TEAM CHECKUP SCHEDULED: JANUARY 6 to 9, 2018
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The first two B12 games–Texas and Texas Tech–on December 29th and January 2 will introduce our players to B12 ball, and playing through present returns, hangovers and insufficient sleep. I believe our team has the character fight the return lines, go to bed early, and drink in moderation. I believe wins can be expected, along with a few sore muscles and joint aches.
Where the Birds get a TEAM CHECKUP to see how far they have developed, should come with the TCU and ISU games that are scheduled as a 2 in 4 set with TCU on the road Saturday, January 6, and Iowa State in AFH Tuesday, January 8. The good news is they are home for the second game.
TCU is coached by hard nosed Jamie Dixon and Dixon already has Self’s number. Also, TCU is off to an 11-0 start with wins over New Mexico, SMU (Janks), and Nevada. Not great competition, for sure, but not horrible either. Road game in that legendary (?) Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth. The good news is the Horned Hoppers could be stem wound by the time they meet us having played OU and Baylor previously. Still, I think TCU will give us a good taste of smash mouth and a well drilled team.
Following TCU, we fly home and get our usual Iowa State rush at home. ISU is 9-2, but they have played a lousy schedule and lost to Fizzourah of all chumps. So: why do I think this will be a good check point? We will be coming home, hopefully over confident from beating TCU, a short rest, and a little beat up, maybe even with a little flu. ISU just ingests some kind of Screw KU opioids every season, and so we will have to win one laboring. If we can win a smash mouth game against TCU, and labor for one vs. ISU, the team would seem to have the character to deal with the adversity that inevitably unfolds in places like Morgantown.
We should also have Preston and De Sousa on board by then, if they are coming at all, and we will have a pretty good idea from those games what those two players could be expected to do for us through the late January-early February grind. Oh, my, I so hope we don’t have to go to Morgantown without Preston and De Sousa!!!
Rock Chalk!
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The way Self typically uses freshmen I wouldn’t expect much from DeSammySosa but necessity means Preston gets some minutes.
Cunliffe’s lack of PT is a little concerning however. He’s shown some skills that are useful, but last night, with Vick hobbled by fouls, he only got 9 minutes. Meanwhile freshman Garrett got 23 minutes and made a measly point. Right now by my eyetest I see Cunliffe as more deserving of minutes than Garrett.
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@wissox Garrett did play exceptionally fine defense last night; but I think Cunliffe should have earned at least 3 more of Garrett’s minutes. And I would have stuck Sosinski into the game for 2 or 3 minutes, just as a matter of future insurance if the Preston and DeSousa eligibilities don’t come to fruition. But then, Self and Co. know a hell of a lot more than do we fans about both current and future needs and situations. So…
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@REHawk I’m not qualified to mention a players defense! I’ve heard JNewell talk about Garrett’s D as being outstanding, I think he said he’s our best defender. Obviously that’s an important contribution.
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wissox said:
@REHawk I’m not qualified to mention a players defense! I’ve heard JNewell talk about Garrett’s D as being outstanding, I think he said he’s our best defender. Obviously that’s an important contribution.
He did a great job guarding Reid and denying him the ball in the post. Loved his effort.
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Initially, I think Garrett is really deferring on offense. He’s a freshman, he’s not shooting well from 3, and we have other scorers. So he should. His defense last night was really good. In the first half, he was on the floor for our run when we stretched the lead. I saw someone comment something to the effect of, what use is it to have a good defender when your team isn’t good one defense – meaning, why have Garrett on the floor. The defense part is critical. What I didn’t see from Garrett last night was aggressive rebounding. There were a couple of times he kind of stood there without attacking the glass.
I will say that I thought Cunliffe looked pretty good defensively last night, as well. I would be interested if anyone else thought that.
I noticed Newman really blocking out; maybe a coaching point heading in.
What almost puzzles me most about Newman is that the guy does not attack the rim. He rarely shoots free throws. He’s got a quick first step. Seems like he should look to attack the rim much more than he does.
We only shot 18 three pointers last night. Makes me wonder.
The Self-speak on Preston continues to be entertaining. He finds new ways to say the same thing, which is really nothing.
Then on Silvio SammyDeSosa (per @wissox), Self injects the word “appeal” in the equation last night, saying the plan would be he could be here on the 26th, and then references and “appeal.”
Here’s what was stated at kusports.com - Self said he continued to believe the final word about De Sousa’s eligibility at Kansas would come Friday — “We think by tomorrow,” he said — before adding, “Unless there’s some hiccup and then we may have to appeal something, but we feel by tomorrow.”
