Texas Down, Four to Go Until Morgantown



  • @jaybate-1.0 imagine if he was playing for Coach Self?



  • @RockChalkinTexas

    Flat out best game report by any of us ever!!!

    The pro journos would be envious of what you turned out that looked so effortless and flowed so well.

    Lucky us for having you at the game!!!



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    Ring time!



  • @jaybate-1.0 Bamba would have more posts moves



  • Instead, clueless Shaka gets Bamba.



  • @RockChalkinTexas

    Great stuff. Love hearing this up close side of things

    So what your saying about Preston is he needs to pay back money to get eligible and they don’t have it? Sad Situation.



  • @BeddieKU23 Yep. That was the gist of what Gary said. OK. Here are the pics. from pregame. Just throwing them out there for anyone who cares to see things a little up and close by a fellow Bucketeer and a few pics from the local press. We had several “floor burns” and was good to see. One other observation - Sam did work out with the starters while Doke worked with Clay, Chris et al. I think you can see from these that Malik stayed in warm ups throughout and looked lackluster (imo).

    0_1514660502501_1.JPG 0_1514660598076_2.JPG 0_1514660613945_3.JPG 0_1514660723664_4.JPG 0_1514660739959_5.JPG



  • 0_1514660766215_6.JPG 0_1514660774001_7.JPG (Matt Tait in the background) 0_1514660819991_8.JPG 0_1514660836046_9.JPG 0_1514660850011_10.JPG 0_1514660858314_11.JPG 0_1514660871079_12.JPG 0_1514660881801_13.JPG 0_1514660892153_14.JPG



  • 0_1514660929239_15.JPG 0_1514660941983_16.JPG 0_1514660949707_17.JPG 0_1514660958941_18.JPG 0_1514660967243_19.JPG 0_1514660974976_20.JPG



  • 0_1514661022643_21.JPG 0_1514661035891_22.JPG 0_1514661047765_23.JPG Who likes short shorts? I like short shorts!

    0_1514661084795_24.JPG 0_1514661093974_25.JPG 0_1514661103407_26 +.JPG And the 4 people I met at the restaurant are in this picture in the row in the stands. Small world. ROCK CHALK!!



  • 0_1514661222436_27.JPG 0_1514661234106_28.JPG 0_1514661246215_29.JPG Boog Sciambi has gained A LOT of weight.

    0_1514661281389_30.JPG 0_1514661293436_31.JPG I took this pic off of the ESPN monitor!

    0_1514661321204_32.JPG



  • 0_1514661400771_34.JPG 0_1514661417041_35.JPG 0_1514661436137_36.JPG 0_1514661453978_37me.JPG Me and Gary

    0_1514661474935_38.JPG New board

    0_1514661501469_40.JPG Devonte’ getting interviewed post game

    0_1514661531151_41.JPG 0_1514661546289_ss.JPG HaHaHaHaHaHaHa

    0_1514661579537_svi.JPG 0_1514661599530_vick.JPG

    That’s it folks. I’ll have to try and figure out how to get a few from my phone to here. Off to watch Duke. The 4 I met are supposed to email me some of their pictures. They had iphones - I have crappy old one.

    Happy New Year KU Buckets! May 2018 be a healthy one for all Jayhawks. I’ve been through a lot this past year and owe you all a big thanks for getting me through it with all your love and support.



  • @jaybate-1-0 Slow down on the Bamba = Embiid comparisons! He did that against a team with only one other big. Impressive sure, but we were already seeing signs of Joels footwork which far exceeds Bambi’s, even when Joel was a frosh!



  • @RockChalkinTexas that’s what friends are for! You make it easy! Thx for making the game fun for us too! Happy healthy new year to you too!



  • wissox said:

    @jaybate-1-0 Slow down on the Bamba = Embiid comparisons! He did that against a team with only one other big. Impressive sure, but we were already seeing signs of Joels footwork which far exceeds Bambi’s, even when Joel was a frosh!

    Bamba is not close to Embiid on offense.



  • @wissox

    To which I respond:

    9 feet 6 inch wing span.

    If this measurement is accurate, everything has changed but the way we think!!

    He is every bit as good as Joel was at the same age. He just has a ka-ka coach.

