Reviewing the Baylor W
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Our trio of Jackson, Mason and Graham just refuse to lose. What a great win. Despite missing clutch free throws down the stretch, our guys found a way to win. It’s not always pretty, but Coleby and Lightfoot gave us some valuable minutes.
I thought Josh should have been in the paint more when Baylor had it’s zone set and we were running our half court offense. When Josh got the ball in the paint, he was unstoppable. I thought that too often he was hanging around on the wing instead of flashing through the lane for the guards to feed. But, I feel bad criticizing his game at all when he just led us to our most important win of the year.
I give a lot of credit to the Baylor players and Coach Drew for playing damn well at Allen. If our trio of unstoppables hadn’t played their best, Baylor would be leading the Big 12 now.
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@stoptheflop I wish Landen had as good of hands as Dok. There are scoring opportunities that KU has to pass on because of stone hands in the post. Lucas has greatly improved, but some people just don’t have great hands. Unfortunately Coleby has no offense and Lightfoot is a bit too inexperienced to be much help and Bragg is unavailable. This puts quite a bit of pressure on Jackson and he has responded well!
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@stoptheflop our best is yet to come! Ll will have a better game, and Bragg should help more. Jj will make his throws. Won’t let them have those O boards the first half. Keep driving and no record # banking 3’s from them
. Lt
Can step in and coleby got his 
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@stoptheflop yeah, Great win. You are spot on, JJ Frank and DG refuse to let us lose.
Coleby and Mitch were collectively very good in this game! Very surprised to see that.
Lando came up clutch in the final minutes…He also got away with a couple fouls not called on him in the first half
But I also saw a couple calls go Baylors way in the 2nd half.
Also, I agree that Baylor is very very good this year. We could end up tying for the league crown with them and it wouldnt surprise me at all. They owe us one when we go to Waco. Im sure revenge will be on their minds. KU better come prepared and well rested as possible.
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I don’t know if JJ will make his free throws, and I don’t know if LL will improve his hands enough to be an offensive factor against a swarming defense.
However, I don’t think either of those things will keep KU from winning games because there is so much talent here.
JJ is such a good passer and scorer that the only way to slow him down would be to pull a hack a Josh type of gameplan. Unfortunately, most teams just don’t have the wing talent to do that with their better players, and they can’t afford the drop off offensively if they put in end of the bench guys to do the fouling. That means that Josh’s FTs will come within the flow of the game. He will probably shoot about 60%, which should be enough since at the end of games, the ball will be in Frank’s hands or Devonte’s hands and they will make their free throws.
For Landen, he needs to chip in offensively where he can, but the big things for him are defense and rebounding. He does both of those things well, and he made probably the biggest defensive play of the night last night with his hustle to disrupt Wainwright’s shooting motion on what could have been a game tying three.
We don’t need Landen trying to score in double figures. With our current rotation, Landen will never be more than the fourth option offensively on the floor. I don’t say that to mean he shouldn’t get touches, just that the gameplan should never revolve around him scoring. He’s done well at the rim, and the advantage of playing four out is that Landen is almost always in the paint where he has to be accounted for because of his rebounding ability.
I guess my point is that KU is in good shape right now, so long as the current rotation stays healthy. There aren’t many reinforcements available, so health is absolutely critical.
Also, the big take away from the last two games is that in big games, Josh absolutely can and will step up to be our best player. 20 and 10 on the road at Kentucky, followed up with a 23 and 10 against a top 5 opponent at home. That’s what you envision when you recruit a player like that.
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@Lulufulu no ties!
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It seems as though these warriors thrive on the court and don’t want to sit on the bench at all. The short bench has really galvanized the team. Seeing Lightfoot and Coleby get minutes seems to gives them a boost too, as they want to reward their hard efforts in practice and enthusiasm for the game. Fresh blood caries an innocence and joy that carries over to the rest of the team. It’s nice to see.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Nah, out right!
