March 31- April 6: News Headlines
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Wow,. Kelly Tripuka, I had not heard that name in a while. While Tripuka and Hansbrough were prolific college scorers, their games are quite different, as I recall. Tripuka was a finesse type of player with a great outside shot that played the SF but, more often than not, the SG, while Hansbrough is an Inside banger that plays PF.
Tripuka was overlooked and undervalued in the NBA and his trade to Utah was the beginning of the end of his career, not because he could not play but because he and coach Layden did not see eye to eye; he should have stayed in Detroit where he was an important part of that team, but I guess it was not his decision. He was a good scorer both on college and the NBA. Landing on the right team can make or break you career; Mario Chalmers knows this all too well; he landed on the right team and has never looked back.
Tyler Hansbrough has had a hard time finding a niche in the NBA. He is one of the more accomplished players ever in college, but somehow he does not seem to land on a team that needs his style of play.
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@ParisHawk yep, I had great seats to that game and was concerned pysco T would take off when Cole went in but Cole took it to another level and outplayed him.
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@Crimsonorblue22 No, I don’t think so but that is just a gut reaction. I think Embiid has the potential to be one of the most dynamic players in the country if healthy and I think this back issue is not as bad as it seems. He has only played the game for a few years and needs to get bigger, stronger and more accustomed to the wear and tear.
If Jo Jo leaves (and I think he will) I would like to see Turner but I think we will be pretty stacked with either or neither of them.
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@joeloveshawks I think Embiid is already one of the most dynamic players. I don’t believe he was going to play in the ncaa’s. Just based on rumors. I’m thinking 2 years of Turner might benefit us more than 1 of Embiid. My dream(ha ha) would be to have them both!
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@Crimsonorblue22 Do you really think Embiid pretended to still be hurt to avoid playing in NCAA games? I don’t believe that at all. If you watched his face during the game, he looked miserable that he wasn’t playing against Stanford. I don’t think he’s that two-faced and selfish. That doesn’t seem to me to be in his character.
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@oldalum just what I heard. Don’t think he was pretending, think they didn’t want to jeopardize his health.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Are you employed by KU Athletics? I’m just curious.
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Just my humble opinion that if we do retain or recruit a rim protector to play with Cliff and Perry, we are bound to see Perry at the 3 position occasionally this season, esp. in situations where we compete against taller, slower teams. I look to see Perry work on foot speed and shooting from deep during the offseason. If we retain JoJo, and if Myles should decide to join him, someone is heading out the door. Probably White or Tharpe. Because of prior red shirts, Lucas, Traylor and Mickelson appear to be a lock to stay; and I envision lots of playing time for Greene. I’d like to see Selden spend 25% of his minutes at pt. guard. I hope not to see Tharpe back in the role of running the show. His minutes, only as a backup at the 2. Might really be best for him and the program if he pursues a different venue for a year of readjustment, then a potential experienced starter during his final season of eligibility. He has pretty much worn thin his credibility at this juncture. At the very least, perhaps red shirt him to offer him time to gain focus and dependability.
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@REHawk We need Traylor to come off the bench and spark the team. Plus I think he learned a lot from his brother Mr. Black about leadership, caring, and getting after it.
Traylor will be a very big contributor next year off the bench. He might even start a few games early in the season if the Freshman aren’t playing withing the team.
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@DanR no.
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I felt if Embiid was over emphasizing his injury to skip March games it was because he was afraid to turn pro soon. By sitting out it helped pull the light off of him for a bit and perhaps eased pressure to go pro. I still highly doubt that happened. But that was what my gut felt concerning even the possibility of such a thing.
Tripucka was very capable of playing physical when need be. He definitely wasn’t a wimp, and both him and Wilkes were great on the baseline. I studied those guys because much of my own game came off the baseline. I loved playing the line, and no one knows how to do it today. It is a pity, because it was such a dynamic part of basketball that gave way to poor officiating that allowed defenders to heavy arm players right out of bounds without a foul call. I never understood why refs did that except under instructions. I guess the league office didn’t want the game played near under the basket. Probably because at that time, the camera angles were limited. Tripucka and Hansbrough have similarities in their game and personalities. Both liked to play rough, but also liked to finesse flop calls. I bet Tyler has given up on most of that in the league now.
The best match for Perry is Wilke’s game. He was only 6’6" but developed a plethora of moves in the low post, including some back-to-the-basket moves, like a baby hook and full blown Kareem-style hook. That guy was one of the best low post players who could finesse off a pivot. He could come in hard to the middle, like he was a 7-footer, or he could spin away on the baseline with a dead-eye fade away jumper. No one ever learned to shut down Wilkes. And he could dribble and was lethal in the open court. I adored his game going back to UCLA, when he played for Wooden.
