Best posts made by SoftballDad2011

First - I have frequented this site all season and have enjoyed the banter immensely.

Finally broke down and registered so I could participate…go easy on me!

Just wondering why the national media hasn’t dog-piled on Barnes when Myles Turner (his team’s leading rebounder, leading shot blocker, second leading scorer and an 83% FT shooter) comes off the bench and only gets minutes that are comparable to Ridley at this stage of the season.

And yet, the national media openly questions HCBS’s roster management… You would think and 82.5% win percentage, 10 straight conference titles and a national championship would earn the benefit of the doubt from the national media if they are going to give Barnes a free pass- especially when Turner has a bigger impact on the Longhorn’s success than Alexander has had on ours.

It’s fun watching them just play basketball.

No AP ranking or Big 12 streak on the line. Just playing basketball and it’s fun to see.

Been a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of playing in this event.

After seeing two games, the only downside I can see is the risk of serious injury.

Otherwise this is a major advantage.

Been some discussion as to how the rest of the team will integrate, but I think Diallo is the only one who will be left out…and a high energy game should fit in just fine. Effort and a prolific shot blocker always find a home in Self’s line-up, even if they make miscues.

Graham and Svi already have built chemistry and Colesby sits out this year anyway.

Bragg and Vick walked in to the perfect storm…a full month of practice and games with their college team and college coach before they even start the fall term. They’ll hit the ground running and be light years ahead of the typical freshman in the Self system.

I am glad we are playing and proud we are doing USA proud!

Style points don’t matter to Self. Never have.

He would prefer to make the team execute his game plan and win by 5 than a free for all display of athleticism that wins by 30. AAU style doesn’t appeal to him.

Forcing them to execute the lesson plan for the day - and when necessary breaking the stallions to lead - does.matter to him.

Do it until you get it right and can retain it …and then we’ll move to the next page of the playbook.

And if that approach creates adversity and tough in game situations , all the better. It keeps the team humble and gives them experience in contested games that undoubtedly will pay benefits later.

But at the end of the day once he is in that tough in game situation he is going to shorten his bench and go with the people he thinks will give him the best chance to win.

In those situations the youngsters who have yet to earn his trust or who have shown a propensity to turn it over, take ill advised shots or play bad defense aren’t going to be on the court…he is playing to win.

If you are after style points, Coach Self will never be your guy.

He prefers teaching moments and keeping their feet in the fire. Right or wrong, that’s just him.

I am not a big X and O guy, but on Saturday it appeared to me as though Hunter’s and Cheick’s tendency to contest every shot - even when on help defense - left their men open for entry passes and back side rebounds. Bragg tends to play matador defense anyway and is slow to react on help side D.

And none of them are especially good at being able to guard when they are drawn to the perimeter and have to switch on ball screens.

Harvard was eating us up on those weaknesses.

Like Jamari or not, is our best big at defending the perimeter and on switching ball screens.

Like Landen or not on Saturday is was our best option to defend in the paint and to get rebounds.

So they were on the floor.

To me, the biggest problem we had on Saturday was Wayne’s foul trouble.

When he was on the bench it caused Frank and D’tae to carry more of the perimeter load (which apparently tired then) and allowed Harvard to have one fewer true scoring threat to deal with. I thought we were just out of sorts with Wayne out of the game.

Of all games for BG to have missed, I think Harvard was a big one. They weren’t especially good at guarding the perimeter without dedicating additional resources to doing so and they lacked the athletes to guard both the perimeter and the post.

Had they elected to guard BG, we would have feasted in the post and had they sagged off of BG, he would have had great looks.

@HighEliteMajor

I stand by my comments. Saw too many times even during the stretch you reference in which Diallo and Bragg did not do their job. Harvard just didn’t capitalize. And we were making shots so we made a run while they were turning it over and missing shots.

I am sorry we see things through different eyes.

In regard to Lucas . Had he been unable to play at all, sure we would have never missed him. The game flow would have taken a different path and adjustments would have been made.

But I FIRMLY believe, based on what did happen in the game that had Bragg or Diallo been on the court instead of Lucas during crunch time that we would have lost.

Their defensive lapses that would have given up points and the lost offensive possessions because of miscues that naturally come from developing freshman would have resulted in more than we could have overcome.