But, it still wouldnt surprise me
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Agree for sure on JJ…he has really stepped up! I was really impressed by our defense down the stretch, and in particular that last Baylor possession. There certainly was a big foul disparity. The guys that went to the line were Frank and Josh…can you really say any of those were questionable? Well the one where Josh lost the ball going in for a layup… looks like they might have missed that one. Someone mentioned on another thread that this was a great win…but we held serve. I agree. I always look at the season as how we have done vs. the competition for the crown (in this case Baylor, and…maybe WVU) in the tougher games. I.E…we both lost at WVU…we’re even there. We have won at ISU and Baylor still has to go there, etc. Don’t forget…we have done pretty well in Waco in the past. But as they say with investing…past performance does not guarantee future results.
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@dylans said:
The short bench has really galvanized the team
^ One of two reasons that I don’t want Bragg back. If we beat Kentucky and Baylor without him we don’t need him. Nothing personal (exactly), but a short bench isn’t always a bad thing.
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@nuleafjhawk I kind of agree… He’s the worst rebounder out of the 4. But the most skilled offensively. But we don’t need more offense we need more defense and rebounding…
Honestly might be a better team without him playing. I do think he will take that big step at some point in his KU career. But this season he isn’t necessarily better for THIS team than the other guys.
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We had months to talk about how Good Josh Jackson was before he even played here.
Some were not sold, rightfully so, we’ve had a spotty OAD record in the past.
But is there any player that has ever come here that was more Taylor-Made for KU than this kid?
He’s had some up + down Big-12 games but lately he’s been spectacular.
Who else was playing with fire last night in the first half? His effort stood out entirely from the rest of the team.
Every game Josh does 2 or 3 things you just don’t see from 99.99% of College Basketball.
If you were to judge Jackson’s NBA potential off the last 2 games how is he not the clear #1 pick in the draft and a future All-Star. He’s got moxy, the type of character that thrives at the next level and we still have two more months of this.
I’ve heaped a bunch of praise his way but he deserves it. That 3 point shot has become serviceable and it really makes him un-guardable at this level. Jackson is KU’s X-Factor in this 4 guard set. He bothered Motley on defense and was a total mismatch for anyone trying to stop him last night. I don’t think we are done seeing these types of performances.
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I think we do need him. And I think he needs the team, he owes them. It’s nice to get coleby and Mitch some time.
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I hope we get Carlton back. Not so much to get back his stat line. But we need his fouls and minutes on the court.
Landen is having to restrict his hustle because of the threat of picking up fouls.
Shout out to Mitch and Dwight for battling tough! We need them moving forward, too.
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Landon’s last two minutes were spectacular. Before Baylor was rushed and threw it out of bounds, Lucas got off of the Floor on defense and came back to put a hand in the face of the 3 point shooter. His scoring at the end saved us. Mitch and Coleby need to keep up the good work so that Lucas can stay in the game. Motley couldn’t do anything with Mitch and the fast double teams in the second half. KU wins when they do what coach tells them to do.
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I thought Mitch & Dwight were great last night. I know they only had 2 points (which by the way was a great play by Mason/Mitch) but I thought they bring what Bragg isn’t bringing most of the time. They just do their job. When have we praised Bragg for doing his job this year? Too far and too few between.
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It’s kind of funny. We play #2 in the country and come away slightly dissatisfied because it wasn’t super pretty, like against Kentucky. But we beat the team with the most impressive resume in the country.
The refs helped us last night. Pretty plain to me.
But Scott Drew helped us too. Why he didn’t pound the ball inside against our small lineup is beyond me. When they were close to the hoop they scored. I’d like to see the shots at the rim stat that JNewell likes to quote, but Baylor could have won last night if they knew about that stat.
JJ’s defense was amazing. He played bigger than 6’8" last night. Blocked shots, not fouling.
I spent a lot of ‘ink’ on these pages saying JJ has to prove the hype to me. Well he has.
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I too worry about a Hack-a-Jack(son) defense at the end of a game. There simply must be a way for our coaching staff to prepare Josh for those late-game free throws that will either win or lose the game. Even Svi needs to work on the clutch free throws.
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@nuleafjhawk I understand your point about Bragg…but I don’t see having him back would be a bad thing…in fact I think there are only positives to come out of getting him back. If he doesn’t perform…he won’t play much. I have a hard time believing that he won’t bring anything to the table going forward. I can see him playing in the middle of that zone in Waco and hitting a couple of key shots, for instance.
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I think it may have been @approxinfinity during the in-game chat who made a comment to the effect that Josh was 2-3 steps ahead of Baylor in terms of his thought processes on the court. Since I could not watch the game live, I watched it late last night and, in watching Josh operate, he almost seems prescient at times on both offense and defense.
