Someone talk me off the cliff!
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@bskeet This team has gotten much worse over the past month. The record shows it. And our play shows it. This team doesn’t pass the numbers/box score test, and it doesn’t pass the eye test.
Today we’ll be playing against Baylor’s zone. If anything creates the need for some three point shooting, it is Baylor’s zone. Self will approach this game differently from an offensive stand point, so we may see some more effort from outside.
It’s a bad matchup for us right now, the way we’re playing, that is for sure.
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@wissoxfan83 Great point and no…I don’t think it’s a total conspiracy against KU, but it is odd how it’s being addressed. We’ve all discussed the Cam Newton allegations, but he didn’t sit one game.
I brought up AD’s situation, and he didn’t sit one game, did he? Now, KU chose to sit Alex until this thing was resolved. However, NCAA isn’t thinking of the player at all. You’re right, they are looking to protect themselves, NOW. KU and Alex are simply a pawn in their little game. Maybe my problem is how they are picking and choosing their battles. I don’t see any consistency with all programs and it’s interesting why now? Why KU? and mostly why Alex?
I’m not even going to defend if this is true then yes, the violation needs to be punished. Either KU and Alex are just really dumb at addressing these issues with the NCAA or other programs are just way better at addressing them than KU. Funny, the good programs get punished while the guilty seems to go unpunsihed.
BTW, this isn’t about hating UK at all. I think highly of their program. They just have the most smoke. I certainly have nothing against the players at all. This completely out of their control for the most part.
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I would rather have ten OAD/TADs, and have Coach Self coasting on Good Ball.
But ONLY Coach Self is currently good enough and flexible enough to keep juggling the pieces in the midst of the injuries, talent asymmetries and high jinks of the SHOECO-AGENCY complex and win 25 games, lose only 7, win an 11 th conference title outright, and have forged a new way of playing and STILL be in position to launch a credible campaign for dark horse national championship.
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@HighEliteMajor @KUSTEVE – thanks. I value both of your points. Of course, both confirm my worst fears… and now I’m on the cliff along with @JhawkAlum and the rest of you!
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I like Jaybate’s comment… “BAD BALL is very, very hard to love.”
It fits for Kansas fans. It fits if you look back at our history since Larry Brown.
Larry brought us a National Championship, and over his stay in Lawrence, never lacked offensive punch.
Then came Roy. Roy liked the up-tempo, and he was off to the races.
Bill came to town, and he brought a different philosophy with him: defense… more… DEFENSIVE TOUGHNESS!
What we are seeing right now is Bill playing “BILLY BALL.”
I think we all need to change the vernacular away from “BAD BALL” on to “BILLY BALL.”
Why it looks different is that we just don’t quite have the fire power on offense. We usually had enough offense to dilute Bill’s real strategy… “BILLY BALL.” In other words… DEFENSIVE TOUGHNESS.
Personally… I was a bit amazed that we won this game. TCU continues to play better ball all the time, and they’ve had two previous games with us to know how to play us best.
Lots of pluses going on for us:
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Kelly’s play is just sick! He’s able to take over a game now. I like how he takes over a game more than who he replaced… Wigs.
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Landen played a great game. We are finally starting to cash in on his excellent fundamental post skills.
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Hunter is figuring out his game and making his presence known.
Then think about adding in Perry, and healthier Wayne? A very long shot of Cliff. Then… maybe, just maybe we start banging down some 3s.
If the pieces come together the right way, this team can beat anyone, including Kentucky. That is a big “if” but there are always “ifs” in March with every team. One team usually resolves their “ifs” and wins it all.
Resolving our “ifs” with my “wants:”
I want to see all our guys playing the same toughness and assertiveness when Perry returns. Kelly needs to continue to drive to the hole like he did last night. That will always be there for him. Landen is capable to help us every game. Jamari just needs to stay within his limitations and play a bit smarter… like avoiding the dumb fouls.
I want to see us start adding in offensive wrinkles to free up the 3 and start getting our perimeter swagger back.
I want us to keep the same scrappy attitude once we start getting easy points again.
