Deep Breath... Suck In... More... More... (sigh) Release....
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Okay…
We’ve managed to turn Tuesday’s tight loss to a powerhouse team into a Self lynch mob situation.
By now… we all should have expressed our deepest angst about Kansas basketball.
It is time to move on.
We can prove to ourselves that we are not the shining definition of insanity by stopping what we are doing and turn the page. Who knows… maybe something still good happens this season!
Let’s all take a deep breath and exhale the remainder of bad breath, garlic, and anger. Our next breath will be fresh again… and we will look forward to our next game, and the remainder of games in this season.
Right now we need to bear down on thinking good thoughts for our boy, Cheick! He is going to be released to play any day now! Believe it and lets make it happen!
At some point this season, Cheick is going to help us forget many of our post woes.
Let the dark cloud cover our recruiting issues. All we have to do is go out and win games. Time to take home another trophy for our constantly improving AFH! Then let’s look at our recruiting year… when it gets into the time period where nobody recruits better than Self!
I know our Coach Self is feeling the heat. It comes to him from more directions than this forum. It really is about him figuring out a way to make 15 guys bond and perform like the Royals. Everything tough now will just be a lesson for our boys to help them obtain their manhood and focus on what is really important to them and their lives. It just so happens that winning a National Championship fits nicely in their plans!
Can I get a ROCK CHALK from someone out there that is ready to enjoy a great basketball season?
Brothers and sisters… we have crossed the river of despair. It is time for us to seek higher ground, atop the mountain, where the sun shines all the time, and if you blink your eyes quickly, you may just see the shadow of an honorable fellow by the name of Dr. Naismith!
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Guarding the basketball grail deep under the center circle of Naismith Court is not for the faint hearted.
Allen looks down from the shadows above the scoreboard and Jimmy looks in through the south Windows each afternoon.
Amazing things happen in that building.
Rock Chalk!
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@jaybate-1.0 and I’ve seen a few!! Can’t wait to go again.
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Thanks!
I think many of us (including myself) needed to vent some frustrations. But at a certain point, it starts building momentum to the point of “breathing on its own.”
I am very critical about Bill Self. But I’m critical about everyone. My wife snaps me back into shape periodically when I get overcritical about dumb things. I’m sure I drink too much coffee.
It feels like we all need to suck it in and move on. When venting on here… at first, it is a big relief. Finally get something off your chest. But in the end, Bill Self (or whoever we are blasting) doesn’t come on in to defend himself. We are not given the opportunity to vent at the one we want to vent about. Since a decent sized crowd reads in here, it isn’t tough finding others to agree with your point, even if it is blasting our coach. Two becomes three, and so on, and before you know it, we seem to have a KUBuckets consensus. The venting converts to a lynching.
I am definitely one of the culprits in this lynching. Though I have no desire to toss Bill from Lawrence. Even if he doesn’t change his ways… I’ll then have to continue to support a program that wins 80+ percent of our games and leads the country in continuous NCAA tournament appearances, and the Big 12 conference streak. Granted… we may be on the decline, but things change rapidly in basketball… and before you know it we are on the rise again. After all… where will all those elite recruits want to go after Calipari finally gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar? We all see the crumbs on the floor and his face…
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I think it will be a great year.
Ellis looks so quick. I think he can get experience at the 3 while Greene is suspended…
I did not forget Mason is a warrior.
I think come March, Bragg and Vick will be ready. I like what Hunter does out there. Traylor is good in bursts.
If Svi and Devonte come along and Selden can be more Jekyll than Hyde, our guards look good.
If Diallo can play…
Bring it on!
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So the Cheick is in the mail. If we get to cash it, what is the impact? Seems I read he was even more raw than Bragg from early practice sessions. How would he be different from having had NBA rookie of the year Andew Wiggins…where we lost a lot of game and were knocked out early?
While would love to get him eligible and playing, what is the impact?
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Look folks… we have some great basketball minds in here.
