Posts made by focojayhawk

All I know is this…I’m gonna hug my dog as much as I can before I go to bed. You just never know…

Have we confirmed that our Bill Self/Dajuan Harris basher on this board isn’t actually Remy Martin?

@wissox I don’t think it’s a great fit. There will undoubtedly be some crazy highlights where KU fans will love him. I also think that more often there will be times when Self and fans just shake their heads at shot selection, ball handling and non-existent defense. Storr also totally disappeared in some big moments…especially in March.

If Storr rebounds and defends like he did at Wisconsin last year, it will be VERY interesting to see if Self will keep him in the game late over KJ.

As a Wisconsin fan as well, I think adding Storr would be a mistake for KU. High volume shooter with really poor shot selection at times. Doesn’t rebound or defend. He is stupid athletic and can score in bunches at times, but more often than not his big scoring games were due to taking a ton of shots. It’s no coincidence that Wisconsin went from a high level defensive team in 22-23…returned basically their entire lineup and added Storr…and became a below average defensive team in 23-24. He was also a total no-show in the tourney. Wisconsin was certainly better off having him this year, but it came at a cost.

@jayballer67 Yalden ‘reshirted’ in part because of underage drinking ticket, a separate time he got caught with weed in his dorm, and then he crashed his moped on campus before the season started. He’s a very skilled below-the-rim PF who likely peeked as a HS soph. He also went to four high schools in four years. Could turn into something, but not worth the risk for KU

@Woodrow Along with @wissox I also follow Wisconsin. Storr is an electric athlete and scored at a high clip this year. That said…he had more than questionable shot selection, plays exactly no defense, isn’t a good ball handler and shot over 50% in a game in 7 of 36 games. He would drive Bill Self absolutely crazy. As much as he helped Wisconsin at times this year, his offensive inefficiency really hurt them at time. And he completely no-showed in their tournament game. Pass for me

@BeddieKU23 Hard pass on Perkins. Flopper like Joe Toussaint from WVU/TexTech.

Forgive the potentially ignorant questions. Is it possible for Self to think a player isn’t worth the NIL money anymore? Is it possible to ever pull/reduce any offer for a player for next year?

Just asking so I can potentially hope to never see HDick in a KU uniform every again.

YouTubeTV’s multi-view option is simply wonderful for the first couple of rounds of this tournament

@wissox The seeding is questionable like @Texas-Hawk-10 said. The part that was a bummer to me is that likely no one on this board heard a recap of the CSU/UVA game and heard positive things about CSU. They’ve actually been a very entertaining watch all season and now they’re lumped into the ‘worst game ever’ because of the narrative about their opponent. Ultimately the CSU story (and the whole MW story) only changes when they win more games in March. Besides SDSU last year, the conference has struggled quite a bit in the tourney.

I live in Fort Collins and have seen a lot of CSU. The sad part of last night is that the national narrative is how sorry Virginia is, how they didn’t deserve to get in…and nothing about how CSU actually played pretty well. Under-seeded and with a chip on their shoulder. I wouldn’t be surprised if they beat Texas too.

Houston and UConn have a total of six losses. Two are to this KU team. This “no good really bad KU team with the crappy PG, no depth and the PF who doesn’t shoot or rebound”.

What a gift that we get to be KU fans and have a down year like this.

Was not surprised to see who set off the circus at the Texas/TTech game last night. Cunningham just plays so close to the line at all times that it’s never a surprise when he goes way over it

Elmarko with a -16 +/-…I honestly thought it was worse. He’s a shell of a player right now

I’d be more excited if Hunter wasn’t such a douche

I stood in the front row of the student section behind the KU bench basket for Kansas/UCLA in December of 1995. Down 15 at halftime against the defending national champs. Outscored them by 30 in the second half. Spin move by Jacque Vaughn through traffic right in front of me to give them their first lead. I was SCREAMING (and I have a loud voice) and I couldn’t hear myself. Chills.

Coincidentally, Lester Earl was there on a visit that game. I told a buddy who was with me…“The only way he doesn’t come here after that is if he gets paid to go somewhere else.” Funny how that turned out.

Such fun to watch the USMNT thrash Mexico. Completely outclassed in every way…I’m not sure that I remember a game like that with Mexico before. I’m not a follower of Mexico’s team so they could be down or whatever…doesn’t matter. Loved it.

I loved the attacking style. Putting Reyna in the middle and pressing forward was such a pleasant gift to watch. Their second goal was a thing of beauty. Jedi to Turner to Dest to McKennie to Weah to Pulisic…gorgeous.

