Best posts made by KirkIsMyHinrich

Recently I’ve been reading a lot of comments (mostly on NBA draft articles or videos) about how Josh Jackson is Andrew Wiggins 2.0. It’s easy for people who don’t follow KU basketball as closely as we do to assume they are the same player because they are similar in a lot of ways. Both Jackson and Wiggins are athletic 6’8 SF/SG who went to Kansas and who were at the top of their recruiting classes coming out of high school. Wiggins was the 1st pick in the draft, and Jackson has a good chance to be the 1st pick in the draft. I, however, (and I’m sure many of you as well) have noticed a lot of differences in their games and what they are able to do on the court. So let’s break it down:

Scoring – I give a slight edge to Wiggins here. Wiggins averaged 17.1 ppg during his freshman season at Kansas. JJ is currently averaging 16.0. Jackson has been more efficient than Wiggins, though. Jackson shoots the 3-ball at 35.5% (he’s really improved in this area since the season started), and Wiggins shot 34.1% when he was at Kansas. Jackson also shoots 50% from the field (which is pretty spectacular for a freshman guard/small forward), and Wiggins shot 44.1% from the field. Jackson has had the luxury of playing with better guards (Senior Frank Mason, Junior Devonte Graham) than the guards who played with Wiggins (Freshman Frank Mason, Freshman Wayne Selden, Junior Naadir Tharpe).

Free Throw Shooting – Wiggins. Wiggins shot 77.5% from the line at KU. Wiggins is also very good at getting to the line (6.4 FTA per game on the Wolves). Josh Jackson shoots 54.3% from the line. This is, without a doubt, the one area in which Jackson can and needs to improve.

Defense – Jackson. Jackson plays good individual defense and good team defense. He has good defensive instincts and is really good at playing passing lanes. Wiggins has the tools to be special defensively, but he lacks the kind of mind set that Josh Jackson has. This was the biggest knock on Wiggins at Kansas and continues to be the biggest knock on Wiggins in the NBA: that he’s passive and isn’t always engaged.

Rebounding – Jackson. Jackson averages 6.8 boards per game. Wiggins averaged 5.8 boards. Again, Jackson’s advantage here likely lends itself to the fact that he plays with more assertiveness and aggression than does Wiggins.

Athleticism – Wiggins. Not a lot needs to be said here. Josh Jackson is really athletic. Wiggins is a freak. This isn’t really a slight to Jackson.

Passing – Jackson. Jackson’s way ahead of Wiggins here. We’ve seen several examples this season of Jackson being able to create for his teammates (think 2nd half against Kentucky getting dunks for Lucas). He’s also good at finding his teammates in transition (Lucas against KState, Mason against Kentucky, etc.). He’s averaging more assists per game than Wiggins did at Kansas.

Ball-Handling – Jackson. Both are actually pretty decent ball-handlers for being 6’8 and hyper athletic, but Jackson’s ball-handling has really impressed me this season. Watching him bring the ball up against West Virginia’s press in Morgantown took me by surprise. And we’ve seen several instances of JJ handling the ball well in transition.

Mindset – Jackson. Jackson is an alpha. Wiggins is passive a lot of the time. If Wiggins had JJ’s mindset I think he could be the best player in the NBA.

Overall, Wiggins is a freak athlete and a pretty good scorer, but I feel like he’s still has kind of an AAU mentality. He’s never been a great fundamental basketball player and has relied on being taller and more athletic than everyone else. And that has to some extent continued into the NBA where he’s still more athletic than most of the other players. To Wiggins’ credit, he has developed a nice post game which I think was under-utilized by Self in his time at Kansas.

Jackson is a better all-around player than Wiggins. He’s more skilled, more versatile, and a better defender and rebounder. He’s not as athletic and not as good a shooter. He plays with more fire than Wiggins. Because of his skill and personality I think he’ll end up being a better NBA player than Wiggins.

@FarmerJayhawk said in Other bball games:

Filipowski a biatch

You can tell because he’s wearing a jersey that says Duke. That’s always a dead giveaway.

