Posts Tagged Allen Fieldhouse

Episode 142 – Mitch I’m Mitch Lightfoot

Posted on: February 21st, 2019 by jayhawktalk No Comments

The fellas are back with a brand new podcast and the WORLD PREMIERE OF A HIT NEW SINGLE, “Mitch I’m Mitch Lightfoot.” When KU-TCU went into overtime, Kevin said he’d write a song about Mitch if we won. So he did. They play the song, discuss the song for a minute, then move on to talk the Big 12 Race, Schedule remaining for other teams, potential scenarios, and much more. They also preview the upcoming Tech and KSU games, and finish with some predictions.

Come on in, have a beer, and enjoy a little Jayhawk Talk Podcast, Episode 142.

Find the Podcast on iTunes HERE.

Find the Podcast on Podbean HERE.

Find the Podcast on Spotify and a bunch of other places if you just open that app and search for us!

ROCK CHALK!

(Link to the Mitch song if you’re just wanting a sniff of that.)

Episode 141 – Mitch Swag Will Bring Us Back

Posted on: February 10th, 2019 by jayhawktalk No Comments

The guys are back after a little break to talk all things KU hoops, including some hot takes on Vick, Silvio, Ochai, the NCAA, KU’s chances at extending the streak, and much more. They also take a little credit for predicting that Ochai would indeed be the next Michael Jordan. They also get into the schedule remaining, talk a little Big 12, and even look ahead to NCAA tournament seeding.

Come on in, grab a beer, and enjoy a little Jayhawk Talk Podcast — Mitch and Ochai Edition.

Find the Podcast on iTunes HERE (please rate/review/subscribe!)

Find the Podcast on Podbean HERE (non-Apple mobile devices)

Find the Podcast also on most places you can find podcasts, including Spotify and others.

ROCK CHALK!

Episode 140 – Choose Your Own KU Basketball Adventure

Posted on: January 8th, 2019 by jayhawktalk No Comments

The fellas are back after a small break over the holidays. Since we last spoke, some shit has gone down and it has us a little bit concerned. But then again, we’re also a little bit confident things will turn around. And there’s an internal war going on to decide which side is right — (1) the sky is falling and (2) we’re en route to another championship season. So, in this podcast, we give equal weight to both sides of the KU fan base. You can choose your own KU adventure. If you’re in the sky-is-falling camp, we have a podcast for you. If you’re in the all-is-good camp, we have a podcast for you too. Choose your own KU adventure!

Find the podcast on iTunes HERE.

Find the podcast on Podbean HERE.

(We are also on Spotify and Stitcher and some other places if that’s more your flavor.)

ROCK CHALK!

Episode 89 – UK Recap plus Sunflowers

Posted on: January 31st, 2016 by jayhawktalk No Comments

It was an up and down week for the ‘hawks, but after the big UK overtime win, things sure feel up. The guys get together to recap the week, talk some Rules of Basketball, wax on some Big 12, have some fun with junk defenses, and preview the “Sunflower Showdown.”

Come on in, grab a beer, and enjoy a little Jayhawk Talk Podcast.

Find the Podcast on iTunes HERE

(Please rate, review and subscribe!)

Find the Podcast on Podbean HERE

(Non-Apple mobile devices)

ROCK CHALK!

Episode 61 – KU Basketball Preview

Posted on: November 5th, 2014 by jayhawktalk No Comments

The fellas are back and are stoked to talk a little KU basketball. If you’re into that kind of thing, this podcast is for you. Topics: New faces, Lineups, Rotation, Bold Predictions, Schedule Review, Frankamp, Jayhawk Talk Preseason Awards, Power Rankings, Big 12 Preview Preview, and much more. The much more includes a few stories about interactions with Bob Chipman (Washburn), The Mayor up in Ames, Sung Woo, and Flat Tires.

Come on in, grab a beer, and enjoy a little Jayhawk Talk Podcast. As always, please do us a solid and rate/review/comment/subscribe on iTunes!

Find the Podcast on iTunes HERE (please rate us some stars).

Find the Podcast on Podbean HERE (non Apple mobile devices).

ROCK CHALK!

Photo Credit: KU Sports, ESPN

Photos from KU-Iona (with desktop schedules)

Posted on: November 20th, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments

As you may or may not know, I love taking pictures at games. I generally always take them from the vantage point of a KU fan, not a member of the media, so you won’t find pics like this on the Journal World or whatever. Those guys have much better cameras (and seats) than I do. But I still like to do it. Some of them turn out better than others. Here are some of my favorites from tonight’s KU-Iona game.

Feel free to use as your please.

Update: 

My man @aeroku (Brian Stratman) took a few of these and made some desktop pics with 2013-14 schedules. Click the following links to see them:

Allen Fieldhouse Corner

KU Half Court

Allen Fieldhouse Outside

Allen Corner #2

 

Rock Chalk!

 

KU-SJSU Photo Gallery

Posted on: November 27th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Check out the photo gallery for the KU-SJSU game at Jayhawk-Talk or on Facebook at. Some pretty good ones this game, especially with coaching reactions as the second half got uglier and uglier.