If Perry could study and become the next Wilkes, he would leave Kansas with a NC trophy under his belt because college coaches today don’t have an ounce of experience dealing with baseline scorers. He would go undefended and would rack up some outrageous stats.
Our alley-oop plays often come off the line, giving us just a taste of what is possible from that area of the court.
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@drgnslayr With the rule change more zone defenses will be played to mitigate foul trouble and defensive shortcomings. I think the top of the key and the baselines will be open all season. Will someone be able to capitalize? I don’t know, but Perry has the perfect zone busting game. He could present Niang-like matchup problems if the system would allow it. His D would have get significantly better too.
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@drgnslayr “Our alley-oop plays often come off the line, giving us just a taste of what is possible from that area of the court.”
Yeah, but they work because Ellis is screening post defenders and pushing them up court. Is Ellis going to screen for himself?
Who mentions how effective a screener Ellis is on set plays?
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@ralster Thanks for the great analysis and a great trip down memory lane. Guard play is my favorite part of the game, and we have had some stellar examples . Of them all, I believe Russell Robinson was my favorite. He had such a tough freshman year and overcame it to become one of the great ones at KU. I still play the DVD of the championship season occasionally. What I especially miss are all the steals that Robinson and Chalmers made. You could count on several a game. Ah, nostalgia . . .
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So Myles Turner is waiting until after the Jordan Brand Classic on April 18 to make a decision on his college of choice. To me, Embiid needs to have made a decision by then. How pissed would we be if Turner went elsewhere and then JoJo announces he’s going pro after the fact? It’s only 10 days earlier (April 28 ) then when he would have to declare anyway.
My preference would be to get back a healthy JoJo, but Turner is the ultimate in consolation prizes. It will be a shame if we have neither next season.
Also hearing rumors that Jabari Parker is leaning towards returning for another year. Duke will be absolutely loaded if that happens plus Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow, & Grayson Allen coming in (all top 20 recruits).
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Thanks to all who keep adding articles! Reading the recent ones on Oubre, Alexander and Turner, all seem to be open to staying more than one year. Turner says no matter what happens, he wants his degree. Good stuff.
I get the reasoning behind wanting 3- and 4-year players, but if you’re one of the top 10 HS players and you’re open to staying more than one year, I’ll take ya. I think there’s a significant difference between the “maybe OADs” like Selden and the “preseason OADs” like Wiggins - though the uncertainty may complicate recruiting…
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“Yeah, but they work because Ellis is screening post defenders and pushing them up court. Is Ellis going to screen for himself?”
Of course not. But a big reason why the play works in the first place is that is starts near the rim and is on the edge of the defense, so the opportunity for weak side help isn’t there. These are the factors that make base line attacks original. The stuff I was talking about didn’t involve screens (for the most part). It is about players that know how to score from the baseline. They create their own screens by running through the pile. They find openings by cutting down the baseline. They take advantage of using their big men to draw low post defenders up higher in the lane.
Baseline basketball is like being a magician using a sleight of hand. Defense, for the most part, faces their goal at the other end. There is a reason we call it “back door.”
Actually, I have to hand it to Self for being one of the few coaches in college basketball to run ANYTHING on the baseline! I wish he would do a little more, like teach one guy (like Perry) how to capitalize on the baseline more, then it opens up plenty of derivatives. Suddenly, it opens up alley-oops to our guards when the player like Perry comes up in mid range to set a screen. We have done it before. We used to do it some with EJ when he had hops. It becomes more effective when you have a real baseline player that establishes himself along the baseline. So when he goes up to screen, the defender behind falls asleep because he relaxes from the threat of a baseline attack and especially doesn’t see it coming from a PG or a 2-guard.
@dylans - I agree with your post. There will be openings along the baseline. And imagine someone coming at us with a 1-3-1? Baseline attack helps guard against these teams that play high perimeter ball pressure… because then we feed into the mid range and pull their lower post players away from the line.
Funny you mention Niang… that guy is sneaky and physical enough to become one heck of a baseline player. He’s a guy who should start studying the art and bring it to the league with him. I hope he heals up well. He is a guy I respect.
What made it work really well for Wilkes was his ability to bomb the 3. Wilkes first had to do it without the extra point, because his game precedes the 3-pt goal in the NBA. Then in 1979, the NBA brought the 3, and it did nothing but solidify his game. He was deadly from the corner or out front, so when he positioned himself up there it was a legitimate threat. Half the time he was lulling low post defenders asleep. I’m talking about weak side help… the league may technically be about M2M defense… but let’s get real… teams run hybrid defenses. Imagine what Wilkes could do on a college zone defense?!
Wilkes was a true magician. It was hard to find the ball under the cocoanut shell!
