Posts made by KJD

In response to Pete Grathoff’s KCStar post “Kansas lands on list of most obnoxious in college basketball” http://kuhoops.com/ku-basketball-news/205491129/

West Virginia’s booo bird’s are obnoxiously the worst in the Big XII. While watching a large sample of games and hearing their fans react to officials, collectively West Virginia fans simply do not understand what is actually happening in the game of basketball.

Oklahoma is second worst because they generate great teams from time to time and their season ticket holders won’t generate enough support to show up for conference home games if it isn’t on a Saturday against an interesting opponent. It’s a poor venue during week days. It isn’t football and football is what they do. They can have a top 20 team they could support and simply won’t show up. They seem unable to give their tickets away to any one in the community who might care. Oklahoma fans are worse than KU fans because they lack the passion, support and effort when the team could use it, deserves it.

Texas has the third worst fans. First, they thought they were so special that they deserved their own ESPN channel while diminishing the collective power of Big XII schools. Then, they created a toxic environment where they got rid of Rick Barnes and in replacement they now get to endure the diminished reign of Shaka Smart.

Kansas State fans wished they were on the list ahead of Kansas fans. Unfortunately for Kansas State fans, their team does not win enough, thus no one cares about how obnoxious Kansas State fans are.

If interested, here is the most obnoxious list: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/worst-college-basketball-fans

@HighEliteMajor Michigan State has gone to multiple Final Fours. If I had to guess, Bill Self at one point had a massive man crush on Tom Izzo and he may still harbor those feelings. Last year I detected a serious Bill Self man crush on The Mayor and I think we see some of that influence with what @jaybate-1.0 is talking about here in this thread about the journey to Ellis and the stretch 4.

When Bill Self was talking about putting Selden at the point he wasn’t simply saying that Selden will play a traditional point guard like previous point guards at Kansas; Bill Self said that Selden could play the point like DeAndre Kane played the point last year for Hoiberg Ball. Instead of Selden playing much point he gave that role to Mason, a smaller scoring 2 with more skill that Selden in the painted area. Selden is still a strong facilitator on offense. Hoiberg’s team’s shoot a lot of threes though they know how to balance that with attacking the rim. Kansas has had trouble attacking the rim this year. I think jaybate is right that if KU can sustain this way of attacking the rim, which they will, Self can be much happier about spells of long range artillery barrages to open up lanes to attack the paint–when the shots from three start going down then this team will start looking more complete.

One of the great tournament games that this brings to mind is a game that Kansas lost though it was a wonderful college game of basketball: Michigan State defeats Kansas in the 2008-09 Sweet 16. What won out at the end? Michigan State was more aggressive, more confident, and most important they finished plays in the paint. Michigan State loves to have their guards put the rock on the floor and drive it to the paint and attack. Michigan State loves to pound you in the paint with their physicality. Michigan State loves to pry you open with three bombs by great shooters. Michigan State loves to play attacking, tenacious D which creates fast break offense. And all of that love sounds a whole lot like Kansas and Bill Self Ball.

Attacking is aggressive. In the Texas game Kelly Oubre was quoted that the coaches kept telling them to keep attacking. Do not back down, attack the paint, take it to their body, draw fouls, find the right windows to shoot it where shot blockers cannot get to it, and be ready for scramble scrums in close contact when a shot blocker does get to it or the shot comes off the glass. Be relentless, do not settle for jump shots, keep going on the attack possession after possession. Attack!

Why would Bill Self change his ways? Bill Self attacks the paint, shoots close to the rim. Why would he make his team give up and become jump shooters all of the time? This years team has been inconsistent in imposing their attitude of attack on the opponent. This years team needed to find a consistent way of attacking the paint and I really like @jaybate-1.0 story to kick this thread off in how that was such a struggle this year. This group needs to become more consistent through 40 minutes of competing in attack mode. All that they wanted out of Perry this year was to be more aggressive and to attack.

Bill Self told the press in preseason that he asked Conner Frankamp if he wanted to be a shooter or a player. That says a lot about Coach Bill Self. Conner is a terrific shooter though it seems there were too many around him who were working on becoming complete players. I particularly think of Frank Mason. Wayne Selden could get more credit for his all around game too yet with Conner I think of how much Frank improved over the summer. Bill Self needed Conner to be less of a jump shooter because Bill Self wants players who have an attitude and determination to attack the paint. Don’t let the ball stick, pass it to the bigs at an optimal angle, or put it on the floor to get to the paint for a shot or pass.

You’ve got to be able to shoot it to be recruited by Kansas but you’ve got to be a much more complete player to play ball for Self. Jump shooting all of the time is passive. That is why they call it ‘settling for jump shots’. Jump shooting doesn’t put the defense in scramble mode to defend an attack on the rim. An offense must crack a defense. Cracking a defense puts pressure on the other team while jump shooting over a defense allows the other team to remain relatively comfortable.

“Don’t let the ball stick” is another way of saying that the ball must move aggressively to break the defense so that the rim can be attacked in open space. Athletic bigs with superior touch close to the rim attacking in open space is always the most optimal option. When you do not have multiple optimal bigs and your back court are Freshmen and Sophomore’s then you watch your team struggle at making the game look beautiful for you. Still, Bill Self still found a way to get his players to find their way to win outright a highly competitive Big XII.

Bill Self is always about freeing the mind and making plays with confidence though you have got to include an attitude of determined attack. As Bill Self said, if you have the best players then you should win. Then the coaches job is to get 5 to attack wisely, together as a team on offense and defense, relentlessly and sustained, aggressively and confidently. The attitude of attack is not found in an analytic. Attack is an attitude that imposes as much of your talent, skill, and tenacity into breaking down the opponents shape, composure, and confidence.

