***** Official '23/'24 KU Men's Basketball Repository Thread *****

[cmh6476]

The Team:

https://kuathletics.com/sports/mbball/roster/

The Schedule:

https://kuathletics.com/sports/mbball/schedule/

[HC_Chief]

Hell of a comeback


Rock Chalk!

[KC_Connection]

Kansas Jayhawks to record a triple double:
Kevin McCullar
Jeff Withey
Cole Aldrich
Wilt Chamberlain
BH Horn#kubball

— Adam Sullivan (@Sully_2029) November 15, 2023

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

The skill/shot isn't good enough for that level, but the desire and the fire is certainly there. Maybe he'll get there, you never know.

Age is another thing working against him.

If I were a GM I’d use a 2nd in him. You need guys like that in a roster.

I have my doubts though. If they did t do it last year I don’t know why they’d do it this year.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Fansy the Famous Bard

Yeah, Bilas has always been one of the more level headed and thoughtful analysts. However, recently he seems to have had a "thing" for KU. The "chest bump" by Adams was about one of the worst takes I've witnessed from him. He's still miles better than most talking heads.

... even if he is a Dukey.

In both games he seemed irritable. Just in a foul mood. No clue why he was so anti-KU at the end there, but it was dumb.

Honestly he’d better watch his manners. As much trouble as Disney/ESPN is in he might not have a job if he has a bad Q rating. And I w don’t want him to be replaced by a know-nothing. There are plenty of those.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Age is another thing working against him.

If I were a GM I’d use a 2nd in him. You need guys like that in a roster.

I have my doubts though. If they did t do it last year I don’t know why they’d do it this year.

He'll probably have to go the undrafted/G-League route and work his way onto a roster somehow by outworking everyone. Might as well give it a shot before going to Europe.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

He'll probably have to go the undrafted/G-League route and work his way onto a roster somehow by outworking everyone. Might as well give it a shot before going to Europe.

Agreed.

Hopefully he makes it. I’d like to see him be annoying for a little longer. LOL

[Bearcat]

Holy shit... didn't stay up for it, then couldn't sleep and saw they were still down 78-72 with under 6 minutes left. Awesomeness.

[Bearcat]

Very quickly skipped through the 2nd half... seemed like they committed to beating UK at their own game. Get inside, attempt easy buckets, and draw fouls.

And hey, another CBB game with 60+ free throws.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Very quickly skipped through the 2nd half... seemed like they committed to beating UK at their own game. Get inside, attempt easy buckets, and draw fouls.

And hey, another CBB game with 60+ free throws.

We shoved our Big Dick down their throat

[SithCeNtZ]

Some random thoughts from the game.

-I said it in a long post after the Illinois exhibition game, but this team is going to be exactly like last year's team. Obvious weaknesses, but also some obvious talent. And like last night's game, we are going to have plenty of games where you scratch your head and ask how we just won that despite the weaknesses showing up in a significant way.

-Defensively, I just don't see us ever being elite. We don't have anyone who can play defense at the 2 and our bench is...not good in that aspect. Any foul trouble to any starter is going to leave us exposed to a significant degree. I do think we looked a little worse than we will overall last night just because UK has some freak NBA talent that we won't see every night, but we are always going to be susceptible to the 3 ball.

-Im not sure how but the bench is probably worse than last year, and at best I see it playing out exactly like last year: inconsistent. I'm sure furphy and Timberlake will have some games where they contribute but for now, there doesnt appear to be anyone you can have confidence in.

-Jackson reminds me of Bryce Thompson's freshman year. You watch him and you just aren't sure what the hype was about him. What does he do well? He isn't a great shooter, cant really defend anyone, and isn't a playmaker to the basket. You obviously can't write a guy off after a few games but we haven't seen anything to suggest he's a first round pick.

-This loss was really on coach Cal for a poor defensive game plan. The third Puerto Rico game is the template for how to beat and how to lose to Kansas. In the first half of that game, they helped to Hunter with KJs guy and Harris' guy, resulting in a bunch of open shots for Harris and he hit them. He had 17 at the half I believe. Then they adjusted and had his guy stay home and Harris was neutralized and Kansas struggled to score. Cal never adjusted and kept daring Harris to beat him and he did. Let KJ or Jackson shoot you out of help, not the guy who has proven pretty consistently he can hit big shots when wide open.

-Timberlake reminds me of Yesufu last year in that Yesufu really struggled to figure out his role in the offense. Some games he would come in and not really try and do anything, other games he'd come in and try to be Jamaal Crawford off the bench and shoot anytime he touched it. Last night was Crawford. He immediately jacks a shot the first time he touches it and the second time he took a bizarre jab step long 2 which only the best players in the country would get a green light for. Not surprisingly he got benched after that. He played better the last two games because he took open shots in the flow of the offense. I think he can be a guy who can hit some shots from time to time but he has to be patient and can't force things, otherwise he's going to keep playing worse than he probably is.

-Heading into Maui I can see this tournament going like Atlantis last year. We really wore out in the third game and got beat handily, and I can see that happening this year too if we can't get any help from the bench. It's hard to have your starters play 40 minutes in every game for three days straight. Hopefully they can have the bench play more than usual against Chaminade and build some confidence.

