Best posts made by KUinLA

@RockChalkinTexas Pasadena Post–funny. Legitimate twitter post–funny.

Mark Twain–A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on his shoes.

Izzo sees Greene go 6/6 and says ‘Don’t let him get open.’ Rather than draw up plays to get him open, Self says Óh well, he’s not getting open this game’ and pulls him. Result? 0/0

After seeing Hunter against N. CO. I thought 'how do you keep this guy off the floor?'I guess Bill found a way.

And Bill insists on trying to beat Michigan St. inside, even thought he’s only got one reliable big man scorer. And even though M State is always well stocked with capable big bodies.

I wonder if Hunter wishes he’d chosen M State.

Congratulations to the team on their 11th. Probably the toughest the Big 12 has been in a long time.

On rewatching the game, it became quite apparent how Kansas won this game. It wasn’t by playing ‘bad ball,’ whatever that means.

They won by shutting down WV’s offensive rebounding in the second half. WV is the best offensive rebounding team in the country. They got 15 in the first half and led by 16. Multiple 2nd & 3rd shots. You have to try to shut down what the other team does best.

Without their best scorer (Staten) on the floor, offensive rebounding becomes even more important. In fact, it’s their only chance to win. I don’t know how we gave up so many in the first half (probably getting out-hustled) but credit Bill for getting into their behinds at halftime about it.

Second half, KU holds them to about 3 or 4 O rebounds. West Virginia scores 19 points. You shouldn’t expect to win a game scoring 19 in a half. They’re not a good shooting team. They rely on offensive rebounding. That should have been our emphasis from the opening tip. Without Staten, the game probably shouldn’t have even been close. Kind of reminded me of the Florida game, when a team comes in shorthanded and somehow has us down 18 points in our own house, Anyway, credit Bill for making the adjustments at halftime, or just tearing into their butts to get the boys on the boards, because that’s what won the game for us.

http://rushthecourt.net/2015/11/18/kansas-jayhawks-michigan-state-spartans-champions-classic-offense-bill-self/

Well, it looks like the word is out and it’s becoming a matter of common knowledge. How long til we start seeing more like this in other media outlets? Probably only online and in print, though. Television analysts don’t seem to be allowed to say anything negative. Unless we get Bob Knight calling one of our games. He doesn’t mince words. And he knew what to do with a good three point shooter, didn’t he?

Some of us don’t have as much time as others to devote to this site and team and prefer to vent here mainly when their hackles are raised. Fair enough? Or are you taking attendance, lol?

Well, out-coached again. The book seems to be ‘press Kansas.’ If we do get into the front court, we never manage to get into any kind of offensive flow. And this from a coach who says we don’t press because a good team will beat the press for easy baskets. (And advocates for a 30 second shot clock) Bill should probably just plead the Fifth if he’s ever asked about pressing again.

And I don’t think I saw a single play run for a 3pt shooter until the last minute, if you wanna call that a play. Granted, setting Brannen on the low block and running him across the lane between a couple other guys worked in the Oklahoma game, when his defender got caught up in the traffic in the lane, but if your team mates aren’t going to make the slightest move to set a screen, but just hope the defender gets bogged down in traffic, well, you don’t have to be Malcolm Butler to jump the play and keep your guy from getting open.

You can’t just have your shooters hang around outside the 3pt line and hope the defense is gonna lag off them.

Okay, so Miles Simon’s Dean Smith story kinda gave me chills. Such a gentleman and class act! The fact that he went out of his way to encourage a kid and build up his self esteem–even when it would not do him (Smith) any good, and might have actually hurt him down the line professionally-- that’s kinda what it’s all about.

I’m proud to be able to claim Dean Smith, even though it’s just because we were from the same state and went to the same college.

And Simon’s connection of Naismith through Jordan was pretty moving also. And to think that you could leave out Larry Brown and Roy Williams (and 3 more National Championships and 7 more Final Fours) and still have a great story, just shows how richly textured and deeply layered the story of Kansas Basketball is.

Rest in Peace, Dean Smith.

Well, outcoached again. Simple scouting tells you that Kansas looks their best when they’re getting open looks for 3’s. When they don’t get 3’s and concentrate their game down low, they don’t look as good. They still win most of the time, but they struggle more.

Simple logic tells you that your best chance of beating Kansas is to not give up open 3’s and live with whatever damage they do down low. Simple math tells you that also. We have one guy who can hurt you down low. We have 3 or 4 who can hurt you from beyond the arc. Bruce Webber guarded the 3 tightly and we didn’t get many open looks. He chose to live with Perry Ellis’s big night and came away with a win. Just like West Virginia did and just like TCU almost did.

