Self talking about the team



  • so far…

    Bryce is not playing like a 5 star.

    Grant-Foster has been hurt

    Garrett is the PG.

    Thinks they will score easier 1-5

    Says Agbaji is a better shooter this yr.

    Braun and Enaruna have been “good”



  • @BeddieKU23 poker face.





  • Interesting to note Bill listed Jalen as one of the three shooters on the team that he “trusts”. Maybe he plays more than we thought.



  • @BShark what’s going on w/Bryce? Not playing like a 5 star🤷♀😷



  • @Crimsonorblue22 Coach talk imo. Remember Dedric was the best passer Self has ever had and Q was as good of a guard as Self has ever had. Different guys are handled differently and Bryce has a great attitude and work ethic.



  • @approxinfinity

    He said other things as well including Jalen Wilson which surprised. Harris having a year helped him and the team…

    As a team the biggest issue I think he sees is what big man can defend in the post and late in shot clocks on switches. Did seem confident in Garrett at PG and thinks he will score more then 10/11 a game. Looking for Agbaji to be a better shooter which in turn will impact his all around game.



  • Bryce is being pushed. No worries. He likes it. He needs it. He’s the guy on a shortened stopwatch, so we’ve got to get his game up to snuff quick!



  • @BeddieKU23

    I wonder if Big Mac took dance lessons? It’s what he needed to improve his agility.



  • @drgnslayr

    I think with the disaster of an offseason this has been I would expect Dave is more or less the player we saw last yr. There are things with him that I think will always be lacking. Hopefully now that he is the guy that has to lead that it brings out the best in him. Unfortunately I expect the frontcourt to be the weakest part of the team and that’s not throwing shade but recognizing how good Doke was and how far the drop is to what returned



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Self talking about the team:

    @drgnslayr

    I think with the disaster of an offseason this has been I would expect Dave is more or less the player we saw last yr. There are things with him that I think will always be lacking. Hopefully now that he is the guy that has to lead that it brings out the best in him. Unfortunately I expect the frontcourt to be the weakest part of the team and that’s not throwing shade but recognizing how good Doke was and how far the drop is to what returned

    I think it’s possible that we don’t see any big with 25+ minutes a game. It’s the last hurrah for Mitch and Silvio.

    Udoka was incredible.



  • The offense is going to look very different this season than last year. Last year, the offense went through Some and that won’t happen this year because Dave isn’t a dominant low post monster. This year’s offense should be much more about motion, screens, and picks because driving to the basket is going to be the strength of the offense this year. Have Dave come up and set screens/picks for Garrett and Thompson, stick Braun in a corner and have whoever the 4 in the game at the time is clean up the offensive glass if needed.

    I don’t see a big drop off, if any, in offense this season, just a different looking offense. Defense is where the drop off will be and that’s because Dave isn’t the rim protector Doke was. That said, this team will be extremely long like some of the early 2010 teams were. KU won’t have anyone under 6-5 on the floor most of the time and they have two guys that can very effectively guard 1-4 in Garrett and Agbaji.

    This season may not be as elite as last season, but this is still a team more than capable of making the Final Four and being a title contender.

    To me, the biggest X-factor on this team is going to be Silvio. Now that he’s had an off-season of not dealing with NCAA crap, hopefully the light will come on for him this season and him and Dave can split the time at the 5 equally. We know Silvio’s potential, it’s just a matter of the light coming on for him to consistently be the player he was in the 2018 B12 tournament.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10

    Very intuitive post. I can see it going much the same way you do. It is easy to have concerns because of who we lost from last year. Doke leading the world in FG% is a tough loss, and I think we finally give full appreciation of what we had with Dotson. He did all the little things that don’t get noticed. Still… we have lots of possibilities and it will be a question of who steps up. Opportunities for everyone on this team to prove themselves.

    I do like the approach of lots of utility players with height. We will just have to see if they can mesh it into a cohesive unit. Self has already given us clues to expect perhaps more than we do now as we seem to still be mourning the loss of the tournament last year that we should have been a contender for.

    Usually, I’m excited for Hawk hoops all through the summer… while I’m watering tomato plants. This year… didn’t really have a thought towards much sports. I just now feel a bit of excitement again. It started after buying a pumpkin. Kind of a pavlovian response (I think).



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 the biggest question to me is “how good of a 3pt shooting team will we be?” The charity stripe won’t be nearly the adventure it was with Doke on the floor. However, with Marcus on ball, unless he got a lot sharper from 3, the D can sag off and help. Yes, we will be good driving the ball, but good defenses can probably stifle our scoring, and since 3>2, with a bad tourney draw, could still amount to an early exit.



