What to Expect at the Champions Classic?



  • Woke up still very happy we pulled off that win.

    Hunter was nutso awesome. Dajuan was very aggressive, which we’ve been waiting for. What a shooting night! But, no offense to Dajuan, but if he’s our main threat from deep, we got problems.

    I think my boy Furphy will become a 3 pt threat this season. Form looks good. Elmarko didn’t look awful shooting it. KJ did! 🙂 Dunno what Timberkake’s deal is. Does he just need to get used to big boy competition? If he can’t shoot, I see no purpose for him hitting the floor at all. Liability. I was high on his athleticism in highlight reels, but that’s not shining at the moment. Sorry, approx, but it pains me to watch McCullar shoot!

    More Jamari! More Furphy!



  • RE defense: Bill signed up for being a bad defensive team when he took Hunter. It is what it is and the entire 3 man combo of HD/KJ/PB will not be good defensively when you have two of them in the game. On the bright side we can and are doing super cool stuff offensively despite not having strong shooters.

    Also bad is relative, Bill has lofty standards.



  • I like lofty.



  • Anyone know what Reeves said to DaJuan that lit the fire?



  • @wissox Cole is my all-time favorite ex Jayhawk in Self era.

    By the time Cole came to the league, 5 spot had evolved in that Bigs need to be able to score away from the basket and shoot at least a modest % on trey. Unfortunately, Cole lacked in this area and could not contribute.

    Imagine if Shaq was in the league today? Could he survive?



  • To answer the question on what to expect at the champions classic. I’m gonna say expect to win 89-84, Hunter has 20 plus points and rebounds, Kev probably goes for a triple double. You heard it here first folks.



  • Watching the 2nd half again and goodness did KJ get screwed by some bad calls or what? Early in the 2nd half he has equal position with a blue shirt guy for a defensive rebound. Ref calls it on KJ, then of course the really really really bad call that Bilas pissed off all of Jayhawk Nation so much on. I felt bad for the kid. The call he fouled out on, not sure I remember it being too bad.



  • @BShark KJ, Kev and Juan should be good defensively. Hunter can board really well and we just need that fifth spot to not suck.

    3 and D from a long and athletic guard like mcdowell sounds good



  • @wissox I did as well. What did you think of our comeback from say under 16 timeout to when we took the lead?

    Furphy was on the floor but Bill must have really thought he sucked

    The plus minus for Timberlake was atrocious and he shouldn’t be first guard off the bench



  • Timberlake can go fly a kite for all I care



  • It wasn’t Furphy’s night. Imagine a teenager, recently arrived from another country, on that stage. He seemed overwhelmed, and his stats reflect that (no points in 12 minutes), especially after what we saw in Allen. We know Self values experience, and I’m sure he thought his balding slow old guard could handle the pressure a bit better (mentally) than a kid who oozes talent but needs seasoning. Furphy will get there.



  • @wissox

    Agree some bad fouls called on him that were very questionable. He does seem to get into foul trouble and was hoping he’d improve on that this year



  • @tundrahok

    It also appeared that the matchup wasn’t ideal for him either due to Kentucky having a bunch of guards. He couldn’t defend their speed and it was noticeable. Looked sped up otherwise. He will get there



  • @kuballin10 You ought to just go apply for the job. Your non stop weak takes on Bill Self and DaJuan Harris are ruining what should be a fun time and season for this team.



  • Lay off Timberlake guys… Yeesh - give him a chance for god sakes. There will be games where he will pour in 3’s, hit clutch shots, make big time pressure free throws… you wait and see.



  • I think Timberlake and furphy battle for the first guard off the bench bc we do need someone who can provide the scoring punch. Timberlake hasn’t been great so far but he has to have a chance for a little longer. Which ever guard doesn’t win that spot needs to be behind McDowell. We can’t play furphy and Timberlake combo that much against good teams. It is too much of a drop in speed. We need a second guard to be athletic play good defense etc. I also think McDowell can be like Garret and against a lot of matchups he could fill some Adam back up min at the 4 bc we can’t really count on Braun to be that guy.



  • Braun needs to be center back up min that’s it



  • @Bosthawk said in What to Expect at the Champions Classic?:

    Lay off Timberlake guys… Yeesh - give him a chance for god sakes. There will be games where he will pour in 3’s, hit clutch shots, make big time pressure free throws… you wait and see.

    Ya, I’m not giving up on him already 3 games into the Season. I do think in time he might be ok. - It’s a big jump coming from a School where you was THE MAN to a Major P-5 where your coming off the bench and expected to drain 3’s right off the bat. - -I think it’s a lot of a confidence thing right now - - he just needs to see a few fall , he gets some of those go down, I think he can still be productive and help this team.



  • @wissox said in What to Expect at the Champions Classic?:

    @kuballin10 You ought to just go apply for the job. Your non stop weak takes on Bill Self and DaJuan Harris are ruining what should be a fun time and season for this team.

    You might as wel save your breathe, not going to change anything with him. I don’t think I have heard two good things come out thatt mouth since he has showed up here. - - Aways just a bundle of sunshine



  • @wissox please block me and I’ll do the same for you



  • @jayballer67 Plenty of guys said negative things last night. I hone in on what the keys are for the team to succeed which I’m negative or positive about.

    Self trusts Juan and Juan needs to step up.