2015 is filled with young guards and wings, Freshmen and Sophomores. This has impacted the way KU plays ball. Whenever I feel the pain of watching this team it is often with the thought “this team is young”. No Seniors nor Juniors play in the backcourt and that will produce some painful viewing.

Self said that he held Mason (Soph) back last year and could have given him more opportunities at the point. Graham (Fresh) hurt his toe in December and missed too much of winter break. Selden (Soph) emerges from the shadow of Wiggins his Sophomore year and gets is first crack at being Alpha Male. Greene (Soph) learns over the course of the year that he needs to play better defense, which has improved, and he has had several moments to shine for the deepening of his confidence to shoot it. Svi (Fresh) may be the best prospect on the team, he got minutes early in the season to give him a taste and now he has had the time to settle into living in America while playing big time ball. Oubre (Fresh) has played his way onto the the final 10 for National Freshman of the Year–thanks for playing at Kansas Kelly!

Next year Kansas will NOT be young. For our rotation of Five in the backcourt we most likely get Four back from our 2015 Big XII Championship team and Oubre’s replacement is an elite prospect who has had a year of practicing and playing with the team. It would be fascinating to know what skills they will be having each player focus on over the summer.

This year Bill Self could not give in. Bill Self had to keep the course. Coach had to hammer into his players that the closer to the rim a shot leaves your hands the higher the percentage you will make it. Three bombs create long rebounds offering breaks the other direction are reduced. Attacking the glass on offense means you have to be aggressive and attack with your attitude, your body, your skill. Attacking is not about analytics and numbers and higher probabilities which tell you what your strengths are. No, your attitude is not a number. Putting the other team on their heels through attacking the defense in the paint is not an analytic. If you are looking too much at the box score you are missing the game on the court. It’s not just being a psychologist either. You have to believe in heart, and you must try to impose your will onto the game, and, letting it go with confidence to make wise, winning plays may be the most crucial of it all.

Next year we will have a wiser group. They will have had time to develop more skill. They will have had time to contemplate what they accomplished and be able to focus on what will make them even better. Next year we return a group that will reprise their roles and they will have an opportunity to rise, as a team, be a more mature brand of Bill Self Ball. Bill Self Ball is always a relationship with his players and always a work in progress.

@Wigs2 @HighEliteMajor There have definitely been comments on this board this year questioning the ability of Coach Self as a coach. I never said HEM or Jesse Newell so there was a big assumption in Wigs2 comment that I was specifically calling out those two individuals which I left alone earlier. Frankly, I don’t read Jesse so much these days because I like the coverage here–I like the fan flavor. I feel like writing some more to clarify and develop this conversation since HEM jumped in with his comment too.

If coach Self is great, which I think he is, I’m much more interested in considering his decision making process and analyzing what the motivations may be, contemplating how they are playing out now and over the course of a long season. Since HEM’s posts are a conversation point here I’ll use him as example: I do not read all that is written by HEM, though I do enjoy going through many of his posts, and my less than full understanding of HEM is that he has his opinion of what he would like to see out of the team so he goes to great lengths in articulating his viewpoint of what he would like to see happen. From my way of watching the game and following KU I see HEM’s commentary as a kind of insight from what he is seeing in the team and I like reading about what other people are seeing. Nothing against HEM, I’m just way more interested in Bill Self’s actual approach to the game and what happens in games. Seems like HEM likes that too and regularly makes lists of observations. (I also enjoy the humor on this site a great deal too and the general enthusiasm for Jayhawks).

I do remember a theme on this board back in January taking Bill Self to task for being less than innovative. There has been serious speculation and accusation that Bill Self is not innovative which debilitates the potential of the team: he falls back on old habits, won’t play zone, has destroyed the quality of the team play due to too many 1 and done’s being recruited, Bill Self’s high/low is too complicated for 1 and done’s to thrive, we don’t have the talent to run the high/low this year so run something else (like more action for the three which seems to be a big demand this year)…sometimes those comments, from a variety of people, verge on questioning his basic ability to guide this team at the the highest level: basically questioning his coaching choices at a very fundamental level. I’m all for questions and speculation. It’s interesting. Sometimes though the questioning has verged into an area where I wonder if people recognize that they are following the work of one of the great coaches roaming the sidelines today. Coach Self has a real opportunity to be considered one of the greatest coaches of all time and he is doing it his way–and I love that I get to follow my favorite team being coached through Bill Self’s way of coaching.

@Wigs2 There is plenty of way that KU can reach the Final Four without the 5 spot giving a whole lot more than they are giving right now. You say ‘lucky’ to get through the second round. Why even talk about luck at this point when you don’t even know the bracket and the match ups? It is plenty about the match-ups in the NCAA tournament. Grinding out some fortunate match-ups in the first weekend --as in no one in our first weekend having the length and depth that Stanford had up front–and some hot shooting in the second weekend could get KU to the Final Four without the help of Lady Luck.

My point is that judging any team through a Final Four lens if February and early March, an obsession for some, takes away from the conference campaign that is in my opinion a much more important test for each team each year. Actually I find people projecting tournament out comes in the middle of February to be cool and dull commentary because the conference race itself is so hot and exciting–not that the people themselves are dull, it just isn’t so interesting to me.

@wrwlumpy Great clip from that CBS Sports article. Perfect. Cast that in bronze and send it to people, including several people on this board, who say that Bill Self is not such a good coach. Bill Self is a great coach.

It is disappointing when we lose in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament–yet it happens and I can deal with that because it is part of playing the game. The memory of losing during the first weekend creates the drama of ‘survive and advance’ which makes advancing to the round of 16 Sweet. KU basketball has excelled at being Sweet for the past 25 years. I feel fairly Sweet just thinking about that success so each Sweet 16 team is a great success for me.

