KU SHOULD BE THE NUMBER ONE SEED IN THE MIDWEST REGION
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@HighEliteMajor Agreed. I think we are as solid #2 based on winning our conference. The other resumes look better than ours for a #1 seed.
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Duke passes the “eye test.” The “eye test” looks at the obvious… offense! Friggin’ Okafor is a beast! Jones is amazing!
Kansas doesn’t pass the eye test. Why? Because our offense has been looking God awful! But we can still win. We can still win when we go 0-15 from 3. Can Duke do that? No way!
I like our chances of beating Duke now a lot more than I did when we were reigning in the 3s. That’s when we were running some burst offense, followed by collapse defense. We didn’t have the toughness.
I like this team right where we are at. We can win without almost any offense! How many past teams can you say that about? Most of the time, we go offensive dead in March and we lose. This year… we are likely to do that most games, but at least we have a chance this time.
Our barometer is Frank. Frank had a bad game yesterday, but he found a way to help close out Baylor. Signs like that are impressive.
Wayne… wow… Wayne! We don’t need him to have that kind of game every night, but when we need him we need him. I hope that wasn’t his lone spark in March.
Kelly looks to be poised to blaze through March! The guy is amped!
At this point, I really hope Cliff is done. I like the big guy and he could help spark us… but if we know he is gone, our bigs know they have to step up. This has been really good for guys like Landen and Hunter. They have been stepping up… just need to watch the fouls. Jamari just needs to stay within his boundaries. He shouldn’t dribble except near the basket and to finish one of his slashing scoring moves. He should avoid taking the mid range shot, too. Teams are going to beg him to take those. And he should rebound properly. He should ask Landen for some tips since our coaches fail to teach him.
Did anyone see Landen snag the rebound with about 12:55 left in the second half yesterday? Now that is how to seal off the low post!
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@drgnslayr Yes, I notice that play by Landon. I love a lot of the things he does. I just wish he would finish better.
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@jaybate-1.0 They tried desperately to give that ND/Dook game to Dook. You wouldn’t believe those calls down the stretch…
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@HighEliteMajor There are seeding “rules” - in the recent past, geography has been given precedence over straight competitive balance, esp. in th 1-4 seeds. The theory is that hired seeded teams shouldn’t have to travel as far - also benefit for fans. The committee strives for overall balance in the regions, but that has varied by a 5-6 seed total difference in some years. Has gotten more attention this year because UK is seen as a dominant #1 - and the view has been expressed that it would be “unfair” if the top #2 seed, whomever that is determined to be were stuck in their region - not unreasonable.
So, there has been a lot of talk amongst the talking heads about this. While the final #1s may be a bit fluid, it seems that the Hawks are locked in as a #2, albeit the lowest rated one - due primarily to the number of losses overall. Reason we would get a #2 over a ND or MD is overall strength of schedule.
Having said that, while I think it is still highly likely that we will end up as a #2 - and, if we do, probably in UK’s region - it’s possible that if we were to lose today, MD or ND could bump us down to the #3 line if they were to win their tourneys. Would be mildly surprised if that were to happen. Especially tricky for the committee to decide that with MD since they wouldn’t be playing their final until tomorrow (assuming they beat MSU today).
I would note that Wisconsin is actually down 5 to Purdue at half, so anything is possible at this point…
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We’re a 2 all the way, but I like the thought of rewarding seeds on actually playing somebody. You can go 5 or 6 games in a row in the ACC w/o playing a ranked team. And Nova? The team that got beat by 20 to G-town? Put us as a 2 in that bracket. I am really afraid since the ACC’s best went down, they will move Wisky up to a 1 seed, and move us in as the 2 seed in the 'Tucky bracket. Not that i would mind playing them again, but I’d rather be in the Final Four.
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@KUSTEVE wisky better win today
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@DCHawker You were right about that. Ok, it just means we have the opportunity to make this a nearly monumental run towards the national title. " Mildcats, we aren’t askeered of no stinkin’ Mildcats"…
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@drgnslayr This is perhaps the first season I can remember where I am not optimistic heading into the NCAA tournament. It goes I think to what Self said yesterday – “We can be duds.”
When I watch Duke, I see a team that can and does score consistently inside – scoring at the rim at over 68%. They have the top big man in the country. They shoot and score from three point range, shooting over 20% more threes than Kansas. They have flexibility on defense, playing zone, man, and even pressing for long stretches as needed.
With Kansas, I see none of that right now. Could we beat Duke on the right day? Sure. Are we better than Duke, I’m quite certain that we are not.
Coach Self says that our “identity” is to “find a way.”
That’s fine and dandy now. It’s all we have. It’s not all we had a month ago, that’s for sure. The entire dynamic around this team has changed.
For the life of me, I’m not understanding why this change has been so roundly accepted. We were beating teams by double digits. We had gone to OT on the road at ISU, the second best team in the conference. We had just two conference losses. There was nothing wrong. The more our offense matured, the better we could be – I didn’t really see a ceiling.
Now, it’s much different.