They also went zone when we tried our desperation late game weave. The weave only works if they’re playing a tight man D and you have a quickness advantage. So the Wildcats said, ‘Go ahead, weave all you want 25 feet out. We’ll wait here for you at the 3pt line.’ Looks like Bruce knows Bill’s offensive sets pretty well. And don’t forget, Bruce did take the team he inherited from Bill to the Championship game. I think the guy can coach a little. Recruiting might be a different story, but he can coach.

And on another note, why is Selden still playing so many minutes? Between his playground junk drives and his lackadaisical ball-handling…

How hard is it to catch a pass? Unless you make it hard by trying to do it with one hand? I’d seriously like to see his minutes cut in half and Brannen and Devonte pick up those minutes.

@HighEliteMajor Agree totally. I often just shake my head at the “other-bashing” on this site. Especially ‘others’ so close to home–Marshall, Weber, Barnes, etc. The gloating over a rival’s losses–I won’t go so far as to say embarrassed, but I certainly find it distasteful, and I know how you feel. Just seems small-minded to me. I’d hate to be in a foxhole with some of these guys and find out we went to different high schools.

All this talk about “Wait til he gets in a big conference, then we’ll see the emperor has no clothes, blah blah blah.” Why not just give the guy his due–he’s done a great job with a lot less talent than KU.

.821.

Hold that close and treasure it. It will give you solace in March when Bill’s team bows out to a less talented team.

sidenote: If you wish to mock my post and have a valid argument against it, then take it on head on. The point of the article is in March. Taking a sideswipe and saying ‘He’s .821’ or ‘He won 11 straight Big 12 titles’ is irrelevant to the article and to my (and quite a few other posters’) problem with Bill Self.

If .821 and 11 straight satisfies you, then fine, good for you. Maybe you’re a Cubs fan too. But I’m sorry you can’t simply accept the fact that not everyone shares your attitude and you feel the need to mock them.

My disappointment lies in repeated losses to less talented teams in the tournament. Losses that have become such a trend that multiple posters here recognize it and post ideas to solve the problem. And now it’s so obvious that we’re beginning to see commentary in other media outlets on the issue. Which is the whole point of my post. The Word is Out.

Like I said before, this team need to be shooting 25 threes a game.

You guys do realize that Florida came into this game shorthanded with only seven scholarship players and actually had to play a walk-on considerable minutes…

And the comeback (that never should have been necessary) was achieved not by playing Bill Self’s offense, but by Wayne taking it upon himself to play his own game, namely, beating his man off the dribble and pulling up for the mid range shot. Remember the mid range shot, Bill?

@globaljaybird

‘Without Embid, how good would Wigs have really looked at Kansas?’

You’re kidding, right?

@jaybate-1.0 Ahh, Brevity – the very soul of wit!

Well we certainly don’t deserve to spared a matchup with Kentucky prior to the Final Four. Having been trounced by them, why would the committee grant us that grace if they wouldn’t do so for a team like Wichita St. last year. You have to earn your way to the Final Four. An what it boils down to is, anyone NOT in Kentucky’s bracket has been done a favor by the committee. By virtue of our blowout loss, we would be the least deserving 2, 3 or 4 seed of that favor.

And then there’s the ratings considerations, which do play a part in seeding. A potential Kansas/Kentucky matchup the week before the Final Four would be attractive to the network.

@HighEliteMajor Yeah, I hope Bill doesn’t spend too much more time implying that his 3pt shooters have just been ‘lucky’ so far. He may need them to have the confidence to take a big shot at the end of a game in the tournament. Like EJ.

Great game by Perry, and no offense to him, but if Bill thinks a great game from the low post against the worst team in the league is going to translate into justification of his offensive philosophy against NCAA tournament teams–well, talk about Fool’s Gold…

How’d that work out for you against Kentucky? Does anyone here think a 9 point win at home (at Allen Field House!!!???) against TCU??? is something to hang your hat on?

I hope Turgeon is the next Kansas head coach.

I can hardly wait for that. And don’t forget, the ad nauseum posts speculating on ‘next year’s starting lineup.’

@JhawkAlum Weren’t posters saying earlier in the season that Wayne should play point for us? lol

I’m reminded of Brad Stevens saying that he didn’t want his demeanor to affect his kids on the court–much deeper wisdom from a much younger coach.

If you dig deeper into this ‘find a way’ philosophy, you have to ask–Why should this team have to play ‘bad ball’? Why can’t this team play good ball? Why can’t this team ‘find a way’ to score with 3 (or 4 if you count Cliff) McD’s All Americans and 4 (or 5) future NBA draft picks on the floor?

