Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team
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I’ve been waiting all year for a bench player to step up and contribute. And for the player or players to contribute regularly and steadily game after game. How far can KU go without a sixth man, like Championship Remy last year? The Iowa St game shows how KU will struggle on offense when two starters are having off games. I thought Clemence helped out on offense in the first half; at least he looks to score. Clemence is an option on offense the few minutes he plays in every third game or so. I don’t think he even played in the second half. Bench players were in the game for 35 minutes Saturday and only took 2 shots and according to ESPN didn’t record a single rebound. Does Coach Self have any chance of developing a sixth man this year?
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At what point last year did Remy start to contribute night in and night out?
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@COHawk essentially big 12 tourney is when he got his shot and delivered. He played more minutes than Juan and we beat tech.
It continued through the ncaa tourney and man it was fun.
We won’t have a 6th man this year. Was hoping it was Joe, not even close. Bobby’s just a dribbler and MJ might have been that guy but with injuries and what not it’s never taken off
Bigs I wish we’d give big Ern some run if he is showing anything in practice. A UConn, TN or Bama in the tourney or heck tcu/Tex/Baylor in conference play we need more length
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@stoptheflop said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
I’ve been waiting all year for a bench player to step up and contribute. And for the player or players to contribute regularly and steadily game after game. How far can KU go without a sixth man, like Championship Remy last year? The Iowa St game shows how KU will struggle on offense when two starters are having off games. I thought Clemence helped out on offense in the first half; at least he looks to score. Clemence is an option on offense the few minutes he plays in every third game or so. I don’t think he even played in the second half. Bench players were in the game for 35 minutes Saturday and only took 2 shots and according to ESPN didn’t record a single rebound. Does Coach Self have any chance of developing a sixth man this year?
There’s only one guy on the bench with the remote ability to change the game like Remy…and that’s MJ.
He hasn’t traveled the exact path as Remy, and of course hasn’t proved himself as he’s only a freshman, but I think there’s some ability there that can pop in flashes off the bench.
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@kuballin10 said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
@COHawk essentially big 12 tourney is when he got his shot and delivered. He played more minutes than Juan and we beat tech.
It continued through the ncaa tourney and man it was fun.
We won’t have a 6th man this year. Was hoping it was Joe, not even close. Bobby’s just a dribbler and MJ might have been that guy but with injuries and what not it’s never taken off
Bigs I wish we’d give big Ern some run if he is showing anything in practice. A UConn, TN or Bama in the tourney or heck tcu/Tex/Baylor in conference play we need more length
I think MJ is gone at the end of the year. I wish he could of got more time to - -we have just GOT TO get Zuby or Udeh to give us SOMETHING by tourney time. we already seen what Tennessee did to us - -Alabama be the same way. Teams thats Tall and long athletic we gonna be in trouble
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@kuballin10 said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
Bigs I wish we’d give big Ern some run if he is showing anything in practice.
He’s not. He is our worst big in terms of understanding basketball.
I still think he will be good for us in time, but I’ve pretty much wrote off him contributing this year.
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@BShark figured since he’s gotten zero run but appreciate the confirmation and insight
You think we get a portal big this off-season? I wouldn’t mind a legit 4 to replace Wilson someone like Miller at tcu (he won’t transfer just an example)
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If Zach transfers I think they look for one, whether it’s portal or with the inevitable coaching carousel churn in the spring. They’ll definitely look portal for a 4, assuming both Jalen and Kevin leave.
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@FarmerJayhawk said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
If Zach transfers I think they look for one, whether it’s portal or with the inevitable coaching carousel churn in the spring. They’ll definitely look portal for a 4, assuming both Jalen and Kevin leave.
just me , but I think there is a pretty good chance Zach & MJ both transfer out. - -not being public but from everything that I heard BEFORE the season and talk if he was even going to show , and talk of he might have some issues, I just think by far MJ privately is not happy with his minutes , feeling he should be receiving more floor time - could be wrong but I would not be surprised at all
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@FarmerJayhawk said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
If Zach transfers I think they look for one, whether it’s portal or with the inevitable coaching carousel churn in the spring. They’ll definitely look portal for a 4, assuming both Jalen and Kevin leave.
@kuballin10 Farmer is pretty spot on.
We will have 12 scholarships so right now if you work under the assumption that Cam, Jalen, Kevin and Dick are gone we will be full with the current 3 signees. Of course in this situation the 4 spot is a glaring need and we have 1-2 pretty easy transfers out. I could easily see 3 transfers out and up to 4 so I actually don’t think the staff will need to push anyone out. Though you never know, as I really didn’t think Cam or Cuffe would still be around this year. I have next to no doubt the staff will go to the portal for a starting 4. If I could literally just pick someone I’d go with Ledlum from Harvard. I am guessing his services will be in high demand however.
I think it’s close for another big even if Zach transfers. KJ will be starting the rest of his time at KU so unless he develops enough to play the 4 he will be our small ball 5. Then you already have Zuby and Udeh with another year of development. I think if they were going to take someone then you’d want a one year stop gap but that’s a hard sell for the back-up spot.
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You think Cuffe will be a Jayhawk next year?
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I was surprised he returned after last season so we’ll see. I think he’ll move on at end of the season.
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@BShark thanks for the info.
I figured Cam, Jalen, Kevin, Cuffe, Zach and possibly MJ.
I’m not sold on Gradey leaving yet as he can’t create his own shot as well as someone like JW so another year would be helpful but I get it if he’s lottery Bill probably tells him to leave.
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Bobby is as close to the 6th man as we are getting this year and even his minutes are going to be dependent on how the game is going.
