I hope T-Rob will get a real chance in Denver. I didn’t expect him to be an all-star type performer in the NBA, but I was certain he would become a solid, every-day contributor. A 10-and-8 type of guy.

This post was so long that I was genuinely surprised to see it wasn’t jaybate who posted it.

I’m scared.

I’m not scared! F*ck the LJW! Just kidding. I’m actually very scared that my colleagues will find out how much time I spend on kusports.com. Very glad this was set up.

Roy has always been stingy with his timeouts. That was one of the first things I noticed about Bill Self. He actually called them.

UNC was up 10, I believe, with about 3 minutes left. No doubt UNC blew it.

However, on one of the late-game Tyus Jones drives to the bucket, the UNC defender got absolutely grabbed and couldn’t switch on his man. If officials call that foul, game over.

If UNC makes its free throws down the stretch, game over.

Hard to blame Roy for those things.

The past two seasons have made it obvious that Bill’s defensive and offensive brands of basketball only excel with the presence of a “footer” or “near-footer” with NBA skills and athleticism.

It’s possible to win at an elite level without a true center. But I’m not sure it’s possible for Bill Self. He flirted with the outside-in style of play this past season, but ultimately stuck with his old reliable way of ball. Which, unfortunately, just doesn’t work well without the presence of a legitimate NBA-potential forward/center.

In fact, a lot has been made in recent years about how basketball has become a guard’s game. I disagree. In college ball, no position is more important than the center position. Or, at least, when the center position is being occupied by a highly-skilled big man, who will some day make millions in the NBA. All of Bill Self’s great teams at Kansas have been anchored by NBA-skilled big men. Kentucky, Duke, and Wisconsin all have lottery talent at center this year.

Here’s my concern:

Bill Self is on the verge of having a front-court crisis.

In a little more than a year (hopefully more than a year…) KU and Bill Self could be facing the very real prospect of returning only ONE scholarship front-court player – Landon Lucas. At best, KU is probably looking at two returning big men (Bragg + Landon).

For some strange reason, Self has struggled to land expected OAD big men, and there’s a very real chance he will whiff on all of the remaining 2015 prospects as well. To my knowledge, there aren’t even any top-150 forward/center recruits left that Bill Self is recruiting in the class of 2015. (and very few left at all)

I think you can see where this is heading.

Bill Self is on the verge of either having to rely on OAD players in the front-court, or risk some potentially brutal seasons while some talent develops.

And maybe both.

Freshmen typically struggle in Self’s system. Especially big men. Even big men who are currently making a lot of money in the NBA struggled as freshmen under Self. Self’s lack of pursuit of a mid-tier recruit in the class of 2015 (20-50 ranked) has made me question his end-game. Is he putting all of his eggs in one basket? (Next season) And if so, why? Is he planning on bolting to the NBA? Is he just trying to make one last, great stand? Or is he on the verge of going all-in with the OAD approach? Or can it simply be chalked up to a lack of recruiting the position?

I know plenty of things can and will happen between now and April, 2016. But never has the cupboard seemed so bare for Bill Self at this position.

Here’s my big, bold prediction: Frank Mason will finish his career at Kansas as one of the top ten scorers in school history.

Agree. Or disagree?

That’s it! Did he flip someone off also? What a bad ass.

Great post, HEM.

Self deserves some of the blame (most/all?) for this team’s interior struggles simply due to some poor recruiting of the position the past few years. Bill’s recruited a number of under-sized guys at the 4 and some of his 5s are not panning out. It’s looking like Hunter Mickelson is going to end up being a whiff and Landon, while still a work in progress, lacks the athleticism to be an asset on either end. Obviously, Embiid wasn’t projected to be an OAD, so Self deserves a bit of a pass on that one. But if we’re being honest, Self has not recruited the center position particularly well the past few years.

I’m scared.

Feeling slightly less scared!!!

With Scott Brooks getting canned by the Thunder, I’m sure all sorts of HCBS to OKC rumors will be popping up…

I’m in need of assurance that this will not happen!!

Kansas had multiple things working against it when it played Temple last season. Playing on the road against a tough opponent just prior to break was only part of it. A bigger part of it was the fact that two of Temple’s best players had just become eligible, giving Kansas no time to scout them.

I agree though. I’m not a big fan of this long-distance road game leading up to winter break. Though it does reflect nicely in the SOS/RPI scale.

Self will be beyond fortunate to land one of the remaining blue-chip recruits. Thorne seems like more of a contingency plan, but one that I would be happy to accept if Self whiffs on Diallo & co.

IMO, the biggest factor for success in 2015-16 will be how well KU’s current players recover, rehab, and improve. We can’t expect Bragg to make a huge impact; very few freshmen big-men have under Bill Self. Hopefully, he’s able to produce similar numbers as Alexander and guard the post with some success. That, essentially, makes next year’s team the exact same as this past season’s, sans Oubre. Greene’s rehab and Svi’s improvement are obviously key. As is solid, dependable play from Traylor and Lucas.

@RockChalkinTexas I like it!

@BeddieKU23 Always true that a key injury or two can derail a campaign. If Greene is 100% by the middle of September I think that will give him enough time to get back into game shape. It sounds like the injury was bothering him quite a bit, so there’s a good chance he could return an even better player. Maybe his lack of defensive prowess had more to due with his hip (lateral movement, especially) than a lack of passion that we - as fans - sometimes railed him for. Probably a combination of the two, actually.

Let’s pretend, for a moment, that Greene does not recover fully from the injury. Worse case scenario, Perry gets to play the 3 for 10-15 minutes per game, while Bragg plays the 4.

@HighEliteMajor Yup. I’m afraid Perry’s return won’t help pull any of the remaining targets. Which is okay. I’d rather have a senior Ellis than a freshman OAD, but adding any of the remaining blue-chippers would make next year’s team an instant final-four contender. (If it’s not already…)

@wrwlumpy I’d say it narrows the gap between Kansas and a place, like Kentucky, which has had such a facility for a few years now. It definitely won’t hurt, that’s for sure.

Ultimately, I imagine this will become the norm for most major D1 schools that desire to remain competitive in the revenue sports. I have a feeling this facility will seem ho-hum within 20 years when compared to what other campuses are offering. Not saying it’s not worth it (because it is), but I’m not sure it will create that much of an edge, especially when compared to places that are already (perceivably) out-recruiting Kansas.

Would any of the recent recruits, who had final choices of both Kansas and Kentucky and ultimately chose Kentucky, have chosen Kansas had these facilities been in place? I’m not sure. Maybe one? Two? Tough to say. But, like I said, it’s definitely not going to hurt!!