Posts made by jayhawk 007

Ku Fans and college basketball aficionados,

Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Time to get our mind back on our favorite team in our favorite sport for the 2020-21 season. Nothing like college basketball for a KU alumni and avid supporter. Could this be the year?

First, a quick note of reverence for the 1999-20 team who was built for March. I had my money on KU to win it all: Big Man All-American dominate in the paint, Point Guard All American fast and tough in the tradition of Frank, Devonte and all those all KU lead guard superstars over the years; Best Defense All American(POY) in the nation; good enough role players and shooters to make this group upset proof; and finally, Best Coach at crunch time to increase our chances “when the popcorn starts popping”… I liked our chances a lot last year and we had the perfect college fit and chemistry to go all the way. We were on a role, getting better. Dok and Dot and Marcus were not going to let us lose. Only this new season helps turn the page…

Water under the bridge…onward to the new team which will kick off the year against number one Gonzaga this week to the great enjoyment of all.

First the veterans: Marcus – super stud, vocal and physical leader, best defensive player in the country, very high BB IQ, a coach on the floor on both ends who will have to do it on both ends of the court this year; he will, and he will hit his free throws when it matters most Big Dave – high energy, high talent, hustle and clutch, one of the best big men in the conference, smooth stoke from 15 feet and a good free throw shooter; no fear; loves a challenge and loves his team; will be the man in paint with big minutes this year Ochai – future pro who knows how to compete and win; under-rated on D; clutch and cool under pressure; will rebound and pass better this year; more consistent scorer; team player who will continue to improve Mitch – “if you cut his chest open, a Jayhawk would fly out” Snacks; solid, tough, five year senior who is hungry for a championship to crown his KU experience Christian – mandatory Kansas boy who surprises everyone with is very solid and consistent play; clutch shooter (no hesitation, no shaky arm, super smooth stroke); hustle all over both ends of the court; he is good and getting better Tristan – future pro in Europe; four-year player at Kansa who will get a lot better every game he plays (double digit playing time); he will personally win us a game or two this year; still raw but lots of talent

Then the first-year players:

Jalen – maybe the best athlete on the team; loves to mix it up down low with bigger, heavier opponents; a little rust to shake off before conference play starts; good, solid performances off the bench; we need his toughness on the boards and guarding his man Dajuan – back up point guard to spell Marcus from bringing it up the court every time; small but tough, sticky D with quick hands; chomping at the bit to get some action this year; will become a KU fan favorite over the next four years Tyon – hot and cold but capable of a 25-point performance on any given night against any competition; might be slow to adjust o Bill Self’s system which does not favor free-lance play; might be slow to adjust to physical Big 12 play; a factor at the end of the year for sure if he can stay healthy, wild card Brice – our best pro prospect who will be lights out after a month or two; team-player looking to contribute to team success; he will fit into the KU system on O and D perfectly after he learns where to go and what to do and can play to the scouting report; uber-talented who is a little light to mix it up, one more year of muscle as a sophomore to become a team leader and a first round NBA draft pick Latrell – very small Jethro – very big Non-Schollies – good group, maybe Chris Teahan can win us a game this year by knocking down a couple of threes in a game on the road against a zone? Coaching – good job of fending off the NCAA and keeping the student-athletes focused on studies and basketball and staying safe and isolated from COVID; Bill wants a title, Bill needs a title, Bill deserves another title; last year was the perfect team to go and get another one; this year, not so sure, need fast development of the bench players to get excellence by committee (different guy every night, great team D as always; can we score in bunches? Stroke the three with consistency? Can we rebound with the best big, strong, talented teams? … not sure yet)

Anyway, we will have a highly entertaining group of players and the team will gel quickly, great chemistry right out of the gate. Gonzaga has seniors and shooters and guys who really know how to play the game, especially at the start of the season. Good eyeball test for our new team. I think we will lose a close one, after falling behind early, and clawing our way back. Should be fun to watch.

By year end, our team will be better and baring injuries or stoppage, we will make a run at Baylor for the Big 12 and maybe even a run to the Final Four. Rock Chalk!

Happy Thanksgiving!

@justanotherfan

Marcus to inbound, Dot and Moss as primary targets, with Christian and Och as secondary. Big Dave as option five. Moss needs to break more, not just move once and wait for the pass, but we want Marcus in bounding and not getting fouled. Dot and Isiah are money with the game on the line.

@BeddieKU23 yes

Quick BB Question: why in the world does KU not have Marcus inbound the ball at the end of the game when the pther team is pressing? He is our best passer and worst FT shooter (besides Dok). Sould he be the one to inbound th ball to either Isiah, Dot, or if not possible, one of the other guards?

ROCK CHALK!

Basketball season is finally here, and the conference season is just around the corner. The team looks great and barring serious injury, we will start another Big 12 title streak and make another Final Four in 2020. This year’s team has a good blend of size, speed and length to be an elite defensive force. Coach has the personnel to run his traditional ‘hi-lo’ offense but someone should tell him that it is out of date and stale, even the hi-bred update version. Go for Dribble-Drive and unclog the lane like we have in the recent past. Regardless, we are not an elite offensive team. We lack shooters and play-makers and offensive coaching. So, we will hang our hat on D – tough D! D travels, D wins and D is more consistent that O. In Self we trust!

Coach: mix it up more between man and zone and pressure/trap, be creative.

After the Villanova game our fans were a little down on Dot. Turnover, no foul, missed free throw, bad game point management, missed D assignment, missed last shot…Yes, but this is not all on Dot. And he made the great play to get the ball back for the last shot opportunity and got a good look at the basket. The last four years we have been blessed with outstanding point guards: Frank, Devonte and now Dot. These guys are STUDS! And we remember Frank and Devonte as seniors whereas Dot is just a sophomore. Dot is faster than almost anyone in college with the basketball, in the open court. He blows by good defenders routinely and brings and unbelievable amount of energy to the game on both ends. His on-the-ball D is exceptional. He is becoming a leader on the court. He must do so much night in and night out to get us a W. No one can always make it happen, every time. It is much tougher against elite competition like Duke and Nova. He is our guy and he is still improving. He will be a first round selection next year in the NBA draft.

Coach: give him a quick second half blow every game and he will be a better closer.

Dot & Dok (we love the Double D) are by far the best and most talented players on our roster. This has the making of one of the great dynamic duos in KU BB history. Matt Tait wrote an excellent piece about them a few weeks back. Dok is getting better and will peak in March. He is only 20 years old and has not played very much basketball in his career. He looks great, slim, powerful and is becoming an elite rebounder and shot blocker. He is moving his feet and sliding better. I love his near the basket game. Concerning free throws, like Shaq, he will make them when the count!

Coach: keep him on the court at the end of the game as a difference-maker.

Marcus is the glue guy we cannot do without. We need him to stay healthy and be smart with the ball on O like he is on D. His off the ball D is world class and his leadership and occasional point guard skills (to spell Dot) will take us to the promised land. He rebounds, guards the other team’s best player, passes well and knows how to play the game better than anyone else on our team.

Coach: leave Marcus on the court all game, every game and tape those ankles.

Ochai is talented, perfect body for ballin’. He can become a second/third team all-conference player this year if he can be more consistent. He can become an elite defender, rebounder and offensive player if he gains consistency on both ends. He is so much fun to watch. Our best above the rim player.

Coach: encourage Och to drive the ball more and not settle for the long three.

David is a stud and the most articulate player on the team in the interview room. He has not yet fully grown into his body (think puppy with over-sized feet) but no one tries harder or is more competitive that Big Dave. His on-the-ball D is improving but it will take another year or two to hit elite all-conference status. He has developed a nice mid-range game which will help us win this year.

Coach: let David play through mistakes, he is a fast learner and hits the boards hard.

Silvio needs to gain confidence and he too will improve a lot by year end. He is our best offensive rebounder and a fan favorite. Soft touch, stud potential. Isaiah will win us a game or two in conference play but the ability to play big minutes is lacking, especially in ball handling and D. He rebounds well on defense. We will need him to stroke the three and have coach runs plays to get him open set shots every game. The two freshman – Christian and Tristan will need to step up and play hard and give us some good bench minutes this year. They will. Both are talented and learning how to play at the next level. The speed of the game and its physical nature take some time to get used to. They will improve a lot by year end.

Coach: use the bench more, especially early on against elite talent. They need the pressure context and we will need them to perform as the year move on, and they can only do this with game time experience.

Team chemistry is great, especially this early in the year. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Merry Christmas to all KU fans.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26146594/how-kansas-big-12-supremacy-unraveled

A few thoughts on the current crop of KU basketball players and how the year is shaping up.

So far, the Jayhawks have performed well and over-achieved in non-conference play. A great start to another great year. I predicted at the start of the season, one more Big 12 title, another 30+ win season, and another one seed in March.

Concerning the Dance…injuries notwithstanding, and the crap shoot nature of a single game elimination tournament…we have a strong shot at another Final Four and a fair shot at a Championship. Let’s see how we hold up in Lexington and how consistent we can play during the conference games in January and February.

In any case, this team is better than the ones which have taken the court over the last two years. We have more depth and overall talent and balance. We are a better team and more upset proof this year, even without our wonderful senior leadership at point guard over the past two years.

The biggest surprise this year is our freshman point guard, Devon Dotson. He is Tyshawn Taylor fast baseline to baseline, and a better player as a freshman than either Frank or Devonte was their first years. He is tough, very competitive and loves the game. He plays good D and all he cares about is winning. He wants the ball in his hands at crunch time, poise and decision-making. He already drives the lane fearlessly. Stud!

Q has been getting better but lacks the Josh Jackson alpha dog attitude, and the Andrew Wiggins talent. But he could end up being a better college player than either of them, especially if he stays another year. He is our wild card and could take off at any time to assert himself as an all-league talent, or he could remain hesitant and unsure of his game. His D and rebounding and passing are good and getting better. His free throw shooting is excellent (smooth stroke). He is attacking the basket more and we hope that his shot will start to fall to give him confidence. If yes, KU becomes even more elite overnight. Skill!

