This Fuels My Hate Fire
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This may be the first time in a long time that I don’t write KU down on the champion line of my bracket. Of course it’s foolish to say these teams can’t win it. Every team seeded about 8th or better has a chance to win it. But I’m just not very confident about this team right now, and that was before Joel’s injury.
What fuels my hate fire more is the misperception of fans who comment on such stories and say KU always chokes. Or the writers and sportscasters who venerate Duke. Oh and anything between KC, KS and the Mississippi River fuels my hate fire. And anything directly north of that state too. Or the idiotic comments made about the Badgers, that they’re not athletic. Or when @Jaybate doesn’t automatically give me a PHOF on everything I write. Or when I waste time at work writing such nonsense.
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The blog shows that some don’t understand the concept of team sports. Embiid is important, but Kansas is more than one player.
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PHOF
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This post is deleted!
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@Wishawk Thank you for editing that. I ain’t got no smarts when it comes to that stuff.
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@wissoxfan83 Ahhhh…what a perfectly good way to blow up an NCAA bracket by not picking KU. it’s ok…I would prefer not to share the billion…hehe…
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The author of that blog is/was a CU Buffs beat writer so take it for what it’s worth. Which is toilet paper at best.
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I have a better chance of getting every game wrong in the tourney than getting every game right!
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@wissoxfan83
An interesting hypothesis.
Not sure if raw probabilities would support you though.
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Perfect!
Can someone print this out and go put it on our guys’ locker room door?
That’s the kind of stuff we need to get these guys motivated.
And over in Columbia, Misery… they are sad they didn’t make the tourney, but glad Kansas won’t be winning it this year! They think they, at least, have a shot at winning the NIT!
Chip, anyone?
BTW: Kyle Ringo is an old Colorado Golden Buffalo nut with an axe to grind!
@wissoxfan83 - You won’t hear me criticize your Badgers! Excellent team that has as good as shot as anyone!
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@drgnslayr Something else that could be used as motivation is what Seth Greenberg said the other night on Bracketology. They were discussing a possible Sweet Sixteen matchup with Kansas and Syracuse and Seth said that the Syracuse zone “eats them and spits them out” in reference to shorter guards.
I hope Nadiir is listening because there are plenty of people doubting him.
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Did you see the MU-Davidson game last night? There were maybe a couple of thousand fans in the stands. the arena looked essentially empty; absolutely embarrassing. KU will probably draw a bigger crowd for the shoot around in St Louis.
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Seth is a ding-dong. I’d much rather have short guards that can execute x-axis basketball and are good shooters against that zone. It is more about popping shots up in the seams than shooting over their guards. Any shots contested from 3 are a good bet for the defense, regardless of the size of the guards. How many shots per game get blocked from 3? Right… few if any.
@JayHawkFanToo - Missed it (intentionally). As I recall back when we had to play the tigers, any year they were down in basketball they would throw out that they were a football school, and started comparing their football program to ours.
They always had an excuse. That’s what losers do… put half of their productive time down on already conjuring up excuses…
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@drgnslayr I agree.
My point was that Tharpe should be listening to the doubters that are not holding back in their opinions.
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Tharpe better be zoning in on Eastern Kentucky right now! This team can hit the long ball and their defense is centered around swarming guards. We’ve been down this road before… and we better be ready for that game, especially Tharpe!
If Tharpe can get his touch back from 3, he should prove to be a lethal weapon against Syracuse… if he has some patience and protects the ball, and looks to build his assist total in that game… then, when they sag away from him he nails the 3!
That game is built for Tharpe, as long as he knows how to execute the plan!
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@JayHawkFanToo Misery runs a rinky dink organization. Their fans watch KU bb because they want to see what a world class organization looks like.
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@drgnslayr I find it funny that the national media has convinced themselves that KU doesnt have any three point shooters. Tharpe. Selden, and Wiggins have shown that they are capable of shooting it pretty well from three, though I think Tharpe is the best.
If they advance far enough to play Syracuse, I think the media is going to be surprised at how they attack the zone and how well Tharpe can shoot.
