Brandon Rush gets to play for injured H.Barnes
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@jaybate-1.0 Well said.
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@jaybate-1.0 Thanks for being in Jamari’s court. He had never received as much praise during a broadcast as what Fran gave him throughout the UCLA game. I know that there were some on this site that were vomiting during this and demanding his benching the next night as two telegraphed passes were stolen while he was outside on the weave. Forget about every other thing he does for this team. Wiggins scored 40 over West Virginia getting open off the weave, Jamari is not a wing and should never be judged as one. He is our Darnell.
By the way, I’m still cogitating over what has to be one of your greatest basketball phrases - “The living myth of Sonoran Culture will one day right this wrong, but until then, Sonoran culture exists in a wounded existential realm.”
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Very short on time today, but scanned this … let’s not get carried away here.
Comparing Jamari Traylor to Darnell Jackson? Darnell Jackson played in the NBA. Traylor won’t sniff the NBA.
Darnell Jackson was Kansas’ leading rebounder on an NCAA championship team.
Jamari Traylor has been the worst rebounder on a team that was eliminated before the second weekend the last two seasons, and prematurely in 2013.
Darnell Jackson averaged 11.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Traylor not even close. And the per minute numbers bear that out. Jackson .460 points per minute and .274 rpm in '08; Traylor .252 and .215 for his career.
Further, there is literally no one (I would assume) that would even consider choosing Traylor over Jackson in one’s lineup, let alone even entertaining the discussion.
Let’s be reminded, as well, that Jackson could score with has back to the basket, and could score on the block. Further, Jackson was actually a big body down low. Jackson *weighed 250 pounds" – and likely a touch more. Traylor is barely 220, if that.
Using Jackson and Traylor in the same sentence as far as contribution is approaching heresy as far as I’m concerned.
And why is there some assumption that Traylor has more will to win than, say, Hunter Mickelson? Or Landen Lucas?
First and foremost, this is a game of skill. Traylor has limited skills. No one disputes that. Jackson was a top 70 player that was very skilled.
I know we want to try to explain the inexplicable. I know Traylor has a nice story. .
Traylor can fit very well as an 8-10 minute role player. Actually, that sort of P.T. might bring out a better value in his playing time. When he plays bigger minutes, he gets exposed. 3+ seasons have shown us that.
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I think we all just keep a good perspective on Jamari.
He was never recruited as our savior. His game has improved over his time in Lawrence. I think we can question the amount of improvement over that time.
The negative views of his game, and frustration from it, shouldn’t be directed towards Jamari. He isn’t going to suddenly wake up and be a better player. I take it that he works hard on his game, and he must put the effort in during practice because of the PT he gets.
I’m not sure the frustration should even be leveled on our coaches. I doubt either Landen or Hunter produce a huge +points differential on their minutes. All 3 players have strengths and weaknesses.
I do think there was plenty to scream about last year, when Cliff was riding the bench and Jamari had his minutes. The statistical difference was substantial. Everything pointed to Cliff, but he sat.
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2020 hindsight is not always reliable, but in the rearview mirror it increasingly looks like Alexander sat and trailer played, because Alexander was probably never going to be available down the stretch .
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I agree that Traylor would have to show something he has not yet shown to reach the same level as Jackson. And yet Jackson had also shown little promise his previous years.
Traylor is not who we hoped for at the 5. And yet with him as part of the composite 5 the 5 averages a double double with low TOs against ranked teams early. We would have killed for an OAD, or a 5 star, that could have stepped in and done that. We were viewing Diallo as our savior even projected raw and mostly only able to board and block.
The real question is will Traylor grow nonlinearly into his great opportunity as Jackson did, when Kauns knees did not heel. Or will all the composite 5 grow together? If they each grow just 1 Ppg and 1 rpg, they would be at something like 14 and 14. Traylor taking over the 5 seems improbable. But ech improving 1 Ppg and 1 rpg, even without Diallo, seems feasible in one season.
What OAD or 5 star could likely average 14/14 with low TOs his first season. Not many. As we agreed in. Another thread, blocking maybe wanting, but maybe that will rise with a bit more Mick and some added Diallo.
Hope springs eternal in small increments.
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@jaybate-1.0 I don’t know, Jackson was a massive rebounder his sophomore and junior years I recall – on a per minute basis. I do remember that from looking a while back I believe (I’ll eat crow if I look later and I’m wrong). I appreciate the “hope” so to speak with Traylor. My “hope” is that coach Self is using Jamari as a placeholder for the first third of the season, perhaps. I’d be quite happy if Traylor = Jackson this season. But, alas, I regrettably have no hope of that …
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I did not recall Jackson had rebounded well, or done anything will before the last season. I recalled Him as one of Roy’s recruits who had not panned out as hoped for Self. Thanks for calling that rpm stat to my attention.
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He was a Self recruit. Signed in July 2013 after Roy had left and Bill was in charge.
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@jaybate-1.0 Just took a peek – Jackson in sophomore season, .319 rpm and .331 in junior season. Pretty salty. For perspective, Nick Collison was .308 his senior season. Gold standard was Drew Gooden at .377 in 2001-02 and TRob at .373 in 2011-12. Embiid was .350.
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If you haven’t yet, take some time and read @jaybate-1.0’s post on the evolution of Self’s offense.
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That’s incredible. Thanks for hardening it into numbers. I had no recollection of how well he had showed earlier in his career.
What the hell was Self doing NOT starting him!!!
Let’s put Self in some double jeopardy with the way back machine!!!
Hey, was this shades of things to come, or what?
Kaun had no knees at all Kaun’s last two seasons, and Self was playing him ahead of D-Block.
