Posts made by drgnslayr

DP needs game reps. He isn’t going to showcase much by going in and out of the lineup. We all know he can score while faceplated. He earns his value by how he makes the team better. That takes reps!

But I’m onboard with Self. Let him heal. I wonder if we have seen him at full 100% tilt yet? Doubtful. I’ve rewatched his play on the court with us and he always moved with caution. I noticed it back then, too, but thought maybe he’s a guy trying to protect the investment. I’m certain some of that is at play, but I think it was more because he’s been nursing this for quite a while.

Tiller is a big man… but how old is he? Is he the guy that came half way through last year but was injured? He sure smells like NBA talent. Hope we actually get some real play out of him before he jumps to the league. I guess he’ll be streaky for a while, maybe all year, as he gets used to this level of bball. I just don’t see him jumping after this year. Surely he’ll stick around at least one more year, especially since this coming year’s draft is probably the best draft for a dozen years or so.

Weird seeing Traylor on the bench. I’ll probably piss some people off… but I wish he was healthy and had eligibility left… at least until we get more consistency out of our bigs. lol

Mbiya… wow… he’s like a huge pile of clay, thrown against the wall! haha… someone came at me, all hyped up, claiming he’s the next Udoka. I haven’t seen that potential yet, but I sure would like to. Let’s start by putting 30 lbs of muscle on him in this next off season!

I was pretty happy with our guys play. We had a definite chance in this game. A few guys struggled… Bryson, Kohl, Elmarko. Bryson and Kohl are still growing into D1 ball and I’m sure they never quite experienced anything like this game before. I love the Champions Classic because it gives almost a sort of Final Four feel to it. So far this season, Elmarko has been my guy I expected more out of. He didn’t play much in this game and I know why; he was basically invisible out there. Huge game from Tre… and Melvin started off cold but improved. These two guys give us energy on the floor. They don’t become invisible.

Flory, of course, is high energy and his box score will never tell his story of his value to this team. That became obvious when he went out in the first half and we went straight down. His energy is so high it’s like he’s 1 1/2 players for us out there. He’ll learn a lot throughout this year, and we will benefit from him maturing on the court. I know he’ll probably enter the draft after this year. And, as usual, it will piss me off to see guys go too early. I don’t want to have that argument with others again. He won’t be ready to leave, but he’ll go. Just imagine Year #3 with Flory?! This is a strange year, though… so much talent! And next year will be less (unless something changes, and can). Would be smart for Flory to stick around (he won’t)!

Melvin played nervous. I think he is trying a little too hard sometimes and just needs to let the game come to him. He’s the speedster… he needs to find more creative ways to play downhill and get past defender’s shoulders.

I guarantee you that Duke hopes they don’t see us again this year, especially with a healthy DP! To be honest, I was more impressed with UNC than Duke.

Great game for a lesson and we’ll grow from this. I have lost ZERO optimism for this team! If we can get healthy and stay healthy… then learn to play together. Our defense has huge potential. Self called it right. Our defense was pretty good but when we screwed up they burned us every time!

@dylans Great advice!

Come back after your fresh air!

@dylans

I used to be as optimistic as @approxinfinity … and it’s a sad day when I’m not that positive. The people who really know me always counted on me being a bright source of light. My light has dimmed… brought about by the changes in college sports, but also our society and how cold blooded a large percentage of our population has become. I’m not wanting to start a political conversation so I won’t point fingers.

What I still believe in is some form of organic process that will usually bring us to a more palatable situation in college sports. That’s why I point to things like Kansas and Missouri starting to see the light in how important rival games are. I’m not up on if that has made a difference in our recent games or is this just some SEC-B12 thing. When I say “organic” my example is when America decided for prohibition. And then the market exploded with illegal booze and speakeasy establishments developed.

Players being paid… that should have happened a long time ago. Eventually, just like the portal, things will settle down and make a little more sense.

None of us can predict the future. We’ve certainly taken hits for several things in the past decade. Maybe the biggest was conference changes.

In the end… it’s business. And what makes good business? Fans of schools being able to watch their teams and also with more attention to rival games. Slowly… things are settling down and old rivals (misery) are being scheduled again.

Where we really get screwed now is on tv packages.

