February 20: Our Daily Threads
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Also see today’s News Digest, February 20, and News Digest for Yesterday, February 19, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, February 19 ##Our Daily Threads for February 20:##
##Tharpe’s Lesson: Own the Pace, Own the Game - @drgnslayr##
In the middle of the first half of this game it appeared Kansas was going to give TTech their typical beat down. The Jayhawks were up by 10 and making it look way, way, way too easy!
Then something changed. Then the war over who owned the pace shifted over to TTech’s advantage! They didn’t really change their game as much as just kept trying to slow the pace of the game down… to a snail’s pace. This entire game they probably didn’t shoot the ball with more than 10 second on the shot clock more than a handful of times. We knew they would attempt this before we arrived in Lubbock. It has been their strategy all year, and it has helped them lead the B12 in holding down opponents to 68.5 ppg. Their strategy definitely worked against the high-powered Kansas offense, holding us to 64 points.
##6? 6 Gawddang assist is all we got? - @JRyman##
OK I cleaned up the Harry Doyle quote and changed the number, but really?
64 points and only 6 assist? 6 assist for the whole team!!!
##PASTA-GATE @ OU - @JayhawkRock78##
Three Sooners Penalized For Too Much Pasta
This is absurd. How much time and money did the NCAA and OU waste on this, let alone distract and hassle some young student athletes.
###Feb 19:Mr. Ellis, meet Mr. Smith - @REHawk###
Ol’ Tubby drew up a masterful game plan. How fortunate are we that he is not coaching Baylor or Okie State!
###Feb 19:Embiid, Wiggins and 3 Place Holders Beat TTech - @jaybate###
There was a reason Self brought Embiid back against Texas Tech. It wasn’t to use Texas Tech as a warm up game for Texas, as I at first thought. As JNew pointed out on the blog, Tech was ranked 69th by KENPOM. To put that in perspective, Colorado is ranked 60th. No, Self brought Embiid back, because he realized this KU team had zip chance of beating TTech without the Mighty Joel.
And don’t let Wiggins getting the last bucket fool you. Andrew had to have Joel to win the game. Joel was 6-7 FG and 6-8 FT and had 8 reebs. Compare that with Wigs’ 5-10 FG and 6-8 FT 6 reebs.
###Feb 19:Oklahoma State’s loss is KU’s…loss - @MoonwalkMafia###
With every loss that Oklahoma State accumulates, Travis Ford’s seat is getting hotter and hotter. With the amount of talent that he has on that team, it is inexcusable to have had such an atrocious season. This is compounding the fact that OSU hasn’t made it past the first weekend of the tournament since 2005. Marcus Smart, Lebryan Nash, and Markel Brown all decided to come back for another season when each of them could have easily jumped to the NBA all to compete for a championship. But as of right now, they may not even get the chance to be in the field.
Marcus Smart has imploded on himself, showing immaturity on several occasions this season, and showing more importantly that nobody has sought to develop his character, as well as his game.
###Feb 19:Kansas targets 7’6" PG recruit OK Oakville! - @drgnslayr###
Kansas Buckets is now recruiting an All-American 7’6" point guard from Oakville, MO (a suburb of St. Louis) by the name of OK Oakville.
The recruitment process has begun with a simple list asking the question “why?”
WHY OAKVILLE SHOULD BRING HIS GAME TO KUBUCKETS…
###Feb 18: Embiid: TXTech and Beyond -@truehawk93###
I’m sure Embiid is fine and thankful there is no structural damage. We’ll need him a whole lot more down the back stretch of the season. Let’s not jeopardize a crucial piece of our chances to win the conference and a deep run in the tourney. Embiid is a huge key to that run.
###Feb 17: Wiggins Highlight video and other freshmen as well - @wissoxfan83 ###
Interesting to me is there are no jump shots for Wiggins. All drives to the hoops, several not terribly impressive in my view. I watched Parkers highlights, he had a bit more substance to his, although his top play was in a blue-white scrimmage, so that shouldn’t really count. Of course being ESPN, maybe they can even control these vids to make one look better than another.