  • 5 of 6 on 3 pointers, but DaJuan needs to step up. Holy cow, step up from that performance last night? A couple of silly turnovers early on, but the KU Jayhawks are now 2-1 if they didn’t have DaJuan Harris playing last night.



  • @wissox Go to the appreciation thread and read what I said

    He clearly stepped up and was a stud last night

    If he scores his usual 8-10 we lose by double digits

    He and Self with HD won that game like men

    U only see the negative comments I write and pass over the positive so quick. You probably love watching the nightly news as well



  • @kuballin10 said in What to Expect at the Champions Classic?:

    @jayballer67 Plenty of guys said negative things last night. I hone in on what the keys are for the team to succeed which I’m negative or positive about.

    Self trusts Juan and Juan needs to step up.

    not sure if you have noticed or not but Juan has stepped up many many times the kid is a stud



  • @kuballin10 I totally get being frustrated when the team is playing poorly - we all say some negative stuff. I also can see that you know a lot about the hawks and bball in general, and you like to chime with in with what they need to do from your perspective. Free speech and all that.

    But jeez man, I feel many of us wish you would sometimes tone down that avalanche of negativity that pours out from you. It’s not just wissox or jayballer… even our gentle moderator approx had to ask you last night to turn it down a notch. I’m glad he did too, as that uber negative vibe had me ready to log off the game chat which is something I really enjoy. And a couple of other regular posters who no longer comment here have felt that way too.

    This is a site for fans. We’re all here to support our team. Sometimes this means hoping the good guys win, and supporting each other, even if things look bleak - or else it can feel like the opposing teams site.

    I don’t know if you have children or not, but maybe think about it like if your kid is playing ball. Of course he’s gonna suck sometimes, and of course you can see he sucks. But as a parent most of the time (not all) it’s way better to temper your frustrations and criticisms when you’re at his game and express them in a somewhat more positive manner. Not sugarcoat, not lie, not swallow your emotions… but not endlessly berate either.

    Again, I can see you know a ton about this team and the game in general. And I see you do post some positive things too, it’s just they seem vastly overshadowed by the negative. I’ve been a board rat for more than decade and I’ve never looked into how to block someone until last night.

    If you just tried to turn it down a notch I (and I think most) would really enjoy your posts.

    Just my two cents worth.



  • @StLJhawk Not just your two cents worth. Very well said solid advice, and I think you speak for most. Its a matter of tact @kuballin10. Approaching it not only as if Juan, Nick, or whomever, is your child, but as if he is everyone on the board’s child I think is an easy way to frame a winning approach.

    Juan is our guy, probably on most peoples shortlist of favorite current Jayhawks. We dont come here to tear guys like that down, we build them up. We want them to succeed. We believe they get PT for a reason. We believe in Bill Self. Juans success (or any player’s success on our team) isnt just about numbers. Its about a kid getting a golden opportunity and taking it by the horns. Is Juan a stocky 6’3 lottery pick that can pour in 20 nightly in the league? Of course not. But that lanky quiet pass first guard was a bad bad man and beat a bunch of studs last night. Thats better than being a prototype. Thats special. We want to celebrate the guys we got, not focus on the guys we wish they were.



  • @kuballin10 - OK.



  • @kuballin10 “Juan needs to step up.” You wrote that. I don’t see some appreciation thread. You wrote that 24 hours after he had maybe his best game as a Jayhawk.



  • @wissox He needs to step up his scoring like he did when he dominated offensively against uk……all year.

    I’m team Juan needs to hunt his shot this year because putting him in that frame of mind “attack mode” is great. He’s so unselfish that even in this “attack mode”He will always get his teammates involved first offensively.

    For us to be great Juan has to channel his inner Frank mason scoring wise and if he does that WATCH OUT because it’s title number 3 for Bill and 2 for Juan!



  • @nuleafjhawk said in What to Expect at the Champions Classic?:

    In May, I was hiking through Zion National Park and some guy in a Michigan sweatshirt said “you’re going to love Dickinson”

    Sounds like Confucius at a pedophile convention.



  • Generally don’t care too much about the media but you would think Kentucky won that game. Tons of moral victory stuff. Sad how far they have fallen as a program. 🎻



  • I don’t follow most game threads on bb or fb because there is just way too much bitching about the refs. There are at least 4 regulars who can be counted on to post up to 10 comments in every thread about calls. And most of the calls griped about that I have gone back to watch were correct.

    That, and the constant complaining about ESPN’s alleged bias…do people have auto-fill buttons to write these?

    It isn’t just our fans, I know. For some reason groups of fans watching together all seem to think the refs are against their team. I am sure UK fans did the same the other night.

    But the refrain gets old.



  • @mayjay Yeah there was a Kentucky fan on twitter (x?) that made a video of “missed calls” on Hunter. Got a good chuckle out of that. Definitely an all fan bases kind of thing with officiating. Some (Iowa State) are worse than others about it.



  • @Bosthawk I’ll admit, I’ve been a little tough on him but not because of shooting. I think you are right, he’ll be hitting in a game or two this season. But my god idk if I’ve seen a player more outta position defensively and his lateral quickness is arguably the worst I’ve ever seen at this level. He may get a little better at positioning but he ain’t getting any faster as a 6th year guy. Furphy will surpass him in minutes within the next few weeks.



  • I noticed that Calipari, like Bruce Weber frequently is on the court while the ball is in play. Coach Self does a nice job of staying on the side line and in the coaching box.


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