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@wissoxfan83 I was trying to think of the last time I thought KU would lose a game, and the best recollection I could find was in 1980, we were playing the 2nd ranked Kentucky Wildcats in AFH, and I was hoping we could keep it close. We lost by 3, 52-49.Of course, that was with Ted Owens as the coach. I can honestly say I thought we would beat Kentucky two years ago. I feel like if we would’ve played Louie-ville last year, we would’ve beat them for the national title. What can I say? I think we can beat anybody at anytime.
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@JayHawkFanToo I just checked in a couple of times and when I saw all those empty seats had a good chuckle. Of course, Mizzou can point to a great football season and the deserve that. I just think the bBall program is way down-not to mention 4 arrests in Columbia this week.
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True… and then when we win by the 3, they’ll act all surprised and will go on and on about how they discovered Kansas can shoot the 3. It all spins within their own little world.
“Misery runs a rinky dink organization. Their fans watch KU bb because they want to see what a world class organization looks like.”
I’m not sure they have time to watch KU basketball… they have a pretty full TV schedule between “Moonshiners” and “Honey Boo Boo.” They think we are all stuck up and watching “Keeping Down with the Kardashians.” They think we have our noses high in the air because we like to show off our fancy teeth!
Amazing how easy it is to keep your teeth when you visit a dentist regularly (licensed dentist) and don’t smoke meth!
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@JayhawkRock78 Its funny that Mizzery people think that they had a good hire in Frank Haith. If anything, they hired down from Mike Anderson.
What have they accomplished since Haith got there? Well, this year they’re in the Not Invited Tournament and two years ago were one of the few 2 seeds to lose to a 15 seed.
Great hire (sarcasm).
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@drgnslayr Yep. They would definitely get a ton of open three looks with Wiggins driving the lane and Ellis at the foul line to collapse the zone. They would also be coming off four or five days worth of rest (if they win this weekend, of course), so hopefully they would have a shooting performance similar to the one against OSU. But in order to beat Syracuse, and really anyone in the tournament, Perry HAS to be aggressive and take open jumpers and use a SHOT FAKE. Why does he never use it when he’s in the post?
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“But in order to beat Syracuse, and really anyone in the tournament, Perry HAS to be aggressive and take open jumpers and use a SHOT FAKE. Why does he never use it when he’s in the post?”
You nailed that right on the head!
I don’t know why none of our guys use head/shoulder/ball fakes. It is a skill you can learn in a weekend (to some level).
I guess it is the for the same reason Greene has suddenly learned the pick and pop, something he should have learned in HS… and if not there he should have learned as a Jayhawk in November!
I’d like to take one day and go over the basics of the game with these guys. Something as simple as using fakes can win games. Winning games tends to lead to winning Championships.
I’m at a loss why our guys don’t have much of a grip on the basics. Too busy learning team defense?
And imagine if Wiggins used fakes? You think he is on the line a lot now? He would double his FT attempts because the only way anyone in D1 can stay with him is to react 100% off of the first thing he does. Wiggins would get his man in foul trouble within a couple of minutes. Teams just wouldn’t know what to do with him. All from him learning to use simple fakes… the basics I was taught in 7th grade basketball!
And if our guys learned to use fakes, they are more likely to not fall for fakes on the defensive end. We are vulnerable to fakes and it is fakes that typically put us in foul trouble.
And how about drives? How about we scout teams and find out who their drivers are and their tendencies for picking a side to drive on? Then… how about we spend a day teaching people like Tharpe (and really everyone on the team) how to hedge on defense? We would suddenly be a vastly improved defensive team that wouldn’t be susceptible to foul trouble! Maybe we would even win a National Championship!
Few, and I mean very few, college players have even a decent crossover. Wiggins has no crossover going forwards, but he uses his reverse spin to create directional change. All of that you can easily scout on teams (players). What you find is so few can do it effectively, so most won’t even try. That means… when you hedge against their driving side you end their driving threat for the entire game! Yes… by the simple hedge you just shut down your man! And if he gets frustrated and forces the action, you can actually draw a charge… even with the rules we have now!
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@drgnslayr You’d think that the coaching staff would be telling them those things, but apparently not. Just a couple of small things that they could do would make a HUGE difference! Why can’t they even figure it out themselves?
I think this is a very important question.
Maybe you and I should ask Self if we could spend an afternoon in the gym with the guys and teach them how to have an effective ball and shot fake! They probably leave about 10 points a game on the floor by not using simple fakes.