LaGerald at the small forward (3 position) is streaky and explosive. His play early this season is the only reason we have one loss instead of three or four. His attitude and body language are good, but his concentration and basketball IQ are not yet at the level which would allow him to be the senior leader the team needs. We would not be nearly as good without him, glad he came back for his senior year. We need him to be a solid, consistent contributor with the occasional break-out game. Athleticism!

Dedric is an all-American double-double machine. He has paid his dues and is a model of efficient play. He scores and rebounds and passes at a very high level, every game, averaging about 20/10/3. The scoring and rebounding will drop a little, but the assists will grow over the next two months in conference play. His man D is average, and his athleticism is not very impressive, but he is a poor man’s Larry Bird and a great college player. He is our rock and our best player. We love his game (he is always in the right spot on the floor), and his commitment to the team and winning. Big 12 POY!

Dok is a mountain of a player who is still a teenager! He is remarkably quick and fast and athletic for a man of his size, and he is getting better, more skilled with each passing week. Injuries aside (the big guys get hurt more in the growing phase from boys to men), he slides well and runs well and is quick off the floor with his first jump ability. He wants to do well and cares about the team first. Powerful!

Our bench is better and deeper and more complete than any time in recent memory, especially Garrett who can ball even if he cannot shoot. Tough! We can and should use the bench more this year.

As HCBS said very astutely after our last game: “Our best Offense is with Doke. Our best Defense is probably without Dok.” Dok is an asset on D as a rim protector and rebounder and lane clogger. But as we have already seen, against an opponent with five shooters (4 + 1) who knows how to play (forced switches to gain match-up advantages), two Bigs (Dok and Dedric) on the floor can be a weakness (remember Nova last year).

The team is infinitely better offensively with Dok in the game, and even playing with two Bigs when he is out of the game, playing the traditional hi-lo. To win it all and reach our potential, we must shoot and make more threes. Better to keep shooting them even if we are not a very good long ball shooting team, 22-25 per game (8-9 makes), on average. Different team, different skills, different year.

I predicted three months ago that this would be an elite defensive team by the end of the season, playing better on-the ball and team D than in recent past teams. We are not there yet, but we are improving. Very happy to see coach try some new combinations (trapping, full-court pressure, playing D further out to disrupt O and not allow open threes…). Should we take even more risks on D? Go for more steals, be disruptive and aggressive – coach calls it being ‘active’. Yes!

We have a deep bench and capable guys. Be more creative on full-court press on occasion, double teams more often, trap the post like last game, at least a couple of times every game, get into passing lanes, hard fouls (no more ‘and ones’ against us going forward!). Switch to zone from time to time. Mix it up and add more pressure D coach, this team can handle it.

Keys to success: tight M2M and Team D, with classical Hi-Lo offense playing through Bigs, kick out to open threes. We do not need to score 80 to win, 70 will do this year.

Good luck to the team and coaches as we enter conference play. It is remarkable our string of consecutive conference titles, never before and never again. The Dance is the cherry on the cake. Let’s eat the cake first and enjoy every bite.

Rock Chalk! Happy New Year to Jayhawk fans everywhere!

KU fans can get ready for a very different style of play for the 2018-19 season.

The hybrid hi-lo which unclogged the lane and jacked up a record number of threes will revert back to the classical formula, played through the 4 spot, which will look very different from the last two years (get used to Dedric showing his lottery pick talent in the high post around the free throwline, nothing flashy but deadly in his efficiency, scoring and passing and rebounding).

We might be less explosive and score fewer points and be a little less fast from end to end, but our play will be much more balanced and our offensive efficiency will be improved. Look for points per possession to be at an all time high by the end of conference play. Look for a very balanced allocation of minutes played and point scored and rebounds across the board.

But the greatest and most exciting development this year will be on the defensive end of the court. We will not have to outscore opponents to win the game. We will guard and rebound and get the 50-50 balls at a much higher rate than the last few years. We can foul and play hard and get tired with no consequences to our level of play. Next man up!

Slackers who do not block out or stay in front of their man or do not go 100% on every possession will sit early and often. No one will take any possessions off this year. So we should get after it in a very aggressive manner.

Our individual D will be a tough man-to-man (no more zone) and our team D will jell after Christmas. Team D is the most underrated aspect of winning basketball. By the end of the season, we will be an elite defensive team who can play big, small and anywhere in between.

Coach Self has always been a defensive guy first and foremost. He will get to adjust his schemes on D in the same way he has (remarkably) adjusted his offensive schemes over the past two years., to fit his talent and depth. We will see the lock down D we have not seen in many years, maybe since 2008.

Coach: How about experimenting with a full court pressure defense from tip off to final buzzer? I know you have always said “we do not press, we pressure, not full court but (maybe) three-quarters, solid fall back man in the half court is our bread and butter.”

For the first time in ages you have the athletes in number and quantity to wreck total havoc on the opposing team, and show another side of KU BB which has been missing for a while. I would love to see an ultra aggressive - in your face - D deployed in game after game and just wear the opponent down to the nub by half time.

Furthermore, this would require our guys to be tuned up on every single possession. Let your man get by you, take a seat on the bench. Get up under their guards 30 feet from the basket. Fight through the screens, less switching. Tough, tough, tough until the opponent surrenders and we develop that killer mentality from game one.

The decision to go full court on D, with some trapping and risk taking in an extremely aggressive style would be as innovative on the D side as you have been on the O side, adjusting to your personnel. Come on Coach, let’s see if we can keep the other team from running any offense at all, press them all the way past the three point line, give 'em 40 minutes of hell with no fall back positioning in the half court.

Concerning predictions for this year’s group, once again 30 + wins, another Big 12 title, no home court losses, another Final Four. We will be less spectacular (flashy) but a better team. Please, none of this “anything but a national championship is a failed season.”

No one on this rat board wants it more than the coaches and the players. Enjoy the process and watch the team get better every game. We will be very solid and hopefully able to elevate our game at the key moments, late in the season, to give ourselves a change to cut down some nets.

Rock Chalk!!!

Nova is a better team, athletes and players, best program in the country over the last five years. If we played them ten times, we would lose eight or nine.

They shot lights out early and got confidence, the basket grew and most shots where swishes from downtown. The set the record for made threes (tied it in the first half!). That shot at the start of the second half after we had a glimmer of hope as the shot clock expired, from way downtown…enough said.

Their front court was better than ours and their back court was better than ours, deeper and more versatile. (In the title game their bench guy 6th man scored 31 and was named Final Four MVP…wow! that is depth and many weapons at a whole different level, GREAT O and much better than average D, just a complete deep team with talent and experience, 'hats off to the program and this year’s crew and coach Jay - they are truly the elite college team)

So, in summary, we (and everybody else) was completely outclassed, offensively and defensively and Villanova was peaking at just the right time. There is NO WAY we could have jacked up 40 three pointers, come on man!

Also, the number of threes depend on the quality of the shot, not quantity of shots attempted… You either have to step back and take a looooooong one from way downtown, or your O scheme has to allow for open catch and shoot looks, then knock 'em down. No one is going to get his own consistently off the dribble at the college level.

The way they were running their offense and the quality of looks against our average D was not going to be successful unless they missed and got tight, and the opposite happened.

BTW…the Big East is NOT mid-major, come on man! It is a good conference. And Nova peaked at just the right time…like a court full of Newmans confidence wise in their shots in March. That team would beat anybody consistently at the end of the year. They would outscore with great O or grind it out with strong D. The great defensive teams this year (like UV or MSU or TTor WVU) did not have the fire power and the great offensive teams (like KU) did not have the D to compete and win consistently against that team, this year, in March.

The ONLY thing KU could have done which we did not do was close out better on their three point shooters which MIGHT have disrupted their rhythm just a little. We tried but were a step too slow and with the big guy we could not protect the three point line after the switches. They had SEVEN players hit a three in the first half and all starters had at least two threes in the first half! Unreal. Once they got going, it was a fret train.

TT was the best defensive team in out conference this year and they disrupted a little bit more the open threes that Nova creates through mismatches and GREAT ball movement. WVU is good and their press is really good. Nova beat the field by double digits. And they got better each game!

Still, as their POY stud point guard said, “if we we were not hitting shots, we would have just grinded it out and still won”…impressive and true, just as they did against TT.

BRAVO to KU players and coaches who got as much out of this team as humanly possible.

Great year, lots of fun, no embarrassment in the semis…just ran into a buzz saw who shot it lights out. Thanks to all in KU nation for a highly entertaining year. We overperformed, be proud and happy and supportive. Well done!

GREAT Big 12 champs again (14 straight is amazing), Big 12 touney champs w/out Dok was impressive, GREAT GREAT Elite Eight win over Duke - by far the game of this year’s Madness.

Now on the next year, as pre-season number one! RCJH!

Consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Teams in bold denote an active streak. Rank School Number of Years 1 Kansas 28 (1990–2017) 2 North Carolina 27 (1975–2001) 3 Arizona 25 (1985–2009)* 4 Duke 22 (1996–2017) 5 Michigan State 20 (1998–2017) 6 Gonzaga 19 (1999–2017) 6 Wisconsin 19 (1999–2017) 7 Indiana 18 (1986–2003) 9 Kentucky 17 (1992–2008) 10 UCLA 15 (1967–1981)^ 11 Cincinnati 14 (1992–2005) 11 UCLA 14 (1989–2002)† 11 Georgetown 14 (1979–1992) 11 Texas 14 (1999–2012) 15 Temple 12 (1990–2001)

• NCAA vacated 1999 and 2008 appearances. ^ NCAA vacated 1980 appearance.

Here we go…

At the start of this year, I predicted another 30 + win season, another Big 12 title and another Final Four appearance. This team is fast, great passers, even better shooters and surely could develop over the course of the season the tough high quality team defense we KU fans are used to since Coach Self took the reigns.

Plus we have a nice mix of senior leadership and youthful talent. Plus we have the best coaches and trainers and fans. Plus we have home court advantage. Plus we have the Rock Chalk magic!

But when we saw early on 6’5" 175 lbs Lagerald at the high post against a tall and long Washington team in KC instead of 6’10" 240 lbs Billy, and the game result - the way we played as well as the final score, I had a small doubt. Then with no more Billy on the roster and our beloved Jayhawks down a game in conference play, I had a bigger doubt. We needed another big badly, and Dwight (he would have been great this year for KU) and Billy (poor Billy, sad to see where he is at now) were out of the picture.