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Noticed Sam playing great defense in his first half minutes. Really defended Reid Travis well, forced him into a traveling turnover on one possession. He looks to be tuned in when defending so far.
Only critical comment I found with him last night was a drive he took to the basket that got blocked. He didn’t use his body to shield the shot or draw the foul at all. Problem is most of this team has that problem.
Agree about Newman he is quick enough to get into the paint and he’s not showing that part of his game
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@BeddieKU23 I think as a whole the team got so reliant and infatuated with shooting the three that their other offensive advantages were largely ignored. It was good to see Svi and others attacking last night and feeding Dok a bit, though I think both are still in short supply.
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Agree, Doke was awesome last night. Svi did have some nice moves and was impressed with his one hand jam in the first half. When the 3 is falling we look awfully tough. I just see some fundamental things that need to be corrected when our guys actually decide to drive to the hoop. It can’t be coincidence that this team has shot so few free throws with how the rules are today.
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@BeddieKU23 I just looked, Newman has only shot 11 free throws all season, and he is shooting 100% (11 for 11). Mason shot more than 11 free throws in a game at least 7 times last season.
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I’m anxious as all get-out to see Doke face Bamba! Doke just has to keep his cool and not become anxious.
Every game, Doke seems to improve his game, considerably. I know… Stanford wasn’t a good opponent to judge him, but he made moves he simply couldn’t make two weeks ago.
Doke’s footwork is transforming from PeeWee Herman to Fred Astaire, right before our eyes!
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I hope Malik can find his way. I’m confused on whether he is feeling low esteem or not. He is still pumping up the shots… seemingly to shoot his way out of his funk.
I hope he doesn’t become our next EJ. I hope he isn’t “overthinking” his game and will always have to face that hurdle like EJ did.
His game needs to flow, within himself and his shot, and within our team concept. Some of his play is really clashing with our team concept. He isn’t a ball hog… just not seeing the entire game enough to know when to pull the trigger and when not to. So often, he takes his shot with zero Jayhawks in or near the paint.
I do applaud him for a finish he had last night… driving in the paint and he pulled off the throttle at the end. And, recently, I’ve seen him pull up in the paint several times and take the baby jumper. That is all a good sign. I hope someone is helping him learn how to finish, whether it be at the rim or just in the paint.
Malik should think about his game more like Sam and Marcus… put his emphasis on defense and let his offense come around natural. Otherwise… he will degrade. Because if he isn’t doing it on defense and he isn’t doing it on offense he will start thinking he has to force his offense to show his contribution. That usually means bad results on offense, and then he is also focusing away from defense, so his defense falls, too.
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I am impressed with Sam’s defense. Consider that he has only been in a few games now. Practice and real games are simply not the same speed.
I’ve already noticed Sam using a bit of hedging to stop the drive. Something the rest of our team should take note of!
Now… if we can get our coaches on board to scout teams to develop defensive strategy, especially on hedging. Take away all of the gifted offense we hand over to our opponents… especially the ones with driving limitations to one side of the basket. For Pete’s sake… this has been driving me berserk for years!
You want to know why every team we play gives us their best shot? This is largely why. We don’t take away their telegraphed offense.
We should have notes on every single player in the Big 12. What are their offensive tendencies? Drive to the left or right? Shot fakes? Crossover capable? Very few D1 players are truly gifted all the way around on offense.
Trae Young is a different story. The best way to prepare for him is to go to church first and pray for the best! He is now my favorite player in college basketball. Man… can that guy ball!
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@drgnslayr I like Sam. He is the perfect guard off the bench.
I noticed our guards hedging a bit but sometimes it was executed well, sometimes it wasnt. I loved how Self had Marcus playing post denial. For a while, I thought I was watching Villanova with how well we schemes to deny Reid the ball on the low block. Well done.
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Years ago back when KU had an amazing defense Self said 80% of the practice was spent on offense. Now it shows…
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Really nice post.
I think we are seeing Cunliffe’s athletic ability shine on the defensive end in his limited minutes so far. He’s had some good company to defend in practice for the past year and it certainly looks as if all the time spent on the scout team is paying off. He’s blended in well so far and honestly he might be playing fewer minutes then he’s capable of right now. We’ll see, we certainly just need him to come in and do his job and if he does that his ability to give some guys rest becomes important as we dig deep into conference play. Having a 6th guard in this offense can be just as important as adding another post player we keep dreaming about.
