March 10: Our Daily Threads
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Also see today’s News Digest, March 10, and News Digest for Yesterday, March 9, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, March 9 ##Our Daily Threads for March 10:##
Random Thoughts: Greg Marshall’s Future & KU Defense - @MoonwalkMafia##
Following VCU’s impressive (and heartbreaking) run to the Final Four in 2011, many college basketball pundits questioned whether Shaka Smart would be leaving the mid-major ranks and jumping into the deep end with the big boys. Smart ultimately turned down offers from bigger programs to stay with what he had built.
Equipment Changes for Redemption Season - @drgnslayr##
Our “Redemption Season” starts March 20th.
We need to makes some tweaks to several of our current players’ equipment.
EQUIPMENT CHANGES CHECKLIST…
Mar 9: Does Wiggins become our point forward? -@Hawk8086###
Some have brought up Carmelo. After thinking about it, given all of the concerns with Tharpe, does Self try running everything through Wiggins? At least most of the time? He looks inside for the big men first. He breaks down the defense and then either takes it to the hole, or dishes off? Tharpe, or whomever brings the ball up the court, but maybe Wiggins does that part of the time. I know his ball handling skills could be better, but is he the other option we’re looking for? Ride him as far as he can take us. Is this completely crazy? Desperate times make us all think of desperate measures.
Mar 9: Wiggins 41 points and 2 Assists and Other Take Aways - @jaybate###
~The WVU game was such a bitter pill on so many levels. Let me count the ways.
~The WVU game made starkly clear that even a Herculean, come-from-behind, scoring performance of 41 points by Andrew Wiggins cannot carry this team to a victory over a 65th ranked KENPOM team. How can this be? How can such an obviously exceptional talent putting on such an awesome individual performance (he scored efficiently, rebounded his own misses well, made steals, and blocked shots) not succeed? How could Andrew putting his team on his back not yield a W against a good, but not exceptional team?
###Mar 9: Big 12 Teams - @TheDrunkenJhawk###
Now that the Big 12 Season is over, I will post my superlatives:
1st Team:
Marcus Smart (I don’t want to put him here, but I have no choice)…
Mar 8: 7 losses: Advantage or disadvantage? -@bskeet###
Some say you need some losses to expose the chinks in the armor and allow you to neutralize approaches that are likely to lead to defeat. This school of thought suggests that it is possible to grow stronger from failures if you learn from the mistakes.
Some say you don’t need to lose – in fact losing is a sign of weakness to opponents. That a loss brings confidence to the enemy and doubt to oneself.
Mar 8: Is This Team Finally Ready for ‘Self-Ball’? - @drgnslayr###
Is this team finally ready for ‘Self-ball’?
In recent weeks we have seen moments of solid defense. We almost played 40 minutes of defense versus Texas. We can’t compare this team to any other Bill Self team because the NCAA decided to make lock-down defense a thing of the past. But we can still play a decent M2M with plenty of weak side team help.
###Mar 8: Tarik vs.Tech: One More for the Road… -@jaybate###
Black gave a clinic in the process of post play against a weak team. If he can do it again against the muscle of WVU, then we mAy have the missing piece to take the team beyond talent to a well-oiled machine. Either way, Joel needs to watch the tape to add the craft of post play to his growing knowledge of the techniques of post play. As Sade once sang, Tarik was a “smooth operator.”
Mar 8: “Forensics: Self Saying Wigs Should Be B12 POY” - @jaybate
Bill Self threw Gary Bedore an interestingly timed bone today.
Seemingly out of nowhere, to this reader, since Gary Bedore did not provide the circumstance in which the question was asked, Gary asked Bill who Bill thought should be B12 POY.
Some Suggestions for a Big 12 Near Eastern Division - @jaybate
WVU needs an eastern division, so it doesn’t have to keep playing schools out west in the Big 12 Natural Resource Conference. Here are some suggested adds for a Near East Division for WVU.
Crimean A&M–Russian carriers not only secure the area at Svastopol, but games could be played on them thus allowing easy pre game air connections right to the flight decks.
Mar 7: 30 years - @JRyman###
No not my life span. But Thirty years of KU being something great.