I suppose the one benefit that may have resulted is that had they been on the court Harvard might have been scoring 2s while exploiting them…instead of spending 20-25 seconds trying to get it in the paint to no avail before having to launch long range threes late in the shot clock…many of which scored.

I felt that way before the final horn sounded, before I heard Self’s comments and even after my third viewing of the game.

Lucas, no matter how low the bar he set, provided just enough defense, rebounding and deterance to hold the tide until we made some shots to extend the lead enough to hold on.

Again, sorry I don’t see things the same way you did.

But I disagree with you on this subject.

I know that pulling Harvey would have won the game for the Mets is the prevailing school of thought…but the Royals had lit Familia up like a Christmas tree in his two prior outings (even without Murphy’s error in game 4 they still strung together a lot of hits) and did so again when he did come in for Harvey in game 5…

The Royals just didn’t seem like a good match up for Familia…so I don’t know that it is a given that they wouldn’t have gotten to him too if he had started the 9th inning in game 5…despite what the east coast experts and media who always have to have a goat to pin it on have to say.

The thing I love about KC fans is exactly what we saw last year after we lost game 7 and this year after we won game 5…we love our team in good and bad.

While it is nothing new, I thought the way the NY media vilanized Murphy, Harvey, Cespedes…after they carried the Mets to the World Series …was in poor taste.

@Statmachine

Just want to say it is a razor’s edge you are walking and that I appreciate the integrity in which you are doing it.

Love the insight you provide and respect that you aren’t disclosing anything that could get you, the players or the program in trouble.

In the words of Ron Burgundy…“stay classy!”

@Texas-Hawk-10

Ok. Then to clarify, the recent TEAMS haven’t met your expectation?.

Because you took exception to my post that stated our recent RECRUITING CLASSES have been solid.

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We have had a fair number of highly touted recruits in recent years.

Unfortunately, due to some bad luck and more predominately, because the OAD mindset doesn’t work well in our system, the teams that had those recruits on it did not meet your expectations.

The OAD movement has not been good to us.

unfortunately it will be difficult to wean ourself off the OAD train without creating air pockets in the pipeline that will lead to average seasons (average for most teams…but horrible seasons for us …like only 18 or 20 win season horrible).

To bleed out those air pockets we will have to go back to having a core group of 50-100 ranked kids that are augmented with the occasional 20-40 ranked guys and suffer through some rough seasons until those freshman and sophomores become juniors and start to get it…and until the pipeline provides a recurring annual supply of battle tested juniors who have paid their dues during the past two seasons.

Self hates to lose at all so I don’t think he has been able to go go cold turkey and entirely quit the OAD approach. So he gets who can and comes up short of meeting expectations…so says many of us.

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To me it is funny. Not funny ha ha, but funny in a sad, painful way

But if you go way back before Self started landing OADs our success wasn’t all that different than it is now… And fans were bashing him because we weren’t keeping up with the Joneses by landing the Tyreke Evans of the world.

So in comes Xavier, Selby BMac, Wiggs…And to this day we still fret everytime Kentucky and Duke repeatedly load up with presumed OADs that we missed on like Jabari Parker, Okafor, Julius Randle,

now when we do land a Wiggins or an Alexander we complain because they didn’t take us to the promised land and because they leave too early.

But now when we sign a decent middle of the road 3-4 star prospect who will likely be a four year player our message boards light up people questioning why on earth we would sign a Lightfoot or a Mason or a Graham. And how are we supposed to compete with Duke, Kentucky, Memohis with guys like that.

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Comical really.

The winningest program in America between 2000-2009 and third or fourth winningest if you stretch it from 2000-2015. 11 straight conference titles, 26 straight invites to the big dance. And on and on.

But it’s been three seasons since we made a final four and seven seasons since we won a title.

And now that the rest of the Big 12 has elevated their game to keep up with us - plus now that we play every team on the road every season- we’re complaining that Self’ s recent road record is sub .600…too bad we don’t get to pound teams like the lower tier of the SEC, ACC or Pac 10 and pad those records, huh?

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Pretty rough stretch, huh?

This must be what it feels like at Mizzou, or Iowa State or UCLA or Indiana or any other team that’s never done it or that has and since fallen off the map and is now working their way back…not! Our rough stretch is beater than 99% of DI team’s glory days!