The red cards were unfortunate. McKennie’s was pretty questionable to me. He’s standing up for his guy who just got totally cheap shotted…gets surrounded by Mexican players right by their bench…to get a straight red there was ridiculous in my mind. Dest just simply can’t get caught up in the normal “we-fell-behind-let’s-just-play-cheap” Mexican tactic. I think they’ll plug in Scally and Luca De La Torre for those guys and only have a slight step back, but it would’ve been fun to watch them play with the same squad against Canada. Before the altercation, I think it might’ve been Dest’s best game for the USMNT.

Last night’s game actually presents a good ‘problem’ for them going forward. I wonder if they played the way they did last night because Tyler Adams wasn’t available. He’s clearly going to be on the field (and should be) when healthy, but when he’s playing that means one of Musah/McKennie/Reyna/Weah isn’t and they tend towards a more defensive posture. Makes me wonder if there might be situations where a more attacking style might work better against different teams which could lead to a consideration of playing a squad like last night with Adams off the bench once they get ahead? Sadly…with the re-appointment of Berhalter (who vastly prefers the defensive style) we may never know. If only for one night it was fun to watch…and at Mexico’s expense made it all the sweeter.

Man…are we sure on Dickinson? He’s a statue on defense. A tall one…but he just cannot move. I know that he’s more polished than Udeh/Zuby, but that doesn’t sound awesome to me. That combined with his off the charts level of douche-baggery make it a tough sell on my end

So…Aaron Rodgers is the GM for the Jets…the QB of the Packers…and the owner of the Bears?

I just wonder if the question is about where Gio would play. I would also be an advocate like some of you for trying Weah as the 9 so Gio could play winger. That said…assuming GGG is going to stick with one of Sargent/Haji/Ferreira as the 9…where would you want Gio in the lineup? You’re taking one of Pulisic/Weah or MMA off the field to get him on…nevermind Aaronson as another option as well. It’s a great problem to have, but we’ll have quality on the bench in there somewhere regardless of who we play.

I also don’t find fault with GGG for playing Sargent again…I think he played pretty well before he got nicked. CCV playing was a surprise, but more so was that he played instead of Zim. I wholeheartedly agree with keeping Ream in there…just pleasantly surprised that GGG would’ve played CCV for Zim over him.

Shaq Moore should never touch the field again.

I’m trying to think of a KU equivalent here…you guys can help me. Wisconsin has a few guys that were expected to take the next step but just haven’t. That is part of the reason their offense is as bad as it is this season. Any recent examples for KU? Eric Chenowith was one I thought of. Others?

@dylans That year Wisconsin beat Oregon, North Carolina, Arizona and undefeated Kentucky in the tourney. Usually that would be enough to win it all.

@wissox and I will offer our scouting report on Wisconsin as we each follow both teams. Here we go:

On offense, Wisconsin is a system team only. They really are not looking to take guys off the dribble and rarely play freely. They want to touch the post on every possession and regularly play late into the shot clock. They don’t often take bad shots and they’ll make you defend for 30 seconds.

On defense, they play tough M2M at all times and will make you earn it. They don’t reach a ton, don’t often go for steals and aren’t super interested in getting out in transition. It’ll be a meat grinder game that they’ll try to muck up and play ugly.

PG–Chucky Hepburn is really the only perimeter player they have who will look to take you off the dribble. He’s had a REALLY slow start to his season offensively, especially from 3. He’s capable offensively and is their engine, but it’s been ugly so far because of his struggles. His backups (Lindsay and McGee) aren’t special. Lindsay can shoot the 3, but is a walkon turned scholarship player.

SG–Max Klesmit is a transfer from Wofford. Scrappy with a decent outside shot. Defends like his life depends on it. Will probably piss you off as a KU fan. Just a solid player. His backup (Essegian) is a freshman who can really shoot it. Looks like he’s 12 and doesn’t really defend, but is Wisconsin’s only player who I’d say is a scorer.

SF–Jordan Davis thinks he’s his twin brother (who just got drafted in the top 10) and is nothing close to a high major BB player. My opinion is that he got a scholarship in order for UW to get his brother. He’s really only a threat to score close to the basket but will shoot the ball freely…which you should root for. Good defender. His backup (Ilver) barely played before this year and he’s only a 3-point shooter. Not much athleticism.

PF–Tyler Wahl is their best player who would be at a place like Kansas if he could shoot outside of 10 feet. He does everything else well…rebounds, defends, passes, leads, ball handling…just isn’t much of an outside shooter. UW wants to get him the ball on the block, clear out, and let him try to back you down. He’ll then go over either shoulder with a jump hook…usually after a pump fake. He can switch 1-5 on D and plays super hard. His backup (Gilmore) is another walk-on turned scholly player who is very limited offensively, but plays hard and physical on D. I’d be shocked if he shot the ball on offense except off of offensive rebounds

C–Steven Crowl is a true 7-footer who can play with his back to the basket and shoot the three. Not very athletic and pretty robotic, but can hurt you inside and out. He’s getting better moving his feet, but he really struggles against length and athleticism. Another guy they’ll throw it into and let him try to back you down. His backup (Hodges) plays 5 minutes/game and is raw.

