Expectations? High or low right now
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I generally find that I enjoy the season more with low or tempered expectations. But also that they change throughout the season kinda with the ebb and flow of the team. As Self always says. They will play a certain amount of games(5 or so) below and above their average. The other 25 games or so are where the team is really at. You just never know when those games are gonna be. Last night was surely one of the below average games. And still walked away with a W on a big stage. Should be fun to watch where we go from there.
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I’m pretty happy about last nights game! We won the game! We played 7 players total and Lightfoot did not play 10 minutes. Kentucky on the other tried to sandbag us and threw everything but the kitchen sink at us. Make no mistake, Coach Calipari tried to win this game. They just came up short. We were the better team. It was a tournament type game where the opponent tried to muddy it up against us and came up short. I’m happy for the win and I feel once we have our full compliment of players, the sky is the limit!
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MY expectations are high. However, to compete for a FF or NC both Doke and Billy have to play up to their high potential. If that happens, there is nobody we can’t beat. If they don’t come close to their potential we are just a good team. IMO.
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I meant to add…and I have no idea if that is going to happen, but I remain optimistic as it is early in the year.
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We hit two more threes are we really worried? UK is top 10 good. Better to win ugly than not win and still be ugly. Don’t fret. Don’t stew.
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Big 12 Title Elite 8 at best
Unless…Preston comes on like gangbusters and DeSousa somehow plays 2nd semester and provides decent ability for front line depth.
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Bilas just did a write up on the teams in the Champions Classic and put us at the worst as a ceiling of the sweet 16. Which I wouldn’t say I totally disagree with but we could look a ton different in a month if De Sousa and Preston are able to go with Sam as well. I honestly thought we’d lose with Billy out, hard to gauge a team in November especially when they are missing some key pieces.
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@kjayhawks it’s stupid to make those assumptions in November. We looked totally different last year versus Duke and Georgia than in the first three rounds of the tournament. Same with the year before.
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@cragarhawk I was telling friends before game if Malik plays well we win easy +10. If not then toss up. This before no Preston and shooting only like we do in E8 games. Malik was ave and being super short handed to win was ugly satisfying. No panic. A good coach would have fouled Doke out and beaten us by 25. Luckily they have the squid.
If Preston extracts head from arse and Silvio is eligible, then very positive. If we are relying on Mitch then not so much.
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Harsh, harsh reality. This team could lose in the first round. Awesome, awesome reality. This team could win the national championship. This is a team that will have more ups and downs I think. I’d mentioned that a few weeks ago. It will be an interesting ride. But make not mistake, regardless of early observations based on a poor shooting night (and a long athletic opponent), we are a national championship contender. A very serious one. As mentioned by others above, add Preston and De Sousa? Good grief.
A little time to gel, please.
Here’s Lunardi’s less than positive take:
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I’m out of the loop. I will admit. But how good is Preston guys and gals? How good is Sousa? And cuncliffe? Reason I ask… There hasn’t been really a freshman or newcomer in the Self era to speak of that was highly effective right away. Not even the first year largely unless I’m not thinking of someone. Idk if it’s the system. Or what exactly. But I have to legitimately question if any of those additions really make us that much better? Other than more bodies. More fouls. Which of course would help. Maybe some with more knowledge on this can help shed some light
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Preston is really an offensive talent. At his size he is the modern day 4 in the NBA. He has weaknesses, effort, maturity being among the most prominent but he’s really important to this team.
Cunliffe is an athlete that can shoot some and defend. Came to KU needing to mature and generally work on becoming a complete basketball player.
De Sousa is another typical NBA 4 man that is physically ready to play now. He will have a tough time adjusting if he comes mid semester but can play inside and make jumpers. Exciting prospect.
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As far as system fit they all have a role here. Preston if he can get back on track would give Self the other big he needs.
Sam is very athletic and can make the 3 although probably more volume then knock down shooter. He’s definitely a wing.
De Sousa has the toughest road if he joins early. He’s a big body who can rebound and hopefully fit in. I think having him as a potential 4th big is huge. He once was a top 5 prospect in his class.
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A win is a win is a win. I rather win ugly than to lose pretty…if there is such a thing. The team did not panic, held its composure and won against a very capable team. I’ll take it any day.
