Best posts made by rockchalkjayhawk

Just back from Las Vegas!

We had a good trip. There were a zillion Jayhawks walking around. love that. I don’t get to say Rock Chalk very often out here on the West Coast. Everybody was fired up to beat the Dookies.

Getting into the game was a bit weird for my wife. They turned her away because her purse was larger than allowed. Oddly they also turned away a lady with a newborn and a diaper bag. So, she had to scramble to run across the street to the hotel to ditch her bag! I guess we don’t go to many events and had no clue that size matters! We got there plenty early, so she didn’t take long to make it back.

The atmosphere in the arena was just crazy. I’d say there was a slight Jayhawk lean in the crowd. Lots of Duke fans as well. But, you could really hear the Rock Chalk chants loud and clear. I may be a bit clueless, but do any other schools chant like KU does? Duke didn’t have anything but a subtle “Let’s Go Duke!” boo. The arena DJ had the crowd hopping.

One very weird thing about the arena…they didn’t really have a scoreboard. Weird. You know how it’s often placed on a wall here or there, or an electronic scroll. nada. They’d have it up on the big monitor thing sometimes as the game was on, but there were times i was like: how much time is left? What’s the freaking score? They did post some player stats in a few corners.

About the fans: Lots of happy Jayhawks everywhere. Plenty of Duke losers. We did lots of standing during the game. The Jayhawk fans behind us said that was pretty much the norm at the Fieldhouse. So, they were used to it. But, it was mostly because of “that guy” Duke fan. Just maniacal. Most of the fans around us were fine, but there’s always that one guy. Wore his Duke jersey, with no shirt underneath. Sister Hazel hat on backwards. SCREAMING profanities at the top of his lungs while standing most of the game. crazed. Cliche. Oh well, it was nice to see him weep when the game ended. Oh, and just to hammer on Duke some more…there was another totally classless Duke fan dude playing table games in our quiet little casino. Just making a top of his lungs screaming ass of himself. Everybody in the entire place pretty much kept turning around to look at him, wondering WTF was up. Jail soon?

Otherwise lots of camaraderie

So about the Hunter flagrant 2…we really had no clue what was happening in the arena when it happened. We saw him make an exceptional second effort rebound, fall, but that was about it. Seemed like a Duke player undercut him and should have been called for a foul. After a really long delay, they booted him. We really didn’t know why or what the hell happened. I have to watch the replay.

Dajuan was awesome. He did some crazy baseline dribbling that had me worried, but others have posted that they actually practice that.

Bidunga. I was honestly very worried about him playing, especially when Hunter went out. Didn’t feel any comfort when he dribbled the ball off his foot on a post up! But he stepped up big time. Love it. Oh, and that Duke center was HUGE!!!

KJ was by far the MVP. He pretty much shut down Flagg, except for that massive dunk.

And Storr started! WTF? Has coach said why? I thought he played great.

Zeke is oddly smooth with the ball. he shakes, stutters and finds pockets of empty space to make something happen. impressive live.

Hunter was way off his game early. Put up some bad shots. He kinda got in the flow later.

It seemed that momentum changed more than a few times after KU was up big. The crowd was buzzing, then silent when KU would hit a dagger.

And KU is still undefeated in Vegas with me watching! 3-0! I’ll take credit.

Rock Chalk

My brain is scrambled with all this portal movement, so thought I’d create a thread for me at least to track incoming, outgoing and potential lineups.

And I’ll edit (10) as the chaos unfolds!