I thought our defensive game plan to stop Travis was excellent. We saw a ton of swarming to the ball whenever the ball seemed to go his direction. As you said I would love to see this plan executed in every game that has a standout player- including Trae Young. My honest opinion right now would be that Young is going to be the one player in the league we may simply have no defensive capability of slowing down.
I wonder if our coaches and support staff do watch film for player tendencies etc. Still even if a coach uses that detail kids still have to be cerebral and execute that in the heat of the moment. For all of our talks about the defense Kenpom still rates this a Top 10 defensive squad at the moment. Sounds like most of D-1 is having a hard time stopping the ball and executing game plans with how the rules/shot clock has affected the entire game. At least we know our offense can outscore most teams on any given night. Four guys at 15 points +, that’s a heck of an endorsement to Self’s new offensive strategy
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Self has said, many times, that they don’t change their defense for anyone. I have always found that to be the most odd statement a coach could make. Maybe it is just Self being the “Riverboat Gambler” and trying to get other teams to bite his bluff.
But in reality, I do believe him.
I zero in on Sam on defense. I noticed, last night, he was beat by his man off the dribble, and he recovered by a short cut to where the driver was going and then created a hedge, stopping the driver’s drive. I can’t recall ever seeing that since Travis Releford!
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I believe Coach Self is giving minutes now to players he thinks will help the most down the line. Garret is the team’s best defender and best rebounder and once his offense comes around he will be a valuable contributor later in the season.
I have been pleasantly surprised by Cunliffe. Based on what I saw earlier, I did not think he would contribute much but I am changing my mind and now think that he will contribute this season and with his athleticism and strength he can almost play PF. If Preston becomes available, it is a whole new ballgame and KU is back as a top 5 team.
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Agreed, Doke is getting better by the minute!
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Match ups for Texas have me baffled. Who’s going to guard ba da ba da Bamba if he continues to hang out on the three stripe?
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@wrwlumpy billy, Marcus
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Billy won’t be playing
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That benefits us if he’s hanging around the perimeter. That’s a waste. Advantage KU
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@BeddieKU23 - agreed. Bamba is something like 3 of 19 from 3 point land this year. Leave him out there…
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HighEliteMajor said:
Initially, I think Garrett is really deferring on offense. He’s a freshman, he’s not shooting well from 3, and we have other scorers. So he should. His defense last night was really good. In the first half, he was on the floor for our run when we stretched the lead. I saw someone comment something to the effect of, what use is it to have a good defender when your team isn’t good one defense – meaning, why have Garrett on the floor. The defense part is critical. What I didn’t see from Garrett last night was aggressive rebounding. There were a couple of times he kind of stood there without attacking the glass.
I will say that I thought Cunliffe looked pretty good defensively last night, as well. I would be interested if anyone else thought that.
I noticed Newman really blocking out; maybe a coaching point heading in.
What almost puzzles me most about Newman is that the guy does not attack the rim. He rarely shoots free throws. He’s got a quick first step. Seems like he should look to attack the rim much more than he does.
We only shot 18 three pointers last night. Makes me wonder.
The Self-speak on Preston continues to be entertaining. He finds new ways to say the same thing, which is really nothing.
Then on Silvio SammyDeSosa (per @wissox), Self injects the word “appeal” in the equation last night, saying the plan would be he could be here on the 26th, and then references and “appeal.”
Here’s what was stated at kusports.com - Self said he continued to believe the final word about De Sousa’s eligibility at Kansas would come Friday — “We think by tomorrow,” he said — before adding, “Unless there’s some hiccup and then we may have to appeal something, but we feel by tomorrow.”
I agree with you about Sam’s defense. Looks to me the times I’ve seen when he is on the floor he is a pretty good defender. Seems to have pretty good footwork - -slides his feet really well.
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HighEliteMajor said:
@BeddieKU23 I just looked, Newman has only shot 11 free throws all season, and he is shooting 100% (11 for 11). Mason shot more than 11 free throws in a game at least 7 times last season.
This team as a whole is not getting to the line, I can’t remember the stat now but has been mentioned several times which it should. I know that we are really low I think we are the lowest in the big 12 at free throw attempts.
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@JayHawkFanToo I, too, am high on both Garrett and Cunliffe. And if Preston does not become eligible, maybe DeSousa can eventually climb the ladder to meaningful minutes. This could become a very different Jayhawk squad by March; a 7 man lineup transforming into a rare Bill Self 9-man fighting crew. Through the transformation Newman must find his niche and break out of a scoring slump. When he finds his angles we are looking at another 15 pt. scorer.
