UNC Matchup Friday Night
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@approxinfinity said in UNC Matchup Friday Night:
We have a roster with length and athleticism this year. If we play with consistent energy our switching only when its a necessity should theoretically work.
We were just beat yesterday… because our energy level dropped off the table. We had just enough energy in the first half to lead by 8. The second half, the Tar Heels came out with more energy and our response was to go Beta instead of Alpha… Bill Self learned something yesterday. Right now, as this team sits, they fold when getting punched in the mouth. He’s got to change that.
I’m not sure who will step up to lead this team. DP is great, but is he alpha enough to lead the team? Council mentioned that he will lead this team. Not sure what will happen. But we need someone who will keep our guys composed when attacked and actually TURN IT UP to meet the challenge!
Switching or not… I’m old school and want to see my guys fighting through screens. Eventually, it wears down offenses and they sort of give up setting high ball screens when they don’t work.
If we took advantage of our speed and size… our big man could step out into the path on the screens and cause havoc enough and usually get back in time. That also requires our guard to get out there quick enough to make it hard for their guard to throw the lob.
Anything is possible when your TEAM has HIGH ENERGY! We really fell in that second half.
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Previous teams folded when punched in the mouth so it’s something we are becoming accustomed to
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Self’s offense is not a one pass and go.
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@BeddieKU23 - All too similar to last year. Hope the men respond with grit and not just bag it for the $$$.
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Guys , can someone please what the hell was that we had to watch in the 2nd half last night ?When NC came out and hit us square in the groin we folded like a cheap suit We acted like we never heard the word defense or how to play it , there is no excuse for opponents to be shooting 75 % at any point of a half. Then for some reason we decided not to try and run any kind of offense, they just came down and jacked up a three after three after three attempt clanking them or even worse missing everything . Then we see Flory doming up MIA for most of the 1st half I mean not even getting the ball or well just nothing. Scored a quick six points in the first half then poof No pointd not even a rebound I truly wonder hoe much he has progressed in the off Season Pretty easy to fill your box score line when playing teams such as Green Bay but what you doing against true quality opponents ? Then I think our going to see some changes in the starting line ups pretty soon right now seems like we are playing three on five again right now, Trey and Kohl are really doing nothing right now other taking up space I think against Gb he had five points and one rebound and Kohl scored like three and is one for eight from the three. I think your going to say Jason much better then Trey rebounding wise and scoring wise & I think Kohl will be coming out soon, not sure who is taking his place but needs to come out and come off the bench for awhile. We will have a decent Season but no World beaters unless things change
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Capping off another great KU sports weekend, let me go vomit
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Dropped 10 spots on Kenpom to #29. Says a lot
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Not dooming yet after game 2. It’s a tough schedule. Players will improve. I’m as excited for Bryson and Kohl as I have been for a frosh in awhile not counting DP. Both should have a bright future here.
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@BeddieKU23 said in UNC Matchup Friday Night:
Dropped 10 spots on Kenpom to #29. Says a lot
Mostly it says there are not a lot of data points.
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The first half of the game I was thinking UNC was going to be a lot better later in the year. The second half I thought the same thing about KU.
️ it’s early neither team is a finished product yet.
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OFFENSE: Is it enough for our guys to learn the Self “4-out” and “3-out” weave on offense and that’s it? I know it’s just November… and I know it helped create the “shot experienced around the world” with Chalmers for the Nattie… That offense is okay when we keep our bigs in the post the entire time. What beat us at UNC was their bigs stepping out and using pick and rolls, and just creating mismatches and taking advantage in the post.
What I like to see is more off-ball screens. Run plays to free up a shooter. Back doors.
I’m hopeful Self will write up some new offense for this team. He has a very different team from all past years. No other team is really close to the same player types as this one.
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I was doing some thinking (dangerous for me) and my biggest complaint so far is Elmarko plays too much while being rather worthless. I’d prefer that neither of Marko and Mari be in the top 7 by seasons end but it is also clear that Elmarko is another in the long line of Bill pets. His stats as a Freshman for the minutes he had, there are about 14 players in that range during Self’s entire time at Kansas. All of them other than Svi washed out of the program and Svi had the excuse of being 16 or however old he was exactly. I think Tiller could very well end up being our second best player but it is FAR too early to say. Melvin is a good player but he does need to show me some shot making against P4 competition. Main thing for Tre is just getting his rebounding up to how it was his previous three seasons. Against UNC it was somewhat understandable given their front line but he also didn’t rebound against Green Bay…
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How many teams, no matter which, would have withstood UNC taking 35 second half shots and only missing ten of them? We hit from everywhere and were able to stay away from a blow out. I’m officially taking heart from that while avoiding BShark’s admission of becoming sometimes dangerous.
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@BShark Everything I do is dangerous. Especially my advice. Want to go broke? Take my gambling advice.
Elmarko… I have to say my biggest disappointment in this game was not the loss, or the “deer in the headlights” of all our new guys. It was Elmarko and seeing him find ways to disappear while in the lineup. I cut him lots of slack two years ago… largely for what @Texas-Hawk-10 posted about him being pushed into too much too fast and being out of position.
