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...
