Best posts made by Apologist

@elpoyo said:

As MJ, Phil Jackson, Kobe, Greg Popovich and other “winners” have said…having the best record, conference championships, etc. are all moral victories. There is only one prize- the ultimate prize - the championship. Every year we don’t win the championship is essentially a failure IMO.

I actually agree, that at a program like Kansas, a National Championship should be the ultimate goal every season (how lucky are we that that’s a realistic expectation?) However, I found it interesting that all the “Winners” you cited are NBA players/coaches where a Best-of-Seven is employed to determine the champion. I believe this format takes the “upset” out of the equation and basically ensures that the “best teams” typically fend for a championship.

The glory of the NCAA tourney’s one-and-done format is that it fosters chaos and the “best team” doesn’t win every year. So many factors come into a quality tourney run (matchup, location, familiarity, luck), that winning the tourney is remarkably different than winning at the next level.

Since only one team (out of 68) can survive the madness and ultimately claim the crown, things like conference championships (and our incredible historic run at them) are a mark of consistent greatness that any program in the US would be grateful to own.

The polarization of these board comments from a win to a loss is always intriguing to me.
Granted… A loss at AH is a bad loss. We were exposed and out-toughed by an experienced team. Tech was prepared, ready and dudes that haven’t hit many shots all season came out of the gates smoking hot. However, let’s not confuse this Tech team with Tech teams of years’ past. They started five seniors who have come through Allen before. They knew what to expect and their coaching staff had a solid game plan in place. The composure they showed each time we ran at them was impressive. We obviously helped them out a bit with some ill-timed turnovers, but they hit some huge shots in the toughest environment in College Basketball.

Despite the eye test from last night, I don’t think this is Self’s Worst Team at KU. I believe there are some metrics that prove otherwise as our friend Jesse Newell pointed out. I do think this is obviously a very different team than we’ve seen at KU during Self’s tenure and it clearly has some flaws in its current state. We’ve all diagnosed and know the limitations and challenges that face this group right now. We’re going to take some lumps, but everyone else will take lumps too.

To me, the most interesting thing will be to see how they respond Saturday in Ft. Worth. When I looked down the schedule, I figured we’d be 2-1 to start the conference run. I just assumed the loss would be taken to TCU on the road. A win down there will go a long way in righting the ship. It’s ridiculous and way too early to be jumping ship or declaring this season a bust given how evenly matched the conference stands from top-to-bottom.

At the end of the year, I’ll be happy to revisit the “what is Bill Self’s worst KU team” debate, but its waaaaaaaayyyyyyy too premature for that right now.

For a dude his size, his footwork and touch with both hands around the hoop is extremely impressive. He’s not just a brut power (although that is the crux of his game). In the short time he was out there, he did a great job of rebounding in traffic (best effort of the season in my humble opinion) and was a nuisance around the rim. He’s still not blocking shots at the rate I’d like to see, but I imagine most of that is due to the fact that he can’t aggressively go after everything because we need him out there so bad. Perhaps his little buddy, Silvio, will continue to come along and allow him a little more freedom to go after a few more balls towards the back-end of Big XII play. His importance/impact on the way this team plays is very similar to Embiid’s back in '13.

Cool that Trae Young will be able to try out the longer-distance 3 line.

I have always been more of a reader than a contributor to forums like this. Like the rest of you, I’m extremely passionate about KU Basketball and I spend a completely unnecessary amount of time and energy pouring through articles, blogs and anything else I can find to satiate my KU hoops appetite. It’s always been entertaining to me to digest the knee-jerk reactions, analyses, theories and prognostications shared between you fine folks.

Going into last night’s game, I was fairly confident we would bounce back and build off of the tough loss on Saturday. I thought that the ship would begin to point North a bit and some strides would be taken towards becoming the cohesive, formidable team I’m still very confident we will see by the end of the year. Please note that all of these positive things can happen without coming out of a hostile, raucous road environment against a veteran, tough, tourney-tested team with a win. In fact, I thought we would lose this game (I know, what a terrible fan I am…)

Much has been said about the landmines sprinkled out over this schedule. When I first saw it, I predicted that we would be looking at 4 losses by the time we trek it down to Norman to start the conference season. Just like everyone else, I was guilty of amping up my expectations after the Duke win. Those expectations weren’t fair and they clearly weren’t accurate given that KU is still an extremely young team (which got even younger last night with 4 Freshman starters) with minimal big-time College Basketball floor experience playing one of the toughest non-con schedules in the country. Thankfully, these road warriors are now looking at a few home games.

