Puerto Rico!



  • Great game! Didn’t completely fold in the waning minutes. Good sign.



  • @wissox - game over. Check KUAthletics.com for a replay later.



  • @Gorilla72 Thanks



  • 🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾 #RockChalk

    Liked a lot of the fast breaks. We have some speed. Guys getting to know each other. Boat trip yesterday looked like a good bonding. Hunter is learning.

    Have a great rest of the weekend!!



  • Hopefully we learn today, some very questionable decisions forced shots, missed free throws , three point shooting - -glad it’s an exhibition – look out Monday.

    Gordon playing Monday - -Ayton paying Monday - - Gordon playing Monday - - Hield playing Monday. - - the big thing Monday - -compete.

    this is why we have these games , play the game , Learn from the game



  • Score, please?



  • @mayjay 92-87 Kansas win



  • @jayballer67 I don’t disagree with you assessment but I think these games are like glorified pick up games at the YMCA. Not a ton of defense (besides Juan taking two charges, go Juando!) just want to have fun and bond as a team.



  • Maybe Hunter is just holding back a bit. In the third quarter, I finally got to see him with the ball in the paint and watched him work to get his shot. That’s part of what I’ve been waiting to see with him. I haven’t looked at a box score, but Juan had an unusually bad game with turnovers.



  • @stoptheflop Juan against athleticism isn’t good unfortunately. If guys get in his grill and muscle him he doesn’t do well. Play against grown men and that will happen. Curious to see how he responds Monday!

    Best lineup with true talent is: Elmarko Morris Kev Kj Hunter

    Juan off the bench……yes, I know it will never happen but we got two nba level guards and one comes off the bench cause Bill somehow will never not start Juan. Hopefully much like the 2022 run the guards off the bench play 20-25 minutes and Juan is in that 18-22 minute range.

    Love Juan but we got better players than him based on what we’ve seen down there. Only one game and it’s sample size (I’m ignoring the first game against an naia type school).



  • Oh no. Didn’t watch the game but saw pics of the box score. Did kj make another 3? That would make him 3/4 for the trip so far. Our best shooter from the perimeter by percentage.



  • @benshawks08 he’s 2/3 I thought and yeah he made one - same corner spot as before

    Kj is the man. If he can learn to put his head down and drive right like Jalen he would be tough to guard. Freak athlete and his passing with Hunter and vice versa is money already - great chemistry and unselfish ball.

    Hearing uk thinks they are gonna wax us which I find interesting. Their young guards are real good but curious to see how they do against our backcourt with Elmarko and Morris as athletes





  • @kuballin10 said in Puerto Rico!:

    @benshawks08 he’s 2/3 I thought and yeah he made one - same corner spot as before

    Kj is the man. If he can learn to put his head down and drive right like Jalen he would be tough to guard. Freak athlete and his passing with Hunter and vice versa is money already - great chemistry and unselfish ball.

    Hearing uk thinks they are gonna wax us which I find interesting. Their young guards are real good but curious to see how they do against our backcourt with Elmarko and Morris as athletes

    Kentucky fans never learn. KJ was pretty bad in the first half I thought but then amazing in the 2nd half today.



  • @BShark You know much about their roster?

    Their bigs I’m guessing Hunter and kj just eat up.

    Dillingham and Wagner will be a handful. Real curious to see how that game goes……



  • @kuballin10 we should feast. They’re very, very, very young. Decent athletes but taking a bunch of guys from a bad high school class isn’t really a recipe for success. Class of 2012 this is not.



  • Just viewed the Hawks second game in Puerto Rico and zI am really looking forward to the season. Size, speed, finishers, defensive-minded wings, rim protector, really good ball movement, good cutters, rebounders……Of course too many turnovers, unimpressive perimeter shooting but they are already doing so many things moving the ball and athletes to finishers and create shots.And pushing the ball for layups -and Dunks which build excitement.And having Furphy waiting in the wings with his particular skill set.



  • Just now able to finish the game. I think maybe the coolest thing to me so far is how well KJ and Hunter play next to each other already. They are passing to each other as if they have been playing ball together for 10 years. There is a connection there.



  • Also Bill having a footer who can score the ball at the 5 for end of game play calls is awesome.



  • Well, all I’m going to say after watching the second game and looking at the box score is that this is another doomed season; are you kidding me: 14/27 FTs? Who amongst you can’t go to a FT line right now and hit more that 50%. In years past, after losing a game at the line, I would go out to my driveway and shoot FTs just to see why these young guys make it look so sticking hard. Opponents seem to easily make their FTs. Doomed I tell you. JK



  • @kuballin10 said in Puerto Rico!:

    @stoptheflop Juan against athleticism isn’t good unfortunately. If guys get in his grill and muscle him he doesn’t do well. Play against grown men and that will happen. Curious to see how he responds Monday!

    Best lineup with true talent is: Elmarko Morris Kev Kj Hunter

    Juan off the bench……yes, I know it will never happen but we got two nba level guards and one comes off the bench cause Bill somehow will never not start Juan. Hopefully much like the 2022 run the guards off the bench play 20-25 minutes and Juan is in that 18-22 minute range.

