Tharpe's Performance Inexplicable
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@drgnslayr I can’t show that to my husband. He could build it! Did you see how high the corn was? Must be an engineer.
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I’m guessing this engineer had a brother who was an investment banker:
“Investment banker”… does that qualify as an oxymoron?
This guy is a scream! Comparing his gadget for growing peppers to Bernie Madoff!
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@drgnslayr drgn… I like the teams you indicated, but I’d put Virginia in the hot hot hot group. Their passing game yesterday shredded the Syracuse zone and was a beautiful thing to see. They’ve got the senior leadership, athleticism and depth to go really far. They’ll wear you down, and then pop off a 10-0 run, not give it back, and the game is over. Maybe the silver lining here on us faltering is that if we retain a 2 seed, we probably won’t have to face Virginia in our region. They are scary good.
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@approxinfinity love the pride they have in playing D! I like that coach. Watched that coach and then Cal. No doubt who I’d prefer to coach and teach young men! I was impressed.
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@Crimsonorblue22 As I just posted on New Topic, take a look at the Pat Forde article on Coach Cal, Yahoo Sports. As approxinfinity proclaimed: BRUTAL!
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@MoonwalkMafia Thank you for injecting a measure of reason into an over-heated discussion. I too like what Wichita State is doing and also wonder how they will respond to better quality opponents. I always did like the ‘Little Engine that could’ story and that is what the WheatShocker remind me of. And I hope, if KU doesn’t win the national title, that they do.
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I think you are right and Virginia is HOT HOT HOT. I haven’t followed them enough so I didn’t just give them that spot. But I saw that game and they shredded Syracuse just like the way I imagine we would… except we’d do it with better athletes!
However… I’ve watched probably half of Syracuse’s games and they have been beyond lucky. Their ride is about over!
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I have mentioned a couple of times that Virginia is the sleeper team this year. They have their best teams since the days of Ralph Sampson, and (for the older folk) Barry Parkhill before that. The are definitively and Elite 8 team and a legitimate Final Four contender as well.
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@drgnslayr I found this bit on espn.go. by Jordan Brenner. Thought I would share it. Granted, it doesn’t take into account KU getting beat by a team like Florida or Virginia but, it does say some interesting things about Giant Killer potentials.
Have a look.With just two weeks until Selection Sunday, we might not know about tourney matchups yet, but key traits are readily apparent. And for fans of some of the best teams in the country, that means it’s time to start worrying.
Giant Killers IDs the most likely NCAA tournament upsets using a process laid out in a little more detail in the right column. Our vaunted statistical model is able to assign a rating to each Giant, based on the likelihood that it would lose to a generic Giant Killer. In evaluating the top 10 teams in the current AP poll, it finds a pretty large disparity in how safe each squad should feel during the tourney’s first weekend. Here’s a closer look, in decreasing order of vulnerability.
Saint Louis Billikens AP Poll Rank: 10 Giant Rating: 71.3
As we addressed two weeks ago, St. Louis plays much more like a Killer than a Giant. And as the Billikens try to live up to a top-10 ranking and a potential No. 4 seed, that could prove problematic. Granted, Saint Louis should still beat a generic GK more than seven out of 10 times. But that’s not a strong enough rating to feel safe, especially given the issues our model identifies.
St. Louis doesn’t send many guys to the offensive glass, resulting in an offensive rebound rate of 29.1 percent. Historically, that’s been a key safeguard for Giants, and it makes sense: On a poor shooting night, you’re in much better shape if you can collect your own misses. Our model also sees Saint Louis as overrated: Its power ranking is just 29th in the nation, behind teams like Tennessee, Gonzaga and SMU. That’s due in large part to the Billikens’ sluggish offense, which ranks just 145th nationally (per KenPom.com) with an adjusted 106 points per 100 possessions. Even with the country’s second-best defense, those scoring woes are scary in a tourney setting.