Could it be… COACHING???

Yeah, great performance by Jones–but he did step out of bounds and the non-call resulted in 2 Duke points late. Allen also obviously pushed off on a drive, but instead of a turnover, a defensive foul was called that gave Duke a 3pt opportunity. At least 4 calls that should have gone the other way.

@HighEliteMajor said:

our society, our lives, everything else, would be much better without pot or alcohol.

Wine is a sacrament in my religion. And Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine.

Addendum:
“alcohol is one of the scourges of society. It has destroyed millions of lives. It has exacted a tremendous toll.”
I would posit that it is not alcohol, but the abuse of alcohol, that is one of the scourges of society…and has destroyed millions of lives. And has exacted a tremendous toll.

Do you really think alcohol is the demon, or is the demon within the individual? Do you think banning alcohol would solve the problems? We tried that and it didn’t work. In fact, it spawned even worse problems.

If a man plays Russian Roulette and loses, do you blame the gun?

It looks to me like the key to beating this Kansas team (or lineup, anyway) is to defend the three point line. With zero looks for our two best shooters, we look just average. Unfortunately, Bill makes it very easy to defend the 3 because he runs no 3pt offense. You just have to stay within 5 ft. of a stationary man when the ball’s on this side of the court. I don’t doubt that that was part of Izzo’s game plan and I’ll bet we’ll see more of it throughout the season.

HEM-I agree with your basic idea about the 3pointers, but I don’t think its necessary to settle on one (unless you’re “I’ll never change” Bill Self). We’ve got three great outside shooters & Bill said each could win 3 or 4 games for us, but he shows no faith in them. And your point about coming off the bench cold and being expected to heat it up (Vinnie Johnson, anyone?) is spot on. Greene seemed to be in Bill’s doghouse until he got desperate in the Villanova game, but he looks like the best pure shooter of the bunch. And what does Bill do but hammer down on him as soon as he does what he’s in the game to do. And Bill still insists on running the offense through the post (Tarik Black?)

I’m just sick of seeing us lose big games to less talented, uninhibited, freewheeling three point shooting teams while our guys all choke up and look over to the bench every time they even think about raising a three.

@icthawkfan316 Ha! Welcome aboard ict! I’ve been posting that exact point for 4 or 5 years. Any conference that can be dominated by one team for 10 years is by definition, lame. Add to that, almost no Final Four appearances for that stretch (I think Oklahoma State made an appearance early in Bill’s KU career) and you have to wonder how anyone could consider this a “power conference.”

It’s always gratifying to check in to the boards and see good posters picking up on points I made years ago. What’s not gratifying is seeing the Jayhawks continually underachieve in the tournament. Hard to get excited about this team anymore.

Bill Self has never cultivated the mid-range shot as part of his game plan. I first noticed this during the 08 season, when it seemed the whole offense was 3 pointers and alley-oops. That’s all those guys needed, cuz they were all studs. But I nearly pulled my hair out Tuesday late in the game when Landon got the ball eight feet out and didn’t even look to score. Seriously, if you’re more than seven feet out, you’re gonna look for someone to pass to? Pathetic. And extremely easy to defend.

@MoonwalkMafia Did you notice how tightly our three point shooters were guarded outside the arc? Greene didn’t even get off a shot and Svi only got a couple uncontested looks. Okay, this guy’s not gonna shoot inside the arc, so guard him tight in 3pt range. And their bigs aren’t gonna look to score outside seven feet, so stay in the paint. Pretty simple. And they say Cal can’t coach, lol. That’s three straight (convincingly) over Bill. The game has moved on.

And btw, by the end of this year, coupled with last, I bet that glowing 82 number will have tarnished quite a bit.

@drgnslayr I thought Frank was actually one of the bright spots for KU. He seemed to consistently be able to take advantage of the overplay and get the ball in the paint (remember what Bill said about TT’s ability to get in the paint). Now he just needs to learn, or be coached (Bill?) what to do when he gets there, like dish to a big, pull up midrange, or kick out for an open 3

@approxinfinity Frank was the best player in a Kansas uniform, just like in the Kentucky game.

@globaljaybird

That was actually Bill’s offense that took Wigs out of the game. Stanford was just reacting to what Bill’s team was doing.

@jaybate-1.0 ??? What game were you watching? Or maybe I just don’t get what point you’re trying to make…?

