Posts made by Makeshift

Lightfoot is a promising rebounder, I know the comparisons with Kevin Young will get old but I do see a lot of him in Mitch’s game… Still, Self’s comments indicate he’ll mostly get scrap minutes this season barring injured players.

@kjayhawks Hell, I’ve been out-rebounded by a girl 6 inches shorter who could box out better than just about any guy I’ve ever played against…

Yeah we gotta keep Mason fresh throughout the season. If they keep riding him like that his athleticism is bound to decline, and we’ll hear after the tournament about some “secret injury” the coaches weren’t telling us about…

@HighEliteMajor very strong posts and I can’t say I outright disagree about trimming the post rotation. However, I’m not as convinced as you that keeping C5 hurts the chances of winning the championship. To state the obvious, this team is so much more than the 5 spot. Does it limit the highest possible ceiling? Probably, but not by much. We’re talking 2 months out, and betting on freshmen. One of whom has a fouling problem (keeping the rotation fresh because of foul potential is another discussion, but one worth having). If this were a multi-season plan than absolutely go with the freshmen, but it’s a much shorter timeline than that. And hedging risks with C5 also significantly raises the floor. That could save our butts in March. And despite having a rotating 5 spot, the team has functioned (for the most part) like a well-oiled machine. You have to look at the competition: if we keep playing C5 what team do you suggest has a higher ceiling that takes the ring instead? Plenty of teams have recently won the ring with a solid (like C5) but not awesome center playing major minutes. As you’ve stated, we have the best collection of backcourt talent in the nation. One of the best power forwards in the nation. Sometimes when you’re day-trading, the hot hand is the way to go. And with a group this seasoned, I think chemistry and other factors are less of an issue than you might think. The rest of the team has appeared to adjust for rotating centers just fine. Just my opinion on this, but currently I’m OK with C5. I’ll keep re-evaluating throughout conference play.

@wrwlumpy not that he needs to jump to be able to block shots, or dunk for that matter…

@jaybate-1.0 So what you’re saying is, Self is and always will be a bro through and through. A 50-something, politically correct bro, but still a bro.

Traylor was listed at 6’ 7" coming out of high school, and people who see him in public say he doesn’t look as tall as expected. I think he got the “KU boost” in listed height.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I think people forget that Withey only started getting major minutes in 2011-2012 because they really had no other option. His breakout season the big rotation was: C) Withey - Wesley, PF) Robinson - Young - (Merv Lindsay?). Wesley wasn’t going to start in front of him, and 180 lb. Young was really the only other viable option. I guess what I’m getting at is Withey didn’t really fit Self’s typical mold of big man, and I feel like Hunter doesn’t really either. In Self’s own words, “a poor man’s Jeff Withey”. Self certainly saw the value and effectiveness in using Withey, as he is starting to with Hunter now. But Self does seem to go for the 6’ 8" “tough guy” type of big quite often. I’m not so sure Mario Little wouldn’t have taken Withey’s minutes if he had been on the roster that breakout year.

@JayHawkFanToo I always thought Howard just looked good with the Magic and was always overrated, though injuries haven’t helped his production. He’s also kind of old-school for the direction the game is going, especially without the athleticism of his peak years. Undersized Draymond Green is becoming the new gold standard for centers.

@BeddieKU23 I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little refreshing to see a game without either of those two in it… That doesn’t mean there won’t be games this year when we’ll need one or both of them, I think there will. But those guys can be kind of tiring to watch, and they just don’t have the scoring potential, flash and lengthy athleticism on both ends that the 3 “other” bigs have, especially the freshmen. Even some of their mistakes were fun to watch, like Diallo accidentally jumping over the guy in the paint or Mickelson trying to block an open shooter from behind. Stupid mistakes, but it shows what kind of motor and energy they have.

