Some Post OU Musings
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Och had a bad game, bothered by his wrist most likely, and was protecting himself for a long time in that game. But he had 10 in the final five minutes, plus the assist that helped seal the deal. That’s what All-Americans do.
Braun stepped up, too. He made plays to help steady the ship, and of course hit the big one at the end.
Every conference game is going to be difficult, particularly if Remy Martin doesn’t give KU an additional scoring threat. When one of KU’s scorers goes to the bench right now, they are severely limited offensively, and with the defense in the league as strong as @Kcmatt7 lays out in his comment, lacking options will lead to a lot of slumps.
There are really only four guys on this team that can get their own shot - Agbaji, Braun, Wilson and Martin. With Martin out, we’re down to three. If any of those three aren’t playing well, down to two. I thought Yesufu could be that type of player off the bench, but he is not in the rotation at this point (2 minutes last night, has only played double figure minutes in blowouts).
This team seemed like it would be deep, but its really just Agbaji, Braun, Wilson, Martin (when healthy), Harris, McCormack, Lightfoot, and either Pettiford or JCL. Self has tightened the rotation to just 8 already, which is where he generally settles. Once Martin is able to go, my guess is Pettiford’s minutes more or less disappear and JCL gets a handful of minutes to show he’s going to hit threes (or not).
Self likes the idea of depth, but he prefers to coach with a pretty strict rotation, so having 10 or 11 guys makes no difference because only 8 are going to get minutes unless the guys in front of them are screwing up.
Bottom line, be prepared for tough games played in the 60s for the next six weeks because that’s how things are going to go. Teams will pack it in and defend rather than getting out to run.
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@Jethro said in Some Post OU Musings:
@Kcmatt7 Substitutions seem to trigger slumps for us. I wish he had spread the time around more in non conference games, so the subs wouldn’t look so shell shocked when they finally get time. No way JCL should’ve sat the second half, no matter how bad he looked first half. We need him to be that spark off the bench that can be a source of instant offense.
Another thing that causes collapses is our mental approach. We seem to let up once we get up in a game. Mentally soft. We need a big old boot that stomps teams in the throat, and demoralizes them. If we’re up 10, that’s not good enough…let’s make it 20. And for gosh sakes, quit being so damn polite. Now, I’m not calling for a chair swinging Silvio, but I’d sure like to see some Mason, Graham, Josh Jackson type mentality. Some Dotson tough ( look at the way he destroyed the cream puff named Quinten). Some Doke tough. Come on guys, let those balls drop!
I dunno. JCL seems like a hot and cold sub guy to me. if he’s off, sit his ass on the bench. If he at least hits the rim on his first shot, let him play. he was clearly off last night.
So, you have to have subs. That’s the bottom line. Guys get tired, guys need motivation to remain motivated, some guys are having bad days, etc. Agreed Self’s done a weird job with subs this season.
To me we have two guards that need to sub in: Remy and the second Self needs to pick one of these two and stick with it: Bobby P. or Yesufu. Give one of em time to get better on the floor.
We have 1.5 bigs that need to sub in: Mitch and some KJ to keep him happy, fly around the court. Mitch gets most of the minues.
And JCL as a shooter.
Yup, this let up after we get leads is disappointing. I’m guessing Remy has that killer instinct, somewhere hidden deep in the bowels of Self’s brain. Although, Remy did take some shots yesterday. Maybe it is on him, and not Self.
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Where is @approxinfinity and @wrwlumpy? Where is at @jayballer67?
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@jayballer67 I like to give you crap, but like you. Don’t wuss out on me.
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I’m lurking. Have had stuff that has been occupying my attention the last few days.
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@approxinfinity I hope all good stuff.
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@approxinfinity oh, I’m in the doghouse?
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@Marco @jayballer67 is most recently over in the Embiid thread (40 mins ago). Doubt he would wimp out!
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Some good some bad. Sorry I missed the WV game. Watched it later. That second half was brilliant.
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I had my come to Jesus moment in 3rd grade and it’s guided me ever since!
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@Kcmatt7 There’s something wrong with Kenpom when they rate 5 teams ahead of Wisconsin that Wisconsin has beat! I don’t study those things too much but it’s pretty sketchy to see all those numbers and click on the far left column for rank and see them 25.
