Best posts made by madmaxKU

After watching that it really helps put the season into perspective. After our biggest body & talent down low doke went down. Even after the loud expectations for Bragg were quelled to a quiet role on the bench after his underwhelming performance on & off the court. Jackson, Vick, and dorm issues. Colby hobbling around on one leg. Quite amazing they still achieved everything they did. Frank definitely spearheaded the effort from conception to fruition. His Play each and every night was the infrastructure that allowed the team to operate properly. I can’t think of any area of the game where Frank wasn’t putting pressure on the other team. At the end of the day only 1 team will win the Big Tourney, but outside of that every other team out there wishes they had a season like KU. Aldo Kudos for beating Duke (Frank with the dagger to the heart), @Kentucky, Michigan St., and sweeping Baylor, TX/smart all in the same season.

I will say I don’t know how the refs cold miss the foul on Wayne’s transition dunk on two OU players. Lattin from OU practically pulled Selden off the rim and could have in an alternate universe really hurt or injured him. Even Selden was wide eyed looking around for the call afterwards. Also I forget who brought it up already, but Mason blatantly got hit across the head and contact down low for the game winner at the end of regulation… the ref was right there and chose not to call it, but was chomping at the bit to call an over the back on Lucas. It definitely felt like the refs were trying to gift wrap a loss for us, but luckily a 52% foul shooter was sent to the line.

@Statmachine

I’d have to disagree. JoJo had the same 5 feet and in finishing ability with either hand that Okafor possessed. Where JoJo is head an shoulders above Okafor is the footwork is just magical especially the way he contorted and got angles. JoJo also is far ahead of Okafor with regards to shooting touch and range now out to three point land if you watch recent workouts and pregame shoot around with the Sixers. Obviously JoJo is quicker and more athletic, and appears to have a slight height & wingspan advantage. Okafor was able to use his bulk against supremely inferior post match ups in the ACC. I believe he is in for a rude awakening when he starts banging with equal to greater physical specimens you encounter regularly at the NBA level. With Okafor ’ body type it doesn’t seem like he will improve much from a speed and agility standpoint. JoJo added some more weight and muscle this year, and appears ready to not only out maneuver other bigs, but also back down opponents. Something he was ill equipped to do when he first arrived at Kansas. Hope I’m right, but I most certainly could be proven wrong. Just my two cents though haha

Just my two cents… Svi is being listed as a late lottery - first rounder in 2016 NBA draft. Selden seems determined and poised to make the league this year based on his play in the WUG. Mason has a kid and could very well after a highly successful junior campaign decide to make some pro money for his family. Graham isn’t a lock to be the next starter or anything like that yet. Greene is a tall SG/3 wing who doesn’t project to be a primary ball handler for us. Vick said before he signed with us that he didn’t expect to play much his first year to better prepare his body ect. for the following season. If the dominoes fall in a certain sequence we could most certainly use a super elite top ten guard with minutes available next season. You can’t automatically assume the next guy on the depth chart will get the minutes for the following year. If that was the case Andrew White would have logged some substantial minutes. Even releford had to wait out his time to shine.

@mayjay Thanks for the kind words. I had been taking care of my dad, a 3rd generation Jayhawk from Russell, KS the last couple years. His battle with bad health ended a month ago. I had been hiding myself from a lot of things, but now I feel emboldened to put myself back out there socially. I haven’t been able to watch any of the games except for the Duke game which was a bummer haha. Once I’m able to watch the game tonight and others that follow, I will start contributing my two cents and participate more in all the great discussions started on this board. I’ve been an entertained spectator the past 2 years though.

