Posts Tagged #kubball

Kansas, Baylor by the numbers

Posted on: January 19th, 2012 by jayhawktalk 1 Comment

Robinson rises for the alley-oop. This eventually goes into the basket for 2 of his 27 points.

By @HailToOldKU

First things first, sorry I’ve gone missing over the last couple games. Kansas wrecked some fools, I have a real job, things got a little hectic. Is what it is. But when Kansas wrecks some highly ranked fools? Time to come back out of the woodwork. No more slacking.

I’m going to break this up a little bit differently than I have been, because putting stats on there for the bench guys would be completely irrelevant. So I’m going to ignore those guys – because Kansas is essentially a 5-man team anyways – and do numbers for the starters, and then some game stats that I thought were the key. Without further ado:

Thomas Robinson: 1 foul
Baylor can run out five guys with the size and ability to frustrate most posts. All of them, except maybe Quincy Acy, are stretch-fours who can get a traditional post into trouble by dragging him out to the perimeter and either drawing fouls or getting by them for a bucket. Robinson did an incredible job of staying out of foul trouble. With the Jayhawks’ lack of depth, he needed to stay on the floor for 30-plus minutes. He played 35. Oh, and he had 27 and 14. Which doesn’t suck.

Tyshawn Taylor: 10 points
I know Taylor finished with 28. The 10 I mention are the 10 that came during KU’s 13-0 run to end the first half. Taylor’s run entering the break gave the Jays all the momentum entering the second half and put his team up a dime at half. He came out and played a brilliant second half, hitting 10 of 14 shots in his most efficient night of the season.

Jeff Withey: 9 offensive boards
This number just makes me laugh. Seriously? NINE? That’s insane! Here’s the best part, though. The Bears, with all their ridiculous length, combined to get eight offensive rebounds as a team. Man, if it weren’t for the fact that Thomas Robinson is the Greek God of Thunderdunking, we’d all be going nuts about how much Withey has improved. As it stands, I’m going nuts about it anyways. He’s the most improved player on the Jayhawks roster by far.

Elijah Johnson:  1 three-pointer attempted
We’re getting dangerously close to having Good Elijah and Bad Elijah nights just like we do with Tyshawn. The bad Elijah isn’t out of control or turnover prone or anything like that, he just jacks up an insane amount of threes with little regard for Bill Self’s offense.  Self’s offense usually works. Let’s just stick with it. Elijah was great Monday because he played within himself, didn’t do too much and let the two best players on the team be the two best players on the team. Johnson has the talent to be the star, but so did Thomas Robinson last year. Sometimes you have to know your spot, and EJ’s is as the third option, at best.  Great night all-around from him, though, as he embraced the role. 11 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 4-of-7 shooting. Did it all well.

Travis Releford: 36 minutes
Releford had the biggest challenge of any Kansas defender last night. Not because he was guarding the Bears’ best player (that honor went to Withstar who D’d up on PJ3), but because he was outmatched by five inches and didn’t have much, if any, advantage in quickness against freshman Quincy Miller. Miller went for 17 points, but needed 12 shots to do it and only pulled down a couple boards. Releford played the most minutes on the team because he’s as good as it gets defensively for the Jayhawks right now, and he should be an all-conference defender by the time the season ends. Startling how similar Releford’s numbers (11 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, 5-of-7 shooting) were to Johnson’s.

Key Team Numbers

48-34, 39-24, 17-8: The Jayhawks worked Baylor in the paint, outscoring the Bears 48-34 in the lane and outrebounding them 39-24. Withey and Robinson deserve much of the credit. Also, the Jayhawks won 17-8 on second chance points, courtesy of Withey’s nine (seriously! NINE!) offensive boards. Love that number. Baylor has one of the best frontcourts in the country (I’d put them behind Kentucky and North Carolina only), and the Jayhawks shredded them.

114+: I wasn’t in the building, so I don’t know the exact number, but the highest I saw was somewhere over 114 decibels in the Fieldhouse Monday night. I’m going to toot our own horn here for just a minute: The best fans in college sports live in Lawrence, Kansas.

Couple quick thoughts on the Baylor matchup

Posted on: January 16th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Baylor will be in town tonight for a huge Big Monday matchup. I never really get into the “must-win” scenarios this early in the season, but a victory tonight would go a long way for both teams come late February. It will be a huge game, and I expect the Fieldhouse to be rocking.

Some quick thoughts on the matchup:

Baylor’s Length:

We haven’t played a team like this since we played Kentucky. The same Kentucky that gave us fits. Baylor may be the only other team in the country that matches up with the Wildcats from a pure length and athleticism perspective. And Kentucky manhandled us. I know it was close in the first half, but it shouldn’t have been. The good news is that this Kansas team is a much different Kansas team than we saw on November 15. I think we’ll be more prepared for it this time around. The equalizer will be whether we are able to knock down some open shots that we will be able to create by going inside-out.

Perimeter Shooting:

I hate the say it, but I hope Conner doesn’t get a ton of minutes off the bench tonight. He will be such a liability on the defensive end that I don’t think his 2-6 from 3-point range will be worth it. Against most teams, we can cover for Conner with additional help every time he gets blown by. Unfortunately tonight, we’ll need to preserve Thomas and Jeff from foul trouble. That all said, we’ll need to make some perimeter shots and Conner may be our best option. We’ll need Elijah, Travis, and Tyshawn to do better than 29% from three tonight. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for an Elijah coming-out-party.

Tyshawn:

Tyshawn will be the most important player tonight, as he has been most nights. He was the single reason we didn’t lose to Kentucky by 25 points. He has proven time and time again that he can get by his man at any time he wants. Hopefully tonight he’ll keep attacking. As Self alluded to in his post-game comments after Iowa State, it would be ideal if Taylor penetrates with the idea of passing when he draws help defense. I agree to some extent, but when we have difficulty scoring, he needs to be able to take over much like he did in the second half on Saturday. He can be instant offense when he’s on. We’ll need him to be on tonight.

