Oachi would be indisputably #1 if his final four performance would have been closer to Brandon Rush’s. It’s the only chink in his record, which still wasn’t enough to keep him from earning MVP honors.
I think #1 on the list has to be the proper placement.
I assume this list is bill self era only. I think there have been some deserving guards from prior eras
Not sure how good Oregon state is and remains to be seen where Missouri stacks up. Their QB was impressive at key moments and made few mistakes.
Historically they are somewhere in the middle of the SEC. Never in the top 25% and rarely in the bottom 25%. Did we lose to a team that is exceptionally good or another mid SEC team?
The rest of season awaits, including the entire conference. Plenty of opportunities in front. But improvement needs to be urgent and immediate. And BOTH sides — offense and defense — have equal need to improve.
@wissox said in Hate Missouri Week. Game chat here!:
@patoh3 said in Hate Missouri Week. Game chat here!:
@wissox 3-1?
Oh yes, we’re already 2-1
Yeah. Good to keep it in perspective.
Would never want a home loss, but hard not to wish we had gone from 1-1 to 2-1 this time rather than going from 2-0 to 2-1.
This team is over reliant on Jalen Daniels.
Pretty sure Mizzou only punted one time in the game.
+/- in the final 2 minutes is epically bad
@nuleafjhawk lol I see what you did there 
I’d hate to see our +/- in the final 2 min of the last year or so.
Offense needs to learn 2 things: how to play with a lead and how to play well without having momentum or rhythm.
And the whole squad has to play better in the final 2 minutes. By better I just mean don’t collapse.
Four offensive plays in the 2nd quarter, right?
You’d think that someone would be looking at the obvious pattern of catastrophe in the final 2 minutes of 1st and 2nd halves. Last year and now this year
Gonna be a looong day if we use our ‘explosive’ QB for run play handoffs and our defense can’t stop them.
Chiefs are rusty. Officials see no evil on Chargers side.
Last year’s team was not lacking athletes or ability. But they performed/executed well below their abilities. For a Bill Self team, this was anomalous. We are used to Bill Self teams performing at or beyond their individual ceilings.
So, I’m going to posit that the players this year are, collectively, more or less similar in ability to previous years’. What will need to be different is how they perform throughout the season.
That leads me to the question: is the 2025 Bill Self and staff greater than the 2024 Bill Self and staff?
Well, on the historical topic, here’s one of those mom’s-father’s-brother things…
I recently learned of a connection to Quantrill’s Raid on my mom’s side. Most of the raiders were killed or got away, but one was captured by my mom’s paternal grandmother’s father. Apparently the rifle used to seize the raider was passed down to her uncle who gave it to her father and she inherited it when he died.
There are many accounts of the raid with conflicting details, so I take this with a bit of a grain of salt. Like anything, I figure there are some bits of truth in all of the accounts.
@BShark I hope you and your family find solace in this time of loss.
I am reminded of this quote, which has helped me process intense emotions during loss: “What is grief, if not love persevering?”
@rockchalkjayhawk said in 2025 Chiefs:
Not a good spot to post this, but I see two former Jayhawk receivers were waived today.
Quentin Skinner was released by the Jets today.
Luke Grimm released by the Chargers.
Any others?
God how I wish they could come back. Difference makers. Here’s hoping some guys this year can step up to make me not long to hear the names Skinner and Grimes.
Dallas wants Archie Manning
Either Frank Mason or Occhi Abaji?
If they had the 3 pt line in 1986, Ron Kellogg would have been on the list. Somewhat overshadowed by the rules and stats like Wilt vis a vis blocks.
Ok. Wow. (I am surprised.) Who am I missing? Do I have those right?
Maybe a lot more in the ABA than I realized. When you give the answer, it would be interesting to see the ABA/NBA breakdown.
Also, in the 20 years from 1970 - 1989 I’d be surprised if there were more than 10 Jayhawks in the pros. Wilt was still playing at the front-end of that period and Danny Manning was a rookie at the back-end. That’s two. You’ve got Jo-Jo and Robisch, Valentine, Dreiling, Prichard, Chris Piper and maybe even Scooter Barry made it into the league. That’s 9 maybe. Most had short careers in the pros.
As a fan, it seemed like a desert in that period.
Wilt had a long run in the NBA. If it’s not Wilt, probably Pierce given all the years and playoffs (and the seasons were longer too).
1st guess: Kirk Heinrich
2nd guess: Mario Chalmers
I’m expecting an NCAA berth; it’s not guaranteed but should be the baseline. The conference is brutally tough and that will actually help. But team has to be greater than the sum of the parts. It has to be.
Sweet 16 would be great. A bit of an aspirational goal.
Moving my son into his apt before the first week of class and will stay in town for the Fresno State game. Looking forward to attending and experiencing the new / upgraded stadium.
@wissox Ditto on the prostate cancer. As some may know, I was diagnosed 9 years ago when I was 51 (officially oligometastatic, aka stage 4).
I’ve been lucky to have state-of-the-art care. And every year, there are advances in the treatment which keeps me hopeful.