@KUSTEVE Well I’ll agree with what you say, but for me, it’s not about winning the conference. That means nothing to me if you get bounced in the tournament by a lesser team. Roy had his tourney upsets, but he still made it to the Final Four 4 times. And his upsets were not nearly as painful (to me anyway) as Bill’s have been. I’m glad to see Bill is coming around, (slowly but surely) but you gotta recognize, the game has changed. You can make all the videos you want explaining the hi-lo c0ncept, but if you keep getting bounced from the tourney by an 8, 9 or 10 seed (or worse) what’s the point? The game has moved on.

link text(Recent article on ESPN)Kansas wasn’t included because it was a ‘rivalry thing’ but still fun to think about.

Ok, so obvious front line of Wilt, Danny and Paul, but who do want in your backcourt? Lot of choices, between scorers and guys who can get the ball to scorers.

And even though coaching wasn’t included, who’s got any kind of legacy of coaches to choose from besides Kansas? I’ll go with Larry.

Who cares? They’re a blip on the screen. A diminishing spot in the rear view mirror.

@KUSTEVE I guess I’m too far removed from the ‘border wars’ to carry much animosity towards Missouri. Fact is, I never did. I actually rooted for them in the tournament (as long as we didn’t meet up) and in non-conference games. I felt like it made the Big 12 a better conference… And I rooted for most Big 12 (or 8, or whatever) teams against outsiders. I bet Bill would say the same thing.

Are you familiar with the term ‘schadenfreude’? Loosely defined as ‘taking pleasure in the failure of others.’ I’m no philosopher, but it seems to me like worse karma than gloating over your own success. But, whatever floats your boat, Steve. Enjoy that.

I’d rather concentrate my thoughts on what Kansas can do to improve, as a team and as a coach, to advance in the Tournament.

@DoubleDD Agreed–Bill doesn’t run any plays to free up a 3, and that just makes it easier to D up the 3. Scouting will also tell you that we don’t have any players who will attempt a 3 if they’re not completely wide open (which is probably also at Bill’s edict) so you just have to defend them moderately well outside the arc. Kinda makes defense easy.

@DoubleDD Ok fine–I’ll go along with that.

The numbers are what they are. If that’s what they say our SOS was, then thats what is was. Bill probably recognized this and did something about it this year. Good on Bill for trying to better prepare his team for the Tournament.

There’s no denying that our conference was subpar in those years, based on Final Four appearances and the simple fact that one team was able to dominate the conference. Does our conference streak look more like Gonzaga’s or UCLA’s? Does anyone think our conference prepared us well for the Tournament? Apparently Bill didn’t and felt like he had to toughen up his non-con schedule.

@nuleafjhawk Yeah but not many people outside of Kansas or Missouri care.

Louisville won in 2013. For their 3rd NCAA Championship, tying Kansas in that regard. In a game that we should have been in, they beat Michigan, who beat Kansas in probably the biggest end-of-game choke in Tournament history.

@Crimsonorblue22 Sounds good–I’ll toast with my friends during the game tonight!

@wissoxfan83 I don’t see it as a slump. It’s opposing coaches guarding the 3 more tightly. How many open looks has Brannen gotten lately? Not many. As I posted before, it’s simple scouting. Kansas looks best when they get open 3’s. When they don’t get open 3’s, they are very beatable, no matter how much damage they do down low. The last four games have borne this out. Opposing coaches are exercising their best bet to beat Kansas by concentrating on shutting down the 3 game and living with whatever damage we can do down low.

@HawksWin Durant & Blake didn’t have Larry Brown coaching their team.

BOOM!!!

I think by the ‘eye test,’ they mean that Kansas just doesn’t ‘look’ that good. And I’d have to agree. To get to the Final Four, you have to play 4 good games in a row. I don’t Kansas has even played 4 good halves in a row. And certainly not against tournament quality teams.

Even the West Virginia win doesn’t look so great in hindsight. Without their best player on the floor, it reminds me of the Florida game. Great comeback, but it begs the question–How did you end up 18 down to this team in your own house? That just doesn’t ‘look’ that good.

We run our regular stuff, get about the same production out of our 4/5 spot as if Cliff & Perry were in there. Hardly any plays run for 3pt shots. And we lose a tight game. This is pretty much what I’m afraid we’ll see in the second round of the tournament.

He’s starting to look like Jim Calhoun

I’m not nervous about this team because I don’t expect anything from them anymore. I think two tournament wins is their ceiling, but wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t make it out of the first weekend.

An Elite Eight appearance would be total gravy and I’d be proud of that achievement for them.

To make the Final Four, it would take something we simply haven’t seen this team do all season–play 4 good games (and win them) in a row. I don’t think they’ve played 4 good halves in a row this year. But who knows, everything might finally click and they might surprise us. But I’m certainly not nervous thinking and hoping its going to happen…

Mark’s gonna be next name talked about in terms of ‘coaches ready to make the next step.’