@mayjay @globaljaybird Chillax fellas. I always enjoy HEMs post whether I agree or not. I get you say he is insulting, but look at what your saying compared to the comments you have taken offense too.
HEM: “chicken” or “butt-hurt”.
Compare that too “ass” or “idiot” or telling him to stop posting.
HEM is a big boy and can handle himself. But once in awhile, it rubs me the wrong way.
Also, with Mason and Lucas gone for sure and the possibility of Svi and Graham leaving, look for a lineup of 3 bigs with Preston, Bragg, and Doke to ignite the high-low once again.
In the meantime, I am enjoying what this year has to offer!!
@HighEliteMajor Self has been SLOWLY evolving for awhile.
Before the 08 team, he was a staunch believer in set plays. He started opening up his offense to a more free flowing offensive scheme that gave the players many options.
Then came the slow progression of the dreaded “fools gold” era. Slowly, he let his players fire away at open 3s early in the shot clock.
The last part was his two big, traditional high-low game.
In the past, I could see Self yanking Jackson for Svi or Vick extremely early after an ill advised drive or pull up jumper. Now, he lets his talented players play through the learning curve.
I still love the high-low game and hope it comes back when the personnel is right. I think it’s the most consistent way of getting easy buckets when the shots aren’t falling. But for now, I am enjoying watching Mason take over in ways a PG in the past wouldn’t have been allowed to!
Does anyone know why is it when they both go to jail for it, Bragg’s mugshot and name are everywhere but the woman has to be kept anonymous?
@Texas-Hawk-10 The big difference between those programs is they had a prett good offense to go with their D.
Smart is a terrible offensive coach. Can he get a good win once in awhile because of it? Sure. But you can’t rely on your havoc D while going against big major conference guards night in and night out. If he finds an assistant who is offensively minded, then we are talking. But something tells me that his ego would cause him to never let go of the reigns that much.
That’s what happens when you build your whole career off of a flukey win!
@HawkChamp I think you have left out a major X factor. Newman by all accounts will be a stud. A 5 star recruit that has a year learning Self’s system without pressure. If Graham goes, look for Newman to fill his shoes quite nicely.
If Lucas falls over, it’s a charge instead of a blocking foul. Such crap.
@justanotherfan I like what you did with the stats. But there is one crucial aspect that you missed.
CONDITIONING!
Wilt averaged OVER 48 minutes a game that special season. No way on God’s green earth could Shaq keep up his numbers throughout an entire game. His rate of scoring and rebounding would fall tremendously.
It adds to how much more of an athlete Wilt was. What guard could do that nowadays? Yet alone your 7’1 center while being the sole focus offensively and defensively.
Whenever people talk about the greatest, it’s ridiculous how obvious their bias is. For instance, most people’s top 10 basketball players played within 10 years of each other. Is it a coincidence that most people’s top 10 include MJ, Magic, Bird, and Kareem? Some even include Isaiah Thomas!
My top 5 goes like this:
MJ Wilt James Oscar Hakeem
Hakeem is a toss up between Kareem and Russell. But don’t even get me started on the most overrated player of all time in Kobe Bryant. He should never even sniff anyone’s top 5 and I wouldn’t put him in my top 10. 15 at best for him.
From what I saw, KU might have a slightly better offense but OUs defense is far superior than KUs. Not good!
@jaybate-1.0 I remember you battling other posters on the other site and famously saying “next” at the end of it.
@Crimsonorblue22 Great example! I didn’t think of that one but it’s perfect!
@wrwlumpy Great question. Self has been in the position of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Self was getting bombarded when he supposedly “lost his touch” with elite level talent in recruits. Fast forward 4 years (Selby, Alexander, Wiggins, Henry) and Self needs to stop recruiting players who don’t care about the Jayhawks uniform and use KU as a pit stop for the NBA. But now, we are worried Self can’t recruit again.
This year, this site is all over Self because he focuses too much on regular season wins and the thought process “I don’t care if we lose in the regular season or Big 12 as long as we win in March” and we take out our torches for a regular season lost to MSU without knowing the end result in March yet!
Don’t even get me started on last year when people were calling for platooning because UK was doing it 10 games into the season.
We are so fickle.
@Crimsonorblue22 I’ve always wondered why Perry can’t do what Niang does for ISU.
He shoots the ball just as well and has the handles. Is it his passing ability?
@Crimsonorblue22 From what I have read, I have seen very few personal attacks. But if you read it, I’m not doubting it.
And he has done condescending remarks and even goes passive aggressive. But I have seen posters take it to another level when you call out the character of someone.
I know HEM doesn’t need anyone to “have his back” since he is articulate enough to respond for himself so I will stop and let my upvotes speak for themselves!
I truly respect what you have to say on this site and you are one of the pillars of this great site!
@Texas-Hawk-10 I disagree with HEM on a number of topics. But where does this come from?
Some posters become emotionally charged with his posts and get personal.
I don’t know HEM personally but I usually read everything he has to say. His statements are usually littered with statistics and none subjective points. How one chooses to interpret and value the statics might be, but not the statistics themselves.