Wichita State Shockers AP Poll Rank: 2 Giant Rating: 72.7
Speaking of teams our model pegs as overrated, the sage-like spreadsheet has some issues with the Shockers. Sure, they’re undefeated, but our model accounts for the nation’s 130th-ranked schedule, and as a result is unwilling to bet heavily on Gregg Marshall’s crew. Wichita State takes a further knock from the model’s “Secret Sauce,” which accounts for similarities to historically safe Giants. The Shockers carry some warning labels, particularly their lack of emphasis on forcing turnovers (18.7 percent of opponents’ possessions).
Look, it’s hard to argue against a 30-0 team, regardless of its schedule. After all, the Shockers can beat only the teams they play. And it’s also difficult to argue that they aren’t cut out for tourney play when the likes of Cleanthony Early, Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet all played key roles on a Final Four squad. But by our measures, Wichita State has a disturbing number of traits in common with previously slain Giants, meaning a potential 1 vs. 8/9 matchup could be a real challenge to a crew that pulled off that kind of an upset last year.
Creighton Bluejays AP Poll Rank: 9 Giant Rating: 72.9
The Bluejays have the nation’s best offense. They take a huge quantity of 3-pointers and make 42.9 percent of them. They’re a top-10 team inside the arc as well, shooting 55.4 percent on 2-pointers. They rarely turn the ball over and assist on 65.1 percent of their made baskets. That’s as good as it gets.
But the one thing Creighton doesn’t do well is a major issue for Giants: It grabs only 28 percent of available offensive rebounds. And the problems are much greater on defense, where the Bluejays force a turnover once every lunar cycle (15.6 percent, 325th in the nation) and generally struggle to get stops (an adjusted 100.5 points per 100 possessions). Unlike Saint Louis and Wichita State, Creighton is as good as its reputation suggests according to the model, which places the Bluejays fifth in its power rankings. But those two major flaws could cost Doug McDermott & Co. against a pesky Killer.
Villanova Wildcats AP Poll Rank: 8 Giant Rating: 84.2
The Wildcats weren’t supposed to be this good. At 25-3, though, they’ve proved their worth to our model, which rates the Wildcats as the nation’s seventh-best team. But as with their Big East buddy Creighton, there are some lingering flaws that could make Villanova susceptible to an early upset.
It’s uncommon for a top team to foul a lot, for a fairly obvious reason: Generally, weaker teams foul more because they are outclassed. When you can’t match an opponent’s size, speed or skill, you’ve got to clutch and grab and hack in response. But Villanova doesn’t follow that script, allowing its foes to generate 22.8 percent of their points from the foul line, which is greater than the national average. The good news is that JayVaughn Pinkston and James Bell lead a rebounding effort that is above average at both ends, and Nova’s excellent ball pressure forces turnovers on 20.2 percent of opposing possessions. Something to watch that doesn’t show up as significant in the model, though: Villanova doesn’t guard the arc especially well. Opponents take 32.3 of their shots from deep, which is just 161st in the country, and that could be a problem against a hot-shooting mid-major.
Syracuse Orange AP Poll Rank: 4 Giant Rating: 86.7
A week ago, the Orange were as safe a Giant as you’d find. But after their losses to Boston College and Duke and a tight win at Maryland, the model has further evaluated Syracuse and started to find some more glaring blemishes. Not surprisingly, the biggest issue is defensive rebounding, which is always a fatal flaw of the 2-3 zone. Rakeem Christmas, Jerami Grant and C.J. Fair do excellent work on the offensive boards, but without a clear man to block out, they struggle to produce at the other end. So opponents grab 32 percent of their own misses and can often kick out for open looks from 3-point range, where the Orange allow the second-highest percentage of points in the country (36.8). Syracuse still looks quite safe, but after the Orange dropped from a 97.8 rating to 86.7 that sentiment may not last much longer.
Florida Gators AP Poll Rank: 1 Giant Rating: 89.8
There may not be a more balanced team than the top-ranked Gators. They’re the only team to rank in the top 12 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, and it’s tough to find any significant warts. So it’s no surprise that our model gives them a nine-in-10 chance of fending off a generic Giant Killer.
