Early season feedback on kuballin’s off season analysis
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@BShark while I agree, I think Juando is playing as a much more complete player this year. I have yet to see him pass up a shot he should take. I cant say the same was true last year. his shot has improved, and he seems to be able to freeze time this year as he drives and makes the magic happen.
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If he keeps playing at this level we will be hard to beat. I hope and think Mayo will start shooting a bit better.
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@BShark A little concerned about Mayo. He was amazing early on but his games against elite competition have been a little concerning. Hoping he’s really not just a very good midmajor player.
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@wissox his first half was great against Duke, second was forced and discombobulated
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@wissox he at least plays well and contributes when his shot isn’t falling. Rebounding, passing, playing within the offense as well as creating unscripted. Self seems to love him which is interesting to me. One minute less than Juan and three less than KJ so far.
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He still was 3rd leading scorer i think against Duke. Hard to do that with one good half if you arent legit imo
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I don’t think we have had anyone since maybe Devonte Graham who is hitting that late in the clock (and game, very clutch) middy off script against Duke.
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@wissox your concern is warranted, its early still. Could take a step back for sure
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@approxinfinity he has also gained 10 lbs
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Side note it’s fun to be able to have good convos about the team again. Last year was rough
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Biggest concern for Mayo is his defense. In the Duke game, he was the one consistently leaving Proctor open in the corner when he was scorching the net.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 yep very true. Hopefully thats just understanding his role and trusting his teammates.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 Leaving people open in the corner is a KU tradition. Almost as if there is no institutional memory of how Svi scored 90% of his points.
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@mayjay said in Early season feedback on kuballin’s off season analysis:
@Texas-Hawk-10 Leaving people open in the corner is a KU tradition. Almost as if there is no institutional memory of how Svi scored 90% of his points.
Even during the Furman game, it feels like KU plays 4 guys on d, while the opponent plays 5 and the 5th guy is always in the corner all by himself. Maybe that’s by design since that open shot only goes in 20% to 40% of the time.
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I’m now giving a big “pat on the back” to all the posters in here that are often critical of everything KU basketball. Me included.
Somehow the wind of our stench has blown all the way back to our coaches and players… probably via some of the sports media helping carry the scent beyond our small, humble webspot.
Juan and KJ have turned it up a big notch! Maybe it’s a case of senioritis… or just maybe, they woke up to the criticism leveled by many.
If those two stay turned up, we will be a very tough out against all D1 opponents.
So… maybe it’s time we start snorting down Hunter’s neck? lol
I guarantee everyone in here… the dude has another gear he isn’t giving us yet. I bet he doesn’t even know it’s there. If the guy can reach down deep in that huge frame and pull out another 10% of hustle, this team will become a National Champion again!
So Hunter… you out there? I’m coming for you! I’m coming for that extra 10%! Your at the crossroads… this is where you turn left and get lost in the Jayhawk annals into nothingness… or you go right and bludgeon every opponent from here on out and retire a champion at KU basketball and become a LEGEND! Let me tell you what that is like… no wait… give a call to Chalmers or Manning and ask them what its like to be a legend!
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I’m not sure how anyone could be disappointed at this stage of the season with whom we have played. Juan and KJ are arguably on their best 2 or 3 game stretch of their careers. Which is as expected they are seniors with a ton of experience. As I said in the game chat zero reason why Juan can’t be 8-8 or 10-10 guy every single night. He has been much more aggressive and not just with taking shots but driving the ball and passing. Storr and Griffen continue to improve on both ends of the floor. Still a fair amount to work out especially defensively as stated above we leave shooters open to often and are slow on rotations quite a bit too.
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@drgnslayr he’s been getting outplayed by flory. I wonder if it’s happening in practice and impacting his confidence. I imagine flory and coit pick and rolling Hunter to death with Rylan camping in the corner practice after practice.
While there is some scheming to be done to protect Hunter in The pick n roll (the blitzing of that is the current move) in the end it’s gonna come down to how much Hunter really wants to guard.
And to tack on to the Hunter criticism, he could still be doing more to rebound out of his area and we’ve for some reason not seen him seal a guy up the lane for the easy lob over the top for the lay in recently. Is that a trick bill is saving or just a lack of solid footwork and positioning as the ball swings?
