Jayhawks Killing It!

The Jayhawks played really well tonight!  One pick six and and  win!  If you didn't guess already, I am talking about in football.  That's right, the only Jayhawks playing a sport tonight that did anything worthwhile were the Jayhawks on the Denver Broncos.  Props to Aqib Talib for a pick six, Chris Harris Jr. and Steven Johnson for picking up a win and being on a championship caliber team.  I wish I could say the same about the Jayhawks basketball squad.

Let me throw some numbers at you; 17 and 18, 32 and finally 0.71.  You guessed!  17 turnovers to 18 total field goals made!  32% shooting from the field!  0.71 assist to turnover ratio for Selden and Mason combined!  That should give the whole story.  Couldn't score, turned the ball over just as many field goals made and finally our two "point" guards having a terrible assist to turnover ratio.

Let me throw out another number; 32.  What is the number you ask? Too high of an average minutes played for Wayne Selden.  He is quick sand, no matter how much he tries to climb out he gets deeper and deeper into trouble.  He doesn't help the team, he makes it worse.  Selden takes time away from someone who may actually try to win games and can score.

Let's keep playing this game…14.  That's the average amount of time a game that we are at a defensive struggle because Brannen Greene is on the floor.  The man is a defensive liability.  He gets burned on the first step by anyone who can dribble the ball to the goal.  My one year old nephew could beat Brannen Greene off the dribble!  The man should play when we need a last three point shot to win the game, that is all.

What Mr. Self should do: Sit them all!!!  When the Jayhawks were down 22 points with nine minutes left in the game, sit them and put the walk-ons on the court.  Not because we want to save whatever inability we have to score to rollover to the next game but because these children need to be taught that lack of scoring and turnovers doesn't warrant playing time, it warrants sitting on your a$$ at the end of the bench, time! These children think they can walk onto the court and blow anybody out!  FALSE!  You're KANSAS…everyone wants to beat the $h1t out of you!

One more number…212.  That is where KU ranks in field goal shooting percentage this year.  There are 351 NCAA basketball teams in the country today, we are only better than 60% of them.  You do the math.

The only good about this team is that they will all be returning next year, including Cliff Alexander.

Jell-O Pudding Pop Excitement!

So the Kansas basketball season began last week with an unimpressive win over UC-Santa Barbara.  Let's be honest here, they won 21 games and returns four starters; they looked good and Kansas looked subpar. With that in mind, I am more excited for tonight's game against the D-League Kentucky team.  They are going to be without a doubt the toughest competition Kansas faces this year and are picked to win the National Championship after only playing two games. 

What I would like to see:
1.  Perry Ellis extend the defense and maybe play a little hybrid 3/4 spot like Dirk.
2.  Limited turnovers from Frank Mason and Devonte Graham.  Need a better asset to turnover ratio than what we had in the first game.
3.  Aggressive rebounding from Jamari, Cliff, Hunter and Perry.  They have Cauley-Stein who is a seven footer who has only gotten better with his three years with Kentucky.  He is a machine and our smaller boys need to be aggressive.
4.  Svi start hitting his shots.  He is supposed to be the best shooter on the team, we are yet to see that.  Beautiful stroke but nothing seems to fall for him.  He needs to get into a rhythm and maybe calm down a bit.


What I expect to see:
1.  Perry Ellis taking more shots and getting to the line a lot more.  He has to stop being so soft and trying to finesse his points.  Drive to the hoop man get on the block and use your turn-around jumper.
2.  Jamari Traylor to start.  He is the most aggressive on the team and Bill would want to make sure Cauley-Stein and the rest of their big men can't get into a rhythm. 
3.  Turnovers to be plentiful.  Although Mason played quite a bit of minutes last year, he is still young and inexperienced.  He and Devonte are inevitably turn the ball over with Calipari's great defensive schemes.  Frank and Devonte need to make sure that if they turnover the ball, they cause one on the defensive end too. 
4.  A high scoring game.  This is going to be a shoot out, hopefully. Kansas can score as long as they hold on to their posessions.  Kentucky is going to score no matter what.  This is going to have highlight reel all over it tonight. 

Let me know what you would like to see and expectations for the game and I will be at Black Sheep Lodge in Austin cheering on our boys and of course hoping Duke loses somehow without Michigane State winning! 

ROCK CHALK!

March with a blindfold

Hey there,

I am so sorry for taking so long to get this first post of the season out but without further ado, here it is.

What I saw last night was painful, more painful than watching Walter spraying The Dude with Donny's ashes, you find it appalling but you can't turn away.  More painful than seeing the -21 degree weather in Minnesota!

What I saw was something that is going to get the Jayhawks' butts handed to them.  They don't make effort.  There is no desire to win and it seems that everyone passes to each other but they don't mesh with each other.  You see Tharpe making lazy passes to the wing, you see Wiggins shooting or driving without looking for the best opportunity, you see Embiid  and Ellis not hustling for rebounds, you see a team without flow and without passion.  Now this may be do to them being young but at what point do you just want to win as an athlete?  At what point does near defeat and being the first team to maybe not win the Big 12 become a catalyst to your hustle and your effort?   

I made a comparison the other day on The Book, of Andrew Wiggins and Xavier Henry.  So here it goes…Henry 14 ppg, Wiggins 16; Henry 46% FG, Wiggins 46%; Henry 5 rpg, Wiggins 6, Henry 42% 3pt, Wiggins 34%; Henry 79% FT, Wiggins 75%; Henry 36 games played, Wiggins 26 games played.  Henry 69 TO; Wiggins 53 TO.  Henry 1.9 ATO; Wiggins 2.0 ATO.

The final comparison I am going to make is yet to be determined but Tourney Results: Henry Second Round UNI; Wiggins TBD.  The point I am trying to make is the One and Done doesn't work in the Bill Self system.  He needs these kids to grow as players in his system, learn his system.  That is how Self won in 2008, that entire team had at least three years on the squad with one early ousting and an Elite Eight finish before that.  

Do we really need the number one recruit?  Does it help with winning?  I see it more as a hazard than a reward.  We need to give him the ball, he feels the need to live up to his hype, and he becomes a black hole where the other four guys on the court are just as capable as he is to make an impact.  One and Dones are worried about their draft day stock, not the team's best interest.  

I will leave you with this...