Posts Tagged Kansas

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

 

 

Now this is satire.

Posted on: January 31st, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

KU’s “SATIRICAL” response to Mizzou’s “We Are Mizzou” video. Pretty good work by these fellas:

If you’re curious what they’re responding to, try this on for size…

Going to miss this rivalry…

KU, ISU highlight video

Posted on: January 30th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Highlights (if you can call them that) from the Kansas game today in Ames.

Preview: Kansas, Iowa State

Posted on: January 28th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Preview:

Kansas will travel to Ames, Iowa for a matchup with the Cyclones (14-6, 4-3) on Saturday. The Jayhawks (17-3, 7-0) will look to extend their 10-game winning streak and keep an undefeated Big 12 record in tact. When the two teams last met in Allen Fieldhouse on January 14, forward Royce White and the Cyclones gave the Jayhawks all they wanted. Kansas eventually went on to win the game 82-73, but it needed a 17-2 second-half run to do so.

Iowa State will be looking for revenge on its home court. A victory against the Jayhawks would go a long way for the Cyclones’ tournament resume. It would also snap a streak of 14 straight losses at the hands of Kansas. The last time Iowa State beat Kansas was in 2005.

The Cyclones will need another big effort from Royce White, who leads the team in PPG (13.4), rebounds per game (9.6), assists per game (4.5), and blocks. In the last matchup against KU, the Jayhawks “held” White to 18 points and 17 boards. Hoiberg and the Cyclones will call on White to bring his best effort against a Kansas team that struggled to match up with him last game.

Matchup of the game:

Royce White and anyone who is guarding Royce White.

I think you’ll see everyone from Withey to Releford take a turn guarding White. He is a difficult matchup for a team that primarily runs man-to-man defense, as the Jayhawks nearly always do. This is especially true when he brings the ball up the court. It will be interesting to see if Kansas throws any zone at him. Personally, I think Releford is KU’s best option to guard White. He is versatile enough to extend in the half court, and tall enough to hold his own if White starts to post up. Regardless, Withey and others will have to be ready to help. It will be a team effort.

Keys to the game for Kansas:

  1. Defend the 3-point line: In the last matchup, Iowa State chucked 28 three-pointers (and made 9). On the season, the Cyclones have been a decent three-point shooting team from deep. Kansas will have to keep the percentage of made threes low once again.
  2. Don’t let the rest of the team beat you. Royce White is one of those players that is probably going to get his points. Similar to a Beasley or a Durant, certain guys will end up finding a way to score on you one way or another. While we can’t let him score 30, I’d rather him get his 18 as long as we defend the heck out of everyone else. Wild cards are much more scary than the sure things. For some reason, Christopherson is the one guy that concerns me. I really like his game, and I hope our guards don’t overlook him.
  3. Control the tempo early. If Iowa State gets up early on, the crowd will be a huge factor. I was in Hilton last year, and it was a very loud building with a great crowd presence. If Kansas can hit shots and control the game from the outset, the crowd won’t be as big of a factor, and our team will remain in its comfort zone.
Keys to the game for Iowa State:
  1. Do a much better job of keeping Taylor out of the lane: Last game, Tyshawn killed Iowa State. He took over in that second half and got just about any look he wanted. The Cyclones will have to do a better job of team defense against Taylor. The tough part about that is that if Taylor gets that help D to slide over, he’s been so much better of late at dishing the ball to Withey or Robinson. Hoiberg will have to pick his poison.
  2. Create matchup problems: Let Royce White do whatever Royce White wants to do. If he wants to play point guard, let him bring it up. If he wants to bang on the blocks, then let him. He’ll control the game on offense either way. The Cyclones will look to put him into spots where he can take advantage of a matchup, depending on who is guarding him.
  3. Hit shots. This will nearly always be a key to the game for opposing teams of Kansas. Team defense is Self’s biggest advantage over most teams. That said, when opposing teams are hitting three-pointers, it can overcome a lot of other disadvantages on paper. Last time, ISU was 9-28 from three. They’ll have to improve on that number to win.

TV: ESPN, 1:00 CST

Line: KU -6.0

Prediction: I think the Jayhawks control this game. The Cyclones will have our attention from the beginning, and Self has had all week to prepare a good game plan. I predict Kansas 75, Iowa State 66.

 

Self on with Jim Rome

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

Here’s a few highlights of the Self interview on the Jim Rome show if you missed it. The questions and responses are paraphrased.

Rome: You lost four starters, yet you’re still atop the Big 12 and ranked in the top 5. How did you overcome those losses and get your guys back up so high?

