Best posts made by HoraceZontal

CB had 25 pts, 9 rebounds and 3 assists last night! Great game, but in a losing effort against the Pelicans.

@BeddieKU23 Really good observations all the way around. Two additions: 1. I was hoping Harris would have taken a step up (like McCullar), but I haven’t seen that so far; he’s still solid and I like him, but I find myself wanting/expecting more; and 2. El Marko looks like he belongs as a starter now, a far cry from even 5 games ago; I no longer cringe when he has the ball; his speed is apparent and I expect he’ll figure out how to use it as the season progresses.

87% from the foul line. That would be a nice change.

@ImmunoHawk Spot on. I taught law for years. I’ve been thinking the same thing. Sometimes you can’t reach a particular class. The changes wrought by NIL and perhaps generational shifts have created, at least this year, a cohort that in essence is further away from HCBS and the rest of the coaching staff and less amenable to their general approach and specific techniques.

@HoraceZontal and Merry Christmas everyone!

@mayjay yes, Allen’s chapter in Coach K’s book of cheating is “How to Cheat While Lying Down on the Court”

If we all were to block him, there would be no threads composed mainly of responses to him.

Alternatively, do not feed the trolls.

@BeddieKU23 yes, that’s horrible. Really feeling bad for Duke today. And Kentucky, while I’m at it. And Missouri (very sad).

Check out Braun’s steal and dunk on a disinterested Durant from last night’s game. Great play!

If he were my kid, I’d be doing a lot of soul searching, but I’d want him to play for a disciplined tough coach like Self. Or at least like the coach I perceived Self to be prior to this decision—I’m still feeling my way around whether I need to alter my sense of Self. Also, I believe in growth and redemption, but a lack of contrition is a road block to that.

My understanding (from this forum) is that we lowballed him on the NIL and he didn’t want to pay (or leave on the table) several hundred thousand dollars to play at KU. He insisted on market value. I don’t see that as “mercenary”, just as “not an idiot”.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FvvUawNaMAAk4HR.jpg

@jayballer67 one of my favorites from Rupp Rafters: “No other coach in the history of NCAA BB has wasted this much talent”

Marcus, Oubre and Embiid started last night for Sixers. I wonder if that’s happened before — 3 (or more) Jayhawks starting for an NBA team.

From ESPN’s Lunardi, a very optimistic take: It has not been a great few years for the consensus No. 1 team. A season ago, Kansas was banged up and made “only” the Sweet 16. A season before that, North Carolina didn’t even make the tournament. You get the idea. Being the hunted in a sport with so much parity is probably a disadvantage. Yet here again are the Jayhawks, with as much power and pedigree as any program in college basketball. For me, the road to San Antonio begins in Lawrence, Kansas.

@FarmerJayhawk believe me, I get it. I was an international trade lawyer for 30 years. This is akin to watching a frustrated 8 year old try to fix a computer by hitting it with a hammer

I’ve always found the prospect of making money to increase my focus. My clients appreciated that trait.

@StLJhawk Mine too. Block is a great feature. “Shouldn’t have to come to that” is a great idea, but it doesn’t account for the overly large gap in chronological age and emotional age that some of us exhibit. Also, selfishly for me (and a few others, I imagine), it will serve as a prophylactic measure to keep you from feeding the troll. The less these threads focus on him, the better.

He’s released program ratings based on an analysis of data since 1997. Here’s his description of how it should be used/judged:

“There is only one way you should judge these ratings and that is based on which coaching job would the average human take if presented with two options. If you were the head coach at West Virginia (31st) and were offered the job Indiana (17th), would you take it? Most humans would. If you were the head coach at Maryland (19th) would you take the job at Villanova (11th)? Maybe not by secretly negotiating your exit while your old team is fighting for tournament glory. But nevertheless!”

Interesting, in any case and sure to provoke discussion. Here’s the summary for the top 25.

1 Duke ACC +43.51 2 Kentucky SEC +40.83 3 Kansas B12 +39.84 4 North Carolina ACC +35.49 5 Arizona B12 +33.56 6 Florida SEC +32.01 7 Michigan St. B10 +31.79 8 UCLA B10 +30.21 9 Texas SEC +29.82 10 Connecticut BE +29.64 11 Villanova BE +28.52 12 Gonzaga WCC +26.52 13 Tennessee SEC +26.52 14 Baylor B12 +26.39 15 Ohio St. B10 +26.24 16 Louisville ACC +25.77 17 Indiana B10 +25.21 18 Alabama SEC +25.20 19 Maryland B10 +25.04 20 Michigan B10 +24.92 21 Illinois B10 +24.35 22 Wisconsin B10 +24.03 23 Purdue B10 +23.68 24 Syracuse ACC +23.68 25 Oregon B10 +23.39

@approxinfinity Happy to pitch in. Thanks for doing this for all of us!