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I felt if Embiid was over emphasizing his injury to skip March games it was because he was afraid to turn pro soon. By sitting out it helped pull the light off of him for a bit and perhaps eased pressure to go pro. I still highly doubt that happened. But that was what my gut felt concerning even the possibility of such a thing.
I don’t know Embiid’s family, so here is just my pure speculation. I think Embiid’s NBA connection/adviser alerted the family of the risks of playing hurt, so the family asked Coach Self to hold Jo Jo out. The family/adviser might have given Coach Self a date they’d allow Jo Jo to compete again in the tournament. He is after all the family enterprise now, so it is just proper to take all the precautions and protect their investment.
On the other hand, it might also be possible that Coach Self wanted Wiggins to shine without Embiid taking the spotlight, which could also be a request from Wiggins’ family to help maintain Andrew’s draft stock. So he was gladly obliged to adhere Embiid’s family’s request, and kept his promises to both families.
Hindsight of Embiid’s missing out on participating in the tournament, Jo Jo (maybe not his family) may be regretting sitting out the Stanford game. That could have been his one chance of experiencing the most important and exciting tournament in college. Could that be a motivation for him to come back? I wish.
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@Wishawk Very interesting post, regarding Self having to juggle “promises” to the Embiid and Wiggins families.
I can only offer an educated guess that Self would absolutely hate being in that position…as there is historical evidence that he was x-rated livid about the whole saga created by Carl Henry when Xavier (& CJ) Henry came to KU. I find it hard to think Self would knowingly take a double-sized bite into that same drama (because dealing with playing time is no SaltyIguana burrito!) Having said that, I must say that the Wiggins family, the Embiid family, and Xavier Henry himself…were all exemplary, fine people. I dont have any problem with them. But I also think I know Self’s tendencies, or so I speculate…
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@ralster I don’t know the Wiggins, but here might be a play Justin Wesley is directing.
Mrs: Hi, Coach. It’s really good to see you again and we are considering handing you the number one recruit.
Coach: Great!
Mr: Well, we trust you to be the right man to prepare him for the next step. Teach him as much as he can learn, push him as much as he can take, but please don’t get him beat up. I know how physical it is at this level.
Coach: Oh, sure. Don’t worry. I will take really good care of him.
Mrs: We know Kansas is a hotbed for getting the players ready for the league, and KU has really good national exposure. He is the number one recruit this class, and is projected to be the number one pick next June. And we’d love to keep it that way.
Coach: Certainly! We are on TV all the time and I don’t see anyone on the team having the level of talent as Andrew. So he will have the spotlight no doubt.
Mrs: We will take your words for that. [smiles]
Coach: Sure, you bet. [shake hands]
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So there’s an article on KUsports right now that says Basketball times ranked Kurtis Townsend as the #1 assistant in the country. I’m thinking it’s a pretty good read until I see that they have Self ranked as the #9 head coach. 9? Are you kidding me? Here’s the list, in order, of the 8 they rank ahead of him:
Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Larry Brown (SMU), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Roy Williams (North Carolina), Billy Donovan (Florida), John Calipari (Kentucky) and Jim Boeheim (Syracuse).
Some great coaches, no doubt, but I’d be interested in seeing the context of the rankings. I mean, these have to be heavily favoring coaching resumes and not where they are now, right?
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@icthawkfan316 I could not believe it myself. I was curious as to what is the criteria?
In the same article there is an update on Mario Little. I am extremely happy to see that he is finally making some noise in the D-League and hoping that he will get a chance in the Big L. I have tremendous admiration for him after he had redshirted as a JUCO transfer and becoming the 1st member in his family to get a college degree.
It is also interesting that KU is looking at 5’10" soph guard from Boston U. I would not be surprised if Tharpe is shown the door.
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@drgnslayr While he has not made a decision as of yet did anyone believe that Embiid would be an OAD before the season had started?
If Turner is a top 3 prospect don’t be surprised if he becomes an OAD as well.
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No news is good news I suppose.
I’m thinking there needs to be some recruiting news, JoJo’s announced return, something positive. I’m sick of reading quality contributors being sore loosers. I don’t want to hear you cry about not winning a OAD NCAA tournament. Only one team wins each year; that’s a lot of tears for everyone else. Now suck it up, pansies. It’s time to look forward to the new year. There are 9 other teams in the Big 12 alone that would love to be in KU’s shoes. I can honestly say there are at least 300 schools with goals less lofty than KU’s that didn’t meet their goals and their fan base isn’t a bunch of whiny loosers.
Thank you to all the non-negative Nancy’s. Keep it up I enjoy reading all of your posts. It is great to be a KU fan.
I live in Kansas, but I’m blessed to be a KU fan.
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