McCullah Situation
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Kevin is warming up! He came out before the others.
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I think we can win with kevin today
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Confirmed in the starting line-up.
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@BShark said in McCullah Situation:
@Woodrow said in McCullah Situation:
@BShark said in McCullah Situation:
Believe he may actually play against Baylor.
I wish I knew this for sure, because I would take me some KU +5 w/ Kevin.
This is of course a tricky situation but I do know he was a full participant in practice recently.
Bill confirmed this today
https://twitter.com/HenryGreenstein/status/1763976128765493655
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Good thing he played, wouldāve been a TT repeat if not
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@kjayhawks said in McCullah Situation:
Good thing he played, wouldāve been a TT repeat if not
Looked completely healthy too. I have some thoughts on him wearing one sleeve today but best left unsaid.
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@BShark ya idk what was up with that but he liked perfectly healthy
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Yeah. Looked a little rusty but healthy.
Hope he gained some confidence and continues to revert back to his league-leading self. The team is so much better with him at or near 100%
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For those with 247 that havenāt seen it yet, Swain posted a surprising amount of details on this in his three things column yesterday.
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@BShark you know itās a weird situation when the staff starts leaking like crazy
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@BShark - that article is behind the paywall.
Will you summarize or provide a link? Thanks!
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@Gorilla72 ditto. Would like to know the drama
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So if you read Vernās stuff or are in our discord, or have read this thread you have a general idea that McCullar has been good to go for awhile now. Swain said there were people in Kevinās camp that wanted him to just shut it down for the year and move on to the draft. Bill had to convince him to finish the season.
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Hopefully not his parents. That would have been awkward last night if that was the case.
Honestly, shutting down is like playing not to loseā¦ It means youāre not really playing and everyone knows it leads to losing. Isnāt Ben Simmons enough of a cautionary tale? I mean, yeah, he was highly drafted but that didnāt work out in the short or long-termā¦ And plenty in the NBA must be aware and havenāt forgotten. Iām just speculating here, so if someone close to the league know how it really is, please illuminate me.
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@bskeet said in McCullah Situation:
Hopefully not his parents.
Swain didnāt say that, and Iām not saying anything. Someone that would leak information would say itās the parents but thatās not me, Iām definitely not putting that out there. Nope not at all.
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It does seem like the kind of advice that would come from someone who is trying to protect the player and thinks the advice is in his best interest (but doesnāt fully appreciate how the system works). In other words, someone who is thinking with their heart and not their head.
Love.
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So about thisā¦
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Welp dammit , thatās a wrap - -Kevin not available for the NCAA - well so much for that
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@TYOHawk said in McCullah Situation:
So about thisā¦
SOFT AS HELL.
Billās quotes today were brutal.
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@BShark didnāt do any more damage but says the pain is too bad to go is about as close as self will get to calling a senior star player soft in public.
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@BShark said in McCullah Situation:
@TYOHawk said in McCullah Situation:
So about thisā¦
SOFT AS HELL.
Billās quotes today were brutal.
This is as disappointed as Iāve been in a long time with a player. Iāve gotten on Juan and others pretty tough but they never quitā¦
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@TYOHawk Iām just ready for next season completely at this point.
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@BShark said in McCullah Situation:
@TYOHawk Iām just ready for next season completely at this point.
Just heard from the other guy I go to besides you for infoā¦I truly canāt believe Kevin did this manā¦
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Wow. Im shocked.
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Well, I believe the subs will suck it up and play hard. The rest of the team wonāt quit
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In the comments section of the āXā post, BJSports noted Self said Kevin āisnāt going to playā, not ācanāt playā.
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Is he going to even make the trip West with the team???
