🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@BeddieKU23 No Jayhawk within 8 feet of him.

Josh looks very natural with his offense. He is going to score some points for us this year.

12 for 20 free throw shooting. That'll lose us some games.

We are guarding the three point shooters from the elbows.

@wissox Lucas is starting the season slowly, but he'll come around and be a huge contributor.

Bragg 10 points and 6 boards. Niiiiiiice first half.

Carlton Bragg, 10 first half points. He's rebounding too. Looking good.

I'm impressed by Siena's fight, but their starting five is going to get fatigued by the middle of the second half.

@Eric-san Nice

Bragg with the rebound. Now that's progress.

Any reason at all to guard Siena on the 3 ball? Or is this a scrimmage where we just let them shoot and if they miss fast break up court.

And holiday decorating tips. But, I agree with your basketball insights. It's going to be a fun, fun year. RCJH

I didn't see the announcement on ESPNU, but 247Sports and the Syracuse website say Preston committed to us. Welcome Mr. Preston. Rock Chalk Jayhawk.

@Crimsonorblue22 I'm going to reserve thought and judgment on all quarterbacks until I see them play.Before the season, I thought Ryan Willis was going to have a great year this year. But, one hundred turnovers proved me wrong.

@BShark That's OK; let Doke play and foul against Siena. Lucas, Bragg and Lightfoot can play the rest of the minutes if he fouls out. Doke looks great for a very young frosh. I really like his energy and confidence, even though I find myself holding my breath whenever he has the ball. I'm just hoping it doesn't go horribly wrong for him.

Oh, I'm still paying attention to KU football. Most of the time, I wonder why. Despite our failures and struggles, it's D1 football, which I love. Our defense must play better against Texas. I sure like the play of Mike Lee and the other defensive backs. Mike Lee should be another KU Aquib Talib and Chris Harris type contribution to the NFL. Boy, do we need a D1 quarterback. I assume Stanley starts again. OK, cross my fingers- KU 32, Texas 30. RCJH

What a crazy first eight days of the new season. I vote for Lucas and Mason to sit this one out, or at least play minimal minutes. Coach should play Svi, Vick, Lightfoot, and Doke 40 minutes or as close to it as they may possibly play. Even Tyler Self should play 20 minutes. The Indiana game showed there are going to be times this year when Tyler and the others are needed. I don't write this to indicate Siena should be taken lightly. This is one of several games on our schedule to let these five players gain the experience that will be desperately needed later in the season. Just look back to the five players on the court at the end of the Indiana game. RCJH

Hooray for Joel. He's the go to player for the hapless 76's. He was allowed to play well beyond his allotted minutes, but the home win was crucial for this once successful franchise. It's going to be fun to watch his improvement.

I suppose it's too early to hear anything from coach Beaty, but surely he sees we need an experienced offensive coordinator and that he needs to return to head coaching duties. Coach Bowen needs to be called out on the defense's poor performance. The Iowa State O line controlled the game from the end of the second quarter on. Our pass rush didn't pressure the QB's at all; the box score shows one sack for us, but I don't remember it. I State nearly doubled their average rushing yardage.

Iowa State has been very competitive this year against the rest of the Big 12. We had our chances yesterday, but just aren't there yet on offense and now the defense has taken a step back. Does anyone feel we have a chance against Texas? Living in Kansas, I have to put up with the K State fans for several months after another season ending loss. Usually, I have Kansas basketball to help, but not this year.

Touchdown and 2 point conversion. Let's get it done.

Why is it our pass rush is completely ineffective?

I State's offense is flat out playing our defense this half. Their O line is opening huge holes. I feel like we need a big play on offense or this game is lost.

Now the defense must get a stop. The last I State TD was too easy.

It's Carter Stanley time.

Yea, we still have the lead.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Confidence or desperation, I don't know which.

It's sure good to see a few others on this site. I wish I was at the game. Plenty of good seats.

Except for the fumbled punt, all phases of our game are working. Can we keep this up?

The Iowa state dbacks are playing 8 yards behind our wides. We need to keep going there.

Defensive stop. Now the offense needs to take control of this game.

Since there are four of us, that's only 250 each. Easy.

Maybe we will have a 1000 comments like the basketball chat last night.

I still hate that side line pass for no yards. Why, why , why?

Interception. Now there you go.

The defense doesn't seem to start playing well until the end of the first quarter. Missed tackles and penalties so far.

Stanley doesn't look good. Neither does the offensive line. The defense needs a quick stop or a turnover.

OK. The defense held. Now it's time for the offense to move the ball and get us 7.