With Billy developing normally, we would have been an elite team, with a high development (lottery pick talent season) we would have been a Final Four favorite, with a low and slow development, still pretty damn good and better than we have done to date. With Dwight we would have been much better. But without either one…and Mitch has played to his potential and Silvio is still a year away…I did not like our chances to win the Big 12 this year.

All wishful thinking…we know the story. We caught a break with the injury to TT’s point guard (like we have caught a few breaks a few times over the past 14 years, remember Griffin’s timely injury) and here we are BIG 12 CHAMPS again! Absolutely remarkable for the program, HCBS and this year’s group of players.

Devonte’s play at WV and at TT was out of this world, and as the song goes, “We are the champions…” He has single-handedly willed us to another title, by attacking the rim, getting to the free-throw line, playing D, running the offense, staying positive…Big 12 player of the year with no elite talent around him, remarkable.

Now we enter post-season play. The touney will be interesting as we have no depth and the games - if we win - will be back to back to back with no rest. How will we play Devonte 40 minutes in 3 straight games? And the others 38-39 minutes a game? Let’s watch closely to see how coach plays it, assuming we get past the first game to play another one.

Other than entertainment value, and possibly a seed line up or down, the post-season conference touney means little. But the conference title means a lot! Please no more comments about how the Big 12 conference title is insignificant if we do not make the Final Four. How we would trade all the conference titles for one more national championship…

Winning the conference and making it to the final weekend of the Dance are not mutually exclusive. Getting a One Seed and not making the Final Four is not under-achieving. Getting a Two Seed and not making the Elite Eight is not under-achieving, especially for this team. This team has already OVER-achieved, by far. Anything else will be icing on the cake.

To the contrary of most fans and probably everyone reading this post, the conference title actually means more in terms of accomplishments for this team and our program than a deep run in the touney. The two-game series, home-away, and the way the Big 12 is set up make it very favorable for our team and our coach to win, not every game (like single elimination) but over the course of an entire season of conference play. BRAVO TO THE TEAM AND TO THE COACHES FOR ANOTHER BIG 12 CONFERENCE TITLE, REMARKABLE!

Devonte: stud. Svi: stud. Doke: young stud. Malik: potential stud. Legerald: trying hard to be stud. Marcus: intangibles stud. Mitch: “white men can’t jump” stud. Silvio: future stud. Coaches and Trainers: consistent studs. A very impressive group and we are very proud of them this year especially with their play and their results so far. KU circa 2017-18.

The odds of winning the national title are low for every team, every year and there is rarely a dominate group who is assured a Final Four, or a championship trophy. This year, there are at least a dozen teams who COULD win it all. None SHOULD win it all. If the game is close, I like our chances. But an off-shooting night and we are toast.

Single elimination tourney is a crap shoot and so we have many random and unpredictable things that can happen in: injuries (Embiid), two quick fouls in the first few minutes of a game (JJ), bad bouces of the ball or a lucky shot by another team…and all the teams after the first round, and especially after the first weekend, are really, really good.

KU this year - as coach has said a hundred times - are very vulerable with no margin for error. Take the eye test looking at most of the 65 teams athletes in the Dance this year, or even the Big 12, next to ours for the current roster of KU players. We are small and weak and a poor rebounding team.

It is hard to shoot it lights and play your best ball and get all the breaks for six straight games. There are a few examples. UConn did it but that is a rare case. KU this year would have to pull a UConn to get to the final weekend of play in the Dance. Can they do it? Yes. Will they do it? Probably not.

But in all cases, we have had another great season of highly entertaining college basketball. Wherever the chips may fall, let’s be supportive and encouraging to this team of players and coaches.

The first test may come against OSU tomorrow. If we play them again, let’s see if we can prevail against a team who has whipped up twice badly and has superior atheletes (not players, but atheletes). Winning the post season games is a lot more fun, but not necessarily the only thing that matters for this year’s team.

Rock Chalk Post Season Jayhawk!!!

KU BB fans are eager to get into the heart of the 2017-18 season and the start of Big 12 action signals the Jan-Feb grind for a 14th straight Big 12 title, surpassing the UCLA run back when they had players like Jabbar and Walton, and for multiple years. (imagine if KU had had Embiid for the touney in 13-14…and then for another two years after that!).

The Jayhawks circa 2017-18 are the team who have a chance to make history, and establish the record, a truly remarkable feat. Of course we want to make a deep run in March, but this is an unbelievable (never before and never again) achievement. For more information, read this:

https://www.foxsports.com/college-basketball/story/kansas-basketball-big-12-streak-greatest-feat-ucla-bill-self-ncaa-tournament-022317

March Madness is around the corner, recruting for next year is a good subject but let’s focus on conference play. Rock Chalk!

Big 12 is unique in that there is a home-away with every single opponenet and there are some goood teams this year (check the rankings at season launch). Lots of excellent competition. We have a secret coaching weapon…we know our opponents and can adjust to find ways to win.

We have a couple of new pieces in Sam and Silvio but we really need Billy to win it again and make a serious run to the Final Four.

The guard play this year is outstanding, but we are a jump shooting team who cannot be hot every night. So Coach wants us to be able to grind to victory when the shots are not falling.

We are not a grind it our team (he calls it ‘soft’), but it has more to do with size and physical play than being weak and a lack of effort. We can get tougher mentally. Devonte, Lagerald and Svi are game tough but the other players are not yet.

Dok is doing great but he is only 18 and is still a work in progress. Consistency and staying on the floor are key success factors for his personal and this year’s team success.

Mitch is a great teammate and hustle guy but he cannot compete at the elite level necessary to win against the best teams. Silvio will help and he has a motor but his contribution this year will be limited. (Great to get him here this year but he cannot carry the team and will have a hard time learning the speed of the game and how to play this season).

With Billy, we have an elite team. Without him, we have a good team. Seeing Lagerald at the high post (especially against the zone) or Marcus in the middle makes me realize just how thin we are this year, even running the hybrid hi-lo which the coaching staff has implemented very well. Billy changes the team dynamic big time on offense. Will he play this year? Can he avoid being a defensive liability? Can he bang and rebound? If yes, we will be really, really good and among the best teams in the nation.

If not, we will still be a top 15 team and could win the conference (or tie) and maybe make a run but who knows?

Now that we have a little more depth in the back court, I would like to see us pressure more, pick them up full court, take more chances, create more havic on defense. Rotate the guys in and out for short rests. The only indispensable player is Devonte (maybe Dok) so let’s use them all Coach and force the action!

Truth be told, I am concerned with our on-the-ball defense and ability to keep elite opposing guards in front of us. With weak rim protection, we are playing it safe, on our heels, hence the WU and ASU open three pointers, but against the other teams as well (they just missed more shots).

Out team defense could be elite but we have no stopper on the perimeter. Of our five starters, only Devonte and LaGerald are above average at guarding the ball. Dok and Svi and Malek are all getting better but are sub-standard for KU players. We really need elite team D to match our elite team O.

Rock Chalk! Let’s kick some Texas butt and get out of the starting blocks with a W! Here we go…

Rock Chalk to KU fans! Football is finally over and basketball is here. We might even gain a player from their squad, a minor contribution to KU Athletics, but hey when you are where the football program is, every little contribution counts. KU BB is so fun to watch this year, even better than last year! The guard play is tremendous. This is the best shooting and passing team we have had in the Bill Self era. And the fastest. And our head coach is turning them loose. He screamed at Lagerald for not jacking up a quick three in transition in the last game. Imagine that! We have come a long way on the offensive end, and our coaching philosophy has adapted to the current personnel and to a more modern style of play. However, the change is more than jus the current roster of players and shooters, the old school coach has evolved for the better on O. Although we have not yet seen a KU player turn down a lay up to pass to a wide open three point shooter (like Golden State does), we are running and gunning and using our athleticism and our superior talent to speed up the game and shoot it early in the clock. Shoot the open three!, always, at any time! It is the most exciting development from a stubborn coach who knows how to win and will play his team in the best way to procure the ‘W’, no exceptions.
I will leave it to some of the other board rats more into analytics than me to provide the percentages of three point shooting vs two point shooting related to “best chance to win” statistics. It is certainly more modern and more high performing than the old conservative style of play on O.
I just love the spread offense (in the corners) and the hybrid hi-lo (unclogging the lane), not just because we are guard heavy but because it is a high octane powerful force in modern college ball. We can still dribble-drive and shoot or pitch, but no longer have to feed the post as our first option every time.
We can win by outscoring the opponent but as we proved against UK, we can win even when we do not shoot well. (UK is slightly down this year but KU is really good and showed tremendous toughness and senior leadership in that game). If we can keep Dok in the game we can play at a very high level and win any game, including the ones in March. When we get Billy back in a month, and get the high schooler (mini T-Rob) on the team at the end of Dec, we will be ready to make a very serious run. Plan B -which might be enough - is to have Mitch for “pitch and pop” and a few blocks, and Plan C is to have the football tight end knock people down and out for 2-4 min, if and when that particular game requires it. But our guard play is just a joy to watch. Frank was the NPoY but we have a better unit this year. Out current five, soon to be six are super studs and their D will get better as the weeks go bye.
We have a few weakenesses on individual D, keeping people in front of us, and our rebounding is still questionable, but our O and intangibles make up for it.
Our team D will get better by March. Our O is already top of class. This is the year, barring injuries, that the KU fans will get the cherry (Final Four) on the cake (another Big 12 title and 30+ win season). Believe it, this team stays healthy, this team is a favorite for the National Title. Rock Chalk!

Roy has done a remarkable job at getting great players and keeping them 2-3 years. He has a great blend of talent and always lots of long, athletic talent. He has done better than Cal (the king of OAD), better than coach K (who remains the gold standard), better than Izzo (great in the tourney and D), better than Coach Self (my favorite)…and all the others over the past few years.

Roy’s teams the last two years were one long three point shot away from double back-to-back titles, like UF did a few years ago, very impressive. This year’s team had almost all the same players on the court as last year. Wow!

And they did it without making threes. They did not need to shot well to win it all because they rebound, run, have length, play decent D (not outstanding but solid), have great bb players with bb bodies. And they play within his style and like each other.

