Some thoughts...
* Bad news for the Pac-12 -- Jelly has learned how to pass out of the double team. Last year, and even some earlier games this year, the easiest way to foil him was to double team him. He would try, but couldn't pass out consistently. Yesterday? He was beautiful. He found XJ a few times that were incredible. He starts doing that consistently, and he's the best big in the P12. Period.
* The #GooseCrush is getting stronger. J-Hop looked good. Props to RK for calling it during the CSU game, but he's a game shooter. Not a great one, but he does shoot better in games than practice (some reports from the Rivals guys on his practice attempts are hilarious, and scary). Also, his D is still sketchy, but it's getting better. The good thing is, it's lack of coaching (not a shock for a freshman as HS coaches don't always promote D as much as they should) and not a lack of effort. Tad & the staff are working with him on it and it shows. I thought he looked great in the top part of the 2-3 zone.
* The "run the clock" offense we do kills me. I know the logic of it, and I get it, but we just can't pull it off yet. It almost cost us yesterday. I really wish we would stay aggressive even when up. This team is better fast.
* That said, Tad is so much smarter than me it's not even funny. He out-coached the hell out of Self yesterday. He made Self his bitch. Props to Tad for listening to his staff and going to the zone (which he, and myself, hate). It threw Kansas for a loop and they never looked comfortable. Beautiful work and mad props Tad & Co.
* Wiggins has gotten a lot of heat nationally - mainly because a lot of idiots hyped him up to LeBron levels and he can't meet those expectations. That's not his fault. So don't take this next point as a huge criticism of him, but he's not the best player on his team. In fact, he may be the third best. If I'm an NBA team, I'm going after Joel Embiid. That kid was a beast. KU has to take more advantage of him. And there's Perry Ellis who is absolutely amazing and a player that I'm amazed more people don't talk about. If I'm KU, I run an inside outside game with Wiggins & Ellis.
* But Ellis wasn't that great yesterday and that's because of our player of the game - XJ. Seriously, even without his 14 & 6, he got POG from me for his D on Ellis. It was shut down defense, and it was impressive. Honestly, this is something that Will has brought up before, but it might be time to listen to him - Wes may need to come off of the bench. XJ plays better at the 4. I don't think it's a coincidence that his best game of the year came when he was playing the 4 spot. Wes will still get his minutes because the kid is great, but I think he may need to get them coming off of the bench. THis also gives a benefit to something that Rugged & Snow have pointed out - J-Hop plays better when he starts. He may be one of those guys (like XJ BTW) who mentally plays better when he starts the game. Just something to ponder.
* We made a lot of jokes before the game about Ben Mills needing to save the day. And I've never really been a fan of his basketball ability (I will say, one more time, that I love the kid though. His teammates love him, the fans love him, and he's a good guy, so you can't help but cheer for him). But yesterday, he got his moment. No longer will Ben Mills be remembered for being a back of the bench scholarship player. He helped save the day against Kansas. He looked good out there too. Don't get me wrong - he's still fifth in line for minutes as a big man behind Jelly, XJ, Wes and DT, but he's not a disaster out there. Props to Ben and I am thrilled that this is his new legacy at CU.
* Once again, C-Unit - mad props. You guys were amazing. The whole student section was full when I showed up 35 minutes before tip. They were clever (U-S-A for Wiggins was brilliant, even if the idiot KU fan behind me didn't understand it) they were loud and they deserved to charge the court. The most impressive part is something that a few of us discussed post game - they're damn good at policing themselves. You'd hear an occasional stupid/offensive/lame chant start up and they'd get shouted down by others. I hope the people who do a lot of the legwork for the group know how much the alums appreciate it. You guys are amazing.
* Ski - Except for the Baylor game, Ski has been amazing this year. I brought it up a few weeks ago, but if that Baylor game hadn't re-enforced all of the bad stereotypes for Ski we were afraid of, we'd all be praising him to heaven. But the Baylor game fit the narrative and we've been unfairly hard on him (myself included). Rugged yelled at me for it after the game and he's 100% right. Ski is the team leader. Ski is a damn good defender. And Ski is one of the smartest players on the team. We're lucky to have him. Yeah, he's going to occasionally have a bad shot, but the team needs someone who's willing to take initiative and take over. That's Ski. As long as he cuts down on the long 2 jumpers (which he has done), he has the green light in my eyes. I hope to God that Ski never has to buy a drink in Boulder ever again. And, judging by the conversation I overheard between a few co-eds at the Dark Horse post-game, I hope that he got a Jesus Shuttlesworth experience last night. The kid deserves it.
* Finally, thank you to the team. As someone who literally has never seen CU beat Kansas (I was out of the country for the 2003 game and in 1991 I was living in GJ and they just didn't show CU basketball on TV there), this was something that I had wanted for a long time. The guy in front of me summed it up best as he screamed as the game ended "I've been waiting for this for 30 years!" I watched the reaction of the bench on a loop last night for a good 5 minutes and every time I saw Beau Gamble strip his warm up off in celebration, I laughed. Beau sums up my reaction exactly. Pure unbridled joy.
And let me just say that thank you for Beau Gamble. Between him harassing opponents in warm up lines, challenging people to fights and just being so much damn fun to watch, he's my favorite player. I'm gonna have to get RK to get me a Beau jersey somehow.
