I don’t understand how the NCAA had a year to prepare for this and didn’t plan to have a 14 day period of team bubble isolation after selected teams made the field. Some reason college basketball can’t figure this out. Every other sport has been smooth sailing. it’s not just ku but Virginia maybe too, and easily could happen to others. They had no plan in place to figure this out if this happened, no flex schedule etc. fingers crossed we can go and our players remain safe

I hope ochi isn’t gone. This team gets significantly worse if ochi is gone. Also from what I’ve seen, auburn is the front runner for ty ty. Not sure why we need another mediocre big guy in Christian bishop. This transfer portal is loaded and we are going to end up with cam Martin and Christian bishop?? Seems super underwhelming!!

Dave had a good end to the season and he’s not terrible. He’s got some good offensive moves in the post but he’s not a good shot blocker, struggles to score against length, not a great shooter past the free throw line distance, and he struggled defending pick and rolls. I think the point was, we got a little over focused on playing through him and against elite teams that wasn’t going to pull an upset… I felt like we created a ton of turnovers and were more sound defensively with the small lineup. I would have loved to see a full year commitment to an up tempo style with a small lineup. I think that would have opened up more driving lanes for Garret and wilson. Allowed better spacing for improved looks for braun and ochi. Mix in half court trap and zone like Villanova does occasionally… but Self is an amazing coach so what do I know. I just think the other style had more of a chance to pull some upsets in March. Oh well on to next year!

I wouldn’t knock the guy too much yet. He’s a top 80 recruit for a reason. What I saw was a very athletic muscular frame but maybe not the explosive vertical you are wanting lol. The kid had very good handles, nice mid range jump shot, and good passing ability. I think he would be a good get. Sure we missed on the 5star KBrown. Brown would have been here 1 year, this kid is a 3-4 year guy. Sometimes we are better off with quality 3-4 year guys anyway. Besides Brown could dunk but he couldn’t shoot a lick.

Hey everyone I know it’s early, but what are your thoughts on the freshman/newcomers so far!

Here are mine so far:

Harris (I’m including him since he didn’t play last year): looks like a 4 year guy and a mix between russell Robinson/Aaron miles. Team seems better when he’s on the floor. Improved defensive pressure and ball movement. He needs to get his shot to be at least Russell Robinson’s level and continue to work on drive moves/floaters. He never has to be a scorer but he has to keep defenses honest.

Thompson: looks like a 2-3 year guy. Needs to develop his body and fill out his athleticism . Seems focused and has a good work ethic. I don’t love how his elbow wings out on his shot but the mid range looks pure. Reminds me of rip Hamilton. By the end of the year his scoring will be key. Defensively he doesn’t seem bad but not exceptional.

TGF: a little disappointing so far. NBA athlete and has shown good rebounding and shot blocking ability. His ball handling is holding him back. He can drive but he loses the ball too much or can’t complete the dribble smoothly. Haven’t seen enough of his jumper yet. Disappointing how raw offensively he is. He will be here another year for sure. I like 5 guard lineup look this year and I rather have him be the back up 15 min a game center in the small lineup.

Gethro M: wow he has the body type of a ku age Embiid, But he is so uncoordinated. I knew he was raw but he’s so much further away from being a contributor then I thought. Not sure if he will last at ku but I could be wrong and he might take a huge leap forward

Latrell jossell: not talked about really, very little video on him, we were his only serious offer at the time, many on here have discounted him. He hasn’t played much but my goodness he looks so much better then I thought. I sneakily think he’s being held back some to keep him hungry for more. The kid has reportedly the best shot on the team and that’s saying something with ku having Braun. His shot looks pure. He has good speed and he’s stronger then I thought. He looks like he has a good handle and can pass. I’m not saying I think he should be starting or playing huge minutes necessarily. But man he does look more like frank/Devonte then a guy people assume will just be recruited over. Obviously we need to see him play more to really know.

It’s fun to read about the ku band. As a member of the band for 4 years it’s always good to know how much the band is appreciated. As of last year they still played “in the stone” and many of the other songs listed in this post. Rock chalk!

We will have shooters next year. Braun is obviously still on the roster and Thompson is an awesome 3 point shooter. Wilson has a good three point shot as well. Ochi has been inconsistent but I think his shot will be more and more consistent with each year.

Villanova had nba talent but there guys were like Devonte or svi they weren’t top 20 recruits across the board. they developed into nba players

The key is Hickman. You get 2 great players. Plus there is always someone really good late in the cycle. Still not shocking with the NCAA stuff going on and no reigning in of Nike and under armor schools on stuff. I’m sure we can’t match there offers right now

I guarantee he will shoot 38% or higher from 3. And what’s the negative attitude on a top 25 recruit? The kid is a stud! If we want to break down a player, Kendall brown had a high dribble and no outside shot lol. Red flags right there

I think yesfu is still potentially a big bench piece. We are offensively limited in some ways and he has some much explosiveness and ability to score that others don’t have. Bobby and jaun are defensive pass first guys and poor shooters. in certain matchups we need yesfu!