@approxinfinity Yes… it wouldn’t surprise me if in the very near future head coaches will be aided mostly by AI and a prompter.

@dylans said in UNC Matchup Friday Night:

@approxinfinity Nope. Outside of the sleezy Larry Brown KU coaches last over a decade. Jacque barely has that in him and the job isn’t available yet. That would not be a long term hire and we’d be back in this spot very soon - assuming he can coach and is allowed to finish his tenure. There are many better candidates. What I have leaned is fans are terrible at these decisions. They are emotion based - which is the absolute worst way to make a decision. - See both the far ends of the political spectrum- all retards driven by emotion.

Are you saying my desire to see Vaughn head coach at Kansas is emotional? ARE YOU SAYING MY DESIRE TO SEE VAUGHN HEAD COACH AT KANSAS IS EMOTIONAL?! lol

Okay… let me phrase that differently… lol

I never even thought of his age. It is a point worth making. But who is the young one to step in? If you go too young, they have little experience and seem more risky. If Vaughn were to step in within the next couple years I think I’m still cool with his age. He could possibly go 20 years. I think the coaching situation in college basketball is starting to change just like the player situation. I’m not expecting we land a 30-year coach from here on out.

I was already expecting this. I’m not down on DP or the coaches. People think whatever they want to think but the truth is he is a very valuable player and we should be cautious.

I am yet to meet DP, but everything I know of him says he isn’t the type of guy who thinks he’s too good to play in any game. It’s not his style. He’s a competitor and legit guy.

@dylans He’s awesome. But we need more than DP to go far this year. We need to make it happen as a team.

I’m having my doubts if he’ll be a guy we get for 30+ a game, every game. There is a very heavy focus on keeping him protected from injury. Not only is this about saving him, it’s helping us recruit more top shelf talent in the future. I’ve been mentioning this for a while… our recruiting philosophy has changed somewhat… along with our coaching style.

Whether we like it or not, for the most part we can expect to replace at least 75% of our roster every year. And because of that, Self has shifted to going after more top shelf HS recruits, along with changing his coaching style to be a little more forgiving away from his origins; a “defense first” style of play, and beating down harder on his players. You can see it now. We have a very athletic team and he isn’t guaranteeing they will become a defense that fights over screens.

Also… I think Vaughn is now “in trial” to become his replacement. I still think it will be 2 - 5 years away, unless Bill has another health episode. I’m very amped up with the thoughts of a Vaughn Jayhawk coaching legacy!

We have the guys who can hit 3s… but their success will be based on how our offense runs. We have to space/time well and then they are open. We’ve got trey shooters at several positions including the 5 (or 4) with Tiller. Tiller is the real deal from 3 versus Dickinson. He truly was a case of false gold for us. I think he was 50% of the problem we had the last 2 years. The rest we all described in detail both years.

I’m still very psyched on the potential with this team. Would be good to know if DP will iron out his issues and play solid minutes every game.

We don’t have super height, but we have good all-around height. What we have is pretty good athleticism. For me… that spells the need to always bring high energy to games. If we don’t, we stand a pretty good chance of looking like the second half of UNC again.

Many of you have been here for years with me. I’ve always been a big fan of Bill. But I’ve never claimed he was a cheerleader-like coach that could get his guys jacked up before a game. It’s just not his style.

If this team ever comes out with the gusto UNC showed the second half we will smash ALL teams in D1! I feel 100% certain of that!

So if Bill isn’t going to push the “ra ra” button on this team, who will? Maybe Melvin! He’s a pretty animated kid and he’s full of speed and energy… he could do it!

It’s way too early to hold a burial ceremony for this team. We didn’t look great in 2022 either… until late. I know we aren’t a huge lineup team. Neither was our 2022 team. We have the guys who can do what we did in 2022 if they come together and learn HOW to leave all their guts on the court. I’m sure they were exhausted after the UNC game, but that second half was completely disorganized, and overmatched. They didn’t respond the right way to compete and got blown out in that half. They lost composure. They could really use some leadership… maybe it will be “leadership by committee” like we had in 2022.

@BeddieKU23 That road record is so not in our DNA until recently. Did something just change in D1? I know the glaring change is the portal. Maybe portal players just don’t have the same level of commitment to Kansas. Level of commitment is definitely relative to road play. Otherwise… I always look at coaching to explain extended situations… but I really have a hard time thinking Self can’t adapt and lift us out of this.

