Best case and worst case.
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Here’s Yahoo’s best case and worst case for each team in the top 25. I went ahead and copied the Jayhawk part in case you didn’t want to go and read the entire thing.
- KANSAS Last year’s record: 25-10, 14-4 Key returners: F Perry Ellis, G Wayne Selden, G Frank Mason G Conner Frankamp, G Brannen Greene, F Jamari Traylor
Notable newcomers: C Cliff Alexander, F Kelly Oubre, G Devonte Graham, G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, F Hunter Mickelson
Best-case scenario: Can a program really lose the No. 1 and 3 picks in the draft and get better? Yes. Though Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid may have been the two most talented players in college basketball last season, both became top-three picks as much on potential as production. Between the arrival of top recruits Oubre, Alexander and Mykhailiuk and the further development of leading returning scorers Selden, Frankamp and Ellis, Kansas quickly proves to have more than enough weapons. Equally importantly, the Jayhawks are better equipped at point guard too despite the unexpected departure of incumbent starter Naadir Tharpe. The competition between Mason, Frankamp and Graham brings out the best in each of them and enables Bill Self to turn to the hot hand late in games. Kansas rolls to its 11th straight Big 12 title, enters the NCAA tournament fully healthy unlike a year ago and reels off six straight victories to capture Self’s second national championship. With the money raised during the title run, Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger signs Self to a lifetime contract and still has a few million left over to devote to Charlie Weis’ hefty buyout figure.
Worst-case scenario: Can a program really lose the No. 1 and 3 picks in the draft and get better? No. Though Kansas replaces the scoring of Wiggins and Embiid, the Jayhawks miss their defensive prowess. A Kansas team that was already Self’s worst defensively last season slips even further with referees still whistling fouls at a record pace and with their top shot blocker and perimeter stopper both in the NBA. Turnovers and poor decisions once again plague the Jayhawks as well because they lack an elite point guard for a third straight season. Mason doesn’t make a sophomore leap, Graham isn’t ready to make an immediate impact as a starter and Frankamp proves to be more of a pure shooter than a distributing combo guard. Between costly turnovers and defensive breakdowns, Kansas cedes the Big 12 to Texas and Jayhawks fans learn that league titles are not a birthright. They’re also reminded that deep NCAA tournament runs aren’t either when Kansas falls for a second straight season in the Round of 32 — to in-state foe Wichita State no less. Self leaves for an NBA gig over the summer and, after swinging and missing in bids to land a couple high-profile coaches, Zenger decides to bring Weis back to coach both the football and basketball programs. Tens of thousands of Kansas fans revolt and decide to root for the Shockers.
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This may be the first time all off-season that I have realized how little scoring we have coming back. Seeing the names of the “returners” on paper is a bit scary. I know we all think that guys who sat the bench last year like CF and Greene will come in and be studs (including myself) but it is a bit worrisome to think about how little true game experience there is from a lot of guys who will see minutes and be asked to score…freshman included. Obviously Ellis, Traylor, Selden and Mason have all been on the floor quite a bit but never in leading scoring roles. Ellis and Selden have proven that they are capable of scoring at times but also did plenty of disappearing acts last year. I hope that both guys are able to put up better numbers this coming year. We will need it.
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Selden averaged 10 a game (I think I read that), Ellis 13. That’s not a ton of returning scoring, but it’s a good start.
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@joeloveshawks Remember, heading into last season we had less scoring coming back … just Tharpe, Traylor and Ellis. No starters returned.
We are in a much better position this time around. Here’s why - This team will be more of a Bill Self team. Last season, we had three finesse players in the starting lineup (Tharpe, Wiggins, Ellis). This time, only one.
That will allow Self to play his style of ball. No way we lose 10. No way.
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@HighEliteMajor I fully agree HEM. Last years team was soft, and HCBS has addressed that in recent remarks. He knows that in order to really, really have a good chance at being in the final four and winning another title he has to get them tougher. That’s why he made sure he wasn’t going to make the same mistake of a one week boot camp. That coupled with the players going through The Program almost ensure that things will be different this year.