Foul Trouble:

As awesome as it was, I think we saw an aberration on Saturday when Kansas played great absent Thomas. Throughout the year, we have been better with him on the floor, and tonight we will definitely need his 18 and 12 to win. He’ll need to muscle up and play hard on defense, but be mindful of foul trouble. You have to think Baylor will take it right to him. Likewise, Withey has been a very important player the last few weeks. We’ll need him tonight, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He’ll be able to take up room and deter some penetration. I also put the over-under on his fouls at 4.5…and I’m taking the over. Just hope it’s very late in the game.

Allen Fieldhouse:

This isn’t the same kind of Baylor team we’ve seen before. It is loaded with as much talent as a non-Kansas team has been since I can remember. And they’re not freshman. They’re veteran players that have been around the block. Allen won’t intimidate them at the beginning of the game. It will, however, intimidate them if things don’t start off well. The key for Kansas will be to get off to a good start. I want to see the K-State game, not the Iowa State game. If we give them momentum early, the crowd won’t be quite as stiff and they’ll be able to continue playing their game. If we come out strong, our guys will feed off the crowd and the building. That’s when Baylor could be distracted and see what so many other great teams have seen inside the Fieldhouse — the PHOG.

Coaching:

It has long been said that Baylor Coach Scott Drew is a fantastic recruiter and a very average basketball coach. I don’t necessarily buy into it, because the same has been said before about Bill Self, and John Calipari, and many other great Xs & Os coaches. That all being said, Kansas certainly has the advantage from the bench. I tend to think Drew has stepped away and let his guys play more loose this year. Baylor, like Kentucky, could probably beat 95% of the teams they face without a coach at all. When a team is loaded with talent, the key for a coach is to get his guys to play with the same intensity on defense as they do on offense. Self and Calipari are great at that. We’ll see how good Drew is tonight.

Prediction:

I think it will be a close game throughout. It would not shock me if Kansas lost the game in the end. Baylor is that good. As long as we can make a few open shots and bother Baylor’s guards on the defensive end, I will take KU. Something like KU 71 Baylor 68 sounds about right.

I’ll be in the house. Hope you will be too. Rock Chalk!

 

Kansas’ home court advantage will be the difference

Posted on: January 16th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

AFH - The biggest home court advantage in college basketball

The following post comes from @Pay_Heed, a guest blogger to Jayhawk-Talk:

For those of you fortunate enough to have attended a game in Allen Fieldhouse, this post will be nothing groundbreaking. It is a magical place, a place where the Jayhawks have won 86% of their games since the building opened in 1955. Bill Self has an astounding 95% win percentage in the hallowed halls. The numbers are just silly.

I wanted to provide a bit of an unscientific statistical illustration of just how good Kansas is on its home court. To start, I tried to rack my brain to remember a time during my life when Kansas wasn’t a Vegas favorite to win at home. My interest in this bit of trivia was piqued when #2 Ohio State woke up the morning of the December 10 game against Kansas as 1½-point favorites to win. So what were my findings?

Like a casino, the house always has the edge.

My research basically indicated that there aren’t any Internet archives with betting lines old enough to find the last time that KU was a home underdog. Let me preface my next few statements by saying I was not able to find every line. And since betting has only become less taboo in the new millennium, it was much easier to find lines from more recent years.

A review of archived box scores, game previews and betting lines revealed Kansas to be favored in every home matchup since 1994 (I couldn’t find much older than that). That means that there are freshmen on campus today that have not been alive since Kansas was last a home underdog. I’ll let that marinate for a minute…

Funny thing is, that statement is still true today. When the news of Jared Sullinger’s back issue spread through the betting world, the line moved considerably. Kansas went from being a 1½-point underdog to a 3-point favorite in a few short hours.

The foregoing numbers are astounding. They also help to provide some statistical support to back up what we already knew about the Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks have an advantage that outpaces any home court in the country. I believe this is attributable to several factors:

  • Players – There is no denying that there has been a plethora of elite talent in both the Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. You can’t win 95% of your home games without great players. If you have better players you’re going to win most of your games.
  • Coaching – Whether it’s great in-game adjustments, great scouting and game planning or great use of timeouts, coaching certainly factors into the great advantage of AFH.
  • AMAZING fans – Without a doubt the loudest venue in the nation couldn’t be so without unbelievable fans. That was on display in spades Saturday against Iowa State.

While the Bears will show up with the higher ranking tomorrow, I predict that Kansas will open at -1.5 or -2.0. The line could move throughout the day, but I’d be shocked if Kansas ends up an underdog at tip-off.

The one thing that worries me about the matchup itself is 3-point shooting, on both sides. Baylor is a great 3-point shooting team at 41.5% (6th in the nation). Meanwhile, we have seen KU struggle to defend the 3-point line this season, although statistically the Hawks only allow ­­­­­­33.8% from three (167th). The Hawks have only shot 34.8% from three this season (149th), and against Baylor’s 2-3 zone that could be problematic. The Bears are giving up 32.2% (98th).

All that taken into account, I think that our home court advantage will be the deciding factor in the game, as it has so many times over the last two decades. I think KU will pull out a close victory.

Remember, if you’re planning on attending, be loud. You make the difference.

Self to add to the 2012 class?

Posted on: January 11th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Bill Self may be adding to the (already large) '12 recruiting class

Bill Self recently said that he believes his 2012 recruiting class is “good” but that he and his staff are still looking to add one or two more players to make it “great.”  I think most people immediately assumed he was referring to his pursuit of the #1 2012 blue chip, Las Vegas’ Shabazz Muhammad. But with Shabazz being somewhat of a long-shot to end up in Lawrence next year, I thought it would be worth exploring who else Self could be courting into the Spring.

First, it is worth stating that all of KU’s scholarships are completely spoken for. Certainly Thomas Robinson is nearly a lock to head to the NBA next year and Elijah could have a look if he goes on a run into postseason play. There are also a few candidates to transfer as well. Merv comes to mind.