    Forget whether he is better. He is just an awesome player and along with Azuibuke and Embiid forms a triad of Big Man Era 6.0 to add to Walker.

    1.0 Mikan, Lovellette and Kurland

    2.0 Russell, Chamberlain, Thurmond

    3.0 Jabbar, Walton Gilmore

    4.0 Malone Olajuwon, Parrish, Ewing, Robinson, Sampson

    5.0 Shaquille, Duncan, Nowitzki, Manning (4.0 and 5.0 kind of run together)

    6.0 Davis, Embiid, Bamba, Azuibuke



  • @jaybate-1.0 Bamba is at or above Unibrow level lane protection.



  • mayjay said:

    @dylans It might not be conventional wisdom, but it might be wise to run clock on the road when you have a team with hardly any subs, your best shooter has 3 or 4 fouls, and your best big guy has 3 fouls and a bad back.

    Actually what you describe is conventional thinking, its how everyone does it, I just think its wrong. I’d take the layup. It’s how you built the lead, why pass up points? Prevent D in the NFL is bull too.

    Any points you score makes the clock that much more in your favor. I’m not saying jack up shots early on the clock, just take any easy buckets the d gives you until you can actually dribble out the clock.

    I love it when with 5 minuets left the other team stops doing what works and goes to running clock it gives us a fantastic chance to come back.



  • @RockChalkinTexas

    I really enjoyed your post, almost like being there.😊👍



  • @dylans Good ideas, provided we had access to layups, easy or otherwise.



  • @jaybate-1.0 Speaking of learning, Doke went into the locker at half time and the pre-game plan of using his roll to the middle jump hook was wiped out by Stretch Armstrong. Doke became Kevin McHale and did the up and under thing to give him his daily double-double. He was rebounding much better. He’s getting better and better and better and better…



  • @mayjay both of which were hard to come by last night



  • @wrwlumpy tougher!



  • @wrwlumpy Yes, there was a halftime adjustment that allowed our lead to stretch to comfortable levels. A lot of it had to do with Dokes improved play.



  • Doke is really skilled in the post. Soft touch. Great footwork.



  • @HighEliteMajor Been a while since we could throw the ball to a post player and he took care of the ball and scored using multiple finishes.



  • I agree on Sam. The kid is good, really good. We just have too many guards. Although, Coach might want to think about giving him some more minutes regardless so our 35+ minute guys can get a breather every now and again and maybe reduce their chances for getting “knicked up” towards the end of the season when we really need them on court.

    Garrett over Newman. I doubt it’ll be a thing every game. Coach Self is probly just doing what he has always done. Bit of “toughening box” Newman is good, really good. I expect that he will start more often than not.

    Their biggest problem, to my untrained eyes, against the press is getting it in bounds. It takes them longer to in bound it than to break the press down. We don’t have Frank anymore. I think they’ll get better at press breaking. They’ll have to!

    Udoka IS a beast, that’s no stuff. But Bamba has him beat on quite a few things. I’m not trying to jump on the Texas band wagon. I’m just merely stating that Bamba is better than Dok at this point. I’m pretty sure Bamba is a top 3 lotto pick. Dok still has a bit more work to do.

    I loved our zone against Texas, I loved our trey shooting. MY GOD SVI can really knock it down! I think he may have went unconscious a time or two.

    I know I saw Udoka block AT LEAST one shot yet he did not get credit for it in the box score… WTF!?

    We gotta win at WVU. Freekin Huggy bear just called OU the best team in the Big 12. I mean, he might be right, but still. Its insulting.

    1. “Frank Mason - I know, the Texas game is what I’m talking about. But he got his second start tonight. Best PG in KU history. Hang his jersey in the rafters now.”

    Yep. Do it.

    Rock Chalk!



  • @Gunman that’s why the ASU game is so frustrating to me. He is a matchup advantage against everyone not named Bamba and Bagley and we barely used him in that game.



  • @HighEliteMajor Thanks for expanding on press break and breaking strategies. Quite informative.



  • HawkChamp said:

    @Gunman that’s why the ASU game is so frustrating to me. He is a matchup advantage against everyone not named Bamba and Bagley and we barely used him in that game.

    At least the team seems to be feeding Doke more lately.



