Mason/Graham? Thanks To Nic Moore
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On #8 I think experience is the real key to this. Less time spent teaching kids how to play and more focus on wrinkles as jaybate calls them. I bet we see more come Monday!
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For some unknown reason the TV gods smiled on me and my local CBS station changed feeds so I caught the start of the game. To sum it up. - Mick won the jump and I stared in stunned joy as Self removed the leash and let the Jayhawks run and gun. The ball movement was perfection, and it looked like Baylor was in slow motion as they tried to keep up. The only negative was Mick getting 2 fouls in a hurry trying to control Gathers. At the under 16 time out it was 13-3 and I told my father-in-law I would not accept anything less than 26-6 at the 12 minute mark. Sadly I was off by 1!
Ok, so I’m not a good play by play guy. TBH I was so into the over all action I wish I could have recorded it to watch again and grasp the details.
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“How many set plays or screens were done for Mamadou? It is not hard to script say six plays.”
Agree, poor use of Marmaduke, but…
As @drgnslayr says: that’s not how they play in the NBA and the UCI coach is infected with NBA ball.
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The real question is with all the great games on tap today why in the heck did CBS show Tenn-Aub? Several top ten show downs that CBS doesn’t think are worth a national free TV audience? I’ll never understand it.
I came away thinking that with Cheick playing so little, as well as Bragg, yet us playing so well with out them that we aren’t going to be seeing more of Cheick and Bragg.
Mason and Graham were just amazing today as you noted, and you, @HighEliteMajor barely mentioned that Selden was our best player today, at least for a half!
On the live thread we were talking about rebounding and how well we rebounded against a team ranked 11th nationally in rebounding margin.
Even though Baylor came in leading the nation in assists, they were held way below their average. Again, an important part of the game related to our defense.
Can’t wait for Monday night.
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@wissoxfan83 I agree, but like you said we really do not need Cheick and Carlton, although it would be nice to see improvement. If Mick and Perry play like they did today, plus Lucas against less mobile bigs, we will be fine. Everyone feel free to watch Uconn in 14 and Duke in 10 and how both teams won titles without someone like Jahil Okafor and Karl Anthony Towns.
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It’s true those teams lacked an OAD CENTER, but…
But neither of those teams in those years had a double double machine like C5.
And frankly, C5 would have eaten Okafor alive. Heck, Okafor disappeared just facing Frank.
Our C5 is a new force to be reckoned with. You can see every post man we face is thinking way too much about scouting reports trying to remember what each of our 5 guys can and cannot do!!!
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@DinarHawk I agree that C5 is better than Plumlee/Zoubeck/Thomas combo. With the success C5 has had against all sorts of trees and rebounding machines, I’d say we are in good shape.
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C5 Comp:
Mick - 2/3 & 3/4 for 7 points 6 RB, 1 Asst, 1 Steal, 3 Blks. 1 TO, 4 PF
Bragg-2/4 & 1/2 for 6 points, 3 RB, 0 Asst, 0 Steal, 0 blks, 0 TO, 1 PF
Diallo-2/4 & 0/0 for 4 points, 2 RB, 0 asst. 0 Steal, 1 Blk, 0 TO, 1 PF
Lucas-1/1 & 0/0 for 2 points, 2 RB, 0 asst, 1 steal, 0 blk. 2 TO, 2 PF
JTray-0/0 & 0/0 for 0 points, 0 RB, 2 asst. 0 steal, 1 blk, 0 TO. 4 PF
There, folks, should be your big man rotation for now with exceptions for specific matchups or until #2/#3 options begin to grow towards their ceilings.
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@HighEliteMajor Great analysis. This is 2008 again. After the game, Seth Greenberg said KU had the best guards in the country, and he was right. Like we discussed before, I don’t think we’ve hit our ceiling quite yet.
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@KUSTEVE This is reminiscent of 2008. Not to sound overconfident, but this team moves the ball and defends as well as anybody. They need to be ready to go on Monday and have a quick start.
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@DinarHawk The game on Monday will be epic. I’ll be the first to claim…WE’LL DROP 100 ON THEM !!! RCJHGKU
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Agree hugely with debt owed Nic Moore. I consider him a spirit member of this team.
The reason the team has stepped up a level today was Devonte starting to really understand HOW to give the team what Nic gave it. It has taken Devonte awhile, but I thought that the Baylor game was the first time he really got it. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn he and Nic had a little exchange recently. Devonte was bringing more than execution today. He was being whatever Frank needed! It was a beautiful thing to watch!!!