As always, feel free to download and use the photos.

Rock Chalk!

Reactions from KU-SEMO game

Posted on: November 10th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

This was an ugly game. In many ways, it was an extension of the exhibition season where we saw Kansas struggle to score, but still maintain a solid margin of victory thanks in large part to its defense.

Just no offense.

By now you’ve probably heard that KU went a paltry 2 for 21 from three point range on Friday night. The Jayhawks weren’t much better from two point range either. Really the only nice thing you can take away from the box score is a nice 86% from the free throw line (24 of 28). If we continue to shoot the ball like we did tonight, we’ll certainly need all the free throw help we can get.

As I watched the game, I scribbled down some notes that I thought I’d share in bullet form. Most of them apply to this game, but are longterm concerns and/or observations. Many will be a part of the season preview blog post forthcoming. For now, here’s some thoughts:

1. Feeding the post. An underrated skill of any guard (or any player, really) is his ability to feed the ball to the post. Feeding the post requires two things. First, the post needs to have position. Whether that’s position on his defender or relative position to the basket, he must have position. Our posts weren’t great at that tonight, but there were more times than not where position was obtained and our guards could not feed them. There were turnovers, batted balls, just all around ugliness. I’ll give some of the new guys a pass (get it, pass?), but I will not give a pass to the veterans. This will undoubtedly be something we work on a lot in practice. It’s a vital part of Self’s offense (and another reason we’ll miss Tyshawn more than people think). It will start with ball movement and spacing, both of which are easily correctable. We’ll get better.

2. Jeff’s offensive gameplan. For those expecting T-Rob numbers from Withey this year, you’re going to be disappointed. Granted, tonight he put up nearly exactly T-Rob’s averages last year in 17 and 12. I don’t think it will be a regular occurrence.  I love Jeff and I will sing his praises soon on defense, but his offensive game still needs some improvement. Just once, I’d love him to catch the ball on the block and without any hesitation, go up as strong as he can with it. Stop waiting for the double team. Attack. And if you get fouled, terrific. Just want to see a little more decisiveness in his offense.  Teams are going to double him all year. And when they do, he will do a good job of kicking the ball to the open man. But sometimes, he should beat the double teamer to the basket. Haven’t seen it yet.

3. Ben McLemore. Near the end of the first half I wrote down the following: “Impressed by Ben’s rebounding. Getting every ball that leaves the block. Attacking rebound at highest point, almost like a football wide receiver.” He went on to gobble up 12 total rebounds, tying him with Withey for the team lead. This is a slight indictment on Perry, but I do think there’s a legitimate chance that Ben is our second leading rebounder this year. His combination of quickness, hops, and instinct could make him one of the best rebounding guards we’ve ever had at Kansas. We’re going to need those boards this year, too.

4. Post defense. It is incredible how much different KU’s defense is when Withey is off the court. Teams are fearless driving into the paint. Posting up Perry Ellis or Jamari Traylor all of a sudden doesn’t sound like a bad idea because that big palm from the weak side isn’t there to scare you away. Just his presence on the court changes the opposing team’s demeanor. Tonight, he played well on defensive end. Perry Ellis, on the other hand, did not. He was getting pushed around by SEMO’s big guys. Doesn’t bode well for him when he has to play against some serious size. Hopefully Withey can stay on the court because I’m afraid Perry will need that weak side defensive threat more often than not.

5. Perry’s offense. My goodness is he fun to watch when he catches the ball anywhere inside  7 feet from the basket. I don’t have a “Next Level” stat here, but my eyes sure told me that he scored or got fouled on nearly every single one of those possessions. If he keeps that up, teams are going to have to devote some help defense, which should free up lanes for guards to penetrate or pass to the opposite post. Perry may end up being the best thing that’s happened to Withey’s offensive game since Robinson. Little side note: I do think it’d be interesting to see how Perry would do if we ran more isolation to him. Clear out some space and let the man go to work. Going to be fun to watch him this year.

6. Attack attack attack. I’m sick of hearing about how athletic Elijah and Ben and all the other guards are. Prove it. Use that athleticism and attack the basket with some fire. I know they have it in them because I have seen it in flashes. Elijah’s aggressiveness carried us all tournament last year. I want to see it again. Penetration by the guards opens up the entire offensive game plan. Frees up the post as defenders have to slide off. Frees up the wing as defenders shift to the paint. Creates mismatches. All predicated on dribble drive. Let’s see some. And that means you too, Ben. You had two sick moves to the basket tonight ending in points. Don’t stop.

7. Duke (Light). If we’re going to be a soft team this year, we better start making some of those three pointers. Hate to say it, but this looks on paper like somewhat of a jump shooting team. Until we get some of the interior post game in place, we’re going to settle for open jumpers. Like Duke, if they’re not falling, you’re going to see games like you did tonight. The difference between us and Duke, though, is that we can still win games ugly because we can guard. Still, we’re going to have to be able to knock down open shots at a much better rate than we saw tonight.