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"This team will be more of a Bill Self team. Last season, we had three finesse players in the starting lineup (Tharpe, Wiggins, Ellis). This time, only one.
That will allow Self to play his style of ball. No way we lose 10. No way."
I couldn’t agree more!
Last year’s team was soft. They didn’t even get pushed in boot camp. I think everything morphed around Wiggins. Wiggins was good and even hustled, but he was still soft. I’ll prove my point with that statement this year when we compare Alexander to Wiggins.
No way we lose 10. Tharpe was soft, too. Our pg is going to put pressure on the defense this year regardless of our 3 main choices.
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I hate to break wind in church, but I forecast a 10+ loss season.
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At Press day Coach Self said:
I hope so, because we stunk last year defensively. We didn’t put pressure on the ball. We never cut the head off. Teams got comfortable. When I say we stunk; we were probably still the best or second best defensive team in our league, but that’s not who we’ve been for years, and we’ve been better than that.
And so we don’t have a shot blocker behind us if it were not for Joel last year, there’s no telling how bad we looked at times defensively, because people got the ball where they wanted to get it, and he covered up mistakes.
This year, we don’t have a seven foot tall guy to cover mistakes like that. But I do think we are going to be able to pressure the ball, deny one pass away, and I think you’re going to see a pretty good defensive team.
It is clear that Coach Self was not pleased with last year’s defensive effort and he has made a point of sending a message that it will not happen again. I am not sure how the offense will work but I am sure the defensive effort will be much, much better.
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@jaybate-1.0 Why do you think it will be a ten loss season?
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@DinarHawk Because he likes to break wind in church.
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I just realized I go to church with Jaybate because there’s a guy there who breaks wind in church.
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In my crystal ball I see a team with a unique identity from past teams. I see it as a good thing.
I hope we have a bad couple of games before conference and the talk around here is that we will not extend the conference streak.
That will be the fuel for these guys to step up and play good exceptional ball. When was our last team that really played exceptional ball? '08?
I know we are still a young team. I just see a team with so many rough, tough talented guys. I see the potential for solid leadership at the point.
I say this every year. We need a chip. The last chip was TRob’s situation that helped that team come together and finish Runner Up.
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@jaybate-1.0 I would think those special travel drawers you talked up last year would be impregnated with charcoal to absorb the odors.
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@brooksmd LOL
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Expanding a bit on my post above, last season, I made the rather absurd suggestion that we might have been better last if we hadn’t have signed Andrew Wiggins (I actually still believe that). The guy was a good defender, and our leading scorer. Joel Embiid was the consummate rim protector. The kind of defensive player that is commonly thought to be a necessary defensive asset.
But we will be a better team this season. How could that be?
We lose Tharpe. But was he really that bad? Defensively, yes. Offensively, the guy carried us in many games.
Still, we will be a better team this season.
Consider a potential starting lineup of Mason, Selden, Oubre, Ellis, and Traylor.
Could that be better than Tharpe, Selden, Wiggins, Ellis, and Embiid?
Yes, it will be. No farts in church here … we aren’t losin’ 10, and we aren’t getting bounced in the round of 32.
Why?
This is a team game, and many things go into that. With a system coach, the players’ collective assimilation to the system is critical to success. Players that are opposed in effort (Tharpe), deed (Ellis) or spirit (Wiggins) to the core tenants of the system can destroy the final product in a team sport like basketball.
Self was trying to get a show horse to pull a plow.
And Embiid’s awesomeness masked the underlying problems with this team last season. My opinion is that Embiid was the only thing keeping this team afloat much of the time. He was the key to last season’s team.
Now, that collective group, I think, could have been much more successful playing a different system. I beat that to death. But different systems don’t matter. Self ain’t changin’ (or adjusting much for that matter). The press conference made that pretty clear.
If Self does anything, I just want him to recruit and play the dudes that work in his system. If a guy doesn’t not appear to be a guy that fits your system, then pass on him … even if he’s the #1 player.