The problem with C5 is he has limited upside, even though his downside is limited too. As long as he continues to be “C5”, he will never be a star-level player because his performance is an average of 5 different players of varying skill levels and skillsets. C5 will win the Big 12, most likely. But I seriously question whether or not he has the NOS to win an April ring. Self needs to bet on the high-level talent that he has rather than continue to hedge his risks with all the bigs. I think the Big 12 is do-able regardless; aim for the upside.

Perry did not guard that shot at all.

@Lulufulu Coaching in college involves recruiting, development, x’s and o’s, team chemistry, occasionally father figuring, etc. Many components. Cal’s style is more about one-year talented players, so it’s less about development and more about getting them to play well together. But I think he does develop as well. I would not consider them stacked this year; I don’t think he did much better at recruiting than KU did for 2015 (if at all). But I think by March they will be pretty dangerous. Fake it til you make it? Maybe, but if it gets the intended results, what’s the difference?

Can we stop pretending that Calipari isn’t an excellent coach? I don’t like him either, but the results speak for themselves. He has taken freshmen-laden teams to four Final Fours in 5 seasons. It takes serious skill to do that. There’s a reason top recruits go to UK; they win there (and also he’s a sleezy salesman).

@jayballer54 We can’t all be a college bball coach, that doesn’t mean we can’t all offer unique perspectives and insight. It’s the same reason we can criticize the President or a senator for his or her decisions and systems. We all have a vested interest and the person getting critized does make mistakes. Some coaches do get worse/complacent at coaching, especially after they’ve already signed a long-term contract for the big bucks. The whole point of threads like this is to discuss and critique; if you’re uncomfortable with questioning the status quo than you can go somewhere else.

The word is out: playing in Allen Fieldhouse provides the home team a significant advantage.

@jaybate-1.0 How many people do you have on your writing staff!?

When it comes to not playing Mickelson, I think people forget that Self only started playing Withey major minutes out of pure, desperate necessity. The big rotation in 2011-2012 (Withey’s breakout season): Robinson, Withey, Young, Lindsay, and Wesley. Young was the backup at the 4, and Lindsay or Wesley were not going start at the 5. Honestly I think if Mario Little had been on that team he would have taken Jeff’s minutes. I think Self just has an affinity for undersized musclemen in the paint, for whatever reason. IDK if it’s a deceiving image thing. Maybe they come off as tougher enforcers, or look like they could rebound well. It took some time for Self to adapt to Jeff’s style of play, though it eventually became very effective. Mickelson is a similar player to Withey, in Self’s own words “a poor man’s Jeff Withey”. But he has other, more Self-ish options available that he is using, to the detriment of the team.

Other programs have their versions of the Andrew White experience: Semi Ojeleye at Duke, Kyle Wiltjer at Kentucky, etc. Sometimes certain players and coaches just don’t click. White III seems like a good kid and I wish him the best at Nebraska.

@elpoyo I don’t get why you think he’s a Mizzou fan…

Wouldn’t it make more sense to play Bragg at the 3? I feel like Self is mainly trying to help Ellis’s pro prospects since Marcus Morris is currently the starting 3 for the Pistons. But Bragg seems to have the more wing-friendly skillset and athleticism.

@ParisHawk that only applies to Traylor!

@Crimsonorblue22 we need more protection, w/wings.

