The fact that we are catching flak for resting our starters in a meaningless (for us) week 17 game proves two things

1. We live rent free in other fanbases heads to an unprecedented degree

2. NFL fans are VERY stupid.

Resting your starters on the last week when you have nothing to play for is standard practice and has NEVER been controversial. I don’t even think the nationally hated Patriots were ever criticized for it in the 2010s. I guess we are now the greatest villains in football history BWAHAHA

You are also right about us being plagued by the same issues time and time again. Last year we were plagued by McCullar getting hurt, Arterio getting kicked off the team, and Timberlake being terrible. This year McCullar is still hurt and not playing, Arterio is still kicked off the team, and Timberlake is still terrible.

I almost cannot believe that I am reading posts saying that Self bungled Frank Mason’s development. I would argue that Self’s development of Frank is among the most impressive examples of player development I have ever seen.

It couldn’t possibly be that coach favors the players who help us win games

I think the reasonable thing to do is to take the wins with a grain of salt and go into panic mode over the losses.

I love reading “Bill Self only won the title because he had great players” on one thread and "Bill Self can’t recruit " on another

Is anyone else here confused? During DaJuan’s tenure at KU we have landed a 5* PG in Elmarko Jackson, am extremely coveted portal PG in Remy Martin, and two additional coveted portal guards in Zeke Mayo and David Coit. Where exactly is the perception that we have been unable to recruit guards due to Self’s blind loyalty to DaJuan coming from?

@MoonwalkMafia Landen Lucas was a better player than Cheick Diallo. Jamari was better than Cliff. Bill gave both Cheick and Cliff ample chances. At one point he started Cliff over Jamari for a few games just in hopes it would jumpstart Cliff and help him reach his potential. It didn’t. Sometimes players just don’t perform and need to take a back seat to others with less talent but who are just better players.

None of this is to say Bill is perfect or that he has never made a wrong decision in whom to play. But neither Cliff nor Cheick was benched for a lesser player just because of “trust” or anything like that.

They have had the worst injury luck of any team in the NFL by far this season

It does not matter whether some fans are happy with DeJuan or not. What matters is whether he plays well and helps us win games. He has done that for four years and will likely, as you pointed out, be able to play even better with a decent backup pg to gibe him some rest and some shooters and creators to take the burden of running the entire offense off his shoulders. Some people will not be happy because DeJuan will smartly play to his strengths and set up other people for shots instead of trying to score a lot himself, but like I said it doesn’t matter as long as he makes the team better.

That year Traylor, Greene, and Frankamp combined to play 957 minutes. All of these minutes came off the bench. I would argue, that giving a substantial part of these 957 bench minutes to Andrew White III would have made him a part of the rotation. There are others who, bafflingly, disagree with this. This is the last statement that I will make about the feasibility of giving Andrew White rotation minutes 11 years ago.

I would have liked to see AW3 get rotation minutes, as he proved at later stops that he was a hell of a player. Oh well. Sometimes things just don’t work out and that is fine.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Selden, Wiggins, and Ellis were starters. White didn’t need to start to be part of the rotation. He could have played off the bench without usurping any of those players. That is a basic and objective fact and I am surprised I have to explain that.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Those three players combined to average 20 mpg. Give all those minutes to AW3 and he is part of the rotation.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I would have played him over Brannen Greene and Connor Frankamp

@MoonwalkMafia Fair enough. But in what way was Self stubborn about Jamari and Cliff?

@kjayhawks Yes. Getting Rylan and AJ going would help a ton. I don’t think anyone disagrees with this. But many simply assume that playing them more will get them going. Bill is handling them in his own way. Maybe its the right way and maybe its not, but I would trust him more than I would people on the internet.

The take that Brady Morningstar, who shot 57% from the field, 41% from three, averaged over three assists, was a great defender, and started on a team that went 35-3, was a bad player certainly is interesting.

Here is a counter-argument: Brady Morningstar was a good role player who choked in the tournament.

Once again I put to you the question,

But, let’s assume that you are right and that Cliff was better than Jamari. What would you have had Self do differently? Bribe the NCAA so that Cliff wouldn’t get suspended?

@MoonwalkMafia

@approxinfinity KJ is not a good rebounder, which is disappointing. The past few weeks, he has been elite at the “stop the other team from making a basket” part of defense. Hunter is a better defender than he was last year but still is not elite. Flory is a higher upside defender than Hunter but also is prone to fouls. KJ, Flory, and Hunter should all play, and the way the minutes are distributed in a given game should be determined by matchups and who is playing well.

@approxinfinity That’s a good question. If Rylan and AJ never get going I think the answer is pretty obvious. KJ at the 4, try to build around an elite defense and figure out ways to score enough to win games. But if Rylan and/or AJ figures it out I think things change. Maybe split time between KJ at the 4 and a 4 around 1 lineup. Or we could play things situationally. But at the end of the day, its all about tradeoffs. Is having the superior 4 around 1 structure worth the tradeoff of sacrificing KJs defense? It depends on whether another guard steps up and if so, to what extent.