There are obviously, several things that need work (including ballhandling, rebounding, etc.) and the lineup is still sorting itself out but instead of dwelling on these things, I think there are some positive things to note:

• Granted, the first half was abysmal. They were clearly rattled and confused by the switching zones that Florida presented. They threw the ball around the gym, dribbled off their feet, ran into each other on rebounds and seemed to miss every shot that they were actually able to throw up. But all of these things didn’t seem to be due to lack of effort – in fact, most of them seemed due to “overtrying”. Not that these mistakes are completely excusable since the boys were “trying hard”, but it’s easy (especially for a young team) to fold up in that kind of environment against a team that clearly has the mojo.
• When we weren’t chucking the ball all around the gym and we were able to get some shots off, they were actually falling. There was obviously a litany of easy layups that didn’t drop (I’m looking at you, Tarik Black), but for a team that was struggling from deep, it was great to see some shots going in. 42% from behind the arc is encouraging. That’s the equivalent of 60% from the 2-point floor. I’ll take it.
• When Dickie V wasn’t apologizing on behalf of Wiggins for the “inexperienced backcourt” that couldn’t seem to get him the ball, he made several comments about how it seemed like the score should be worse. I found myself thinking the same thing. Somehow there is some resiliency to this team that showed sparks of it in the first half and a lot of it in the second. They got their asses handed to them on the offensive glass in the first half with Florida getting two, sometimes three shots every trip down the floor. They were able to man up a bit in the second and they did a great job of taking 9th-year senior Patrick Young out of the game a bit.
• Wilbekin has an extremely punchable face. It was extremely frustrating every time he squashed a run or hit a big shot (and it seemed to happen with precision frequency). Until… Wiggins took up the assignment. I love it when Wiggins gets a chance to take on the opposing teams best scorer. He seems to be capable of guarding multiple positions (including post players as evidenced by his shutting down of Julius Randle in the summer circuit last year). Hopefully Coach Self can trust him to stay out of foul trouble enough to give us our defensive stopper.
• I’ve read a lot of comments about “shaken confidence” and perhaps this team has been humbled a bit (which isn’t a bad thing). However, I think the way they battled back on the road against a top 20 team (and now that they’re full-strength, Florida may wind up being a Top 10 opponent) and were just a couple bounces and a few preventable turnovers short of a win is an incredibly optimistic sign. We cut our turnovers in half from the first half to the second and were a bad no-call and an inexcusable turnover away from making it a 4-point game with roughly 2 minutes left. After watching the first half and knowing where it could’ve potentially gone, I think that is a remarkable achievement.

We’re heading back to AFH (after a quick stop in KC). Friendly faces and quality opponents await, but I still believe it’s only up from here. I think it’s just important to realize we’re much closer to the ’06 team than the ’08 team. Call me naïve but I’m buckled up and ready to enjoy the ride…

The writing was on the wall that this team may have some issues when they needed a late rally to beat Incarnate Word in Austin (78-73 final) in the first game of the season.

Smart should be very thankful for the 2016 football mess and subsequent beginning to the Herman Honeymoon as his team’s lackluster 2016 performance has totally flown under the radar thus far. Now that the Longhorns gridiron season is officially over and they got their man to run that program in the foreseeable future, the watchful eyes and bloated expectations of UT’s boosters may focus a little tighter on the hardwood.

