Topics created by BShark

@Kcmatt7 said in It Could Be Worse: @BeddieKU23 I think the crazier thing is what this says about Notre Dame… If you’re a Notre Dame fan you should be worried. Oh yeah.

https://twitter.com/KUHoops/status/1428491440842285059 Official

@jayballer67 said in Zuby Ejiofor: @BShark said in Zuby Ejiofor: A casual 23/10/3 today. What is this kids ranking again ? Not high enough imo. People are taking notice though, he will climb. Currently #41 247, #54 in the 247 composite.

Good for him. Hope he can get in and make a career out of it.

@Marco said in New Walk-on: @BShark I’m serious. Big time KU families. Wilhite’s grandma has been working at KU since forever.

Niko sounds like he might be a future Athletic Director at Kansas.

If the new rule is in place just a couple of years ago, Ja Morant doesn’t play a 2nd season at Murray State. Dude would have been a Kentucky Wildcat making $500k in cash under the table, and I have zero doubt in my mind about that. The penalty right now for paying recruits is supposed to be major suspension, level I violations, etc. And schools still do it… How do you prove tampering if it is being done by ShoeCo in the background? It is a penalty to tamper and poach players now, and coaches were still able to get it done. It is all about circumventing direct contact, and that isn’t very hard. Coaches can call old AAU coaches, ShoeCo Reps, etc and ask about a players availability. Andrew Slater damn near projected every single transfers destination before they even officially decomitted. It is just too easy.

Welcome, Dillon!

@nwhawkfan said in FIRE UP THE CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT RUMOR MILL: @FarmerJayhawk said in FIRE UP THE CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT RUMOR MILL: Pls no. Their conference network is a trash fire and for us east coast Hawks it would be a disaster. B1G is a much better fit. The Pac-12 just hired a new commissioner last week, so lots of things are on the table, including expansion. Their last commish was a disaster, if you listen to most of the media out here on the coast. He engineered that TV deal where most of the top games were played too late at night for most of the country. Even though the new guy hasn’t said it yet, fixing that has to be one of his priorities. I can’t see KU joining on their own…that’d make the conference membership an uneven (and awkward 13 teams). So who’d be the other team(s) to go in with us? Not sure if K-State would even be interested unless the money was right. It’s going to take a legit conference network and freedom on T3 rights to get someone to jump over there IMO. The money isn’t good there right now because the PAC Network is done totally in house without the support of Disney (ACC, LHN, SEC) or Fox (B1G). Without that they can’t get on any decent cable or streaming package, therefore no eyeballs. Man, I’m sure they’d reach for OU. We know they won’t take a religious school so no TCU or Baylor. Texas has a great deal right now so they wouldn’t jump. OSU, KSU, and Tech don’t fit the PAC’s academic profile. I mean I love PAC-12 After Dark during football season but I’m definitely an outlier. And would probably like it a lot less if KU was a regular participant. Remember how late the Coastal game kicked last year? Wooooof. I think (it might’ve changed since I graduated) the largest 3 alumni chapters outside KC are Chicago, DFW, and DC. Can’t see a leap to the PAC going over well there. The B1G on the other hand? Sure. And would really be an asset for KU (emphasis on U).

An above average HS athlete can probably make a D3 team if they are a good student and hard worker. For many D3 schools, once you get into their backups, the talent pool begins to thin out. If you are a good student (D3’s don’t give out athletic scholarships, only academic) you have a good shot to make the team, particularly if you are willing to stay and work. Because of that, it makes it more financially palatable for the college. Most games are regionalized. Many of the conferences are located within the same state, in fact. It does give a student a chance to live their dream, but since these are almost all private colleges, if you aren’t on academic scholarship, be prepared to pay $35k or more per year.

All of these small guards are going to make defense really tough. I can’t figure out how this roster is going to fit together. We don’t have a dominant post player. We don’t have a dynamic wing scorer. Other than Braun, there’s a chance we won’t have a guard or wing over 6-3. This team is built like its 1986. We are probably two players away from finishing this roster construction. And they need to be big time players.