The man can really recruit and keep his guys and develop them too. He has a ‘player type’ which is fast, lean, long and did we say ‘fast’. He is not the best game time coach but he puts his guys in a position to make a play. and win. One and only one philosophy: go fast and if that does not work, go faster!

He lets his guys play (three time-outs left in his pocket at the end of this year’s title game…while Coach Few called two crucial ones in the last minute and messed up his team’s rhythm and got nothing from ‘running his stuff’). BTW, our coach is the best for using time outs for his advantage I have ever seen: when to use them and out of bounds plays are great year after year.

The bad feeling from some KU fans b/c coach Roy was at KU for 14 years and never won a title, and in 14 years at UNC he has now won three, is not fair to him and reflects a poor understanding of the game, and the man. Roy still loves KU and always will.

I do not like coach Roy as well as I like coach Self, as a man of character, as a game time coach or as a representative of the, university. But the man can really recruit, pull those emotional strings and keep guys for 2-4 years… He is a great coach.

I LOVE his model of TAD (two and three year players), less OAD and less transfers in and out of the program, very impressive. Of course, UNC wears a better brand of shoe and maybe is not very rigorous about getting his guys to go to class…but he is not a sleaze ball or a poor coach at all. He loves his players like all the great ones do. He sticks to his style and to his guns. He is a winner. We are honored to have had Coach Roy for 14 wonderful years, and to hand the program to Coach Self in good shape (except for a few minor violations … boys will be boys).

Coach Self will win at least three more championships over the next 14 years if he stays that long. He is a great HOF coach and is much younger than Roy. I am waiting to see if the more open style on O, longer quick twitch athletes, bigger guards, NBA talent surrounded by 4-5 year guys, playing Self D.

Rock Chalk!

Roy has done a remarkable job at getting great players and keeping them 2-3 years. He has a great blend of talent and always lots of long, athletic talent. He has done better than Cal (the king of OAD), better than coach K (who remains the gold standard), better than Izzo (great in the tourney and D), better than Coach Self (my favorite)…and all the others over the past few years.

Roy’s teams the last two years were one long three point shot away from double back-to-back titles, like UF did a few years ago, very impressive. This year’s team had almost all the same players on the court as last year. Wow!

And they did it without making threes. They did not need to shot well to win it all because they rebound, run, have length, play decent D (not outstanding but solid), have great bb players with bb bodies. And they play within his style and like each other.

The man can really recruit and keep his guys and develop them too. He has a ‘player type’ which is fast, lean, long and did we say ‘fast’. He is not the best game time coach but he puts his guys in a position to make a play. and win. One and only one philosophy: go fast and if that does not work, go faster!

He lets his guys play (three time-outs left in his pocket at the end of this year’s title game…while Coach Few called two crucial ones in the last minute and messed up his team’s rhythm and got nothing from ‘running his stuff’). BTW, our coach is the best for using time outs for his advantage I have ever seen: when to use them and out of bounds plays are great year after year.

The bad feeling from some KU fans b/c coach Roy was at KU for 14 years and never won a title, and in 14 years at UNC he has now won three, is not fair to him and reflects a poor understanding of the game, and the man. Roy still loves KU and always will.

I do not like coach Roy as well as I like coach Self, as a man of character, as a game time coach or as a representative of the, university. But the man can really recruit, pull those emotional strings and keep guys for 2-4 years… He is a great coach.

I LOVE his model of TAD (two and three year players), less OAD and less transfers in and out of the program, very impressive. Of course, UNC wears a better brand of shoe and maybe is not very rigorous about getting his guys to go to class…but he is not a sleaze ball or a poor coach at all. He loves his players like all the great ones do. He sticks to his style and to his guns. He is a winner. We are honored to have had Coach Roy for 14 wonderful years, and to hand the program to Coach Self in good shape (except for a few minor violations … boys will be boys).

Coach Self will win at least three more championships over the next 14 years if he stays that long. He is a great HOF coach and is much younger than Roy. I am waiting to see if the more open style on O, longer quick twitch athletes, bigger guards, NBA talent surrounded by 4-5 year guys, playing Self D.

Rock Chalk!

Guys - when I write “we got beat by a better team” I do not mean in general every time, but in that particular game. The plays Oregon made on O and D were worthy of a W. They were the better team last Sat by far, and Bell was the best player on the floor by far.

If we shot poorly, it is also because of their length and athleticism. Their players shot over our players time and time again, posted our guys up and turn and shoot the 12-18 range fade away jumper, made multiple NBA threes and disrupted our O all night long (GREAT transition D by Oregon while Bell still hit the O boards, impressive).

I cannot believe some KU fans are still thinking “we should have won.” We got beat by 14 on our home court! If we played them ten times on a neutral court, they would win 5-6-7 times. Sorry guys, but our team is not the most talented physically in most end of year tournament matchups, including this year against Oregon. (Purdue was slow, Oregon is fast).

The difference by far was Bell (PAC 10 POY). When you block that many shots and disrupt that many other shots, rarely does the other team have a good shooting night. Cause-Effect.

We got beat by a better team and their size on the perimeter was huge (how many times did they post up and back us down and shot over the top?). And their athleticism on the block was much higher than ours.

One last thing, in the tournament, the completion is MUCH better. Of course we play less well because the other teams are that much better.

Sometimes we get lucky and get the breaks (08 and 12) and sometimes we get unlucky and just cannot get a break or a shot to fall. Over a six game single elimination tournament, no room for error. BUT, we also missed shots because they were bigger and longer and stronger and better players than most of the teams we had faced this year, not dominant, but a little better class of athlete and we could not run our normal O. We were just a little out of our normal rhythm.

We got beat by a better team and by better, bigger players (one-on-one). This loss hurts a lot because of the way this team won so many close games and our chemistry on the court and our coaching. We were at home. We were favored to win. We were seated #1.

Still, we did not chock or underperform, individually or as a team. Some of our guys did not play as well as they have in previous games because of the level of competition. Michigan and Oregon were the two best teams in the Midwest Region.

Could we have won, of course! Should we have won, no.

Rock Chalk!

PS I really like the thoughts on how to attack that match up zone. This is the only area where we might question our coaching staff. They played it out very high and we had to start our O much further from the basket than normal. Could we have made more clever game time and half time adjustments?

KU players, coaches, avid fans and marginal supporters,

Congrats on another year of fun, high level play, great effort and strong results. I had predicted in a previous post at the start of the year another Big 12 Title, another 30+ win season and another Final Four appearance.

Hey, two out of three, and almost three out of three ain’t bad…close but no cigar. Disappointing but the sky is not falling. The program is in excellent shape and our team had an excellent chance of going all the way, but so do other teams, like Oregon. I guess it was not meant to be.

Here are a few subjects we KU fans who follow religiously our team and believe every year we can go all the way, might like to consider:

1. This team and this group of young men performed at a high level and fulfilled their “contract” this season. We were not the overwhelming favorite and a dominant force in college basketball. No one is anymore, as any of a dozen teams can win the title in any give year. Let’s be thankful we are ALWAYS in the hunt. We had a good shot and came up short. No lack of effort, no shame, no one’s fault. Last night, we got beat by a better team.

2. Oregon has as good or a better team than Kansas this year. Many sports fans do not make a distinction between “should have won” and “could have won”. There is NO WAY they wanted it more than us. There is NO WAY we were outhustled, out coached or unprepared. If you look at the rosters, they are bigger, longer, more athletic than we are, and they outplayed us on the floor last night. Period. Hats off to the Ducks!

3. We could have won and were the favorites and were playing at home, we all agree on this, but this game was NOT a meltdown. Oregon got ahead early in a very rugged start for both teams. JJ got the two quick fouls, they made some very tough shots and played tough, smart D. They rebounded well and blocked our drives to the basket (Jordan Bell is a beast), and worked their butts off, and just beat us last night. Man up KU fans, single game elimination tournament at year end is like that for us AND the other programs as well. Please refrain from trashing the coach, any of the players or our wonderful basketball program and tradition. Show some class and help us move forward.

4. Coach Self had an outstanding coaching season and is evolving on the offensive side of the ball. He let them play, we jacked up threes, we tried to run, we tried pressure. Many of us on this rat board (including me) have criticized Coach Self for not having a more free-flowing game on O. The D is always good and came together nicely at year end, but the O was terrific this year and our schemes have improved. Live by the three and die by the three…high risk, high reward.

5. Oregon played very hard, got an early lead, hung on in the second half of the second half (last ten minutes when we made a mini-run), and got some fortunate breaks shooting and rebounding the ball. That’s the way the ball bounces in this and every game we play. We did not make shots (5-25 from 3) and they did (11-25 from 3). They outrebounded us 36-32. They blocked more shots and got more 50-50 balls NOT because “they wanted it more and some of our guys did not have focus” but simply because they are equal or more athletic (bigger, strong, faster, quicker, taller, longer…) player to player than we are, AND because they got lucky at key moments in the game.

6. We fans often underestimate the luck factor in the NCAA tournament, the way the ball bounces into one team’s hands and out of another team’s reach. If there is a big talent discrepancy, no big deal. But if the talent is equal, or the teams are evenly matched, one game is a crap shoot, period, even at home in KC. We have won and will continue to win our fair share, including in the NCAA tournament, just not this year. The odds will prevail if we keep knocking at the door.

7. Bravo to the seniors, we bleed blue and red for you and feel your pain.

Frank - you are an inspiration and a great, great KU player and ambassador whose jersey will hang in the Fieldhouse with the other hall of famers in the mecca of college basketball. National Player of the Year 2016-17!!! Good luck at the next level.

Landon - you have performed (if possible) beyond your abilities as well as any KU player in history, making an outstanding contribution to this year’s team and over the past five years. Thank you, good luck next year and we hope to see you playing for money, somewhere.

Tyler - it is not easy being the coach’s son. You have won the hearts of the Jayhawk nation and we hope you will continue in the profession. Ask you dad for a job…

KU fans - once we get through the grieving process, we will reflect on our wonderful memories of this year’s team and all the exciting victories (and comebacks!), and another Big 12 title to keep the string alive.

Stay the course and do not lose faith. Our time for future Final Fours is coming, and will come in numbers, and is just around the corner.