@Zabudda Sounds logical. But is sports logical anymore? And now we are discovering how many players are getting paid to rig games. I’m not saying KU guys do this… I’m just saying the game has become so unpredictable. I use to do much better in picking winners and now I might as well flip a coin. And so for my analogy… there are no more Pete Roses left in sports. Guys that will slide face first and eat dirt. Ha… I’ve turned to sarcasm because I have ZERO answers for anything anymore. This team might end up a 500 team, breaking Self’s record for March Madness… or they might bring home a trophy. It’s not just them that are completely unpredictable… so are the other 362 teams.

@BShark Everything I do is dangerous. Especially my advice. Want to go broke? Take my gambling advice.

Elmarko… I have to say my biggest disappointment in this game was not the loss, or the “deer in the headlights” of all our new guys. It was Elmarko and seeing him find ways to disappear while in the lineup. I cut him lots of slack two years ago… largely for what @Texas-Hawk-10 posted about him being pushed into too much too fast and being out of position.

I’m not sure what his real issues are. Maybe low self-esteem? He has respectable athleticism. Enough to do whatever needs to be done out there. It still seemed like the game was playing faster than him. Self mentions “game speed” often as guys get going after long layoffs from ball. I can relate to this with my own playing experience (obviously at a lesser level of ball than at KU). Practice and game speed are not the same. And it can’t be replicated. It just can’t.

I do think Elmarko will be a key piece to this big puzzle. His quality of play will be part of deciding our destination. He doesn’t seem to be well-gifted on offense. So he better compete well in other areas to compensate. He should be a high-energy guy who fills a stat sheet with other things besides points. Steels… rebounds… assists… and then how about setting on and off ball screens? How about someone give up their body for the team? I’ve noticed in this small sample of games… our rebounding sucks. Part of that is we play teams that shoot long balls and create long rebounds. Elmarko should become the master of the long ball rebound!

OFFENSE: Is it enough for our guys to learn the Self “4-out” and “3-out” weave on offense and that’s it? I know it’s just November… and I know it helped create the “shot experienced around the world” with Chalmers for the Nattie… That offense is okay when we keep our bigs in the post the entire time. What beat us at UNC was their bigs stepping out and using pick and rolls, and just creating mismatches and taking advantage in the post.

What I like to see is more off-ball screens. Run plays to free up a shooter. Back doors.

I’m hopeful Self will write up some new offense for this team. He has a very different team from all past years. No other team is really close to the same player types as this one.

@approxinfinity said in UNC Matchup Friday Night:

We have a roster with length and athleticism this year. If we play with consistent energy our switching only when its a necessity should theoretically work.

We were just beat yesterday… because our energy level dropped off the table. We had just enough energy in the first half to lead by 8. The second half, the Tar Heels came out with more energy and our response was to go Beta instead of Alpha… Bill Self learned something yesterday. Right now, as this team sits, they fold when getting punched in the mouth. He’s got to change that.

I’m not sure who will step up to lead this team. DP is great, but is he alpha enough to lead the team? Council mentioned that he will lead this team. Not sure what will happen. But we need someone who will keep our guys composed when attacked and actually TURN IT UP to meet the challenge!

Switching or not… I’m old school and want to see my guys fighting through screens. Eventually, it wears down offenses and they sort of give up setting high ball screens when they don’t work.

If we took advantage of our speed and size… our big man could step out into the path on the screens and cause havoc enough and usually get back in time. That also requires our guard to get out there quick enough to make it hard for their guard to throw the lob.

Anything is possible when your TEAM has HIGH ENERGY! We really fell in that second half.

A truly “deer in the headlights” event in the second half. We were overwhelmed by the crowd and tar heel enthusiasm.

Wilson is an absolute beast. He’s NBA bound next year.

Let’s see how we respond from this. I remember when Kentucky shellacked us on our own court in 2022 and we responded with a trophy in April.

Our defense was horrible… especially off high ball screens, back doors, and really anything that put one of their players in the paint at the rim all alone. It kind of looks like we haven’t worked on defense in practice yet. lol

Even though we lead most of the first half, we were never in control of the tempo. They killed us on rebounds. We have several guys that should be claiming more rebounds.

