🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Please no more Thunderstruck.

Just got home. Per the comments I see our team has been typecast. Gotta change the script.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Control our Destiny Game Thread:

That’s a brutal stretch and load management is important when dealing with a team that’s less than 100%

I agree but then we should have just decided to punt the Baylor game and save everything for TCU and Texas. But we came out smoking against Baylor and it probably surprised everyone. To put in the effort we did on both sides of the ball only to lose with our full schedule was probably not optimal.

@Zabudda said in Control our Destiny Game Thread:

I don’t see them acting discouraged but maybe reluctant to play freely.

This.

Goes back to my comment about how tightly wound Self tends to be at times and to those who have made comments over the years about the short leash certain players have with him at the helm.

Whether he knows it or not, the players sense that pressure and tend to play not to make mistakes rather than just playing. This has been an issue as long as Self has been here, IMO. And the more gravity the game has, the more it seems to be an issue.

Say what you want about Bobby Knight chucking a chair across the court or Roy Williams shedding his sport coat and winging it into the fourth row, but those antics can certainly take the pressure off and, in a rather odd way, lighten the mood so to speak. I'm not suggesting Self rip out his hair and mop up floor sweat with it (though I'd love to see that), but I'd like to see him work on his poker face during pressure-packed games.

@drgnslayr said in Control our Destiny Game Thread:

I’m even psyched to go to the dentist.

Now I know you're lying! J/K, @drgnslayr. Thanks for the chuckle. I needed that this morning.

@jayballer67 said in Control our Destiny Game Thread:

that’s cause there isn’t any toughness on this team. A big part of rebounding as one aspect is all about want to - -who on this team wants to - -cause it get’s pretty physical - -who on this team likes physicality? - Tell me

You're right.

We had a brief discussion yesterday about what sorts of teams we'd like to avoid in the tourney. Some mentioned athletic bigs, others mentioned a big PG. For me, it's all dependent on how physical the game is allowed to get.

We saw it against Texas and against TCU last night that when we get pushed around we can't or won't push back. The only fire I saw was the :26 seconds of Zack when he got in the face of the TCU player that raked him across the face. Then he had to leave to get his wounds tended to.

Other than that, I saw lots of pointless dribbling, even from Och who I suppose was trying to create his shot, but still. I saw CB almost afraid to take a shot and Harris was unable or unwilling to drive among the trees. Wilson seemed a bit aggressive, but you can't do it alone. We were timid, no doubt about it.

I don't want to make this a referendum on Remy, but he's been back two games and we've lost both. I've gone on record that I like Remy, but coming back this late in the season when we seemingly had found a groove is more of a distraction than a help, IMO.

Anyway, I hope Zack gets rewarded for his :26 seconds of aggressiveness with some substantial PT on Thursday.

Two winnable home games coming up and we can claim another title. Hope we dig deep and fight for it, because I didn't see much fight in the game last night.

Goodnight, all. Should be a much better result Thursday.

I just don’t see much toughness with this team. Gonna have to win our last two now. Put ourselves in a difficult spot.

Oof.

Lets see if TCU starts to tighten.

2 poss. Game

Gotta hit FT.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Control our Destiny Game Thread:

1/2 game down now technically. Equal losses now, but Baylor has one more win.

Got it. Thx.

CB!

So we tied for lead in conference now with 2 left barring any miracles?

Jcl!

Looked like another push off.

Looked like a push off

Here we go!

Still a chance

Och!

Gotta hit em

Wilson!

Hack and slap. Hack and slap.

Crikey I heard that slap all the way in my living room.

No foul?

Still not over yet. Gotta make some ground up in the next 4 minutes.

Travel.

Welp.

Travel?

I meant Remy!

Temy!

Flagrant?

Bill is too wound up. Team is taking after him.

This game is about runs. We’re overdue for a good one. Lots of fits. Time for some starts.

We look tentative. This is where Bill needs to calm the troops and get them to loosen up. CB not even looking for his shot. Och all scattershot with the dribbling. Still lots of time. Not concerned yet.

Here we go!

Ok. Momentum shifts now.

You can thank we when we win 😊

Just got home and thought I’d check the board to see how we’re doing before tuning in. Against my better judgement I’m gonna watch. Starting now …

Hopefully their football IQs as well!

Thanks @BeddieKU23, @benshawks08, @Crimsonorblue22 and @drgnslayr. Appreciate the summary.

I was not able to watch the game, but I've been seeing some scuttlebutt about some of the questionable line-ups Bill put on the floor. Apologies if this has already been discussed ad nauseum in the above thread, but was foul trouble a culprit in some of the relief unit configurations or was this just "return of the Bill" at inopportune times? (Apologies to Mark Morrison).