Rock Chalk!

We have to give it up, once again, for Head Coach Bill Self.

He has evolved in ways I was not sure he could, especially in offensive scheming and nonbolded text play calling. He has moved from a rigid “my way or the highway” hi-lo, feed the post, never jack up a three early in the shot clock, run my stuff to get the best shot philosophy, to a more modern run & gun off the break, dribble-drive, penetrate, take the open shot when it presents itself early in the clock or not, penetrate and pitch, “make a play” style.

This is not just “adjusting to his personnel”. This is a key learning and an evolution of a hugely successful coach. It is so hard to change what has been successful, especially when it is your core belief.

Our Head Coach has changed for the better. The evolution is not just this team of players, but the way to play with superior talent, running “option offense” (like run-pass option in football). It is remarkably effective and more dynamic and creates improvised play-making opportunities for our guards.

Snacks deserves some credit, but mostly the old stubborn “I will always play the percentages to give my team the best chance to win, in every circumstance and with every team” head coach, has modified his basic philosophy, not just to “fit the players he currently has” but to take advantage of the three point shot and superior athletic talent. BRAVO!

Coach: you are the best and yet you have gotten better. Well done.

Board rats: let’s talk offense and break it down a little more. This is an exciting time for KU basketball. Now we have a world class offense to go with our world class defense. I applaud and encourage the new way.

Bravo Carlton for your energy and performance in Ames! Encore!!!

Go after the ball, sprint down the court, bang with the big boys. You have talent and we need you and Landen to anchor this team. Nice game…

Must give Frank a shout out. You talk about courage and toughness and will to win! Did you see him climb the ladder to board on D and drive the lane on O? And on a gippy wheel, wow!

He and all the guards rebounded very well. The D is just now starting to gel and the team is hungry and our guys play well together. Gutty performance by all. Highly entertaining. Love me some Jayhawk BB!

Rock Chalk!

I was lucky to get court side seats for my first game at the Field House this year, and here are a few impressions of the OSU game last Sat.

It was a great game, highly competitive and very physical. The best match up was Evans and Mason, a prize fight, both great players with unbelievable quickness and determination on both ends of the court. Both guys are at an all-American level of play on O and D, and great team players, passing and rebounding and making their team better. What a battle for 40 full minutes of tough play and mutual respect.

The game was ugly b/c OSU hit shots and KU missed shots. KU has a better team but OSU was playing better for the first 30 min. Hard play by both teams. It was exciting and full high energy. The crowd was great, especially at the 4:00 min mark when they play that “greatest home court advantage” video. Impressive media orchestration followed up with basketball execution. The test will be in Stillwater where we always seem to lay an egg.

KU has a good team but I am concerned with a lack of back up for Landen Lucas. Lucas is a great college player. He sets so many screens to get open looks for the shooters. He is a great defensive rebounder and good on-the-ball defender but not a rim protector. He plays at or above his skill level night after night, very impressive to see him go after the ball.

Bragg is just the opposite, confused on the court playing out of position at the five, and never gets the 50-50 balls. He is getting better in the toughness department but still does not have that strong will to board and would rather play away from the basket. He is still a year away from physical and mental maturity and is way too soft for a KU big man (prefers the fade away jumper, dislikes contact in the paint…). He needs stronger hands and quicker feet (very slow to slide on D). He will be back next year.

Doke being out has helped Lucas short term, but might hurt the team later this year unless we can develop another rebounder. Coleby is bigger and stronger than I thought (eye-ball test) and should be able to bang inside, we need a banger. Coach: make him play, ride him hard, we need him! He looks the part.

Lightfoot will be fine in 2-3 years and make some good contributions to the KU team in the future. I love his “want to” attitude, but not this season. Too weak and green to mix it up with the big boys.

LL will have to play 30 + min a night and stay out of foul trouble. He can do it but in the Dance one foul prone night and there is no plan B. He is the indispensable man on this year’s team.

On Sat, we were just not knocking them down. The number of times the ball went in and out of the basket, and the crowd pushing a collective sign. I like the fact that Coach will not let us live and die by the three. We have a team of shooters but only Devonte had a respectable shooting night. He is so clutch.

As Coach would say, it is good to play a game like this to make our team tougher and more capable of winning even when we do not make shots…still, we missed a lot of free throws and bunnies, not good. It is hard to make them when everything is so sped up and OSU was playing with an edge. I like their McPherson-raised coach and he had a very good game plan. I really like how he mixed his D (M2M and different Zone looks). We should mix it up just a little more on D.

I like the moxy of our back court a lot. Frank, Devonte and JJ have an attitude, an edge and I really think it is the right mix of a little punk, but not too much. Just like our Coach: feisty and very competitive but a good sport on the court (unlike OSU who still has that Marcus Smart punk attitude – the flagrant foul turned the game…).

The three of them are ferocious competitors. Franck is the leader and this is his team, no doubt about it when you see them interact on the court. He is not vocal but he has the last word, every time. Svi and Lagerald are good players too, but neither of them are consistent enough to be more than role players on this team. Both of them are capable enough to win us a few games, have done and will do this season. Both are underachieving on D, but getting better.

OSU has some impressive athletes, maybe more muscle that KU, but not as skilled. Sitting courtside, you could really see the physicality of the game (Big Ten style of play) and KU held up. This is the type of game and opponent where Doke’s absence weakens our team.

The crowd was great, the weather was cooperative and Fieldhouse looked wonderful. I love afternoon games.

Another Big 12 Title, another Final Four. Another First place ranking. Another fine group of young men representing our university. Rock Chalk!

Here is a fine article about KU BB Offense this season (link below). The evolution in scheme and style of play is not only “adjusting to personnel”, but an evolution in our O coaching - bravo to coach Self and his staff!

In years past, the formula on O has been stale and predictable: run half-court sets, set up in hi-lo positions with two bigs -one on the base-line and and at the foul line “touching the paint”, playing systematically inside-out, always trying to get a better shot (overpassing especially around the perimeter), shooting the three late in the clock, letting the “team” make the winning play, etc.

The result on O has often been a clogged lane, especially in conference play and very especially in tourney play. Everybody runs to the ball and to the lane instead of spacing the floor and drive to score or pitch to the open man at the three point line.

We have unclogged the lane on O, allowed for more dribble-drive and improvisation, we are shooting threes at any time it is open, including early in the shot clock, we at letting play-makers make plays and not always running coach’s “stuff”, etc.

This evolution in our KU BB O is not just “adjusting to personnel.” This is a more modern, higher performing offensive scheme and philosophy. We have the personnel to do it. But it is a qualitative leap in our O coaching approach and it is here to stay.

Rock Chalk!

http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2016/dec/19/jayhawks-running-college-basketballs-ver/

Agreed, certainly not iso ball.

The issue for me is that we can become system dependent, and especially at the end of the year at crunch time, when we need an alpha dog to make a play on O or D, we tend to refer back to the system as per the coaching.

This is high percentage and should be done during the season and most of the time, but when you are in the tourney for example, and your best players only shoot 4-5-6 times in an entire game and you lose (sound familiar?), mostly I believe it is because we are trying to ‘run our stuff’ and we need to go make a play.

The last few years, our best players have been shut down by the opposing team’s ability to read and counter our offensive schemes. When that happens, especially in single elimination, someone has to make a play on O and D.

I think we do not train this mindset enough during the season and so when the time comes, our best players defer to the ‘team concept’ to get a basket or steal a pass.

Our best teams - at least for the dance - in '08 and '12 had players (Chalmers, Collins, Taylor) who would attack and take a risk on both sides of the ball - play to win, not just play not to lose.

Playing the percentages and great fundamentals and team work and hi-lo and fall back half-court tough man-to-man defense is excellent. And it teaches and is a winning formula for sure.

But, there comes a time at year end, when the guys have to not rely on the system or run our stuff or play half-court defense…my hope is that with this group of players, we will push the envelop earlier and more often, force the action, even if we make mistakes, turnovers, missed steals, etc.

I am thinking this is a year we can go all the way but our tourney woes might improve if we have - not iso - but 'take ‘em’ attack mode on both ends earlier in the year. We have the players to do it for 40 min per game.

Yes, agreed. We need a little more dribble-drive on O and Bragg should be able to bounce it a pull up for a short jumper and also take it directly to the rim. JJ will be the one to do it best and most often.

In any case, our guards will beat our opponents off the dribble this year, and we will be able to stay in front of the elite guards as well, much better than the last few years. This is the most exciting thing about this year’s team.

One small criticism in a sea of great qualities which I might make about KU BB is that we have not always played to our athletic ability, rather than depending on the system to ‘run our stuff’ on O and play classic man-to-man on D. But the best teams always need someone to make a play on both ends of the court, not just play within the scheme.

I would like to see us play “take 'em” more than years past. We will see early on if indeed this is a good dribbling and passing team. But even if we are a good ‘move the ball passing team’, I would still like to see us try a little more ‘play ground’ ball and let our superior individual talent take over.

In the past, we have emphasized system offense and traditional defense with little room for improvisation and individual ‘make a play’ tolerance.

The result is sometimes at the end of the year, under the brightest lights, when one player has to step up, we tend to differ to “the system”. And we have not trained our alpha dogs to go ‘make a play’.

Some call this tendency to emphasize the play calling vs the individual improvisation as ‘over-coaching’. We will see if we can do both to take advantage of our system and our individual talent. Running the floor on offense (bring the ball us by running, not walking) and picking up the other team full court on defense will help us achieve this important evolution in style. We can sub more often and push the guys on the court more.

Thoughts?

Rock Chalk! Time for some round ball…

The key for me to maximize the talent we have this season is the ability to insert more energy, aggressiveness and speed into the KU team for 40 full minutes. We have the experience and the depth to do it.

On D, pick up the opposing team full-court to apply some pressure to even get the ball up the court instead of falling back into half-court D. Do this for the entire game. A more container and controlled version of 40 min of hell.

Trap more and create havoc in the passing lanes. Take more risks on D by anticipating and improvising. Press a little from time to time but pressure a lot all the time. Get out on three point shooters and force the other time to beat us off the dribble. This team is very athletic and deep.

On O, unclog the lane and spread the hi-lo vertically and across the lane, using a smaller line up at times but also with Bragg and Lucas.

