Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!
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I can’t agree more with this @drgnslayr
What sticks out with us is Gradey’s scoring threat. We need to create a TON of offense for this guy!
Part of Gradey’s “slump” is that guys weren’t looking/finding him. Once they did, he delivered.
Gradey stood out, but make no mistake this was a team win. There were good contributions from the bench and the defense was solid throughout.
Timing is everything; 3/19 from three looks pretty dismal, but the last 3 was at the right moment and KUDOS to Gradey and the team for executing when it mattered most.
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@kuballin10 Rock chalk jayhawk - hope we go back to back as this is a Bill Self win ugly in March team
Not even close. You get a D- on that one. We aren’t going back to badball. I remember how those days used to trouble you. Jamari isn’t walking through the door anytime soon.
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I haven’t been able to watch the game again yet. But, my lasting memory of this game is of all the really bad 3 pt shots put up by both teams. Joe’s 2 shots in the first half barely hit the backboard. I guess the big stage for this game causes players to forget all about shooting mechanics and just jack up any old shot. Also, I sure like playing the early game in this classic because all the seats are full. It looked like most of the Mich St and Kentucky fans left after their long, long game. It seemed that anyone in the arena could sit courtside for our game in all the empty seats.
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I mean that was probably a C+ game overall with a A+++ finish. You take that finish every time, we saw the fight, the leadership, guys step UP and make plays when it counted, defensive toughness, playing as a TEAM.
The culture of this program right now couldn’t be any higher. I’m super impressed, you can feel it.
We know Self will find ways to motivate this bunch. I have no doubts at all he isn’t resting on his success of last season. If anything with how this team has played so far, I’d say he’s got these guys bought in already & is going to continue to sharpen the knife along the way.
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@kuballin10 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
@benshawks08 Bilas likes KU/Self/AFH - raves about us but you could tell he was bias last night. It wasn’t blatant but more he’d talk so positively about Duke while speaking of us in a more negative light. That’s alright so be it.
Great points about assists are normally knocking down outside shots and we didn’t
This team is mature, unselfish and the experience helps. We will have that next year and need an experienced portal big or 4 man wing stud this off-season to round out the class.
Jalen is selfish when he drives but after watching our bigs not finish worth crap on some dump offs I can see why. I think as the frosh bigs get better Bill will tell him to drive and when a defender comes dish that for the dunk. I think he’s unselfish but playing the way he is because no one else can finish.
I want to be mad at jalen for “selfishness” and taking 26 shots but I just can’t. He knows he’s the leader of this team on the offensive end. He knows it is on him to score. And I honestly don’t think he took that many bad shots. Of the 26 only 2 or three were truly forced and out of the flow of the offense.
I think there was a little bit of a game plan to keep Grady under wraps because he’s the real shooter on this team. And a little of Grady not being able to figure out how to get open in the right spot at the right time in a game where if you were a fraction late, the opening closed.
The book on jalen is that he can be inconsistent. Especially as a shooter. Letting him be THE GUY may have been on purpose and not even that bad of a strategy for Duke. But this years jalen while still perhaps inconsistent as a shooter seems hyper focused on doing more of the little things that allow him to score. He hits the offensive glass. Drives hard every time. A lot of those missed shots easily could have been fouls. I know I counted at least 4. And while taking 26 shots still managed 5 assists. 5 real assists. Not just swinging the ball and a guy happens to make a jumper.
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@benshawks08 it’s on Gradey but also on our O. Guys need to know his role is to score and when we are laboring go get him open and at the very least get him a touch
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Great point, I noticed Duke defending Gradey a certain way. Self and Co will see that tape and adjust. Teams did it to Ochai once they caught on. Gradey has too high of a BBIQ so he’ll adjust as well. I think Duke scouted us extremely well tbh. I’d hear coaches calling out a lot of our staple plays, the screen to lob was disrupted 4/5 times due to awareness from their bench for example. Gradey’s man didn’t help which is why he didn’t get many good looks, he also struggled some in the first half with shots, so I think it was some freshman moments he was working through but the response he gave late is why he’ll only be a Jayhawk one season.