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Hunters scoring, FG%, 3%, FT%, RB are down. His TO’s, steals, and fouling are all trending in positive rates compared to the past. Could we get him back to 42% on 3’s and 72% on FT’s like he was at Michigan instead of 32 and 62 like he is this year, well that would help a lot. His rebounding this year dropping two per game over last year is a bit of a concern as well. He’s huge, he should be grabbing boards like the past. The negativity associated with the Duke game will haunt him at a lot of B12 arenas in the months to come. He’s going to need to toughen up mentally for that.
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This must be taught or schemed by the coaching staff, but it makes my blood pressure spike every time: KU center helps out guarding the opponent’s point guard and gets outside the arc. Doke did this and now Hunter is helping out to pressure the point, sometimes trying to trap the guard clear out to the half court line. First, I worry about picking up a cheap foul and second who the hell is rebounding in the paint. With Doke, I admired his hustle. But, with Hunter his complete lack of hustle in all other facets, including walking down court after a made basket makes the trap defense seem outside his skill set. I really like Hunter, especially his quick, accurate outlet passing. I hate that refs ignore fouls against centers and let opponents hack Hunter in the paint. I remember Shaquille O’Neal saying he left LSU after his junior year because the refs let opponents triple team him and hack him. At 24, maybe Hunter is just done with enjoying the college game on most nights like the Furman game. That’s what it looks like to me. His on-court mannerisms look like a guy who hates his job and is going through the motions. For now, I’ll chalk up Hunter’s morose play against Furman as a hangover from the ridiculous Flagrant 2 call and hope to see more hustle going forward.
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The thing with Hunt is he always seems to be in a rush to shoot when he gets the ball. It’s rare he’s guarded when taking an outside shot so when I watch him rapid fire the shot up with plenty of time to gather, load and finish it’s frustrating to watch. He does that a lot on his FT’s as well, often missing the front end of a 1 & 1 or the first of a two shot foul. I know after 40+ games here it’s just who he is. He should be a 70%+ shooter at the line, he’s proven it in the past.
I’ve had the opinion for the past year now he misses shots by rushing the process too much. Some of his shooting % issues this year have been from missing dunks and shots around the rim. He will rush layups as well if guarded by someone with comparable size. Sometimes his quick trigger is a positive as he’s able to get a short shot or an angle that the defense hasn’t had time to react to but overall, I don’t think it helps to keep him as efficient as he can be. I guess from watching him at Michigan for 3 years I had this expectation that he’d be an elite level playmaker with efficiency as his numbers there suggested he would. That hasn’t been the case as much here.
He’s still a top-level College Basketball Player but I think he gets a bit overrated with the “All-American” tag attached to his name. I’ve seen previous KU players that earned first team AA honors, and I don’t think Hunt is a first teamer currently. Now if the Michigan St game is something we see 5-8 times over the course of the season, then that changes things.
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@stoptheflop Hunter being the last one down on offense after a defensive rebound is intentional because of 2 things. First, it keeps the lane clear while KU is bringing the ball up the court so our guards and wings can drive the ball into a clear lane for a layup. Second is that Hunter is a good enough outside shooter that if he’s the trailer and left unguarded at the top of the key, he will take that shot.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 Only thing is , he hasn’t proven himself while at KU on a consistent basis to take that outside shot that frequently. It also pulls him away from the basket dismissing the chances for rebounding as he is our top rebounder, and that’s not good as we have a hard enough time trying to rebound without him being pulled out at times. I trust him a lot more down low Yet with him camping down low clutters the lane more to eliminate drives from the guards, double edge sword. Very well could be true what you said about him being last down the floor on purpose , and yet been proven he is just slow period, been proven time and time again by getting beat on the perimeter on defense a liability on the defensive side, been proven to many times slow feet
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This is college basketball… not the old NBA days where every team had a monster in the paint and those gladiators would battle for every square inch of turf.
Hunter has 20+ ppg every single game if he’s willing to armor up and bash bodies down low. Unfortunately, I think he prefers a finesse game.
Tomorrow will be a great test when he battles Kalkbrenner in the paint. We will see if he’s ready for a battle.
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@drgnslayr I don’t think they are even sure Creighton’s guy is even going to play , last game out with some kind of injury
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I heard he’s supposed to go limited minutes. Might be a bluff.