Everything has been spelled out crystal clear.
But we have built this into a monster. The frustration level is so high that it is becoming hard to reach the group for anything except a lynching. A lynching is not going to help Kansas basketball.
The problem now is our points are just staying within us. At this level, that will only add fuel to the fire because our level of frustration will continue to grow.
If we don’t want to give it up… then why don’t we EXECUTE A PLAN to try to get our message out there better? If we do that… then we do it in a civil way. Hey… we aren’t Mizzou! This is Kansas… home of intelligent fans!
We could organize signage for games. The right signs will usually get hit by the media. And now, the media is starting to see what we have all seen for years now. But we can advance the cause without using pitchforks. And we can do it in a way where we don’t totally insult our coach. This isn’t about getting Self ousted from Kansas. This is about taking one of the best coaches in the nation and nudging him to advance his game with modern concepts.
We could also draft a letter and send it to the ADs office.
Imagine that we all have to come together and agree on the same thing?! Well… for one… if we are able to do that it will surely show just how big this has become and obvious what we are trying to communicate.
By golly, we are bound to look more intelligent than the ISU fan base!
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I think the impact is huge. There is no comparison between Cheick and Andrew. First… Cheick fills an immediate hole we have open the size of Texas. We lack rebounding and post defense.
Andrew was an athletic freak that needed to score in mass quantities. We don’t know how to develop that or find a real offense to exploit it.
We really don’t have to come up with an exploitation plan for Cheick. We just need him on the court hustling… rebounding… getting some free points off of offensive rebounds.
His biggest challenge is trying to stay out of foul trouble. Self has mentioned it already. He is very aggressive and has come to D1 right when the NCAA is cracking down on aggressive play.
I am convinced… having Cheick in the game will be like turning on a light bulb… taking us from darkness to light. And surely he will get the rest of our guys moving their motors a little bit because otherwise they will look lazy as all hell when playing beside him.
I hope we finally get Cheick’s green light. And I hope we are able to build a little bit of chip in the process.
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@drgnslayr Thanks and good to hear. I was wondering if position would make that much of difference.
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@drgnslayr Rock the frikin Chalk!! I was absolutely apart of the Coach bashing…well maybe bashing on my part isnt quite accurate. But I was definitely upset with him for playing Lucas and Traylor over the better players in Bragg and Mick. I still am a bit perturbed by it but I am letting that go. Bragg and Mickelson themselves seem to be above such behavior…publicly anyhow.
I said earlier, I think we all should give Coach a pass for the present time simply because of the situation with Diallo.
When have we EVER known Coach to be this vocal about any situation involving the NCAA? For him to publicly toss the NCAA under the bus like this, he has to be in a monumental situation with equal amounts of stress. Could this affect him in game situations?? Its not out of the realm of possibility, at all.
I believe this is KU’s year for three reasons.
One. In 2003- 04 he came to KU and way way over achieved with Roy’s guys, taking them to the sweet 16 if I am not mistaken.
Two. In '07-08, he started the season 20-0 with a roster of NBA talent that he had been able to mold and develop over a few years.
Three. in '11-12 he took a senior laden team that was short benched all the way to the final four against impossible odds. Lets be honest. They were impossible.
Here we are 2015-16 season. Do we detect a pattern emerging here? I sure as hek think so. Lets see how it unfolds. If Coach lets his team get bounced in the first weekend of the tournament this season, then I think we will have just cause to bash him all we want.
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I think this is all about human nature.
Coaches get in ruts just like everyone else.
Sometimes they need a push… and in order to push people you have to take them out of their comfort zone.
The “bashing” is part of that.
I can almost guarantee you that Self is aware of the current angst in the fan base. I doubt he reads this website… but surely he doesn’t have his head buried in the sand.
His job is very similar to the job of a politician. There are going to be times when a politician (any politician) is going to have a negative reaction from voters. It happens. Self is in that situation now. Even mainstream media is catching on to this.