Of course if Self is faced with a can’t-miss player wanting to come play for him, he’ll find a scholarship. (Sidenote: I’ve always enjoyed those people that get riled up about the number of schollies available. If good players are out there, we always have a scholarship available. One way or another.)

There might also be an issue with all of the 2012 players qualifying to play. I don’t have any insider information on it, but I do know that we’ve obviously had our issues in the past when it comes to qualifying.

Of course he may also be referring to the guys that haven’t officially signed on the dotted line yet — Anrio Adams and Andrew White.

Just for fun, let’s take a look at who is out there that could still possibly end up in Lawrence next year. I’ll rank them by how likely I believe they will be here.

(1) Geron Johnson, 6’3 Guard

Geron Johnson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: I recently reviewed Johnson here a few weeks ago when it sounded like Kansas might be more interested in adding him. He is a 6’3 combo guard with a versatile offensive game and good size. He has had somewhat of a checkered past, however, as he battled off-court issues until his time at Garden City Community College. Assuming he keeps his focus on school and basketball this year, he’ll likely be playing Div. I basketball somewhere next year. He’s currently averaging 18+ points for GC, though the basketball part has never been his problem. He was a top 100 Rivals player out of high school.

My take: I get the sense that he would like to come to Kansas, but I don’t get the sense that he has necessarily been guaranteed a scholarship yet. While I would like to see Self add another guard to this class as insurance for Anrio Adams as well as any potential transfer, I don’t think Johnson will be first on his list. However, I do believe based on proximity and need, Johnson could be in Lawrence next year. It depends on how long he is willing to wait to see if a scholarship will be there.

(2) JaKarr Sampson, 6’8 Small Forward

JaKarr Sampson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Sampson originally signed with St. John’s last year, but was ruled ineligible, so he returned to Brewster Academy and has since put in the work to get back into his college recruitment. He is very long and athletic, with rangy arms and impressive defensive acumen. On the offensive side of the ball, he still needs to work on his jump shot, but he has no problem finishing at the rim. He’ll need to continue working, but based on his potential alone, he was the 51st ranked player by Rivals in the 2011 class.

My take: I think Sampson does legitimately like Kansas. We recruited him the first time around, and both Self and Dooley have maintained contact with him and his coach. He has not taken any visits yet this year, but does seemingly plan to do so in the spring. While I do believe he could fit into KU’s system nicely, he might be scared off by the number of guys Kansas has that can play small forward next year. That being said, he was a part of a 9-man recruiting class to St. John’s so perhaps he isn’t afraid of some competition. Speaking of competition, in addition to KU, Sampson has heard from Pittsburgh, Providence, Florida, Baylor, Connecticut, and Louisville. Might be a tough one to get.

(3) Luke Cothron, 6’9 Power Forward

Luke Cothron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Similar to the above two prospects, Cothron has had a bumpy road to Division I basketball. He was a top prospect in his 2010 class, Rivals ranking him 45th overall and 11th at the PF position. He committed to Auburn over Connecticut, Kentucky, and Tennessee. However, he didn’t qualify and eventually landed at UMass. He became homesick and journeyed to the University of New Orleans. He eventually left there too and ended up at the College of Southern Idaho, where he’s stayed until now. Cothron has a variety of low post moves and has a good motor for rebounding the ball as well. He has a great frame and can still add muscle to his already strong upper body.

My take: Cothron told me via twitter that he had plans to visit Kansas, but that has not happened yet. The skills are definitely there, but it’s hard to say whether Self has earnestly offered him yet. Per @scoutsfocus on twitter, Cothron has said that he has offers from Kansas, Baylor, UNLV, and Memphis, but I’m not sure it has been confirmed. If Cothron ends up on campus for a visit, I’ll give this one a much higher shot, but until then, I do not think Cothron will end up in Lawrence.

(4) Tony Parker, 6’9 Center

Tony Parker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Parker is one of the last remaining Class 2012 blue chip prospects that has yet to commit. He is a huge kid at 6’9, 250 pounds, and uses all of his strength and mass well in the low block. For a big (round) guy, he has great post moves and really good hands. He uses all of his size to control the paint when he has the ball, but does not have the same presence on defense as he tends to play below the rim. He has had some troubles with staying in shape, but if he were to end up in a good strength and conditioning program, he could be a huge force down low.

My take: Because Self was confident that he was going to land his number one Center prospect in Kaleb Tarczewski, he did not put in much work into back-up plans at that position. Once Tarczewski committed to Arizona, Self hit the recruiting trail hard on both Parker and Landen Lucas. Parker has stated recently that Kansas has come on strong, but schools like Duke, UCLA, Ohio State, Memphis, Georgetown and Georgia have been there from the beginning. Not to mention Kansas will go from no depth in the post this year to having Withey, Traylor, Lucas, Peters, and Ellis all down low next year. I highly doubt Parker visits Kansas and would not recommend getting too tied up in his recruitment until a visit is imminent.

(5) Shabazz Muhammad, 6’6 Small Forward

Shabazz Muhammad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Shabazz is the #1 player in the 2012 class and is much deserving of such an honor. In short, he is a brilliant basketball player, with an exceptional mid-range game and an ability to get to the rim and finish hard. He’ll have no problem scoring on the collegiate level and will likely be drafted very early in the 2013 draft.

My take: I am keeping this one short because I think Kansas is a long shot in this recruitment. While he has said that he plans to visit Kansas, I am skeptical. Those much closer to his recruitment have said that he’ll eventually end up at Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, or UNLV. He is an extremely talented player, but at times it seems like he also has an extremely talented publicist. It seems like his team’s motive is to keep his name in the papers at all the blue blood schools to keep the hype alive. Not to say I don’t think he’s worth hyping. He is. But I don’t think he’ll end up in Lawrence.

(6) Savon Goodman, 6’6 Combo Guard/SF

Savon Goodman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Goodman committed to his hometown Villanova in late 2010 but then decommitted in 2011 and opened up his recruitment again. He is Rivals’ 53rd ranked player in the class of 2012. At one point, there was speculation that Goodman would have to reclassify to the 2013 class due to some academic concerns. However, he has indicated that he still plans to sign in 2012. He is an excellent scorer and can aggressively drive the lane and get to the basket. He does need to work on his jump shot and 3-point shooting.

