GREAT START
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well I tell you what. got to say like how we fought through. holy crap Turkey was big, I’m not necessarily talking height but tall and body mass. The 6ft 11 player multiple times, obvious international ball just lowered his body backed in, backed I, dipping the shoulder and running over the KU man, Lucas and Jamari just the way international ball is I reckon.Glad to see Moore come around a little in the 2nd half, Wayne looked really good, Perry was nice, not as much in the 2nd but very solid, and Frank some steady play throughout, and bigger later in the 4th quarter. Got to say good start to the games, aas they were saying Turkey and Serbia were the stronger ones in our pool, good to get that 1st win. one obversation that I’m sure who knows anything though is we have got to get some kind of production out of our bigs, Landen, Mickelson, Jamari. Jamari did a few oher things but we are going to have to get something. BUT not getting down cause OUR GUYS won. GREAT for U.S.A GREAT FOR THE JAYHAWKS. on to Sunday ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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This was a very big win, esp. against a talented squad in Game One. Gradually, we will adjust to international rules and the speed of the game. Very reassuring to see Selden continue with the production he posted vs. Canada. Ellis still quite steady; playing tougher than previously, banging with opposing bigs. Frank has a penchant for rising to key occasions in key moments… We could really use a dominant big man. Diallo might have helped lots in this contest; but I can envision him running into foul problems at this stage of his development.
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Various thoughts:
Jamari and Landen : 33 minutes 2/4 shooting = 4 points.** 5 rebounds**- 0 offensive rebounds. 4 turnovers (all Jamari), and 2 steals (all Jamari). It’s like we’re playing with a big doughnut hole in the middle. Deja vu from last year. I can’t wait until Diallo hits the court. Can’t wait.
Carlton Bragg - 9 minutes with large plastic object over his face - 0 fer 4 + 1 free throw = 1 point. 3 off rebounds + 3 def boards = 6 boards in 9 minutes. He was the only big that challenged Turkey’s elbow swinging brute in the middle. Once this kid gets things figured out, it’s going to be next to impossible to keep him off the floor. Me likey.
Wayne is playing like we always hoped Wayne could play. Now, can he be consistent game after game? The 3 spot is perfect for him. Hubba, hubba.
Cannot wait to get our wounded back. I love the tempo we’re playing at, and would’ve loved to watch Devonte scorch some Turkey butt with some nice runouts. Our defense was very impressive - love the pressure, the steals…for a second I thought it was 2008. We’re going to be a much faster team, and one of Diallo’s strengths is he can damn sure run the court. Put Devonte and Diallo in, and we could have one of the fastest teams in college bb.
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Have to love the fight in the team and think we are blessed to have Nic. Great start and confidence building to play a team you know nothing about and a team of bullies at that. Turkey had guys who looked 30.
Happy 4th of July.
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Was it me or did all the guys from turkey look similar … They sure love beards
And KU is getting familiar with coming from behind - that is good
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Looking on ESPN for story on the game and all I see is a 35 word tweet. Have to wonder if it was Puke or Kensucky would there have been more coverage?
But the boys fought through a tough team and won. Ready for game 2 in the morning. Rock Chalk.
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I said this earlier…
Our secret weapon will be speed. We keep the tempo moving and we will tire out ALL of these teams. These world teams are in good shape but they don’t have the same level of athleticism. Push speed, tire them out, and win in the second half… a winning strategy all through WUG and something other teams will have a hard time overcoming.
Good start for us. It was clear that we are still adapting to Int’l play… but that’s okay. I think we’ll see steady improvements every game.
Wayne was a beast. Really liked his performance.
Jamari seemed to be nervous. Needs to play under better control. Didn’t use his energy wisely. Good he has energy, but should have had more than 1 rebound and the 4 TOs exposed him as being out of control. He’ll figure it out and have better games…
Carlton… man… he’s going to become a great Jayhawk! Lagerald looks like he’ll quickly become a good defender. That will earn him minutes and is the right approach for a freshman to take… focus on defense first and let the offense come when it’s there, don’t force it.
Turkey played rough… welcome to Int’l basketball!
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@KUSTEVE Your post hit on the most important points from last night’s game. Our “big doughnut hole in the middle”, Bragg’s activity, and Selden looking quite at home at the three spot.
Self really previewed the doughnut hole yesterday when he said, “You take Perry out of our frontcourt, we don’t have a lot of scoring. So that could be a concern."
I love when Self says stuff like this. He helps verify the points that we make here. And the quotes live for eternity.
