🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@KUSTEVE Good points. I wish someone would take Bill Self back to elementary school, and explain that 3 is bigger than 2. HEM was also making this point. Anyway, I have enjoyed reading (and posting a little bit). See you next year.

@justanotherfan I do not believe I have ever seen a KU player with a steeper learning curve than Silvio's this year. I'm sure there have been others, but to come in at semester and progress to where he is now? . . .Amazing. We are fast approaching the time when I would just as soon have him in as Doke.

@nuleafjhawk I do remember that joke. Several versions were going around at the time. Nice to revisit it.

I love basketball as much as the next person, but I seriously question a theology that thinks God cares about a basketball game. That said, go for it Red Rooster!

@BShark This is relevant to absolutely nothing, but I do love your joke at the end of your posts.

I'm for anything other than Saturday, but might it not be the Sooners we are playing?

I don't mind Self resting his players, I just didn't know he was going to do it while they were on the court. Also, I wish he had told the rest of us!

Personally, I am blaming my grandson. He asked for KU tickets as his main Christmas present. Couldn't wait to see his first game at AFH. He was at the game today. Clearly he is a jinx! Who knew? The only fun part of today was looking for him in the stands. We never saw him.

@CRH107 Well, they will have to now!

I watched the game. Those three point shots were amazing! I would like him better if the announcers and ESPN didn't act like he was the only person on the floor. I expect that very soon they will flood the basketball court and Trae will dribble, pass, and shoot while running on the water.

@HighEliteMajor I have never coached basketball, but I have done lots of scientific research in my time, so I decided to check out the topic of fatigue injuries as correlated with too many minutes during a game and too many minutes over the course of a season. The results? They are all over the map. There is more information about the NBA than there is about the NCAA. I realize that NBA players are older and play many more games, so I tried to concentrate on NCAA. I would say (from a quick scan of scientific and medical articles), that your conclusions about fatigue during a game and fatigue over the course of a season are supported more often than not. However, based on quick research, I believe that I am correct that giving players a bit of rest during the course of a game--especially when the lead is in double digits--would pay dividends late in games. If it helps during the course of a season, this would be gravy.

@Crimsonorblue22 I did! Pretty cool.

I hope you are right--you usually are. Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I love Devonte, I love this team, but what if the unthinkable happens and Devonte gets hurt? No one else has meaningful experience at point guard in a game situation. I assume others take turns in practice, and someone might be able to step up if he had to (fingers crossed). I would argue that sitting him down with a comfortable lead would have two benefits: 1. It would give him a short breather. 2. It would give someone else some experience.

@Crimsonorblue22 Or station Doke in the back court? Surely that would be intentional if they fouled him there!

lincase said:

Devonte Graham is tired, in my opinion. Most of you know
more about basketball than I, so could you please tell me why Coach Self cannot give him (and also Svi) a couple of minutes rest in the first half when we are up by 15?

I wasn't me--I'm a grandmother! (Although I can shoot free throws as well as Doke, when the rim is lowered for kids!)

@Texas-Hawk-10 I would be the first to admit I don't know all the rules, so I have a question. My husband says that , instead of putting Doke in a corner on those last couple of plays, what if Coach Self had put him in the backcourt? If an opposing player had to go all the way into the backcourt to commit the foul on DOKE, the foul would have to be called intentional, and we would be awarded two shots AND THE BALL. Moreover, any player who committed two intentional fouls would be ejected from the game. Could this possibly be true? Could Self possibly have missed something this simple? If you know, I would appreciate a reply.

Absolutely on you, Coach Self! What did you think you were going to accomplish? I have never coached (other than academic teams), but I do know you try to put kids in a situation where they can be successful. Deliberately setting them up to fail makes things worse. What effect did this have on the other players? I felt so sorry for Devonte in the interview room. He was taking all the blame. No, Devonte, this is not on you. It is on your Hall of Fame coach--who was solidly out-coached.

AARGGGHH! Just went to ESPN's website: first 3 stories are about young Trae!

Good analysis. Personally, I bear Trae no ill will, but I am royally sick of hearing his name mentioned every two seconds. You would think no one else was in the game! Even when other games are on, ESPN is constantly promoting him. I wish I had my little clicker that I use at the zoo to count interactions with visitors. I would use it tonight, and I'll bet it would count into the hundreds.

@Fightsongwriter Wow, really good story, but Doke won't be on the court if the game is on the line and it might come down to free throws! KU wins when Texas foolishly fouls Devonte on a drive, and HE sinks the free throw.

First time posting this year. My grandson dealt with a basketball concussion his freshman year in high school. Took him a year to get over it. I can't believe Newman is playing under these circumstances.
Also, when you look at this team vs last year's team, several things are evident.
1. I think Doke may eventually be better at the 5 spot. So plus 1.
2. Svi replacing Svi is a wash, but he may be a bit better at defense this year. Even up.
3. Devonte is not a better point guard than Frank. Minus 1
4. Malik is definitely not a better shooting guard than Devonte. Minus 1
5. Vick is not better than Josh. Minus 1
6. Bench is basically not there. Minus a couple.
I think it is not surprising that this team is not as good as last year's team.

@drgnslayr I was teaching high school in Indiana when Glen Robinson was playing for Purdue and Greg Ostertag was playing for KU. Robinson dunked over Ostertag and talked some trash. Ostertag just smiled and gave him a "well-done" pat. Purdue won. The next day I dreaded facing my students, thinking I would have to endure some trash talk as well. The only thing they wanted to talk about was Ostertag's sportsmanship. Made me proud on lots of levels.

