SVI ADDS 15 POUNDS OF MUSCLE- WILL NOT GO TO KOREA
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In the weight room more than any other player this off season. His inability to hold his position and fight through screens last season was probably the reason for this.
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15 lbs of muscle is a big deal (unless most of it is pork chops and doughnuts).
He was right about his upper body needing the most strength. Once he gains enough strength, he’ll have to learn how to use his shoulders, butt, hands and arms to create spacing without fouling. There is a fine line on this and sometimes he’ll get caught. Players should push the limits and find out what it takes to get a call. If he learns that part of the game, he can get his shot even with a guy in his grill. It is either that method or develop enough footwork like Steph Curry… or how about both?
We didn’t shoot enough FTs last year as a team. A sign of lacking aggression.
I hope everyone will have added to their muscles and are ready to mix it up.
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Haven’t seen him yet. Can you imagine if he runs on the court looking like TRob or jamari?
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@wrwlumpy Being 17 until this week probably had a lot to with it as well. Svi is still going to be one of the youngest players in D1 this season, but his body is now maturing to where he can add muscle and he’s learning that adding muscle is only going to improve his game, not detract from it like conventional Euroball thinking goes.
@drgnslayr KU was 10th in total FT’s attempted and 6th in FT’s made last season. Getting to the line was not an issue last season. Assists are where KU struggled last year, KU only averaged 13 assists per game and had a 1.04 A/TO ratio which is terrible for a Bill Self team. Last season was the lowest assist total, and worst A/TO ratio in the Bill Self era and neither number is close to the second worst seasons in those categories. The total turnovers last season I believe was the lowest of the Bill Self era, but the assists were so low that it also created the worst A/TO ratio in the Bill Self era as well. KU was only +12 last season and the next worst number is somewhere around +60 for the season.
One of two things needs to happen to get that number back to the 1.3 A/TO range of a typical Bill Self team, either Frank Mason has to get better at sharing the ball, or Devonte Graham needs to be running the show a lot more for KU. I honestly think the most productive offensive line up KU will have next season will be Graham at point, Mason at the 2, Greene at the 3, and Ellis and Diallo in the post. Graham is a natural PG, Mason can get whatever shot he wants, Greene will punish teams that try and double the paint, and Ellis and Diallo are a perfect pair for the high-low.
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@wrwlumpy I love Forte’s face in that pic. He looks to be in some serious pain. Like he just ran into a brick wall… Or has a bad case of the runs
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Seriously? KU was 10th in the nation at going to the line? I have to see it to believe it. It always seemed like we were playing too soft of ball. That is a ‘shocker’ to me (excuse the pun)!
Yes… our assists were down.
Obviously, when we have big assist numbers we get some good offense… team offense. It is about the ball not sticking. Crisp passing, ball motion trying to break down the defense.
Hard not to agree with this strategy… the Self strategy. But… I think sometimes we go too far over the edge with the team concept and need a leader… someone who can create on his own, to create. That doesn’t mean hog the ball on shots, it means create holes in the defense by another means besides just quick passing. I’d like to see someone very good at penetration… penetrate and shoot or feed for assists.
Maybe my memory is slipping… but it seems like we often pushed the clock down too far before guys finally got serious about taking a shot.
I mentioned this earlier. I’m looking forward to a 30-second clock this year!
I want to see our guards PUSH the ball up the court, and our team PUSH into a quick set offense. How about adding in more transition basketball? How about adding in secondary-break offense?
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@drgnslayr http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/free-throws/sort/freeThrowsAttempted
This is a case where ESPN really does blow everyone out of the water when it comes to college basketball. Their archive that can be easily accessed on team stats goes back to the 2001-02 season and you can click on each category to see where teams rank. And you can click on any team and get their individual stats going back that far as well. It really is the best overall database for college basketball stats over the past 15 years. Fox Sports is probably the best for looking up individual player stats because they have some of the advanced stats.
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Thanks for the link! Awesome!
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@ZIG one of his many academy award performances!!
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@drgnslayr we added that-Diallo!
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@drgnslayr said:
Hard not to agree with this strategy… the Self strategy. But… I think sometimes we go too far over the edge with the team concept and need a leader… someone who can create on his own, to create. That doesn’t mean hog the ball on shots, it means create holes in the defense by another means besides just quick passing. I’d like to see someone very good at penetration… penetrate and shoot or feed for assists.
Maybe my memory is slipping… but it seems like we often pushed the clock down too far before guys finally got serious about taking a shot.