I was feeling generally good about my physique until I saw this picture.

If college basketball were a fighting contest I think KU would be preseason #1.

“Josh Jackson Can’t Shoot” is what I heard a lot of analysts say on draft night. It’s what I read in scouting videos. It’s what gets written and parroted in comment sections by people who probably didn’t watch him play last season. I agree to a point, Josh Jackson has a “hitch” in his shot and his free throw shooting is worrisome. On the other hand, his overall field goal percentage and three point percentage were pretty good for a hyper-athletic freshman forward. Let’s look at some of Josh Jackson’s season averages at Kansas:

PPG --> 16.3,

FG% --> 51.3,

3PFG% --> 37.8,

eFG% --> 55.2,

FT% --> 56.6,

PER --> 24.1,

Compare those numbers to Jayson Tatum:

PPG --> 16.8,

FG% --> 45.2,

3PFG% --> 34.2,

eFG% --> 50.7,

FT% --> 84.9,

PER --> 22.0,

The consensus opinion on Tatum is that he’s the best scorer in the draft class. Looking at stats, his FT shooting is really the only thing he was better at than Jackson last season, offensively. But if you watched Kansas basketball last season, you probably noticed that JJ has an outstanding motor and work ethic, and that his shooting seemed to improve from game to game. Here are some numbers that illustrate this:

Shooting percentages (FG%, 3P%, FT%):

November --> 51.3, 29.4, 54.0

December --> 50.6, 22.2, 54.5

January --> 47.2, 38.4, 55.3

February --> 52.2, 47.8, 58.2

March --> 56.7, 42.9, 66.7

His FT shooting improved by the month. His numbers in March weren’t far off from either Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball’s FT numbers (both in the 60’s for the season). Do I think Josh Jackson is going to develop into Steve Nash at the line and Ray Allen from 3? No, not at all. But given his work ethic I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that JJ can improve his shooting as he starts his career in Phoenix.

His passing and rebounding numbers were also better than Tatum’s. He’s a better defender than Tatum. His ball-handling, contrary to what other’s have said, is very good for someone of his age, size, and athleticism. I can understand Philly taking Fultz ahead of Jackson, even if I disagree with it – they desperately need a point guard. And I can understand Magic and the Lakers taking Ball ahead of Jackson – he’s from LA, played at UCLA, and probably reminds Magic of Magic a little bit. I can’t really understand Danny Ainge and Boston taking Tatum ahead of JJ, but here’s my guess – Jae Crowder is more similar to JJ than he is to Tatum, and he’s already on the Celtics’ roster, so maybe Boston thought it was a little bit redundant to draft Jackson. Also, Ainge wasn’t happy about JJ skipping the Boston workout. Still, I would have taken Jackson, and here’s why:

“If you ask me, of course I’m going to say I’m the best player in this draft, but if you ask those other guys, they’re going to say the same thing about themselves, I’m sure,” Jackson said. “But just I love competition, and I love proving people wrong. I’ve been drafted to Phoenix, and I’m going to go there and I’m going to make the best of it. I’m going to be the best player I can be. And those teams who didn’t draft me, one day they will be sorry.”

And I understand that it’s popular to say things like that, but with Jackson I really get the feeling that he means it.

Josh Jackson is a beast. The Kevin Love outlet pass by Jackson to DG and the subsequent pass and jam by Vick might have been the prettiest play I’ve seen all season.

@BShark Your ability to post comments while being not alive is still less miraculous than the W tonight.

Nothing better than seeing Kentucky fans leaving Rupp early. Rock Chalk

Dick Vitale gets tired of good players being a little bit cocky, but he’s okay with Trippy tripping and Consonants complaining. Okay, whatever. DG’s the man.

I thought Iowa St might get Tech but I thought it would be in Ames. I’m not going to say thank you to Iowa St. The best I can do is give a firm nod.

Every year we find new and exciting ways to not have our center for the NCAA tournament.

Beat Duke in football and basketball.