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I’ll still cheer for KU…even if all the chicken little prognosticators on here are right and the sky is indeed falling.

I’ve been a die-hard Royals fan since my Dad and I started listening to games on the radio in 1976 when I was five years old.

Now that 29 years was a rough stretch…but the last two years made it entirely worth it.

I will be surprised if the winner of the big 12 regular season title has less than 5 losses.

The top 5 teams are all top 25 caliber teams…3 in the top 10.

And the lower 5 are all improving and capable of beating anyone at home on any given nite.

18 game double round robin schedule is brutal. Never a cupcake game.

14-4 or 13-5 will be a very solid conference mark.

“…quick exit from the tournament as usual…”

So two recent early exits override the five elite 8 appearances (w/ two finals appearances) in the previous 10 seasons and to make early exits “usual”?!?!?!

Lol.

Ali Farokhmanesh

@DoubleDD I think we have a better team! Just not sure Self’s history of making big time recruits earn their minutes goes over well with some of them.

I really appreciated Bragg’s comments that basically said (paraphrasing here) he didn’t expect minutes and didn’t think freshman were supposed to get them until they earned them. Those are the guys I want on our team…just not many of them out there these days,

Last time I had checked, St John’s had built a sizeable lead in the composite…but KU is now gaining traction. Hopefully an announcement is forthcoming soon. This roller coaster is starting to make me nauseous!

@Bwag

Regardless of the per minute stats on offense, Cliff was lacking in terms of his understanding his job.

Low basketball IQ, slow thought process, matador defense, quick fouls, inconsistent play, poor attitude and lack of consistent intensity are thing that typically land freshman on the pine on Bill Self teams. And Cliff possessed several of those attributes.

So did Oubre, but once he figured it out…he played.

Diallo did not arrive in Lawrence until late June / early July (after Self and Team had left for the WUG)

It is my recollection that Bill Self said at the time that he was completing “paperwork” in June and that the prevailing school of thought was that he was taking additional high school course work as a preventative attempt to fulfill the required NCAA elibilty center requirements that had been raised as potential concern (note Self’s quote concerning Diallo being told after already completing 3 1/2 years at the school and nearing graduation that there could be potential problems).

If true, that summer school coursework would have bearing on the NCAA decision.

It is my further understanding that after he arrived in Lawrence that he enrolled in collegiate coursework, which would not have a bearing on the NCAA decision…although it could be used to argue Cheick had met the University of Kansas’ academic admission standards and performed acceptably in collegiate course work.

As a KU fan I am biased. And I fully realize that as a prospective student athlete that it is incumbent upon that recruit to ensure his i’s are dotted and his t’s are crossed as it relates to the NCAA Eligibilty Center…

That being said I would also point out that the point of a regimented clearing process that includes the completion of specific coursework and a qualifying score on a standardized examination such as the SAT or ACT is to ensure that a student athlete has a reasonable likelihood of academic success in a course of study that allows him/her to progress toward the completion of a degree…thus preventing a university from bringing in amazingly talented athletes who lack the interest and/or the proven track record of academic success to suggest a reasonable likelihood of success in progressing toward a degree…keeps hired guns from creating an uneven playing field.

I can’t believe it is the intent of these regulations to keep kids that are too smart from competing in collegiate athletics though.

Just my $0.02 here, but I fail to see why completion of a semester of a freshman curriculum for a high school in Africa should preclude NCAA athletic eligibility… IF all other facets of the transcript and standardized testing have been fulfilled.

If he can speak four languages, successfully graduated from an accredited high school while completing the pre-requisite course work required by the NCAA, performed acceptably on his standardized college entrance exam, was approved for admission by the University of Kansas and is in good standing on completed coursework while there…then I think there are a multitude of mitigating factors in existence that certainly evidence more than a reasonable likelihood that Cheick is well suited for the rigors of a post-secondary education.

Free Cheick Diallo.

Another scenario.

Diallo is ruled ineligible.

We persevere this year with a talented squad, albeit short a key component.

But then Self pulls off the ultimate magic trick by pulling two rabbits out of the same hat…

…as he convinces Cheick into sticking around one more year and we pair him on the post in 2016-17 with incoming blue chipper Marquis Bolden.

…just trying to make some lemonade out of the lemons the NCAA might send our way!