I’m not sure what his real issues are. Maybe low self-esteem? He has respectable athleticism. Enough to do whatever needs to be done out there. It still seemed like the game was playing faster than him. Self mentions “game speed” often as guys get going after long layoffs from ball. I can relate to this with my own playing experience (obviously at a lesser level of ball than at KU). Practice and game speed are not the same. And it can’t be replicated. It just can’t.
I do think Elmarko will be a key piece to this big puzzle. His quality of play will be part of deciding our destination. He doesn’t seem to be well-gifted on offense. So he better compete well in other areas to compensate. He should be a high-energy guy who fills a stat sheet with other things besides points. Steels… rebounds… assists… and then how about setting on and off ball screens? How about someone give up their body for the team? I’ve noticed in this small sample of games… our rebounding sucks. Part of that is we play teams that shoot long balls and create long rebounds. Elmarko should become the master of the long ball rebound!
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@drgnslayr @BShark I couldn’t watch but listened to the first half. Even though I couldn’t see everytime his name was uttered nothing happened. I remember thinking this dude has to be better than this.
I should say this. He and Jamari hung around Lawrence. Kudos to them in this day of the grass is always greener. We should honor them for their loyalty but i seriously doubt either will go down in KU lore.
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@wissox @drgnslayr funny how expectations are heightened for kids who stick around but then we cant appreciate why kids want to start over elsewhere.
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@BShark Elmarko and Mari are huge disappointments for guys that have been in the program for multiple years.
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@approxinfinity Come on now buddy, you know we have to have sacrificial lamb or lambs to be able to unload on when we play like crap we HAVE TO blame someone just so happens these guys are easy marks - you have hear the phrase-- Take one for the team lmao
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We are still in the top 25. 25 in AP and 24 in Coaxhes poll. Also 5 of the top 10 are on our schedule.
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Saw a stat about KU on the road. They have lost 15 of their last 20 road games and 17 of their last 20 to ranked opponents on the road. Didn’t realize it was that bad lately on the road but makes sense going back through the last 2 years. Hopefully this was an eye opener for the group. Self used the proverbial word to describe how the team played. That usually gets a response
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BPI projection record 19/11 and 11/8. We need to break this cycle. Play for each other and not for ourselves, Other coaches try to isolate and break that down. They will continue to face guard DP and he’ll still get 20. White and Council have to get it up. They are seniors. Tiller and Flory will be limited by size and youth but if they can play up to their high talents we will walk over lesser teams.
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@BeddieKU23 That road record is so not in our DNA until recently. Did something just change in D1? I know the glaring change is the portal. Maybe portal players just don’t have the same level of commitment to Kansas. Level of commitment is definitely relative to road play. Otherwise… I always look at coaching to explain extended situations… but I really have a hard time thinking Self can’t adapt and lift us out of this.
@Zabudda Sounds logical. But is sports logical anymore? And now we are discovering how many players are getting paid to rig games. I’m not saying KU guys do this… I’m just saying the game has become so unpredictable. I use to do much better in picking winners and now I might as well flip a coin. And so for my analogy… there are no more Pete Roses left in sports. Guys that will slide face first and eat dirt. Ha… I’ve turned to sarcasm because I have ZERO answers for anything anymore. This team might end up a 500 team, breaking Self’s record for March Madness… or they might bring home a trophy. It’s not just them that are completely unpredictable… so are the other 362 teams.
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@drgnslayr I would not expect either extreme outcome. This team looks more like a second game of the tournament flame out than not making it or advancing far. Not enough talent or heart to win it all. DP is amazing though, watching him for a year will be fun. Better yet I think Tiller will be a guy we get to watch develop into a stud.
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@dylans My guess is second weekend but it will depend on seeding and match-ups of course.
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It’s way too early to hold a burial ceremony for this team. We didn’t look great in 2022 either… until late. I know we aren’t a huge lineup team. Neither was our 2022 team. We have the guys who can do what we did in 2022 if they come together and learn HOW to leave all their guts on the court. I’m sure they were exhausted after the UNC game, but that second half was completely disorganized, and overmatched. They didn’t respond the right way to compete and got blown out in that half. They lost composure. They could really use some leadership… maybe it will be “leadership by committee” like we had in 2022.
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@drgnslayr Way too early is true. Could we please have someone(s) plus Tiller hitting threes in bunches. I can’t remember what early game it was last year when Bill unleashed the team from deep but the shooters were abysmal and the whole season was distressing after that. Happy Veterans Day.
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@Zabudda said in UNC Matchup Friday Night:
@drgnslayr Way too early is true. Could we please have someone(s) plus Tiller hitting threes in bunches. I can’t remember what early game it was last year when Bill unleashed the team from deep but the shooters were abysmal and the whole season was distressing after that. Happy Veterans Day.
Yea, this team doesn’t appear to be set up to make a ton of 3s. I hope that turns out to be not true. It’s my yearly complaint…but i haven’t won any national championships. Repeating what i posted awhile back: this team seems built to run and gun, but Bill forgot you need shooters to make that work.
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I took a look at the last few seasons for some top teams on the road.
Here’s a quick scan of some top teams for the all with + win/loss records on the road in last two seasons.
Uconn/Duke/UNC/Kentucky/Bama/Tennessee/Mich St/Purdue/Houston/Iowa St/Arizona/Texas Tech.
Might be more but that’s enough to paint a good picture of what’s going on.
