@dylans Haha! true statement there!
Watching games this past weekend most of the better teams are full of grown men. Kelvin Sampson must make that a requirement in the portal.
Maybe it’s a summertime workout motivation and cheeseburger problem or just plain genetics. Either way or both, hope we can get these guys and new transfers bulked up for the physical game that Coach Self prefers to play. Rock Chalk!
Hello Jayhawk fans,
One thing that bugged me this year is the lack of bulk on anyone other than KJ (excluding anyone that just transferred in last year). Specifically DeJuan and Hunter, but also Zeke.
What the heck is Ramsey Nijem doing with these guys?!? It didn’t look like DeJuan put on an ounce of muscle in his 5 years in Lawrence. Hunter totally lacked an athletic build.
How does a player spend 5 years in the program and still be skinny and lack bulk/muscle? No way that should be allowed.
Ramsey is doing our players and team a complete disservice.
Maybe in the day of NIL and getting guys for 1 year, you don’t mess with their physique, much like you wouldn’t try and change their shooting motion for just one year. But guys that have been around for 2-5 years?
Do we need a new strength and conditioning coach?
@jayballer67 Yeah, watching at the game. No getting after the players or the refs, for that matter. Bill will block his mouth while letting loose with some profanity in the huddle so no-one can read his lips while dropping the f-bomb. Definitely needed some of that action.
@drgnslayr That lack of fire was what I saw as well. Usually Self would’ve called a timeout or two and tore into them a bit. That’s not Norm’s M.O. He just went to the bench, rather than check the starters in a timeout.
Norm might be a good recruiter, but he’s not a passionate game-day coach. I didn’t see him ever work the refs either.
Just Bill working the refs would’ve been worth 2 points! We got none of that from our coach that day.
Even though it wouldn’t have been the politically correct thing for Bill to do, he would have been better off appointing Dooley.
HC Record: Roberts 0.457 (7 yrs) HC Record: Dooley 0.548 (13 yrs) HC Record: Self 0.769 (30 yrs)
Just checking in to Buckets after the weekend. I think it begs to be said that Norm Roberts was soft in how he handled his coaching duties during the games.
We have come accustomed to hearing Coach Self use that adjective to describe the team when they aren’t giving it their all.
There would be no other way to describe Coach Roberts game demeanor than SOFT. And he didn’t step up to the plate when Coach Self and the Team needed him to tear into the players when they got off to a decent lead against Arkansas and then let them back in the game so Ark could gain their confidence.
Very poor job by Coach Roberts. Lacked intensity, fire and sense of urgency. Soft.
@HawkChamp It seems to me like Zach will be more of a stretch 4 option, and as he develops, play the 3 in the League. I realize a stretch 4 is not really Coach Self’s style, but if he can knock down shots reliably, then hey. Darrell Arthur was the last to play that style, unless I’m forgetting about someone.
Hey, does anyone have reference to an article that talks about the hardships that DaJuan overcame growing up? I heard Coach Self mention it a couple weeks ago and am interested in knowing about that. Coach said that when he was talking about how much the Braun family has helped DaJuan.
OK, here’s what google says…
To qualify for a Division I Medical Hardship Waiver:
Does anyone know the rules for medical hardship? Is this the path Remy is trying to go? Whether it be another year here or portalled to another team? It just seems weird he wouldn’t be trying like heck to audition his talent for this last year in college. Most guys would be wrapping that leg and eating Advil and Tylenol like breakfast cereal to get on the court.
Hopefully Ramsey Nijem gets Cam absolutely ripped for next year. If so, he would be a beast down low with also being able to shoot the three. I’d bet we will see quite a transformation in Cam’s physique by Spring.
As of 4:45pm Monday, Vegas has MSU winning by 4
@Marco Yeah, good points. It’s my perception that Self can often times over-coach guys on what a “good shot” is, i.e., don’t take that three-pointer until the end of the shot clock, and only if your toes are just behind the line, etc., such that I think it can get in a guys head and reduce his three point percentage. We’ll see once the season gets rolling if Cam remains a good 3 point shooter and if he feels like he can shoot at will, or if he goes cold and turns down open looks early in the shot clock. I’m hoping he endures Self’s coaching with regard to his shooting. Rock Chalk!