At times we look horrible on both sides of the ball… but we only lost by 13. Hopefully, this will be our worst defeat this year, but who knows?

Love them Tiller treys!

@SlimShaddy54 He sounds like he brings distractions with him.

I put zero faith in this source:

https://fanrecap.com/kansas-jayhawks/kansas-linked-to-top-prospect-after-tyran-stokes-leaves-notre-dame--AiAtu?utm_source=kansas-jayhawks&utm_medium=SS&utm_campaign=ncaab-mk&utm_content=1452028995114192&utm_term=pp&fbclid=IwY2xjawN59-xleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFYY01sSjFqekhVMVRVNTJIc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHk0G79VS2rtq5AdY8TfOoaaTDIXCcyi3hAHkZm1iTB0fKHjx0qjZehNFBKiu_aem_zMqYe_9-5ICfS3YJQZ2hfw

But I had previously heard that Kinney was busy recruiting Stokes.

@nuleafjhawk What I like on youtube tv is the virtual hard drive. Save us much junk as you want without regard to disk space. How does HULU work?

@nuleafjhawk Cool! Let us know how that works out. I’m youtube tv. I also do Netflix… would be nice to save a few bucks. I also use Plex. It’s my favorite for movies and most tv programs.

I almost started this thread before the last game. I know one thing… sign up per month because if you do it annually that money is gone! I’m probably going to drop it after this run of games on ESPN+. I say that but I see ESPN and YouTube TV aren’t compatible right now!

Thanks for the post. Perhaps we should use this post for everyone to share their bball media sources. I’m always looking for a fresh perspective!

It’s a time when we need two things simultaneously…. To win games and not break the bank. Neither of these two goals will be accomplished by firing Lance. And no one is going to say he isn’t hustling his butt off. And, if anything, his assistant coaches might need to be looked at more critically since football is largely coached by assistants anyways.

@SlimShaddy54

I look at it this way… the longer it goes on, the better our chances. I say that for all the obvious reasons… he’s thought to stay in Kentucky… he’s Nike and we are Adidas… Everything seems too obvious he isn’t going to KU. In those cases, time is on our side. If the decision is so obvious, what is the delay? The delay implies to me that the decision is not so obvious!

White is invisible. He’s our invisible assassin. No one pays attention, and he’ll probably average 16 ppg this year. He finds ways to score.

We have several guys that can put up decent numbers on a semi regular basis. And then there is DP… there with the lights shining bright, attracting defenders like bugs around a light bulb. He’ll find his way to get his but more important he’ll create scoring space for others and his basketball IQ will take advantage of it. I’m less interested in how many points he averages a game versus how many assists he averages.

Our bigs show promise, but on offense, they require plays, often two-man plays and lobs. None of these guys are Kareem with a sky hook in the post. Which of our 3 bigs will become most proficient at pick and rolls? I’d like to see all 3 bigs learn to “crash the boards!” We could really use a big man coach about now! Obviously, Vaughn isn’t a big man coach but he knows how to teach guards to utilize bigs in several ways, including high ball screens.

This is okay and we need to be able to play without him because there is always a good chance he’s out some games in the year. I don’t like the idea that the rest of the team just counts on him every night to secure wins. And just look at that game. We looked pretty average for most of it.

We need a guard to step up and be able to run this team without losing a lot without DP on the floor. We have a ways to go before that happens.

@BShark said in KU vs Louis Takeaways:

Elite wingspan Hawks. This team can and will muddy games up. BAD BALL @approxinfinity

I’m even thinking a lot more positive… creating defensive stops followed by a lot more runouts! If we keep that speed and push open court I can almost guarantee you it’s the impact Vaughn has on this team.

What I am taking from all of this… as long as we have Vaughn, a lot of our old bad habits that always hindered us will be gone! In past years we would have turned the ball over a lot more in this game. Without doubt!

