Watching that game last night I could not believe the lack of PT Diallo and Bragg got. I know Diallo did not play in the second half and Overtimes. Just baffled Self keeps getting these big recruits. Kansas has a nice team, but it seems like Self should be using his depth more, Traylor was limping around and still stayed on the court last night.
Kansas Freshman PT
- Thread starter Sparkaces1
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Actually, that point is pretty relevant to UK fans when it comes to the constant battle between UK and KU for elite recruits.
I mean they have great upperclassmen depth. Did you want Bragg taking Ellis' minutes or something?
That's a major difference between Self and Cal, one coaches for the university and one coaches for the players.
I don't care if they play or not. The point is somehow Self gets them on campus and I know UK wanted them those two guys bad. Self can do what he wants with his rotation, but when Traylor is limping around I don't know how productive he is going to be and yes I would have given Ellis some rest somewhere in the second half.
Are those two things mutually exclusive?
Self is going with the experienced players right now, nothing wrong with that. However, that could hurt KU going forward with OND recruiting. UK and KU seemed like the top two OND schools, but Duke has taken over KUs spot. It's just part of the fine line coaches have to walk in this era of OND. Suffer through freshman mistakes and hope they peak come march, or go with the experienced players who've been there before. It's a tough hand for a coach.
Not necessarily. Cal is going to give his Freshman 5* plenty of run early to get experience for the Tourney and the draft. Do you think Self would have played Skal as much as Cal has before deciding to reduce minutes and go with more experience?
Does KU really need any recruits next year? Maybe a SG if Selden goes league. He is currently projected to go 28th.
What's relevant is whether or not guys like Bragg and Diallo had desires to be one and done and are now presumed to be returning for a sophomore season and seeing limited time this season.
And it's not about whether or not one process is BETTER than the other. It's about why an elite recruit would trust Self over Cal if they have desires to be in the draft asap.
It's relevant, in the sense that perception is reality. I remember a couple of years ago hearing Dan Wetzel (Yahoo Sports, good guy) talking about various aspects of life in AAU world. And he said there is an absolute article of faith among inhabitants of that world that what separates Cal and K from every other coach in the country is "they don't miss" on the one and done guys. IOW, if you're in that select group of kids, there's much less risk of going to UK or Duke and ending up busting - having to hang around for an extra year or two, draft prospects diminish, whatever. As time moves on, and as the numbers of such players having gone to Duke and UK increase, there will be more busts - that's just the law of averages. But the point is whether you buy that it's just the law of averages or rather is evidence that K or Cal do in fact "miss" and are no better than others at getting kids to the draft (i.e., "if you're rated that high it doesn't matter where you go or who your coach is" school of thinking)......it doesn't matter. The perception has set in that Cal and K = good and others not so good. And facts like these, selective or not, confirm the perception......
self butchered Alexander's game last year and cost him lottery money, didn't do much better for oubres game either...it looks like he is doing the same to diallo and Bragg..
The amount of time you guys spend posting about Kansas is really remarkable.
You guys keep mentioning how Bragg is going to be "the man" next year, but is it a done deal they are coming back? Are they not still projected to go high in the draft? Just because they are not getting a lot of playing time doesn't mean they still can't go pro.
There is something to be said for this. Self recruits OAD guys but they have to compete for playing time, there aren't guarantees. Wiggins and Embiid earned it. Diallo and Bragg haven't been able to do that apparently. But let's be clear, if Anthony Davis was on this team he'd be starting. Self doesn't hold kids back on purpose for some evil plan of robbing them of their NBA careers.
I can't help but notice something similar happening to Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson their freshmen years.
I can't help but notice something similar happening to Marcus Lee and Dakari Johnson their freshmen years.
Let me google that for you should be reserved for questions about easily attainable facts. Not the best use of it.
FWIW I believe at this point of his freshman season Dakari was averaging > 10 mpg.
![[laughing]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/laugh.r191677.gif "Laughing [laughing]")
It was a major game. We always discuss the big games. Also, we have several of you guys keeping it going. There has been far more posting about UL and UNCheat, so get over yourself.
Well if Perry Ellis goes down I think you'd see Bragg's numbers spike. There's also the issue that Dakari is a 7-footer and those guys get playing time because you can't teach height. I think a 6'9 PF with Perry Ellis (who, as many have stated, has been playing for KU since the Hittites were in power) ahead of him has a pretty big obstacle preventing playing time.
Diallo is just nowhere near ready to contribute major minutes. THAT being said, I think if Cal is coaching this game he might very well have given up the victory in order to get valuable minutes for his freshmen. I'm willing to concede that. And that practice gives him better results in March.
Skal has not played big minutes in a while. Early on when he played more he was producing more. Skal has been playing in the teens in minutes played for pretty much every game going back to UCLA.
And the thing is...if Skal does not improve UK has no shot at doing much in the NCAA Tourney so Cal is correct to keep playing him some despite his issues. Self has better players in the front court that he retained from last year so he does not have to rely on Diallo like UK needs Skal.
Depends on who is more talented and who will give you the best chance to win the title by the end of the year .
Haven't watched them this year but I'll take Cals method over Selfs method any time . All you have to do is look at the results the last 5 years .
I didn't question either coach's methods. By the way if Ku wins it all this season the results are on par with ours for the last 5 years, big picture wise.
Skal is playing about as much as he can since he fouls out each game. Can't play after 5 fouls.
I also told everybody on this board that Diallo is not a half court player, really disappears but shines in the open court. Would have been better if he played at UNC. I also stated many times and got in arguments with KU fans is that KU has a log jam of upper classmen players and these freshmen would not play much. I remember bein told that Bragg would be playin he 3 and Diallo the 5 and the rest of the guys on the team were not that good to keep them off the court.
KU loses last night without him.
Also if a KU fan told you Bragg would be playing the 3 this year he is really dumb and should have been ignored.
You've lost 2nd round NCAA Tournament games the last 2 years to Wichita State (by 13) and Stanford (a 10 seed). You're going to lose your top 2 scorers off this year's team, and you have 0 impact recruits coming in next year (better make this year count). The only top recruits left that you have a shot at aren't likely to come in and be any better than Diallo or Bragg.
And how much a triple OT home win (against anyone short of an NBA team) really means in the long run is still an open question. Realistically, your team is hardly the type of #1 where people say "oh, it will be a real surprise if they fall short of the FF".
You're not in a bad position, but there is evidence that Self's hesitation to play any freshmen short of the "blatantly obvious that I have no other option" types (like Wiggins) is affecting the level of talent that you'll have going forward. Maybe a system in which you rely on a lot of non-lottery talent that sticks around for 3-4 years can work, but the odds are that you're eventually going to run into a team that has some major lottery-level talent, and you're going to be outgunned when you do (Like in 2012. Or last year, regular season).
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