@BShark said in Zuby Ejiofor:

27 and 24 today dragging his team to a big win. 24 rebounds is insane lol.

Dick Vitale approves this stat line.

@mayjay said in It's About To Go Down:

Whole lot of forgetting going on. Iraq (twice), anyone? Afghanistan in the 70s by Soviets and 2002 by US?

“[Vladimir] Putin’s Ukraine invasion is the first time in 80 years that a great power has moved to conquer a sovereign nation.”

Not the first time I've read something to this effect today from numerous journalistic sources. Maybe the word "conquer" is the operative word here. I don't think we were trying to take over Iraq or Afghanistan when we sent troops. So, I should have been more clear in my statement. Thanks for the correction.

@FarmerJayhawk said in It's About To Go Down:

They don’t hurt. Soldiers need paid and fed. The public needs functioning institutions. Tough to keep up an occupation when the power grid at home is failing. I don’t think Putin wants war with the west at all. It’s an absolute sure loser, and likely fatal for him and his regime. No doubt he wants to dominate a pan-Slavic sphere, but no way he wants to tangle with OG NATO. The Russian economy, in terms of GDP/Capita, is down 50% from its high a decade ago. Its population is also decreasing. Russia is a fading power and Putin knows it. This is the last gasp of a (literally) dying empire.

Since you're a policy guy I hear you and I respect what you're saying. Sanctions are a definite first response. But, they have to be swift (no pun intended) and debilitating to have any effect. So far, Russia's three biggest banks are scoffing at the sanctions imposed upon them.

If Putin is desperate as you suggest, and senses he is vulnerable, he is libel to do about anything to hold onto power, including attacking the West. Megalomaniacs are irrational in that way. Hitler did the same in WWII, opening up a war on 2 fronts thinking he was invincible.

The difference, as I see it, is that we as a country are weaker than we were in WWII and in a much more compromised position. We are not energy independent, we don't manufacture much anything here anymore and our supply chain is heavily controlled by China, another bully who is now cheering on Russia and is emboldened even further to take over Taiwan. I'm also not sure our populous has any chutzpah to stand up to a bully. Frankly, there are many in this country that would love to rosin up the fiddle while watching us go down in flames for a variety of reasons.

Power hungry bullies only understand force. If the world is truly upset with what is currently transpiring, then the world needs to see to it that Putin is slapped down hard and/or taken out entirely. The ones that will inevitably suffer under sanctions are the innocents.

First attack by a large country on a sovereign nation in 80 years. I guess it's time to see who is all talk and who is action.

@BShark said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:

🐦 View Tweet
!!!

Kind of amazing considering Doke shot almost 75% from the field while he was at KU.

How do our shot attempts compare to past KU teams?

There's only one way to stop a mad dictator hellbent on world domination. Sanctions ain't it, I'm afraid.

Heh. As long as he's not transferring to Baylor or TCU before the end of the conference season!

@Jethro said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:

@tis4tim He came out and said he could care less about the 'Tucky game. Doesn’t excuse the performance, but we looked very unmotivated, and it showed. Better believe the next time we play, he’ll have them fired up.

Thanks, man and to @BeddieKU23 for backing up my thoughts with actual Self quotes. While I'm a huge Jayhawk fan, I don't really have time to watch pre- and post-game interviews and commentary. So, good to know my instincts about the UK game were correct.

That said, you bring up an interesting point that I've thought about during and after every horrible tourney exit - the team, whether it likes it or not, tends to assimilate whatever demeanor Bill is displaying on the sidelines.

Don't get me wrong, you want the team to exhibit the defensive prowess and the toughness that Self preaches. BUT, there are too many times during important games where you can just feel how tightly wound and tense Bill is during the game. The message may be the same and the players and plays are the same, but there's a palpable coal-into-diamonds kind of vibe that you can literally sense through the television. If I can feel it, you have to believe the team feels it and feeds off of it.

The great thing about guys like Mahomes or Brady or Jordan or Tiger Woods or any exceptional athlete is that they exude confidence and inspire confidence under immense pressure. They are probably full of adrenaline too, but they manage to keep it under control and keep everyone else focused as well. Don't know if Bill is aware of this or if he practices meditation and/or yoga or things like that, but it's something I've pondered a lot and hope that someone is in his ear about it.

Doesn't mean we would automatically have won all those games in which we flamed out early, but I get the sense that players panicked at times and didn't really believe that they still have a chance. And I think some of that hopelessness and helplessness was only exacerbated by Self's sideline demeanor.

Anyway, don't mean to ramble here, but wonder if you all have any thoughts on Bill's sideline presence when the chips are down.