a classic example of this - great college player, had most of his success playing power forward. However, there's no way Wright could have played PF in the NBA at 6-8, 215. Just no way. He needed to work on his game away from the basket, but that wasn't what was in KU's best interests. In that case, the direct interest of KU (winning by having Wright dominate at PF) was in conflict with Wright's personal interests (working on his game away from the basket, including jumpshooting, ball handling, etc.). I don't know how to square that because the current professional interests of the college coach are not aligned with the future professional interests of the player.

Because of that, I can't get on board with a three year model. Baseball's three year model is problematic for pitchers because many college coaches will have their starters throw tons of innings/pitches with little regard for their pro career and how much mileage is going on that arm.

My best solution would be to allow any interested HS player to consult with NBA reps to see what their status would be, as well as what they need to do in order to prepare for the NBA - i.e. a player like Julian Wright coming out of HS would be told that he's not ready for the NBA at the time because his future position is on the wing, but he's not a good enough ball handler/ shooter to play wing in the NBA currently. Then in recruiting, Wright can ask about whether he will be allowed to play on the perimeter and make his collegiate decision based on, among other things, whether his personal interests (future NBA career as a wing player) align with his coach's interests (allowing him to play on the wing to develop that ability).

I think information is the key to all of this. Lots of players are just not getting enough information not only about their status, but about what they need to do to change that status. Unfortunately, the college coach may not be in the best position to give that advice because, again, the college coach has their own personal interests to look after, whereas NBA scouts and evaluators have no reason to tell a player they are ready if they know they aren't. High school coaches likewise wouldn't be in a position to give that information because most high school coaches have not been around enough talent at a high enough level to know whether a player could transition to the next level.

My thought would be to allow a player to inquire about their status prior to each draft after they complete high school. The inquiry would be confidential and, after the inquiry period was complete (sometime in April), then a list of declared players would be released. Once a player declared, they would have a small window (two weeks) to withdraw from the draft and return to school. The late recruiting period would need to move from April to May to accommodate this, as players would not be able to inquire until after the Final Four and the evaluations would take some time to make sure the best advice was given (likely 2-3 weeks).

@dylans I look at this year's KU team and see three sure pros (Wiggins, Embiid, Selden) and three possible pros (Ellis, Greene, Mason).

Greene's range, size and ball handling ability are all very underrated. He's starting to put things together and could be a killer sixth man for this team. After Tharpe, I would say that his progress could be very important for KU, as he gives KU that outside scoring punch that they will need.

I think part of this is because Greene is finding a comfort level, as @wrwlumpy pointed out above. Before, he came into games looking only to shoot. Now, he's coming in looking to play basketball. There is a huge difference and Greene is discovering that. He actually passed up a couple of shots on Saturday that I would have been okay with him taking, but the possessions led to better overall shots. That's a huge progression for a freshman, especially one with his shooting ability to pass on semi-open shots to get better looks for others.

Lots of positives from the game on Saturday.

The most encouraging thing I saw was Tharpe acting as a distributor. In the second half when he started attacking to pass, our offense really opened up. It also helped that we locked down on defense and got out in transition, as the athleticism this KU team has is second to none.

I was actually disappointed that Kirk got into foul trouble and was a non-factor. I was really hoping that our interior guys would get to face interior guys of equal size and caliber. Here's hoping that the Georgetown game gives us some of that, as Embiid, Ellis, and Lucas all need to face off against talented guys that are not undersized. I don't want the tournament to be the first time we really get to see that type of size and talent combination.

Still waiting on Selden to put together a full basketball game that is on par with his talent. I know I have pointed this out after just about every game, but it is my belief that Selden is the third most talented player on this year's team (after Wiggins and Embiid). The other two have had multiple big games contributing. Selden continues to contribute only along the margins. He's too talented for that to be the case all season. I'm not saying he needs to try and take a game over, but he needs to be much more aggressive to maximize his talent.

Here's the issue I have with Heaps and Millweard - both are guys that were not good enough to start elsewhere. That's why they ended up at KU. If they aren't good enough to start somewhere else, it's probably because of some flaws somewhere, whether it be decision making, skill, accuracy, speed, leadership, whatever.

Cozart should be the guy. He isn't as accurate, but the offense seemed to function better when he was on the field. I think part of that has to do with the fact that KU's best positional group, from a talent standpoint, is running back, and Cozart's speed and ability to run the read option plays well with the best talent on the roster. Heaps and Millweard just can't capitalize on that because they aren't the same type of threat against the read option.

Hopefully Weis and Reagan recognize the talent on hand and coach to that talent rather than trying to anoint a QB based on the offense they want to run, regardless of talent on hand.

In basketball, the leader has to not only be playing, but playing well. You can't be a leader if you are not producing, because basketball is such a naked sport when it comes to results. There's really nowhere to hide. You can't just be a guy that "does the little things" because everyone will see that you aren't actually productive and your teammates, more than anyone else, will know that.