I don’t like it that we lost a game, especially when it was a game we had in the bag only to pee away.

None-the-less I am always amazed at the whiners and haters who choose to bash our team after a loss.

The KU Jayhawk men’s basketball team is the most consistently successful team in college basketball during the past quarter century…winning percentage, consecutive NCAA tournament berths, conference titles, consistently ranked in the top 20…

We are the epitome of consistent success that 99% of NCAA DI basketball programs would sell (and some have) their soul to achieve.

If you choose to compare actual results to your expectations…you will be almost always be disappointed. Only one top 20 team wins their last game of the year. Only one team in the last 40 years +/-has gone undefeated. Many teams advance to final fours but fall prey to the boom and bust cycle that is the norm.

like his approach or not Bill Self will be in the Hall of Fame.

I wish he was more embracing of change and would cater to the skill set of his roster too…but I have to admit that admire him for sticking to his beliefs and principles too. Takes a pretty confident man not to trash what he believes in and cater to the OAD movement…people who are only coming to your program to use it for their benefit and gain so they can leave a year later.

What is the old country song lyric? If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything…,

If the pasture always looks greener, by all means feel free to jump the fence…

Maybe your new team will win a title or two more than KU over the next 20 years…but unless your new team is Duke Kentucky Michigan State or North Carolina you likely won’t enter every season for the next 10 years with a legitimate reason to expect an elite 8 or better finish…and even if one of those elites are your new team, be sure to savor the taste of that greener grass when Robert Morris knocks you out of the NIT. Or how Izzo gets you to 7 Final Fours but can’t win the big one any more often than Self. Or when OAD after OAD leaves your program without winning you any more titles than KU had since 2008.

Just my perspective …embrace the passion. Expect the best. but Love it or leave it.

Just quit calling yourself a KU fan if you are going b!tch, whine and threaten to give up after every loss or after early exit from the big dance.

But after you have spent some time in that greener pasture be sure to have the maturity to admit that had your annual expectations been realistic and had you been a true fan who is grateful for what you had (instead of expecting more) that maybe the good ol’ Crimson and Blue wasn’t that bad after all.o

Was I the only one that was afraid that KU STEVE had bumped his head while diving into the concrete pond and forgot his log in?

@Kip_McSmithers

But a 70 something win percentage during the past two seasons is also reflective of the fact that we have played the #1 strength of schedule (both years) with young and inexperienced teams.

Yes, without Diallo, we have largely the same personnel as last year (minus Kelly and Cliff plus Vick plus Carlton)…but I would contend that we are not the same team, as everyone else is a year older and a year more experienced. Those attributes SHOULD benefit us over the course of the 2015-16 season…as they were important prevailing factors in our 2008 and 2012 runs.

Whether it pans out that way remains to be seen.

Hypothesize and therorize all you want. That is what these message boards are for.

But at some point put your arm around this year’s team and let our coach operate outside of your microscope without condemnation for something that may or may not happen 30 games from now.

There will be ups, there will be downs. But for goodness sakes at least stop wishing for something different long enough to enjoy what we do have.

The two represent very different achievements.

A conference championship represents consistent success throughout an entire 18 game conference season playing against teams and coaches who know your team and your tendencies inside and out…but despite that they still can’t figure out how to dethrone you. It is a marathon. Multiply that by 11 straight marathon wins and that is special.

The NCAA tournament is a crapshoot. And a sprint. . It is about a very good team combining great effort, short run consistency, likely a a couple of hot shooting nites, lots of momentum and some luck into a 6-0 run. But the NCAA tournament is also the measuring stick that all will gauge your team by in perpetuity even though the best team doesn’t usually win that tournament. on any given day one team can beat another. The tournament also has a way of pitting great teams against match-ups that may be an Achilles heal for them (and that other top teams may be better suited to handle). Plus when any higher seeded team gets knocked off (especially in an early round) it changes the dynamics of the bracket for the rest of the tournament…thus creating an equalizer of sorts.

To answer your question, the final four would be my choice over the two.

But I will also say that an eleven year (and running) string of conference titles (especially in a power 5 conference) is a beyond extraordinary achievement…and one I think much of our fans base has begun to take for granted.

