@approxinfinity I have always admired the way Coach Self speaks at press conferences and on Hawk Talk. He speaks spontaneously and without any pretense or affectation. His agenda always seems to be to give a thoughtful and direct answer to the actual question asked. I don’t know of any other coach who handles himself so well.
Let me add my voice to the chorus… I just finished your post on the PG situation. I am impressed by your thinking and the way you present your ideas in words. Your post brought out a lot of good back and forth from other posters, and that is always a good sign. KUBuckets is such a good site because of thoughtful posters like you. Thanks for your efforts.
@approxinfinity Thanks for posting this interview with Travis Releford.
Listening to Travis talk reminded me of something about Perry Ellis. I have seen Perry interviewed a few time after a game and , as much as I respect his basketball skills, his skill at verbal communication is low. Especially for someone who was valedictatorian of his senior class. As a graduate of the Speech Communications program at KU, I hope there is a speech coach as good as Coach Hudy to help him improve his verbal skills.
And another thought along this line. I have also seen and heard Tarik Black interviewed and have been quite impressed by his presence and communication skills. Many posters question Tarik’s value on the court (and I can’t disagree) but I think he brings great intangible strengths to the locker room. Tarik is what young athletes should (and do, I think) aspire to be–a confident person who knows his strengths and his place in the world.
We should recognize and praise personal qualities that contribute to a high-quality and well rounded person, not just skills on the court. Does a leader have to play to lead? I would say no. As much as I like sports and think it can contribute greatly to a person’s life, it is only one part of a multi-faceted personality. Sports ability will inevitably decline over time but self-confidence and a sense of self-worth can last a lifetime.
One of my concerns about one-and-done players is that they miss the opportunity and time to develop themselves in early adult life. Staying in school for several years gives a player a chance to develop into a person like Tarik Black. Perhaps that growth and development can be done as a professional athlete, but I think it would be much harder.
I see that Oklahoma State beat Colorado 78-73 in Las Vegas last night and I got to wondering what the pre-season results say about the quality of the Big 12 basketball. I hope some of the better basketball minds will shed some light on the question.
Strenght of schedule This seems like the best indicator to me. It’s a good place to start, anyway. Perhaps some one can help with the formatting.
RPI School Record SOS from CBSSPORTS.com
1 KU 8-3 .6818
7 Baylor 7-1 .6248
35 Texas 10-2 .6199
45 OKS 11-1 .5659
67 Iowa St 8-0 .5534
114 OK 11-1 .5286
168 TX Tech 7-5 .5029
187 KSU 8-3 .4935
264 TCU 7-3 .4579
WV I couldn’t find one for this season–probably my lack of skill
(FYI, Colorado beat KU and lost to OKS. The Buffs have an RPI rank of 31, 10-2 record, and SOS of .6178. Between Baylor and TX)
So KU has the most losses but the highest RPI rating, not only in the conference but nationally. Pretty good, I think.
What say you?
Finally, the voice of reason! You Rock, Cragar
@wissoxfan83 Thanks for posting. I think you pretty much nailed it, from my perspective. I’m looking forward to conference play to see how we stack up with Oklahoma, Baylor and Iowa State.
Keep in mind the spacing of the games during the regular season. It’s basically two games over a week instead of two games one day apart. This may make a difference.
His posts about the shoe companies stacking some schools with talented players has been proven, in my mind
@jaybate-1.0 I read the whole thing twice and I swear I felt my IQ rise by 10 points. And I’m now a little better looking, too! Thanks a bunch!!
@Texas-Hawk-10 Thanks for the clarification.
@Texas-Hawk-10 I could be wrong about this but I think the NCAA handles all the branding of college athletics. So the NCAA gets royalties from football related sports items that have a university logo so they probably care deeply about college football.
I rarely agreed with George Will over the years until Donald Trump came along . Now he has an Op-ed column in the Salt Lake Tribun about the shoe company/NCAA/University mess that perfectly expresses my opinion.
For example " And why is it a federal crime to evade the NCAA’s lackadaisical enforcement of its nonsensical rules by paying families? About schools maintaining (to borrow a phrase from politics) “plausible deniability” about the meat market in tall teenagers, Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins notes: “Defense attorneys presented text messages between [former Adidas consultant T.J.] Gassnola and Kansas coach Bill Self that showed the coach was well aware of Adidas’ efforts to steer recruits to him, if not the method. Gassnola assured Self that Adidas was ‘here to help’ in getting players for the school, which was finalizing a 12-year, $191 million sponsorship deal with the sneaker company.” Not bad compensation for Kansas-the-victim. almost all of the $8 billion that college sports generate. "
And "Perhaps schools should give candor a try, paying their basketball and football players as value-adding employees who create almost all of the $8 billion that college sports generate. "
No harm, no foul it seems to me.
His posts about the shoe companies stacking some schools with talented players has been proven, in my mind
@BShark you’re right i favor a farm system or G league model as more transparent and fair (maybe and hopefully).
I sort of agree with HighEliteMajor and am not very troubled by the money aspect. The shoe companies and schools and the NCAA get billions and the athletes get little. I tend toward supporting the spirit of the law rather than the letter. I don’t see much evidence of harm except the disproportionate wealth for the institutions and the NCAA.
I can’t read about this without wondering how the current trial and its outcome will affect 2019 recruiting . Will the payoffs be out in the open? Who will be the highest bidder?
I don’t see how this genie goes back in the bottle.
Keep in mind the spacing of the games during the regular season. It’s basically two games over a week instead of two games one day apart. This may make a difference.
For the record, I grew up in Wichita back in the 50’s and 60’s when WSU had some basketball cred and still have relatives living there. So I pay a little attention to the Shockers.
I am impressed with their accomplishments over the last several years. I wondered what would happen after Ron Baker and the others from their team graduated. That team was fun to watch and I cheered for them. I have to acknowledge that Greg Marshall has done a good job of carrying on their success in the last two (?) years. Shamet Landry is an entertaining player to watch and even Conner Frankamp is carrying his weight. I do wish Greg Marshall could develop a more mature personality, but that’s probably asking too much
@Gunman It’s great to see Gary win a major tournament. Since I’m not a golfer, he is the only reason I watch it on TV.