🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@wissox said:

@Blown @Crimsonorblue22 I'm not sure you're giving Frank enough credit then.

Frank was great for us, but with Towson he would have had to have been the best player in college bb history to achieve that success. Even with him, our teams of 3 to 5 stars never made a final 4. All Frank's assists required scorers on the other end, and his transition baskets required defensive rebounders, and drives to the basket required picks, and his outside shooting required at least some other scoring threats.

We saw what happens when your star is the only player who shows up. That would have been Towson.

Now, the story changes if he became well known at Towson his first two years, and they manage to find a big who isn't well rated but becomes great working in tandem with Frank.

More likely, he goes to Towson, sees how limited his propects are, and transfers after 2 years to KU, sits out his 3rd year, and we would still have him around next year!

@Blown said:

Right now, some young Jayhawk Fan is shooting alone on a court saying 3,2,1…Frank Mason for Thhhrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee

And orthopedists are getting ready for an upsurge in treating all those coming injuries from would be imitators of his drives throwing caution to the winds....because few will have his toughness and determination off the court to ready themselves for on the court.

Where is that video of his workout?

@kjayhawks People said exactly the same things back then about the favoritism shown those big stars!

@chriz said:

what’s not to like when compared to Kentucky?

Maybe the fact that there is no Bourbon Trail in Kansas?

http://kybourbontrail.com/&ved=0ahUKEwiB6e6IppHTAhWM5iYKHWzyDtIQFggnMAA&usg=AFQjCNFoqFVTgzZHhqPcr1Kdh8RpEYA7EQ&sig2=Rm7p_ZyfgfFz3JUfqMdHMQ ↗

@wissox Oh, I don't use Apple stuff.

Googling "clear cookies on Mac" brought up this page if you use Safari:

Safari 8.0 - 10.0 (Mac) - Clearing Cache and Cookies
https://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=45060 ↗

Note the Univ of Wisc site!

Apparently Cole is smarter than me, too.

@wissox said:

I normally wouldn't ask someone to do this, but I've used up my free articles at the Tribune, would you mind copying the text and pasting it here? Thanks.

Just delete your cookies on a PC or clear your browser cache and cookies on a phone (in privacy settings). Do it while not having extra open browser windows. That should restart your count of free ones. Handy for NYT and WPost, too.

@FarNrthJHwk said:

Does anyone know the number of Division 1 teams that are located within the Eastern time zone?

A couple of times this year I looked at the top 25 and it was usually between 11 and 14 in EST zone. In the tournament I think it was about half also.

But, those are top programs, which is not dispositive of anything since it would reflect an East Coast bias, wouldn't it? So, someday maybe I will count 'em up. But schools in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee need to be looked up and that is a daunting task.

@JayHawkFanToo @Crimsonorblue22

Here is an article about the whole thing. This one doesn't mention it but I think he went all the way to Kansas because his mom wanted him away from NJ. Dunno why he didn't go Div 1. Maybe needed to do certain academic work?

http://www.hutchnews.com/sports/juco_small_college/shakur-juiston-gives-tribute-to-slain-brother-after-every-shot/article_8729ff71-8beb-5e0c-b711-16206fd4d83e.html ↗

@wissox The reviews on flagrants, allowing the foul to be called after the review, grew out of a number of headshots and virtual assaults missed hy the refs in the course of play. Some led to injuries that had no foul penalty. That allowed transgressors to get away with it.

The rule may need to be tweaked, especially on how long after a play it takes to have one and how long it takes to do one. Maybe a challenge system could work, provided a coach could only challenge when he has the ball and gets a T (2 shots and loss of possession) if nothing found.

@REHawk Uh, oh, and muttering to yourself in the other thread! Welcome to my world!

@ralster said:

by everybody not named Frank or Josh

Svi played to his avg altho he got no rebs. 2 steals, plus he deflected a few passes. No TOs. I thought he was the only player in the first half who played with energy and some smarts.

@ParisHawk @JayHawkFanToo

Maybe it depends on what highly rated means. Kids have been projected as 20 to 25 and not drafted until mid-2nd round. Or in the teens but falling into late first/early 2nd

If a kid rates at the mid-twenties, he would get a guaranteed contract if drafted that high. Clearly, "ready." But if he projects as closer to lottery level the next year if he develops, say, a better driving ability, or improves his 3 pt shot both accuracy and range, he might well decide to wait and try to get a more certain first round draft status, and avoid the risk of falling to second round with no guaranteed contract.

