Posts made by stupidmichael

I’m scared.

Feeling slightly less scared!!!

With Scott Brooks getting canned by the Thunder, I’m sure all sorts of HCBS to OKC rumors will be popping up…

I’m in need of assurance that this will not happen!!

Kansas had multiple things working against it when it played Temple last season. Playing on the road against a tough opponent just prior to break was only part of it. A bigger part of it was the fact that two of Temple’s best players had just become eligible, giving Kansas no time to scout them.

I agree though. I’m not a big fan of this long-distance road game leading up to winter break. Though it does reflect nicely in the SOS/RPI scale.

Self will be beyond fortunate to land one of the remaining blue-chip recruits. Thorne seems like more of a contingency plan, but one that I would be happy to accept if Self whiffs on Diallo & co.

IMO, the biggest factor for success in 2015-16 will be how well KU’s current players recover, rehab, and improve. We can’t expect Bragg to make a huge impact; very few freshmen big-men have under Bill Self. Hopefully, he’s able to produce similar numbers as Alexander and guard the post with some success. That, essentially, makes next year’s team the exact same as this past season’s, sans Oubre. Greene’s rehab and Svi’s improvement are obviously key. As is solid, dependable play from Traylor and Lucas.

@RockChalkinTexas I like it!

@BeddieKU23 Always true that a key injury or two can derail a campaign. If Greene is 100% by the middle of September I think that will give him enough time to get back into game shape. It sounds like the injury was bothering him quite a bit, so there’s a good chance he could return an even better player. Maybe his lack of defensive prowess had more to due with his hip (lateral movement, especially) than a lack of passion that we - as fans - sometimes railed him for. Probably a combination of the two, actually.

Let’s pretend, for a moment, that Greene does not recover fully from the injury. Worse case scenario, Perry gets to play the 3 for 10-15 minutes per game, while Bragg plays the 4.

@HighEliteMajor Yup. I’m afraid Perry’s return won’t help pull any of the remaining targets. Which is okay. I’d rather have a senior Ellis than a freshman OAD, but adding any of the remaining blue-chippers would make next year’s team an instant final-four contender. (If it’s not already…)

@wrwlumpy I’d say it narrows the gap between Kansas and a place, like Kentucky, which has had such a facility for a few years now. It definitely won’t hurt, that’s for sure.

Ultimately, I imagine this will become the norm for most major D1 schools that desire to remain competitive in the revenue sports. I have a feeling this facility will seem ho-hum within 20 years when compared to what other campuses are offering. Not saying it’s not worth it (because it is), but I’m not sure it will create that much of an edge, especially when compared to places that are already (perceivably) out-recruiting Kansas.

Would any of the recent recruits, who had final choices of both Kansas and Kentucky and ultimately chose Kentucky, have chosen Kansas had these facilities been in place? I’m not sure. Maybe one? Two? Tough to say. But, like I said, it’s definitely not going to hurt!!

This post was so long that I was genuinely surprised to see it wasn’t jaybate who posted it.

@RockChalkinTexas Good news!! Although it makes me think Perry is leaning more heavily towards testing the draft waters… Wouldn’t they have made this announcement together if they’re both coming back and skipping the weird I’m-gonna-enter-the-draft-but-might-still-pull-out phase?

Next season will be bad if Perry goes Pro. I’m not sure if it will be miss-the-NCAA-tournament bad, but it won’t be good by KU standards.

The scary thing is that Selden has not made his intentions for next year clear. Is he still pondering leaving? As much as some like to bag on Selden, he’s still an important part of the team and is in line to have a solid, if not good season next year.

But yeah. Self has botched front-court recruiting the past couple of seasons. He’s entering near-crisis mode…

@MoonwalkMafia said:

@joeloveshawks I agree. Quite frankly, if a late second round pick is there this year, it will likely be there next year.

Exactly. But I guess that’s why Perry’s also weighing his options. If he has a shot at the first round, maybe he should go. Not sure his stock will drop any by returning his senior year. The NBA scouts know what they’re gonna get. A role player - at best.

I’ll support any player leaving who’s guaranteed millions with a guaranteed NBA contract. However, with only a year remaining to obtain his degree (I’m assuming), why not provide yourself with a permanent insurance policy and just go ahead and get your degree? Perry will have his shot in the NBA. And, if that doesn’t work out, he’ll be able to make good money in Europe. That will always be there.

Plus, selfishly, KU is not going to be very good next year if Perry leaves.

@stupidmichael said:

The fact that Alexander is yet to declare makes me think he’s heavily considering returning.

lol

@nuleafjhawk I just know his name’s been dropped a lot and is still on mock draft boards. I think Self may have even mentioned his name as a guy that is pondering his future?? I would definitely be surprised if he left. He’s in line to have a monster senior year. Plus, I doubt he’d be a first round pick.