Coach Self might start players because of seniority and loyalty, but my “crunch time” 5 would be:
Remy (for swag and offense) Yesufu (for passing and defense) Agbaji (for solid defense and 3 point shooting during high pressure situations) J-Dub (for rebounding and defense - not shooting) Big Dave (for offensive versatility and rebounding)
Honorable mention CB: CB tends to underperform in big games against tall athletes. He’s gets his rebounds, but that shouldn’t be his game. He needs to have more swag and be reliable at knocking down big shots in big games. I think his crunch-time minutes need to go elsewhere because he is now an upperclassman and he hasn’t shown the ability to perform come tournament time.
Honorable mention Harris: I love Harris’ game, being so smooth and crafty, but unless he can prove himself during the season that he can be reliable in March, then those crunch-time minutes need to go to Yesufu. Yesufu has already proven himself in March and shown he has the fortitude to handle the pressure of the NCAA tournament.
Honorable mention Martin: Martin is intriguing but it remains to be seen if Coach Self will be able to tolerate a big man shooting threes. It’s something he has never really embraced and over the years has made snide remarks about KU bigs that want to step out beyond the arc. I just don’t see Coach Self changing his colors unless he’s the only one with the hot hand in crunch-time and we had to go with him. Plus, I think Coach Self will inadvertently over-coach the shot right out of Martin.
Marcus Garrett had 5 assists in 6 minutes last night! That dudes playing time has got to be on the rise. I didn’t see the game, but if anyone did, please report on how he did. Hopefully it wasn’t all garbage time because of being a pre-season game.
@tis4tim Well said. The last couple of teams have been soft and individual players have disappeared when the going got tough (Braun, Wilson, even Agbaji at times, and Big Dave when he was up against big and athletic power forwards).
This year’s team should have plenty of suitable backups. I think an earlier post said that if anybody gets an attitude (or goes soft) they will be sitting on the bench. If that doesn’t motivate some of these incumbent players with NBA aspirations, nothing will.
I can’t wait to see this team play. And I’ll be disappointed if the roster is the same as last year with just a replacement for Garrett. Let’s see these new guys earn and take some minutes!
Isn’t there a mole living under the Allen Fieldhouse bleachers (picturing Gollum from Lord of the Rings) that can report on what’s going on at practice this week? C’mon Tait, this is your chance to bring us a real story about KU basketball. Or a perfect opportunity for Tom Keegan to make a reappearance to AFH.
@Kcmatt7 Good point Matt. I think Harris can actually shoot, he just doesn’t because he’s trying to carve out minutes as a point guard. I think he’s something like 3 for 5 from 3. He also has a good floater.
Garrett can be a much more effective scorer in the 3 role. I think Self needs to tell Harris and Garrett specifically what their roles are… “Harris, you are the point and I want you to bring the ball up the court every time if possible.”
I think our biggest problem now is role confusion. Once that it defined, scoring will come more easily for these guys. My two cents anyway…
@Kcmatt7 That lineup would be awesome to see!! 
That’s some serious height! Why not, let’s see how they do.
I’d love to be sitting in the bleachers for practice this week and see who’s taking Self’s comments seriously. There might be an injury or two in practice this week.
@BeddieKU23 I like that starting 5! It’s interesting to get opinions from other people’s perspective. Like you, I think my list would differ from Self’s, but here it is…
Starters: 1 Harris, 2 Agbaji, 3 Garrett, 4 Lightfoot, 5 McCormick
Order off the bench: 5 Wilson, 4 Enaruna, 2 Braun
Closing minutes in a tight game: 1 Harris, 2 Agbaji, 3 Garrett, 4 Wilson, 5 Lightfoot (Harris only if he’s handling pressure well with ball handling, and Lightfoot only if he is stout on D, otherwise swap for Enaruna)
Since HCBS is considering a change of starters and PT up for grabs:
Any opinions on what’s going on with Och? His game has regressed steadily ever since his heralded appearance his freshman year when they took off his redshirt and he inexplicably showed determination that he apparently wasn’t showing HCBS in practice.