I will also say - despite my preference for a final four over a continuation of our conference title streak - is that the best time to stop being excited about a conference streak like ours is the day that it ends.

Bill Self once stated in an interview that conference titles were important to him. I forget his exact wording, but something to the effect that not every team he puts on the floor will be good enough to win the national championship…but that he feels he can turn every team he coaches into a conference champion and be able to send those guys out as winners. I can’t recall when he said it, it may have been before our title in 08…

It would be interesting to me to hear how Bill Self would answer your question today.

@DoubleDD

If I were head coach and ultimately accountable for all facets of my program, I would be incredibly stubborn as well.

He has a system that he believes in and it works 82% of the time. And he relies upon it.

It’s his bat, his ball and his rules.

If he starts losing consistently or looses control of his team then yes let’s send him packing.

Until then he gets to do it his way.

We can cuss it. Discuss it. And say what if.

I just don’t think it appropriate to start calling for his head, given his history of excellence.

@drgnslayr

If the actual court storming and the injury weren’t enough…the AD’s and the coach’s indifference toward it should be enough to bring on the punishment

@Texas-Hawk-10 I

True, it is common, but not at all atypical relative to the performance of other elite programs… If you measure since 2003 we are tied for first with the most championship appearances

@HighEliteMajor I am more than happy to keep and capable of keeping an open mind. In fact that is why I partake in this board…I enjoy hearing and considering the opinions of others. Sometimes my perspective changes, sometimes they don’t. And my profession requires it of me every day to boot.

But one could very easil ask you whether you are you capable of keeping an open mind when you encounter opinions that are contrarian to your own?

please know I intend no disrespect in that question. I offer it solely because you are widely known as one of the most rigidly opinionated posters on this site.

And your opinion rarely is swayed by the opinions or the data provided by others.

And BTW I LOL every time I read a post from you that calls Coach Self stubborn.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t respect your viewpoint and carefully consider your opinions.

.i am however saying that should you choose to point a finger just take notice that several of your own fingers are pointing right back at you everytime you do.

Just because it is your opinion and in your opinion is incapable of being refuted…doesn’t mean every one has to agree with you

So with that said, in my opinion, the fallacy with your point is that our seed is always high because of our consistently strong regular season performance. We are given a 3rd or higher seed almost automatically every year simply because we were the regular season champions of a power 5 conference. …and regardless of whether we are a team built for a tournament run or not.

Because of that, unless we are a final four or elite 8 team EVERY SINGLE YEAR (highly unrealistic)…we will under achieve in your metric more than we could ever hope to over achieve.

Hoping for the best, scared it will be worse.

Thought this SI article offered insight, but also created more questions.

SI Article

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/03/01/cliff-alexander-kansas-attoryney-ncaa-eligibility-issue

Interesting that Self first heard about it at noon Saturday, but Alexanders had time to retain counsel on Saturday too.

Scariest part of the article was the attorney’s comment to SI…all McAfee could say is that both sides will work to minimize any damage done to Alexander or the Jayhawks, if that is indeed possible…"

Guess we’ll see!

Cliff turned 19 in November of 2014, so he would have been a legal adult (18 years old) in August 2014.

As such, his signature would have been necessary to consent to his property being used a collateral for a loan for his parents or to provide guaranty for the indebtedness.

The Yahoo Sports story indicated a UCC financing statement had been filed with the Illinois Secretary of State.

When a lender makes a vehicle loan, its lien is noted on the title. When a lender makes a loan using real estate as collateral, the lender perfects its security interest by filing a mortgage or deed of trust (depending on the state) with the appropriate office (such as a Register of Deeds).

Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code outlines how a lender is able to perfect a lien against other property that is not titled or deeded.

A UCC Financing Statement filed with the Secretary of State is a way for a lender to put other potential lenders on notice that a lien has already been filed against assets of the borrower.

Article 9 outlines very specific language that must be used in order to properly perfect the lien.

A lien against a Debtor’s interest in contractual benefits could be obtained, although normally a contract (presumably and NBA contract in this case) would need to be in existence or at least imminent (technically can’t pledge collateral that doesn’t yet exist) . And for that lien claim to be enforceable, its use as collateral would need to be acknowledged by the person who was set to receive those contractual benefits.