* Bad news for the Pac-12 -- Jelly has learned how to pass out of the double team. Last year, and even some earlier games this year, the easiest way to foil him was to double team him. He would try, but couldn't pass out consistently. Yesterday? He was beautiful. He found XJ a few times that were incredible. He starts doing that consistently, and he's the best big in the P12. Period.
* The #GooseCrush is getting stronger. J-Hop looked good. Props to RK for calling it during the CSU game, but he's a game shooter. Not a great one, but he does shoot better in games than practice (some reports from the Rivals guys on his practice attempts are hilarious, and scary). Also, his D is still sketchy, but it's getting better. The good thing is, it's lack of coaching (not a shock for a freshman as HS coaches don't always promote D as much as they should) and not a lack of effort. Tad & the staff are working with him on it and it shows. I thought he looked great in the top part of the 2-3 zone.
* The "run the clock" offense we do kills me. I know the logic of it, and I get it, but we just can't pull it off yet. It almost cost us yesterday. I really wish we would stay aggressive even when up. This team is better fast.
* That said, Tad is so much smarter than me it's not even funny. He out-coached the hell out of Self yesterday. He made Self his bitch. Props to Tad for listening to his staff and going to the zone (which he, and myself, hate). It threw Kansas for a loop and they never looked comfortable. Beautiful work and mad props Tad & Co.
* Wiggins has gotten a lot of heat nationally - mainly because a lot of idiots hyped him up to LeBron levels and he can't meet those expectations. That's not his fault. So don't take this next point as a huge criticism of him, but he's not the best player on his team. In fact, he may be the third best. If I'm an NBA team, I'm going after Joel Embiid. That kid was a beast. KU has to take more advantage of him. And there's Perry Ellis who is absolutely amazing and a player that I'm amazed more people don't talk about. If I'm KU, I run an inside outside game with Wiggins & Ellis.
* But Ellis wasn't that great yesterday and that's because of our player of the game - XJ. Seriously, even without his 14 & 6, he got POG from me for his D on Ellis. It was shut down defense, and it was impressive. Honestly, this is something that Will has brought up before, but it might be time to listen to him - Wes may need to come off of the bench. XJ plays better at the 4. I don't think it's a coincidence that his best game of the year came when he was playing the 4 spot. Wes will still get his minutes because the kid is great, but I think he may need to get them coming off of the bench. THis also gives a benefit to something that Rugged & Snow have pointed out - J-Hop plays better when he starts. He may be one of those guys (like XJ BTW) who mentally plays better when he starts the game. Just something to ponder.
* We made a lot of jokes before the game about Ben Mills needing to save the day. And I've never really been a fan of his basketball ability (I will say, one more time, that I love the kid though. His teammates love him, the fans love him, and he's a good guy, so you can't help but cheer for him). But yesterday, he got his moment. No longer will Ben Mills be remembered for being a back of the bench scholarship player. He helped save the day against Kansas. He looked good out there too. Don't get me wrong - he's still fifth in line for minutes as a big man behind Jelly, XJ, Wes and DT, but he's not a disaster out there. Props to Ben and I am thrilled that this is his new legacy at CU.
* Once again, C-Unit - mad props. You guys were amazing. The whole student section was full when I showed up 35 minutes before tip. They were clever (U-S-A for Wiggins was brilliant, even if the idiot KU fan behind me didn't understand it) they were loud and they deserved to charge the court. The most impressive part is something that a few of us discussed post game - they're damn good at policing themselves. You'd hear an occasional stupid/offensive/lame chant start up and they'd get shouted down by others. I hope the people who do a lot of the legwork for the group know how much the alums appreciate it. You guys are amazing.
* Ski - Except for the Baylor game, Ski has been amazing this year. I brought it up a few weeks ago, but if that Baylor game hadn't re-enforced all of the bad stereotypes for Ski we were afraid of, we'd all be praising him to heaven. But the Baylor game fit the narrative and we've been unfairly hard on him (myself included). Rugged yelled at me for it after the game and he's 100% right. Ski is the team leader. Ski is a damn good defender. And Ski is one of the smartest players on the team. We're lucky to have him. Yeah, he's going to occasionally have a bad shot, but the team needs someone who's willing to take initiative and take over. That's Ski. As long as he cuts down on the long 2 jumpers (which he has done), he has the green light in my eyes. I hope to God that Ski never has to buy a drink in Boulder ever again. And, judging by the conversation I overheard between a few co-eds at the Dark Horse post-game, I hope that he got a Jesus Shuttlesworth experience last night. The kid deserves it.
* Finally, thank you to the team. As someone who literally has never seen CU beat Kansas (I was out of the country for the 2003 game and in 1991 I was living in GJ and they just didn't show CU basketball on TV there), this was something that I had wanted for a long time. The guy in front of me summed it up best as he screamed as the game ended "I've been waiting for this for 30 years!" I watched the reaction of the bench on a loop last night for a good 5 minutes and every time I saw Beau Gamble strip his warm up off in celebration, I laughed. Beau sums up my reaction exactly. Pure unbridled joy.
And let me just say that thank you for Beau Gamble. Between him harassing opponents in warm up lines, challenging people to fights and just being so much damn fun to watch, he's my favorite player. I'm gonna have to get RK to get me a Beau jersey somehow.