Alpha dog he is not. But man he has become so timid out there lately. I noticed in the end of the Creighton game, with the game on the line and 12.5 seconds left, Bill had to stop Och from goofing around in the huddle. Agbaji was laughing and looking to his right at someone in warmups while Bill was giving out instruction for the final defensive possession. Bill had to tap Och on the chest and say c’mon man, listen up!
I’m ready for Agbaji’s minutes to go to a more hungry player that will likely be more receptive to coaching and fighting for wins. Also, someone else getting those minutes, such as Bryce Thompson, will likely surge him past Agbaji by February in skill level.
Any ideas about what HCBS should do about this development? Get out the treadmill in practice?
So, who is going to play the 5 next year? Am I missing someone, or do we only have Mitch and/or DMac to rule the paint?
@SlickRockJayhawk The addition of Haarms would change that. Then David would have the second most NBA potential.
@Texas-Hawk-10 If D-mac takes another step forward next year, he’ll be a top-5 forward in the country, no question. Right now, he has more NBA potential than any other player on next-year’s roster.
@BShark If David Mac has a career in basketball, it’s as a step away forward. He’s shown he has the mid-range jumper in his arsenal. He’s definitely not a center at the next level. He knows it, that’s why he’s obviously been working on his shot.
7-foot-3 center Matt Haarms transferring from Purdue
This dude would fit in perfectly with David MacCormick playing the foward position who knock down the mid-range, and Mitch bringing the toughness to the front court. If we can land this Matt Haarms, we’re definitely final-four worthy next year.
Yes, he’s misperceived as a savant, when he is actually a recluse. Anyway, it was just a goofy name that came to mind to mimic the Journal World articles.
Is it possible to pick an MVP this year?
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2020/feb/26/benton-smith-udoka-azubuikes-influence-both-ends-m/
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2020/feb/26/matt-tait-marcus-garretts-versatility-poise-under-/
http://www2.kusports.com/news/2020/feb/26/consistent-excellence-devon-dotson-why-he-should-b/
OK, let’s have a vote. May the real MVP please stand up.
One vote for Doke here
@HighEliteMajor You make Bill Self’s case by stating “It would highly energize our fan base.” That fact doesn’t matter because we already have a highly energetic fan base that sells out every game and travels all over the place to watch the Jayhawks play. I was in Maui for the three games there and KU must’ve held 80% of the tickets for each of the three games. I thought surely BYU, who has a campus on Oahu, would snatch up their fair share of tickets… nope. Jayhawk fans muscled their way in and bought them up, got on a plane, and showed up at the games.
Economically, there is no benefit to playing WSU. It’s not going to create more donor funds or get existing donors to give more than they already are.
HCBS is doing such a good job of filling AFH and winning, that until that changes, he’s right in saying that we don’t benefit from playing WSU. If there was some recruiting benefit, maybe, but there just isn’t.
http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2020/jan/29/ku-junior-marcus-garrett-seems-to-be-clo/
I was a bit surprised to read Coach Self’s brag on Garrett’s performance at the center of the zone. While watching the game, I thought he was too hesitant to shoot it to be totally effective against the zone.
The OSU bigs were backing off of him, and he was still looking to pass rather than take the 10 footer. If I’m not mistaken, I remember him only taking one shot from the center of the zone, which I also think he made.
Marcus needs to shoot that shot more often to be most effective. I thought Kevin Young, Josh Jackson, and Julian Wright were all better than Marcus at playing that zone position. If Garrett can add the shot aspect, he can pass them up.
Am I forgetting any other good zone distributors from past Jayhawks?
Isn’t it common knowledge that Bill doesn’t actually do any coaching during this game? He seems to have something against beating his alma mater, so he let’s the guys sink or swim. More often than not, they ‘sink’ in Stillwater. It’s his annual “let’s see how they do without me” test for his players. Seems like he likes to see if/who will step up and lead the team to victory. (I’m mostly joking about this post, btw)
There are a lot of false statements going around today. I just watched a video on ESPN where Stephen A Smith said that Silvio accepted a $2500 payment from a booster. No one at his round-table rant knew the truth to correct him that an Adidas rep paid Silvio’s guardian $2500. Smith also said that an assistant coach had to rip the chair from Silvio’s hands. Again, no one corrected him. Our administration needs to defend these players a little bit because they are getting slaughtered in the media.
