2024/2025 Lineup

[jfish26]

If KJ is ousted, fuck this program.
Burn it to the ground.

Ousted? Where’s that coming from?

If the message is that his role needs to be different, and we’re recruiting all positions, and if he wants a guaranteed 32mpg at one spot, he should evaluate other options, is that “ousted”?

[randylahey]

KJ is already really good at what he does. But really bad at what he doesn't. 37 on low volume wide open shots is a lot different than shooting the volume mccullar and furphy did. Youre right tho it's probably still too high of hopes... maybe 30?

[randylahey]

And I know KJ probably isn't gonna develop a 3 over the season. But you never know. Mccullar made big strides with his in the offseason. KJ added some midrange in the offseason. We can only dream. I'm sure he will spend and absurd amount of time focusing mainly on his shot, its no secret he needs to. That and ball handling

Because at the end of the day, KJ is a 3 masquerading as a 5

[pdub]

If KJ is saying "I don't know" when asked whether he'll be with the team next season, something is just horribly wrong.

KJ should be saying, "i'll be back".
He should know we have confidence in him and he should have confidence in this program.

God this new basketball era sucks so hard.

[randylahey]

If KJ is saying "I don't know" when asked whether he'll be with the team next season, something is just horribly wrong.

KJ should be saying, "i'll be back".
He should know we have confidence in him and he should have confidence in this program.

God this new basketball era sucks so hard.

I'm hoping we are reading too far into it. The interview happened directly after the Gonzaga loss? Nobody wants to be interviewed when their season just ended. He was probably just down and saying "fuck off leave me alone right now"

[jfish26]

If KJ is saying "I don't know" when asked whether he'll be with the team next season, something is just horribly wrong.

KJ should be saying, "i'll be back".
He should know we have confidence in him and he should have confidence in this program.

God this new basketball era sucks so hard.

I think you are leaping to specific conclusions here. We could find this equivalent article from every one of Bill's years here, and we'd find quotes like this.

The fact is that KJ has not played himself into being assured the same minutes/role, and clearly there are deficiencies in his game that, if not substantially addressed, make giving him those same minutes/role problematic. The possibility of getting recruited over is part of what you sign up for if you come to a program with a Final Four target every single year.

I don't think there's ANYTHING wrong with telling him that, if personal success and accolades are important to him at this stage of his career/life, then a lower level of competition (where he can excel at the 5) is the right move. Because we've tried that here, and it doesn't work. Unfortunately, neither does penciling him in as a 32mpg 4 (even alongside a 5 who draws people away from the paint and can also really pass, which is somewhat ominous).

At this level of competition, his best role might not be what he is looking for, personally. I don't think telling him that out loud is "ousting" him.

[pdub]

If people are telling him that before the season is even over my point stands.
He was asked this immediately after a loss.

But since this is now professional basketball, I get why it has to be done.
Still shit-tastic to the fuckthisth degree.

If KJ is gone, the divorce as B2L has described it, might have run it's course.
If it's Hunter, Bidunga, some transfer, McNeely who probs left after Mass St Collective got another donation and Dajuan - well, enjoy the season everyone.

[jfish26]

If people are telling him that before the season is even over my point stands.
He was asked this immediately after a loss.

But since this is now professional basketball, I get why it has to be done.
Still shit-tastic to the fuckthisth degree.

If KJ is gone, the divorce as B2L has described it, might have run it's course.
If it's Hunter, Bidunga, some transfer, McNeely who probs left after Mass St Collective got another donation and Dajuan - well, enjoy the season everyone.

I think you are massively overreacting, even if KJ actually is unsure if he'll be back.

Is your expectation that he SHOULD be promised the same role/minutes? Is your expectation that we SHOULDN'T look to improve every spot on the roster?

If what KJ - who has obviously experienced and contributed to team success - wants out of what's left of his eligibility is to maximize his OWN personal achievements and accolades, all that stuff, then I have a very very very hard time understanding how him seeking those things somewhere else would represent anything "shit-tastic to the fuckthisth degree."

[pdub]

He was a starter on Kansas and got 33 minutes a game.
He'll be a senior next year.
I strongly strongly stand by my original statement that he should be saying 'i'll be back' because he should have confidence in the program and the program should have confidence in him.

If that's not the case something is terribly wrong with our program and/or this sport.

We should have invested enough in the dude to have him know we have his back and in turn, he has ours. Instead it's, well, who the fuck knows what's gonna happen, because every season is a new one full of money and contracts.

No one is saying that he has to be promised minutes for what I would want ( confidence in each other ) to be a thing.

[jfish26]

He was a starter on Kansas and got 33 minutes a game.
He'll be a senior next year.
I strongly strongly stand by my original statement that he should be saying 'i'll be back' because he should have confidence in the program and the program should have confidence in him.

If that's not the case something is terribly wrong with our program and/or this sport.

We should have invested enough in the dude to have him know we have his back and in turn, he has ours. Instead it's, well, who the fuck knows what's gonna happen, because every season is a new one full of money and contracts.

No one is saying that he has to be promised minutes for what I would want ( confidence in each other ) to be a thing.

I'm not understanding where you are seeing a "confidence" gap here.

KJ could have "confidence" in the program, while also knowing that coming back means putting individual success behind team success, and maybe he feels he's given enough.

The program could have "confidence" in KJ, while also knowing that it cannot make minutes/role promises to him because of how his particular deficiencies have limited what we can do.