I want to see our guards PUSH the ball up the court, and our team PUSH into a quick set offense. How about adding in more transition basketball? How about adding in secondary-break offense?
This first part is where Frank Mason has to get better. He can get whatever shot he wants and is great at drawing fouls, but too many times missed an open player either in the paint or on the perimeter and took a contested, low % shot instead of dishing to the guy the secondary defender came off of. If Mason improves his court vision and starts making these passes on a more regular basis, Mason could be a guy that averages 7 assists per game which is Aaron Miles territory.
I agree with this whole heartily. Too many times the past two seasons, we’ve seen the offense run the weave with no purpose and hand off to either Wiggins or Mason with 10-15 seconds left on the shot clock and ask them to make something happen. KU shoots to the ball too well for this to be an issue. Greene, Mason, and Graham were all at or over 40% from deep last year with Ellis at 39% and Selden at 37% also being above average shooters as well and there’s no reason why KU shouldn’t be running a lot more pick n roll and pick and pop to get these guys open looks behind the line. You also have to figure Svi will improve to at least 35% or better given his history as a shooter before coming to KU. Even if they miss, you get a lot of offensive rebounding opportunities which should equal some easy baskets for KU as well. Mix the high-low or weave with some pick n roll and pick and pop and that’s a great offense.
I would also love to see KU get out and run more than they do under Bill Self. Not to the tempo that Roy played, but use their superior athleticism to tire other teams out. Play aggressive defense, especially when Diallo is in to protect the rim if a player gets burned. Even when running proper transition offense, there’s plenty of assist opportunities when you have numbers. If you have numbers and the defender commits to the ball handler, dish it to the other guy for an easy dunk or lay up or kick it out to the open shooter if it’s one of the 40% guys.
Last year was probably the worst the offense has looked under Bill Self partly because the primary PG gets tunnel vision sometimes and because KU didn’t have a consistent low post presence to force teams to double team him. That should change this year with Diallo and if Landen gets strong enough to hold his ground on offense. Landen never had an issue getting to his spot on offense, he just never realized how far out of position he got pushed when he would take his shots. If Landen gets strong enough, big if considering where he’s at after 3 years in that department, he could be a 60% shooter.
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That was a long post and I agree with everything you said!
A big part of it is Frank learning to be a real PG. A transition away from being a SG, volume scorer in HS.
I think Devonte might even get the starting tap at PG sometime during this year. I’d rather see him at PG and slide Frank into more minutes at the 2 then the other way around.
But then… Self mentioned last year that he would run “2 PGs”… essentially, having two guys on the court at the same time that could bring the ball up and run offense. I’m thinking this is a vision he sometimes has similar to the past days of his hi/lo where his 4 and 5 players were essentially “left” and “right.”
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@drgnslayr Self has always preferred having 2 guys on the floor that can handle the ball. From Robinson, Chalmers, and Collins to Collins and Taylor to Taylor and Johnson, and now Mason and Graham. Those two will be on the court a lot together this season and I believe Graham was usually the one running the show last year when they were both on the floor together.
I wish KU had interchangeable pieces for the high-low and that’s why Johnathan Williams III from Missouri was always my preference for the transfer big man because he had the range to play in the high post. But KU doesn’t have interchangeable pieces like they did with the Morris twins so they just need somebody that can establish a low post presence which Diallo should be able to do.
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I hear you. JWIII would have been a great addition.
I think the last couple of years Self has grown because he has had to create different schemes because his talent was unique. He had to try to develop for Wigs (which I didn’t think we did a good job of doing). And the last years… Perry isn’t really a back to the basket kind of player.
I like how Self realized some players score better while on the move. It certainly worked that way last year for Perry in the high post. JamTray also scored well while in motion and could then get to the rim. I think the biggest factor being that neither player caught the ball with his back to the basket.
This should be a fascinating year for Jayhawk basketball. Can’t wait to see how Cheick and Perry play together. I hope we see plenty of 4 feeding 5 in the low post, and 5 feeding 4 just about anywhere.
Cheick has limited offense, but they should be able to create for each other. As long as Cheick can finish at the hole, he’ll have a good year!
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@Texas-Hawk-10 He had Miles and Langford too didnt he?
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@Lulufulu Self did have Miles and Langford for 2 years, but I don’t ever remember Langford being a guy that handled the ball the way these secondary guys like Chalmers, Taylor, and Graham did, but I could be wrong about that.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 Yeah, Im not sure he did either. I remember Langford was solid at cutting to the basket, slashing into there for points but Idk if he created for others.