SPOTS AVAILABLE (13 scholarships used. At limit)

INCOMING (8 so far)

Flory Bidunga, freshman, C

Rakease Passmore, freshman, SG

AJ Storr, via portal, SG, SF – two years of eligibility left

Zeke Mayo, via portal, G – one season of eligibility left

Rylan Griffen, via portal, SG, SF – two seasons of eligibility left

Noah Shelby, via portal, PG. will redshirt as a walk-on – two seasons of eligibility left

Shakeel Moore, via portal, PG, senior

David Coit, via portal, PG – Northern Illinois, senior

OUTGOING (5 so far):

Kevin McCullar, SG, SF

Nick Timberlake, SG

Johnny Furphy, SG, SF

Parker Braun, C

Labaron Philon, freshman, PG, CG (decommited)

KINDA LABELED OUTGOING

Riley Kugel, SG, SF — never made it to campus from Florida

RETURNING (6 so far):

Dajuan Harris, PG

Hunter Dickinson, C

KJ Adams, who knows what position!

Elmarko Jackson, PG, SG — Out for season with injury

Jamari McDowell, G, SF

Zach Clemence, C

PORTAL POTENTIAL:

I’m getting ready to head off to Vegas. Go Hawks!

This will be my third KU game in Las Vegas. So far the Hawks are a perfect 2-0 with me in attendance. C’mon 3-0! Although that KU/Florida game was close.

@BShark said in Transfer Rumblings:

@FarmerJayhawk said in Transfer Rumblings:

Tyson isn’t coming to KU. Other than that, who knows!

Only other thing I know right now is Udeh isn’t decided EITHER way.

Dang, that’s sad to hear. We are not gonna find a Hunter in the portal every year. Development is huge for bigs. And there’s something to be said about team chemistry. Guys need time to adjust to each other. Stick around, Ernest!

Always nice to beat the sheep lovers!

Fun with the boxscore:

16-21 FTs

We attempted 21 FTs!!! That is fantastic for us.

Of those with double digit minutes played

AJ Storr was -11 in +/-

Hunter and Zeke were 20+ point scorers / and Dajuan with 15, filling that third scorer role mostly necessary to win. Sure wish Rylan or AJ would fill this role, or be a fourth double digit scorer

With so much player movement in the NBA, i wanted an easy place to remind myself who’s where! So, a list of former Jayhawks in the NBA (some who left for other schools). Please add any i missed!

SG Svi Mykhailiuk – New York Knicks

SG Quentin Grimes – New York Knicks

SG Kelly Oubre Jr – Charlotte Hornets

G Christian Braun – Denver Nuggets

SG Josh Jackson – Toronto Raptors

PG Marcus Garrett – Miami Heat

PG Devonte Graham – New Orleans Pelicans

PF Markieff Morris – Brooklyn Nets

C Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers

F Ochai Agbaji – Utah Jazz

C Udoka Azubuike – Utah Jazz

SF Marcus Morris – Los Angeles Clippers

PG Devon Dotson – Washington Wizards

SF Andrew Wiggins – Golden State Warriors

@wissox said in KU / Duke Takeaways:

@rockchalkjayhawk Fun report! Weird that there really weren’t scoreboards around. Self had mentioned it at one point in the postgame.

Thanks!

Did Self really mention that as well? Crazy. i’m guessing coaches need access to that info!

Oh, just to add to the fun trip report…

The night we arrived (as some of you did as well), there was a road rage murder at a casino ride share pick up zone. The already packed streets were basically shut down.

Also, on our return flight, things got weirder. We landed, hit the runway, and basically pulled over for 10 minutes or so. The captain gave us some b.s. excuse. We started moving closer to the gate, then stopped yards from the gate. more captain nonsense. We eventually pulled up to the gate, then instantly the crew came on the speaker saying NOBODY MOVE! we’re all like, huh? 10 minutes later STAY IN YOUR SEATS! DO NOT GET UP! now it’s getting crazy. Everybody is looking around for a terrorist or something. Odd phrases kept coming over the speakers: LINE 1. LINE 1. STOP. etc. we are all nervous and crazed at that point.

So, the captains are now out of the cockpit, looking weird near the front hatch. Moments later three cops come on the plane. at that point, we’re thinking we’re going to die or something. So, they stop midway through and point at a kid. then move to the back of the plane, passing us. And adding oddness to the already oddness: My wife says “Hey i went to high school with that cop” as he passes us.

