Posted on: March 7th, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
We have made it to Episode 18. Kevin and Andrew reflect on Senior Night, talk about the remaining Saturday games in the Big 12 regular season, talk some Big 12 Tournament, Bracketology, and March MADNESS. We are so excited for this time of year and hope you share our sentiments. Come on in, grab a beer, and enjoy the Jayhawk Talk Podcast. Rock Chalk!
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Exactly one month ago today I confessed my jealousy of Oklahoma State. Markel Brown and Marcus Smart were flexing, taunting, and back flipping all over Allen Fieldhouse. For that seven day stretch, beginning with Oklahoma State and ending with Oklahoma, with a TCU debacle sandwiched in between, we were broken mentally.
If our performance on the court the last few weeks hasn’t been convincing enough, there was only one image needed from Saturday’s game to signify we had fully regained our swagger.
Elijah Johnson elevated in a fashion that left any doubt as to the health of his knee, and threw down a “SportsCenter Top 10″ type alley oop… Foul… And one…
And then it happened.
Yes, Elijah went TOO STRONG. And he knew it. After the game when asked about the flex, Elijah said it happened spontaneously when he realized the dunk was in fact, “Too Strong”.
Confidence can have an amazing impact on anyone, in any situation, but most especially in sports. A confident Elijah Johnson gets to the rim at will, regularly knocks down 21 footers, and flexes after posterizing a Mountaineer. The Elijah Johnson lacking confidence a month ago couldn’t execute the Bill Self “weave” without dribbling the ball off his foot. I think I speak for everyone when I say I’ll gladly take the former. The most telling sign of the change in Elijah’s attitude is the way in which he impacted the game. It wasn’t by dropping 39, but instead by dishing out 10 assists and facilitating the offense through the best talent in the NCAA, Ben McLemore.
Ben McLemore, yeah the same guy who scored seven points at Iowa State on Monday night. He was simply unbelievable on Saturday, and you could see it coming. There was a difference about his game, an increased sense of agressiveness early. It almost felt like after his story was told in the USA Today article earlier in the week, there was a weight lifted off his shoulders. A feeling as if Ben was just out there playing ball, without a care in the world. Monday night will be without a doubt Ben McLemore’s last game in Allen Fieldhouse, and it needs to be. In his words, it’s time for a big house for his mom, where they can eat all day.
The interesting part to McLemore’s game is whether he can build on that performance away from the comforts of Allen Fieldhouse. I think that he will. I think Elijah’s confidence is going to radiate throughout the rest of this team, as it should, and it will benefit Ben as much as anyone.
Finally, during our three game skid when it felt like the sky in Lawrence was falling, the trump card KU nation had in our back pocket was Bill Self. I said it, and I heard it from different people everywhere. “It’s alright, we’ll be fine… we have the best coach in college basketball.” I believed it, or at least I thought I did, but there was always that sliver of doubt. Like what if this year is different, and we don’t live up to expectations? We’ve been on an roll for nearly a decade, winning at a clip without a down year… that just isn’t supposed to happen. What if this year is our hiccup?
My confession: Sorry Bill, it won’t happen again.
Not only has Coach Self coaxed KU fans off the ledge, but he has our team peaking at the perfect time. We’re five wins away from all but guaranteeing a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, and a date the first weekend of the tournament in Kansas City.
Confidence is the key, and this team appears to be flexing it’s muscle right at ideal moment.
Posted on: March 3rd, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
Source: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
In this the 17th Episode of the Jayhawk Talk Podcast, Kevin and Andrew are joined by former KU beat writer and current Fox Sports writer, Tully Corcoran. The guys discuss KU vs. WVU, Senior Night, Big 12 Conference Race, and Adam Barmann’s basketball skills. Come on in, grab a beer, and enjoy.
Find us on Podbean here (non-iTunes and non-iPhones)
Posted on: February 28th, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
Editor’s note: The following is brought to you by Jayhawk-Talk contributor, @pay_heed. Great follow and twitter, so give him a shout. Rock Chalk.
Travis Releford needs to be more offensive.
