Self reloads again, no surprise there. I can't wait to watch both teams this year. The FB team brings back a lot of talent and will start the year in the top 20. The BB team look completely different and it will be fun to get to know the new players. I hope that the team can muster at least a Sweet 16 appearance to get these new guys some tourney experience; but playing in the Big 12 will bring you up to speed as well as anything I suppose. Can't wait, get baseball off the TV and lets start playing something I love to watch.

ROCK CHALK RELOADED HAWKS!

Its going to be fun to watch all of these new faces, but to be honest, the player I'm looking forward to seeing the most is Mr. Teahan.

He's such a pure shooter, I wonder if he'll be able to build his defensive skills to the point that Coach Self will feel comfortable enough to play him. Otherwise he's a lock for the Jeremy Case award.

That's not a knock on Jeremy....great talented basketball players that play to their best ability are not guaranteed to crack the Jayhawk lineup. If Conner can find his spot, his presence would spread defenses and allow our guards to reign havoc. I remember how Wes Miller just through daggers right and left and UNC. It would be great if Conner could achieve that.

carterpatterson -

Have fun watching Teahan....you will be the only one still watching the game with :30 seconds left in the 2nd half. Even if he develops into "Wes Miller", who wants Wes Miller on their team?

p.s. Case was neither "great" nor "talented". Which makes Teahan a perfect candidate for the Jeremy Case award for players that shoot alot in the mop up minutes against the other team's scrubs.

I'm ready to print out next years roster to learn who is who already. I'll be with you Hawks, early and late into the season.

nicka......Let's be charitable to Teahan. He's a nice kid with a nice shot. He just doesn't have the speed and quickness to play at an elite level.......just like Wes Miller.

"Who wants Wes Miller on their team?" --funniest comment I've seen in a while!

nicka...

Any true Jayhawk fan watches the whole game, even the last 30 seconds of a blowout.

Things will be rocky at the start, but Self will have these guys playing well toward the end of the season. Another Big 12 tournament title isn't out of the question.

Keep in mind how Coach Self approaches a new season. The 1st third of the season is spent instructing and developing his team. Wins and Losses are not as important. The middle third of the season is league play, and we all know how serious HCBS is about league play. He's determined to win it every year. The last part of the season is tournament play. At this point, it's just a crap shoot. The team has been seasoned and prepared, but how far they go depends partly on luck, knowing each team they play is a winner.

needless to day, there's a lot of time between now and November. Not to mention between now and March. It will be interesting to see how well these guys bond when they travel to Canada. I expect a bumpy road this year.

what's the latest word on the Morris twins now? I know I saw that article where they have arrived in Lawrence for July classes, but I don't remember hearing they have officially qualified academically yet

"Any true Jayhawk fan watches the whole game, even the last 30 seconds of a blowout."

QFT.

Has everyone seen the recap of the first day of NBA summer league play?
It is reported that Beasley did nearly anything he wanted on the court. But the big news I got was that Chalmers got the best of Rose (again) during the Miami/Chicago match up.

The last time we won a championship, the following year we had an insignificant recruiting class and were on probation, making a complete waste of a year.

No matter what happens this year, it will be a whole lot more fun and interesting than '89.

"Keep in mind how Coach Self approaches a new season. The 1st third of the season is spent instructing and developing his team. Wins and Losses are not as important. The middle third of the season is league play, and we all know how serious HCBS is about league play. He's determined to win it every year. The last part of the season is tournament play. At this point, it's just a crap shoot. The team has been seasoned and prepared, but how far they go depends partly on luck, knowing each team they play is a winner."

Excellent analysis of Self's philosophy, jhawk52. Which makes it all the more remarkable that his winning percentage at KU is even higher than Roy's was, given that Roy had such great success in November every year.

This year's group sounds like it will be a lot of fun to see develop. Is it November yet?

Not sure when you attended KU, dj, but the University has never judged their athletes or students based on their religious views. In fact, see the Chancellor's description of 10 Characteristics of a Great University:
http://www.chancello...

If you want to cheer for Christian athletes only, I suggest you find another school.

I personally can't wait to watch this year's squad. It'll be ugly for a while, but if they play to their abilities and become a unit they could do great things. I think this is where Bill Self is such a good coach--team building. Throughout his career he's coached "project programs" that needed restructuring and direction, and we'll definitely need those qualities this year. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk nation...

KU will be alright next year. Stronger on the boards (Kaun was to inconsistent, Arthur was not physical and Jackson was a horse), THey don;t have a shooter (but it has been years since KU had a lights out shot). Chalmers and Rush wer clutch, but neither was a s scorer who could bomb away. Defense is the real challenge. THey do not teach OSU/HCBS defense in HS.

I believe the starters will be the best defenders. Considering that Collins was a defensive liability last yar and Orningstar, Reed, Teehan, etc are way too slow to play elite defense. L

Aldrich is probably the best defender and he is still green and hopefully will really bloom with more minutes!

KU will go as far as it's defense will carry them. There defense will suck early in year and then we will see how well they pick up HCBS system.