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If the National Media doesn’t start recognizing Jalen Wilson as an All-American shame on them. I think KU will have to start campaigning for him soon, he’s already playing at an AA level. Give him his due.
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@drgnslayr I think your bias shows through on your comment about seeing how Sheyer worked the refs. Doesn’t every coach work the ref? Maybe ESPN’s bias shows through because they showed it, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
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@benshawks08 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
@kuballin10 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
@benshawks08 Bilas likes KU/Self/AFH - raves about us but you could tell he was bias last night. It wasn’t blatant but more he’d talk so positively about Duke while speaking of us in a more negative light. That’s alright so be it.
Great points about assists are normally knocking down outside shots and we didn’t
This team is mature, unselfish and the experience helps. We will have that next year and need an experienced portal big or 4 man wing stud this off-season to round out the class.
Jalen is selfish when he drives but after watching our bigs not finish worth crap on some dump offs I can see why. I think as the frosh bigs get better Bill will tell him to drive and when a defender comes dish that for the dunk. I think he’s unselfish but playing the way he is because no one else can finish.
I want to be mad at jalen for “selfishness” and taking 26 shots but I just can’t. He knows he’s the leader of this team on the offensive end. He knows it is on him to score. And I honestly don’t think he took that many bad shots. Of the 26 only 2 or three were truly forced and out of the flow of the offense.
I think there was a little bit of a game plan to keep Grady under wraps because he’s the real shooter on this team. And a little of Grady not being able to figure out how to get open in the right spot at the right time in a game where if you were a fraction late, the opening closed.
The book on jalen is that he can be inconsistent. Especially as a shooter. Letting him be THE GUY may have been on purpose and not even that bad of a strategy for Duke. But this years jalen while still perhaps inconsistent as a shooter seems hyper focused on doing more of the little things that allow him to score. He hits the offensive glass. Drives hard every time. A lot of those missed shots easily could have been fouls. I know I counted at least 4. And while taking 26 shots still managed 5 assists. 5 real assists. Not just swinging the ball and a guy happens to make a jumper.
Yup.
Just speaking the obvious here (to me at least), but Jalen and Gradey are the two guys vital to us scoring more points than the other team.
You take one out of the equation for spells, and other guys have to step up. I hope that MJ will turn into that third scorer quickly.
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@BeddieKU23 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
Great point, I noticed Duke defending Gradey a certain way. Self and Co will see that tape and adjust. Teams did it to Ochai once they caught on. Gradey has too high of a BBIQ so he’ll adjust as well. I think Duke scouted us extremely well tbh. I’d hear coaches calling out a lot of our staple plays, the screen to lob was disrupted 4/5 times due to awareness from their bench for example. Gradey’s man didn’t help which is why he didn’t get many good looks, he also struggled some in the first half with shots, so I think it was some freshman moments he was working through but the response he gave late is why he’ll only be a Jayhawk one season.
Agreed on all.
Duke did a great job early on of defending our screen rolls thru the middle. None really worked until KJ? split the lane.
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I’ll never say I’m not biased! lol
But he owned the ref’s ear for an extended time after that flop call. I don’t see Self extending that for too long. Maybe I’m just biased… but I know what helped K get the famous “Duke calls” related to how well and how long he worked the refs.
Actually… it’s a sign of good coaching if it works and Duke has always mastered achieving this!
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@kuballin10 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
@BShark any word on it? Hope he’s okay. Maybe take Friday off let Gradey shoot more and mj play
Haven’t seen it mentioned yet, but I noticed he was favoring it.
Dajuan should definitely get a light load against Southern Utah.
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It’s going to take a great team to beat our A game. We showed a lot of poise when the game counted.
