RU Ready for B12 season?

I wish I could say that I'm ready for the B12 season to begin, but from what I've seen, the team is not yet ready for B12 play (and hence, I cannot get excited for them). Of course, last season I had this same opinion at this time, and Royce completely blew my expectations out of the water in the first game. Still, there are some striking similarities between last year's team and this year's team. Similarities that are negatives, and cannot be ignored. They are:
1. Inability to shoot free throws. Last season this affliction was somewhat limited to Royce, but there were other very well respected players on the team who could be counted upon to miss key free throws during the game. I don't remember a lot of this during the Orr era, nor even during the eras of any of the coaches preceding Fred. Orr used to whine constantly how he didn't have a guard who could shoot the long ball, but they usually hit most of their free throws.
2. Inability to finish at the hoop. This was widely noted last year, and seems only slightly better this season. Still, I am dumbfounded by the lack of basketball knowledge our players exhibit when playing in traffic.
3. Selfishness with the ball. Royce and Christofferson were certainly the exceptions to this during last season. And there are players on this team who often have good assist numbers. However when in traffic, the game seem to change for most of these players. It seems that they are more interested in making the play all by themselves, rather than dishing the ball off and hopefully getting it back in a better position to make a play. Perhaps I should have titled item #3 as TRUST, as there is a lack of trust in others on most of the players in this very talented team.

Well these are my views. I hope you will post yours below; keeping in mind that constructive criticism is what will provide the most benefit for our players. I hope they are more ready for the b12 season than I believe they are.

We're gonna go 11-7 and get a 9 seed in the tournament.

What about lack of a real PG? KL sure isn't a pg, he looks to shoot first if he's not busy turning it over, and i have no idea why Clyburn is our 2nd option at pg. I would much rather have Naz out there handling it. We need willl rebounding and making plays without the ball.

I'm going to the Kansas game on the 9th. Going to be my first true road game experience (I've been to games in Wells Fargo). I hope we're ready, I'm pumped either way.

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Originally Posted by ripvdub

What about lack of a real PG? KL sure isn't a pg, he looks to shoot first if he's not busy turning it over, and i have no idea why Clyburn is our 2nd option at pg. I would much rather have Naz out there handling it. We need willl rebounding and making plays without the ball.

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KL has been getting more assists and less turnovers as of late has he not? I thought it was 5:1 last game.

I am ready and let's hope the team is ready. What better way to find out than playing at KU the first game?? :eek:
I think we have to sweep TCU, Tech, and West Virginia. I don't count on beating KU so then we would have to split the rest of the games to get 11 conference wins.

M I?...I M RU?

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Originally Posted by bos

KL has been getting more assists and less turnovers as of late has he not? I thought it was 5:1 last game.

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Yes, he's improved big time in the turnover department lately. He'll still have those mental lapses or chuck up an ill-advised shot every once in a while that makes you want to pull your hair out but overall, he's been good lately. The offense is lost when he's not out on the court and Will is running the point.

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Originally Posted by cc1091

I wish I could say that I'm ready for the B12 season to begin, but from what I've seen, the team is not yet ready for B12 play (and hence, I cannot get excited for them). Of course, last season I had this same opinion at this time, and Royce completely blew my expectations out of the water in the first game. Still, there are some striking similarities between last year's team and this year's team. Similarities that are negatives, and cannot be ignored. They are:
1. Inability to shoot free throws. Last season this affliction was somewhat limited to Royce, but there were other very well respected players on the team who could be counted upon to miss key free throws during the game. I don't remember a lot of this during the Orr era, nor even during the eras of any of the coaches preceding Fred. Orr used to whine constantly how he didn't have a guard who could shoot the long ball, but they usually hit most of their free throws.
2. Inability to finish at the hoop. This was widely noted last year, and seems only slightly better this season. Still, I am dumbfounded by the lack of basketball knowledge our players exhibit when playing in traffic.
3. Selfishness with the ball. Royce and Christofferson were certainly the exceptions to this during last season. And there are players on this team who often have good assist numbers. However when in traffic, the game seem to change for most of these players. It seems that they are more interested in making the play all by themselves, rather than dishing the ball off and hopefully getting it back in a better position to make a play. Perhaps I should have titled item #3 as TRUST, as there is a lack of trust in others on most of the players in this very talented team.

Well these are my views. I hope you will post yours below; keeping in mind that constructive criticism is what will provide the most benefit for our players. I hope they are more ready for the b12 season than I believe they are.

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you can go to cyclones.com to refresh your memory of the free throw %'s in the Orr years. jeff hornacek, barry stevens, fred hoiberg, mike born, ron bayless. yeah, none of those guys could shoot the long ball.

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Originally Posted by bos

KL has been getting more assists and less turnovers as of late has he not? I thought it was 5:1 last game.

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He's going to be blamed for turnovers all year long, even when he's resting on the bench. I like him as a PG. He has good vision, can break down a defense, and mostly just keeps things running nicely.

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Originally Posted by gocubs2118

Yes, he's improved big time in the turnover department lately. He'll still have those mental lapses or chuck up an ill-advised shot every once in a while that makes you want to pull your hair out but overall, he's been good lately. The offense is lost when he's not out on the court and Will is running the point.

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Originally Posted by CycloneErik

He's going to be blamed for turnovers all year long, even when he's resting on the bench. I like him as a PG. He has good vision, can break down a defense, and mostly just keeps things running nicely.

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Thats what I thought. These **** poor showings arent all on KL.

KL is playing much better team ball, but he still has his pocket picked.

Will is DG 2 where he has a hard time finishing layups in a crowd. He never dumps off so everyone knopws what he is going to do when he drives in. I think he should pass oiff on his first drive to showe the opponent that he can really pass the ball.

Gibson usually only holds the ball two seconds till he shoots. He might want to mix it up.

Melvin should shoot a few more threes and then follow the rebound.

Surprised how bad Babb shot the last game. He has good format. He is a good shooter.

I never thought I'd say this but Melvin might be our best player, and if not best at least most consistently near the best in games.

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Originally Posted by Rabbuk

I never thought I'd say this but Melvin might be our best player, and if not best at least most consistently near the best in games.

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He always finds a way to be around the 10 point, 10 rebound mark. That being said, he was pretty bad last game in my opinion. Yeah he had 12 rebounds and 11 points but he also had 4 turnovers, 4-11 from the field and 2-6 on free throws. Many times in the Yale game he gave up easy lay ups. I'm not bashing Ejim at all. He is one of my favorite players but he has had some horrible games just like everyone else.

Our team numbers look shockingly similar right now to last year's team at the same time. We are averaging more points, rebounds, shooting about the same percentages, similar assist to t.o., etc. At this time last year we were 2 days removed from a 2 point win at home vs. MVSU. The only difference is that we haven't had any bad losses this year, and we open up conference play at KU instead of at home. Something tells me guys like Clyburn and Lucious are going to turn it on as the competition steps up. The scheduling this year has been to have affected the guys in the last month. We have only played 3 games in 3 weeks and haven't been at home since 12/9.