I want to see Wayne step up and play with assertiveness but also intelligence. Attack the basket, but remain in control. Reduce TOs, too.
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@jaybate-1.0 I’m simply amazed at the manner in which Self continues to maneuver this squad into position to win games. That late game adjustment to Ziegler yesterday serves as fine tribute to Bill’s chess playing skills. His pushing and pulling players into and out of his lineups appears to be simply fantastic. Here I sit, five weeks removed from my initial posting of fears regarding Frank’s heavy burden of minutes, and Self still has the kid churning relentlessly. Finally, I am close to the point wherein I can just sit back and enjoy the ride. My native skepticism has been booted to the pine…alongside woeful Cliff. Expectations still run low, but I won’t be surprised one little bit if this team staggers into the Elite 8.
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Perspective… we need perspective.
My wife blew me away a few years ago with her “70-Rule.” She used to say… “When Kansas scores 70s point or more, they win, under 70, they lose.”
This current team is doing a pretty darn good job of keeping our opponents far below the 70-line.
We just need enough baskets to win. And we have the tools that can come together and get 70 points every night… even though we are playing good “BILLY BALL” right now and usually don’t need that many points to win. On average, we give up 64.9 ppg. That is a pretty good number when considering we played the toughest schedule in the country. And we did it without a shot blocker.
Played the toughest schedule in the country, without the big post presence and with one of the younger teams in the nation and we only lost 7 games!
I think it is great that Jayhawk fans might not have the same expectations they usually have. Let the guys play “sleeper” and see what happens.
Speaking of “sleeper”… gheez… how much of a sleeper are we when we are even a sleeper amongst our fan base!!!
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@JhawkAlum By the way, Alum, that is a mighty fine title for this thread!
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@KUSTEVE I don’t see a reason to “run out the clock”. What is there to gain? If he is/was aware of whatever impropriety then admit to it and get on with life. Take your OAD attitude and leave. If they are stonewalling for whatever reason, all it is doing is hurting the chances for KU to recruit another big. And if that is the case, I will never consider Cliff a “once a Jayhawk, always a Jayhawk.”
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@jaybate-1.0 Question … what Big 12 team has less talent than Kansas? Second question … what national teams other than UK, Duke, and Arizona arguably have more talent than Kansas?
The point of my questions are that Self isn’t doing anything that amazing, is he, with our talent level – on a year to year basis – in conference?
What I find amazing is how we match up in the non-con, and the overall level of consistency. The lack of the head scratching year. But it seems to me that from a roster standpoint, our roster is always the best roster of talent in the Big 12 – again why I look at other conferences where certain years talent levels might compete with us, like MSU, Ohio St., Duke, UNC, Louisville, UConn, Arizona, Florida, Syracuse. We never have a talent disadvantage, do we?
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@wissoxfan83
“The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky, it’s going to give Cleveland State two more years’ probation.” - Jerry Tarkanian
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Good question.
Now that we lack Perry and Cliff, and Jamari plays on one leg, and Selden has never recovered from his knee, and Frank’s and Brannen’s wheels are so hobbled they cannot jump shoot effectively I would argue that everyone but TCU and TTECH have as much or more talent than we do.
Kelly is our only edge and his right knee is still sharply limiting him.
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@brooksmd There are thou$and$ and thou$and$ of reasons to run out the clock. His mother could hang him out to dry. I don’t personally believe that Cliff’s mother, without Cliff’s knowledge and consent, would take out, or be approved for any loan that involved his future earnings. I also don’t believe she would get a loan, and not share a large portion of it with Cliff, since he is the one that has to pay it back. If they go to the NCAA and share loan info, bank statements, and all the rest, it could be very ugly for KU, and very, very ugly for Cliff. I think we will see Cliff sit on the bench the rest of the way, and he will declare for the draft the second the season is over.
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@REHawk No pun intended!
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@KUSTEVE so Cliff is lying? How r u?
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@Crimsonorblue22 I’m doing better. Shot of predisone. Stronger antibiotic. 3 breathing treatments. Codeine laced cough syrup. I’m as good as new…lol.