The team that personifies guys that fit his system was 2012 - TT at point (second half of season), EJ at the 2, Releford on the wing, and TRob and Withey down low. All fit his system. That led to amazing results from an undermanned team (from a depth perspective).
This team has a “chemistry” feel to me.
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Best case run the table, take all titles in front of us.
Worst case would be to lose to Texas twice, and get bounced from the tournament in any round my Mizzlose.
Yeah pretty cut and dry
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Man That’s an UGLY worst case.
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It assume that Mizzou makes it to the tournament. Bleacher Report projects them as #11 in the SEC…
Same place has KU as #1 in the Big 12…
…so, chances are MU does not make it to the dance.
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@JayHawkFanToo Well then I won’t be to terribly mad at the end of the season.
Early exits suck, but ending the season to Mizzlose would be the worst.
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I so hope all of your are right, but I still think this team lacks the every game MUAs at 3 positions that a team needs to get to single digit losses. I know our schedule is some what easier, but our conference seems like it will be tougher. A lot of it comes down to Perry Ellis. If Perry cannot keep from disappearing, when the blue meanies show up, I think the team lacks the high trey percentage shooters among its top three perimeter players and the above average rebounding among its bigs necessary to get to single digit losses.
But if someone makes a nonlinear improvement the way Thomas Robinson did, then I can see us getting to single digits. However, that is a big if.
Make me wrong, basketball gods, make me wrong.
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@jaybate-1.0 JB, you know I’m on board with the fact that the team needs MUA’s, but I don’t think of it as 3 separate players. I think the right combination of players can be a MUA.
In 08, for sure BRush was a MUA, but so was our balanced scoring, team defense, our guard rotation, and bigs rotation. The combination of Sherron, Mario, RussRob and the way they played together and played off each other with their synergistic interchangableness (if that’s a word
) was a MUA. The combination of our bigs, with the attitude that they knew their roles, and were going to come into game and beat the crap out of opponents and do it with a smile, was a MUA.This team needs to find combinations like that. Where together they can be a MUA, and force teams to pick their poison, so to speak.
One could also argue that the coaching staff was a MUA in 08. I would argue that last year they were not. But I’m hoping that they are doing their homework and getting ready for this season. It sounds like they are so far!
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“I made the rather absurd suggestion that we might have been better last if we hadn’t have signed Andrew Wiggins (I actually still believe that).”
I don’t know about that… but I will say I think we would be a better team this year if we didn’t have Wiggins last year. It would have forced all these returning guys to fight harder last year and I’m certain they would have advanced further with their game.
It did seem that some of our players (some of the time) last year were more like spectators than players. Everyone was watching Wiggins. He’d get the ball and everyone would just watch. That is not a way to play. The Bulls didn’t do that with Jordan. Wiggins had almost no assists… and people were quick to blame Andrew for being a ball hog, when, in fact, it was like time standing still once he got the ball. The rest of our guys would just stand there and watch.
I can’t help but think we are in for a completely different year this year. I’m not sorry we had Wiggins last year, and I think we will benefit from the connection to Andrew for many, many years. But our new team will have to define themselves without Wiggins or Embiid…
I really like this team already. There is plenty of talent and depth… and they should develop more of a team connection.
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@JayhawkRock78 BUTT UGLY !!
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@drgnslayr couldn’t you say that about any team that has some super stars? Plenty of players had chances to step up, most didn’t.
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@jayhawkbychoice & @jaybate
For the life of me I can’t remember what MUA means…
Mucho Under Armour?
Manly Unleashed Alpha?
Manipulation Under Anaesthesia?
Maximum Usable Altitude?
Made Up Acronym?
Museum of Underwater Archaeology?
Military Utility Assessment?
Miniature Unmanned Aircraft?
Mizzery Under Achiever?
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@VailHawk match up advantage, I had to look it up again
. They use it a lot. I like your last one better!
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Wiggins set the freshman scoring record at KU (previously hed by Danny Manning), was one of the 10 finalist for player of the year and was the top defender on the team…how can that be a negative thing? Also Wiggins made KU a top destination and without him perhaps we don’t get Oubre and Alexander.
