What if KU doesn't get any OAD's?
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Since Self has signed two each the last season, it seems likely he will at least match that this season, since he has holes to fill at the 3 and the 5. To paraphrase Coach Self, KU has to get some more scoring in the post.
Whether KU signs any OADs appears to depend significantly on whether the adidas-agent complex has any unsigned OADs remaining in any of their sponsored power AAU teams. There probably are some, so I would assume Self will sign at least two, as he has the last two seasons.
But I also thought Oubre would stay, so my divining rod is obviously not totally efficient.
What would we do if Coach Self signs no OADs?
I suspect he will turn up some non OAD bigs, probably two more after Bragg. I suspect one would come from Mike Fratelloās and Bob Hillās Eurasian team that sent us Svi. I suspect he would be fairly bulky fellow of the type of Gonzagaās bigs. I suspect the other would be graduated transfer of considerably girth, too. Our two returning bigsāJamari and Landen, would be well supplemented by two big lugs.
I also think that Wayne, if he were not displaced by an OAD 2, or 3, would develop into a fairly consistent player next season capable of playing the 3 for us, and I believe Brannen Greene will become consistent for us at the 2 or 3 next season also.
Really, we are in pretty good shape for next season on the perimeter.
But we really need either an elite 5, or a pair of big bruisers, at the 5, to make the team as viable as other teams that went deep this season.
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I just watched the McDonalds all American game and Brandon Ingram said Bragg was doing the best at recruiting him for what thatās worth. Zimmerman said the same thing. Diallo is supposed to be a KU lean and he LIT it up tonight and locked up the MVP award.
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I watched a bunch of coverage of Bragg this week and he seams a lot like Devonte Graham. Always smiling, up beat, good teammate, and probably the most popular with everyone. He hit a lot of 3ās too.
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KU has been here before, and everytime a Chicken Little screams the sky is falling. Most of the concerns on this post have been addressed.
We actually need to reload/rebuild. Iāve said before and will say again. Oubre is gone. Alex is likely gone and Self needs to push him because this Loangate is not going away. The NCAA will dog this until Alex declares. I donāt think Self or Alex has a choice at this point. I donāt know all the details, but the ultimate victim is Alex. We just lost a potentially great player and just never completed the season.
Selden needs to leave. Heās digressing for some reason. He needs to review his stock status and if heās late in the first round, GO. If heās in the first round go and get picked up somehow. If not, there are a lot of options for his development. If Selden returns, he must return in beast mode with something to prove. I just donāt think a return will do him much good. His fate is pretty much sealed.
Ellis may actually be the obvious sleeper. Many of us thought heād return and will like do so. However, heās in a similar boat. His stock isnāt too bad. Unlike Selden, he was actually on the upside of his junior season. I donāt think it matters either way for Ellis at this point whether he goes or stays. I think staying may be to his advantage for his senior season. But, like Selden he risks losing what heās worked so hard to achieve. Ellis has a heart and a different way of looking at his life. I say heās back for his senior season, but it would be a pleasant surprise to me if he leaves.
Bottom line? Self needs to clean house and reload. Itās time to keep a few core leaders: Mason, Graham (really matured), Green, Ellis?, maybe Lucas for experience. Iām not completely sold on Mari. Heās a role player and a great model for work ethic. Svi is a diamond in the rough. I want that kid to stick around, learn, and grow. He needs to work on his shot. He can only get better. I donāt care what Mickelson does at this point. I donāt think heās going anywhere. He just gambled and lost.
Now letās reload with this core mentioned above. Letās addā¦Diallo, Brown, and maybe, just maybe Newman. I think Simmons April Foolās joke was interesting to say the least. Simmons may have ultimately just ruled out UK for Newman. But, he may know that Newman is LSU bound. I think with Oubre declaring just opened wide the door for Brown. If so, we may lose Green. Brown is going to bring what Green failed to bring all year as a sophomore. Lastly, if Selden leaves, it āmightā be the chip/domino Self needed to lure Newman. I always thought Newman was waiting to see what Selden would do. This is the ultimate reason for losing Selden. Now, I have no idea what Thorneās transfer means, if anything. I think he merely gives size and experience, pretty much Black 2.0. So, bottom line to bring in Diallo, Brown, Newman, and maybe Thorne, weāll have to loseā¦Oubre(check), Selden(?), and maybe Ellis.