As for Cliff, the only way anyone can get into any trouble is if someone comes forward. If Cliff had “knowledge” of the loan, then he could be considered culpable. It’s a similar situation ( imo) as Lance Thomas of Dook. He received $100,000 worth of jewelry on loan during their national championship year, it was revealed after he stiffed the jeweler. Now, the NCAA has no authority to subpoena people, or seize bank records, loans…etc. Lance wouldn’t cooperate with the NCAA investigators, and neither would the Jeweler, so it was dropped. As a KU fan, we all have a vested interest in this not coming out, because it would mean setting aside victories, conference title…etc.
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There is no arguing with your logic. I just don’t see that loan happening without Cliff’s tacit approval…unless the family falsely represented to the agent that Cliff had approved, although it is hard to believe the agent would not verify.
I personally do not blame the NCAA, they were notified of a potential violation and did what they are supposed to do, investigate the allegation. The fact that Cliff’s family had retained a known attorney (he looks shady to me, BTW) before the information came to light and their refusal to meet with the NCAA makes me think there is foul play at their end
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I can’t envision this Cliff’s mess upsetting our apple cart of season wins…unless someone in the Kansas program was privy to Mom’s loan dealings from the getgo. And I do envision the NCAA revising and rewriting rules regarding such paperwork, but not in time for Cliff’s season to be saved (return to tournament lineup). That said, something tells me that Kansas might yet get Cliff back for the NCAA Tournament. Currently, too much silence on 2 of the 3 fronts…
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All very interesting views.
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@KUSTEVE about that drs bill— send the payment to me!! Been there to many times! So I guess you think Cliff is lying then. Coach backs him so we don’t get in trouble? Right?
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@Crimsonorblue22iI think Cliff went to his mom, and had her sign a loan for him. And he got caught. And the only way to make this go away is have his mom not cooperate with the NCAA. So, Cliff will be watching us from the bench, and will leave KU the second he is able, and go pro.
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@KUSTEVE do you think self knows? If he kicked him to the curb it would hurt KU? I think Cliff knew he needed to come back and that’s maybe when this blew up?
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I think you might have come up with best explanation. He was involved in the loan early on when he thought he was leaving after one year but once he figured out he needed another year…“others” became impatient and the proverbial s#*t hit the fan.
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@JayHawkFanToo can he come back?
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@KUSTEVE Don’t let the NCAA find out about your drug use. They might find a way to sanction KU for fan drug use. Good grief this thing is absurd. However, I do thank Mr Stafford for his transparency. I think it’s sad the NCAA keeps people in the dark on these issues. Then, they wonder why people have such animosity and lack of trust for them on these issues.
[http://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/mar/12/attorney-cliff-alexander-says-freshman-waiting-nca/]
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@truehawk93 I’m sure you’ll refer back to the letter many times from now on. If I were you, I’d print it…perhaps memorize every word of it. It’s settled. The letter from his attorney makes it so.
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Interesting letter head;
Problem Solvers
Attorneys and Counselors
I have dealt with many attorneys in my lifetime and I don’t believe I have ever seen a letter head like this.
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Yeah… it’s strange and makes you wonder on the ability to counsel.
“Problem Solvers?”
I knew a guy who could solve your problems. Vinnie from New Jersey. Now that guy could fix any problem you could ever have!
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@drgnslayr Don’t confuse him with common sense. Remember, he has a letter from an attorney…
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@JayHawkFanToo are they 2 separate identities? Or one in the same?
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Better call Saul!
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Hey… what happened? My posts in here are gone! Vanished in thin air! A couple of them.
And I didn’t even cuss! $#*$%&#!!!
Okay… I refreshed my browser and they are back.
College players aren’t coming from the real world. I never count on common sense. Or even sense. And attorneys have a one-track mind. Combining the two creates a situation where a guy without a clue connects with a guy with just one single answer.
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@JayHawkFanToo Yeah, I thought “problem solvers” was a bit odd.
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Who knows…I haven’t seen anything like it even on late night class action ambulance chasers ads.