This is usually how a HEM post goes:
-Outlines the problem with Self or a player* -Writes his position on Self or a player* -Gives facts or statistics to back up his opinion* -Then restates his opinion. *Opposing posters replies: -Do you know more than Self? -Traylor is a great leader and brings energy. -You’re always so negative. *HEM replies asking to prove him wrong. *opposing posters -You’re arrogant -You’re stubborn -Self is smarter.
You get the idea. The moment when you have to get personal when talking about facts, you have officially lost and might want to rethink your position. But this is a trend whenever HEM posts. Facts against personal attacks. It’s sad to see.
@HighEliteMajor I’m a little confused at the reactions to your comment.
He simply asked the question because in the past, Traylor was hailed as the best player in the second half a few games back and you analyzed that we would still have won without him. Compare that to this game, and you have a different outcome.
I’m not sure how anyone can disagree with your post that is based on facts and not an immeasurable aspect like chemistry and arbitrarily adding value to what you can’t measure.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but to sum your opinion, it’s simply JT shouldn’t be a regular top 3 big in the rotation but that doesn’t count him out for getting 20 minutes depending on the matchup and situation.
People preemptively assumed you were down playing JT in that game when in reality, it was the opposite.
Does anyone know a way to watch the game if you don’t have a package that carries CBS college sports?
If you are going in the lottery, it’s a no brainer to go.
All it takes if for Cheick to have 2 or 3 games that scouts say “WOW” and he’s gone.
It’ll Be interesting to see where Selden will end up. If he is a projected 2nd round or late first, does he go on the basis that he won’t get much higher?
@jaybate-1.0 I hope it will be a “pick your poisen” kind of deal. But I fear they we will be forced to watch Lucas play his back to basket when they take away the long ball.
And then the comments will be Self went back to his old style or he “puckerd” when in reality, he didn’t do anything different.
He may have loosened the grip on players shooting, but there’s still no outside action to free the 3.
Self has opened up the 3. This is great news.
But the key word here is “opened up”.
He is letting them play with pace and freedom that allows for Greene to pass across court on a 4 on 4 break to Svi and shoot the trey gun.
He lets all 5 guards take a 3 on a screen if they go under.
They now have the freedom to rise up and shoot over a good close out. Even if it’s only the second or third pass of the possession!
All of that is great. The guards now can fire away without worrying about getting the quick hook because they missed a shot.
But I feel the grumbling will start again when we realize that Self isn’t creating for the 3 anymore this year than he has in the past. We saw a play ran for Seldon coming off a T.O. But That isn’t unusual for Self.
With this style of play, a talented team can easily hold our attempts to the 8-12 if they focus on shutting down the long ball. If they hedge hard on screens, don’t double team the post, and don’t get sucked in on drives, that will shut down 80% of our attempts and forcing us to score in the paint.
It I saw an opposing coach, I would do just that. Make Perry score 35 on Iso and shut down the 3 ball. Sure, Mason will get fouled and put up points. But I wouldn’t let KU get hot.
Self might have opened up the 3 ball but he still isn’t a believer to intentionally create open shots in the flow of the game.
Not a huge fan of Graham chucking up all these shots this year. He isn’t their first, second, or third option.
@justanotherfan I have always been under the impression that scoring close is a skill that can be developed. I saw Whithey, Robinson, the Morris twins, and Darnell Jackson get MUCH better at scoring inside even when they have players draped all over them.
But after the past few seasons, I am starting to lean toward scoring over size is a God given skill. Our bigs seem to miss “bunnies” just as much as when they first came.
What are your thoughts?
@jaybate-1.0 I upvoted just because of the title! Had me lyaughing out loud like an idiot in the office!
@jaybate-1.0 Great post. This highlights some of what you said.
http://christianthought.hbu.edu/2014/02/05/bob-knight-john-wooden-and-whats-wrong-with-america-2/
Don’t let the “Christianthought” scare you off. It has little to do with doctrines and more about character.
Hopefully that added weight won’t add to his foot problems!
@Crimsonorblue22 whenever I hear Self say “There’s nothing structurally wrong” I cringe!
@Crimsonorblue22 I could be wrong. But why does it seem like our players “nagging” injuries last a lot longer than other teams!?
@JRyman I have been on record to saying I don’t think the 5 point win is a big deal. I also said that Lucas was our best chance of winning that game.
Diallo only playing 7 minutes and winning by 5 was irrelevant to my post.
I said Mickelson won’t see a different in PT because Self has never significantly changed someone role after stating they deserve for playing time.
And I will be the ultimate troll to you now :).
@JRyman If you were actually wondering if I’ve been to practices, then I apologize. But if it was a rhetoric question under the assumption that I haven’t, it was most certainly passive aggressive.
Being frustrated with the lack of in game strategies is doing exactly what you are so against. How do you KNOW there weren’t a lot of changes.
As fans, all we have are assumptions. If you haven’t seen Lucas shoot the 3, it’s a reasonable conclusion to assume he can’t shoot the 3 even though you aren’t there at practice watching him practice jumpers.