###Feb 17: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU vs TCU - Feb 15 - @drgnslayr###
Man alive… Who do I single out for the FLOOR BURN AWARD on this one? Perry Ellis had a MAN NIGHT! 32-points, 8 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 assists and 2 steals! And he proved he can be a threat from the perimeter, nailing two 3-point shots. It will be nice (moving forward) to exploit that option!
Andrew Wiggins… played a solid game. He’s staying busy and on the move. He managed 17-points and just took what was given to him.
###Feb 17: On Brandon and Bill - @jaybate###
Brandon Rush came home yesterday and his jersey is still not hanging in the field house. Rush and Self had not seen each other in two years and his jersey is still not hanging in the field house. Bill Self says Brandon Rush is the greatest defensive player he ever coached and his jersey is still not hanging in the field house. IMHO, Brandon Rush is still the best freshman basketball player Bill Self has ever coached at KU and his jersey is still not hanging in the field house.
Why?
###Feb 16: OAD or the sleeping Giant. - @DoubleDD###
After reading article after article I’m beginning to wonder? We all have heard and read about how great Wiggins, JoeJoe, and Seldon are. These three have disappointed and wowed us with what they can do on the basketball court. I think we can all agree if these three are on their game KU is almost impossible to beat. However I wonder.
It seems to me there is a sleeping Giant in our mist. A player that can rebound, a player that can dunk, a player that has a mid range shot, a player that can shoot the three, and finally a player that can create his own shot.
###Feb 16: King Shaq-Lemore Runs Into A Wall - @brooksmd###
BMac had a great dunk tonight with the help of Shaq. Unfortunately there was a Wall in his way.
###Feb 16:“A slippage from a responsibility standpoint” - @REHawk###
HA! Billl Self’s take regarding the latest of team disciplinary actions, this time involving Brannen Greene, benched for the TCU contest. I don’t know the apprehensions of other posters who have followed closely the freshman season of young Mr. Greene, but since his summertime vehicular incident and subsequent ill decision, I have kept my fingers crossed that Brannen’s inclinations might not succumb to further ill fated actions and consequences. Since this benching appears to be only a 1-game punishment, evidently the slippage is not of severe caliber. Unfortunate for the freshman, just when his minutes seemed to rise to the threshold of much sunnier horizons…Kaboom! I’ll keep my fingers crossed until midApril.
###Feb 15: Hoops housing rejected: round up the usual suspects -@jaybate###
Here is where board rats post who voted against the basketball housing and why. Time to understand the politics of basketball housing.
###Feb 14:STAT DAT! - @drgnslayr###
Our man Tait, over at KUSports has posted a story on our 3-point proficiency to date. And while Matt isn’t quite the stat-grinder Jesse is, we appreciate his efforts in shining the light away from emotional views to hard facts. Thank you, Matt!
http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2014/feb/13/a-deeper-look-at-kus-three-point-shootin/
The season has played out long enough now that we can look at hard numbers and form a strategy around them. Might players play up or down as the season progress? Yes, of course… but then it is good to factor in recent games to estimate future proficiency. Players (and teams) go hot and cold… that’s what Las Vegas counts on… there is enough variance in the game to keep things unpredictable around their point spreads, creating a 50/50 jump ball where they net 10% on the overall wash.
###Feb 13: Is There a Bounty on KU OADs? - @jaybate###
Today is my day for asking an irreverent question, I guess.
Self said Selden was injured early and some times his uneven play hints that his injury recurs intermittently.
###Feb 13: Are the Gators the favorite to winning it all, and Why is Boeheims zone still so effective? - @Blown###
Just a short topic here but I’m curious to hear who our NC picks are right now and why on earth is Syracuse the dominant zone team in the country year after year? I am resolved to the hawks not making the FF, and along that thought, I’m also deciding on Billy D as my favorite coach and Florida winning it all this year. Looking forward to your opinions.