Udeh definitely should be the starting center as we move forward. Love kj as an energy guy and defensive bench guy but not the starter yet…He really needs to grow offensively to play more.

Grady obviously looks awesome and legit! I thought udeh showed more this game. Defensively he contested the rim and he slid his feet better. Definitely looks like the starting center by half way through the season for sure…… Big missing piece has to be Mj rice. McDonald’s all American yet to play, who is suppose to be a scorer. Yesfu and mj rice; one of those has to be a go to bench scorer for this team to reach its ceiling.

I’m not on the Bobby P train yet. Good on ball defender. I don’t see the elite to the rim athleticism. Doesn’t shoot open looks. He hit one three but so does Dajuan. I feel like he takes up the same role as Harris. I think he’s a decent player don’t get me wrong but I don’t see the hype of this potential elite ku guard. More of a great role player ceiling. Russel rob level.

Sure other things are on, nba and nhl. nba does have their time slot on espn etc. but espn, fox, cbs devote a ton of main tv nights showing college basketball. If it had very little coverage/following they would show way more nba games but they don’t. College Bball would be only on espn 2 or plus. Pretty much all Monday-Wednesday on espn, espn 2, espn + etc is college Bball. Almost all Saturday is college basketball. Big portion of Sunday for the big ten is on cbs. Most of the nba is on tnt.

@Texas-Hawk-10

Probably so. But basketball does have more games and more nights throughout the week. Like football has pretty much one day, so a one day game might have more, but what about the cumulative effect of a whole week of games. I get that it doesn’t matter compared to Football but I feel like it still has television value when it’s like literally the only thing on outside of the nfl Jan-March. Anyway hopefully it all works out

file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/eb/11/DAB2B33D-7A00-4B04-81F7-45EC6DAFA7D8/Image-1.heic

So we were third in revenue. Way higher then other big 12 teams. AAU membership and we have a lot of the KC market, which sure isn’t huge but still a decent market that the big ten doesn’t have…. I guess I don’t get how Bball doesn’t play into this. So all of these TV deals that are driving this are only football related. Literally one of the most televised things in the winter is college Bball. College football doesn’t carry the whole winter. So the UK vs KU Bball matchups have no value over a mediocre Iowa football team vs ucla football? Like I get getting the best football you can, but duke ku etc have such a Bball following. How would that not drive the needle a bit for the TV contracts, to include KU vs ucla, KU MsU etc

Honestly this team is a good team but not a great one. Let’s see what Self can do. He’s rarely overachieved with his teams potential in the tourney. Now partly it’s because he’s usually had great/top 5 type teams. This team reminds me of like every Izzo team. Good players with only 1-2 really nba level guys. Typically, Look way outclassed against superior athletes but then in the tourney play rugged defense and smart basketball. Grind their way to a final four and everyone is like how in the hell did msu make the final four. But once they are their, they have no real shot to win it all. And typically lose in a non competitive final four game…… how different do we think about these last 4 years if we actually get to play in that tourney with senior doke

I feel like there is something to it or he wouldn’t have gotten worked up. There has been this weird tension all year. Let the kid ball out. Self is always weird about his rigid offensive system. Obviously self is a great coach but there are a lot of other great coaches out there with completely different styles. Why recruit a kid that’s dominated at this level and not let him play his game. Remi isn’t going to be an elite defender and he is a volume shooter that once he gets hot is super hard to guard. He’s been oddly hard on him. Throw yesfu in the same boat. The kid averaged like 20 points for drake his last 7-8 games. Scores 25 points against that usc team that destroyed us. And today yesfu ran the point mid first half when we were down and brought us back with great breakdowns of the press….Self gushes about Harris. Who had a good second half but he was in foul trouble and bad in the stretch he was in during the first half…. Self Praises Harris for his passing etc but Harris had 5 assists, yesfu had 4 assists in half of the minutes lol. But he pulls out yesfu most of the year after one mistake. Imagine if yesfu had the same leash McCormick had all year and got to play through mistakes…. Still remember self blaming Remi for running the wrong way on the play against Dayton. Maybe Self should take some of the blame for running the most crucial play of the game through the struggling center instead of your all American ochi and remi whose averaged 19pts per game 2 straight seasons.

Gotcha, sounds good. I do feel like with the new climate, with NiL. Losing a kid to the g league is avoidable. It would be very frustrating if we can’t keep 1 fringe top 20 kid but duke and UK will have 3-5 5star kids stay committed. Many of the duke guys are top ten players and would get larger deals in the g league and overseas then mj rice would…. Thanks for the update

Why all the MJ rice commitment won’t stick talk. Have there been a ton of rumors?

@Texas-Hawk-10 I guess agree to disagree. I don’t think we attack a zone any better with McCormick. I also believe Garret defends the post about as well as anyone and him and wilson would have defended 4-5 not braun. I believe we turnover other teams much higher, drive better, and play more uptempo. But who really knows bc we never did it.