No word from Selden either.

The fact that Alexander is yet to declare makes me think he’s heavily considering returning. Which would be welcomed, so long as he doesn’t bring with him further NCAA restrictions.

My concern is with Perry. Why hasn’t he announced his return yet? Is he seriously considering entering the draft? He must be to have gone this long without confirming.

@jaybate-1.0 Exactly.

After last night’s game I’ve decided that the only OADs worth pursuing are centers and point guards. Guys who are going to directly impact the game on every possession, on offense or defense. Guys who have the mentality that it’s squarely their responsibility to ensure victory.

Look at the OADs Self has recruited in the past few years. Xavier Henry, Josh Selby, Andrew Wiggins, Cliff Alexander, and Kelly Oubre (I’m leaving Embiid off this list because he was not considered an OAD at the onset of his recruitment). None of them fit that mold. They all depended on others (largely) to set themselves up on offense. None of those guys possessed the Alpha mentality required to be a sensational OAD. Selby could have been there and, for a time, looked like he might have been that guy. But then injury happened and Bill took the ball out of his hands.

Calipari and, now, Consonants have proven that the heavy OAD emphasis can work if its done at the PG and C positions. Albeit with truly elite talent, of course.

Kind of a bummer not to find KU even on the crystal ball for Zimmerman.

@Hawk8086 Agreed that Diallo’s comments make it seem like he’s unlikely to sign with KU. I think the only way he’s guaranteed 20 mpg is if both Ellis and Alexander leave. If there’s 80 minutes to be had at the 4/5, Ellis is going to play close to 35 minutes every game. Bill Self loves Traylor and we know Bill rewards loyalty as well. Traylor and Lucas will play 20 minutes between the two of them. That leaves 25 minutes to be divided between Bragg and Diallo. I just don’t see Self completely bailing on a 5-year guy, Traylor (even though he probably should), and a guy like Lucas, who played quite well (all things considered) the last half of this past season.

I’m really worried Self is going to whiff on all of these guys, when I think signing one (aside from Thorne) would make KU an instant and legitimate final four contender.

@Statmachine I feel great about Ellis, Mason, Greene, Graham, and Svi. Less so about Traylor, Lucas, and Mickelson.

Next year should prove if going with upperclassmen and experience is the way to go for Bill Self.

Self will most likely have a starting lineup consisting entirely of upperclassmen. (Ellis, Lucas, Greene, Selden, Mason) Bragg could potentially work his way into the starting lineup if he can play D in the post and Svi could potentially beat out Greene for the starting 3 spot. Regardless, that will be the most experienced lineup Self’s had in a couple of years.

The experience v OAD debate could be settled next year, as Kansas quite likely will not have a single OAD on its roster. It will especially be settled if KU can be successful without any OAD talent AND without a skilled 5 on the roster.

@DCHawker Damn fine post.

@jaybate-1.0 Good point. Most coaches don’t have the luxury of a talented bench. They can’t hook em because they don’t cook em!

If that makes any sense at all.

@Crimsonorblue22 Most definitely the reason why Hunter ended up getting minutes down the stretch. I think Landon was always going to get PT and Devonte’s injury just increased the workload for Selden and Mason.

I feel like MPG can be misleading though. In games when Hunter and Svi played, they usually played a good bit (8-10 minutes). But there were also many games in which they never saw the floor.

Even then, that still leaves 9 players who averaged 15 mpg or more. That is significant considering Bill usually plays 7 or 8.

@ralster Never said Self hasn’t been recruiting top-flite bigmen. Just that he has had a difficult time landing them. That surprises me considering how many forwards and centers Self has put into the League.

I’m mostly questioning who Self is recruiting. He’s clearly invested a lot of energy in recruiting some very talented guys, but he’s whiffed on many of them. Where are the #20-50 guys, who will be around for 2-3 years? I’m not anti OAD completely, but I’m not sold on it being effective for Bill Self. And maybe I’ve just answered my own questions?? Maybe those recruits don’t see Bill Self as the OAD destination for big men either.

My concern is that Bill Self is embarking on needing to rely on OAD players at the 4 and 5, but he’s struggled to land them.

And to your point about the '08 team, Kaun was still a key contributor and was a very good post defender. We’re also well aware of Cole’s role in the final four.

The past two seasons have made it obvious that Bill’s defensive and offensive brands of basketball only excel with the presence of a “footer” or “near-footer” with NBA skills and athleticism.

It’s possible to win at an elite level without a true center. But I’m not sure it’s possible for Bill Self. He flirted with the outside-in style of play this past season, but ultimately stuck with his old reliable way of ball. Which, unfortunately, just doesn’t work well without the presence of a legitimate NBA-potential forward/center.

