Originally Posted by Bearcat:
I think the only for me is wrapping my head around the blowout 'trend'.
Of course, this team wasn't going anywhere, and teams that shoot a ton of 3s are (I assume) more likely to find themselves in blowouts one way or another.... but, they made it to the Final Four before getting demolished by Villanova and absolutely everything goes wrong and they're down 19-4 (or whatever). Auburn shot a ton of 3s. Everything went wrong last night long before USC made a ton of 3s. Oregon is kind of in there, but to a lesser extend, IMO.
And it's a small sample size and each season has its many variables, etc... but, it does seem pretty extreme that when they've exited in recent years, it's been a flaming dumpster fire being dropped off a cliff.
This team just has too many flaws to overcome serious adversity. No interior defense whatsoever, rotational holes on the perimeter defense, poor on ball defense outside of 2 players (Garrett and Harris), lack of length, Poor rebounding overall, lack of speed, lack of versatility in combo guards that need to be versatile in this system (interchangeable defensively and offensively). You just have too many players that have serious deficiencies on one side of the ball or the other. Tyon Grant-Foster was like watching Bryant Nash 2.0. Jalen Wilson reminds me of a HS player that just chucks the ball every time he touches it and scowls at everybody. Marcus Garrett is the weird kid that is annoying on defense but that's about it. Ochai is the Popular kid in HS that thinks he's good and starts because of his rich daddy but isn't really that good. Braun is basically Ochai 2.0 but even he doesn't think he's good (just the coach does). McCormack is clumsy, awkward, dumb, and yet the best option the team has...
To finish 2nd in the conf and a 3-seed is still mindboggling. This team was NOT good. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fansy the Famous Bard:
This team just has too many flaws to overcome serious adversity. No interior defense whatsoever, rotational holes on the perimeter defense, poor on ball defense outside of 2 players (Garrett and Harris), lack of length, Poor rebounding overall, lack of speed, lack of versatility in combo guards that need to be versatile in this system (interchangeable defensively and offensively). You just have too many players that have serious deficiencies on one side of the ball or the other. Tyon Grant-Foster was like watching Bryant Nash 2.0. Jalen Wilson reminds me of a HS player that just chucks the ball every time he touches it and scowls at everybody. Marcus Garrett is the weird kid that is annoying on defense but that's about it. Ochai is the Popular kid in HS that thinks he's good and starts because of his rich daddy but isn't really that good. Braun is basically Ochai 2.0 but even he doesn't think he's good (just the coach does). McCormack is clumsy, awkward, dumb, and yet the best option the team has...
To finish 2nd in the conf and a 3-seed is still mindboggling. This team was NOT good.
Best team in 15 years and the f*** China folk f** us
We’ll never know what last year would’ve done
Boo hoo.
Try being a SLU Billikens fan. Best team, on paper, since the late 1940's and were 7-1 with wins vs. LSU and NC State (they were good at the time) until they were sidelined for 5 weeks and were never the same team again for the rest of the season. At least you have 2 modern era championships to fall back on. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
We can’t take much from this game. Or be fooled into thinking it represents some type of program malfunction. Dook-KY didn’t even make it and UNC, Mich State were crap.
When Self says we need “more length”, he should be asked why that didn’t work for Kentucky or Dook.
(Remember after we got raced by Auburn the lesson was: need way more speed at guard! No, we just needed a healthy Doke to be right back at #1 the next year with the same basic cast)
Originally Posted by Matrix:
Boo hoo.
Try being a SLU Billikens fan. Best team, on paper, since the late 1940's and were 7-1 with wins vs. LSU and NC State (they were good at the time) until they were sidelined for 5 weeks and were never the same team again for the rest of the season. At least you have 2 modern era championships to fall back on.
Mustn't forget the AP #1 in 2020. It's effectively three championships. [Reply]
Originally Posted by smithandrew051:
Or Gerry McNamara going 6-10 in a 3 point game
Or Jordan Eglseder making 2 3’s against us when he made 1 all year.
Cmaaaan man. We’ve played 70 tounrey games since 2000. You don’t think we wouldn’t encounter a couple great games from the nation’s best players? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
Cmaaaan man. We’ve played 70 tounrey games since 2000. You don’t think we wouldn’t encounter a couple great games from the nation’s best players?
Originally Posted by Pants:
It's a story as old as Kansas in the NCAA tournament itself.
Remember Trey Burke going off on us from basically half-court?
Duuuuuuude. I wanted to cockpunch that dude through my TV.
I mean. Credit. Dude balled, but Fuuuuuuuck.
Originally Posted by Fansy the Famous Bard:
This team just has too many flaws to overcome serious adversity. No interior defense whatsoever, rotational holes on the perimeter defense, poor on ball defense outside of 2 players (Garrett and Harris), lack of length, Poor rebounding overall, lack of speed, lack of versatility in combo guards that need to be versatile in this system (interchangeable defensively and offensively). You just have too many players that have serious deficiencies on one side of the ball or the other. Tyon Grant-Foster was like watching Bryant Nash 2.0. Jalen Wilson reminds me of a HS player that just chucks the ball every time he touches it and scowls at everybody. Marcus Garrett is the weird kid that is annoying on defense but that's about it. Ochai is the Popular kid in HS that thinks he's good and starts because of his rich daddy but isn't really that good. Braun is basically Ochai 2.0 but even he doesn't think he's good (just the coach does). McCormack is clumsy, awkward, dumb, and yet the best option the team has...