Not like Anthony Jesselnik offensive, but more aggressive on offense. If you have watched much Kansas basketball this season (and since you’re reading this blog I think that’s probably a safe bet) you have probably heard commentators like Fran Fraschilla and others praise Travis Releford for his great perimeter defense. And while his defensive contributions cannot be discounted, he is much more than just a stopper on that end.
Carrington Harrison of 610 sports radio likes to point out that KU is 43-1 all time when Trav scores in double figures, which might just be a coincidence, but during the 3 game skid this season Travis scored 8, 1 and 8 respectively. So why do I think that Travis needs to be more offensive (or maybe just aggressive)?
Because the numbers back me up.
DISCLAIMER: If you don’t like advanced statistics just skip down to the last two paragraphs.
At a glance, it might be easy to mistake Ben McLemore as the most offensively efficient Jayhawk, but the numbers don’t back that up. According to KenPom.com Travis has an Offensive Rating (ORtg) of 129.8 (good for sixth in the Nation) to McLemore’s 120.1 (80th).
So why am I making a big deal about Travis being more offensive? The problem is that Travis, while playing the most minutes per game of any Jayhawk, uses the fewest number of possessions of any starter. Not only that, he actually has only the SEVENTH highest usage of any KU player.
Let that sink in for a second.
The sixth most offensively efficient player in the nation uses fewer possessions (by percentage) than six of his teammates.
Ben McLemore
ORtg – 120.1
% Possessions – 22.2
Elijah Johnson
ORtg – 96.4
% Possessions – 22.0
Jeff Withey
ORtg – 112.5
% Possessions – 21.7
Perry Ellis
ORtg – 105.4
% Possessions – 20.9
Naadir Tharpe
ORtg – 96.2
% Possessions – 20.0
Kevin Young
ORtg – 110.8
% Possessions – 19.3
Travis Releford
ORtg – 129.8
% Possessions – 15.7
Adapted from KenPom.com
Travis’ offensive numbers cannot be overstated. He leads the nation in True Shooting percentage, which is the new fancy way of saying points per weighted shot, at 71.3%. After starting the season 0-11 from deep, he now leads the team in 3pt FG % at 46.2%. In addition to his ridiculous ORtg, he has a very impressive 60.63 Floor Percentage, good for third in the Big XII, behind only Corey Jefferson and Romero Osby. He also is second in the NCAA in effective FG% at 69.1% and has the second highest free throw rate of any KU player (with a qualifying number of field goal and free throw attempts) at 41.2 (Jeff Withey leads at 63.4).
In other words, Travis has a multifaceted offensive game from a numbers perspective. While his offensive numbers are certainly helped by a high number of transition baskets, he not only can be, but needs to be, more assertive in the half-court. He is too valuable and too efficient to defer to the likes of Perry Ellis and Naadir Tharpe.
The necessity of another efficient scorer to emerge has never been clearer since the mysterious disappearance of Ben McLemore in both Stillwater and Ames the past two weeks. Not many teams have the luxury of a fifth year senior with the abundance of experience to call on in a time of need. For Kansas to have a successful March, Travis needs to become more aggressive and finish more possessions for the Jayhawks.
Posted on: February 28th, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
Much has been made about the Big 12 statement that was issued on Tuesday regarding the Kansas-Iowa State game. I made a pretty big deal out of it in this story.
I wanted to provide the statement and then provide what I think the Big 12 should have said. Then I promise I’ll move on. I’m sure we’re all ready to move on.
Before you read it, put yourself in shoes of the Big 12. What are your goals in issuing this? Do you want to address the game because of media pressure? Do you want to make Iowa State feel better? Do you want to talk about officiating? Personally, I’m not sure this statement accomplished any of these goals.
Here is the actual statement in all its glory:
“The Big 12 Conference acknowledges that officiating errors were made at the end of regulation during last night’s Kansas at Iowa State men’s basketball game. The plays have been reviewed and appropriate measures will be taken by the Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officials to adjust the number of future assignments for the two officials involved in conjunction with Conference policies.”
As you can see, the Big 12 acknowledges errors made at the end of regulation, but does not make mention of any other errors potentially made by the officials which may have also impacted the game. All this statement does is acknowledge what everyone knows — the last call wasn’t a very good one. What it doesn’t do is also acknowledge that there were 39+ other minutes of basketball that happened in that game too.
