Posts made by Jhawk69

1. Sherron Collins. As a sophomore he was a great 6th man throughout the season and came up big in our title run.

2. Remy Martin. Regional MOP off the bench! A slot below Collins because Martin didn’t do much in the regular season.

3. Sasha Kaun. Probably a 7th man technically but I felt I had to include him. Great backup big and saved our asses against Davidson.

4. Thomas Robinson. The year before he was an All-American, he came off the bench. Great bench player who helped us see little, if any, dropoff when a Morris twin had to sit.

5. Christian Braun (freshman). Came off the bench for our 2020 team and gave us some perimeter shooting that we really needed. Fairly mistake-free for a freshman as well.

6. Freshman Frank Mason III. Lots of ups and downs but showed signs of the special player he would grow into.

7. Freshman DaJuan Harris. Came off the bench as a freshman, wreaked havoc on the opposing offense and gave us a true point guard that that team probably should have played more.

8. Naadir Tharpe (sophomore year). I know he wasn’t a great starting point guard, but he made our team better by bringing some much needed ball-handing off the bench as a sophomore.

9. Flory Bidunga. Lots of potential and was our best player sometimes, but was also pushed around by stronger players in the most too much.

10. Jamari Traylor. Elite and versatile defender by his senior year. Never really developed any offensive skills.

11. Connor Teahan. His three-balls against misery make him a legend. That said, his shooting was very streaky overall and he wasn’t athletic enough to be a great defender.

12. Elmarko Jackson.

The more I think about it the more I would like to move Darrell Arthur up

WVU peat Pitt. Ohio, the team that beat WVU, is hanging tough with Ohio State. WVU, it turns out, is actually a pretty good team. We will have to bring our A-game to have a chance against them.

WVU up early on Pitt. I don’t think they are the pushover many claim them to be.

Some of these players could be considered power forwards, but I am counting them at centers because I felt like they played the 5.

1. Udoka Azubuike. According to advanced stats he is a historically impactful player on defense. He also holds the NCAA record for career field goal percentage. The cornerstone of our 2020 Natty.

2. Wayne Simien. I think he is might be the best scoring 5-man Bill Self has ever coached.

3. Cole Aldrich. Another great two way player. A shot blacker who could also score in the post and rebound.

4. Jeff Withey. Like Aldrich, probably even better at defense, but not the scorer or rebounder Aldrich was.

5. David McCormack. There are more skilled players below him on the list, but playing well when it matters most is so important, and Big Dave absolutely did that. He was absolutely robbed of a Final 4 MVP, but he will not be robbed of a top-5 spot in these rankings.

6. Darnell Jackson. D-Block was so steady and reliable. Interior scoring, rebounding, defense, hustle, glue. An invaluable player and a very deserving national champ.

7. Markieff Morris. Nice player who could rebound and stretch the floor, but 8 turnovers against VCU really sours his legacy.

8. Sasha Kaun.

9. Landen Lucas

10. KJ Adams

11. Joel Embiid. It is a shame how things played out with him. He could have been number one on this list, but the best ability is availability.

12. Jamari Traylor

13. Hunter Dickinson. His coming in and forcing KJ to switch to the four really hurt our spacing and was a key reason for our offensive struggles. Additionally he was a terrible leader, as his teams never showed any fight in the face of adversity. Terrible defender and a terrible March performer as well.

I forgot Julian Wright. Let’s put him at number 8.

@Texas-Hawk-10 You have a valid case and your opinion is probably worth twice as much as mine. I will defend my case anyways. With Marcus my rationale was more based on his off-court character and his leadership and how it effected the team than it was his performance on the court. Regarding Perry, I agree he wasn’t good against Stanford, but against Nova he was double teamed constantly as Nova’s strategy was to count on us not making open 3s (which worked), so I don’t really blame him for that one.

I don’t think we can talk shit on K-State football until we beat them.

@rockchalkjayhawk Yeah but I will rank them with the 5s tomorrow

@MR11 If it was just on-court play I would likely put Marcus at number 2. However, I am also counting factors such as leadership and locker room influence. In 2011 Marcus was our unquestioned leader, and he failed miserably in his responsibility of rallying the troops when VCU hit a few lucky threes against us. Our team was clearly shell-shocked, and that is completely on Marcus.