So they chat with a dude with a lanyard around his neck in the back, then move back to the front and grab the previously mentioned kid, cuff him and take him off the plane.

Moments later on the loudspeakers: YOU’RE ALL FREE TO GO NOW! weird.

No clue what that was about. must have had a warrant on the kid or something, and knew he was on the plane.

So we exit and of course more cops are just outside the plane door.

I won’t even get into the weird guy who didn’t appear to live in our reality who was arguing with my wife about boarding numbers at the Southwest gate!! She’s like “I’m B18”… and he goes bonkers nutso. Oh, and he approached again after we landed! I gave him the evil eye and we scrammed before his reality melted in a bad way.

AND, we grab our luggage and vamoose out the front door of the airport as fast as possible, only to find cop chaos outside. A dozen cop cars and cops screaming and yelling at cars and people, with flashing cop cars lighting up the night. Such a weird return flight!

At least the Uber driver was polite…

How’s this for synchronicity:

Ochai and Gradey each had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I FREAKING LOVED that Hunter held on to that jump ball! Love to see him get fired up.

Ha, i remember the posts with pictures of our opponent’s campus and surrounding city. those were good ones!

Hey, surprise surprise.

Looks like Kevin McCullar made his debut finally. G League appearance. Good for him and his mysterious knee. I hope that is a thing of the past.

Hi, all. Glad to have a place to chat about the Jayhawks.

Joined many moons ago but haven’t been active in awhile (and spaced on my user name!) thanks to Beddie for that breakdown. Spot on.

I’ll add a few tidbits…

Pretty happy to have hoops back! Everybody looked good last night.

Och looks fit. Hope he has a great year and expands his game a bit off the dribble.

The new guys: Will be very exciting to watch the new guards. Should be a fun crew.

Remy is full of swagger. Will be interesting to see how that goes over with teammates in good times and bad.

Yesu looked off. Hoping it was nerves as suggested above. He got up though!

Adams. I think I’m gonna like him.

I actually thought Clemence was more solidly built than I expected. Concerns about his quickness levels off the bat though. I thought it would be the opposite.

Pettiford!!! Solid play from a young guy.

Slight concern that all our littles seem kinda little??? Remy, Petti, Yesu, Harris. A few have solid builds of course, but hoping height not an issue vs bigger opponents.

The sad part is that nothing the NCAA nor IARP does makes any sense. So, who knows how Kansas will be punished, and when.

@Gorilla72 said in THANK YOU, JAYHAWKS:

@Jethro - thought I’d saw, too, that KU has had 34 years consecutive years of NCAA tourney bids. Never below an 8 seed, meaning they’ve always played a lower seed during this time. Unbelievable! #JayhawkCrazy!

And it should be more than 34 years! Ridiculous NCAA penalty in the Larry Brown kept us out a year, right?

@drgnslayr I’ve been trying to tell ya for months now that Remy’s gonna help Nobody believed me That or I guessed on the correct side of 50-50!

I think that lineup is close, but maybe more like this:

PG Furphy

SG Furphy

SF Furphy

PF Furphy

C Furphy

I think poor Nick gets beat up more so than the freshmen because he is a sixth year player — who shot 40+ percent from deep his last two years at Towson. So, he came with experience and some expectation of instant success — more so than the freshmen.

He’s shooting 29% at the moment, and has mostly been burnt toast on defense.

I think we all want him to succeed. He’d better start soon, or Jamari will get all his minutes.

@approxinfinity said in The portal.:

@rockchalkjayhawk eh. That seems a tad harsh, but ok. I am disappointed he left as well.

When i said greedy Fs, that was a broad statement about the state of college hoops, not so much about Passmore specifically.

@NotHim said in Old heads:

I wonder if there is a less polarized more balanced site for KU chat? Any suggestions?

Hey, semi new to the board…

This is by a considerable margin the kindest, most gentle, even-keeled KU board that exists.

P.S.: In keeping with the thread title, I got my flu shot today!