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@approxinfinity hope all is well.
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@wissox said in Some Post OU Musings:
@Kcmatt7 There’s something wrong with Kenpom when they rate 5 teams ahead of Wisconsin that Wisconsin has beat! I don’t study those things too much but it’s pretty sketchy to see all those numbers and click on the far left column for rank and see them 25.
At last check I think the Badgers were #8 nationally.
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@Marco on Ken Pom they’re not, says 25.
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@Marco said in Some Post OU Musings:
@drgnslayr so what do you think the answer is, if any? Serious question.
I don’t know. I’ve always mentioned “chip”… but I don’t know today and the youth and what it takes. I believe Bill wants to win and his record shows he’s done a pretty good job of that at Kansas. I know he sees the softness and is not happy about it. In my day we were screamed at, humiliated, ran laps, even cleaned toilets. I don’t think that works today, and kids will leave after the year and go somewhere else.
This is a very talented team but may be our softest team in the Bill Self era. I feel like we are fortunate to have as many wins as we have. We have been very fortunate though I think with our current softness we can’t expect to keep piling up so many wins.
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Big 12 now has 8 teams in the latest bracketology, BIG has 7.
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At least in these too-close for comfort games lately Agbaji has shown he wants the ball in his hands in crunch time. I rewatched the last 5 minutes and it was like a switch went off in his head and he became an Assassin. They don’t beat OU without him getting back into the groove.
I agree this is a soft team but we can only hope games like that and others we’ll have coming up will do all the toughening for the tournament. At least I’m going to believe that’s possible until its not!
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FYI, Gameday in AFH the day of the Oklahoma game.
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Kentucky game! Will be a fun atmosphere
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@BeddieKU23 Oh yes, in my mind I knew it was Kentucky but my computer wanted it to be typed Oklahoma.
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@drgnslayr said in Some Post OU Musings:
@Marco said in Some Post OU Musings:
@drgnslayr so what do you think the answer is, if any? Serious question.I don’t know. I’ve always mentioned “chip”… but I don’t know today and the youth and what it takes. I believe Bill wants to win and his record shows he’s done a pretty good job of that at Kansas. I know he sees the softness and is not happy about it. In my day we were screamed at, humiliated, ran laps, even cleaned toilets. I don’t think that works today, and kids will leave after the year and go somewhere else.
This is a very talented team but may be our softest team in the Bill Self era. I feel like we are fortunate to have as many wins as we have. We have been very fortunate though I think with our current softness we can’t expect to keep piling up so many wins.
I’m encouraged by Wilson’s play of late. He’s a dog, when he wants to be.
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I call Wilson our “junkyard dog.” He is going to save us many times this year. Rebounding is about scrapping for the ball, and Jalen goes into battle.
If I made a toughness list… I’d have Jalen and CB at the top. I thought Dajuan would be there, too, but he’s been backing off a bit lately.
Och is such a stud. I wish we used him like a heavy volume scorer. Give him clear outs… plays… screens… Run our offense through him most plays instead of the low post. Then he either takes the shot or feeds the assist. Corrupt other teams’ defenses by making them focus on Och. He gets decent #s now because teams don’t overplay him. We should want the overplay because then it opens up scoring for CB, Jalen, Remy and Big Mac.
This is one area new to Self. I don’t think he has ever built offense around a heavy volume scorer. He is so focused on hi/lo and team offense spread around.
Maybe I overvalue Och’s skills. I sometimes question his handles. He does have a step back move for shooting space… but not so much a shake-n-bake or killer crossover or swivel. I have to admit, I’m kind of late to the Och NBA party. I always thought he might go… but now I see some of the potential others see. If he stays healthy I think he will have an illustrious NBA career. All what I mentioned above will be developed over the next couple of years. His shot is already a work of art.
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@wissox You mean …Kendiana?
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@Jethro Well as an Indiana resident, I don’t want in any way shape or form want to be linked to Kentucky!
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@wissox LOL. The 'Tucky fan base has a deep paranoia about turning into Indiana U on the basketball court, so I try to throw that out as much as possible on another KU site. Hence…Kendiana…