My take: Kansas recruited Goodman the first time around, but there has been very little smoke with his name and Kansas the second time around. While quite a few schools have expressed interest in Goodman, I think there is some concern that he may not qualify. I put him in here because at one time Kansas did have interest, and that interest could be rekindled if there is some indication that he will, in fact, qualify for the 2012 class.

(7) Wanaah Bail, 6’8 Small Forward

Wannah Bail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: Bail is originally from the Bahamas and has landed in Texas. He has transferred high schools multiple times and has had some difficulty staying eligible. When on the court, he has excelled as a versatile small forward with enormous athleticism. His speed at 6’8 is a huge plus and he excels on the baseline with a good first step.

My take: Bail claims he still has a number of offers from high major programs such as Houston, Indiana, Arkansas, Louisville, Marquette, Texas, Baylor, San Francisco, Arizona State and South Florida. He says he’s also got interest from Kansas, Oklahoma, Maryland, Arizona, Miami (Fl.), USC, Nebraska and Boston College. Similar to Goodman above, the name Kansas has been mentioned with Bail so I wanted to provide some information. That said, I do not see him ending up here.

(8) Nino Jackson, 6’2 Point Guard

Nino Jackson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: From a talent perspective, Jackson may be the best on this entire post outside of Shabazz. Unfortunately, Jackson has not been able to display his talent much this year due to academic and and other off-court issues. There are rumors that the Ardmore, OK guard got caught up in some things that he shouldn’t have outside of school. He’s somewhat of an internet legend around these parts as Kansas fans enjoyed his hints that Self and Co. led for his services at one point. Then, in the matter of about a year, he went from one tattoo to a hundred (check out his twitter profile @SoufSide_FlyGuy for a look), skipped a lot of school, and has had coaches seemingly keep him at arm’s length while still keeping one eye on the situation. When he’s on the court, he is a fantastic scorer, with good 3-point range and ball handling skills. While he’s listed at point guard, he’s probably more of a combo guard.

My take: It does sound like Nino may be back in school now. I heard somewhere that he enrolled in a program to help him get caught up with his classmates on academics. Hopefully he will find whatever he needs to find to get him back on track because it would be shame to let all of that talent go to waste. With the spring period rapidly approaching, I would be shocked if Nino ends up being recruited in the 2012 class to a Division I program. More likely, he’ll either end up reclassifying or going to a junior college to prove to coaches that he has his priorities back in line. I’d love for him to be at KU, but only if Self does too. I’m not sure we’re there yet.

Conclusion: 
I would be surprised if Self does actually add to an already good 2012 class. I don’t see him adding guys for the sake of adding them unless he knows that there will be eligibility issues or transfers. After this year, there is certainly something to be said for adding depth though. I would bet that unless one of the foregoing guys really impresses Self, he won’t be adding beyond the two guys that have yet to sign – Anrio and White. I guess we’ll see.

 

KU, OU preview

Posted on: January 7th, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Kansas faces Oklahoma today at 1:00 PM in the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK. For those looking for the game, it will be televised on ESPNU. Judging by my twitter timeline, it sounds like there will be a few KU fans making the trip south, which is pretty freakin’ awesome.

I think most fans are looking at this game as an easy one considering Missouri recently beat Oklahoma by a ridiculous 38 points. I truly believe that game was an aberration. While Oklahoma certainly struggled against the Tigers, they are still 11-3, and have beat Arkansas and should have beat Cincinnati (outscored late to lose by one point).

Oklahoma plays a similar game to Kansas State. They crash the boards with authority and have better outside shooters than the Wildcats. While the Sooners were picked by Big XII coaches to be tied for last in the league this year, they have surprised some with their good rebounding and perimeter shooting. Should Oklahoma do both of those well, they will hang with this KU team.

Kansas certainly has the edge in the interior. At this point, you can pretty much give Robinson his double-double. What I am looking forward to is seeing whether Withey will maintain the kind of production he had against Kansas State. He played strong, and had a true presence on both ends. If he can find that every game, we are going to be tough to beat.

I’m also looking for Tyshawn to have a really good game. He sounded off on twitter last night, calling out those who criticize him and don’t know how to play basketball. While I’m not that worried about the twitter rant, it would certainly do a lot to quiet his critics with a big game. I think he’ll do it.

As for a prediction, I believe KU wins an ugly matchup. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 72-60. Safe travels to all making the trip, and Rock Chalk!

Reflections on non-conference play

Posted on: January 2nd, 2012 by jayhawktalk No Comments
KU players in crimson

Top 5 in minutes through non-conference play

Expectations met

Through 13 non-conference basketball  games, the Jayhawks are 10-3. With the exception of the Davidson loss, I think most would say this team has lived up to expectations. It has two statement wins against top 15 teams in Ohio State and Georgetown. It lost two games to potential #1 tourney seeds in Kentucky and Duke. And for the most part, there are reasons to be optimistic entering Big XII play.

Reasons for optimism

For starters, our power forward might be early favorite to win the 2012 Naismith Award. Robinson has been playing like a star. Not since Wayne Simien has Kansas had a big man that meant more to his team.

While KU’s point guard play has been inconsistent at best, there have been signs of late that Tyshawn Taylor is turning the corner. His overall season numbers have been good — 15 points and 5 assists per game — and he’s played great defense. But from mid-November to mid-December, he was averaging over 6 turnovers a game. The good news is that since the beginning of Christmas break, he has averaged 6 assists and only 2 turnovers. Hopefully this trend can continue.

T-Rob, Taylor, and…

One thing this team has been missing is a consistent third option. For the most part, the “third option” has been somewhat of a group effort. The three guys that have a chance to be a more consistent #3 are Elijah, Conner, and Travis.