If I remember correctly Brown’s mother took a liking to Kansas even going as far to liken it to Michigan where some of their family resides. That is a serious risk because it’s completely makes sense for his parents to relocate to combine with more family to relish his lone season in college. Bragg, Ingram, & Brown all talked packaging after their Late Night visits. Now you can’t blame Ingram for sliding into Winslow spot at Duke and basking in his home state glory. Brown on the other hand already has the NBA body & all around game to make an imposing impact as our BIG wing. If I’m self I’m selling the kid on traveling to Canada, South Korea(WUG), Champions Classic, Maui( Maui Invitational), San Diego around Christmas way better than Michigan Tundra. Not to mention being apart and continuing the streak of BIG12 Titles in our pursuit of knocking off UCLA from the top of the record books at 13. He dropped UCLA from his list just recently. IMO Jaylen is using the Nike schools to keep the publicity train moving to maintain his BRAND and relevance. My hope is since he is an Adidas lean he is just showing Michigan some love since some in his family hold it dear to heart and it’s good publicity for them either way to be involved with such a high profile recruit. That leaves Kansas with a huge opportunity to use this momentum with Bragg and Diallo to close him. It’s the same package minus Ingram who really plays the same position as Brown. So this package actually works out better for all in end if the cards fall that way. Pie in the sky talk especially after being as fortunate to land two STUDS at the bigs position. For all those flaking on the OAD… More talent on the team equals fiercer competition. Which will result in a better product on the court!! Always has Always will

Is everyone forgetting about Darrell Arthur all the sudden. He played at South Oak Cliff High School in the Dallas Metro Area. I used to go ball there with my high school team mates when I was at Hebron High School in the Plano area. It doesn’t get anymore Texan than that I assure you. He was undoubtedly the unsung hero from our 2008 NC game. The guy puts up 20 pts. & 10 big rebounds, and it seems apparent very few can recall that now.

Also failed to mention that JoJo is clearly a more serious two way threat in transition. Guy runs the floor like a deer. He’s the kind of guy who will run down and get a block on defense in transition, and be right back at the other end for an uncontested layup or dunk

Udoka is an absolute beast. At a recent big time all star showcase, all the players voted on accolades for their peers at the event. Udoka was voted most difficult player to defend. The kid seems to like to block shots, rebound, and dunk in a way that intimidates opposing players. Watching all the footage available at this time it’s clearly evident opposing post players get noticeably frustrated or even straight deterred from banging with Udoka on the low block. His teammates are wide-eyed with laughter every time he throws down a ferocious dunk… almost breaking the basket on several occasions. You can’t teach great size and athleticism, and he has both in spades. He is a space eater galore who seems willing to put in the work to polish his game. Hudy will transform his body. Its not hard to see him being the biggest & strongest player every time he steps on the court. Hopefully Diallo lives up to the hype and reaffirms to all that KU is still “Big Man U.” KU is pretty strong with top prospect in the 2017 class, seven footer Deandre Ayton, Udoka played very well against him at I believe the “NBA Top 100 Camp”

News today that Grayson Allen is returning for his Senior season at Duke. Anybody else but me think that opens the door for KU a little with Duval. With him returning and Frank Jackson their returning 5 star PG as a sophmore. I think Duval might be looking at that situation and say to himself, man Allen is a ball hawk, and Jackson is expecting a bigger role handling the ball. Then you have 5 Star CB guard Gary Trent Jr. coming in as well. He might be saying to himself l… do I wanna share the ball with Graham/Newman or with Allen/Jackson/Trent Jr.??? Gotta think in the back of his mind him being boys and playing with Preston in TX for a bit keeps it interesting down the stretch. Duval is supposedly unofficially visiting Duke today. I’m sure they are going to pull out all the stops to convince him Grayson Allen coming back is good for him and his situation. Conventional wisdom would say otherwise. I guess we’ll wait and see. Also wouldn’t surprise me if he committed after the visit haha.

@Kcmatt7 sounds like you are so nervous about 2020 that you are out there beating the drum for the DNC trying to change opinions of independent minded individuals who clearly can think for themselves. The guy(Adam Schiff) running the hearings lies about meeting and coaching Joe Biden’s ally(AKA Whistleblower). The same guy who said for 2 years that he had concrete evidence that trump colluded with the Russians , evidence Robert Mueller and a squad of Democrat lawyers & $35 million in tax payer funds couldn’t uncover. We are supposed to trust Schiff and his allies are being honest with us after what they put every American through. Now he’s doing everything he can to hide the so-called “Whistleblower” from testifying. Even though he doesn’t qualify as a Whistleblower underneath the Whistleblower Statute. When every witness who testified publicly, and questioned if they had any direct knowledge or evidence to support a crime was committed, they all said emphatically NO. Even Sondland had to walk back quid pro quo live during the hearings. Judges have already domestically ruled that a meeting isn’t a thing of value. So we can’t stop throwing that out there like it carries any weight. Hearsay, gossip, and unsubstantiated presumptions don’t constitute viable evidence to remove a duly elected President. Hating someone so vehemently doesn’t make your argument anymore compelling either.

