Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread
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We are a machine. In turnovers. JCL can really shoot. Surprised? No. 1927 Kansas is 50 years old. The guv decided the school children would select the state flower and state bird. My mom’s in the second grade and walks to school in rural (it’s mainly all rural) Anderson County. She decided to use what she saw while on her way to school as her choices. It’s a winner. We shot a higher overall FG% and 3PT% than from the line. Lol. Nice game!!
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Self said after Dave’s foot was sore during the game. Looked it too
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@Crimsonorblue22 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
We can’t play D like this sat.
Are Baylors guards even that good? Not sure they are…
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@BShark Purple guards going to be a nightmare for a while. That Pak kid can fill it up and the other one is super quick.
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@benshawks08 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@BShark Purple guards going to be a nightmare for a while. That Pak kid can fill it up and the other one is super quick.
All of them will be gone after this year. Tough scene.
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Fun fact of the day
KU has now won 64 of the last 70 meetings against K-St.
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@BShark said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
We can’t play D like this sat.
Are Baylors guards even that good? Not sure they are…
@BShark said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
We can’t play D like this sat.
Are Baylors guards even that good? Not sure they are…
All of them are injured as well. Baylor fans are not very optimistic.
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So this was my first test run of watching the 8PM games in the morning. Tbh, thoroughly enjoyed it….
Now, my goodness. If anyone was worried about what this team would do if they played an up tempo team in the tourney, you just got a taste. We will run you out of the gym if it is a race to 100.
Sure, we shot out of our minds. Even some guarded ones. But they also shot better from deep than I would have guessed.
23 assists last night. This team is hitting its stride late in the season and I’m still shocked. Idk why Remy would step in the floor at this point, and who it would even be for.
That was fun to watch.
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Perhaps the most impressive improvement from last years squad to this years is just how filthy this team is when it gets in transition. Guys just fly up the court and push pace. I don’t remember the last time we were so good at this particular skill but its fun to watch when its unleashed.
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I don’t want to say a win on Sat locks in a 1 seed, but it would go a long way to achieving it. If we win out, it won’t matter what we do in the B12 tourney.
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In the short term I could see beating Baylor pushing us to the #3 overall seed (if we haven’t already trended there). That’s a major Quad 1 victory on the line.
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@BeddieKU23 Arizona has back to back road games coming up against a decent Colorado team and good USC team. If we can win out the regular season I think we still have a shot at the overall #2 seed depending on how Arizona fairs on that road trip.
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I agree the #2 overall seed is attainable. If KU wins out they will get it imo. Resume is too strong compared to Arizona
13 of Arizona’s 24 wins are against Quad 3/4 teams. KU has won more Quad 1 games then Arizona has even played in. Big-12 strength gives them another edge.
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@BeddieKU23 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
I agree the #2 overall seed is attainable. If KU wins out they will get it imo. Resume is too strong compared to Arizona
13 of Arizona’s 24 wins are against Quad 3/4 teams. KU has won more Quad 1 games then Arizona has even played in. Big-12 strength gives them another edge.
I expect your assessment is correct, but KU’s profile is unlike most years. In our non-conference schedule, we played just two teams that will likely be at-large picks. One is in the middle of the pack in the B10. The other spanked us on our home court. Our overall strength of schedule and number of Quad 1 wins is almost wholly due to the depth of quality in the B12 this year. As HCBS said yesterday, there are no bottom-feeders and easy wins. But, it’s not clear that the top of the conference matches other conferences, e.g., SEC and B10. Against the top half of our conference, we’ve split with TTU, at best can split with UT, no worse that a split with Baylor, and TTU remains to be seen. What we’ve managed to do is take care of business against the lower half, and those are all Quad 1-2 wins.
I really have no idea of what to expect when playing other top tier teams with different styles - just not much of a track record this year…
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I’ve wondered this, too.
I see our future determined by tempo. When we’ve really dominated tempo, we win big. Last night… for example. Had we walked the ball up last night it would probably have been a close game.
We pose a real challenge to every team when we can push the ball at the right speed.
I think Joe has been a real lifesaver for us and he’s just starting to make the right connection with our offense.
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I know there was a lot of talk about our soft non-conference schedule and it was lighter then normal no question there. We don’t have a real signature non-con win like some other programs do. Arizona’s win at Illinois looks good now since they are ranked (Illinois wasn’t ranked when they played). They also beat Michigan (who was #4 when they played) and we’ve all seen Michigan isn’t even an NIT team this year.
It appears the non-conference schedule will not hurt KU when it comes to seeding. KU beat North Texas is 20-4 (1st in Conf USA), Iona is 22-5 (1st in MAAC), Utep 16-11, Stephen F Austin 18-8, & lost to Dayton 19-8 (2nd in Atlantic 10) so there’s potentially 2-3 teams from that group that could make the tourney there.
Agree a lot of our strength in resume is due to the Big-12’s strength. The 3 leading teams in Quad 1 wins come from the Big-12. KU has benefitted by being in a league that has so many Quad 1 opportunities. It also helps when you don’t have half the league with losing records etc.