Elijah Johnson is averaging 10 points per game, but he has really struggled from 3-point range. Despite shooting 82 three pointers on the season (an average of over 6 a game), he has only made 30% of them.

Conner, on the other hand, is shooting over 40% from 3. While he has shot the ball fairly well from behind the arc, he has been a liability on defense. That said, Self has had to play him with starter’s minutes thus far (4th on the team in minutes) because he has really had no other 3-point threat.

Travis has been phenomenal on defense, but has also struggled to score the basketball at times. He has a great mid-range game, and I’d like to see him use it more. If he starts to get those 10-12 foot jumpers open, I think it will help the entire offense.

From a talent perspective, Elijah makes the most sense as a guy that should be making a bigger impact on the game for this team. He is incredibly athletic, but sometimes I think he forgets it. While Taylor uses his speed and athleticism seemingly every time he touches the ball, Elijah has turned too much into a spot shooter. I’d really like to see him attack the rim more. If he makes a couple easy baskets, perhaps it will help open up better looks from 3-point range as well.

Elijah Johnson taking man off the dribble

Like to see Elijah take his man off the dribble more

How opponents are going to play us

As a team, I’d like to see fewer 3-pointers taken. It is becoming more and more apparent that teams are willing to give us open shots from beyond the arc. They are crowding the paint to try to minimize Robinson’s impact, leaving our guards with a lot of room to operate. Unfortunately, we just have not made a team pay for this yet. As a team, KU is shooting .355 from deep, which ranks in the 120s in the NCAA. If some of those shots start going down, it will sure help free up some space for Robinson as opponents will have to respect the outside shot. Right now, they just don’t.

Improve the offense

This team struggles to score at times. I am sure Self is installing a lot of new plays over winter break to help jumpstart the team from an offensive perspective. Here are a couple of things I would focus on if I were coach:

Instead of settling for every open 3, it would be nice to design some set plays within the confines of the offense that are focused on ball screens and dribble penetration. Taylor is already so good at taking the ball off the dribble, I think the offense needs to start and end with him doing what he does best. I also like the idea of getting both Travis and Elijah a ball screen to let them get to the basket or pull up for that mid-range jumper.

Also, when Withey is playing strong and with a lot of energy, he can be a big part of the offense. He is actually one of the best passers on the team, and when the ball is moving on offense, he can be very useful dropping it to the post or kicking to the wing. He also gives you a few points from the offensive rebound position, which has been a struggle this year.

I would also like to see Kevin Young play a few more minutes per game. His biggest asset to this team is energy, and sometimes it can be contagious. He has shot the ball really well (currently .613 from the field), and what’s more, he’s taken good shots. It would be nice to see his average of 10 minutes per game get closer to 15.

Get that title

The team’s play has not deterred me from maintaining my position that KU will win the Big XII again this year. Likewise, I am not concerned with the hot starts from Baylor and Missouri. Both are very talented teams. But neither have been tested the way KU has so far. I also like our coaching advantage and home court advantage.

Speaking of home court advantage, while many have said KU has had it easy playing in the north division for so long, people fail to mention that those south teams have only had to come to Allen Fieldhouse once every few years. Now they will be forced to play in Allen every year, which should help even out the difficulty of schedule.

I still contend that KU will be a single-digit loss team this year. Barring injury, I think 14 Big XII victories is the worst this team will do.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pumped for Big XII play to begin.  Bring on those wildcats and let’s get this party started.

Self looking to add JuCo combo guard?

Posted on: December 29th, 2011 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Geron Johnson brings the ball up the court for the Broncbusters

By now, most of you have heard of ’12 blockbuster guard, Shabazz Muhammad. You may also know that he’s down to six schools, one of which is KU.

While Shabazz is still probably a long shot to be a Jayhawk, that does not mean Self is done recruiting guards to the 2012 class. And he doesn’t have to look too far to find a potential target.

Garden City Community College sophomore guard Geron Johnson is finally looking to become a Div. I basketball player. He recently visited Kansas for the Ohio State game and is also looking at Memphis and Oklahoma State, among others.

Rated the #100 prospect in his 2010 class out of high school, Johnson had looks from multiple high major programs. Unfortunately, off the court issues derailed his plans. When he was 16, he was arrested for attempted burglary and placed on home monitoring. He went the junior college route, eventually landing at Chipola (Fla.).

KU fans might recognize the name as Mario Little’s former school.

While he averaged double digit points for Chipola, he once again ran into off court issues, this time leading to an arrest and jail time for misdemeanor marijuana charges. Johnson eventually transferred to Garden City and has committed himself to getting to Div. I basketball.

As Johnson recently told The Shiver: “My past mistakes have helped shape me to have better character and to understand how quickly you can fall into bad decisions,” said Johnson. “They helped me because I have more knowledge now. I have to be more careful with the decisions that I make daily. If you make the right decisions consistently it becomes a habit where you are doing the right thing,” he added.

If Johnson is able to keep making the right decisions, he could see wind up in Lawrence next season. Self would be getting a proficient scorer and above average defender.  He’s also averaged close to 6 assists per game for the Broncbusters while hitting on 40% of his three-point attempts.

Johnson has indicated he will make a decision soon.

 

 

Still waiting for ‘Good Tyshawn’ to step up

Posted on: December 27th, 2011 by jayhawktalk No Comments
Taylor tries a circus shot

Taylor attempts another circus shot

I predicted before the season that the duo of Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson was going to comparable to Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, if not better.  I, like most people, saw such promise in Taylor’s game. A quick first step, good vision, and athleticism matched by very few in the college game.

And we all knew what Robinson could bring to the table. In my mind, both had ceilings that were higher than Cole and Sherron, and both were in a position to need good seasons for future basketball employment.

Of course, Robinson has been terrific. What’s more, he’s been incredibly consistent. He is a force down low and has been good at keeping himself on the court and relevant late in games. He has, thus far, produced a season better than Cole ever did.

But Taylor has not held up his end of the bargain.

He hasn’t been bad. In fact, he’s probably been the most productive guard in our lineup this year. Not that he’s had much competition.