  • @BShark yes and it will make us a better team going forward. Then with Billy and Silvio…



  • @RockChalkinTexas Loved your report. Hope all is well in Austin.



  • BeddieKU23 said:

    Has Newman made one play all season where you were like oh wow that’s nice? I watched him in particular last night and he picks and chooses where to exert effort. Some plays his defense is stellar, some plays offensively he makes the right read, pass etc but there is very little consistent effort in his game. If I was Self I’d be trying figure how to motivate him.

    I had the same thought last night, so I started looking for it. There was a decent dunk in transition I appreciated. But it was the expected play. Between this thought and I think @cragarhawk throwing out the Langford comp and the knowledge that 2 top 10 guys are coming in next year I’m concerned Malik is smack dab in the middle of the triangle of stress, injury and despair, and is far far away from being what he could be. I think he might get be a really good player I just don’t know that it can happen at Kansas.



  • I STILL have faith in Malik.🤨



  • @HawkChamp He’s not the same player.



  • @approxinfinity

    2 plays in particular stood out in the game in regards to Malik against Texas.

    I’ll start with the bad, the play where he drove to the hoop and bamba swatted the ball into the 15th row of the stands, doke is standing there all alone for a dunk but Newman still decides to try and float a shot over him. Selfish play in my honest opinion. Thats not a player buying in to the team. He knows Bamba is going to block it but he does it anyway. That would have been a oh WOW play.

    Now to the other play. Newman is guarding the pg at the top of the key. Bamba comes for a ball screen, malik fights through showing great lateral quickness, even though malik gets through the screen well our defender hedges in to stop penetration, at this point Roach is open for a 3, Newman correctly sprints to him instinctly to contest the shot and forces a bad miss that leads to a 3 pointer in transition at the other end. It was a great display of defense leading to offense that can be quickly forgotten if your not looking for that detail

    Obviously he’s not playing great and there could be a bunch of reasons why. All we can hope is he finds a way to turn it around



  • @BeddieKU23 There’s another Malik play that stands out to me. Tejas makes the bucket, and presses. Malik gets the inbound, and tries to dribble through a double team instead of passing to our wide open player standing near half court. He waits until the double team is closing in on him, then tries to pass over them, which gets blocked. As I recall, that was the only turnover their press created. If he handles the press the same way against WVU, we’ll get slaughtered.



  • Crimsonorblue22 said:

    I STILL have faith in Malik.🤨

    I do too…he will shake this off. Maybe not all league…but he will be better. I love his smooth drives to the basket…he needs to do that more often.



  • We need Malik healthy and playing closer to his potiental for ku to be a major threat. Heck, we need the entire team playing close to its potiental for six games to have a chance to win it all. One bad shooting nigh5 and it’s all over. This team doesn’t hang it’s hat on d.



  • dylans said:

    We need Malik healthy and playing closer to his potiental for ku to be a major threat. Heck, we need the entire team playing close to its potiental for six games to have a chance to win it all. One bad shooting nigh5 and it’s all over. This team doesn’t hang it’s hat on d.

    It’s kind of amazing the record is as good as it is with Malik being close to a non-factor. He was supposed to be one of our top 3 players.



  • @BShark @dylans Malik hasn’t been great but he hasn’t been that bad, averages 10.4 ppg (5th on team) and 4.8 rpg (4th on team) all while shooting a sub par 44% from the field and 36% from 3. But he his shooting 94% from the line, he needs to work on his shot and knowing when to pass for a better (averaging just .5 assists per game) shot. Most of his issues are correctable, he’s probably not ever gonna be the top 5 recruit he was rated but he is a very important player for this team going forward. I think you’ll see him start to play better here as the season keeps going. Having an ankle issue and a concussion definitely hasn’t helped, his worse game was after his concussion vs Nebraska but we don’t beat UK without him and Texas would’ve been tougher without him.



  • Garrett is starting again, idk if that has been posted yet.



  • @BShark figured he would, coach Self said Doke and Newman both wouldn’t practice today. If Garrett gets his shot figured out he would probably always start but shoot 41% from the floor, 19% from 3 and 58% from the line are what’s hurting his minutes. He can guard and pass good but the defense doesn’t have to respect his shot at all.