In fact, a lot has been made in recent years about how basketball has become a guard’s game. I disagree. In college ball, no position is more important than the center position. Or, at least, when the center position is being occupied by a highly-skilled big man, who will some day make millions in the NBA. All of Bill Self’s great teams at Kansas have been anchored by NBA-skilled big men. Kentucky, Duke, and Wisconsin all have lottery talent at center this year.

Here’s my concern:

Bill Self is on the verge of having a front-court crisis.

In a little more than a year (hopefully more than a year…) KU and Bill Self could be facing the very real prospect of returning only ONE scholarship front-court player – Landon Lucas. At best, KU is probably looking at two returning big men (Bragg + Landon).

For some strange reason, Self has struggled to land expected OAD big men, and there’s a very real chance he will whiff on all of the remaining 2015 prospects as well. To my knowledge, there aren’t even any top-150 forward/center recruits left that Bill Self is recruiting in the class of 2015. (and very few left at all)

I think you can see where this is heading.

Bill Self is on the verge of either having to rely on OAD players in the front-court, or risk some potentially brutal seasons while some talent develops.

And maybe both.

Freshmen typically struggle in Self’s system. Especially big men. Even big men who are currently making a lot of money in the NBA struggled as freshmen under Self. Self’s lack of pursuit of a mid-tier recruit in the class of 2015 (20-50 ranked) has made me question his end-game. Is he putting all of his eggs in one basket? (Next season) And if so, why? Is he planning on bolting to the NBA? Is he just trying to make one last, great stand? Or is he on the verge of going all-in with the OAD approach? Or can it simply be chalked up to a lack of recruiting the position?

I know plenty of things can and will happen between now and April, 2016. But never has the cupboard seemed so bare for Bill Self at this position.

Here’s how I’m choosing to look at this.

Maybe this team is simply a year away from being great.

Kansas could conceivably start 5 upperclassmen next year (with a bare minimum of 3, but most likely 4). That’s insane by recent history’s standards.

You can only hope that the previous 2 early exits have made this team hungry. Time is running out for the upperclassmen to do some damage in March. None of them have experienced anything beyond the sweet 16 (save Traylor, who wasn’t allowed to compete). And only once at that.

I’m already scared for next year.

West Virginia’s motivation for this game will be minimized, given that it’s already beaten KU earlier in the season and that it’s likely out of the Big XII hunt. Deep down, nobody expects to sweep KU. There has to be a feeling of contentment amongst WVU players and coaches, especially considering how WVU was down late and traveled its way - and then no-foul-called its way - to victory.

Part of me hopes Oklahoma beats Iowa State on Monday just to provide a little more incentive for KU to play well against WVU. It sure seems like KU has a tendency to play poorly as soon as things start looking promising in the conference race, both this season and in seasons past.

KU - 81 WVU - 68

While the concerns about KU’s defense and inability to score efficiently inside are legitimate, I have decided to chalk up KU’s recent loss to K-State as simply the result of a poor shooting night.

Think about it. K-State played very well by its standards and played one of its best halves of the entire season. KU, on the other hand, suffered one of its worst offensive performances of the season, including its worst shooting performance from the 3-point line (15.4%). KU had not shot worse than 20% from three the entire season. The last time KU had made less than 3 3-point FGs in a game was against Kentucky (2-10).

If KU shoots its season average from 3 (40%), KU wins. By playing average against a team playing above its respective average.

K-State played inspired and deserves credit for that. The players fed off of Bramlage’s energy and that same energy clearly bothered KU. Kudos to K-State for that.

But every team is due a poor shooting night. It just sucks for KU that it happened against K-State and during a game that would have essentially locked-up its 11th straight Big XII title.

I hope T-Rob will get a real chance in Denver. I didn’t expect him to be an all-star type performer in the NBA, but I was certain he would become a solid, every-day contributor. A 10-and-8 type of guy.

Hard to imagine not rewarding Kansas with a one-seed if it wins out. That would make KU 29-5, winners of the Big XII regular season (the toughest conference top-to-bottom), and winners of of the Big XII tournament. PLUS, KU would be 9-1 over its last ten. PLUS, Kansas has the toughest schedule in the nation.

No doubt that results in a #1 seed.

However, the likelihood of KU winning out is not high. Kansas most likely ends up with a #2 seed.

Roy has always been stingy with his timeouts. That was one of the first things I noticed about Bill Self. He actually called them.

UNC was up 10, I believe, with about 3 minutes left. No doubt UNC blew it.

However, on one of the late-game Tyus Jones drives to the bucket, the UNC defender got absolutely grabbed and couldn’t switch on his man. If officials call that foul, game over.

If UNC makes its free throws down the stretch, game over.

Hard to blame Roy for those things.

Great post, HEM.