@BeddieKU23 said in KU vs Louis Takeaways:

A few more thoughts. Jackson looked athletic as heck and a lot more physically mature. He didn’t handle the pressure all that great in the 2nd half but made all his free throws. I think he needs to play to that strength of getting downhill and getting to the line. Council reminded me so much of Tyshawn. He’s a dog and a heck of an athlete. Did I mention this is a very athletic team? It’s great to be able to say that again. White was a bit of a mixed bag but ended up with 14. Those two 3’s was good to see a 4 finally stretching the defense. Need to see more of him. He was consistently mentioned as one of the best players this offseason by Self

I heard Jackson is in better shape than where he was as a freshman. A lot more muscle. @Texas-Hawk-10 said it… he was forced into his role two years ago and right into a lot of pressure. He will not be at the center of attention and can play off the ball now. I’m excited for him! Just hope he (and everyone else) stays healthy!

Council = TT… hopefully more like TT in his senior year!

Our length is sure a nice luxury. It’s a tricky length because it isn’t all about height. We have guys with long arms. And being long with skills of dribbling, passing, moving… By the end of the year, we should become a very dominant defensive team! And that means plenty of steals and runouts!

The depth is another luxury all together. We can throw different looks at teams, and everyone we play will have to learn to play against multiple players at each position. Speaking of positions… our guards are basically positionless! Who really is our PG? I’m going to say DP because I see him leading this team, but we’ll want him to play off the ball, too.

I think Elmarko will be a better player than the Elmarko we knew his freshman year. He seemed nervous his freshman year and the game was sometimes too fast for him, even though he is very athletic. Maybe he was thinking too much instead of just playing. I’m not sure he is completely over that but I think he’s come a long ways!

Hey… how about our Hawks!

It’s great to feel some real optimism again about our beloved Jayhawks basketball!

Here are my takeaways… whether or not they are accurate, it’s just my opinion.

DP IS THE REAL DEAL! - Watching him go live in college was everything I could have hoped for! Not only can he shoot the trey ball, he can do everything else! He created baskets for others, stole balls, and his defense isn’t too bad (still needs help). THIS IS HIS TEAM! You can already see how most of our guys have adapted his demeanor; cool headed, always with purpose, efficiency!

JACQUE VAUGHN IS PRESENT! - Even though we had 16 TOs in this game, if we didn’t have Jacque, it would have been at least 25 or more TOs. Our guys are being coached (finally) on how to pass through traps. I’ve never experienced a KU team trained up in this before. They step out and leap if they have to and create passing space from the trap. I bet this saved us 10 TOs! Louisville wanted this game bad, and their secret weapon was their press and traps, which usually works on us. Another huge factor in this game… Louisville did NOT control the tempo! This is an area we are famous for letting it be dictated to us. They wanted to speed us up and when we could we made it a sprint game in the open court. When it wasn’t there we slowed it down until the end of the shot clock. I hope they maintain this strategy moving forward… running whenever possible… because this is a great team in open court basketball! We’ve never been this capable on the open court pass and I’m going on a limb and giving credit to Vaughn!

TILLER IS A BEAST! - Many of us have discussed his potential for a year or more now. It’s verified! It takes a lot for me to admit we may have more potential running two bigs… so I will at least say we need to keep running two often throughout games just to keep our bigs from rusting… and that includes Mbiya! He should get more than 2 minutes a game.

SEVERAL OFF NIGHTS! - We had several players not playing to their potential. Give them time. First on my list was White. His stats look okay but he wasn’t on. I think he may be our guy that needs to shift the most from his past game to fitting in with our team. He had several defensive flubs, turnovers, etc… and his net impact on the team was a -6 and I saw why. Spacing… timing… basketball IQ. He’s a great player and we need him to figure it out. Kohl didn’t do much and I have to admit he looks a lot smaller in size. KU has him at 6’6". I wonder if he is even 6’3". I’m not throwing him under the bus and he will become a solid player. Council had a horrible shooting night but he still put up 11, mostly FTs. It’s great to see players shooting FTs. It means they are mixing it up! He had steals and created problems for the Cards. Looking forward to a healthy Dawson and what he can contribute!

EXHAUSTING GAME! - Been a long time since I watched a Kansas team move this fast up and down the court! I hope we keep it up and we finally do what I always begged Self do on some teams… use our athleticism and bench and run run run! DP is showing me he can handle the speed and maintain composure running this team!

I haven’t been this entertained watching a Jayhawk game since our last championship game! RCJH!