Making it to the Final Four is amazing. I’m thankful that I follow a team that has given us the steady joy of Final Fours in our life. If you are over 40 years old and have been a KU fan for life then you have enjoyed fantastic, elite, sweetness as a college basketball fan that should last you for this life, yet Kansas basketball just keeps giving.

The regular conference championships have a special place in my heart. I enjoy Big XII basketball and I was a Big 8 fan too. I grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City, I was generally a sports junky, yet college basketball was well respected, well covered in the media, and there were lots of people around me who were enthusiastic about the college game. I played a lot of ball in leagues, in pickup, and I have a 1 hour academic credit from the University of Kansas in the subject “Basketball”. Growing up with the Missouri rivalry and the tournament being played downtown, I get juiced for Big XII conference play each year. Following the team in non-conference as we prepare for conference play is the main way I follow the game for the first few months. Then in January the serious business begins. The fact that Bill Self is on the brink of guiding Kansas to our 11th straight conference crown is incredible. I love it. It is an outstanding achievement. I agree with all that is being said in that CBS article so thanks for posting it.

Both tournaments are bonus games. Bonus trophies are handed out. Yes, I do indeed get a wild juiced euphoria for a Final Four run and NCAA Championships are simply another kind of sports viewing experience that is a special kind of wonderful.

The test of a team for me is still the conference slate. It is so good that we play a true home and home series against each team in the conference. The Big XII conference season is not over. I want KU to keep winning. I’ve enjoyed this conference season for all of its story lines and the cliff hangers. The Streak seems like it just might go to 11. To even write that last line with two games left seems like a surprise considering the outlook after the road loss at West Virginia. Perry has elevated his game, other teams have had there tough go of it in the Big XII too, and this young team is 40 minutes away from celebrating a great team accomplishment.

@lincase The top 6 teams do get byes.

@benshawks08 Texas size upfront is a concern though our KU team plays much better in the fieldhouse this year when feeding off of that energy. The Longhorns lost @Oklahoma last week by only 2 points and OU is not particularly big upfront either. Another way to look at that game is OU may be beatable at home though the Sooner fans will most likely turn out to pack the house against KU. The finish to this conference season will certainly be entertaining.

Current standings

Kansas 11-4

West Virginia 10-5

Iowa State 10-5

Oklahoma 10-5

Baylor 9-6

The “Big XII is Awsome” scenario is where KU losses two of the last three games and claims a share of the Big XII title to continue the Streak:

Kansas: Tex W – WV L – @OU L

West Virginia: @Baylor L – @KU W – OSU W

Iowa State: @KSU W – OK W – @TCU L

Oklahoma: TCU W – @ISU L – KU W

Baylor: WV W – @Tex W – TTU W

Final Standings

Kansas 12-6

West Virginia 12-6

Iowa State 12-6

Oklahoma 12-6

Baylor 12-6

**The 2015 Phillips 66 Big 12 Blood Bath **will conclude the season at the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City. In the “Big XII is Awesome” scenario two Co-Champions play each other in the 4 seed vs 5 seed game.

@Gunman “I don’t enjoying watching/listening to critical dialogue from Gurley or Piper.” That line just made miss the voice of Max Falkenstein. 60 years and 1,750 men’s basketball games is part of the legend–that is one serious career! He was consistently kind, warm, and enthusiastic about Jayhawks. Max was excellent color to the call of Bob Davis. They made a great pair.

This reminds me of the TCU game where KU shoots great in the first half against a home team that is not playing well in the first half. The good shooting by the Hawks covers up blemishes where KU could have opened up an even larger lead because the home team was not playing that well. Then the home team plays a much stronger second half and KU struggles ugly. This time KU gets beat.

OSU is better than TCU so that is part of the lesson. The other part is that you have to play strong and smart in the first 5 minutes of the second half in each and every game of the season. A great team must own those minutes each night coming out of the half time break. Own those minutes in all of the games, all of them. Win the first and last 5 minutes of each half.

KU was so dead in the first five minutes of the second half they looked like kids. The KU players have to know that 7-9 in the first half from three against a home team that went 0-9 needs to be protected with solid D and smart play on the offensive end. KU had their best shooting half behind them so you have to play smart on offense and tough on defense when you are playing on the road. These young KU players gave another lead away with zero fight. Poof: all their good work given away. OSU was going to go into the second half tough, hard, defending their home court and KU did nothing to match the effort.

@JayHawkFanToo That link looks like a strong lacrosse league. Competitive in sculling too.

@justanotherfan Rex Walters might have lifted Northwestern to the tournament if he stayed. I’m so happy he did not. That Northwestern fact is astonishing since they are deep in the web of Chicagoland. Perhaps a bastion of academic-first athletics at a high level?

@jaybate-1.0 “this could mean Kelly is substantially shorter”. Hair height counts when you have a wing span like Kelly Oubre.

@wrwlumpy Stop that cropping business. Cropping is for sod busting, silage loving purple kitties.

@jaybate-1.0 “it is more important to play lots of bodies than it is to build leads that first half. You are trying to save up your guys energy for the second game.” That is first game in a tournament strategy too. Pacing a set of games from within the game through rotation and depth.

Indeed, the future is NOT 100% predictable. It’s good to develop tactics, keep running drills. The strategies are off of intel so this has me wondering about the under world of scouting future opponents. There is definitely process and systems that create the intel for those scouting reports. Bill certainly chats to the media about the players playing to the scouting report and it is praise when they do like they did against Texas.

@benshawks08 @drgnslayr I really enjoyed the discussion up to this point. Good stuff.

I find myself speculating too on what is going on in the mind of Bill Self. It seems like I learn a lot about basketball trying to do so. I felt the same way following Roy.