1. T-Rob. This was a foregone conclusion. The best rebounder of the Self era and one of the best scorers too. Plus the way he demanded double-teams was invaluable to our offense. Came up big against misery and lead us to a final 4.

2. Jalen Wilson. A hot take of mine (many will disagree) is that Perry Ellis might actually be the second-best player on the list (I will explain why below). But J-Will just has too much going for him for me not to rank him at two. He had a 20ppg season, was a good rebounder, a solid defender, could handle the ball, and, oh yeah, he was a national champion.

3. Perry Ellis. I really like Perry’s game. By his senior year he had an elite understanding of opposing offenses and was able to help our defense get organized in the perfect formation. Furthermore, he could switch onto any guard, rebound, and on offense he would both stretch the floor and give us a post-scoring presence. Plus he was consistent and often commanded double-teams. Like I said, all things considered I think he might actually be the second-best player on this list.

4. Darrell Arthur. This is another player I think is so underrated. He had such a solid all-around game, a great blend of strength, length, and quickness, and was a key contributor in 2008’s balanced offense and suffocating defense. Along with Chalmers, Rush, Collins, and arguably even D-Block (who will be ranked with the centers), Arthur is one of those guys from the 2008 team who could have been a star scorer on a less-balanced team.

5. Svi. This is Svi being rated as a stretch 4. I wrote about why I like him so much yesterday. To summarize: shooting, senior year defense, and heroics against Duke.

6. Josh Jackson (could have been a wing but he played the 4). He was unguardable when playing well. I decided not to rank him higher than 6 because of inconsistent defense and costly turnovers against Oregon in the elite 8.

7. Marcus Morris. This is another player who might have a case to be ranked higher. But its just that everyone above him is so good and Marcus had a bad attitude that I think hurt the team. Plus he choked against VCU.

8. Kevin Young. I had a hard time ordering Kevin Young, Dedric Lawson, and KJ. KY and KJ are elite defenders who don’t do much on offense, while Lawson was an elite offensive player who was bad at defense. I ended up going with KY first because he saw more team success as a starter than either Dedric or KY.

9. Dedric Lawson. He is ahead of KJ because he is a better rebounder.

10. KJ Adams

11. Christian Moody. I like Moody, but he just didn’t have the talent to be as good as anyone else on this list.

I know what you guys are thinking. “Boy am I excited to see who Jhawk69 thinks the best wings of the Bill Self era are.” Well I have come to ease your suffering. Here are my authoritative and unquestionable rankings.

1. Ochai Agbaji. The number 1 spot came down to Ochai and B-Rush. I almost wanted to call this a tie, as both have really strong cases for #1. Both were national champions who could shoot and defend. Rush was the better defender and Ochai was the more prolific scorer. I ended up giving the slightest of edges to Ochai because I think Ochai was more of an alpha who could take over at the end of close games, a role which Rush ceded to Chalmers. I do think Rush could have scored like Ochai, in which case he would be the clear number 1, but I cannot give Rush a boost due to speculation.

2. Brandon Rush

3. Svi Mykhailiuk (He played a lot of wing and a lot of stretch 4 in his career so he will appear in both rankings). In Svi’s junior campaign he was a great shooter and a bad defender. His senior season, however, he was an even better shooter and all-around scorer and developed into a good defender. His help defense on Marvin Bagley and his 3 pointer near the end of regulation against Duke make him a legend.

4. Travis Releford. Releford is such an underrated player. Not only was he an elite defender, but he averaged an an efficient 12ppg as a senior. This means he is only averaging 5 fewer points per game than Andrew Wiggins, and his defense is easily worth 5+ ppg more than Wiggins’ defense.

5. Keith Langford (would be above Releford probably but was injury plagued). Langford could put so much pressure on a defense with his driving and all-around scoring ability. He was a very good passer for a wing too.