In one sequence in the second-half, he left his man, sliding down from the weak side near the free-throw line to reject a shot by a Baylor player, but it was like he sensed the play a full 5 seconds before the Baylor player even drove to the hoop. The shot-fake from behind the 3-point line where he then drove the baseline for a dunk was the same thing. He knew what he needed to do even before he received the pass. You could almost see he had the whole thing laid out in his mind and had mapped out the path to the basket prior to ever touching the ball. I absolutely love this kid and he has quickly become perhaps my favorite Jayhawk of all-time.
And that defense on the last sequence by Mason was unbelievable. Constant rewinds are usually reserved for dunks and ridiculous offensive plays. I can’t recall ever rewinding to watch a defensive sequence until last night. To buckle down like that after nearly 40 minutes of play … man, Mason looked like he was stalking his prey, playing with it before devouring it.
An entertaining game and a great win.
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@wissox how did the refs help us?
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@Crimsonorblue22 What I recall was BIFM, JJ, DG putting constant pressure on the Baylor D drawing fouls. I dont recall Baylors O much due to KU constantly switching from m2m to 2-3 to triangle and 2. Other than Motley BU wasn’t very great offensively especially once KU got them sped up. Thus the foul discrepancy.
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@tis4tim jj loves KU and KU loves him. That’s why coach says josh is always in the right place, one step ahead! I love great D plays myself! Self asked the guys what they wanted to do at that time out and they said D. Love it! I know he was pleased!
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@tis4tim On the last defensive play, remember it was Svi who put pressure on Motley initially knocking the ball loose, then when Motley got it back he was so rushed he made the bad pass that went out of bounds . Svi was outstanding.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I knew you were going to comment on that part! Anytime you have a 27-6 FT disparity, you’re getting the benefit of officiating. I can kind of see why Fran tweeted what he did. He shouldn’t have in his position because he further alienates himself from KU fans. And just to appease those offended by my statement, I’m the first to cry when officials screw us too!
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@Crimsonorblue22 said:
jj loves KU and KU loves him. That’s why coach says josh is always in the right place, one step ahead! I love great D plays myself! Self asked the guys what they wanted to do at that time out and they said D. Love it! I know he was pleased!
+1 million for the inside info on that last defensive stand.
And oh how I would love to see JJ don the Jayhawk uniform for at least another year. Is it wrong to have a fantasy scenario where JJ gets a minor injury trying to hoist the NCAA championship trophy and tourney MVP trophy at the same time, and at the behest of Hudy, he decides to stay another season to bulk up a little more and to thoroughly test out his pride to make sure it was not permanently damaged, then atoning for his injury by once again winning both the championship and MVP trophies and hoisting them both high above his head in dominating fashion, proving to NBA GM’s his injury is healed and then going #1 overall in the draft?
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@tis4tim Wrong? Yes. Wishing an injury on someone is never right. But you know, I’ve wished a lot worse on someone for a lot less so don’t feel too bad.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I have read several KU hating sites trying to minimize our victory by saying Baylor got robbed by the refs. Ridiculous.
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@tis4tim right there with you man. Josh truly is special and a joy to watch. I wish there was some other way beside injury we would stay another year but there is not. Just have to savor these amazing moments with the rewind button. I’m going to watch the game again tonight and take a look at that block you mentioned
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@wissox did you see fouls that weren’t called on us or them? Were they driving? Were we? Were they complaining? All I saw was the last 3 when maybe frank clipped him, I couldn’t tell for sure. Was coleby fouled? Tell me.
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Just to make sure I saw what I saw, what I thought I saw was a team that had a 7 footer, and a 6’10" NBA first rounder that were never fed the ball in the 2nd half. So, the genius of a Scott Drew was to go away from the only advantage you had in the game. Is that what you saw? I never saw an entry pass the whole 2nd half from the genius formerly known as Scott Drew.
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@approxinfinity it will be like Ben and Embiid, they won’t want to go, but they have too.
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@Crimsonorblue22 You always just see the Jayhawks side of things! I don’t. I’m sitting there watching thinking, wow, I’d be pissed if I was a Baylor fan. Nothing wrong with your viewpoint, nothing wrong with mine. It’s just the way I see it.