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Grady did the Remy. Nice. In the game before this one we had a several minute scoring dead spot and most of the second half. In the Duke game we had dead spells in the middle of both halves. We will see some games later when we will say the team finally played their best game just like late last year when we started to really believe we could go to a Final Four.
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@rockchalkjayhawk Hopefully MJ can help shoulder the scoring load too. (If he can stay on the court)
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I think Gradey needs another season to make his body NBA-ready. I see him checking out the waters so he knows what to work on for next year… just like many of our guys do.
Plus… even though he looks so good now, we don’t know how this year is going to go for him yet. He could have a pesky injury slowing him down, or go in a bad slump. I’m skeptical he will have too big of a slump because his mechanics are the best I’ve ever seen in D1!
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Another year would be great for him and us fans but I don’t expect it right now.
One thing I’ve seen the media running with from the game and in general is that he isn’t a good defender. I’d have to watch the Duke game over to see if he struggled but I don’t recall him being an issue on that end. It’s something that could be used as a talking point/weakness for scouts with him.
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@tundrahok said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
Jon Scheyer is less schmarmy and self-satisfied than K. At least so far. He has a long way to go before he even approaches the same level of unlikability. Maybe do something first, as a head coach. Earn our emnity. Until then, meh.
Ha. Well said!
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@BeddieKU23 one thing ive noticed so far, to a seemingly anomolous degree, Gradey seems to always be in the right place for good things to happen on D. Several won possessions where people threw the ball right where he had moved to. Maybe his on ball D isnt elite but his defensive awareness seems uncanny, in this small sample size. It also helps to be the 4th defender sharing the court with Adams, Dajuan and Mccullar
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The draft will be stocked high this year… best to give him another year to build his brand. He’ll do good with NIL this year anyways.
I’m sure he could use some strengthening… and hopefully that won’t negatively impact his shot. Doubtful.
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Think it’s his high BBIQ that puts him in the right spots & I’ve noticed some really good instincts from him so far defensively. Norm said he got tired in the Duke game (played 32 minutes). We can quickly forget this was only his 3rd game and he’s a freshman. I see some really unnecessary criticism about his defense this early from the media.
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I think Gradey is back next year Mj maybe or he might transfer
Clemence, Joe and Cuffe will be gone
We got too many guards:
Juan - Bobby
Johnson - Elmarko
Gradey - MJ, McDowell
Bigs: kj, Ernest, Zuby
I think we get a transfer 4 or 5 to step in right away.
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@kuballin10 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
I think Gradey is back next year Mj maybe or he might transfer
Clemence, Joe and Cuffe will be gone
We got too many guards:
Juan - Bobby
Johnson - Elmarko
Gradey - MJ, McDowell
Bigs: kj, Ernest, Zuby
I think we get a transfer 4 or 5 to step in right away.
No I don’t see Grady back at all , he MIGHT need to but would almost bet the farm like other have said enjoy him while he is here cause chances better then not he is gone after this year , unless just falls flat on his face - - -don’t see that happening, especially they all ready projecting him as the 16th pick
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I think we have to prepare (as fans) for Gradey leaving after a year. It’s been a while since we had one (Josh Jackson was the last) so KU hasn’t had this situation in a bit, especially in the NIL era.
I think NIL has a bigger impact with fringe NBA guys. Look at all the Big Men across the country that came back to school (example Big-10). Oscar T at Kentucky became only the 3rd POY to return to school in the last 40 years and NIL was the reason why. Gradey isn’t a fringe NBA guy right now. The 16th pick in the 2022 draft was worth 2.9 million a year, a figure that NIL couldn’t possibly match. We’ll see what happens, long ways to go.
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@jayballer67 I think a few things factor in:
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he’s a KS kid that’s always wanted to play at KU I think more so than the nba
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NIL will help he is already in a great commercial. It won’t mean he gets 2-3M like he would picked 15-20th in the draft but it could supplement for 1 year easy
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nba life absolutely sucks. Google articles on it the playing late flying into a new city and playing again the next night. 82 games and practices it’s just brutal.
