How do you...

... Air ball a 12 inch shot? Landon dunk the ball

agree wholeheartedly. I have not seen touch like that since Uwe Blab was in the NBA.

Lucas appears to be a nice fellow, but he is without question the worst offensive player I've ever seen at KU. How can a 6'10" guy not only miss a shot from point blank range, but miss the rim too? And can't he dunk? It's almost as though he's afraid to bruise the rim. Utterly amazing to me. Just once I'd like to see him throw it down. And we all know that that lowlight was, perhaps, the last time we'll see him in meaningful minutes unless foul trouble strikes one of the other bigs. I also am amazed that Hunter never got back onto the court after his foul trouble. I though he played quite well for the time he was in the game. Very, very odd season for our bigs.

...Landon was HUGE in the critical parts of the Oklahoma game. But nice to see that Bragg and Diallo are coming along nicely. Diallo seems to be improving rapidly on knowing where he should be on offense. Disappointing that on most of his blocks, TCU got the ball and scored on their 2nd chance. But if those guys continue to improve there will be no doubt about the rotation of the bigs.

Maybe HCBS should take a page from Eddie Sutton's practice book and practice in pads.

I like it that I sit down to watch the game without knowing , other than Perry getting at least 28-32 minutes if he avoids foul , which of our bigs will play.
It seems HCBS doesn't know at tip-off either. There are clues based on match-up , but a lot of it seems to be who plays well, and avoids fouls.
This has to make us hard to prepare for.
The progress of the freshmen may well mean that the KU team an opponent faces in January might not have that much in common, in the paint, with KU on the return game in late February.
This might be the last box score this season where all twelve scholarship players take a shot. But they all seem likely to have their moments.

Interesting point there,

We'll know soon enough,
RC

Ditto. Glad you're here

Beyond making a rule that Lucas should never be allowed to shoot the ball again - ever - yesterday showed to me that we have to live or die with Bragg and Diallo. I believe I noted at the 12 minute mark of the first half that we had exactly ZERO points from the Lucas/Mickelson/Traylor combo. I may have missed a point somewhere, but that trio gets nothing but a put back bucket from time to time. There is zero offensive threat from any of them in our normal offensive schemes. No defense has to guard them, and that puts pressure on the other four players.

Diallo and Bragg are raw, but they bring energy and a noticeably higher level of confidence on the offensive end. Whatever mistakes they make from being freshmen is secondary to putting pressure on the opposing defense to guard them, which might just make getting our guards some open looks a little easier - noting that Self will never in his lifetime run a screen to get Greene or Svi an open three.

Yesterday has to be the turning point for Bragg and Diallo.

Word. www2.kusports.com/news/mens_basketball/

And Diallo has that sweet midrange jumper,

RC

In the KU Sports articles, the TCU players noted what an impact Bragg and Diallo had on the defensive end. They eliminated TCU from getting comfortable close to the rim. Very telling comments given the last couple games where opponents got the to rim consistently and WVU lived off of offensive rebounds.

And the article stated that Lucas/Mickelson/Traylor combined for THREE defensive rebounds in 18 minutes. All three guys work hard and I like them, but with extended playing time they've shown the limits of their productiveness. Very nice role players off the bench, but liabilities with any extended playing time.

HCBS's quote seems to mirror what many of us are saying on the board. We'll see if Cheick gets those increased minutes.

We’ve got to get him more minutes. He’s earned them, but it also would definitely help our team down the stretch if he is a little more seasoned player. There’s no way he can get there unless we give him a chance to work through some things.

www2.kusports.com/news/2016/jan/16/willi...xpa/?mens_basketball

I just love watching Diallo block shots.

As Bragg and Diallo gain experience, I think Landon will be the first to feel the impact.

Traylor's eye is banged up and swollen shut after Diallo laid him out yesterday. Probably be ok in few days, but it's good that we've got some depth to fall back on.