Jan 11: Post-game Roundup: KU vs K State
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I think the most amazing statistic was that we had no give always in the first half. It goes to show you what taking care of the ball can do for you.
I really wanted ISU to win today so the Jayhawks be the first but Ill settle for pulling the curtain on the Hilton Magic.
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Now that was a beat down!
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Great win for KU. And, lots to discuss…
First off, hey Mr. Selden. Didn’t know where you went. Nice to see you again.
It’s great to finally see Selden being aggressive again. And what’s better is that it looks like he’s got his confidence back. And like I’ve said before, confidence is contagious, and that much was obvious. Mr. Wiggins sure caught a case as well.
I saw a team out there playing together, playing aggressive, and playing with confidence. And more than anything, I saw this team experiencing something that I haven’t seen in some time… THEY WERE HAVING FUN! I guess beating the hell out of your in-state “rival” will do that for a young team.
It was also nice to see Embiid take what was given to him. If teams are going to give Embiid that shot, drill it. Teams may now be a little reluctant to give Embiid the open look at the top of the key, which will make us harder to guard and leave the post open. Could’ve done without the flagrant though. But I’m sure he’s already learned his lesson.
And to K-State: Thanks for sneaking into the top 25 just in time for year annual curb-stomping in Lawrence.
Now, for the nitty gritty. If the presence of Conner Frankamp in the past two games has shown us anything, it’s that KU is deep. CF is one of many resources that KU can bring off the bench and provide a spark. I say this because I found it puzzling why Self didn’t bring in some of the other guys to get them some valuable experience. Particularly when Embiid got ejected, I didn’t understand why Lucas didn’t get some PT. I couldn’t understand why Andrew White and Brannen Greene didn’t get any time at all in this game. I couldn’t help but think to myself with about 5 minutes left, ‘If I’m Andrew White, I’m gone as soon as the season’s over.’ What made it even more perplexing is that we’re going to need shooters on Monday. We all know what Iowa State’s game is: the three ball. If they get out there and start drilling threes, we’re going to need to be able to counter. I love what I’ve seen from Selden, but I’m not sure that he can maintain this kind of consistency. I hope I’m wrong, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Speaking of Iowa State… Let me just say this, the Big 12 is a phenomenal conference this year. If it’s not the best, it’s certainly the most entertaining. Oklahoma’s win today showed just how talented this conference is. That being said, I’ve paid more attention to team’s non-coference SOS this year more than I have in the past–primarily because KU’s was so tough–and I think that we’re starting to see what a fairly weak NCS can mask.
Like Self said after one of our losses (I think the Florida loss), and I’m paraphrasing, “we’ve been shown our weaknesses and now we can work to correct them.” That’s absolutely right. That being said, who showed Iowa State their weaknesses? How about Oklahoma State? Iowa State’s toughest game was probably either at BYU or against Iowa (I don’t include Michigan because clearly they aren’t who everyone thought they would be). They have one win against a top 25 team and it’s by virtue of a rival they play every year having a good year (Iowa). Oklahoma controlled that entire game. Iowa St. briefly took the lead, but for the most part, the Sooners flat out beat ISU.
Oklahoma St. struggled against West Virginia mightily and was lucky to escape with the win. I told several people last week after they lost to K-State, that loss may have said more about OSU than it did K-State. I still don’t think KSU is very good.
So, in the past week I’ve gone from thinking we could miss the tournament if we kept playing the way we did against SDSU to thinking that our chances of winning the Big 12 for the tenth straight time are starting to look a little better. If this team can keep playing with confidence, utilize its depth and stay aggressive I like our chances going forward.
PS: I thought those uniforms were sweet. This is what it says in small print on the uni: “Pay heed. The game you love began here. Respect those who came before you. Make their legacy your own. Because destiny favors the dedicated. And rings won’t replace work. In this game you don’t get what you want. You get what you earn. We are Kansas. Together we rise. Rock Chalk Jayhawk.”
I happen to think that’s pretty cool.
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It was truly a relief to win these past two games. Going into ISU/OKst/Baylor next week, we really needed to get out to 2-0. I’m pretty excited about this ISU game, the crowd is going to be NUTS.