8. Rotation. Only one game into the season, and I think we’re starting to get a pretty good idea what the rotation is going to be. Withey, Ellis, Releford, McLemore, and Elijah starting. First guard off the bench is Tharpe and first big off the bench is Traylor (I think Young splits this role with Traylor when he is fully healthy). That’s eight deep. Don’t see Self going much further than that. I think Rio Adams and Andrew White will get some time, but probably not a lot this year. Wesley played some minutes, but those will be divided among Traylor and Young. It also seems that Peters and Lucas could both be in line for red shirts this season.

9. Andrew White III. While I just stated I don’t think he gets more than a handful of minutes this season, I do think he could be a valuable player off the bench when his number is called. My hope for him this year was to be a “better Conner Teahan.” By that I mean a sharp shooter that you can bring off the bench for instant offense, but will hopefully be less of a liability on the defensive side of the ball. I think he’ll eventually get there and could play a key role in a few victories this season (much like Conner did last season).

10. Finally, wow. These guys are going to be maddening to watch at times. They’re going to drive you straight to crazy town with their lack of discipline and youthful boneheadedness. But my goodness they’ll be fun to watch. Take comfort in knowing that today is the worst this team will ever be. They’re literally going to improve daily as they get more comfortable playing together and get a few more wrinkles added to Self’s playbook. Despite tonight’s troubles, I do believe the framework is there. With some more practice and continued familiarity with one another, these guys will start to reach some of their potential. Just hang in there, because I promise this won’t be the last game like this.

Rock Chalk!

 

 

Preview: Kansas, Oklahoma

Posted on: February 1st, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Preview: 

The Oklahoma Sooners (13-7, 3-5) travel to Lawrence tomorrow to play the Jayhawks (17-4, 7-1). Kansas is coming off of its first conference loss of the season after a 72-64 loss at Iowa State on Saturday. Bill Self and Co. will look to bounce back in Allen Fieldhouse in what some are calling a “trap game” leading up to the College Gameday match-up at Missouri.

Oklahoma is coming off one of its biggest victories of the season — a 63-60 victory at Kansas State. Lon Kruger’s Sooners are playing better basketball of late, led by junior guard, Steven Pledger (17.8 PPG). Forward Romero Osby has also picked up his play, posting a 16 point, 11 rebound game last week against Baylor’s front line.

The Jayhawks have won eight straight games against the Sooners and have not lost in Allen Fieldhouse to the crimson and cream since 1993. Oklahoma will seek to revenge a loss in Norman earlier this year, where the Jayhawks needed a career high 28 points from Travis Releford to pull away in the second half for a 72-61 victory.

Matchup of the game:

Steven Pledger scored 30 points in Manhattan last game. He is Oklahoma’s best perimeter threat as well, posting a .436 3-point shooting percentage. I have a feeling all three of our guards will have a shot to guard him tomorrow, and I think that will be the biggest defensive matchup of the game.

Keys to the game for Kansas:

  1. Rebound the basketball. Over the last few games, the Jayhawks have played soft. This couldn’t be more evident than against Iowa State, where Iowa State out-rebounded KU by a margin of 36-23. In Norman, the Jayhawks tied the Sooners with 34 boards. It will be a welcome sight to see this tilt back into KU’s favor.
  2. Force feed Thomas the ball. Robinson had one of his worst games of the season on Saturday in Iowa. He caught the ball numerous times in good position but failed to turn those catches into good shots. He had five turnovers and never looked comfortable. The Jayhawk guards will need to continue to feed him the ball if this team is going to go anywhere this year. If that means force feeding him, then that’s what needs to happen.
  3. Let the defense lead to the offense. Kansas played one of its best stretches of basketball this year in that second half in Norman. They played loose and free and took advantage of every OU mistake. I want to see that same energy from the start and hopefully see it maintained throughout.

Keys to the game for Oklahoma:

  1. Play physical ball.  The Sooners hit the Wildcats in the mouth last game and it took Frank Martin’s team a while to respond to the physical play. It wasn’t the prettiest game (63-60), but it was the way Kruger and OU needed to play to win that game. They’ll need to do the same against KU.
  2. Continue to take high percentage shots. One reason the Sooners won in Manhattan is they shot 4-9 from the three-point line while defending K-State into shooting 3-17 from three. OU will need to make a high percentage of its open looks while also pestering Kansas the same way it did the Wildcats.
  3. Crowd the lane. Kansas has not been able to knock down many perimeter shots of late, so the Sooners will be wise to cheat toward the lane. Forcing Thomas against the baseline or into a trap has been a good strategy against smaller teams. OU will need to pound the paint defensively and hope the KU cold streak continues.

TV: ESPNU, 8:00 CST

Line: KU -16.5; O/U 138.5

Prediction: I think KU wins handedly. Final score: 83-68

 

 

KU Gameday in AFH (video)

Posted on: January 26th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Fantastic video from the great Micah Brown of KU Athletics Department (also the Micah Brown that was a hero in the Orange Bowl game). You might remember him from his Gridiron series over the last few years.

I think he did a great job capturing the gameday experience in Allen Fieldhouse. Please watch it if you haven’t!