March 20: Our Daily Threads
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Also see today’s News Digest, March 20, and News Digest for Yesterday, March 19, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, March 19 ##Our Daily Threads for March 20:##
Why Wiggins Won Me Over - @HighEliteMajor##
As an unabashed anti-OAD guy, I have to admit that I like Andrew Wiggins. It didn’t start out well. Word was he was trying to negotiate out of coming to KU during the summer. Then there was the deluge of preseason publicity. It was easy to assume that Wiggins was buying into the hype.
Since then, though, it’s become easy to separate the OAD from the player. Wiggins, actually, is a breath of fresh air…
WSU v. Creighton: PO Ball on the Rise? - @jaybate##
Is it a good year for private oligarchy (PO), or what? The Kochs and Buffets are highly seeded.
Even ancienne PO like Harvard and Stanford are in it!
This Fuels My Hate Fire - @nuleafjhawk##
To Play or Not To Play… that is the question… - drgnslayr##
After our first game with Eastern Kentucky it will be time for Self to put on his fancy riverboat hat and long poker face and mumble these words, “I believe JoJo will be ready for our next game!”
He needs to say that from here on out, even if JoJo never plays another second of Jayhawk basketball this year.
Mar 19: Best Championship Team of the Past Decade - @DinarHawk###
It seems that whenever this topic is discussed, most analysts consistently overlook the '08 team.
Florida back to back years, North Carolina in '09, and Kentucky in '12 are the ones that are mostly thought to be the best.
Mar 19: It’s the most wonderful time of the year - @JRyman###
It really is, the best time of the year. It’s March madness, it’s the pinnacle of college basketball.
Upsets, Cinderella’s, fanatic finishes, 68 teams one goal.
I mean this is the time of year when a cocky Mislose team lost to a 15 seed. Duke too.
Mar 18: Keep the Doubters Coming! - @DinarHawk###
I think it is good for this team that there are so many people in the media, including the folks on KWCH Sports Sunday, that are doubting whether or not this team can beat UNM without Embiid.
Mar 18: Opening Vegas odds… - @JayHawkFanToo
This how Vegas has the opening odds. I have listed only the teams with 50-1 odds or better. Look like Vegas likes KU…
Mar 17: KUBuckets Brackets on ESPN - @approxinfinity###
I thought a KUBuckets bracket group on ESPN would be fun, so I’m going to start one once the brackets come out. I’ll post the group info here when it’s ready. Hope you guys are able to join!
Done! - Group is named KUBuckets. here’s the link to it - http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2014/en/group?groupID=370930
Mar 17: Self Loss To ISU Smart? - @jaybate###
What would Bill Self have gained for KU’s seeding by pulling out all the stops to beat ISU?
Before we even try to answer, let’s consider what Self might have done differently against ISU in terms of pulling out all the stops?
He might have zone pressed intermittently during the first and second halves…
Mar 17: Did we draw the toughest bracket? - @konkeyDong###
I gotta kind of think that the NCAA seeding committee doesn’t want us to do anything this year. Florida, 'Cuse, VCU… Add in 'ville and that would complete my list of teams I think we match up the worst with.
Mar 17: Worst 3PT Team of Self Era? - @jaybate###
As of the end of the B12 tournament, these are the 3pt shooting percentages of KU’s perimeter players.
Wiggins 35%
Selden 34%
Tharpe 38%…
Mar 17: USA Today All-American lists - @REHawk###
Wiggins 2nd team. Embiid and Smart Honorable Mention.
Mar 17: Very Good without Jo, Great with Jo - @jaybate###
I feel juiced about the team, because…
• On no day of rest after an OT game, KU without its star center, with its star forward shooting 7-21 FG, and shooting 27% from trey ville, ALMOST BEAT A RANKED TEAM that played its best game of its season. This means KU is very good without Joel and ring grade with him.
• Perry Ellis had a great game with 30 and 8 against a ranked team proving he is out of his slump…
Mar 16: Our Best Chance To Win Six Games - @HighEliteMajor###
How do we best attack the NCAA tournament? What is our best chance to win 6 games?
Coach Self relies upon strong man to man defense as his philosophical center point. This season, the team’s defensive inadequacies threaten that philosophy.
This team is now ranked 189th in points per game allowed. That has gone up since we lost Embiid, but even with Embiid, our points per game allowed ranking was significantly more than normal – 51, 35, 69, 62, 106, and 21 in past years, with the #21 being the title season…
Mar 16: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs ISU - March 14 - @drgnslayr###
I feel bad for Perry Ellis, The Impaler. When a guy goes 11-12 from the field and hangs 30 points on the stat sheet, you expect him to be the player of the game on the winning team. Perry was the player of the game for both teams, unfortunately he didn’t get to celebrate on the winning team.
Perry also snagged 7 rebounds and had an assist.
Mar 16: Rethinking SOS - @nuleafjhawk###
For years I’ve harped ( to my wife, kids, pastor, cashier at Dillons ) that it is to our benefit to play the toughest teams we can all year long, here, there, anywhere.
I was wrong.
Mar 15: Why We Lost to Iowa State - @DinarHawk###
I have to admit, I agree somewhat with the Debbie downers over on KU Sports that not having Embiid hurt us in this game. Niang wouldn’t have been able to do half the things he did with him in there.
That said, Black and Traylor did not play good post defense at all. Therefore, Niang did whatever he wanted.
There seemed to be an overall lack of energy, and Iowa State seemed faster to the ball than KU did.
