KU Pulps Orange Boys: Graham Leads Win from Higher Dimension
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@jaybate-1.0 A real pleasure to read… classic jaybate.
Winning feels good. I think I’m going to feel good a lot this year.
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jaybate 1.0 said:
Thx 2 all 4 the strokes.
Now let’s see if our Birds can sweep the 2 in 4 vs. Washington and Zona State coming next!
Yeeeee hawwww!
Basketball season in full swing is the next best thing to being young again!!!
Washington should be cruise control. They are actually ranked lower than some of the rummies we have been playing.
I like the Cobra nickname for Vick. We need more for other players.
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I’LL work on more nicknames, but I’m only usually good for one a season. Probably others will come up with better ones.
Rock Chalk!
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@jaybate-1-0 , @BShark we have Svi for three, and Moonlight Graham tho no one uses it. Udunka works lol.
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Ah, yes, UDUNKA; that’s the best one.
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Slam, Bam, Thank You Graham!
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Full Monte Devonte!
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3tae
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Galloping Garrett! Lol
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Svi MykSkyliuk
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- Svi - The Ukrainian rifle (remember Eric Piatowski?), the Sniper, the Sviatinator
- Vick- Vick-torious, of course
- Devonte - The baby-faced assassin, although Curry goes by that one. Devonte Graham “I will ring your Bell.”
- Newman - Hello Newman!!!
- Doke -Sir dunk-a-lot. Don’t forget other teams will play “Poke-a-Doke” to take advantage of his poor FT shooting.
- Lightfoot - I’ll Mitch slap you.
- Garret - The Mongoose.
- Young - “Cassious, I punch above my height class” Clay
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@JayHawkFanToo I like the Ukrainian Rifle
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jaybate 1.0 said:
Ah, yes, UDUNKA; that’s the best one.
I’ll take credit for that one! You can look it up!
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Damn it lol I thought I had that one
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Many coaches, Self included, cannot bring themselves to isolate on mismatches. I have never understood it. They don’t hesitate to isolate on a guy with 3-4 fouls, but they refuse to feed a guy a foot taller than another guy. Go figure!
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Way to break out with the humor!!!
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@kjayhawks I’ll let you have credit! I do remember on the day he signed writing that nickname for him, but maybe you said it first!
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Put this in my closing statement for the defense of the 4-guard offense…
Not only did we hold our own against the Cusey’s bigs… we also made their high-pressure zone and press look “no pressure” and almost worthless.
There were a few times I thought they might catch us on their press… but then Devonte (or another one of our guards) just cut through it like a piece of soft cheese. Man… I can think back through the years when we could have used these 4 guards on the court!
Hey… we CONTROLLED THE PACE!
If we can control the pace every game moving forward, good chance we go undefeated! Yep. You heard me right! But I know we will probably let down in some games and give in to the opposition’s pace.
Did you notice how we sped up the Orangies? They had a lot more TOs than usual, and often they took contested treys.
What a joy! That is what I enjoyed most from this game. We played OUR GAME! It seems like at least half the time we have to beat our opponent playing their game.
Consider how many of our key players had subpar games… and we still won with relative ease.
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I agree. Self seems to be moving toward dictating tempo, rather than playing it any way they want. Something is changing. It was absolutely weird how easily we took them, given how much longer they were. Usually when small teams play long ones the longs get lots of blocks and alters. Not this time. This was the opposite extreme of bad ball. Ku refused to drive on them, even when it seemed the right thing to do. Compare how little Devonte and Vick drive it this season compared with how often Frank and Devonte drove it last season, and how much more KU drove 2 seasons ago. This is a radical shift in strategy, not just this game, but the whole season. It is striking, too, because Devonte and Vick could drive it very effectively. This suggests Self is massively buying into the spacing thing and that he has decided that these guys are all such good trigger men and so quick that he NEVER wants them taking contested shots. He seems to be saying try to get open close, but if you can’t, then get open farther out, and whatever you do get open soon. It’s a sea change for Self. It’s also expedient, since he has so little depth to work with and wants to minimize injuries to his starters.
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Great posts all!
First half was a struggle. No way around that.
Man can Devonte shoot lights OUT when he wants to. I think he sensed his team needed a Senior moment and we got one.
Vick was awesome. Once he got a little more comfortable figuring out what to do with the ball in the high post that changed the game for us.
Doke was brought down to earth. He seemed off. His lack of urgency to rebound is troubling for someone his size. Self has to light that beast up. This was a great game for him to learn some things.
Clay definitely earned his keep Saturday.
Great Team win. Great individual performances
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@drgnslayr @jaybate-1-0 Svi and Devonte eradicated their length by shooting and canning NBA 3s. Most D1 guards can’t do it, and of course the Orange knuckleheads could not adjust. They inched out a bit at top of key but then DG got it to Vick. Our range and accuracy did them in, Newman not withstanding. They were totally unprepared to address guards with our range and passing ability.
Move ball to open spot (near or far); shoot with no one within 3 feet; can shot; make cool celebratory gesture. Repeat. Simple as putting the old volleyball in the peach basket.
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BUT!! According to Bohemian the zone was near perfection and if it wasn’t for that pesky Devonte they would have done fine! Evidently they controlled everyone else!
If you can stomach the “other” site http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2017/dec/4/boeheim-says-grahams-monster-effort-not-/
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Boeheim’s comments are just an excuse to how badly he was out coached by Coach Self and how his vaunted zone defense was rendered worthless by KU.
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Jim BONEheim never met an opponent he couldn’t diminish.
It’s why he appears to be genuinely, deeply disrespected by colleagues and knowledgeable fans.
He’s not just a poor loser. It apparently goes to the deepest part of what he uses as a substitute for character.
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@BeddieKU23 I’m wondering if the lack of depth is what is keeping Doke from chasing after rebounds more aggressively. We can’t get a silly foul over the back from him right now.
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Kcmatt7 said:
@BeddieKU23 I’m wondering if the lack of depth is what is keeping Doke from chasing after rebounds more aggressively. We can’t get a silly foul over the back from him right now.
It could be, however I find it hard to believe that his coach will be happy with his effort in that area on Saturday. This is more then a 1 game sample as well I don’t think generally he’s rebounded well this season to date. That’s a major weakness for his prospects of the next level if he can’t at that size be a + rebounder.
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Rebounding is all about position and opportunity. Some of the better rebounder in the game are/were not necessarily tall but know where to be; obviously it requires basketball IQ. Mason, often the shortest player on the court got a lot more rebounds than most people think he would because he knew where to be; of the regular rotation players only Lucas and Jackson averaged more rebounds than him. Doke could rebound in HS by virtue of his height alone but in college it is quite different and he is not a natural rebounder. This not to say he could not become a good or even great rebounder but at this time it is what it is.
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@jaybate-1.0 I was amazed Cuse did not pound it inside when Clay was in. He did a great job on both ends but they really didn’t test him too much. Cuse did hurt us when they came back a little by driving it. If I were Self I would concentrate our defense on that when the big guy is out particularly.
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Good insight. Bet he will, too.