BTW on his pre-season debut Andrew Wiggins had 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, three blocks. Nice start.
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@HighEliteMajor Signing Andrew Wiggins was one of the best things to happen to Kansas Basketball, period. We will never know what last season could have been.? We lost a close game to Stanford. In order to win the NCAA Tournament, there always seems to be a close game or two that must be won. Adverse situations must be overcome. We failed, and were back in class on Monday. Had, we had Embiid, and let Conner Frankamp play through his mistakes, even though he didn’t really turn the ball over, who knows what could have happened?
Back to Wiggins, signing Andrew Wiggins benefits the Program. It is the overall Program that you are concerned about? Recruiting has improved. We are on the radar of most Top 50 recruits. In this present day world, with all the Social Media, Kansas has become a trendy place to attend. Andrew Wiggins loves KU and has come back to participate in a Camp with Coach Self. This will pay dividends for years to come. We didn’t win the National Championship, but we did win as a Program. I am glad we had Wiggins for one year.
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@wissoxfan83 “Graham isn’t ready to make an immediate impact as a starter”.
Coach Self: “Devonté has been terrific. He’s battling for starting minutes, not just playing. He’s battling to start,” Self said. “I think he’s more ready to play right now than any freshman point guard we’ve signed in a while, Tyshawn maybe,” Self added of Tyshawn Taylor, who started as a frosh in 2008-09.
“Tyshawn was kind of forced into action because there was nobody else there challenging. This is a little bit different. Devonté’s a good player, a good leader. He has intangibles. He’s an athlete. He’s exciting for me because of all the guys we recruited, he’d be the least publicized one but he probably has the best feel for what’s going on right now than anybody.”
I think we can safely take Devonte off the worst case scenario list. All this talk about playing small is a ruse, imo, to soften the blow to Frank and CF. I still think Frank gets large minutes, but I think we’ve found our point guard for the next 4 years.
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@HighEliteMajor said: " I made the rather absurd suggestion that we might have been better last if we hadn’t have signed Andrew Wiggins (I actually still believe that). "
I believe it too. Amen. And Amen. If Self had treated Wiggins like any other ball player, it may have been a different story, but Wiggins was coddled and therefore never had a chance to live up to his full potential.
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@HighEliteMajor Out of all the posts you have ever made, this line might be the best you’ve ever done, and might be the best line I’ve seen on these boards…ever : " Self was trying to get a show horse to pull a plow." Bravo. Magnificent.
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@VailHawk I’m puzzled on MUA also. Pretty sure it’s none of the ones you speculated it might be however!
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Seriously! I’m really sad to hear that we- KU fans think that way about wiggins. Number 1 college recruit, number 1 draft pick, great rep for us in a bunch of different ways! Always put the team first, played the best defense-not even close, and is still backing us. Hate to hear it!
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@Crimsonorblue22 Don’t be too sad about it. It’s not a slam on Wiggins at all. I have nothing but good things to say about Wiggins, really, related to his short time here. And I’ve never really seen anyone slam him at all.
Wiggins was just a good player in the wrong system. He was soft, he was finesse, he did not create any shots or opportunities for others – he made no one on the team better.
Sounds like a negative. It isn’t. He was a freshman. He just needed more time to develop here. When he finally dove on the floor for the first time in February, that was a big deal. I bet he couldn’t remember the last time he did that. But that’s wasn’t his game, an it’s not going to be his game. He’s not a Bill Self type player.
The “not making the other players better” thing is a large part of my thought process. Thus I think this discussion is based on a team game idea. It’s kind of like in the movie “Independence Day”, when word was getting passed that the US was planning a counterstrike. A Brit said, “It’s about time, what are they going to do?”
A stud like Wiggins can cause others to feel and act as secondary options. To not be as assertive. To expect him to do something. That is team game poison. It sometimes isn’t obvious. But it’s invasive. Again, though, the fact that Wiggins didn’t make other’s better by passing or creating even when his drives were stopped, or he had opportunities, makes that even more stark in my mind.