Suck it, Duke

Good hustle by Johnny even though he got called for the foul. He’s leading the team in rebounds tonight

I don’t know what to do with all of my energy now except to randomly pick up and set down furniture.

What a huge win though. Homcoming, a ton of recruits visiting including Andrew Babalola. Huge for the program.

Something strange is going on behind the scenes everywhere. Some scenes are just stranger than others. I’m perfectly fine with a kid who wants Trae Young volume not attending Kansas.

@mayjay

Would you say that he looks like a new man?

Well Huggins was right about seniors stepping up. It just wasn’t his seniors.

So proud of Grahambo and Svi.

@BShark And that’s why he will continue to not beat Kansas. He blames the officiating instead of focusing on correcting his team’s actual problems. Not that I’m complaining. I hope Bruce stays there for 10 more years.

Kansas and Kentucky look like the best teams to me right now, because they have fewer question marks than other teams. As has been pointed out in other articles, Kansas has 5 players on their current roster who have averaged more than 12 points per game in a single season (Doke, Vick, Dedric, KJ, and Moore). What’s more, those 5 players naturally fit into a typical looking starting 5. I’m not saying they will start, but they could if they had to, and I’m willing to wager we’ll see those 5 players on the court together a fair amount this season. So you have that as kind of a base.

Now you add Dotson, Grimes, Garrett, De Sousa, and McCormack and you have another talented, albeit unproven starting 5. Oh and you also have Lightfoot and Agbaji. For Kansas to reach their full potential this season, their younger players will need to play well and live up to the hype, which they seem to be doing for the most part; Grimes was the FIBA U18 mvp; Dotson is very fast; Garrett has been working on his shot; McCormack works hard and has looked good; De Sousa ended his season on a high note. But even if all of those players have a rotten year, which won’t happen, Kansas is still left with a capable and proven starting 5. I’m sure that’s what a lot of these coaches and writers see right now when they look at Kansas - a safe team with a ton of depth that still has a lot of room for growth. My biggest worry with Kansas is the guard play. Bringing the ball up the court, handling the press, running the offense, getting the ball to the right player, will be the responsibility of freshman and sophomores. Kansas most experienced ball-handler is a redshirt sophomore.

Kentucky is similar to Kansas. They have enough depth for 2 starting 5’s that would be ranked in the top 25, some experience (though not as much as Kansas), and a lot of talent. Experience could still be a problem for Kentucky, but their depth makes it less of an issue. And it looks like they’ll have some decent 3-point shooters this season too. By far, Kentucky is the team that most worries me as a Kansas fan.

Duke doesn’t have the depth that Kansas or Kentucky do. They are hyped because they have the Top 3 freshman in the country by recruiting rankings (Barrett, Reddish, Williamson). They are all good players, but they are freshman and they all play similar positions. Duke is lacking in point guard depth. Their starting point guard will be Tre Jones (another 5-star freshman). If he struggles or gets injured, Duke will rely on Jordan Goldwire (who played 6.5 minutes per game last season) to handle point guard duties. They also have nowhere near the big-man depth that Kansas and Kentucky have. Coach K is high on Marques Bolden (he says he can be as good as any big man in the country next season), but he only averaged 12.9 minutes, 3.9 points, and 3.6 boards per game last season. Other than that they have Javin DeLaurier (12.7 minutes, 3.4 points, 4.0 boards), Antonio Vrankovic (4.7 minutes, 1.0 points, 1.1 boards), and Justin Robinson (4.8 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.6 boards). Even if Barrett, Williamson, and Reddish live up to the hype, I’m not sure Duke can be as good as Kansas or Kentucky without Jones and Bolden playing well too.

The comments from Self about having already talked to the NCAA and continuing to work with them suggest that there may be a quick resolution to this for Silvio. I hope?

It was self reported too. So let’s never report anything to the NCAA ever again. Agreed?

@HighEliteMajor He’s always a Jayhawk. I will not forget the season where he shot 38.4% from the field and played no defense. I wish him luck wherever he goes.

