Posts made by Lulufulu85

Yeah, its all speculation at this point. But, thats what makes it fun! This team has a lot of unknowns, even with all the guys that were here last year. A few things are set in stone. This team is loaded, more so than last year. I like Self’s remark about how this team reminds him of 08. I can see that, but at the same time its not entirely accurate. The 2008 team was a battle tested hungry wolf pack. In 2007 they would have gone further if not for UCLA beating them in the elite 8. That motivated them, made them mad, and we all know what happened next. Both 07 and 08 teams excelled on defense. Last year plainly sucked at defense. Even with JoJo being the stud shot blocker and Wiggs being our best perimeter D guy. Will this team be better at defense than last year? Most certainly. But, will it be top 5 rated defense? I think boot camp plus a couple days with the Marines putting the hurt on the team will do wonders for their toughness and molding into a defensive wolf pack. We also know the offense will be spread around a lot more with this team. Nobody will break Wiggs freshmen scoring record for the foreseeable future, or single game scoring record. But, who ever the starting 5 are, they could very well each average double figures, not unlike the 08 team.
I have a good feeling about Oubre and Selden on the wings this season. I also have a good feeling about Frank Mason, I think he can give us a presence like Sherron did in his sophomore season. Im calling him Sherron 2.0. If Coach is saying Greene still needs to buy in on D, then he probably does. Conner is going to light it up from trey this season. The lid will finally come off. With all the praise Coach has given Devonte’ I just don’t buy a freshmen PG starter. I am impressed that he got top honors from the Marines though.
Traylor and Alexander are The Bruise Brothers 2.0 Perry will see his share of playing time but if he doesnt improve on D this year, I bet he gets to ride the pine a little bit more. Lucas seems to be ready to have a break out year and I hope Mickelson gets his chance to shine too. Like I said, this team is deeeeep. Coach could easily have 2 five man teams this year. We all know that wont happen.
If Greene cannot show he can defend, I agree he may get the DSC role. If Mickelson cannot play outside his comfort zone, he may get one too. KU vs UK will be a very very tough game for us to win. But I hope we do.

@jaybate-1.0 I like that. I like it a lot. I hope you are right. It will pay off in dividends for KU in the not too distant future.

@BeddieKU23 I dont buy that Coach will sit Oubre. That kids got major talent. Not Wiggins but a stud on the court for sure. He may play more small ball this year because we dont have the size we did last year but Im betting our starting 5 will be Mason or Frankamp, Selden, Oubre, Ellis and Alexander. One thing about Coach that is predictable is how he runs the team line ups year after year. Experience trumps everything but when you have a freshmen talent like Oubre, or Wiggins or Rush, they dont sit, they start.

I just want to say I am just as excited and impatient for this season to start as I was last season. That said, I think our guys will be tougher this year. Self boot camp for 8 days and then a marine style boot camp for another 2!? Geez, if that doesnt get our guys a toughness edge, then nothing will. Having been through 2 months of Navy boot camp myself, I can directly attest to that one. Coach said since they have zero senior scholarship players this year, they need to be given an extra push to help them develop those leadership traits. I feel good about what coach is putting them through this year before games and practice starts. They will be physically stronger and tougher than last year. I hope mentally tougher as well.
couple more thoughts, The Bruise Brothers continues this year with Jamari and Cliff in Tarick’s place. Frank Mason will, I hope, be like Sherron Collins was his sophomore year.

Most of you have probably seen this already but here it is again anyways.

Taking a stroll: Self said he took a long walk Sunday, prior to the Ice Bucket Challenge. During his stroll, he pondered the makeup of his 12th KU team.

“I know I’m going to like our speed. I know I’m going to like our hungriness. I think I’m going to like our aggressiveness,” he said. “The only thing that will be different with this team is, we’re used to having size. Our standing height is by far the smallest it’s been in a long time.