Here is reality. If Diallo and Bragg are not our 2nd and 3rd bigs, this team will disappoint again in March. Our three underwhelming bigs look basically the same as they always have, and I suspect basically the same as they always will. Some nice peaks here and there, but the same.
But first and foremost, they are scholarship cloggers.
Regarding Selden, he does seem at home at the three spot. Selden looks great. And again, I love when this happens. Many of us have been saying since the first time we saw Selden handle the ball that he was a poor ball handler. We’ve seen him get the ball picked. We’ve seen him fumble away chances on the press break. We’ve seen it all.
And we persevered through the absolutely silly “Selden at point guard” talk. Now, heading into his junior season, they move him further away from ball handling responsibilities.
This is just as it should be. Moving Selden to the three is an absolutely great move.
Kurtis Townsend said in the KC Star today that the staff likes playing “Frank and Devonte together” – I think this is our best indication that our perimeter starters will be Frank, Devonte, and Wayne. Svi will be coming in off the bench, it sounds like.
Wayne may have found his home. And with that, we might have found the Wayne Selden we have all expected and hoped for.
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From NBC College Basketball Talk - only one I could find out of CBS or SI:
Kansas opens World University Games with a win over Turkey
Scott Phillips Jul 4, 2015, 11:00 AM EDT
It’s going to be an interesting season for Kansas and they enter the 2015-16 season with the benefit of playing a series of games representing America in the World University Games in South Korea.
The Jayhawks — plus SMU’s Nic Moore and Florida Gulf Coast’s Julian DeBose — won their opening game overseas, 66-57, as Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis were standout performers. Playing against Turkey, Kansas overcame an eight-point end of first quarter deficit to rally and win.
Selden had 19 points and eight rebounds while Ellis contributed 17 points and six rebounds in the win for the Jayhawks. Frank Mason also added 12 points and four assists.
The play of Selden this summer has been encouraging for Kansas, and as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star notes, Selden is thriving on the wing playing alongside two smaller guards. The former McDonald’s All-American has been a strong rebounder on the wing in the past, so it might be smart for Bill Self to investigate some small ball lineups with Selden at the three if he continues to produce at this high of a level.
It’s also notable that Kansas freshman forward Carlton Bragg played with a face mask despite breaking his nose during practice. While it’s not good Bragg was hurt, showing toughness to play in a summer game is a positive sign
Kansas will continue the World University Games on Sunday with a game against Brazil.
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@brooksmd My thoughts exactly.
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“This is just as it should be. Moving Selden to the three is an absolutely great move.”
It is starting to look that way!
I’m glad Wayne is proving me wrong. Previously, I liked the idea of Wayne playing the 3 but I thought he would be too mentally temperamental to change positions… kind of like when we moved EJ to point.
Glad Wayne is proving me wrong and hope he proves me wrong all year!
It seems like he is playing looser and is a lot more effective.
I don’t know this Brazil team, but there is a good chance we get tested more than Turkey in tomorrow’s game. Brazil usually has quite a bit of capable size and is continually improving their game. Lots of quality players coming out of Brazil… I hope Self is handing out stacks of his cards for future recruiting purposes.
Maybe the recruiting edge we thought we would get at WUG is in the future!
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@Kip_McSmithers Self wasn’t feeding us crap with that. The age cutoff for this tournament is under 25 as of Jan. 1 of this year. Those guys turned 25 before the cutoff date.
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@Kip_McSmithers who cares about EJ and TY but do you really think that if Self had the chance to bring back Kevin and Releford and Reed etc, that he wouldnt have done it? Come on dude.
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@Kip_McSmithers I recall Self’s quote to be that players couldn’t turn 25 during 2015. So even if they are 24 at the time of the games, their 25th birthday had to be in 2016. Not sure but that’s what I recall from the article at Kusports.
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@RockChalkinTexas You know, its interesting to me about Selden playing so well on the wing.
Might be “small” at 6,5" but at 230lbs he is strong enough to play football out there on the court and move those taller skinnier wings out of his way. Selden is a Beast! Im just glad to see he is putting together a solid run and hope it can continue into our Jayhawk season.
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@HighEliteMajor Right on.
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@HighEliteMajor re: “take Perry out of the middle”.
He was pretty ineffective today and don’t know if it’s because of length of inside players on Brazil, obviously, he did well against the large Turkey players, but wonder if we won’t be hurting this year even with him when we go up against L&A teams.
In my mind, Mickelson needs to get more PT with the energy he brings. That might bring down some of the careless plays he makes from time to time, but he does lots of little things that help keep the ball alive.
Obviously, if one of the young ones come on strong, then it’s a different story.