The candidates to be "the leader" on this team are as follows:

Wiggins - he's the best player. The best player always has everyone else's ear. It's said that he's a really quiet guy, though. That may keep him from really rallying the other guys, especially as a freshman.

Ellis - he's very good and he's a sophomore. That holds sway. But he's also quiet and, unlike Wiggins, he doesn't have the "I'm gonna just put the team on my back for the next 10 minutes" ability that can lead without saying anything.

Tharpe - I think he's actually the most likely candidate to emerge as a leader. The key is that he has to understand his role - i.e. facilitate the best players (Wiggins, Ellis, Selden, Embiid) and make sure those guys stay aggressive. So if he sees Wiggins or Selden just hanging out on the perimeter against the zone, he should be imploring them to cut or drive. If he sees Perry or Joel not fighting for deep position in the post, he should be on them. When those guys do those things, they should be rewarded with touches and shots. If Tharpe can do that, not only will he be starting again, but this team can reach its fullest potential.

I know your posting was in jest, but it's pretty likely that this particular Missouri team would have won this year's Big XII, or come awfully close. They may not have beaten both Baylor and Okie State, but they would have been in that mix.

A few thoughts from last night...

I saw the first half and knew KU was probably headed to a loss. You simply can't turn the ball over that much (16 first half TO) against a good team on the road and expect to have a chance. KU is better than Florida, but not so much better that they can sling the ball all over the eastern seaboard and still have a chance to win.

Andrew Wiggins is starting to find himself and impose his will. This may be the most important thing that happened last night, and if it is, this loss may be the biggest win for KU over the course of the season.

Sticking with Wiggins for a second, he needs to find his voice now and confront a couple of teammates. Yes, I am talking about Wayne Selden, Jr. and Perry Ellis. Those guys are too talented to go a combined 3-7 from the field with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 7 turnovers. That's an ugly line for one guy. For two guys with top notch talent, that's absolutely unacceptable. Wiggins needs to step up as the best player on the team and tell those guys they need to ride with him.

My biggest issue with the KU turnovers last night was that most of them, probably more than 70% were passive turnovers - lazy passes, retreating dribbles, sloppy ballhandling against a trap, being weak with the ball, etc. That is a question of toughness, specifically of playing tough.

Can't let Selden off the hook yet. He wasn't playing well last night, and hasn't shot well the last several games. That happens. Not gonna pile on because of it. But to allow yourself to be a complete non-factor and not affect the game with defense, rebounding, penetration, passing or some other skill, when its obvious that he possesses all of those skills, is flatly unacceptable. I remember a coach telling me once that if you weren't shooting well, your effort on the other end needed to elevate. Do something else to help your team. Commit to getting every loose ball, or to tracking down rebounds, or shutting down your man. Do something to help your team win. I think that's why Self benched him for extended periods of this game.

I said yesterday and I will say again, the four most important players on this team are Wiggins, Selden, Ellis and Embiid. If they bring it, the ceiling for this team is absolutely unlimited. If they don't, they probably won't make it past the Sweet 16.

I don't think starting Black is a bad thing. He was supposed to bring some physical toughness to a young team. Unfortunately, this year you can't really be that physical, especially early in games, or they will call it. But that is what Black is (or at least was) being asked to do.

It could be that Self continues to start him because he is doing what Self is asking him to do. That's not something that any of us would know unless we are at practice. Black isn't a scorer. He's a rebounder/defender/enforcer. Would I like to see him foul less? Of course. But we have enough depth to weather that storm regardless.

My greater concern lies with the four best players on this team - Wiggins, Selden, Ellis and Embiid. Embiid played well in the first half against CU, then disappeared. Wiggins no showed the first half, then exploded. Selden was basically a non factor. Ellis shot well from the field, but did not attempt a single FT. That should never happen for a player with his skill. Between Ellis and Selden, there was 1 FT attempt. That is, given the way the games are being called, absolutely absurd. If KU's top players don't start attacking the core of the defense, this is going to be a very frustrating season. Frustrating because the talent and skill are obvious, but they will never fulfill the promise if they aren't much, much more aggressive.

I hate that too many HS refs will T a guy up for hanging on the rim. If you think you may come down awkwardly, you should get some leeway. Unfortunately, too many HS refs see a guy hang and, because they were never in a position where they were exposed to injury like that, they think a guy is just showboating.

I guarantee you that pretty much every HS player that can dunk has been in a position where they hung on the rim as someone cut underneath them. It only takes one time of getting undercut for you to become much more cautious about that sort of thing, particularly if you have a scholarship on the line.

Too many HS coaches emphasize the "no layups" mantra without teaching players how to safely contest those shots (and when to realize they cannot safely contest those shots). I wish one of these years that was a point of emphasis.

My thought isn't that Mason won't distribute, it's just that his natural tendency is to score.