Led by the relentless Patric Young (13.5 percent offensive rebound rate) and Dorian Finney-Smith (14.0 percent), the Gators get all sorts of second chances on offense. They play D without fouling, they force bundles of turnovers and they hold their own on the defensive glass, too. The real question, then, is why the Gators aren’t the safest Giant in the country. And it appears our model’s answer is that they may not be as good as they appear, thanks to a relatively easy run through the watered-down SEC. Still, that’s not enough to cause real concern early in the tourney for a team that seems destined for a No. 1 seed.
Kansas Jayhawks AP Poll Rank: 5 Giant Rating: 90.6
Yes, the Jayhawks have lost to four teams ranked 30th or worse in BPI. But that’s not a harbinger of a March disaster. Fact is, our model is bullish on the Jayhawks, ranking them as the fourth-best team in the country. And that rock-solid power rating is most of the basis for Kansas’ being such a safe Giant, since the team doesn’t gain much from the model’s Secret Sauce.
Why? The Jayhawks don’t force turnovers. Their 16.6 percent rate is well below the national average (18.4) and essentially means that weaker teams will still get enough looks at the basket to frighten Kansas on a hot-shooting night. The Jayhawks also foul far too often – foes generate 24.3 percent of their offense from the free throw line. However, Kansas offsets much of those weaknesses with strong rebounding at both ends (not to mention a fantastically efficient offense). Could the Jayhawks go down early? It’s possible. But it sure isn’t likely.
Arizona Wildcats AP Poll Rank: 3 Giant Rating: 94.2
One of the great surprises in the model is how safe Arizona looks, even in light of Brandon Ashley’s season-ending injury. Even without the versatile forward, the Wildcats do all the things a Giant is supposed to do, particularly on the glass, where they dominate at both the offensive (38.5 percent) and defensive (26.1 percent for opponents) ends.
And it’s not just that Arizona bears strong similarities to historically safe Giants. Our model also pegs the Wildcats as the best team in the country on the basis of their power rating, due largely to the nation’s stingiest defense. With Nick Johnson and T.J. McConnell locking down the perimeter and plenty of size inside, the Wildcats negate all the common tricks GKs employ. In particular, they chase foes off the 3-point line, allowing only 26.9 percent of opposing shots to come from beyond the arc. Arizona might not be the exact same team without Ashley, but it remains every bit the safe Giant.
Duke Blue Devils AP Poll Rank: 6 Giant Rating: 95.0
It’s somewhat remarkable to see the Blue Devils ranked so high, given some fairly obvious issues that manifested themselves in losses at Notre Dame and Clemson and a near escape at home against Vermont. For a team that often utilizes at least four perimeter players at a time, Duke isn’t particularly effective at forcing turnovers (19.2 percent, 125th in the nation). And the Blue Devils are below-average defensive rebounders. Quietly, they’ve grown more and more effective on the offensive glass (33.5 percent), but that’s not close to the level of Arizona or Florida.
Instead, what makes Duke such a good Giant is the way it plays defense. The Blue Devils are ranked only 57th in adjusted efficiency, but their issues are much more likely to be exploited by a fellow Giant, not a Killer. They basically shut down their opponents’ 3-point shooting (17.5 percent of total points, 351st in the country), and avoid putting them on the line. So teams have to take advantage from 2-point range, which is where 60.9 percent of opposing points come from against Duke (third in the country). For GKs, the problem is that is the antithesis of the high-risk, high-reward style that typically leads to a tourney upset. Add in the model’s third-highest power rating, and Duke should be able to stick around for a while come tourney time.
Louisville Cardinals AP Poll Rank: 7 Giant Rating: 97.7
This season’s safest Giant was also the last one standing a year ago. The Cardinals have quietly gone about their business in a new conference this season, compiling a daunting statistical profile in the process. Louisville boasts the nation’s 15th-best offense and seventh-best defense. The Cardinals take care of the ball when they have it (14.8 percent turnover rate) and take it away at the other end (24.7, fourth in the nation). They knock down 3s and keep opponents from launching them. With the second-best power rating according to the model, they’re a dream Giant.
