2024/2025 Lineup

[randylahey]

KJ is inadequate at most things we need from the 4 spot. Zero shooting AND zero rebounding is a terrible combination. Have we ever had a worse rebounding "big"?

Defensively he seems a little overrated at this point. His perimeter defense is elite, no question. But he isn't even a perimeter player. He's an undersized 4 who bigger players can routinely outrebound or score over. Defensive rebounding is a pretty vital part of finishing a defensive possession

[randylahey]

KJ and hunters inadequacies are pretty well documented at this point. Teams exploit it in their game plan.

Bindunga storr and Griffen have to start eating into their minutes some if we are going to have the type of season that is up to KUs standards. Self needs to allow them to play and earn trust, otherwise there was no point recruiting good transfers just to ride or die with the same misfit parts

[randylahey]

I dunno if KJ is playing well enough to take KJ's spot either, tho.

Exactly. KJ has been awful, and exploiting it has been opponents game plan. Trim his minutes down, just for the sake of changing things up and changing the way teams guard us. Right now it is just way too easy to guard us because of KJ

[BiggDick]

It's hard to take someone seriously who wants DH coming off the bench "just because".

He's having a really good year in my opinion. Averaging 10pts 6ast 2reb.

He's not the problem. And he's certainly not worse than Coit or Shak Moore.

I figured this round of message board grievances would once again get to this issue sooner or later.

Let's bear in mind, it's not just because...or rather, the "just because" is just because another Dajuan-led team is struggling, particularly on offense ("one of the best PGs in the country" be damned), and is not winning games, particularly not winning games we'd usually be winning. If that's the case, at some point you gotta try something else.

Considering all that, at some point the narrative appropriately can and should shift to, "it's had to take someone seriously who wants to keep defending DH even though DH-led teams keep loosing."

While I don't necessarily disagree that he's certainly not worse than Coit or Shak Moore, let's not forget we brought in Coit and Shak Moore precisely to better manage Dajuan's minutes.

but let's also bear in mind, I didn't even mention Dajuan specifically. There are other guys to which this applies.

[pdub]

Our best player should be Hunter preseason 1st team AA.

DH has played well enough to keep his starting spot.

I agree if winning is priority than we need to try something else besides KJ. I’d rather just see KJ though and let our 2 long term players play this season out.

[DeletedUser]

Maybe we should bench Zeke. A Zeke led team is losing. Might as well try Shak Moore. He led Miss State to a 21-14 record. Impressive.

[jfish26]

Our best player should be Hunter preseason 1st team AA.

DH has played well enough to keep his starting spot.

I agree if winning is priority than we need to try something else besides KJ. I’d rather just see KJ though and let our 2 long term players play this season out.

Too early for me to cut bait like this.

Different situations, obviously, but (for example) at this time in 2022 you could pretty much copy/paste everything we're saying about Storr, about Remy.

[DeletedUser]

I can see an argument for benching KJ in favor of Bidunga.

I can't see an argument for benching DH. Who, in my opinion, has been our 2nd best player. There has been a noticeable drop off when he's gone to the bench. It's not really even debatable.

[DeletedUser]

Our best player should be Hunter preseason 1st team AA.

DH has played well enough to keep his starting spot.

I agree if winning is priority than we need to try something else besides KJ. I’d rather just see KJ though and let our 2 long term players play this season out.

Too early for me to cut bait like this.

Different situations, obviously, but (for example) at this time in 2022 you could pretty much copy/paste everything we're saying about Storr, about Remy.

True. The problem is Remy had multiple NBA players around him and being the 5th or 6th best player was good enough.

We need Storr to be like our 3rd best player, and he's surrounded by zero NBA guys (including himself).

[twocoach]

I can see an argument for benching KJ in favor of Bidunga.

I can't see an argument for benching DH. Who, in my opinion, has been our 2nd best player. There has been a noticeable drop off when he's gone to the bench. It's not really even debatable.

Agree that Harris cannot be benched as we do not have a better option behind him. We 100% have better options than KJ, probably multiple better options if we let them get minutes. Bidunga, Griffen and Storr all need to get more of KJ's minutes. He should be no more than an 8-12 minute a game defensive specialist who comes in and plays with max energy in short bursts. He disappears when he is out there for long stretches.