###Feb 13: Tight Calls, Less Injuries/Loose Calls, More Injuries? - @jaybate###
Increasingly, this season seems to be segmented into two seasons.
The first season was when fouls were called very tightly inside and out and there was next to no butcher ball.
###Feb 12: Post Latest Scuttlebutt on When Jam Tray Will Be Back Here - @jaybate###
###Feb 12: Welcome to Hedge Row Country - @jaybate###
Eisenhower assaulted Normandy with the most awesome military force ever assembled, but no one was certain the invasion would succeed. Weather could easily have wrecked the plan, but it did not. The inability to get many of the glider and paratrooper forces to their intended destinations followed by their inability coordinate into effective fighting units in the darkness could have wrecked the plan, but instead their own chaos caused so much confusion among the Germans that they did not know how to capitalize on the chaos. The Germans could have wrecked the plan by bringing their Panzers up immediately, but they did not. The miscalculations at Omaha that cost so many lives could have wrecked the plan by exposing a weak flank that those at Utah might not have been able to hold, but it did not. Montgomery’s left bogging down could have wrecked the plan, but the Germans did not amass enough force soon enough to exploit the situation. So: inspite of all the SNAFUs, the Allies, the greatest single amphibious invasion force in human history established a successful foothold and primed to begin to grind down their enemy with overwhelming ground and air force, plus staggering logistical advantage.
But then things ground to a halt in hedge row country in the American sector.
###Feb 11: FLOOR BURN AWARD: KU @ KSU - Feb 10 - @drgnslayr###
It is always a tough loss in the Little Apple because, to be quite frankly, it rarely occurs!
I was not overly-optimistic about walking out of the Octagon with a win this time because we count on too much production from freshmen.
###Feb 11: Rest for Joel - @JRyman###
Rest him now get him healthy for the stretch run, and is a 1 seed everything? I’ll take a two seed and a rested Joel for the tournament run, over a slowed and hobbled Joel and a 1 seed any day.
###Feb 11: Freshmen Fairy Tale - @drgnslayr###
What stood out the most last night was the obvious reality of having a bunch of freshmen on the same team visiting a hostile environment. Everyone makes such a big deal out of the Hilton… I’d rather go play at ISU than KSU… any day of the week!
Wiggins is only 18. When I was 18 I popped more zits than long ball jump shots. All of our team is filled with kids. I think I’d make an exception on Tarik… he seems to be the lone adult.
Also see today’s News Digest, February 20, and News Digest for Yesterday, February 19, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, February 19
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@approxinfinity The Turnover bug.
Headed into the last 5 games of the conference season, our guys seemed to have shed the turnover bug. Since the Baylor game one month ago, they haven’t turned the ball over more than 11-12 times. According to Kenpom, the DI average for TO’s per 100 possessions is 18.5. We are now at 19.3. Earlier this season we were at least 2 points higher than the DI ave. So we are trending down, which is a good sign going into March and the madness that follows. Wiggins seems to be handling the ball better, which is good. So is Mr Selden. We need those two to be tight with the ball and not give it away in the tournaments. Embiid is also shown improvement in the TO area. He is passing better out of double teams and he can put the ball on the deck better to dribble out of them or beat his man to the rim with a slick move. He looked pretty well healed up that last game. Im certain he is still getting treated for his injuries. Whatever he did to tweak his back, that’s not something that will just go away in a day or two. But, he looked good out there. Him and Wiggins were our best players at TT. For a good run in March, we need them to be consistently strong like that. The big question remains though, will this team be able to keep a team like Florida or Syracuse or SDSU on the ropes long enough with their powerful offense to beat them in the ncaa’s? Defense. This teams defensive rating per Kenpom is higher than any Bill Self coached team. Even though they kept TT from scoring more than 63 points, it was a 53 possession game! Something like 1.17 PPP. We out scored them, we didn’t beat them defensively. That is worrisome headed into March. I like our guys’ chances to make a Final Four run but they will have to lock teams down AND out score them. Not one or the other.