“But we also won a national championship (in 2008) starting two 6-8 guys (Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson), but we had 6-11 (Sasha Kaun) off the bench. We won a lot of games when Wayne (Simien, 6-9) and Christian (Moody, 6-8) were our two big guys. But still that hasn’t been the way we’ve been successful of late. So we’re going to have to adjust and do some things defensively I think will benefit our personnel and maybe some things offensively to open the court more to allow our guards maybe to post more.”

I think it exciting and interesting how Coach feels about this team so early in the season. He is saying positives about their aggressiveness, hungriness and speed. The latter being not so much of a surprise but to show such fortitude this early says good things to me about the 14-15 season. All those guys coming back knew they underachieved last year and they got to " nut up or shut up this season" Quote from Woody Harrelson in Zombieland. They are smaller this year but they will all be fast and they will all be hungrier on defense this season. They learned the hard way last season. You dont play great D and learn how to be a wolf pack, your not going far in the dance. The 2008 team was an absolute wolf pack on defense. If this years guys can aim for that level, they will be much much tougher to beat.
Can we just start the season already? I Need my college basketball!!

Gosh, this summer, not unlike summers past, is seeming to move too slowly at times. Especially when the college basketball season is thought about. I know late night is in early October now but we still have 2 months and change until the first game of the season.
As to my thoughts of how KU will do this time…I’m betting they break 30 wins. Kentucky is going to be a tough tough game. That team is double stacked. But if KU can beat Kentucky I think it would bode well for the rest of the season.

Great stuff. I’ll miss Robin Williams. RIP Funny man

I ditto what Approx just said. That was really good.
When’s that book coming out again?

Haven’t read this yet but I am going to. I have to say something first. Jaybate IS a writer. Last time I heard, there was a book coming, isnt that right Jaybate? Honestly its been a couple months almost since I have been on the site here. It may be out right now, I don’t know. P.S. Hi Jaybate! Good to see your messages again

Link to Wiggins story…

Hope that link works. If it does not, go check the article out on Bleacher Report. Its a good read.
On that same topic, at first I was of the opinion that Andrew should have been able to stay in Cleveland and work with the best player in the league right now. He would have been able to follow LeBron and pick his brain for many seasons, learning all kinds of stuff to make him a better player down the road. But after some thought and reading other articles about opinions to the contrary, I think Andrew could also benefit from going to Minnesota and having his own team to build upon, learn and grow with, mature as a player on his own as the corner stone of that team. Not too dissimilar from Steph Curry or John Wall.
There is no doubt to me that Wiggins will be an All Star, a many time All Star. It just remains to be seen how quickly he can get there and I think having his own team to be the lead guy on could help him get there quicker. It will force him to be The Man and not take a back seat approach to LeBron James in Cleveland. Had Wiggs stayed in Cleveland, and I say this like its already happened, he would be the 4th option on offense. He would have a harder time getting rookie of the year that way. He would also have a harder time growing into his own that way. I’m excited for him to get shipped to The Timberwolves now. I think it could be a great opportunity for him.[link text]([link url]([link url](link url)))

@DoubleDD Oh yah, thats gonna happen at least once or twice this season. He was light on those guys last year. They were all freshmen and sophmores, he should have been harder on them. Oh well. He wont make the same mistake twice.

@drgnslayr Man, what would have been possible had JOJO stayed around. He is the first footer at KU that I have seen that can handle the ball and run the floor like a guard. Ok maybe not exactly like, but you get what Im saying. I agree with you though, our team this year is going to be more experienced all around and just as deep. Im not saying they need to play Defense like VCU but man, some intermittent and unpredictable pressure would keep teams guessing and back on their heels.

@approxinfinity HA! I never noticed that before. Baton Rouge = Red stick. Of course! lol

@wissoxfan83 Thanks Wissox. You know, Bourbon street is on my list of to do things before I die.