I think it’s pretty cool that we just wrapped up an undefeated season on the road in conference.

https://collegebasketball.ap.org/hometownsource/poll

KU at #7 in the new AP Poll. Duke up 3 spots to #6 after winning a game (in which they were a 40-point favorite) by 10 points against one of the worst teams in college basketball. A joke.

We’re going to make a run and then close it out. I have faith.

Kentucky lost, Duke lost, Kansas beat Baylor by double-digits. Feb. 27th was a good day

I said it in a different thread, but thank you, Marcus Garrett, for a great career at Kansas. I’ll miss you.

Christian Braun: 31 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 10-16 from the field

26th on rolling stone, which he laughed at. He’s better than that.

But ya, he’s from Lawrence and wears a KU shirt a lot when he performs. Probably a smaller kit than he’s used to

KU wins, Mizzou loses, KSU loses.

My ankles are available for anyone who needs them on Saturday

I have the feeling this will be one of my favorite KU teams. I just get that vibe. I like all these dudes

Juan and Hunter.

Hunter’s such a troll and it’s enjoyable when he’s on our team

@cragarhawk said in MAUI WOWIE TOURNAMENT:

@KirkIsMyHinrich you can easily choose that without blockage or mentioning it. The rest is just attention getting candy assness

If I want to block someone I’ll block someone and I’ll thank you not to harass me for it, commie.

We need to convince Juan that a shot is really just a pass to the basket so that he shoots more.

He had MJ smiling at the end. Great moment for Devonte.

Okay. Let’s take a step back for a second. We just beat a quality team on the road after being down 14-0. That is awesome.

He’s Grimey.

Everyone talking about Fox killing Lonzo head to head last season.

Nobody talking about Frank killing Fox in Lexington last season.

Wiggins signs a 4-year, 109 million extension with Golden State.

Glad he’s staying with the Warriors

Duke received two votes too. Really looking forward to the game on Saturday. Hopefully Booth is packed

Eh… I saw Vick disappear in too many games last season to say that. If Dotson starts I think he would be the fifth option in terms of scoring, but I think there will be games where he takes over as a distributor/passer/play-maker. Dotson can score too. And Moore is either KU’s best or second best outside shooter. There will be nights when he’s making 3’s and contributes a lot as a scorer. Basically I think KU is too balanced and too deep to call anyone who starts a fifth option. I will say that I think there is a definite option #1, though, and that his name is Dedric Lawson. There’s so much depth and versatility with this KU roster that Self can employ different lineups depending on the situation.

Starting Lineup: Dotson, Grimes, Vick, Dedric, Doke

Other Potential Starting Lineup: Moore, Grimes, KJ, Dedric, Doke

Offensive/End of game Lineup: Dotson, Moore, Grimes, Vick, Dedric

Defense Lineup: Garrett, Grimes, KJ, Dedric, Doke

All-Guard lineup: Dotson, Moore, Grimes, Vick, KJ (Garrett too)

Best/Optimal/Potential Scariest-For-Other-Teams Lineup: Dotson, Grimes, Vick, Dedric, De Sousa

A few comments on these lineups:

1. They all have Dedric and Grimes, who I think will be KU’s best players this season. And I think that fact will be reflected in their total minutes per game.

2. If Moore starts over Dotson, I think Vick comes off the bench. Moore and Vick are KU’s best outside shooters. If they both start, that doesn’t leave much perimeter shooting coming off the bench. I think there will be times when they are on the court together, of course. But unless another guard emerges as an above-average outside shooter, I think the lineups on the floor will include either Vick or Moore with brief times of overlap. Moore being one of the only proven quality perimeter shooters is also the reason that I think he will get more than 12 minutes per game.

3. The optimal lineup is based the one that I think could potentially be the best. There are a lot of ifs here. If De Sousa is eligible and develops. If Dotson develops. If Grimes develops. If Vick can stay engaged in games throughout the season (side note: he reminds me a little bit of a poor man’s Wiggins with a better stroke in this way). If Dedric lives up to the ridiculous expectations that have been placed on him by coaches/fans/writers. If all of that happens I think that this lineup could be devastating on both sides of the ball. And fast. Really, really fast. This is also the reason that I lean more towards starting Dotson than Moore, even though Moore might be the better player at the beginning of the season.