Also, slightly off topic but UNC and Ol’ Roy are having a heck of a time this past year. Haven’t they been getting some pretty great recruits over there?
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It was a complete victory, where we played well on both ends of the court. K- State had all kinds of trouble running their offense, and our offense was simply the best its been all year. The passing was simply superb- one of the fast breaks, I don’t think the ball touched the floor end to end. Selden is a new man. He has taken advantage of the opportunities, and changed our offense for the better. I think Wigs is capable of totally dominating a game, which we saw a good example today. I get the feeling with Wigs that the bigger the challenge, the better he is going to play. Only negative of the game: Naadir, love the 9 dimes, but 1 for 7? C’mon, man…
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@MoonwalkMafia You’re right about the Big12 conference being extremely tough this season. Almost every site I’ve seen has either the Big12 or the Big10 as the top ranked conference. And unlike most other conferences, KU has to play a home and home against every team in the conference. So while Kansas has to play Iowa St, Baylor, Oklahoma St, Oklahoma, KState, and other teams twice, a team like Wisconsin in the Big10 only has to play Ohio St and Michigan St once, and both games are in Madison.
I like our chances in Ames on Monday. KU outrebounded Oklahoma 36-22 in Norman on Wednesday. Oklahoma outrebounded ISU 41-34 today. Additionally, Kane looks like he won’t go ,or at the very least will not be 100% after his late game ankle sprain today. And KU should be going into Hilton with a lot of confidence after their big win today.
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This was a good day. We pound the purple kitties and ISU loses. We are now one up on the Clones (since we won at OU), even if they beat us on Monday. I, also, was wondering why, with 5 mins. left and up by 20, Greene (or White) did not come in the game for something other than mop up minutes. Monday will be very tough. A loss won’t hurt us as this is one of the toughest road games. A win…really puts us 2 up on ISU.
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I might be wrong but I thought I saw Greene in for a few mop up minutes. I know a few people said he didn’t so I might be loosing it.
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@CaptnMo He was in there - shot some FT’s. Didn’t see AW3 in there though. Was really surprised Coach Self didn’t sub out some of the guys a little sooner to get those benchwarmers a few more minutes.
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,It is weird … White is the 5th perimeter guy in vs. SDSU, a whole 3 minutes. and hasn’t played since. Greene mop-up duty. And CF gets only 5 minutes despite playing well the other night and hitting 3 today.
I heard Norm Roberts on 810 Thursday and he said Self wanted to cut back Wiggins’ and Selden’s minutes, saying that they were playing too many minutes; this all in the discussion on CF, Greene, and White.
But this is just morbid, really. Self isn’t going to play these guys more than he absolutely has to.
Some discussion that CF played against OU really only because we had foul trouble. No foul trouble today; CF gets 5 and that’s it. It is what it is.
But really a perfect game. Dominated from the start. Selden and Wiggins both played great; Tharpe with 9 assists and no turnovers. Awesome.
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This week the Jayhawks made the nation sit up and notice that the team is in the recovery mode from their funk. And the nation is noticing the following:
Selden getting it. And it’s becoming more likely we’ll be losing him.
When Wigs A game is in the house, the other team will be run clear out of the house.
Ellis plays much better when he’s not sick like he was last Sunday.
Embiid popping threes and popping opponents in the head. One’s good, the other not. His footwork is astonishing.
When Tharpe hands out dimes, the team cashes in with wins. He’s averaging 4 assists in KU’s losses and 5.9 in KU’s wins.
When the nation learns of Jamari’s life story, they’ll be more inspired than the consistant relief he provides the team consistently night in and night out.
Watch out for Connor Frankamp as he gains confidence.
Tarik is fouling at a rate of 10 per 40 minute game. Ellis is fouling at a rate of about 2 per 40 minute game.
Make Mason play. His four highest minutes games are all losses. He’s averaging 11.5 points in those games, but his average in wins is 5.5.
Bruce Weber is the best thing to ever happen to Kansas St. for Kansas.