@bskeet Holy cow the maple syrup here is truly inspiring! I did not know what syrup was until I moved here. There is also this soft serve ice cream up here, they call it Creemee and serve it in Creemee stands. Just, WOW. Literally the best stuff on earth. I have to run 4 miles a day just to keep slim!

@approxinfinity Thanks man!

@Statmachine Very interesting posts people. Indeed, thought provoking. How about this one. What are the odds of Alexander taking Perry’s spot at the 4 if he proves he is better on defense? Which he probably is. I agree though, a big key for Cliff is how will he adjust to the bigger game? How will his fouling pan out?
For the starting Center, I hope that someone is as close to 7 foot as possible; ie Mickelson or Lucas.

gut reaction says back to 2 weeks but then they have those pre season, overseas tournaments that they didnt have last year. Specifically the team USA one. So maybe it will be shorter than 2 weeks but longer than one.

Good evening or morning fellow Jayhawks! I’m back and settling in to my new home in the wonderful state of Vermont. Seriously, its really beautiful here. I just wanted to leave a message and say hello. We are in the dog days of summer still and the next basketball season is a couple months away still but I am just as excited as ever to see our guys play! Not being a Kansan will mean getting espn full court so I can see all the games and, I wont be going to AFH anytime soon. Bummer. But there is always a chance I can catch a live KU game at an early season or late season tournament. MSG is mere hours away from me by train or car! Im thinking of checking out some University of Vermont games when the season starts too but I know it wont be the same. No program can compare to KU. Not even Duke or UNC, both of which I respect a great deal. Yah, I said it. I respect Coach K and Coach Williams. But I digress. I’m happy to be back in here and able to converse with everyone here about the best game ever.

ps. Dig the new format!!!

@JayhawkRock78 Heck yah! Im very happy for both these guys. It couldnt have happened better. Well I suppose JOJO could have not gotten injured late and gotten picked #2. But still! Its pretty awesome for those two and for KU fans everywhere and for the program. This will do wonders for recruiting, as if its not good enough already.
Also, I have Wiggs and JOJO’s autographs on a ball I got signed after the second preseason game in early November last year! Anyone Jelly? That ball is going to be worth some big $$ some day and I am lucky to have it. Its mine, precious. peace out fellow KU fans, I’ll post with you all again later this summer. I’m moving to Vermont. bye bye Kansas but I’ll always have KU Basketball where ever I go.

@wrwlumpy Cool. He could give them a big boost on the perimeter. They did good last season in the Big 10

@jaybate 1.0 brilliant.

Btw, anyone know where Naadir transferred to?

@icthawkfan316 before even giving it any thought or reading everyones post, I honestly have no idea who will win the start. My guess off the cuff is Mason. He is so much like Sherron. BUT he needs to distribute better

@jaybate 1.0 I think we will have most if not all of that this season Jaybate. All of the tangible factors anyways. Im hoping that Mickelson can surprize us all giving us an extra weapon at Center. Maybe even contending for a starting spot alongside Alexander at the 4?

@drgnslayr Im excited for Graham (sp?) Kid seems like a baller. Great handles, instincts, good shooter. etc. But will that translate to Div 1 hoops early on? I dunno. My guess is Mason or Conner starts. Either way, we just got better at the point. We havent had a good point guard at KU since Sherron. I mean that. Tyshawn is more of a 2, so was EJ, so was Naa.
My thing with the championships is Im not sure if Coach Self can win it all without a bunch of Upperclass experienced talent around him. Im not bashing the guy. I wouldnt have any other coach at KU.

@RockChalkinTexas Awesome! Yah we already knew this.

@truehawk93 WOW! That kid is GooooooD. Scary good. I hope we can get him too. He is a guard in a footers body. can do everything. Can play and guard all 5 spots, it looks like.