To finish 2nd in the conf and a 3-seed is still mindboggling. This team was NOT good.
Interestingly, Marcus Garrett, our starting point guard, was our best interior defender.....?......! :-) I'm a total sucker for defensive guys like Garrett. Travis Releford is one of my favorite players. But that aside, I thought Garrett played a really good game. The refs totally fucked him with a Mack Truck and he played through it really well, and had a really good game (for him). He was the best thing we had going offensively, and that is a travesty. Dude deserves some credit. He dribbled into bad spots a couple times but I was expecting much worse. He went and got one despite everything being against him.
McCormack, I was expecting a nothing game. Dude can't hang with those kind of guys, but he actually performed pretty well on the offensive end. His moves were crisp, decisive and quick and actually pretty effective. Defensively, he got thrashed, but he was better than Agbaji and Braun trying to defend down there.
Wilson gets a pass. Dude wasn't right out there.
But the guys who should have excelled in that type of game, Braun and Agbaji, sucked in new and creative ways. It's weird, the guys I thought would struggle actually came through and played well. Only to get betrayed by total garbage performances.
Like usual, when shit gets away, Self refuses to press. When they got some things going and couldn't close the gap, Self should have turned up the heat. At that point you need to steal possessions. It probably wouldn't have worked, but the USC guards looked kind of loose with the ball. May have made it worse, but 18 minutes left in the 2nd, what did we have to lose? [Reply]
Garrett is the best player on this team, by far. He's an alpha, unfortunately, only on the defensive side of the ball. Super high bball IQ too. He had a really nice game in the last game fiasco. I'd love to see him come back next year, but it sounds like he and his family are sorely in need of $$$. I certainly wish him well.
And who said McCormack was dumb? That's just.....dumb. He's very thoughtful in interviews and speaks quite well. Guy is anything but dumb. Sadly, he only appears to have game on the offensive side of the ball. Great energy, but that alone won't getcha rebounds.
Next we have Braun and Agbaji. Simply put, these guys are Johnson County tough. They just don't have enough "dog" in them. Great guys with a ton of talent; they just don't have enough alpha cells in their bodies.
Ochai, in particular, has some noticeable limitations. His handles are suspect and with that, dribble-drive is not in his game. And, as several have mentioned, his D is very suspect. For as athletic as he is, he seems kinda heavy-footed on D. But, he has a fantastic stroke with unlimited range. Unfortunately, if he misses early, he kinda buttons up shop and stops shooting.
As per Braun, another very talented kid....sadly, he plays like he doesn't know how talented he is. He just sort of defers on things. Again, not nearly enough alpha in him for how talented he is. Plus, he seems to have developed a flaw in his stroke. Have you guys noticed that when he shoots, he generally does this bend down at the waist thing? And, the more he accentuates the bend, the worse he shoots. For example, if he's wide open for a 3, he'll generally bend a lot (as if he's super lining up the shot). But, when the shot is somewhat contested, he doesn't have enough time for the bend, so he just shoots it. In my mind, he's a much better shooter when contested. Another observations regards his free throws; kid outa be fantastic at the line, but he isn't. I contend that at least part of the reason is that he has tons of time to make that stupid bend move....and suffers from it. Nonetheless, if the kid only truly believed in himself he could be an all-conference type guy.
Next is Wilson, and as Buehler pointed out he gets a pass on this game. Overall though, what sets him apart a bit is that he might actually think he's good! Of all the guys on the team, he seems to have just a tad more alpha in him. Sadly, he doesn't yet know how to integrate that into team ball. Nonetheless, the kid has talent.
On the whole, this has been a fun team to watch this year as they've struggled to grow. Heck, I think this has been one of Self's best coaching jobs since he's been at KU.
Originally Posted by Meatloaf:
OK, here's the scoop...
Garrett is the best player on this team, by far. He's an alpha, unfortunately, only on the defensive side of the ball. Super high bball IQ too. He had a really nice game in the last game fiasco. I'd love to see him come back next year, but it sounds like he and his family are sorely in need of $$$. I certainly wish him well.
And who said McCormack was dumb? That's just.....dumb. He's very thoughtful in interviews and speaks quite well. Guy is anything but dumb. Sadly, he only appears to have game on the offensive side of the ball. Great energy, but that alone won't getcha rebounds.
Next we have Braun and Agbaji. Simply put, these guys are Johnson County tough. They just don't have enough "dog" in them. Great guys with a ton of talent; they just don't have enough alpha cells in their bodies.
