KU insider
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After watching that it really helps put the season into perspective. After our biggest body & talent down low doke went down. Even after the loud expectations for Bragg were quelled to a quiet role on the bench after his underwhelming performance on & off the court. Jackson, Vick, and dorm issues. Colby hobbling around on one leg. Quite amazing they still achieved everything they did. Frank definitely spearheaded the effort from conception to fruition. His Play each and every night was the infrastructure that allowed the team to operate properly. I can’t think of any area of the game where Frank wasn’t putting pressure on the other team. At the end of the day only 1 team will win the Big Tourney, but outside of that every other team out there wishes they had a season like KU. Aldo Kudos for beating Duke (Frank with the dagger to the heart), @Kentucky, Michigan St., and sweeping Baylor, TX/smart all in the same season.
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@madmaxKU Right on man. You make me think back to the middle of the season where I wondered if the perimeter could carry this team. Even though we fell short of the F4, the perimeter achieved remarkable things this year. Can you imagine this perimeter with Sasha, Darnell, Darrell and Cole?
Of course, that would never have happened because we would have ran high low and Self wouldn’t have evolved, and the perimeter players along with him. But imagine the future with guys like these! With the cupboards full on the block as well as on the perimeter will Self blend his guard oriented offense with high low and terrorize the NCAA? I can’t wait to find out.
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@approxinfinity said:
will Self blend his guard oriented offense with high low and terrorize the NCAA? I can’t wait to find out.
Next year may be that blend! I could see Billy Preston being a 4 that is more like Marcus Morris than the normal high low 4 for Self.
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I think it will head in the direction you mention, but it will probably take Billy Preston a full season to adapt. Stretch 4 requires probably the widest variety of skills to become a serious threat. And Preston seems to have a few motor related issues. And because he is so phenomenally talented, he has never had to learn to get better yet. So: I would really be surprised if he can wear a saddle, or even share the load, the way Josh did this season the last 2/3s of the season. Preston likely will have a complementary role his one season at KU. But we need at least that from him. And if Devonte, Vick and Svi improve a reasonable increment next season, Doke slides back in where he left off, and Malik plays to his abilities, then Preston as a complementary threat the second half of the season should make this one of KU’s sparkling teams with more balance and depth. Add Coleby, with more snap (if he isn’t out of eligibility), and Lightfoot with a year of enhanced beard growth, and this could really be an exciting year coming up, even if Bragg were to leave. If Bragg stays, and rediscovers his mojo and game, and it could be KU’s best team since 2008. Its really looking stacked. It feels like the strangling of the peak ShoeWars years is starting to slowly lift. It had to take a few years for the end of long stacking to filter through the system and for Self to get the powder magazine back up to normal levels.
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@jaybate-1.0 I also expect to Cunliffe to contribute as well. He has almost a full year of D1 experience and will have spent a bit of time under Self when he is eligible in January.
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@HawkChamp …and freshman guard Marcus Garret, once he begins to adjust to the offense (whatever the new offense will BE).
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I think we will be in good shape next season. And you never know, we could wind up getting Duval or Juiston, or even the decommit from UConn that is a top 100 player. Hopefully Bragg can get back in the groove during the summer trip.
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Completely forgot Cunliffe and Garrett who are reputedly stud additions, too.
This year’s “JSOG” metaphor may have to give way to “the whole damn pentagon”.
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I was worried after the 2008 National Title what Self would be able to do by replacing so many parts to the wheel gone. All he did was get a few late recruits and use the “next man up” philosophy and kept winning and recruiting for seasons to come. Self has a way to fit players in roles that work for them. This year Josh at the 4 instead of the three. A stretch 4 but it not only helped Josh but opened things up for everyone on the floor. So it should be fun to see the difference between what the team looks like from November to January.
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@FarNrthJHwk If Mario had stuck around for his Sr. year…what might have been.
