Best posts made by Jhawk69

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

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?

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

I figured that some of us could use a break from the controversy about a technical foul being called on a technical foul. So here is a reminder of one of the greatest games of KU basketball history even though our fanbase rarely brings it up. Enjoy:

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.

Should be back to back! Well deserved, congrats Joel!

Back in the old days this would have been a good class to grab some 4-year program guys that we can develop patiently. Unfortunately there is no point in doing so anymore as they will transfer away

I suppose if we can only use players we know will be on the roster next year my guess at the starting lineup would be Harris, Elmarko Jackson, Nick Timberlake, KJ Adams, and Ernest Udeh. However, with Udeh’s foul problems he will only be on the floor 10 minutes a game, meaning a more common lineup will be Harris, Jackson, Timberlake, Marcus Adams, and KJ Adams. Of course, this lineup WILL change with the portal so the posts now are meaningless outside of having fun shooting the breeze. Maybe we won’t get our most desired targets, but we will get a couple players who will compete for starting roles.

I do not want DaJuan to average 14ppg because that means he is shooting too much. I do want him to cut down the turnovers and finish better at the rim. Stats don’t matter that much but just for a fun ballpark figure I would like for him to average around 8 points and 8 assists per game with a couple steals and relatively low turnovers.

@FarmerJayhawk Those who believe strongly enough in the philosophical views of Fyodor Dostoyevsky could be said to “like adversity.” However, this all comes down to which specific emotions that one registers qualify as “liking” something.

Read a GEM of a comment on Rupp Rafters: "If this would have been UK, we would have been buried.

DEAD. AND. GONE."

Yeah, UK and coach Cal are completely clean. The NCAA definitely hasn’t been turning a blind eye to them or anything.

In an ideal world, Flory comes back next season and Tiller is our backup 5, which would give him time to toughen up and develop before playing a more major role in the future.

Olympics start on Saturday

@kuballin10 We don’t have to go off of anyone’s memories. We have the box score. DaJuan played 27 minutes, got three steals, and played a big role in holding UNC’s backcourt to 1-13 from three.

@kjayhawks Done and done

I think the problem is that it is ESPN+

I would really like to see us go after Brandon Mahan from UCF. Just entered the portal and was a very efficient scorer last year.

Pretty terrible seeding throughout.

@Gorilla72 Yes. But Daniels missed too many open throws today. If not for that we probably blow WVU out

With Doke gone, our perimeter scoring will need to pick up the slack. Our 3 ball has got to be much better next year than it was last. I’m hoping Bryce Thompson can help out with that. If anyone happens to know or have any theories about how good a shooter he is please share!

It really is amazing how many of our fans know basketball better than Bill Self

I know this is probably stupid and is definitely a knee-jerk reaction to 1 game, but a little part of me wants Yesufu to start taking Remy’s minutes. I know Remy is probably the better player but it seems like we need Yesufu’s defense more than we need Remy’s offense. Thoughts? Am I as crazy as I feel?

If anyone else here loves a good novel, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is excellent. The tv mini series by the same name is very good and well-acted too. Then the novel Blood Meridian is very powerful though too dark for some people.

As for movies, I really like Unforgiven.

When it comes to shows, Longmire is great once you get into season two. The novels it is based on are also great.

@BeddieKU23 We play down to Yale-caliber opponents.

“Self loves (player X)” translation: (player X ) is a very good player and Self, because of his elevated understanding of basketball, recognizes this and chooses to play him accordingly.

How will I remember to shop at the local Russell Stover Candies without the AFH scoreboard reminding me?

@kuballin10 I think you are reaching here. You conveniently include all the things that went our way while ignoring the things that did not go our way in 2022 (Creighton having their best 3 point shooting game of the season and making tough 3s, Villanova doing the same, UNC getting some favorable calls from the refs). It is also important to recognize that luck is a part of every title run. If you want to make a strong case against Self I would suggest using the following points

A) arguing that he got us wrapped up in sanctions

B )arguing that with all the regular season titans and all the talent he has had he should have more than 2 titles and 3/4 final fours

C) arguing that his style of developing players over the the course of years worked well in the past but won’t work in the modern era of unlimited free agency

I would still disagree with you but if you were to focus on these points you would at least have an argument worth respecting. The argument you have now is just lazy and is clearly focused more on scoring “debate points” than on employing close analysis to reach any sort of truth.

So how would you fellows (and ladies) rank the following possible outcomes in terms of likelihood:

A. We add nobody else to the roster

B. We add Noah Shelby on scholarship

C. We add Noah Shelby as a walk-on

D. We add Jaxson Robinson

E. We add both Jaxson Robinson (scholarship) and Noah Shelby (walk-on)

F. We add someone else.

I sealed the deal

@approxinfinity Honestly I will second that to some extent. When he brings up DaJuan it just leads to an infinite loop where everyone wastes time debating something that is one-sided. But his points about the direction of our program and how we fare in the tournament definitely spark good conversation.

Mass St is moving on to the 3rd round!