Let JJ create on his own sometimes to get used to it for later in the season. He is a slasher and will get to the rim at will. Our guards can all get to the rim at will and for this team we will win all the one-on-one match ups on the perimeter.

Yes, Bragg needs to play close to the basket but not as close as in the past. He is deadly from 10-12 and a good passer if the lane is not clogged. He needs to rebound and make bunnies and be more physical but not to bruise and overpower. Our other bigs can do that better.

Run and run and run, substitute more often and for shorter periods of time, as per the flow of the game. Coach Self always says he wants the team to play faster. This team is maybe the fastest and quickest since 2008.

Another conf title and a final four is in the making. I hope coach will turn them loose and let them play with reckless abandon more than years past. We do not need to ‘run our stuff’ to get the best shot on every possession.

Our D will be elite from day one which makes us very tough to beat, even on a bad night.

Another good test…we need the test early, not in March.

Longhorns are less talented than WVU in their 40 min of hell schemes.

@wissoxfan83

If everyone stays healthy and eligible, we have the talent and the experience to be one of the best teams in the country.

As someone else pointed out, the best teams typically end up in the later rounds of the tourney, but we never know which specific ones.

The last two years we have missed out b/c our big man in the middle (Cliff and then Joel) went AWOL. This year, we have the C5 so we can adapt better, and our depth should give us better potential against an early round upset. But before then, we have some GREAT games ahead of us in Big 12 play.

That OU game was Final Four quality - played at a very high level. We did have home court advantage but the game itself was unbelievable for early January. The WVU game was just muddy and ugly and physical and frustrating, just the way Huggie likes it with his guys. They love to foul and push and fight and elbow and press and attack on both ends, constantly. It is very hard to prepare for an assault like that, and jacking up threes all game long is not a recipe for consistent winning.

My main concern is not the offense, but the defense, very unusual for our team since Coach Self has arrived. Their guards blew past our perimeter defenders time after time. Frank and Devonte and Wayne all had bad games at the same time (this will not happen again this year). I like our offense and we will shoot and make threes this year, but our defense needs to tighten up more.

My main point is that the pressure of the way UWV played and the circumstances of this game were highly irregular. We will adjust and beat them at the Fieldhouse. We will improve on D and our O will get smoother and more fluid. Can we peak in March? Gotta believe.

Rock Chalk!

The sky is falling, we lost a game, “Fool’s Gold”, Bad Ball, Stubborn Coach, Conspiracy Theories and Armchair Quarterbacking…

Take a deep breath and relax. This is a good team, and we will lose again, but not often (my prediction was five loses this year).

Player development and scheming cannot compensate for getting out hustled. ‘Sx*%t’ Happens. Chill, guys. That is a rough and tumble environment and the refs were letting them play. Very physical game, we got beat. Get over it. Move on. Next game, next play.

Trust in the team and the coaches - and know this - the competition is very good and also very determined. Our league is great!

We will be fine. Big 12 Champs (maybe co-champs), number one seed (or two at the worst) , Final Four (or Elite Eight at the worst).

Our boys are rocking and rolling and our young studs are wide-eyed. The pressure in the game itself and psychologically being #1 I huge.

Stay the course, support the Jayhawks, trust in the process. And if that does not work, take a pill of the color of your choice…:)

Plenty of ball to be played. We are in good shape and we are a winning team. The other elite teams are good, and even the bottom feeders are better than usual. We cannot shoot our way to victory after victory. It will be a grind and we will win most of them.

Rock Chalk!

@ jaybate

Coach Wooden was pretty rigid but that was a different time.

@ HEM

KU team this year, in my opinion, is more talented on O than D. This is very unSelf-like and I agree that our D needs to improve, especially the freshmen and BG and Svi.

Our O has been very good and I like our passing, shooting, more threes earlier in the clock, etc.

I also agree that the hi-lo is somewhat outdated and we are using more dribble-drive to make a play off the bounce and not just off the pass this year, and running more. Devonte and Frank together with Wayne at the 3 has made the difference, but our front court is fast too.

My major issue with the game on Tuesday was that in the first half we penetrated great but then passed it back out, time after time. Second half was much better, more aggressive. We need to attack on O off the drive, not pass it into the low post as Coach has done in the past.

The big fella for UC Irvine was very impressive to look at - wow - and a pretty good player. #12 (from Greece I think) is also a good post player.

We were playing against length (like Vandy game) and we were tentative to start until the second half. We can create off the bounce and must do this to be successful. Coach has evolved (at last!) and this is a looser and freer offense than years past. We have better shooters too.

I am disappointed in our FT % but am confident that we will hit them in crunch time.

Key factors to the composite five position this season:

• Motivation: this group are positive winners on and off the court, no worries about egos

• Health: playing all five along side Perry (who will stay at the four this season) keeps fresh legs

• Knowledge: BB IQ is required in some situations (against a zone, for example)

• Play-Making: we will need one or two of them to step up with a 12-8 game from time to time, but the composite five is a solid double-double every night

• against some teams, certain abilities will be required (height, speed, switching…)

• O: outside shooting will be required in some games, no back-to-basket options available

• Athleticism: running the floor, getting the loose balls, raw playground ability

• Chemistry: need to blend in well on both sides of the ball, no weak links

• Perry Factor: who helps our best player to be at his personal best in each game

• Other: ???

Good post.

I agree in general, but PT does improve the OAD’s performance over the course of a season. And the more they play, the better they get. How much better is variable.

Jo-Jo is truly a freak of nature in all regards. I still think Coach could have trained a little more Alpha Dog into Wigs rather than letting him be one of five. I still cannot believe he only took 5 or 6 shots in that loss to Stanford.

What is your thinking on our two young freshmen? Role-players as part of the composite five?

Agree that this site tends to have deeper and better analysis than KU Sports, but I l did like the Keegan article and it addressed the issue we all have in mind about playing time for the young guys.

Agree that on-the court learning (playing time) is the best and maybe the only way to improve quickly,

However, our young post players are a long way from being major contributors, even with more minutes, this year. They will make some impact, but in a Cole-type way vs UNC (one game).

Jo-Jo spoiled us into thinking that everyone could come into the program and make an immediate contribution. He was simply bigger, stronger, smarter and had better footwork than any big man in recent KU history. He was so very exceptional that we think all the guys are OAD and ready for major minutes and will improve that fast.

Lastly, winning championships in a tourney like March Madness is a crap shoot. You have to have all your players healthy and available to play, you have to peak at just the right time, you have to have the right match-ups along the way and you have to get lucky. That does not happen very often. We can and should do better, but it really has to be the perfect storm.

Look at UK last year who had by far the most dominant team in NCAA recent history - four lottery picks, undefeated, unimaginable talent - and yet…no NC.

But we all agree that KU needs to make deeper runs in the tourney and has been somewhat unlucky with their two bigs out the last two years. We will do better this year. Keep the faith.

Final Four or bust! Rock Chalk!

Jo-Jo was a OAD center

Good string and good thoughts about how to develop the best team to peak at the right time, end of season. Here are a few thoughts to add to the debate:

• of course the most important part of the season is the tourney in March and of course the ultimate goal is a NC and of course the fans, the coaches and the players all agree on this

• however, the NC is not the only thing that matters - sorry - and this type of thinking is modern media hype where everything is about March Madness (back to the shoe conspiracy theory?)

• KU fans should always be happy and grateful that we win lots of games, especially at home and many conference titles - that string of 11 in a row is rarefied air in any sport at any time so please do not belittle it and make light of the accomplishment which is absolutely remarkable

• we have slightly underachieved in March and one reason might be because we have not developed the freshman fast enough with more playing time even if they are not the best option night in and night out…maybe but maybe not

• the last two years would have been VERY different if Jo-Jo and Cliff had played in March, and we would have made it deeper into the tourney (although WSU had a very good team too)

• now, back to the debate about who plays and how to develop talent: the best TEAM should be playing, not the best players and certainly not the best POTENTIAL players - this is not the NBA training league and the gamble to lose a few close games early on in order to get the freshman minutes which will ultimately pay off in March is a weak argument, at best

• the Keagan article built on the Self post-game, is not a reflection of the influence of these board rats on this site, as if it were responding to us (come on, guys, get a grip!) but it is a legitimate open debate on the best way to build the best team, which many KU fans are asking

• I was at the game on Tuesday (lucky to get court side seats) - the first one of the year for me - and was amazed once again at the knowledgeable KU fans who were all posing the same questions in some form or another - how and when do the freshmen post players get going

• Bottom Line from our Discussions: KU has a great team this year, but not great individual talent (no Wigs, no Jo-Jo…), therefore we need very strong chemistry and team play on both ends of the floor to be at our best, and the team play is far more important than the individual play, especially this year

• the freshman post players (Carlton and Cheick) are very inconsistent and often out of position and overall a net neutral on the court whereas the upperclassmen (Landon, Hunter and Jamari) are not as talented individually but make the TEAM so much better on a consistent basis ; the move to start Hunter has helped, and the composite 5 is a good strategy

• playing time will develop the young guys but that first year is very tough to “get it” and unless you are a lottery pick you are not going to make a major contribution to KU or any elite team as a freshman, and sacrificing the team (and wins) to get you there is a poor, low percentage gambit, in my opinion, the freshmen are a long ways from being difference makers on a consistent basis (maybe here and there in spots, with certain match-ups on some nights…)

• none of our guys are pure NBA talent: they are mostly tweeners who will have a very rough time getting drafted and even making a NBA team (except Perry and maybe Wayne), and yes, undoubtedly the freshman post players have the highest ceiling of anyone on this year’s team but they is still a year or two away

• our guys are all great college players and our guard play is exceptional - Devonte, Frank and Wayne with BG and Svi off the bench are the best five in the country and Coach Self is using them well (more open offense, more dribble-drive to shoot and kick out, more threes early in the clock, more individual play-making, more pressure D, more rebounding from the guards…)

• Perry is by far our best option night in and night out, and when he turned it on in the second half (after a pep talk at half time), we were an entirely different team the second half

• we are playing a freer hi-lo than in the past, more trust in the play-makers, our offensive performance has been really good and consistent, we are running more and playing more aggressively on O which is a wonderful use of this year’s talent, and our D is picking up

• our rebounding is improving on both ends - we need more from Wayne and BG in this area

• this is a good passing team - very good ball movement and our big guys are starting to pass better with each game - Play of the Game: Wayne’s forward pass in the air to Devonte to Hunter for the “and one” had the Field House rocking!