But he hasn’t been great. And he definitely hasn’t been consistent.

It’s been said before, but the thing that’s so frustrating about watching Taylor is that you know he has the skills to be phenomenal. You’ve seen it in spurts.

He can get by his man whenever he wants to. It truly does not matter who is guarding him. He has an incredible first step and has built the strength to surge to the rim off the dribble. The problem for Taylor has always been what comes next. He tends to leave his feet at inopportune times, leaving him with the option to attempt a pass or a shot mid-air (often with no real commitment to either before take-off). The good news is that he’s often fouled. The bad news is he turns the ball over a lot.

His best asset is his speed, but it can also be his worst asset at times. He plays the game sped up, which gives him a super power most don’t have on the court. Except sometimes uses his power for bad instead of good.

I think this is what KU fans mean when we say “We need ‘Good Tyshawn’ today, not ‘Bad Tyshawn.’” You see Good Tyshawn when he uses all of his incredible talents for good — active on defense, smart distributor, getting to the basket under control.

And you know what happens when he uses them for bad. You see the one-handed passes off the dribble (the one thing I LOATHE from our guards), the circus shots that fail to draw rim, and the bullet passes to Withey that he couldn’t catch in a million years. You also see the obligatory swing pass that falls into the lap of Danny Manning on the bench. The common denominator to all of these errors usually starts and ends with playing sped up.

The funny part is, Tyshawn could be just as effective in the college game if he slowed down just a tiny bit. He doesn’t need to go 100% to get by most college guards. 80% would do just fine most of the time. And when he gets by the first guy, he need only trust his instincts just a little bit more. And I think his instincts need to come down to three options, in this order:

(1) Score the basketball as if you’re not going to get the foul call. If you do get the foul call, even better.

(2) Find the Post. If you see the post defenders drawing away from Robinson or Withey to contend your shot, find Robinson or Withey for an easy basket.

(3) Kick to the wing. This hasn’t been quite as effective this year, mostly because we don’t have that corner 3 threat that we’ve had in recent years. But it should still be open nearly every time Tyshawn gets to the rim.

At times, this KU team struggles to score. If teams are doing everything they can to shut down Robinson (good strategy), it should really be Tyshawn’s show. He is the only one on this team that has shown the ability to get the rim whenever he wants to, no matter what defense he is facing. And when Tyshawn is getting to the rim with ease, good things should happen (see above options).

Think back to the second half of the Kentucky game this year. Most people ridiculed Taylor for his 3-13 shooting performance, but without his penetration in the second half, KU might have lost that game by 25. He hit 15 of 17 free throws and did not have a turnover. He was our only offense at the time. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective.

Certainly I understand the counterpoint that when Tyshawn drives the lane, throws up a prayer, and doesn’t draw a foul, it might as well go in the box score as a turnover. My response to that is when you have a 7-footer in Withey and Thomas Robinson (arguably the best rebounder in the NCAA), throwing a prayer off the backboard should get a put-back from time to time.

I still think this KU team is pretty good. In order to be great, though, it needs Good Tyshawn on a more consistent basis. Hopefully he can find it.

 

 

KU, Davidson by the numbers

Posted on: December 21st, 2011 by jayhawktalk No Comments

Some numbers that mattered for each player in Monday’s loss to Davidson. More bad than good this time around.

Thomas Robinson: 21 and 18
I just made up a new rule for this piece. If you get 20+ points and 15+ rebounds, you get two key stats. At this point I’m really starting to believe that Robinson is the best player in the country, and that Anthony Davis and the Kentucky frontline holding him to 12 and 11 (note: “holding” him to a double-double) is one of the more impressive defensive performances of the season. Obviously I watch more KU hoops than any other school, but no one has impressed as much as Robinson.

Tyshawn Taylor: 8 days
Taylor had a torn meniscus, played on it nine days ago, had surgery eight days ago, then decided he could play Monday. Let’s just straighten out two things here. First, this means that anything Kansas got from him was a bonus. By most medical logic, he’s out for that game and maybe one or two more. So getting 15 points and seven assists was great. If Elijah Johnson knocks down a couple more threes, we’re looking at a double-double. Solid performance from Taylor. If at this point you’re still upset with the five turnovers, I don’t know what to tell you. You should know what you’re getting from TT by now. Second thing this tells us is that Taylor is an absolute warrior, and has developed into the leader that Self needs him to be. It was pretty clear that Taylor wasn’t at full speed, but Self obviously has no faith in Naadir Tharpe (more on this later). Taylor at 70 percent, like I tweeted pregame, is still the team’s best lead guard. Apparently by a pretty wide margin.

Elijah Johnson: 3-10 3P FG
Johnson’s got a beautiful stroke. He’s got great rhythm as a catch-and-shoot guy, and when he’s off the dribble he’s got a nice, quick release. But for a guy who is as good at shooting as he is, Johnson goes cold an awful lot. I feel like EJ’s one of those irrational confidence shooters. If he hits one, he starts to think he’s going to hit everything, and he usually does. But if he misses a couple, it goes the exact opposite way. He starts to think too much about his shot, tries to correct mid-game, and it completely throws him off. He’s got worlds of talent. He’s just got to get out of his own way.

Travis Releford: 8 points
I like Releford. A lot. He’s pretty obviously the team’s go-to lockdown perimeter defender, and he’s athletic enough that in the break that he’s an offensive weapon. But for me he has to do more. Kansas can’t rely on Robinson and Taylor – and Johnson to a lesser degree – for all of the scoring, and Releford’s the next guy up. He can shoot (granted his shot is ungainly compared to Teahan or Johnson, but the numbers are there to back him up), and he’s able to get to the rack pretty consistently. If this team is going to succeed, it needs either Releford or the next guy on this list to develop into a double-figure scorer.