I can’t imagine this will be a pretty game. KU has WAY more talent and athleticism and should win with ease. That said, UW grinds you and if they get KU into a wrestling match it works to their advantage. I think UW keeps it close for 30 minutes and then KU has too much and wins 68-52

@rockchalkjayhawk Right there with you. Feels like a massively missed opportunity. That first half was about as well as they could play. Some of that was because Wales sat back and let the US possess the ball. I actually had no issues with the starting 11 and was pleasantly surprised to not see Ferreira or Aaron Long start. Very un-Berhalter-like.

You knew the 2nd half would look different and it certainly did. I felt like they handled themselves pretty well and assumed that Wales would have their chances. I just hoped they wouldn’t give a cheap one away and the PK was certainly cheap. So not necessary.

Almost feels like a loss post-game, but they would’ve needed to not get killed by England and then beat Iran to go through regardless so not a whole lot has changed. I’m hopeful to see Aaronson and Reyna get more run against England and hope for the best.

I also think it was good to see Ream make it

I don’t have many issues with the roster…

GK: Reports had come out about Steffen. Not sure it really matters. Turner is clearly the guy.

Fullbacks: I guess I’m surprised they took five…and that Cannon wouldn’t then be the 5th. Shaq Moore is pretty out of the blue. Perhaps there’s an injury with a current right back (Dest?) and he’s injury insurance.

Midfield: I don’t think Roldan will touch the field, but I’ve heard that he’s a great locker room guy…a veteran presence…a Berhalter guy. Tillman would’ve been a higher ceiling guy, but the 6th mid won’t see the field.

Wingers: The surprise to me is no Arriola. He’s a Berhalter guy to the Nth degree. I did listen to Roger Bennett’s interview with Berhalter this evening and Berhalter said that Arriola got so much run because at every camp they were missing a winger due to injury. The reality that Pulisic, Weah, Reyna and Aaronson are fit right now…and Morris could play the 9 in a pinch.

Strikers: We all knew Ferreira would go (and sadly will probably play a ton). I like that they brought Sargent. And Wright has been scoring and basically brings what Pefok brings plus he can go at guys 1v1.

Looking forward to it!

I think Brown can become a solid contributor at KU. I’m not enough of a football guy to know why a lineman might thrive in one type of blocking system vs another, but there are clear differences in style of offense at Kansas vs Wisconsin. Maybe a new home and a new system will bring the best out of him. Here’s to hoping…

@wissox Yeah…grew up in Madison, but graduated from KU. Parents have season tix for football and hoops for the Badgers. I’m also on Bucky’s 5th Quarter and see you comment there as well. Good to have a fellow Jayhawk/Badger in both places

I grew up in Madison and am a Badger fan. Here’s my take…

–He’s Quentin Grimes. Brown came to UW with really big expectations as a 5-star…especially as he had offers from Ohio St/Michigan/etc. The burden of expectations is hard. He just didn’t improve and less-heralded guys beat him out for a spot and he was frustrated.

–He did play on occasion, but the article linked above that says he was an ‘important part of the Wisconsin offensive line for the last two seasons’ is just complete nonsense. He redshirted…barely played last year…and was a full-blown turnstyle at LT when he played this year. His greatest contribution was in Wisconsin’s jumbo package when he lines up as an extra TE or FB.

–There were veiled comments by coaches about needing to ‘work on technique’. If you read between the lines, it seems like he either wasn’t coachable or wasn’t picking up what he was being taught. He was given tons of opportunities to earn a spot, but didn’t do it. UW even moved their starting LT from last year inside to guard so Brown could play LT…and he got beaten out.

–The ‘incident’ was that he apparently knocked a freshman DL out cold after a practice fracas was supposedly over. I don’t get the sense that he would’ve gotten tossed from the team based on this alone, but there isn’t much out there on what else may have been happening behind closed doors.

Hopefully a change of scenery and realistic expectations follow him and he has success at KU. He fits the stud LT profile athletically and size-wise. For some reason it just didn’t click at Wisconsin.

For those with an Athletic subscription, here’s a cool story from before the transfer about him working through his battle with diabetes…https://theathletic.com/3492957/2022/08/09/logan-brown-wisconsin-badgers-diabetes/

Not sure I could have any less expectation for success at the World Cup. Hope I’m pleasantly surprised…and that the US can score a goal at least once in their three games

Not what we wanted to see. Where to start…

–The better team won and the score line should have been worse

–SO many giveaways in the defensive half. Can’t blame field conditions for that

–Very little to say about anything on the attacking half because they were so rarely there. Ferreira had one chance in the first half and wasn’t close. We got no answers about who will play the 9 from today

–Long was horrible. Zimmerman was pedestrian at best. Tell me again why there’s no Tim Ream on this team?