@ParisHawk How "ready" does someone have to be before you think he has no option to go back to school? No one gets promised anything at the combine; at best, they are provided a critique of a range into which they might fall.

I agree with you that anyone projecting in the first half of round one should not opt out of the draft. Beyond that, I think it is an individual decision based on the player's own risk/reward assessment, plus ego, plus financial need. And I think NBA GMs will respect any decision made.

Maybe our issue stems from part of your scenario that I thought was facetious but perhaps underlies your misgivings. I think no player will go and say, "Hey, just screwing around here--don't intend to really go pro. So whaddya think?" I think they all declare planning on trying their damnedest to impress if they get invited, and to go pro if they get monster feedback. They all want that Willie Wonka ticket, but some know it isn't yet very likely yet, so they describe it as testing the waters.

@ParisHawk Do you think teams that want a guy one year will decide not to take the same guy the next, or a teammate, because of a petty feeling of having been stood up?

In any event, the original dispute was over "testing the waters" because you said no one declaring should see it that way, but instead only declare if they intend to go pro if they are told they are ready. I leave it to you to convince the guys saying that how much they are damaging their future prospects. I think your real dispute here is with the rule change that gives early declarants that chance to back out--regardless of how many team want them.

@jaybate-1.0 Actually, I wasn't thinking about population distribution or densities. I was thinking about fan bases. UNC and Kentucky are massive and are national brands. This year's UCLA team resurrected that brand, and Lavar and his kids had the team in the headlines almost daily, I just think those three bracketed separately would have guaranteed more eyes across a wider swatch of the potential TV audience.

@JayHawkFanToo New position in the offing: PC
(Point Combo)

@jaybate-1.0 Don't you think tournament engineering for max viewers, which seems to have the greatest possibility for influence in the bracketing stage, would have had UCLA in a different bracket from UK and UNC? Who in their right mind would decree that only one of those could get to the F4?

Unless it is someone who really hates Ball's father, which seems a distinct possibility. He after all wants to engineer all of basketball!

@Kcmatt7 said:

So I guess the bullpen could possibly be an issue this year...

Early contender for the Understatement of the Season Award!

@justanotherfan Great post. The numbers breakdown is enlightening.

The map below provides some more info explaining East Coast team' trcruiting advantage, specifically UNC and Duke. They are within 600 miles of half the country's population, and if you add 20 you get Orlando, if you go up to 700 miles miles you add Boston, Detroit, and Tampa, then another 100 gets you Chicago, St Louis, Memphis and much of the northern Mami-Ft Lauderdale metroplex.

!Screenshot_2017-04-04-12-10-54-1.png ↗

That population is one that Roy wrote off when he was at KU? If true, he was an even better recruiter than we realized, but the combo of that population with his recruiting ability goes far to explain his success (as it does with Coach K, only 7 miles away).

Contrast it with KU's 600 mile radius. Add a few miles you include Houston, NOrleans, and Detroit, and even 200 more still doesn't get to either Cleveland or Atlanta.

!Screenshot_2017-04-04-12-33-48-1.png ↗

It isn't just the distance. Those miles translate into a lot less exposure comparatively in the much more densely populated East.

@stoptheflop said:

The Big 12 certainly wasn’t guarding KU during the Oregon game....

Yeah, the defense in the Big 12 is so much easier that Jevon Carter of WVU only won the NABC defensive player of the year award. Good post!

@elpoyo thinks the Big 12 is a pushover. 'Tain't so!

@Blown But of course!

@Blown said:

@mayjay is an east coaster. you can't trust him. he's likely biased.

Not an east coaster in my heart. I still tell people I am from KC and just here temporarily. Since 1982.

Incidentally, about half the teams in the tournament were from the E time zone. Plus, if you throw out Ky, UNC, UConn, and Duke, those stats from the last 40 years might be different. Still, heavily E. But those are a huge number.

Hey, throwing out Duke and Kentucky just sounds good anyway!

@jayballer54 I think you did pretty well at the 88th % level.

Joe Lunardi was at 67%, and Seth Davis down at something like 29%.