Likewise, if we have seen Self say “He deserves more playing time” and the players PT doesn’t change in the long run, why would we expect anything different?
@JRyman Not a fan of passive aggressive communication but I’ll reply.
I have not been to a practice. It seems unlikely that all of those players just happened to start underperforming the moment Self said that.
But if that is the basis of how you think, I hope I don’t ever see you question who Self plays because you aren’t at practice.
Question his strategy against an opponent because you weren’t at their film session.
Be critical of Self’s in game adjustments because you weren’t in there at half time.
Wonder why Self didn’t nab a recruit because you didn’t accompy him while he was on the recruiting trails.
But it is my assumption (even though I’ve never been in your house or watched a game with you) that you been critical of Self in one way or another. Also assuming here, but I would also bet it’s because you have seen the same thing over and over.
When you see the same thing happen repeatedly with different players, it’s fair to say it was Self. Not the player.
Don’t get your hopes up about Mickelson getting more playing time. He might get a couple more minutes than fall right back down to where he was.
He said it about Mickelson last year and nothing changed.
Self said the same thing about Frankamp TWICE his freshmen year but nothing changed.
He said it about Andrew White.
Said it about Geeene his Freshman year.
The only common detonator in these situations is Self never honestly changed anything.
Mickelson can go for 20 and 15. But when the games on the line, he will be riding the pine.
I feel bad for Hunter. He deserved a chance to play ball somewhere.
@jaybate-1.0 I hear you man.
Do I think Self is a Demi God and cannot be wrong? Of course not.
But KU wins Maui and stutters through a game to get a win and we are doomed. For goodness sake, we were handling the number one team in the nation for 32 minutes!
We have become quite the pessimistic bunch after a couple years of underachieving.
Keep on preaching brotha!
@jaybate-1.0 I have always wondered why big man going 17 and 10 seems in 36 minutes can seem like he is dominating a game while a c5 (as you say) can go 15 and 15 in 40 minutes and it appears to be a weakness.
If we are talking upside, is Diallo ever going to average 15 and 15? I severely doubt it.
But is your c5 consisted of who played the 5 at the moment? Or just combining stats of players? Because there are times where Lucas and Traylor are in at the same time. So that kind of throws off what the c5 is actually doing.
@Bwag No one is saying he was amazing. He was just better than anyone else.
@Bwag HEMS second point says otherwise.
But let’s just say that is the case. Lucas did play well believe it or not. And Diallo was struggling. This kind of loss looks terrible come tournament time and could be the difference between a 1 or 2 seed.
It was better to grind out this win and let Diallo learn in anothe circumstance.
@HighEliteMajor I agree for most of your post. But I was not impressed with Diallo at all when he was out there.
He looked liked Lucas trying to finish around the rim, had trouble passing, and was just in general out of control on offense.
On defense, he got pinned down so low in post that his wingspan couldn’t make up for it.
I am not down on Diallo in the slightest. It’s his second game and these games will come. But this game, I actually felt better with Lucas down low. He got some key boards and a big time bucket and the foul.
@JRyman Same with recruiting. First, Self lost his ability to get top talent. When Self started getting those players, we screamed to stop recruiting players who use KU as a pit stop and don’t care.
We are so fickle!!
@betterfireE @JRyman I would have to disagree.
This is different than the MSU game where there was a new thread everyday harping on the same topic over the a same situation.
@HighEliteMajor is simply stating his case again because Traylor proved him right… Again. Top that with Self’s comments on Traylor, he analyzed what Traylor did to be “the best player” KU had that night.
This thread is more about Self’s absurd comment than Traylor being underwhelming again.
@justanotherfan Remember what ISU did with Withey? I can see Perry do the same type of things that Niang did. We had to take the best shot blocker in the country off the floor!
When people think of Wilt, do they think of KU? I am under the impression that being a Jayhawk is one of the least mentioned things about him. His 100 point game, averaging 50 and 22, sleeping with 20,000 woman, and not winning more championships are what people talk about.
@wissoxfan83 And be sure to have your anti-virus up!
I don’t know. How would he be used? No way Self would choose him over Selden. Would he replace Greene? By early indications, Self chose Greene over him. The only person he would replace was Svi.
I think the question becomes, would you take White or Svi? If White doesn’t transfer, we wouldn’t have the extra scholarship for Svi.
I think it worked out well for both parties. KU got Svi and White got his well deserved playing time.
How long will Self keep him in there? I can guarantee if it’s a close game in the second half, he won’t see the court because he traveled in the first half while Lucas can miss bunny after bunny.
@SoftballDad2011 Interesting! I have never heard that.
If I hear Fran say something something similar about Hield or Niang, then I will stand corrected. I just can’t imagine him saying that!
@SoftballDad2011 what do you mean? How did he get Svi to KU?
@SoftballDad2011 is he knowledeble? Sure. That’s his job. But I would have to disagree he is supportive of KU.
@BeddieKU23 Fran has always had a bias against KU. Let’s see if he says the same about Niang.