Let's take Michael Jordan and Lebron James, for example, the two best basketball players I have had the privilege of watching in my lifetime.

Jordan was a scorer, pure and simple. He could score whenever he wanted, from wherever he wanted, in whatever way he wanted. Of course, someone of his talent, he could also distribute, but there were many days where Jordan would have only one or two assists (career average was 5.3 assists). But that was because Michael Jordan was the purest of pure scorers (30.1 career mark). Never averaged more than 8 assists. Never averaged less than 20 points (in his final season as a Wizard).

James is different. He is primarily a distributor in all honesty. You could tell in the early development of his NBA career that he wanted to pass the ball, not because he was afraid to shoot, or sulked away from big moments, but because his vision and passing are two of his greatest skills. And his numbers bear that out. He's never averaged less than 5.9 assists a game for a season (higher than Jordan's career average), and never averaged more than 31.4 points per game (barely above Jordan's career mark).

It's not that Lebron can't score, or that Jordan can't pass. It's how they visualized their role, what they were most comfortable doing and how they felt most comfortable playing. For Jordan, that was as a scorer. For Lebron, its as a facilitator.

Mason can pass. His vision is very good. He is excellent at breaking down the defense. But he attacks to score. Thing is, he isn't the best scorer this team has. He isn't second. He may not even be third.

Tharpe is not a scorer. That doesn't mean that he can't put the ball in the basket. It just means that his primary skills, the way he plays when he is at the top of his game, is to pass the basketball and make plays for others.

That's not a knock on either of them. It's just a question for me of which type of player is the best fit given the rest of the personnel on hand. Last year, I think Mason would have been a great player to have around to take the ball handling burden off EJ, and allow him to play his game. This year, though, there is benefit in having a PG that may not take more than a handful of shots because that means more opportunities for Wiggins, Selden, Ellis, Embiid, the shooters, etc.

I don't know how I feel about making a change at the PG this early in the season. I really like Mason's game. However, I also think that, with the scoring available, this year's KU team could benefit more from having a pass first guy at the point rather than a scoring PG like Mason.

I don't think it's a bad move, necessarily, but the goal should be to get Wiggins and Selden to be the aggressors with the first unit, and allow Mason to push the pace with the bench units.

So far this year, we have been doing a good job of establishing the post presence with Perry early on, but we have not done as much to get our wing scorers going early on. We need either more slashing from Selden and Wiggins or more cutting.

That responsibility is not ultimately on Tharpe or Mason. Both Selden and Wiggins have to take the initiative to make themselves difficult to guard by making aggressive moves both with and without the ball. This team's ceiling is directly tied to how well Wiggins and Selden play. Their level of play is directly tied to how aggressive they are. No matter what other personnel changes occur in the rotation, if those two aren't aggressive, there is a much lower ceiling on what this team can accomplish.

I will definitely grant that Gill took over at a time when a winning season wasn't that far removed.

However, Gill took the job after a very messy firing of the previous coach. Weis is at an even greater disadvantage in that respect because he took over after the second firing in three seasons. In that respect, Weis' job is much more difficult because not only is KU not a power football program, KU is an unstable non-power program.

I think it is fair to compare.

Let's look at the team Gill inherited first:

Coming off a 5-7 year. The worst season since 2004, in fact.

The leading returning passer was Kale Pick, who had thrown for 22 yards.

The leading returning rusher was Toben Opurum, who had run for 564 yards.

The leading receivers returning were Jonathan Wilson (32 catches, 385 yards) and Bradley McDougald (28 catches, 263 yards).

Every major player from the Orange Bowl team was gone, so you can't say that Gill inherited that roster - he did not. He inherited a roster that lost it's final 7 games, and lost their top passer, #2 runner, and top 2 receivers. The top passer and top 2 receivers were the best IN SCHOOL HISTORY.

Gill's first team ended up starting a freshman QB, freshman RB and playing several freshman and sophomores on both offense and defense.

Now for Weis:

Inherited a team coming off a 2-10 season.

Leading returning passer - none, as Webb transferred.

Leading returning rusher - James Sims, 727 yards.

Leading returning receivers - D.J. Beshears (40, 437) and Kale Pick (34, 344).

Weis brought in a senior QB. That QB wasn't any good, but still, that was Weis' handpicked guy, rather than going with incumbent starter Webb.

Weis inherited roughly as much as Gill inherited. Maybe only slightly less. He brought in QBs with more acclaim, but who have produced almost exactly as much as Jordan Webb did for Gill.

This is not to advocate for Weis' removal, but to simply say that Weis hasn't really done anything to move the program forward in his first two years. I'm hoping that changes in year 3, but I do not know at this point how that will be done.

You don't have to showcase a player - players showcase themselves with their talent.

Look at what's going on with Kentucky. They don't need to go out of their way to showcase Julius Randle. He showcases himself by dominating on the block. Same with Parker at Duke. The showcase is that he can score from anywhere, block shots, rebound, etc.