At any rate I completed the UCC search on the Illinois Secretary of State web site Latillia Alexander (his Mom) and found an overview of the record, but in order to see the actual document a copy must be ordered from the Secretary’s Office.

I did not find results on a search for his father - Clifton Terry.

I also searched for Cliff Alexander and Clifton Alexander, but did not find any results…although if Cliff is a nickname, his middle name or if Cliff is not the first part of his first name the search criteria would not have found any filings.

Long story, made short…if Cliff wasn’t involved the lender did not have the authority to place a lien on his future earnings.

Mom could sign the loan, but without Cliff’s consent or guarantee the lender would not have claim to Cliff’s future income stream…and they might not even if he had been involved…and the enforceability of the contract were contested.

So…in an ironic twist - if it was the UCC financing statement that tipped off the NCAA to possible improprieties - in filing a potentially worthless UCC the lender may have compromised their ability to get repaid by impairing Cliff’s ability to improve his draft stock,

Jeepers…if WWW’s hand picked crew of zebras is going to call touch fouls on the Mountaineers all nite Huggy will be down to three eligible players and will be down by 60 at the final whistle.

@drgnslayr no doubt. our international experience could be brutal. and it could be even if Perry stays. that wouldn’t be much fun for any of us.

but even if that happens we still get the benefit of having a summer to practice, to build chemistry, get court time in real game situations and get additional time to learn HCBS’s system.

If there were ever a year in which we need a competitive advantage, this may be it…and while I would like for us to show well internationally, regardless of that outcome, I am thankful our team - whoever is on it - will have a chance to improve while every other college team is locked out of the gym.

But the bigger picture here is that as fans of KU basketball…WE ARE SO FRIGGIN’ SPOILED.

We have a nearly unprecedented streak of conference championships, we are approaching the all time record for most consecutive NCAA national tournament appearances, we have been nationally ranked for nearly every week during the past decade and a half, we rarely lose two games in a row (and almost NEVER lose three in a row), despite playing a schedule that is among the nation’s toughest every year.

every bull market has a correction and the longer you go without that correction the more devastating the correction usually is.

We are due for that correction… Long over due.

Hopefully a few years from now, we will look back and ONLY going 1-1 in three or four NCAA tournaments will be the extent of our correction.

But if not, so be it, we’re going to have to deal with it. and calling for the head or second guessing one of the great coaches in college basketball…in my opinion…is not the best way to deal with it. The old adage of being careful for what you wish for could certainly bite us in the butt when we get it.

I too get frustrated when we make an early exit from the tournament.

But I get even more frustrated when we - including me - let ourselves take for granted how truly fortunate we are.

I guess I wish all of us would keep an open mind.

And next time we are upset with a 9 or 10 loss season (after forgetting that it came against the toughest schedule in the nation while we played with xth youngest team in the country…and we try to compare it to a 3-6 loss season that came against the 50th-100th ranked strength of schedule while playing with a group of experienced and talented players) I hope we can stop and recognize that we still have it pretty good.

and that it could get worse…lots worse.

Let’s go 'Hawks!

@VailHawk

I hope you are right. We need Chieck.

Hate that we are missing out on these guys, but the silver lining is that UK and our conference are missing on them too.

Self is in a difficult situation.

If OAD expresses interest in Kansas, he can’t just pass on him (unless there is too much baggage). And if we land him and he is only here for a year…that is still better than having had to play against them.

The other thing that forces us to stay in the OAD game is that if pass completely, we are going to have an air pocket in our roster until he gets the 20-100 ranked signees on campus and gives them their two-three years to get up to speed. And those could be a rough couple of years.

And let’s be honest…if our fan base is in an uproar about a 9 loss season (against the toughest SOS in the nation) that had numerous wins over top 25 teams, a conference championship, undefeated home season and appearance in the big dance…how are we going to feel if we are a sub .500 team lose several games by double digits and miss the dance?

IMO the best thing that happens is that the OAD stacking phenomena fizzles out, order is restored in the recruiting process (e.g. stockpiling of multiple OAD goes by the wayside b/c coaches realize the concept rarely works and is not worth the high maintenance recruiting that it takes…so recruiting becomes more equally disbursed as it once was) and we move back to focusing on core roster guys and augmenting them with supreme talent on occasion, but not being reliant on it.

