***** Official '23/'24 KU Men's Basketball Repository Thread *****

[cmh6476]

The Team:

https://kuathletics.com/sports/mbball/roster/

The Schedule:

https://kuathletics.com/sports/mbball/schedule/

[KC_Connection]

Says a little. Says a lot. https://t.co/knKQh73dYy

— Mike Vernon (@M_Vernon) March 21, 2024

Obvious what some of these guys think of McCullar’s decision.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by bdj23

I like HD, this team would be absolute garbage without him.

Yeah, easily bottom tier of B12 without him and certainly not a tournament team.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Don’t want to see anybody trashing this guy any longer (not that many here were guilty of it).

Put a real team around him next year with shooting and reap the benefits.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Says a little. Says a lot. https://t.co/knKQh73dYy

— Mike Vernon (@M_Vernon) March 21, 2024

Obvious what some of these guys think of McCullar’s decision.

Easy to spew out the company PC line on social media. Alot harder to bullshit in person.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Don’t want to see anybody trashing this guy any longer (not that many here were guilty of it).

Put a real team around him next year with shooting and reap the benefits.

I'm not a fan, but who was trashing him?

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

I'm not a fan, but who was trashing him?

Fans on social media throughout the last month or so as if it was somehow his fault McCullar got hurt and the rest of the roster was a disaster.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by bdj23

I like HD, this team would be absolute garbage without him.

If we said "absolute garbage" is like a pile of microplastics or used motor oil or a jersey from fanatics.... this team with HD was closer to 49ers Super Bowl 58 Champions shirts.

Still considered garbage by a lot of people, but if you asked someone from a different country, they might tell you there's some value there.

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

If we said "absolute garbage" is like a pile of microplastics or used motor oil or a jersey from fanatics.... this team with HD was closer to 49ers Super Bowl 58 Champions shirts.

Still considered garbage by a lot of people, but if you asked someone from a different country, they might tell you there's some value there.

Didn't you say you've barely watched them this year?

I've seen every game. They looked awesome vs Houston in Lawrence (70% shooting vs the #1 D in the country), great against UConn, and very good against Kentucky, Tennessee and plenty of others. When they were healthy and motivated, they could (and did) beat anyone.

The injuries and the Big 12 grind took a toll. A team that plays its 5 starters almost the entire game every night isn't built to kill it against an 18-game Big 12 schedule, especially this year. Depth isn't as much of an issue in the tourney, but obviously with McCullar out, they'll be lucky to win more than a game or two.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar

Didn't you say you've barely watched them this year?

I've seen every game. They looked awesome vs Houston in Lawrence (70% shooting vs the #1 D in the country), great against UConn, and very good against Kentucky, Tennessee and plenty of others. When they were healthy and motivated, they could (and did) beat anyone.

The injuries and the Big 12 grind took a toll. A team that plays its 5 starters almost the entire game every night isn't built to kill it against an 18-game Big 12 schedule, especially this year. Depth isn't as much of an issue in the tourney, but obviously with McCullar out, they'll be lucky to win more than a game or two.

Yep, the shitty luck/timing of not seeing them much in their best games has definitely painted a different picture versus anyone who can fondly look back at November.

Several people have mentioned how uninterested they've been in this year's team since even like mid-January though.

It doesn't matter much now though... play hard and show some toughness, and even in a loss this weekend it'll be better than the past few months. Play soft with low effort and that becomes what this team was truly made of as opposed to "well, they just don’t care".

I mean... ya'll aren't Patrick Mahomes defending a championship, not giving a shit shouldn't be brushed off when they could be a 2 seed right now, looking at a 15 and 7/10 instead of an 11 and 5/12. Much less this thought that McCullar
doesn't want to hurt his chances in the draft. Hopefully the rest of the team cares tonight.

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Yep, the shitty luck/timing of not seeing them much in their best games has definitely painted a different picture versus anyone who can fondly look back at November.

Several people have mentioned how uninterested they've been in this year's team since even like mid-January though.

It doesn't matter much now though... play hard and show some toughness, and even in a loss this weekend it'll be better than the past few months. Play soft with low effort and that becomes what this team was truly made of as opposed to "well, they just don’t care".

I mean... ya'll aren't Patrick Mahomes defending a championship, not giving a shit shouldn't be brushed off when they could be a 2 seed right now, looking at a 15 and 7/10 instead of an 11 and 5/12. Much less this thought that McCullar
doesn't want to hurt his chances in the draft. Hopefully the rest of the team cares tonight.

You're not a KU fan? I thought you were.

I haven't seen a team that doesn't give a shit this year. I have seen them give a more extreme effort vs the Houstons and UConns than WV or UCF, but that's only natural. Especially when you're talking home vs road. Also, when all 5 starters have to play 30+ min, they really can't go 110% all game every night.

And yeah, a lot of KU fans have complained this year, but there are a lot of spoiled/entitled KU fans. Says it all that people are freaking out over a 4 seed that would have probably been a two if they stayed healthy, with maybe the best set of wins in the country.

[KC_Connection]

Bill Self just tweeted out on game day defending McCullar from social media critics (when really it was a situation he created with his own words). This team is fully cooked.

[BigBeauford]

Not so sure it's an effort issue. They are just the most untalented and worst shooting team I've seen Bill coach. Nobody can reliably hit shots, they have one super athlete that is useless outside of 8 feet from the basket, and a one dimensional point guard.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by BigBeauford

Not so sure it's an effort issue. They are just the most untalented and worst shooting team I've seen Bill coach. Nobody can reliably hit shots, they have one super athlete that is useless outside of 8 feet from the basket, and a one dimensional point guard.

It’s a “having 5 playable D1 players” issue more than anything, which became mostly 4 over the last month and is now 4 in the tournament.

There are obviously issues among their playable players too that you allude to, but the overarching issue is a lack of depth overall. We saw that play out during conference season.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar

You're not a KU fan? I thought you were.

Oh, if you're asking because I said "ya'll", that was pointed at the team, but can see why that's confusing.

Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar

I haven't seen a team that doesn't give a shit this year. I have seen them give a more extreme effort vs the Houstons and UConns than WV or UCF, but that's only natural. Especially when you're talking home vs road. Also, when all 5 starters have to play 30+ min, they really can't go 110% all game every night.

And yeah, a lot of KU fans have complained this year, but there are a lot of spoiled/entitled KU fans. Says it all that people are freaking out over a 4 seed that would have probably been a two if they stayed healthy, with maybe the best set of wins in the country.

Yeah, a 4 seed is still pretty good and some fans are definitely too spoiled with 1 and 2 seeds. For me and I think others though, we're really used to seeing a toughness out of the team that hasn't been there much during conference play.

And I do think a lot of fans (including myself) underestimate the grind and exhaustion and may even miss identifying the real issues precisely due to being spoiled with great teams... much like the 2018/2019/2020 Chiefs offense, they make something that's actually really ****ing hard look easy for a few years and then when they drop back down to earth we all wonder WTF is wrong with them.

This is KU's NIT year compared to the down years of the other blue bloods and hopefully they go down swinging.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Bill Self just tweeted out on game day defending McCullar from social media critics (when really it was a situation he created with his own words). This team is fully cooked.

Soft.