Self: We went into this season thin. We thought we’d have two other guys, but they were not able to qualify. Our guys have gotten better though. We have a terrific point guard and a terrific big man and that’s a good place to start. Since Christmas, it’s amazing. The light has come on for a lot of our guys. We’re playing with more energy, more freedom, more confidence. I’m pleased with where we’re at. Not necessarily from a record perspective. But from a playing hard perspective.

Rome: (recalled T-Rob’s tragedy last year) then asked “Did you expect him to play at the national player of the year caliber that he is?

Self: T-Rob is playing for an awful lot right now. He’s playing for more than just himself. We knew that if we were going to be good this year, he’d have to play like an All-American. We thought he’d compete for the conference player of the year. He’s done more than that. He is on most everyone’s first team All-American ballot right now.

Rome: After T-Rob’s tragedy, did you make an effort to coach him differently than anyone else?

Self: No. I won’t coach him differently. In fact I may be more hard on him than anyone else in practice, but that’s because he’s our best player. I may talk to him differently when we’re in private. But I won’t coach him differently. He has the ability to go on and play well at the next level. It would be cheating him if I didn’t coach him the same.

Rome: You recently hit the 250 win mark at Kansas. What is the significance of that to you? And what kind of win total would really mean something to you?

Self: None. If you coach somewhere long enough, you should win 250. If I could coach long enough to get up to the 700-800 win point, I think that would matter. 250 is not significant at all.

Rome: Do you ever think about how you’d be as a coach on the next level?

Self: I haven’t really though that. I think that there’s a part of me that would say that could interest me at one point in time, but I’m not thinking that. All I want to do is coach this team as hard as I can.

Rome: How do you manage expectations at KU?

Self: For me, it’s simple. Get our guys to be the best that our guys can be. That’s how I’ll evaluate myself. It’s not a win at all costs kind of thing for me. I want to laugh, I want to enjoy it. I love fixing problems. Expectations have not got to me yet. They may if we have some negative things happen sometime down the road. But not yet.

Rome: I know you’re constantly evaluating yourself. How do you continue to build on the success you have had at KU?

Self: I think our staff is terrific. But I think there’s things we can do better. We want to take success and then build on it. I’m always looking to tweak things to improve. I love to have older coaches come in and evaluate practice and evaluate me on a fairly regular basis. I love doing that and I prefer hearing the criticism over someone saying you’re doing a great job.

Rome: Speaking of old coaches, what do you think Larry Brown is going to do next?

Self:  I think he’d like to coach again. I’ll tell you this. You won’t find a bigger basketball junkie out there. He can’t get enough of it. He’s traveling around now to different campuses and visiting with coaches. He loves the game. Whatever he ends up doing, he won’t stop watching ball.

My thoughts:

Self was a pro. Always is in those kinds of interviews. Smooth talker. Great ambassador. Great exposure on national stage. Wish he’d do more of it.

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!

Rock Chalk Tweet Tweet

Posted on: January 25th, 2012 by jayhawktalk 1 Comment

Many KU fan signs are inspired by Twitter

I’m into Twitter. I know many of you are too. I got on my Twitter game in the middle of 2008. I started @JayhawkTalk a couple years later, mostly so that I could keep my personal life tweets separate from my KU tweets. Not that there was much of a difference in the two timelines.

Since the middle of 2010, I have watched the KU Twitter community burgeon into quite the social phenomenon. I follow quite a few other fan bases on Twitter in addition to KU, and I’d be hard pressed to find a school that does Twitter quite like Jayhawks do Twitter.

It’s actually interesting how organized KU fans are. For instance, there are bona fide hash tags for both sports (#kubball and #kufball). Most schools can’t even figure out what one of their tags should be (read: #kstate, #emaw, #ksu #ksumbb). There are also funny or unique KU hash tags that people get on board with (#FreeSelby, #FOE, #WitheyBeingWithey, #KUCMB, #MarchSwagness, and #PointPlankn). They come and go, and new ones are always popping up and catching on.

Hell, recently we’ve even seen people playing @FakeJoeDooley‘s drinking game via twitter.

There’s no question KU tweeters aren’t afraid to be passionate too. I see all of the national sports writers retweeting and responding to KU fans every day. Sure, we’re noisy and we like to defend our team. Some of it, though, is that we are just all about Twitter.

Every so often, I plan to highlight some people on my blog that I enjoy following. The list is not meant to be exhaustive or even close to it. I just thought it would be worthwhile to point out a few people every so often that have their Jayhawk Twitter game on lock down as well.