In team bicycling it is called being the domestique. It takes great versatility, generosity, and Joie d’vivre. It is crucial to winning cycling. It elevates teams way beyond their top riders.
THAT WAS WHAT NIC GAVE THE TEAM IN KOREA AND THAT IS WHAT HAS BEEN MISSING TIL TODAY.
Devonte played a great, great, GREAT game today.
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@KUSTEVE I’ll quote you on that! Lol
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1.) I am in Nebraska and CBS told me to go to the website to watch Kansas v Baylor, the site did not play anything. After commercial they came to the start of the Kansas game and said to go to the website to watch the end of the Auburn and Tennesee game…Never had that happen before.
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Greene is so long. He is legitimately 6’7 6’8 and has length…I love Svi but Greene jumps out at you like he is in 3D on the tv. Svi looks like he is thinking too much out there still. Greene just does his thing.
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The box score of Iowa State and Oklahoma showed 7 played for Iowa State and 8 played for Oklahoma… We could play 10 and have no dropoff, we could play everyone but walk ons and not have drastic dropoffs.
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Mason and Graham have really freed up Selden to do his thing in the wing, and the light came on as well. He is playing ridiculous right now.
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We were breaking ankles without dribbling, Baylor players looked like they were watching a tennis match the way we moved it at times.
I am excited. We have a crazy good offense and we will play Self Defense by March. We really got a good shot this year.
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@wissoxfan83 Unlike college football that are mostly done 2-3 weeks in advance, broadcast rights for the vast majority of college basketball games are done before the season even starts. I think Tenn-Auburn was appealing because of Bruce Pearl coaching against his former school.
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Nic Moore being a spirit member of this team is a great way to describe how I feel about him too. Thanks for articulating how I feel, ha.
SMU is on a postseason ban and Nic Moore is still playing his heart out over there. I hope they go undefeated.
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@Second-Prize - last I saw, SMU was in top 25 - they’re still rockin’ i hope.
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@wissoxfan83
CBS showed the game from the beginning in the KC area. Stations and cable systems use feeds according to where they are located, Chances are that if you are in the East Coast or the South East Region they would likely show a SEC instead 0f a Big 12 game.
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@JayHawkFanToo What was frustrating was they kept saying on the broadcast at the end of the UT-Aub game was we could watch it on line, but nothing happened when you’d click on line, except a video screen saying ‘we’ll be right back’. CBS hasn’t figured out how to put a different game on their website than the one they’re airing because the exact same thing has happened in the past to me.
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At the beginning of the game Bayor shot a free throw to take the early 1-0 lead. Graham came down and hit a three. Baylor misses. I think Graham missed three cleaned up by a rebound dunk by Ellis! Then another Graham 3. 8-1
Then Selden joined in the three parade; you saw the rest of the rout.
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@JayHawkFanToo Hmm … not on Comcast. I was then stuck in the same fix that @wissoxfan83 was discussing. A CBS website that did not show the game. But the TWC sports channel did replay the entire game, so the I got to see what I missed.
@wissoxfan83 Great points – rebounding and defense. We will bump into some tough match ups defensively, where we’ll have a tough time stopping certain players. But that’s where we’ll need our offense to carry us. Making shots can be a good thing.
@DinarHawk Right. I really like those comparisons. I looked at it from a ranking standpoint a few days ago. UConn in '14 had the #10 ranked PF (DeAndre Daniels – not a bulky guy at all), then #118 Phillip Nolan and unranked Amida Brimah (7 footer who was a “new to the game” recruit). In 2011, UConn had Alex Oriakhi in the middle, a #21 player, Tyler Olander (unranked), and Roscoe Smith (#37). Louisville in 2013 had Gorgui Dieng (#44), Chane Behanan (#21), and Montrezl Harrell (#82), and Steven Van Treese (unranked). Other than that, going back quite a ways, the NCAA champs had highly ranked post players. If we do not rely on Bragg and Diallo, we’d most comparable to UConn in 2014 (which you pointed out). Duke in 2010 did not have that big stud in the middle, also a you mentioned. But if you look at rankings, they had Brian Zoubek #24, Kyle Singlar #5, Lance Thomas #42, and Miles Plumlee #101. Again, though, as you mentioned, no monster in the middle. I think our squad is more like UConn 2014 right now with our perimeter play.
@Bwag - Yesterday is the type of game that I would expect from our post players. Think about the per minute stuff. Then project Diallo over 18 minutes. 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks. Or Bragg over 20 – 12 points, 6 rebounds. I know that isn’t how it works all the time, but I do think that is entirely plausible. Paired with Mick and Ellis, that’s a real composite we could sink our teeth into.