  • @KUSTEVE

    I mentioned that in another post that malik could be the type that is a turnover machine against press virginia



  • What is malik’s potential? If he’s not a different malik by the end of the of the Xmas break he is who he is. Garrett starting now says Self is clearly trying to motivate him by playing a freshman over him



  • @BeddieKU23 I’ve been in the Garrett camp as far as starting him over Newman for a while now (no secret there). Given our four out/one in scheme, the ability of the other three guards to score, and the luxury then of having Newman off the bench, I’d have Garrett as the starter. Makes perfect sensse.

    Garrett works in a lot of lineup contructions – but let’s fast forward to next season, playing conventionally (3 out/2 in). Let’s say we don’t get Langford. Doke and Vick turn pro. We start Lawson/DeSousa down low. I would have to really think about starting Garrett with Dotson and Grimes. If the other choice is Newman or Cunliffe (assuming he might score better), I’d likely go with Newman or Cunliffe. Another way Garrett might work in is if we are a bad a**, defense first, possession valuing team – what we might say is a real Bill Self team*. I think Garrett has a higher upside than Releford, but it’s a possible comparison. I expect Garrett to be one of our best players by his junior season.

    However, as we saw last game, Newman was in late. Game situations will dictate. Newman’s a much better free throw shooter than Garrett. And he seems to handle the ball better, at least from my eye.

    Another thing to note – Garrett’s PER has continued to go down. But his box score +/- is still high, and solidly higher than Newman.

    *Did anyone see the quotes from after the Texas game? Self saying we might shoot 40 3 pointers; DG saying Self is telling them to shoot anytime they are open? Who is this Bill Self, anyway, and what did he do with the real Bill Self?



  • HighEliteMajor said:

    @BeddieKU23 I’ve been in the Garrett camp as far as starting him over Newman for a while now (no secret there). Given our four out/one in scheme, the ability of the other three guards to score, and the luxury then of having Newman off the bench, I’d have Garrett as the starter. Makes perfect sensse.

    Garrett works in a lot of lineup contructions – but let’s fast forward to next season, playing conventionally (3 out/2 in). Let’s say we don’t get Langford. Doke and Vick turn pro. We start Lawson/DeSousa down low. I would have to really think about starting Garrett with Dotson and Grimes. If the other choice is Newman or Cunliffe (assuming he might score better), I’d likely go with Newman or Cunliffe. Another way Garrett might work in is if we are a bad a**, defense first, possession valuing team – what we might say is a real Bill Self team*. I think Garrett has a higher upside than Releford, but it’s a possible comparison. I expect Garrett to be one of our best players by his junior season.

    However, as we saw last game, Newman was in late. Game situations will dictate. Newman’s a much better free throw shooter than Garrett. And he seems to handle the ball better, at least from my eye.

    Another thing to note – Garrett’s PER has continued to go down. But his box score +/- is still high, and solidly higher than Newman.

    *Did anyone see the quotes from after the Texas game? Self saying we might shoot 40 3 pointers; DG saying Self is telling them to shoot anytime they are open? Who is this Bill Self, anyway, and what did he do with the real Bill Self?

    Been in the same camp as far as Garrett starting he has the intangibles that Newman doesn’t possess besides an occasional 3 BALL.

    Do you think his PER has gone down because of his lack of scoring?

    Telling that he prefers Newman in late but it’s nothing new for self with regards to an upperclassmen to a freshman

    The more minutes Marcus gets the better for next season



  • @BeddieKU23 “I said before the game, ‘We’re going to shoot 35 threes.’ First it was 40, then I said, ‘No that’s too many. Don’t shoot 40.’ I said we’d shoot 35 threes,” Self repeated after the Jayhawks knocked down 17 threes (most ever by a KU team in a conference game) in 35 attempts in a 92-86 victory over the Longhorns before a crowd of 15,082.


  • Banned

    Jesus? First Mitch now Newman. Is there any KU player worthy of playing this years team?

    Newman’s problem? He was taught from a very young age that he was the man. Sure fire NBA player. He’s finding out there is no sure fire thing. Work and more work is what is needed.

    He’ll be alright.


  • Banned

    Damn Graham you just don’t finish at the rim like Mason. Maybe you need to sit on the bench? Maybe you need to red shirt?