As for comparing the top half of the Big-12 to other conferences to me that’s splitting hairs. The Top 3 teams in the P5 + the Big East normally could take turns beating each other on any given night. Maybe not the ACC this year since its such a down year. Baylor, Tech, Texas were all Top 4 seeds in the mock tournament release last weekend. I’m not surprised we may at best split with those 3 teams in the regular season.
I really have no idea of what to expect when playing other top tier teams with different styles - just not much of a track record this year…
Agree, I have similar concerns. We faced some differing styles in the non-con but for the most part the Big-12 has been the same night in and night out in style. The best offense we played against spanked us at home. That was also their best game of the season. Things happen. The unknown’s going into the tourney will have us talkin’
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@BShark said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
We can’t play D like this sat.
Are Baylors guards even that good? Not sure they are…
LJ Cryer shoots 47% from 3 at a pretty high volume and didn’t play in the first game.
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Well as usual did my regular troll thing of other sides boards , see what they had to say
Here seemed to be most mentioned things : - -# 1 - - -Pretty general consensus it’s time for Bruce to go away , seems like pretty much everyone saying that they just will never get any better as long as he is here. - # 2 : Seems to a lot of talk that # 1 - -Pack is going to transfer & Nowell wants to go play pro ball over sea’s. - guess he put out a tweet that no matter what team took him-- -they wouldn’t regret it. So typical year of K /State losing players - Why ? - -refer back to the # 1 thing I mentioned- -time for Bruce to go.
They just talked about how they could see how the KU kids have grown and developed over their years and that how K/State will never be able to recruit Kansas kids with constantly being in the bottom tier of the league.
Sounds like they might be getting close to having an additional game played - pretty close to getting it done as they try to enhance their chances of getting in the NCAA tourney - -looks like they might be playing BYU - date mentions sounds like might be March 2nd as BYU looking for an additional game also trying to get Tier 1 win. - -just a little FYI from my side of things message to Bruce – your NOT going to make into the NCAA’s - -your just not
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@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@BShark said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@Crimsonorblue22 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
We can’t play D like this sat.
Are Baylors guards even that good? Not sure they are…
LJ Cryer shoots 47% from 3 at a pretty high volume and didn’t play in the first game.
He may also not play Saturday again. All 3 of Baylor’s guards are dealing with injury
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I’m just going to go ahead and throw this out there. Some may think it’s a pretty bold statement - -some may think I’ve been smoking some really good stuff - - & others may think I’m just insane but I’m gonna say it anyways. -
If we play the way we did last night - - if we shoot the way we did last night - -if we get out and run the way w did last night - -Then this team can play with anybody - - I mean ANYBODY. - yes it was K/State - - AND? they usually play pretty solid defense , but I think w had something to do about their defense last night - we just went out and TOOK IT. - So ya their defense didn’t look great last night , but maybe - - just maybe it was partly because of how we played - -how we move the ball - - shared the ball - maybe it was partly because our bench showed up last night OR maybe it was a combo of all of the above.
I’m telling you when this team gets out in transition w can be pretty good the flow is smooth the offense is sweet - -the ball doesn’t stick , quick crisp passes and the players run - - run - -and run some more and we got the guys that can do that - -Juan - -Jalen - - Joe - -Och - if this team plays like it did last night - -we can be good - -we were good - -we can be scary good. now I know it’s not going to be like that every time out BUT
This league a a whole has some of the best defensive teams in the Nation - -we go against hard , aggressive , solid , stout defenses night after night after night and I don’t think there are a lot of teams out there defensively that are that much better then what we face all season long. - -Just saying that’s all, and offensively we got weapons - -we got all kinds of weapons - -again it sowed last night. Might of been the 1st time ALL YEAR we have really seen what this team is really capable of when we hitting on all cyclinders . - -I’m just sayin call me crazy - been called worse but I think we can be just as scary good as a lot of these others - were not that far off. - - I picked us to cover the 1 last night & it actually ended up right about what I thought- - K/State had no answer even Brucie said that in his post gam - -Were good. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Agree and we can be even better. Delete the bad passes for god’s sake and give me more of that defensive intensity as we’re not going to hit 63% from downtown every night out. JCL is a cold blooded assassin. Love the confidence by JWil on the perimeter.
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@BeddieKU23 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
Agree, I have similar concerns. We faced some differing styles in the non-con but for the most part the Big-12 has been the same night in and night out in style.
Hanging a hundred will pretty much beat any style.
Personally, I don’t think Bill gave a whit about the Kentucky game in the bigger picture. He wants to win conference. That game was during a tough five game stretch, right after a difficult Tech win and right before Iowa St. and Baylor. Bill knew a non-con loss to a team like UK would not hurt us in the grand scheme. Considering we are currently projected as a #1 seed, it appears he was right. We went to ISU and won, then curb-stomped Baylor and almost (should have) stole one at Texas. Worked out pretty well, I think.
If we face UK in the tourney, I think the results would be much, much different.