We have 3 to give? Bragg gets 1, Diallo 1, Brown 1, and if Selden declares, 1, and we wouldnāt have to lose Ellis. But, for the sake of pt, itās almost imperative that Ellis and Selden leave for Diallo and Newman. If we miss on Newman, I think Ingram might be our sleeping recruit. If we get both Brown and Ingram, Green is guaranteed gone. I doubt it will happen exactly this way, but very possible.
The Sky is not falling and either way KU will be ok. Always have is and will be fine. We get at least one more top recruit in addition to Bragg, even if itās Diallo, so be it. If we bring in Thorne, our 5 will be fairly competitve with him and Lucas. Diallo can get 25-30 mins, even with Ellis. Self will work it so that Ellis is a stretch 4 and Diallo is a true 4. We may get to see what some of us have been wanting for Ellis his whole time here as a big 3 (if we miss on Brown or Ingram).
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TOWNSā TRANSFORMATION āINCREDIBLEā Karl-Anthony Townsā high-school coach Bob Hurley: āI didnāt think he could go from shooting 3s to being this dominant around the basket. I want to write John Calipari a note to say this is the most amazing transformation Iāve seen.ā
Gag meā¦BTW- Coach Hurley, thanks for the recruiting plug. The check is in the mail. Coach Cal
This is what makes me sick about college bball. The Hurleys come from a very needy Catholic school that is always in need of money to stay open. Prestoā¦enters John Calipari (āCatholicā?) So, he gets to support his faith (which is great), but hey, it doesnāt hurt to get a little extra help from the Hurleys when it comes to recruits. Folks Iām here to tell you college bball is dirty, dirty, and dirtyā¦Coaches like Bill Self who play by the rules and run a clean program, honest, open, and transparent, getās screwed.
And some have the bodacious audacity to question why Self and other deserving coaches canāt get the OADs or the elite of the elite? Hereās whyā¦John Calipari and WWW have the recruiting world in their back pocket and itās all CLEAN as a babyās bottom. Itās almost like money laundering, only with recruiting. They clean their trails and cover their details to ignore the NCAA and it wouldnāt surprise me one bit if they have a NCAA sanctions employee on the take. Call me crazy, but I donāt think itās too far from reality.
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Yea it seems Bragg could be quite the player, but come on he isnāt going to be shooting threeās at KU. At least not under HCBSās watch? LOL
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@DoubleDD The Morris Twins shot plenty of 3ās. If he can knock them down, then he will get to fire away. Itās also good for recruiting, because these kids are talking to each other.
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@DoubleDD We wonāt ever see Cliff in a KU uniform again. As for Wayne or Perry, I havenāt seen anything that would make me think they arenāt coming back. Thorne will be a nice rotation guy for us, and maybe Coach will pull off a late coup, as heās done many times.
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We will know sure enough in the next 8 days.
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@DoubleDD I think if he can shoot he will be allowed. I thought he could rebound a lot better.
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@KUSTEVE Totally agree. I canāt imagine Selden or Perry leave. Neither guy has any chance of being a lottery pick or even a first round pick. Even if you think you have met your ceiling why would you leave when you could worst case scenario go undrafted?
These guys are back: Ellis, Selden, Mason, Devonte, Greene, Svi, Bam Bam, Lucas, Hunter. Looks pretty sweet on the perimter to me. The gaping hole is obviously in the post. UK canāt take all of the McDās kids that are undeclared. Hopefully we get one of these guys and they end up not being an OAD.
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@joeloveshawks said:
Totally agree. I canāt imagine Selden or Perry leave.
And the funny thing is - both of them are better than someone who IS going to the NBA.
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āSelden needs to leave. Heās digressing for some reason. He needs to review his stock status and if heās late in the first round, GO. If heās in the first round go and get picked up somehow. If not, there are a lot of options for his development. If Selden returns, he must return in beast mode with something to prove. I just donāt think a return will do him much good. His fate is pretty much sealed.ā
I hate to say itā¦ but I agree with you.
I think Wayne was coddled too much at KU. Weāve sort of enabled him to get into a psychological funk similar to what EJ did (except EJās was also caused by our coaches and forcing him to PG).