This is coming from someone who voted for Obama first term. Before realizing I was voting to penalize myself for being a younger healthy U.S. citizen. Let everyone testify, even those Democrats and the White House have prevented from testifying. If any substantiated evidence is derived from that to support your emphatic position the president has committed high crimes so egregious we need to remove him from office… then we’ll cross that road when we get there. Until then we aren’t even close to meeting that bar.

After watching some tape on the guy, I’d say there is alot to like about the kid. He has a great wingspan for his height, and may grow some more. Pretty solid handles at this stage of his development. He seems to at least care about playing defense & seems to recover well and cloe-out. The shot is already money, and anytime your voted best shooter at a Curry Camp you gotta be inspired. Multi-year player in college at least two years and most likely 3-4 year player. If we can corrall a kid this talented whose been a life long fan of KU, then you have to assume he’d play that much harder for us. There’s a ton of time before he’s a graduating senior… so hopefully we don’t get complacent chasing a Moby Dick type talent, and alienate Ballock in the process.

Actually Selden signed a multi year contract. Their coach said he has the perfect 2 guard body for the NBA, and that he reminds him of Dwayne Wade. Praised his professionalism, athleticism, & basketball IQ. They had him in summer league and D-League affiliation. He was arguably one of the top 5 performers in the D-League this year. Wayne has also put injury concerns to rest for the moment with all the Dunk of the Year highlights he had this year. With the Pelicans scooping him up for 10 days and him playing well there. Selden did enough to scare Memphis into making a long term commitment, and not letting the dream prototypical 2 guard who’s playing well as a rookie slip away.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/birthplaces.cgi?country=US&state=TX

Please y’all go down this list and tell me who we recruited and missed out on. Remember Kansas especially self recruits NBA level talent. Besides Julius Randle or Myles Turner recently, who was so worth pulling out of Texas. Look at Rasheed Sulaimon & Matt Jones who were five stars that we recruited pretty heavily, and they went to Duke to only disappear.

I would say there is definitely a plethora of talent in Texas right now. Texas & Baylor are going to get theirs naturally. If we can eventually pluck a few out their backyard that’s about all you can ask for. Talent outside of Texas is just as fertile & we can’t expend all our recruiting resources in the Lone Star State. It’s also tough when TCU is almost done building a new Basketball Arena that will be a dandy in Fort Worth. Then you have Texas A&M who is the only Texas school in the SEC which is a huge recruiting edge in state. SMU & Larry Brown have done well getting Keith Frazier and other in state kids into his program. Poor Texas Tech though… I drove through Lubbock earlier in the year, and Yikes who would want to go to college there haha. Man that has to be a tough place to recruit to.

@drgnslayr

Where do I sign my LOI haha. I’ve been following & reading everyone’s comments for some time now. Decided to finally join the party. I was born in Texas, but my while Dad’s side is from Russell, Kansas. They all went KU except my Grandmother who actually went to K-State. Conflict of interest I know, but she fell in line and now bleeds Crimson & Blue.

@drgnslayr @Crimsonorblue22

The avatar is up now… and of course I get into the new dorms. I’m a 5 recruit. I expect a some wooing!!

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but KU is the only Adidas school on his list. I’m pretty sure everyone else is Nike. I’d say that bodes well for us making KU stock out from the bunch as well as being a premier blue blood program. He mentioned checking out Kentucky’s dorms and facilities and being impressed. Now we have the opportunity to showcase our spanking new living quarters with the Debruce building going up too. Also font overlook Kentucky over recruiting his position with Rawle Alkins, Kobi Simmons, DeAron Fox, and others. Arkansas has had some negative PR lately with their players getting into trouble off the court. Arkansas is surely a mid to lower level team going into 2016 with UK, LSU, Alabama (Avery effect), Florida, and toss in another couple teams who project to be better. Which will most certainly insinuates Arkansas will have an absence of TV coverage and exposure. I’m sure Bill Self & Co. & Monk’s affiliates have been in his ear about Wiggins & Oubre’s Adidas deals as of late. Throw in playing at “The Phog”, and all of our games are being televised. I think we have a pretty strong pitch moving forward with this guy. BUT the pessimist in me wouldn’t be suprised a bit to see him wearing Nike at one of the other schools most likely UK or Arkansas. The power of SHOE CO. !!

