KU vs Cincinnati game chat



  • KU needs to make sure Johnny’s parents are at all the rest of KU games. Please find them a room at McCarthy. Johnny played with more energy than past games. We need his energy in every game the rest of the year. The rest of the team? I don’t have anything positive to say, so I just won’t say anything. It’s very difficult to watch this team no matter who they are playing.



  • @benshawks08

    News to me but not a good sign from Nick if true



  • @rcjhdraft said in KU vs Cincinnati game chat:

    @BeddieKU23 Yeah I just singled out KJ because he plays far more than Braun does

    He just seems to pick and choose when to rebound instead of it just being instinct. He was showing strides of being consistent as of a couple games ago but that seems to have passed again. Enigma when it comes to this



  • @BeddieKU23 I think there’s a point where Self actually likes it if a guy talks back to him but I guarantee Nick isn’t at that point.



  • @BeddieKU23 KJ’s body language has not been good the last couple of games. He’s either exploding off the floor for a dunk or kind of just standing around. When he’s engaged and leaning on his athleticism, he is a legit player, but more and more I see him coming out of that stance and standing straight up and down or looking tired. Same goes for Juan honestly. These guys all seem TIRED. But they have the same schedule as every other team…



  • @benshawks08 more minutes. I thought for sure we would lose the energy war 2nd half and lose the ballgame. We would have if Furphy hadnt gone nuclear.



  • @BeddieKU23 said in KU vs Cincinnati game chat:

    @rcjhdraft said in KU vs Cincinnati game chat:

    @BeddieKU23 Yeah I just singled out KJ because he plays far more than Braun does

    He just seems to pick and choose when to rebound instead of it just being instinct. He was showing strides of being consistent as of a couple games ago but that seems to have passed again. Enigma when it comes to this

    IMO at the level of athlete he is he should be crashing the boards with reckless abandon. It’s what will keep him on the floor if he ever tries to go into the pros since he’ll never be able to space the floor. I agree with you that it’s baffling that he doesn’t do it.



  • @rcjhdraft he made a midrange jumper from left wing yesterday. Decent form and everything (not a shot put). It shocked me. Maybe he is working on that midrange game.



  • @benshawks08

    Yeah, KJ is probably playing too many minutes overall. It’s not the minutes per say, he’s in incredible shape but it’s the toll defensively that’s getting to him. Self is making guys switch 1-4 and you see how many times a game KJ is guarding a 6’1 guard at the end of the shot clock and it’s got to wear a dude out. We forget he’s 6’7, 235 and not some string-bean guard.



  • @approxinfinity said in KU vs Cincinnati game chat:

    @rcjhdraft he made a midrange jumper from left wing yesterday. Decent form and everything (not a shot put). It shocked me. Maybe he is working on that midrange game.

    Maybe we let KJ suit up for the other team some game this season. If a guy like him is playing against KU he can go 4-6 from three and really get confidence in that jumper.



  • Self is the master at knowing how to rest these guys outside of games. He lightens their practices so they aren’t adding wear on non-game days.

    I’m not buying into the tired excuse. There are other players in this league putting in big minutes. And we aren’t out there going 110% during games.

    I usually cut our guys a lot of slack. But I’m not buying it here. If it’s true, we might as well forfeit March now, save the humiliation!

    Kevin is out there hustling his butt off… why can’t the others?

    This is turning out to be a very soft team!



  • Self did say Syracuse



  • @drgnslayr

    Are they just hitting the usual January lull before the level of play picks up again? Or is this what they are at this point? I’m not buying the latter this early, Self has always found a way to push the right buttons. Hard to doubt him



  • @drgnslayr You know they are hearing that four letter word over and over and over again right now. S - O - F - T !!!



  • My problem with them hitting the normal January hull right now is the schedule. We have not hit the meat of our schedule yet and have 1 just 1 win vs the top 65% of the conference. 10 of our last 12 games are either against ranked teams and/or on the road. If we went thru a few game slide in that it wouldn’t shock me at all. I’m just hoping it’s only a few games honestly. Idk I think this team has already not only lost this conference but lost a 1 seed with the losses already suffered. I hope to be wrong but they need to prove a lot of stuff here in the next 6 weeks.



  • @Crimsonorblue22 said in KU vs Cincinnati game chat:

    Self did say Syracuse

    It bothers me more than it should. I just don’t’t want to accept that Bill Self is mortal and there will be a post Bill Self period soon.



  • Might be the year we suffer the fate that all the other major high seeds have experienced more than once since we last lost a first round game. We’ve had some disappointing 2nd round losses, but 15-16 years in a row of avoiding first round upsets. Not saying it will happen but we just might be as vulnerable as possible right now for it to happen.



  • @wissox nah.



  • @BeddieKU23

    I’m hopeful they are just hitting that winter lull… and now it’s time for the guys to have a meeting and talk toughness. Self has usually found a way to pull them out of it. I was encouraged to see Self turning purple at the end of the Cincy game.

    This is where the team steps up and takes some pride. Someone or several show leadership. And they decide team identity… which should always work out to be a tough defensive team.

    Outside of a few offensive tweaks… getting Hunter to post lower… getting a few more drives and aggressive play out of Juan… our offense won’t change dramatically. Where the change needs to happen is defense. We should be scoring at least 10 more points a game off our defense. And it should make the entire game go easier and flow smoother.