If there is one lingering issue, it’s defensive rebounding, where Louisville is clearly not the same team without Gorgui Dieng and Chane Behanan. Teams grab an alarming 33.3 percent of their misses against Louisville, and the program knows what a massive offensive rebounding game can do for an upstart in the tourney. But the Cardinals have so many other weapons at their disposal that they’re much more likely to be playing on the tourney’s final weekend than to be eliminated in the first one.
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@drgnslayr Hey Drgn, go watch MoneyBall, again if you have seen it. It did wonders for my damaged psyche after that last game!
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@HighEliteMajor : I just looked up the record of the 2008 Jayhawks. They had 3 big twelve losses: at Texas, at Kansas State, and a very ugly one at Oklahoma State that had me screaming at the tv while I paced the floor throwing my arms around. After the loss at Oklahoma State, the team didn’t lose another game. I would take that team over this one in a minute, because of many things, but especially because of the point guard. Oh well, perhaps history will repeat itself.
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I’ve regained my sanity since my earlier rant.
It doesn’t mean I don’t have fears about this Jayhawk team. Their inconsistency factor will be around through April.
But there were some good signs from Saturday’s game with OSU. Our first half defense did a good job in several areas that we aren’t used to seeing from this young team. We are doing a better job of shifting off of ball screens, our defense looks like they are reacting quicker, etc. We held OSU to 25 points on their own court in a game they had to win. OSU also was building momentum from their two previous wins.
I’ve come down on Tharpe hard, so has HEM, because we simply can’t win if he doesn’t bring a certain level of play with him. It is only going to take one slip in the tourney and we are done. The OSU game is the warning shot of what is to come if he can’t maintain solid play.
As fans, there really isn’t anything we can do except watch.
I never expect us to win a National Championship. It is not realistic. Everything has to fall in place, including a bit of luck. But what I do expect is we’ll go out every game and play hard as a team and we will come to a game ready to play. That means… players aren’t playing video games 5 minutes before they come onto the court.
It is a good idea for players to consider the entire day leading up to the game, to be a part of the game itself. Really… the game starts the night before, by not staying out late and partying. Get a good night’s rest and then get up and take care of yourself and prepare your mind with some positive visualizations… chat with players and coaches going over last bits of preparation. Stretching… warming up… executing a repetitious schedule of things that brings you to the game ready to play.
I lost my cool this weekend because for the first time with this team I have sensed behavior similar to other teams we have had that really laid an egg in March. The behavior is based around a complete meltdown of our point guard. That one position can take down any team.
I’m not mad at the 90th rated PG in the country. He’s had a great year… just frustrated with his play on Saturday (and a few other games). And wondering if he is the best investment we can make when the rest of our positions are filled with NBA star talent.
I’ve always been a big Chiefs fan, too. And I related that in my rant. A lot of frustrations in me needed to vent from decades of watching Chiefs fail with the best team in football… best at every position but quarterback! Suddenly, I have melded my frustrations with KU PGs and past Chief quarterbacks! The bond is the fact that I care deeply for both teams.
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This is not news to anyone reading this, but I am not a basketball guru. I’m a die hard fan and I love all things KU, but I’m not an X’s and O’s kind of guy. I like to watch the round ball go through the hoop thingy when we have the ball and like to watch it get stolen or swatted away when “they” have the ball. That’s the extent of my knowledge.
However. It seems to me that something needs to be done with the dynamics of our team. I know you folks won’t hesitate to tell me how stupid this is, but is it just my imagination? When Conner is in the game, it seems to me as though we play better. Given the fact that Frank is fast, but sometimes out of control and that Naadir has his head up …somewhere besides in the game most of the time, why not give Conner a shot at one of the guard positions? He’s cool and collected, doesn’t throw the ball away and might bring some stability to this team. With all the other scoring options on this team we don’t have to have him in there to score points, although we all know he can light it up from beyond the arc. Why he hasn’t this year is one of life’s great mysteries. I can only chalk it up to not enough time on the court.
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I don’t think it is realistic to start Conner over Naa… but what about using him sooner in games, especially if Tharpe comes out shaky?