• after Sat and Mon we will have a better idea of how good we really are, but I am predicting another Big 12 title (this is a GOOD thing, guys) and a deep run in the tourney (Final Four is indeed the goal for us to have a GREAT season)

• Rock Chalk!

Good string.

Yes, KU does pass the eye test and our back court is really, really good: Frank, Devonte and Wayne with BG and Svi off the bench are as good or better than any guard combos in the nation.

We will improve on team D and we can run and pressure all night long. We have shooters and play-makers. We still need one on-the-ball stopper in the group and the best one is still a year away from seeing any court time.

Our front court is still a work in progress: Perry is a very good college player and very, very consistent but he is not an All-American, and his limitations against length have been well noted. Still, he is all Big 12 and our most consistent scorer and rebounder.

The combo five could be a winner with Carlton and Cheick as the unknowns (btw, they will both be back next year). If these guys develop rapidly, like we think they will, we will have a deep run in the tourney, for sure.

I like and trust all our guys: Mick, Jamari and Landon are all good players and are contributing productively as a unit. Each of them brings something to the game and each will help us win a couple of games this year.

The MSU game was at a very high level - final four type game. One guy took over (remember: 29-12-12 I think it was) so that happens in college sports. We actually played a great game and one player was simply dominant. We do not have that guy this year, so we are vulnerable in late game situations.

But our trio of guards are fearless and they proved it in KC. No worries.

Rock Chalk! Another conference title and a Final Four…or bust!

KU is definitely one of the best teams in the country. We will not lose more than five games all year. We will win the Big 12 again…and

The “good ball” / “bad ball” framework is only a reference within the context that we choose to give to it. Sometimes, our excellent blog posters get caught up in their own terminology and then all their analysis is made through this lens, to promote the framework, almost like a brand.

I do not think the head coach or the players or the fans outside this site are thinking in these terms. I am certainly not and am confused why we would want to discuss the offensive scheme we are using by fitting it into these terms, “bad ball/good ball.”

My opinion is that we are opening up the offense a little bit, flexing the hi-lo to include more individual play off the bounce, not the catch.

Driving the ball early and often is the key, and not just passing it around the perimeter, inside - out, looking as a first option to always feed the post.

We must be able to score off the dribble-drive by shooting and passing. And we have to do it against length (like Vandy and MSU). We need to practice it during the season to run it effectively in Feb/March.

I think we want to be in constant attack mode on both sides of the ball, with our impressive depth and elite athletes and upperclassman experience. We will make open threes (drive & kick out) and get tons of points in transition (primary and secondary break) and put backs off misses.

This is SMART ball, taking advantage of the up-tempo rhythm and truly elite talent we have, by not playing a half court, deliberate game.

Push the action, unclog the lane, ATTACK ball. Get the bigs out of the lane from time to time! Space the floor. Exploit match-ups. Show 'em how to do it Mr Miles!

Drive the lane and get a shot up or get fouled or kick out. Make free throws, and open threes, play typical Self D, rebound and get the 50-50 balls.

Sub often and deeply, more than 7-8 players, 9-10 players. Constant pressure on both sides of the ball. Play fast and play fun and free.

We do not need to run “stuff” on O to win, and it might even slow us down and make it harder against elite competition.

This will be a special season, and it is off to a great start. MSU and Vandy are both elite teams, and we are too. Expect higher scores and more fast break points. By year end, we will be making points off D transition too.

Rock Chalk!

The main thing about the hi-lo is that it clogs the lane, no where to drive…if you look at more modern offensive schemes, and NBA play, it is all about spreading the floor and creating favorable match ups.

KU BB is here and we can rejoice with enthusiastic support. Here is an early summary of our team and coaching:

• O has evolved! As Coach put it, we are trying to score off the dribble and not just he pass. Hallelujah! The old high-low is a great offense for a slow, methodical team of 3-4 year front line average talented players who know the offense and can pass but not run or dribble. It gets us the shot “in tight”, with angles and good ball movement. But it also clogs the lane and exposes our weakness against length, year after year. The only way to compensate is dribble-drive to shot or pass (kick out). We have to be able to beat teams off the bounce to win against elite competition. Period. And in years past, we have not been able to do it.

All of our starting five this year can do it: Frank, Devonte, Wayne, Perry and Jamari are all good at driving the basketball to the rim off the dribble. Our O has evolved a little and we are shooting more threes and trying to score off the bounce. GOOD! (Thanks to Aaron Miles in large part…). We are running more. Good! We are relying a little less on Coach’s “stuff” (set plays) and a little more on the innate athleticism of our elite players. Good! Go make a play, boys, early in the season so that at tourney time we are used to it.

D - we are switching much more than past years, at least early season. We have the personnel to do it. This is also why Hunter and Landon do not play as much as Jamari: D, ability to slide, quickness to switch onto a smaller and quicker opponent. This is also why Svi will get more minutes than Brannen.

Cheick will add huge D presence in the paint and rim protection and rebounding…he will make the biggest difference as a defensive stopper, just what we need! He will also help us keep a high level of speed up and down the court. Run, Cheick, run!!! Coach: Do NOT slow the game down to set up on O and D. Force the action on both ends. More possessions, we have the horses to run and press and attack and be aggressive for 40 minutes.

We have tried a little pressing too, full court and trapping half court. Not enough. We should do more. Push our players to exert maximum energy on D - we have a very deep bench, no worries.

Force the action, Coach! My prediction is that this team will be an elite defensive unit - team defense - by year end. We still need a stopper in the front court. LeGerald is still a year away…

Rebounding: Look for this team to improve considerably as Cheick plays more minutes over the next couple of months. He will pull down some boards which will make the average KU fan jump our of his chair. He will go get the ball unlike anyone else can on this year’s team (think T-Rob).

Our guards are great rebounders in spite of small size: Frank and Devonte have a nose for the ball off the rim and Wayne can do it if he is focused (not yet in his nature). We can board better on the O end and we will.

Passing - better than last year and an area which will improve vastly over the course of this season. Carlton is a great passer. We are not a good passing team yet, but this part of our game will get much better in a month or two. Our guard play will improve as distributors a lot by conference play.

Intangibles: excellent. We are tough, solid, fearless and have an edge. Self teams are like our head coach, they are determined and highly competitive.

Easily another 30 win season (maybe 35?), another big 12 championship for sure, and for the hungry KU fans, if everyone stays healthy, a Final Four guaranteed! Rock Chalk!

http://www.foxsports.com/college-basketball/story/kansas-jayhawks-basketball-bill-self-frank-mason-perry-ellis-111215?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=kansas-jayhawks-basketball

Yes, apologies to Mr Vick, LaGerald.

Here is a quote from an article on why KU will win the NC this year:

“The thing about the 24-second clock, you don’t have time to run a lot of plays to get a shot,” Self told me. “You have to rely on players to get shots. So that makes coaches trust your players more. It opens me up more to trust guys, to trust players to go play one-on-one – not for yourself, but play one –on-one to go get somebody else a shot. Drive to pass. We emphasized that so much this summer.”

At long last our coach recognizes that with superior talent, guys can make a play without running his stuff. The coaching has always been world class A+ but the one minor imperfection in my opinion has been the O scheme. It has taken a while but for our wonderful HCBS, as he puts it so often, the light has come on…

The fact that the head of the snake is a manned by Devonte and Frank is a stroke of recruiting genius for this year and next. Both these guys came out of nowhere and both are big time players and gamers.

Put the ball in their hands at money time, or at the line: take it to the bank.

They have to stay healthy and out of foul trouble for us to be really good.

The wing will solve itself with so much great talent and even more potential talent, that one of them will come through night after night: Wayne, Svi, Brannen and sometimes Perry at the 3.

Lagerard will have a few moments this year to shine but is still a year away when he will become our best perimeter defender. His turn to lead is still a couple of years away.

Perry and Carlton will be a talented back line which improves weekly with Hunter, Landon and Jarmari all making positive contributions throughout the year. Expect them to have very good games at the five, as a unit, but not the same guy every night.

The joker is Cheick who needs minutes to learn the game. My prediction: he will be a two year player at KU and top five pick in next year’s draft. We win another conf title with our without him. But a Final Four is tough without his talent. FREE CHEICK!

This team will get better and better as the underclassmen learn from the Juniors and Seniors. Believe me, the D will improve dramatically as the year progresses. The key is to keep our ball-handers on the court at all times (at least one of them, Devonte and/or Frank), as Coach Self stated in his press conference.

This team will be better than last year’s team. This team will compete for a National Championship. This team is very solid and deep. ROCK CHALK!

Under the radar, this new “recruit” will accelerate our guard play which we desperately need, especially on the O side of the ball. Wiki summary of his college career:

After being named the Oregon 4A High School basketball player of the year in the state of Oregon as well as McDonalds Morgan Wooten National Player of the Year, Miles attended the University of Kansas, where he starred at the point guard position for the Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team. He helped lead the Jayhawks to two consecutive Final Four appearances in 2002 and 2003 and an appearance in the 2003 national championship game. He is the all-time assists leader (with 954 career assists) of both Kansas and the Big 12 Conference. He was named to the All-Big 12 Team in both 2004 and 2005.

He was also named to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team 3 times and he finished his college career in 8th place in NCAA history in assists and also in 2nd place all time in Kansas history in steals.

Agreed. Good points.

Coach is so creative and GREAT on out of bounds plays and he should be able to introduce some new schemes to fit his players a little better on O.

@nuleafjhawk No one can tell me that Self doesn’t adopt a different mindset during the tournament. You can’t destroy teams all year long and win 30+ games and then get to the tournament and get the deer in the headlights look like you’ve never played in front of more than 500 people before unless you’re changing the game plan.

The competition is so much better. It is a single game elimination tourney. Unlucky, injuries, ineligibility, match ups…All of the great programs have had early exits to inferior opponents in the tourney. Shit happens. We are not deer in headlights but we have slightly underperformed in March, no question.