4. I think the first starting lineup that I have listed also gives Self the best bench for in-game damage control. If the team isn’t playing defense, Garrett and KJ (and Mitch too) can come into the game. Charlie Moore can come into the game for added shooting. And a deep roster means that anyone who isn’t hustling or giving 100% effort will sit.

I’ve been hyped for CB all year since I live in Colorado. Even went to Game 1 of the WCF against LA and bought a CB jersey.

I really didn’t think he could do this though. As a rookie on this stage.

Kansas lands North Dakota St defensive lineman Javier Derritt. One year to play. Much needed.

@BeddieKU23

This is right. People sometimes forget that defensive rebounding is part of defense, and Kansas ranked 102nd in the country in defensive rebounding last season. This was in large part due to playing a 4-1 lineup. This season, Self should have a 3-2 lineup on the floor almost all of the time. And there will be times where it may look like more of a 2-3 lineup with KJ playing the 3. There’s also the fact that KU will have the personnel to be an excellent rebounding team this season. Doke, for his size, is not a good rebounding big. But both of the Lawson’s are long, and Dedric has a quick second jump. De Sousa averaged 16.8 rebounds per game per 40 minutes last season, and 12.6 rebound per 30 minutes. He should be an absolute monster on the boards. McCormack should be good due to his size. Lightfoot will be decent. I’m expecting Kansas to be one of the best rebounding teams in the country this season, which should help them to be better defensively as well.

I think a lineup of Garrett, Grimes, KJ, Dedric, and De Sousa could be pretty devastating defensively.

For anyone interested, here’s what I have for next year’s football roster so far. 83 scholarship players. 40 offense, 41 defense, and 2 special teams. 21 portal commits coming in. 9 portal commits leaving. And this assumes Daniel Hishaw will be back.

@DanR I’m looking forward to Doke/Konate matchups too. I’m hoping Doke doesn’t get a technical called on him for standing this time in Morgantown. We know Konate won’t get called for a technical despite flexing and trash-talking every time he does anything. I’m still mad about that if you can’t tell.

I was bored and decided to do a minutes breakdown of each of the teams in the champions classic starting the season. This is what I got:

Kansas:

Lagerald Vick = 2258

Dedric Lawson = 2172

KJ Lawson = 1275

Udoka Azubuike = 990

Charlie Moore = 980

Marcus Garrett = 749

Mitch Lightfoot = 633

Silvio De Sousa = 175

Chris Teahan = 25

Team Total = 9256

Kentucky:

Travis Reid = 2911

PJ Washington = 1012

Quade Green = 869

Nick Richards = 543

Brad Calipari = 73

Jonny David = 26

Team Total = 5434

Duke:

Marques Bolden = 530

Javin DeLaurier = 505

Alex O’Connell = 373

Justin Robinson = 326

Jack White = 220

Antonio Vrankovic = 181

Jordan Goldwire = 169

Mike Buckmire = 5

Brennan Besser = 3

Team Total = 2312

Michigan St:

Matt McQuaid = 1986

Cassius Winston = 1709

Joshua Langford = 1680

Nick Ward = 1356

Kenny Goins = 1336

Braden Burke = 487

Kyle Ahrens = 365

Xavier Tillman = 305

Conner George = 66

Team Total = 9290

Michigan St. 106 - Florida Gulf Coast 82

Nick Ward (25 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) is very happy not to be playing against Doke.

I think just taking a glance at the box score speaks to the balance, versatility, and depth of this team. And this is one area where we have a clear advantage over Duke. If one of Duke’s big 3 has an off night, the game is close. If 2 of them have an off night, they may lose.

Our POY candidate goes 0-6 and doesn’t score and KU still wins by 16.

Our starting point guard ends up with 0 assists for the game, but our shooting guard has 10.

Our McD’s All-American doesn’t play with SDS out.