    I know these guys have it in them. They stepped up on UCONN. If they can decide their identity is gritty defense, we will be back to being the team that beat UCONN and can have the potential for a real run in March.



  • I’m a little confused about the Terrence Shannon case and the Arterio Morris case. Maybe @mayjay can chime in with his experience. Both get charged with a sex crime, one gets kicked off the team and apparently is awaiting trial. The other seeks a court injunction and is reinstated to the team. We obviously could have been a better team with Arterio but I could care less because of the seriousness of the charge. Could he have asked for an injunction too? Seemingly similar cases, but one kid is back to playing at an all american level and the other isn’t even playing.



  • @wissox I know nothing of the particulars but I would think hanging over everything is that Arterio already f’ed up his second chance so there wasn’t much chance of him being able to prove he could be trusted. The IL injunction might have been issued due to whether U of I followed its procedures, questionable strength of prosecutor’s case (including uncooperative witnesses), whether the cops/prosecutors failed to share evidence with the staff trying to suspend, and maybe a stronger agreement to monitor him.

    I can’t imagine Self wanted Morris back and I doubt a judge would buy into overriding that discretion. Maybe U of I really was halfhearted about booting their guy.

    All conjecture because I handled way too many horrible cases so I don’t read too much about them any more!



  • We so miss a player like Arterio can play. But he was toxic! Glad he is gone!



  • @drgnslayr I know it sounds like I’m wishing we had an alleged criminal playing for us but I’m not, Just wondering if Arterio could have gotten the same.



  • Guys as frustrating it is , how mad we might get at the time , like our losses to UCF -WV - -heard this in the Kentucky, South Carolina game tonight - -just think , just might put things in perspective.

    Top 10 teams this year have lost so far have lost Twenty Two times to unranked teams - - Twenty Two times ! ! - This is the most in Associated Press History, takes a little bit of the edge off these losses. - -Doesn’t make things totally better but it’s happening to other top 10 teams too.

    Kentucky is getting beat by SEVENTEEN to South Carolina right now with like 2:20 left in the game. - -Announcer said and is right about this, he was asked what is making it so hard for top ten teams to win against these unranked teams - -His response was , when your a top ten team you have that target on your back and playing on the road. - -At least both of your losses to these teams were on the road.



  • @jayballer67

    My thoughts on why so many good teams are getting smoked… and it’s not just college basketball.

    I believe it is the impact of smartphones. Everyone is glued to their phones 24/7. I see it with my own kids. Being on for hours every day makes it hard for people to STAY FOCUSED!

    What are your thoughts on this?



  • I think it’s much more to do with talent being down across college basketball. We’ve had a few weak HS classes in a row plus a lot of old guys sticking around. So that levels the playing field somewhat.



  • Transfer portal takes the backups to other schools so top teams have less margin for error. These are good players getting spread out to lesser teams and developing once they have a chance to play twice as much.



  • @mayjay its hard to argue that the portal is bad when we talk about more talented kids getting a chance and greater parity of play.



  • What the Johnny did in front of Mom and Dad was amazing. 23 and 10 is his first Furple Double. How about a Fripple Double of points, boards and hustle plays.



  • @drgnslayr said in KU vs Cincinnati game chat:

    @jayballer67

    My thoughts on why so many good teams are getting smoked… and it’s not just college basketball.

    I believe it is the impact of smartphones. Everyone is glued to their phones 24/7. I see it with my own kids. Being on for hours every day makes it hard for people to STAY FOCUSED!

    What are your thoughts on this?

    True I can see what you mean on it. Believe me even though I have no kids where they need to focus on sports but understand on phones. We used to have daughter with that problem, not so much now although still staying focused even now remains an issue, but she would used to come to visit us/well mainly mom but she would come see us and the whole time she was here she would be glued to her phone texting friends/guys - I asked her on multiple occasions did you come to see us OR did you come just to bury your face in that dam phone, I said hell if you wanna just sit thee and do nothing but text while w are trying to have a conversation with you - - -you could do that at home , very frustrating



  • Agreeing with the transfer portal comments.

    But back to the phones. Several times now in this new year I’ve had people talking to me and they forget what they are talking about in the middle of a sentence about what they are talking about. lol

    I’m old… so I have an excuse for losing my train of thought. What about these kids?

    I wonder if some of our guys are out there playing in a game and then suddenly think about something not relating to the game… like a social media feed or text from a friend. Even a very brief distraction can cause a disastrous play on the court.

    I know… I know… I have an obscure perspective… again! At least I didn’t mention Mezzo ball in this post. Oh sh*t! Just did! lol



  • @drgnslayr Phones, sure. COVID year is big too. I think this is the last year of REALLY OLD guys staying around? Or is that next year? Must be next because Juan and Hunter can stay, right?

    Another factor could also be COVID itself. Brain fog was a documented symptom and serious cases of Long COVID are still being studied as well. Wonder what the cognitive affects would be noticed if they are more mild and could be attributed to any number of factors.



  • @benshawks08

    25 is the last of the old dudes that get the covid free yr. Hunter and Juan examples of that as you mentioned



  • @benshawks08 I feel like we will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.



  • @drgnslayr Mike Gundy had a rant a couple years back saying that kids nowadays don’t know the basics because they are playing video games and not outside. I tend to agree with him, when I was a kid we were always at the park playing football or basketball. I can’t tell you the last time I seen a kid at the park. I get it’s hard this time of year but I don’t see kids outside much these days.



  • @kjayhawks This is a global issue caused by social media.


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