We are now victims of the description of Einstein’s definition of insanity. I’m so glad Daniels is done this year. I heard the kitties are already petitioning the NCAA asking to give him another year of eligibility.

He looks like a work in progress… needing to improve lateral pursuit. This is where we get into possible trouble if our calling card becomes athleticism extending on both sides of the ball. On defense, if he’s the weak link we can waste the efforts of 4 athletic defenders because of one slow guy. I say that, but I’m also reading he has a good sense of the game and has good skills finishing at the rim (not just dunking). We need to see more of him to understand his potential. I don’t want to be the one prejudging his potential.

@Jhawk69 That has caused a lot of chatter in the Jayhawkosphere about Khol and that he has come around much quicker and will have a huge impact.

@SlimShaddy54 said in We're preseason Number ... 19:

Wel I see where Jerome is off and running- -making some pretty strong remarks I reckon , saying K/State has THE BEST PG – -THE BEST SHOOTER – -AND THE BEST ATHLETE in the Big Twelve this Season.- -Strong words Jerome-- -REAL strong words.- - question did you hit your head dude ?— Did you fall and go BOOM ?== time will tell

It’s Jerome making noise because of how invisible KSU is to the basketball world, especially the B12 world. We are all looking forward to a very competitive, quality B12 this year and there seems to be no oxygen left in the room for the purple kitties.

@BeddieKU23

Yes! Then maybe it means reformatting it.

Maybe it keeps an entertainment part of it, but add in some things.

1. Dunk contest.
2. Invite pro scouts (I think Calipari has done this)
3. Add in other challenges like a combine for players to show off their abilities.

Make it entertaining but also helpful for players to be seen by scouts.

I’m sure others would have some ideas.

Is it possible KU didn’t want the scrimmage footage aired as an attempt to keep us lowly ranked early in this season? Maybe they are finally seeing the value of the drgnslayr CHIP! lol

@dylans It’s pathetic that we have to hunt out how to watch Late Night… almost like they don’t want it promoted. Looking forward to seeing the fellas run, if nothing else, just to get a taste for the speed and athleticism on this team. I’ve been under the impression we will be a lot more athletic than last year’s team… but I’ve heard that before! Seriously though, I’ll be surprised if we aren’t noticeably more athletic!

Not trying to slam Harris… but often he look anemic and I know for certain DP will bring energy to our guard group.

Good for Zub… He put his time in and improved his craft. Hard to say what would have happened if he had stayed. I think many of us have come to believe Hunter was good on paper, but his overall impact was a deficit. He also liked to say controversial things and I just don’t think that has a positive impact on the team. Makes me think back at the Morris twins. Anyways… looking forward… and I’m a Flory fan and believe this year will be quite the ride! Anyone predicting National Championship?! I’ve been spending extra time watching DP’s high school days. This kid is a basketball savant! I know he is jumping up a level, but how can his game not translate to college… and quickly the NBA?! I have to admit I see some Kobe in him!

@dylans said in 2026 Recruiting ( Crazy but ):

I respect all upfront. My disrespect is earned. Flory has earned it.

Man… thanks for going this way because I thought I was the last holdout on “old school” principles.

Read my last thread… I hate most of college basketball but am excited about Self and how, once again, he will meet the challenge of the changing landscape. Was it excitement about Self, or was it the reality that I finally bit the bullet and accepted the landscape myself?

You are still holding on to the old college basketball. That ship has sailed. I can relate to your comments… but Flory isn’t the problem. You might say he is the symptom. I even think that is a little harsh. He’s a foreign player feeling very blessed to better his life financially and comes from a background where making this kind of cake is nothing more than a lottery dream.

4 recruits now

@drgnslayr said in The Future of Jayhawk Basketball...:

I feel confident we are about to receive our 3rd big commit any day now and the timing fits my scenario… I’ll be shocked if we don’t sign at least 2 more blue chip prospects this fall. The goal is to prevent our starvation from guys in the portal so we can be more selective as we attempt to lift our talent level while maintaining some level of cohesiveness.

I’m sticking to my prediction and I’m “Mr. Jinx!” lol We are up to 3 now.

@wissox I know what you are saying… but how many D1 schools are keeping quality veteran teams around now?

This is exactly my point. I’m certain Self would like to keep a mostly-veteran team of talented players. I just see that possibility now fizzling out as the portal, NIL, and loose transfer rules make it hard to keep talent around for more than a year.