Man, would we have been on his case, or what, had we had good stats back in those days?
Bill, HEM and I are calling you out on D-Block!!!
There is NO statute of limitations this stuff!!!
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I guess it just gets bewildering, some people complain we are not getting the top ranked recruits, others say we should do 4 year guys…
To me, Self does a nice mix of both.
We did not really find a diamond in the rough with Traylor, Lucas, or Hunter, but each has their niche. I think who plays when, depends on matchups. Hunter can protect the rim a bit. Traylor can take bigs off dribble no problem. Lucas can bang in there with the trees…
Hopefully Bragg and Diallo mean we only need the trio in reserve. They are no Jackson/Kaun but the three of them together will be assets.
I am really excited about this year. We are really deep. We have experience, and some raw freakish athleticism in our freshman…
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The bigger problem with our big men is, we do not have guys who really can do the angles and lob passes into the post. Svi and Bragg are my hope to get something going in there. They need to get Brady Morningstar in to practice or something, ha.
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Is there anywhere to watch the game online for those who have been blacked out?
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@jaybate-1.0 I think ultimately Rush has much more of a connection to KU than Wiggybaby ever could, since he achieved the pinnacle at KU. That team will forever have a bond amongst them. And that team is forever linked to its coach.
B.Rush is also a Midwesterner from KC. Wiggins was Canadian. Wiggins said all the right things, basically proving from day 1 that he was the consummate pro. Wiggins didn’t achieve greatness at KU…he achieved it in the NBA.
Wiggy is an NBAer plain and simple. KU is truly an afterthought, and maybe a fond memory for him.
Brandon Rush is forever part of the highest echelon of KU Legacy, whether he comes to visit or not. And I thought I saw Rush at the Legends game in AFH 2yrs ago? He was guarding Paul Pierce if I remember correctly…
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You nailed it.
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@jaybate-1.0 Self played DJax over Kaun, because DJax functioned very well in the high post, if you recall. Remember he could turn around and if the hi-lo pass wasn’t there, he would just repeatedly hit that 12ft face-up jumper. AND he rebounded. That face-up J was why he started over Kaun.
I recall Self saying Kaun’s greatest attribute was he was “the best on-ball post defender” on that roster. Offensively, Kaun was mostly a garbage scorer. People mistakenly called Darnell a “garbage” man, but he was more than that. As @HighEliteMajor pointed out, Darnell was a consistent, reliable scorer.
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@Second-Prize I think definitely Hunter, and maybe Lucas could be double-double guys IF they were starters at some midmajor. And I’m pretty intolerant of Lucas these days…
But Hunter was a top50 recruit, and I actually think he has a better rounded game than WIthey, its just that Withey had than insane ability to block shots. Hunter has never been allowed to get comfortable in the lineup. I feel for him, because he has more ability than either Jamari or Lucas, although I think only Jamari can throw his body around like he does. Hunter isn’t that type of athlete, but he is plenty quick when it comes to foot speed. Wish I could say something positive about Lucas.
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Personally, I don’t consider Brandon Rush “damaged goods” from the knee surgery perspective. Maybe 30yrs ago somebody was never quite the same after blowing an ACL or an Achilles, but not so in the last 10-15yrs, medically speaking.
Examples? Brandon Rush in the 2008 Final 4. Dropping 25 on UNC and outflying 6’9 Hansborough to the rim. No limitation there. And defensively stuck like glue so hard to CDR of Memphis, that instead of seeing the FT rim, CDR on the FT line still had visions of B.Rush’s intensity (thus missing the FT).
Jamaal Charles: blew out his ACL 4 yrs ago, and was truly 100% for the next few years until he blew out the other ACL 2 mos ago. His stats strongly underscore his continued excellence. Jamaal Charles IS the all-time NFL rush leader in yds-per-carry. In the entire history of the NFL. That is simply insane. His true 4.4 speed was not affected by his first knee surgery either.
How about Brandon Rush again? Last week. Not just the 3s, but the strong baseline power jam, that almost broke Ben McLemore’s hand who was trying to block it. That amount of hops and explosiveness, both in the 08 Final 4, and then again last week, tells me Mr. Rush is 100%.
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Darnell was lucky Kaun had two operable knees his last two seasons or Darnell would have seen only backup duty. Kaun is in the NBA at the end of his career long after Jackson barely made a ripple.
Remember how little Jackson plated when Kaun was healthy those first two seasons? Kaun could muscle and jump at a true 6-10 or 6-11. Solid as a rock top to bottom, but hard hands. Darnell was cut on top, but he had those funny little bird legs on the bottom.
But both had champions hearts though.
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@jaybate-1.0 I hope Kaun can stick for a while in the NBA. He does have 3-4 inches on Darnell. Darnell was always widely considered 6’8, while Kaun was 6’11 or 7ft.
Kaun saved our ass against Davidson when all the MickeyDs were ineffective for a few key minutes. And that was offensively, he gave 2-3 key buckets, if I recall.
Darnell, I still vividly remember him smiling after the handshake line after we beat UNC, walking off court, holding up 1 finger for “1 more game”. He was so right. And he helped seal the deal with his fast break layup in OT vs Memphis.
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@ralster I’ll add Adrian Peterson who not only tore his ACL but his MCL and PCL. He has come back just as good as he was before that injury.
20 years ago he would have never played again let alone walked without a limp.
Medical magic has come a loooong way
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@jaybate-1.0 I do recall in Jackson’s first season or two, it seemed he had trouble catching the ball in the post, the dreaded hands-o-stone. And I recall his junior season thinking, ‘hey, he has improved’. Kaun had a little trouble with dropsy as well early on.
Agreed–> definitely both champions in heart and achievement!