1983-84 Second in Big 8
84-85 Second…
###Mar 7: Myles Turner: You are one Lucky Man! - @drgnslayr###
Myles Turner, you are one lucky man! You came to the right Jayhawk game to experience.
Even though we captured our 10th straight Big 12 regular season championship, this has not been a typical Jayhawk season. We are one of the youngest teams in the nation, and with that youth comes the need to educate; to learn what college basketball is all about, and further, to learn what Jayhawk basketball is all about.
###Mar 7: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs TT - March 5 - @drgnslayr###
Tarik Black! Tarik Black! Tarik Black!
I can’t stress it enough. Tarik Black’s performance last night not only won the FLOOR BURN AWARD for this game, he may have won it for the entire year! That was the most-inspiring play of any Jayhawk all year!
###Mar 7: Welcome to the OAD Merry-go-round! - @jaybate###
It was about as strong of a signal as potential recruits could get short of an official announcement.
Wiggins, Embiid and Selden appear to be goners.
So: it’s unofficially official: Self and KU are on the OAD Merry Go Round.
###Mar 6: Tarik Black: Future Coach - @jaybate###
Let’s see. Tarick Black is playing his 4th season of college basketball, it’s senior night, he got his BA before he set foot on campus, and he is going to have a Master’s before he leaves after this one season? He plays a musical instrument and is 6-9 and 260? And he has a kind of positive outlook that the maestro of positive, Bill Self, admires? And he has the insight at this young age to say of Self, “Here, I’m playing for a coach who has a national championship, who has coached many great teams, that’s had similar players and just knows what to do, when to do it, and the message that needs to be portrayed at the moment”?
###Mar 6: 2009 vs 2014… Similarities - @drgnslayr###
KUSports is running a blog on our 2009 team. Amazing… some of the similarities with our current team!
http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/all_eyes_ku/2014/mar/5/10-years-of-big-12-supremacy-2009/
###Mar 6: Senior Day Pre and Post game ceremonies - @jayhawkfantoo###
Does anyone know if the pre and post game ceremonies (speeches) will be televised or streamed on line somewhere?
It would have been ideal programming for ESPN 3 but their schedule shows only the game and it would be blacked out in Kansas anyway.
###Mar 4: Want A Bold Move? Start Lucas - @HighEliteMajor###
Opportunity presents itself in the face of adversity. Kansas will be without Joel Embiid for the final two games of the regular season. That we do know. But could we be without Embiid for the rest of the season? That we do not know.
Time for a contingency plan. Planning requires consideration of how we can win a national title without Embiid. If we lose our second game of the tourney, or in the Elite Eight, no one will care if it’s done without Embiid. If we lose before the Final Four with Embiid, it will be a bitter disappointment. Without Embiid, our expectations are quite limited.
###Mar 4: Is Undefeated Possible? - @justanotherfan###
That’s the last time a men’s D1 team went undefeated and claimed the title.
###Mar 4: Virginia??? - @JRyman###
With the blue bloods of the ACC UNC and Duke along with the newcomer and perennial winner Syracuse it is hard to imagine that Virginia, yes Virginia won the ACC.
Especially when you look at how UNC surged after a rough start how 'Cuse was undefeated for so long all season and well Duke has the Coach Consonants along with freshman headliner Parker.
###Mar 4: Embiid to sit for two games - @REHawk###
Gary Bedore just announced on BLEACHER REPORT that JoJo will sit out the next two games, be re-evaluated Sunday.
###Mar 3: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU @ OSU - March 1 - @drgnslayr###
Well… it is March, and we know what comes in March… March Madness! I’d say I’ve started my month of March in total madness!
Joel Embiid is the clear winner of the FLOOR BURN AWARD in this one. His stat line was impressive, especially knowing he did it all in 29 minutes of play, and some of those minutes of play were in pain. JoJo was good for 13 points off of 4-of-6 from the floor. He accomplished yet another double-double by adding 13 rebounds. And he rounded out his performance with one assist, 3 steals and a block. JoJo was a big part of the defensive force in the first half that limited the Cowboys to only 25 points.
###Mar 3: A must read re: Coach Cal - @REHawk###
Yahoo Sports just published a scathing Pat Forde article regarding Kentucky’s 5.2 million dollar mentor. Cal must not be sleeping well tonight.
###Mar 3: Something to prove - @JRyman###
OSU played like they had something to prove.