Wiggins needs to showcase himself by making plays. Playmaking is the showcase. It's not just scoring. It's about making the types of plays that lead to winning basketball.

Think back to McLemore last year. Some of his best plays, the real highlights, were just him making a play that went beyond X's and O's and were just shotmaking, or playmaking.

That's what we need from Wiggins.

@JayHawkFanToo KenPom's rankings are supposed to be predictive, rather than Sagarin's, which are supposed to be reflective. KenPom's rankings tell you how you should expect a team to play as the season progresses, hence why the rankings on KenPom do a very good job when sorting through the NCAA tournament, while Sagarin's do a good job in early season matchups.

That's why Sagarin has Iowa State ranked so high, while KenPom isn't nearly as bold on the Cyclones. Sagarin sees ISU's two top 25 wins (BYU and Michigan) and rockets the Cyclones up the charts. Because KenPom is predictive, it shows that Iowa State and Michigan are roughly even squads, and since ISU was at home, they would be expected to pull out the victory, thus no huge reward for ISU. It also shows that ISU is expected to be slightly better than BYU, even when factoring in the road environment (a 1.4% adjustment), meaning that you would expect a narrow ISU win (Cyclones won by 2).

I like both and would expect that the KenPom ranks will start to normalize in a couple of weeks once all teams have 8-10 games under their belts.

My gut feeling on the rotation is that we will get a solid 7 very soon, with two others that will play quite a bit.

That seventh spot is up for grabs between Traylor and Black.

Spot number 8 (designated shooter) is a two and a half man race between Greene and White, with Frankamp having an outside shot.

Ninth spot goes to the loser of the race for 7. Everybody else gets mop up and spot minutes.

Honestly, I think Black has at least through the Atlantis tournament in the starting lineup. All of these small ball teams haven't given him the chance to show his best skills (tough interior D, rebounding, power offense). I think those things will be valuable later on, which is why I think he ultimately gets the 7th spot, even though he will be starting.

Embiid will play "starter minutes" but he will come off the bench for now. Mason will also play quite a bit (near starter minutes), especially since he and Tharpe have demonstrated that they can play together and not get compromised defensively. We may have to revisit this when we see a big backcourt, but for now, that combo has held up nicely.

I think White will ultimately be the designated shooter. Defensively, he is further along than Greene. Greene and Frankamp will both have their moments to contribute. I wouldn't be surprised if both cracked double figures on a couple of occasions going forward, but they will probably have more games where they don't even see double figure minutes than anything else. Traylor is the "emergency big." He will get the minutes if there is foul trouble/injury/ineffectiveness up front. His energy makes him great for that spot.

I'd take what @ParisHawk and @drgnslayr said one step further.

Both Selden and Wiggins have stayed well within the confines of the offense so far this season. In a way, they are in a no win situation. If they aren't scoring 20+ points each on 75% shooting, they are huge busts, not aggressive, etc.

If, on the other hand, they are taking 15 shots a night each, they are hogging the ball, auditioning for the NBA, etc.

Personally, I like how each of them has played. In each game, they have both made one or two plays that let you know they are engaged and can do it when necessary, but other than the Duke game, we didn't need either of them to take over, so they stayed within the flow and played a team game. That step back Wiggins hit against Duke - he can get that anytime he wants. It takes a lot of maturity to understand not to take that shot anytime. That baseline reverse that Selden got against Iona - again, he can get that shot quite a bit, but I like that he's just as focused on feeding the ball inside as he is on getting his own drives.

We don't need those guys to try and throw up big numbers just yet. That will come. I'm sure when we play at Florida they will answer the bell.

@JayDocMD defensive stats take a while to normalize just because they can so easily be skewed by one great or poor performance. My eye test says that he did an okay job when he guarded Parker from Duke, but wasn't as good against ULM. He was solid against Iona, but not outright disruptive defensively.

Wiggins has the tools to be an elite defender. In fact, I'd say KU has four guys on the roster (Wiggins, Embiid, Selden, Tharpe) who all could be well above average defensive players. But KU's defense this year has been much less than average, so that is clearly not indicative of their performance, even though I'd say all four have done some great work individually.

Couple quick thoughts before I talk about the guy I think was last night's MVP.

• Greene will be back, but if Self's comments are to be taken at face value, there are some classroom issues that may need some attention first.

• I was wrong about bringing Embiid along slowly. He is developing so much faster than I anticipated. Potential #1 pick fast.

• Perry Ellis has strangely become the first option for this team, and he's handling that responsibility brilliantly. His improvement from last season to this is incredible.