I think he sits down and if we didn’t win a title wants to come back and will. If we win it all he’s gone.
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@kuballin10 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
@jayballer67 I think a few things factor in:
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he’s a KS kid that’s always wanted to play at KU I think more so than the nba
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NIL will help he is already in a great commercial. It won’t mean he gets 2-3M like he would picked 15-20th in the draft but it could supplement for 1 year easy
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nba life absolutely sucks. Google articles on it the playing late flying into a new city and playing again the next night. 82 games and practices it’s just brutal.
I think he sits down and if we didn’t win a title wants to come back and will. If we win it all he’s gone.
OK - -money takes care of a lot of the things you mentioned ,you always have to figure in the risk of IF he comes back - -get’s hurt or GOD for bid an injury bad enough to keep him out total huge risk. For people that I’ve heard say basketball is a non contact sport - -I say - -roflmao - -I can tell you from playing myself & the officiating the game for the casual fan sitting in the stands , eve the front row - - you have no idea how much you miss.
Basketball has NO protection against injury at all like football, Always a risk of injury - -a lot ok kids don’t want to take that risk , and now he has played at KU this year. - -He is NBA Ready , quick shot – smooth , defense psssst please 3/4 of the players in the league don’t play defense unless it’s the OLAY defense – they get use to the schedule sure it’s brutal but not gonna make a difference if it’s year brutal or next - - Brutal is Brutal. - -but it’s ok if you think he is coming back - -I’l think he is gone it’s ok thats what the board is about discussion - just don’ get use to seeing him long – enjoy him while we got him
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I’m not getting a feeling he is in a hurry to rush to the league. From what I understand of him… he is relishing in playing at KU as it was a lifetime dream. Money can’t compete against childhood dreams… especially if you aren’t in an impoverished situation.
Yes… if he stays it is at some level of risk, but so is going too early to the league. Och really showed how important it is to have patience and build the brand.
I don’t know if this relates… but Self is already selling next year’s team. Improving the chances of GD returning? IDK
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@jayballer67 I can 100% see the argument to leave - no doubt as you clearly laid out.
I just got a feeling can’t explain it lol
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@drgnslayr we see it the same way
How is Self selling next years team? I must have missed that article or tweet. Fill me in
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@kuballin10 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
@jayballer67 I can 100% see the argument to leave - no doubt as you clearly laid out.
I just got a feeling can’t explain it lol
It would be nice if he did , I’m just saying he wont - -that way if he does come back just be like Christmas next year - -great present lol
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The speculating on players leaving keeps moving up every year!
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@jayballer67 shoot better than Christmas! Lol
I enjoy our back and forth even when we don’t agree. May get heated at times, but I am never mad - I enjoy discussing the team. We are all hawks!
Wanted to throw that out there cause of our debates last week
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They aren’t hurting for money and an education would be important to their family. He can get that along the way, too. He’s really smart. I think he’s having a lot of fun.
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If Gradey is projected lottery Self would 100% tell him to go. Regardless, he’ll be fun to watch at least this year.
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@kuballin10 said in Duke Kills Kansas... Kansas Wins Game!:
How is Self selling next years team? I must have missed that article or tweet. Fill me in
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I agree… I’m just not too sure he reaches that NBA stock in one year.
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I just noticed that with 9 seconds left, Coach Norm took Gradey out of the game. Why take out one of the few players who can make a FT? Who has better hands than Gradey for the inbounds pass and the quick Duke foul? Welcome back Coach Self. Re-watching the the last 4 minutes shows Gradey was great, but so were Dajuan(charge), KJ (basket at rim and one), and Wilson.
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@stoptheflop If Bill retires soon they are obviously going to have to look outside of the program for a head coach. Thankfully I don’t think we have to worry about Bill retiring anytime soon.