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@cragarhawk Josh Jackson was brilliant his first year. Except for the final game, Wigs was excellent in his year. Embiid was just plain amazing. McLemore, Oubre, and Xavier Henry all had stand out first years. We’re starting to build quite a resume of successful one and dones that put that old “one and dones don’t do well at KU” narrative to bed. It’s all about playing time. The one and dones that failed couldn’t get on the court. The freshmen that start put up numbers. No doubt they would be better with more seasoning, but I think every narrative about one and dones and KU will be broken next year. We’re getting very talented players coming in…guys that can put up some really great numbers. By the time the tournament begins next year, we could have the best team since 2008.
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Ummmm. We beat UK without Preston AND those guys couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn either. I doubt that happens again. And, we get Preston back soon, then Sam Cunliffe and De Sousa in December? Oh yah. Just wait. We are gonna be good in March!!
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@KUSTEVE I had meant Bigs. I know we have had many successful guards. Embiid certainly qualifies. Idk why I always think it was his sophomore year that he was amazing
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@Lulufulu no, no, no, not according to Jay bilas!
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Yeah, you all captured my sentiments exactly: We won the game, right?? So why do we feel so bad?
Part of it is the unknowns about us: How good will Preston be? Was that a typical shooting night or anomalously poor?
Part of it is the unknowns about Kentucky: How good is UK? So many freshmen… what do we know about them? They struggled against Utah State and Vermont; we beat them by four; are we in that class?
Part of it is the media which seems to be infatuated with Duke and consistently positions Kansas as an over-achiever. Lunardi’s fatalistically negative views of the team are exhibit A.
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@bskeet It is funny: all season long, year after year, KU is voted top 4, often 1, by the media. KU fans complain about the media dissing us whenever we aren’t projected by all the talking heads to win it all.
Then, any time we don’t make the F4, KU fans spend the entire spring and summer worrying why KU got bounced. Self can’t win elite 8 games, Self is too tight, Self can’t recruit (I think that one is over, TG). KU underachieves, etc.
I think being under-respected would be a nice motivating chip. The team seems to do better when that happens!
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Kansas played 4-1, with Udoka not getting much rest. Kentucky started THREE forwards!
This game was a matchup nightmare. Sure Udoka is a presence, but he didn’t have any backup. We’re lucky to have squeaked it out with a win. I think a team like Michigan State would have been the worst matchup we could have drawn out of the Champions Classic, because of their bigs. Our gaurd play is going to carry us through much of the season but we’ll be crossing our fingers any time we’re up against long and athletic bigs, unless Billy comes back and gives us another presence.
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Gotta remember, even with Super Frank Mason we played some grind it out games last season, barely pulling out some key victories. The Preston absence is a real concern; the DeSousa possibilities make for exciting anticipation; essentially, we now possess the best set of 5 guards in the nation, with a giant of a Big whose game is progressing right on target. At this stage I feel very positive about this season.
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@BucknellJayhawk3 and de sousa to give us more post depth to compete against the likes of Michigan state.
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My humble advice; Try as hard as you can as a fan to not frame early games or mid season games or even late season games in terms of our chances in the big tourney.
If we lose key guys for the season, then yes, probably not looking good for final four odds. But right now, enjoy. Enjoy. These are very young men, and Self will find a way as he always does to get them playing better as the season progresses.
Remember -arguably the greatest assemblage of D1 basketball talent on one team ever, the undefeated 2015 Kensucky wild kitties, LOST to Wisconsin in the final four… SO many examples of great teams going down in the tourney…
This is yet another stud KU squad, and take the good games (and the bad ones) game by game .
That is the beauty of being a fan of KUBB. We win a hell of a lot more than we lose, and the tourney does not define us or anybody else, plus it’s 4 MONTHS away!!! A lifetime from now…
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You have to be careful when reading stuff from the likes of Lunardi. He’s not a bad guy by anymeans. He just works for ESPN. The east coast sports network.
Also lets not forget ESPN owns the ACC lock, stock, and barrel. If not for ESPN I’m not sure the ACC would even be around anymore.
So it’s only nature that the talking heads of ESPN would protect their investment. After all a paycheck is money.