    Love Juan but we got better players than him based on what we’ve seen down there. Only one game and it’s sample size (I’m ignoring the first game against an naia type school).

    Your right Your NEVER gonna se Bill start somebody over Juan, just to many other faucets to the game then just scoring. We have other guys that are SUPPOSE to do that. Juans main job - - defend - which by the way he does really , really well - - assist , oh yes umm he does that pretty well too - -basically run the team - which he does, can see a negative difference when we have others runnin the point- -shaky ball handling, most the time they are a turnover looking for a place to happen.



  • @Kcmatt7 said in Puerto Rico!:

    Just now able to finish the game. I think maybe the coolest thing to me so far is how well KJ and Hunter play next to each other already. They are passing to each other as if they have been playing ball together for 10 years. There is a connection there.

    100% agree both so unselfish which Michigan fans claimed Hunter wasn’t that……clearly he just needed new scenario and a real coach



  • @jayballer67

    I thought it was interesting Bill said Juan was okay but didn’t hammer him in postgame.

    Proceeded to say how Elmarko and Morris were so bad defensively yet those guys make up for it by rebounding, assisting and oh yeah scoring the ball on the other end.

    I hope we see some fluctuation in minutes because when Juan is bad it’s real bad. When he’s good he’s great but when he can’t score and he doesn’t attack he’s not worth playing



  • @kuballin10 Juan will be fine. He still had 9 assists yesterday. TO’s will come down as the team chemistry improves. He’s also not going to shoot 12.5% all year lol. 29 assists on 37 shots is crazy good and will only improve with time.

    He’s not wrong about Terio. He did his best Houdini in the second half. Elmarko is still out of position A LOT. But it’s August and we haven’t even boot camped yet. Going to be a ton of fun watching this group grow.



  • @FarmerJayhawk Of his 9 the first 3 were him directly and not the means of another player.

    Didn’t catch an inbounds pass and resulted in layup

    Missed kj on the lob

    Fell over and lost the ball

    I’m watching the second half tonight but from the 247 board it sounds like it was bad so curious to see

    Yeah this team is a final 4 team it has all the pieces and finally have a 7 footer who can score is a match made in Heaven for Bill. Throw in Kev back, KJ’s a stud and Juan is Bill’s guy….this team is loaded

    I’m still thinking uk gives us a game



  • @kuballin10 it was more mental than anything. As a group they kinda just cruised and they’re not good enough to do that yet. Kev foul trouble really disrupted us too. I thought Bill was actually pretty harsh on Juan. Saying he didn’t respect the game was telling.



  • @kuballin10 said in Puerto Rico!:

    @jayballer67

    I thought it was interesting Bill said Juan was okay but didn’t hammer him in postgame.

    Proceeded to say how Elmarko and Morris were so bad defensively yet those guys make up for it by rebounding, assisting and oh yeah scoring the ball on the other end.

    I hope we see some fluctuation in minutes because when Juan is bad it’s real bad. When he’s good he’s great but when he can’t score and he doesn’t attack he’s not worth playing

    sorry he is always worth playing period



  • I was given a pretty hard time last season for saying Juan is very limited athletically. I do really like him and think his IQ and long arms help him with what he lacks physically. That being said do a 3/4 court sprint, vertical jump and shuttle drill with everyone on this team. I’d bet a 100k Juan is in the bottom 30% of all 3.



  • @kjayhawks said in Puerto Rico!:

    I was given a pretty hard time last season for saying Juan is very limited athletically. I do really like him and think his IQ and long arms help him with what he lacks physically. That being said do a 3/4 court sprint, vertical jump and shuttle drill with everyone on this team. I’d bet a 100k Juan is in the bottom 30% of all 3.

    He’s plenty athletic, he’s just not physically very strong. Dejaun would absolutely be top 5 in sprint, shuttle, and vertical on the team. You can’t be the caliber of defender he is if those traits are below average. It’s his physical strength that really holds him back. He’s entering his 4th year in college and if his weights are accurate, has only added 10 pounds since then. 247 listed him at 160 lbs. when was in HS and KU currently lasts him at only 170 lbs. To give a comparison, Elmarko Jackson is listed as an inch taller than Dejuan, but 25 lbs. heavier at 195 according to KU’s website.

    We all know Harris struggles with physicality because his body isn’t big enough or strong to take a beating by bigger guards all game and those are the games he struggles with.



  • @Kcmatt7 said in Puerto Rico!:

    Also Bill having a footer who can score the ball at the 5 for end of game play calls is awesome.

    alt text

    Bill will always always always go to the post feed as a security blanket. So it’s nice when we have a really good player there.



  • @kuballin10 said in Puerto Rico!:

    @jayballer67

    I thought it was interesting Bill said Juan was okay but didn’t hammer him in postgame.

    Proceeded to say how Elmarko and Morris were so bad defensively yet those guys make up for it by rebounding, assisting and oh yeah scoring the ball on the other end.

    I hope we see some fluctuation in minutes because when Juan is bad it’s real bad. When he’s good he’s great but when he can’t score and he doesn’t attack he’s not worth playing

    He’s one of his guys he really loves like Jamari Traylor. He was awful the last quarter though…



  • The only guys I’m not concerned one bit about are the national championship dudes: Juando, Kev and KJ.