–Turner was the bright spot. Had no chance on the two goals and I thought he played well

Can’t say I’m super hopeful…even if Pulisic comes back. That was a total clinic by Japan

My 11pm Pizza Shuttle orders ($3.99 from '94-'98) didn’t help my waistline, but man were they good

It’s interesting how dismissive Berhalter is of Tim Ream. I know he hasn’t been awesome for the USMNT in the past, but he’s a captain and starter on a Premier League team and yet can’t even make the roster? Even with CCV and Richards out!

I like the idea of Weah at the 9. Sargent has played well recently so we’ll see if his form holds. The issue seems to be getting the best players on the field and with such great wingers and such a vacuum up front, it’ll be interesting to see what Berhalter does. Sadly I think it ends up with Ferreira at the 9. Hard pass.

This feels like basically the final roster for the World Cup with only a few injury exceptions (Antonee Robinson and Zach Steffen). I don’t have too many issues with it.

–Reyna and Aaronson give them versatility in the midfield so I’d drop Arriola for Robinson (but I’m pretty sure Berhalter takes Arriola no matter what…maybe they’re related).
–Steffen (if healthy) takes Horvath’s spot –Pepi is probably the one guy who could either play his way off the team or have someone leapfrog him on to the team.

I still hit up Yellow Sub if I’m in town (last time was pre-Covid)

I just can’t see how this is good news if he plays so sporadically. If he’s “Captain America” and plays so infrequently then it’s hard to believe that he’ll be in top form in November we the USMNT needs him

You guys will have to forgive me for not commenting much on club soccer. Followed La Liga for a stretch after a study abroad season in Zaragoza (since relegated to 2nd division) but fell off following once I got married and had kids. I’m all-in as a USMNT guy, but am only a novice otherwise. As the World Cup approaches, I promise to be more engaged here. I appreciate the space on here to talk shop.

I’ll be interested to see how the transfers (or non-transfers) for USMNT players pan out. I was hoping Pulisic would end up moving so he could be on the field more consistently. The moves by the goalies to get playing time…even at a lower level…hopefully will pay dividends in November

I watched the Final a few days ago for the first time since April and came away with one thing for certain…KU got 20 unbelievable minutes from their point guards in the 2nd half. Harris was square in the middle of everything during the comeback and Remy hit huge shots and had the big block in the final minute on Love. As I remember it, I will spend almost no time thinking of Harris’s brain fart with four seconds left as much as I’ll think of how great those two were late…and KU needed both

I’m in Mexico on vacation right now. I’ve asked a few locals if they remember what happened 20 years ago today in world soccer. Then I reminded them of the fat ‘Dos a Cero’ the US laid on Mexico in the round of 16 in World Cup '02. They didn’t seem particularly interested in remembering…but I sure remember.

I don’t think it’ll happen, but I’d like to see Berhalter play either Weah or Reyna up top in one of these lead up games. So much depth with Aaronsen, Musah, McKennie, Pulisic, Weah, Adams, Reyna, De la Torre…to then put someone up top at the 9 that is far less talented seems like a bummer to me.

@BeddieKU23 re: Joe Touissant. Everybody needs to be ready for a full-blown flop-a-thon with him. Plays ‘tough’ and ‘hard-nosed’ and then falls down with a slight breeze. Just fair warning

No complaints about the draw. They’ll need to play well in all three games to advance…like the World Cup should be. Drawing a potential Group A 2nd round match isn’t a bad potential gig either. Can’t wait for November!

@approxinfinity It for sure wasn’t pretty, but it’ll be fun to watch them in the World Cup again. It would be REALLY fun to see what this team could do if all fully healthy at the same time…and then could be even more so four years from now when the best players are in their prime

Solid W. I have to admit that I wasn’t so happy to see Arriola, Ferreira or Moore in the starting XI, but they all played well. Unless they wet the bed in epic proportions, it will be great to be back in the World Cup.

Start of three game set tonight. I would have felt nerves regardless, but minus McKennie, Dest and Aaronson makes it an even taller task. Really hoping it doesn’t come down to needing points in Costa Rica on Wednesday.

@justanotherfan This is the Packers situation except Hill wasn’t a free agent and Davante was. Now is where Mahomes/Rodgers need to earn their money by bringing less talented WR’s up a few levels instead of relying on a stud WR…although you could make the argument that in Kelce KC still has theirs.

I guess they were right. There will be a lot of fans from Iowa in Chicago this Friday

I don’t like Memphis…at all…and they got a tough whistle in that second half