Bosthawk said:

K.J. ? Really ? Why would he leave a top program? ? Makes no sense at all to me… he will get playing time here. He got better over the year, and there are many many positives for sticking with a top program.

Grimes leaving would be a flat out joke. My god. For what? d-league money and anonymity…? He is nowhere NEAR pro level. Where is Newman now ? D-league right? Newman was better than Grimes. If he leaves, then my advice to the coaching staff- avoid guys like him like the plague. Get guys who want to play for Kansas and to learn the game under self, not guys who think it’s an ok stop before they “ supposedly”go to the pros.

And why wouldn’t Doke want one more year under self, under the bright spotlight of a blue-blood college program… overseas can wait one more year for a 20 year old.

The unfortunate reality is Kansas is just a hub for these guys professional careers. When you put so many guys into the NBA or into professional careers overseas, logic really doesn’t apply when it comes to guys staying or leaving. There are more options becoming available every year and players have more leverage then they have ever had. 5 years ago most of these guys would likely have stayed and it wouldn’t really be a question. Now every player down to the ball boy needs to be asked whether they are returning or not. For better or worse this is where we are now

@Bosthawk

It would probably help if the staff made him a full time undersized 4 man. He’s too slow to guard the perimeter. He can rebound and score inside and his outside shot was all sorts of inconsistent. Wouldn’t be a bad back up to say Matthew Hurt…

The reason I think he looks elsewhere is simple most brothers that go to the same schools leave together. You see it everywhere across the nation.

@Fightsongwriter

Grimes Freshman year almost mirrors Wayne Selden’s to a T. Wayne was also a Top 15 recruit and stuck around 3 years.

I can understand your frustration towards Grimes. I can’t say he’s done anything “pre-madonna” though. You wouldn’t want a 2nd year to see what the staff could do with him?

approxinfinity said:

I get why Bill assembled the roster he did, I think. I can see how the pieces fit. But when every year one piece or two we need doesn’t develop or gets injured or ineligible isn’t it a fair question why we have unique pieces and don’t build redundancy into the system?

It is a fair question. Not much we can do at this point about the guys already in the system. The coaching staff has a ton of work to do this off-season in player and skill development.

approxinfinity said:

If we had all of those guys we still have a tragically flawed headcase as one of our two reliable 3 point threats in Vick, the other being Dotson. I’m sorry, but assuming we’d go undefeated is fan fiction.

Still thin at guard, with Agbaji a redshirt and Charlie a black hole of awful. Playing a high low with Mitch (I would hope but can’t be certain of) as the 4th big? And we are somehow going to guard the perimeter better?

That’s one way to look at it and I agree certain aspects of players were not going to change. Vick would have been the 3rd option though behind the post players. He seemed to implode right around the time all the pressure was on him to be the “guy” besides Lawson. Maybe he keeps it together just enough being that 3rd option. I don’t know, we don’t know all his issues. Vick was never an outspoken leader, he never thrived in that role. Doke was the leader of this team and his presence on the court changed a lot of things for KU. Without him that pressure went to Dedric who did an admiral job but we all saw how much he needed a robin to compliment him. Dotson stepped up big time in trying to pick up that role. I haven’t been this impressed with a freshman since 2008.

I don’t think we go undefeated either. Probably a 4 to 5 loss team though which is half of what we ended up with. That’s #1 seed or a high #2 seed territory.

If De Sousa was available that would have changed a lot of roles. There would have been no drop off to going to him off the bench imo which wasn’t the case going to Mitch and later David. The guard rotation was still a mess. Charlie and KJ even with the sit out year played like Freshman for almost the entire season. Garrett didn’t improve his shot, Grimes couldn’t piss in an ocean outside of a handful of games.

@jayballer73

Hurt didn’t mention any visit to Memphis yesterday to the media. This was one of the first time’s Matthew has actually spoken to the media this year and from what I read into his comments KU is still sitting in a good spot. The role he wants is here. Dedric just put up 20 and 10 in that role. You can run the 4 out with him as he’ll put tremendous pressure on opposing teams to guard him. Not many teams are going to have that option. He has some limitations just like Dedric but he’s a legitimate elite shooter, something this team desperately needs

@Texas-Hawk-10

Definitely chemistry lacked. It even lacked with the veterans early in the year. Having young guys in big roles made it difficult to have the season we hoped and had come to expect, take for granted. The hope is those young pups will develop the chemistry for next year and the following year after that. Not sure I’m that optimistic it will happen without seeing what the final roster looks like for next year. I think Self needs to find a few veterans on the transfer market to mesh with the younger guys

@approxinfinity

All good points. We are still talking about over 30 points missing from the lineup. A guy that despite some weaknesses made over 70% of his field goals and gave this team an above the rim presence every possession on offense as well as that big body and defensive presence. Vick was flirting with near 50% shooting from 3, a guy that could make tough guarded shots and was yet another athlete missing. Silvio, while raw was a rim running rebounding machine that had a real competitive streak to him. When your 5th, 6th, 7th 8th guys become part of your top 5 it’s never going to end well.

I think it was clear early we probably were not a championship team. I did hope by end of season chemistry and roles worked themselves out but I doubt this is a 2nd round exit type team with those guys. We probably don’t end with a 4 seed and we probably would have won #15. Of course none of that matters now.

@approxinfinity

Are we overthinking this years issues though? We finally had a team that bent and broke. We took for granted how many times self has glued together the sum of his parts to make a successful season. Finally enough upperclassmen were injured or no longer with the team that it left a huge leadership and experience void.

We undervalued just how much Self catered his entire offseason and approach to the season on having a healthy Doke. Early Season Vick was POY good, just like his Jr year started. This time he finally broke and ended up home without finishing his season here no senior night, no post season grind with his teammates. I dont know what coach survives two of his top 3 players not being able to play. In my opinion Silvio made 3 of his top 4. We still won 26 games. Pretty crazy. It was a disappointing season at different parts but I do think considering how much was missing from the roster it’s amazing to think we could even win that many games.

I have been saying this for years, I would like just one season where KU starts and finishes with its entire roster. Something has to give, it’s not coincidence anymore

Here’s my thoughts on who goes, who stays.

Stays…

Starters:

Dotson

Agbaji

McCormack

Rotation:

Garrett

Lightfoot

Pending:

DeSousa

Gone:

Dedric- Dad was shopping for agents already. Go make some money overseas.

KJ- getting married in the summer. Likely can grad transfer if he has his academics in order. Finds a bigger role somewhere else, closer to home maybe.

Grimes- My suspicion that his family had made arrangement’s for his pro career under the premise he was a Top 10 pick pre-season has only gotten stronger. Does anyone really feel like Q plans to stick around? I just don’t get the vibe with him. Wish I was wrong here. Wish I felt differently about what he may do. He’s bombed his draft stock, his tape will look even worse. Will he get a combine invite on name and previous reputation? I can’t imagine he’ll test well compared to others. What position is he going to play. He didn’t give scouts a good feel for what he could do. A million good reasons to return. But its his life. He’ll do what he thinks is best

Doke- Coach all but said he didn’t expect him back. This could be one that takes a while to sort our since he’s still in the beginning of rehab and could stick around to field offers from abroad. I’d welcome him back if he did return. Hopefully he can get and stay healthy whatever he decides to do.

No Idea but don’t come back:

Charlie Moore- What else can we say, he’s not a Power 5 or Kansas caliber player. He seems like a good kid but I hope he finds a more appropriate level for his talents.