In other words - I think it's a massive overreaction to assume that ANY circumstance in which KJ leaves means he was "ousted" or that college basketball has gone to hell. It is possible that the relationship has run its course and that the two sides, neither being in the wrong, want different things.

As a KU fan, I hope that's not the case. But as a KU fan, I'd be pretty upset if we promised him the same minutes/role, or declined to recruit someone that might cut into those things. And as a KJ fan (which I unabashedly am), I would very much understand if he is not willing to accept a smaller role if he is not able to round out his game.

[pdub]

We shouldn't have juniors, who were starting the season previous, wondering if they will be transferring.

We absolutely should not.
My point stands.

Your opinion differs from mine.

[pdub]

If KJ is saying "I don't know" when asked whether he'll be with the team next season, something is just horribly wrong.

KJ should be saying, "i'll be back".
He should know we have confidence in him and he should have confidence in this program.

God this new basketball era sucks so hard.

I'm hoping we are reading too far into it. The interview happened directly after the Gonzaga loss? Nobody wants to be interviewed when their season just ended. He was probably just down and saying "fuck off leave me alone right now"

Yes.
I hope this.

[jfish26]

Russell Robinson is a great example to use here. As a senior (and two-year starter coming in), his minutes (and shots and assists) went down, largely because the role of a guy who could do things Russell could not (Sherron) grew.

Maybe KJ is willing to accept the risk of something like that happening (balanced against his opportunity to do what Russell didn't, which is get better). Maybe he is not.

KU isn't evil if it treats KJ like an adult and simply tells him the truth about how this will all work. College basketball isn't ruined if the thumb isn't on the scale by KJ having to sit a year to play out his final year.

[pdub]

I am explaining how I feel about the situation.
You can feel however you want.

Was Russell Robinson saying after his junior year whether he wasn't sure if he'd be at Kansas or not?
Sherron was a freshman during Russ Rob's junior year.

I am hoping it's just a case of being upset after a loss.
If KJ is gone next season, fuck this shit.
Again, you can feel however you want.

[jfish26]

We shouldn't have juniors, who were starting the season previous, wondering if they will be transferring.

We absolutely should not.
My point stands.

Your opinion differs from mine.

I can't figure out what you even want.

If you want guys to be entitled to their roles out of loyalty/tenure, then I would question whether a program with our aspirations is right for you.

I love KJ to death, but if he has found his ceiling, then we absolutely cannot make promises, follow through on those promises and expect different results next year - particularly because it is unlikely (unless Hunter comes back) that whatever 5 he plays alongside will draw the same sort of attention Hunter did this year.

KJ stalled developmentally this year, which is on us and on him. Only we (the program, not us idiots) can know if he can make a leap so that this year's minutes/role are justified next year. Only he can know if he would be willing to accept a smaller role if that is how Bill determines things need to go in order for us to have better results next year.

[pdub]

I feel, as an early advocate for this new age of basketball, JFish is scrambling to explain to those who said they'd hate it and listed the reasons why they'd hate it that everything is ok.

But all the reasons why they listed why they'd hate it have come true and JFish can't deny that at all.
And it's not just those who said they'd hate it who hate it -- it's those who liked it before, didn't think about it and now hate it.

Look my man, your crusade can be over.
It fucking sucks, you can't convince me it doesn't, nor do you have to keep trying.
You can like it all you want but it's all going the way we expected.

[pdub]

Like Ryan Greene before instituting surveys writing a post about how nothing will change and kusports will still be great and then when the surveys hit instead of just saying, 'yea this fucking sucks, i get why you're leaving to dotnet' ( which he kinda did ), he's ( JFish ) is posting after every post about how much the surveys sucks by trying to reason why they don't.

You love the surveys Ryan.
No need to try and sell em to us.

[jfish26]

I am explaining how I feel about the situation.
You can feel however you want.

Was Russell Robinson saying after his junior year whether he wasn't sure if he'd be at Kansas or not?
Sherron was a freshman during Russ Rob's junior year.

I am hoping it's just a case of being upset after a loss.
If KJ is gone next season, fuck this shit.
Again, you can feel however you want.

https://jj.kusports.com/news/2007/mar/2 ... kansas_55/

Russell Robinson on what next year’s roster could look like:

“I don’t know. One thing is I just hope guys do the best thing for them. I know Kansas will be good and will be ready to be contenders next year regardless of who stays and who doesn’t. So I just think guys should do what’s in the best interest for them or if they’re ready (to jump to the NBA).”

Clearly Russell, who of course had Sherron sitting right there on the roster, decided that accepting a smaller role as a senior than what he had as a junior was what was right for him.

If KJ decides something different, I have a very hard time seeing how THAT would be what crosses the "fuck this shit" line. He's not good enough, right now, to be promised 32mpg for a power conference team that aspires to play in April.

He can change that. We can help him try to change that.

But it would be a disservice to him, and to our team, to tell him anything less than the truth about how this offseason is going to go.

[pdub]

Russ was clearly talking about whether guys like Rush would go to the NBA.
That's one helluva reach Mr. Fantastic.

JFish is like the guy who tries to convince fans of the original Star Wars that the newer ones are just as good.

[pdub]

This is all dependent on if KJ actually means what he said, as in he doesn't actually know if he'll be here, and not just bummed:

I'm trying to think of a junior who transferred from KU after being a 2 year starter.
Has that happened because it doesn't ring a bell.