Marcus Smart played like he had something to prove.
###Mar 3: Its March and Sans Embiid KU Is Still Too Young -@jaybate###
Getting punked by a jerk, like Smart, hurts, but as great a player as Smart also is, Smart isn’t why we lost.
TOs, numerous as they were, didn’t kill us.
###Mar 2: Tharpe’s Performance Inexplicable - @HighEliteMajor###
A number of weeks ago, I posted some thoughts on wanting more from Naadir Tharpe. Against Oklahoma St., in what may unfortunately be a preview of our NCAA tournament exit, Naadir Tharpe played a horrific game. Inexplicable, really. I’m not really left wanting more. What I am wanting is some intestinal fortitude.
Much worse than Tharpe’s actual performance vs. OSU was his whipped puppy demeanor. Definitively for me, this game proved that Naadir Tharpe is no leader. I have never seen a true leader act the part of the victim. I have never seen a true leader present such defeated body language. I have never seen a true leader bring his team down to this degree. And I’ve never seen a true leader appear so utterly unprepared for such a big stage.
###Mar 2: Things to Do in Stillwater After the KU Beat Down of OSU - @jaybate###
Drive by a title insurance company and ask them about clouded title on 1889 land run lands.
Quote from Washington Irving’s A Tour of the Prairies" describing the area of present day Stillwater saying, “The deep and frequent traces of buffalo, showed it to be one of their frequent grazing grounds;” then ask if Irviing were referring to buffalo pies?
###Mar 2: Disclaimer: Two Items NOT Related to KU Basketball That Are Bugging the Heck Out of Me - @nuleafjhawk###
In order of bug-ness to me:
- I was meditating on the couch last night (OK, I fell asleep) and woke up around 10:15 pm or so. I glanced at the TV and thought I had accidentally turned to the Sci-Fi Network or FearTv. Here’s this hideous, greasy, shiny foreheaded little troll that looked just like Gregg Marshall scowling at me telling me about something that Carlos O’Kelly’s is putting on and the Wichita State team, blah blah blah, but he wouldn’t be able to attend because he was going to be busy. (smirk, smirk, har har har)
###Mar 2: Getting ready for spring football - @eastcoasthawk ###
Here’s the latest from LJWorld sports team
http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/double-chin-music/2014/feb/28/in-defense-of-kansas-football/
###Mar 2: It’s been too long - @eastcoasthawk###
This thread is for any Jayhawk fan that hasn’t been to a game in a long time for whatever reason. Last weekend, 33 years after I packed up my drumset after beating OSU to finish the Big 8 season in 1981, I was back in Allen Fieldhouse for the game against Texas. Just walking in and seeing the hallways (minus the track) started rushing many memories back. All the time spent trying to register. And mostly all the great games we had. The great crowds. Hardly lost at home.
Saturday was amazing to see the crowds, old and new traditions. Being there brought such a huge comfort level. I couldn’t stop smiling.
###Mar 1: I want to cry! - @drgnslayr###
There are only 3 more regular season games left.
I am looking forward to March Madness… but it goes by so quickly!
Why does it always feel this way? Why does the season end when it just starts to feel like we are getting into the groove?
Life just isn’t fair!
Mar 1: Keys to beat OSU - @jaybate###
Break the press away from Smart.
Route the half court offense away from Smart.
Deny Smart his 5.5 steals and OSU cannot win…
###Feb 28: Signs in the crowd - @JRyman### (I missed this one a few days ago)
While watching the game on TV like I always try to do I like to see the signs in the crowd.
Yesterday one of the ones I kept seeing was “LOL Texas”
A few weeks ago someone had a sign that read, “Thats what we do”
###Feb 27: More Jaquan Lyle Fodder -@ajvan###
Lyle was on hand for KU’s victory over OK and Alexander is still actively recruiting him. Here’s the money paragraph from Adam Zagoria’s article:
"Kansas expects to have several guards returning in Naadir Tharpe, Frank Mason, Conner Frankamp, Brannen Greene and possibly Wayne Selden, and also brings in wing Kelly Oubre.
