Thank you, thank you and thanks again to Lagerald and Coach Self for finding a way for our senior to return this year and save this team. Where would this year's team be without LaGerald? He's our only 3 point threat. LaGerald saved the Jayhawks from an embarrassing loss to Stanford. Overall stats don't lie: 20.8 pts. per game on 57.5% FG shooting. LaGerald is 28/47 from 3 for 59.6%. WOW!
Going forward, KU must find a second 3 point shooter. Right now, that's got to be Dotson. Dedric is only 1/7 from 3, so his outside shooting is more of a distraction than a true threat. When Devon has the offense started with a drive and dish, he needs to get out front on the arc and look for his 3. What about having Garrett get the offense started on some possessions with a drive and dish, and let Dotson take over the shooting guard role? Just don't let Marcus "Nothing But Backboard" Garrett shoot, ever. Dok and Dedric are solid in the paint and Dotson's drives to the rim help, but we need another 3 point shooter.
I agree that Garrett should start ahead of Q, but Garrett must limit his offense to driving and scoring at the rim, not shooting. In 33 min of playing time he correctly only took five shots and made two. But the misses spoke volumes about his lack of shooting ability. Garrett brings energy and heart. Bill Self loves the guy. But, please Marcus do all of us a favor and don't shoot the ball. Defend, get steals and drive the rim.
@DCHawker And Coach Self always speaks highly of Garrett and never mentions his crappy shooting
Garrett should never shoot the ball again. Good God.
Chuck is definitely stinking it up. Garrett too. Please, tighten the rotation.
Only three 3 point attempts by KU- all by Vick-all misses. We've got to start scoring outside.
I waited all week for this. Jeez.
Kareem Hunt's aggressive behavior was evident on the field several times this season and unfortunately carried over off the field. I see why the Cleveland PD didn't file charges. Both Kareem and the woman were aggressors. The woman walked back into the conflict three times and twice looks like she swung at someone, including the last time when she and an intervenor were knocked to the ground. Both parties have a social and legal responsibility to walk away from the conflict. I say no to Jamaal Charles, but hope Ware steps up and carries the rushing load.
I read that Les Miles favored pro-style, drop back QBs. I know he lost the LSU position because of disappointment with his offenses, but do we really expect a 65 year old coach to change the type of players he has favored in the past? Option style QB? I guess we'll see what players Miles brings in.
I disagree with Newell's explanation and approach to poll rankings. Newell says he looks at what would happen if Duke and Gonzaga play 100 games and he speculates that Duke would win the most. But, that is not how college basketball games are decided; they are decided by one game. So, the polls should be based on what has happened during games played, not speculation about teams playing each other 100 times and who he speculates would win the most. After KU won the National Championship in 1988, I heard from the KU haters that if KU played any of the teams again KU would lose, so KU wasn't the best team in the tournament. But, we decide the championship on which team won the game, not Newell's illogical approach of who he speculates would win the most of 100 fictitious games. What say you JBate? Surely, you disagree with Jesse Newell and agree with me, right.
I wondered who in the heck voted Duke number 1 after it lost to Gonzaga. Guess who? Jesse Newell. Collegepolltracker.com shows who's voting in the AP poll. Dick Vitale voted KU number 1.
@jayhawkcsg I would love to be at the season ending banquet when the staff shows the video of Dotson and Grimes(?) running into each other on defense, which gave the Tennessee player a wide open 3 in the corner. It will draw quite a laugh. We need a good blooper and blunders video of this team.
@BShark I do remember Vick getting in Dok's ear before Dok shot FTs. If you doubt Dok's commitment, just look at him get after Dedric during a timeout in OT. Dok was doing some motivating. Both Vick and Dok are showing some leadership early in the season.
@wissox Like reverse psychology, maybe predicting a loss is just reverse mojo. Predict a loss, so that your team is more likely to win. Or, predict a loss to piss off a lot of fans. You decide the actual intent.
KU needs to take more 3 point shots. Against Tennessee, Dedric took 2, Dotson 1, Grimes 2, Chuck 4 and Vick 7. We only took 17 threes. Maybe it comes later, but I don't see us setting screens to get Vick and the others open 3s.
@HighEliteMajor But Chuck as we are now apparently calling him, played with Dotson against Tennessee.
Would someone please put together a video of Dok's 5 fouls during the Tennessee game and add to it the hacking that goes on every time Dok gets the ball In the paint? There is a terrible double standard for foul calling against Dok-at least in my memory of watching the game live. I haven't watched the game a second time, so maybe my recollection would change. I really liked the passion Dok showed after he fouled out. During the OT timeouts, Dok was shouting encouragement to Dedric. Dok wants to win. I like it.
@wissox Excellent post. Thanks. These battles are really tough on an old KU basketball fan like myself. Who would have thought that during crunch time Coach Self would rely on Charlie Moore and KJ Lawson? Watching the OT drama was like witnessing a car accident; I didn't want to look, but I couldn't look away. Charlie and KJ, are you kidding me; that's the best we can do? But, despite way too many missed FTs, we pulled away and kept that ever so small lead just long enough. Wow, what a start to the season.
Scrappy, very scrappy. Charlie Moore and KJ Lawson were very valuable tonight.
Well, now I feel bad about criticizing Garrett's shooting Wednesday night.
I was watching the Duke/Gonzaga game and didn't get to watch much of the Tennessee game. Tennessee looks like this:
(2) Williams, 23 pts, F, 6'7", Jr.
(5) Scholfield, 14 pts., G, 6'6", Sr.
(11) Alexander, 11 pts., F, 6'11", Sr.
(10) Fulkerson, 11 pts., F, 6'9", So
(1) Turner, 13 pts., G, 6'1", Jr.