The diagnosis has certainly given me perspective… as well as vast new domain of knowledge. To survive with it, I’ve learned more about prostate cancer and its treatments than I ever would have imagined. Open invite to anyone who has need for info – I’m happy to share what I’ve learned.
We’ve already had an episode where the assistant coach had to take over for Coach Self for health reasons. And it happened during the tournament, not that long ago.
A hypothetical: recollect to that time and imagine if the team goes on a tear and ends with a championship with the assistant at the helm and Self then announces retirement.
How would things go? The assistant would certainly have a strong case at that point. I do think there would be a search, but I think it would be a more of a ceremonial search rather than the thorough approach we’ve had previously. Not saying it’s right or wrong – but that seem’s pretty plausible. I also feel like there’s a difference between imagining this scenario with KT finishing the season with hardware vs Jacque Vaughn finishing the season with hardware – it feels like when I imagine this with JV it’s easier to see the job being handed over rather than if it was KT. That’s just me and it’s clearly and completely infused with nostalgic subjectivity.
Of course, this is a pretty extreme hypothetical. So take the hypothetical down a notch, where the team finishes short of the championship – they get to the final four and lose… or they get to the Sweet 16, then lose. Etc… Now how does the search go?
In my opinion, there’s less scrutiny as the team advances, and more scrutiny the shorter the run.
This will be interesting to watch as it helps provide a window into what really drives expansion.
There’s a photo of that dunk that is destined to be a poster and/or meme. The video while impressive, simply cannot do it justice.
Man, we have had so many feral rats here doing damage that it’s hard to imagine hosting them as pets. But the bond between us and pets, no matter what the creature, is pure love.
@rockchalkjayhawk I don’t know how much it would be, but whatever the amount, it would be etched in stone.
Hang in there. Seems like this stuff always comes in bunches / threes.
Hope everyone here and their loved ones find their way back to stable health. …And may we all have perfect GPS when navigating health insurance and health care.
@dylans said in Norm Roberts Retires:
Jacque is 50. Beard 52. Will wade 42. Todd Golden 39.
Bill was 41 when KU hired him.
Thanks @dylans. This is a helpful and relevant data point.
FWIW, Miles is 42. Chase Buford is 35.
@approxinfinity said in The portal.:
@Kcmatt7 think i was incorrect about those guys. Jesus. All i did was ask google the ones i thought i recalled being lefties. Apparently Google really wanted to tell me “yes”. So much misinformation. Just looked at the youtube vids thx.
FYI: There’s a known ‘syncophancy’ issue with some AI (I think gemini fits in this category, Chat GPT definitely does). They are being trained to flatter the user because A/B user testing shows that users like the AI better that is more flattering. Users use (engage with) a tool more if they like it. Therefore, the AI business boosts likeable characteristics —- known as engagement hacking.
So, sycophancy is a side-effect of engagement hacking.
As a result, AI will often tell you what it thinks you want to hear and that may have no connection to what is real or factual.
My 2cents: I see this as a succession planning effort. The assistants that will be brought in will be “interviewing” for the role of HC. Whoever stays will have established a relationship with the players that are crucial to retain as the head coaching position transitions. (The new ‘GM’ will be a part of this process as well). I think this is all about program continuity and stability.
The absence, rather than the addition of players, will mean that next year’s team will be able to play with a faster tempo. I think that will make a big difference.
As far as I can tell, all additions (so far) will not impede the tempo.
Are there rules that cover practice players? For instance, could Zeke, etc return as a practice / scout player? I’ve always thought it helps teams to play against the best practice squad possible. Would it make sense to invest in that?
@rockchalkjayhawk Yeah… Not much variance. But maybe there’s a tipping point on some of these…
Surprisingly, the stat that seems most corollary with a high-achieving team is FT% ~16% (or above, like Duke this year - holy mackerel!)
It kind of makes sense: Late game situations, teams that can A) draw fouls and B ) make foul shots, will have a better chance of winning.
It seems to be more important than whether the team is generating 33% or 30% of their scoring from 3 (teams get to the FF in that range and don’t get to the FF in that range).
Took me awhile to make sense of this-- I think this is distribution of points by source (these always add up to 100%, right?)
I’m pulling for Houston as well. I am surprised that Vegas had Florida 1.5 pt favorite. Houston has most of the profile characteristics of a national champ. Experienced team and coach who have experience on a quick 24-36hr turn around; won both their league and league championship; close to home; elite defense (a la ‘defense wins championships’).
David Brooks offers an intellectual conservative perspective on Trumpism that resonates strongly with me (a moderate)
@HoraceZontal 100%. This situation sets my creative mind ablaze. I’ve been thinking of a lot of potential cartoons – Trump as Alfred B Neuman “What? Me worry?”
Or an oblivious Trump supporter yelling “Let’s Go Brandon!” on the stock exchange amid a sea of stares from angry traders and Trump sheepishly whispering “Not right now.”
Or running the TV set to Bloomberg Business Channel on mute while putting Genesis “Throwing it All Away” on repeat play.
@HoraceZontal said in All of a Sudden:
@FarmerJayhawk believe me, I get it. I was an international trade lawyer for 30 years. This is akin to watching a frustrated 8 year old try to fix a computer by hitting it with a hammer
Maybe you should copyright that.