@BShark Great article by CJ Moore. Here is a highlight that is amazing: https://theathletic.com/2537301/2021/04/23/marcus-garrett-kansas-defensive-specialist-bill-self/ An appreciation of Marcus Garrett, Kansas defender extraordinaire – The Athletic **Self’s way of making sure everyone appreciated how special Garrett was this year was to point out the man he defended never scored double-digit points against him, a claim that seemed maybe to have a hint of hyperbole. Out of curiosity, I started keeping track, rewatching all of the defensive possessions that got tagged to Garrett on Synergy and charting them to see if Self’s claim was true. It was. The most points he legitimately gave up in the 29 games he played as a senior was six on two contested 3s against North Dakota State. If you really wanted to challenge Self’s claim, you could contend that Garrett allowed 11 points in a Feb. 8 win over Oklahoma State. That night his man made three 3s when he was helping in the post or tagging a roller, which made him late to closeouts, but he was simply carrying out assignments. Avery Anderson driving past him on a closeout was really the only bucket surrendered that day. In total, opponents scored 58 points on Garrett where he was the primary defender. That’s 58 points in the 956 minutes he was on the floor. When revealed to Self, that number, not surprisingly, got him excited. He started doing the math in his head, figuring there are about 40 points in every game where you can say X-player on his team allowed that basket, and because Garrett played 29 games, that means he gave up on average one bucket a game. “Unbelievable,” Self said.**

@Kcmatt7 said in Kyle Cuffe JR: @BeddieKU23 I’d rather take a step back trying to get better than run it back with the shit show we just watched a season ago. Agree, I actually really like every freshman recruit we signed and would rather watch them play next season and grow. But we all know what Self is going to do. Very excited about having actual guards on this squad next season.

This isn’t an immediate college coaching move, but perhaps sometime down the line. Danny Ainge has stepped down as president of the Celtics and is being replaced by Brad Stevens who will move into the role full time and vacate the bench. It sounds like the move caught Stevens off guard so this could be an opening the door to return to college down the road type situation for Stevens. Duke or Kentucky are likely to be the next blue blood jobs to open up and I’m guessing Stevens will probably be at the top of their lists if he’s still in a front office role whenever either job opens up.

You’re right. I forgot he got the job at East. I played against Clint in both high school and college and always thought he was very arrogant. Can understand why you’re not a fan!!

@drgnslayr said in New S&C Coach For Texas: She is quality… no doubt. But I have to wonder if her move to Texas was a good one. Sure didn’t last… and I don’t think her move back to UCONN is an upgrade. Maybe it is more of a lifestyle move for her. Regardless… I wish her well! She didn’t leave Texas voluntarily, she left because of the coaching change. Her new position entails more than just S&C and it’s UConn women’s basketball which is probably the top basketball program men’s or women’s right now. It’s also home for her which I’m sure played a huge role in her decision.

Jalen is a headsy player with a decent skill level. But he’ll have to lift his athleticism a big notch for the NBA. It matters how he develops, realistically he could use a couple more years of D1 while working on his body and skills. I can see him develop into a NBA-caliber player but he really doesn’t have margin for making mistakes in his path. Leaving too soon will probably be one of those bad decisions if he gets too eager. I think it’s easier and safer for him to develop while living in the comforts of the college world. When he leaves McCarthy Hall will be gone, and he’ll enter a world of constant travel, hotels and chaos. Gone are the constant connections to strength and other coaching (even in off-season). Developing players at the next level is quite a racket. The pay is marginal and moving from team-to-team comes at a price.

@BShark Very sorry for your loss. My condolences

@DCHawker said in Ochai: On CBS latest top 50 draft board, there are 8 players from the B12, representing 6 different teams. 60% of the conference represented, but not KU. When has that ever happened? When viewed through the NBA talent (or lack thereof) lens, pretty remarkable that HCBS was able to coax 20 wins out of this year’s team. Of course, he owns the absence of talent, as well… I’m not sure who the 12 are…but off the cuff, I would say there are only about 8 players I would take above ochai and maybe 3 players I would take above Garrett. I look at like this…if Austin reeves is on any list as a better player than ochai and/or garrett…the list is trash. But the draft isn’t about best players…its about how a dude can fill a specific role for an NBA team. Ochai and Garrett are great college players, but an NBA liability as they can’t score frequently and consistently enough. If Garrett went to a Rodman mentality where all he did was play defense and get every rebound…he could be a real special commodity; unfortunately, his vertical jump nor the ability to get vertical with merely using his calves doesn’t allow him to do that. He has to jump like a frog to get any height whatsover. Defense is also disregarded in the NBA so much. You can’t block a 3 and that’s 60 to even 70% of all shots. People kick out their legs to draw a foul…so you have to be 2 feet away from them. The new reality of pump faking and jumping into someone…even though the defender is 100% vertical, draws fouls…so you can’t jump to block a shot. You can’t guard someone close cause the offensive guy will see an out stretched arm, and hook it on the way up to draw a foul. The NBA, and the college game is getting close to a system where it’s a 3 point contest or game of horse. But that my friends…is for another discussion topic.