To offer the perspective that came to my mind while reading your posts was ‘developing complexity over the course of the season’. If we kept bombing threes like HEM suggests and completely abandon the inside out game, then you are taking away from your confidence to play a more complex game. Complexity is much more difficult to scout and guard. Complexity is having 5 guys on the floor that can score against an array of defenses while being able to switch on the D end without creating bad match-ups. Complexity and confidence in the team is what I see Self developing each year. Each year he has to create that all over again in a new way because new players arrive, current players develop, old players leave.

@wrwlumpy Great set of photos. I’m sending this link to my friend who loves his Purple Power Kitties. Hi Paul!

Speaking of Paul, he was disappointed in the way the team performed during non-conference play this year. He follows his Kats close, loved his young team last year, and sees in them this year a group that is putting it together to level he expected during conference play.

K-State’s loss to West Virginia was a physical, energetic, messy and fun game to watch if you like a scrap. K-State will certainly bring the fight. I think KU will be up for our in state match-up which means we will scrap with them-and Frank Mason has already mentioned to the media that this KU team likes to scrap. I think we have more offensive firepower and the home court so we should grab the W. We’ve got to grab the W.

What is the over/under of the number of times the camera catches Weber and Gipson making pouty faces at the officials?

@joeloveshawks Lucas with his big body has good skill to seal his man up the lane and then catch the ball going towards the rim. He’s got the rhythm to finish it too. I like feeding Lucas and he provides a presence to play some classic Self angle offense though not to the extent that his predecessors have shown. Though I don’t think of his role on the team as being the same as most of his predecessors . Last night with our foul trouble shows he is a good talent to keep developing so that we have big man depth which includes feeding him in the post during his game minutes. That’s my feeling and I can see that you feel exactly the opposite. Lucas has a lot of fight too, he makes effort plays, though I don’t see a ton of upside yet other than he is reliable off the bench to give us depth to bang on the glass.

After watching that game a lack of 3-point shooting is not what came to mind. It felt more like KU got into first half foul trouble and still won the first half while TCU played their better half in the second half which gave us trouble. I like the way KU responded with roughly 10 minutes to go in the game to re-build a lead. Kansas did not close the last 5 minutes particularly great. Greene’s confidence to shoot the ball comes in handy once again.

The problem this year does not seem to be over thinking. The problem seems to be retention and confidence to run the system. Sure, you need a skill set to execute the system. It sure would help to understand the complexity of the plan and have experience running in the system during conference play.

Repetition is great. Repetition is the way you can let go and play with a free mind. With such a young team I don’t expect to see a crew of wise, free minds running Bill Self Ball cohesively as a unit-not this early in the season. It’s college ball and we get to watch kids get an education.

How about a big shout out to all of those managers on basketball teams that shag rebounds in practice to feed the ball to shooters in practice! Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm, feel that rhythm.

In practice, and those three point shooting contests, your feet are squared, your knees and especially your hips are squared. This helps the shoulders be squared and the body be squared.

Corner shots are typically passes to a set and squared shooter as compared to other spaces beyond the arc. 90 degrees of the court is out of bounds in the corner so that limits so many options of play. Dribble penetration can see the set and squared shooter in the corner most easily for a dish to the three. The space is slim in the corner for the three point shooter so be set and squared or pass if the ball does not arrive clean in your window for a rhythm shot. Ask Ray Allen what a rhythm shot in the corner feels like. How often does a pass go to a shooter in the corner at an angle more than 45 degrees? How often does the the shooter dribble laterally in the corner then shoot an unbalanced shot?

@Crimsonorblue22 …he looks pretty clutch at cookie crunch time to me. That takes reps.

He is winning too many cookie challenges!

Ick nasty muddy grimey game. Our missed free throws were putting the screws to the KU fans. Every miss in the second half was like another ratchet on the rack. Each miss another lash. Especially after the first 10 minutes of this game put us in the mood to stomp OSU. All the whistles killed the flow. There seemed to be a collective release and relief with the applause and crowd murmur when Graham’s free throw at 3:24 bounced way up off the back of the iron then dropped through the net.

Lucas had good night off the bench to help build his confidence. He was called upon late to be the big when Self went small. Which is more perplexing this year: figuring the minutes/rotation for the front court or the back court?

Impressed with Graham’s play considering he is a Freshman point, he sat for several weeks, and he is contributing solid minutes early in conference play. Graham’s fresh out of the boot and Greene is riding pine along with Svi. I noticed Graham sitting right next to the coaches most of the time while he was out on the DL.

Feed The Post is Dead; Long Live Man-to-Man Pressure D

@Crimsonorblue22 The skull won because I like it and “KJD” returned from the dead for me because I am not posting on the other site. The chat board mojo left there and is here.

I enjoy this site. I drop in to read comments by the good folks here during the season because it is the best conversation going concerning our beloved KU baskteball team. Folks here are all in for KU hoops and I appreciate reading the perspectives.

I was at a sports bar in Minnesota, no one is rooting for KU hoops except for me, all around me people are playing bingo, and I’m off of my seat for this game. I am cheering out loud like it is an NCAA game. I am cheering out load because both teams are playing D with energy each possession and each bucket is like a nugget of gold for our scores and a kick in the guts when they hit a bucket . I know that KU is young, really young, and the conference is loaded. Each road win is key. The next road game is at Ames on ESPN Game Day. Self is 1-3 on the road on Game Day and playing at Ames is already a tough chore. Then the third road game is at Texas. Our first three road games are stacked hard against a young KU team learning to play on the road. Our two losses this year shows how badly this team needs to show serious fight for 40 minutes away from the Fieldhouse.

Baylor was going strong for the win tonight for Isaiah Austin. Multiply that with it being the home opener for Baylor plus it is KU. On the bench is a man with NBA skills that never saw the NBA because he had to retire due to Marfan Syndrome. The stakes for Baylor was center in my perception while watching this game. Are you scrutinizing the details to lay judgment on Jayhawk players because KU is not up by 10? I’ve watched a lot of games with KU fans and that seems to be a way of watching. Being up by 10 on the road against a ranked opponent gets me stoked, don’t get me wrong, though I don’t go into a road game during conference play expecting a waltz.