Jeff Withey: 16 minutes
Watched the game a couple times now, stared at the boxscore for a good long while, and I can’t figure out why Withey didn’t get more minutes. The only thing I can come up with is that Davidson is laden with guards and keeping Withey in the game meant Robinson had to guard the perimeter and when Robinson is in the process of going for 21 and 18, you just can’t risk him getting into foul trouble. That’s fair. But he’s still the best defender on the team, and if you extrapolate his numbers out to a 24-minute game, he’s looking at a 14-point, 6-board day, which is considerably more than Kansas got from Conner Teahan, who played the lion’s share of Withey’s minutes. I think I just unconsciously complimented Withey’s offense. I’m moving on.

Conner Teahan: 2-8 3P FG
If Teahan’s not hitting from outside, he cannot play 26 minutes. Plain and simple. This sounds like the argument people used to make against Brady Morningstar, but I was actually pro-Morningstar for most of his career. Morningstar brought a lot of other things to the table: great court vision, quality defense. He was like the guy who outworks everyone else on the rec center courts, that everyone else inevitably hates because hey, man, we’re just here to have some fun and jack up some shots and you’re standing really close to me. Teahan doesn’t have that. He’s too slow-footed on defense to guard a three, let alone an athletic one or two, and is more of a liability because of that then Robinson-outside-because-of-Withey ever would be. All that said, Bill Self is considerably smarter about basketball than I am.

Kevin Young: 0-1 FG
“What is this consistency you speak of?” – Kevin Young.
Young didn’t really say that. If you weren’t sure. But he might as well have. After a brilliant performance off the bench against Ohio State in 24 minutes, Young got 10 minutes against Davidson and didn’t do a damn thing with one of them. I believe it was the man who’s blog I’m borrowing who said he hoped Young would be a homeless-man’s Thomas Robinson. I concurred with that assessment. But he brought little energy and no offensive spark to the Jayhawks in his time on the floor Monday. Bad day for him.

Justin Wesley: 0-1 FG
I was never high on Wesley, so seeing him play at an uninspiring level hasn’t really floored me. I’d hoped he’d be a spark off the bench, and his athleticism that he showed off at Late Night the last couple seasons has been reason enough for some excitement, but this is still a guy who averaged one point and one rebound at Lamar University. There had to be a reason for it. I think it’s pretty clear now what it is. For all his limitless athleticism, Wesley isn’t a great basketball player. It’s like the difference between Kobe and LeBron. LeBron is a world-class athlete, maybe the best in the world right now. I honestly believe he could pick up pretty much any sport and be a star at it. He’s that good. Kobe is a basketball player. Not the biggest, strongest or fastest guy on the floor (don’t get me wrong, he’s still a great athlete), but he’s just got more basketball talent than anyone in the game. Wesley is like LeBron, in that he’s a phenomenal athlete. If he signed up to be a wide receiver, Charlie Weis would be able to do some serious damage with him. He’s just not much of a basketball player, unfortunately.

Naadir Tharpe: 3 minutes
Monday was pretty much a worst-case scenario for the Jayhawks. Going down early meant that Tyshawn Taylor wasn’t coming out of that game unless his knee flat-out quit on him. That said, I’m still surprised Tharpe only got three minutes. It’s been evident that Self doesn’t have a whole lot of faith in Tharpe over the last couple games, but you had to expect Taylor to be limited to about 25 minutes max – Self said pregame he didn’t want him going over 30, he wound up playing 33 – which would have meant Tharpe getting at least 10 minutes. Three, though? He never even got a chance to show what he could do. It wasn’t necessarily a bad day for Tharpe, just disappointing.

To follow or not to follow – a look at social media and recruiting

Posted on: December 15th, 2011 by jayhawktalk No Comments

The NCAA has always grappled with technology and how it affects recruitment.  As the world becomes smaller with every technological advance, antiquated NCAA bylaws become a joke to try to enforce as written.

I should explain up front that I personally follow a number of Kansas basketball and football recruits on my twitter account, @JayhawkTalk. I even interact with them from time to time. The substance of this interaction can be anything from a “retweet” of what they say (E.g., if a potential recruit tweets something like “I am going to have my in-home visit with Kansas Coach Bill Self this Monday. Can’t wait,” it would get retweeted by a ton of KU fans) to a simple suggestion or nudge that KU is a great place to be.

There has been quite a bit of discussion of late as to what kind of interaction I am allowed to have with recruits, if any. Is “following” them violative of NCAA bylaws? What about mentioning and interacting with them? What if they reach out to you first asking for feedback?

I wanted to spend some time researching these issues so that I could become more knowledgeable about what is allowed, not allowed, and everything in between. I wanted to share this with you because I don’t think many understand it very well. I certainly did not.

I should also add that while I am an attorney, I am not writing this to provide any sort of legal advice. This is my own opinion and analysis of what I have found, both in the actual bylaws and how those bylaws are enforced. In other words, should you get a cease and desist letter from a compliance official, take it seriously.  Don’t rely solely on this review as the word.

With that out of the way, leggo.

 

Coach Self Laughing at Dooley commentary

Coach Self laughs at Dooley's commentary

Texting while recruiting

When text messaging became popular around 2005, parents of recruits began to complain to NCAA officials that their mobile phone bills were rising with every text a coach sent. The NCAA made a blanket response by banning texts to recruits completely in 2007.

When asked to comment about the texting ban (which had just gone into force), Anna Chappel, then head of the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee said, “If you don’t stop it now, what roads are you going to have to cross later on?”

She could not have expected at that time that the rise of social media networks would force regulators back to the drawing board only a few short years later.

 

What to do with Facebook, Twitter

Like texting, it took the NCAA a while to figure out what to do with Twitter and Facebook. When the NCAA became convinced that Facebook private messaging and Twitter direct messages were, for all intents and purposes, just like emails, they decided not to regulate them any different than email (email, like regular mail, is unlimited after a recruit’s junior year, subject to certain restrictions).

To the NCAA, it was much easier to try to mold the ever-changing social media world to its existing rulebooks. Square peg, round hole comes to mind.

After likening direct messages to emails, the NCAA deemed that posting on the Facebook Wall of a recruit or sending a Twitter reply or mention was just like publicizing a player’s recruitment in the media, which isn’t allowed. Regulators again chose to mold new Internet networking into rules already on the books.

