Emporia State EXI



  • This is not the same thing as Wiggins just coasting. This is more like he shies away from trying to be THE scorer when he needs to because he is the best.

    Grimes is not the physical specimen that Wiggins was and therefore not the guaranteed Top 5 pick Wiggins would have been either. He will have to show out at the college level to be a lottery pick.



  • @stoptheflop If Coach Self can get Wiggs to play good ball, then he can get Grimes to do it. Never met the kid but I bet he has more heart in his pinky than Wiggs does in is whole body.



  • @Kcmatt7 I watched Grimes compete in the FIBA tournament and was impressed with his size. The roster says 6’5", 210. He has broad shoulders and isn’t afraid to defend bigger guys in the paint. He played bigger than a shooting guard in the FIBA tourney last summer.



  • Powerful legs too



  • Lulufulu said:

    @stoptheflop If Coach Self can get Wiggs to play good ball, then he can get Grimes to do it. Never met the kid but I bet he has more heart in his pinky than Wiggs does in is whole body.

    Part of it with Grimes is he has such a good basketball mind that he always just wants to make the right theoretical play even if that was a pass to a player that is less likely to score than he is.

    Given that he will be surrounded with much more talent at KU than he was in HS/AAU that should help him as well.



  • @BShark @Crimsonorblue22

    I remember way back when, before many Bucketeers were even a glint in their parents’ eyes–heck, before some of their parents were even a glint in the g-parents’ eyes–that the huge knock on Amos Otis was that he “wasn’t giving 100%,” or he got by on “superstar talent with journeyman effort,” and stuff like that. He stole bases and made it look easy, so why didn’t he try harder and steal more? He could cover 36,000 acres in centerfield, so why didn’t he catch that one at the wall in right center? He trotted to first on groundouts to the pitcher, but shouldn’t you run every time? Then Brett came in, who blew every one away with his crazy full-bore hustle, probably cementing Otis’s legacy as not givlng it all. The performance by Cain in the WS years was hailed as an Otis with the “right” approach, with all those advanced metrics to document his superhuman feats.

    Looking back at Otis, and now Wiggins, I think that people see those guys as blessed with ability that enables them to perform spectacularly all the time if they would just try harder, or focus more. But I think the reality is that no one in history can be spectacular all the time. Even Wilt, with the single greatest and longest variation of statistical excesses over average in basketball, was accused of not doing everything he could (couldn’t beat Russell, so he must not have been a team player, etc). I think what we see is that these guys are so fluid in their movements that we think they are taking it easy when they really are giving it all. Sometimes, circumstances (a rebound at just the right angle, an opening in the line in football, a reachable line drive n the gap, etc) provide the uniquely talented some opportunities for the spectacular, but we err in thinking spectacular can ever be routine.

    “He makes it look so easy” is one of the worst things that can be said about an athlete. These sports are not easy for anyone, and that is why very, very few athletes (even the greatest hustlers in history) have few seasons spectacularly exceeding the mean. If it were simply effort, we would not see the very ones we extol as examples of better effort regress in years we forget or don’t pay as much attention to.

    Now, I agree that “focus” obviously is different. Not paying attention to a coach’s play-calling, making dumb fouls, not blocking out, passing to someone who isn’t there… All these are things we have seen every athlete do. I just think they are magnified when a guy who “makes it look easy” does them.

    Sometimes a tiny bit of luck can play a big role in perception. If just a couple each game of Mahome’s wild scrambles had resulted in fumbles, or his tipped passes in more interceptions, we would not be as happy. People would say he was trying too hard, and that he needed to focus better. When, not if, his performance regresses toward the mean this year or in the future, or when, not if, he isn’t setting or tying records each game, I just hope people will attribute it to the usual trends of athletic performance and not think he has gotten complacent or stopped giving it his all.



  • @mayjay AO isn’t that far back; I watched him play in the 70’s when I sat in the cheap outfield seats back when I was at KU. $5 for a seat then. That was a fun time for Royals fans. George Brett, et al.



  • stoptheflop said:

    @Kcmatt7 I watched Grimes compete in the FIBA tournament and was impressed with his size. The roster says 6’5", 210. He has broad shoulders and isn’t afraid to defend bigger guys in the paint. He played bigger than a shooting guard in the FIBA tourney last summer.

    Thought the same, he looks every bit of 6’5 on the court. He’s physically ready to handle the battle’s he’ll be in



  • @stoptheflop They got him in 1970, I think. Traded Joe Foy to the Mets. 48 years ago!!! 48 way-too-freaking-fast years ago! My entire post jr high life!

    Almost a half-century. Just think, 48 years before that was 1922, 4 years after WWI. So, practically halfway back to WWI. WAY TOO MANY YEARS AGO!