Go to leaderboard, and scroll down. There are a lot of famous people listed if you want to see Tony K and Golic and others. @wissox--you can check out Frank Kaminski's, too!

@BShark Well, those guys certainly don't see it as a rebuilding year!! In the immortal words of Raymond's dad Frank, Holy Crap!

@bskeet said:

so was the poor shooting, slow pace, etc

And unfortunately some poor decision making by players and coaches.

If I were a coach, I would be tempted to shoot any big who gets a foul outside the 3 point line.

@ParisHawk Try Googling "nba combine test the waters"

Your notion that the phrase is not properly descriptive of the combine process seems to have been lost on all these players who are announcing they want to, gasp, "test the waters." And the articles announcing the combine changes last year all seem to use that phrase for what it allows players not hiring agents to do.

But what do players using the system, or writers who deal with ncaa and nba personnel involved in managing it, know?

I also think there have been many nba players who were second round draft picks who would be shocked to find out that their draft status by no means would suggest that they were "ready" for the careers they enjoyed or are still enjoying.

Bottom line, as expressed in the post by @Crimsonorblue22 to which you have taken such exception, I also hope a few of our players test the waters if the nba invites them to. It will give them valuable information about their games and their propects for pro careers. If they decide to go pro, good for them. If they don't, it will give them a chance to train and practice with specific goals to close gaps invtheir skills.

@jaybate-1.0 To answer your headline, yes.

@Crimsonorblue22 LOTS of blown calls both ways. Good pic off TV. Didn't realize it was Bridges. Taped it for Sleeping Beauty so I will look again.

@Crimsonorblue22 said:

So r we going to be in the shining moment?

Plus, we had a close up of FM, Self hitting the 3 with smiling HCBS and Devonte pumping his chest. Didnt see anything from the Ore game but could have been just their players.

At least no shots of us being sad that I saw.

Ewing it is!

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/04/03/georgetown-hires-patrick-ewing-as-new-head-coach/ ↗

@wissox said:

I didn’t see anything his freshman season that made my mouth water in anticipation

That season enabled him to start at a base so low that "most improved" could have still been "barely acceptable." If you are in a drought of 1/16" of rain in 2 months, an increase of 300% still leaves you with only a quarter of an inch.

On a serious note, I thought he showed better range his freshman year. But hardly ever shot this year, maybe because there were 6 guys who could shoot better from 12+.

@ParisHawk If you aren't satisfied with a rating of "likely second round" no one is going to hold it against someone who goes back to school to improve their position. Teams would rather have those guys come back the next year as more skilled players who get "1st round probable" ratings instead of staying in it and being undrafted. That is one reason they set up the combine and changed it last year so there is no limit to how many you can be invited to.

@kjayhawks If she does teach English, I commend her. Language arts is the most needed skill in almost everything students will undertake, and unfortunately there are fewer and fewer dedicated English teachers passing on their mastery each year as kids see it as unimportant and play video games instead of reading.

I had to scroll down a long way to find this. The last post was 10 days ago!

I looked at the leader's bracket in the entire ESPN bracket challenge. They missed 3 teams in the first round, 2 in the second, 3 in the 3rd, perfect since.

But here is what is interesting: he missed on SMU in the first round, and then missed on both KU and Mich St! Yes, this genius who is leading millions of contestants picked UCDavis to pull off the first 16 over 1 in cbb history! Then missed on UCD not advancing all the way to the E8, where he had them losing to Oregon, where his bracket got back on a correct path with the Ducks (boo) going on.

Wow! Must be a UCD alum, but can you imagine how disappointed he would be for making that crazy upset pick if he was in 2nd place now?

Has picked Gonzaga to win tomorrow, 96-90. Defensive affair.

@RockChalkinTexas said:

@Barney UT won the NIT and can you remember what they did the following year? I can't.

Texas won the NIT in 1978 and lost in the NCAA round of 32 in 1979. Both seasons they were SWC co-champs under Abe Lemons.

@JayHawkFanToo It was started in 1938 by a separate organization, a consortium of NY media companies. Originally, the two tournaments competed with each other for teams in the post-season, and in some years teams even played in both tournaments.

In 1971, Al McGuire took Marquette to the NIT instead of accepting an NCAA bid with a seeding he didn't like. That caused the NCAA to threaten sanctions against teams that played in the NIT instead of accepting an NCAA bid, leading to the decline of the NIT.