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It was just written in one of the articles about Greene starting to practice the pick and pop.
The thing is… these guys are like clay. And some of them had these things taught to them in HS. But once they become a Jayhawk they follow Self’s teachings… even too much… by disregarding basics they learned before coming to Kansas. That is my guess…
I just don’t get why our coaches don’t keep on the basics with these guys. It makes no sense whatsoever!
Within days we could be one of the best defensive teams in the country by learning how to hedge properly. Also needs low post hedging knowledge, too. Most low post players can’t go to both sides. You play them against their favored side.
If we quickly went after the basics, then got JoJo back after this week… we would be impossible to beat! I really believe that!
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“Maybe you and I should ask Self if we could spend an afternoon in the gym with the guys and teach them how to have an effective ball and shot fake! They probably leave about 10 points a game on the floor by not using simple fakes.”
Maybe we could call in on one of those shows! I’d do it! And I wouldn’t ask the question in an easy fashion… I would point out the lack of all these basics all year and make him account for those facts first. Then… pursue having him put it in place from here on out.
I know they work on JoJo and perhaps a bit with Tar on not leaving their feet too quickly. That is a start… but clearly we should be taking advantage of these basics on both sides of the ball.
I don’t follow all the talk shows… but if you know one and when… I’ll try to get in for a question, or please feel free to do it yourself!
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@drgnslayr You should definitely call in! Self needs to teach his players this!
Isn’t his talk show Hawk Talk? I dont know when its on or the phone number or anything but I’ll try to find it.
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@drgnslayr “Maybe we could call in on one of those shows! I’d do it! And I wouldn’t ask the question in an easy fashion… I would point out the lack of all these basics all year and make him account for those facts first. Then… pursue having him put it in place from here on out.”
As everyone knows, Self is by no means a perfect coach and has his weaknesses. It might take something like this to get him to examine how he coaches and what he could do better.
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"LAWRENCE — It was the final 10 minutes of practice when Kansas coach Bill Self gave freshman Brannen Greene some quick instruction on “pick-and-pop” offense.
In short, it was this: Go set screens for the ball-handler, then bounce out to the 3-point line and be ready for a pass.
Self first introduced the set two days before last week’s Big 12 Tournament, starting with Greene as an undersized power forward before having Andrew Wiggins practice the same thing.
After just two days — and about 30 minutes total — going over the new wrinkle, KU utilized it in both of its games in the Big 12 Tournament last week.
“I definitely could see it as a weapon,” Greene said."
This is my reference about the pick and pop. One small basic they utilized a few times in the B12 tourney and it only took an entire 30-minutes to learn. Unfriggin’ real!
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@drgnslayr WHERE WAS THAT THE WHOLE YEAR!
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I still haven’t seen us hedge on defense… I’m very sensitive to that basic because I got reamed in 9th grade for not hedging properly!
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@drgnslayr Like you said above, if they just worked on a few basic aspects of basketball, there would be no one standing between them and Dallas.
I’m definitiely going to try to call in to Self’s talk show and ask about the fakes and the hedges.
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If you mention hedges, then first mention proper scouting to know player tendencies, then use hedges against their tendencies.
In the league… defenses live off hedges. Players’ tendencies are learned immediately and then coaches work mostly on match-ups and hedges.
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@drgnslayr Gotcha.
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@drgnslayr I don’t think that its too late to work on some of the stuff we’ve talked about. If Self took the time to work on pick and pops with Greene, then he can take the time to work on fakes and hedging. Maybe calling in would help him realize that he should teach them those things.
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It really isn’t too late. This isn’t pro ball… it’s college ball. So few teams know how to hedge. They don’t know it and they don’t practice it… so when you come at them knowing how to hedge them (especially their biggest scoring threats), they freak out! There is no way they can go into the locker room at half time and adjust their way out of it!
We don’t even have to master hedging… just a little bit of it will probably be enough to be completely effective at the college level. Now on the pro level… it is something that has to be mastered!
There is all kinds of hedges… including hedging that helps you steal the ball! Even blocking out for rebounds involves hedging with the averages. On most shots, the ball goes back the direction it came from or the complete opposite. There are statistics on all that. But great rebounders see the ball go up and get an idea of where it will rebound off to and they will try to hedge a block out to give them an advantage on rebounds.