Whether it meant to or not, the Big 12 put a big, fat asterisk on an otherwise amazing basketball game. It downplays Iowa State’s amazing shooting performance. It downplays Elijah Johnson’s ice-in-the-veins heroics. It gives every Big 12 coach a silver bullet the next time one of these officials works his game. It demeans a basketball game where up to the time of that one tiny possession was considered one of the best games of the year and must-see television.
Here is what I think the Big 12 should have said:
“The Big 12 Conference is committed to reviewing and improving officiating in our league games. As a result, we are constantly reviewing game tape and providing feedback to officials that work our games. From time to time, we will privately reprimand or suspend an individual official or team of officials as a result of our internal review. Consistent with our normal procedures, we have reviewed the entire tape of Monday’s Kansas-Iowa State game and will handle all potential officiating errors discovered by this review internally.”
It gets the same point across. It doesn’t incite a riot. And it doesn’t put an asterisk on the game.
Alright, I’m done. No more blog posts on this. I promise!
Posted on: February 26th, 2013 by jayhawktalk 54 Comments
A butterfly flaps its wings … and the Jayhawks win a ninth straight Big 12 title.
Sounds pretty ridiculous, right?
I’m sure most of you have heard of the “butterfly effect,” a fun little phenomenon derived from chaos theory. It is generally used to describe how one single event – e.g., a butterfly flapping its wings – could have a far-reaching ripple effect. The idea is that the flapping of one butterfly’s wings, a tiny change in one specific place, can set off a chain of events leading to, in the most famous example, the formation of a “cyclone.” (See where I’m going with this?)
In Ames, IA, inside Hilton Coliseum, with the score of the KU-ISU game at 55-53, Jeff Withey committed an offensive charging foul. It was a terrible call to anyone in the world not wearing red and yellow. It was also a pivotal call in the game, giving Withey his third foul, which would limit his minutes and aggressiveness the rest of the game.
This single foul call nearly cost Kansas the game.
Iowa State Senior, Korie Lucious, stood outside the three-point line in the second half of the same game. A Kansas defender was defending him closely, not willing to let the Cyclones get another wide open 3-pointer up. Lucious sees a streaking teammate and tosses an alley-oop. The pass accidentally goes into the basket for a made three pointer.
This single play nearly cost Kansas the game.
At the same exact game, an Iowa State fan directly in front of me (we’ll call him Jack) took a bite of his pretzel and dripped cheese on his lap. He stood up quickly and attempted to clean himself off. Right about that time, Elijah Johnson was bringing the ball up the court toward the basket in front of me. I stood up so I could see the play. The person behind me stood up so he could see. It set off a chain reaction of people standing all throughout Section 142. Suddenly, Elijah pulled up for a three point shot, his sight line to the basket aiming straight toward Jack, Section 142, and the pretzel cheese. Swish.
Jack and his pretzel cheese cost Iowa State the game.
By now, you probably catch my drift. One play does not a basketball game make. Neither does one whistle, one fluke three-point basket, or one pretzel.
The charge/block call at the end of the game did not decide the game. Elijah is not a butterfly. And Jack is not to blame.
It was one possession of about a billion possessions in an amazing college basketball game. A game where Iowa State scored more three-point baskets than the Cyclones have ever scored in a game.
The Jayhawks were called for more fouls than the Cyclones. The Jayhawks turned the ball over 15 of those billion possessions (Cyclones had 7) and the Jayhawks shot 7 fewer free throws.
I am not here to say the call at the end of the game was a good one. It probably wasn’t. What I’m here to say is that it is unfair to Elijah Johnson, to the Jayhawks, and, frankly, to the Cyclones, to use officiating as a crutch to attempt to explain (or demean) what was easily one of the best college basketball games of the year.
Moreover, it is even more ridiculous that the Big 12 office succumbed to unfounded national media pressure to “review the tape” of that one single possession and then issue a statement on it. If you are going to review a tape, review the entire tape. If you’re going to reprimand a referee, do so with the full story.
Publicly reprimanding the referee did not make any Iowa State fan feel better today. If anything, it probably made them even more upset.
In the end, that play at the end of regulation was not the play that decided the game.
If you subscribe to that line of thinking, then Jack is just as much to blame.
