Topics created by justanotherfan

@tundrahok I love this story! Made me cry. What a strong mom! Thanks for sharing. I’ve noticed he’s won a few fans from his interviews on espn and fox. Can’t help but root for him.

Yes it could be easily argued that BD hit the two most important buckets of the game, plus great D in the clutch. Plus that CONFIDENCE he had to be the guy!! I SWORE he was gonna pass it out to the perimeter, instead he went up against two NC bigs and made the shot. MASSIVE. And… we don’t win this tourney without Remy. Period. When he picked Kansas last year, this is exactly the Remy that we were all hoping he would bring. Fearless shooting.

kjayhawks said: Between clear lolly gagging and I’d say have the clock not start on time on a couple of plays and once the ball was set on a first down gave them around 9 seconds. Which would’ve made it at least a 7 yard deeper kick. Like I say, they were clearly walking on plays where the clock was stopped. That’s only fine if they were also walking when the clock was running. As long as they were consistent, they are fine. I used to officiate and we would always discuss whether we were going to run to spot the ball or not in the last five minutes of the game. We made that decision beforehand so that we could stay consistent when the ball was inbounds - we always walked on out of bounds plays or incomplete passes because the clock didn’t start again until the snap, so it gave us a chance to catch our breath.

justanotherfan said: A few thoughts I had last night as I watched. I put this in the game thread, but wanted to mention it here as well. KU can’t play a lineup with Doke, Garrett and Lawson all on the floor together. Garrett’s man sagging off him really clogs the floor up in that lineup. Garrett has to play when either Lawson or Doke is the lone big on the floor. So you’re saying Garrett is a 4, basically. I agree. KU needs to run more PnR with Doke, and less straight post ups. Doke is improving as a passer, but he isn’t to the point where he can pick out open guys against the grain of the defense. I’m not saying KU should never post Doke up. Just it should be limited to a handful of times per game at most. I think it may serve us better to let Doke continue to have a gravitational pull and teach him to become a better passer than try to teach him to be a good PnR big at this point. I worry about moving screens and him being able to catch the ball on the move like that. I think we can get him to the point where he throws the right pass. KU should invert its offense every now and then and post up Grimes. I’ve noticed the last few games that Grimes, when he gets a smaller player on him, will go to the post and call for the basketball. Because Lawson is so skilled, that’s a great opportunity to invert the offense and let Lawson play on the perimeter while Grimes goes to the block. KU could force some teams out of their rotation if they were to do that more. This is spot on. KU may even want to think about posting Garrett against smaller players, then letting him turn and face up guys on the extended post. It’s a way to allow him to challenge the defense without needing an improved jumper. This is also spot on. When KJ Lawson plays, he needs to play with Dedric, and needs to play inside while Dedric plays high. His jumper has been shaky, but I think if he plays a token 5 spot and uses his quickness, he can be a MUA on the offensive glass, or force a bigger, slower player away from the basket to guard Dedric, who has been destroying guys like that on the dribble drive. KJ should really just not play, imo. He can’t score. He can’t really defend. He doesn’t really box out. He just isn’t very good. Just keep subbing in Big Dave or go 4 out with Garrett. Charlie Moore should play off the ball as a shooter rather than as a PG. He’s too erratic with his handling, and too prone to look for his own shot to run the point on this team. Move him off the ball so he can look for his own shot. Chuckie should really see a minutes reduction. He is bad. Self didn’t even put him in a point when Dotson was in foul trouble at one point. So I think he agrees with your statement. I would bet come March, CM will be lucky to see 5 mpg. We need to see more PnR action overall. Grimes and Dotson should both be getting into the PnR with D. Lawson and Azubuike. We aren’t see this enough and that could create some huge mismatches to exploit. We could even see some creativity with a D. Lawson/Grimes PnR with Grimes as the screener to allow Dedric to get moving against a smaller defender. You will often see Golden State run that action with Thompson and Draymond Green or Kevin Durant. It’s deadly because if those guys get a half step on their bigger defender on a non switch, they get a layup. If they get a switch, they can bully a smaller guy inside. Leave Thompson and he can hit a three or drive on a late closeout. Obviously Grimes isn’t the shooter Thompson is, but that action could create a lot of decisions that college defenses may not be able to execute. I’d love to see Dotson and Lawson develop a PnR game together. Dotson’s speed and Lawson’s versatility offer the best combo imo. A Tyshawn/T-Rob like combo that at times was unstoppable. We definitely need to find a way to score more efficiently though. Either through different offensive sets or better shooting. The pieces are there. I’m sure Self has a plan.