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@DCHawker I saw him get off plane
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Heās definitely there for sure, itās just sad all around. I think now we have almost no shot at getting to the sweet 16. The only reason he is even on a draft board is because we let him come back and develop. He did not impress a soul last season. I wouldnāt let him sit on the bench. Dude basically quit
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@kjayhawks said in McCullah Situation:
Heās definitely there for sure, itās just sad all around. I think now we have almost no shot at getting to the sweet 16. The only reason he is even on a draft board is because we let him come back and develop. He did not impress a soul last season. I wouldnāt let him sit on the bench. Dude basically quit
He is not getting to play NBA - - MAYBE overseas ā he is not getting drafted
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@jayballer67 said in McCullah Situation:
@kjayhawks said in McCullah Situation:
Heās definitely there for sure, itās just sad all around. I think now we have almost no shot at getting to the sweet 16. The only reason he is even on a draft board is because we let him come back and develop. He did not impress a soul last season. I wouldnāt let him sit on the bench. Dude basically quit
He is not getting to play NBA - - MAYBE overseas ā he is not getting drafted
McCullar is still projected a mid 1st round pick.
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Iām surprised.
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@Crimsonorblue22 said in McCullah Situation:
Iām surprised.
Me too. He makes a fantastic impression in person. Really carries himself in a way that this seems out of character. Makes you wonder what all is going on behind the scenes.
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Stuff like this makes me appreciate remy
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Last year, I always felt like the mental part was holding Kevins offensive game back. He would get down on himself too quickly and fixate on misses. Then he went Alpha Kevin as we hope to start the season and was averaging 20ppg. Then he got hurt and has struggled again offensively.
Maybe this isnt as out of character as we may think.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 said in McCullah Situation:
@jayballer67 said in McCullah Situation:
@kjayhawks said in McCullah Situation:
Heās definitely there for sure, itās just sad all around. I think now we have almost no shot at getting to the sweet 16. The only reason he is even on a draft board is because we let him come back and develop. He did not impress a soul last season. I wouldnāt let him sit on the bench. Dude basically quit
He is not getting to play NBA - - MAYBE overseas ā he is not getting drafted
McCullar is still projected a mid 1st round pick.
Not happening , he WILL not make it in the NBA. he wil be lucky to be drafted to many flaws inconsistent shooting , not strong enough rebounder at that level, seen way to many better players then him not make it in the NBA. - -Now question even his mental toughness. Only pro career playing time he will see is ove seaās at that - -
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@approxinfinity said in McCullah Situation:
Last year, I always felt like the mental part was holding Kevins offensive game back. He would get down on himself too quickly and fixate on misses. Then he went Alpha Kevin as we hope to start the season and was averaging 20ppg. Then he got hurt and has struggled again offensively.
Maybe this isnt as out of character as we may think.
I think your onto something there. If you remember the last month and change as well the body language we saw from him at times when things didnāt go well.
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Well yeah but what does he know /s https://x.com/coachbillself/status/1770860164087734595?s=46
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Yea, feel sorry for Kevin. Has to be tough for him. Players wanna play. Onward.
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@FarmerJayhawk Had to feel like this statement was coming at some point.
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@FarmerJayhawk I also donāt think this statement is fully contradictory to what some have been saying that Self has been frustrated with the unclear timeline and we all know heās been comfortable letting other guys play through injuries. It sucks all around. It sucks for Kevin, it sucks for Self, it sucks for the team, it sucks for the fans.
I just also refuse to believe Self would be so careless with his words multiple times directing the onus onto Kev for the uncertainty surrounding his availability. Iām sure Kevin wants to play. Iām sure his knee hurts. We arenāt owed ANY amount of pain from him as a player. But it sucks that this feels like the nail in the coffin for a lackluster menās basketball season.
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@benshawks08 oh yeah I think thatās right. Bill is very frustrated and probably just let that get the best of him. I donāt have any doubt Kev isnāt healthy
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@FarmerJayhawk I think āisnāt healthyā is a blurry line between will play and CANāT PLAY. And feels like heās somewhere in that blur. Seems like āwonāt playā is the only factual thing anyone can say.
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Iām disappointed but I donāt begrudge Kevin. He did a lot for this team and for the program the past two years.
The hardest part of this for me is the lingering āwhat if?ā What if he was still playing? What would our record have been with him?
If Kevin wasnāt so good and so important, it simply wouldnāt hurt so much.
We would have missed Kevin at the conclusion of the season no matter what. But, the fact that he played his last game early is where the extra pain comes from.
Personally, I thank him for coming to KU and giving us some big wins and amazing memories.
