Vick.

And Bragg.

Oh yeah, duh.

This is fantastic. I can't wait until I mention this to my good friend who is a MU fan. :D He was just recently talking like basketball is a sport nobody cares about and how it's all about football. Lol, except for the little fact that the rest of the world plays hoops but not American football.

This team is going to be soo good. I don't know if Svi will start, but he should take an enormous step. They asked one of the players, was either Mason or Wayne who they thought has improved the most in the offseason and without hesitation he said Svi. Then Graham (who was underrated last season) and Greene will be that much better. Throw in another shot blocker with elite athleticism and you have a fierce group. This should be the best KU team since 2008.

Very glad to see our team pull this out. Should offer some great experience.

This team looks to be really, really good. Should be a fun season of hoops!

Self trusts guards
During the World University Games, with the shorter 24-second shot clock, Self learned to play through his guards more than usual.

“We didn’t play through our bigs near enough,” Self said.

“I learned to trust guys going one-on-one more. I’m not sure that you can win big games in NCAA without throwing the ball inside more. But with the short clock and not as many opportunities to do things with the short clock, I think I learned a lot to trust our players to go make plays.”

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2015/j...ens_basketball

As he should. Mason looked every bit as good of a creator as Sherron in the WUG.

It's different when you are throwing the ball in to Embiid or Thomas Robinson or the Morii.

We really struggled to score inside last year, but let's not forget that - when it's working - the Bill Self high/low is pretty damn effective. My only issue is that, come tournament time, you have to be able to rely on your guards to go make plays.

I really hope this team continues to practice with a 24 second clock.

I really liked that 24 second clock. I always though I wouldn't like it as well in college but it seems to do a great job of keeping the flow going. Next year, the NCAA will move to a 30 second clock. That should help.

I was done with the sole reliance on scoring from the bigs when we lost to VCU. It was pretty obvious what Shaka’s gameplan was, and it worked. I hate to call Self stubborn, but its bothered me more and more every year.

It's not like w solely relied on scoring from bigs always. Chalmers, Sherron, Rush, Russ Rob - those dudes all scored. Don't forget Morningstar, Reed, Releford, Tyshawn.

It's more that Self wants the offense to work THROUGH the bigs - not rely on them for scoring. When you get the bigs involved, it opens up three point shooting. We just haven't had the three point shooting to back it up.

You just think about it as solely bigs, because Elijah (5 star!) didn't ever become the scorer we thought he would. We had a down tick in guards panning out while Kentucky had a surge. It's improving now. Our backcourt is absolutely loaded.

FFS the last time we were in the NC game, CONNOR TEAHAN WAS STARTING FOR US. our guards have not been up to snuff lately - more accurately, the guard depth. We seriously run six deep with good guards now.

Self's plan is fine. He simply got unlucky against Northern Iowa. That was by far his best team outside of 2008 and they would have had a great chance to win it all.

If having bigs that score gets you a #1 or #2 seed every year like Self's been doing for the better part of a decade then sign me up. I don't think chasing little "playmaking" guards is the way to go if you want to win it all.

Self's teams just haven't been good enough.

Look at Duke this year. A dominant big man, and a killer swingman. It can work.

Over a bigger sample size, playing thru bigs is better. The tourney being what it is, paired with the 3 point shot neutralizes that.

Add to that the ability to shorten the game and it makes upsets more commin