When Naa is on his game, he gives us the best shot at winning. He’s even won some games for us this year by knocking down points. And when he is on, his A/TO ratio is outstanding.
We just need a backup for Tharpe on those games like the OSU game. Then… Self shouldn’t hesitate. He should pull Tharpe, and he should do it sooner… not late in the half or second half.
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@drgnslayr I agree that Tharpe can be a huge asset when his head is in the game and I guess I had in mind that when we have Mason and Tharpe in at the same time, maybe it should be Tharpe and Frankamp. Conner could handle the ball as Tharpe is a better shooter than Mason right now. I just can’t figure out why Tharpe seems so distracted this season. The job is his, he’s surrounded by great talent, he just can’t seemed to stay focused.
Does he have a girlfriend? Dump her Naa !! Only date during the off season…
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“I just can’t figure out why Tharpe seems so distracted this season.”
Several decades ago I was gambling on sports as my main source of income. A guy who was a real pro at it turned me on to a device that calculated players’ biorhythms. He swore by it. I used it, too, and made a lot of money betting games. I stopped because it gave me ulcers and I thought I was going to stroke out!
Biorhythms are a strange phenomenon. They don’t seem to have much of an impact on many people. The secret in sports gambling was to find the key players who did seem to be impacted by biorhythms. I’m wondering if Tharpe is one of those guys impacted by biorhythms.
If anyone else has experiences with biorhythms, please post it. It could have been a coincidence when I was “picking winners”… however it worked for me in those years of my life!
Here is a short, easy read on biorhythms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythms
I’m kind of with the critics on biorhythms when associating it with your birth date. But I am more the believer these cycles may occur and impact some people… but how do we find the cycles? Like I said above, I did use them, based on birth dates, and had remarkable luck on certain players.
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@nuleafjhawk Tharpe actually has a child (a situation that has been common to a number of Jayhawks, including Frank Mason). But you bring up a tremendous point – we just never know. Girlfriend problems can dictate a lot. Could be a lot of things.
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@drgnslayr is that the same thing as PMS? Menopause?
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@drgnslayr Hey, biorhythms makes as much sense as anything else I can think of for him. Thanks for the info!
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Ha… I don’t think it is the same thing. But everyone has hormonal cycles, not just women.
I think my overall point is that all of us have cycles that we operate within. Some people may be impacted more than others from some kind of cyclical factor. I did have some success using biorhythms with my predictions on some athletes. What really came clear to me while studying 100s of athletes’ biorhythms is that there does seem to be some level of predictability possible. Maybe it has its roots more in people hormonal cycles instead of a cyclical pattern going back to birth.
I am just throwing out there something that popped into my head from a long time ago. Something that might explain a bit of the inconsistencies with Tharpe.
@HighEliteMajor - forgot about that. Having a child is a more concrete possibility of a factor that could be impacting his play. That opens up a broad window of possibilities that could be happening totally separate from KU basketball.
None of us want to dump on Naa. We all support him and want him to be successful. HEM’s words of calling Tharpe a wimp are not words to demean or harm Tharpe in any way. Call outs like that are used to push athletes to higher levels. I agree with HEM completely on his post here and I am behind it because I care about Tharpe… and I care about this team! If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t waste a moment’s time on this site or writing about Tharpe.
We all need to push him to “man up” and stay focused! When someone hits you, you get back up with more fire than what you had before getting knocked down. We are all just fathering him with our comments.
Man up, Tharpe!
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@nuleafjhawk I’m in the camp for more PT for Frankamp. He is steady. Doesn’t make mistakes. Keegan gave him second-to-last ratings for the OSU game because his stat line for 5 min. was 0-0-0. Okay. That means he didn’t turn the ball over!
He plays good D for a frosh. He can be a great shooter if we’d run some screens for him. And, there are four other guys on the floor that can score.
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@741hawk I’m guessing strength might be one factor, not at practice so don’t know. In the ou game, he had 2, maybe 3 fouls in a couple of minutes. His man scored 6 pts. Conner fouled his man on a made 3 pt’er. Made the ft, then fouled again, his man made 2 ft’s. Felt bad for him.