###Feb 27: Myles Turner to Visit KU -@konkeyDong###
Didn’t see this posted elsewhere, but according to zagsblog Turner is back on with KU, slated to visit on Senior Night. It was first reported here. The big question is, what does this mean with regards to Joel Embiid? As the zagsblog article points out, Self has told Turner straight up that he shouldn’t bother if JoJo comes back. Is this hinting that JoJo is leaning in the NBA’s direction or is it that Self is being over prepared? Either way, at this point, I was a little surprised that Turner would burn one of his visits with us. Thoughts?
###Feb 26: What’s Your Biggest NCAA Worry/Concern/Fear? - @nuleafjhawk###
Mine is two-fold.
- We get a number one seed and, as inconsistent as we’ve been throughout the season, we become the first number one to lose to a sixteen seed. Yikes…
- Wichita State wins the whole damn thing. Puke.
###Feb 25: Joe Lunardi has lost it - @JRyman###
In his lastest bracketoly he has all three Kansasschools in the same Midwest bracket.
WSU as the one. KU as the two and KSU as the 8.
###Feb 25: TRob -@brooksmd###
Congrats to a hustling TRob for being ESPN’s #1 Play of the Weekend. WHOOP! WHOOP! and RCJH!!!
###Feb 25: Platoon Tarik and Perry? -@jaybate###
The highest compliment I can pay Tarik is I wish he had been here as a freshman, so I could have watched him more. He is hard to categorize, but I feel like he has a lot more game in him. I also think he contributes massively to the team. With how far he has come this season, and having played against a great player like Embiid daily, I still think he has more impacts in the stretch. If Self were to start emphasizing Wiggins and Embiid sets, as Slayr has suggested, Black would become the perfect complement at 4 during those minutes. Black rebounding and sticking back off the interplay of Embiid and Wiggins for 10-20 mpg, plus backing Joel up 5 mpg each half would get KU’s resident Great Bear optimizing the team.
###Feb 24: “Some Stickies on Lon Kruger’s Monitor Before OU Plays KU in Lawrence” - @jaybate###
~Hmmm, we couldn’t beat them in Norman, so why even prepare a game plan for Lawrence?
~Self Beat Texas by a bunch and his team only shot 30% from trey. Check job openings outside B12.
###Feb 24: “Some Things to Do with Oklahoma Fans Before the Beat Down of OU in Lawrence” - @jaybate###
~Show them the 1988 National Championship Trophy.
~Ask them how in the heck their Wikipedia page doesn’t mention former head coaches Bruce Drake, who invented the shuffle offense, and Doyle Parrack, one of the greatest legends of Oklahoma hard scrabble basketball?
###Feb 24: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs UT - Feb 22 - @drgnslayr###
Picking the FLOOR BURN AWARD for this game seemed easy at first. This was to be an easy trifecta… until “Black Death” entered the picture with his ferocity and prowess. So I made it to the window in time, and changed my selection to a superfecta:
Joel Embiid was not going to be denied. His pride dominated every part of this game; offensive firepower with 13 points off of 4-for-6, rebounding zeal with 7 rebounds, assist generosity with 3 assists and oppressive fascism on defense through dictating control with 6 blocks and countless shot diversions.
###Feb 24: Vote Early and Often on Manute Bol’s Thighs - @jaybate###
True or False: Manute Bol has the longest thighs in human history.
###Feb 24: A One and a Two and a Three and a Four - @drgnslayr###
I’m an old guy. I remember so many great dance duos… Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, a ballroom pair that brought romance alive through their graceful steps and subtle gestures. Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lisa Rinehart, partners on the stage of ballet and in real life, masters of the pirouette.
And now the new pair of high steppers, Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid!
###Feb 24: Hook That, Horns! - @jaybate###
Marvelously sweet beat down and payback.
KU punked Butcher’s Boyz without decent trey shooting. Inference for horn fans for B12 tourney? Wait till we bring our A game, you petro-cretins!
##Better Dunk? - @JRyman##
In the past three years there have been more than 3 memorable dunks, but I have three that stand out.
Robinsons base line throw down vs Baylor.
###Feb 23: Smart vs Intelligence - @drgnslayr###
Marcus Smart has finally met his match:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/06/could-you-detect-a-fake-nba-flop/
###Feb 23:Welcome to the turning point. - @bskeet ###
Today marks the turning point for this team. But not its destiny.
