Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
Rams Fan, if you're interested, this was similar to how it felt to be a KU hoops fan in 2014-2017.
The pressure to win a second title hangs over everything. Regular season wins are fun, but always leave you wanting more. A small but loud portion of fans are calling for your coach to move on. A larger part of the fandom is simultaneously coming to the conclusion that your offense is a bit dated for what the game has evolved to. Meanwhile, your fellow blue bloods are continuing to outclass you in March, when it matters most.
Self, to his credit, adjusted with legendary results. Can't say I would have imagined a KU team being a part of a game where the most threes ever were hit in a final four game (in a winning effort), or a starting roster with no real big off to a 12-1 start the next year. And now that Self snagged that second title everything else feels like gravy.
Remains to be seen if Cal can adjust, and his losing/awful seasons in the middle of it all were certainly something we never had to experience, either.
There was a major shift in Self’s philosophy at the beginning of the 2017 season.
The original starting lineup was:
Mason
Graham
Jackson
Bragg
Lucas
Doke and Svi came off the bench.
Bragg was really struggling and Svi was hot. It was also apparent that Doke was a star in the making, with upside that Lucas couldn’t match.
Self switched things up and started Jackson at the 4 with Svi at the 3. Doke took over center until he got hurt.
That stretch 4 lineup was almost unheard of for Self and his high-low. We almost always had a traditional 4-5 combo.
Since then, we’ve seen Self run with smaller lineups in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and now 2023.
That adjustment has really worked out. A true stretch 4 is such a tough match up in college. Big enough to defend forwards, but has to be defended around the perimeter. Can also defend guards. We really should’ve done this with Oubre and Wiggins in hindsight. [Reply]
Originally Posted by smithandrew051:
There was a major shift in Self’s philosophy at the beginning of the 2017 season.
The original starting lineup was:
Mason
Graham
Jackson
Bragg
Lucas
Doke and Svi came off the bench.
Bragg was really struggling and Svi was hot. It was also apparent that Doke was a star in the making, with upside that Lucas couldn’t match.
Self switched things up and started Jackson at the 4 with Svi at the 3. Doke took over center until he got hurt.
That stretch 4 lineup was almost unheard of for Self and his high-low. We almost always had a traditional 4-5 combo.
Since then, we’ve seen Self run with smaller lineups in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and now 2023.
That adjustment has really worked out. A true stretch 4 is such a tough match up in college. Big enough to defend forwards, but has to be defended around the perimeter. Can also defend guards. We really should’ve done this with Oubre and Wiggins in hindsight.
The 2014-2015 season was probably my most frustrating season as a fan (I'm very, very spoiled following college hoops) in that it was obvious how that tournament was going to go being forced to play an incredibly underseeded WSU when our team wasn't assembled to its strengths (wasn't that the infamous "fools good" year?)
I also grew up 45 minutes from Wichita which really made that loss burn something special. I knew how the game was going to go, predicted a loss, and still got dunked on from WSU people in my feed for the next two years. I actually didn't mind the Marshall WSU teams before then, but good God they pretty much hung that like a banner over their stadium and wore a Koch Industries sized chip on their shoulder about KU the entire time. I still had a friend post highlights on that game on KU statuses for years after that match (until we won another title and WSU collapsed, that is. No college hoops is “dead”, of course). [Reply]
Originally Posted by smithandrew051:
There was a major shift in Self’s philosophy at the beginning of the 2017 season.
The original starting lineup was:
Mason
Graham
Jackson
Bragg
Lucas
Doke and Svi came off the bench.
Bragg was really struggling and Svi was hot. It was also apparent that Doke was a star in the making, with upside that Lucas couldn’t match.
Self switched things up and started Jackson at the 4 with Svi at the 3. Doke took over center until he got hurt.
That stretch 4 lineup was almost unheard of for Self and his high-low. We almost always had a traditional 4-5 combo.
Since then, we’ve seen Self run with smaller lineups in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and now 2023.
That adjustment has really worked out. A true stretch 4 is such a tough match up in college. Big enough to defend forwards, but has to be defended around the perimeter. Can also defend guards. We really should’ve done this with Oubre and Wiggins in hindsight.
And he won a National Title and went to a national Final with the old formula, and a National Title and Final Four after adjusting. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
The 2014-2015 season was probably my most frustrating season as a fan (I'm very, very spoiled following college hoops) in that it was obvious how that tournament was going to go being forced to play an incredibly underseeded WSU when our team wasn't assembled to its strengths (wasn't that the infamous "fools good" year?)
I also grew up 45 minutes from Wichita which really made that loss burn something special. I knew how the game was going to go, predicted a loss, and still got dunked on from WSU people in my feed for the next two years. I actually didn't mind the Marshall WSU teams before then, but good God they pretty much hung that like a banner over their Koch Industries Stadium and I still had a friend post highlights on that game on KU statuses for years after that game (until we won another title, that is).
I hated the 2014-2015 season. Of all the “good” Kansas players, Perry Ellis was by far my least favorite. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJay23:
And he won a National Title and went to a national Final with the old formula, and a National Title and Final Four after adjusting.
Which is something he will never get enough credit for. [Reply]
KU doesn't look ready for this level of intensity for some reason. Do they think they can just keep making massive comebacks in the 2nd half of these games? Won't likely happen on the road. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
KU doesn't look ready for this level of intensity for some reason. Do they think they can just keep making massive comebacks in the 2nd half of these games? Won't likely happen on the road.
It's the McCullar factor. There's a very specific level of hate in this game that I don't think will be replicated in most matchups. [Reply]