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Well, I’m in the camp of continuing to start Tharpe, but really actively trying to get Mason more minutes.
Mason provides some head scratchers, and is drives too many times when nothing is there. I’m not a CF fan, really, as anything more than an emergency minutes PG.
Not sure that any option right now provides anything but uncertainty.
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@HighEliteMajor I want the Tharpe from the OU game! Uncertainty is right!
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@drgnslayr I made a follow up post kind of rephrasing the “wimp” thing. I prefer not to name call. It seemed that it aptly described the way he projects himself on the court. I will be very interested in how he reacts at WVU.
He can still put us on his back, as others have noted.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Exactly. But that is the peak. I fear the valley.
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@HighEliteMajor - “Tharpe, the team’s stated leader, drops in on Gallagher-Iba with seven well-earned turnovers. Don’t believe the boxscore. It wasn’t six – it was seven.”
With all due respect - if you watch the game back it was actually six TIMES seven…
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This is the stage of the season when I usually grumble to myself: okay, BIll Self once again has boxed himself into a corner, not having provided his bench players enough minutes to make a difference when things turn dicey with the starting lineup. But to be fair and judicious, this Jayhawk starting squad opened the season with SO MUCH inexperience that there has been little opportunity to work Frankamp, Greene, White, Lucas onto the floor. Outside of necessary subbing with BLack, Traylor and Mason, the other talented bench players have been exposed to slim opportunities to advance and prove their value, at least in game conditions. And Bill knows best what goes on behind closed practice doors, evaluating growth and talent from day to day. Tharpe’s inconsistincies are a real puzzle, a junior who sometimes plays with aphasia. At this stage, not much to be done but to ride out the year with him, unless injury intervenes; hoping that he shows up for more really good performances than the opposite. I think that eventually Conner will become a more efficient and dependable point guard, but that is a tough position for a freshman athlete who did not arrive as a top 10 or 15 recruit. If he keeps his head right, perhaps opts for a red shirt next season, he just might develop into as dependable a player as Releford or Reed, even much sooner than they.
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@REHawk I have to say that I think Self has done a better job this season of giving guys roles. Self has used his bench much more this season, to the degree that I think multiple guys can contribute. White is the only guy I would guess would be rusty. I have confidence that Greene, Frankamp, and Lucas could play 15+ minutes if needed. I feel much different than, say, 2011.
And there, I did it again … mentioned 2011. That can ruin one’s day.
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Sorry… but you aren’t a name-calling kind of guy. Using the “wimp” term fit in the context of your post. I don’t suspect any of us (including you) to start dissing players with names. We aren’t going to start calling Naa a wimp. But it did fit your context and you’ve earned respect in here to where people know what you are getting at.
The role of labeling people in sports to help push them will always be around. We may have sterilized our culture to the point where we’ve all grown over-sensitive to things like this… thinking, for example, your label as abusive.
I’m glad I grew up in sports where coaches would call us “ladies” and “wimps” and other things to push us. It helped us. It wasn’t abusive because we understood the overall context.
I totally respect Naa… and I’m not going to give him the nickname of “wimp”… but I am on the list for thinking he played like a wimp on Saturday. Nothing fits better. It isn’t the same thing to say he played “apprehensive basketball.”
HEM… someday when you are coaching my kid and he plays like a wimp… call him a “wimp!”
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I’ve stated some criticism I have about Self… but in the big picture… I think he has done one of his best jobs ever this year! Maybe his best!
All of us have over-the-top expectations… and he does a good job of at least giving us a chance to reach those crazy heights.
You can see in his face that he carries the same frustrations all of us carry, too.
To be honest, I am surprised we are even in the conversation for winning another NC.
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Self is just insanely good at stealing wins and moving the pieces just far enough from game to game to get another W.
As Self keeps reminding people, this bunch of defensively challenged green wood that cannot protect on offense if another team even looks crossly at them, has a three game lead with two games to go.
