3 small steps forward, one gigantic step backwards...
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@JayHawkFanToo where will we drop to?
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It depends how voters see the loss. If they see it as not important (as Brennan of ESPN does) then 3 or 4 spots, otherwise upper teens?
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A fair perspective on the Big 12 power ranking.
http://www.rockchalktalk.com/2014/12/23/7440761/big-12-basketball-weekly-power-rankings
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I agree. Texas has all the pieces in place to win the conference, provided they can put said pieces together. If KU wants the Conference Title, it will really have to earn it; no gimmes this year. The conference is loaded with 7 teams in the top 25 as per Ken Pomeroy.
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I am glad to see that for the most part the posts on kubuckets are pretty reasonable. We are all of course disappointed and a bit concerned as you should not lose to an unranked team by 25 if you are KU. But hey, it happens. Unfortunately I read a number of posts on kusports and the negativity was incredible. āSeason is overā. āMay not make the tournamentā. āNo help on the way for next season eitherā. What is wrong with people? We got beat and it was awful and terrible but now we arenāt going to make the tournament? Give me a break. This may not be the 2008 team but we are going to be fineā¦exposed or not.
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@joeloveshawks Actually, I see this loss as pro forma. In every single season Self has coached KU (try saying that 10 times fast), heās dropped one game that was just a complete āWHAT THE HELLā kind of loss. Last year, it was WVU (or arguably Stanford, but they werenāt as bad as their seeding). Before that, TCU. Before that, Davidson. Before that, VCU, then UNI, UMass, OSU, Oral Roberts, Bradley, Bucknell, and finally Nebraska. If it happens before March, thereās this massive freak out, but we usually do pretty well in the dance. Itās the years where that game happened during the dance that are frustrating. Iād much rather be experiencing this right now.
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āā¦three defenders surround him and yet the remaining two opponents manage to cover our other four players who are standing like statues apparently mesmerized by Perryās spin moves.ā
Remnant behavior from last year when it was Wiggins they were all watching.
Is it legal for players to have a sack of popcorn with them on the court? You wonāt find better seats in the houseā¦
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@konkeyDong Exactly. You could even expand on this list if you wanted to. Also, this is not a Bill Self issue or a KU issue. Duke, Arizona, Cuse, UNC and all of the big boys (maybe not UK the last few years) have at least one game where they fall asleep and get embarrassed. It is just part of the long season that is college ball. The TCU game was FAR worse than this and that was a superior and far more senior KU squad. Donāt lose faith!!
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" I indicated before the season and continue to believe that Perry is a natural SF playing out of position at the PF."
He is a SFā¦ heāll never have a chance in the NBA as a PF, not even for a second. And he is getting his butt kicked in D1 at the PF.
But there is no reason why a guy his size canāt score inside. There have been much smaller guys that score a lot better than Perry can inside. His skill-set is one that he brought with him to Kansas. A skill-set that was developed against smaller players. He should be working on a totally different skill-set in D1.
There are four ways of scoring on a post player in the paint:
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Take the ball (and body) into the defender and elevate - this is what you do to draw contact and a foul. The defender either has to foul you or stand still while you score over him.
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Create scoring distance between the defender and the ball - use your body as a barrier and keep the ball far away enough so the defender canāt swat it.
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Race the defender to the backboard - when you are scoring from a side, all you have to do is get the ball to the backboard before the defender can swat it. If he swats it after it hits the backboard, he gets called for goal-tending.
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Use shot fakes to get the defender to leave his feet - another great way to get fouled on the shot, especially if you initiate contact.
Perry does the absolute worse thingā¦ He rarely fakes, he goes right at the defender, but not all the way into his body. He has no scoring space and he leaves enough space for the defender to contest his shot.
You would think the designer would be working on this.
Itās not too late for Perry, if, next summer, we can get him to play a summer of playground ball. Surely, there are games still out there somewhere!
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When this team loses to Robert Morris in the 1st Round of the NIT, then and only then will I be overly concerned. Problem is, when this team is good, itās very good, and when itās bad itās very bad!
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@approxinfinity Frank was the best player in a Kansas uniform, just like in the Kentucky game.
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@approxinfinity Good luck with that-- teams that lose games by 25 & 30 points donāt do ANYTHING in the tournament. Get ready for a first weekend exit come March.
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Kentucky has responded to losing in the NIT to Robert Morris with a trip to the championship game and likely a second National Championship in four years. Why would you be concerned if we lost to Robert Morris in the NIT?
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@JayHawkFanToo They always rebound from any loss. Very very rarely do we see a KU team lose two or 3 in a row. It just doesnt happen. Hasnt for decades
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@KUinLA Right, UCONN didnāt do anything in March last year after they got blown out by 30 against Louisvilleā¦or did they go on to win the National Championship?
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@Blown we will never be in the NIT!