KU guards defended the 3 from the paint, running at the open shooter with an arm extended in vain. The Indiana guards played defense outside the three point line all night, seldom giving our guard with the ball an open 3. Frank and Devonte are under the defensive rim most of the time instead of defending on the perimeter. Frank tied for most rebounds with Landon at 7. Devonte had 4 rebounds. With our guards playing defense with their heels in the paint, we are going to see a lot of uncontested 3's shot against us.

This is going to be an interesting game. Which team refuses to lose? Our defense is capable of shutting down an average Iowa State offense. Iowa State has used two quarterbacks in most of it's games, Lanning and Park. Each averages about 135 passing yards per game. Their top rusher is Warren with only 66 yards per game. Our defense could really shine today.

Our offense is always to question mark, especially because Coach Beaty is starting Carter for the first time. If our offense finds a way to move the ball against a very average Iowa State defense, KU wins this one. It's time to win a big 12 game. KU 31, ISU 20 RCJH

We are getting killed on the offensive glass.

Six foot, eight inch forward OG Anunoby(#3) has been Indiana's top scorer this year. He shoots a lot of threes, but also drives it. Sixteen points against Hope College with 4/7 from three range. Against Bellarmine, he had 25 points, with 3/4 on 3 balls.

This seems like too much of a beginning defensive assignment for Jackson; I'd hate to see Jackson get into foul trouble early. He needs plenty of court time to adjust to D1. So, perhaps coach starts Svi to guard Anunoby, then alternates with Vick. I'm anxious to see how our guys play in Hawaii. RCJH

@ParisHawk Landon played fine, but not very many minutes. He had a couple of good post moves and got in good position under the rim for rebounds. KU just didn't need him to do much. Azubuike played much more and was given most of the minutes at the 5 spot. Like Graham, Lucas hasn't needed to turn it on yet.

I saw flashes of what these guys will do going forward. Flashes. Svi looked very comfortable on both ends of the court. I sure like Azubuike's aggressiveness. He ran the floor, he mixed it up under the rim and he was calling for the ball on fast breaks. Good grief, a 7 foot, 275 pounder running the fast break.

Jackson showed some aggressiveness, but still looks a bit hesitant. Coach keeps talking about his motor and competiveness. I can't wait for him to get fully acclimated.

Frank is just amazing. I can't wait to see him turn it up against Indiana on Friday. Let's get it on. RCJH

I watched a bit of the OU/I-State game. The Iowa State offense is competitive, but they were playing at home. I blame being big underdogs at home to the other last place team on our coaching staff's failure to develop a quarterback. Identify the QB with the best arm and teach him not to turn the ball over. Maybe, that's Carter Stanley, but it seems late in the season to still be trying to identify the best quarterback to give us a chance to beat Iowa State. This game is a must win for us.

Coach Self just said Carlton is a really good player, he's just in a funk. Does everyone get the one hour post-game show?

Much, much better game all around. Yes, Bragg is struggling. It's like his timing is off. But, he's playing hard and he has such a great attitude that I'm sure he will be a consistent contributor by January. Great tune up for Indiana. RCJH

I'm anxious to see how Devonte plays tonight after only scoring 6 points against Washburn. With Indiana only 5 days away, I sure would like to see more balance from our expected leaders in this year's campaign. What scoring averages are you expecting this year? Lucas, 10; Mason,14; Graham 14; Jackson, 12; Bragg, 10; Vick, 8; and Svi, 8. I'm hoping for balanced scoring and no goose eggs by our leaders. RCJH

We need a KU alum NBA category on this site and some dedicated posters to follow our heroes in the NBA. My goodness, Joel is in a class all by himself. I've watched him play a couple of times. It's amazing how effortlessly he plays the game. He is confident with the ball. Now, he needs the 76er guards to step up.

All joking aside, what I watch for is improvement in any area possible. It's difficult for me to look for improvement on offense with coach playing Cozart. I don't look for improvement from him and don't see how his play helps the team going forward. I'll watch the offensive line play and rotation for improvement. It sure would help if they would block and open running lanes for the backs. Most of my optimisim from these games is on defense. Our young defensive backs are playing well and learning every game. The defensive line is competitive. Despite injuries, the linebackers are hanging tough. Maybe an improving defense is all we will see this year. RCJH

Second guessing is what we do here. I consider it commenting on the team I follow the closest. Watching Frank drive the lane and wind up on his back amongst the photographers is like watching my child play sports. I cringe until it appears everything is alright.

Surely you recall Self commenting last year that he played Mason too long in games and that he was banged up by the tournament. Like pitch counts in baseball, Mason should have a minute count-especially in meaningless games. Wasn't Mason still in the game when Tyler was playing against Washburn? 32 minutes against Washburn. I don't think Coach Self is paying attention to the actual minutes during each game. It would be pretty easy to assign an assistant to count the minutes if it's really a concern like Coach Self said after several games last year.