As impressive as Embiid was last night (and he was amazing) I think I came away just as impressed with Tharpe and Selden. Tharpe is showing more and more that he is the perfect PG for this team. He just sets the table for everybody. The best play he made on the entire night didn't even make it into the stat column, but it was a great PG play that I just can't help but mention. Right after Frankamp had come into the game, Conner missed on a long three from the left wing. It was a miss, but Conner had a shooters bounce to his step after he took it, like he really liked the way it came off his hands. Next defensive possession, Conner forced a turnover and Naadir pushed the pace. Then Naadir made one of his best plays of the night, pushing the ball in semi transition like he was attacking the paint, then dropping the ball back to Conner for a good look at another three. Conner missed it, but that play from Naadir was a perfect PG play. Get a great shooter a good look after he just missed on a shot that felt good to him. That's what good PGs do.

But if I had to give out a game ball, I'd have to get some recognition for Wayne Selden. Selden has shown that he can get his points when necessary (and it will be necessary), but he has also shown that when he doesn't need to score, he can play within the offense without turning it over or taking a ton of shots just to "get his." For a player with that kind of talent to be that unselfish without losing his aggressiveness is incredible.

I will say right now, this is the type of team that can win six games in a row in March because they can win by 20 against a decent team while having two of their three best scorers (Wiggins and Selden) basically get the night off offensively because Perry and JoJo were busy going crazy inside. There is no ceiling on this team offensively. If only the defense can catch up, this team goes from really dangerous to downright scary.

So I took some time to watch the mixtapes of all three guys announcing today.

Tyus Jones

Positives - A PG for sure. Plays under control. Can drive right or left, and doesn't mind going right or left. Can shoot well enough to demand attention, but doesn't just take jumpers to take them - he's willing and able to attack off the bounce. His shooting stroke is very clean, so I would imagine that he will continue to shoot the ball very well. Finishes at the rim with either hand. A willing passer. Always drives with his head up, looking to distribute. Has all of the standard PG finishes (layup, runner, floater, pull up J). He even showed some basic post moves. You press him at your peril because he finds openings and angles very well, and he sees the floor well to get the ball to the right place at the right time.

Negatives - There's only one highlight that really shows any sort of explosive athleticism, with him dunking on a guy that appears to be about 6-3. Other than that, he's a below the rim player. Similarly, he showed flashes of great quickness, but not a lot of WOW, that guy is quick plays in his highlight package. That may mean he's quick enough to handle HS guys, but won't blow by guys at the collegiate level. Has a tendency to finish off balance sometimes. That will be tougher against bigger, stronger players in college, although with the new emphasis on hand checking, that may not be an issue.

Overall - I like his game. He's a better shooter than either Naadir or Frank from the perimeter. I wonder how he will translate to the college game just because I don't see the natural physical gifts that will separate him at the college level. Skill wise, he is very talented.

Jahlil Okafor

Positives - He's a big guy. He dunks. A lot. That may not seem like its that important, but HS big men tend to not finish strong around the rim, and that gets them in trouble when they transition to college and encounter big guys that are physically gifted as well. Okafor has no such issues. He dunks on everybody. Also shows some nice footwork on spins. Has the ability to step out to 15. A highlight shows him hitting a three, but I doubt his range goes quite that far out. Protects the rim. Blocks shots at the high point. Will pass the ball (a rarity for a dominant HS big man).

Negatives - He's big, but he hasn't filled out yet. This could be a positive, because it usually means that there's more growing and maturing to do, but its also possible that the extra size/ muscle will never come. His non dunk/ layup finishes are a little wild sometimes. That could be a concern in college. He's very right hand dominant. I saw 1 left hand finish, no left handed blocks. Almost all of his dunks (75%-80%) were one handed (right) dunks.

Overall - I see why scouts are high on him. He's big but still very agile. Very powerful. Explosive for a man of his size, and probably still going to add size and muscle. I am concerned about him being so right hand dominant, but he's extremely talented, so that's just a minor thing.

Cliff Alexander

Positives - The first thing that stuck out to me is how long his arms seem. Sounds weird, but it was something that was noticeable. That wingspan makes him bigger than he is. VERY strong. Dunks a ton. Blocks lots of shots. His long arms allow him to high point the ball without jumping as high, allowing him to wait on the shooter. Finishes through contact with no real issues, mostly because he is violently dunking over that contact.

Negatives - Didn't see him shoot much, which is a worry. His mechanics look okay, but I wonder if he has the ability and confidence to step out to 15. Didn't see him really handle the ball at all. He's a post up PF, which is fine, but don't expect him to start knocking down 15-17 footers.

Overall - I don't know if he can hit jump shots with any sort of consistency. What I do know is that if you get him the basketball within 8 feet of the hoop, he's probably going to drop step and dunk. He also has a useful jump hook and a reasonable turnaround from that area, so its not all just power. But there is a TON of power. Like his defense more than Okafor. To me he's the better shot blocker. My only worry for him collegiately is that he won't be able to get the kind of position offensively that he gets in high school, so he will need to extend the range on his secondary shots (jump hook, turnaround).

Considering that we already have Oubre and may only lose Selden, Wiggins and Black, we don't have to get all three. It'd be nice, but not ultimately necessary.