###Mar 15: Well, that wasn’t good. - @Hawk8086###
Offense was terrible in the 2nd half. Nobody could guard Niang. Wiggins wasn’t hitting. Tharpe was invisible, for the most part. They were hot from 3. Did I miss anyting?
###Mar 15: Who? Part Two - @JRyman###
Who will step up tonight vs Iowa St?
Sure the easy pick is Andrew
I am going with Traylor, I think his quickness on D is going to help us out vs the spread floor of ISU.
Mar 14: Did Bill Self really call… - @JRyman
At the post game on floor interview did Bill self call Holly Rowe “Babe”. I swear he said, “thanks babe”.
Maybe it was “thanks bye”. But I’m not sure and that doesn’t sound like a Self quote but either does babe.
Anyone?
Mar 14: They All Stepped Up… - @jaybate###
They ran the stuff and everyone stayed plugged in. And 14 TOs against that kind of pressure was solid.
Wigs walked the tight rope between over impact and under impact. He stayed plugged in beginning to end. He had 30 and 3 assists and was on AWACs radar screens for three or four get-ups. Still think he can and will get 30 with 5 assists, and when he does it, KU will super nova on someone. Regardless, his defense and boarding was what stood out the most to me. He just guarded the best he has guarded all season and didn’t just grab boards with hops, but he got in and mixed it up on the glass on lots of plays. Still wish to heck he would look for two more dishes to anyone and two more post feeds for Tar, but he was plugged in beginning to end. But man did I love that defense he played, especially early in the game. His 5 TOs were excusable this game considering how well they were guarding him and how much we were asking him to work in traffic. 5 is high, but if we ask him to shoot 17 in traffic AND handle against that much pressure, and rebound, its probably the best we can hope for. And look at those 3 steals and a block!!! Sweet.
Mar 14: Adjustments I’d like to see Self make for OSU and going forward without Embiid - @konkeyDong###
Adjustments I’d like to see Self make for OSU and going forward without Embiid:
The question that’s on everyone’s mind, or at least should be, will be answered around 4pm this afternoon. Was the WVU game last Saturday an aberration, or was it the true KU-sans-Embiid exposed? My take is neither, but that doesn’t mean changes won’t have to be made. As @HighEliteMajor and others have pointed out, Self, as talented as he is, is about as flexible as a 2-ton i-beam.
Mar 14: Who? - @drgnslayr###
In your opinion… who will step up?
Mar 14: Today’s over/under’s - @JRyman###
Margin if victory by KU. 7.5
Points by Andrew Wiggins. 21.5…
###Mar 13: Making a run without JoJo - @icthawkfan316###
So by now the disappointing news has sunk in for most of us regarding Embiid’s back injury. While we may speculate as to if/when he will be back, it is in the best interest of the team to prepare as if he will not be back. After all, they’ve had a whole season’s worth of preparation playing with him, so if he is available at some point, re-inserting him in the line-up will not necessitate any adjustments. So make plans to play without him.
###Mar 13: Revisit last game of last season-EJ was hit first. - @JayhawkRock78###
I was at the KU Michigan game last year, and watched in agony as we let it slip through our hands. By the time I got home, the EJ -McGary hit was everywhere. Since I DVR’d the game, I had a hint something preceded it, and boy it is there on tape. I am not defending EJ’s low blow, but 12 months ago I wasn’t posting.
###Mar 13: KU gets OSU tomorrow… - @JayHawkFanToo###
OSU dominated Texas Tech and won going away. Forte was hitting 3 pointers from 5 feet behind the line; hopefully he has scored his share and will go on a drought tomorrow. Murphy played only 14 minutes but the rest of the starter played over 30 minutes each, but there were minutes that did not require a lot of effort, nothing that would affect tomorrow’s game .
###Mar 13: Andrew and the Miracles… - @drgnslayr###
For some of us that go back a ways in Kansas basketball, we’ve been in this situation before.
We lost a very special player in Archie Marshall.
We were well on our way to having a disappointing season with a big pile of losses and expectations dashed.
Mar 13: Kietzman and the KU Conspiracy Theory - @wrwlumpy###
Yesterday WHB brought back a Spinal Specialist for a second time to delve into Coach Self knowing more than he really was saying about Joel and went down the road to accusing him of being a coach who plays kids when they are hurt. This brought back memories of his 3 day rant wanting to portray Roy Williams as a person who disrespects the American Flag and all of the brave men and women who have fought and given their lives for this country - http://cjonline.com/stories/021502/spo_kuflag.shtm
Mar 12: Making Up for Joel - @jaybate###
So we are probably 1 and 1 in the B12 tourney.
The B12 Tourney is meaningless, except as 1 or 2 practice games for learning how to beat muscle without Joel, and more if he doesn’t come back.
Pruning back the lion killer luv, Joel gave 12/10 plus rim protection.
Mar 11: Have Faith - @HighEliteMajor###
Faith.
We hear the word every day. What does it mean?
Two definitions to choose from:
- Confidence or trust in a person or thing.
Or
- A belief that is not based in proof.
Mar 11: jaybate Basketball Intelligence Estimate (jBIE): Joel’s Back Injury - @jaybate###
SigInt (the brief camera shot of treating Joel’s injury court side) tells jBIE’s basketball spies a whole lot about Joel’s back injury.
Observed treatment: Joel laid on his back and a team official treating Joel pulled his right leg over his left and appeared to stretch the lower back in a spiral/twisting motion.
Mar 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.
Mar 10: 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”?
Also see today’s News Digest, March 20, and News Digest for Yesterday, March 19, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, March 19