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Weāll seeā¦
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@KUSTEVE Thanks for the chuckleā¦ āThe Most interesting team in the worldā
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@KUinLA : Unless we implode and go sub 0.500 in conference play I donāt see how we donāt make the NCAAs. Out of the top 25 KenPom RPI teams weāve played the toughest schedule and are 9-2. The only teams that weāve played that arenāt in the Top 100 are Lafayette at #137 and Rider at #182 so weāve havenāt played any UMKC or UNC Asheville cellar dwellers. Weāre 4-1 vs the top 50 with URI almost in the top 50 at 53.
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@KUinLA said:
@approxinfinity Good luck with that-- teams that lose games by 25 & 30 points donāt do ANYTHING in the tournament. Get ready for a first weekend exit come March.
I can disprove that with last yearās champion:
Louisville clinches share of AAC regular-season title with rout of UConn
One might argue that Louisville was a better team than Temple, but a 25 point loss in the season does not preclude victory in march.
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I love this team for beating Michigan St, Florida, Georgetown and Utah in a row. If they had lost any of those games, we would have expected it. The writers were calling for it. But they donāt like to lose. Theyāve proven that, by running that gauntlet.
So, they dropped an egg on 2 days rest right before Christmas, it doesnāt make me question their heart.
As others have statistically proven, our interior isnāt performing on either end as well as years past. But again, check out UConnās roster last yearā¦
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_Connecticut_Huskies_men%27s_basketball_team
ā¦and in 2010-2011ā¦
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Connecticut_Huskies_men%27s_basketball_team
While in 2010 they had one footer who played 15 mpg, otherwise both rosters are pretty comparable to ours in height.
I fully expect Self to understand the identity of this team and have the bigs playing well the diminished roles we need from them come March.
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@approxinfinity I completely agree. Iām feeling much better about this team while re-watching the Georgetown game. The free throw shooting against Temple showed me how tired they were.
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@Blown Because at that point, we would be a laughing stock. Thatās about as low as it could get. Never mind how someone responded, I mean what choice did they have. They were garbage. One thing for certain is, in the last 30 years, we have not been garbage. I certainly never want to see our Program sink to that level. That is my point! We are 9-2, the sky is not falling.
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@approxinfinity well said Approx
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Well that just goes to show what a good coach who knows how to prepare his team for the tournament can do. As opposed toāour guy.
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@KUinLA Yesā¦āwoe is usā. Puhleez. 82% win percent, and you talk about him like he was a stray mutt.
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"So, they dropped an egg on 2 days rest right before Christmas, it doesnāt make me question their heart. "
I question everyone on this team except Frank Mason. Mason was the only one that brought game, and even though he was surrounded by Jayhawks who brought nothing, he refused to give up the ship. That is a guy that has heart in my books.
When I see a team absolutely bring nothing to a game, regardless if it is just before Christmas or a man landing on the moon, I see a team that has to MANUFACTURE enthusiasm in order to have it. Those are always teams that have an uphill battle with enthusiasm. They will do this again. And they are very capable of doing this in March, and probably will.
I get mad at Self for saying things like this:
āI think, yes, they were ready to go home and see their families. Iām not going to make excuses for our guys at all. We donāt talk like this, (but) it was not very smart to play Lafayette Saturday, travel and not practice really, and play them on Monday. We added to the lack of energy by also being a tired team,ā Self said.
Making an excuse about being tired is pathetic. These are kids in the best shape of their lives, and a game is only 40 frigginā minutes long.
I used to play on what was called ātournament teamsā that would travel the Midwest and play in tournaments held in cities and towns. Sometimes we would play 3 games in one day! That was exhausting, and we still didnāt play the ātired cardā if we lost. Playing every couple of days, even if they travel, should not be exhausting for these guys.
That comment was a big cop out and the only thing it did was enable the players with a bogus excuse, so they can use that one again the next time they lay an egg.
Pathetic.
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@drgnslayr I remain very optimistic about this team. We have never had a team that I can ever remember that didnāt lose games they shouldāve won. National championship teams, and national runnersup teams that flat blew it at times. It was a horrible game- no excuses, BUT itās still one game out of forty.
This team hasnāt developed yet, and are nowhere near as good as they will be by March. By March, Cliff and Kelly are going to be winning games for us, and Devonte ( praying for good health for this kid ) will be taking lots of pressure off Frank, which I think helps Frankās game.
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I totally agree. Iām just giving them a good tongue lashing for not showing up.
I gripe a lot, but that was how I was coached as a player. When we screwed up we were yelled at, and we deserved it. The screaming helped motivate us to not do it again, and usually we didnāt make the same mistakes twice.
One thingā¦ we were never criticized for not showing up, even if it was the third game played in the same day. I donāt understand that partā¦ being soft!
Iām old and Iām out of shape, but if asked, Iād run 40 minutes, 3 times a day. I might kill over afterwards, but I wouldnāt lack hustle!
I hope someone carves this on my tombstone.
" Here rests āMr. Hustleā "
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@drgnslayr Maybe we shouldāve had you in the locker room at halftimeā¦lol. We need to toughen upā¦