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The other thing I liked is how we handled the double teams in the post. We made them pay for doubling.
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@CaptnMo Yes. Greene came in for mop up minutes only. I would have expected some of the guys come in earlier for some meaningful minutes with such a big lead.
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You knew it would be a good game when Tarik came in and did not get his customary foul just for checking in.
You knew it would get better when Tarik did not get his fourth foul after 3 minutes in the court.
You knew it would be a great game when Tarik actually drew 2 charging fouls; who knew they still called charging fouls.
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One thing that makes no sense to me is a comment in an article (maybe KC star?) that said that if Williams had taken a swing at Embiid after getting elbowed then they both would have been ejected and missed the next game for fighting. I believe that is a true statement, but it seems unfair. Shouldn’t Embiid’s actions stand alone? Why should his penalty depend on Williams’ reaction? Does not make sense to me. Glad it didn’t happen.
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@Hawk8086 I thought that was odd, too. Seems like a recipe for some shady play. If you are playing your rival in the standings and they have another tough game immediately following, have a scrub flagrantly foul their star. If he retaliates, he’s out the next game your team has a better chance of moving up. If not, no great loss.
I think they distinguished between fouling and initiating a fight. If nobody fights back, you haven’t initiated anything. So you only get suspended if they fight back. Has nothing to do with what you did in the first place, the distinction completely rests with the other guy’s response. Doesn’t seem right.
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@tundrahok There are lots of situations where ouside factors determine how bad the consequences are. Involuntary manslaughter: depends on whether someone dies. Accessory before the fact: you help a guy prepare to steal and he shoots a policeman. Drinking and driving. Smoking.
“Not fair” happens a lot, and more to some people than others. It’s just not fair…
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@ParisHawk true, good point.
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@HighEliteMajor - Good call, bringing up the low minutes of our perimeter bench guys.
For one, I know Self keeps a good PR relationship with Weber, but deep down, I don’t think he likes him. He can say what he does in public, but I think Self took his team out there on the court to give KSU (and Weber) a beat down.
I think it even reflected in Embiid’s action that got him tossed. Of course, Self doesn’t condone that kind of behavior, but he did have these guys stimulated to play… perhaps the first time since the Duke game.
Maybe it’s just because we started conference play and the game was in our building.
I’m anxious to go play the Kitties in Manhattan. I have a feeling that will be one of our better road games this year.
When the B12 season is over… I’m curious if this game with the Kitties is our largest deficit beat down?!
My guess when we play teams like TCU in our own building and we lead by a quarter of a century, we’ll be passing out more bench minutes and rounding off the edges on a lopsided score.
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JoJo’s Wonderful - Horrible Day.
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I have never seen a player with such submissive body language than Embiid shows for Self after coming to the sideline. It was actually a little hard for me to watch, but I really, really love this guy. The shame was evident, and he knows his Father taught him better.
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@Blown He sat with his head down, arms on his knees, for a long time…until they made him leave for the locker room. He obviously knew he screwed up and felt bad.
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@Blown made me sad too! Embiid is a pleaser. I thought the team played harder, for him.
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@tundrahok I agree. However, he has to be careful about that.
As I noted last week, each officiating crew gets a report in their pregame of things to watch for. For example, leading up to tonight’s ISU game, I’m sure they will receive a report about what happened last year so that they are aware of the fans sitting courtside.
Now, because of Embiid’s actions, that will probably appear in the next several reports as something to watch for. That elbow may earn him some quicker whistles in the future, which could get him into some foul trouble at inopportune times.
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From the kittykat’s website:
“We started the game okay, but it was more when they had their second group in there,” said Weber. “They picked us apart and made shots. They built their margin, got their confidence going, and we didn’t have any answers. I didn’t think we were very efficient, offensively. We kind of froze. They switched some things and stayed with ball screens, and we didn’t move the ball well enough. We got some open shots and went 1-of-11 from 3-point range. That is not going to cut it when they go 8-for-18 from beyond the arc, and that was probably the difference in the game.”
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@justanotherfan or… Maybe they know Embiid like we do and could see the sorrow he had in his heart. I know, my glass is always half FULL!