KU was switching EVERYTHING. It was so fluid, it was a joy to watch. Perhaps the fact that they didn’t have to constantly fight through screens gave them some extra energy to amp up the pressure in the second half. Another side effect of the switching is that it fosters more communication on the defensive end. It’s been noted by several beat writers that there isn’t a lot of chatter happening on the floor with this team. It’s also worth noting that Carter sat a couple critical minutes in the second half when a handful of those TOs were taking place. I believe Amhad chalked up 5 giveaways (not sure how many in the second half). This is just his second game back after a lengthy suspension so he’s still trying to find his groove and shake off a little rust. Perhaps if you total up all of these factors, it helps get to the root of TOs generated in the second half.
Or, perhaps, we give this team credit for “wanting it more” since we’re always quick to point out and roast them when they don’t. Whatever it was, I’ll take it every night.

Trae Young may have something to say about the worst hair in the big xii discussion.

I think it’s a little early to ordain Vick as an equal to Mclemore (based on sample size and all the stats cited above), but I caught myself seeing flashes in last night’s game that brought Ben to mind. Physically and athletically the two are similar but each has certain skills that exceed the other. McLemore was more polished on the offensive end, possessed one of the best jumpers in college backetball and was relied upon in a larger role than what will be required of Vick this year. Although, we’re only a few games in, Vick seems to be more active/aggressive on the defensive end. Time will tell where Vick winds up in the pantheon of long, active KU guards, but if his trajectory continues (and we were able to play LBSU every game), I wouldn’t be shocked if that comparison becomes more common down the line.

I recently caught myself thinking of this same topic. It’s going to be a virtual flip from this year’s lineup with an embarrassment of riches and the scoring load shifting to the front court. Barring some sort of major turnaround and epic finish to the year, I honestly don’t see Vick or Newman going anywhere. It may be wishful thinking, but I think Doke is still too raw (and young) to leave. Another wrinkle is the Billy situation (a huge long shot for him to return, but given the questions remaining around him and the fact he is unlikely to get drafted, who knows…)

I’m sure there would have to be some major roster shifts/red shirts/etc. happening to balance that kind of talent. Sorry, Mitch. May be time to break out the redshirt…
Obviously fun to think about, but I’m sure there will be unforeseen changes that take place between now and then that . Plus this rollercoaster we’re currently riding is way too exciting. There will be plenty of time when the ride is done to devote towards cracking the code on next year’s monster squad.

Interesting proposal. It’s just a shame that the last few minutes turn into something that doesn’t come close to resembling the first 37ish minutes of the game. Given last night’s result, today, I’m for this idea. Tomorrow, or the next time KU needs to result to this tactic to win, I’m against it.

Dakich is Dakich. It’s all schtick and he’s very aware and purposeful with how over-the-top he is. He’s trolling the trolls and I’m guessing he loves every second of it. During a blowout game like that, he provides a certain level of entertainment value. Loved the banter between him and Benetti (sp???)

@JayHawkFanToo
Fair enough. That schtick could definitely have been something they executed off-camera. Not sure why the production truck decided to go that route for those all-important 63 seconds, but it proves that they anticipated/prepared for a blowout and had a few tricks up their sleeves to keep viewers engaged (understanding that not all viewers of the game were die-hard, passionate KU fans who hang on every second of game action).

Just a friendly reminder that her dropped on 43 in a game less than a week ago. I think it’s more likely that he had an off night at KSU instead of believing that coaches (especially Weber) figured out the keys to shutting him down…

Not sure if its the “yips,” but when you’re a bad shooter with a confidence issue and you tack on the external pressures you outlined above, it can definitely take it’s toll on a young mind. I’d be interested to know what kind of practice foul shooter he is. Without knowing (and basing this solely on his technique and the sheer velocity he wings his FTs towards the rim/backboard), I’d be willing to bet his in-game and practice shooting percentages are basically the same.

However, last night definitely couldn’t have helped with his confidence which may, indeed, create more issues between his ears than before. I can’t recall a time this season where he actually looked comfortable at the line and I definitely never count on him making those shots. It the same as a turnover, unfortunately.

Honestly, I’d been waiting for this all season and I’m surprised we hadn’t seen it sooner. If Scott Drew and Bruce Weber were a little better at what they do, perhaps this strategy could’ve resulted in a different outcomes of those games. It definitely won’t be the last time we see this and, if we continue to grind out single possession games, we’re going to need to address this one way or another. Doke makes such a difference when he’s out on the floor but we’re obviously going to need to get creative with how he’s used in the final minutes.