I'm actually in the camp that believes Embiid should be brought along more slowly. Sports are generally about repetition and muscle memory. Unfortunately for Embiid, he's only gotten about 2 years worth of reps and muscle memory in. Most players have 5 or 6 times that by the time they reach college. Embiid needs reps.

Embiid is an amazing athlete, maybe the best overall athlete on this team, or at the very least the most unique. You just don't find 7 footers that agile. But he needs to learn the game, especially on the defensive end.

He doesn't always get to the right place on defensive rotations. Rotations are the hardest thing to learn because you don't get to think about where you are supposed to be. If you think about it, you're already a step and a half late. The thing is, Embiid doesn't yet have the reps to get to those spots automatically, yet. He's agile enough to cover for it at times, though. However, if you watch him closely, his defensive positioning is still not correct about a third of the time. This is especially true on double teams, where at times he will go too far when the ball handler retreats, leaving a wider passing lane. He also needs work on ball screens (he's better on those than he is on double teams) and when he is rotating as a help defender off the ball. These aren't huge tragedies, but these are things that need to be worked on in practice so that he isn't thinking about it on the court. He needs the reps and the only way to get multiple reps in specific situations is to run through it in practice (as I am sure he has done multiple times).

I agree with a lot of the points made above.

Things we learned last night.

1. Perry Ellis has added quite a bit to his game. I saw several very adept post moves last night that I am pretty sure were not in his post package last year. Ellis could end up as a 17 ppg scorer this season. I've always wished that he was a better rebounder, and he showed up on the glass last night. That to me was a better sign than the points and efficiency. Just so much better than last year in every appreciable way. Rock chalk solid.

2. Andrew Wiggins told me to tell you that you should believe the hype. Never got a chance to do much in the first half when Jabari Parker was going off, but down the stretch Wiggins was involved in just about every big play that ultimately stretched the lead and put it away. 22 and 8 in only 25 minutes. Wow. Scary good.

3. Every NBA GM that was there last night hopes that nobody else noticed Wayne Selden between Parker, Wiggins and Randle going beast mode in game one (27 and 13, put UK on his back to get back into that one). There was so much talent on the floor in that KU-Duke game last night that Selden was probably the fourth or fifth best player, but if you watched his game, he played just about as well as you can play. Also, he feeds the post exceptionally well. His size allows him to see (and make) passes that most others cannot.

4. I think Joel Embiid will be back in Lawrence next year. I know that sounds crazy, but stick with me here. Embiid, right now, is a lottery pick. In 20 minutes last night he grabbed 7 boards and dished out 5 assists. He's good enough to hold a roster spot in the NBA. However, his lack of experience and his physical talent say that he could be a TOP 3 pick. He won't be a top 3 pick next summer, but in 2015, I absolutely think he could. The financial difference is big enough in moving from 9 or 10 to 3 that the wait makes sense. That all changes if he progresses to the point that he's a top 5 pick this year.

5. Self is willing to play small. I didn't think we would ever see Tharpe and Mason on the floor together, but we did, and they were VERY effective. Mason plays like he is the best player on the floor. No fear. No hesitation. He looks at the defense and feels like he can beat his guy off the bounce (and does). Tharpe was a little shaky, but I think that is in part due to the jump from exhibition season to Duke without playing in the first game. Very efficient game from Tharpe. I see no reason to think about making a lineup switch right now.

6. Frankamp, White and Greene won't play much - but one of them will have a chance to make an impact every night. All three of those guys are shot makers. Their role will be to come in and take (and make) shots from distance. Greene did that perfectly last night. I expect that Frankamp and White will have their games where they come in and hit a couple of quick shots to give the team a boost.

7. Jamari Traylor plays HARD. With so much other talent on this team, the ability to just play incredibly hard could get lost in the shuffle. I hope Traylor keeps it up, because that kind of intensity is contagious.

8. The point of emphasis on hand checking is going to take some time to get used to. 53 fouls last night. 63 FTs. That's less than ideal. It's a work in progress, but guys like Frank Mason will be unguardable without the hand check.

Great overall win.

This KU football season is winding to a close in much the same fashion as the previous four - losses piling up, blame doled out, no answers in sight.

I touched on this a bit in a comment last week, but I wanted to come back to the point here - KU football needs an identity.

KU football's identity right now is being mediocre. Even then, that's not really the full identity, because KU football isn't mediocre in the way that many teams are - KU has had more success than many mediocre teams. It's not like K-State when Snyder took over, a program devoid of any high points at any time in their history. KU has been to the Orange Bowl, won a BCS bowl, had some double digit win seasons, etc. KU's identity can't even be that they are mediocre because they haven't even gotten that right.

I don't think KU can go full out Baylor or Oregon and say their identity is going to be score a zillion points in less than 90 seconds. KU is not positioned to recruit the type of athletes that Baylor can in Texas, or draw athletes like Oregon can (a combination of Nike money and proximity to a huge population in California). I just don't foresee KU being able to change the level of their program while getting second and third tier players from the major recruiting grounds (Texas, California, Florida, the South).