I’ll separate them by category. Also, now is a good place to note that I have extensive Twitter lists maintained from @JayhawkTalk that I encourage you to take a look at if you’re not into following everyone. Check them out here.

Here are 30 folks off the top of my head that I enjoy following for one reason or another.

Always have great KU info: @BHanni @JayhawkSlant @RockChalkTalk  @mlavieri @mctait

Good recruiting info: @ebosshoops @KUTheShiver @EvanDanielscout @AdamZagoria

Folks I always stop to read: @joshklingler @jaybilas @getnickwright @kenpomeroy @mellinger

Fun follows: @DanBeebe @FakeJoeDooley @FakeJeffWithey @KansasHulk @FakeCharlesWeis

Solid KU fan follows: @CassieRupp @kevbo9 @katiehollar @jayhawk_kevin @kutattkat @travis_ku @crimsonandblu

Best KU player follows: @_tee_y (and not close), @dp2nice

Best Former KU player follows: @nickcollison4, @next718star

That’s all for now. Again, I did this off the top of my head, so please don’t reply and ask why you weren’t included. Over time, I’ll do more of these kinds of posts with updated people I enjoy following.

In the interim, Rock Chalk Jayhawk! #kubball #kucmb

Family Over Everything (Thomas Robinson ESPN feature video)

Posted on: January 24th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

If you missed this video produced by ESPN this week, please watch it. Just heart-wrenching, but makes you appreciate Thomas and his play this year that much more.

Kansas, Texas A&M highlight video

Posted on: January 24th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

January 23, 2012 – Texas A&M at Kansas, Allen Fieldhouse

 

 

Kansas, A&M preview

Posted on: January 23rd, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Preview:

Texas A&M (11-7, 2-4) enters Allen Fieldhouse tonight with the desire to get its season back on track. Huge preseason expectations have not been realized, but a victory against the Jayhawks (16-3, 6-0) would go a long way to jump start a team in need of something good to happen.

Head Coach Billy Kennedy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease earlier this year and he has had to miss a lot of time with the team. Kennedy is in his first year in College Station after former Kansas guard, Mark Turgeon, left the Aggies for Maryland. Even with a new coach, most pundits looked at the returning talent for A&M and thought they would compete for a Big XII title this year.

Instead, the Aggies will need to put together a run in Big XII play just to make the NCAA tournament (for the 7th straight year).

It will be a match-up of defensive-minded teams tonight. Texas A&M gives up an average of 59.2 points, while Kansas is a close-second in the Big XII at 60.4 per game. The Aggies, however, have a difficult time scoring the basketball and will have to make shots to hang with Kansas.

One of the Aggies’ best players, Khris Middleton, may not dress for the game. His presence would be missed, but the Aggies were able to pull off an overtime win against Oklahoma on Saturday without him much of the game. Kennedy will rely heavily on guard Elston Turner, who is averaging close to 14 points this season. He’ll also call on his defensive stopper, guard Dash Harris, to try to keep Tyshawn Taylor out of the lane.

This will be the Aggies’ last game in Allen Fieldhouse before moving to the SEC. Kansas will be hoping to send A&M home with its 18th loss in the last 19 meetings against the Jayhawks.

Matchup of the game:

Dash Harris vs. Tyshawn Taylor

Keys to the game for Kansas:

  1. Take care of the basketball. Kansas has more talent and the home crowd. The Aggies struggle to score, so the last thing Kansas can do is give them free baskets in transition off of turnovers.
  2. Pound the ball inside. Recently, the Jayhawks have been playing better basketball.  Over the last nine games, there has been a much stronger devotion to getting in the paint — either through an entry pass or penetration — and less of a reliance on three-point shooting. This needs to continue tonight against the Aggies.
  3. Don’t let the Aggies think there is a chance. Get up early and stay up. Kansas doesn’t need to give up any more 15-point leads.

Keys to the game for Texas A&M:

  1. Control the clock. The Aggies won’t hang 80 on Kansas. They may not hang 65. In order to win, Kennedy will have his team slow the pace, take good shots late in the shot clock, and defend the heck out of the half court.
  2. Make shots. Let’s be honest. Teams that have won in Allen Fieldhouse usually make a high percentage of three-point shots. Nothing quiets the crowd faster than a barrage of threes.
  3. Most of these guys are Juniors and Seniors. They won’t be taken aback by the home crowd. However, mistakes tend to compound if made early. A&M will need to get through the first ten minutes of the game and stay within 5 or 6 to have a chance.

Line:

Kansas -18.5; 126 O/U

Prediction:

KU 78, A&M 62

 

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