The decision was a risky one by coach Self. It was clearly made, and decisive. He has us at 2-0 in the post season right now. Today will be a big test, and on neutral court, it will give us excellent insight into how we might match up in NCAA tourney games against good offensive teams. I am very interested in this game.
Can our rejuvenated defense answer the call?
On offense, will we go four out/one in like we did vs. ISU the last time? Ellis is a key to that, unless we go small, of course.
Is KU simply Michigan State from prior seasons as some have suggested?
I just can’t stand the thought of losing on the first weekend of the NCAA tourney. I want more.
And I agree completely. Even if Cliff magically is cleared, I wouldn’t play him.
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@Crimsonorblue22 we need for wisky to lose today…sorry, wissox…
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@HighEliteMajor I agree. Since Self has clearly made a decision about grinding out every single game, then we better win playing like this. I too am tired of first weekend losses.
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@KUSTEVE
this is not from crimson
minus 2 teeth, that you can’t see!!!
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Lunardi work for ESPN and has no association with the NCAA. Many sports analysts are invited to a mock selection selection session conducted by the NCAA that tries to replicate how the committee works, but that is as far as it goes. As far as “bracketologists” Lunardi is really middle to bottom of the pack and there are many that predict consistently better than he does.
Look at this link, Lunardi is ranked 44 out of 76. He is only famous because he has the largest ESPN audience. If you go by results, there are many I would pick over him.
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@JayHawkFanToo good stuff, thanks for info. Lunardi seems to think a lot of himself. Wonder what he gets paid?
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@HighEliteMajor OMG–OBJECTIVITY!!!
I didn’t know that was allowed here.
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He obviously is well known and brings a lot of hits to the ESPN site, particularly at this time of the year, which translates to advertising money…and money talks…you know the rest…
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"OMG–OBJECTIVITY!!!
I didn’t know that was allowed here."
Hahahaha… none of us are objective. We’ve all got a horse in this race. Granted… some of us may have flown further off the edge. (me)
Right on with your post.
I’ve tempered my opinions simply because there is no gain in me stroking out!
But through that, I’ve been able to see it different. None of us can say the trey offense would have led us to here. That we would be better off today.
What I’m getting at is that I believe I’d rather have the toughness going for us now, and just work on tweaking back our offense to restore some scoring… versus having gone that way all year and try to keep it going against teams that will play us tougher on the perimeter while we aren’t playing tough ball.
The best factor to have going for you in March is toughness. Now if we can get some offense to help out, great! If we can’t, then just buckle down a bit harder on the defense and still win.
In the end of conference play, we dropped 3 away games by just a few points. There was no guarantee we could have maintained the treys on the road. I point the finger more at a lack of being able to close out games. All three of those games we should have won, and we went soft in the last few seconds.
Think about the teams we will play in March. How are they going to scout us? Seriously… We’ve been scoring almost all our points in the low post, but we have deadly weapons on the perimeter. What should they do? Zone? We’ve been working on beating that (but should be better). Now we have some real zone breakers in Kelly and Wayne, ready to drive through the gaps. And Frank can always do it, too.
I think we have a very dangerous team. Sure we could lose… but we are multidimensional. We are bound to start hitting a few 3s, and that’s all we need to do. But if we get hot from out there, we’ll take it!
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@JayHawkFanToo It’d be nice if ESPN would back a better horse…one with a better track record and a less swollen head.
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@drgnslayr Understood, but anyone who objectively thinks Kansas deserves a #1 seed over the teams that are ahead of them is off his rocker.
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Indeed, I have been saying for long time that Lunardi is average at best.
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I will grudgingly agree with you. KU will not be a #1 seed; it looks like a solid #2 seed, barring a disaster later on today.
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I don’t see us as a 1-seed. I’m very satisfied with a 2-seed, and wouldn’t be surprised if they make us a 3-seed… except… going by their own talk, they are supposed to reward teams that play a tough schedule.
We shall see if that is the case. I would love to see us get a game with Duke in March… if both teams can make it that far. I like our chances.
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@drgnslayr said:
I don’t see us as a 1-seed
Well, somebody fell off his rocker and started this silly thread, lol.
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You have to remember that @jaybate-1.0 sometimes likes to act the part of an “agent provocateur,” as it were, just to start spirited discussions…not really a bad thing…
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“Well, somebody fell off his rocker and started this silly thread, lol.”
I’m glad you stuck through the hazing you received in here. You earned my respect. Lots of guys would have folded tent.
I like your edge.
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I’d like to see Self coach football.
I’m thinking he would make an interesting football coach.
I can see it now… “GROUND AND POUND!”
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@drgnslayr Yeah, and no forward passes, lol. Only 3 things can happen when you pass the ball and two of them are bad…
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@JayHawkFanToo As I suspected-- I figured no one who still had all his marbles could write some of that stuff, lol.
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Anymore posts on this thread? …Anyone? …Anybody? …Bueler?
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Hahaha
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@HighEliteMajor are you still suggesting this team is a competent three point shooting team and that is the identity we should be aligned with?