So where can the identity come from? Well, I honestly think KU has to latch onto an identity rooted in an up tempo running attack. KU has shown an ability to get some talent at the RB position. That has been the strongest position on the depth chart the last four years, even while some other spots on the roster imploded.

I think an uptempo game plan is a must. Players now are attracted to systems that push the pace. Granted, most push the pace through the air, but you can push the pace on the ground as well. However, pushing the pace on the ground will also keep the clock moving, which will be a huge benefit to a team that may not have the depth of its opponents.

I also think this uptempo scheme should employ zone blocking techniques. If we don't have linemen that can just maul guys, zone blocking can go a long way to level the playing field.

Defensively, I think it's time to shift away from the traditional schemes. KU has not been able to recruit the dominant interior linemen to play a 3-4 (requires a tremendous amount of the nose tackle) or 4-3 (at least 1 end must command a double team). KU should instead move to a hybrid defense of some type, either fewer down linemen, shifting LBs, a Monster, a 4-2-5, Gap or something else.

Can Charlie Weis do this? Sadly, I don't think so. Weis is just too established as a coach to basically throw out all of his schemes and rewrite his entire football personality. KU needs someone new, someone young, someone that isn't established so that they can establish an identity for KU football.

The problem for KU is threefold.

1) Kansas does not produce enough D-1 talent through the high school ranks.

2) That talent pool is divided in state between 2 programs, with at least 5 other major programs (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa) that consistently get players from Kansas.

3) Kansas football has no identity.

Take Baylor. Baylor was awful for years before Art Briles arrived. He came in and established an identity for the program. There's a great article on Grantland ↗ about how Briles turned the program around by bringing in the offense he ran successfully in high school and establishing that was how Baylor would play as well.

That has not happened at KU. Even during the Mangino years, KU ran the spread, but there was no feeling that KU ran that offense because that was a part of KU's identity. It was more as if KU was just a part of a fad. It's especially telling because prior to Reesing, that was not the offense that Mangino ran.

Defensively, the story has been the same. It's not as if you can say KU is an aggressive defense, or they are a gap defense, or this or that. There's not a clear identity, which hurts recruiting because we can't sell wins, or history, or things like that, and on top of that, we can't even say come to the Hill and play this specific style.

I've come to the conclusion that Weis is not the guy that can do that. I'm not calling for his firing because I don't think hiring a fourth coach in six seasons is helpful either, but the next KU football coach needs to have an idea of how to establish a program identity. KU needs someone that can come in and establish that identity, not bring an identity from somewhere else.

To compare it to basketball, you know what the identities of the major coaches are - Self runs the high low, Williams runs the secondary break motion, Calipari runs the dribble drive, Coach K has his motion offense, Pitino has that trapping press, Boeheim has the matchup zone. There isn't a single recruit in the country that doesn't know that about those coaches. They can recruit based on that. Look at what a school like VCU has done with that crazy trapping, pressing, ball pressure defense they play. They get kids to come to VCU specifically to play that style.

KU needs to be able to say come to Kansas because you can play like this, whatever this may be. That's what Oregon did, that's what Baylor has done, that's what Nebraska did during the Osborne era. In my opinion, that's the only way KU will be successful in football. Otherwise you're depending on luck to crank out a decent team every 8-10 years.

I have always had the feeling that Weis doesn't care for Darrian Miller, so I don't see him starting. Thankfully, we have some really good options at RB. My concern is OL and DL, where we just don't have the depth and talent to be a factor in the Big XII yet. Any injury to anyone on the line is a HUGE blow for this team, as we just don't have the talented depth to avoid big dropoffs.

Tharpe is healthy, just suspended for playing in that pro-am game this summer.

The perimeter D will be a work in progress. Because they are calling it so tight, guys are having trouble adjusting to the no contact rules. I saw several times last night where guys were closing out on the perimeter and just seemed unsure of how to close out without drawing a foul. I anticipate several early games having 50+ FTs shot while the players, coaches and officials figure this out.

Wiggins didn't play that well last night, but he still made what was probably the best play, blocking the shot off the backboard and sparking a quick fast break that led to a Perry Ellis dunk. That's just a special, special play.

I think the thing is that a team with as much raw talent as Kentucky or KU can improve rapidly just by playing together and getting more comfortable.

Yeah, Kentucky has been rough these first couple of exhibitions, but you have to recall the team with John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, etc. that went to the Elite Eight nearly lost to Miami (OH) at home (took a jumper from Wall with under 10 seconds left to win it), and only beat Sam Houston State by 10. But they went 35-3. They had some close calls where they had to lean on their individual talent, but once they got through that, they ripped off a 19-0 start.