I am surprised this hasn’t been brought up here yet, but both have been in walking boots and it is obvious that neither of them is playing at 100%. What are the odds that they play like their old selves come the tournament? And if they can’t, are our chances at a title dead?

In general I’m in favor of second chances but a second chance at a place like Kansas was not what he deserved. With his baggage he needed to drop down to the mid-major level, pay his dues, play well, and keep his record clean for a year, then after that returning to elite college ball could be an option. Allowing him to play for us after the past he’s had sends the wrong message.

Everyone but Frank choked in the ELAM ending. Colorado knew it and focused their defense just on stopping him

I hope Tyon can shoot as well. I tried to look up his JUCO stats but couldn’t find them. Do any of you guys know what his offensive strengths are?

@kuballin10 Great point! Not winning the title every year and having a down year (which would be a good year for most programs) last season proves that Self has no idea which players to play.

I also agree that playing Josh “20 turnovers a game” Selby would have helped us survive VCU’s fluke 3 point barrage and win the title in 2020.

To chime in on a positive note, it looks like a lot of his issues point to bad coaching. It makes sense, because Tom Crean is one of the worst coaches in CBB. Better decision making, better knowledge of the playbook, and a little more hesitation to just let the threes fly and he could be a very solid player.

Has anyone heard any whisperings of what our schedule will be like next season?

@kuballin10

I explained to you earlier that the argument of “Self should have more titles” is the smartest way to bash Self. Honestly I commend you for trying to play your best card. However, you don’t understand why Self “only” has two titles. When you come up with an idea, you should analyze the idea and see if facts corraborate it before wholeheartedly believing it.

In other words, the theory that Self’s teams get upset in the tournament because Self chooses to play high-floor/low-ceiling players and thus creates high-floor/low ceiling teams holds absolutely no water. Let us take 2011 as an example. That team went 35-3 and had multiple impressive wins, including against Arizona and Texas, who were both top 10 teams (and both significantly better and more athletic than VCU). So to argue that we did not have the ceiling to beat VCU makes no sense.

The other example you provided was us playing Jamari Traylor, who was just a bench player who came in to relieve Perry Ellis and Landon Lucas. It is hard to see Traylor getting bench minutes as the kind of situation that cripples our ceiling but let’s look at this team anyways. That team went 33-5 and had multiple top-25 wins including 4 top 10 wins. Too low a ceiling to win a title? No. If you can beat top 10 teams your ceiling is fine.

If I were you I would argue that Self does not mentally prepare his teams for the tournament well enough. There is evidence for this, unlike the low-ceiling argument. We have missed open jumpers and free throws at astonishingly high rates in elimination games. Start your arument here, think through what you say, and take it from there.

Does the narrative that Bill refuses to play anyone but KJ at the 4 due to sheer stubborn loyalty just come from last season when there were literally no other options? Or is there inside info I’m missing?

My starting 5 is: Frank Mason Sherron Collins Devonte Graham Thomas Robinson Udoka Azubuike My top bench options would be: Devon Dotson and Marcus Morris. I strongly debated switching Devon with either Devonte or Sherron and switching Marcus with TRob.

@Crimsonorblue22 Maybe Josh Jackson was one of Selfs’ “pets” whom he randomly decides to love despite being terrible players

Does anyone have any leads on who the coordinators/assistant coaches will be?

@BShark Ahhhh in that case put Devon in his place. Then I suppose Josh Jackson is the first guard off the bench. I would also put Perry Ellis as a key reserve. Very underrated for how good he was on both sides of the ball as a senior.

@kuballin10 The year we lost to WSU we just weren’t any good.

I don’t think you understand what low ceiling high floor means. It has nothing to do with shooting very poorly in losses. If anything, a team that loses because it shoots poorly from 3 is actially high ceiling low floor. But anyways, you want to check a teams record against top 5 or top 10 teams to determine whether it has a high ceiling or not.

I think now would be an appropriate time to ask. Does anybody have any insight into who will be our backup QB next year? Whoever it is could be the key to our season

The following my my guess of the rotation and minutes:

1. Harris (32 mpg) / Morris (8)
2. Morris (18 mpg) / Elmarko (11) / Timberlake (11)
3. McCullar (23 mpg) / Timberlake (15) / Elmarko (2)
4. KJ Adams (22 mpg) / Marcus Adams (9) / McCullar (9)
5. Dickinson (32 mpg) / KJ Adams (8)

In games where we have foul trouble we will see Braun, McDowell, or Johnson get minutes as well.

Oooooh some rewriting of history. Count me in!

Do you guys remember at the end of the 2016-17 Duke game in the Champions Classic? Instead of letting Frank Mason keep the ball for a game-winner, Bill Self forced us to feed Landen Lucas, so we ended up losing in OT.

Jeff Grimes, despite making millions of dollars to call plays, lacks the wherewithal to understand that feeding a running back who is averaging 7 yards a carry is more efficient than throwing with a quarterback who is averaging 4 yards a pass (and an interception every 10 passes). This lack of basic sense cost us one game already. Obviously, he will not get fired because of one bad game. But what if he costs us our next couple matchups? Might he get the can?