It is an unbelievable accomplishment considering he had to play with Embiid and Black at half to three quarters speeds for over a month of the heart of the conference season, and without Embiid entirely for a week or so. I can bitch and moan all I want about how he shouldn’t have brought Embiid back until about now, but the point is, he bought his team time to get a three game lead with two to go and the conference title, and the best chance they could have had to get a 1, or 2, seed despite the adversity.
He did this all by the way with the next Lebron playing rather like the next Xavier, not the next Lebron.
He did this with a point guard, Naadir Tharpe, that might have difficulty guardiing some of us!
And he did this with Naadir Tharpe, who’s main strength going into the season was though to be his ball handling, which just turned out to be one of his greatest weaknesses. Lost in all the talk about Tharpe’s defense and TOs is that he has turned out not to be a particularly exceptional ball handler unless the other team just leaves him entirely alone.
Oh, and his 5-star 4 that was supposed to be able to become a dominant player this season and a scoring machine, has except against weak competition, turned increasingly into a glue 4 that gets 2-4 ppg and 2-4 rpg. I mean, THINK ABOUT THAT!!!
And did I mention that his great trey shooting perimeter guys–Greene, Frankamp and White–turned out not to be able to shoot much.
When you stop and think about it, Self only had three guys perform at, or above expectations this season.
Wayne Selden, who some thought might be an OAD, turned out to be a guy that has some good games and some bad games, got injured for a stretch, but generally turned out to be a solid glue 2 most of the time.
Frank Mason, they guy that almost went to Towson, and then gave everybody goose bumps with his after burners for two games early, then settled into a guy that came in an penetrated and couldn’t finish at the rim, couldn’t shoot the trey much, and really contributed the most when he tried to just glue.
Self’s only really wonderful surprise was Joel Embiid. Embiid was thought to be a project that would be a back up most of the year and not come into his own until next season. Embiid learned faster than anyone dreamed and became Self’s savior, only Embiid got a knee and a back injury that then greatly reduced his effectiveness for the last month of the season!
Hey, I almost forgot to mention Tarik Black, the guy Self and Coach K competed hard to sign. Tarik Black spent most of the season trying to stay on the court maybe four minutes.
Now step back and look at the descriptions of what actually happened with each of the guys on the team versus what the expectations were for each of the guys on this team. Get that chasm between expectation and outcome clear in your head. Now, put yourself back at the start of the season and pretend I told you then what these player would actually do, instead of their expectations. What would you have predicted would be the record of a team where:
the point guard couldn’t protect or defend.
The 5 star 2 guard became a glue player.
The next Lebron at 3 became the next Xavier.
The 5-star 4 averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds in big time games in February and basically disappeared all season long against good competition.
The big 260 pound center often played fewer than 5-10 mpg.
The trey shooters couldn’t make treys.
The Jam Tray played consistently in reserve, but never had a break out game.
Would you have said this team was certain to clinched the tenth title with a three game lead with two games to go?
Hell, I would have predicted the team to be in third or fourth place!!!
Self is a genius.
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I think he has done one of his best jobs ever this year! Maybe his best!
@drgnslayr I tend to agree. This was not an easy team to line up against the #1 SOS in the country. Add to that the unknowns replacing the starting 5 from last year, 80% plus of all scoring and minutes… 5 freshmen, a transfer and new assistants… And he still won the B12 regular season crown.
Despite the pressure of the #1 recruit or the pressure of 10 titles in a row… he just did it.
Impressive.
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I have really enjoyed reading all these posts. Yeah, I concur 100% that Bill Self has done a marvelous job with this young and inexperienced crew. No freak one time accomplishment. He does it year after year, plugging the right recruits into his system, plugging the right players into game situations, securing wins that the majority of coaches would not. I shudder at the thought that someday he might depart. Is now more than somewhat reassuring that he feels comfortable sitting on the throne, declaring that there will be no need to move on until fans grow tired of his “rhetoric!” The Guy is a genius at the mic, too. After good ol’ Roy beat his tired retreat to alma mater North Carolina, who would have thunk that Jayhawk hoops would have vaulted so quickly and steadily into the hands of such masterful coaching? There just might come a season when all of us will have to cut Bill Self a bit of slack.