Also did anyone notice that at last year’s “Late Night in the Phog” Malik Monk was there sitting next to Marques Boldin. One more down from Malik on the other side was DeAron Fox. Malik and Bolden were both wearing Nike gear, but I wouldn’t put to much stock in that.

@Texas-Hawk-10

Hey no offense to Arkansas last year. Anderson is a pretty nice coach no doubt. BUT they just lose their two best players/athletes Michael Qualls & Bobby Portis to the NBA. They also lost a couple of their next best players to graduation. Throw in the criminal forgery charges on former players and current player Jacorey Williams who was just dismissed from the team. I don’t know about you @Texas-Hawk-10, but that doesn’t look like a recipe for success THIS YEAR to build any kind of momentum on the court or with recruits. UK, LSU, Florida, Texas a&m, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Mississippi State with Ben Howland a much better coach than Anderson with top recruit Malik Newman and others, and throw in a couple other teams that might be better than Arkansas. I believe you are sorely mistaken “THIS YEAR.”

@Texas-Hawk-10
Why is it illogical to think that Mason could put up a stud performance all year. If he does so, he could very likely be taken somewhere in the draft… most likely second round. He has a kid who I’m sure he’d like to provide for. He wouldn’t gain much by coming back for a senior year. I do hope he comes back for his senior year though.

Now to Graham… Graham is a 3 to 4 year player who hasn’t as of up to this point been named a definitive starter by any means. @Texas-Hawk your opinion is that a consensus top 5-10 blue chip recruit who is already being mentioned as a lottery pick should be deterred from coming to KU because of Graham. He is most likely superior to Graham in every facet of the game except experience. Monk is most certainly an upgrade at the guard postion.

Now to Svi… Graham said in an interview that he was most impressed with the progression of Svi. He hit it harder in the weight room than anyone on the team during the off season. He started for us last year at the beginning of the season before being shelved for maturation for this year. He only needs to play around 20 minutes a game to still be chosen in the first round of the NBA draft. He could very well be gone after this season… that is a fact, Not opinion look at NBA mock drafts.

Just because a guy isn’t listed as a first rounder doesn’t really mean a thing. He probably will never be listed that most notably as you mentioned because of his height. Players simply jump when they think and the coach think their image has peaked in college ball. Let’s say Mason plays better than anyone imagines, why would he stick around for another year. If he isn’t ever going to be a first rounder worth taking in scouts eyes, but is a definitive second rounder waiting to fall in the right teams lap. That’s as good as it gets and you strike while the irons hot. Why stick around for another year if there is nothing left to prove and your game is ready to make the next step playing against better competition in the pros whether that be the NBA, D-League, or even overseas. Mason has a family to provide for and he clearly wants to make basketball his career in the very near future. Why risk injury to play another year for free if you have nothing left to prove in pro scouts eyes. I’m sure at the end of this season Self & company will relay the proper feedback necessary to make that determination. Even DeAron Fox mentioned the possibility of Mason turning pro after this year. Do you think he made that up or did Bill Self or someone on his staff infer that very possibility was in play.

Yeah I guess that’s why recently Ty Lawson, Kemba Walker, Johnny Flynn, and Trey Burke were taken in the first round because they had that prototypical NBA height. Come on guys stop generalizing and deliver some better truth. Pretty pathetic to say Mason will never get drafted in the first or second round based on height alone. John Lucas 3, J.J. Barea, and the list goes on and on. Do your homework!

Another one of Self’s guards Dee Brown & Nate Robinson

@jaybate-1.0

Completely agree… it’s a different situation when Jamari goes for a two handed block against the backboard and ends up on his back by his own doing. Then his other block of the night was a clean block with no body contact that ended with an OU player on his back. It’s a completely different animal when a defender misses on a play and puts other player in jeopardy.you simply can’t miss that as a ref… especially when there are 3 refs out there.