Pretty happy with that opening performance! Och was on fire. And how bout them freshmen? Most of the world thought Clemence wouldn’t play. Well, he played, and contributed valuable stats and minutes. Attaboy!

KJ Adams is bouncy.

Boy, it’s both easy and tough to be down on JD after this game.

He really seemed like he was on his passing and running game. He made some excellent passes — and some really accurate deep passes. That deep ball that was dropped was spot on! I was happy to see he and the receivers seemed to be connecting consistently, finally.

But then that other stuff happened. We had all those good thoughts and feelings like we were gonna win, and then either a pick or a fumble. The pick was irritating, but the fumble was infuriating. Why???

I don’t know how you fix that. Decision making? If you can’t make the right decision after all these years in the program, then it’s likely not gonna change.

The even worse part was that I was just waiting for all this to happen. Give us hope, and KU football fans can’t help but wait for the comically bad to happen. That sucks. Don’t we deserve better?

Well, just finished watching.

What a great game the US played. Starkly different than previous games.

Epic choke in the PKs. Three shots entirely missed the net? Can’t score unless it’s on target.

Rapinoe. ugh. Loved her early on in her career, but i lose interest quickly in anybody in any sport who inserts politics and BS into my escape and joy of sports. Good riddance.

A disappointing world cup experience all around.

A quick glance at other schools and the portal…

I don’t feel so bad now. LOTS of other big time schools losing 2-8 guys to the portal.

Unlucky that KU is also losing some seniors to graduation at the same time.

Onward and upward! Let’s get some guys signed and driving Billy Preston’s old car ASAP!

gonna be a crazy season. Just brings back bad memories of Dok not holding the Tourney trophy over his head.

And for some comic relief…

I whacked the regulator with the wrench a few times, and BAM, the propane started flowing!

Crazy.

Well, we won! I had a long winded post ready last night, but my internet crapped out before pushing send. So, this one will probably have fewer cuss words! I was surprised at how pesky Iowa State’s defense was. That made for an u-g-l-y first half. Extremely surprised to see KJ starting!!! He was a little bit lost at times, but I think with more PT he’ll be less lost and hopefully less stiff.

Semi shocked that Self is still trying to sort out who plays at this point in the season.

This is a weird season for Self. For some reason it really stands out how he’s trying to “herd” his players into whatever mold he sees fit. I’m not really getting it this year.

I think both teams were hurt and helped by poor officiating last night. KU for sure caught a lucky break on that non goal tending call. Game changer.

That Brockenwhatever dude has an amazing pull up midrange game. Did he miss in that range? His shooting form is perfect. Straight up, straight lines, release high.

Great second half for KU.

@BShark said in Next Year's Team Thread:

@FarmerJayhawk I’ve got good news about Mosley. Wonder if we have room for Mosley and McCullar or we are dead set on a small guard? Think we whiff on Hunter to the Ville.

Of all the names mentioned so far, Mosley seems like the best fit for our needs (imo). I can’t say i love the look of his jumper from 3, but if it goes in, OK!

@jayballer67 said in Coach Brown stepping down at Memphis:

Red this Morning , that Coach Larry Brown is stepping down at Memphis as advisor for Health reasons. - Although said not to be serious , hope it’s not. Pretty special guy, if you remember HE is actually the one who got us started back on the right track. - He will always be a part of the KU family

Late Night with Larry Brown! The best.

@FarmerJayhawk said in Do you think of possibility of ?:

Supposed to be 5 below at tip. Not worth it IMO.

Shoot, Most of us used to walk to campus in negative temps from our dorms. Suck it up, buttercups!

Yup. I’d for sure like to see him at his best in Year 2!

Maybe with the NIL $$$$, he’ll stick around.

What a pleasing game. Going in I thought our cold streak could easily continue. But as the game progressed, i never thought we’d lose. I’ll take it.

A couple thoughts:

— Gradey is way better when he’s set, or flows into his 3 pt shot.