[TDub]

I like KJ...but I've never seen an athletic dude like him, who's main attribute is being supremely athletic and high energy....be so absolutely inept and pathetic at rebounding. I can overlook his offensive limitations if he would go rebound the damn ball. He should be getting everything in the air. He has no drive to rebound....and that frustrates me to no end.

[twocoach]

Maybe we should bench Zeke. A Zeke led team is losing. Might as well try Shak Moore. He led Miss State to a 21-14 record. Impressive.

Mayo is literally one of the few players to score 25 points in 3 straight games for KU in years. Jalen Wilson did back to back games of 25+ twice in his AA season but never 3 times in a row. Agbaji did it in the first 3 games of his AA season. Frank Mason didn't do it in is NPoY season. Graham never did it.

Bench Mayo and KU deserves to never land another good transfer ever. I hope you were kidding.

[DeletedUser]

Maybe we should bench Zeke. A Zeke led team is losing. Might as well try Shak Moore. He led Miss State to a 21-14 record. Impressive.

Mayo is literally one of the few players to score 25 points in 3 straight games for KU in years. Jalen Wilson did back to back games of 25+ twice in his AA season but never 3 times in a row. Agbaji did it in the first 3 games of his AA season. Frank Mason didn't do it in is NPoY season. Graham never did it.

Bench Mayo and KU deserves to never land another good transfer ever.

It was sarcasm.

[twocoach]

I like KJ...but I've never seen an athletic dude like him, who's main attribute is being supremely athletic and high energy....be so absolutely inept and pathetic at rebounding. I can overlook his offensive limitations if he would go rebound the damn ball. He should be getting everything in the air. He has no drive to rebound....and that frustrates me to no end.

Four years at KU and he still only does one thing well and he only does it well every now and then. He should not be starting.

[DeletedUser]

"Trying something new" isn't a valid reason bench your best players.


And we're "trying something new" nearly every single game. We've played 10 guys in close games more than i ever remember.

Self IS 100% trying everything this season in my opinion. He's giving guys plenty of leash. They're just not very good and 5min more per game isn't going to be a magical fix to their ineffectiveness.

[twocoach]

It's hard to take someone seriously who wants DH coming off the bench "just because".

He's having a really good year in my opinion. Averaging 10pts 6ast 2reb.

He's not the problem. And he's certainly not worse than Coit or Shak Moore.

I figured this round of message board grievances would once again get to this issue sooner or later.

Let's bear in mind, it's not just because...or rather, the "just because" is just because another Dajuan-led team is struggling, particularly on offense ("one of the best PGs in the country" be damned), and is not winning games, particularly not winning games we'd usually be winning. If that's the case, at some point you gotta try something else.

Considering all that, at some point the narrative appropriately can and should shift to, "it's had to take someone seriously who wants to keep defending DH even though DH-led teams keep loosing."

While I don't necessarily disagree that he's certainly not worse than Coit or Shak Moore, let's not forget we brought in Coit and Shak Moore precisely to better manage Dajuan's minutes.

but let's also bear in mind, I didn't even mention Dajuan specifically. There are other guys to which this applies.

"Try something else just because" is how coaches get fired. That's a terrible reason to do something.

That said, Harris is not having a good season, regardless what his stats are. It's his fifth season in college basketball yet he is somehow managing to have his WORST 3 point field goal % of his career and he gets wide open shots that should be hit at a far higher percentage than those that are decently guarded like everyone else has to deal with. How he has not addressed the biggest hole in his game after 5 seasons is mind boggling. They have a damn court right in their dorm building. Get some fucking shots up and keep getting them up until you are better at it. WTF else do you have to do in your off time?!?

[twocoach]

"Trying something new" isn't a valid reason bench your best players.


And we're "trying something new" nearly every single game. We've played 10 guys in close games more than i ever remember.

Self IS 100% trying everything this season in my opinion. He's giving guys plenty of leash. They're just not very good and 5min more per game isn't going to be a magical fix to their ineffectiveness.

20 minutes a game of KJ's time should be split between Bidunga and Griffen.