@BShark For the most part, they are decent people. Our son is a Purdue graduate, so there are a lot of side bets going on in our family. In addition, our daughter-in-law is a graduate of UCLA, and our daughter is a Northwestern alum! It has been a fun tournament for our family so far. As KU grads, my husband and I have no divided loyalties. Rock Chalk.

@wrwlumpy OMG! Now we women have to be very careful what we ask for!

@mayjay And me! Someone else with two X chromosomes!

@RockChalkinTexas I usually just read and don't post, but I feel a special affinity for another woman on the site. I am so sorry for your loss. My Dad died just before Christmas a few years ago--doubly tough. I will remember you in my thoughts and prayers.

@jaybate-1.0 Great post as always, and I enjoy a beat down of Scott Drew, but I hope this was not done at the expense of playing some starters too many minutes. Oklahoma looms large on Monday night, and I hope we don;t show up tired.

@jayballer54 I looked for the game on tv, but didn't find it. Do you know what tv coverage for the final four will be? Thanks.

@HighEliteMajor Or possibly FOOLS" gold, depending on the number of fools.

@drgnslayr Can we make him a great teacher in Philly? As a retired teacher, I would like to believe that the ripple effect of that might have a greater influence on the world.

@jaybate-1.0 Laughed until I was sick! I was just listening to "Evita" yesterday. Oh what a circus, oh what a show! You have wide=ranging expertise, sir. I knew about basketball, I knew about history, and now I have to add musical theater to the list.

@HighEliteMajor Great analysis, as usual. I would only add another reason why Greene should be in the game: he is an excellent free throw shooter. If he is not open for a three, he can still drive. This is not the best aspect of his game, but--with the new rules--chances are he might get fouled. Chances are this probably gets us two points. I am having flashbacks to last season, and I am not liking what I see.

@drgnslayr
I absolutely agree. Knight didn't care who the players were, he analyzed the GAME. I learned a lot about the game by listening to him. Also, it was fun to bet on how many times he said "shot fake" during a telecast. He never commented about meeting some player's first cousin in an elevator.
We lived in Big Ten country for awhile. Our son ended up going to Purdue and our daughter to Northwestern. It was fun to watch basketball when he was coaching at Indiana. No one was more fun to hate than Knight, with the possible exception of a couple of Missouri coaches. Later. we learned to appreciate him. When television goes for the entertainers instead of the analysts, the game is the poorer for it.

@DoubleDD BG might be in there for his ability to shoot free throws, as well.

@jaybate-1.0 I yield to superior intellect, and I think I am beginning to get it. Worse ball just died a merciful death.

@bskeet Nice article by Newell. Thanks for posting.

@DCHawker Must admit I like badder ball!

@brooksmd must admit, I didn't, but I did apologize. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Last night General Self said to his weary troops: "Men,BAD ball is not working. We are going to have to step it up and take it to another level. It is time to play WORSE ball. If we can just dig deep we can find it within ourselves." And, lo and behold, WORSE ball got our rag tag little band to eleven straight conference championships. Injured and hurting, they march on.

Do you suppose that if they ever reach the summit and play WORST ball that the NCAA Championship is attainable?

@HighEliteMajor OK, I guess it was fun. I'm positive my life is being shortened by these close games. In the end, do you suppose I'll vote that it was worth it? Oh, yes! RCJH.

@wissoxfan83 I tend to agree. Can't help contrasting Cliff's announcement with the way Andrew Wiggens announced--at his high school, one reporter, no hats.We have been on the wrong side of the hat ceremony enough times for me to feel empathy for anyone else who is.

@jaybate-1.0 Does Svi get 10 seconds, too?

@Crimsonorblue22 We did get to the game. We were a little late because of the weather. For an 11 year old, our grandson plays good defense, and is a good rebounder, but he doesn't have much of a shot. . He also suffers from asthma, so he has to rest sometimes. We aren't alerting Bill Self just yet! Also, he is very smart, and we have hopes of an academic scholarship. They lost the game, but we expected that. It was amazing that they won the first one in the tournament.

We put the KU game on DVD, and went into a media blackout. What an ending. Thanks for your interest. I really like the people on this site. RCJH!

@cragarhawk I would agree with Ellis as one of the four outs. Lucas or Michelson in, I guess.

@cragarhawk Might be a good time to try the one in and four out offense.

@brooksmd I agree, we are going to try to get to the game. Possibly he needs his grandma there to support him. Not all posters have a Y chromosome. Thanks everyone for the input. Truly, you are nice people.

@VailHawk Have an iPhone. What a generous offer. I'll let you know. It is snowing pretty heavily now. Think I can play the "We are old and afraid to drive in bad weather" card.

I never thought it would happen, but my grandson's basketball team won a game in their postseason tournament. (Trust me, this is equivalent to a 16 seed upsetting a 1 seed in the NCAA's). His game will begin about one hour after the KU game starts. They are just kids, but it is important to them. No shoe salesmen will be there or will care about the game.

I am torn: if we use the bad weather in KC (if it materializes) as an excuse not to go to grandson's game, is this bad karma which will throw the basketball universe out of whack and bounce back and bite KU? We can DVD, but there will be people at the game checking phones and reporting the score every 5 seconds.

I dearly love my grandson, and this will be his last basketball game of the year. I dearly love our Jayhawks, and clearly they need all of us. Fortunately my spouse is a rabid fan also, so there is never any question about what we will do during a game.

What do I do, KU Buckets?

@Crimsonorblue22 If that is true I volunteer to chip in to buy you tickets to the Oklahoma game.