Funny thing is that we had that system down pat…and the mantra then was that Self can’t land the big time recruits…he’s got to figure out how to get that done.

But we are stuck on this carnival ride for now and until we can safely jump-off this moving merry-go-round, we obligated to stay on our current path,…unless we are willing to accept mediocrity for a few years until we can work through the implications of a change in our business model.

Not the best choice of a headline photo by the KC Star…but’s let’s have some fun at Tyler’s expense!

will show my age with an old beer commercial tag line…but here it goes.

“I Love You, Man”

@Texas-Hawk-10

nice! Can’t beat a dumb and dumber reference!

Recruiting analyst Jerry Meyer had mentioned ineligibility as a possibiltly this spring befor Diallo signed with us due to problems other graduates of that HS had encountered with the NCAA. Meyer mentioned his thought that Cheick mite play overseas for a year instead of college because of it.

Am certain that KU and other schools recruiting him knew of the risk, but that didn’t stop any of us from pursuing him.

The benefit to signing him? If he clears he is on the court for US… And if he doesn’t clear the NCAA he isn’t playing for anyone…but assuming he signed an actual letter of intent (not a grant in aid paper), we control his future as it relates to NCAA DI basketball. We would have to release him from the NLI for him to play elsewhere.

This is especially relevant since as we know from the McClemore/Traylor/Anderson story that even if Cheick is cleared by the NCAA he could still be declared a partial qualifier by the Big 12…meaning while he might not play for us, he could still be playing for a team outside the Big 12 if the NCAA ok’d him and their conference had less stringent standards. (Note that Anderson was eligible immediately for the school in California he went to instead - was it Fresno?)

I would rather pursue and land him - as we did with McClemore - than pass on him and end up competing against him when he is playing for Calipari.

Any ineligibility on his part is in no way a bad reflection on us, unless we play him when we shouldn’t have. It is a reflection of his HS’s ability to provide him with the credentials he needed for eligibility at the school of his choosing. We can’t control that. And we shouldn’t shy away from a game-changing recruit on a “might” or a “maybe” unless it is a moral or corruption issue…

Our only downside is if he signed with us and us then being out of scholarships kept us from signing someone else who could have contributed.

If he has to sit this year and plays for us next year, I think it is still worth the risk.

If he sits this year and heads to the NBA next year, then you have to decide whether signing him despite the possibility of ineligibility (and keeping someone else from getting him) was worth losing someone else that could have contributed. That is a difficult argument because it is all based on could would shoulda with no facts to consider.

Just my $0.02.

@drgnslayr said:

@JayHawkFanToo

“Thinks about it…why would I contribute to and AD that goes out of it way to block me from watching the sports I really want to watch?”

True… but also… would you contribute to a program that is the complete laughing stock of D1 football?

I had heard lots of donors had stepped up in recent years and wrote big checks…unfortunately all of those contributions (and then some) went toward the early buyout of three head coaches!

@Crimsonorblue22

I believe that is true.

But I wonder if we as KU fans do just what the Mets fans did?

@nuleafjhawk

So if the NCAA decides to give you either the deciding vote on Diallo’s situation or the help arranging the bikini clad cheering section option…which one are you choosing?

@Crimsonorblue22

Wishful thinking on my part in hoping he appreciates Bill Self’s investment of time and Self going to bat for him with the NCAA so much that he feels he owes KU something for its effort…

…beyond that, I got nothing.

I wonder if the NCAA knows that Cliff Alexander didn’t change his name to Cheick Diallo?

@BeddieKU23

I agree completely. Certainly in the best interest of the student athlete to be with his team right now …for a lot of reasons.

We have “only” won 3 NCAA titles since our first NCAA appearance in 1940…but having won our most recent in 2008 just doesn’t cut it.

We have “only” been to 14 Final Fours since 1940…but have been to two since 2008…just doesn’t cut it!

Self is “only” 27-11 (70.1%) as a KU coach in the NCAA tournament…and that includes two 0-1 and three 1-1 performances…but he’s all washed up…hasn’t been to a final four in the past three seasons!

@jayballer54 nailed it…SPOILED!

And oh by the way the Bucknell & Bradley debacles that was the last “apocalypse” that we endured were sandwiched by Elite 8 runs…and we won the title two seasons after the Bradley loss.