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Now having say what I said earlier here I have to say I think everybody realizes that Baylor come Saturday is gonna be loaded for BEAR - -no pun intended there but we could be walking into a Lion’s den. -We know they are after revenge, we know we are not going to shoot that kinda of % back to back - -bottom line shouldn’t really surprise anyone here IF we do get beat Saturday. I think that’s our possible only loss the rest of the Conference I just don’t see us losing to TCU either place and I think we will be ready for Texas on when they come to the Phog.
Bottom line Coach and the guys I think wrap up another Conference Championship BUT I’m ready for more then a Conference Championship - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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When we play at our tempo… our opposition doesn’t have time to really set their defense. And when all of our guys keep their feet moving and spread on the floor… it makes it real tough to defend. We aren’t going to count on our hotness level moving forward… but we don’t need to be that hot to beat most teams.
We improve our chances dramatically if we start playing better defense. In the least… if we can control the boards, we should have a chance in every game.
We have to come “psyched up” for games to keep the tempo we need! Joe is a secret weapon for turning up speed, too. Remy could possibly help some, if we need more energy on the floor.
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@drgnslayr I noticed Och was playing with more pace in the k state game. He was sprinting all over the court. I wonder if there’s something to self deciding we will play fast one game and slow it down another. Really hard to figure out how a team that can play the way they did against Baylor and k state would ever play anything different.
I know the announcers in the Baylor game were talking about how many drew was sending to the offensive glass as part of the culprit for our blitz but did Weber do the same?
Is the team more tired after a game like that or a trudge fest where every possession is a slog? I honestly don’t know.
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@tis4tim said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@BeddieKU23 said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
Agree, I have similar concerns. We faced some differing styles in the non-con but for the most part the Big-12 has been the same night in and night out in style.
Hanging a hundred will pretty much beat any style.
Personally, I don’t think Bill gave a whit about the Kentucky game in the bigger picture. He wants to win conference. That game was during a tough five game stretch, right after a difficult Tech win and right before Iowa St. and Baylor. Bill knew a non-con loss to a team like UK would not hurt us in the grand scheme. Considering we are currently projected as a #1 seed, it appears he was right. We went to ISU and won, then curb-stomped Baylor and almost (should have) stole one at Texas. Worked out pretty well, I think.
If we face UK in the tourney, I think the results would be much, much different.
I don’t think he did either and he said as much before and after. I think that game showed what could happen if a team shoots out of their minds, KU struggles to score and handle length and athletic ability. All 3 of those things happened unfortunately and it felt like a tourney loss tbh.
I do think this team has improved even since the UK game so I would expect a different result
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I’ve had those ideas going way back… to the Jaybate era.
I still question the possibility. There are still many areas of the game we don’t play well… and if it was as easy as flipping a switch… we would flip those switches to perform better (especially on defense).
I do think there are times when Self turns up his voice on his troops.
Thinking back light years to my days playing at a much lower level… My teammates and I always felt great after a big win and turning up the intensity (over a game less intense). But the next day we were definitely slower, needing more recovery time. There are also psychological effects.
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@tis4tim He came out and said he could care less about the 'Tucky game. Doesn’t excuse the performance, but we looked very unmotivated, and it showed. Better believe the next time we play, he’ll have them fired up.
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@Jethro said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
@tis4tim He came out and said he could care less about the 'Tucky game. Doesn’t excuse the performance, but we looked very unmotivated, and it showed. Better believe the next time we play, he’ll have them fired up.
Thanks, man and to @BeddieKU23 for backing up my thoughts with actual Self quotes. While I’m a huge Jayhawk fan, I don’t really have time to watch pre- and post-game interviews and commentary. So, good to know my instincts about the UK game were correct.
That said, you bring up an interesting point that I’ve thought about during and after every horrible tourney exit - the team, whether it likes it or not, tends to assimilate whatever demeanor Bill is displaying on the sidelines.
Don’t get me wrong, you want the team to exhibit the defensive prowess and the toughness that Self preaches. BUT, there are too many times during important games where you can just feel how tightly wound and tense Bill is during the game. The message may be the same and the players and plays are the same, but there’s a palpable coal-into-diamonds kind of vibe that you can literally sense through the television. If I can feel it, you have to believe the team feels it and feeds off of it.
The great thing about guys like Mahomes or Brady or Jordan or Tiger Woods or any exceptional athlete is that they exude confidence and inspire confidence under immense pressure. They are probably full of adrenaline too, but they manage to keep it under control and keep everyone else focused as well. Don’t know if Bill is aware of this or if he practices meditation and/or yoga or things like that, but it’s something I’ve pondered a lot and hope that someone is in his ear about it.
Doesn’t mean we would automatically have won all those games in which we flamed out early, but I get the sense that players panicked at times and didn’t really believe that they still have a chance. And I think some of that hopelessness and helplessness was only exacerbated by Self’s sideline demeanor.
Anyway, don’t mean to ramble here, but wonder if you all have any thoughts on Bill’s sideline presence when the chips are down.
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Tournament pressure is definitely a real thing and wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a correlation between Self and his players play when the chips are down.
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@BShark said in Bruth's Last Hurrah Game Thread:
Kind of amazing considering Doke shot almost 75% from the field while he was at KU.
How do our shot attempts compare to past KU teams?