Self deserves some of the blame (most/all?) for this team’s interior struggles simply due to some poor recruiting of the position the past few years. Bill’s recruited a number of under-sized guys at the 4 and some of his 5s are not panning out. It’s looking like Hunter Mickelson is going to end up being a whiff and Landon, while still a work in progress, lacks the athleticism to be an asset on either end. Obviously, Embiid wasn’t projected to be an OAD, so Self deserves a bit of a pass on that one. But if we’re being honest, Self has not recruited the center position particularly well the past few years.

That’s it! Did he flip someone off also? What a bad ass.

Tundra,

I believe Dooley flipped off Nick Fazekas (sp) from Nevada.

I had a long response typed up, but then I somehow lost it.

So I will just make my predictions that:

White will end up being the 8th guy most of the time.

Greene will transfer (maybe at semester?)

If I were an Iowa State fan this would have made me cringe. But I think it’s kinda funny.

Here’s my big, bold prediction: Frank Mason will finish his career at Kansas as one of the top ten scorers in school history.

Agree. Or disagree?

How do you contribute to the CJ blog? I couldn’t figure it out and it’s not like the KUsports live blog. I want it to be like the KUsports blog.

Hilarious, BTW!

Iowa,

This is exactly what I’ve been thinking recently.

Normally, I’m all about a kid setting himself (and his family) up financially for the rest of his life, but I feel like Joel could actually be costing himself money in the long run by leaving early.

More than anything, Joel needs experience. He’ll ride pine for at least 2 years in the NBA. One more year of college and 30 minutes per game of PT could benefit Joel more than just about any other athlete-with-raw-potential. I say this as someone who thought every Jayhawk who has left early over the last ten years made the right decision (aside from Chalmers… who was not a guaranteed 1st round pick).

Regardless, Joel’s going to make a lot of money some day. Selfishly, I hope he stays. But I genuinely believe it would benefit him financially in the long haul as well to stick around for one more season. (Or two or three…)

I think it was the exhibitions. Not sure the NCAA would have been down with Naadir missing an exhibition for an actual NCAA violation. I think TT and EJ had in-team issues…?

Do we know if KUsports has lost significant viewership? I still have the horrible habit of clicking on my KUsports bookmark tab almost unconsciously. But when I wake up, and realize I’m at KUsports.com for the sixth time that day, I then realize there’s no longer any point to click on any of the stories I’ve already read.

So disappointing.

Also, no way Frankamp red shirts this year. He is too good of a scorer and a better ball handler than some are giving him credit for. He won’t play a ton, but there will be times when ku needs him on the floor.

I’m also resisting the AW3 hype train. Yes, he looked improved at the scrimmage and yes he appears to be in the good graces of bill self. But he still bricked a bunch of shots last Saturday. He is very streaky and, with the amount of depth on this team, Self won’t hesitate to yank him when he’s missing. Honestly, I think the stage bothers him more than anything. All we heard about him last year was how great he was in practice, yet he had one of the worst fg% on the team.

I hope he has a great year, but I’m guessing he will end up under performing. Just a feeling I have.

Something tells me Bill Self does plenty of critiquing of himself both during and after games. Do you think he needs to watch tape to realize he should have called a time out or subbed player X for player Y?

One of the reasons Self is so good is that he is stubborn; he believes his approach is the best way of doing things. As quick as we are to question his stubbornness at times, we have to realize that more than 80% of the time his method IS the best. And, quite frankly, HAS been better than anyone else’s the past ten years.

Self doesn’t need to watch tape to improve his coaching. He is constantly evaluating himself. The guy sees and remembers everything. The quote is a complete non-issue.

Kinda what I was thinking about Traylor and Lucas. Both of those guys will play big roles…in the future. Not this season.

Lets assume worst case scenario after this season and KU wiffs on remaining recruits and loses everyone: Wiggins, Selden, Embiid, And Ellis.

That still leaves a veteran lineup of Traylor, Lucas/Mickelson, White III/Greene/Oubre, Frankamp/Mason, and Tharpe.

Now, assuming KU will retain at least one of those potential draftees and that HCBS lands at least one more blue chip recruit… How is that not the favorite to win the conference…again?

Now just imagine if 2 of the four stay…

The more I think about it, and the more I read from other users, the more I think Wiggins’ relative lack of effort is/was from a lack of understanding/experience in Self’s system. I think he was thinking too much on offense, but there were also times he lost his man on defense.

Still, the guy led the team in scoring and he didn’t seem to force anything. As fans who have bought into the hype, we expect him to drive and dominate every time he touches the ball. I think a lot of our collective perception of Wiggins ‘not trying all of the time’ is an unfair consequence of the hype-machine. Given our recent experience with top-rated players (Selby, Henry), we’ve also created pressure for ourselves, as fans. There is a stigma about KU and HCBS that the top-of-the-top-recruits routinely underachieve under him. More than anything, I think we want to prove this perceived trend wrong this year

Does anyone actually ask him that? Because they definitely should.