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It is my favorite composite perimeter group I can recall at Kansas
Favorite guard group for me was/is Chalmers, Robinson, Rush, Collins. .
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Second favorite group (and it’s not even close) for me was Jacque Vaughn, Jerrod Haase and company.
This years group could jump up to second with a NC, but until they recreate the havoc Mario and RussRob created defensively (not to mention Rush’s man disappearing) and the way the ball moved on offense in 2008…I haven’t seen anything like it in the Bill Self era until this year. You see it in flashes, but not consistantly…yet.
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@dylans Hard to challenge the title winners, I agree. And Rush’s defense was a huge asset. I like this group because of 1) Mason’s penetration and ball handing (best ball handler I can recall), 2) Graham’s shooting ability, 3) Selden being a better shooter than Brandon Rush, better off the dribble, and more assertive, 4) Greene being a better shooter than anyone on the 2008 team, and 5) the added depth that Svi provides, that the 2008 team didn’t have. I also think that this team is still moving towards its consistent peak. Yesterday was a amazing, and its consistent peak, of course, is below that a bit. But getting Greene established as the 4th perimeter player, and the fact that teams won’t be able to effectively scheme against him (because we now have more credible threats elsewhere) – I like this group.
But again, that NC group in 2008 is on the peak until someone knocks them off.
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@HighEliteMajor Nice!
I absolutely agree on," But I do know now that this team’s engine is the Mason/Graham duo. This is special. It is my favorite composite perimeter group I can recall at Kansas."
Chalmers, RussRob and Collins are tied for first Imo.WVU at their place should be a big test for KU in terms of ball movement and pace. I saw WVU play Kstate yesterday and was not surprized to see WVU grind out a win against a surprisingly good Kstate team. I have to admit I thought Kstate would be a doormat.
Texas tech is legit from what I saw yesterday too. They were good. They gave the havoc defense right back to Texas and Shaka. Not really of course, but they trapped and pressured TX into a load of errors.
The thing is, KU’s guards will eat up any pressure thrown at them. They have all progressed to the point that they relish that. They say to the other team, you want to pressure us? Ok great, now watch us make you look silly as we break it down.
OU is going to be a very tough game tomorrow. Both teams strengths and weaknesses match up almost identically. KUs starting 5 is nearly identical to OU’s starting 5. KU has the advantage though being at home and being a much much deeper team.
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I think the fact that Bragg was first off the bench (not the first time) up front tells us that Self is trying to work him to be more of a factor…I think that will happen.
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Considering that TWC and Comcast are the only systems in the KC Area that carry “all” the KU games, it would seem like lack of loyalty and gigantic middle finger to Zenger…
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Love the tie into Nic Moore. If SMU had been penalized earlier this guy just may have been a Jayhawk this year…Not that we need him but the way he clicked with our players this summer and the type of player he is has definitely had a profound effect on this team.
Moore is a leader and our 3 headed backcourt is blossoming into leaders. I really believe Frank learned from Nic, I think Wayne has been helped by seeing what kind of player Nic is and knowing he had to step up.
Excellent post otherwise. This team has everything and I’m hoping we saved some of the mojo for Monday. The unselfishness of this team really separates itself from others in the past.
Wayne Selden has become everything we’ve ranted over for 2 years. Amazing how much better he is this year. We can ride his back to championships, he’s that good this year.
Other than not playing Bragg & Diallo more I think Self has really done his best coaching job so far. We were up enough all game where those 2 should have seen more than garbage time. They played very well in the 1st half.
We wanted a better offense, we got it. He’s listened and tweaked everything he was supposed to. Self is really proving just how smart a coach he can be. He knows this year is really important as far as his image goes in the coaching ranks. He’s heard the grumblings about March, this team is made to perform in March.
I think we all need to eat some crow with Greene. I really couldn’t have imagined him missing the whole off-season and being better. He’s trying on defense, he’s shooting within the offense and has been much more aggressive going towards the hoop. And he’s bought into the team more than anything. The suspension really has helped him as a person, he gets it now and I’m liking what I see from him.
I Saw a tweet that KU’s top 3 players projected for the NBA Draft - Svi, Cheick, Carlton all played less than 10 minutes yesterday and KU wins by 28. No other team in the country can claim to have that problem.
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“I think we all need to eat some crow with Greene.”
@BeddieKU23 Uh, yes … at present … eating … crow … now. I hope I never stop.
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Great post and all good points. You’re spot on about the Nic Moore experiment