I don't put much stock in the exhibitions because they are working out kinks. There's a ton of talent there and that talent will carry them until they can put the rest together. I think KU will have a similar season arc where we may need some individual heroics early in the year, but can get rolling as the season continues.

33-5.

I think this team drops at least 2 non-con games, but come conference play, outside of OSU and Baylor, I don't really see anyone in the conference that can beat KU. They have too much raw talent to cough up a game to a bad team like TCU or Texas Tech, because Self can just keep going to the bench until something clicks.

I can see losing once in the Big XII tournament and there's always a chance to drop one in the NCAA's. A 33-5 season would be an incredible run. That probably won't be good enough for a title, but it would be a great season.

If we are going to move things away from KUsports, we are going to have to start generating content ourselves, rather than purely linking and commenting.

While linking to some stories is good, as those stories are interesting and add quite a bit to the discussion and quality, we also need independent content.

To that end, I am going to try to add at least one new topic each week to give this site some independently developed content. Sometimes football, sometimes basketball, sometimes just general stuff.

I'd encourage others on the site, particularly those with writing chops (you know who you are, I've seen your comments), to do the same to help develop what could be a very good thing here.

JAF

KU football is in a mess.

I was never on board with the Weis hire for this reason. I figured that, given his age, experience and recent track record, Weis would come in looking for the quick fix to build his reputation back up.

Well, unfortunately the juco experiment has not rendered those immediate results and, unfortunately, most of those players will be gone after next season. Weis almost has to go out and recruit some HS players for next year just so he actually has numbers in 2015.

KU needs to hire someone that wants to stay at KU for the next 10 years. I realize the KU job isn't super enticing, but it's going to take a minimum of three years to build the program up the right way (HS recruits, implementing a culture, playbook, etc.). To do that KU needs to hire someone with a long term plan and give them the flexibility to carry that plan out, even if it means three very rough years while they put those plans in place.

The first thing KU has to do is start winning the recruiting battles in 2 major areas - the KC metro and the Wichita area. Obviously, there are a lot of teams that recruit KC (Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota from the Big 10, MU from the SEC, KSU, Oklahoma, from the big 12), but KU is closest to the city and they have to have those players. In Wichita, KU is constantly seeing guys go to OU, OSU, and other places. That cannot happen if KU is going to improve.

The second thing is to find an identity. Look at what Baylor has done. Baylor used to be the worst program in the major conferences. Now they are a regular in the top 10, and they have a legitimate identity. I'm not saying that KU needs to become Baylor. That is Baylor's identity. KU needs to find an identity and build on that, recruit on that, etc.

The one thing they don't talk about in that article is the potential for a super big lineup. That lineup wouldn't be used all the time, but they could legitimately play a group like

Selden - PG, 6-5
White III - SG, 6-6
Wiggins - SF, 6-8
Lucas - PF, 6-10 (or Ellis, 6-9)
Embiid - C, 7-0

That's NBA size or better at every spot. There are maybe 2 teams in the whole country that can match that type of size and talent.

I doubt Embiid is in Lawrence more than 2 years. He's further along than anybody thought already. He has the potential to be a top 3 pick. For that reason alone he could forego being a lottery pick after this season and build himself into a top 3 guy (maybe even a #1) after his soph year.

Either way, I can't see a set of circumstances that don't involve injury keeping him in college more than 2 years.

For decoration, I think some simple public domain pictures of campus, the fieldhouse, Memorial Stadium, etc. should be fine for backgrounds, and won't get you into any trouble.

For a logo, maybe something along the lines of the outline of the state of Kansas with "BUCKETS" across in red or something like that. I think the university has ownership of KU for logos, but you can still do "BUCKETS" across Kansas in crimson and blue and get your point across.

I agree about the anonymous posting.

I liked being able to interact with other KU fans without worrying about individuals judging others based on social status. Here, we are judged on what we bring to the boards, how we respect each other, etc., not on whether or not you are part of the Williams Fund, or some other status position.

Also, when telling "off the record" stories about behind the scenes things, I prefer being anonymous, as many of those things are shared only because the source is anonymous, especially some of the info about recruits, campus things, etc.

Unlike a journalist, if I post under my real name, information will be linked directly to me, whereas a journalist is presumed to have sources, and, as such, have a buffer from the information they provide.

As posters, we don't have that buffer.

Lastly, glad that those involved have stepped up to fill in the gap. I look forward to discussing the Hawks on this board.

I like the mobility of Embiid.

I also like Mason's quickness. Those are two impressive things.

I think Wiggins' athleticism makes it look like he's not trying because he has that "easy athleticism." He jumps high without trying to jump high. He runs fast without trying to run fast. Every time I watch Wiggins his athleticism stands out to me more than anything else. He's just crazy athletic.

I decided to swing on over here and check out the comments. I haven't been as frequent a poster on KUsports for over a year, and I don't want to link anything to my facebook account, as I am in the process of phasing that out, so I am giving this a shot. Glad to see some familiar names over here.