Bold Proposal
-
Immediately, move Svi to point guard. Do not…repeat, do not back off. The kid might be the only player on the squad who sees the court and is capable of thinking and taking action a step ahead of opponents. Crisp passes, no-stickem dribbling, constant motion. NOW is the moment. Do not wait!
-
@REHawk Either that or get him some good looks from 3 - but since that’s out of the question, why not at least let him create?
When was the last time we had at least 1 3-point shooter who was truly part of the offense? BMac? If so, how did he get his shots? Was it really only inside-out all the time? No screens?
-
Graham subs for Svi; Mason subs for Selden; Greene for Oubre; Traylor for Ellis (or Alexander); Lucas for Alexander. Starting 5, most games: Svi, Selden, Oubre, Ellis, Alexander. Mickelson, spot duty for shot blocking. Manning for psychological salt to be administered grimly.
-
I have seen Svi play and yes his passes are crisp and he does not hold the ball, this is what the 2 does; his dribbling is not up to speed to bring the ball up court against the press, which is what the opposing team would do. Not too many 6’8" players can play PG, yes, Magic did it but he was one of a kind, had a bigger body and strength to protect the ball and had played at that position his entire life. I would say play Svi at the 2 and let him distribute the ball from that position and move Selden to SF. Just my 2 cents.
-
And he is leading the team in assist per game average.
-
@REHawk No doubt he’s the most consistent guy we’ve put on the floor yet. Now is the best damn time-at home, mid major, have a plan B or C if necessary, er…ugh,…well at least a plan B. Maybe Bill won’t really try the same thing expecting different results? Sounds great-DO IT NOW !!!
-
@REHawk I like the bold prediction and the outside of the box thinking. I doubt it will happen, though. If it does I will somehow have to figure out how to buy you a beer as you will deserve it for making such a ballsy proposal. Frank and Devonte are far closer to the Bill Self PG mold. Highly doubt that Bill shuffles things around much. He is Bill Self. Undoubtedly one of the great coaches of the last 20 years in the NCAA but very stubborn and only plays his way.
I think it is more realistic to have Svi start at the 2 with Selden at the 3. Those spots can be pretty much the same so not sure it matters who is playing what. I would like to see a starting rotation of Frank, Selden, Svi, Cliff and Perry with Jamari and Greene and Oubre off the bench quickly for some energy and some shooting.
-
The problem with Selden at 2 or 3 is he can’t trifectate. The only place to use Selden is at the 1. Svi and Greene at 2 and 3. Svi handles it under pressure, Selden handles when no pressure.
Trey balling is the only way to free the little bigs.
Outside-in.
-
Let’s look at this for a moment … we lost 72-40. Could it have been worse? Who cares? 92-40, 72-40, what’s the difference?
I like this post because it focuses on the only thing that’s important – winning a national title.
The question for coach Self is, “Can we win a national title as constructed?”
Prior to last season’s NCAA tourney, my thought was to change our approach slightly, play fast, play small, etc. Would that have made sense in 2012-13? No, it would not have. That is because, as constructed, we had a reasonable shot at the national title as constructed. In 2013-14, with the loss of Embiid and a season of horrific defense, we did not.
That’s why I like this post. And that would be my question – “Can we win a national title as constructed?”
If I am consistent with anything, it is that I value ball handling. It is virtual necessity. But if our point guard play in anyway resembles what we saw Tuesday, or last season from Self, it is a lost cause. Crappy play trumps ball handling.
This is much like last season where we debated zone defense. The fact is, right here at kubuckets.com, we diagnosed our defensive deficiencies by early December. Many advocated a switch to zone. That was clearly the reasonable choice – one thing we know is that sticking with man was the wrong answer. We know the result, which was the worst defensive team of Self’s era.
I wouldn’t make a switch now. I would, however, keep my mind open. If a switch was made and Svi or Selden were made the PG, it would have to come with the idea that we have a significant Achilles’ heal. The press, the pressure (see OSU’s 3/4 court 2-2-1), etc., could lead directly to losses. But we would still have solutions on the bench. And we really don’t know how well Svi, for example, could handle the ball in those situations. And we don’t know the level of Selden’s improvement.
Quite frankly, Mason’s regression in the last game is very concerning to me. I did not fathom that he could put together such a horrible performance – the driving into the trees and throwing up garbage thing. I thought he was past that. That’s real concerning.
I’m withholding judgment though. Let’s see what the next four games brings us.
A less dramatic solution is suggested by @jaybate-1.0 – Play “Outside In.”
Holy crap! Could it be that simple? Who in the world would think to focus an attack on your strength, to open up your weakness? To adjust based on your personnel?
I know many guys that would do just that. Problem is, I know one guy that wouldn’t.
-
No, no no. LOL. Devonte is our point guard, and he will lead us to many wins in his 4 year career here. He will take over the point, stabilize the team, and help that offense run better than anybody else on that team. We need Svi to hit his 3 point shot - he needs to focus on his shot and adjusting to life at KU at age 17, not running a team.
-
@jaybate-1.0 The three little Bigs.
-
According to KU’s Facebook page the starters are Mason, Selden, Svi, Perry and Lucas. Did not see that last one coming.
-
@joeloveshawks Me neither. I would have started Oubre (even though I thought Svi looked good against UK…all relative) to avoid the revolving door. But…what we don’t know is what has been happening at practice. Clearly rewarding who has been the best at practice.
-
@HighEliteMajor layed down another power post and he got what I am getting at.
Start strength.
Position weakness where it could score if open.
Originate attack with strength.
Let strength force help.
Pass to weakness that help leaves open.
Weakness scores as if it were strength.
Repeat until help stays with weakness.
Crush with strength.
This works in every competitive game I have played.
Ergo even though your outside shooting may not be great, if it were stronger than your inside game, then you start attacking from your outside shooting to make your weakness inside into a viable strength.
It’s the same thing you do when your bigs are stronger than your outside shooters.
Inside out.
Or outside in.
It depends on where your strengths are.
And this why I keep harping on Svi AND Greene being the keys to the team. They are tall and good shooting wings–the only strengths we have that could make our weakness–our little bigs–into strengths after help shifts.
-
And action, like ball screening outside with our big guarded by their tallest defender follows like day after night.
-
HA! A day after posting my BOLD PROPOSAL I still get a chuckle regarding its thesis. Certainly opened decent discussion and feedback. And, yeah, bound not to happen. We think by now that we know Bill Self well enough to understand that he will not waste a minute of practice time engaging in something this far out of the box. In truth, of all the Div. 1 coaches I have watched, Billy Tubbs might be the only guy who would seriously consider such a move. Anyway, thanks to responders. A fun proposal…and maybe not so outrageous as it would appear, on first reading.
-
“The kid might be the only player on the squad who sees the court and is capable of thinking and taking action a step ahead of opponents.”
Isn’t it amazing that it took having a player like Svi to realize how little of the court the rest of the team sees?
-
He did it! Not at the start, but there was a point in the second half where Svi, Kelly, and Greene were all on the court at the same time. They pressured and it did seem to get to us a bit. At least once the ball was tipped out of bounds trying to get it across half court. Not sure, but it seemed that was a result of Greene or Kelly being out of position.
-
We will see Svi start at PG for sure if Graham’s shoulder sep stretches out to a month, Coach. Not far fetched.