This is all part of x-axis basketball… mastering the horizontal aspects of the game! It is how little, non-athletic teams often beat tall athletic teams. This is the part of basketball I love and it keeps me a huge fan of the game!
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The other thing with hedges in the NBA vs College is that in the NBA, if you let Tony Parker or Lebron or really any NBA quality guard turn the corner on a screen without a hedge, you might as well just trot to the other end because you have given up a basket. In college, it’s not a guaranteed score and, on top of that, some collegiate big men just don’t have the foot speed and lateral quickness to hedge away from the basket.
As for shot fakes, I think one of the reasons that many players don’t use the shot fake is that they are still understanding the jump in skill from high school to college. Take Perry Ellis for example - he probably didn’t have much need to shot fake while in high school. He was big enough and strong enough that if he got the ball in his shooting zones, he was scoring with no need for anything other than his basic moves.
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Good points.
Perry has a great toolbox. But he could use a big lesson in using his body to create scoring space. Sometimes he gets smoked horribly because he didn’t use his body to either put it between the ball and the rim or use his body into the defender to back him down so as not to foul.
It seems like these guys would be going to the gym after team practices and working on these things for themselves. The difference could mean big contract NBA versus playing Baltic ball in Estonia for a lot less. Nothing against Estonia… but I think I would put in the extra time while my game is on display with NBA scouts. The easiest route into the league is through the draft… a one shot opportunity!
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@drgnslayr LMAO @ “honey boo boo”…
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“It seems like these guys would be going to the gym after team practices and working on these things for themselves.”
A great point, but one that is often overlooked when discussing development in college versus the pros. In college, because instruction time is limited, if, for example, a guy like Perry goes back to the gym to work on things after team practices, he cannot receive any instruction from coaches. He can’t be told whether he is executing the move properly, or even have a grad assistant rebound for him. He is on his own. He can work with a teammate, obviously, but cannot receive any help from the staff, lest he cause a violation of NCAA rules by going over the weekly practice time allowance. He can improve some by working on his own, but would probably improve more if he was actually being coached while he worked on those aspects.
This is why you see certain guys sort of top out in college, then suddenly explode when they get to the NBA. I think of guys like Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. All very good college players, obviously. But I don’t think anyone figured that those three guys would be three of the 20 best players in the world when they left college. But once they got to the NBA where they could receive high level coaching to improve the weak parts of their game (especially offensively), they just exploded.
I think a guy like Selden could be a classic example of this. He just can’t tap into all of his potential in college because of the limits on practice and instruction. It’s pretty clear he’s a hard worker and has the physical tools. He just needs to combine that with the proper instruction and that takes time that, frankly, the KU staff can’t give him because the rules prohibit it. There will be no such prohibition if he lands in the NBA, which is why I think he may leave after this season.
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True dat!
But most personal development happens away from coaches. Coaches provide direction for personal development, and the rest of their time is spent on team development. If these guys want to better their own game, they have to do it in the gym on their own or with teammates.
But hey… these guys are college kids. They should be having some fun with the college experience! They can’t play ball 24/7. That is the part we all forget. I know I do.
Perry just needs more heavy action. His game is a bit too scientific… too theoretical… His moves are polished, but he leaves out parts, like shielding the ball with his body, etc. He misses the techniques that are developed through full on scrimmages… He could use more street ball toughness. He should be playing in pickup games… 1 on 1s… He’s had enough of his own time in a gym perfecting his motions.
I’d like to have a summer with Perry… I’d take him to some urban courts where he would have to prove himself. Asphalt and concrete… chain nets… It is the perfect place to get hurt when you aren’t toughened down yet. All the guys there play rough and tough, and they’ve been playing on those courts their whole lives. It’s survival basketball… and you quickly learn to protect the ball, even from guys that come in and hammer you on your shot. When you see guys in the NBA that score on their follow through after getting completely whacked, rest assured, they come from those courts.
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“When you see guys in the NBA that score on their follow through after getting completely whacked, rest assured, they come from those courts.”
PHOF
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With one second left in the first half… did you think about our conversation here on fakes?
It’s what popped into my head when Bam Bam fouled the EKU guy behind the 3-pt line and gave up two made FTs.