One thing I would note, when it comes to evaluating players, numbers don’t always tell the whole story (especially basic stats, like ppg, rpg, even rebounds/minute). This is more true in certain sports than in others, and I think for basketball this is more true than, say, baseball. Arguments over any individual player’s worth remind me of the Ewing Theory: an analysis of Patrick Ewing’s career with the Knicks that looked at the team’s performance with Ewing on the court vs. off the court. In short, the Knicks actually tended to perform better with Ewing off the court than with him on. Ewing had superstar individual stats on both ends of the floor, and is still known as one of the greatest centers of all time. But the team’s performance with him in the game did not reflect this. This has been observed with other big-stat players (Carmelo with the Nuggets comes to mind), and small-stat players have shown to have the reverse effect. There are countless possibilities as to why this was the case, but the overall takeaway is that basketball is a team sport. The team’s success is based on their total ability to work together to perform better than the opposing team. Just because a player’s individual stats are inferior to another’s does not mean that the other player should be absorbing their minutes.
When it comes to Traylor, this will probably be up for debate for the remainder of his college bball career. And I’m not saying I don’t think other most players deserve to have his minutes; I actually tend to agree with HEM on this. But I think it does broaden the discussion of which players deserve to play more. There are advanced stats that we can use to help with this (+/- is a good start), so it’s not entirely voodoo. But there are other factors that can’t be measured as easily that play a roll in the overall effectiveness of the team (contagious grit, leadership, communication, twin psychic powers, etc.). And when it comes to team chemistry and leadership, Coach Self does have unmatched insider knowledge.

@joeloveshawks A little off topic, but do people forget that Graham ended up being ranked # 36 by Rivals? Also, I don’t understand why Lightfoot’s signing is a surprise when Self signed Peters # 137, Traylor # 141, Lucas unranked, Lindsey unranked, Anderson unranked, etc. Not that I’m complaining, we needed to sign someone and he seems like a good kid that we could get some use out of in time.

Sometimes you just gotta break the recruiting ice to get the big fish.

@JayHawkFanToo Yes, the fact that he’s white and doesn’t have super “cut” arms does lower people’s expectations of athleticism or general skill level. But as cases like Brady Morningstar show, you can’t be too quick to judge based on looks. Especially when they’re still in high school. If you get a chance google Marc Gasol in high school…

He’s not someone I would get super excited about, but he’s not someone who’s signing I would gripe about either. He appears to be a bright kid with high athleticism. With the number of bigs leaving after this season, he shouldn’t hurt the recruitment of Bolden or Herard. Colby may be recovering from ACL tear next year as well, so this is good insurance.

@jaybate-1.0 Never underestimate the impact a large booty can have on seated height…

@BeddieKU23 I get your hesitation with Lightfoot, as he’s another undersized PF. To me he appears to be highly athletic, although he his skinny. But I could see him being a Kevin Young type if he can be a pesky defender at the 4. As long as he doesn’t hurt the recruitment of the more talented available bigs, I’m all for signing him.

@konkeyDong From what I’ve heard, Larry Brown never really enjoyed recruiting either. I’m guessing that’s something Self would look for in a replacement for Howard.

@Statmachine I think the coaches (and fans) see a lot of synergy with p[aying Mason and Graham together in the backcourt, and from a ball-handling and passing perspective they do complement each other’s games nicely. I think that backcourt duo makes the other 3 players on the floor play better as well. I’m not saying Svi can’t bring many of the same things, plus some others, but the Mason-Graham duo is just so effective and consistent. It’s closer to the 2008 team, where you have two point guard-ish players that keep defenses guessing. Also, like Svi, Graham projects to improve in his second year as well.

If I had to pick one to come in and win a ring in year 1, I would say Larry Brown. Not that the others couldn’t do that too though.

@nuleafjhawk Yep, it’s a slow day at work. “But the other four - there’s just too many choices.” I guess that’s the challenge in it.

I’m sure this has been discussed before, but out of boredom I was thinking of what the all-time KU team would look like. Obviously a starting 5 based on pro basketball production vs. college production would probably look different. I guess mine is a little of both. I wasn’t sure what the best backcourt would look like, though my frontcourt is debatable as well. Please chime in and fill me in on players who were better/worse than I realize: G: Jo Jo White G: Kirk Hinrich SF: Paul Pierce PF: Danny Manning C: Wilt Chamberlain

@drgnslayr Hakeem really excelled at every part of the game. All-time leader in blocked shots, exceptional low-post defender, shooting, top 10 in steals (for any position), rebounding, size, and possibly the best footwork of any big ever. He helped LeBron to develop his post game after the 2011 Finals, which was a key part of his improvement for the 2012 season.