Besides playing in high school games boys and girls can play in over a hundred games a year with different organizations such as AAU and other travel ball programs. Most weekends there are tournaments where you can find desired competition. My experience it’s these programs where kids develop the most rather than in school programs. Not always the case but a majority of the time. If a kid has potential long before high school his/her name is in the conversation.

I agree with @BShark on Beard. We haven’t seen a coach come into the league at a football school and make it’s fan base forget about pigskins during the few winter months. Also, I might have to lay off the Liberace jokes. Nah.

Here, in s. central ks, fb is still big! We’ve had a couple of girls w/concussions from soccer. They wear those headbands, also wear them during basketball.

Vick could be a dynamic player. If it weren’t for the baggage, there is no doubt Self would want him back. He’s a huge talent that showed signs of potential stardom. Maybe this could be reconciled. His mom is very good with her approach.

Great article. Insight into the coaches, as well as the player. Interesting quote: When Mykhailiuk gets an unguarded spot-up attempt, KU scores 1.75 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports Technology. That ranks No. 1 in the nation among players with at least 50 tries. Compare that to Dok, who has the highest shooting percentage in the nation (77.5%). When he shoots, KU scores 1.55 points per possession. An open Svi has a higher payoff, on average.

@HighEliteMajor Oh, I recall them! Mainly from folks back on KUSPORTS.

Sam is our new guard depth. He gets better and better, with each minute on the floor! He has his mind right about defense. He takes defense personal! Right now… I see our team anchor players as Mitch and Sam is coming up. These guys have made “hustle” their calling card. I’ve been wondering what is up with Vick. In my head, he shouldn’t be worn out at his age and his condition. But I said this long ago… that NONE of us have played at the intensity these guys have. Their athleticism is at another level than most of us. And that means it carries it’s own drain when put to the test. I learned that when playing at the highest level I played at… far, far below D1! And a million miles away from Kansas basketball! I learned what exhaustion was when I did that. But these guys are at a different level… and I don’t know the level of exhaustion they go through. It surely must be extreme even though they make it look easy out there. I hope we see more and more of Sam. He already does some things better than all of our other guys. He’s probably the only player we have that has used a hedge against the drive. When we decide we want to get serious about winning… we will scout our opponents well, and we will use tools (like hedging) to DISRUPT the strengths of our opponents. That means… hedging and playing tight on players we want to deny the ball… hedging against left or right side drives of driving threats (related to which side they primarily use)… This may sound like I’m being critical about Self and his coaching. No. He can’t teach these things if our players aren’t up to that level yet. Until we get our guys really focused on defense… forgetaboutit!

@HawkChamp Good reply. Yeah… it may be correct that the March results aren’t impacted. Not sure we have a big enough sample group to know though. I vented some frustration mostly because I find these games totally boring. These games definitely don’t help our SOS. I can see playing 2 or 3 of these games, just to break in freshmen. Beyond that, I just don’t see the value. There is always risk of injuries so might as well go for an opportunity to help our team more.

@BShark He can improve his vertical but 95% of explosiveness is God Given.

@Kcmatt7 Choir. Singing. To. @Texas-Hawk-10 As you know my grand strategic constraint is to keep Beatty at all costs to avoid any more massive cash infusions to football until they are showing some tax exempt surplus. Soooooo, if you say Kingsbury Marquis of won’t be available, for a year, and Gilbert, from that splinter republic of Texastan, is a strong OC, then I’m on your bandwagon and count me in for some baked beans and ribs with lots uh chilli in the sauce, pardner.