Wayne will get pushed trying out for NBA teams. He is medium on talent, medium on athleticismā¦ but he has a great body for the league. And if he gets his mind right, he might turn the corner at the next level. On a higher note, Wigs did. Throw him in the river and see if he can swim. He seems to be riding a plateau at Kansas.
āHereās whyā¦John Calipari and WWW have the recruiting world in their back pocket and itās all CLEAN as a babyās bottom.ā
I really liked your post here. Makes sense. But what doesnāt get answered is how they are able to keep so many 5-star recruits happy sitting on the pine or not producing big numbers or coming back for another year. Imagine if we had kept a player like Oubre on the bench the entire year? The kid would be freaking out and weād never sign another 5-star recruit. Alexander was a different case. He didnāt show enough for anyone to question why he wasnāt playing.
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@drgnslayr seriously, some donāt want players to leave early, some want 3-4 year players, and now after 2 years, get rid of them? Wayne loves KU, why wouldnāt he get the chance to improve?
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I think the question is: āDid Wayne improve this year?ā I donāt think he did. Are we going to get another year out of him where he doesnāt show up for 80% of the games? We have a logjam at the 2. Lots of talented guys that need a chance but Self has a promise to Wayne and heāll keep it.
Wayne COULD improve this next season. But will he? Weāve thrown those dice before with EJ. The guys that get psyched out would seem to do better if they changed their environment with a fresh start. I wish EJ had transferred out after his sophomore year. Not thinking just for usā¦ but for him.
I really like Wayne, this is about Wayne. What would be best for him? Maybe even a college transfer might help him.
I think he needs to go somewhere like WVU. Huggy wonāt cut him any slack like Self does. I think it would be great for Wayne. Get him over the plateau he is stuck on. He needs to be pushed and for some reason, he has a complete pass by Self to perform or not perform. It isnāt right. This yearā¦ he was given far too much rope to not only hang himself, but also his teammates.
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@drgnslayr I am not sure that we go to the Title game in 2012 if EJ transferred.
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@drgnslayr Iām not giving up on him. Svi has a chance to catch up, if he passes Wayne, heāll get more time. If we get another perimeter player thatās better, competition is good.
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We would or we wouldnātā¦ but Iām talking about the good of EJ. He didnāt end his career well and what is he doing now?
Anyone know? Playing in Bulgaria?
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@drgnslayr Ok. I am 100% sure we would not go to the National Title game without EJ in 2012. He had a huge tournament and was a big part of the 6-7 man rotation that somehow won 5 games in March.
The 2013 season / Michigan game will always hurt our opinion of EJ. But EJ and TT will always be thought of fondly for me based on what they did in 2012 even if they both had pretty lack luster careers the other 3 years they were at KU.
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Iām not arguing with youā¦ just saying it is less about us and more about the player (in this instance).
EJ is probably washing dishes right now. That guy could flat out ball. He is on my all-time favorite list because he sacrificed his future trying to be the PG he never was just for the good of the team.
Right nowā¦ in some restaurant kitchen out thereā¦ there is a towel just waiting for Wayne to come use it.
Wayne can flat out ball, too. But for some reason it aināt happening here for him.
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@drgnslayr How many college educated dish washers do you know? lol
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Iām not really hanging out in restaurant kitchensā¦ but I bet there are plenty. Maybe these guys arenāt washing dishes. But unless they are starting their own businesses and finding success through that, they probably arenāt matching the financial success they could have had in basketball. Pretty sad to reach NEAR the mountain top, and then fall down the mountain.
Right nowā¦ Wayne is tumbling down the same mountain EJ did.
No one else sees that?
These guys get one shot at college ballā¦ and college ball is where the door opens for pro ball (of various sources).
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@drgnslayr I donāt hang out in restaurant kitchens either, but I do watch a lot of Guyās Grocery Games.
Sorry - slow day at work.
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I noticed how well Wayne played when his dad sat in the second row. He was a completely different player.
How do we get him to play like that for 30+ games a year?
Everybody in here likes our guys. I know I do.
But if we realistically think we can advance in Marchā¦ we have to put expectations on players to perform. We needed more out of Wayne this past year. And Wayne needed more out of Wayne if he really wants that NBA shot.
