Black’s performance was disappointing. I fear that too much stock has been placed on his age / D1 experience. After all, this isn’t experience playing in Self’s system. As I recall he never really stood out at Memphis - Infact, I believe his minutes were starting to diminish. The idea of him being a banger and allowing Ellis to flourish seems to me like wishful thinking. From interviews conducted by KUsports he seems like a good guy - perhaps he’ll help Embiid and the other younger guys. Time will tell.
The game flowed better when Lucas was in and I like his body language. Not really sure what I mean by body language - but I like the team vibe when he’s on the court. He has good size and a knack for putting the ball in the net.
I can’t say that about Greene. I felt the same way during late night. He seemed to be mouthy and immature. During last nights game I saw that again. With that being said - I think he can flat out ball. His size/length and ability to knock down the outside jumper is fun to watch. He’ll be an absolute monster next year with a season under his belt. Perhaps this will help with what I see as a maturity issue (I’m referring to his mouth, not his playing).
Ellis, Tharpe, and White looked good. White sure can rebound, Tharpe sure can dish out the assists, and Ellis has some sick moves in the paint. While I’m not totally convinced on White, I have little concern over Tharpe and Ellis.
Traylor plays like he’s in his own world and his facial expressions prove it. I don’t think for one second that he’s a selfish player…he just seems to be a motor running around frantically after the ball. I guess that’s not so bad, just expected more out of him by now. To me he has mediocre ability to put the ball in the net around the rim. Everyone seems to talk about his toughness and strength and some even mention they see improvement in his play this year. To me he’s a warm body out there. A VERY muscular warm body that can run the floor.
Wiggins’ first performance was as expected. Everyone talks about his calm demeanor and ridiculous athleticism and that seemed pretty apparent last night. He scored 16 points and looked scared. Not sure of too many other freshman who could put up those numbers, looking and playing like he did in the first half. I’m not worried about Andrew. He’s going to be a monster in a month or so (if not sooner).
If **Embiid **sticks around another year I feel sorry for anyone who steps foot on the court against him. With his size and athleticism and this coaching staff…just stop - It wont even be fair.
The only real disappointment from last night was Wayne. Not sure why I viewed him as the freshman savior who would come in and play like Marcus Smart his freshman year, but I did. His play was abysmal and the ball stuck when he was out there. The only saving grace I have is this: maybe Self’s plan was to focus on Wiggins this game. Maybe the goal was to get Andrew some buckets to help alleviate his nerves and boost KU stock to the world. We all know the whole college basketball world was watching. With so few games to go before we play Duke, perhaps Self was sand bagging with Wayne. Regardless, he played nothing like I thought he would.
After watching last nights game it seems there will be lots of fouling this year. No better time for our Hawks to be loaded with big bodies down low. We have a surplus of fresh bodies that should keep our record up to par with what we’ve come to expect from Coach Self.