Ochai, in particular, has some noticeable limitations. His handles are suspect and with that, dribble-drive is not in his game. And, as several have mentioned, his D is very suspect. For as athletic as he is, he seems kinda heavy-footed on D. But, he has a fantastic stroke with unlimited range. Unfortunately, if he misses early, he kinda buttons up shop and stops shooting.
As per Braun, another very talented kid....sadly, he plays like he doesn't know how talented he is. He just sort of defers on things. Again, not nearly enough alpha in him for how talented he is. Plus, he seems to have developed a flaw in his stroke. Have you guys noticed that when he shoots, he generally does this bend down at the waist thing? And, the more he accentuates the bend, the worse he shoots. For example, if he's wide open for a 3, he'll generally bend a lot (as if he's super lining up the shot). But, when the shot is somewhat contested, he doesn't have enough time for the bend, so he just shoots it. In my mind, he's a much better shooter when contested. Another observations regards his free throws; kid outa be fantastic at the line, but he isn't. I contend that at least part of the reason is that he has tons of time to make that stupid bend move....and suffers from it. Nonetheless, if the kid only truly believed in himself he could be an all-conference type guy.
Next is Wilson, and as Buehler pointed out he gets a pass on this game. Overall though, what sets him apart a bit is that he might actually think he's good! Of all the guys on the team, he seems to have just a tad more alpha in him. Sadly, he doesn't yet know how to integrate that into team ball. Nonetheless, the kid has talent.
On the whole, this has been a fun team to watch this year as they've struggled to grow. Heck, I think this has been one of Self's best coaching jobs since he's been at KU.
Rock Chalk!!!
McCormack has a very low basketball IQ, not sure how many games you've watched in his 3 years at KU. Off the court he may be a genuinely smart cat. On the court, he has the IQ of this lamp sitting next to me. And that was hard for me to say because
Originally Posted by Matrix:
Boo hoo.
Try being a SLU Billikens fan. Best team, on paper, since the late 1940's and were 7-1 with wins vs. LSU and NC State (they were good at the time) until they were sidelined for 5 weeks and were never the same team again for the rest of the season. At least you have 2 modern era championships to fall back on.
No, this season’s team was not the best on paper for SLU.
Crews’ first season with Remekun, Loe, McCall, Mitchell, Jett and Barnett off the bench was. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Meatloaf:
OK, here's the scoop...
Garrett is the best player on this team, by far. He's an alpha, unfortunately, only on the defensive side of the ball. Super high bball IQ too. He had a really nice game in the last game fiasco. I'd love to see him come back next year, but it sounds like he and his family are sorely in need of $$$. I certainly wish him well.
And who said McCormack was dumb? That's just.....dumb. He's very thoughtful in interviews and speaks quite well. Guy is anything but dumb. Sadly, he only appears to have game on the offensive side of the ball. Great energy, but that alone won't getcha rebounds.
Next we have Braun and Agbaji. Simply put, these guys are Johnson County tough. They just don't have enough "dog" in them. Great guys with a ton of talent; they just don't have enough alpha cells in their bodies.
Ochai, in particular, has some noticeable limitations. His handles are suspect and with that, dribble-drive is not in his game. And, as several have mentioned, his D is very suspect. For as athletic as he is, he seems kinda heavy-footed on D. But, he has a fantastic stroke with unlimited range. Unfortunately, if he misses early, he kinda buttons up shop and stops shooting.
As per Braun, another very talented kid....sadly, he plays like he doesn't know how talented he is. He just sort of defers on things. Again, not nearly enough alpha in him for how talented he is. Plus, he seems to have developed a flaw in his stroke. Have you guys noticed that when he shoots, he generally does this bend down at the waist thing? And, the more he accentuates the bend, the worse he shoots. For example, if he's wide open for a 3, he'll generally bend a lot (as if he's super lining up the shot). But, when the shot is somewhat contested, he doesn't have enough time for the bend, so he just shoots it. In my mind, he's a much better shooter when contested. Another observations regards his free throws; kid outa be fantastic at the line, but he isn't. I contend that at least part of the reason is that he has tons of time to make that stupid bend move....and suffers from it. Nonetheless, if the kid only truly believed in himself he could be an all-conference type guy.
Next is Wilson, and as Buehler pointed out he gets a pass on this game. Overall though, what sets him apart a bit is that he might actually think he's good! Of all the guys on the team, he seems to have just a tad more alpha in him. Sadly, he doesn't yet know how to integrate that into team ball. Nonetheless, the kid has talent.
On the whole, this has been a fun team to watch this year as they've struggled to grow. Heck, I think this has been one of Self's best coaching jobs since he's been at KU.
Rock Chalk!!!
Good post.
I will say this.....Ochai and Braun are terrible on the Defensive side of the ball.
Not bad sometimes....Terrible all the time. I would rather have TFG playing if they are not scoring, as he is a better on ball defender.
You can get away with 1 terrible defender. Not 2 starters. Against very good talent, these guys are usually responsible for 90% of open looks, hedging too far and not getting back, losing their man, or getting beat and someone has to cover which leads to their man wide open. [Reply]