I saw where @JayHawkFanToo suggested that without Wiggins we may not have gotten Oubre or Alexander. Maybe not. Let’s say we don’t get Oubre, since he was sold in part on taking Wiggins spot. So, we don’t have Wiggins or Oubre.
So what?
Right now, we have Greene, White, and Svi – or we play smaller as Self says he prefers and Selden is more at home in the three spot. And as I saw someone post, where would Greene and White and CF be now if Wiggins never showed up, as far as development?
Let’s say we didn’t win the conference title last season without Wiggins, and we got bounced in the first round (unlikely) instead of the second. How does anyone’s life appreciably change? Well, no one has a “10 there, done that t-shirt.”
Maybe if Wiggins isn’t here, because of the alignment of the planets, Embiid doesn’t hurt his knee, and thus doesn’t hurt his back. Brannen Greene buys in on defense, becomes a leader, and is a solid 3 point shooter. Because we have some lineup flux, Self plays CF more, CF thus has less “pressure”, and is a better shooter. Seeing that productivity, he benches Tharpe. Collectively, we gel, and win the NCAA title. Is that too far fetched?
I do agree that Wiggins brings a big name graduate that does love KU, as @KansasComet mentioned. And that is a nice “dividend.” And he can only help recruiting (@JayHawkFanToo).
It’s a purely speculative discussion as to whether we’d be better off. Tough to quantify. Impossible to prove or disprove.
But let me ask this, how do teams lose presumably more highly talented players, have those players replaced by lesser talented players, and then the group performs at a higher level than with those players?
Chemistry.
@KUSTEVE Thanks … and the praise on Graham is flowing, isn’t it? I
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" But let me ask this, how do teams lose presumably more highly talented players, have those players replaced by lesser talented players, and then the group performs at a higher level than with those players?
Chemistry. "
Your final word is precisely the statement I delivered on @drgnslayr “Losing Conf, Winning Title” thread yesterday. As I posted, chemistry is a fine science & is the intangible required for the inspired performance in March.
I rest my case.
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@HighEliteMajor Wiggins was just a good player in the wrong system. He was soft, he was finesse, he did not create any shots or opportunities for others – he made no one on the team better
Not a slam??? Ok, you are entitled to your opinion, which many on here agree. You think Coach regrets having him? Greene plays D and becomes a leader? Not having wiggins would have kept him out of the doghouse? Or, Conner would have played better D? Embiid would have to bail out almost every teammate. Far fetched! Throw in Ellis plays better D not having wigs too? Less talented players w/experience-like Releford are hard to beat, but they also played great D. Jmo!
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Last year’s team struggle primarily because that team could not get a stop when it had to have one. Look at some of the losses last season. Against Florida, staged a huge comeback, but could not get a stop to complete the run. Same thing against Colorado. Same against SDSU. Same against WVU. Some of those teams were very good offensive teams. Some were not. But regardless, we were a very middle of the road defensive team last season.
Part of the reason for that is that, of our rotation players, the only above average defenders we played were Wiggins and Embiid. With injuries, Selden was not above average. Black was roughly average. Jamari is above average on PFs, but against bigger guys, he is below average because of the size difference. Tharpe and Ellis were both average at best. Greene is a very average defender as well. We didn’t a have anyone in the backcourt that was an above average defender, and only one perimeter defender that was above average. That killed us last year. Once Embiid went down, we weren’t strong either inside or out on defense, and it showed.
This year, we have Graham, who is supposed to be a good defender. A healthy Selden should be an above average defender. Oubre should be average or above. Alexander is a good defender. The only player that will likely play over 25 minutes that will likely be only average or below is Perry. So long as he is paired with good defenders around him, I think he is an astute enough player to play within scheme to make this a good defensive team. Since he should be surrounded with our four best defenders for 80% of his minutes, he should be solid, just as last year with Embiid in there Perry was solid, but was exposed when Embiid went down.
An improved defense will improve KU overall. If we can get stops, we can win lots of games.