You can always tell when an OAD perimeter player has not yet played up to expectations. Posting focuses on specific athletic plays, like nasty dunks, rather than total points, total rebounds, trey percentage and scoring efficiency. But not to worry. Josh is coming along and if Self can keep giving him 15 FGAs per game for awhile, he will get untracked for a big game. The UAB game got him a highlight dunk, which is required for OAD branding, but not the kind of numbers needed for marketing buzz. So: Self will likely get him another branding game ASAP, so that Self can get back to developing the inside game we will need for balance in conference and post season. If Josh actually lacks a Trey, it could take 20 FGAs for a branding game. Either way, it will come.

@BeddieKU23 You are correct. starting conference play with two road wins in this year’s conference is a big plus…any way you see it. losing at home to Baylor hurts ISU big time. KSU is the wild card, they play really well but they come just short. The lost a 2 OT game to WVU at home and a very close game on the road to Texas…both games could have easily gone the other way.

@nuleafjhawk I smiled at the tattoo line-then I laugher out loud when I read, “On his forehead”

@justanotherfan Damn, that’s some serious copy !! I’d give it 1000 thumbs up if I had that many-Some of my relatives (the slower ones) may be from misery, but I’m a born & bred Jayhawk, thankfully with only two !!

So there was no trade of any of the top 5 picks. There was a lot of talk regarding whether Philly would deal the third pick, or Utah would deal the 5 to move up, or even Cleveland dealing the 1. None of it happened, although I thought something was afoot when Cleveland went their entire time to make their pick. As for the second prediction, I’m looking at 4 guys as potentially the guy to be one of the five best in 5 years - Zach Levine (13), TJ Warren (14), James Young (17) and Gary Harris (19). I’d also keep an eye on Tyler Ennis. It’s not that I think any of the guys at the top are bad - I just think there’s a good possibility that one of these guys explodes. I have my eye especially on James Young. He’s a very good scorer that got overshadowed in college, but could really develop in the NBA. He’s with a very good franchise with a good coach, so that should help. Embiid went 3. I was surprised that Philly pulled the trigger, but I see what they are trying to do with very athletic big guys. It’s a risk, but one that could pay off huge when everyone is healthy in a couple of years (knock on wood). We will know in three years who regrets the Embiid pick. Stay tuned. Really classy moment from the NBA last night with the league “drafting” Isaiah Austin. A special moment that you could tell meant a lot to him. Wishing him the best moving forward. New predictions: Rookie of the Year - Jabari Parker. He will probably lead Milwaukee in scoring at around 20 per. He’s also a good enough rebounder that he will contribute there as well. I don’t see anyone else being able to put up those kind of numbers. Julius Randle could have a nice year in LA as a rebounder, but I don’t think he will be as good a scorer right off the bat, so he won’t be able to stay with Parker in the voting. Biggest Bust Risk (injury division) - Obviously this is Embiid. Until he plays a full season, this is a huge risk. Biggest Bust Risk (lottery pick) - I don’t worry about guys that can’t shoot if they can do other things, so Gordon, Payton and guys like that don’t worry me so much. That makes Zach Levine the biggest bust risk to me. He’s athletic and can play, but isn’t terribly consistent, and if he can’t play the point, it’s hard to find a fit for him. Biggest Bust Risk (first round) - PJ Hairston. Hanging out with the wrong people is a sure way to derail your career. That’s what his undoing was in college, and unless he has corrected that, no amount of skill will keep him in the League. Late First Round surprise - I have to point to two guys here. Rodney Hood for the Jazz and Shabazz Napier for the Heat. It’s clear the Heat are going to move in a different direction at the point. It looks like Chalmers will probably walk and sign elsewhere. Napier has a chance to start for (if Lebron stays) a very good Miami team. Hood is another nice piece for Utah as they try and rebuild. Best Second Rounders - I really like a bunch of the second round guys to go on to have successful careers. Cleanthony Early should be a good one in NY, particularly if Carmelo leaves (which I think he will). Jarnell Stokes is a perfect fit in Memphis off the bench. Glenn Robinson III is another top notch player that just slipped because of the depth of this draft. Russ Smith is a perfect change of pace scorer off the bench in the NBA. There could be others as teams move guys around once free agency gets going next week.