[lawrenceRaider]

McDowell is a plus defender off the bench. He should be getting minutes ahead of Timberlake right now.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I think he's getting old and cantankerous. Bill Walton got higher as he got older. Bilas is getting angrier.

Originally Posted by Fansy the Famous Bard

Yeah, Bilas has always been one of the more level headed and thoughtful analysts. However, recently he seems to have had a "thing" for KU. The "chest bump" by Adams was about one of the worst takes I've witnessed from him. He's still miles better than most talking heads.

... even if he is a Dukey.

Originally Posted by Buehler445

In both games he seemed irritable. Just in a foul mood. No clue why he was so anti-KU at the end there, but it was dumb.

Honestly he’d better watch his manners. As much trouble as Disney/ESPN is in he might not have a job if he has a bad Q rating. And I w don’t want him to be replaced by a know-nothing. There are plenty of those.

Agreed, he seemed really angry tonight. Some of his comments were whack. He's never been that pro KU but he's from Duke so I understand the bias.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Age is another thing working against him.

If I were a GM I’d use a 2nd in him. You need guys like that in a roster.

I have my doubts though. If they did t do it last year I don’t know why they’d do it this year.

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

He'll probably have to go the undrafted/G-League route and work his way onto a roster somehow by outworking everyone. Might as well give it a shot before going to Europe.

Those European players make real good money these days. Not NBA money, but comfortable living money, right?

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by SithCeNtZ

Some random thoughts from the game.

-I said it in a long post after the Illinois exhibition game, but this team is going to be exactly like last year's team. Obvious weaknesses, but also some obvious talent. And like last night's game, we are going to have plenty of games where you scratch your head and ask how we just won that despite the weaknesses showing up in a significant way.

-Defensively, I just don't see us ever being elite. We don't have anyone who can play defense at the 2 and our bench is...not good in that aspect. Any foul trouble to any starter is going to leave us exposed to a significant degree. I do think we looked a little worse than we will overall last night just because UK has some freak NBA talent that we won't see every night, but we are always going to be susceptible to the 3 ball.

-Im not sure how but the bench is probably worse than last year, and at best I see it playing out exactly like last year: inconsistent. I'm sure furphy and Timberlake will have some games where they contribute but for now, there doesnt appear to be anyone you can have confidence in.

-Jackson reminds me of Bryce Thompson's freshman year. You watch him and you just aren't sure what the hype was about him. What does he do well? He isn't a great shooter, cant really defend anyone, and isn't a playmaker to the basket. You obviously can't write a guy off after a few games but we haven't seen anything to suggest he's a first round pick.

-This loss was really on coach Cal for a poor defensive game plan. The third Puerto Rico game is the template for how to beat and how to lose to Kansas. In the first half of that game, they helped to Hunter with KJs guy and Harris' guy, resulting in a bunch of open shots for Harris and he hit them. He had 17 at the half I believe. Then they adjusted and had his guy stay home and Harris was neutralized and Kansas struggled to score. Cal never adjusted and kept daring Harris to beat him and he did. Let KJ or Jackson shoot you out of help, not the guy who has proven pretty consistently he can hit big shots when wide open.

-Timberlake reminds me of Yesufu last year in that Yesufu really struggled to figure out his role in the offense. Some games he would come in and not really try and do anything, other games he'd come in and try to be Jamaal Crawford off the bench and shoot anytime he touched it. Last night was Crawford. He immediately jacks a shot the first time he touches it and the second time he took a bizarre jab step long 2 which only the best players in the country would get a green light for. Not surprisingly he got benched after that. He played better the last two games because he took open shots in the flow of the offense. I think he can be a guy who can hit some shots from time to time but he has to be patient and can't force things, otherwise he's going to keep playing worse than he probably is.

-Heading into Maui I can see this tournament going like Atlantis last year. We really wore out in the third game and got beat handily, and I can see that happening this year too if we can't get any help from the bench. It's hard to have your starters play 40 minutes in every game for three days straight. Hopefully they can have the bench play more than usual against Chaminade and build some confidence.

I don't agree that this team is like last year at all. This team has more talent and it will show as the season progresses.

Elmarko Jackson will improve and be better than Bryce Thompson ever was for KU. We have already seen glimpses of that. And I think that he really needs to work on his defensive fundamentals first and foremost. But yeah, I don't think he's going pro any time soon. Probably at least a 3 year player, IMO.

I really like what little I saw of Jamari McDowell last night and also against Manhattan. Not sure why he isn't getting more playing time. At this point, he seems to be better than Timberlake.

Speaking of Timberlake, he is a disappointment so far. He can't play defense and for a guy who is supposedly a 3 point assassin, he hasn't shown an ability to hit those long range shots. Hopefully, that is just him getting used to playing at this level and he will be better by the second half of the season.

[O.city]

Furphy is gonna end up being a good player by January here.

Dickinson is already the most talented offensive big Bill has ever had here at KU. When they get him and Adams comfortable with each other, they'll just murder people inside.

Get the couple young guys playing defense and they'll end up being a top 5 team all year.