We are all very focused on a few things we want changed. And because those things aren’t happening, we are showing our disapproval big time. But we aren’t focusing on what Self is doing right! He does a lot of things right, every year. We take a lot for granted with Self, especially now because we are all focused on just a few tactical moves.
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I fully expect us to win the Maui tourney. it makes sense that we’re 8-1 headed to San Diego State on December 22 (a game that might have that Temple feeling from last season).
All of the lineup discussion, etc., will really have more teeth come the turn of the year. Lots can happen between now and then. One game is just one game.
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I don’t have those expectations in Maui. Without anything else going on, Maui, in itself, is quite a distraction. Stack on top of it the Cheick situation and Self being challenged by fans, BG…
I’m thinking we blow it against a bad team and people really start losing faith in our year. That might be the best thing that could happen… to get these guys serious about the game. A chip could be formed.
Just like the BG situation… it had to come to a head in order for change to occur. And I’m not just talking about Self changing… BG changing, too.
Hey… he came to Kansas and I don’t think recruiters told him that someone would hold his hand through his development. This is HIS future, and HE should be the one working his arse off on the side and working on his weaknesses. Even if the coaches show him exactly what he needs to do, he still has to EXECUTE his own development.
I see this as “make or break” with BG. Either he gets it or he doesn’t. He is right to scream about his playing time, but then, he has to prove himself and why he deserves minutes. If he is just offense, heck, he hasn’t even proven he can bring offense every time out (or close). Granted… we need to run offense for him, but with great scorers they just need the ball. Since he is incapable of creating his own shot or scoring space, we have to gift wrap a perfect situation for him to score. There will never be a team that can guarantee they can open up a spot shooter.
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@drgnslayr I dig your points aside from Maui. KU is with out a doubt the superior team in the field regardless of line ups and who starts. I can see no reason why KU cant win out in Maui.
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@drgnslayr Who’s the really bad team in Maui? Chaminade? Or do you think KU loses theor second round game to UCLA or UNLV? Wake Forest is probably the worst team there and they’re on opposite side of the bracket.
The way the bracket is set up, KU very likely gets to the finals against either Indiana or Vanderbilt. If it’s Indiana, it really depends on theor 3 point shooting becauae that is their basic gameplan and they are a really good 3 point shooting team. I haven’t watched Vandy in a long time so I don’t know what Stallings is running these days to know how KU matches up with them.
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Fire him now!
Signed,
The Coaches of the Big 12.
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@wrwlumpy Thanks for putting it in perspective!
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“Who’s the really bad team in Maui?”
I guess I showed my true colors (crimson/blue) in that post. I see ever team as a bad team compared to us. Ooops.
Chaminadeeeeeee! Wow… that was a long time ago when they were giant killers. Didn’t they beat Virginia and Ralph Sampson? Oh yeah… here it is…
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For the spirit of the boys and girls that post here on KUBuckets the best place to talk about KU basketball. I will put down my pitch fork too. That MSU game really hurt me as a fan, but I wont rehash all that crap.
Come on HCBS lead this KU team to a championship, and I’m not talking about a conference one. Just being clear.
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@Lulufulu I think Coach Self is dealing with much larger issues, which is why he did what he did with Lucas/Traylor/ Hunter/ Bragg. I think two years ago, he anointed freshmen ( Embiid, Selden, and Wigs ) as starters …which chapped the ass of the regulars. So, last year, coach went to a ‘earn your time’ philosophy, and we can see the results recruiting-wise this year for that decision. Cliff’s tweets certainly haven’t helped. So, Self does not want Hunter to “shine”, and have a top 5 guy ( Diallo ) sitting like last year, so when he does go after the top guys, he won’t be having to address the same concerns as his recruiting staff is obviously having to answer now.
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To some degree last year he did flip to “earn your time” except there were inconsistencies. Wayne had a bad year, and through most of it he struggled and that really hurt us… yet he started and got lots of PT.