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@HighEliteMajor - I saw where @JayHawkFanToo suggested that without Wiggins we may not have gotten Oubre or Alexander. Maybe not. Let’s say we don’t get Oubre, since he was sold in part on taking Wiggins spot. So, we don’t have Wiggins or Oubre.
Since this thread is best case, worst case and you gave best case for this year I’ll go the other direction.
So we didn’t get Wiggins and everyone turns out the same as they did last year…
Without Andrew we lose to Duke early in the year. In the BFA instead of beating Wake because of Andrew’s strong second half we lose to them. With that loss there’s no need to worry about our L to Nova because we’d be playing USC who I think we would have beat just like Wake did. In the 5th place game for the BFA we woudl have played Tenn and just like WF we post an L. We get to come back to the states and head to Boulder to pick up another L right before Florida slaughters us putting us below 500. Next up is NM who we beat with out Wiggins because of foul trouble so we get back to 500. We beat G’town and Toledo then of course SDSU kills us. Sitting at 7-6 before conference play even starts.
In league instead of the four L’s we got we double that number. Here’s how: ISU and OSU beat us at home and away. We lose the WVU there but by even more this time, we still lose to Texas and KSU away and then the last L is the close one at Texas Tech in which Wiggins scored the layup at the end. So in league we go 10-8. Regular season isn’t looking so great at 17-14.
What’s 17-14 (10-eight) get us for the tourney?? 5th seed in the Big12 tourney facing off against 4th seed KState. (KState wins the tie breaker since they went 1-1 vs #1 seed ISU) We split the regular season with KSU but at their house it took overtime to beat us so we win on a “neutral” court. Next would be 1 seed ISU and we go out to them. Now we’re 18-15. Ouch.
Now 17-14 was WVU regular season record from last year and they didn’t get into the tourney. But we’re a big name having a down year so we go as the lowest seeded Big12. NC State move up to an 11 somewhere and we take their place in the First Four games that pits 12 seed Xavier versus 12 seed Kansas? We’re the 12 vs 5 that always screws peoples brackets. Everyone picks this 12 to upset the 5 of SLU. SLU was the only 5 to survive last year. They are in this scenario as well. We go home in the second round (aka first round).
No Wiggins = less media attention. No KO to fill AW shoes. Cliff picks up an Illini hat and doesn’t do a fake out. Svi is scared and doesn’t want to go to a team that struggled so badly so he’s headed to Virginia instead to show case his talents. Graham stays closer to home because KU isn’t trending on Twitter with the top two in the draft talk. All that love is in Kentucky who just cut down the nets with Wiggins as their leading scorer. So instead a class of Svi, KO, Cliff, and Graham we get a Royce, Milton, B. Anderson, and T. Appleton… Reloaded.
Pop retires after their great run in the playoffs and Bill fields a phone call. Not only are we shopping for a FBHC this year we also had to replace our BBHC that’s now hanging at the Alamo. Zenger hasn’t shown he can hire the right guy for the job with our lowly FB program. Let’s just hope Zenger doesn’t hire Charlie Wise 2.0 to take over the BB program. KU starts the year unranked. Missouri basketball players still mug people in this scenario. We hire Bruce Weber.
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@HighEliteMajor HEM, please explain to these idiots at KUSports why Conner Frankamp is not a viable option at PG… They remind of the kind of people that will slam a starting QB that throws 6 TDs but one bad INT in a game and want him gone…
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Wigs helped our program immensely. He just didn’t help our team as much as I would’ve liked. Can’t argue with the scoring average, though. To me, his goal was to dutifully fulfill his 1 year commitment, and he accomplished that. They don’t have Travis, Brady Morningstar, or even Withey’s picture up walking across the stage as the number 1 NBA pick, but they certainly have a huge picture of Wiggins walking across the stage as the number 1 pick in the NBA draft in the locker room. Now, that doesn’t mean nearly as much to a KU fan as it does to a KU recruit, but I think it means a lot.
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@KUSTEVE Travis and Withey! Bm, puke!
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You wrote…
So what?