  • @BShark said in Self talking about the team:

    Interesting to note Bill listed Jalen as one of the three shooters on the team that he “trusts”. Maybe he plays more than we thought.

    yikes. I do not like this.



  • I love the roster from a depth/athleticism standpoint though.

    They should be a top 5 team defensively again. I’d say at least half of the minutes will be played with nobody shorter than 6’5 on the court. They have the length to really be a nuisance.

    I think this may be the year Bill brings back the 3-2… Perfect team for it. Put Garrett up top, Thompson and TGF on the wings in the passing lanes. Enaruna and a big in the post.

    Clearly going to struggle to score at times this year unless Ochai can bring some stability. But he was streaky last season. It’ll be interesting to see if Bryce can grow in to that roll of the go to scorer though.

    I’ll be curious to see who starts. I really like Garrett, Bryce, Braun, Ochai and Big Dave. Harris, Enaruna and TGF the first three off the bench.

    We really need to see Silvio take a leap this year. Just mentally. Because if it is Silvio of last year or Mitch as backup C, that is no bueno.



  • @approxinfinity said in Self talking about the team:

    @Texas-Hawk-10 the biggest question to me is “how good of a 3pt shooting team will we be?” The charity stripe won’t be nearly the adventure it was with Doke on the floor. However, with Marcus on ball, unless he got a lot sharper from 3, the D can sag off and help. Yes, we will be good driving the ball, but good defenses can probably stifle our scoring, and since 3>2, with a bad tourney draw, could still amount to an early exit.

    Last year KU was actually an average or even slightly above average shooting team. Of course we would like to see improvement, but I found that interesting looking at the numbers. It wasn’t that bad.

    It felt bad though, for sure.



  • @approxinfinity Being able to drive the ball will lead to a lot of trips to the FT lime which will offset some of the 3 point shooting though. Also, this team is going to be elite defensively on the perimeter so I don’t see very many teams being able to torch KU from deep next season.





  • @BShark

    Jalen down 15 pounds. That was telling there





  • @BeddieKU23 might’ve been his hair🤣



  • @BShark so if we are identifying ourselves as a defensively elite team, which I can buy ( @Texas-Hawk-10 's point) , my gut reaction about Jalen is that he gives us a “different look” but does not fit the core identity of the team. What we gain in 3 pt shooting we lose in foot speed. My assumptions about him may be outdated.



  • @approxinfinity

    Jalen isn’t recognizable from last year. He’s changed that much. I’m not even talking about the hair. Though… a big hair change like that usually symbolizes other changes, too.

    It will be impossible to keep that kid out of the lineup because of his aggression. We’ve got so many unproven players this year, and if Jalen brings the aggression he was famous for, along with his increased athleticism…

    We need someone to spark the offense. With this much youth, and our experienced players aren’t famous for offense… we need several of the young players stepping up and producing.



  • Someone is not going get the minutes they want.

    TGF, Enaruna or Wilson.

    I just don’t see a way you play all of them. Braun played so well last year he’s going to get minutes. Thompson is supposed to be our ringer. Ochai is Ochai. Garrett is Garrett.

    So one of those three is likely to have a few DNPs



  • @Kcmatt7 said in Self talking about the team:

    Someone is not going get the minutes they want.

    TGF, Enaruna or Wilson.

    I just don’t see a way you play all of them. Braun played so well last year he’s going to get minutes. Thompson is supposed to be our ringer. Ochai is Ochai. Garrett is Garrett.

    So one of those three is likely to have a few DNPs

    Completely agree. Regardless of what we think Ochai is locked in as a starter with Garrett and Dave.

    Thompson and Braun both play.

    Harris by virtue of actually being a guard will get some run.

    That’s already 6 and we can bank on Mitch playing some and hopefully Silvio depending on the situation.

    Absolute best case is 9 are in the regular rotation. Which means one of Mitch and Silvio gets lean minutes (prob Silvio) and one of the trio you mentioned is on the outside looking in. Ngl I thought it was going to be Jalen but it’s not sounding like that anymore. I could easily see the one it ends up being transferring out.



  • @BShark my guess is TGF ends up being the odd man out. But that’s just a guess at this point. I thought Enaruna showed some flashes last year of next level talent so I’d hate to see him go.



  • Boot Camp complete!



  • @Kcmatt7

    I’m expecting TGF to be a big part of the rotation. May not start right away but his combination of skills on both ends seems like something the rotation needs. Watching film and some of his games from Indian Hills he’s the one guy in that 6’7-6’8 range that has that gifted athletic ability compared to Enaruna/Wilson/Braun/Lightfoot. He’s a sneaky good rebounder and shot blocker as well defensively. Going to be interesting to see how impactful he can be



  • I hope he’s a force. I’m so torn on who I think gets minutes.