Big and experienced. But Alexander is a thin F at 215 lbs against our Dok's 270+. Can our freshman guards step up against Scholfield and Turner? Can Vick shutdown their top scorer, Grant Williams? For me, this is a very important win and it would be a very bad loss.
I didn't think Dok was a factor at all: 6 pts. 4 rbs and 0 blocks. I thought he should have been put back in during the last 2 min when the game was won just to get him back on track offensively. Dok's defense was solid during the little time the refs allowed him play.
Who can explain Marcus Garrett's shooting style? I've never seen a successful shooter with one shoulder away from the basket. Garrett doesn't even try to square his shoulders. But, I like how active he is, just not his shots.
Why not put Dok back in? Let him finish the game.
Concerning? Still only 10 3's for us to their 31. Even Vick isn't looking to find an open 3.
Lawson 24 pts. 7/14 field and 9 rbs.
We've still only shot 9 3s. More 3s please.
Surprised Garrett started the second half? Self sees something I don't. Trust is difficult when you're behind to an unranked team.
21 of Marquette's 33 shots were 3s.
We only shot 7 3s to their 21.
Garrett is just embarrassing
@kjayhawks Yes, the game is in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Thanks.
Regarding 3 point shooting at Madison Square Gardens, the bigger arena usually hampers 3 point shooters and I expect that to affect Marquette's final score more than KU. Plus, how are they going to stop Dok? I expect a repeat of the last two games with Dok and Vick dominating. And, maybe one of our freshmen steps up. I can really see the difference not having the experience of Frank and Devonte at point. This will take awhile.
KJ Lawson seems like a good option to guard a forward who is stepping out and shooting threes. I thought he should have guarded 6'6" Justin Miller when he go hot during the first half of the Ragin' Cagin game. KJ is scrappy.
What style of offense is Coach Miles going to run? Do we have a QB to run it? Is Carter Stanley the presumed starter for now?
So the focus on recruiting needs to be:
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Miles style QB;
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Defensive line;
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Linebackers;
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Wide receivers;
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Then..........................................
I was in the eastside stands when Tony Sands set the single game rushing record against a hapless Missouri team. I yelled until my voice was gone for Juuuuuuuun! Now, I just hope Coach Miles can keep Pooka on the team.
Our Oline actually looked competent most of the time against OU. But for some dumb mistakes, we had a chance to upset OU. That's really enough to get me back to Memorial Stadium. I really hope to be yelling for Pooka next season. Rock Chalk.
There's no doubt we get everyone's best shot. I'm always surprised that other teams can come into Allen Fieldhouse and shoot lights out. Maybe playing in Allen inspires other teams rather than intimidates them. Or, maybe it's our poor defense. You be the judge.
Why oh why doesn't KU defend three point shooters better? With college players getting more accurate as 3 point shooters and more emphasis on scoring behind the arc, why isn't Coach Self and staff requiring defense beyond the arc throughout the game?
None of the teams we have played has given us as many wide open threes as we have given them. That corner three is open on every possession because our guard is covering the lane and then when the ball inevitably swings around the perimeter to the corner, all our guard may do is feebly run 15 feet toward the shooter. And, I'm seeing a lot of flopping by the three point shooters. Hooking is now a flagrant foul, but trying to fool the ref by flopping is just a grand part of the game. Jeez.
Now I understand the flagrant foul for hooking in the paint. I first saw it called in another game and didn't see anything, just two players side by side waiting for a rebound. But, the replay shows Mitch with his arm entwined with the Cagin player. Clearly, wrapping the other player's upper arm is an effort to limit his ability to rebound. Hooking will be cleaned up in a couple of weeks. As a TV viewer, it's very hard to see unless you know what to look for.
Vick had 7 of our 8 3s. Q had the only other 3 tonight. Ku was 8/22 from 3, 36%.
The best use of Garrett is coming off the bench when the team needs a burst of energy on defense. He handled the ball well on offense against Vermont, but isn't a threat to score. The team is much better with the ball in the hands of Dotson, then Moore, not Garrett. At least both of them are threats to score that the defense must respect. I can't understand why Garrett had the ball so much on offense against Vermont. But, Garrett had 3 assists in 26 min. to Dotson's 0 assists in 27 min.
Anyone else extremely disappointed with our play on offense and defense? Dok had a good game, but forced shots when he was doubled and tripled. He is gaining confidence in the paint and at the line. Other than Vick's outstanding game, I was disappointed in everyone else. Like Wiggins, I feel Grimes is just coasting most of the time. Garrett is a liability on offense. He can't shoot at all and really can only pass or drive to the rim on offense. Finally, I sure hope this was just an off night for Dedric. Coach said he would be our leading scorer, but he couldn't score over smaller defenders. Dedric was shut down and worse, didn't find another way to help on offense. Other than feeding Dok and running the weave, I didn't see anything else on offense.
Vick was great. I'm glad he showed up to play; otherwise, we would have been in trouble. Vick picked up the team and propelled us to a win. 8/8 from 3 and 12/14 from the field. Great game!
What conference are the refs from? They are missing a lot of calls both ways.
Dedric has 0 pts. on 2 shots. ?
Only 3 Catamounts are scoring, E Duncan, Smith and Lamb. Seems like we could at least try to defend those three
Houston's interception really changed the momentum and sealed the win.
Great start on offense-TD on 3 plays. But, anyone can score on the defense, even when Rosen missed 4 receivers. Then, great field position, but Andy uses too many trick plays instead of just throwing the ball down field, like the first drive.
@justanotherfan I'd hoped that Vick was going to take over Svi's role as the spot shooter for us this year. I still think he can. I sure liked the 3s by freshmen Dotson and Grimes. I'm very impressed.