@FarmerJayhawk Amen to that! Eff Dick Vitale and others on ESPN.
I’m with D’tae on this one. Yes, HCBS and Long have to say all the right things, but that doesn’t mean KU fans have to be “embarrassed” or ashamed. That’s freakin’ lame.
The punk who stole the ball had it coming from Silvio to volleyball spike his layup attempt. And yes, Silvio deserved a technical for standing over him. That stuff happens every night at all levels of basketball.
And then Silvio was trying to get back on the court when he was assaulted by the crazy KSU bench player in warmups. That dude rushed Silvio and attacked him (wearing glasses no less!! :-D). Silvio was forced to defend himself. Unfortunately, the crazy bench player took the action into the seats behind the basket.
In my opinion, the ONLY thing Silvio did wrong was pick up the chair, which he dropped on his own back once he figured out it was not a good idea. No one took it away from him, as the East coast media on ESPN reported. Jerrance Howard was in the immediate vicinity, but he didn’t pull it from Silvio.
I think Silvio should get five games suspension, max. And that’s it. IF anything else, maybe McCormick gets one game.
Silvio just let his anger get the best of him after being punked twice by two different wildcats. Yes, in hindsight, he no doubt wishes he walked away after power-blocking the guys layup. I totally understand why Self said the things he did in post-game, but I actually think Squeaky’s presser was more appropriate.
Magic Johnson was the ultimate example of leading his team by playing with joy and positive emotion. On the opposite end is Draymond Green, who shows aggressive emotion on the floor - damn annoying if you ask me.
I remember Julian Wright being emotional in a positive way. I still remember him doing that 360 dunk on a break away steal at Mizzou. That’s probably on YouTube somewhere. His smile was infectious.
@DanR Dotson totally crushed it in Hawaii and ever since he has been out of sorts (from a leadership standpoint). Remember he and Doke won co-MVP for the tournament. I was in Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, and it was interesting after the game that Doke grabbed the MVP trophy and wouldn’t let Devon have his time with it during the celebration after the game. Dotson made a comment, something like “Doke can have this one”, seemingly conceding the trophy to him because he couldn’t get it back from him anyway.
I’m wondering if that has caused a riff between the two of them. Another thing that has me wondering is I read an article a couple of days ago saying that Dotson hasn’t given Doke a lob since the Colorado game, and that was only one lob, I think.
Maybe there’s nothing to this, but Dotson’s attitude lately is reason for concern. He’s been pretty emotional on the floor too towards other players and the refs. Being verbal towards other players can be a good thing if done from the right perspective, but I’m not so sure Dotson has that nailed down. I also wonder if Doke is becoming the leader of this team now. Agbaji is not taking that on, Dotson is struggling to do it, Garrett is the quiet glue-guy. Maybe Braun will step up? mostly kidding
@BigBad Barriers get broken when noble individuals enlist to champion a cause for progress. For Hammon to be successful at breaking the barrier, being far better than her competition may not be enough.
I think Pop is going to be pushing hard for Becky Hammon to take over and get her shot at making history. If I had to put money on it, that’s the direction I think the organization will go. And I don’t think HCBS would leave in the middle of the NCAA investigation. Just doesn’t seem like something he would do.
It’s all about poise, leadership, and accountability. All three SEVERELY lacking on the floor against Duke.
No one said Mitch was a PG or 2 guard. And you CAN’T GET MORE SHOTS when you’re peeing down your leg and giving up 28 turnovers.
Mitch is obviously not the best leader to ever wear the Jayhawk uniform, but this team lacks leadership, and from my viewpoint, Mitch is the only one that is capable of bringing those skills to the floor. When someone does bring that to the floor, it’s contagious to the rest of the team.
Mitch would’ve led the Hawks to victory last night. He is a clear leader when he’s on the floor, and last night, he would’ve outplayed any of our three bigs.