One path leads to an almost certain 10th B12 championship in 10 years and an opportunity to spring into the post-season with a decade of momentum and confidence on our backs.
###Feb 21: Pre UT andK U Keys to the Game -@truehawk93###
I think this game is huge. I hope the guys realize how important this game is at this time of the season. I am convinced the winner of this game will be the B12 Champion and at the very worst, a share of the championship. I don’t like to share with anyone, especially UT. So lets take care of business and drive for that 10 straight title and keep it at home where it belongs
###Feb 21: Joe Dooley: 17-10 - @jaybate###
Joe Dooo has not gotten any upsets of D1 bigs this season, but he is off to a solid first season and he ain’t shoveling any snow either.
Go, Joe, go!!!
###Feb 21: Mizzery Analysis by H.E.M. - @VailHawk###
@HighEliteMajor hope you don’t mind me re-posting a classic from last March?!?! I was looking for something deep w/in google drive tonite and ran across this post that I saved as a pdf for future viewing. Enjoy
###Feb 20:Tharpe’s Lesson: Own the Pace, Own the Game - @drgnslayr###
In the middle of the first half of this game it appeared Kansas was going to give TTech their typical beat down. The Jayhawks were up by 10 and making it look way, way, way too easy!
Then something changed. Then the war over who owned the pace shifted over to TTech’s advantage! They didn’t really change their game as much as just kept trying to slow the pace of the game down… to a snail’s pace. This entire game they probably didn’t shoot the ball with more than 10 second on the shot clock more than a handful of times. We knew they would attempt this before we arrived in Lubbock. It has been their strategy all year, and it has helped them lead the B12 in holding down opponents to 68.5 ppg. Their strategy definitely worked against the high-powered Kansas offense, holding us to 64 points.
###Feb 20:6? 6 Gawddang assist is all we got? - @JRyman###
OK I cleaned up the Harry Doyle quote and changed the number, but really?
64 points and only 6 assist? 6 assist for the whole team!!!
##PASTA-GATE @ OU - @JayhawkRock78##
Three Sooners Penalized For Too Much Pasta
This is absurd. How much time and money did the NCAA and OU waste on this, let alone distract and hassle some young student athletes.
###Feb 19:Mr. Ellis, meet Mr. Smith - @REHawk###
Ol’ Tubby drew up a masterful game plan. How fortunate are we that he is not coaching Baylor or Okie State!
###Feb 19:Embiid, Wiggins and 3 Place Holders Beat TTech - @jaybate###
There was a reason Self brought Embiid back against Texas Tech. It wasn’t to use Texas Tech as a warm up game for Texas, as I at first thought. As JNew pointed out on the blog, Tech was ranked 69th by KENPOM. To put that in perspective, Colorado is ranked 60th. No, Self brought Embiid back, because he realized this KU team had zip chance of beating TTech without the Mighty Joel.
And don’t let Wiggins getting the last bucket fool you. Andrew had to have Joel to win the game. Joel was 6-7 FG and 6-8 FT and had 8 reebs. Compare that with Wigs’ 5-10 FG and 6-8 FT 6 reebs.
###Feb 19:Oklahoma State’s loss is KU’s…loss - @MoonwalkMafia###
With every loss that Oklahoma State accumulates, Travis Ford’s seat is getting hotter and hotter. With the amount of talent that he has on that team, it is inexcusable to have had such an atrocious season. This is compounding the fact that OSU hasn’t made it past the first weekend of the tournament since 2005. Marcus Smart, Lebryan Nash, and Markel Brown all decided to come back for another season when each of them could have easily jumped to the NBA all to compete for a championship. But as of right now, they may not even get the chance to be in the field.
Marcus Smart has imploded on himself, showing immaturity on several occasions this season, and showing more importantly that nobody has sought to develop his character, as well as his game.
###Feb 19:Kansas targets 7’6" PG recruit OK Oakville! - @drgnslayr###
Kansas Buckets is now recruiting an All-American 7’6" point guard from Oakville, MO (a suburb of St. Louis) by the name of OK Oakville.
The recruitment process has begun with a simple list asking the question “why?”
WHY OAKVILLE SHOULD BRING HIS GAME TO KUBUCKETS…
Also see today’s News Digest, March 10, and News Digest for Yesterday, March 9, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, March 9