I think that action, and the expansions of the NCAA tourney to 64 and then 68 teams, eventually led to an anti-trust/illegal restraint of trade lawsuit by the NIT. That was eventually settled when the NCAA bought the NIT in 2005.

Wikipedia has a very interesting history, from which this was culled.

@approxinfinity You have a very complicated subconscious, even thinking in long complex sentences. Mine goes more along the lines of, "Me angry about rain, time to eat."

@approxinfinity Okay, the mayjay challenge is over since we have reached the goal early. On the gofundme site there are a number of high level contributors, and the total was $540, about 430 more than when I issued the challenge last night. So, we will round up my "punishment" to another $25. This, plus the paypal of $20 he said he received should give @approxinfinity at least $585 to work with.

Good job, everyone. @approxinfinity, great idea!

@wissox said:

The couch worked fine for my sleep so don’t worry.

See, that's why Kentucky fans burn their couches: they don't get punished for using their date night funds to help pay for a great BB board like this because they ain't got one.

Plus, they sleep in barns when they get lucky on date night anyway so they don't need sofas.

@jayballer54 Not sure about UConn would win 6 of 7. Even the coach of UConn said they should not have been undefeated, that many weaknesses had been disguised by their record, and that this team was not as strong as in years past. The game announcers pointed out that UConn was vulnerable to a team with height in the center, and Miss St had a 6 ft 7 inch one. UConn sure had some dumb plays when the pressure came on, and that is always the question mark of a team that has blown people out all year.

So I might give UConn a series edge, but I think it would be close.

Looking forward to the final for the SC ladies tomorrow night, and to tonight to see if Frank Martin gets the SC guys over Gonzaga.

@Crimsonorblue22 Happens in women's bb, too! Probably 5 ft or less in early hs. Lots of schools trying to get height nowadays.

@JayHawkFanToo As I said, from the website.

@Blown said:

told them if they don’t lay it out on the line like that every time they need to just hang it up and go home.

Any of them take you literally? Either by going home, or, as my gson would do, by going out to lay on the line as you told them?

@brooksmd All in good fun! Remember, I told my wife when we were looking for places to retire that we would only go to SC over my dead body. 6 months later, we were here after moving here because her sister did.

Fortunately, the lovely wifey didn't hold me to it.

@brooksmd It wasn't a switch. I challenged everybody to donate at least $10 because that seems like a fair amount. If people can double that amount, I want to give them an extra incentive to do so by adding the dollar kicker.

And if anyone wants to donate $60, or $20 three times, my extra will be $3 either way. $1 extra dollar per $20 increment by anyone. $500? I add $25.... Feel free!

On which one, I don't know how to tell on paypal. Gofundme shows totals and amounts of each if people don't give privately. It was $110 or so on 4 donations when I did it.

@BShark said:

"sources"

That just always amused me for some reason.

Leaks! Track 'em down!

I couldn't find out if Frank is earning a Bachelor of General Studies in Liberal Arts (BGS), or if he is getting a Bachelor of Arts in some area not made public. One site refers to his major as "Liberal Arts", which in the College of LAS program is listed as the major when you get the BGS degree. It is considered to be the broadest area of study in Liberal Arts.

I remember in the 70s that BGS degrees were kind of looked down upon because they didn't have as stringent of requirements for the degree. I don't know if that is true anymore. The degree was often obtained by kids who switched majors a lot or couldn't make up their minds.

A broad Liberal Arts study is wonderful preparation for many fields. It can include intro and advanced courses as technical as does a major in math or in a physical science ranging from astronomy to zoology, or courses culturally oriented like sociology and philosophy, plus significant exposure to standards like a foreign language and English. I have known premed and prelaw students who had concentrations in psychology and found it extremely useful in their professional schools.

Hope this helps.

@brooksmd said:

The HCBS blamers still at it over in basketball?

Also a request for funding by @approx. Go see my donation challenge!

@approxinfinity Already did. Hey, everybody, ante up!

I challenge everbody to donate at least $10. I did $20 because I am a heavy user and love the site. So, for every donation of $20 or more in the next 72 hours (until 10:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time on Monday night, April 3) I will donate an additional dollar!

Give $20 or more and make me pay!

@sfbahawk Didn't the track go under the bleachers?