Take a deep breathe, show some patience as we wade through these devastatingmy disappointing 26-28 win seasons ., show your head coach the respect he has undoubtedly earned…and enjoy the ride.

How long and contentious of a tirade must it have been for his parents to be summoned from the stands?

If it were fleeting comments made in the heat of the moment that wouldn’t have happened.

Bad that his mom and dad had to bear witness to it, but kudos to His Dad For handling it the way he has…whether it was said tongue in cheek or not, he basically said if BG had handled it correctly and had kept his mouth shut he’d be in Maui right now.

@drgnslayr

Are.you wondering if Dallas brought in a hospitality committee from Louisville to handle the post party?

Breaking News…Lucas converts on two bunnies.

@DoubleDD said:

@jaybate-1.0

I disagree. KU is a great 3 point shooting team as long as HCBS lets them play. In the MSU game KU wasn’t doing to bad from 3 land until HCBS decided everything had to go inside. Hence KU blew the lead and lost the game.

As fans we can’t take much from this game. Yet there is one thing I took from it. HCBS let the Jayhawks play. When was the last time you seen that

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“Our whole goal was to try to help our inside guys as much as possible,” Coach Bovaird said after the loss. “We knew they were going to try to high-low us to death, and you just kind of hope that they don’t knock down outside shots. (But) they did.”

"you’ve got to pick your poison when you’re playing a team like Kansas,” Bovaird said. “They’re good at every position, don’t get me wrong. But it’s a heck of a lot easier to make a lay-up than it is to make a three-point shot. So our goal was to try to take away scoring from two, three feet from the basket and hope that they get cold outside and start panicking a little bit.”

“My teammates, Frank and Devonté were driving the ball well. I was getting open looks and making shots. If it’s an open look it’s a pretty easy shot. I just need to make it,” Mykhailiuk said.

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I think KU has a number of snipers on the perimeter, provided they have their feet set, are squared to the basket, receive a good pass that doesn’t force them to adjust their position much and have some seperation from the defender when the start their shot… We have a number of excellent shooters under ideal situations.

Games against teams like Notthern Colorado or Chaminade - teams that lack the horses and have to take an either or approach on defense - prove that.

But in my opinion, if our snipers - especially BG and Svi - don’t catch the ball with their feet set or are being closely defended we become average shots from the perimeter.

And if we have to move to receive the ball or to create seperation from the defender we become below average with our marksmanship.

Unfortunately there won’t be many (any) conference or tournament games that cause our opponent to choose between defending the perimeter or packing the paint.

We started the game 2-10 from three vs MSU…think we were 3 of 12 before we missed three on the last possession.

Just my opinion. Take it for what it is worth.

@AsadZ

Obviously we disagree on this too.

He certainly has the right to express his opinions and feelings with the coaching staff…just pick the correct forum in which to express them.

It began On the sideline during the game and spilled into the locker room… not the correct places.

Even BG’s dad acknowledged he made a mistake.

He had to be reprimanded to prevent it from happening again with him…and to prevent another teammate from thinking Brannen’s actions must have been ok (had there not been consequences for Brannen’s insubordination)… Precedence has been established, albeit at BG’s expense.

So maybe the punishment was too harsh …even for a third known disciplinary infraction…reduce it to three games…not nearly as harsh, but he still misses Hawaii.

that being said, he did go to the Bahamas with the team two years ago. And if a tropical vacation over thanksgiving is really important to him, he can hang around another year and go back to the Atlantis event next year.

Three once in a lifetime experiences would sure be better than just two. but two once in a lifetime experiences is still better than just one.

@Lulufulu

That look said…I am one bad man!

Selden and Mason named co-MVPs.

No word yet on whether Cheick’s leaving the bench to mug Bragg got him most inspirational?!?!?

Or perhaps it is a realistic understanding and acceptance that the best team doesn’t usually win the NCAA tournament.

Yes, it should be what we expect and fight every year, but the fact that we won’t/don’t win it every year doesn’t mean we failed or that our season was not great.

Reduce the number of entries to 16 teams and play a best of five series with home and away games in all 4 rounds and then the best team will have a great shot of winning it every year.

But that would kill the universal appeal of the tournament, because the most mid-majors and below would never get entry in to the event…let alone the opportuntiy to win a game or two and feel like Cinderella for a weekend or two.