Cole talking to recruits

Cole Aldrich stops by to talk to recruits

But this strategy would only get the NCAA so far.

Not surprisingly, technology continued to advance. It became apparent that recruits were receiving Facebook and Twitter messages from coaches directly to their phones and mobile devices.  Regulators were once again faced with a technological dilemma. Is receiving a Facebook message too much like a text message? Or is it more like an email? Or, worse yet, is it some new blend that would force the NCAA to create new legislation?

Not surprisingly, the NCAA still remained steadfast in adapting technology to its own rules.

It issued bulletins stating that once a coach discovers that a recruit is receiving messages to his or her phone, that coach must cease contact through that medium. Certainly not the easiest rule to police.

As coaches became further disenchanted with texting, phone, and social media rules as written, the NCAA did what the NCAA does best: it threw the issue to a committee. Luckily for coaches, it does finally seem that the NCAA is willing to deregulate some forms of electronic communication, including text messaging. For more info, check this out from the NCAA.

But what does this all mean for fans?

Nearly all decrees and rule changes made by the NCAA regarding electronic communication revolve around the recruitment relationship between coach and player. Very little has been said about what kind of interactions fans and recruits can have through social media. That is probably because to the NCAA, this issue is much more black and white.

Fans and boosters should have no interaction with recruits at all.

Not that it’s stopped anyone. Take Taylor Moseley, for instance. In 2009, Moseley, a North Carolina State freshman, created a Facebook group called “John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!”  After more than 700 people joined the group, Moseley received a cease and desist letter from the N.C. State compliance department. It became a national story as First Amendment rights activists went to bat for Moseley by speaking out in the media on his behalf.

Moseley eventually changed the name of the group.

It’s important to note that multiple other people created Facebook groups encouraging John Wall to come to their respective school, including students at Baylor, Duke, and at least four groups for Kentucky.  There is no indication that the compliance departments at Baylor, Duke, and Kentucky made any such effort to reach out to those students.

 

Self argues with a ref

Coach Self argues with a ref

What are the schools saying?

We learned two important things from the Moseley fiasco:

First, the NCAA did not ask Moseley to take down the Facebook group or change the name – North Carolina State did. There are very few, if any, reports of the NCAA actually policing individual people from interacting with recruits via social media. That job is tasked to the individual universities, which generally consists of a handful of overworked compliance officers.

Second, compliance departments are not uniform in the way they police interaction among fans and recruits. N.C. State was obviously more proactive in its supervision of students and boosters online. But for every N.C. State department, there are 100 Kentucky departments, which, for one reason or another, do not (or choose not) to police such activity.

Most university compliance departments have a blanket policy on social media on the department website. For instance, North Carolina states the following in one of its bulletins to boosters:

“The use of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace can very easily be used by individuals in an attempt to influence prospective student-athletes to attend a specific institution. The NCAA prohibits any involvement by boosters in the recruitment of prospects, and individuals who might initiate these attempts to contact prospects could jeopardize the institution’s ability to continue the recruitment of such prospects.”

Other departments are trying to get more interactive by starting their own Twitter and Facebook accounts. You might see @JayhawkComply on twitter, which recently authored this tweet: “All faculty, staff, students and boosters of KU cannot promote KU in any way or encourage a prospect to attend KU, Leave this to coaches.”

If you continue to look around at other departments, you’ll see more and more of these vague, blanket, overarching statements loosely referencing the NCAA and it Bylaws. All will have the same basic message: Don’t do it.

 

Now for the real world

The reality is that university compliance departments have a lot on their hands. They’re understaffed, they’re overworked, and they simply do not have the resources to track everything on the Internet. They must track athletes already at the university as well as prospective ones. It’s an incredibly difficult task.

Consider this scenario: I create an account called “MUTigerBooster” and start tweeting to potential Missouri recruits to come to Missouri to achieve all the riches in their wildest dreams. All MU could do is tell me to stop. There is no subpoena power. There is no name associated with the account. And it is incredibly unlikely that Twitter would disclose IP addresses or contact information. It is a nightmare for compliance folks.

But what can they do?

**Sidenote: Some university departments are turning to computer programs and outside firms to help police online content from their athletes. One such company is UDiligence, which uses custom keyword lists to catch problems before they occur. For a good time, check out the UDiligence website page where they show images that they have caught. Pretty funny stuff.

I contend that over 99% of the online interaction between fans and recruits will not receive any response from the university the fan represents. Don’t confuse this as tacit approval of the action from the university. It’s not. But policing online content on social media websites would take 100 employees, not 5. That being said, most of the time if a violation is reported to compliance officials, they will look into it and issue a request to stop the behavior if it is found to be violative.

**Another sidenote: I’m sure by writing this piece I will be getting a message the next time I reply to a tweet from Chris Walker or Dayne Crist.

 

My take

The most interesting part of this whole thing? The recruits want you to tweet them. They want as many followers as they can possibly get, and the attention from a particular school’s fan base does have an effect on what school that guy chooses. To say otherwise is ignorant.

Obviously that also means that coaches secretly want fans tweeting to prospects too. It hammers home the recruiting pitch that if you come to Kansas, you’ll be beloved by all of KU nation – and you can see that’s already happening on your twitter feed. Coaches may come out and say that they don’t need the extra help, but I would argue that they are not being truthful. It doesn’t hurt to have some extra help, especially when every other school is doing it too.

I think there is a competitive advantage in the recruiting game to have a fan base on social networks that follow and interact with recruits. Even though the NCAA and the university compliance department tells me not to, I will continue to follow, retweet, and interact with recruits.  And I actually encourage you all to do the same.

Obviously you have to be smart and tactful about it. When tweeting, do so in a classy and respectful manner. And if a player doesn’t choose KU, wish him well and call it a day.

But until I see equal policing across the board from other Division I compliance departments that KU competes with, I will maintain my position on this.

Happy tweeting.