@DoubleDD I think its kind of fun to speculate on who else could coach our Jayhawks team.
Manning would be the top candidate IMO. So would Larry. I would LOVE to have him back at KU. But he is nearing the end of his tenure as a coach. Dooley would be good to have back. Ollie from UConn would be awesome. Im a big fan of Shaka. Yeah he beat us in '11 when we should have won it all but I don’t hold that against him. Dude can flat out coach and he is young. When his career ends, he will be one of the better ones.

@jaybate 1.0 Well, ok I guess those are solid points. Maybe I can recant my previous statement.

@icthawkfan316 Haith to Tulsa sucks for Tulsa. Its LOL for me though. What, he thinks he will do better there? Pfffff.

@Wishawk He needs to gain some weight though man. The kid is 6’0" 165 soaking wet.

@icthawkfan316 Good post man. I am intrigued by Graham also. He sounds pretty solid for a PG. If the kid can pick up Coach’s system, can he be like Hinrich or Russell? If so, lets have at it. The best option I think is from within though. Frankamp and Mason played better when they were in games, at least most of the time. Frankamp really impressed me late. If Hudy can pack 15 - 20 lbs of muscle on the kid over summer, I think he is our man. We’ve already seen good things from Conner, we know what he can do. Or atleast some of what he can do. Same thing from Mason. Bottom line in all this is, we need Tharpe to stay on the bench next year unless he can grow a couple inches, get much stronger and be able to get back on D and move laterally quicker than his match up next season. How likely is that happening? shaking my head

@joeloveshawks I haven’t seen Oubre or Alexander play the game much beyond a few highlights here and there. But, it seems like they are both dominant guys out there. We need that killer instinct from both of them. IMO, I think if that holds true. Coach starts Alexander at the 4, lets Junior big man Mickelson start at Center, and of course Oubre starts along side Selden at the SF spot. PG is a concern. Havent read that post yet but I honestly think Coach has to give serious serious thought to giving the starting PG spot to Frankamp. Especially if the kid works hard over the summer and gains 15-20 lbs all Hudy-ized muscle mass.
All this speculating, has implications on Perry being needed to come off the bench, at least until he proves he can defend better. Naadir tharpe? WHat else can we say. I feel he has reached his Nadir. Its time for some new blood at PG. Considering both Conner and Mason will be sophs, they will have more experience and should be better at running the offense and better at defending.

@HighEliteMajor You make valid points, truly you do. However, the way you say those things makes you seem like a grumpy old man. That’s my red pill and I’m taking it.

@drgnslayr Great theory. Correct me if I am wrong but doesn’t the GM of the team pick the players? Im sure the coach has a “say” but to actually pick players in the draft? Im not sure they have that kind of power. I mean maybe Phil Jackson might have that kind of sway. But, Calipari? I don’t buy it.

@wissoxfan83 Nice! Yah, I’ve got Wisconsin picked to win this one too.

@jaybate 1.0 Kinda hope you are right. Picked Florida to win the title but rooting for the underdogs, if a 2 seed is an underdog.

@konkeyDong Konkey nailed it. Tactics. Self needs better late season tactics. Whats that quote Jaybate likes from General Patton regarding tactics? pow.

@icthawkfan316 I also think that Coach needs to be more willing to be fluid in his approach to the game at hand. Sure he wins 8 of 10 doing what he does but the NCAA tournament is a different animal and needs to be treated as such. The game of basketball itself is designed to be fluid and ever changing, its a thing of beauty when it is played well. Coach should learn to be more fluid in his approach to how he coaches late in the season. I don’t know for sure but I am betting that he doesn’t have an 80% win loss card during the NCAA’s.