We should appreciate that the opponent was ranked, wants to crush us because we are KU on their home court, plus they are playing for one of their brothers on his night. As fans do we honor the opponent or are we spoiled rotten like other fans say we are? I’m asking that as a serious point of conversation this season because the road to a ring looks tough. This win was big because of what our opponent was playing for and how well they played. We beat them anyway. We beat them on the road. We beat them on their night. We did it tough as a team. Personally, I’m stoked by this win because of the way this young team fought for the win.

This is a really young KU team. They took that game away from Baylor. KU fought all night against a Baylor team that fought all night.

Wayne Selden drops 7 when you need him to. You need KU wins like a coffee junky needs java to be awake. Selden is there for you. I needed those 7. No java then kubuckets.com gets real cranky. Wayne Selden was key in dosing us tonight with a W roast.

Bill Self is the man. Scott Drew is not the man. In the last two minutes the players left Scott Drew hanging with his huddle break high five. Scott Drew is not the center of gravity in a huddle like Head Coach Bill Self. With fouls to give and seconds to play Bill Self draws up two out of bound plays in one huddle while the refs reviewed Oubre’s D play that Cherry knocked out of bounds with less than 10 seconds to play. The first play draws one second off the clock though it gets the ball into Mason’s hands for the 6th foul. The next set play gets the ball into Greene’s hands then he gets fouled and heads to the stripe. Greene makes both of them to go 17-17 for charities on the season. Then the head bender: fouling Cherry after killing a second or two off of the clock well before half court. Cherry makes two. Then the foul on Mason. Mason misses the front end and the nerves sky rocket for me since we are only up 1. No time left. Baylor is left looking at 0.0 by the time they get a guy shoulders squared to the basket. Bill Self navigated this young team through tough waters for the W. It’s Bill Self that makes KU the team to beat in Big XII play.

This was a crazy great game to win on the road, at least for me, and my confidence is boosted as we go for 11 rings in a row. Tough conference to win. I’m not going into this season expecting a conference championship. Expectations like that would be spoiled rotten. I’m hanging on every game and cheering for these guys. They deserve it tonight.

Mickelson showed a tough game today to go along with his skill set. Activity, aggressive play, infusing a Mickelson’s skilled game raised the ceiling. A Self head pat on his last exit is a great trophy for his hard work along with keeping confident even though he was way down in the rotation. With Oubre coming alive today too Team Jayhawk grows forward towards conference play. Now we can settle into the serious business of winter break.

When you can’t cut it at the elite school and you burn eligibility does Ojeleye end up down grading his pool of choices like AWIII did going to Nebraska?

Since you are talking Frankamp you are talking Point Guard too. I would like to add the Graham medical redshirt to this speculation scenario. I’m training my brain to think of KU as being point guard depleted this year. I watched KU vs Utah again tonight to think of ways Self will pace Mason’s stamina. For instance, in the first half during our run to close the half, I looked at how we guarded the ball on the inbounds after a make:

• Mason pressured the ball a few times
• KU did not pressure the ball at all a few times
• Selden picked up soft pressure
• Oubre picked up pressure
• The team picked up full court pressure several times too

Bill Self paced Sherron Collins as the mega-minutes man at the point for a couple of years and he did the same with Tyshawn his Senior year.

I’m also thinking about the upside of a Graham redshirt. This puts two years between Mason and Graham. From what I’ve seen from Graham this year I like the upside of him having a redshirt. Please sit a Freshman point guard who can not practice over winter break. Re-orientating Graham to the rotation as we enter Big XII play seems less optimal than extending Graham out to be a 5th year senior.

I think missing Graham will become less of a headache if Oubre emerges as a good Big XII guard. My guess is that Oubre emerges even more after finals with Lafayette and Kent State being ripe. I’m not saying that Oubre would be a primary ball handler or be responsible for getting the offense started, though he can emerge as a wing threat that distorts defenses. At this point I’m also thinking about how to make Selden’s job less complicated, more space, simpler options when he is running the point. Svi has some handles too though I wouldn’t want to put this kind of pressure on him at this time of his career; I don’t trust Greene to take on anymore than what he’s trying to accomplish now.

@BeddieKU23 “I think we have seen some seperation in the rotation. Ellis, Mason, Svi, and Selden are clearly ahead. I think its wise to Keep Lucas with his size in there because he buys Cliff 4-5 minutes of non-fouls. Cliff is going to start at some point…”

I suppose the question is when to start Alexander and only Self knows. I feels as if we keep this trips rotation scheme in place for Sunday. For me it would be good to keep Lucas starting and protecting Alexander through the Florida, Georgetown stretch too. Utah is two weeks away, LaFayette is in three weeks and Kent State is a month out. Will it happen in December? If both Lucas and Alexander are going to be clocking the same amount of minutes that they are now then keep Alexander on the bench to save him for closing.

Yesterdays 7 are todays 7 too: Mason, Selden, Svi, Ellis, Lucas, Alexander, Greene

In this game I saw a first team and a second team in the first 10 minutes. Team Selden was so much better than Team Traylor. Team Traylor (Graham, Greene, Oubre, Traylor, Alexander) gave back all that was built by Team Selden (Mason, Selden, Svi, Ellis, Lucas) in the opening shift.

14:05 The change over begins with KU up 10-6. Alexander for Lucas and Greene for Svi.

12:23 Graham for Mason to complete the switch to Team Traylor with KU up 14-7.

10:26 Team Traylor leaves the court in a mass substituion with the game tied at 17-17.

At 8:49, down 19-18, Team Selden is in the game stopping the Tennesse momentum that began with Team Traylor on the floor.