6. Andrew Wiggins. Good scorer. Good moments on defense but inconsistent.

7. Ben McLemore. Better shooter than Wiggins but a lesser all-around offensive arsenal.

8. Grady Dick. Similar game to McLemore but less athletic.

9. Xavier Henry. Good player overall but way too streaky.

10. Isaiah Moss. Not great but not bad either. Good enough to hold down the fort for a year.

11. Kelly Oubre. He could have been higher but his lack of hustle really cost him and the team.

12. LaGerald Vick (Could have been much higher but he is penalized for leaving the team his senior year, which I think really hurt us).

13. Johnny Furphy. Lots of potential and some great games, but at the end of the day he was a liability on defense and 9ppg on 35% from downtown isn’t enough offense to make up for it. He could have been great had he stuck around and developed.

14. Rylan Griffen. He does not know how to move without the ball on offense, play defense, or handle the ball. Pretty much no positive basketball traits and a lot of negative ones.

@HoraceZontal That was 2013 EJ.

@rockchalkjayhawk A couple of our best “2 guards” were actually point guards who started and helped run 2PG offenses. Devonte Graham and Tyshawn Taylor. If we were to include them, this list would look a lot stronger IMO.

Part 2 of this exhilarating series! Ranking all our 2-guards. I did not include Devonte Graham because I felt like he was more of a point guard who started in a 2PG system than he was a shooting guard or even a combo guard. I didn’t include McLemore either because I feel like he is a wing more than a shooting guard. Here goes:

1. Mario Chalmers(could play point but more of a combo guard). I felt like this spot came down to Chalmers vs Braun. Both were good shooters, both could drive, both were national champions. Both were good defenders. While Braun has some advantages such as scoring more, having more length, and being a better rebounder, I think Mario takes the cake. Mario was historically good at steals, a better secondary ball handler, a more efficient shooter, was a big part of a 2008 team that was better than the 2022 team Braun was on, and hit the biggest shot in KU history. Plus, I think Chalmers could have scored as much or more than Braun had our 2008 offense not possessed such deadly balance.

2. Christian Braun (I counted him as a SG because he was our secondary ball-handler throughout 2022 and, while he was a swiss army knife, he always felt to me more like an oversized combo-guard/shooting guard than a true wing).

3. Marcus Garrett- He did cause spacing issues, but more than made up for it with his defense. I consider him to be the best defensive player on this list. Plus, on offense, he found ways to contribute like driving, setting screens, and leading the team in assists his final two seasons. While he didn’t win a tourney like Chalmers or Braun, he was a big part of our unofficial 2020 Natty

4. Malik Newman- The 2018 March Madness run that he had was unreal. He had his ups and downs during the regular season but he showed up when it mattered most.

5. Elijah Johnson. This is 2012 2-guard Elijah being ranked. His 2013 performance as our PG was ranked yesterday. EJ gave us solid defense and mediocre offense for the most part BUT played really well in the 2012 tournament. We don’t make the FF without him. This puts him ahead of Selden and McCullar overall, because Selden choked against Nova and McCullar choked against Arkansas.

6. Wayne Selden- He was a little inconsistent but he could take over games. I considered both Selden and McCullar for this spot, but I decided on Wayne becuase McCullar was injury plagued his senior year (the best ability is availability) and because I think Wayne’s offense is a little more valuable than Kevin’s defense.

7. Kevin McCullar

8. Brady Morningstar. I don’t think he was quite as good a defender as Kev, but he was plenty good. And he was a better shooter than Kevin. But Brady choked really badly in March Madness.

9. Tyrel Reed. Similar to Brady Morningstar, but not quite as good at defense.

10. Zeke Mayo. He could have been much higher on the list, but he always disappeared when we needed him most. He was also a bad defender and seemed to have a bad attitude when things weren’t going well.

11. JR Giddens

12. Quentin Grimes

13. Nike Timberlake

@rcjhdraft How would the boomers react and why?

@kjayhawks Florida was in our region when we had Embiid. Even if he is healthy that Florida team was really really good, probably a little too much for us.

@MR11 Also Frank played well in our elite 8 loss his senior year. Everyone around him just collapsed. So I really don’t penalize him for not making a FF.