— An MJ sighting! He did fine. Only sucked on defense on one possession. Maybe. He put some good effort in on a few possessions. He sometimes seems a step behind on D. Wonder if he just doesn’t pay attention to his man, or has no clue. Happy to see him in the game.

— Boy o boy has KJ been an unexpected treat.

— See what happens when KJ, Kevin and Dajuan score a few? Much needed help.

— Pettiford. Hmmm. Obviously he won us a game this year, but otherwise seems like a career backup. Anybody see him taking a huge leap next year? Bill says he plays good D and slides his feet the best.

— I like the spasmodic energy that Zuby and Ernest bring to the game.

Interesting that Harris is named the best defender in the league, but doesn’t even make the first, second, or third team. crazy!

Do i think that we would have had a better chance to win with Coach Self at the helm? Of course.

But, no need to rag on Norm.

@Gorilla72 said in Bye Bye Ernest:

No booing. Unless TCU wins….

Ha. i won’t boo either. Disappointed to see him leave.

All cuz of that dumbass slippery sticker on the court?

Lots to complain about today, but who cares. Just an overhyped scrimmage, really really early in what is practice time.

So, not gonna sweat it.

The new guys need to learn how to play with each other. That’s all.

Well, OK, on the surface there seem to be other big issues too, but like a new fish tank, the inhabitants need to time to figure out the hierarchy.

Overall not an easy on the eye performance, but we need time to figure out how to get Hunter the ball in the right spots.

Ha, that’s what I get not chatting during Games. Missed some good stuff. I think there were more blocks on this board than Marquette steals tonight!

Fugly. The only way I can think to describe that game. We looked so completely unathletic. How can that be? I thought Self has been making that a point of emphasis recently – getting more athletes.

Hats off to Marquette and their douche of a %-$#@ coach for a brilliant game plan. Well executed. (Pains me to say it, but it’s true)

I didn’t think it possible, but even Dajuan couldn’t keep up.

Some positives tonight. Some.

— the soon to benched Timberlake actually made a three!

— love me some Jamari. Give him all the backup minutes, please. At least he looks like he can defend, keep up.

— Furphy had a few bright spots. Like that. Way too big and slow to guard that No 22 when he got switched, but that’s excusable. Made a shot. A quick cut and layup. Is the Light coming on?

And too many duds to count.

— Shocked at Dajuan’s performance tonight.

— Shocked that Self could not find a solution to whatever the hell they did to stifle us. Really shocked.

— Don’t you think a couple of made 3s would have freed up some space inside? Needed some shot makers.

— The old Self woulda kicked Shaka’s ass. Wasn’t even red faced. Mild reaction.

— %@#$ Shaka!

I like Jamari’s game so far. He seems like he fits in already. Smart, athletic, has some hustle. Even if he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do fully, he’ll at least put some kinda effort in to make something happen. That’s a great quality.

He generally knows where to be on the floor. His one glaring learning moment so far was during the Kentucky game late. He was brought in to specifically to play defense, but twice got stuck trying to double or was just in the wrong spot on the floor, had to sprint over to cover open shooters. That’s just being young.

And he seems to have all the basic skills. Jamari in year three will be a fantastic piece of the puzzle.

Hey, how’s about that! That was an amazing game to watch as a fan. High energy and entertaining,

And, that was one of our best defensive showings in a long while. Why can’t we do that more often? Even Hunter was great on D! Very pleased to see that kinda effort.

The Self bench belt tightening has begun early this season. I saw that coming tonight. But cmon, we need way more than six guys to play minutes, coach! Got us a win though, huh.

Here’s the thing about Elmarko…he still has shown us virtually nothing of his skills or potential on the court, but I think these minutes are helping him. He seemed to be more aggressive tonight at least. Maybe he’ll take another step up the ladder by January.

So happy for KJ! Dunk city.

Here’s the thing about Furphy…he’s obviously got a smooth stroke. He’s looking more comfortable shooting the ball. More minutes! To me he’s a true wing or 3/4. Not a two guard at all. So, It’s becoming very obvious despite my love for Furphy that he cannot switch onto smaller, faster guards. He smothers them once in a blue moon, but they mostly blow by him. I don’t love him less for that, but I dunno how you protect him with all our switching.