@icthawkfan316 Great question ICT, Very thought provoking. I think for next season, with our without Embiid; a return to defensive dominance is absolutely imperative. We just witnessed our worst defensive team in the past 11 years. IMO, had they been even a top 20 defensive team, they would still be dancing right now. Everyone on here should pretty much know where our defensive liabilities lie. PG and PF. Naadir and Perry.
So, in the short term we have to fix those weaknesses by seeing which player out of Mason or Frankamp can be better defensively. My guess is Conner. Just a guess. And, by moving Perry to the bench in favor of Alexander next year should clear up that same problem at PF. That diagnoses and treatment brings up another question though. What if Embiid doesn’t come back? Who fills in at Center? Well, who do we have left? Mickelson, Lucas…who am I missing? I forget but either way, that is exactly what I am proposing. We still need a tall, long guy protecting the rim. My thinking is that Mickelson can get it done. He’ll be a Junior, has had the chance to practice against Embiid for the past year, will give us needed leadership out on the floor. Will he be good? IDK. Will it help fix the defensive weaknesses? Maybe. But, that’s all I got.

@Crimsonorblue22 This is just a reboot of what Yahoo sports news said 14 hours ago. Until JOEL SAYS he is going, I wouldn’t believe a word said in the mass media. Wait until we see him and Coach Self at a press conference giving the word that he is bouncing for the League or coming back.

@jaybate 1.0 Hahaha, That’s kind of funny in a sadistic way. We needed those guys to shoot the trey better this year.

@wissoxfan83 Here is another theory. What if Joel does not care how much money he makes in the NBA, only that he improves as a player and matures in the social world. For example, learning to drive. What if he decides to come back to KU, work on his game and get stronger, better, faster and then bounce to the NBA next year? And, say he tweaks his back again next season at KU and his stock drops a little bit, He is still going to make more money in one year than 99% of people on earth will see in a life time. I just don’t see money being a huge influence on Joel. He did not come from that type of instant gratification culture that most kids here do. I could be wrong and Joel will declare tomorrow or the next day, but what if? What if?

@wissoxfan83 Man, all of this is speculation and theory. All of it. If the NBA does extend the minimum age and require 2 years of college, then how would it affect KU getting the top players? The OAD type players wouldn’t exist anymore. They would be two and done, or three and done. Its a moot point if the age limit is extended. I mean would we have been a better team with Ben Mac this year instead of Wigs? I’m leaning yes just based on experience. Both players were two of KU’s best freshmen in this last decade. Both have different strengths and weaknesses. Ben would have had more experience to lead this year, which could have lead us further in the tournaments. (Speculation) But, to think that KU will lose out on one and done type players, I don’t think that’s accurate. I think the recruiting and landing of those players will just cycle differently.

@Blown Unless Hunter just blows us away. He could be our second 5 man off the bench. Jamari could take Perry’s starting spot next season too.

@bskeet Dude’s got a huge point.

@wissoxfan83 I’m not going to believe ANYTHING until it comes directly from Joel and Coach.

@jaybate 1.0 I learned >38% trey guns are imperative on a team with N.C. aspirations.
PS. @Jaybate, when is the book coming out?

@JRyman Good. Very valid question. I tend to agree with most things posted on this awesome site because I am new at learning the game but not new at watching it. Ive been a fan since Larry and Danny won it in '88. I remember laying on the floor right in front of the tv at my friends house, who was a mizzou fan, and jumping up and down when KU won. It was awesome.
Bill is fallible. He made mistakes during the tournament that probably cost us the Stanford game. That’s just a maybe though. What I think DEFINITELY cost us the game was Embiid’s back being less than 100%. Im not putting the blame on the big guy. He should have sat, he needs to get healthy.
In my head there is no other coach that I would want at KU right now. None, well maybe Coach Brown again. but he would have to be an assistant to Coach Self.at home now watching games… except Kensuckky. But they will lose too and that will make me happy, even if they did gain a couple games on us this season dammit. Anyways, I am rambling. My point is all those posters that are saying Coach Self made mistakes that cost us the game against Stanford could very well be correct. That does not make Coach Self any less of a great coach in my eyes. He is human. His team is too. They will be older and more experienced next season and they will make a deeper tournament run. It will happen. Especially if Embiid comes back!!! *cross my fingers, hope to die. @Ralster is right. Every team with the highest win total is