7:27 Selden’s three to establish a 25-19 lead! Set up by one Mason’s D boards. Out of all the positives for him today, Mason also hit the defensive glass.

6:19 Alexander for Lucas. Alexander is a monster off the bench.

5:02 Greene replaces Svi with KU up 29-22. Svi’s second shift is 5:24, to put him over 11 minutes in the first half. Svi’s shifts are +11 so far today.

KU gets to the break with that 11 point lead: 40-33.

Team Selden starts the second half.

14:59 Kelly Oubre is subbed into the game for Svi and Svi is done for the day with 19 minutes and 7 points. KU 54-43

14:19 Graham for Selden. Mason moves to shooting guard and KU has more handles to deal with the Tennesse tempo, press, presure which does not work.

12:52 Traylor for Ellis. Mason is the only one left for Team Selden. Greene has yet to check into the game and Kansas keeps turning the ball over for easy Tennesse buckets.

12:32 Selden for Mason. Strange that we don’t yet see Greene. Tennesse with a 3, a steal at half court from pressure to cut the lead to 1: 54-53

12:12 Self turns to Mason, Selden, Greene, Ellis, to finish the game. At this point Traylor joins them.

7:17 Alexander for Traylor. A couple of threes keeps the ‘Hawks up though they don’t look sharp over the last 5 minutes. 62-60

5:29 Alexander is the best player on the floor during this two minute stretch to create that important 5 point cushion with 5 minutes left. KU 67-62

KU finishes the game out well without giving Tennesse a sniff at it.

Tonight’s 7 against the Rhode Island Rams: Mason, Selden, Svi, Ellis, Lucas start and Alexander, Greene are first off bench.

15:35: Lucas sits for Alexander. KU 4 - RI 4.

15:32 Ellis takes it strong to the rim, draws a foul on RI’s Martin to put one of their starting big men on the bench with two fouls.

15:00 Svi with the steal resulting from good KU team defense then Mason with the finish on the break: KU 8-4.

Rhode Island returns 4 starters from the 2014 team, they beat a top 25 team this year, yet a young KU team establishes their presence, their pace, their game in the first 5 minutes by applying good pressure D in the half court. There is a poise among these first KU 5 to take on the initial confidence of Rhode Island and turn them away. KU establishes a 20 point lead over the next 7 minutes of game time.

14:46 Greene for Svi. This accounts for 1/3 of Svi’s minutes in the game. Do not underestimate his current role as a steady influence on a young, developing team. Svi is the pace man, the example for the other two super wings behind him (Greene and then Oubre).

14:46: Mason, Selden, Greene, Ellis, Alexander. 8-6

14:46 - 14:03 . Selden knocks down his second three which is followed by a Mason steal that results in a Greene three and a RI time out. 14-6

13:10 After Alexander stuffs a shot onto the defensive glass, Selden’s baseline drive under the basket on the offensive end finds Mason for an open 3 to open up a 17-6 margin. This felt like KU taking the game and they never let go of it. In the second half they rode their first half effort into the next round of this tournament-which is not a bad path to take.

I really like that Self made winning this tournament a goal, publicly, creating a focus to accomplish. KU took a great step forward in their first 7 minutes of this tournament. Rhode Island never cuts the lead to single digits.

This weekend, playing three games in a row, our depth is going to allow us to apply a variety of pressure looks on defense. At least that is what I’m looking forward to seeing and how that will unfold. I’m less interested in the minutes in each game that a player plays this season than I have been in the past. @HighEliteMajor I like to map out minute projections too, it’s part of the fun in following, though it feels real different this year. I’m thinking about trends over 5 games and how the players are being balanced in relationship to how much pressure we can apply on D. We need to preserve our legs over the haul of the season, especially being so young, and it already appears we have plenty of depth to get after it on D.

With lack of size and length in the front court, as compared to what Jayhawk fans are accustomed to looking at over the last couple of decades, KU must play their size and length in the frontcourt. Svi 6-8, Greene 6-7 and Oubre 6-7 with his crazy length all need to play-and I think they all will play. I do like the way Oubre exerts himself on the defensive end and I’m sure coach is noticing his effort. Ellis is only slightly taller than Oubre, and I need to look closer at that to confirm since there is the hair adjustment you have to account for. Even Ellis fits into this set of players from the defensive perspective with our ability to pressure, rotate, switch. Selden at 6-5 with strength and athleticism, skills and leadership fits with the group of super wings well.

KU gets to apply more ball pressure on defense, suck up the oxygen out of the passing lanes, and they can change up how deep they want to apply pressure to keep the other team off balance. It’s nice to have Jamari Traylor 6-8 suddenly pressuring the ball on the in-bounds after a make. Perry Ellis 6-8 chasing to create traps at 3/4 to 1/2 court is just one wrinkle that you can throw at a team, something that will have to be digested in scouting and preparing for the Jayhawks. I think our depth is a big plus for this team as coach continues to evolve his defensive principles after last years rule change. Coach Self is already showing a more dynamic change-up pressure defense and this approach will help utilize our 10 deep for the entire season. It would be great to see this defense mature and develop even more and it’s the 6-5 to 6-8 guys that I see as being the most important in that development-though we’ll still need our point to cut the head off. The length, size and jump in the 2,3,4 spots on this team makes up for our loss of having one of the best shot blockers in the nation anchoring the defense. Traylor, Alexander and Lucas can anchor though none of them are Aldrich, Withey or Embiid.

Then we have two small guards to handle, penetrate, cut the head off of the other team, make timely threes. To me this means Graham and Mason will most likely be splitting 40 minutes more and more. The exception on this is when we desperately need our best ball handlers due to match-ups and game situation. I also wonder how long Graham’s shoulder is going to bother him as we develop our team in the crucial month of December.