Right now, we have Greene, White, and Svi – or we play smaller as Self says he prefers and Selden is more at home in the three spot. And as I saw someone post, where would Greene and White and CF be now if Wiggins never showed up, as far as development?
We have talked ad-nauseam about Green and White potential and so far it has been shown to be just that, potential. They were not able to break into the starting five or even get meaningful playing time and White pretty much was told that there would be little or no meaningful playing time coming, and no one here is anticipating Greene to start…and even the “meaningful minutes” part is iffy at best.
Yes, it is possible that they develop more had Wiggins not come to KU, but do you trade the year Wiggins had for a development year for White and Green with no assurance they will get any better that they are now? I don’t. The expression a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush seems appropriate. With the top player in his class, you are pretty much assured a better than average to superior player (Wiggins was indeed a superior player); however, with two players that were not able to get meaningful playing time…but with potential…you might get lucky and get decent players or more likely you get bupkis. Just sayin’
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@Crimsonorblue22 I don’t think it’s a slam of Wiggins at all. I really don’t. I just think the items I stated, that you cited, are just facts. I’m curious as to what you dispute in my observation. Better in a another system, soft/finesse, didn’t pass/create, or make others better.
Now, my speculation that we would have been better if Wiggins hadn’t signed … I certainly understand the counterpoint you, @Kip_McSmithers, @KUSTEVE and @JayHawkFanToo have offered. You just never know, though I think pure logic might be on your side.
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@HighEliteMajor well I disagree and it really doesn’t matter what I say, you are always right! Right? I will always be thrilled that wigs was a Jayhawk.
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@Kip_McSmithers If that worse case came true, I guess I’d become an even bigger Badger fan!
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@Crimsonorblue22 Nice response …
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“Wiggins set the freshman scoring record at KU (previously hed by Danny Manning), was one of the 10 finalist for player of the year and was the top defender on the team…how can that be a negative thing?”
I’m a big Wiggins fan and I’m glad he came to Kansas. We’ll reap the reward for years.
All I said was he thwarted development of other players because Wiggins had to carry the load while the others were mostly spectators. When Wiggins had the ball, everyone stopped playing and started watching. That is a big reason why Wiggins didn’t have more assists. No one was open!
All the returning players would have had to step up more if Wiggins wasn’t around last year. That would have put them a leg up on this year.
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@Kip_McSmithers Kip, nice analysis. That’s about how I see last season without Wiggins too. There was ZERO risk in having him on the that young team, or–frankly–any team, young or otherwise.
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@drgnslayr You said – “All I said was he thwarted development of other players because Wiggins had to carry the load while the others were mostly spectators. When Wiggins had the ball, everyone stopped playing and started watching.”
That is true.
Now, I wouldn’t say that other guys were never open … I know you’re trying to be kind to Mr. Wiggins. But this scene played out all season. I recall folks saying that Self wanted him to drive and get fouled. Sure. But I’m sure Self didn’t say, “Hey, Andrew, you know those guys that are open when you drive, the ones whose defenders collapse on you time and time again … don’t pass to them.”
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Good observation. I would counter that we knew going in that Wiggins was a finisher first and foremost. He never displayed great ball handling and passing skills as a prep player. He wasn’t Lebron. He was an athletic finisher on the wing. He wasn’t a drive and dish guy. He was a drive and dunk guy.
Becoming a distributor is about more than seeing guys open. In the freeze frame you have above it shows Wiggins drawing the collapse and having a wide open teammate on the baseline, hands ready for the dump off and dunk. But look at how Wiggins is holding the ball. He doesn’t have it in a position where he is ready to pass. He has it so that he can go up for a shot, which is what he does here. A natural distributor sees the action before it happens and knows that as the defense collapses to him, he will have a small pocket to throw a quick bounce pass into. In the freeze frame you have above, a distributor wouldn’t even have the ball at this moment. It would be bouncing up off the floor from that bounce pass and into the waiting hands of Embiid for the dunk.
Wiggins doesn’t see the floor like that yet. He sees the lane for the drive. He doesn’t see the pocket for the assist yet. That is the part of his game that has to improve.