Unless we can figure out a way to get Wayne to perform like he can when his dad is in row 2ā¦ we need to change something and Wayne needs to change something.
I carry āhopeā with meā¦ it usually ends up being my crutch to the reality I wasnāt willing to face.
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@drgnslayr said:
How do we get him to play like that for 30+ games a year?
I guess we bring Pops to all the games.
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@nuleafjhawk and haircuts
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Iām pretty sure the NCAA keeps watch over that.
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@drgnslayr uhhhhhā¦ I meant his Dad VOLUNTARILY shows up at every game. Yeah - thatās what I meant.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I know youāre all gushy over the Uber-dude, but that haircutā¦
When you were a kid did you ever have one of those stick ponies? I canāt look at him without thinking about that.
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āSorry - slow day at work.ā
Haā¦ Iām enjoying your slow day at work. Keep it up!
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@drgnslayr Lol - thanks ?
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@truehawk93 Wow ātrueā I get Cali is a questionable coach in ethics, but Catholic schools are haven for underprivileged kids, and that coach Hurley has done miracles for kids who may be in prison without him. Also, if you look at the stats on cost per student spent by the govt & the Catholic schools, the latter wins as the govt spends 2x-3x more. Yah I donāt like coach Hurley tooting for Cali either, but if that opens Caliās deep pocket to spread his wealth with those in need, I canāt fault coach Hurley. Because he needs the money for the kids - did you see espuneeās 30/30 on that school & gym? Itās nothing like suburbās fancy mega million schools. That school is dilapidated itās pitiful! Hopefully Self will donate some too, if permissible by the NCAA.
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@nuleafjhawk but, you are an old dude(not really old in years-just really old school)
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@drgnslayr Thank you!! I was going to look for an image, but I donāt know how to import it anyway. I was hoping a good samaritan would do that!!
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@Crimsonorblue22 yeah - old in years too! But I try to be immature enough to offset some of that.
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@nuleafjhawk no youāre not!
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@Crimsonorblue22 57 in Julyā¦
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@nuleafjhawk thatās not old! You drive a red car, not beige right?
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@Crimsonorblue22 Used to - 1970 Mustang. Or as I refer to her " My First True Love ".
Now itās a dark grey Toyota Camry. I know - but great mileage!! Wait - my wife has a burgundy Jeep - i drive it sometimesā¦
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@nuleafjhawk I just remember you saying you were not a beige person.
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@Crimsonorblue22 My skinās kinda beige. Other than that ā¦
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@drgnslayr I would not trade EJās 39 point game against Iowa State for anything. What an incredible performance by a player that showed what he was capable of. His clutch shooting carried us to the Title Game in 2012. It was legendary!!!
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I enjoyed that game immensely. Made me wonder if some of those Iowa rednecks second-guessed their decision to call EJ the āNā word.
Iām just not satisfied with how EJās career endedā¦ and Iām not talking about the Michigan game. Iām talking about EJ not getting the right opportunities to move on. Iād like to know today that he is doing well financially and enjoying himself playing ball in a good situation.
I care about the players AFTER they leave Kansas, too. Sherron is constantly in my thoughts.
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@drgnslayr Well said. EJ got his Degree from KU. I wished he would have gotten more opportunities to play early on in his career as well. He was one of my favorites.
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This pic says so much!
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@KansasComet that is also a favorite game of mine!
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Holly knows itās a special moment between a respected coach and his humble player! Then weathermax verbally attacks coach!
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@drgnslayr Tend to agree with you about Seldenās trajectory right now. The good news is, he has a couple years to figure out whatās wrong. The problemās probably between his ears. Maybe itās nothing a summer of scrappy pick-up ball canāt fix. If he chooses to try a blank slate somewhere else, Iām ok with that. And if he stays at KU to optimize his chances, Iām ok with that tooā¦so long as Self doesnāt keep playing him when heās obviously struggling, to the detriment of other players and ultimately the team.
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After hearing Dialloās statement about playing timeā¦I donāt think we will get him. Selfās history of bringing freshmen along slower along with the amount of 4/5 guys on the rosterā¦if I felt the way that Diallo saidā¦ I think I could see more PT at both ISU and at SJU.