I believe the strengthof HCBS programis defense. This is why I don't think Xavier Henry would pick KU over Memphis. Calipari is an ofensive coach and has NBA experience. He knows offense.

Thanks God that great defense trumps great offense is almost any sport at any time.

GO HAWKS! GO DEFENSE!

Next year is going to be both difficult and fun to watch. I just hope it is more fun than difficult to watch near the end of the season. I can't wait to see these guys play.

Hey, djkc28 -- is the following yours, also?

"Deoxyribonucleic Acid, for example... sounds impressive, right? But have you ever seen what happens if you put something in acid? It dissolves! If we had all this acid in our cells, we'd all dissolve! So much for the Theory of Evolution, Check MATE!"

You guys can't seriously believe that djkc would say those things if he wasn't joking, right?

Nobody is that big of a rube... at least nobody that can spell and read and stuff.

He's playing with you! Come on! Funny stuff, no? Yes!

Cutting through the bull bisquits, Releford, Appleton, Taylor and Little can't shoot the rock from three.

This means Collins is our ONLY trey shooter of note and he only shoots 36%. But on good wheels and practice, we can hope for Collins to edge up to 40% from trey, especially if Collins isn't asked to drive balls to the walls to the rim every minute he plays, as was the case last year, and if Self can put one or two more trey shooters on the floor, but who would they be?

Marcus Morris might have a trey game, so that's one stepping out from the four or winging it at the SF.

But who would be the other PG/SF with the above 40%?

Self appears to have two choices.

First, let Releford be the guy and hope he can creep up to high 30s in percentage, a la Josh Shipp, at UCLA, accept being a lousy trey shooting team, and wait to land Henry, or Stephenson to solve the problem the following season.

Or, second, Self can create a composite trey shooter out of Reed/Morningstar/Teehan. I say composite, because none of these guys seem able to defend well enough to do the job on their own without using up all their fouls.

People forget that you can create composite players at positions other than post. While Reed/Morningstar/Teehan can't defend much, between the three of them they have 15 fouls to give. Play them as a composite player--never more than one on the floor at a time. Have each one massively over guard the trey stripe, so the opponent's trey shooter tends to drive instead of shoot, and foul him on the drive that these players give him, and you have nullified the opponents three point game at that position and forced them to beat you with 2 shot free throws. In exchange, you get a 40-50% trey shooter in your line up most of the time. Given today's poor free throw shooting, you're apt to come out a head in the deal. Not optimal, or even desirable to a defensive coach like Self, but maybe necessary when you have such a weak shooting perimeter bunch perimeter players.

Another interesting possibility, especially if Marcus Morris turns out to be a credible trey shooter, and Taylor/Appleton prove heady ball handlers and defenders, would be to effectively move Collins to shooting guard the way Chalmers was, and let Taylor or Appleton handle initiating on offense and defending the better guard. Taylor and Appleton drive inside and dish to bigs, bigs score or kick out to Collins, who either shoots the trey, which they will have to guard, or drives and dishes to bigs. Collins' supreme quickness would make him very tough to handle on a kick out...if they respected his three. This scheme could really put a lot of pressure on an opponent, because it would be like you have two straight penetrations by incredibly quick PGs, rather than only one, plus the kick out threat to Collins from three point land. We would frequently get to the one and one before the other team. And with a potentially strong inside attack drawing lots of fouls, that would be a big strategic advantage.

No matter who plays the guards, we're going to have to play pick and roll to cover when our short guards are on the floor part of the time.

I know the tendency will be to try to defend our way through this rebuilding year, but if Marcus Morris is as good as he sounds at 4, or 3 (and Thomas can back him up at the 4), and if Aldrich and Markieff Morris can handle the post, and Little and Releford could share the SF, there could be a serious case made for giving Releford 20 minutes at SF and 20 minutes at SG to maximize him and create the composite shooting guard out of Reed/Morningstar/Teehan for the other 20 minutes, while Collins holds down the PG with Appleton and Taylor playing backups to Collins. Appleton and Taylor get serious minutes elsewhere on the perimeter when outside scoring is not vital.

Winning 25 games without two and preferrably three threats from three is pretty tough in today's game. We got used to 3 with Rush, Chalmers and Collins. Here's hoping Coach Self can cobble together 2 to go with Collins this year.

Without credible trey shooting, this team might yield Self's worst W-L record at KU, no matter how well they defend, and despite being a talented, fun team to watch.

djkc28,

Not to sound harsh, but I don't believe it is your or any other person's place to judge an individual solely on whether he has "accept[ed] Christ as their Lord and Savior."

Not only do you present an opinion that is contrary to much of the state, your comments also serve to further paint Kansas as a group of close-minded individuals.

My final point to you is that while I respect your views, I must also remind you that to my knowledge not one of the young men representing the University of Kansas basketball team has in any form denounced Jesus Christ as their Savior, nor have they affirmed their belief in Him. Please do not make claims as to the nature of an individual's beliefs or convictions before you are fully aware of what they may or may not be.