Joe is the other candidate; he can score, but usually needs 10+ minutes before you see returns on O and defensively, he’s not trustworthy at all.
Rice is having a nothing burger season due to injury and what not. He would have been the ideal bench contributor in a perfect world.
Zuby/Zach are filler minutes for KJ. There’s no path to playing time for them outside foul trouble/injury etc.
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@COHawk said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
At what point last year did Remy start to contribute night in and night out?
March Madness
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Valid question!
I feel like Bill has prioritized getting our starting 5 humming before anything else. It seems like we had that (a few games ago) then we started conference play and it’s a tough conference against teams that know our habits and we are winning by closer margins only (except at WV).
I think our focus now is adjust to conference play with our starters. That means giving them probably more minutes than they should have. This subject is an ongoing debate in here.
In past years I would have challenged Self on this… but I’ve tried to just go with the flow now and accept what he does with the idea there is good purpose behind it. And let’s look at the results… KJ is a product of giving him 30+ or so minutes a game! He’s starting to look like he may become our most consistent offense moving forward. Who would have thought this possible? Maybe Self? Is he as surprised as us?
Surely we will continue to develop our bench… though we simply don’t have a guy with Remy’s experience and punch on the bench this year. Imagine if we did?!
You know… we have 5 starters who are all capable of sparking this team out of dips and slow play. It’s just going to have to happen from them and not counted on from the bench.
My biggest concern is our lack of having a chip. We won it last year and perhaps still feeling a little “fat” from that fact.
I do love how this team has composure and doesn’t give up in games and always feels like they will pull it out. Will that always work? I’m doubtful. We’ve been outrageously lucky in some of these wins… like with OU and ISU at home. Games we should have won by a bigger margin and largely stayed in control for 40 minutes.
Maybe we will be rescued again by Kentucky! They’ve been under the gun, including Calipari, then look what that chip produced? They took it to Tennessee at Tennessee!
All that said… I feel good about our game at Kittyland tomorrow… largely because it is there and not AFH! The tendency is there… we play tough on the road! Now… if we can just play tougher at home!
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@BeddieKU23 said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
Zuby/Zach are filler minutes for KJ. There’s no path to playing time for them outside foul trouble/injury etc.
One of these guys or Udeh needs to step it up and at least be a Mitch Lightfoot guy who can come in and block a shot or set a screen/clear the lane. Luckily, there aren’t many really skilled big men in the 6-10 to 7 footer range in the big 12 (that I can think of)
Actually, who is the best big man in the Big 12?
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@DanR said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
@BeddieKU23 said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
Zuby/Zach are filler minutes for KJ. There’s no path to playing time for them outside foul trouble/injury etc.
One of these guys or Udeh needs to step it up and at least be a Mitch Lightfoot guy who can come in and block a shot or set a screen/clear the lane. Luckily, there aren’t many really skilled big men in the 6-10 to 7 footer range in the big 12 (that I can think of)
Actually, who is the best big man in the Big 12?
Best true big man in the Big 12 is probably Tanner Groves at Oklahoma. The Big 12 is pretty devoid of big men this season. The conference is stacked with top level wings and guards this season, but not much in the way of post players in the league this year.
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Didn’t a TT big just get cleared and play last night?
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@Crimsonorblue22 said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
Didn’t a TT big just get cleared and play last night?
Yes, but I’m not anointing him after one game.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 I was kind of thinking Thamba for Baylor might bloom at some point, but he just never really got any better over the years.
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Imagine a game with Purdue?
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@drgnslayr said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
Imagine a game with Purdue?
If we run, it’s a double digit win. Purdue is slow and Edey would have no chance of covering KJ, especially if KJ starts hitting 17 footers.
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I agree it would be a game about who controls tempo. We haven’t been focused enough on tempo lately!
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@HawkChamp said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
@drgnslayr said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
Imagine a game with Purdue?
If we run, it’s a double digit win. Purdue is slow and Edey would have no chance of covering KJ, especially if KJ starts hitting 17 footers.
How many 17 footers has KJ made this year???
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@Woodrow none that I can recall, but he is improving rapidly and that includes his shooting. It’s just a matter of time before he starts hitting those shots.
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@HawkChamp I would not count on that happening this year. Maybe next year after a off season of working on it, but he is not just going to magically start knocking down jumpshots.
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@drgnslayr said in Why No Sixth Man on this Year's Team:
Imagine a game with Purdue?
With a week to prepare, I’d pick Self 100% of the time. With only a day or so, well I’d pray to some basketball gods.
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It seemed like last year he was a lot better (Thamba)then he’s shown this year. Or maybe it’s just KU games where he decides to make FT’s, jumpers and whatever else that he doesn’t make regularly against other teams.
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@Woodrow well he did with his mid range jumper and free throws so why not a foul line jumper??
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@HawkChamp Just do not see it happening this year. Quite frankly I doubt he really practices it that much, because that is not really what this team needs from him. He is doing exactly what the team needs and it thriving right now in his role. No need to try and change that right now.
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I agree a 15’ shot is as hard/easy as some of his 5’ flip hooks with a big in his face. If they come at him out there he has an explosive first step and with his hops he could dunk or layup from that first step.
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@Woodrow how is being able to hit an open free throw line jumper any different than the stuff he’s been adding lately? Anything that makes the team harder to guard is GOOD. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree
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We will see how good the KSU guards are. If we can rebound their misses we can run if not we have to rely on TO’s and steals. We can be hurt by giving up offensive boards and or put backs. Need Kevin to stay out of foul trouble. Keep shooting the open treys.