Posted on: February 26th, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
In the 16th episode of the Jayhawk Talk Podcast, Kevin and Andrew talk about the crazy game that took place in Ames, hit on Kevin’s stories from Hilton Coliseum, talk about Elijah Johnson’s ridiculous night, and close with a story about how Kevin bought his ticket from a former Big 12 basketball player. Come on in, grab a beer, and enjoy the podcast. Rock Chalk!
Find the podcast on iTunes here. (Computer, Apple products)
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As always, please do us a huge favor and leave a positive rating and comment on iTunes. It helps us a bunch. Rock Chalk!!
Posted on: February 21st, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
In the 15th episode of the Jayhawk Talk podcast, former Kansan beat writer, Tim Dwyer, joins Kevin and Andrew for a happy 45 minutes as the guys talk about the biggest win of the season so far in Stillwater. The guys also talk about the Big 12 race, the TCU game, and the upcoming games for all the contenders. Come on in, have a beer, and enjoy. Rock chalk!
Posted on: February 17th, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
In the 14th episode of the Jayhawk Talk podcast, the guys talk some Texas postgame, preview the big week in the Big 12 (including the upcoming OSU game), talk about College GameDay, analyze the KU Harlem Shake video, and share thoughts on the Julius Randle visit. Come on in, grab a beer, and enjoy some KU Hoops talk.
As always, we appreciate you leaving us a comment on iTunes and giving the podcast a nice star rating. Rock CHALK!
Find the podcast on Podbean here (non-iTunes users and non-Apple mobile users)
Posted on: February 16th, 2013 by jayhawktalk No Comments
I’ll admit it. I’m kind of a slut for flash-in-the-pan Internet crazes.
You know how it works. You receive a link in a chat window, a message on Facebook, a retweet into your timeline. It’s a video, a picture, a “meme” or a dance. You watch it, you love it, and you find yourself searching out other examples.
Only thing I love more than awesome things on the Internet is KU basketball. This team has found a way to marry these two wonderful things.
What follows is a beautiful little video from the KU basketball team. It’s their version of the “Harlem Shake.”
It makes sense if you think about it — this team getting on board with a dance craze. As we’ve surely all seen by now, these guys are all about dancing. Who can blame them? Dancing is awesome.
There are about a million different Harlem Shake videos out there right now. This is obviously my favorite. First, a quick background. The Harlem Shake meme generally requires three things (1) at the beginning of the video one person is dancing with the crowd not paying attention; (2) when the bass or hook drops, everyone is dancing, usually with some sort of costume or general ridiculousness; (3) well, that’s it, really.
I thought it’d be interesting to take a closer look at this video, person by person. I urge you to re-watch the video each time you read a paragraph and focus only on that one person or group. It’s worth the individual attention to detail.
Bill Self: He doesn’t really fit into the meme recipe described above, but I appreciate his involvement in the shoot. He’s pictured drawing up some spectacular inbounds plays (I’m particularly impressed with the top left play, which aims to open up Ben for a corner 3). Self’s cameo ends with him erasing four of the six plays (he keeps the good one) and writing “Harlem Shake!!!” on the board and walking away. Note: Evan Manning is the only player pictured and he doesn’t seem to give one shit at all about what Coach is drawing up.
Ben McLemore: Of late, he has been the star of the Kansas basketball dance troupe. This video probably wouldn’t be a thing if not for Ben’s previous escapades, first documented in a post-Ohio State locker room celebration and later in a post-KSU dance. Ben gets us started with a solo version of “The McLemore” dance — a healthy mix between Hava Nagila, the C-Walk, and Saturday Night Fever. In any event, it’s freakin’ awesome. So there he is, dancing away while everyone is suiting up for practice — everyone except Elijah Johnson, who seems to have discovered nappy time. Ben’s also wearing the head of a chicken costume, just because. Cut to the new scene and Ben has shed the mask but found the rest of the chicken costume, again, just because. His chicken walk through the last few seconds of the scene is pure amazeballs.
Justin Wesley: Of any Jayhawk, Justin should know what it takes to shine in front of a camera. He spent the offseason playing Wilt Chamberlain in the upcoming movie, Jayhawkers. It makes you wonder why he chose one of the easiest theatrical stunts — that is, struggling to put his practice jersey on over his head — during Ben’s dance. He certainly makes up for it after the break, center frame, going full on kilt and chains. I have 10:1 that look will be in a new Chief Keef music video within the next calendar year. Flawless.