Did Jamari get lost on his way to the Fieldhouse??? Shocked that Self didn’t put him on that Newton dude for a few minutes at least to cool his roll. And that was one helluva roll. I don’t understand these wimpy coaches these days. Send in Jamari or some bench scrub to knock him on his arse! Throw him off his game. Do any of the Detroit Bad Boys have eligibility left?

That really was a great game. Happy we won. Rock Chalk!

Fun with the boxscore:

KU shot 61.5%!

KU shot 27 FTs, Texas 10

KU had seven guys play 15+ minutes, with the max at 33 min.

And five guys in double figures! Nice.

Texas with 26 (26!) 3 pt attempts. KU with 8.

Couple thoughts on the loss:

— I thought that was one of the worst first halves Dajuan has played. He looked high at times. Asleep. Disinterested. Disoriented.

— There were times I thought we defended the 3 well tonight. Before the game I wondered how many times we’d leave a shooter wide open in the corner by covering a guy in the lane. Got worse as the game progressed. What sense does this defensive philosophy make??? Can somebody with more basketball smarts please explain?

— I wish the post game with Gueldner was unfiltered and R rated. He’d drop F bombs all over the place! Ha.

— O-fer-Furphy tonight. No bueno.

— Timberlake made his usual one. Missed a crap ton. Looks like that fall hurt like hell. Despite his poor shooting night, he generally seemed like he was playing better lately.

— Elmarko simply cannot dribble nor even initiate a simple offensive set. Chaos. People think he’s a PG. I don’t see it. He barely looks playable. We need to recruit a backup PG. (he seems a bit better with dribbling in the open court)

— BYU fer crissakes. Wow.

— ESPN+ — what a bad broadcast. It’s like they don’t even care about quality or production. Sounds we all had audio issues. How hard can that be to fix?

Sure feels weird not watching any KU games Friday or Saturday!

@BShark said in Bounceback night What a sight:

It’s really quite funny… This year the computers say we are good and the fans are grumpy and saying we suck. Quite inverted from some recent years and I think a lot of it is KJ and Juan fatigue. This is a top 7 team on Kenpom. The way they lost to Houston and Baylor obviously leaves a sour taste…

Here’s the kicker…

I think we can beat any team out there, but also lose to many. Weird year. I’m hoping we settle into some rotations and see some consistent growth.

Fun with the box score! And it is truly fun this time. yay. fast paced action. exactly how we need to play.

52

First half points.

52 – 46 – 75

FG% – 3pt% – FT%

I’ll take that most games!

36

Bench points!!! wow.

48 – 28

KU – OSU rebounds

-5

Flory’s +/- That’s interesting. Hmmm.

<30

Not a single player over the 30 minute mark.

18

Lots of turnovers though. Maybe from a faster pace?

@BShark said in Central Florida 3. Not UCF.:

Haphazard line-ups tonight. Storr has given up multiple wide open threes.

In defense of Storr, giving up wide open 3s is kinda our thing. Blame all around many times over.

I was very excited about Storr’s play tonight. I know going in not to expect much on D. That changes your perspective for the better. If he makes a play, great. Kinda like not having high hopes of KJ making any guarded shot near or under the basket. If he does, I’m elated (lobs not included).

But this team, Jesus! It’s like digging a grave with a spoon. They make things soooo much harder than they need to with brain dead play! Even the announcers were like, wtf are these guys doing??? Value the ball. Slow down. Keep possession.

But a win’s a win. We need em. On to Arizona.

Well, we had a lead with minutes to go, then just started tossing the ball to the other team.

So hard to see that.

Well how’s about that! Samis Calderon has reported to campus. Didn’t many think that wasn’t gonna happen? Yay.

Oh, and DP in Lawrence as well

It all starts tomorrow! 29 days of world class soccer!

Can’t wait.