@wissox This was difficult for me to rank because of how many great point guards we have had, many of whom I was very reticent to position low on the list. Take Russell Robinson for example. A superb floor general, lock-down defender, and national champion, who probably could have been more of a scorer if he weren’t on a team with so many elite options. Having him as low as number 7 feels like a crime, but I also don’t want to move down anyone I have ahead of him.

They lost despite the fact that Ohio’s QB threw 3 interceptions. But I have an eerie feeling WVU will bounce back and play a lot better against us.

Hello! I am starting a “series” that is intended for nothing other than to generate lively discussion and friendly debate and to ebb the boredom of the offseason (especially now that we are on a two week haitus for our football team as well). I will rank all starting Bill Self PGs, then all starting Bill Self CGs/SGs, then SFs/wings, then PFs/stretch4s, then Cs, then 6th men. I will probably have some stupid takes and stupid oversights, so feel free to point them out to me. The more abusive the language the better! Here goes.

1. Frank Mason

2. Devon Dotson. I decided to rank him ahead of the other contenders for the no. 2 spot (Sherron, Devonte, Tyshawn) because Devon is a much better defender than Sherron and Devonte (and probably a better defender than Tyshawn too) and wasn’t as turnover-plagued as Tyshawn.

3. Sherron Collins. He is ahead of Tyshawn because he is less turnover prone.

4. Tyshawn Taylor

5. Devonte Graham. Behind Sherron and Tyshawn for a few reasons: The Oregon game, Sherron’s title, and Devonte taking a back-seat to Malik Newman during his senior year FF run. (not saying it was a bad thing to take a seat to the hot hand, just that Malik deserves more credit for that FF run than Devonte does).

6. DaJuan Harris. Ahead of Aaron Miles because they had similar stats and play styles but DaJuan helped us win a title.

7. Aaron Miles

8. Russell Robinson

9. Marcus Garrett. Not a true PG but he filled in admirably his senior season. He will also be included in the SG/CG rankings.

10. Naadir Tharpe

11. Elijah Johnson (I have him as below Naadir Tharpe because I believe that while Elijah was a better overall player, Naadir was a better PG. Elijah will also make an appearance in the SG/CG rankings.)

Note: You may have noticed that neither Remy Martin nor Mario Chalmers was included. Remy will be in the 6th man rankings and Mario will be in the SG/CG rankings.

@wissox I predicted those 3 results too. Where our picks first diverge is that you picked us to beat WVU and I picked us to lose. Here’s hoping you are right about that one.

So far so good regarding your predictions.

What I am happiest about from Fran’s tweets was his report that Flory is now more powerful. It might not be true (Fran’s takes are not always good) but if it is that is exactly what the doctor ordered regarding Flory.

@dylans I understand the argument you are making but I really don’t think many people would be upset with Lance for going for that 4th down in that situation.

@BShark Yes. People are shitting on the secondary (and rightfully so), but the defensive line was by far the worst position group.

Honestly it didn’t even cross my mind that they might punt. After the Henderson drop I just assumed they would keep the offense on the field.

@Crimsonorblue22 That is on the misery coaching staff for not properly evaluating their QB room. He is elite and should have been named the starter from the get-go.

Some thoughts I will get off my chest:

1. Our fourth quarter demons are still alive and well.
2. Our fourth down defense demons are as strong as ever
3. We will never have a truly great season if we can’t win the occasional close game
4. We came in with a better game-plan than misery which is why we stayed in the game
5. That safety (a play in which the refs allowed misery to cheat) was a horrendous missed call. I don’t think we deserved the win anyways but missing a call on a play that impactful is unacceptable.
6. Even worse, was the decision to punt on 4th and 7. In what world did we have a better chance of stopping the misery offense we had not stopped all game long than we did of converting on a 4th and 7. Leipold and the staff deserve a lot of leeway for what they’ve done for our program, but that was one of the worst coaching decisions I have ever seen. Maybe we need to hire an assistant coach whose job it is to analyze 3rd and 4th down decisions.
7. The difference in athleticism was on display in this game.
8. That misery quarterback is elite. Every single throw he made was perfect. Penn State was stupid for not starting him over Drew Allar, who is mediocre. edit:
9. We have to be able to hang onto a lead.

@approxinfinity Dedrick Lawson?