    Sorry…feeling my mortality today. But maybe I will have another 48. I’d only be 110. But at least then when I rant and rattle on people will just attribute it to being an old geezer.



  • @mayjay Loved him.



  • “You know what? I don’t know that it does matter. I’ll visit with my staff when I get back and we’ll evaluate practice today," Self said. "I think there’s a good chance Doke and Lagerald and Dedric will start. After that, I don’t know if we’ll go with some experience or throw the young kids out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if we go with two different starting lineups in the first two games just to see how they react, but don’t read into who starts.”



  • @mayjay

    This one is just for you…

    0_1540486852639_upload-2754a62e-9d99-435b-b7b7-38698e9726f5



  • FarmerJayhawk said:

    Same. I’m tired of just talking legalese and rumors. I do post a lot on those just because it’s what I’ve done for a living, but I like actual basketball more. If I had to guess, I’d say the starters will be Dotson, Grimes, K.J., Dedric, and Doke. Though it would be zero surprise to see Vick starting at the 3. I’m like 90% sure Devon has shown the staff enough to claim the PG spot over Charlie. He’s probably better suited as a canned offense guy off the bench.

    This comment is exactly how I feel too. I’ll add that I hope Marcus Garrett plays a lot this season.



  • @JayHawkFanToo One of the best scenes in history. KAJ pulled it off, and so did the kid.

    So, you earned another LOL! I am appointing you Official Comic Scene Finder to underscore all the important points I make. And, you will be happy to know, this important job does not require an FBI background check or taking testimony from anyone you knew in HS!



  • I’ve always watched the exhibition games on my appleTv with ESPN3 for FREE. Looks like its ESPN+ this time and it costs…UGH



  • @BigBad 4.99 plus tax for a month! Some times there’s a free trial period. I think you get the pre and post game action. I’m anxious to hear Vick speak🗣



  • @Crimsonorblue22 Can my $5 go towards our recruits? 😜



  • @BigBad I have cox and espn+. I also have fox sports to go. I get most Vb games, a few soccer and the first(?) fb game. I love the interviews in the post game segment.



  • BigBad said:

    I’ve always watched the exhibition games on my appleTv with ESPN3 for FREE. Looks like its ESPN+ this time and it costs…UGH

    reddit.com/r/ncaabballstreams

    👀



  • I’m actually paying for ESPN+, but if you don’t want to, check that link a little before tip-off.



  • Also it’s on 38 the Spot tonight right?



  • Kcmatt7 said:

    Also it’s on 38 the Spot tonight right?

    Correct. But only people near KC can get that.



  • @BShark Just wanted to throw it out there



  • Or Cox 2022 or 22



  • @BShark ya I’m paying for ESPN Plus too – eh 4.95 a month no biggie lol



  • I’m excited to see how good Dedric really is, Self doesn’t praise a guy like that often. “Best passer on the team”, “we simply have no one who can guard him”, etc.



  • @Kcmatt7

    Half an hour pre-game and one hour post-game as well…sweeeeeeet!!!



  • Finally, the season is here. The quest for number 15 and a National Championship begins. Dotson gets the start at point.



  • Former Jayhawk Nick Bahe who transferred to Creighton is doing the commentary/color.



  • Dotson Grimes Vick Dedric Dok



  • LETSSSS GOOOOOOOOOO



  • Let’s go Jayhawks.



  • Not sure if Dedric could jump over a dollar bill. 🤔



  • Dok…



  • Glad Self let Vick start at the 3.



  • This ESPN app is sooo much better than the watchespn app.



  • Yeah this is rough lol



  • Lawson needs to stop trying to do everything.



  • approxinfinity said:

    Lawson needs to stop trying to do everything.

    I don’t think that’s the issue rn



  • I think so. both those last possessions were where he was the scorer not the facilitator. easy buckets.



  • Grimes is an NBA PG



  • Beautiful passing. Much better.



  • We can absolutely run a lineup where nobody is shorter than 6’5. Grimes looks very comfortable on the ball.



  • Kcmatt7 said:

    We can absolutely run a lineup where nobody is shorter than 6’5. Grimes looks very comfortable on the ball.

    He’s a PG for sure.



  • Dedric is going to be fun as hell to watch!



  • Woodrow said:

    Dedric is going to be fun as hell to watch!

    If he could jump he’d be in the NBA right now LOL.



  • Dedric already has like 10 points and 5 boards. Yeesh!





  • Dedric Lawson is a cheat code.

    Also that pass by Grimes was very nice, and good to see Devon drive it.



  • I like that our PG can be score first with a point forward.


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