We severely lacked poise against Duke. Mitch would’ve brought that in spades, and led the team to stop peeing down it’s proverbial leg.
On Friday night, we need a WE WANT LIGHT FOOT chant!
@HighEliteMajor From your post, it sounds like you want things to stay the same so it doesn’t ruin the sport of CBB. Fair statement. However, your “personal choice and decisions” statement in the end completely defies logic since the the structure of the NCAA not allowing college athletes to be paid denies the personal choices of the companies that want to pay athletes for advertisement, and denies the personal choice of college athletes who want to accept the money from these companies.
And yes, the pretzel logic does sound familiar!
After watching Dr. Ramsey Nijem’s interview on Youtube, it’s clear he is a super smart individual who know his industry thoroughly. The way he rattles off names, and describes principles and techniques of his craft like he’s been in the field for 30 years is remarkable no matter what field of business a person is working in.
I’m thinking he’s going to move the needle in a noticeable way once he gets some time with these guys… not only athletically, but more importantly, between the ears on game day. Rock Chalk!!
From what I’ve seen on Youtube, Jalen seems to play low to the floor. For being 6-8, supposedly, he definitely doesn’t attack the rim… ever. He’s going to need some training, if one can even be trained to play above the rim. That might be more instinct and not come very easily. When he’s attacking the paint, he tends to go low and try a wild shot off the glass. Against those high schoolers, he should be going up and dunking it. Also, he doesn’t have much elevation on his jumper at all. More of a set shot.
I don’t see him getting significant minutes this year. He will be too easy to guard and will get his shot blocked at the next level (except for open threes).
As someone noted above, it’s interesting how (in his highlight reel) he shoots many of his floaters left handed. Can’t remember ever seeing that before in a college player. How nice that must be as a player! It would be super hard to defend him when he’s attacking the basket. I’m super excited to see him in action!
@FarmerJayhawk Thanks for the heads-up on Tucker. Sounds like he has always shot on the 40’s percent from three his whole career. Gotta like that!
His point production went way up from Florida Gulf Coast to Arkansas Little Rock, going from 7.7 ppg to 20.3.
Known for his power dunking and three point shooting. I can see him lobbing to Doke and vise versa.
@colohawks I vote Doke for a year for sure! If he has improved his short-range shooting even just a little bit, we are talking about a POY candidate.
I don’t think there is much of a chance that KU gets penalized because of Silvio’s situation with his guardian. Since I’m currently at work, and I"m sure many of you are too, I’ll be brief.
If KU (Coach Self, Townsend, etc.) had a tendency to act outside of the rules, then they would have played Billy Preston after his automobile situation. The fact that they sat Billy all year when they needed him on the court so badly shows that KU’s program was and is going by the rules. So, I will bank on the idea that they had no idea about Silvio’s guardian taking money from Adidas.
Did Coach Townsend have an inappropriate conversation with an Adidas rep about Zion Williamson’s recruitment? Yes, absolutely. But that doesn’t mean that KU accepted any benefit form that one recruiting situation. However, Duke may have through Nike.
The Billy Preston situation speaks volumes about KU’s principles and practices. Billy was the Jayhawk in the coal mine, and the Jayhawk flew out of the mine unscathed Rock Chalk!
@KUSTEVE I totally agree with you Steve. I was just logging in to start a thread with the same thoughts. Cry me a river Bill, “we’re not very big”, “Our best passer doesn’t have anyone to throw it to right now”. We are one of the “have’s” and not one of the “have-not’s”. I watch a lot of ball around the country and watch what other teams do with far less talent that we have. Steve- I think your lineup is good. David would develop if Bill would leave him out there for more than a few minutes at a time. He’s been told he’s supposed to “bring energy off the bench”, so he thinks he needs to be running around crazy when he’s out there. He needs to settle down a bit and use his energy more wisely, which I think he would quickly learn to do. Marcus Garrett needs to play ahead of Vick and Grimes. Get down to a 7 man rotation with Vick and Moore being the subs. Mitch could get spot minutes if we have foul trouble. Hopefully Bill gets this figured out soon so we don’t waste David’s freshman season on the bench.