Naadir Tharpe: We’ve seen his dance moves a few times this season. His default move seems to be the “Robot.” You probably have that buddy that has a default move to the “Robot” too. Your buddy isn’t very good at it. Neither is Naadir. But it’s still sort of endearing. You have to think his teammates told him to wait in the wings and then when the time is right, just sachet across the shot from stage left to right, employing that signature move. I also tend to think that Naadir owns that green vest and did not need to make a visit to the KU Theatre Department’s prop room before filming.
Niko Roberts, Christian Garrett, and Landen Lucas: These three really need to be discussed together because of their roles in a truly meta sub plot going on inside this video. We first see Niko, in full-on onesie pajamas, a bib, and a pacifier. He seems to really be into his dance moves until he is completely distracted by a gigantic fly hanging from a 6-iron. What pacifier-sucking kid wouldn’t want to follow that? Especially if that pacifier sucking kid is also armed with a butterfly net!!! Too bad we couldn’t see just three more seconds of the video. I hope he caught that pesky fly. Meanwhile, Christian decided to go with the half-KU football player in December after a workout coat, half-Roman soldier look. He has some nice moves with that shield before taking Santa Landen on a ride in the equipment cart. Landen is holding the 6-iron/fly thingy while seemingly jamming to his own Keith Sweat slow jam that only he can hear.
Jeff Withey and Jamari Traylor: Jeff is attempting his best Slash impression, but is failing miserably. I would have preferred to see Jeff play a more vital role than “awkward white 7-footer with wig that plays fake guitar in socks,” but that’s just me. To his credit, he actually makes out a couple legit power chords between the three or four times he adjusts his hair. Like a true 80s guitarist. Jamari, on the other hand, goes with the mini-acoustic, black leather vest, and sombrero get-up. He seems to be the most accomplished musician in the bunch, with most of his focus going toward his craft. He’s also, umm, very muscly.
Travis Releford: He is probably the one in the video that makes me giggle the most. He is sporting the black boots, shorts, and soccer jacket of one of those club teams or countries or something (Germany, maybe? Clearly a huge soccer fan here), and is swinging the everliving shit out of some beads (?). His facial expressions are the real sell, though. Absolute gold, especially in slow motion.
Elijah Johnson: We know he’s been struggling to find his place on the court of late. Not here. He plays the creepy, masked joker Santa PERFECTLY. You might miss him the first couple times you watch it, but he emerges from behind Ben and finds his way to orchestra right by the end of the shot. He looks confused, but don’t let him trick you. That’s what he wants you to think.
Kevin Young and Company: Speaking of creepy, let’s talk about the guy in the back wearing the Jason mask and holding a knife. Oh, but he’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt, so it’s not near as bad. He’s standing on a chair, slashing at the air with all his Kevin Young might. You’d think Evan Manning next to him would be just slightly scared, but once again, he’s still not giving one shit. Perry Ellis looks a little scared, but that’s probably more about his discomfort with being in a group setting than a Hawaiian with a huge knife. Then there’s Andrew White III with a big goofy hat. Like Jamari, it appears he’s jamming to a different song as well. Maybe U2 or Bonnie Raitt or something.
Tyler Self: Tyler made the mistake of going shirtless in this shoot. He’s standing near Jamari Traylor, who can pull of shirtless. Tyler, not so much. I do appreciate his decision to play jungle gym on the water pipes running across the ceiling, although I think he geared up to try a “pull-up” and realized he didn’t have the arm strength for it yet. He does earn some points for his mink throw he has draped across his shoulders. Keeps him warm and hides his underdeveloped delts.
Not pictured: Supremely disappointed Rio Adams was not involved. He is the best dancer on the team not named Ben McLemore and he has an argument that he’s even better than Ben. Not sure where he was during the filming, but I’m sad he wasn’t there. Same goes for Joe Dooley and Andrea Hudy, both of which could have added a lot to this just by making a one second cameo.
I hope you enjoyed my write up as much as I enjoyed watching the video 35 times. Happy gameday!