Look at our 2022 championship team… Braun, Agbaji, Wilson… McCormack (had a NBA shot, now in Europe). I’m not confident we can keep a team like that together long enough today. I think Self feels the same. And he also feels more comfortable with top shelf HS talent over portal guys that all bring in their experience, but it isn’t KU/Self experience.

I feel confident we are about to receive our 3rd big commit any day now and the timing fits my scenario… I’ll be shocked if we don’t sign at least 2 more blue chip prospects this fall. The goal is to prevent our starvation from guys in the portal so we can be more selective as we attempt to lift our talent level while maintaining some level of cohesiveness.

What stimulated this direction for me was his moves in assistant coaches. I don’t see us directing towards typical, old school, Self ball… which was directed towards emphasis on defense and a process that takes a player years to implement. Those days are over. He’s been forced into a different strategy. We are being built to accept a strategy of heavy player turnover. I don’t believe had bought into this strategy until very recently. It doesn’t mean he won’t try to hold on to some pieces every year… but he knows it’s a new world for college basketball and so he is adapting to the new game.

I smiled when Kinney committed to Kansas. Meanwhile others are telling me to get ready for several highly-touted commits very soon.

Anyone else feel like Coach Self has committed himself… to a new direction for Kansas basketball? It feels like we are in the process of retooling our coaching staff and philosophy more towards high school top-tier talent. You know… the infamous OAD!

In the past, I was always critical of adding too many OAD players (or potential OADs). I was one of the guys who overused the term “revolving door” teams.

Today is a different day. With the transfer portal, NIL, and a key shift away from long-term commitments I believe I’m like Self and starting to embrace going after more OAD-type talent.

Why? Why not?

Look at last year. We had several OADs and none were NBA-draft lottery picks. And to be honest, it seems to have become easier now to recruit in players, either from high school or from the portal, to fill spots we need, especially as our financial situation sweetens now substantially because of large donors.

I may not be as involved in KU basketball as I used to, but I’m pretty sure I know one area of thinking Self has towards players. He has to go out and recruit new players every year and he also has to put heavy energy into recruiting players already on the team in the prior year.

Self is a “players’ coach.” And he is starting to learn that doesn’t mean he can coddle players that aren’t necessarily going to ever contribute in games. I think he’s realizing the value in player turnover. Yes… you heard me say that!

“Self ball” is getting a rebrand! No longer will it be “old school” ball that takes years to embrace. If you don’t believe me, you only have to look at his recent changes in assistant coaches. He’s building a staff built around player turnover. Whether or not you agree with this approach, it is the reality we live in today. Without all the changes to the game, it is unlikely we would have made this move.

Next year will be the big roll out for the new brand of Kansas basketball and Bill Self’s recreating himself (once again)! I haven’t always agreed with all of Self’s moves in basketball but I have always giving him credit for landing on his feet when change is needed. Change was needed after the last two years showed to us, clearly, we couldn’t just build portal teams and expect “KU results.”

Will Self stick around? Unless he suffers unexpected health consequences, I feel like he has committed at least 3 to 5 years to complete his newest brand of basketball!

And though I do not like the current direction of college sports… I am very excited about the direction he will take us in! RCJH, Coach Self!

Says he measured 6’3"… and that’s before he gets the “KU inches!” lol

Guess he is already recruiting Stokes and others to join him.

He acknowledged Vaughn in his decision!

AI has been around for a while (as we think of it). Photoshop is an example. A couple clicks and you’ve completely manipulated a pile of pixels. And now, even Photoshop, can go further with tools like prompts. I’ve spent the last 3 days trying to train a video AI tool on what I want. In the end, it trained me on how to ask it. lol It’s been a humbling experience. I first thought I was the boss…

@dylans That was exactly my opinion from the beginning… when AI was in it’s infancy. But now it has grown into a toddler and becoming more useful. Beware… the terrible teens are coming! lol

There must be an AI tool out there somewhere that could compare players… crunch all their numbers and then weight factors of importance. I know… I know… I’m an AI sellout. I’ve just had a very successful business month where I dumped a huge load on the backs of my slave laborers… 3 AI platforms that saved me from doom!