What bothers me, the only thing that bothers me and it is a minor criticism, is that Coach teaches team play on O same as D, and O has to be a little more selfish. We need to train the best players to make plays and not defer to the ‘team’ or the ‘system’ or ‘running our stuff’ or being hesitant to pull the trigger at crunch time. Not scared, just not trained to do it during the regular season, i.e. over-passing and too nice a team player on O.

Coach Self’s philosophy is like his game: feed the post, take a charge, play D, rebound, pass to get a better shot, hustle, be tough mentally and physically, etc. All the KU fans know the style, so very different from Coach Williams style (all O no D). .

But they are both winners and great program builders and great recruiters and great coaches in their preparation and game time adjustments (concerning the latter Self is head and shoulders above Williams).

I just wish we had a personality to challenge Coach Self on his O philosophy, and bring KU a more modern approach, leveraging the superior talent, recruiting great point guards, a little looser and freer and more individual play on offense. More dribble-drive and less passing…

This is such a small criticism but it may cause us (a little) to not perform as well at crunch time when one or two players have to take over the game. Wiggs, for example, just cannot only take six shots in the biggest game of the year. If he had been Alpha Dog trained during the regular season, he could have forced it a bit more at crunch time…maybe.

Sometimes Coach Self says, “that is not who he is” but he is who we teach and train him to be in large part: a total team player on both ends of the court.

UNCLOG THE LANE and turn 'em loose on O (like during the Games!)

RCJH!

@HighEliteMajor - you said: It led to a wholesale change in offensive philosophy.

I do not think Coach Self’s philosophy on O has changed at all, during last season or at any time since he has been our head coach. I do not think he had one philosophy and we won our games first half of the year and then changed the philosophy and we lost our games after that.

Not last year or at any time during his tenure. The whole point is the conservative highly team oriented approach on O, the Hi-Lo schemes, inside-out, pass it around the perimeter, play very deliberate systematic offense has its limits, especially at tourney time.

I do think his philosophy needs to evolve on the offensive end and shooting more threes is a small part of that evolution. We need a better offensive mind or more input from the outside. The Hi-Lo needs an upgrade and we need to UNCLOG THE LANE.

These are all good thoughts about more threes and opening up the offense and not inhibiting the creative play on the offensive end of the court. Certainly we need to be a little more free and loose and run less stuff, and attack the basket earlier in the shot clock, so that in March the play makers are used to making plays, and not waiting for the “system” to create a play.

However, there are some very big misperceptions in thinking there is a single cause-effect in such a complex sport with so many variables: The main cause of shooting less well from the three as the season wears on is injuries, tired legs, better defenses, tougher competition and more pressure in the shooter.

If we had had JoJo two years ago and the Big Red Dog last year, both healthy and peaking at the end of the season and tourney time, it would have been an entirely different year at the end of the season AND the team’s three point shooting percentage would have been a few points higher. But we could run a few more players for our shooters and play a little looser, no doubt.

You guys are WAY overthinking the “fools’ gold” comment and its impact. The bigger issue on offense is our lack of spreading the floor and its corollary clogging the lane: there is no where to drive to shoot or pitch to the open three.

Here is the message: let the boys turn it loose driving to the basket and jacking the three earlier in the clock and on the first and secondary break. We now have supeior talent and we need to play GREAT team D but be a little more selfish and individualistic on O.

In this aspect, I do agree that our wonderful and talented and very smart head coach might be a little stuck in his early successful philosophy: how to win with inferior or the same talent level.

He is learning and is getting better in his offensive philosophy but IF there is a weakness in the KU BB program in the Self years, it is our lack of individual creativity and alpha dog training during the regular season on O…

I believe we will see more ‘attack the basket’ with Frank as the lead dog, and play at a much faster pace with Cheick as the fastest big man in the history of the program. We will not turn into ISU, nor should we, but we could shoot a few more threes and make a higher percentage if our bigs stay healthy and we unclog the lane.

Good discussions…the key issue is that our own players are clogging the lane on O and limiting the ability to drive. We need more penetration and playmaking on that side of the ball, in general, and less having our bigs camp out in the lane at the low and high post.

i like the comments on learning how to set a screen. The pick and roll (or pop) remains the simpliest and best O in basketball. Just get out of the way and create spacing.

RCJH!

Good response, Mr Jaybate.

I feel the KU offense has been stagnate and the lane has been clogged and the offensive scheme (high-low) is partly to blame in the Self era. I feel that Coach Self is one of the very, very best but is somewhat stale and uncreative on O.

Furthermore, one of the reasons we have not landed a Rose or Teague quality point guard is our offensive scheme (who wants to come to KU to “feed the post and take a charge as a resume to a future NBA career?”).

The whole point of the WUG success is that we did NOT run the high-low and we were playing freer and better on O, and GREAT (as usual) on D. Part of it was due to Nic being on the team, and his fearlessness. But also not being coached to play within the system. Larry Brown is better at this than Bill Self.

I respectfully disagree with this phrase:

There is little question any more that the High Low is the best flexible-formation core offense going.italicised text

I fully agree with this phrase:

Defense, great guard play, and OAD footers are the trumps in the Madness.italicised text

Coach Self is the BEST, but I would like to see a more open offense, more free flowing play, more risk taking, less inhibition (afraid to be benched for not running the stuff), more threes early in the shot clock, more forcing the action on the fast break, more secondary break, more one-on-one, more O rebounds and points on missed shots early in the clock b/c the opponent’s D is not set, etc.

Playing bad ball is good if you have less talent and less speed and less ability to score and rebound. It is not good as a standard scheme to allow us win another title with the talent and raw ability that we are now bringing into the program.

I think Coach Self is one of the best defensive minds and recruiters and program builders and university representers and overall leaders in all of college basketball. Maybe even THE BEST.

But I do not think he is a great offensive mind and I do not feel he has great offensive minds on his staff.

We can and should go better on that side of the ball.

I respectfully believe that we have underachieved offensively and that the key to becoming a truly elite program is sustainable success in The Dance. And that success in The Dance is largely dependent on our ability to play better offense at crunch time.

It is hard to do in crunch time if that is not the way you have been playing all year.

RCJH!

Here is a response to a previous post by the great and verbose Jaybate 1.0:

The whole of idea of expending more energy on D and less on O is good, however the high-low scheme of passing it around the perimeter to get to the third side for the open shot has flaws beyond the energy savings of the players. It means that the TEAM has to score and not the play makers: great thinking for D, great for learning the meaning of teamwork and locker room vibe and reducing the diva mindset, but not great for optimum O at crunch time.

The ability to play as a team on O and pass well takes time and training and learning and intelligence and skill. In the OAD and TAD era, this is not always available year in and year out.

With inferior or equal talent, yes it can compensate and beat better teams. But with equal or superior talent it is less effective than dribble-drive, penetrate and pitch, practicing making a play during the entire year so that at tourney time, the play makers are not over-passing. This is the weakness in the KU offensive scheme which depends entirely too much on system offense and the ability of the team to score rather than teaching the play-makers to play one-on-one, or a two man game (pick and roll and pick and pop).

The result is that in crunch time our guys will run a play to score rather than go get a basket with pure talent and ability. Or they will panic at crunch time and force the action because they have not been playing that way all year long. We have seen this scenario play out multiple times at the end of the year, and over the years of the Self era.

This is also in my opinion why we over perform during the regular season and under perform in the Big Dance.

The offense needs to open up more and worry less about shot creation by running great stuff, and focus on getting MORE shots, more O rebounds, more athletic play outside of a set scheme. We now have better athletes and better players than the Tulsa teams of years past!

My feeling is that Coach Self is learning this lesson at a slow and steady pace but we are not yet at our optimum level on O and the high-low “run my stuff to get a shot” is part of the problem. The best example was Wigs last year who was incapable of carrying the team at crunch time because he was a cog in a wheel and not the alpha dog who was trained to take over the game. Look what happened in his rookie season in the League.

We need to play faster on O, take more threes, attack incessantly, be better dribblers and run LESS stuff, not more and better stuff. We all love KU BB. our coaches and tradition, but the idea of passing more on O is not the path to greater success on that side of the ball.

Bad ball on D, but creative freer and more individual play on O. Game on for a GREAT season!

RCJH!

@ jaybate

The whole of idea of expending more energy on D and less on O is good, however the high-low scheme of passing it around the perimeter to get to third side for the open shot has flaws beyond the energy savings of the players. It means that the TEAM has to score and not the play makers: great for D, great for learning the meaning of teamwork and locker room vibe and reducing the diva mindset, but not great for optimum O at crunch time.

The ability to play as a team on O and pass well takes time and training and learning and intelligence and skill. In the OAD and TAD era, this is not always availabl year in and year out.

With inferior or equal talent, yes it can compensate and beat better teams. But with equal or superior talent it is less effective than dribble-drive, penetrate and pitch, practicing making a play during the entire year so that at tourney time, the play makers are not over-passing. This is the weakness in the KU offensive scheme which depends entirely too much on system offense and the ability of the team to score rather than teaching the play-makers to play one-on-one, or a two man game (pick and roll and pick and pop).

The result is that in crunch time our guys will run a play to score rather than go get a basket with pure talent and ability. Or they will panic at crunch time and force the action because they have not been playing that way all year long. We have seen this scenario play out multiple times at the end of the year, and over the years of the Self era.

This is also in my opinion why we over perform during the regular season and under perform in the Big Dance.

The offense needs to open up more and worry less about shot creation by running great stuff, and focus on getting MORE shots, more O rebounds, more athletic play outside of a set scheme. We now have better athletes and better players than the Tulsa teams of years past!

My feeling is that Coach Self is learning this lesson at a slow and steady pace but we are not yet at our optimum level on O and the high-low “run my stuff to get a shot” is part of the problem. The best example was Wigs last year who was incapable of carrying the team at crunch time because he was a cog in a wheel and not the alpha dog who was trained to take over the game. Look what happened in his rookie season in the League.

We need to play faster on O, take more threes, attack incessantly, be better dribblers and run LESS stuff, not more and better stuff. We all love KU BB. our coaches and tradition, but the idea of passing more on O is not the path to greater success on that side of the ball.

Bad ball on D, but creative freer and more individual play on O.

RCJH!