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@wissox Not buying the “refs helped us” meme. I didn’t see one entry pass from Baylor the entire 2nd half. It’s simple- we took the ball to the basket, and they didn’t.
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In the post-game interview, Self commented (and then repeated) that “they (KU) were pretty tough”. Can recall many, many times hearing “soft” but can not recall the last time Self used “tough” to describe a team.
Also, do not understand why Drew did not call a time-out on Baylor’s penultimate possession.
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@wissox I use to ref games. Tell me what you saw. I never buy, even the fouls out.
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@Crimsonorblue22 By letting them play. No ticky-tack fouls.
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I was fairly pissed off at half time because we didn’t play very well in the first half IMO. We gave up 10 offensive rebounds that lead to easy points for them, we didn’t guard good or move the ball with a darn. JJ was great and kept us in the game at that point, and he kept it going the second. He is just playing awesome, hard to expect anymore from him. Hopefully his trend of the bigger the game the better he plays sticks around til the big dance. Mason finished with a good line and really stepped up at the FT line, but I’m a little worried about how bad he has shot it here the last 3 or 4 games, he was 3/12 last night. Its good that he still got his and usually does, just hoping he can get a few more to fall as we continue. DG looked solid, nothing flashy just knocking down some open jumpers and quietly getting his 13 as was Svi with 11 points. LL stepped up big down the stretch. he had 5 rebounds and no points with 9 minutes to. He finished with 5 points and 11 rebounds, he still seems to have trouble hanging om to the ball when passed to open in the post. Seems like about 2 or 3 times a game he fumbles a would be easy dunk. The bench sucked IMO outside of Colebys good defense and one bucket from LF.Coleby air balled a 3 foot shot some how and continues to be offensively challenged but the dude had 6 rebounds in 6 minutes. LF had the one easy lay in set up bye Mason and was burned a few times on defense. Vick really did absolutely nothing. Finished with 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 TO in 14 minutes. I think the game hasn’t slowed down for him yet, we know he is capable of being pretty salty. I know some have talked about being better without Bragg. Collectively Coleby and LFs numbers have pretty much equaled his but I still think this teams ceiling gets considerably higher with Bragg playing and his head outta his a**.
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@kjayhawks LT had 2 nice blocks, too. (“LT”?)
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@mayjay lt
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@Kcmatt7 said:
@tis4tim Wrong? Yes. Wishing an injury on someone is never right. But you know, I’ve wished a lot worse on someone for a lot less so don’t feel too bad.
I felt guilty typing it, but if there is any way we could keep JJ for another season I’m at the point of entertaining completely ridiculous scenarios to do so. For the record, I would never wish an injury, however minor, on anyone and my post was intended to be pure folly. That said, should anything bad befall our team from here out, you and everyone on this site can have carte blanche skewering me for the pox I unintentionally put on our team.
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@mayjay appearantly was typing too fast lol. It’s fixed.
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@kjayhawks I just figured it was a reference to LighTfoot, but didn’t know where it came from. (Unlike the Nickelback reference, which I didn’t get at all…but I figure that one is due to my one-year-to-Social-Security age and addled brain.)
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@tis4tim I mean I’m not going to say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind either…
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@Crimsonorblue22 Agree , you know Landen had a not so good game for sure - -BUT yet you know what? - -He did hit a couple of HUGE buckets at a very critical time in the game plus 11 rebounds - -And Dicky V was talking about what a big play he made on Baylor late, late, in the game when hustling back down the floor and flying by the 3 pt shooter and disrupting his shoot. - -crazy times but a W is a W - - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@tis4tim I think the fact that he was 2-3 steps ahead of Baylor is definitely a shout out to him being a great chess player. Chess player’s have to know what they’re opponent is going to do before they do.
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@tis4tim I watched Baylor last possession & KU’s smothering D on Motley again also. Svi almost had a breakaway steal. Frank got inside LeComte’s head, he forgot to catch Motley’s hot potato pass.
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@tis4tim that last defensive set was defense like WVU plays it.
Play tighter with lots of foot movement and lots of arm/hand action that puts both physical (proximity) and psychological pressure on the offensive player. Help defense was opportunistic to add additional stress and force the action.
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