I for one will judge a man by his actions and whether he holds himself in a moral fashion, whatever his faith or lack of such may be. Didn't we address this issue with the First Amendment?

RCJ

JayCeph - I agree with you djkc28 is messing with and trying to bait people, however I disagree on the humor value. It is done in poor taste and is just not funny. He is trying to portray the type of person that is one of the biggest turn-offs to Christianity.

"Any true Jayhawk fan will watch the whole game - even the last 30 seconds of a blowout."

It's easy to watch the last 30 seconds of a blowout when we're the ones administering it. Based on that logic, will a true Jayhawk fan watch the last 30 seconds when we're the ones getting our heads handed to us?

In my book, the answer is yes, at least in basketball, which is why I sat through some embarrassing losses since I started following KU more closely after the 2002 Final Four in Atlanta. A football blowout, on the other hand, isn't worth watching if you're on the receiving end.

You're welcome to disagree with me, and I won't question your love for your team if you don't want to see them get blown out. I'm just saying that this is how I roll. And I'm guessing I may have to endure two or three embarassing losses this season with a young inexperienced team on the court.

No matter, Rock Chalk Jayhawk; let's defend our national title!

jhwkfan,

I agree that while it may be tough to watch a beating in football, it is worth it to the team if nothing else to show your support. While it may be "garbage time" or whatever else you want to call it, the team needs to feel the support and backing of its fans throughout the entire game. If we want to spurn this image of being "just a basketball school" we need to show our teams that we are behind them and are knowledgeable of the sport. Just my opinion, but I can see where you are coming from.

RCJ

txrockchalk~

I couldn't agree with you more about the 'poor taste' value of the content of the humor and the delivery method.

However, I think he/she is getting the exact response from people that they intended... for someone to try and validate their position (on faith, etc.) as a rebuttal to the overtly myopic stance they are taking in their missive.

The 'funny' comes into play when people don't see the 'stupidity' through the trees and address his/her comments as though they were genuine. That is the funny part.

To quote Charles Bragg, "To say that -Mexicans are no better than Jews- may be true... It just doesn't sound the same as saying 'All Men Are Created Equal.'"

JayCeph - Allow me to offer a penitence for misunderstanding where you were placing the drollness factor of djkc28’s post. I see now that you do not condone their loutish behavior.

Bottom line, he/she will likely continue to laugh his/her butt off until people see through the false (or otherwise) hypocrisy.

jaybate- I think you're a little off when you say that Sherron will be the only starter who will be a threat from three. I think one of the Morris brothers, Releford and Little will all be guys who will punish you if given open looks on the perimeter. Although we won't have the quality we did with Chalmers Collins and Rush- and at that it was pretty rare to have all three of those guys on the floor at the same time until the tournament rolled around- I think having a 4 who can step out and hit the three really opens things up for driving to the basket as a set offensive strategy. Think about how Memphis played without really having anyone who was a threat from the three point line and add a four who can hit the trey and you'll see what I mean.

I think what negligible impact you might gain from playing the 'composite' guards on offense, you more than lose on D. Playing hack-a-guard basketball as base strategy is not a good idea any way you cut it. I think you're underestimating the impact quick, big, defensive minded guards can have in the college game. I think we'll see one of those three guys (Reed, Morningstar or Teahen(sp?)) get some time, but I don't think you'll see more than 2 or 3 games this year where two of those guys get 5+ mins.

I'll be surprised if we don't win the Big 12 yet again.

carterpatterson,

dude if teahan is the dude you are looking for this year than you got to be his girlfriend. come on. Hinrich # 2 will ball this year. and man, i hate to say this but jaybate, dude you suck. i don't blog much, got better stuff to do. which really isn't much. just saying that i know a lot more that you do. plus i've been around with my name. as soon as 34 got what he needed it was a title.

jaybate,

what do you do besides "bate" and talk pretend about ku? i had a dream about the twins and this dude asked me about them. who they were? what they were? and i replyed "hey, they are like the milk men...they always deliver.

That is the old nickname for Karl Malone... the Milkman.

Try something else...

He was the mailman... but the punchline was still that he delivered.

Still too close!

I agree totally with tx about djkc's little sarcastic religious rants. I'm sure there's a story about it that he started doing that... but I it's still in very poor taste... offensive to the people who are christians. It's ugly, is what it is.

Yes, the people that respond to him look ridiculous, but I don't really laugh at them... I shake my head and think to myself "get a clue".

“Cutting through the bull bisquits, Releford, Appleton, Taylor and Little can't shoot the rock from three.”

Or as djkc28 calls it – the “trinity”.

ohioburg,

"the trinity" is a new vernacular standard!!!!!

34_5_20_nbaTitle (anonymous),

Before we get into any unpleasant exchanges (I am too old for them as of this year), I just want you to put down the joint, rent and watch Brian's Song, and then I want you to post in this thread 100 times: "I love Brian Piccolo, and I want you to love him too." If you still want to make these sorts of "you suck" posts, then I will humiliate you as you wish...but not before...and maybe not even then. I like playing hard to get. It always makes the other guy look so rotten.

Rock Chalk!