I have always thought that the 1998 team had bum wheels that day (as if there were a flu bug going around), they were they just terribly flat, and got beat by a good Rhode Island team that shot a hot 50%.

@joeloveshawks You inspired some KU memories on this holiday eve. You can have the 1997 Jayhawk team as the best ever, and you are not alone, though I think there are other teams that are in the conversation that make it difficult to say, flatly, that 1997 was the best KU ever had. 2008 makes a great case-and I don’t think I have to type anything to make a case for 2008 in comparison to 1997.

When looking only at the first 7, and a rotation of 7 is really all you need with a few glue guys in the 8 and 9 spot, I take the 2002 team over 1997: Miles, Boschee, Hinrich, Gooden and Collison starting with Langford and Simien off the bench. If you look at 8 deep then I think 1997 Ryan Robertson is a better option than 2002 Michael Lee, Brett Ballard, or Bryant Nash though I don’t think any are going to play many minutes in a big time game. The 2002 team goes 33-4 overall, 16-0 in Big 12 play, and makes it to the Final Four.

• 2002 had superior big man depth. T.J Pugh is the big man off the bench for 1997 as compared to Simien off the bench in 2002. Never underestimate the power of having a future All-American coming off the bench for you to dominate the other teams front court depth. It is the difference in many games, especially when a starter gets those early first half fouls.

• Do you want a Senior Billy Thomas or a Freshman Keith Langford? Both were offensive threats on the wing coming off the bench. Billy stretched defenses with his three bombs while Langford, even as a Freshman, carved his way through defenses with the dribble drive and finished strong at the rim.

• Boschee and Haase seem like they could be wash except for this-when Boschee during his Senior year was hot behind the arc he would simply take over entire games in ways that Haase never could his Senior year.

• It is easy to concede that a Senior Vaughn, who had a Second Team All-American season in 1997, would be the more favorable guard at the point as opposed to the Freshman Miles. Still, Aaron Miles as a Freshman averaged 7.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 6.8 assists while leading the Jayhawks to an undefeated season in Big XII play. How many teams have gone undefeated in conference play, in major conferences, over the last 20 years?

• Drew Gooden’s 2002 All-American year was better than Raef’s 1997 All-American year. Raef LaFrentz was a great All-American though Drew Gooden was a contender for National Player of the Year over Jay Williams in 2002. On the glass, both sides of the court, particularly on the offensive boards, Drew was crazy unstoppable good. Raef did his crafty post skills to finish is so many wonderful ways though Collison had that same kind of low post craft that was truly elite. Collison and LaFrentz are a wash to me. Gooden in 2002 is more explosive and much more difficult to deal with in terms of creating schemes to slow him down than what Pollard offered his Senior year. Pollard is a solid though he just could not impact the game the same way as Gooden.

• The Small Forward position may be the spot that makes 1997 better in many peoples minds due to the presence of the great Paul Pierce. Though it’s hard to argue against Kirk Hinrich since his jersey is hanging in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse. I would never say that Kirk is better than Paul at the Small Forward, simply because Kirk was playing out of position yet that is what makes Kirk so great in my mind-a point guard playing small forward. Playing head to head in college Kirk would be able to defend Paul one on one though Paul does have the ability to impact a game and take it over. I do think that Kirk had a kind of game that was highly under appreciated by most fans and I think it could also be said that Kirk had the ability to shut someone like Paul down (case in point is Kirk shutting down Dwayne Wade in the 2003 Final Four). Paul wins this round for the 1997 crew though Kirk was a great team player who had loads of athletic ability, exceptional basketball savvy, and as much ‘want to’ as any player on the 1997 had.

Simply, I think it is tricky in picking one KU basketball team as ‘the best’.

Happy Thanksgiving Jayhawk Fans!

Svi and the Freshman wall: when a 17 year old plays all summer on the international circuit then without break shows up for Bill Self’s boot camp, does a guy hit the Freshman wall in early October and are we watching him play through that while he finds his legs to drain game time three’s?

Svi arrives late to the team, and it seems that the team floor chemistry when the ball is not in play is lagging on the Svi love. Svi is making plays, he’s dialed into the flow. Where are the flying chest bumps and high fives, especially when he goes on a 10 point tare in 3 minutes to make believers into knowers through out Jayhawk nation. Svi gets the start and he makes it feel like he should be starting over this holiday weekend-maybe he swaps back and forth with Greene.

Why does the spell check on this site tell me that ‘Jayhawk’ is misspelled?

Svi is way ahead of Oubre in fitting into the team game. Svi is way ahead of most of the team in terms of playing organized ball. Ellis, Svi and Selden. Then Greene-for his length, confidence, scoring, energy and slowly that experience from being in the program. After watching last nights game I see why Graham’s point guard skills are key for this team. Alexander will arrive and Alexander will deliver. Traylor will be better in his role this year than last year. Lucas takes Black’s role in pairing with Traylor to be a solid and dangerous frontcourt bench. Mason fits into the rotation much better now than Oubre.

How does KU not play 10 this year?

Thumped. Dominated. I can’t remember watching a Kansas basketball game like that before in my life. This early in the season neither team has developed their chemistry like they will so the raw talent difference was striking. Kentucky simply is overwhelming with their length and athleticism in the paint. They also had a lot of what Roy Williams used to call ‘want to’ on defense. Frank Mason going 1-10 was a surprising stat line because it didn’t seem like he shot it that much-maybe because several of his shots never made it close to the glass so it didn’t feel like a shot. Traylor with 7 boards and Alexander with 8 boards are the only glimmer of stat line that I can even think about from that game as a kind of positive. Kansas might have less than 33% of their offense installed at this point in the season so it wasn’t like we could throw a variety of looks at the Kentucky defense to keep them off balance. Simply, Kentucky played better as a team and that is tough to play against when they have more dynamic athletes than Kansas. I still like our team, I still think we can defend the Big XII, though I came away from that game thinking that Kentucky has a shot at a historic season if they can keep their focus, keep playing for the team first, keep playing to their roles, and trust in what the coach is coaching.