[jfish26]

I like KJ...but I've never seen an athletic dude like him, who's main attribute is being supremely athletic and high energy....be so absolutely inept and pathetic at rebounding. I can overlook his offensive limitations if he would go rebound the damn ball. He should be getting everything in the air. He has no drive to rebound....and that frustrates me to no end.

It is a bit TOO easy to compare guys, but...I think we were all hoping KJ would be Jamari Traylor plus-plus, and he's kinda just...not.

[DeletedUser]

"Trying something new" isn't a valid reason bench your best players.


And we're "trying something new" nearly every single game. We've played 10 guys in close games more than i ever remember.

Self IS 100% trying everything this season in my opinion. He's giving guys plenty of leash. They're just not very good and 5min more per game isn't going to be a magical fix to their ineffectiveness.

20 minutes a game of KJ's time should be split between Bidunga and Griffen.

The biggest issue we have is that neither Griffen or Storr are actually big enough or athletic enough to play significant minutes at the 4. They can't rebound or defend well enough.

And frankly, neither shoot well enough to make it a net positive to bench KJ. Which is why Self hasn't done it.

[BiggDick]

Zeke's been our best player. last three games averaging 26 points on 14 shots. Dude's on a heater!

Dajuan has played well enough to keep his starting spot, indeed.

But I'm still just concerned many of the criticisms of KJ also apply to Dajuan.

Opposing defenses can basically gamble off both of them, and dare both of them to shoot. That makes it that much more difficult for the rest of the lineup. (for real, I'm kind of at the "Dajuan somehow makes everyone else better but also makes everyone else worse" phase of the meltdown)

Dajuan does get a lot of assists. It may be his single biggest strength, and certainly his biggest strength offensively. But his assists just kinda come in the mix of things, and isn't some surefire skill upon which we can rely.

We can't expect Dajuan to break down the opposing D and just go make a bucket for somebody else happen, particularly when we otherwise really need it. IMHO "one of the best PGs in the country" should also be one of the best at late-game execution, but I'm just not sure we've seen that. Rather, the last 2-3 seasons have been some the least clutch, least effective at late-game execution that we've seen during Self's tenure at KU.

Dajuan's scoring is up! He's currently shooting more than twice as many two pointers as threes. His 3pt attempts are currently at a career high, though his 3pt percentage is currently at a career low. He's gone 0-fer in half the games so far this year, and in 3 of 12 games so far he didn't even attempt a 3.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most of his scoring is two pointers, and most of his two pointers are runners and floaters and layups but not necessarily layups right at the rim, cuz he's not great at driving in traffic and creating and finishing through contact. (On a related note, he's still only averaging less than 2 ft attempts a game.)

That's all to say, many of Dajuan's shots are the sort of inherently-less-efficient shots that defenses would rather have their opponent taking.

On defense, where Dajuan has received most of his accolades, his steals are slightly up in fewer minutes. He's still not what I'd call a lockdown defender tho, either guarding on the ball or off.

Another discussion I saw about him is, how he tends to play with no sense of urgency, or perhaps even with a sense of hesitancy. We can run sometimes, but we're not really run-and-gun or a fast-break team. Rather, Dajuan tends to walk the ball up the court, and then sort of assess the half-court offense, which coincidentally may be the area of the game we've struggled the most.

I just have this awful feelings that opposing coaches love the fact they get to gameplan against Dajuan and KJ, and are thrilled Self's bro crushes endure. If opponents can scheme to under-guard Dajuan and KJ, then they can scheme to over-guard everybody else, which is why it's hard for Hunter or anybody else to get open, much less get going.

And that's not to say I'm high on Hunter or anybody else, either! Except maybe Zeke, who's been cooking for us offensively, largely cuz he can actually create his own shot.

While I agree we gotta try something else besides KJ, I also can't help but wonder if it would be easier to justify playing KJ as the glue guy if paired with an elite guard, than to justify playing Dajuan if only he were paired with a better forward/better everyone else 2-5 plus reserve rotation.

But I think the bigger takeaway is simply, neither Dajuan nor KJ is the kind of talent we've come to expect at KU, and certainly not the kind of talent we expect to build the program around for multiple seasons in a row.