@Texas-Hawk-10 Even if that were true I don’t think it changes the fact that Hunter had no physicality or hustle, meaning he isn’t a Bill Self big.

The Arkansas game dispels the notion of Hunter being a good player hindered by a bad roster around him for me. He is a good mid-major big but cannot start on a top-25 team. He can use his size and nice touch around the rim to score in bunches against lesser opponents. But any quality opponent will hold him to an inefficient night on offense and score at will against his defense.

I agree with the general sentiment of your post but I do not agree that Hunter was the perfect Bill Self 5. Bill Self usually expects and gets physical and scrappy play from his bigs. Hunter was the furthest thing you could get from physical or scrappy.

@drgnslayr Juan struggled at times last year but much of that was because he shouldered such a heavy load. Overall I think he did fine, not great, but fine considering that he was tasked with creating every look on offense and defending the other teams best player on defense.

I’m sorry to hear this and you have my deepest condolences. Stay strong.

I don’t know how good we will be next year but I can all but guarantee we will be better than last year. Let’s break it down by position.

PG- This is a battle between Melvin and Elmarko. I think Melvin takes the cake. I don’t know if Melvin will be better than DaJuan. Melvin is as weak at outside shooting as DaJuan was, is more athletic and can create better penetration but probably not as good a floor general. Overall I could see us either being slightly better or slightly worse at PG than we were last year.

2G: Darryn will be better than Mayo.

3G: Dawson, Rosario, or even Jamari could start here. Any of these three would be an upgrade over Rylan. Something that was not talked about often enough was how bad Rylan was last year. Horrific on-ball defender, out of position constantly on both offense and defense, could barely dribble a basketball, and wasn’t even that good a shooter. He might be the worst starter in KU history and it is likely we never start a player as bad as him again.

PF: Tre White will start here. Last year it was KJ. Tre White gives us everything KJ gave us (hustle, glue, good defense) plus is a better rebounder and shooter. This is an upgrade.

C: Flory will stary here. He won’t be the scorer Hunter was but will be a better player overall. He won’t cause all the turnovers Hunter caused and he won’t be toasted by every decent opposing center we play. He will be at least a small upgrade and has the potential to be a massive upgrade.

Bench: Elmarko, Dawson/Rosario, Jamari, Mbiya, Tiller is a much better group than Coit, Storr, and last years Flory was.

So, in conclusion, we will be getting an upgrade everywhere except for maybe at the 1.

Anyone interested in the history of the evil wrought by the miseryans should read the book “The Englishman in Kansas” by TH Gladstone.

Aaron Miles?

Tyshawn! Or DaJuan

I am surprised to see no one made a thread for our Wagner game. I decided to make one myself. Here are some of my thoughts.

1. Lots of tackles for loss = good sign
2. Winning big despite having 2 turnovers and forcing 0 is a good sign
3. Marshall is better than Ballard
4. Daniels looks great overall but he needs to do a better job taking what the defense gives him
5. I don’t think we are quite ready for misery. They are more athletic than we are, meaning our margin of error isn’t all that big, and we have a tenency to shoot ourselves in the foot a bit too much.

That’s gotta be DaJuan. As for top 5 I am going to guess Sherron Collins, Frank Mason, Perry Ellis, and Devonte Graham.

@rockchalkjayhawk Boschee

Eric Chenowith?

I think it is Jeff Withey because Wilt’s blocks didn’t count. My guess at the top 5 is Withy, Ostertag, Aldrich, Manning, and Doke? I am sure there is someone I am overlooking.

I think its Miles, Harris, Vaughn, Kirk, and Adonis?

I would like to have Mecole as a special teams player and a depth piece, as long as he isn’t our WR2 like he used to be. That said, having him or not having him doesn’t really move the needle that much.

@approxinfinity I didn’t watch. What makes you say we should have won?

Exciting finish from the Stanford Hawaii football game. Hawaii’s quarterback, who was playing through injury and limping noticeably, led a game winning drive that was capped by a field goal by a Japanese kicker who had taught himself to place kick by watching YouTube in Japan.

Vanderbilt seemed to give up in set 5. Good first win for our new coach

I know nothing about Tony Bland. What are the pros and cons of this hire?