    My brain says we saw Wilson last year. And unless he made a massive jump, he is going to be the outside looking in. And you really can’t take these comments from Bill at face value.

    At the same time I could see Wilson actually putting it together a little bit and carving out a roll.

    Good problem to have.



  • I feel like we didn’t get to really see wilson. He had virtually no game time and he didn’t have a chance to develop. Sometimes freshman change a lot over a year. I remember oubre jr really struggling until about conference season and then he was great. Wilson started the first exhibition game over the other freshman, meaning he out played them in practice. Braun looked the best thru the first 2 exhibition games but looked bad against duke and tristian looked like the best freshman in that game. Wilson got hurt shortly after that and braun ended up making big strides and enaruna never made a big impact… from what I saw of wilson he had good strength and height to play the 4 spot if we played 4 guards. Had the 3 and D potential for a pro career but his ability to drive the ball was my concern. He may not be good but let’s not rush at dismissing a top 60 recruit after like 3-5 games lol. People assume Harris will play a lot. We haven’t seen him play at all. We could easily go 4 guards and Thompson/braun could play back up pg and tgf, wilson, and Tristian will get quality mins from a 4 guard lineup.



  • Yeah Wilson is still a big unknown. He needs to beat out TGF or Enaruna for minutes. Good competition, each has a different skillset they bring. Good problem to have



  • The bods look great! Boot camp.jpg



  • @jayhawks2010 said in Self talking about the team:

    We could easily go 4 guards and Thompson/braun could play back up pg and tgf, wilson, and Tristian will get quality mins from a 4 guard lineup.

    That sounds awful from a ball handling perspective.



  • If Jalen Wilson’s shooting isn’t significantly improved, he’s going to be the odd man out and I really wouldn’t be surprised if he transfers out after this season.



  • I think he’s a 3-4 year guy and hope he is up for that. Seems to me to be similar to Andrew White.



  • I was thinking the same as Texas Hawk but the preseason hype has me wondering a little bit. Should probably stick to initial evaluations but sometimes those look foolish.

    @approxinfinity I’d take that minus the helicopter parent. White sure got around.



  • Wilson being down 15 pounds should help his quickness. Not sure it’ll be enough to get into the conversation about playing the 3, would would definitely be some value added.



  • Wilson shot 39% from three in highschool. Shot mechanics looked solid from the little I saw. Too me he has to improve ball handling and driving. His ball handling did not look great last year. I think he will be a pretty good three point shooter by his junior year… Tristian is the opposite. Great explosive driver but his shot mechanics were not good and that will limit his potential.



  • @jayhawks2010 39% in HS really isn’t that good for someone who’s supposed to be considered a good shooter. Shooting percentage doesn’t increase when you step up a level and Jalen was terrible shooting in what action he did have in the first couple of exhibitions and games. He also had an injury that didn’t really allow him to be able to do much until he was fully recovered which wasn’t until the end of the season.





  • TGF being hurt makes it tough to really assess where things are at. His versatility can solve a lot of problems for KU because he has the ability to do a little bit of everything. He can guard 1-4. He can handle the ball. He can shoot it. He’s a very solid rebounder. But if his injury lingers, we may see something in that skill set compromised (i.e., if he can’t run and jump, his defense and rebounding (and maybe shooting) could suffer.

    I see Wilson as a fill in the blanks guy, maybe even a deluxe fill in the blanks guy. He’s basically a guy that can give you whatever you need on a particular night. Of course, this is dependent on him staying healthy as well. I’m not sold on him as a shooter, but if he is shooting it well, that could boost the rest of his game (it’s just easier to play well when shots are going in).



  • I’m still waiting for the first “I’ve heard Mitch added the three to his game” of the season. I’m flabbergasted nobody here has said it yet lol.



  • @justanotherfan

    I think the “x-factor” for Jalen is his reputation as a scrapper. Self always finds time for a scrapper. Potentially, he is a guy who can uplift the whole team if he brings that kind of attitude and energy into a game. He’s not afraid to drive the ball, in fact, prefers to drive. If he scraps on defense… Self will play him.



  • @Kcmatt7

    Come on… play nice! 🙂



  • @Kcmatt7 didn’t he add that last yr?



  • Practice starts tomorrow!



  • @BeddieKU23 wow man. Is this really happening?



  • @approxinfinity said in Self talking about the team:

    @BeddieKU23 wow man. Is this really happening?

    Right. It certainly doesn’t even feel like its about to start. Still pissed how last season ended…



  • @BeddieKU23 said in Self talking about the team:

    @approxinfinity said in Self talking about the team:

    @BeddieKU23 wow man. Is this really happening?

    Right. It certainly doesn’t even feel like its about to start. Still pissed how last season ended…

    you and me both my friend - -THAT was are for the taking


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