  • @jayballer67 oh he’s starting every game no doubt. If steph curry was at KU he’d start next to Juan but Juan wouldn’t leave the rotation lol

    Juan is important to the team and can start but I hope our other more impactful guards can play more minutes and finish.

    Juan is a great story and important to the team but when he turns it over and can’t hit the broad side of a barn it’s brutal to watch



  • @Texas-Hawk-10

    Morris Elmarko Kev Kj

    He’s maybe the 5th guy but I doubt it. He isn’t fast, he isn’t quick, he is very limited athletically. Granted we are nitpicking a KU starter.

    Let’s hope he bounces back tomorrow against nba competition but if he’s lackadaisical with the ball, turning it over as if he’s not trying and completely disrespecting the game as @FarmerJayhawk said then don’t let him play many minutes

    Tomorrows the game I care about most if their 3 nba guys play decent minutes we will lose but man it will be fun



  • @TYOHawk Bill and his pets……I don’t see practice but man with Kj it was obvious in games. With Taylor it wasn’t, same with the Reed/Morningstar deal. If feeding the post is so important Self doesn’t know ball as much as we think he does. On a list of important traits feeding the post isn’t in the top 10



  • @kuballin10 said in Puerto Rico!:

    @TYOHawk Bill and his pets……I don’t see practice but man with Kj it was obvious in games. With Taylor it wasn’t, same with the Reed/Morningstar deal. If feeding the post is so important Self doesn’t know ball as much as we think he does. On a list of important traits feeding the post isn’t in the top 10

    It just comes with Coach. As much as he loves short scoring guards or athletic wings and post scorers. He loves the the scrappy kids who had to fight for everything.



  • @kuballin10 said in Puerto Rico!:

    @jayballer67 oh he’s starting every game no doubt. If steph curry was at KU he’d start next to Juan but Juan wouldn’t leave the rotation lol

    Juan is important to the team and can start but I hope our other more impactful guards can play more minutes and finish.

    Juan is a great story and important to the team but when he turns it over and can’t hit the broad side of a barn it’s brutal to watch

    Every team ha a player just like that, that fans bitch about – I just thank GOD Juan has better moments then bad.

    I wil say this El Marko is going to be a stud - -to bad he is more likely then not gonna be here for just one year



  • @kuballin10 Here we go again…



  • @mayjay lol no doubt I’m starting early.

    Last year it was Joe should play more or actually year before that and then last year he showed he doesn’t have it.

    This year we have the horses and both Morris and Elmarko are better nba prospects for a reason.

    Gotta trust Bill



  • @kuballin10 said in Puerto Rico!:

    @mayjay lol no doubt I’m starting early.

    Last year it was Joe should play more or actually year before that and then last year he showed he doesn’t have it.

    This year we have the horses and both Morris and Elmarko are better nba prospects for a reason.

    Gotta trust Bill

    Being a better NBA prospect doesn’t equal being a better college player right now. Dejuan Harris is a better college player than Morris or Jackson right now because he is a much more polished product than either of those two.

    There’s also a reason why Yesufu ended up in the wastelands of Pullman, Washington. He’s an undersized 2 with a low BBIQ that’s never met a shot he didn’t like that Self never should’ve offered.

    Constructing a championship caliber team isn’t necessarily about the 5 best players, it’s a bit the 5 right players and Harris brings a lot of other tools than scoring to the table. Having a real post threat now means that Harris can focus on his defense and running the show and not worry about having to score like last season. I wouldn’t be shocked if Harris averaged 8-9 assists per game this season with the supporting cast he has.



  • I love it: lineup controversies and discussions in August. Bring on the NBA players today. It will be good to see how Hunter matches up with Ayton. I’m most interested in his defense today. I was really surprised that Hunter scored 28 points last game. I watched the entire game and saw some good things from Hunter, but also poor rebounding for the tallest dude in the game and some lack of effort. But, I’m pretty impressed with his 28 points.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 I don’t disagree with you but kensucky not playing Booker more because he was a frosh is also the reason they lost. You play your most talented guys now so by March they are ready.

    You were dead on with Joe and I was wrong there….tip of the cap.

    Juan should average 8-9 assists because he can’t shoot and doesn’t look to attack the paint for any dump off dunks/layups or ooops. I mean all the way in Puerto Rico they know he doesn’t look to score. They are daring him to shoot floaters.



  • @stoptheflop I think he’s just not laterally quick or explosive off the floor (not a quick jumper).

    He should have 5 or so more blocks but he’s a hair late every time

    Offensively he’s flat out stupid….just crazy at 7 feet his touch near the rim and all the way out to 3



  • Let’s go #Jayhawks 🔴🔵

    🙋♀



  • Juan night and day different!

    Ripped buddy and has hit a 3

    Way more aggressive…let’s go Juan!



  • CB is gonna be on mic in 3rd quarter



  • should be fun to hear from CB



  • @DanR He practiced with them yesterday



  • KJ



  • Do we know why morris isn’t playing?


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