@JRyman I want to see Lucas move and seal Willie Cauley-Stein into the lane when we have the ball to create massive space for a catch and finish. I want to see that twice. I want to see that over and over again if Cal sticks with the platoon system and refuses to match up like every other basketball coach in the land.

Kentucky can be beat. We certainly have the talent, depth and coaching to win this game. The Wildcats still have a lot to figure out on their team, especially with trying to implement this platoon system. If Cal sticks to his guns and stays with the platoon this early in season, I think that is an advantage for the Jayhawks since it limits the time that the Harrison twins will be playing.

Last year the Wildcats went into the NCAA tournament 24-10, earned an 8 seed, and clawed through the tournament on a series of close wins. Kentucky survived a last second 3 shot that would have beat them as time ran out against Wichita State. Then Aaron Harrison hits big time 3 pointers against Louisville (39 seconds left to take a 2 point lead), Michigan (an NBA distance bomb to break a tie with 2.3 seconds left), and Wisconsin (another NBA distance three to take a one point lead with 5.7 seconds left). The young ‘Cats certainly were charmed on their run. The first four sentences of the AP story covering the Sweet 16 game against Louisville sums it up nicely: “Nobody will accuse these Kentucky kids of being the fastest learners. Not this season. And certainly not during most of Friday night’s game against Louisville. But once again, late in the game with everything on the line, they figured things out just in time.”

The Wildcats have two large holes to fill from that 2013-2014 team. Kentucky loses starters SF James Young and PF Julius Randle. During the NCAA tournament Young averaged 33 minutes, 13 points, and 5 rebounds. In the final two games Young played an average of 36 minutes while leading Kentucky in scoring both games. Randle’s total tournament average was 32 minutes, 14.8 points and 9.8 rebounds. Randle was the leading scorer in the Elite 8 game against Michigan and was the second leading scorer behind Young in both the Final Four and the Final.

Kentucky returns the backcourt duo of the Harrison twins. Aaron averaged 36.5 minutes and 13 points while Andrew averaged 35 minutes and 11 points while playing point. Is coach Cal really going to stick with the platoon system against the Jayhawks? It seems incredibly silly to limit their time and presence on the court since they are two most experienced returners from that National Runner-Up team.

Willie Cauley-Stein hurt his ankle during the Sweet 16 game and that ended his season. The frontcourt depth that Kentucky returns is impressive, though they can only play two of these guys at a time, and none of them have proved to be as consistent as Randle was for them. Playing against length hurt Kansas against Stanford so this is where Kentucky has an advantage that should concern the Jayhawks. Kansas did do an impressive job of team rebounding against an experienced UC Santa Barbara on Friday.

@Crimsonorblue22 The ball pressure that Selden is applying, the lateral movement on the perimeter, particularly since we are pressuring beyond the arc so much more this season, is where I’m noticing Selden’s D being better. It simply may be that he is running on better wheels this year and we are seeing a healthy Selden for the first time. His size with that lateral movement looks tough when he is hounding his man–and he is getting after it on D. The missed assignments on rotating in the block will tighten up and it mostly likely will by Kentucky since there is teaching tape.

The work that Ellis and Selden create together on the offensive end when they are combining to make plays is impressive–I’m looking forward to their chemistry maturing much more this year.

Selden is already looking much better on defense, as did the whole team last night. Selden is the only one to earn over 30 minutes and there were only four others to earn over 20: Traylor, Ellis, Graham, Mason. Those five would be the candidates to start against Kentucky and earn big minutes in that game.

Without Selden and Ellis on the floor Mason, Graham, Svi, Traylor, Alexander were five that looked quite strong together–it is the stretch that included Svi’s cross-over move on the break to feed Alexander which bumped the lead back up to double digits in the second half.

Oubre has the talent though his work was done last night in one shift during the first half. Greene, even with all of his confidence and energy that I like, still looks loose on his team play responsibilities.

Svi on D has length, keeps on his toes with an impressive active bounce and he consistently swivel’s his head which all conveys fantastic court presence. I couldn’t stop watching him on defense when he was on the court while thinking “this is why he was subbed into the game before Oubre”. HCBS commented a few days prior to the game that Kelly was taking chances on defense at bad times, particularly late in the possession. Greene did not start due to lack of Defensive vigilance in practice. Svi has been guarding men all summer, getting coached up by Mike Fratello, and there is a physicality that Svi possesses naturally though there was a composure, a polish to his defensive form that was surprising, exciting.

@HighEliteMajor I agree that CF left because he calculated Svi’s tools with what Self teaches, demands. Plus Graham keeps being described as the only natural 1 which means CF was feeling the crush of the sickly stacked 2 spot devouring his vision of what his college career was going to be. Svi, after being a late arrival to the team, is clearly competing with Greene and Oubre for playing time. Svi is not sharing the rotation pattern that Mickelson is earning. Mickelson seemed to be slotted into the rotation to get the role Lucas had last year. Svi was getting opportunity minutes in the Washburn game to earn a rotation role.

I felt clarity on CF’s departure while watching Svi. Is Svi’s mental retention going to out perform Oubre’s mental retention? Who’s light goes on fastest and brightest between now and the start of Big XII play? Does Svi loosen up and drain shots from beyond the arc consistently or do we see 3-point shooting in the 20 percentile range or low 30’s like we saw this summer on the international circuit?

Following the minute distribution of the 6 backcourt contenders, and watching who plays together and when, will most likely be a long winter’s novel of developing 3 Freshmen and blending them with 3 Sophomores.