@patoh3 finally, a policy at his reading level

And best not to talk about penises while on the air

I’ve spent a lot of time in Switzerland for work over the years. A Swiss person would reject the following characterization (emphatically, but politely). But one of the great things about Switzerland is that it can be like visiting 3 countries in one, but all with Swiss efficiency (and, alas, prices) — in the west, Geneva and environs are more than a bit French, in the southern Alps, a hint of Italy, and the north/east, Germanic. I hope you have a great trip!

Scary thought: I just realized that with the death of the PAC 10, Bill needs a new gig, and calling Big 12 games would be a natural, given the new teams. This tourney is his big audition!

I’ve read the thread. You are correct — that is where it started. And then it took a bit of a detour. Preparing for who’s next is important, but I find the dump Self talk to be a bit silly — as was my proposal of Coach KU

@wissox some relationships just need the right setting. Here’s hoping Lawrence is it.

My daughter was convinced he was passing the ball to his teammate further down court closer to the baseline. Then he threw up his hands to draw the call. I agree.

I watched the game with my daughter. Five minutes into the second half she looked at me with a sour face and said “Whatever happened to punch them in the face, knock them down and then foot on the neck until it’s over.” Love that kid.

@approxinfinity a whole lot less cursing

Yikes! Starting to feel like Rupp Rafters circa 2022-2024 in here. I could have sworn we won a national championship just 3 years ago. SlimShaddy54, I very much like your idea of those who are too weak to deal maturely with loss just opting out of watching games and/or commenting.

I watched the game on ESPN and they had Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi doing the commentary. They were good — solid in game analysis (until it was a blow out, with good color commentary and an entertaining back and forth. It was clear they like and respect one another as players.

@BShark so actually you were who I wanted to hear from in my initial post. Thanks for chiming in! And for the good news, fingers crossed

I know we’ve already moved on, in life as well as this thread, but … wasn’t that the game we lost due to the Morii not being able to back up their pre-game shit talking and related antics?

@Texas-Hawk-10 yes, some things are more important than my dislike of Duke. My hatred of KY for example. And the Oompa-loompa

@kjayhawks thanks for posting that. HCBS at his very best.

Just read from Mike Vernon that we got Griffen! Fantastic

@bskeet if you can do good illustrations, there’s a great political cartoon there. I wish Herblock was still alive

Thanks for that. Great to see Frank and Perry (and Wayne and …). That may be the only footage I’ve ever seen of Bragg playing.

Last night against the Bucks — 11 points but on 2-10 shooting

The Ringer projects Furph as the 34th pick, noting basically the same strengths and weaknesses we experienced this season. Hopefully, he comes back to get stronger and address deficiencies. I like him, especially how hard he plays.

@Crimsonorblue22 I’m sure he’d like to be playing, but he’s making 12.1M this year. And if the analysis is correct, at least there’s a reason beyond Pop just not liking him. It’s the coaching opposite of something that folks often complain about with HCBS: that he doesn’t play the young guys enough early to the point of maybe losing some games now so that they and the team are better later.

Another comment indicated that Pop may be holding Devontae out with the idea of trading him soon. Hopefully he gets to a team that will give him some PT.

The Nos are stacking up. Very enjoyable.

I went to KU in the early 80s. I will occasionally be impressed, but never, ever disappointed by the football team. It’s just not emotionally possible. For me, at least.

At least Ben’s an “Ex-Blazer”. Sad to see the story, no matter what actually happened. He was a favorite. I’ll never forget the snoopy dance.

I imagine Self would “vigorously” coach someone who obtained a court injunction forcing the team to take him back. I’m a coach (not basketball and not at this level) and my inner sadist gets excited just thinking about the possibilities.

Returning? Really? I’d be shocked, but very happy.

Thanks for the link to the tourney site. Good to see the highlights. As a bittersweet bonus, I finally got to see Billy Preston go on a run.

@BShark I love your excitement about him. It’s infectious. I look forward to finding some film.

@rockchalkjayhawk yes, I agree, Diggy’s impact is felt also with Dejuan being able to go harder at the end of games because he’s had some rest.

Thanks for the song. Now we know where the phog comes from.