@HighEliteMajor I agree that overall rankings have been a pretty darn good indicator of how players turn out. I think the other thing on my mind is that Schnider’s ranking is decent: 41 on Rivals.com. That’s right in between the Morris twins’ rankings, so I think his 3-4 year projection is pretty good compared to Jamari or Landen. He is lower on ESPN at 69, but I don’t know if they’re any better than Rivals when it comes to recruiting. Plus he supposedly has only been playing organized basketball for about a year, which raises his possible ceiling. “Tremendous upside” - ESPN

@jayballer54 Plenty of fans didn’t want to sign Frank Mason either, shows how good some of them are at projecting talent… It was all fanfare for Cliff, all “waste of a scholarship” for Frank, and look who’s contributed more to the program. I think Schnider would be an excellent pickup for the 2nd or 3rd big in the class, provided the staff can land a more dynamic talent for the 1st spot. He appears to have more strength than any big ranked ahead of him besides Azubuike, and it would be great to have either one of them (or both) to complement a more talented scoring big like Bolden in the post.

He might be my favorite center of the Self era. Very strong, smart player. He started out kind of clumsy but rounded into a nice piece of the 2008 team. I think he’ll be good for his projected role with the Cavs (backup center behind Mozgov in a somewhat crowded frontcourt). It’ll be interesting to see how well he moves at the age of 30.

@Kcmatt7 Gonzaga has a couple 7’1" 290 lb centers, one of whom (Karnowski) is pretty good. In addition to Gordon and Tarc, Arizona had Brandon Ashley and Grant Jerrett, both of whom are on NBA rosters. All KU needed last year was a big footer who could average 11 and 6 and be a defensive force (Karnowski), and none of the other “5’s” on the roster could manage that.

@BeddieKU23 Jay Bilas has been defending Diallo and ripping on the NCAA over this issue on Twitter. He was also bringing up how ridiculous it is because it doesn’t really do anything except delay a student-athlete’s college playing career by an extra year. Makes the kid pay for something that was out of his hands too.

@drgnslayr I just don’t see how the platoon system was a failure. Yes all it took was an injury to throw it off a little, but it was nearly unstoppable for much of the season. Last year’s team can definitely attest to that. It was just that one loss at the wrong time that made it “fail”. Move that loss back a few weeks and 2014-2015 UK becomes one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time. No doubt it’ll be hard to get enough recruits to buy back into it again, but it shouldn’t be if they realized how effective it could be. Sorry to get off-topic and defend UK’s system, but I’m just calling it as I see it.

Nice job, Clay.

@JayHawkFanToo I was thinking the same thing. The possible production for both those players is very wide-ranging: they could both be great this year or both me very meh for the season. It looks like their performance will determine the ceiling for the team (though you could say the same thing about Selden).

I wouldn’t call LeBron’s Miami teams “all-star” - Dwayne Wade was the only other true superstar on that team. I like Bosh, but he wasn’t always a high-producer, and they never had a real good point guard (sorry but LeBron and Wade made Mario look better than he is). And we’re now starting to see Wade take the path of Kobe late in his career… The success of those teams was largely due to LeBron with Wade as the sidekick; every good team has a good supporting cast.

I’ve always considered Selden to be much more of a 3 than a 2. He was listed as a small forward on ESPN recruiting in high school. ESPN commented on his weaknesses with “if he doesn’t grow anymore he could plateau as a 6’4” combo-forward". It sounds like his height is the only thing “tweener” about his game. If he were 1.5 - 2 inches taller though there would be no doubt about what to call him. I feel like the only reason Self has played him at the 2 is because that’s what everyone assumed his NBA position would have to be. I’m with others that think Self would be crazy not to keep him as the starting 3 alongside two ball-handling guards.